《Monarch of Heaven's Wrath.》


 Auxiliary chapter, law tiers and cultivation realms.

    I received a suggestion that I should put out a tier list for the various laws to make it a bit easier to see the relative strength of some laws, as well as how some laws are connected to each other. I felt that it sounded like a pretty good idea so below you will find that tier list.


    A slight disclaimer, however, is that everything that I list here is done so without taking into account the person using the law. With the right mindset and enough power, a wielder of a Common Law can defeat someone of the same level wielding a Heavenly Law.


    Ascended Laws.


    The grand peak of all laws, the greatest height that can be reached in the Sphere of Existence, they exist outside of any form of logic and physics. The laws at this level are nigh impossible to even get in contact with and they are almost completely unattainable. To resist an apex cultivator of an Ascended Law, one needs either another Ascended Law or an incredibly mighty Unique Law. This tier contains only three laws.


    Void. The Ascended Law of everything destructive, merging every single destructive law in existence holds a small chance of creating this law. It does as it says, all things turn to null, even the Sphere of Existence itself.


    Existence. The Ascended Law of creation. Whereas Void has a chance of being achieved if one merges every destructive law, Existence can only be achieved by merging the Zenith Law of Creation with every other physical law and a handful of the non-physical laws. Existence is the apex of all things, a wielder of Existence can spawn forth everything in creation and even form a new Sphere of Existence should they have the energy.


    Balance. Void gathers all things destructive and Existence gathers all things related to creation, but Balance gathers all things without care for their origins. To achieve Balance, one must merge every law below the Ascended and Unique tier, thus making it the hardest law to acquire. But a holder of Balance can negate even the attacks of Void and Existence, it serves as the stopgap that prevents the two other Ascended Laws from going rampant.


    Unique Laws.


    Unique Laws are technically below the Ascended Laws, but whereas the Ascended Laws can be considered static as they have already reached the peak, Unique Laws are ever-evolving and endless in number. With enough time, power, and insight, there is nothing stopping a Unique Law from reaching the level of an Ascended Law. At the same time, some Unique Laws are so weak that they are even below the Common Tier.


    The list of Unique Laws is endless and grows without pause, the tier contains every law that is a result of a fusion between two or more laws. Even if two people fused the exact same two or more laws, the end result would be a different Unique Law based on the respective insights and habits of the creator. A few examples of Unique laws would be as follows.


    Law of Evolution, a fusion between the laws of absorption, adaption, expelling, and control.


    Law of the Bright Night, a fusion of the laws of light, darkness, Yang, and karma.


    Law of the Underworld God, a fusion of the laws of life, death, pain, and reincarnation.


    Law of the Falling Star, a fusion of the laws of gravity, speed, pressure, heat, and force.


    Zenith Laws.


    Laws that are the closest to reaching the peak of all creation, they are ephemeral laws that are much like the Ascended Laws in that they are concepts rather than something physical. These laws are the goal of almost all cultivators, and the tier only contains six laws.


    Destruction. The end of a life, the end of a building, the end of a world, the end of a universe or a multiverse, all of it falls under the law of destruction. Even energy itself can be twisted apart or disintegrated under destruction, but where it differs from Void is that the resulting destruction creates a special type of energy that cycles back into the Sphere of Existence, resulting in a final loss of energy that is negligible.


    Creation. Similar to Destruction, this law has close ties to the Ascended Law of Existence, the main difference between them being the scale at which they can create something, as well as what they can create. The law of Creation can create nearly everything, it can even create a universe and certain forms of energy at the highest levels. But while Creation can conjure up perfectly healthy bodies, it cannot spawn souls, nor can it ever hope to create a Sphere of Existence, even crafting a multiverse will be hard for the user.


    Yin. The law of Yin is hell, it is hatred, corruption, cold, pain, and evil, it is an agglomeration of all things cruel and vile within existence. It is the law that embodies the concept of all things negative, the collection of all the world''s evil.


    Yang. Whereas Yin is hell and evil, Yang is heaven and kindness. It gathers love, warmth, kindness, empathy, and sympathy and merges it into a law of salvation, the concept of all things positive. But just like Yin can be used for good, Yang can be used for evil, it only depends on the person who wields it.


    Yin and Yang, while conceptual laws that sound like they fail to offer much in the way of strength to their wielder, still retain their places as Zenith Laws due to their strength and the domineering and violent energy they grant their wielder. One must take care not to underestimate a wielder of these laws, otherwise, one might end up feeling the freezing touch of hell or the scorching embrace of heaven.


    Time. With the passage of time, even universes and multiverses will meet their end, withering away until even their names are forgotten. In time, nearly all of creation will vanish and turn to dust. Cold and merciless, it brings about the end of almost everything while flowing forward unending, urging you to spend every second happy.


    Space. Nearly everything takes up space. The pebble on the side of the road, the man walking through the city, the planet where the city is built, the universe that houses the planet, everything requires space. Space can be so large that it seals off an area as large as a multiverse, or so tiny and thin that it can slice through the openings between molecules.


    Space and time, while slightly weaker than destruction and creation, deserve their rankings within the Zenith Laws. With time, even destruction will fade away and become creation again, and with a slight movement of space, all of creation can vanish, thrown into the empty void between multiverses or thrown into a separate dimension of space existing on top of the normal one.


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    Heavenly Laws.


    Heavenly Laws were once known as Elemental Laws, but the sheer number of laws contained within each Heavenly Law has resulted in the name being changed over time. The Heavenly Laws contain all the purest forms of the elements, so just having the law of fire doesn''t mean that one has actually acquired the Heavenly Law of fire, it means that you have the General Law of fire. Just fusing the branch laws into the General Law of fire wouldn''t create the Heavenly Law of fire, it would create a Unique Law of fire for you, the only way to actually acquire the Heavenly Law of fire would be to study the complete form of the Heavenly Law from the very start.


    Fire. Hot and fierce, it scorches all creation as the sun yet heats up a small cozy house as a bonfire. The Heavenly Law of fire not only contains fire itself, but it also contains heat, light, expansion, devouring, warmth, explosion, and a myriad of other laws.


    Light. Fast and formless it moves unimpeded, it can let you see the beauty of life or it can rob you of your vision. The Heavenly Law of light contains, speed, power, illusions, lightning, vibrations, and a myriad of other laws.


    Water. It provides mortals with nourishment yet can also crush them and everything they have created. The Heavenly Law of water contains pressure, crushing, weight, reflection, heat, life, and a myriad of other laws.


    Earth. It is the world you stand on and the matter you will be buried in, it gives beings a place to live and a place to die. The Heavenly Law of earth contains pressure, crushing, weight, crystal, stone, darkness, and a myriad of other laws.


    Existing within the tier of Heavenly Laws are also the laws of devouring and life, degraded versions of the laws of destruction and creation, as well as the laws of death, soul, body, defence, and attack. Each of these is a law that exists below Zenith Laws but above General Laws, resulting in them becoming Heavenly Laws.


    General Laws.


    General Laws are the branch laws and the degraded versions of the Heavenly Laws, they contain every law used to make up the purest form of the Heavenly Laws. The more common examples for General Laws are as follows.


    Speed, the law that determines how fast something moves, as the name suggests, it is the fastest law in existence. Reaching a high enough level in the law would allow one to even control how fast molecules move.


    Heat, the law that determines the temperature of things. It works both ways, it can add or subtract heat, meaning that it actually serves as an upgraded version of the laws of warmth and cold. This property also means that the law of heat is present within several of the Heavenly Laws and some higher tier laws.


    Size, the law that does just as it says, it determines the size of things. It is the same as heat, an upgraded version of two laws, in this case, the law of growth and shrinking. It differs slightly from the laws of expansion and compression as it alters the normal state of the item rather than forcing it to become smaller or larger.


    Sand, a degraded version of the Heavenly Law of earth that consists of an unfortunate merging of the law of crystal and the law of shrinking, resulting in a law controlling tiny crystals. But with enough tiny crystals gathered together, even a mountain can be swallowed and turned into a desert.


    Common Laws.


    Described as the lowest tier of laws it contains just what it suggests, the most common laws, laws so common that people more often than not don''t even realize it. But being common does not necessarily mean being weak, it simply means being common. Due to this unique point of the laws, the tier also contains the embryonic forms of some Heavenly Laws, mainly the Heavenly Laws of devouring, attack, defence, soul, body, life, and death, laws that are so common to living beings that they simply fail to notice them most of the time. Some more examples of common laws are as follows.


    Motion, the law determining how something moves, an example would be forcing something to twist to the left when it would normally continue to move ahead.


    Shadow, the degraded version of the Heavenly Law of darkness, it controls the darkness that is a result of something blocking light from reaching a surface.


    String, the law that conjures and produces small strings of various types that the creator can then control with varying degrees of fluidity.


    Sleep, the law that controls the sleep of living being, mainly used to either wake someone up or put them to sleep.


    The laws of the various emotions also fall within the tier of Common Laws, as emotions are something all living beings feel every day.


    ----


    Just a quick list of the cultivation realms that are already mentioned in the story.


    Energy Cultivation System. Despite the titles of the stages, most are just referred to as Early, Mid, or Late stages.


    Ascended Tower realm. Divided into Mortal Tower, Houtian Tower, and Xiantian Tower realm. One builds up their Ascended Tower, allowing them to produce and harness Qi within their own dantian.


    Heaven''s Gate realm. Divided into Heaven''s Foundation, Heaven''s Ladder, and Heaven''s Gate. One opens the gates of their Ascended Tower and climbs to the peak, tearing off the roof and connecting the tower to the heaven''s, absorbing even purer Qi and starting to come into contact with the laws.


    Soaring Immortal Realm. Divided into Crawling Immortal, Wandering Immortal, and Soaring Immortal. One uses the laws one has gained insight into, infusing them into one''s body and slowly changing it, shedding their mortal coil and drastically increasing their life spans, while also increasing their affinity for the laws used to change their body.


    Primordial Immortal Realm. Divided into Human Immortal, Ancient Immortal, Primordial Immortal. At this stage, one uses all the laws one has gained insight into and changes their Ascended Tower, turning the entire tower from a structure made from Qi into a structure made from the laws. The tower will then become a structure made from a single law, a fusion of every law that person has cultivated, a law unique to them.


    Transcended Immortal Realm. After turning their tower into a structure composed of the laws, one must then completely fill it with Qi, to the point that the tower starts to shatter and collapse in on itself, the fragments floating around within a person''s dantian and separating from the heaven that they were connected to.


    Sovereign God realm. After the Ascended Tower has been fully shattered, the cultivator must turn the fragments of their Ascended Tower into an independent heaven that they can draw energy from, a heaven solely for them, where they can be god.


    Empyrean Ruler realm.


    Primeval Sovereign realm.


    Universal Heart realm.


    While these are the cultivation realms, the MC uses a different cultivation technique that creates lotuses based on the laws he is cultivating. These lotuses are called Dragon Lotuses, and the more leaves they have, the higher his cultivation is.


    ---


    Body Cultivation System.


    Bone Forging realm. One strengthens their bones using Qi to let them bear the future pressure they have to withstand.


    Body Ascension realm. One strengthens their various organs using Qi, their laws, or other sources of energy. This will connect the organs to the heavens, spawning a type of energy called Fiendgod Essence, the body cultivation equivalent of Qi.


    God Forging realm. This step requires one to use their Fiendgod Essence as well as their laws to pierce their own bones, organs, as well as their flesh, replacing all the Qi within them, as well as completely filling them.


    Mortal God realm. This stage requires one to use their Fiendgod Essence and their laws to fully change their blood, as well as forcing open all 361 acupuncture points in their bodies.


    Fiendgod realm. At this stage, one continues to strengthen every part of their body with Fiendgod Essence and their laws, slowly disconnecting their body from the heaven they are connected with, turning one''s own body into an independent heaven they can draw energy from.


    Star God realm. This realm can only be reached after one has fully turned their own body into an independent heaven, and there are three different ways for a cultivator at this realm to increase their cultivation. The first is by killing someone else at the Star God or the peak of the Fiendgod realm and refining their heaven into one''s own. The second is to refine an entire universe into their own heaven, and the third is to refine a star into their own heaven. Of the three paths, the third one is the easiest.


    The body cultivation system that the MC follows is a bit different from this one, mainly because it requires him to not strengthen his body, but rather turn his body into the purest of lightning.


    ----


    Soul Cultivation System.


    Materialized Soul realm. The first and easiest cultivation level. It only requires one to nourish and strengthen their soul enough to let it take form within the mind of the cultivator, greatly increasing their thinking and concentration power. The difference between the three stages of the cultivation realm is how corporeal the materialized soul has become.


    Ascended Soul realm. To reach this stage, one must strengthen their soul enough to let it leave their body and allow it to connect with the heavens. If the soul has not been strengthened enough, the majesty of the heavens will shatter it, so the strengthening process is vital. Connecting the soul with the heavens will spawn something unique to Soul Cultivators, something called Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi. This energy specializes in attacking the very essence of all living beings, the soul.


    Soul Rebirth realm. One of the more dreaded steps of Soul Cultivation, it requires you to use your Anima Essence to shatter your own soul so thoroughly that only a sliver of your consciousness remains. You must then use the energy of the heavens, as well as your own Anima Essence, to rebuild your soul from scratch, allowing it to become purer and stronger than ever before. The slightest mistake can result in death or retardation, so great care must be taken.


    Soul Lord realm. Thanks to the previous process of rebuilding the soul, it has now become so pure and strong that it can bear this step. One uses their Anima Essence and whatever laws they have gained insight into, fusing it all together and merging it into their soul. In doing so, one must fuse all their laws into a single one to control the soul, creating a law that is wholly unique to this cultivator.


    Heaven''s Soul realm. The realm known to be the most painful of the soul cultivation realm. This realm requires one to tear their soul free from the heavens, severing the connection between them and wresting control over one''s soul away from the heavens. One must then use their own insight and understanding of the heavens to turn their soul into an independent heaven, practically becoming a god.


    Universe Soul realm. The final step of Soul Cultivation, the highest of peaks in existence. One has turned their soul into an independent heaven, and now you must use that heaven to create a universe in your own image, turning your soul into the nucleus of the universe. At this step, every attack from your Anima Essence will bring with it the might of your universe.

 The heavens are indifferent.

    Chapter 1: The heaven''s are indifferent.


    The universe belongs to cultivators, the highest form of living beings. And the highest dream of all cultivators is to reach the apex of cultivation, to stand at the very peak of the universe and look down upon creation with a disdainful smile. In the vast universe, there exists a planet called Dragon''s Gate. The planet got this name because of the sheer amount of cultivators that had left the planet and eventually ended up becoming powerful, spawning the legend that the planet was like the dragon''s gate. One would either leave the planet and become a dragon, or stay on the planet and stay a carp.


    One of the continents on the Dragon''s Gate planet, the Fallen Cloud continent, is split up between five great clans, the Qing clan, the Zhao clan, the Huang clan, the Tian clan, and the Bai clan. In the part of the continent that belonged to the Qing clan, there was a city that housed a branch of the Qing clan, the Green Rivers city. The Green Rivers city, just like the name suggests, is surrounded by several small rivers that flowed with light green water.


    The source of all these rivers is a mountain so tall that it pierces the clouds themselves. Besides the rivers that flow down the mountain, there is also a vast forest surrounding the mountain, home to countless Demonic beasts and herbs that can be considered treasures, if one is strong enough to acquire them.


    Because the city contained a branch of the Qing clan, there were a lot of visitors that would come to the city, giving it a very diverse look. Some buildings were made out of stone, some out of wood, others again were made out of ice or earth, depending on what element the cultivator that had made them specialized in. The city was usually very lively, but today the entire city was completely silent, most people too scared to even breathe loudly.


    At the very center of the city, a large scaffolding had been set up, a massive crowd of people surrounding it and waiting with bated breaths. A short distance behind the scaffolding stood an extravagant green pagoda with nine stories, one could faintly see several people standing at the highest floor of the pagoda, looking at the scaffolding with indifferent and cold gazes.


    The crowd surrounding the scaffolding suddenly split apart, opening a path directly to the scaffolding. Four people slowly made their way down the path, there were two men, a woman, and a young boy who looked like he was a little over 10 years old. One of the men and the woman were holding the hands of the young boy, the other man walking a little behind them.


    The woman was somewhat tall and had smooth skin, clear blue eyes, cherry red lips, and long black hair that was neatly tied up. The man holding her hand had a rugged figure, features that looked like they were carved from stone, somewhat tanned skin, short brown hair, and deep black eyes. The young boy between them had short black hair, smooth and delicate features and skin, and deep green eyes that were red with tears. The man walking behind them looked a bit older, his skin somewhat wrinkled. He had long brown hair, droopy black eyes, and a full beard.


    The group stopped in front of the steps up to the scaffolding, the man and woman letting go of the boy''s hands. They kneeled down in front of him, each placing one of their hands on his shoulders. The man took a deep breath, putting on a bright smile and looking at the boy with a loving gaze.


    ¡°Chen''er, you must make sure that you listen closely to whatever Uncle Xiang tells you, okay? You must also take good care of that knife we gave you, it will help keep you safe if anything were to ever happen. And don''t forget to be diligent in your training, your talent is only average, so you must work harder than anyone else to succeed.¡±


    The man, Qing Feng, pat the sheath that hung at the waist of the boy as he spoke. That sheath contained a knife that they had given him only a few days ago, a gift they hoped would keep him safe when he encountered danger. The boy rapidly nodded his head, tears flowing from his eyes. The woman, Qing Lan, reached out with her other hand, wiping away the tears as she spoke to him in a soft voice.


    ¡°My son... you mustn''t cry, you must stay strong. Tell me, who are you?¡±


    The young boy did his best to hold back his tears, tightly closing his eyes to force the tears back. After a short moment, he opened his eyes again, they were red and moist, but no more tears were running down his face. He swallowed heavily, speaking out in a shaking voice.


    ¡°I am Liang Chen.¡±


    The lips of Qing Feng and Qing Lan curled into bright smiles when they heard Liang Chen respond. They removed their hands from his shoulders, placing them on his cheeks and pinching them slightly. Qing Lan spoke out again, her eyes glowing with an endlessly gentle light.


    ¡°Exactly, you are our little Chen''er. And do you know what that means?¡±


    Liang Chen gave a heavy nod of his head, repeating the words that he had been told several times, the words he had engraved deep into his heart and swore he would never forget.


    ¡°It means that no matter how dark things look, there will always be a bright dawn awaiting me.¡±


    The couple pinched his cheeks even harder after they heard his reply, their smiles only growing brighter. Qing Lan reached out and ruffled his short hair, her voice starting to tremble slightly as she spoke.


    ¡°Exactly. You were our bright dawn, the light that broke our darkness. Everything will be fine, you just have to search for your own bright dawn, one day you will surely find it.¡±


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    Liang Chen''s grew even moister upon hearing their words. He knew that he was not their actual son, which was why he didn''t have the Qing name. The couple was unable to have children of their own, so they had already prepared themselves for the fact that they would never have children. But 12 years ago, while traveling, they found a baby tossed away into a distant forest, and they instantly felt a connection. When they found him, the sun was just starting to rise, a bright dawn illuminating the world. That was why they had given him the name Liang Chen, Bright Dawn. The couple stood up, turning towards the older man who had followed them. They both gave him a deep bow, Qing Feng speaking out in a pleading voice.


    ¡°Brother Xiang, please take care of him.¡±


    The older man''s, Qing Xiang eyes were also red and moist. He looked at the couple for a short moment, taking several deep breaths to calm himself. He placed both hands on Liang Chen''s shoulders, speaking in a deep voice.


    ¡°Don''t worry, I will make sure that nothing happens to him.¡±


    The couple straightened their backs and sent another bright smile at Liang Chen, they then turned around and ascended the stair to the scaffolding. While the couple was ascending the stairs, three other men were ascending the scaffolding from the other side. There was one old man clad in the green robes of the Qing clan, and two men clad in black robes that covered their entire bodies. Looking at the large axes that the two men carried, it was clear that they were executioners. The couple stopped in front of the three men, and the old man shouted out in a loud voice.


    ¡°Qing Feng! Qing Lan! You have colluded with the Bai clan, attempting to bring ruin to the Qing clan. Do you have any last words?!¡±


    The voice of the old man reached everyone who was standing around the scaffolding, causing everyone to tense up slightly. Qing Feng and Qing Lan turned towards the exquisite pagoda, dropping to their knees and placing their foreheads against the ground as they spoke out in a unified voice.


    ¡°We thank the Young Master for being merciful enough to spare our son, despite our great sin!¡±


    The couple did not raise their heads after speaking, the two men carrying axes stepping forward and positioning themselves at the side of Qing Feng and Qing Lan. While the two executioners raised their axes, Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the top floor of the pagoda. If he squinted his eyes, he felt like he was able to somewhat see the figure of the man who had forced his parents into this situation. Just the thought of seeing him caused Liang Chen''s blood to boil slightly. Qing Xiang grabbed onto Liang Chen''s chin and forced him to look away from the pagoda, speaking in a hushed voice.


    ¡°Don''t look at him. Don''t let their sacrifice be in vain.¡±


    Qing Xiang pulling on Liang Chen''s chin caused his eyes to fall onto the scaffolding, just in time to see the two axes descend onto the necks of his parents. A single clean chop, his parents did not utter any sound, their heads simply separated from their necks and rolled a short distance before stopping. Once the deed was done, a cheer erupted from the crowd, especially from the people belonging to the Qing clan. Liang Chen swept the crowd with his eyes, his blood feeling like it was on fire when he saw that almost everyone from the Qing clan was celebrating the death of the ''traitors''.


    ¡°Uncle, why are they celebrating? Why are they all so happy? Why is no one defending Father and Mother?¡±


    Liang Chen could not understand it. His parents were innocent people who loved the Qing clan, why would they get together with one of the people from the Bai clan and give birth to a child. The story was complete nonsense, no one would be willing to believe it, it was clearly the Young Master of the Qing clan who was the father of that child. Qing Xiang could only shake his head with a sigh as he started to explain.


    ¡°You must understand. To a clan like the Qing clan, nothing is as important as their face. If the news about what the Young Master did were to spread, it would completely ruin the face of the clan. They can''t afford this, so they must place the blame on someone else and harshly punish them, only like that can they keep their face.¡±


    Qing Xiang was a minor elder within the Qing clan, so he knew more than most people, especially about what the Young Master, Qing Lan Yong, had done. But even without him telling Liang Chen the truth about the incident, it would still be easy for him to learn the truth. After all, there were already rumors and whispers going around. And it was because he knew this that he could not help but shout out.


    ¡°But everyone already knows the truth! So why is everyone celebrating!?¡±


    His parents were mostly unremarkable, the only thing special about them was the fact that they had traveled the continent quite a bit. That was also the reason they had been chosen as scapegoats, with the excuse that they probably colluded with the Bai clan while on their travels. They were unremarkable, but they had worked hard for the clan, so why was everyone celebrating their unjust deaths? Qing Xiang could only shake his head once more, Liang Chen was simply too young to understand.


    ¡°Not everyone knows the truth, and as long as they do a good enough job with the lie, it will eventually become the truth. That is simply how the cultivation world works, one day I am sure that you will come to understand.¡±


    Qing Xiang placed his palm on top of Liang Chen''s head, slowly ruffling his hair. But Liang Chen still felt as if his blood was boiling, so he shook his head and shouted out, his voice trembling as his tears threatened to fall again.


    ¡°I don''t want to understand!¡±


    Would he understand someday? Why would he want to understand something like that? All he understood was that his parents were now dead, killed because the Young Master of the clan was unable to keep it in his pants. Qing Xiang grabbed onto Liang Chen''s shoulders, speaking out with a sigh.


    ¡°Come, let me take you home, you need to get some rest.¡±


    Had it not been for Qing Xiang using his Qi, what every cultivator used to grow stronger or attack, everyone would have heard Liang Chen''s words. At that point, there would be no chance for him to avoid disaster. Qing Xiang pulled Liang Chen through the crowd, trying his best to shield Liang Chen from the unfriendly gazes that were thrown at him. Liang Chen was the child of ''traitors'' so how could they look at him with anything but hostile eyes?


    The place Qing Xiang brought Liang Chen was a small three room house surrounded by a small courtyard that contained a few blooming trees. The sun had risen not too long ago, so the sunlight was shining through the leaves of the trees and casting a beautiful light onto the courtyard. Once they reached the courtyard, Qing Xiang kneeled down in front of Liang Chen, speaking to him in a serious voice.


    ¡°I need to return to the clan for a little bit, they are calling together a meeting to figure out what to do with that... thing. I have made sure that food will be delivered here every day, so make sure that you eat properly until I return.¡±


    Qing Xiang did not waste any time after he spoke, quickly leaving to meet up with the other elders. He was only a minor elder, so there was no way he could miss this meeting. He also knew that Liang Chen was a sensible person, he would be fine for a few days. Liang Chen was left alone, standing in the courtyard of a house that no longer felt like home to him. He glanced at the sky, and at the brilliant sunlight that was shining down on the city, his tears starting to roll down his face again.


    ¡°Father... you lied to me. Why did you lie to me Father? You said that the heaven''s are just and would strike down anyone who hurt innocent people, it would strike down on the evildoers and kill them. Yet now the both of you have died, but nothing has happened to that Qing Lan Yong.¡±


    He used to love the sunlight, especially the light that followed right after the dawn. His parents would often tell him stories about the light that shone down upon the forest when they found him, causing him to vividly imagine it and dream about it. But right now, he resented the warm sunlight that shone down, resented that it looked so joyful on a day like this.


    Ling Chen slowly walked towards the door of the house, pushing it open and entering, closing and locking the door behind him. The inside of the house was dim, a thin layer of darkness covering the couches, chairs, tables, and bookshelves that were a part of the room. Tears continued to stream down Liang Chen''s face as he stepped towards the center of the room.


    ¡°You lied to me Father, the heaven''s aren''t just, they are indifferent and cold. People like us don''t matter to the heaven''s.¡±


    Once he reached the center of the room, he opened a small compartment in the floor, pulling out a thick wooden pole and placing it on the floor in front of him. His eyes and face hardened with determination, but tears continued to run down his face. He clenched his fists and started to slowly strike the wooden pole, a jolt of pain running up his arms whenever he hit it.


    ¡°If the heaven''s won''t strike down Qing Lan Yong, then I will. One day, Father, Mother. One day I will make sure to get revenge for you.¡±


    The house that he lived in, the house that had always been filled with the warmth of his family, was now far colder than it had ever been, chilling him to the bone. The only source of heat he could feel came from the pain in his arms and the boiling of his blood.

 A promise.

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 A promise.

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 The first battle.

    Liang Chen did not immediately start looking for Demonic beasts after getting used to the pressure. If things followed their usual pattern, the two hunters would pass through the area again within the next day. To avoid encountering them face to face, Liang Chen decided to quietly wait for the couple to pass by him. After all, there were no laws in this hidden realm. If they spotted him as he killed a Demonic beast, they might just attack him to steal the corpse.


    Just as he had expected, a few hours after he went into hiding, the couple moved through his area. They were dragging the corpse of a deer-like Demonic beast, grins on their faces, so it seemed like they had just completed a hunt and were on their way back to the entrance so that they could take the beast apart and sell it.


    Liang Chen did not know what they had done, whether or not they had made a deal with them or whether or not they were part of the same group. But the couple didn''t seem to have a problem with the same robbers that Liang Chen had encountered as he first entered the hidden realm.


    Once Liang Chen made sure that the two had left the area and he was the only one left, he climbed higher up the tree. The higher he climbed, the greater the pressure he experienced. But the increase in pressure was not great enough to deter him, so he continued to climb higher until he reached halfway up the tree.


    At the halfway point of the tree, the branches started to extend further out, connecting with the other trees and forming natural bridges that one could use to move from tree to tree. Since Liang Chen was unable to use his lightning to track the surrounding Demonic beasts, he had decided to use this method, moving from tree to tree while keeping an eye on the ground, to find any Demonic beasts.


    Thanks to the constant snow that was fluttering towards the ground, the branches were a bit slippery, making it somewhat risky to traverse them. But Liang Chen was steady on his feet and was able to use his sword to cut marks into the branches, allowing him something to grab onto whenever he felt that things got risky.


    Since Liang Chen only had to carry his sword on him, there was nothing weighing him down as he moved from branch to branch with nimble motions. He moved slower than he would in the outside world, but still far faster than he had once he first entered the hidden realm.


    As he moved, Liang Chen would occasionally spot a human or Demonic beast, but as the few Demonic beasts he spotted had a higher cultivation than him, he made sure to stay hidden so that they would not detect him. Luckily, the forest was filled with Demonic beasts, so he only had to move through the trees for a few hours before he spotted a Demonic beast that was close to his level of strength.


    The Demonic beast looked like a large porcupine, its back covered in spines that were almost half a meter long and as thick as two fingers. The beast itself was actually a bit larger than Liang Chen, almost reaching two meters in length. But it had very thick and short legs, so it was clear that it was not the fastest of beasts.


    It was currently digging into the ground, releasing snorting sounds from time to time as it searched for any roots and vegetables. Liang Chen quietly made his way across the branches, slowly making his way down the tree that was closest to the Demonic beast. But no matter how quietly he moved, he was still facing a Demonic beast, so by the time his feet touched the ground, the beast had noticed him.


    The porcupine stopped what it was doing and turned to face him, letting out several loud grunts in warning. It could sense that Liang Chen had the same strength as him, so it would be best if it could avoid combat that would leave the both of them with nothing to gain but a few injuries.


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    But how could it know that Liang Chen had no intention of backing off? Even if he ended up losing this fight and getting injured, he would still feel that it would be worth it, as he would have gotten more experience and training. As long as he made sure to leave before he died, he would gain something from this fight.


    His right hand grasped his sword, arcs of golden lightning dancing around the blade, and his left hand started glowing with a light that kept changing between green and violet, his entire body tensing up as he stepped forward. The Demonic beast''s eyes narrowed as it realized that the human in front of it was not willing to back down from this pointless fight.


    A short moment of silence followed between the two, Liang Chen stepping forward and the porcupine taking a few steps backward. The silence between the two of them was shattered, both of them starting their attacks at the same time. Liang Chen coated his body with lightning, his speed rapidly increasing as he dashed forward. The Demonic beast, on the other hand, lowered its body slightly and pointed its spines at Liang Chen.


    The spines turned into blurs that shot forward in a straight line, slightly catching Liang Chen off-guard, as he had not expected the beast to be able to shoot its spikes like projectiles. But he quickly reacted, lowering his body, his head almost touching the ground.


    The spines grazed his back, one slicing a small gash into his left shoulder, blood dripping onto the snow. Despite Liang Chen''s body being coated in lightning, the snow around him did not show any signs of melting, the blood that touched the snow quickly freezing and becoming part of the snow.


    Liang Chen ignored the burning pain coming from his shoulder, pushing his body off the ground with his left arm and stepping forward at the same time. He slashed upwards with his weapon, aiming to cleave the head of the Demonic beast in two with a single attack.


    As his sword neared the head of the Demonic beast, the monster raised its head slightly and opened its maw, revealing its thick and flat teeth. Liang Chen''s weapon clashed with the teeth of the porcupine, cracking them and sinking a bit in, but it was unable to do any actual damage to the Demonic beast.


    Liang Chen saw the eyes of the Demonic beast shine with a hint of a smile, but he simply ignored it. He let go of his weapon and reached out with his arm, grabbing at the neck of the Demonic beast. The beast sensed danger from Liang Chen''s hand, so it quickly lowered its head and pushed forth its spines to force Liang Chen to pull his hand back.


    But how could it expect Liang Chen to be as reckless as he was? Liang Chen ignored the spines, continuing to reach for the neck, even when one of the spines pierced through his palm. Lightning coiled around his finger as he grabbed onto the neck, his fingers piercing through its hide and giving Liang Chen access to the insides of the beast.


    Poison flooded out from his fingers and into the neck of the Demonic beast, following the veins as well as the spine of the beast, overloading its heart and brain with Liang Chen''s mixed and highly corrosive poison. Its mouth started to froth with a bloody foam, its eyes melting thanks to the poison and lightning that was rampaging through its body.


    Thanks to the blood that landed on Liang Chen''s fingers, they felt like they were lit ablaze with horrid flames, but he grit his teeth and forced himself to endure. He had to make sure that there was enough poison within the body of the Demonic beast before he pulled his arms back, otherwise, it might manage to survive.


    After a little over two minutes, the beast was no longer able to resist, collapsing to the ground. Its eyes had completely melted, its brain and heart no more than a mushy mess thanks to the poison. Liang Chen finally pulled back his hand, plunging it into the snow to clean away any of the beast''s blood that remained on his fingers.


    Once his hand was clean of blood and the pain was gone, he looked at the corpse of the Demonic beast, a smile spreading on his face. This was not like the beasts he had killed in Sky Piercer Forest, nor was it like the wolves he had killed on the way here. This was an actual Rank 1 Demonic beast, one that did not rely on its pack for strength, and he had managed to kill it all on his own.


    But he quickly forced his excitement down, vigilantly checking the surrounding area. Once he saw that there was no one around, he quickly grabbed onto the corpse of the beast and started dragging it after him. He could not bring it up into the trees with him, so he dragged it along the ground until he found an old and hollow tree that was somewhat hidden. He dragged the beast into the hollow tree, covering the entrance behind him with a mixture of fallen branches and snow. Now he just had to take the beast apart, and then he would see if he could use it to increase his strength.

 Trouble knocking at ones door.

<div>

 Six great rulers.

    While Liang Chen was unconscious, he dreamt. For once, he did not have the same nightmare that he had ever since that day, he instead saw a peaceful dream, a dream that tugged at his heart.


    In the dream, he was back in Green Rivers City alongside his parents. There was no Qing Lan Yong, no execution, no relentless desire for strength. He did not bother spending too much time on cultivation, picking up a career as a chef instead, opening a restaurant of his own. After a few years, he married Qing Chun and had three children with her, every day of their lives filled with peace and love.


    But despite experiencing the passage of years, Liang Chen did not for one second forget that it was naught but a dream. There was a constant voice in his ear, whispering to him about the truth, describing the final moments of his parents. Each word that the whispering voice spoke caused his blood to boil harder, strength hidden deep within him slowly welling up, roaring as it surged towards the surface.


    As the dream neared its end and Liang Chen started to somewhat regain consciousness, the whispering voice in Liang Chen''s ear was slowly replaced by other sounds, the sound of a light breeze, the sound of crunching snow, as well as a different voice that sounded a bit distant.


    "Isn''t that the two hunters that roam around here? Did they die fighting this snake? Huh, there is someone inside it?"


    The voice seemed to belong to a male youth, Liang Chen feeling his body twitching somewhat after hearing a sudden unfamiliar voice. The sound of crunching snow rang out again, someone seemingly walking closer. Liang Chen heard what sounded like bodies being moved, the sound of crunching snow coming closer. The unfamiliar voice rang out once more, this time sounding much clearer and closer.


    "The poor kid must have been swallowed whole. Someone sliced open the stomach, but it seems to have been too late. Well, can''t allow anything to go to waste."


    After a somewhat pitying sigh, Li Yang felt something touch his body, the first proper sensation he felt since he fell unconscious. His entire body tensed up from the touch, all traces of drowsiness and unconsciousness vanishing as his eyes shot open. Liang Chen sat up and his arm stretched out on its own, grabbing onto the throat of the youth that was touching him. Liang Chen''s poisonous Qi flooded towards his hand, but it slowed down as the youth screamed out.


    "Stop, stop! I didn''t do anything, I swear!"


    Liang Chen''s instincts screamed at him to fill his hand with poison, to melt the youth who had dared lay his hands on him, but Liang Chen forced the violent instincts down, taking a good look at the youth in front of him. The youth was a man who seemed to be approaching his thirties, his head was covered in unkempt brown hair and he had a slight stubble on his chin. His skin was somewhat pale and his somewhat larger than usual eyes were a bit red and bloodshot. He was clad in a silver robe engraved with the image of a white dragon coiling around the moon. With his hand still on the man''s throat, Liang Chen spoke out.


    "WhO aRe yoU!?"


    Liang Chen''s voice came out louder than he had planned it to, it was also rather distorted because he had just woken up from an unknown period of unconsciousness. The man shivered slightly as he looked at Liang Chen, quickly answering after sending a scared glance at Liang Chen''s eyes.


    "I am Shentu Jun, a junior disciple of the Moon Dragon sect!"


    Liang Chen could not see it, but Shentu Jun had been able to see Liang Chen''s pupils contract when he spoke out, resembling the pupils of a snake. Luckily, the contraction only lasted for a short second before it vanished, Liang Chen''s pupils returning to their normal state. Liang Chen did not let go of Shentu Jun''s throat, continuing to question as he swept his own body to see if anything was missing.


    "Moon Dragon sect? What is that?"


    Liang Chen knew about the strongest powers on the Fallen Cloud continent, but he had never heard about any power called the Moon Dragon Sect. Shentu Jun did not even dare breathe too deeply, lest Liang Chen''s hand tighten around his neck.


    "The Moon Dragon Sect is one of the five great rulers that control the eastern part of this planet. We got news of this hidden realm, so a few junior and senior disciples were sent to see what we could learn! I swear I am telling the truth!"


    Shentu Jun had reached the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm so he had felt rather confident as he traveled the outskirts of the hidden realm. But whenever he glanced at the faint purple glow that was gathering in Liang Chen''s hand, he felt his entire body tremble, a feeling of death flooding him. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to talk.


    "Five great rulers? What about the five great clans?"


    Liang Chen had always been taught that the five great clans were the mightiest powers around, no one else even close to them. But according to this Shentu Jun, there were even greater powers out there, powers that could control an area much larger than any one of the clans. Shentu Jun once more quickly responded, he loved live, so he did not even dare think about lying.


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    "They are only subsidiaries to the five rulers, each clan belonging to one of the rulers. The Moon Dragon Sect controls the Huang clan."


    Shentu Jun was not surprised that Liang Chen did not know about the five great rulers, as it was information that only the strong knew about. Even within the five clans, only those close to the peak of the clan knew about the fact that they were subsidiaries to greater powers. Liang Chen stayed silent for a bit, taking in the information before he asked his next question.


    "Who are the other four rulers?"


    Liang Chen mostly believed Shentu Jun, mostly because he could feel Shentu Jun''s fear, not only seeing it in his eyes but even smelling it like a faint fragrance. If he was able to lie while feeling such intense fear, there was nothing Liang Chen could do. But Shentu Jun was just as terrified as Liang Chen believed, so he quickly told Liang Chen everything he had been taught by Senior Disciple Yao.


    "The other four rulers are the Nightshield sect, the Ghost Soul sect, the Fiendgod sect, and the Storm Wolf Sect. Along with the Moon Dragon Sect, they control the entire eastern half of the planet. As for the western part of the planet, it is controlled by the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, but I don''t know if they have sent any disciples to investigate this hidden realm!"


    Liang Chen fell into another short silence as he took in all the information. Six great powers that controlled the entire planet, and the great clans he had feared before were nothing but subsidiaries, pawns to be used. It was a bit hard for him to accept it immediately, but there was something he wanted to know.


    "Which of the rulers is in control of the Qing clan?"


    Qing Lan Yong was the most talented disciple that the Qing clan had seen in the last 1000 years, cementing his position as the Young Master. If he joined one of these great powers, how hard would it be for Liang Chen to catch up to him, to kill him? Shentu Jun searched his memories for a short moment before speaking out in a somewhat uncertain voice.


    "The Qing clan is under the control of the Nightshield Sect. I heard that one of the Qing clan ancestors has a high position in the sect, so the Qing clan is treated well by the Nightshield sect."


    After Shentu Jun told Liang Chen everything, an uneasy silence descended between them. Liang Chen was busy taking in all the new information, his head somewhat lowered, while Shentu Jun was busy trying to calm down his hammering heart. After a minute of silence, he could no longer bear it, speaking out in a begging voice.


    "I swear, I am telling the truth! So please, don''t kill me."


    Liang Chen stopped his thinking, his eyes landing on Shentu Jun again. Liang Chen felt his hand twitch, the poisonous Qi within it trying to flood into Shentu Jun''s throat, trying to obey Liang Chen''s instincts. Liang Chen narrowed his eyes, glaring at his own arm as he forced the Qi within it back into his Ascending Tower. He let go of Shentu Jun''s throat, his arm trembling slightly.


    "Leave, quickly."


    Shentu Jun immediately stood up and spun around, dashing away without even looking back. Liang Chen continued to glare at his arm until the trembling stopped and it calmed down. He was in control over this body, not his instincts, he would only kill when he allowed himself to kill. Shentu Jun had not done anything to him, so he would not allow himself to just kill Shentu Jun. Liang Chen took a deep breath, glancing at the sky as he muttered to himself.


    "Five great rulers, Dawn''s Blade Alliance? Forget about it, none of them matter."


    He could only shake his head. None of the great rulers had anything to do with the weak him, and it was unlikely that he would have too much to do with them in the future. All he wanted to do was kill Qing Lan Yong, and then maybe see if there truly existed a way to bring back the dead.


    It was only after shaking his head that Liang Chen noticed that he was still covered in Demonic beast blood and guts, the corpse of the snake lying right next to him. Liang Chen clenched his fist and examined his own body, checking the increase of his strength. Upon seeing the result, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes landing on the snake.


    "My strength...seems to have increased by quite a bit. My poison has also gotten more vicious. Should be because of you?"


    Liang Chen''s cultivation had completely skipped the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm, jumping directly to the late stage, his Ascending Tower now having three floors. His poison still changed between green and purple, but there was now a faint yellow light glowing within the poison, turning it even more vicious.


    The snake had only been at the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm, so Liang Chen had never expected it to propel him all the way to the late stage. But what he forgot was that he had also absorbed a tiny amount of the crimson lightning that descended from the sky, the lightning had also helped him increase his cultivation.


    He stood up and stretched his body, a soft popping sound ringing out from his joints. His ability to resist the omnipresent pressure in the hidden realm had also increased somewhat, his body growing stronger and faster. Liang Chen quickly checked the body of the snake, but he did not find what he was looking for.


    "No Demon Crystal, so it was either stolen or I unconsciously absorbed it."


    Liang Chen found it unlikely that someone had stolen the Demon Crystal, as they would have also taken the rest of the snake''s body, as well as the interspatial ring that Liang Chen was now carrying. Looking at the dead snake and sensing his increased strength, Liang Chen''s lips slowly curved into a wide grin.


    "The wolves didn''t work. The porcupine didn''t work. But this snake, this snake worked. Lightning also works just as wonderfully as the first time, could it be that I can only use blood from Demonic beasts that have the lightning and poison element to cultivate? How troublesome, I wish someone had warned me about that before I wasted so much time."


    This was the most logical conclusion that Liang Chen could think of at the moment. But how could he know that it was not normal for people to only be able to use the blood of Demonic beasts with certain elements? Liang Chen quickly stored away the body of the snake within his interspatial ring, saving the meat for later.


    After storing away the corpse, Liang Chen swept the surrounding forest with his eyes, but there were no traces of Demonic beasts. He climbed up a tree and found a secure branch, scrubbing himself clean with the snow that had gathered on the tree, planning what he would do next.


    "At least I know now so that I can stop wasting time and focus my efforts. My strength has increased, so the number of Demonic beasts I can kill has grown somewhat."

 Deeper into the hidden realm.

    Liang Chen stalked the outskirts of the forest, hiding in the trees and dropping down on unsuspecting Demonic beasts that he felt were weak enough for him to kill. Despite staying in the outskirts, he quickly learned that there was quite a diversity in the strength of the Demonic beasts.


    The weakest he had seen was at the bottom of Rank 1, but he had also seen some which had an obscure cultivation but radiated such a strong pressure that it caused him to feel fear from the bottom of his being. After reaching the late stage of the Mortal Tower stage, he was able to tell the strength of others all the way up to the late stage of the Xiantian Tower stage. For him to only see their cultivation as obscure, they had most likely transcended the Ascended Tower realm.


    His hunting speed had actually gotten slower after his increase in cultivation, not only because of the diverse strength of the Demonic beasts but also because he needed very specific Demonic beasts. Only Demonic beasts with the lightning or poison element were useful to him, any others would only cause his instincts to scream at him, his veins refusing to absorb the Qi within their blood.


    Even after stalking the outskirts for a little over two weeks, he had only managed to kill three Demonic beasts, one that had the poison element, and two that had the lightning element. None of the battles had been easy, one of the lightning Demonic beasts, a fox with hard and spiky fur, had reached the very peak of Rank 1, almost entering Rank 2. But despite its hard fur, it had weak internal defenses. Once Liang Chen managed to penetrate its fur, it quickly fell to his poison.


    Liang Chen had managed to kill three Demonic beasts, pushing his strength into the early stage of the Houtian Tower stage, but he had lost far more battles than he had won. There were even a few battles where he had almost lost his life, only able to flee thanks to his speed being a bit faster than the speed of the Demonic beasts he fought.


    There were frequent storms sweeping over the hidden realm, thunder and rain hammering the earth. But Liang Chen could only look at the lightning filled sky with resignation. His body was too weak to handle the crimson lightning that flashed in the sky, only able to handle the smallest of arcs, arcs of such a small size that he was unable to properly attract them. Thanks to that, he could only spend every moment not spent fighting on strengthening his body with his own lightning.


    But not everything was going against Liang Chen, a few things went well for him. With the increase of his cultivation and the strength of his lightning element, he slowly became able to once again sense the electricity of the surrounding living beings. He did not know why, but a sense of peace and security returned to Liang Chen once he became able to sense the surrounding electricity again.


    His instincts had also grown sharper, but whether it was due to all the battles he had fought, or the Demonic beast blood, he was uncertain. But thankfully, he had not had any relapses where his body chose to listen to his violent instincts rather than his own orders.


    After two and half weeks of hunting, Liang Chen stopped his ceaseless searching for Demonic beasts, his brows furrowing as he sat on a branch. Night had already descended, a moonless sky covered in bright white dots spreading out above Liang Chen. The reason his brows were furrowed was because of a middle-aged woman he could see sitting a small distance away from him.


    She had made up a small campfire, roasting some Demonic beast meat as she wrote in a small leatherbound book. She had smooth features, waist-length brown hair and was clad in a tight leather armor that accentuated her curves. Her strength was only a little bit higher than Liang Chen''s, at the late stage of the Houtian Tower stage.


    The reason his brows were furrowed was because she had not put up any defenses, she wasn''t even keeping an eye on the surroundings, focused completely on her writing. There was a faint and repugnant smell surround her campfire, but Liang Chen could not see where it came from. How could she sit around so casually with her low strength? Liang Chen observed her for a bit, trying to figure out how she could act so casual. But little did he expect that she would turn towards him, smirking as she spoke in a teasing voice.


    "Are you hoping for a little show? Sorry, but I have a bit more class than that."


    Liang Chen''s entire body tensed up, lightning and poison quickly starting to flow through his body. Liang Chen was quite confident in the hiding technique he had come up with after stalking around in the outskirts, how had she discovered him? Liang Chen''s thoughts were racing, trying to figure out the best course of action. Completely ignoring him, the woman spoke out again, chuckling slightly.


    "No need for the quiet treatment, thanks to this, I know that you are out there. I am Luo Shui''er, why not join me here for some food? I promise I won''t gobble you up."


    While she spoke, the woman raised her left hand, a bronze plate appearing in her palm. Liang Chen recognized the plate, as he had one of his own, it was the mark of someone from the Eternal Dragon Pavilion. He thought about it for a bit longer but eventually decided to leave hiding, dropping down from the branch he was sitting on and approaching Luo Shui''er. With the fire illuminating him, Luo Shui''er let out a small exclamation.


    "Oh, why didn''t you say you were so young and cute earlier? Now I am not certain whether or not I can keep my promise to not gobble you up."


    Liang Chen felt a slight shiver go up his back when he saw the way Luo Shui''er was looking him up and down, licking her lips slightly. His body tensed up slightly as he continued to approach, a slight smile appearing on his face. He had not talked with anyone since he talked to the youth from the Moon Dragon Sect, so finally talking to someone else would make for a nice change of pace. Seeing his slightly tensed body, Luo Shui''er raised her hand and chuckled slightly, continuing to tease Liang Chen.


    "It''s just a joke, a joke. Or is it, I wonder? What''s your name, little cutie?"


    Liang Chen had to admit that this was the first time he had been teased like this by someone, but he did not allow it to disturb his calm mind. He sat down at the fire, across from Luo Shui''er, giving a slight nod of his head and introducing himself.


    " And here I thought I was hiding properly. Good evening, I am Liang Chen. How could you tell where I was hiding?"


    She said that it was because of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, but Liang Chen had never been told about such a function, so he was a bit skeptic. Luo Shui''er simply raised the bronze plated engraved with her information, nodding at it.


    "As I said, it''s because of this thing."


    Liang Chen glanced at the plate, apparently looking at it with a skeptic gaze, as Luo Shui''er tilted her head upon seeing him look at it.


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    "When you signed up, did they not explain to you how to use them?"


    Since she could sense his presence with the plate, it was clear that Liang Chen was also a member of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, so how could he not know about one of the main functions? Seeing the somewhat wry smile that appeared on Liang Chen''s face, Luo Shui''er quickly understood that she was correct, pushing out her chest and raising her head in an assuring gesture.


    "Aww, I guess you were so cute that they didn''t want you to actually sign up. Let this Big Sister explain it to you. After signing up and personalizing the plates with blood, the Eternal Dragon Pavilion will activate the plates using their own little secret technique. Thanks to this secret technique, anyone who holds such a plate will be able to sense the location of others holding a plate. This will allow associates to recognize each other and work together should they meet each other. Or it allows people from the pavilion to know about the location of targets that might be ripe for robbing."


    Liang Chen felt like cursing at the receptionist that helped him as he signed up. Why had he not explained such a major function, and for that matter, why had he not activated Liang Chen''s plate? But how could Liang Chen know that the reason his plate had not been activated was because the receptionist did not want Liang Chen to be discovered and robbed by other members of the pavilion? Luo Shui''er quickly let out a slight laugh after finishing her sentence, once again licking her lips as she looked at Liang Chen.


    "But there is no need to worry about anything like that with me. There is also no way I can rob something as cute as you."


    The corners of Liang Chen''s lips could not help but twitch as he looked at Luo Shui''er. Was she simply teasing him, or was she truly someone who had a preference for boys as young as him? Liang Chen quickly switched the subject, talking about the reason he had stopped to observe her.


    "How can you rest here so casually, without any defenses? What if a Demonic beast is entranced by the fire and sneaks up on you?"


    While speaking, he swept the surroundings with his eyes. Despite the fire burning in front of them, Liang Chen was unable to sense any Demonic beasts. Could it be because of the strange smell? Luo Shu''er pulled out a small vial filled with a white and fine powder, raising it high. As she pulled it out and started to explain, Liang Chen noticed that the repugnant smell was getting stronger.


    "Dried Demonic beast feces. I spread the dried feces of strong Demonic beasts in an area around the camp, and any Demonic beasts in the area will quickly leave the territory of the stronger Demonic beast. It''s unnoticeable by humans, but Demonic beasts are very sensitive to it, can''t go anywhere without it. Since you are inside this hidden realm, I guess you took on the mission to gather information about it. Did you not buy the guide they offered?"


    Luo Shui''er tilted her head as she looked at Liang Chen. Not only the plate activation but even this elementary piece of information, had the people at the pavilion not told him anything. Liang Chen looked at the vial for a bit longer, a slightly foreboding feeling gathering at the pit of his stomach when he heard that humans weren''t supposed to be able to notice it. He took a deep breath, giving a casual shrug of his shoulders.


    "They didn''t tell me that there was a guide. But then again, I was broke at the time, so I wouldn''t have been able to afford it anyway."


    Liang Chen had not had a single piece of currency, nor anything he could sell, on him at the time he signed up with the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, forced to sleep on the streets and eat rats for breakfast. The eyes of Luo Shui''er lit up after hearing Liang Chen''s casual reply, swiping the ring on her finger and pulling out a thick book.


    "Aww, poor little thing. Want to buy my copy, it''s only 15 low-quality Spirit Stones? Of course, if you don''t have money, I am certain we can come to an agreement."


    Luo Shui''er once again licked her lips, looking at Liang Chen with eyes that seemed like they wanted to eat him. Now there was no doubt in his mind that Luo Shui''er was the type of woman who liked to eat up young men. He gave a slight smile, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out 15 Spirit Stones, crystals made out of pure Qi.


    "I fear for my precious chastity, so I''ll pay for it with15 Spirit Stones. Please hand over the guide."


    Liang Chen was not above making a few jokes from time to time, it was simply that he had become far more focused on his training, increasing his strength so that he could eventually kill Qing Lan Yong. With Liang Chen''s quick reply, Luo Shui''er puffed out her cheeks a little, pouting as she threw the book at Liang Chen.


    "You need to learn to be cuter and more accommodating, the women will certainly appreciate it. Then again, if you had a brash attitude, it might create a cute contrast."


    Liang Chen caught the book and tossed the Spirit Stones at Luo Shui''er. The book was rather heavy, so it seemed like it contained quite a large amount of information. He opened the book and started to skim through the information, Luo Shui''er handing him some meat from the fire.


    "Here, take some food. Inside this hidden realm, you need to constantly keep your nerves and strength above a certain level."


    Liang Chen glanced at the speared meat. Not only blood, but even the meat of Demonic beasts that didn''t have the poison or lightning element was also bad for him. The few times he had tried to eat the meat of a Demonic beast without those elements, hid body had immediately forced it out again, ending up with him curled up on the ground, heaving as he vomited. All he could do was push the meat away with a slightly awkward smile.


    "No thanks, I have my own food."


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring, taking out some of the meat he had gained from the snake he had killed two weeks ago. He grabbed a small twig, pierced the meat, and then placed it over the fire to give it a quick roast. Roasting it made it easier to eat, but he found that the taste of the raw meat was better. Luo Shui''er pulled back the offered meat, her expression turning from a pouting one to a teasing one.


    "You don''t seem to trust me too much. Still afraid I am going to gobble you up?"


    Luo Shui''er moved slightly, getting a little closer to Liang Chen. Liang Chen shrugged his shoulder and acted like nothing, but he was constantly keeping an eye on the electricity within Luo Shui''er''s body, closely watching her every move, ready to respond in less than a second.


    "It''s not that, it''s just that most Demonic beast meat doesn''t sit well with me, so I have gotten accustomed to only eating the meat of certain Demonic beasts."


    Luo Shui''er stopped getting closer when she was within arm''s reach of Liang Chen, glancing at the meat he was roasting in the fire. She could smell a faint sweet fragrance from the meat, the sweet fragrance of poison, allowing her to easily guess what sort of Demonic beast he had gotten the meat from. But since he had said so, there was not much she could say, shrugging her shoulders.


    "If you are picky like that, you will never end up growing taller. Then again, that would be just fine with me. Are you preparing to return to the pavilion? I can yell at them for not activating your plate if you want."


    Liang Chen did not wear anything on his upper body, only clad in somewhat tattered pants. Looking at his state, as well as the fact that he was at the outskirts of the hidden realm, she figured that it was likely that he was on his way to leave and report. But contrary to what she expected, Liang Chen shook his head.


    "Nah, I was planning on heading deeper into the hidden realm. I was told to check out a few things deeper within the hidden realm, so I am preparing to head over there."


    With the guide in hand, Liang Chen was now much better equipped to traveling in the hidden realm. Just from the little bit he had skimmed through already, he could see that it contained information about the various types of herbs, Demonic beasts, danger zones, even some safe places where people gathered. Luo Shui''er could not help but raise an eyebrow after hearing Liang Chen''s response, but she quickly switched over to a teasing tone again.


    "You''ll head even deeper, with your strength? Well, with your hiding technique, I guess it might just work, as long as you make sure to not fight anything. Once you leave, you can come to look for me at the branch located in the Falle Cloud city, I''ll help you remove all the stress that you have accumulated."


    Just like Liang Chen thought, Luo Shui''er was someone who liked to eat up young boys. Especially young boys like Liang Chen, who quite clearly had never experienced intimate relations with others. Liang Chen''s mouth twitched a bit, but he made sure to maintain a composed state of mind.


    "...I''ll make sure to keep it in mind."


    The two continued to chat with each other, eating meat, even drinking some fruity wine that Luo Shui''er pulled out, the night quickly fading away without either of them sleeping. Once dawn rolled around, the naturally split up, Luo Shui''er heading towards the entrance of the hidden realm, while Liang Chen headed deeper into the hidden realm

 The first stop.

    After splitting up with Luo Shui''er, Liang Chen quickly memorized the guidebook and made his way deeper into the hidden realm. He didn''t move in a straight path, climbing into the trees and taking a roundabout way through the forest. He had two reasons for doing this, the first one being that he was running out of medicinal herbs and was in dire need of new ones to refill his stock. Taking a roundabout path allowed him to follow the directions of the guidebook, tracking down the marks left by some medicinal herbs that he could pluck.


    The second reason was that there were actually several dangerous zones within the forest, the most prominent one located at the center of the forest. The guide was vague about exactly what was located at the center of the forest, but the few people that had managed to come back after reaching the depths of the forest had reported that it was a land of death, with even the land itself dying and distorting.


    Liang Chen wanted to take the chance and see if he could find more Demonic beasts that he could absorb. But even when he followed the exact directions of the guidebook, finding the tracks of Demonic beasts that were weaker than him, their nests would always end up being empty.


    Had it been just one empty nest, he could consider it a coincidence. But over the span of five days, he had come across four empty nests, each of them showing signs that the Demonic beasts had quickly left. He couldn''t help but wonder, had they noticed his approach, or was there some other reason that they were fleeing from their nests? And if they had indeed noticed his approach, why would they flee? Demonic beasts were famous for their ferocious nature, with most of them hating humanity. They would gladly take any chance they had to fight against humans, even if they were weaker.


    The path through the forest that he had settled on went past a spot that was very close to a spot that was considered to be the edge of the depths of the forest, allowing Liang Chen to get a slight glimpse of the land of death that was the center of the forest. And upon seeing the scenery that spread out, he fully understood why it was called a land of death.


    The land of death was one of the few places in the outskirts of the hidden realm where there was no snow. No matter how much snow fell onto the land of death, it would dissolve before it even touched the ground. The earth was an ashen gray in color, the trees brittle and dried up, twisting and contorting as if they were in immense pain. A faint white mist lingered over the ground, coiling around the bleached bones that littered the earth.


    From his vantage point that was a small distance away from the edge of the land of death, Li Yang could see bones that belonged not only to humans but also several different types of Demonic beasts. When he turned to look deeper into the land of death, a terrifying sense of death filled every inch of his being, his instincts letting him know that there was no chance of survival if he were to set foot into that place. Just what could be located there, to even be able to kill the land?


    Even if he spent time thinking about it, Liang Chen would not come to a proper answer, so he simply threw the thoughts and questions to the back of his mind. He had already been traveling for five days, the marks of human activity growing more abundant as Liang Chen started to get closer to the end of the forest, closer to the first goal he had decided on after reading the guidebook.


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    On the seventh day after splitting up with Luo Shui''er, Liang Chen managed to leave the forest, having spent almost an entire month within the forest. Thanks to the constant pressure in the hidden realm, Liang Chen''s body had gotten more toned and muscular, his childish features vanishing because of the brutal training he put himself through. Since he could only wash himself with the surrounding snow, his body was somewhat dirty, but he paid it no heed.


    A vast plain greeted him after he left the forest, waist-height grass swaying in the wind, the faint fragrance of flowers drifting on the breeze. Liang Chen merely swept the plain, his eyes settling on a small city in the distance. The buildings in the city were created by cultivators who had either the stone or metal element, so their shape and looks varied greatly. He could see a stone forest spread out far behind the city, trees of stones and large boulders covered in moss stretching towards the sky.


    The city was his first stop, while the forest of stone was his second stop. The city being one of the few places that could be considered safe within this hidden realm. But when the guidebook called it safe, that was only from Demonic beasts, the danger of humans was still very present within the city. Inside the city, the strongest ruled freely, with the weak forced to obey any order. Murdering those you didn''t like, raping the beautiful women, robbing those you knew had many resources, all these things were very common, even happening directly on the streets.


    Yet despite being almost lawless, these cities were the only places one could buy or sell items within the hidden realm. Each city within the hidden realm had a single market that was protected by a collaboration of the strongest groups within the city. As long as one paid a small tax to the rulers of the city, they could freely buy and sell things within the market, their safety guaranteed. Of course, once you left the market, you could only rely on yourself to protect your wealth.


    Liang Chen had some Demonic beast meat that didn''t fit his elements, so he was looking to sell it, he was also looking to buy more Demonic beast meat and blood that suited his two elements, allowing him to continue to quickly increase his strength.


    The reason he wanted to go to the stone forest was also quite simple. The stones within the forest contained a strange attractive force that drew down lightning from the sky. The stones harvested and stored the lightning, forming crystals that contained large amounts of pure lightning energy. There were also quite a few lightning element herbs and Demonic beasts that could only be found within the stone forest, making it an excellent place for Liang Chen.


    But before he could think about what to do in the stone forest, Liang Chen had to enter the city and manage to sell his items. He took his eyes away from the stone forest and started making his way toward the city. He could see a few people walking in and out of the city, as well as what seemed to be corpses nailed to the large stone walls that surrounded the city.


    As he started to get closer to the city, a low sound started to ring within his head, like an indistinct whisper that tried to warn him about going places with people. Liang Chen''s expression sunk a little as he rubbed his own temples, muttering to himself.


    "Be quiet, you don''t control me, and you certainly don''t choose where I go."


    Liang Chen knew exactly what this indistinct whisper was, it was the influence from the Demonic beast blood he had bathed in several times, trying to get him to avoid places with multiple humans. Liang Chen was fine with listening to his more bestial instincts during battle, but he refused to let them control him. It was he who would control his instincts, not the other way around.


    He took a few deep breaths as he continued to walk, the whispering fluctuating between quiet whispering and loud screaming, but he simply continued to ignore it, rapidly approaching the city. He hoped that he could enter it and quickly finish his business, without anything troublesome happening.

 Buying Information.

    Liang Chen followed the downtrodden path that led to the distant city, his eyes vigilantly sweeping across the surroundings. The grass around the path went all the way up to his waist, so it was easy for other people or Demonic beasts to hide within it, ambushing travelers. He could sense that there were indeed some living beings lurking in the grass around the path, but as soon as he got close, they would either lie low or retreat, so nothing ended up happening.


    It was only as he got closer to the city that he could properly see the sheer immensity of the circular stone wall that surrounded the city. The wall stretched at least a few hundred meters into the sky, and it seemed to be a few tens of meters thick. The top of the wall was covered in large jagged spikes that resembled the teeth of a ferocious beast. Just how strong did one have to be, to create a wall like this?


    At the end of the path that Liang Chen was walking, built into the immense wall, stood two massive wooden doors, each one covered in strange carvings that resembled a nine-floored pagoda that stood atop a gargantuan planet. With the doors being this massive, Liang Chen could not help but wonder how people opened and closed them.


    Liang Chen quickly threw the questions to the back of his mind as he got closer to the wall, as there were several people meandering around outside the two wooden doors. There was a mixture of men and women, young and old, people clad in rags and people clad in neat robes, each of them vigilantly sweeping the surroundings as they kept a short distance between each other.


    The people wandering around outside the doors quickly noticed Liang Chen, stopping in their tracks for a short moment. Two men quickly locked eyes, moving towards Liang Chen before anyone else had the chance to move. Upon seeing the two men make their move, the others clicked their tongue and resumed their wandering. The two men quickly reached Liang Chen, stopping him from moving further.


    "Halt, you must pay a tax to enter the city. 5 low-quality Spirit Stones per person."


    Both men had tanned bodies and unruly black hair that hung down a little over their eyes. Their chests were bare, a pair of brown leather pants covering their legs. There was a slight smile on their face, but Liang Chen merely raised an eyebrow as he responded.


    "Hoh, there is a tax just for entering? Sorry, but I don''t have the Spirit Stones, so you get nothing."


    Liang Chen knew that there was no tax for entering the cities, as it was explicitly mentioned in the guide that none of the ruling powers wanted to set too many taxes, as it meant fewer people would enter the cities. Not to mention, Liang Chen only had about 30 Spirit Stones left, and he was not willing to waste any before he got to buy what he was looking for. He tried to brush past the two men, but one of them grabbed onto his shoulder and stopped him.


    "Kid, we are trying to be nice here. If you don''t pay the tax, your life beyond that wall won''t be fun."


    The man tightened his grip somewhat, but not only was Liang Chen''s cultivation higher than theirs, but his body was also strengthened by cultivating with lightning and Demonic beast blood. Liang Chen''s bestial instincts did not appreciate being stopped again, but he quickly forced them to calm down.


    "You don''t need to bother, I know that there is no tax. Just leave me be and go bug someone else."


    He brushed away the hand that was placed on his shoulder, once again attempting to move past the two men. Thanks to his lightning, Liang Chen was able to sense the movements of the two men, so when one of them send out a punch in anger, Liang Chen was quick to react.


    He took half a step to the side, causing the punch to slide past his neck. He gave his body a slight twist, his left arm shooting out and grabbing onto the man''s throat. Liang Chen''s grasp tightened as he did his best to hold back the poison that was trying to flood his hand. His eyes narrowed somewhat as he opened his mouth to talk.


    "I said..."


    Liang Chen had no interest in killing the man he was holding, as the attack the man had sent out was not meant to kill him, it was merely supposed to stop him in his tracks so that he would listen. But Liang Chen''s words were quickly interrupted when he noticed the movements of the other man. The man had taken up position behind Liang Chen, pulling out a dagger and aiming a stab at Liang Chen''s back, straight at his heart.


    Liang Chen''s expression sunk. The first man had not aimed to kill him, but it was clear that this other man was aiming to end his life and rob his corpse. Liang Chen kicked the man whose throat he was holding onto, pushing him backward. He used the force of the kick to spin his own body around, his sword appearing in his right hand. He parried the dagger to the side, his sword moving forward and piercing through the throat of his attacker. The man looked shocked at having his throat pierced, a few unclear words sounding out as blood rushed into his throat.


    "You...you..."


    Liang Chen''s eyes were narrowed and cold as he looked at the man. Liang Chen was not merciful enough to spare someone who had attempted to kill him. He pulled out the sword, the man collapsing onto the ground, blood pouring out from his throat. Liang Chen turned his head towards the man he had kicked away, who was now looking at him with a terrified and pale expression.


    "Trying to kill me just because I didn''t pay 5 Spirit Stones? You can''t blame me for not showing any mercy. You, fuck off."


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    The man could only nod his head, sweat pouring down his face. They had been too occupied with getting to Liang Chen before any of the other people, so they didn''t take the time to check his cultivation level. Had they known he was stronger than them, there was no way they would dare to even think about making a move on him.


    Liang Chen paid no more attention to the man after seeing his nod, continuing towards the city. He swept the other wandering people with his gaze, but none of them chose to make a move on him, allowing him to easily enter the city.


    There was a strange scent that filled the entire city, a mixture of sweat, blood, and waste. The streets were wide enough to fit at least 10 people walking side by side and paved with a thin layer of stone that showed no signs of age. There were quite a few people walking around, making sure that they kept a distance from anyone who wasn''t part of their group.


    Liang Chen spotted several groups of people who were clad in similar robes, so he guessed that these groups belonged to the clans and sects who were the current rulers of the city He did not want to waste any time, so he walked up to a somewhat short man who was leaning against the wall of a building, puffing from an ornate pipe in the shape of a dragon''s head, smoking something that released a bitter scent.


    "Could you tell me where the market is?"


    The man glanced at Liang Chen, looking him up and down for a short moment. He removed the pipe from his mouth, blowing out a thick plume of pitch black smoke. He used the pipe as an indicator, pointing down the road to his right.


    "At the center of the city. Follow this road for about five minutes and you will start seeing some signs. Just don''t forget about the tax, or you will be thrown out."


    Liang Chen thanked the man and then started following the road. As he walked, he made sure to keep a constant and vigilant watch on his surroundings, not the slightest movement escaping his senses. Being surrounded not only by walls but also other people, his bestial instincts were on full tilt, shouting at him to escape. He simply continued to force them down, quickly finding the signs that the man had mentioned.


    He followed the directions of the signs, reaching a large square plaza after a few minutes. The entire plaza was surrounded by a three-meter tall metal fence to keep people out, a few gates placed along the fence. Liang Chen walked up to one of the gates, a man clad in a thin cyan-colored robe stepping in front of him once he got closer.


    "5 low-quality Spirit Stones to enter the market, each day you spend in the market past the first one will cost an additional 5."


    Liang Chen quickly handed over the Spirit Stones, the man placing them against a crescent-moon shaped necklace that he wore around his neck. The stones vanished into the necklace, the man giving a slight nod of his head.


    "Are you looking to buy, or looking to sell?"


    Liang Chen guessed that the necklace was the same as his interspatial ring, only that it had been molded into a different shape. Liang Chen could use a guide for where to buy what he needed, so he quickly listed what he was looking for.


    "Both. I am looking to both buy and sell Demonic beast blood and flesh, I am especially looking for parts that came from Demonic beasts with the poison or lightning element. I am also looking to buy medicinal herbs and some information about the Nightshield sect."


    The man did not bat an eye at Liang Chen''s requests, he had worked as a guard for quite some time, so he had heard all types of strange requests. He fondled his chin for a short moment, before twisting his body slightly and pointing at a few different stands located within the plaza.


    "You can sell your items to that woman over there, she belongs to the Moon Dragon sect, so her prices can be considered decently fair. Buying medicinal herbs is best done from that man over there, he should have ones that fit you. Getting parts from poisonous Demonic beasts will be hard, but that youth over there has some parts that came from lightning element Demonic beasts. As for the information you are looking for, you can check with that man over there. He is a member of the Nightshield sect, but whether or not he is willing to divulge any information is uncertain."


    Liang Chen quickly memorized the four stands that the guard pointed out, giving him a short thanks before stepping past him and entering the plaza. Liang Chen saw far more people in the market than he had seen in the rest of the city, showing just how much they valued the guaranteed safety.


    His first stop was the stand where he could sell his items and acquire a few more Spirit Stones. The brown-haired woman who owned the stand was clad in the same silver robe that Shentu Jun had worn, it also had the same emblem embroidered, so it seemed the two of them were truly from the Moon Dragon sect. He handed over the bodies he was looking to sell, the woman quickly tallying up how much they were worth.


    After acquiring an additional 51 low-Quality Spirit Stones, Liang Chen made his way towards the stand owned by the member of the Nightshield sect. He was uncertain if all the corpses he sold were truly only worth 51 Spirit Stones, but as he did not know much about the value of Spirit Stones, there was nothing he could do about it.


    The member of the Nightshield sect was a man with ear-length silver hair and a slight stubble. He was clad in a black robe embroidered with the emblem of the Nightshield sect, a round shield facing a dark mountain. Upon seeing Liang Chen approach him, the man put on a faint smile, pointing at the various armors and weapons he had placed on the wooden table in front of him.


    "I have mostly weapons and armors, some are a bit rusty, but they are still quite usable. What are you interested in?"


    The man did not mention where the weapons had come from, nor how they had gotten rusty, so it was likely that he had stolen them off the corpses of other cultivators. But Liang Chen did not care about that right now, immediately stating his business.


    "Information about the Nightshield sect. I want to know if there is someone called Qing Lan Yong in your sect, and if he is part of your sect, I want to know as much about him as possible."


    Shentu Jun had mentioned that the Nightshield Sect highly valued the Qing clan, so there was a chance that someone like Qing Lan Yong, who held a high position in the Qing clan, might have been accepted by the sect. The man raised an eyebrow after hearing Liang Chen''s question, rolling his eyes for a short moment as he thought it over.


    "Qing Lan Yong? There is indeed someone like that in my sect, but I hope you don''t expect information about my own sect to be cheap. 60 low-quality Spirit Stones."


    The man was only a junior disciple of the sect, but not only did he specialize in information gathering, but Qing Lan Yong joining the sect had also been a surprisingly big deal, so he did know a little. The man did not think that Liang Chen was foolish enough to actually pay 60 low-quality Spirit Stones for the information, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a smile appear on Li Yang''s face, a bag appearing in his hands.


    "Take them. Tell me everything, if you have an image, show it to me."

 I will become wrath.

    The eyes of the man lit up when he saw the bag land on the counter in front of him. He quickly grabbed it and held it close, opening it and counting the Spirit Stones within. After making sure that it contained all 60 Spirit Stones that he asked for, he stored the bag into his interspatial ring and cleared his throat, starting his explanation with a professional expression.


    "Qing Lan Yong, the young master of the Qing clan. Three wives, four concubines, eight legitimate children and one illegitimate. Transcended the Ascended Tower realm at the age of 9, reached the peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm at the age of 17, the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm at 37, and at 68 years of age, he finally entered the Primordial Immortal Realm, entering the Nightshield sect. Current cultivation is unknown."


    Liang Chen listened intently, making sure he didn''t miss a single word that the man said. Hearing that Qing Lan Yong had already transcended the Ascended Tower realm at 9, Liang Chen could only marvel at the difference that talent brought about. Liang Chen was now almost 13, but he was only halfway through the Ascended Tower realm, far worse than Qing Lan Yong. But his determination did not shake, he would become stronger than Qing Lan Yong, he would kill him, no matter how much he had to tear himself apart to do it. The man from the Nightshield sect paid no attention to Liang Chen, casually continuing his explanation.


    "The laws he is known to cultivate are earth, wood, and fire, but there might be more that he is hiding. Despite a lack of resources, he managed to reach the Primordial Immortal realm before the age of 100 so he was immediately accepted as a core disciple by one of the 5 Hall Masters, the Duskshield Hall Master."


    Liang Chen did not know how the Nightshield sect was set up, so he had no idea how big it was to become the core disciple of a Hall Master. Within the Nightshield sect, there were only two people above the hall Masters, the Grand Elder, and the Patriarch. And he hadn''t become just any normal disciple, he had become a core disciple, the highest rank of a disciple, the one that would inherit everything from his master.


    "When this hidden realm abruptly appeared seven years ago, he was among the first who wanted to explore it. But since he had already entered the Primordial Immortal realm at that time, he was unable to enter it, so he could only send in a few Junior Brothers and Sisters that worked as his subordinates."


    When the man finished his sentence, he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a dull grey crystal, placing it in front of Liang Chen. He inserted a bit of Qi into it, an image quickly appearing in the air above the crystal. The image depicted a handsome man who looked like he had just entered his twenties, his skin unblemished and smooth. He had sharp eyebrows that slanted upwards, accentuating his emerald green eyes. He had silky black hair that was tied into a neat bun, a bright smile on his face. Liang Chen grabbed the crystal and pulled it closer, muttering to himself as he looked at the image.


    "So this is how you look..."


    Despite the seething hatred he felt for Qing Lan Yong, Liang Chen had never actually seen what he looked like, until now. Liang Chen made sure to burn the image into his mind, not allowing himself to forget it. He sent a sideways glance at the shopkeeper, who gave a short nod of his head. Liang Chen stored the crystal into his interspatial ring, giving the shopkeeper a slight bow.


    "Thank you for sharing the information."


    Not only had he learned a lot about Qing Lan Yong and his current position, but he had also managed to acquire a picture of Qing Lan Yong. The man from the Nightshield sect simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he spoke.


    "No need to thank me, it was only business."


    Liang Chen thanked the man once more before he started looking for the other items that he needed. Because the information was so pricey, he only had around 20 Spirit Stones left, so the number of things he could afford were low. Buying Demonic beast blood or meat was out of the question, so he could only spend the rest of his Spirit Stones on medicinal herbs, storing them into his interspatial ring and leaving the market.


    He had bought the things he needed, expending all his money, so his next course of action was to head into the stone forest where he could find lightning type herbs and Demonic beasts. But not long after he left the market, he sensed seven people surrounding him and blocking off all paths, the one who seemed to be the leader speaking up.


    "Kid, don''t try anything, just follow us and don''t make a scene. Try to resist or make too much noise and we will kill you."


    Liang Chen swept the surrounding people, his eyes somewhat narrowed. They were all clad in different robes or armors, so it didn''t seem like they came from any specific sect. They had surrounded him shortly after he left the market, so he guessed that they might have seen how many Spirit Stones he spent and were hoping to earn some easy coin. Liang Chen swept the seven people with his gaze one more time, before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders.


    "Very well."


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    He raised his arms, showing that he wasn''t carrying any weapons. The seven men all moved a bit closer, forming a circle to prevent him from escaping while they took him away. Liang Chen quietly followed them as they made their way through the alleys, looking for a place where no one could see them rob Liang Chen. After all, it would be terrible if they were robbed right after robbing Liang Chen.


    After entering a deserted alley a good distance away from the market, the man who seemed to be the leader of the group, a man with short brown hair and a slight stubble, stepped forward, looking at Liang Chen with a serious gaze.


    "Alright, kid, we won''t make things too hard for you, just hand over everything you are carrying and we will let you leave alive."


    His hand rested on the hilt of the saber that hung at his waist, showing that he was serious. He was hoping to scare Liang Chen into instantly nodding his head, but Liang Chen only gave a slight tilt of his head, his eyes narrowing even further.


    "And if I say no?"


    The only things Liang Chen had on him currently were medicinal herbs as well as some Demonic beast meat and blood, both which were things he needed. The man gave a slight nod after hearing Liang Chen''s question, unsheathing his saber and placing it against Liang Chen''s throat.


    "Then we will kill you."


    The blade of the saber was quite sharp, a thin red line appearing on Liang Chen''s throat. Liang Chen lowered his eyes slightly, but he only gave the saber a short glance before he turned his eyes back onto the brown-haired man. Seeing Liang Chen''s unyielding expression, the man spoke up again, pressing the saber even harder against Liang Chen''s throat.


    "I get it, kid, I truly do. You have just started cultivating and have had some success, so you like to believe that the world revolves around you. But let me warn you, people die all the time, people just like you. Some die just because they had bad luck, a poor roll of the dice. But the world always keeps turning, none of the deaths mattering as much as people would want them to."


    Despite the encouraging words, Liang Chen still did not budge, calmly looking at the surrounding men. The leader was about to give Liang Chen one last chance when his vision suddenly started to turn blurry, a pounding pain assaulting his head. The man lost control over his body, collapsing to the ground, the six other men quickly following. He did his best to steady his shaky vision, glaring at Liang Chen as he tried to speak.


    "...! You...What did you...do?!"


    He found that his chest felt stuffy, his lungs burning with pain with every breath he took. His throat seemed to be closing up, making it somewhat hard for him to talk. But what the man didn''t notice was that the rest of his men weren''t even able to talk, clutching at their throats, completely unable to breathe. Had it not been for his strength being higher than theirs, he would have been in the same state. Liang Chen looked at the seven men on the ground, his eyes cold and merciless as he spoke.


    "If you just spend a bit of time experimenting with it, you will find that poison is surprisingly versatile. It can melt flesh, shut down organs, even put people to sleep, it all depends on how you use it."


    One could increase their strength even without increasing their cultivation, for example by training one''s body and reflexes, or by getting more accustomed to the elements one could control. Liang Chen had spent quite a bit of time experimenting with his poison and lightning elements, testing their limits and how to best use them. Upon hearing the truth, the leader could not help but open his eyes wide, almost spitting out the words.


    "Poison?! You...poisoned us?!"


    He struggled to figure out exactly when it was that Liang Chen had poisoned them, and how he had managed to get all of his men with the poison, but Liang Chen had no interest in explaining it to him. The moment the seven people surrendered him and made their demand, he had already moved into action. His poison element could do more than just coat his body, he could also excrete it in other ways, say like a fine mist released with his sweat.


    The leader used all of his strength to reach for the small leather bag that was tied to his leg, pulling out a small vial that contained a light green liquid. Liang Chen did not stop the man as he opened the vial and poured the liquid into his mouth, doing his best to swallow it. After swallowing the liquid, the man raised his eyes, wondering why Liang Chen wasn''t stopping him.


    But he quickly found out why he hadn''t been stopped. Even after an entire minute passed, the antidote he had drunk had done nothing to alleviate the effects of the poison. When the man realized that the antidote wasn''t going to work, Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, affirming the thoughts of the man.


    "Not working? My poison seems to be a mixture of a wide variety of poisons, so you would need a rather strong antidote to neutralize it."


    Liang Chen''s poison was gained after bathing in the flesh of poisonous Demonic beasts, his poison was the fusion of all those poisons. It was because it was a fusion that he was able to have it produce a myriad of effects. Upon hearing the truth, the man opened his eyes wide in shock, doing his best to speak out.


    "You..."


    The man was a robber and a murder, but he had some knowledge about cultivation. He knew that even if one person cultivated the element of poison, they were almost always limited to only having one type of poison, so how could this youth in front of him use several different types at once? Liang Chen did not know the thoughts of the man, crouching down in front of him, his sword appearing in his hand.


    "It''s just like you said. A man dies, and the world keeps turning, just as it does when an innocent family is torn apart. It''s just a roll of the dice. A bad roll and you die because of someone else''s crimes, a good roll and you get to live in peace and luxury. No matter what, the world will keep turning as if nothing happened, the heavens ignoring everything beneath them."


    Liang Chen wore a bitter and forlorn smile as he spoke. His family had suffered from that bad luck, torn apart as scapegoats. But the world kept turning as if nothing had ever happened, people simply averting their eyes. Liang Chen placed his sword against the man''s throat, putting his own determination into words, once again affirming it.


    "I once believed that the heavens were just, that they would save the innocent and those who did good. But that was nothing but a lie, the existence of people like you and Qing Lan Yong showing just how much of a lie it was. The heavens are indifferent at best, and cruel at worst. But so what? If the heavens aren''t just, it simply means that someone else will have to take over their role. I will become the wrath that the heavens have always been too lazy to deliver."

 Forming a group.

    Liang Chen only had to slice the throat of the brown-haired man, the rest of his group had already succumbed to Liang Chen''s poison, their throats closing up and their lungs ceasing to function. He wiped his blade clean on the man''s robe, placing it back into his interspatial ring. He then searched the bodies of the seven people, looking for anything that might prove useful.


    But he quickly learned that the seven men were in the same situation as him. They had a few vials of medicinal liquid or antidote, as well as a few spare weapons, but when it came to Spirit Stones, they only had 3. Liang Chen took all the vials filled with liquids of various viscosity, the weapons, and a few gray robes that one of the men had on him.


    The robes were too big for Liang Chen, the sleeves hiding his hands and the bottom dragging along the ground, but it was better than his current topless state, so he quickly put one on and did his best to cut it to size. Once the robe was cut to a size where it would not interfere with his movements, Liang Chen left the deserted alley and quickly made his way out of the city. He had finished all the business he had in the city, so there was no longer a reason for him to stick around.


    None of those that skulked around outside the city, waiting for naive newbies they could exploit, attempted to stop Liang Chen when he started moving towards the stone forest. He had only been in the city for a short while, so the memory of what he had done to the two people that tried to rob him earlier was still fresh in the mind of everyone outside the city. He was not a naive newbie. Before trying to rob him, they would have to consider whether or not it was worth risking their lives.


    Connecting the city with the stone forest were several winding paths, each one leading to a different entrance. There was no snow on any of the paths, so it was clear that they were used quite frequently. Entering the stone forest was easy and could be done from any spot, but the winding paths led to the entrances that were considered to be safest, so they were the most popular ones.


    Liang Chen was not the only one who was making his way down these beaten paths at this moment, but he was the only one who was traveling on his own. Just a simple sweep of his head would reveal several groups that were either entering or leaving the stone forest. Some groups looked to be in high spirits and bursting with vigor, while others were more deflated and clearly wounded, some were even carrying dead bodies or pieces of dead bodies. These wounded groups made sure to stay far away from any other groups, taking precautions in case they got attacked while weakened.


    The stone forest was located quite a bit away from the city, so Liang Chen had to walk for almost half a day before he actually managed to reach the stone forest. There were a few groups that had left the stone forest that were using the same path as him, resulting in both parties tensing up as the carefully walked past each other. Luckily, there didn''t seem to be anyone too keen on starting a battle, so he managed to peacefully reach the stone forest.


    The rocks that made up the stone forest were incredibly tall, each one at least several hundred meters tall, it was practically a forest of small mountains. Liang Chen noticed several groups of people standing around outside the stone forest, inspecting anyone who got close to it. While Liang Chen was slowly moving towards the stone forest, carefully inspecting it, he heard someone call out to him.


    "Please halt, we have a proposition for you."


    Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly to glance at the people that had called out to him. Three people were coming towards him with quick steps, two male youths and a female youth. They were clad in different robes of differing quality, so they didn''t seem to come from the same place. They stopped a few meters away from Liang Chen, giving him plenty of space so that he would not be suspicious of them. The three people gave him a slight bow, one of the male youths speaking up with a smile.


    "Thank you for stopping. We noticed that you are the same as us, one that made his way here on his own. But the deeper into the hidden realm you go, the harder it gets to progress, especially if you travel alone. All of us thought we could hunt solo in this stone forest, but the Demonic beasts and frequent storms make it borderline impossible to move without a group."


    The male youth that spoke up seemed to be approaching his mid-twenties, was almost two meters tall, and had a sturdy physique, his skin tanned dark. He had dark brown eyes and a slight stubble on his chiseled chin. His brown hair seemed freshly washed and was tied into a neat bun. His upper body was clad in a slightly dented and scratched metal armor, while his lower body was covered by thick leather pants. Liang Chen understood the gist of what they wanted, but there was still a question on his mind.


    "So basically, you want me to join your group, making it easier to hunt within this stone forest. Why me?"


    They had approached him the moment he got close to the stone forest. There was no way that they knew too much about him, so it was clear that there was something about him, on the surface, that had made them want to ask him to join them. The brown-haired youth''s smile grew a bit brighter as he quickly nodded his head.


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    "Exactly, I am glad that you understood it so quickly. We thought about joining up with one of the other groups, but most of them come from some clan or sect, so we were scared that they would pressure us with their numbers and unity, taking all the good rewards. How about it, interested in joining us?"


    Liang Chen fell into a short silence after hearing the response. It was quite normal for them to realize that he did not belong to any sect or clan, almost anyone who was part of a sect or clan considered it to be their pride, openly carrying the robes they were provided with. After mulling it over for a bit, Liang Chen asked another question.


    "How would all the rewards get split?"


    Liang Chen would prefer to hunt on his own, as it would mean that he would not have to share any of the spoils he acquired. But traveling in a group would make it easier to take down larger and stronger prey, so he was not completely against the idea. The three people seemed delighted that Liang Chen showed interest in joining them, so they quickly answered.


    "When it comes to rewards we have acquired without a battle, such as medicinal herbs that are out in the open, if there are enough, we will share them equally, if not, the one who found them gets them. But when it comes to spoils gained from battle, we will divide them based on everyone''s contributions during the battle."


    The three people had already been waiting outside this stone forest for two days, wishing that a lone traveler would arrive soon so that they could continue hunting within the stone forest, so when it came to how they would split the rewards, they had long come to an agreement. Liang Chen gave it a bit more thought, but in the end, he nodded his head.


    "Alright, I can agree to that."


    Liang Chen agreed to join them because of the prospects of getting better prey, as well as the fact that it was indeed safer to travel in groups. People would be far more cautious about trying to rob groups, so it could save him some trouble. Another reason he could agree so easily was the fact that the three people only had a cultivation that was a tad bit higher than his, the brown-haired you had reached the late stage of the Houtian Tower realm, while the two others had reached the middle stage. If there was a need for it, he could easily flee thanks to his speed.


    The group lit up with smiles after Liang Chen agreed, the brown-haired youth giving another short bow before quickly introducing himself.


    "Wonderful! I am Lei Qiang and I come from Eternal Stream City, I stem from a long family of military men, so I have some knowledge about arrays and how to organize groups of people. I specialize in using the earth element, so you can leave the frontlines to me!"


    Lei Qiang formed a small ball of earth between his palms, showing that he was telling the truth. Liang Chen''s eyebrow twitched slightly when he heard where Lei Qiang came from, as the name was familiar to Liang Chen. Eternal Stream City was where Huo Yantian, one of the dead caravan guards, had come from. The group did not notice the twitch, the second male youth introducing himself.


    "My name is Tang Chao, I come from Lost Peak City, my parents own an apothecary. The element I specialize in is water, so you can come to me if you have any wounds or if you get poisoned."


    Tang Chao was also quite a bit taller than Liang Chen, only half a head shorter than Lei Qiang, he seemed to be about the same age as Lei Qiang. But where Lei Qiang was sturdy and muscular, Tang Chao was thinner and more flexible, well-suited to the water element. His eyes were somewhat narrow, his pupils black in color, and he had shoulder-length hair that was a light blue in color. He was clad in thin leather armor, but the faint jangling sound that rang out when he moved made Liang Chen guess that he might be wearing chainmail beneath the leather armor. The last member of the group, the only girl, quickly gave an energetic greeting.


    "I''m Sun Xia! I was born in Valley''s Gate City as the daughter of a family of bakers, so you can leave all the cooking to me, I''ll make you meals that you will never forget! I specialize in using the stone element, so I can join Lei Qiang on the frontlines!"


    Sun Xia was a bit shorter than Tang Chao, but she was still taller than Laing Chen. But that was to be expected, Liang Chen was still only 13 after all. Sun Xia had clear black eyes and brown hair that hung freely down to her buttocks. Her skin was rather clean and unblemished, so Liang Chen guessed that she made sure to take good care of it. She was not clad in armor, but rather a strange brown robe that seemed to be made out of the skin of a scaled Demonic beast. Liang Chen took a step closer, cupping his hands in greeting as he gave a short introduction.


    "I am Liang Chen, I come from Green Rivers City. My family is as normal as it comes, nothing worth mentioning. I specialize in the element of lightning, so I guess you can leave attacking to me."


    Liang Chen did not mention his poison element, as he wanted to keep at least one of his cards hidden. And it was normal for people at their cultivation level to only have a single element, as the more elements you had, the harder it would be to increase your cultivation. After everyone had performed their introductions, Lei Qiang swept the group with his gaze, a bright smile on his face.


    "Two defenders, one healer, and one attacker. Perfect, with a party like this, we will have a much better chance of surviving in this stone forest. Or do you want to wait and see if we can find more people to join us?"


    There was a short silence as everyone thought about it, but that silence was quickly broken by Tang Chao, who gave a slight shake of his head.


    "We had to wait two days for Liang Chen to show up, there is no telling how much longer we will have to for someone else to show up. I say we just enter, our party is quite good after all."


    Lei Qiang and Sun Xia quickly nodded their heads in agreement, as what he said sounded reasonable. Of course, there was also one other reason that none of them had said out loud. If they waited for more people, they would have to split the spoils into smaller portions. They glanced at Liang Chen, who simply gave a quick nod of his head. With everyone agreeing, Sun Xia quickly pumped her fist into the air.


    "Since everyone is in agreement, then let us set off, onto adventure!"

 spoils of battle.

    At first, Liang Chen thought that Lei Qiang had been exaggerating somewhat when he spoke about the difficulty of hunting solo in the stone forest, but he quickly changed his mind after they actually entered it. There was enough space between the tall stones for everyone to walk shoulder to shoulder, protecting the person next to them. But even then, they had to be on guard at all times, vigilantly keeping an eye on their surroundings.


    The Demonic beasts within the stone forest had already adapted to it, so most of them were able to camouflage themselves almost perfectly, blending into the surroundings as they waited for suitable prey to pass by them. Because of the fact that all the stones attracted lightning, there were also frequent storms that battered the forest, torrential rain and thunderous lightning striking the forest, forcing the group to raise their defenses as to not suffer any injuries.


    After just one day in the stone forest, the group had already experienced three different storms, drastically decreasing their speed. There was also another factor that made it hard to traverse the stone forest, but to Liang Chen, that factor was just as much a blessing as it was a curse. And that factor was the very lightning that struck the stones around them.


    The lightning didn''t leave the stones, it instead stayed within the stones, slowly getting compressed as more and more lightning struck the stones. Because of this, even while walking or resting, the group had to raise their defenses somewhat, otherwise, the lightning would enter their bodies and scorch their veins and organs.


    The reason this was both a blessing and a curse for Liang Chen was that the lightning that struck this stone forest was a light blue in color, not the same red that he had seen right after he entered the hidden realm. This light blue lightning was weaker than the red lightning but still stronger than Liang Chen''s golden lightning. With the lightning coursing through all the stones around them, it was very easy for Liang Chen to slowly absorb small amounts, using it to temper his body as well as his Ascended Tower.


    But the ever-present lightning also blocked up his senses, overloading his mind with information. After increasing his strength, Liang Chen had somewhat regained the ability to sense the movements of anything living in the surroundings, tracking them through the electricity that flowed through their bodies. But now that there was lightning all around him, whenever he tried to sense the surroundings, his mind would be flooded with information, every strand of lightning appearing in his mind, each of them virtually indistinguishable from the other.


    Because of that, he was forced to spend a great deal of his concentration on filtering out the useful information from the useless one, a process that was slow and exhausting. But even this served as both a blessing and a curse, as he could take the chance to train his mind, allowing it to work faster and faster as he trained it.


    Liang Chen''s group was currently huddled together, hiding behind one of the smaller stone trees as they peered past it. A bit of a distance ahead of them was a rather large boulder that was covered in spiky moss, a few thin arcs of lightning flashing along the surface. Sun Xia stretched our her arm, pointing at a spot on the boulder, letting out a quiet whisper.


    "It''s over there, hanging horizontally onto that boulder over there. Those tiny brown dots? Those should be its eyes. I do not believe that it has spotted us yet."


    A few hours ago, the group had found tracks of a Demonic beast that seemed to be weak enough for them to hunt it, so they had started following the tracks. The beast was using the boulder as camouflage, but as Sun Xia specialized in the element of stone, she was able to somewhat sense its position even when it hid itself. The group focused their gazes on the five brown spots that Sun Xia had pointed at, Lei Qiang giving a slight nod.


    "Alright. I and Xia will draw its attention and do our best to keep it focused on us. Chao, you stay a bit further back and launch ranged attacks, aim for the eyes and joints to disturb its movement. Chen, you dash in and out, using your speed to whittle it down, aim for any spot that seems soft and weak."


    The rest of the group had no problem with Lei Qiang''s orders, as they sounded very reasonable. The group quickly prepared, Tang Chao pulling out a bow made out of a flexible silver metal, Lei Qiang pulling out a long halberd that was neatly polished and covered in brown runes, and Sun Xia pulling out a thin shortsword and a large cross-shaped shield that was almost half her size. Compared to their neatly polished and clearly valuable weapons, Liang Chen''s completely normal sword was rather out of place. Lei Qiang seemed to think so at least, as he could not help but furrow his eyebrows.


    "That''s your weapon?"


    He hadn''t expected Liang Chen to pull out anything fancy, but he had not expected his weapon of choice to be such a normal sword. It didn''t even have any runes or arrays that strengthened it! Liang Chen gave the halberd a slight glance, simply shrugging his shoulders.


    "It''s not as neat as yours, but it is sharp enough."


    Even with the weapons he had scavenged from the bandits, the sword he had been given by Yi Huang was still his preferred weapon. It was sturdy, sharp, and he had already gotten used to it. Lei Qiang seemed quite pleased at having his halberd praised, as his face broke out into a smile as he let out a giggle, showing off the halberd.


    "Hehe, it really is rather pretty, isn''t it? My father gifted it to me when I turned 15 and graduated from the military academy. It has yet to fail me. Yours too, Xia, it seems like it cost quite a bit."


    Lei Qiang glanced at Sun Xia''s cross-shaped shield and could not refrain from commenting. The shield was thick and large, but it was clearly quite light in weight, Sun Xia easily able to swing it around. Sun Xia gave the shield a soft pat, shuddering slightly as she finished her sentence.


    "No joke. My parents had to save up for three years just to be able to afford this shield, so you can imagine the hell that awaits me if I ruin it."


    Lei Qiang and Sun Xia looked like they wanted to continue talking about their weapons, but Tang Chao luckily managed to stop them before they could get going, rapping them on the head with his bow.


    "Alright guys, focus on the task ahead."


    Tang Chao was in the same boat as Liang Chen, his weapon was not something gifted to him by his parents, it was something he had ordered from a blacksmith after finding a piece of mysterious ore.


    The expressions of Sun Xia and Lei Qiang immediately grew serious, the previous cheerful atmosphere instantly vanishing. The two jumped out from the hiding spot, dashing towards the hidden Demonic beast. While running, Sun Xia let out a loud laugh, taunting the beast.


    "Hey there, Fucko! Care to have a little dance with me?"


    As she taunted, she slammed her shield onto the ground, causing rocks to fly into the air, which she then propelled towards the beast. After getting hit by the rocks, the five brown spots that she had pointed out earlier opened, revealing five completely black eyes. The beast dropped down from the boulder, revealing its full body.


    It had the body of a large scorpion, almost four meters long But the curved tail that stretched out behind it ended in a three-pronged spike, and instead of its two arms ending in claws, they ended in long and thin scythes. Its entire body was covered by a layer of moss-covered stone, faint arcs of lightning coiling around its tail.


    All five eyes of the beast locked onto Sun Xia, its eight legs producing clicking sounds as it charged towards her. Sun Xia slammed her shield onto the ground, crouching behind it and supporting it with her shoulder, completely blocking the charge of the beast. Lei Qian took this chance to dash forward and slam his halberd down onto the back of the beast, the head of the weapon growing thicker as a layer of earth gathered on it.


    The scorpion had not forgotten about Lei Qiang, its tail intercepting the halberd, the spikes at the tip turning soft as they coiled around the halberd. Tang Chao and Liang Chen chose this moment to move into action, Liang Chen dashing in while Tang Chao let loose three arrows made out of highly compressed water. Two of the arrows aimed at the beast''s eyes, while the third arrow aimed at the topmost joint of the tail. The arrows hit, but the beast merely closed its eyes to block the two arrows, the third one unable to create a proper wound on the tail.


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    Liang Chen dashed in, his body coated with lightning as his speed reached its peak. If one paid very close attention to the golden arcs that danced around him, one would be able to spot a nearly undetectable trace of blue hidden within the golden. The lightning transferred to his sword as he sent a slash down onto the topmost joint of the tail, aiming to completely sever it.


    The scorpion wanted to pull its tail back, but since its spikes were coiled around the halberd, Lei Qiang took the chance to pull on his weapon, forcing the tail to stay in position. Liang Chen''s sword hit its mark, sparks flying as he carved a small scar into the layer of stone that covered the beast.


    The beast let out a low roar that sounded like two rocks being scraped together, the lightning that coiled around its tail shooting towards Liang Chen. At the same time, the stones on the ground around it started to wriggle, flying into the air and turning into blurs as they shot towards the three others, forcing everyone to quickly dodge and move away from the beast.


    The black eyes of the beast started to fill with a faint red color as it swept the group in front of it, the scraping roar sounding out once more, more and more lightning charging out from its body. Sun Xia quickly jumped in front of Tang Chao, blocking the lightning so that Tang Chao could fully focus on letting loose more arrows. Lei Qiang did the same for Liang Chen, dodging in front of him and parrying the lightning with his halberd, which was now fully covered in a thick layer of earth.


    Tang Chao continued to send out arrows, and Liang Chen continued to attack the beast with guerilla tactics, quickly in and quickly out. But besides leaving several scars on the layer of stone around its body, they were unable to produce any actual wounds. While Liang Chen was pondering over how he should finish the beast off, Sun Xia let out a loud shout, pointing at one of the beast''s legs.


    "Chen! Hit the underside, a little to the right of the place where its fifth leg is connected to the body!"


    Liang Chen followed Sun Xia''s finger, spotting a small crack in the defensive shield of the beast, a wound from a previous battle. He gave a nod of his head and immediately dashed forward, Tang Chao and Sun Xia drawing the attention of the beast with their ranged attacks, while Lei Qiang ran alongside Liang Chen and parried any attack that came at him.


    Liang Chen had slowed down his speed to a point where Lei Qiang could follow at his side, but he still quickly reached the beast. Once he was in front of the beast, he threw his body to the ground and transferred all his momentum into a slide that took him under the beast''s body. The scorpion seemed to have realized what he was aiming for, as it not only stabbed at him with its tail but even twisted one of the long scythes into an unnatural position to slash at him.


    Lei Qiang could only block one of the attacks, and Sun Xia was too far away to block the other, so no matter what, one of the attacks would reach him if he did not pull back. Lei Qiang chose to block the scythe, using the weight of his body to hold it back. Liang Chen glanced at the incoming spikes, but his eyes merely narrowed for a short moment as he locked onto the old wound.


    He twisted his body and stabbed out with his sword, opening the old wound and drenching his face in blood in the process. He ignored the searing pain that was a result of the blood hitting his face, letting go of his sword and digging his hand into the wound. As his hand pierced into the body of the beast, the tail of the beast hit his body, which had twisted a bit more to avoid the brunt of the attack, the spikes tearing out a large chunk of flesh from his left shoulder.


    But it was already too late, he had managed to make contact with the beast. With his hand inside the beast, he was free to unleash as much of his poison as he wanted, the others would never know. But he could not fully poison it, as the meat and blood might end up becoming toxic like that. His poison was carefully maneuvered, flooding only the brain of the beast, shutting it down and slightly melting it.


    The beast''s eyes turned dull as its body slumped forward. Had it not been for Lei Qiang quickly pushing it aside with his halberd, it would have fallen right onto Liang Chen. Lei Qiang helped Liang Chen stand up, taking care to not move his wounded shoulder too much. Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly came running, Sun Xia looking at the beast with utter amazement.


    "Wow, your attacks pack quite a punch! I know you hit one of the weaker spots on its body, but just how much lightning did you pump into it, for it to fall almost immediately?"


    She had expected Liang Chen to focus several attacks on the old wound, slowly bleeding the beast to death, she had never expected him to kill it just like that. Liang Chen quickly wiped away the Demonic beast blood on his face and hand, delivering a quick lie.


    "Not too much, I just had to fill its body with enough lightning to shut down its brain and heart, surprisingly easy once you know how."


    He made it sound easy, but Sun Xia and the others could not help but shudder slightly. Just how much experience did he have with shutting down hears and brains with his lightning, to be able to do it so easily? Lei Qiang quickly shook his head, his eyes landing on the hideous wound on Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    "You say that, but it still messed up your shoulder pretty bad, I am amazed you managed to take it with a straight face."


    The wound on his shoulder was so bad that one could see the bone, blood pouring down his arm and back. Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the wound, but he merely gave a low response.


    "It''s just a bit of pain, I''m already quite used to it."


    How much pain, emotional and physical, hadn''t Liang Chen already experienced to reach this point? Compared to the pain he felt when he saw his own parents'' heads roll, this shoulder wound was nothing. Lei Qiang looked at the wound a bit more, beckoning Tang Chao over.


    "What do you think, Chao, will it take long to heal?"


    Tang Chao was the one in charge of healing wounds and curing poisons, so depending on his answer, Lei Qiang was considering having the party leave the stone forest while they waited for Liang Chen to heal. Tang Chao inspected the wound up close, even touching the corners of it. He fondled his chin for a short moment, thinking it over before he gave his response.


    "If we can find a somewhat safe spot, I should be able to heal it in about one day''s time, but it is unavoidable that it will leave a rather nasty scar. You should have pulled back and waited for a new chance."


    When he said one day''s time, he meant 24 hours of continuous healing and medicine use, so it would require quite a lot of work. After hearing the advice of Tang Chao, Liang Chen shook his head slightly.


    "There is no telling how long we would have to wait for a new chance, and we can''t risk any prolonged battles in this environment, so I found it better to suffer a slight injury rather than extend the battle for an unknown amount of time."


    The smell of blood and sounds of battle would quickly attract more Demonic beasts, or even other people looking to acquire some easy spoils. Liang Chen was not willing to risk it, so he wanted to finish the battle as fast as possible. Tang Chao was about to say something, but Sun Xia used her knuckles to hit him on the head, interrupting him.


    "Enough about that, let''s discuss how we split up the spoils."


    The damage had already been done, so there was no point in arguing over it, it was better to quickly finish their business here and move on to a safer place. Tang Chao raised his arms in surrender, taking out some bandages and medicine from his interspatial ring, starting the treatment on Liang Chen''s shoulder, before he accidentally bleeds to death. Lei Qiang quickly jumped on the chance to talk about how to split the spoils, stating his idea.


    "Chen was the one who felled the beast and suffered the worst wound, so I say that he should get first pick. What do you think?"


    He swept the others with his gaze, but none of them had any counter-argument, nodding their head. Liang Chen was indeed the one who contributed most, so it was only fair that he gets to choose first. Liang Chen did not even need to think about the answer, pointing at the base of the beast''s tail.


    "It has an organ that allows it to store and discharge lightning, that organ is the only thing of use to me, so you guys can divide the rest."


    Liang Chen had noticed the organ while he flooded the brain of the scorpion with poison. Unlike the rest of the beast, which had both the stone and lightning element, that particular organ only had the lightning element, so it was the only suitable part for Liang Chen. Hearing his response, Lei Qiang could not help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.


    "Just the single organ, are you sure?"


    He did not want the Demon Crystal or any of its blood, the most valuable parts? Facing their surprise, Liang Chen merely shrugged his unwounded shoulder.


    "As I said, the rest isn''t very useful to me, so I don''t have a reason to take any."


    How was he supposed to explain to them that his body seemed to be unable to accept the blood and flesh of Demonic beasts that had any element other than poison and lightning? Since he could not think of a way to explain it, he simply chose to not talk about it, skirting around the subject. Since Liang Chen had said it twice already, there was no need for them to be polite, Lei Qiang matching eyes with Sun Xia.


    "Very well. Xia, can you help me cut the beast apart quickly?"


    Sun Xia nodded her head, putting away her shield and joining Lei Qiang in taking apart the beast. They quickly cut it into smaller pieces, separating the tail, legs, scythes, and head from the body, storing them into separate interspatial rings. Once they had taken the beast apart, Lei Qiang handed Liang Chen an organ that resembled a blue heart. The heart was a bit larger than Liang Chen''s head, arcs of lightning still coiling around it.


    "Here, the organ you wanted. Now let us find a place where we can at least get a modicum of rest and comfort while we divide the rest of the spoils."


    The rest of the group quickly nodded their heads, Tang Chao continuing the healing process on Liang Chen''s shoulder as they swiftly left the scene to find a more secluded location.

 Ambushed.

    The group quickly and stealthily left the area, Lei Qiang and Sun Xia using their attunement to earth and stone to look for any locations that could serve as their base for the night. After spending a little over two hours, Sun Xia found a large boulder that was mostly hollow on the inside, quickly carving an opening into it.


    The hollow inside of the boulder was quite rounded, so Lei Qiang brought in some earth from the outside to fill up the bottom, creating a somewhat flat surface they could sit on. The boulder was tens of meters tall and wide, so there was more than enough space inside it for everyone to lie down and still have space left.


    Sun Xia closed up most of the opening, leaving a few gaps for fresh air to flow into the makeshift cave. After the group settled in the cave, Sun Xia brought out a large pot and started working on setting up a fire, while Lei Qiang started working on dividing the spoils of the previous battle. Tang Chao sat down behind Liang Chen, taking out a vial filled with a thick blue paste that released a bitter and somewhat pungent scent. He opened the bottle and poured some of the medicine into his palm, giving Liang Chen a quick warning.


    "I''ll start the regrowing process now, let me know if the pain becomes too much."


    Liang Chen had lost quite a bit of flesh when the scorpion gouged open his left shoulder, so normal medicine was not quite enough to heal it, it would require some stronger medicine that could accelerate the healing speed of his flesh. Tang Chao started to apply the medicine, which caused a wriggling and burning sensation to spread through Liang Chen''s shoulder. The two sat pretty close to where Sun Xia was working on making dinner, so she quickly waved them away with her hands.


    "Shoo, Shoo! Do it a bit further away, I don''t want to get any blood into the food."


    Tang Chao gave a slight click of his tongue, but he still did as Sun Xia asked, bringing Liang Chen and moving closer to the entrance of the cave. Once he had covered the entire wound with the pungent paste, he took out a few six-pronged leaves that were a murky green in color, placing them over the paste and covering the entire thing with bandages.


    He pat Liang Chen''s right shoulder to let him know that he was done, for now, letting him put on a new robe. He was actually rather surprised at how hardy Liang Chen was, he had not made a single sound as Tang Chao applied the medicine. The food was also done not long after Tang Chao finished applying the medicine, so they joined the two others, quickly scarfing down the simple stew that Sun Xia had made. While eating, Tang Chao could not stop himself from commenting on the food.


    "I gotta say, I was kinda skeptical when you said to leave the food to you, but it actually did end up good."


    The three of them had been together for two days before Liang Chen joined the group, but they had spent the time looking for other party members, so there had not been any time to taste Sun Xia''s cooking during that time. Sun Xia quickly let out a pretentious snort, raising her nose high.


    "You doubted the prowess of someone magnificent like me? You better prostrate yourself in apology."


    Seeing Sun Xia put on such an exaggerated show of pretentiousness, Tang Chao almost could not stop himself from bursting into laughter. He quickly forced down the laughter, putting on a despairing face as he threw up his hands, joining Sun Xia in her little joke.


    "Ai, I bow down in the face of your greatness, can you ever forgive a sinner like me?!"


    Lei Qiang and Liang Chen simply sat at the side, eating the stew and enjoying the show that the two others put on. The life of a cultivator was often stressful and hard, so they would take any chance they could get to unwind. Sun Xia raised her nose even more, bending her head backward as she pointed at the bowl of food in Tang Chao''s hand.


    "This goddess shall forgive you only if you provide her with an offering of succulent meat!"


    Tang Chao quickly threw his gaze onto the bowl of stew he was holding, his face quickly turning downcast as he held it out for Sun Xia.


    "What a shame that this pious believer only has this dry meat here, will it suffice?"


    Sun Xia let out an involuntary snort of laughter, quickly snagging the bowl of stew. She placed the bowl at her side and leaned forward, chopping Tang Chao on the head with the side of her hand. After watching Sun Xia pretend to beat up Tang Chao for a bit, Lei Qiang let out a light chuckle and interrupted them.


    "Alright you two, finish your food and prepare to sleep. I and Chen will take the first watch, so the goddess and her pious believer can get some rest first."


    Having all of them sleeping at the same time would put them at risk of getting ambushed, so they had decided to split the night in half, two people keeping watch at all times. The two quickly nodded their heads, finishing off the rest of their food and putting away the bowls and pot. Before laying down on the ground to rest, Tang Chao gave Liang Chen a quick reminded, pointing at the bandages.


    "Keep this on through the night, it will keep out dirt and prevent the healing process from getting interrupted."


    Liang Chen gave a quick nod to show that he understood, to which Tang Chao gave a quick nod in return. Tang Chao and Sun Xia laid down on the ground at the back of the cave, a few meters away from the fire, leaving only Liang Chen and Lei Qiang sitting at the fire, occasionally poking it and throwing in more pieces of dried wood. After a few minutes, Lei Qiang cast a glance at Sun Xia and Tang Chao, making sure that they were sleeping before he started chatting with Liang Chen.


    "Chen, what was life like in Green Rivers City? I heard that it is directly controlled by the Qing clan, so I assume that your parents work for them?"


    Now that they finally had a chance to take a breath, Lei Qiang thought that it was a good time to maybe get to know a little bit more about his companions. Liang Chen''s eyes turned a bit distant, as if he had returned back to the days before his parents were executed. He took in a quick breath, telling a mixture of truth and lie.


    "Yes, they are accountants. They keep a tab on the herbal inventory, making sure that nothing gets stolen. As for how life was, it was rather dull. What about life in Eternal Stream City?"


    His parents had indeed been accountants, it was the job they had been assigned after they gave up their traveling and settled down. Liang Chen had already gotten quite adept at lying, so Lei Qiang did not notice anything off about his answer, his face quickly blooming into a wide grin as he excitedly talked about his hometown.


    "It is quite wonderful! Thanks to the popularity of the military academy, the people of the city are all very responsible and just, crime nearly nonexistent! Living at the academy involves a lot of tough training, but the men of my family have gone to that academy for many generations, each one serving the king, there was no way I would end that tradition."


    Lei Qiang puffed out his chest as he spoke, his voice tinged with heavy pride and respect. But upon hearing his answer, Liang Chen could not help but raise an eyebrow, asking out in confusion.


    "You serve the king, not the Qing clan?"


    Liang Chen had thought that the people of the military academy served the Qing clan, as this part of the continent was controlled by the Qing clan. Since it was controlled by the Qing clan, why would there be a need for a king? Lei Qiang sucked on his teeth for a bit, seemingly struggling with finding the words to properly explain it.


    "Both yes and no. Those who graduate from the military academy join the army of the Blazing Clouds nation, serving the king for the rest of their lives. Most of the time we fight against the other nations that have strength similar to Blazing Clouds, but all the surrounding nations are ultimately ruled by the Qing clan, so if they face a crisis, we must fight for them. So while we serve the king most of the time, in times of emergency we serve the Qing clan."


    It was much like how a country was built up of several smaller cities. Each city had their own ruler, but the country still ruled all the cities. The country controlled several cities, the Qing clan controlled several countries, and the Nightshield Sect controlled several clans like the Qing clan. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head in understanding, having a somewhat clearer picture now. Lei Qiang sent another glance at the sleeping Sun Xia, leaning in closer to Liang Chen as he spoke in a low whisper.


    "So tell me, Chen, what about Xia is it that attracts you?"


    Liang Chen was so caught off-guard by Lei Qiang''s question that he was unable to properly respond, his head tilting and his eyes narrowing in confusion.


    "What?"


    They had only spent a bit over one day together, so what could possibly have given Lei Qiang the idea that he had any romantic interest in Sun Xia? He did not mind admitting that she was an attractive girl, but that did not mean that he felt anything romantic towards her. Lei Qiang let out a low chuckle, looking at Liang Chen with suggestive eyes.


    "No need to play dumb, I have seen the way you glance at her. There is no need to be ashamed of it, you are at that age after all. I was even younger than you when I met my wife and lost my virginity to her. A piece of advice, just go for it. There is no telling how long we will be able to live, so there is no shame in acting as you please."


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It immediately became clear to Liang Chen where the confusion had spawned. He sent a glance at Sun Xia but quickly turned back to Lei Qiang, shaking his head.


    "Trust me, there is nothing like that going on here."


    There was no way he could tell Lei Qiang the truth, no way he could tell him that the reason he had glanced at Sun Xia several times was that the sight of her soft skin caused his instincts to almost go haywire. Her clean skin, her soft flesh, his bestial instincts screamed at him to bite into it and tear out bloody chunks that he could feast on. Lei Qiang let out another chuckle, shrugging his shoulders and winking at Liang Chen with an understanding smile.


    "Whatever you say. Just make sure you keep my advice in mind. Waste to much time and you will only be able to watch the opportunity slip through your fingers."


    The two continued to casually chat about how life had been in their hometowns, telling each other about their families. Liang Chen could only do his best to come up with some lies on the spot, being as vague about his parents as possible.


    After a few hours, they woke up Tang Chao and Sun Xia, having the two of them taking over the guard so that they could get some sleep before dawn. Liang Chen laid down, but he did not go to sleep, only pretending. He still did not like sleeping, as he would only relieve the past over and over again if he did. And it was because he did not go to sleep that he quickly reacted when Tang Chao nudged his body, whispering quietly.


    "Don''t make any noise, the place is surrounded."


    Liang Chen quickly sat up, his vigilance rising to the peak. He checked the lightning in the surroundings and could just vaguely make out that there were indeed some living presences around them, but because there was so much lightning in the surroundings, it was still impossible for him to make out anything specific. Sun Xia had her hand on the wall of the cave, her eyes closed as she used the stone on the outside to scout the enemies.


    "They are weaker than us, but they have more people, so we can''t underestimate them."


    Lei Qiang was also quickly woken up, his expression turning solemn as he pulled out his halberd, holding it ready. Tang Chao glanced at Liang Chen''s bandaged left shoulder, nodding towards it as he spoke.


    "How is the shoulder?"


    Liang Chen was the group''s main attacker, so if the wound weakened him too much, they would have to come up with a new strategy. Liang Chen rolled the shoulder slightly, his brows furrowing slightly as he examined it and gave his judgment.


    "At about 50% strength. But since it''s not my main arm, there won''t be too much difficulty in fighting."


    Tang Chao gave a short nod, his eyes turning towards Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang placed his palm on the ground, stretching his concentration to the max to join Sun Xia in scouting the enemies that surrounded them. After spending a short moment scouting, he opened his eyes and quietly spat out a few orders.


    "About ten people, covering every possible escape path. Chao, you focus on ranged attacks and support. Xia, protect Chao and make sure that no one reaches our backs. Chen, you and I will take the front. Try to take them down as quickly as possible so that we don''t get completely swarmed."


    The rest of the group nodded and prepared their weapons, gathering up by the entrance. Sun Xia matched eyes with them, using her fingers to count down from three. Once the countdown reached zero, she placed her palm on the sealed up entrance, the stone shattering and launching at the enemies outside.


    With the entrance open, the scene outside was fully revealed to Liang Chen. It was currently raining, bolts of azure lightning crashing down and striking the stones, charging them full of energy. There were 12 people gathered up outside the boulder, slowly making their way closer. They were clad in rather shoddy leather armor, the armor of most of them poorly patched together. Just like Sun Xia had said, none of them had a cultivation higher than them, the strongest merely having reached the late stage of the Mortal Tower realm. Had it not been for the fact that they had three times the people of Liang Chen''s group, as well as the fact that they thought they managed to ambush them, it was likely that they would not dare attempt to attack them.


    The group was made up of a variety of people, both men and women, some older and some younger. There was one that caught Liang Chen''s eye, a young boy who seemed to be about the same age as Liang Chen. His hands were tied together with an arm-length piece of rope, his shaky hands holding a short dagger, his entire face pale as he trembled from fear.


    Tang Chao, Lei Qiang, and Liang Chen took advantage of the confusion that the rain of stone produced, dashing out and launching their attacks. Tang Chao launched two arrows, one that pierced through the skull of one bandit, and one that pierced into the waist of a second bandit.


    Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving a short nod as the two ran out side by side. The moment they stepped out of the cave, the earth beneath them wriggled, two pillars rising up beneath their feet and launching them at the enemies.


    Liang Chen kicked off the pillar, dashing forward like a golden blur, arcs of lightning coiling around him. Liang Chen took advantage of the rain and the lightning, connecting his golden lightning with the azure lightning, redirecting it towards two of the enemies. The azure lightning struck the two men, their insides roasting from the sheer heat it released. While he redirected the lightning, he also slashed out with his sword, slicing through the throat of a third bandit.


    Lei Qiang, on the other hand, targeted the wounded bandit as well as one other. The earth beneath the wounded bandit turned soft, his feet sinking into the ground and preventing him from moving. A layer of solid earth coated his halberd, turning it into a long sledgehammer. He swung the weapon with both hands, smashing it sideways into the head of the wounded bandit, completely crushing it.


    He used the counterforce from crushing the head to spin his halberd to the other side, raising it high in the process. Once the halberd reached its highest point, he swung it down at full force, smashing it down onto the head of another bandit, her body smashed into the ground.


    Only a few seconds had passed since Sun Xia opened the cave and they burst out, but half the bandits had already been killed. This was the difference in strength that was brought about by a difference in cultivation. In most situations, there was little that people with weaker cultivation could do against those stronger than them, they were like sheep facing a ferocious tiger.


    Yet despite half their group dying, the bandits did not retreat, growing even more ferocious as they launched their own attacks to retaliate. There were two bandits close to Liang Chen who launched attacks at him, but one of them was the young child, who ended up being too scared to actually attack him with the dagger he held. The other bandit held an axe, dashing at Liang Chen and raising it high to cleave him in half.


    Liang Chen stepped toward the bandit, taking half a step to the left once he swung down the axe. The axe nearly grazed his body as it passed by him, but it failed to make contact in the end. He raised his right arm, his sword slicing upwards. The blade passed through the bandit''s wrists, separating his hands from his arms. The weapon continued unabated, passing through the throat of the man and separating his head from his body.


    The edge of the blade coursed with lightning, so its slicing force was greatly increased. Liang Chen heard a thud coming from behind him, quickly turning his body around. A wall of stone had risen up behind him, blocking an arrow that had been heading for the back of his neck.


    His eyes landed on Sun Xia, who stood by the entrance of the cave and sent him a smile and a nod. He nodded back at her, his eyes landing on the young boy who was frozen in fear not far from him. He started walking towards the boy, who closed his eyes in resignation as he waited for the strike that would end his life. But the attack never arrived so he could not help but open his eyes and look at Liang Chen, who was standing right in front of him. Since the expected attack hadn''t arrived, he could not help but utter a confused question.


    "Wha..."


    Before the boy got to finish his question, Liang Chen raised his sword and cut the rope that tied the boy''s hands together. He pointed towards the direction that led out of the forest, waving the boy away.


    "Leave, and don''t get caught by people like them again."


    It was easy to see that the boy was just an innocent bystander who had been captured by the bandits and forced along. The bandits had come with the intent to kill, so Liang Chen was fine with killing them, as they were scum. But the boy was innocent, it would not be right to kill him. If Liang Chen killed him, he would be just as bad as those he had sworn to kill, those who deserved the heaven''s wrath.


    The boy quickly nodded his head, giving Liang Chen a deep bow before he turned towards the direction Liang Chen had pointed, dashing away. There were not a lot of Demonic beasts in these outskirts, so even if the boy was on his own, it would not be hard to flee.


    Liang Chen turned around to inspect the rest of the battle, but it had already been finished, Lei Qiang and Tang Chao having dealt with the last bandits. But as his eyes landed on the others he saw that Tang Chao was drawing his bow, aiming an arrow at the boy Liang Chen had just let go. As Tang Chao drew the arrow back, Liang Chen quickly let out a thunderous shout.


    "No!"


    His body blurred as he dashed forward like a furious bolt of lightning, almost immediately arriving in front of Tang Chao. His position was not perfect, so he could only reach out with his left arm, ignoring the pain as he grabbed onto the head of the arrow, pushing the entire bow down and preventing Tang Chao from shooting. Being interrupted so suddenly, Tang Chao could not help but glare at Liang Chen.


    "Chen, what are you doing?! Why would you save him, he tried to kill us!"


    The way Tang Chao saw it, the boy was just another member of the bandit group that had come to kill them, showing mercy to him was nothing but foolishness. But faced with his glare, Liang Chen simply swept out with his right arm, pointing at the 11 corpses around them.


    "They were the ones that tried to kill us, he was simply someone they forced to tag along! Killing him would be wrong."


    No matter how much he wanted revenge, no matter how much the bestial instincts invaded him, Liang Chen still had principles that he would stand by and refuse to give up. And one of those principles was to not kill innocent people, or let them be killed in his presence. If he broke that principle, he would no longer be the Liang Chen that his parents and Qing Chun wanted him to be, he would be a mere beast, he would be just as bad as Qing Lan Yong. Tang Chao opened his mouth to protest but ended up shrugging his shoulders in defeat after seeing the determined expression on Liang Chen''s face.


    "But...Fine, fine. We''ll let the kid go."


    Tang Chao loosened the arrow he had prepared, causing it to turn into loose drops of water that fell to the ground. Liang Chen pulled back his arm, which had turned bloody from holding onto the arrow. Tang Chao furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes landing on Liang Chen''s left shoulder.


    "You used the wrong arm to stop me, you tore open the wound again."


    Tang Chao put away his bow, forcing Liang Chen to turn around so he could check out his shoulder. He removed the bloody bandages and gave the wound a quick inspection, letting out a short sigh as he turned towards Lei Qiang and Sun Xia.


    "You didn''t tear it up too badly, so the time needed to heal it luckily hasn''t gone up by too much. Qiang, I am going to take him back to the cave and get started on the healing, can I leave the cleanup to you and Xia?"


    The scent of blood from the bodies would attract Demonic beasts if they left them here for too long, so they had to be moved to a different place as fast as possible. Luckily, it was raining heavily right now so the smell of blood was washed away quickly. Lei Qiang glanced at Liang Chen''s bloody shoulder, giving a slight nod.


    "No problem, just get Chen back to full capacity as quickly as possible. Once you''ve done that, we can start looking for some of the rarer treasures."


    They were still in the outskirts of the stone forest so the number of rare treasures they could find was very limited. To find the better stuff, they would have to head deeper into the stone forest. And to do that, the entire group had to be at full strength.

 Lightning Quartz.

    After fending off the ambushers, the group returned to the hollow boulder they used as a base. Sun Xia closed up the entrance again, and Lei Qiang put out the fire, as it was likely the smoke that had alerted others to their presence. They did not go to sleep again, as everyone was wide awake after the previous battle. Sun Xia started working on a light breakfast, Lei Qiang stood guard at the entrance, using his control over the earth element to vigilantly scan the surroundings, and Tang Chao got to work on fully healing Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    After spending around half a day of concentrated effort, Tang Chao finally managed to return Liang Chen''s shoulder to an unwounded state. A large and rather gruesome scar still remained where the attack had torn out a chunk of his shoulder, but his left arm could now be used at full capacity again, so the group would be able to move out again soon.


    They would have to be at full strength to travel deeper into the stone forest, so they collectively decided that it was best to wait for the next day before setting out, giving Tang Chao a chance to rest after spending so much time focusing on Liang Chen''s shoulder. The moment the sun rose the next day, the group set out once more, aiming for the depths of the stone forest.


    Two days after setting out, the group had managed to travel a good distance deeper into the stone forest, the pressure growing stronger, the frequent storms more harrowing. They were now forced to travel in a defensive formation, two people constantly raising a small layer of Qi around the group, defending them from the strong winds, rain, and lightning. With two people focusing on defending them, the third could focus on scouring for treasures, while the fourth could keep a vigilant eye on their surroundings.


    Sun Xia currently had her hand placed on the ground, which occasionally crackled with lightning, her eyes closed in deep concentration. After spending a few minutes like this, she opened her eyes again, her brows furrowing slightly. They had already been traveling for two days without finding anything, so Tang Chao could not help but anxiously ask.


    "Find anything?"


    Sun Xia''s brows were still furrowed as she sucked on her teeth, seemingly still thinking over something. In the end, she turned towards Liang Chen, who was currently working together with Lei Qiang, shielding the group.


    "There might be a low-grade Lightning Quartz a few kilometers to the west, but its a bit hazy. Chen, can you try?"


    As she spoke, she pointed in the general direction where Liang Chen should search, narrowing it down for him. Tang Chao took over the role of working together with Lei Qiang, allowing Liang Chen to fully focus his senses and check out what Sun Xia had found.


    Lightning Quartz was the name given to the crystals that were formed when the lightning within the stones crystallized. The more lightning gathered together, as well as the purer and stronger the lightning was, the higher the grade of the quartz was, going from low to mid, to high, to top, to transcended.


    As for how they searched for these Lightning Quartz and other treasures, it was rather simple. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia would use their connection to the stone or earth element to find places where these two elements were more diluted, while Liang Chen would use his connection to the lightning element to find places where the lightning element was denser, as these were the places where it was most likely for treasures to be formed.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes, stretching his consciousness into the surrounding and connecting it with the lightning element in the area, following it in the direction that Sun Xia had pointed out. After spending a few minutes, he opened his eyes again, giving a slight nod.


    "The lightning is far denser a few kilometers to the west, but it''s not dense enough for me to tell if it''s a Lightning Quartz. If we can stop at a spot a bit closer, it should be easier to tell."


    The others quickly lit up with excitement at the prospects of finally acquiring some more rewards, so they quickly set out again, surrounding Liang Chen so that nothing could disturb him as he continued to sense the lightning in the surroundings. After spending about an hour moving a mere two kilometers, Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, pointing at a tall stone that looked like a seven-clawed hand stretching towards the sky.


    "There is indeed a Lightning Quartz over there, a few meters into that claw-shaped stone over there. But it''s not as dense as it first seemed, so it is likely that it has only reached the lowest reaches of low-grade."


    Liang Chen knew very little about Lightning Quartz, so he could only guess at the actual grade of it, but if he were to give his guess, he would say that it had formed not long ago, just barely taking shape. Lei Qiang was overjoyed that they had found something, but he did not completely lose himself because of it, quickly questioning a bit further.


    "It''s still low-grade, so it''s good enough. Sense any guardian?"


    A Lightning Quartz was very useful to humans or Demonic beasts that that had the lightning element, so most Lightning Quartz or other similar treasures would most often be guarded by Demonic beasts or people waiting for them to mature. Liang Chen had already expected the question, so he quickly gave his answer, his voice somewhat uncertain.


    "I managed to sense only one, there might be more, but the one I sensed doesn''t seem to be stronger than us."


    The entire stone forest was filled with lightning energy, so while sensing places where that energy was dense was easy, it was far harder to sense any living beings and how strong they were, so Liang Chen did not guarantee that he had sensed correctly. Lei Qiang and the others thought it over a bit, but in the end, decided that it was still worth risking it, Lei Qiang quickly handling the matters of their battle formation.


    "Alright, we''ll go with the usual formation. Xia, protect Chao, I''ll go with Chen. It''s raining so be careful, it might use the rain as a conduit for its lightning. Once we weaken it sufficiently, heighten your vigilance, lest it calls down lightning from the sky, then we''ll really be in trouble."


    Demonic beasts and cultivators that had a good affinity with the lightning element could stretch out their Qi and concentration, acting as lightning rods for the lightning that danced around far above them. Liang Chen himself had already done this several times, even doing it once within this hidden realm, when he called down a bolt of crimson lightning to kill the snake while he was wounded.


    The group quickly got into formation, making their way towards the claw-shaped stone. They spotted a cave dug into the bottom of the stone, a few meters in height and width, so it was likely that the Demonic beast guardian was using it as a home while it kept an eye on the Lightning Quartz.


    As they got closer to the cave, they slowly became able to see the Demonic beast that was resting within the cave. It was in the shape of a three-meter tall toad, its leathery skin a murky yellow in color, covered in fist-sized green boils. The four people in the group locked eyes, giving each other a quick nod before they sprung into action, Lei Qiang jumping forwards and letting out a loud shout.


    "You overgrown toad, why don''t you watch how I stomp you!"


    He slammed the ground with his halberd, causing several finger-length spikes to grow up from the earth around him, flying at the toad and piercing into its skin. The beast let out a loud croak, the sound echoing out from the cave. The toad jumped towards Lei Qiang and Liang Chen, the ground shaking every time it landed and kicked off. The toad glared at Lei Qiang, thick and foul-smelling green blood slowly oozing out from the small wounds created by the earthen spikes.


    The cheeks of the beast expanded as it drew in a breath, letting out a loud croak that shot out a ball of lightning at Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving him a slight nod and dashing forward. His halberd was coated in a thick layer of earth, intercepting the ball of lightning, pushing it down and crushing it against the earth. Earth was one of the elements that countered the lightning element, almost completely neutralizing it.


    After slamming the ball of lightning into the ground, Lei Qiang bent his body forward, Liang Chen dashing up from behind him. He jumped up, using Lei Qiang''s back like a springboard as he jumped forward, quickly arriving above the head of the toad. He laid his body flat and gave it a slight spin, slashing down with his sword, lightning crackling around the edge of the blade as it sank into the flesh of the toad.


    The attack left a wound on the toad, but it also cut open one of the many boils that covered the skin of the beast, an acidic-smelling green liquid covering the front half of Liang Chen''s blade. Upon coming into contact with the green liquid, his sword started to sizzle and smoke, deforming and melting. The toad was just about to turn its head and lash at Liang Chen with its tongue, but three arrows cut through the air and rained down on the head of the beast, piercing its hide and one of the boils. Liang Chen took this chance to kick the head of the toad, using the resulting force to put some distance between them, warning the others.


    "Watch the boils, they contain corrosive liquid!"


    A bit before Liang Chen''s foot made contact with the ground, two small pillars grew up from the earth, acting as footholds he could step on. Once he made contact with the pillars, they quickly moved backward, pulling him away from the toad so that he wouldn''t suffer another attack. The eyes of the beast landed on Liang Chen, recognizing him as the current threat. It wanted to jump at him, but several more arrows came flying, forcing it to jump back and dodge.


    Lei Qiang took this chance to dash forward and close the distance between him and the beast, lashing out with his halberd to draw the attention of the beast. And it was thanks to this that he managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of the cave, discovering that there were two indents in the ground, marks that something large had spent a lot of time sleeping there. Since there were two indents, that could only mean one thing, his expression distorting as he quickly called out.


    "Xia, there''s another one!"


    He had discovered it quickly, but as he turned his head and warned, he realized that they had still discovered it too late. There was a second Demonic beast currently sneaking up on Sun Xia and Tang Chao. The Demonic beast looked like a slimmer toad with smoother skin, but it moved in an unnatural way, crawling low to the ground on all fours, moving extremely quietly. Lei Qiang and Liang Chen could see bloody limbs sticking out from the closed mouth of the beast, so it seemed like it had just come back from a hunt and stumbled upon the scene. Sun Xia quickly reacted, spinning around and using her cross-shaped shield to bash at the toad, cursing at it all the while.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "Fuck off, don''t you sneak attack me!"


    While Sun Xia focused on bashing the toad to force it back, Tang Chao jumped away, out of the beast''s range so that he wouldn''t suffer any attacks. Lei Qiang''s expression distorted slightly, his eyes turning towards Liang Chen. Liang Chen understood what he wanted to say, so he gave a quick nod, letting go of his now melted sword and pulling out one of the saber''s he had scavenged from the bandits he met in the city.


    Lei Qiang swiped his interspatial ring, throwing Liang Chen a murky white crystal, a Low-grade Spirit Stone. During a battle, they could only rely on their own Qi to form a defense against the harrowing storms, something that quickly drained their Qi. This meant that they could only rely on Spirit Stones if they wanted to quickly refill their reserves and continue fighting. After tossing him the Spirit Stone, Lei Qiang turned around and dashed away from the beast, running towards Sun Xia to aid her.


    Liang Chen placed the Spirit Stone inside his mouth, slowly draining the stored Qi to refill his own. With Lei Qiang gone, the eyes of the toad once again landed on Liang Chen, a loud croak sounding out as it jumped towards him, lightning dancing around it and spreading into the surroundings thanks to the rain. Liang Chen tightly grabbed the saber, which was far heavier and thicker than the sword he was used to. He didn''t try to dash away and use guerilla tactics to wear down the beast, he instead dashed forward, right at the beast.


    The toad landed on the ground, its cheeks expanding as all the lightning around it, as well as the lightning in its immediate surroundings, gathered inside its mouth. It opened its mouth, but there was no ball of lightning that shot out this time. Instead, its long tongue shot out like a blur, the sound of thunder ringing out. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed somewhat as he stomped down, halting his own momentum and using the counterforce to take half a step the right and give his body a slight twirl, causing the electrified tongue to just barely miss him.


    The tongue moved so fast that he was unable to properly see it, so he had simply given up on locating it through sight. He simply quieted down and listened to his instincts, tracking the tongue by the dense amount of lightning that had gathered around it. After dodging the tongue, he delivered a quick upward slash with the saber, cleanly slicing through the tongue before the toad managed to pull it back. The foul-smelling green blood splashed onto his face, but he was far too focused to pay attention to it now.


    It was the blood of a lightning element Demonic beast, so his body did not reject it, doing its best to absorb it the moment it landed on his skin, the pain only causing Liang Chen''s instincts to sharpen further. He pulled out another weapon from his interspatial ring, a simple metal spear. He grasped it tightly with his left hand, a faint purple light gathering around the tip, turning into a single drop of concentrated poison.


    He gave the spear a quick jerk, throwing it at the beast, lightning arcing around it and forcing its speed up. The toad was still reeling from the pain of having its tongue cut, so it was unable to react to the spear in time, the weapon piercing into one of its eyes, the drop of poison quickly causing the flesh around the spear tip to sizzle and melt, turning into a bloody stream that ran down the beast''s body.


    The toad let out a loud scream, a sound Liang Chen had not expected it to be able to make. But now was not the time to wonder how it managed to produce such a sound, now was the time to deliver the finishing strike. He dashed forward, grabbing onto the saber with both hands and raising it high, the lightning in the surrounding area gathering towards the edge of the blade. He quickly arrived in front of the reeling beast, delivering a forceful downward slash onto the head of the beast.


    The saber dug into the head, almost cleaving it in half, rampant lightning flooding its body and roasting its organs. Even though it was a lightning element Demonic beast, if too much, and too strong, lightning entered its body, it would die just like everything else. Lei Qiang, Sun Xia, and Tang Chao were not specialized in attacking, like Liang Chen, they geared more towards a defensive style, so they had yet to kill the second Demonic beast. It had been badly battered thanks to their combined effort, but it was still able to see the end of its mate, something that drove it into a mad frenzy.


    It let out a silent and sorrowful scream, gathering all its energy in its two hind legs, the lightning that arced around them so intense that small burns started to appear. Before Lei Qiang and the others had a chance to stop it, the beast kicked off and shot towards Liang Chen, whose back was turned since he had just delivered the finishing blow.


    The beast, that had put its all into this one attack, was far faster than Lei Qiang and the others were able to react, they could not even call out in warning. But just as the beast approached Liang Chen''s back, he jumped to the side and turned his body halfway around, his eyes landing on the approaching toad. Lei Qiang and the others were unable to see it since he was covered by the beast, but his golden pupils had narrowed, glaring at the toad like a beast gazing at its prey.


    He let go of the saber, pulling another spear out from his interspatial ring, turning the tip toward the beast. If he simply tried to block it head on, he would be smashed by the force of the beast, so he had decided to do something else instead. He pointed the tip at the toad, but the handle of the spear was placed against the ground. The moment the beast touched the tip of the spear, he let go of it and threw himself onto the ground, dodging beneath the beast.


    The sheer speed and force of the beast forced the spear into its body, almost skewering it right through. The beast passed over Liang Chen and crashed into the ground, completely dead. When he stood up, his pupils had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Lei Qiang and the others quickly ran over, their mouths agape in shock and awe. Sun Xia pumped her fist in excitement, but even she could not help but question.


    "Holy... How did you manage to react to that in time?"


    Even they had been unable to react to the speed of the Demonic beast, so how had Liang Chen, who had a lower cultivation, been able to react in time, even preparing a counter attack? Liang Chen merely gave a simple explanation, pointing at the cave.


    "I''ve got good instincts. Let''s fetch the spoils of battle."


    He had no idea how to explain his bestial instincts to them, nor was he interested in explaining them, so he simply settled on giving a casual excuse. With his words, Lei Qiang and the others were quickly reminded of what they had come here for, rushing into the cave to look for the Lightning Quartz.


    Liang Chen stored the two corpses into his interspatial ring before entering the cave. They were both lightning element Demonic beasts, so their blood and flesh would be useful for him. He then quickly followed the others, passing by several half-molten bones and regurgitated meat, feathers, and fur. It was not hard for them to find the Lightning Quartz, as it was located at the very end of the cave.


    The Lightning Quartz was shaped like an oval orb and was embedded in the wall, about the size of a grown man''s head. It was light blue in color, pulsating with a faint light, the muffled sound of thunder sounding out from within it. Even without touching it, Liang Chen could clearly feel the concentrated power of lightning within it. If something like this had barely reached the low-grade, just how precious and mighty were the higher grades. The eyes of Lei Qiang and the others lit up as they looked at the Lightning Quartz, their eyes gleaming with a nearly lustful gaze, Lei Qiang licking his lips as he moved a bit closer.


    "Ain''t that a thing of beauty? Hard to imagine that such a pretty thing can contain such destructive force."


    Lightning Quartz was lightning energy concentrated to a terrifying degree. If it were to shatter and become unstable, all that energy would be released at once, resulting in a massive explosion. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia carefully dug out the Lightning Quartz, their hands trembling as they looked at it, the light of greed appearing in the eyes of Lei Qiang, Tang Chao, and Sun Xia. Even if they couldn''t use it for themselves, they would gain a large amount of Spirit Stones once they sold it. They quickly took several deep breaths, repressing their greed, Lei Qiang handing the quartz to the one person who hadn''t looked at it with the same greed as them, Liang Chen.


    "Chen, you hold onto it for now, lest we all start fighting amongst each other. We can sell it once we return to the city."


    Liang Chen would not say no to something like that, so he carefully grabbed the orb and stored it into a secluded spot within his interspatial ring, making sure that there was nothing around it that could come into contact with it. The three others could not help but let their gazes linger on his interspatial ring for a bit longer, but they still managed to repress their greed.


    The group gave the cave one last sweep, but there was nothing else valuabel they could take, so they decided to leave. Shortly after leaving the cave, a strange phenomenon took place. All the lightning in the surrounding area started to vanish rapidly moving to the north, deeper into the stone forest. After just a short moment, there was no more lightning in the area, even the gathered lightning within the stones had been pulled away. Facing such a strange occurrence, Liang Chen could not help but glance at Lei Qiang, questioning him.


    "What... was that?"


    Liang Chen was rather surprised when his eyes landed on Lei Qiang and the others because he could see that their bodies were trembling slightly, their eyes gleaming with even more excitement than when they had seen the Lightning Quartz. Lei Qiang locked eyes with Sun Xia and the others, his voice trembling.


    "It can''t be... a Lotus, so far out?"


    The two others nodded their heads, similarily trembling from joy and excitement. Liang Chen, on the other hand, was utterly confused and lost. Since they were acting like this, it was clear that this lotus was not a normal lotus, so he quickly asked for clarification.


    "What''s a lotus, is it something rare?"


    Just this one Lightning Quartz had taken them quite some searching to find, was it possible that they would encounter something even rarer this quickly? Did they truly have such great luck? Of course, what Liang Chen failed to realize was that any bout of great luck would often be followed by great risks. Lei Qiang quickly took several deep breaths, rapidly explaining.


    "Both yes and no. They are incredibly rare this close to the entrance of the hidden realm, but a bit more common in the deeper parts. But only the Lotuses with one to three petals are a bit more common, those with more are still extremely rare. There is no telling what sort of bloody battle will happen if a lotus with more than three petals were to appear."


    Lei Qiang''s eyes were darting around, searching for any trace of this lotus. Sun Xia and Tang Chao were also doing the same, but Lei Qiang had yet to actually explain what one such lotus was, so Liang Chen had to press on with his question.


    "You still haven''t explained what it is."


    Lei Qiang quickly snapped back to reality after hearing Liang Chen''s somewhat flat comment. He quickly let out a slightly awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head as he made sure to give a proper explanation, wanting to make Liang Chen understand the rarity of what they were facing now.


    "Right, right. Sorry, got a bit too excited. They are called Elemental Lotuses, and thanks to how hard it is for them to be formed, they are extremely rare in the outside world, even the larger clans only have a very limited storage of them, and even those should only be of the lowest grades. They are created when large amounts of normal and elemental Qi are compressed together thanks to great pressure, forming a lotus. The more elements that are compressed together, the more petals the lotus will have, and the rarer it will become."


    It was one thing to create a One to Three-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but it became far harder the more elements you wanted to mix in. Because of that, even the larger clans and sects like the Storm Wolf Sect and the Moon Dragon Sect were unlikely to have a large amount of them. Lei Qiang turned to the north, towards where all the surrounding lightning had been drawn. His voice rising an octave as he locked eyes with the others.


    "The one that was born just now should only be a One-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but we might be lucky, it could be a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. We need to hurry over before too many other people learn about it and come to try their luck! Let''s dip into our storage of Spirit Stones, they will let us refill our Qi while we move."


    Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly agreed, and Liang Chen had no reason to refuse, so they immediately started moving. They each pulled out some Spirit Stones from their interspatial rings, holding onto them as they moved as fast as they could, hoping to reach the Elemental Lotus first so that they could avoid a large scale battle.

 Two-Petaled Lotus, harbinger of death.

    Liang Chen and his group ran as fast as they could, constantly taking out new Spirit Stones which they could use to restore their draining energy. As they ran, the sky started to slowly darken, a whirlpool of clouds, rain, and lightning forming in the distance, right above their destination. Seeing the sky change like this, Tang Chao''s expression distorted slightly as he couldn''t help but comment in annoyance.


    "The disturbance is getting greater, seems that getting there before too many people learn of it is going to be almost impossible."


    With even the sky itself changing because of the birth of the lotus, it was clear that hiding it was utterly impossible. The information would spread like a wildfire, drawing in the greed of everyone who was even remotely close to the area. Slightly nervous about the upcoming battle, Sun Xia could not help but turn to Lei Qiang.


    "How should we proceed once we get there? Not counting the people that will have heard about it, there should also be a strong guardian beast."


    Lei Qiang had the most experience when it came to organizing groups and making plans, so during the time they had traveled together as a group, he had become the one who made most plans. Lei Qiang rubbed his chin as he ran, his mind racing as he quickly settled on a plan that put the group''s security as the most important objective.


    "We wait and see. We let the stronger people move in first and deal with the guardian beast. We should only make a move once the others are exhausted or when we are absolutely forced to."


    They simply had too little information, so making an actual plan was far too difficult just yet. Lei Qiang was also keenly aware that they were highly unlikely to be the strongest group in the area, so they could forget about using overwhelming force to grab the Elemental Lotus. The others quickly nodded their heads in agreement to the temporary plan, returning their focus to keeping an eye on their surroundings.


    But while running, Liang Chen was only using half of his concentration to keep an eye on his surroundings, his other half was spent on something else, testing out two ideas he had come up with recently. One he came up with after seeing the effect of his poison on the group of bandits in the city, and the other he had come up with after seeing the Lightning Quartz. Both ideas were only in their infant stages, but he felt that he come up with something that would be quite useful to him.


    After spending a little over three hours running, the pressure around them had increased quite a bit, the Qi within the air around them getting thicker and more chaotic, causing the expressions of the group to become more solemn, Lei Qiang giving the group a reminder.


    "The energy is getting thicker, we are getting very close."


    Liang Chen had just recently heard about Elemental Lotuses, and he had never seen one before, but just seeing the spectacle that it wrought as it was born was enough to let him realize how special it was. Not only did the sky change, but even the strong pressure of this hidden realm was strengthened even further. It was just in the area around the lotus itself that the pressure increased, but that alone was already very impressive.


    After another two hours of running, the group arrived close to the spot where the whirlpool was making contact with the earth. The area was rather well-hidden, located at the center of a circle of mountains that were a few thousand meters in height.


    It was only after reaching the peak of one of the mountains that the group was able to see the place where the lotus had been born, a large open area that was dotted with droplet-shaped gray boulders of various sizes. The group slowly made their way down the side of the mountain, hiding behind one of the larger boulders placed at the very edge of the open area. After hiding, Sun Xia pointed at a seven-meter tall boulder located at the very center of the area.


    "There, atop that drop-shaped boulder. It must have been slowly forming within the stone, bursting through the top once it managed to form itself. Let me see if I can check what element it is."


    Just like she said, the top of the boulder had exploded outwards, the stone melting and then solidifying into a twisted shape that formed a shell filled with holes. Thanks to the faint cyan light and the dense Qi that seeped out from the holes, it was clear that the lotus was located within that shell. The Qi within the boulder was so dense that not even the rain that was pouring from the sky was able to get close to it.


    Sun Xia closed her eyes, carefully and stealthily sending out her perception to scan the energy around the boulder, checking which type of Qi was densest there. After a short while, her eyes opened wide, a bright light shining in them, her voice trembling from uncontrollable excitement.


    "By the gods, it really is a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus! The second petal has just barely managed to take form, but it is undoubtedly there! The elements seem to be lightning and wind, not the most useful to us, but we can sell it for a fortune, enough to live like kings for centuries!"


    Tang Chao and Lei Qiang also started to tremble with excitement after hearing her judgment. Liang Chen''s eyes were glued to the faint light that came from the boulder, his heart hammering in his chest. Even before Sun Xia had said anything, he knew what element the Elemental Lotus had. His body hungered and screamed, far more than it ever had when he saw the sleeping Sun Xia or the corpses of Demonic beasts that had his element. It felt like he was a starving man that finally saw some food after hundreds of days without eating. Lei Qiang quickly took several deep breaths, calming himself and commenting.


    "Don''t let the excitement get to your head, we first have to get our hands on it. And looking at the sheer amount of people that have already gathered, that is going to be very hard. Chen, close your mouth, you are drooling."


    Liang Chen quickly shook his head and took several deep breaths, closing his mouth and wiping the corners. His body had been so enticed by the lotus that he had not even noticed that he was drooling. Sun Xia and Tang Chao also quickly took several breaths, their eyes meeting for a short second as they calmed themselves down. Sun Xia quickly swept the surrounding area with narrowed eyes, speaking out in a slightly hushed down.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "Right, right, can''t get ahead of myself. Everyone try to see if you can sense how many people and Demonic beasts have arrived, as well as what their strength is."


    The group was actually highly specialized when it came to scanning the surroundings around them in this area. Lei Qiang could check for other beings by sensing where they stepped on the earth, Sun Xia could scan for other beings by sensing where they were in contact with the various stones, and Tang Chao could scan for other beings by sensing the rain that landed on their bodies. Thanks to the large amount of lightning around them, Liang Chen was at a disadvantage when it came to scanning for living beings using his lightning, but he was still passable at it. After everyone spent a bit of time scouring the surroundings, Lei Qiang opened his eyes, a bitter smile on his face.


    "I detected almost 200, with several of them having a very hazy cultivation. What about you guys?"


    If their cultivation looked hazy to him, that could only mean one thing, they had already transcended the Ascended Tower realm, making them far stronger than anyone in their group. Tang Chao and the others also opened their eyes, Tang Chao''s expression darkening as he reported his findings, pointing to the eastern area.


    "I found about 300, with more and more coming from the distance."


    With the number of people that were swarming over, there would soon be close to a thousand people gathered in the area, everyone greedily staring at the Elemental Lotus. Lei Qiang followed Tang Chao''s finger, his bitter smile growing slightly as he shook his head and sighed.


    "It seems that we are quite unlucky, several people must have quickly spread the news."


    For this many people to have arrived this quickly, it was likely that someone had detected the birth of the Elemental Lotus even before them, sending out a message to their friends and allies as quickly as they could.


    Since they had discovered the other people in the surroundings, they had certainly also been discovered. But despite everyone knowing that they had been discovered, no one made a move to grab the lotus, everyone cautiously waiting and keeping an eye on the others. After waiting for five tense hours, there was finally someone who could no longer bear it, a large group of people stepping forward and speaking out with a booming voice.


    "Everyone, please listen! I am Tian Shentu from the Fiendgod Sect, and my sect has been keeping an eye on this Elemental Lotus for quite a while, even grooming it by throwing lightning element treasures at it. Because of that, I hope you will all leave peacefully, saving us the trouble of having to deal with you."


    The one who shouted out was the man standing at the very front of the group, a man who was a little over two meters tall and had a body so burly it resembled a bear''s. He had short and spiky black hair, brown eyes that had a sharp light, and a large scar that separated his face into two halves right down the middle. Despite the man stepping forward and using both the name of the Tian clan and the superpower that was the Fiendgod sect, none of the surrounding people pulled back. Rather than pull back, there was a large group that stepped forward and scoffed at Tian Shentu''s words.


    "Blow it out your ass, Shentu! Your Fiendgod sect wasn''t the one who groomed this lotus, it was my Ghost Soul Sect! Everyone, I am Zhao Daiyun, one of the members of the Ghost Soul Sect that has been appointed with the task of raising this lotus. We have spent quite a bit of resource on raising it, so I hope you understand that we will not allow you to take it, so please leave peacefully."


    Zhao Daiyun was the polar opposite of Tian Shentu, she was a delicate and thin woman who had slightly pale skin, gray hair that hung down to her waist, as well as strangely white eyes. But there was one thing she shared with Tian Shentu, and that was the fact that her cultivation appeared hazy, clearly having transcended the Ascended Tower realm.


    Two groups led by people from not only two of the large sects, but also two of the superpowers, had stepped forward and spoken out, but no one left. Facing something like a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, they would be fools if they simply believed the words of others and left. Seeing that no one was willing to give face to either of the superpowers, Zhao Daiyun let out a snort and spoke up again.


    "Very well, since none of you seem willing to leave, we can only take matters into our own hands and plant the lotus in a different location."


    After Zhao Daiyun spoke out, her group immediately charged forward, dashing directly towards the lotus. Her actions immediately broke the tense stalemate that had existed earlier, the other groups instantly revealing themselves and charging at the lotus, letting out loud shouts as they gave orders to their companions.


    Not only humans charged forward, but also various Demonic beasts, in both human and beast shape, as well as people from the demon race charged forward, weapons at the ready as they launched attacks. With everyone charging forward, it seemed that the beast that was guarding the Elemental Lotus could no longer hide, the ground trembling fiercely as a massive boulder rose up from the ground.


    The Demonic beast that guarded this Elemental Lotus resembled a crab that was almost 30 meters tall, its shell made out of thick magnetic stone that spiraled upwards, four thick pincers growing out in front of the beast, six legs that had a razor sharp edge stretching out beneath it. The beast released a heavy pressure that was even more terrifying than the pressure Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun released, causing even Liang Chen''s bestial instincts to tremble in fear, completely overshadowing the hunger it felt when faced with the Elemental Lotus.


    Lei Qiang quickly took a deep breath, giving himself a heavy slap to forcefully calm himself down. His gave the others a heavy pat on the back, his face growing determined and solemn as he spoke out.


    "It was about time someone lost their patience. It seems like our old plan of waiting isn''t going to work with this many people, so we are going to have to do our best to sneak up now, while everyone is fighting. Follow me."


    There were over a thousand people here, it was not realistic to wait for all of them to tire themselves out. In that case, they could only take a risk and try to blend in with the other groups, sneakily charging forward and hoping they had a lucky roll of the dice.


    The group quickly dashed out from their hiding spot and charged into what could only be described as hell. Before even getting close to the lotus, the various groups had already started to fight amongst each other, blood flowing like a river, organs, body parts, and corpses littering the ground all around. Not only was there fighting between the groups, but even members of the same group were fighting against each other, using people they had called comrades as meat shields or killing them to take their Spirit Stones so that they could refill their own dwindling energy.


    Liang Chen found it an appalling sight to see so many people kill and betray each other without hesitation, all for a chance to get a single step closer to the lotus. Men and women, young and old, people who had no killing intent, people who were begging for mercy, people who had been forced to come along because they were slaves, all killed without mercy. That singular lotus. Was its existence really so great that it warranted all these people killing and betraying each other without regard? Was it worth all this bloodshed and the resulting grief?

 Lightning Seed, Poison Soul.

    Liang Chen had no answer to his question, nor would he ever be given an answer. This was simply how the cultivation world was, many people would kill and even betray their closest friends just to slightly increase their chances of raising their cultivation. After all, the weak could only follow the unreasonable demands of the strong, only when you had strength could you decide anything, only then could you control your own life.


    The groups of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun quickly made contact with the guardian Demonic beast, starting a battle that cracked the earth and boulders all around them. While Liang Chen''s group was quietly making their way forward, doing their best to avoid any battles, they quickly spotted other groups attempting the same tactic.


    When the various groups that were trying to sneak forward spotted each other, a fearsome glint passed through their eyes. It was clear that if they continued to sneak like this, there was a good chance that one of the other sneaking groups that had started before them would reach the target before them. In that case, they could only join in on the fray, killing the other sneaking groups before they could get any closer to the lotus. Seeing the various groups charging at each other, Lei Qiang''s expression twisted as he drew his halberd and called out in a loud voice.


    "Tch, of course they had the same plan as us. Change of plans once more! Charge forward and try to break through, protect Chen so that he can attack freely!"


    They were now closer to the lotus than they were to the exit of this area, so they could only risk it and charge forward, as charging backward meant they would have to fight through a larger number of people. As to what they would do if they managed to get a hold of the lotus, they would have to leave that question to when they actually managed to acquire it.


    Even more battles quickly broke out as the groups that had previously focused on sneaking forward joined the hell that was unfolding around them. Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly listened to Lei Qiang''s orders, taking up formation around Liang Chen and defending him from attacks, giving him free rein to wreak havoc.


    Thanks to the Elemental Lotus, the entire area was filled with dense lightning energy, it was the perfect environment for Liang Chen. He didn''t even need to use Spirit Stones to refill his withering energy, he could simply absorb the lightning energy that was all around him, even using it as a conduit to strengthen his own attacks.


    All the lightning he absorbed coursed through his body, sinking into his flesh, muscles, bones, and his Ascended Tower, reinforcing them. His Ascended tower, which was golden in color and covered in a scaly pattern that continuously changed between emerald and violet in color, grew more and more corporeal as lightning sank into it. But even with all the lightning that sank into it, there were no signs of another floor being added to the tower, no signs of his cultivation rising.


    Liang Chen knew why it was like this, knew why his cultivation hadn''t shown any signs of rising despite all the lightning he had absorbed after entering this stone forest. The reason was that his Ascended Tower was not built up solely out of lightning, it was also built out of poison. No matter how much lightning he absorbed, he would also have to absorb just as much poison if he wanted his cultivation to increase. So until he could get his hand on poison that was not only strong enough but also plentiful enough, his cultivation would not rise.


    As he felt that it was better to have more range right now, Liang Chen pulled a spear out from his interspatial ring. He focused on delivering quick stabs with the spear, only attacking through the slim gaps that appeared between the bodies of Sun Xia and the others whenever they moved. Each stab was accompanied by the sound of muffled thunder and arcs of dancing lightning that was golden with a faint hint of azure, lighting up the area around him in a spectacular show.


    The speed of the group slowed down now that they were fighting, wading through heaps of corpses with the stench of blood stinging their noses. But while Lei Qiang and the others scrunched their noses, Liang Chen unknowingly started to hum, humming a cheerful tune that his mother had taught him when he was only a few years old.


    Not only did Liang Chen fail to notice that he was humming, he didn''t even notice the fact that his lips curled into a grim grin, blood splattering his face. He was surrounded by death and blood, flesh and corpses, the perfect place for his bestial instincts to thrive. And since Liang Chen was so focused on the task at hand, he failed to even notice the fact that his bestial instincts were somewhat dictating his actions


    But Liang Chen had already fought his bestial instincts for a while, so even with them unknowingly dictating some of his actions, his mind was still mostly clear, his morals were still there. He killed anyone who truly came at him with the intent to kill, but he left those who were unwilling or hesitant alone, hitting them with the handle of the spear and pushing them away as he gave them a warning.


    "Leave this place before you die an early death."


    His merciful words drew a stark contrast from his grim grin and cheerful humming, but none of the people he spared would take the time to tell him this, quickly fleeing now that they had been given the chance. Tang Chao and Sun Xia were not too pleased with Liang Chen letting several people leave alive, as that meant there were more people left that could steal the lotus from them. But in the heat of battle, they could only turn a blind eye and accept it.


    Blood continued to pour, not even the heavy rain able to wash it all away. Over a thousand people had arrived for the lotus, but now, after a mere ten minutes of fighting, more than half of them had all died, perishing so that someone else could have a slight chance at either getting richer or stronger.


    Liang Chen was certain that right now, in this area, to the other people fighting, the lives of everyone else had lost all worth, becoming nothing but a farce. For a short second, he could not help but let out a weak and dry chuckle at how little a life was seemingly worth, compared to what he had previously believed. Someone took advantage of this short moment where he was distracted, an arrow whizzing through the gap between Sun Xia and Lei Qiang, piercing into Liang Chen''s waist and quickly returning him to reality. Two more arrows came whizzing, but Lei Qiang quickly blocked them, one with his halberd and the other with his arm. He grit his teeth to endure the pain, quickly barking out another order.


    "Xia, protect Chen''s back! We can''t afford to have him get any more injured now that we are so close!"


    No matter how hard they tried to protect Liang Chen, it was impossible for them to block all the attacks, so several wounds had already appeared on his body, the arrow piercing into his waist being the largest of the wounds. Sun Xia quickly switched places with Tang Chao, taking up position a little to the right of Liang Chen''s rear.


    The groups of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun were still fighting the crab, suffering heavy losses, but managing to inflict wounds on the beast in return. The Demonic beast was far stronger than it had first seemed, so all of the strongest people were forced to work together in an attempt to bring it down. Thanks to that, Liang Chen''s group had managed to get very close to the Elemental Lotus, only a few hundred meters away from it. With the goal so close, Lei Qiang took out several large Spirit Stones from his interspatial ring, handing them to the rest of the group as he let out a heavy breath.


    "Last push, everyone stay focused and don''t get caught off-guard!"


    The last few hundreds of meters would be the hardest, as everyone would disregard everything and launch reckless attacks. Lei Qiang sent one last look at the members of his group, wondering if all of them would be able to make it through this alive, or if one of them would fall before it was over.


    The others quickly absorbed the Qi within the Spirit Stones, refilling their dwindling reserves as they prepared themselves. Their preparations only lasted for a short moment before they dashed forward at their highest speed, competing with the other groups over who could run faster, launch their attacks faster and stronger.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Lei Qiang and the others did their best to block attacks, but there were still quite a few that somehow managed to slip through their defenses, landing on Liang Chen and staining the ground with his blood. Lei Qiang glanced at Liang Chen with worry, but to his surprise, Liang Chen''s face was completely calm, as if the pain from the attacks wasn''t bothering him in the slightest. Had he trained his mind to such a level that pain no longer bothered him?


    Before Lei Qiang could get an answer to his question, the group arrived within fifty meters of the Elemental Lotus, the dense energy refreshing their bodies and mind. Thanks to the fact that their group was excellently balanced, they were the foremost group, the group closest to claiming the lotus.


    But that also meant that they had to face the collective attacks of the other group. A flurry of attacks was launched at them from behind, heading directly for Tang Chao and Sun Xia, who were defending the rear. The two matched eyes once more, giving each other a short nod. As if they had planned it ahead of time, both reached out and grabbed onto the backs of Liang Chen and Lei Qiang, calling out in a loud voice.


    "You block that for me!"


    They grabbed onto them tightly and exerted all their strength, and thanks to the fact that neither Liang Chen or Lei Qiang had expected it, they were able to throw the both of them behind them, right in front of the oncoming attacks. Being betrayed and thrown so suddenly, Lei Qiang could not help but call out in a dumbfounded voice.


    "Xia, Chao?!"


    Sun Xia and Tang Chao completely ignored the shout of Lei Qiang, quickly crossing the last few meters and reaching the boulder that contained the Elemental Lotus. Sun Xia shattered the shell that surrounded the lotus, quickly shouting at Tang Chao.


    "Grab the lotus, we need to flee fast, and don''t forget my cut!"


    It was not hard to realize that Tang Chao and Sun Xia had at some point come to an agreement that they would rather share the money they would get from selling the lotus between the two of them, rather than splitting it into four portions. Liang Chen''s expression turned a bit downcast at the actions of the two of them, a regretful mutter sounding out.


    "Really, how saddening."


    They had not spent a lot of time together, but they had fought and bled together, so it would be a lie if Liang Chen were to say that he did not have some warm feelings towards Tang Chao and Sun Xia. Had it not been for their actions now, he felt that they could have become good friends in the future. But sadly, they valued money more than they did friendship. But not everyone was like Sun Xia and Tang Chao. Seeing the attacks that were quickly approaching Liang Chen, Lei Qiang quickly let out a loud shout.


    "Chen, dodge!"


    Lei Qiang forcefully stabilized his body, stomping the ground and dashing forward, moving right in between Liang Chen and the oncoming attacks. Sun Xia and Tang Chao had betrayed them, but Lei Qiang came from a long line of military leaders, morals and solidarity were deeply ingrained in his bones. No matter what, betrayal was one of the things he would adamantly refuse to do. Even now he upheld those morals, doing his best to defend Liang Chen, just like he said he would when they first started charging.


    He braced himself to forcefully intercept the attacks with his own body, but it was at that moment Liang Chen moved into action. Lightning exploded out from his body, his aura and strength rapidly rising. But with the release of the lightning, bloody cracks started to appear on Liang Chen''s body, his flesh splitting apart as arcs of lightning poured out from the wound. Just looking at it made Lei Qiang cringe with pain, but Liang Chen''s face was still completely calm, if a bit downcast.


    He grabbed onto Lei Qiang with his bloody arms, holding him tightly as he stomped on the ground, turning into a blur as he shot forward, far faster than he had ever been before. The attacks that had been coming straight for them completely missed their mark, Liang Chen and Lei Qiang almost instantly reaching Tang Chao and Sun Xia.


    Liang Chen let go of Lei Qiang, stretching out his arms and grabbing onto the necks of Tang Chao and Sun Xia. The two were completely shocked at the change, Liang Chen had simply acted and moved far too fast, they didn''t even have the chance to react.


    They once worked together, but now Tang Chao and Sun Xia had betrayed them, showing that they were more than willing to kill Liang Chen and Lei Qiang if they had any incentive to do so. And because of that, the only mercy Liang Chen would show them was a quick and merciful death, his poison flooding their bodies and eroding their hearts and brains, instantly shutting them down and causing their bodies to collapse and fall down from the boulder.


    With the two of them dead, the Elemental Lotus was directly in front of Liang Chen and Lei Qiang, allowing Liang Chen to get his first glimpse of the item that had caused such an absurd amount of death.


    Even though it was called a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, it looked just like a normal lotus. The only difference was that half of its petals were a light azure in color, while the other half of the petals were a light cyan in color. The petals slowly rotated around the lotus, the Qi around it so dense that it almost turned into a fine mist. But even with the lotus directly in front of him, Lei Qiang''s eyes were locked on Liang Chen, his mouth muttering in disbelief and shock.


    "You... Chen, how did you...?"


    He had seen Liang Chen fight, he even thought very highly of Liang Chen, not only because of his strength but also because of the morals he had shown so far. But the strength he had shown so far was nothing compared to what he had shown now. The aura that radiated from his body made even Lei Qiang feel fearful, so he was certain that he would fare no better than Sun Xia if he were to try and fight Liang Chen.


    Had he hidden his strength previously? What other explanation was there for him to suddenly explode with such strength? Liang Chen ignored the shocked gaze of Lei Qiang, nudging the lotus with his foot for a short moment before he shook his head and spoke up, pointing at a small open path to the north that could be used to flee.


    "Qiang, you should flee, there is no way for us to keep this lotus, it will only bring death."


    When Liang Chen shook his head, the skin on his neck cracked open, lightning and blood pouring out. Liang Chen had no intention of explaining how he had suddenly gotten so strong, mostly because right now really wasn''t the time for it.


    The secret behind Liang Chen''s sudden explosion of strength was one of the two ideas he had come up with earlier, the one he had thought up when he saw the Lightning Quartz. The Lightning Quartz was in truth just highly concentrated lightning energy that had solidified. If it were to shatter and be released, it would release horrific amounts of energy in every direction.


    Since the Lightning Quartz could do so, why shouldn''t he be able to do the same? That was the insane thought that struck him when he touched the Lightning Quartz, an idea that could only be called reckless and dangerous. But to the weak Liang Chen, even if the idea was reckless and dangerous, he found it worth to grab onto it.


    He had quickly moved into action, using his own Qi to dig a hole into his own flesh, carving out a hollow area right beneath his heart, much like a second dantian. Once the hollow area was complete, he started to pour lightning energy into it, concentrating and compressing it until it suddenly formed a tiny seed. The tiny seed was exceedingly strange, no matter how much lightning energy he poured into it, it would not grow larger, nor would it shrink when he drained the lightning within it. Even when he drained all the lightning in it, the seed simply turned dim, it did not vanish. The seed also seemed insatiable, no matter how much lightning he poured into it, it would always be ready to accept more. He was uncertain why it was like this, but he took advantage of the situation.


    His original plan had been to carve several such hollow points in his body, filling them with lightning and detonating them when he was in dire need, using the violent energy that was released to temporarily force his strength to rise. But with this strange lightning seed, there was no need to carve several hollow points, just the one was enough. And he didn''t even have to detonate all the lightning, he could choose how much he wanted to detonate, choosing how much he raised his strength. He wasn''t certain what to name it, so he simply gave it the temporary name of Lightning Seed.


    But the technique was still in its infant state, so Liang Chen had barely any control over it. When he activated it just now, all the lightning was released in an uncontrollable fashion, overloading his body and causing it to slowly break down, hence the cracks in his flesh. This, of course, brought with it maddening amounts of pain. But luckily, Liang Chen had already activated another one of the techniques he had been working on, another technique that could only be called insane and dangerous.


    How could Liang Chen fight so recklessly during this battle, not even batting an eye when he was wounded, as if the pain meant nothing to him? That was because before the battles even began, Liang Chen had poisoned himself. He had flooded his own body with poison, numbing his nerves to a state where he was unable to feel pain. This not only allowed him to ignore any wounds, but it also helped him release more strength, as he was no longer limited by his own subconsciousness. He hadn''t come up with a proper name for this technique either, so he gave it the temporary name Poison Soul.


    But just like his Lightning Seed, this Poison Soul technique was still in an infant stage, so he was unable to use it properly. He had used too much poison, not only losing all sense of pain but even losing all sense of touch in his body, almost causing him to lose control of it. But for the moment, it had worked well enough, he could focus on working out the kinks in the future.

 Thunder Kings Judgment.

    Lei Qiang did not pursue the fact that Liang Chen had brushed aside his question, his eyes landing on the lotus in front of him. His eyes gleamed and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but he quickly shook his head, his worried eyes turning to Liang Chen.


    "But what about you?"


    Liang Chen had told him to flee, he had not said anything about himself fleeing. Was he planning on staying? Here, in this hell where everyone was his enemy? Had it not been for the fact that the other groups were shocked by his sudden burst of strength, the two of them would have already been drowned in attacks. Facing his question, a bitter smile appeared on Liang Chen''s face as he picked up the lotus, which was a little larger than his palm.


    "Even if I were to throw this lotus at them, they would worry that I have done something to it, so they likely won''t just let me leave. Because of that, there is something I am going to do. Don''t worry, I won''t die here, not yet, not before I have killed those I must kill."


    Liang Chen had, in fact, told a little lie just now. It wasn''t that they would worry that he had done something to it, it was that they would realize he had done something to it and chase him. The moment Liang Chen had gotten close to the lotus, his instincts went into overdrive, shouting and screaming, clawing at the inside of his mind.


    Liang Chen managed to ignore his instincts, as he was certain that if he were to do anything to this lotus, the remaining survivors would swarm him and kill him. It was a shame, but this lotus was not something he could have, this entire trip had been in vain. But even if he thought that, it seemed like he was not allowed to have it that easy.


    The moment he got close to the lotus, the lightning energy within it started to automatically enter his body, attracted by his Lightning Seed and all the other lightning energy within his body. If the others were to see the lotus, they would quickly realize that some of the lightning energy within it had vanished. And since Liang Chen was one of the few that had touched the lotus, as well as the fact that he had the lightning element, it would not take a lot of guessing to realize that it was he who had absorbed the missing lightning energy.


    Lei Qiang had no idea what he could say in this situation. He knew that Liang Chen was right, this lotus was not something they could have, this trip was nothing but a disaster for them. And seeing Liang Chen''s determined eyes, he knew that there was no changing his mind. In the end, he decided to stand up and stretch out his hand, giving Liang Chen a wide smile.


    "Very well. Once you get out of here, come to find me in Eternal Stream city, we can share some drinks, I would love to hear about where you came from, a bit more in-depth this time."


    He found Liang Chen to be somewhat similar to him, he was a person that would be a good friend. Lei Qiang''s words also implied what he planned to do after fleeing this place, leaving the Mystic''s Hidden realm and returning home. Liang Chen also put on a smile, stretching out his free hand, the both of them shaking hands.


    "That sounds nice, let''s do that."


    After shaking hands, Lei Qiang gave Liang Chen one last long look before he turned away and started running, fleeing with all his might, turning back to look at Liang Chen twice as he ran. No one chased Lei Qiang, so he quickly managed to leave the area, fleeing to freedom. Liang Chen on the other hand, faced the group of people that were greedily eyeing him and the lotus, casually sitting down and waiting.


    After waiting for close to 15 minutes, a large explosion rocked the area, the crab Demonic beast finally collapsing to the ground, its spiraling shell shattered. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun had lost many people, but their groups were still the strongest in the area, so when they walked over with heavy breaths, everyone made way for them, silently cursing themselves for not making a move on Liang Chen earlier. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun stopped a short distance away from Liang Chen, glancing at the lotus in his hand before they stretched out their hands and spoke simultaneously.


    "Kid, hand over that lotus and allow us to extract the energy you have absorbed from it. If you do that, we will let you leave alive."


    Their words left Liang Chen no quarter, gave him only a single way out. The energy extracted from the lotus had gone straight to his Lightning Seed and Ascended Tower, extracting it would require them to shatter both of those things, completely crippling him in the process. Facing all the people that were greedily looking at him and had probably already sentenced him to death, Liang Chen found that his mind turned crystal clear, a light laughter ringing out from his mouth as he stood up.


    "Just look at the lot of you. A single Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus is born, and all of you are ready to kill and betray everyone around you, just for a chance to touch the lotus, it is laughable."


    It was truly laughable how easily all of these people were willing to kill and betray others, despite knowing that they were probably never going to even get close to the lotus. Tian Shentu only let out a cold snort after hearing Liang Chen''s laughter.


    "Don''t try to lecture us kid, you did exactly the same."


    They had not seen how Liang Chen had reached the lotus, but it was clear that he had killed several people to acquire it, there were even two corpses on the ground right next to the boulder he stood on. Faced with Tian Shentu''s cold snort, Liang Chen gave a slight shake of his head, narrowing his eyes slightly as he glanced at some of the people that were hiding in the crowd.


    "No, I only killed those who wanted to kill me, the rest I let go. I won''t deny that I am bad, but I am not even close to as bad as the rest of you, who killed everyone in sight. I even saw some of you specifically target others so that you could kill and rob them."


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    Liang Chen did not consider himself a good person. He had decided to kill people like Qing Lan Yong and the bandits, bad people who remorselessly ruined the lives of others, often innocent people. But that did not change what he did. He killed people, he ended lives and probably tore families apart. Just like those he killed, he could be considered a monster. Even more so when he thought about how easily his body absorbed Demonic beast blood and even their Demon Crystal, even his body was slowly changing to becoming more monstrous.


    Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun seemed to be wary of each other and the remaining people, so while it looked like their patience was reaching its end, none of them made a move, they simply crossed their arms in front of their chest and spoke to Liang Chen.


    "Kid, whatever you are trying to say, just get it over with and hand over the lotus and the absorbed energy."


    They were not only worried about the remaining people but also worried that Liang Chen would ruin the lotus if they acted rashly. So since Liang Chen seemed to be the chatty type, they decided to take advantage of the situation to stealthily restore their energy. Liang Chen had plans of his own, so he did not reject the offer of Tian Shentu, a faint sneer appearing on his face as he questioned them.


    "You won''t let me go until I hand over the lotus and let you extract the energy that I absorbed from it? Even if doing so will cripple me?"


    If they crippled him right here, his body would lose the Qi that protected it. Not only would the pressure of this hidden realm completely crush him, but the ever-present lightning in this area would also roast him, quickly killing him. Extracting the energy was the same as giving him a death sentence. This time it was Zhao Daiyun who let out a snort, causing Liang Chen to wonder if the people who came from the superpower sects were fond of snorting like this when talking to others.


    "So what? You shouldn''t have absorbed something that wasn''t yours. If you truly want to curse something, curse your own bad luck that caused you to be so unlucky that you were close to the lotus as it was born, you just had a bad roll of the dice."


    Zhao Daiyun''s words reminded Liang Chen of the words that the bandit leader had told him when they were trying to rob him inside the city. His slight sneer vanished, turning into a faint smirk as he looked at Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun. Since he was standing atop the boulder, it gave the impression that he was looking down upon them, that they were beneath him.


    "A bad roll of the dice, huh? I seem to be getting those a lot, it''s quite annoying. But let me tell you this, I refuse to let someone else roll the dice for me. I will roll it, I will choose what it lands on."


    Liang Chen was tired of getting bad rolls, tired of others blaming things on good or bad rolls of the dice. He would grab the dice, he would decide his own actions and outcomes, his fate was his and his alone to decide. If he were to succeed or fail, it would not be because of the roll of a dice, it would be because of his own hard work, or lack thereof. Tian Shentu did not like how it felt like Liang Chen was looking down on them, so he stamped his foot slightly and started to speak out in an annoyed voice.


    "Kid, my patience..."


    Tian Shentu was not able to finish his words, the laughter of Liang Chen interrupting him. Liang Chen held the lotus high with his right hand while using his left hand to point at the crowd in front of him, the smirk on his face turning into a grin that held a hint of insanity.


    "Look at the lot of you. You can''t wait to tear me apart, even though I have never met or harmed any of you before. Monsters, scum, and trash, that is all I see around me right now. None of you deserve this lotus, so let it all vanish, like ash on the wind."


    The moment Liang Chen finished his sentence in a strangely calm fashion, a horrifying sense of danger flooded Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, making them feel like they were facing the god of death. They did not bother thinking about the reason, they simply shouted out a desperate order at the top of their lungs, pulling out talismans and flags from their interspatial rings.


    "Defensive formation, NOW!"


    But it was already too late, Liang Chen had bought all the time he needed. The air all around him lit up, crackling with tiny arcs of crimson lightning. The lotus in his hand trembled fiercely as if it was releasing a cry towards the high heavens. A loud booming sound rang out, drowning out everything else. The sky split apart, crimson bolts of lightning flashing across the heavens and dying the earth red.


    This was what Liang Chen had decided on doing the moment he let Lei Qiang flee, to call upon the lightning that resided within the sky of this hidden realm. Not the azure lightning that filled every inch of this land, but the crimson lightning that resided even higher than the azure lightning, maybe even lightning that resided higher than that.


    But he could not do it on his own, he was too weak to call upon enough lightning, he needed a conduit, something to amplify his own calling power. And wasn''t this Elemental Lotus just perfect for that?


    He sent almost all of his energy and mind into the lotus, then stretching out towards the heavens, past the clouds, higher than ever before. And the heavens responded to his call, sending forth furious bolts of lightning to punish those he had deemed monsters.


    But the lotus was still only a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, the lightning within it was also of the azure variety, so there was no way for Liang Chen to actually control the crimson lightning that he summoned, he could only let it wreak havoc, just like when he used it to kill the snake.


    But the bolts of lightning that answered his call this time were far thicker than the one from back then, there were also far more of them, the entire sky covered in them. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun sent Liang Chen a horrified gaze, terrified at what he had brought. They immediately knew that their defensive formations were useless in this situation, so they swiped their interspatial rings and took out a talisman that looked like a pair of transparent wings.


    Before Liang Chen got to see what the talismans would do, the bolts of lightning descended down onto the earth. The rain evaporated, the stones melted, the people who still remained were blown apart upon being struck by the furious lightning. The Thunder King had proclaimed his judgement, and the punishment was death.


    Liang Chen was not able to see what became of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, a single dreadful bolt of violet lightning descending from the sky. The crimson bolts of lightning gave the violet bolt plenty of space, it was like a king descending to the earth. And the place where the violet lightning was headed was precisely the lotus that Liang Chen was holding.


    There was no way for Liang Chen to react, the bolt of lightning traveled far faster than any speed he had ever seen, any speed he was able to imagine. By the time he noticed it, it had already arrived by him. The lotus turned to ash before it was even struck but the lightning, the ash sticking to Liang Chen''s body and entering it through the cracks in his flesh.


    The lightning struck Liang Chen''s body and the world instantly turned dark, not even giving him time for a single thought or blink. The crimson bolts of lightning quickly started to dwindle, leaving behind only a ruined landscape covered in body parts and ash. The only sound present within this hellish landscape was the faint beating of a heart.

 The maw in the darkness

    The sound of running footsteps started to approach the hidden basin a bit of time after Liang Chen called down the crimson and violet lightning, a group of people quickly appearing at the peak of one of the surrounding mountains. The group consisted of almost 10 people that were mixed in age and gender.


    Standing at the front of the group was a male youth who looked like he was in his early twenties, Yan Ying. He had deep green hair that reached down to just above his ears, chiseled features, pitch black eyes, and was clad in tight-fitting armor made out of the hide of a scaled beast. When his eyes landed on the basin below them, which was still filled with body parts and blood, he couldn''t help but scrunch up his nose, pointing at the basin.


    "This is the place where the heavenly lightning struck. It''s a gruesome sight, but let''s try to see if we can find any traces of what might have summoned the lightning."


    Yan Ying''s group had felt it when the crimson and violet lightning ravaged the earth here, rushing over at their fastest speed. Heavenly lightning would only descend when a magnificent treasure was born, or when power people were making a breakthrough in their cultivation. The people behind him quickly dashed into the basin, Yan Ying following right after them.


    They quickly spread out and started to scour through every inch of the basin in search for what they presumed was a great treasure. Everyone who had died there had been a cultivator, every inch of their body containing Qi. Because of that, even though several hours had passed, the blood that dyed the earth red was still fresh and wet, splashing around as people walked through it. Yan Ying could not help but look at all the corpses, his eyebrows furrowing.


    "Blown apart, evaporated, some even melted. Just how much heavenly lightning had to strike this place to cause such havoc? Any luck with the search?"


    Such a large area had been affected, so many people dying, it was clear that there had been far more than just one bolt of heavenly lightning that struck this place. Shortly after Yan Ying called out his question, there was a shocked shout from the center of the basin.


    "Young Master, there is a survivor!"


    Not only Yan Ying, the others that were searching were also surprised at the response. There were so many dead here, just how had someone managed to survive this carnage? Yan Ying quickly dashed over to the subordinate that had called out, finding a naked child lying on the ground.


    The child had emerald green hair, and pushing open his eyelids showed that he had golden pupils. His body was covered in blood and a few wounds, scars that resembled cracks filling his back. Yan Ying crouched down next to the child, Liang Chen, and inspected the outside of his body, letting out a slight mutter after giving him a quick inspection.


    "There really was a survivor. He looks to be in bad shape, but nothing fatal. Did you find anything else here?"


    The subordinate, Dong Qiu, a dwarf of a man that had a bushy blonde bear and a bald head, pointed at the molten earth below Liang Chen, at what used to be a several meters tall boulder.


    "Traces of what might have been a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. That might be what drew down the heavenly lightning."


    There were no remains of the Elemental Lotus, as it had turned to dust before the violet lightning even struck it, but Dong Qiu was still able to sense traces of its Qi in the air. Yan Ying also sensed the traces of the Elemental Lotus, giving a slight nod of his head before turning towards another one of his subordinates, an old man covered in wrinkles and spread tufts of white hair.


    "Maybe. Bring the kid with us. Old Chen, take a look at his state and see if there is anything we can do."


    A Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus was indeed capable of calling down heavenly lightning with some assistance but was it truly enough to call down the amount of heavenly lightning needed to cause carnage like this? But as they had found nothing else, Yan Ying could only accept it for the time being. The man called Old Chen couldn''t help but start slightly after being called out, glancing at the unconscious Liang Chen before stating his opinion with a shake of his head.


    "You wish to bring him with us? Young Master, I must advise against bringing someone unknown with us."


    Old Chen could tell that Liang Chen''s cultivation was far lower than even the weakest member of their group, but he was still someone unknown, so he could be a risk. Yan Ying stood up after hearing Old Chen''s opinion, he pointed at Liang Chen, speaking in a firm tone that left no room for rebuttal.


    "By the gods, he is just a young child, he doesn''t even look like he has come of age yet! Just look at his wounds, it is clear that he has suffered quite a bit. I don''t know what brought him here, but as long as I have the power, I will not leave such a young child to die. Bring him with us."


    Yan Ying would not allow another child to die in front of his eyes because he had chosen not to take action, that was the one thing he would never allow himself to do. With Yan Ying this determined, Old Chen could only lower his head and follow orders.


    "As you wish."


    The rest of the group quickly finished their scouring of the basin but found nothing of worth, even the interspatial rings of the dead had disintegrated because of the lightning, their contents lost in space. Since they found nothing of interest, they grabbed Liang Chen and left the basin.


    Outside the basin stood several carriages that resembled small houses, large horses covered in scales standing calmly in front of the carriages. The group boarded the carriages and started making their way deeper into the hidden realm, back to where they had been exploring earlier.


    Yan Ying and Old Chen broughtLiang Chen onto the rearmost carriage, placing him down on an empty bed. The inside of the carriage was shaped like a single large room filled with several empty beds, a place where they could let others take a rest if they encountered them on their journey. Yan Ying sat down on one of the empty beds, beckoning towards Liang Chen.


    "Old Chen, you can start examining the kid now."


    Old Chen nodded and walked over to Liang Chen, placing his palms on Liang Chen''s chest and using his Qi to inspect the inside of Liang Chen''s body, examining every nook and cranny. As he continued his inspection, his face couldn''t help but distort, an unbelieving mutter escaping from his lips.


    "By all that is holy..."


    Yan Ying rarely saw Old Chen make an expression like this, so he quickly walked over, glancing at Liang Chen''s scarred body as he questioned.


    "What did you find?"


    Old Chen removed his palms from Liang Chen''s body, taking out a cyan colored robe from his interspatial ring and placing it over his naked body. As he looked at Liang Chen, his eyes contained a hint of pity. He took a deep breath and then started to report what he had found.


    "His insides are in a horrid mess, but they are slowly repairing themselves, draining what little Qi he has left to heal him. It... It is also likely that the child has suffered inhumane and forbidden torture from a young age."


    Not only were Liang Chen''s organs and veins charred and twisted, many of his bones were broken in several places. But despite these wounds, Liang Chen had not died and was instead slowly healing! Even if they had not found him, Old Chen guessed that he would wake up after a few days and be mostly healed.


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    "His veins, his flesh, his blood, every inch of his being has been twisted and tainted by lightning and poison Qi. The Qi has sunk so deep into his very being that his body will likely never be able to absorb any other types of Qi again, they will be like poison to him, tearing him apart if he should try to absorb them."


    Old Chen wasn''t lying when he said every inch, even Liang Chen''s heart and brain, even his spiritual sea, the place where his mind and soul resided, were tainted by those two elements. Old Chen had a much higher cultivation than Liang Chen so he did not believe that an unconscious Liang Chen could hide anything from him.


    But there was, in fact, one thing he was unable to see as he meticulously searched Liang Chen''s body, and that was the Lightning Seed that was located just below Liang Chen''s heart. The seed had originally been golden with a tint of azure, but now it had also taken on a slight hue of crimson and violet, hair-thin roots spreading out from the seed and entering Liang Chen''s Ascended Tower. Yan Ying listened to the explanation but failed to see the connection between that and Old Chen''s earlier words, so he raised an eyebrow and asked.


    "What does that have to do with him likely being tortured?"


    Old Chen took another deep breath, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a thin book that was bound in strange gray leather. He opened the book, turning towards a page near the end and showing it to Yan Ying as he continued his explanation.


    "Because it is very reminiscent of an ancient experiment performed while cultivation was still in its infant stages. The basis was that one filled the body of a child who had yet to absorb any Qi with Qi of a certain element, staining every inch of their being with it. The experiment tried to forcefully raise one''s affinity towards a certain element, but it would always result in a horrifying death after having to suffer unimaginable pain. It was quickly banned as a forbidden experiment, but there are still some that try to perfect it. Even after all these countless years, there have never been reports of any humans surviving the experiment. If he truly was forced to go through that horrid experiment, his survival is nothing short of a miracle."


    The time period Old Chen spoke of was incredibly ancient, taking place not long after the birth of this universe. It was impossible for him to have lived that long, so all he knew about the experiment and that time period were things he had read in the deeper parts of his sect''s library. Yan Ying quickly caught onto the meaning of Old Chen''s oddly specific words, so he pressed on.


    "No humans have ever survived it? So some of the other races have managed to survive it?"


    The universe was inhabited by a vast number of races, each which had their own special abilities or traits. Humans were not the most blessed of the races, but they managed to breed quickly, so they were able to spread all over the universe. Old Chen gave a deep nod of his head, flipping a few more pages of the book.


    "Indeed. The experiment was occasionally conducted on some of the other races, almost always leading to their death. But there were two that managed to survive the experiment, one was from the Fiendgod race of the Hidden World, and the other was from the Undead race of the Hidden World. But both of the survivors became crippled because of the experiment, not able to absorb any types of Qi. After that, one turned feral and had to be killed, while the other turned mad and killed himself by slamming his head into the ground until he died."


    The Hidden World was just that, a place that no one really knew where was, nor did they know what the continent was like. The only people from that place that had arrived on this planet or others had done so by being sucked into a spatial rift and forcibly teleported away. But after arriving on the planets, none of those people spoke a word about their own homeworld, not even giving its name. When they tried to force the words out of their mouths using torture or mind-controlling drugs, the people chose to kill themselves instead of telling anything.


    But there was one piece of information that people managed to guess about this Hidden World, and that was the fact that it likely contained very few humans. Over countless years, quite a few people had arrived from this Hidden World, but they were always from some strange races, there had never been a single human. Yan Ying wasn''t clueless about the Hidden World and the known races that came from there, so he couldn''t help but look at Liang Chen with a raised eyebrow.


    "And this kid? He doesn''t seem to be from their races."


    Of course, it could be that Liang Chen was someone from a previously unknown race, but Yan Ying found it highly unlikely that there could still be any unknown races in this universe, too many years had passed for them to stay hidden and unknown. Old Chen quickly spoke up, his voice high-pitched and tinged with excitement.


    "That''s the strange part! He has no features that place him among any other race, he seems to be completely human. And looking at his Ascended Tower, he can even cultivate normally, as long as it is only the elements of poison and lightning! There are two possibilities that I can think of. The first is that I am wrong and the child has never undergone that experiment but rather something similar. The other possibility is that the child was forced to go through the experiment and managed to survive, that he is a miracle."


    Old Chen could only imagine the inhuman pain Liang Chen had to endure for every inch of his body to be tainted in poison and lightning, and for that, he pitied him. But at the same time, he was quite excited at the prospects that there might be someone who had managed to perfect that ancient experiment. Yan Ying ignored Old Chen''s high-pitched voice, placing a finger on Liang Chen''s chest, where his heart was placed.


    "What about his heritage, is he from any of the clans?"


    The various clans and races had special bloodlines, while the various sects had special marking methods. Checking either of these would allow others to quickly learn where the other party had their origins, making it easy to identify them. Old Chen had already checked for this, so he immediately shook his head.


    "No, he doesn''t have the bloodline belonging to any of the large clans or races, nor the mark of any sect."


    This was another part that Old Chen found strange. Even the slaves and servants of sects and clans would have some type of mark placed on them. For Liang Chen to have nothing like this, it most likely meant he came from no sect or clan, he might just be a completely normal child. But then, how had his body ended up in the state that it was? Yan Ying removed his finger from Liang Chen''s chest. He hadn''t found any marks either, so he gave a nod of his head and put the matter aside for the moment.


    "I see. Let''s wait for him to wake up, we can ask him about his past then. Have Teng Yimu stand ready for that time."


    Teng Yimu was one of his subordinates that specialized in a very strange element, one based on the soul. Thanks to that, he was able to use his Qi and the energy of his soul to determine if people spoke the truth. He was perfect for a questioning session like this.


    --


    While Liang Chen''s unconscious body was taken away by Yan Ying and the others, his mind sank deeper into the darkness, once again dreaming of that haunting scene. But this time, the dream was a bit different from how it had always been.


    He stood in front of the scaffolding where his parents were to be executed, but this time, it wasn''t his Uncle Xiang that stood next to his parents, it was Qing Chun. The three of them stood in front of the scaffolding, the surrounding crowd strangely quiet as Liang Chen looked at the three of them. He knew that this was nothing but a dream that his subconscious had created, but looking at the three people standing in front of him, he still couldn''t help but burst into tears and spill out his feelings.


    "Father, Mother, Big Sister Chun... I am so terribly lonely. Why did you leave me all alone?"


    Liang Chen was barely 13, yet not only had he lost his parents and been forced to split up with the one person he could consider a friend, he had also been chased out of the city he had called home all his life. No matter how determined he was to get his revenge, all this still took a toll on him and his mind. He wasn''t expecting a proper answer, but the Qing Chun in front of him actually walked forward, shaking her head.


    "Because you are weak. With your little strength, how could we possibly stay at your side? We would only die an early death."


    Liang Chen was shocked at the response from Qing Chun, but before he got the chance to say anything, his parents stepped forward. Just like the day they were executed, they placed their hands on his shoulder and spoke up.


    "Son, you must listen to me."


    Liang Chen instantly focused on them his eyes growing red. With the both of them in front of him, it was like they had never left. His mother''s long black hair, his father''s short brown hair, their kind features, their familiar scent, their brown eyes, Liang Chen remembered it perfectly. After making sure that Liang Chen was paying full attention to them, his parents spoke up, their voices strangely synchronized.


    "You must release me, you must set me free."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but tilt his head in confusion, as he failed to understand the words. But before he got to state his confusion, the world around him turned into a nightmare. The faces of his parents and Qing Chun, as well as all the surrounding people, started to droop and melt. A black crack appeared in their heads, splitting them wide open, like a massive maw. His parents and Qing Chun grabbed onto him, while the surrounding people were slowly walking closer, a distorted and horrid chant sounding out.


    "RelEAse Me! ReLEAse Me rEleaSE ME! SeT ME FrEe AnD LEt mE feAST!"


    The surrounding people started to melt into the ground, the entire city around him trembling fiercely. A massive crack split the entire city in half and started to slowly widen, like a massive maw that was trying to swallow Liang Chen and the rest of the city, his parents trying to draw him into the darkness below. But before they were able to draw him down into the depths of the darkness, his entire body jolted awake and he found himself lying in an unknown bed.

 Yan Yings offer.

    Liang Chen''s face was pale as he jolted awake, quickly sitting up. His body was drenched in sweat, the blanket and bed almost completely soaked. He tried to tell himself that what he had just seen was nothing more than a bad dream, a horrid nightmare. But why did it feel so real? Why was there a voice he had never heard before present within the nightmare? Liang Chen quickly shook his head to discard the thoughts, sweeping the room around him with his gaze, muttering to himself.


    "Where am I?"


    The room he was in was completely devoid of any decorations, containing only several beds that were identical to the one he was lying in. There was a door a few meters away from him, but Liang Chen didn''t choose to see where it led, first gathering his thoughts and checking his own body.


    The first thing he noticed as he gathered his thoughts was the fact that the omnipresent pressure had grown much stronger than it was in the stone forest. It had reached a point where he felt as if he had returned to the first day after entering the hidden realm, where even the simple act of walking was strenuous, so it was likely that he was currently located at a location deeper within the hidden realm. His interspatial ring was gone, most likely destroyed by the bolt of lightning that struck him, he was also clad in a cyan robe he had never seen before.


    He sank his vision into his own body, checking the condition of his wounds and his Ascended Tower. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only had most of his wounds fully healed, but his body had also grown quite a bit stronger. But that was completely normal, after all, the process of strengthening one''s body was all about breaking down the body and then rebuilding it stronger than before.


    Finally, Liang Chen checked his Ascended Tower, shocked at what he saw. There were hair-thin roots coiling around his Ascended Tower, even digging into it. The roots came from his Lightning Seed, which was now more colorful than when he first made it. Liang Chen was not only shocked at the fact that the Lightning Seed had sprouted roots, but also at what those roots were doing.


    They were leeching off the energy within his Ascended Tower, the energy vanishing into the seed. Had it not been for the abundant Qi within the air around him continuously replenishing the Qi within the Ascended Tower, it was likely that he would have already been drained of all his Qi. Looking at the seed, Liang Chen could not help but mutter to himself.


    "Just what are you, what have I created?"


    When Liang Chen had started compressing his lightning Qi, he would never have guessed that it would spawn something like this Lightning Seed. Even he, as the creator, had no idea what was going on with it, or what it would turn into.


    As he checked his Ascended Tower and the Lightning Seed, he also checked his cultivation. Despite the great amount of lightning energy that he had absorbed, his cultivation had not risen in the slightest, still stuck at the early stage of the Houtian Tower realm. But that was something he had already expected. His Ascended Tower was constructed from his lightning and poison elements, so it would need to be nourished by both if he wanted to increase his cultivation.


    While Liang Chen was checking out his Ascended Tower and the Lightning Seed, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. He quickly raised his head, spotting a youth who seemed to be in his twenties, with black eyes and deep green hair. Yan Ying immediately noticed that Liang Chen had woken up, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "You have awoken, good."


    Yan Ying touched the violet bracelet that hung on his left wrist, one that was in the shape of a coiling dragon, a milky white orb appearing in his hand. He inserted some Qi into the orb and whispered a few words into it, putting it away once he was done.


    He waited by the door for a bit, the sound of rushing footsteps quickly getting closer, two more people entering the room. The ones who entered the room was the wrinkled and white-haired Old Chen, as well as Teng Yimu, a middle-aged man who had a face covered in freckles, short brown hair, and a chin covered in silver stubble. After the two entered the room and joined Yan Ying, they walked forward, Yan Ying sitting down on the bed that was located next to Liang Chen''s, putting on a calming smile as he spoke.


    "I am Yan Ying, this is Old Chen and Teng Yimu. I know that you have just woken up, but we want to ask you a few questions, please answer them honestly."


    Liang Chen could only give a short nod after hearing Yan Ying''s statement. Ever since Yan Ying had entered the room, Liang Chen''s tension and vigilance had shot through the roof. Looking at Yan Ying and the two others, he felt only one thing, despair. Even without his sharpened instincts telling him, he knew that there was no way for him to fight these three people. He couldn''t tell what cultivation level they had reached, but he was certain that he was no more than an ant to them.


    This was a feeling Liang Chen had only felt twice before. The first time was when he watched his parents get executed and knew that he was unable to do anything. The second time was when he first met the two strange people that had acted as guards for his Big Sister Chun. Yan Ying paid no attention to Liang Chen''s tension, simply starting the questioning.


    "What is your name, where do you come from, and are you connected to any sects or clans?"


    After Yan Ying asked his question, Teng Yimu stealthily moved into action, an invisible stream of energy entering Liang Chen''s soul and spiritual sea. The moment Liang Chen spoke a lie or tried to hide something, Teng Yimu would be able to feel it. But facing overwhelmingly strong people like these, the thought of lying never even entered Liang Chen''s mind.


    "My name is Liang Chen, I come from the Green Rivers city, and no, I am not connected to any sect or clan."


    If Liang Chen had any connection to a clan, it would be the hatred he felt towards the Qing clan for what they had done to his parents. Yan Ying tilted his head slightly after hearing the answers, rolling his eyes slightly.


    "Green Rivers city, why does that sound so familiar?"


    The name rang a bell within his mind, but he failed to grasp exactly where he had heard it. Old Chen quickly sent him a sound transmission, words wrapped in Qi so that he could send them wherever his Qi could reach. With the reminder from Old Chen, Yan Ying immediately recalled everything, clapping his hands as he realized something.


    "Oh, it''s the city where that entire farce took place! Wait, your name is Liang Chen, weren''t your parents the ones that got..."


    Yan Ying quickly stopped his words when he saw Liang Chen''s face darken and realized that his words were basically the same as poking a wound with a red-hot knife. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Liang Chen, returning to his questioning.


    "But if your parents were part of the Qing clan, then doesn''t that mean that you are part of the Qing clan?"


    Liang Chen said that he had no connection to any of the clans or sects, and Teng Yimu had informed Yan Ying that Liang Chen was speaking the truth. Did this mean that Liang Chen was able to deceive Teng Yimu and his senses? Liang Chen''s expression turned a bit gloomier, but he still honestly answered.


    "I am not their true son. They found me abandoned in a forest while I was a baby. But even if I were their true son, I would never have a connection with the Qing clan."


    Liang Chen knew that he was not the actual son of Qing Lan and Qing Feng, he was only a substitute they had picked up because they were unable to have children of their own. But despite that, they had treated him like a true son, and he had seen them as his actual parents. Even if he were to meet his birth parents in the future, he would refuse to acknowledge them.


    Yan Ying''s eyes lit up with understanding. If he was an adopted child, it would explain why he didn''t have the clan bloodline or marking technique, it also made his earlier statement of not having any connection true. With Teng Yimu letting him know that Liang Chen was speaking the truth, Yan Ying continued to press on with more questions.


    "We found you unconscious, surrounded by body parts and blood. What happened in that basin?"


    Even if he pitied Liang Chen for losing his parents at such a young age, he still had to get an answer to a few more of the questions he had. Once again, Liang Chen answered honestly.


    "A Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus was born, starting a massive battle. In the end, I had to use the lotus to call down the lightning in the sky, resulting in the bloodbath you saw."


    Liang Chen had no idea where this Yan Ying came from, but with the might they possessed, he doubted that they would care tremendously about a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. But even if they did care about it, Liang Chen didn''t even have an interspatial ring on him anymore, so he doubted that they would believe he still had the lotus. Just like he guessed, Yan Ying didn''t pursue the topic of the Elemental Lotus, not even asking how he had used it to draw down the lightning from the sky, instead asking about something completely different.


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    "What elements do you cultivate?"


    Yan Ying and the others already knew what elements Liang Chen cultivated, he mostly just asked about it to see if Liang Chen had the intentions of hiding anything. But once again, Liang Chen answered honestly, so Yan Ying guessed that he either wasn''t the type to lie, or he realized the vast difference in strength.


    "Poison and lightning."


    After getting the honest response, Yan Ying leaned a bit forward, his eyes narrowing slightly as he asked one of the questions that both he and Old Chen were most curious about.


    "And how did you come to possess these two elements, did your parents perform any vile or painful experiments on you?"


    Old Chen''s ears perked up slightly, making sure that he would not miss anything. What if his parents had used him as a guinea pig, perfecting that ancient experiment? Liang Chen''s expression quickly sank, lightning flashing within his eyes as he loudly growled out an answer.


    "My parents were good people! They would never do anything like that to me!"


    Even if the difference in strength between them was insurmountable and fighting them was the same as asking them to kill him, there were things Liang Chen would never allow, and insulting his parents like that was one of those things. Yan Ying leaned backward after getting the angry response, raising his hands to show that he had not meant anything bad with his question.


    "Sorry sorry. Then how and when did you acquire your two elements?"


    It seemed like the answer Liang Chen had given was the truth. Was it really just a coincidence that his current state resembled that ancient experiment? Liang Chen''s eyes grew a tad distant as he remembered the first time he cultivated using Demonic beast blood. It wasn''t that long ago, but it felt like several years had passed since then.


    "I acquired them shortly after my parents were made into scapegoats and executed. I had to quickly start cultivating and grow stronger, but the speed of my cultivation was simply too slow, so I had to use a different method. I killed weak demonic beasts and gathered up their blood, filling a hole I had dug in the ground with it. Once the hole was full, I jumped into the blood and used it to cultivate, drawing upon some lightning that happened to be present in the sky at the same time. Since the blood mostly came from Demonic beasts that used poison, I ended up acquiring the poison element after the blood and the energy within it invaded my body."


    Not only Yan Ying, even Old Chen and Teng Yimu were quite shocked at Liang Chen''s reply. The first thing he did as he started cultivating was to bathe in Demonic beast blood? Even if it was the blood of the weakest Demonic beasts, it should still be enough to tear apart his body, especially if one added on the violent energy contained within lightning. Yet he had survived through it! Just how much pain did he endure as he made it through it, and just how did he manage to keep onto his sanity?


    "You bathed in Demonic beast blood, with your strength? Why?"


    Since Liang Chen said that the speed of his cultivation was too slow, it was clear that he had a goal in mind. It was likely also this goal that had allowed him to keep his sanity throughout the torturous ordeal. Liang Chen''s eyes once again flashed with lightning, his voice dripping with hatred.


    "There is someone that I must kill, so I couldn''t afford to stay weak."


    Talking with this Yan Ying was strangely calming and freeing. Liang Chen was uncertain if it was because of how calm and relaxed, even sympathetic, Yan Ying looked, or if it was because this was the first time Liang Chen had actually talked with anyone else about what he had gone through and what he was planning. Since Yan Ying knew a bit about what had taken place in Green Rivers city, he didn''t even need to ask to figure out who Liang Chen wanted to kill, an amused chuckle escaping his lips.


    "Let me guess, Qing Lan Yong? Heh, you got quite the goal there, Little Chen, that''s gonna be quite tough. But hey, it would make for quite a tale if you manage it."


    The sect that Yan Ying was part of didn''t have a friendly relationship with the Nightshield sect that Qing Lan Yong was part of, they could even be called slightly antagonistic against each other. So Yan Ying did not care if Liang Chen wanted to hunt down Qing Lan Yong and cause trouble for him. Quite the opposite even, if Liang Chen managed to kill Qing Lan Yong, the Nightshield sect would lose a very promising disciple.


    Yan Ying rolled his eyes for a bit, thinking if there were any other questions he wanted to ask. In the end, he could not come up with any more questions about Liang Chen, so he instead gave him a choice.


    "Alright, Little Chen, those were all the questions I wanted to ask. We are currently quite a few kilometers away from the stone forest where we found you, and we are still heading deeper into the hidden realm. Do you want to come with us, or do you want to go back and meet up with your group?"


    The way Yan Ying saw it, Liang Chen had likely teamed up with some other people to venture into the stone forest, as very few people would choose to wander that place alone. Liang Chen only spent a short moment thinking about the choices before he gave his answer.


    "I don''t have a group, so if you don''t mind me following you, then I will do so."


    Judging by the pressure that was currently crashing down on him, they were clearly quite deep within the hidden realm. The resources he could find here would be far better than the ones he could find in the stone forest, so as long as he was willing to risk it, he could reap great rewards. And if there was one thing Liang Chen was not afraid of, it was taking risks.


    After all, what else did he have left to lose at this point? His parents were gone, his only friend had gone someplace unknown, Liang Chen was completely alone. Of course, that did not mean that he would simply accept death if it were to come for him, he would fight back with everything he had, clawing to life no matter how shameful he ended up looking. Yan Ying nodded his head at the expected reply, waving his hand at Teng Yimu.


    "Alright. Yimu, mind getting Little Chen some more clothing and a weapon or two, something he can use to defend himself. At the same time, introduce him to the others."


    Liang Chen''s interspatial ring had disintegrated thanks to the violet bolt of lightning, so he would of course not have any weapons of spare clothing on him. Teng Yimu quickly nodded his head, helping Liang Chen stand up and assisting him out of the room. He was still a bit wounded, and with the pressure crushing down on him, his walking speed was almost snail-like.


    The moment Liang Chen and Teng Yimu left the room, Old Chen couldn''t help but look at Yan Ying, a worried expression on his face.


    "Young Master, are you sure you should trust him like that, bringing him along?"


    Old Chen had to admit that Liang Chen didn''t seem like a bad person, but that was only based on the first impression, they still didn''t know what he was really like. Yan Ying on the other hand simply shrugged his shoulders casually in the face of Old Chen''s worried expression.


    "Trust him? There is no way I am trusting him, I barely know anything about him."


    Yan Ying was a mostly easy-going person, he even felt sympathy for Liang Chen, but that did not mean that he trusted him. Old Chen was simultaneously relaxed and surprised at Yan Ying''s response, once again questioning.


    "Then why bring him along? Especially now that we might encounter those overgrown lizard worshippers?"


    They were currently on their way to meet up with the rest of their squad, then they would head out to pick up a few treasures they had their eyes on. One of those treasures was also eyes by people of the Moon Dragon Sect, enemies they could not afford to underestimate. Bringing along an unknown factor could quickly become dangerous if he were to sneak attack them during a crucial moment. Yan Ying''s eyes turned a bit distant, his head turning toward the door, a sigh escaping his lips as he returned a question to Old Chen.


    "Because I pity and somewhat believe in him. Old Chen, in our sect, at what age do we let our disciples go out and get some actual experience with the real cultivation world, and why?"


    People died all the time, families were torn apart all the time. But knowing this fact was one thing, facing someone who had suffered that pain was something else entirely, one could not help but pity such people when one met them. Old Chen was a bit caught off guard by the sudden question, but he quickly responded.


    "When they are around 18 or 20, as their minds will have matured more at that point, making them more steadfast and letting them quickly accept the brutality of the cultivation world."


    If they let their disciples out into the cultivation world before their minds had gotten enough time to mature and harden, they would quickly become warped or corrupted by the sheer brutality of the cultivation world. Because of that, most sects and clans would have their disciples stay within the clan, only sending out younger disciples in rare cases. Yan Ying continued to look at the closed door, another sigh escaping his lips.


    "Exactly, they are already adults before we let them see the truth about the world. Yet that child, who isn''t even 13 yet, has already fully experienced the cultivation world and its horrors, losing everything in the process."


    With his cultivation, Yan Ying was easily able to see Liang Chen''s actual age. And even thought Liang Chen hadn''t explicitly stated it, the slightly desolate tone he used when he said that he didn''t have a group implied that he was completely alone. Even when Yan Ying''s sect sent out their disciples to face the horror that was the cultivation world, none of those disciples had to face it alone. Yet this Liang Chen had not only faced the brutal cultivation world all alone at such a young age, he didn''t seem to have let it corrupt or break him. Yan Ying seemed to suddenly remember something, speaking up again, Old Chen simply listening quietly.


    "If I''m not wrong, it hasn''t been that long since the farce in Green Rivers City. Yet in that short amount of time, that child''s body is already filled with scars, his eyes have already hardened and become determined."


    Yan Ying had seen how Liang Chen''s body was filled with scars and wounds, with his entire back and most of his chest being a horrid mess of crack-like scars. A short silence descended upon the room, only broken by Yan Ying after a few minutes.


    "...He reminds me of how I was in the past when I was a few years older than him. At that time, I had Father to pull me up and save me before it was too late, but that child has no one like that, if he did, they would not have let him reach a stage like this."


    One of the reasons Yan Ying was able to sympathize so much with Liang Chen was because he saw his past self within him. Yan Ying had also lost his parents at a young age, a burning desire for revenge nearly swallowing him completely. But before it became too late to save him from the desire for revenge that threatened to swallow him, he was saved by a man who adopted him and treated him like his own child, even allowing him to take on the same surname. Yan Ying was filled with nothing but admiration and gratitude to this man, always striving to become more like him. After another short moment of silence, Yan Ying let out a hollow and weak-sounding chuckle, slightly lowering his head.


    "Maybe, just maybe, we can be like Father and pull him up from the ground before it becomes too late, before he becomes another Yan Xieren. And I won''t deny it, part of my reasoning is quite selfish. If I manage to save him, I feel like I might be able to somewhat atone for my sins."


    Yan Ying had been saved before he was completely swallowed by his desires, but he had still done several horrid things, things he would never forgive himself for, things that haunted him whenever he closed his eyes. Seeing the downcast Yan Ying, Old Chen gently pat him on the shoulders, gently comforting him.


    "Young Master is full of benevolence, I am sure that Master will be filled with pride once we return to the sect."

 The basics.

    After leaving the room, Liang Chen realized that he had been inside a carriage this entire time, shocking him quite a bit. It had basically been a small house, could carriages really be this luxurious? It was also only now that Liang Chen got to take a look at the surroundings.


    Just like every other place in this hidden realm, there was a constant light drizzle of snow. Liang Chen could spot a few massive trees in the area around him, but the area was mostly dominated by what seemed to be warped structures of clear ice growing out from the ground, like claws trying to grasp at the sky. Liang Chen looked at these claws of ice with a bit of surprise. It wasn''t all that cold in the area, yet these ice structures didn''t show any signs of melting.


    There were also several carriages located not far from Liang Chen and Teng Yimu. The carriages were placed in a circular formation, a plume of smoke rising from the center of the circle, with another carriage located a bit further to the right of the circle. While Liang Chen was marveling at the ice around him, Teng Yimu spoke up to catch his attention.


    "So, Lil'' Chen, any weapons you specialize in?"


    Since he had been ordered to get Liang Chen some weapons, he would, of course, have to figure out if there was anything that Liang Chen was better at using. Liang Chen quickly took his eyes off the ice structures, turning to face Teng Yimy, giving a slight shake of his head.


    "No, I don''t specialize in any weapons, nor do I have any proper training in using any weapons."


    Liang Chen had never bothered to cultivate or train while his parents were still alive, and once they died, there had been no one that could teach him. Teng Yimu rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth slightly after hearing the reply, thinking about what weapons would be best suited for someone like Liang Chen. In the end, he came to a conclusion and pulled out two weapons and a bracelet made out of violet beads from his interspatial ring.


    "Then you can take these two, they are the easiest to use for beginners. Use the bow to assist us with ranged attacks, and the spear you can use to defend yourself. I''ll get someone to give you a bit of basic training later. Here''s some extra clothing and a bracelet you can store it in. The clothing is a bit too big for you, but you''ll have to live with it."


    The weapons he took out were a simple spear made out of flexible ashen wood, with a spearhead made out of silver metal. The bow seemed to be made out of a strange type of metal, the string made out of Demonic beast tendon. Grasping the weapons, they were far lighter than Liang Chen expected them to be, so they were clearly of a rather good quality, at least for him.


    Teng Yimu also helped him put on the bracelet and taught him how to use it, as well as showing him the several cyan robes that were already placed within the bracelet. The bracelet was the same as an interspatial ring, it simply had a different shape. The robes were indeed too large for Liang Chen, trailing behind him and hiding his arms. But even when he tried to use the spear tip to cut the robes to size, he found that he was unable to pierce the robe, so it seemed to also have some defensive function.


    Teng Yimu supported Liang Chen as they moved towards the circle of carriages, the sound of loud voices slowly starting to reach them. Moving past the carriages, a campfire was revealed to Liang Chen. There was a pot placed in the fire, the fragrant scent of soup drifting out from beneath the closed lid. Sitting around the campfire were four people, three men and one woman. They were all passing around two jugs of wine, happily chatting with each other. Once they got closer, Teng Yimu called out in a loud voice, drawing their attention.


    "Alright you drunks, listen up! This here is lil'' Liang Chen, he''ll be traveling with us for the foreseeable future, so I don''t want to see any of you old foogies picking on the young! Did I make myself clear?"


    The people around the campfire quickly put their hands to their foreheads, standing up and giving Teng Yimu an overdramatic salute. Looking at the group of people, Liang Chen was reminded of the time he spent with the caravan guards as he hitched a ride to the hidden realm. Teng Yimu took Liang Chen''s silent reminiscing as a sign that he was a bit frightened by the four people, so he pat him on the shoulder and introduced the group to him.


    "There''s no need to let them scare you, these bastards are harmless on the inside. He''s Zhu Chun, that''s Xiao Zeming, that needlessly tall one is Xiang Qing, and the old hag disguised as a pretty lady is Lu Ruogang. Don''t fall for her looks, she has a preference for young people like you, so she might just gobble you up. There are a few more people in our group, but they have all gone ahead to scout out various areas, I''ll introduce you once we meet up with them."


    Zhu Chun looked like he was in his early thirties, and had green eyes and short orange hair that was slightly curly. He raised the jug he was currently holding, giving Liang Chen a smile and a toast.


    Xiao Zeming had slightly pale skin and sunken eyes that had dark bags underneath them, he looked extremely tired. His eyes were a light brown in color, and except for a small palm of brown hair on the back of his head, the rest of his head was completely shaved.


    Xiang Qing had light brown hair was indeed very tall, Liang Chen guessing that he reached about two and a half meters in height. His body was also rather thin, so he made for a strange sight. But his green eyes were looking at Liang Chen with a calm and gentle gaze, so he seemed like a calm person.


    The last person in the group and the only woman, Lu Ruogang, hadn''t stopped looking Liang Chen up and down since she noticed him. She was a bit short but very curvaceous, her yellow robe designed to emphasize her curves. She had smooth and delicate skin, black eyes and deep brown hair that hung down loosely. Upon seeing that Liang Chen looked at her, she sent him a smile and a slight wave.


    Looking at the four people in the group, Liang Chen could not help but be surprised. He was a stranger they had never met, they had basically picked him up at the side of the road. But despite that, they were all treating him well, not even looking down on him. And as far as he could tell, they didn''t have any hidden motives, their smiles and actions genuine. After greeting the four people, Teng Yimu spoke up and pulled a bit on Liang Chen, the two heading towards the carriage that was located a short distance away from the others.


    "Let me take you to the ass who is going to give you a bit of basic training."


    The two quickly reached the carriage, which looked like a small house on wheels. The door was closed, so Teng Yimu gave it a few heavy knocks, calling out in a loud voice that echoed through the area.


    "Oy, Fat Yong, get your ugly mug out here!"


    While Liang Chen was caught off guard by the way Teng Yimu spoke, the door to the carriage was flung open, a truly wide man waddling out. The man was almost as wide as he was tall, his fat jiggling as he moved. He had green eyes and greasy black hair that stuck to his forehead from sweat. He let out a snort, pointing at Teng Yimu and firing back a few insults of his own.


    "You trying to start a fight, you shit-faced lanky bastard? Just look at me beat you up and steal all the sweets you keep hidden away!"


    Despite the two of them insulting each other, they didn''t seem to truly mean what they sad. Teng Yimu had a slight smile on his face, clicking his tongue and grabbing his own crotch as he mocked the man called Fat Yong.


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    "As if I''d let myself get beaten by someone who can''t even see his own crown jewels. You try to fight me, and I''ll knock you so far into the dirt that you''ll be able to finally find your dignity again."


    The two suddenly broke into a loud laughter, Fat Yong delivering a punch to Teng Yimu''s shoulder. The punch seemed light, but Liang Chen could see that it forcefully pushed away the air around the fist, so it was clearly far stronger than he could imagine. Yet Teng Yimu took it like it was nothing, his body only moving slightly. Fat Yong''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, moving on to actual business.


    "So what can I do for you? I''m guessing it has something to do with the kid?"


    Fat Yong looked Liang Chen up and down, rubbing his double chin as he did so. Their group rarely gained new members, so whenever someone new joined them, it often brought a breath of fresh air. Teng Yimu nodded his head, gently pushing Liang Chen toward Fat Yong.


    "Right. This is lil'' Liang Chen, he''ll be traveling with us from now on. I want you to teach him the basics of using a bow and the spear."


    Despite his great weight, Fat Yong was one of the best fighters in their group, there were very few weapons that he hadn''t mastered to a high degree. Fat Yong nodded his head at the words, stretching out his arm and grabbing onto Liang Chen''s hand, giving him a handshake as he introduced himself.


    "Just the basics huh, alright. Kiddo, I am Xiao Yong, but the guys around the camp just call me Fat Yong. I''ll make a special exception and grant you the right to refer to me as such."


    As he spoke, Xiao Yong threw his head backward, as if he was delivering a great grace unto Liang Chen. But all that met his display was the stifled laughter of Teng Yimu, as well as fake wretching sounds.


    "Alright, quit it with the fake prestige, you''re gonna make me hurl."


    Xiao Yong''s eyes narrowed slightly, glaring at Teng Yimu. He let out a loud snort, waving Teng Yimu away as if he was a stray dog.


    "Hah, you''re still here? You''re so lanky I failed to spot you. Fuck off, I''m gonna start teaching the kid, let him get a feel for the weapons before we set off again."


    Teng Yimu responded with another chuckle, but he did not leave immediately, his voice growing a tad solemn.


    "Alright. I''m on first watch today, you wanna take second?"


    Xiao Yong''s eyes also grew a tad solemn after hearing Teng Yimu. Looking at how serious Xiao Yong seemed when he nodded his head at Teng Yimu, Liang Chen guessed that these watches were quite important, most likely who was keeping watch over the camp during the night.


    "Leave it to me."


    Teng Yimu seemed satisfied at the answer, giving Xiao Yong another nod and then heading towards the circle of carriages, joining the others that were drinking around the campfire. After Teng Yimu left, Xiao Yong turned towards Liang Chen, who was now focusing on getting used to the strengthened pressure.


    "Alright, Lil'' Chen, since we only have time for the basics, I will focus on teaching you two things. The first thing will be how to shoot straight, the second will be how to use the entire spear. It''s gonna be rough, but I don''t wanna hear any whining."


    Xiao Yong stayed true to his words, only focusing on those two things as he trained Liang Chen. He made Liang Chen pull the string of the bow, correcting his stance whenever it was off, giving him a feel for how he should stand to shoot the arrow straight. As for what he meant when he said ''using the entire spear'' he meant literally that.


    The tip of the spear, the edge of the spear tip, the flat side of the spear tip, even the handle and the butt of the spear, everything could be used for combat or defense, one just had to know how to move the spear to use it properly.


    Liang Chen quickly fell into something of a routine. During the morning, he would help Zhu Chun with making breakfast, during the afternoon he trained with Xiao Yong or one of the others, during the evening he would help with making dinner, and during the night he would cultivate. He expected himself to get tired fast, but even after this routine went on for a week, he didn''t feel an ounce of tiredness, he, in fact, felt more energetic than ever before.


    If there was one thing he wanted to complain about then it was the fact that he couldn''t absorb any more lightning. There had been several lightning storms over the last seven days, even some where he could absorb small amounts of lightning. But all the lightning he absorbed into his body or Ascended Tower was quickly swallowed by the Lightning Seed, vanishing without a trace. He also hadn''t been able to find anything that contained poison, so his cultivation still wasn''t rising.


    During the evening of the eighth day, after Liang Chen had finished helping with dinner and was focusing on his cultivation, Yan Ying walked over to Xiao Yong and the others, who were currently drinking and scarfing down a thick stew. Seeing Yan Ying walk over, they quickly stopped what they were doing, standing up and giving him a respectful salute.


    "Young Master, what brings you here?"


    Despite being in this hidden realm, there were a lot of tasks that Yan Ying had to take care of within the sect. Because of that, he usually spent most of his time within his own carriage, contacting various disciples and groups that they had connections with. Yan Ying sat down next to the campfire, grabbing the jug of wine that Lu Ruogang was holding, taking a few sips as he spoke.


    "What else but Little Chen? I heard that you were put in charge of training him so I decided to come and check how it goes. Been any problems?"


    He hadn''t had any time to check up on Liang Chen after the original questioning, so now that he finally had some free time, he was a bit curious at how things had gone. But even without getting a report from Xiao Yong, he had been with the members of the group long enough that he could tell that there was no one in their group that had anything against Liang Chen. Xiao Yong and the others sat down again, Xiao Yong giving his report, his expression a bit strange.


    "No problems. Kid''s nice and polite, he doesn''t whine or complain, and follows orders to the dot. He''s not a prodigy or great talent, but he is able to absorb knowledge quickly, and what he lacks in talent he makes up for with diligence. Although, he might be a tad too diligent. I told him to practice drawing the bow, letting him get a feel for the weight and resistance. I figured he would stop once he got tired, but he continued to draw the string until his fingers bled and was forced to tell him to stop. He did the same when I told him to practice stabbing, sweeping, and spinning the spear, continuing to repeat the moves until his hands were raw and bloody."


    Xiao Yong had seen talents before, people that could master any techniques within a few days, he had even seen prodigies before, people that could master the spear within a day. But he had never seen anyone like Liang Chen before, a child that trained without regard for his own body, even ignoring it when the string of the bow cut into his own fingers. After Xiao Yong delivered the report, Xiang Qing couldn''t help but ask Yan Ying a question, a question that the others were also wondering about.


    "Whenever he trains, it''s like his entire demeanor changes, his eyes growing determined and hard. Young Master, just what is it that drives the kid like that?"


    They knew that Liang Chen wasn''t even 13 yet. A child that young should spend their days running around and playing with their friends, maybe cultivating for an hour or two a day. They should be happy and cheerful, they certainly shouldn''t train like Liang Chen did, they shouldn''t have eyes like his. But despite their curious gazes, Yan Ying didn''t answer their question.


    "You should ask him that, not me. Tell me, do you think we can bring him along when we move out?"


    Yan Ying knew why Liang Chen trained like that, why he craved strength to a point where he ignored his own pain. But it was something very personal, so it was not his place to tell others about it. Xiao Yong fell into a short silence after hearing the question, rubbing his double chin for a bit before answering, nodding his head.


    "Honestly? It shouldn''t be a problem. The kid''s got a low cultivation, but his body is strangely strong and resilient. His speed is also pretty decent, and he is able to use a wide variety of moves thanks to his two elements, he''ll be able to protect himself. If we bring him along and give him a few arrows, he should be able to create a few good distractions that we can take advantage of."


    As the one in charge of training Liang Chen, Xiao Yong had paid close attention to Liang Chen. Despite not having any formal training, he had excellent instincts that greatly aided him in battle, so even if they brought him along to a somewhat dangerous place, he felt confident that Liang Chen would be able to make it out alive. The others also quickly chimed in, giving their agreement and own assessments. Seeing his men give such high evaluations of Liang Chen, a slight smile appeared on Yan Ying''s face, glancing at the currently cultivating Liang Chen who sat a bit of a distance away.


    "Seems like we lucked out and picked up a diamond in the rough then. We''ll arrive at the first stop in two days, make sure he is ready for what we might face. Also, have Lu Ruogang keep an eye on him during the battle."


    Even if his men gave Liang Chen surprisingly high evaluations, it did not mean that Yan Ying would leave Liang Chen completely unguarded as he brought him into a dangerous area. Since he had decided to save Liang Chen back then, he, of course, had to make sure he protected his life. Having been given an order, Xiao Yong and the others quickly responded with solemn nods.


    "As you wish."

 Battle Support.

    Two days later, while the group ate the breakfast that Liang Chen and Zhu Chun made, Yan Ying sat down on a log next to Liang Chen, handing him a waterskin that was filled with water that contained a large amount of Qi.


    "Alright, Little Chen, we''ll arrive at one of our destinations in a few hours. We are likely to encounter some enemies there, so you need to be careful, just focus on supporting us with arrows from a distance."


    Yan Ying had noticed that Liang Chen was often pretty low on Qi, and since he did not know about the existence of the Lightning Seed that constantly drained his Qi, he assumed that he had to use a lot of his Qi to protect his body from the pressure.


    Liang Chen accepted the waterskin and sipped some of its contents. He was quickly amazed at the results, as a single mouthful filled his entire body to the brim with Qi. He quickly stored the waterskin into his bracelet, giving Yan Ying a quick bow.


    "Understood, I''ll make sure not to be a hindrance."


    He wasn''t sure what cultivation Yan Ying and the others had, but he could tell that it was far above him. In a fight between people like that, what sort of help could he possibly give them? The best he could do was stay out of the way and do his best not to drag them down. Yan Ying understood Liang Chen''s thoughts so he gave him a quick pat on the shoulder, giving him a calm smile.


    "No need to worry about that, just focus on keeping yourself alive."


    Yan Ying was of the same opinion as his men. Liang Chen was just a child, he shouldn''t bother with worrying about things, he should just play around and be merry. After patting Liang Chen on the shoulder, Yan Ying stood up and returned to his carriage, returning to the work he had to finish before they reached their destination.


    A few hours later, Liang Chen got to see what their destination was. The place they had arrived at was a strange hill. Liang Chen could still see the warped claws of ice that stretched out of the ground, some of them growing of the large barren hill. But the ones that grew out of the hill were all shattered and broken, so it seemed like the hill had suddenly appeared on top of them, shattering them and resulting in them turning even more twisted. But how could a hill like this, which was a few hundred meters in height and width, suddenly just appear?


    Yan Ying stopped the carriages a fair distance away from the hill, making sure that the scaled horses didn''t get dragged into the fight that would certainly take place soon. Everyone drew their weapons and started to walk closer to the hill, stopping a short distance away from it. Yan Ying scrunched his nose in disgust, shouting at the hill.


    "You can try to hide all you want, but there is no way you can hide that putrid scent you give off."


    Liang Chen was rather curious about who Yan Ying shouted at, as even when he used his lightning to try and check the surroundings, he was unable to sense anyone. And because he was unable to sense anyone, he was quite shocked when he heard a loud snort coming from the other side of the hill.


    "Heh, of course the mangy mutts have a good sense of smell, should have known."


    Shortly after the snort sounded out, a group of people came over the hill, standing at the top and looking down at Yan Ying and the others. The people in the group were clad in black robes and shared features that reminded Liang Chen of Zhao Daiyun, who he had seen as they fought for the Elemental Lotus. They had slightly pale skin, strangely white eyes, and ashen gray hair.


    The man who stood at the front of this group had hair that hung down to his waist, and it wasn''t solely gray, it had strands of black mixed into it. Once the group appeared, it was Yan Ying''s time to let out a snort, pointing his sword at the hill.


    "So it''s Li Delan. Should have known that a ghoul like you would come here. Fuck off and return to your little tomb, we will be taking this Earthen Heart."


    Despite the two of them having a rather similar status in their respective sects, Yan Ying didn''t give Li Delan any face. Nor did any of Yan Ying''s men, sneering at Li Delan with obvious contempt. Li Delan''s eyes narrowed into slits, a crimson flag appearing in his hand. The flag looked like it was made of silk, a strange symbol that looked like a human silhouette embroidered into the flag. Holding the flag, Li Delan''s lips curled into a challenging smirk as he spoke up.


    "Aren''t you greedy? Do you really think we''ll let you just take the Earthen Heart for free?"


    The men behind Li Delan also pulled out various weapons, holding them at the ready and smirking at Yan Ying and his men. But despite their strong front, Yan Ying only responded with a mocking laughter.


    "Oh, you want to fight us here? Do you think I don''t know about your recent attempt to capture the Nethersky Wyrm Queen? Tell me, how did that go for you?"


    Li Delan''s face immediately turned gloomy, his knuckles turning white from how strongly he grasped the flag. He had no idea how Yan Ying had gotten information about that operation, but even if he knew, Li Delan had to at least put up a fight, otherwise, he would be dragging the face of the Ghost Soul sect into the dirt.


    "Kill them."


    Li Delan''s men immediately charged at Yan Ying and the others after the order was given. Whenever they swung their weapons, ghostly shrieks would fill the air, faint silhouettes flying out alongside the attacks. The worst were the silhouettes coming from the flag that Li Delan was holding. Every time he swung the flag, thousands of these humanoid silhouettes, human souls, would fly out and shriek as they charged at Yan Ying and the others.


    Yan Ying and his men were not to be outdone, valiantly charging forward with their weapons drawn. Li Delan had the advantage in numbers, having three more people, but Yan Ying had the advantage in quality, his group slightly stronger on average.


    Liang Chen quickly distanced himself from the fight, which was far above his level. Every attack that Yan Ying or any of his men sent out would alter the area around them, the earth turning to ice, the wind raging, tall spikes of ice shooting up from beneath the snow. Compared to them, the power that Liang Chen could produce was like a firefly in front of the bright moon.


    But he still refused to just stand back and do nothing, so he did the only thing he could do. He pulled out his bow, he loaded an arrow, and he shot it straight. No fancy tricks, no special techniques, he simply loaded arrow after arrow and shot them perfectly straight, aiming for the people from the Ghost Soul sect.


    Both the bow and the arrows he had been given were able to hold a fairly large amount of Qi, so he could charge them with both poison and lightning. But even then, the poison and the golden lightning he could draw from his little Ascended Tower was unable to produce any result. Most of the time, the people he shot at could simply ignore the arrows, they would just bounce off their bodies when they were hit by them.


    And that''s when he heard that faint whisper, murmuring at the side of his ear. It was different from the usual whispering or screaming that his instincts did, it felt more real, like there was really someone at his side, gently whispering into his ear, gently guiding him.


    After his 13th arrow proved ineffective, he decided to try what the whisper was suggesting, as the idea itself didn''t sound too harmful. Instead of drawing lightning from his Ascended Tower, he tapped into his Lightning Seed, trying to draw out some lightning from within it.


    The moment his mind touched upon the Lightning Seed, a horrid scorching pain filled his entire chest, blood quickly moving up his throat and leaking out from the corners of his mouth. But it worked, a tiny arc of faintly crimson lightning seeping out from the Lightning Seed. The arc followed his veins, quickly reaching his arm and sinking into the arrow he had loaded. He charged the arrow, he took aim, he fired.


    The arrow flew far faster than before, vanishing from sight and only leaving a thin crimson line in the air. The disciple of the Ghost Soul sect noticed the arrow close in on her shoulder, but she simply ignored it as she had before, focusing on the hammer that Zhu Chun was swinging at her. And that was where she made her mistake.


    The arrow struck her shoulder, the head piercing into her shoulder and only stopping when it reached the bone. The sudden and unexpected pain and force behind the arrow caused the disciple to lose her focus and balance, her saber tilting slightly, giving Zhu Chun the perfect chance. His hammer was surrounded by a deep brown light, its weight increasing massively as it slammed down on the woman''s head. A sickening crunching sound rang out, the female disciple crushed into paste against the ground.


    The sudden death caught not only the Ghost Soul sect off guard, but even Zhu Chun and the others were also caught off guard, surprised that Liang Chen had been able to wound the disciple. But Liang Chen paid no mind to their surprised faces, loading up another arrow and charging it, more blood spilling out from the corners of his mouth, some even dripping out from his eyes. Despite the pain that filled his body because of the lightning, he felt strangely good, strangely comfortable.


    He took aim, he fired the arrow. The arrow vanished from sight once more, heading for the thigh of a Ghost Soul Disciple. The disciple quickly reacted, human souls flying out from his sword and moving to block the arrow. But lightning was the nemesis of souls and ghosts, so the moment they came into contact with the arrows they released awful screeches and were torn to shreds.


    The disciple jumped back, but the arrow still hit him in the foot, piercing it clean through and leaving a bloody hole. With the hole in his foot, his battle efficiency would drop by quite a bit. Realizing this, Li Delan''s face twisted slightly as he spat out a few unwilling words.


    "Tch, consider yourself vicious. We''ll let you hold onto that Earthen Heart for now, but we''ll come to take it eventually!"


    Li Delan brought the rest of his men and quickly retreated, not willing to lose more strength, they still had to prepare to carry out their main plan. With Li Delan pulling back, there was nothing to prevent Yan Ying and the others from claiming their rewards. Yan Ying had Zhu Chun quickly dig into the hill to pick up the Earthen Heart. While Zhu Chun did that, Yan Ying walked over to Liang Chen, who was already surrounded by Xiao Yong and the others. He pat Liang Chen on the shoulder, a smile on his face.


    "You didn''t do bad, Little Chen. Your arrows packed more of a punch than I thought."


    Liang Chen nodded his head, wiping away the blood that had dripped out from his eyes and the corners of his eyes. Seeing him bleeding like that, Teng Yimu pushed a small blue pill into his hands, forcing him to swallow it. When the pill entered his throat, it turned into a stream of energy that coursed through his body, covering the wounds that had appeared because of the crimson lightning. While the pill was taking effect, Liang Chen decided to ask a question he was curious about.


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    "What''s a Nethersky Wyrm Queen?"


    For it to be strong enough to seemingly wound Li Delan, it was clear that this wyrm was a very powerful Demonic beast. If it was this strong, how could the guide he had bought from Luo Shui''er, the woman from the Eternal Dragon Pavilion that he had met in the forest, not mention anything about it? Yan Ying merely shrugged his shoulders, giving a quick explanation.


    "It''s one of the Nethersky Wyrm''s possible evolutions. A Nethersky Wyrm Queen resides within the main death zone in the forest you see right after entering the hidden realm. Those ghouls from the Ghost Soul sect wanted to capture it and use it to further refine their souls. But they underestimated it, so they got beaten pretty badly. It''s not something you need to worry about, just focus on what''s ahead. In five day''s we''ll reach our next destination and meet up with some of our hidden scouts, make sure to keep yourself safe then."


    A Nethersky Wyrm was a Demonic beast that was a bit stronger than a common Demonic beast, but it could not evolve forever. It would meet a limit, it would never be as strong as a Divine beast or other truly earth-shaking Demonic beasts, Once it reached the Primordial Immortal realm and became a Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, it would forever stagnate. With his explanation, Liang Chen was reminded of the land of death he had read about and seen inside the forest, the place where not even the ever-present snow was able to remain. Was this where the Nethersky Wyrm Queen lived?


    Zhu Chun quickly retrieved the Earthen Heart, an item that looked like a heart made out of brown stone, it even pulsated faintly, releasing a rumbling sound. He didn''t hand it to Yan Ying but rather stored it into his own interspatial ring. No one said anything about it, so Liang Chen guessed that it had been considered Zhu Chun''s from the very start.


    The group returned to the distant carriages and continued with their journey. But there was a slight difference now, now it was only Liang Chen who made breakfast and dinner, Zhu Chun holed up in his carriage with the Earthen Heart.


    Their journey continued for five days before the scenery changed around them, the group entering a small forest. The trees were still several hundred meters tall, but the forest itself was only a few thousand meters in each direction, far smaller than the one Liang Chen had entered right after entering the hidden realm.


    At the center of this forest was a circular clearing, a small mountain of dead beasts and trees gathered at the center of the clearing. And growing atop this small mountain of death, was a single light green tulip, a light breeze constantly blowing around it. The moment Yan Ying''s group neared the clearing, they pulled out their weapons and slowed down. Once they accidentally entered the clearing, a sweet voice rang out from behind the mountain of dead beast and trees.


    "There you are, I was wondering when you would arrive."


    The expressions of Yan Ying and the others instantly turned solemn upon hearing this voice. Lu Ruogang took a few steps closer to Liang Chen, waving her hand and pointing at a spot behind her.


    "Little Snack, hide behind me. This battle is going to be tougher than the previous one."


    Just like Teng Yimu had said, Lu Ruogang had a fondness for young men like Liang Chen, so she had taken to calling him Little Snack, rather than Little Chen. Liang Chen did not try to act brave, taking up position behind Lu Ruogang. While a group of people walked out from their hiding spot behind the mountain of corpses, Yan Ying spat out his words.


    "Hoh, so the lizard worshippers actually sent out the Rainbow Slut? It seems like you are rather determined this time around. But what a shame, this Gale Tulip is ours."


    The group that stepped out from behind the mountain outnumbered Yan Ying''''s group, containing a little over twice as many people, 17 people in total. They were all clad in silver robes embroidered with the image of a white dragon coiling around the moon, the robes of the Moon Dragon sect that Liang Chen saw Shentu Jun wear once.


    The woman standing at the front of the group had a tall and buxom figure, the silver robe sticking close to her body. She had delicate and sharp features, silver eyes, and rainbow-colored hair that hung down freely behind her, Guo Huashi. Yan Ying''s eyes landed on one of the members in Guo Huashi''s group, a youth Liang Chen recognized as Shentu Jun, the middle-aged man with unkempt brown hair that had taught Liang Chen about the six great ruling powers on this planet.


    "What''s this, you even brought someone like that along? Let me guess, you want to use numbers to charge into the depths? Poor guy, does he not know that you are offering him up as fodder?"


    Shentu Jun''s expression distorted and paled slightly after hearing Yan Ying''s words. He really didn''t want to be here, but it had been an order from his sect superior, so he had no choice but to listen. Guo Huashi neither affirmed nor denied Yan Ying''s words, letting out a snort and pointing at Liang Chen with her chin, sneering at Yan Ying.


    "Are you one to talk? You think I can''t see that child you brought along? At least mine is an adult that has left behind children, how old is that kid you are bringing along as fodder?"


    Guo Huashi wasn''t the kindest of people, but she at least made sure that each of the men she brought along on this mission had left behind children that could carry on their legacy. But this child that Yan Ying had brought along was too young to possibly have left behind children. With his death, his lineage would likely end here in this hidden realm, buried in blood and dirt for someone else''s ambition. Facing Guo Huashi''s sneer, Yan Ying instantly rejected her words.


    "He is not fodder, he is just someone we saved along the way. If we bring him deeper into the hidden realm, we will, of course, protect him."


    Yan Ying glanced at Liang Chen, slightly relieved that he didn''t seem to have taken Guo Huashi''s words to heart. Liang Chen''s thoughts on the matter were actually very simple. Yan Ying and the others had saved him and treated him well, meanwhile, he had no idea who this Guo Huanshi was. Because of that, it was clear to him whose words it would be better for him to believe.


    On the other hand, even if Yan Ying wanted to drag him along as fodder, what could Liang Chen possibly do to stop them? He could draw out some crimson lightning from the Lightning Seed, but even if he could draw out enough to kill everyone in Yan Ying''s group, it would likely leave him so wounded that it would be impossible for him to make it out of this hidden realm. Seemingly surprised at Yan Ying''s words, Guo Huashi''s mouth curved into a mocking smile, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she laughed.


    "What''s this, the Bloody King has grown a heart? I am sure your little brother would be very proud if he got to hear about it."


    Yan Ying''s expression immediately turned so dark it almost became pitch black. He didn''t bother wasting any more time on words, drawing out his sword and charging forward, barking out a quick order.


    "Kill them all."


    Xiao Yong and the others let out a loud roar, dashing after Yan Ying. Lu Ruogang seemed to be furious about something, as she completely forgot about the fact that she was supposed to be protecting Liang Chen.


    The battle quickly broke out, and even though Guo Huashi''s group outnumbered them, a large part of her group was made out of people like Shentu Jun, people who could not participate in the battle. Had it not been for Guo Huashi stepping forward in time, Shentu Jun and the others would not even have had the time to flee.


    Liang Chen distanced himself from the battle again, pulling out his bow. He loaded an arrow, he charged it with red lightning, he swallowed the blood that started pooling in his mouth, he aimed, he shot. Even if it filled him with horrid pain to draw out the red lightning from his Lightning Seed, it was the only way he could fight here, so he had no choice but to endure, something he had gotten very good at.


    Yan Ying wildly attacked Guo Huanshi and her right-hand man, each of his attacks causing waves of blood to appear and bear down upon the two enemies. This was one of the elements that Yan Ying cultivated, the element of blood, a gruesome element that was just as frowned upon as the poison element. Both elements were gruesome and could kill people stealthily and inhumanely, so many cultivators feared or looked down on people who used those elements.


    With Yan Ying taking on the two strongest, Teng Yimu and the others were free to handle the others. With the arrow support from Liang Chen, they were able to slowly whittle down the enemies, who at first didn''t expect Liang Chen''s arrows to do anything, catching them off guard. Thanks to that, the battle quickly swung in the favor of Yan Ying''s group. In the end, Guo Huanshi was forced to jump back, her pretty face lighting up as she gave a slight bow and a sweet smile.


    "So that''s where your confidence came from, you managed to reach the Wandering Immortal stage, congratulation on your breakthrough. Very well, I accept my defeat here."


    Liang Chen had read about the Wandering Immortal stage, it was the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, the cultivation level that was just below the Primordial Immortal realm. After reaching the Primordial Immortal realm, one would have to leave this hidden realm, so Yan Ying was very close to that limit. Despite Guo Huanshi bowing out, Yan Ying''s face didn''t relax, it even grew a bit darker as he quickly called out.


    "It''s a diversion, watch out!"


    Others might be caught off guard, but Yan Ying already had some experience with people like Guo Huanshi, so he was prepared. Or so he thought. He heard a wooshing sound coming from behind him, a dark premotion filling his chest. He turned around just in time to see four people who had hidden in the forest dashing out, charging directly at Liang Chen with their weapons drawn.


    "Little Chen!"


    Even though he called out, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to reach Liang Chen in time. These four people were a bit weaker than the rest of Guo Huanshi''s group, having reached the Heaven''s Gate stage, but they were still far stronger than Liang Chen. But Liang Chen was not someone who would just watch death come for him.


    He jumped back, golden lightning crackling around his body. He wanted to detonate his Lightning Seed like he had done when he first picked the Elemental Lotus, but he heard that gentle whisper again, warning him that doing so would result in his death, all the gathered up lightning bursting his body.


    Now was not the time to ignore his instincts, or whatever the gentle whisper was, so he could only use his normal golden lightning. At the same time, he used his Poison Soul technique, numbing his own sense of pain, as well as numbing some of his limbs because he still wasn''t able to control the technique properly.


    Thanks to his quick reaction, only two of the four attacks landed on his body. One of the attacks was a dagger that pierced through his waist, the other was a spear that stabbed into his leg, going straight through his thigh. He took two attacks, but thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he was able to ignore the pain and launch a retaliation attack.


    He quickly loaded and arrow, charged it with crimson lightning, spat out some blood, and shot the arrow at the man who had pierced his waist. Since he was so close, the man only had a split second to dodge out of the way, the arrow missing his heart and piercing through his left lung. He wasn''t dead, but heavily wounded. Seeing that Liang Chen had managed to avoid instantly dying, Yan Ying turned towards the forest and called out in a loud voice.


    "Ling''er, take him away!"


    Shortly after he called out, the sound of rushing wind came from the forest at Liang Chen''s left. A breeze brushed past his body, a sweet fragrance tickling his nose. And the next thing he knew, he was thrown into the air, high above the men that had attacked him, an annoyed voice sounding in his ear.


    "Tch! I told him that he shouldn''t have brought you here, you''ll drag him down."


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, seeing that there was now a girl behind him, stepping on the air. No, on closer inspection, he saw that she had hardened the air beneath her feet, as well as used wind to lighten her own body, simulating flight.


    The girl looked like she was about 18 years old, had delicate and pretty features, sapphire blue eyes, and cyan hair tied into a single long braid. She was clad in the same cyan robes as Yan Ying and the others, so Liang Chen guessed that she came from the same sect. While he was looking at her, the girl once again grabbed him and threw him, this time tossing him sideways, to a position closer to the four men that had attacked him. Liang Chen was still a bit shocked at suddenly getting thrown around, so he could only gaze at the girl in surprise, trying to get out a sentence.


    "You...?"


    Before he could finish his sentence, the girl grabbed him for a third time, throwing him higher into the air so that he didn''t fall to the ground. As she threw him higher into the air, she glared at him, pointing at the four men beneath them.


    "Don''t just gawk dumbly! Are you incapable of launching any attacks?!"


    Liang Chen quickly managed to gather himself. It was a strange feeling to be tossed around through the air, but from up here, he had perfectly clear shots at the four men. He quickly loaded up an arrow and charged it, shooting it at the man he had already wounded, finishing him off. Once he shot his arrow, the girl once again grabbed onto him and threw him higher up, a bit to the side this time, giving him a better aim at the three other people, who were now fleeing. Seeing the scene, Yan Ying''s eyes quickly turned bloodshot as he shouted out, his voice turning a bit hoarse from the volume.


    "Ling''er?! I told you to take him away!"


    But the only thing that met Yan Ying''s hoarse shout was the sound of rumbling thunder and the light laugh of the girl.


    "It''s fine, we''ll manage!"

 Yan Ling, Storm Wolf sect.

    Liang Chen loaded and charged another arrow, blood continuing to pour out from his seven orifices. Thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he couldn''t even tell if he was in pain, allowing him to fight as recklessly as he wished. The arrow left the bow and vanished from sight, but it only managed to graze past the waist of one of the fleeing Moon Dragon Sect people. The moment the arrow left his bow, the girl, Yan Ling, once again grabbed onto him and threw him through the air. Being tossed for the fifth time, Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a slight complaint.


    "Could you stop throwing me around?"


    Were there no better ways to keep him in the air? Could she not just solidify the air beneath him as well? After hearing his complaint, Yan Ling placed her hands on her waist, letting out a slight snort.


    "Why should I? Can you fly on your own? Can you move around in the air? Well, can you?"


    Liang Chen''s could only put on an awkward smile after hearing her questions. Since he wasn''t able to use the element of wind, he would have to wait until he reached the Soaring Immortal realm before he could fly through the air.


    "...No."


    Because of their quick discussion, Liang Chen had started getting closer to the ground, so Yan Ling once again grabbed onto him and flung him into the sky. His body spun uncontrollably, but just as he was starting to get dizzy, Yan Ling grabbed onto his shoulders to stabilize him. After Liang Chen stopped spinning, Yan Ling quickly called out, pointing at one of the three fleeing men.


    "Then stop complaining and just let me throw you around! Look, one of those three is getting closer to Fat Yong, kill him already!"


    The fleeing man was weaker than Xiao Yong, but since Xiao Yong was currently engaged in a fierce battle, any distraction could prove fatal. Liang Chen quickly loaded up an arrow and charged it, taking aim at the back of the man and sending the arrow flying. The arrow rapidly approached the man, but since there was a bit of distance between them, he was able to dodge it in time, the arrow only grazing his shoulder.


    The arrow failed to wound the person, but it did at least force him to change direction and leave Xiao Yong alone. Liang Chen''s face, which was now completely covered in blood, couldn''t help but twist slightly. He glanced at Yan Ling, who once again threw him through the air, his brows furrowing as he spoke out.


    "Can you at least launch some attacks of your own? Or get a little closer?"


    Because of the distance between Liang Chen and the three disciples was considerably large, his arrows needed a bit of time to reach them, giving them time to dodge. Yan Ling once again stopped his body from spinning uncontrollably, shaking her head.


    "Fat chance. If I were to get closer, they would kill me with a single attack. And even if I were to launch some attacks, I wouldn''t be able to penetrate their defenses."


    Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling had only reached the middle stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, so her words were likely true. He also guessed that her low cultivation was the reason she had to continuously throw him, she simply didn''t have enough Qi to support the flight of two people. After hearing her statement, Liang Chen couldn''t help but comment on what she had said earlier.


    "And you said that I was the one dragging down Yan Ying?"


    He might not be able to resist the attacks of the enemies, but he could at least wound them. In comparison, what could this Yan Ling do to the enemies? Yan Ling blushed slightly from shame, but she quickly sent a glare at Liang Chen, as if she was looking to take a bite out of him.


    "Is that a complaint I hear? Want me to drop you?"


    The bloody corners of Liang Chen''s mouth couldn''t help but twitch as Yan Ling glared at him. Was this what happened when one pointed out the faults in her words, one got threatened? Yan Ling once again threw Liang Chen through the air, proudly puffing out her chest while he shot out another arrow.


    "I might not be able to wound them, but I can toss you around so that you can wound them, so that counts as my achievements. Hence, I am very useful here."


    Liang Chen was uncertain if he should cry or laugh. He was the one doing all the work, to the point that all of his orifices were bleeding. Yet she said that it counted as her achievements? Seemingly realizing that her words were a bit too mean-spirited, Yan Ling quickly cleared her throat.


    "Well, maybe 40 % of the achievements go to you, your lightning is rather powerful."


    Yan Ling glanced at the faint arc of crimson lightning that coiled around the arrow Liang Chen had loaded. The glow from it lit up his bloody face, giving him a ferocious appearance. For the lightning to let someone like Liang Chen, someone who had a weaker cultivation than her, wound someone far stronger than them, it was truly powerful lightning. After shooting the arrow, Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a wry smile and give a sarcastic remark.


    "I''m flattered"


    He wasn''t able to tell whether or not Yan Ling was serious or not, so giving a sarcastic remark was the best he could do for the moment. Yan Ling didn''t seem to notice that sarcasm in his voice, beating her own chest, her face carrying a satisfied expression.


    "You should be, I rarely praise people."


    Yan Ling continued to throw Liang Chen around, constantly repositioning him so that he could get clear shots at various people. After she tossed him for the 10th time, she took out a pill from her interspatial ring and stuffed it into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it.


    The pill was the same one that Teng Yimu had given him after they faced the disciples of the Ghost Soul sect, his wounds starting to quickly heal. With the pill healing him, he could continue to shoot arrows without worrying too much about his own body. The battle continued on for some time, with Yan Ling feeding Liang Chen a pill every five minutes, keeping him in a state where his body wouldn''t suddenly break down.


    Having so many pills stuffed into his mouth, Liang Chen couldn''t help but wonder if pills like these were nothing to the large sects. While the Moon Dragon sect disciples had the advantage in numbers, Yan Ying and his men had a slight advantage in cultivation levels. Adding on Liang Chen who was constantly harassing the disciples that were running around or were engaged in fights, the battle quickly started to favor Yan Ying''s group.


    As the leader of the Moon Dragon sect disciples, how could Guo Huashi fail to notice that the battle was slowly turning against them? In the end, she could only grit her teeth and give an unwilling order for retreat. With Guo Huashi and the other disciples fleeing, Yan Ling stopped throwing Liang Chen through the air, lowering him down to the ground after some troubles.


    Once his feet finally stood on solid ground again, Liang Chen''s legs couldn''t help but go soft underneath him, his body quickly falling into a sitting position. Thanks to the abundance of pills he had swallowed, as well as his already rather strong body, most of his wounds were already healed. His legs had simply gone soft because his body wasn''t used to being thrown through the air like a ragdoll. After putting down Liang Chen, Yan Ling quickly ran toward Yan Ying, who had only suffered a slight wound on his left arm.


    "Big Broth-"


    Yan Ling didn''t even get to finish calling out to Yan Ying. He quickly stretched out his arm and hit Yan Ling on the head with his knuckles, shouting out so loudly that his face turned red.


    "You absolute idiot! Are you insane, did some of your screws come loose because of the time you spent here?! What the fuck were you thinking, taking part in the battle instead of fleeing?! A single attack would have been enough to kill you!"


    That was the reason he originally hadn''t made Yan Ling reveal herself, she was simply too weak to be of any proper use in the battle, she was far more likely to die. Yan Ling quickly rubbed the top of her head, pouting slightly as she pointed at Liang Chen, who had managed to stand up thanks to the help of Xiao Qing and the others.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "But that''s why I made sure to stay far away and let this little freak do the attacking, it was perfectly safe. Besides, I still have that talisman..."


    The way Yan Ling saw it, little freak was a perfectly valid nickname for someone like Liang Chen. Not only because of how she had seen him fight, destroying his own body to kill the enemy, but also because of the downright strange amount of power he had been able to produce. But Yan Ying didn''t calm down because of her excuse, hitting her on the head with his knuckles again, his voice hoarse and his eyes bloodshot red.


    "Do you think that is a valid excuse?! Does that change the fact that a single attack would have either crippled you or torn you to pieces?! If that happened, how could I ever stand to face Father again?!"


    Yan Ling didn''t give a retort or excuse this time, because she could tell that Yan Ying had been truly worried. She obediently lowered her head, her voice downcast.


    "I''m sorry for worrying you, I won''t do it again."


    Yan Ying raised his arm again, wanting to hit her on the head again. But in the end, he gently lowered his arm and pat Yan Ling on the head, pulling her in for a tight hug.


    "You...! Haah. Fine, all''s well that ends well. At least you didn''t get hurt."


    The two hugged for a short moment, Lu Ruogang and the others making sure that Liang Chen didn''t have any wounds that would leave behind scars on his insides. Only when Old Chen assured them that his body was already slowly healing itself did they heave a quiet sigh of relief. Because of Liang Chen''s personality and diligence, they had gotten rather attached to him over the half a month they had spent together, so they didn''t want to see him ruin his own future just to aid them in battle. Yan Ying dragged Yan Ling over to Liang Chen, lowering his head slightly.


    "Little Chen, I''m sorry that she dragged you into it and forced you to fight like that for an extended period of time."


    Yan Ying and the others did not know how Liang Chen had managed to absorb the crimson heavenly lightning into his body with his low cultivation, nor did they know where he drew it from. But they could easily see that every time he used it, it would wound his body and bring horrendous pain so it was clear that fighting like that for any stretch of time was hard.


    They also didn''t intend to ask Liang Chen how he was able to use the heavenly lightning, as every cultivator had a secret or two, respecting these secrets was the unspoken rule among cultivators. Zhu Chun and the others quickly started to check the bodies of dead Moon Dragon sect disciples, leaving Liang Chen with Yan Ying and Yan Ling. Yan Ying placed his hand on Yan Ling''s head, forcing her to lower it slightly.


    "You, apologize to Little Chen!"


    As he was the one who forced her head down, Yan Ying wasn''t able to see Yan Ling give a slight roll of her eyes, a sly glint flashing past her eyes. She slightly stretched out her tongue, far enough that Liang Chen was able to see it, but not far enough that Yan Ying was able to see it.


    "I''m sorry for keeping you safe, I won''t do it again."


    Yan Ying hadn''t said what she should apologize for, how could she not take advantage of that fact? Yan Ying''s expression sank slightly, raising his arm to rap Yan Ling on the head again.


    "You-!"


    Before he got to lower his hand, Liang Chen interrupted him, waving his hand with a light chuckle.


    "It''s fine, I don''t mind, I''ll just consider it a new experience. Just like you said, all''s well that ends well."


    Liang Chen could see Yan Ling''s expression, so he could tell that she was simply trying to pull a joke. She was clearly older than him, but it seemed that she was quite a bit more childish than him. But that was only to be expected. Liang Chen had been forced to mature rapidly after the death of his parents, he couldn''t afford to stay a child any longer. Yan Ying lowered his arm, letting it hang at his side as he let out a sigh.


    "Let me introduce the two of you. This is my little sister, Yan Ling. Ling''er, this is the child I told you about, Liang Chen. As you see, you could stand to learn a bit from him, at least he doesn''t recklessly fly into battles where he can''t do anything."


    Yan Ying wanted to give Yan Ling a slight lesson with his words, but after he spoke out, Yan Ling quickly raised her head and pointed at Liang Chen, seemingly pouting slightly.


    "But, but he did just that! He did exactly the same as me!"


    Yan Ying wanted to retort but suddenly realized that he couldn''t. Liang Chen had a cultivation that was even lower than Yan Ling''s, had it not been for his self-destructive use of the crimson lightning, he would be just like Yan Ling, recklessly joining a battle where he couldn''t do anything. Yan Ying quickly shook his head, taking out a ceramic pot filled with pale yellow earth from his bracelet, handing it to Yan Ling and pushing her away.


    "Just go and transplant the Gale Tulip."


    The Gale Tulip that they had come for wasn''t quite ready yet, it had to grow a bit more, that was why Guo Huashi hadn''t just taken it away immediately. The pot he handed Yan Ling was filled with special earth that would let them take the herb away, even speeding up its growth somewhat. Yan Ling grabbed the pot and stretched out her tongue at Yan Ying, heading over to the flower. After looking at the back of the grumbling Yan Ling, Yan Ying turned back to Liang Chen, giving a slight sigh.


    "Please forgive her. She doesn''t get to leave the sect all that much, so now that she finally got to experience the outside world, she''s gotten a bit too excited."


    Yan Ying was truly apologetic. Yan Ling at least had a few lifesaving talismans, so even if things went wrong, she would likely get out mostly unharmed. But Liang Chen was different, any mistake could easily have cost him his life. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders with somewhat wistful eyes, not too bothered by it.


    "Like I said it''s no problem. It was my first time flying like that, and even though it was rather dizzying, it was kinda fun."


    At first, it had been strange, but he quickly got used to it, even enjoying it. When he was thrown around high above the enemies, he felt like he stood at the top of the world, like a king who could decide everything. If he had been someone like that, could he have saved his parents before they were executed, could he have changed anything? Yan Ying could guess at what Liang Chen was thinking from his eyes, so he stretched out his arm and pat Liang Chen on the head, gentle and soft pats.


    "I wish she had your mental state and wasn''t this childish, her cultivation would skyrocket."


    Cultivation didn''t simply rely on talent and resources, determination and mental state were also important. If one''s mind was easily disturbed, they could end up losing control over their Qi and suffer a backlash. This was the first time since the execution of his parents that Liang Chen had been pat on the head like this, so for a short second, even he couldn''t stop himself from getting slightly emotional. That short second was quickly interrupted by the loud voice of Yan Ling.


    "I can hear you!"


    Yan Ying removed his hand from Liang Chen''s head and turned around, shouting toward Yan Ling, who was carefully scooping up the light green tulip.


    "Good, maybe you''ll learn something!"


    Yan Ling stuck out her tongue again, returning to her work. Yan Ying also turned back to Liang Chen, rolling his eyes slightly as he seemed to think about something. Liang Chen waited a bit, allowing Yan Ying to come to a decision.


    "Little Chen, let me ask you something. Would you consider joining our sect?"


    They had traveled together for about half a month, and despite the fact that Yan Ying had spent a lot of that time cooped up in his carriage, he felt that he had a good grasp of Liang Chen''s personality. After all, they had even fought battles together, and there was no better place to figure out someone''s personality.


    Liang Chen was diligent, if perhaps a bit too diligent, strong-willed and determined, and most importantly, he was not someone who would betray others if things seemed to go wrong, something he proved when he didn''t even beg for mercy or anything of the like when he was ambushed by the four Moon Dragon sect disciples. Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond to the question, returning one of his own first.


    "Your sect should be the Storm Wolf sect, correct? If you don''t mind someone like me, then I won''t refuse. But it will have to wait until I leave this hidden realm."


    Liang Chen had seen the uniform of the Nightshield sect in the image he got of Qing Lan Yong, and he had encountered the other great sects one by one. The only ones he had yet to see were the Storm Wolf sect and the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. And looking at how Yan Ying was talking to Guo Huashi and Li Delan, it was clear that he came from either of these two powers. He had been told that the Dawn''s Blade Alliance controlled the western part of this planet, quite a distance away from this hidden realm, so it was uncertain if they had sent any disciples here. Because of that, he found it more likely that Yan Ying and the others came from the Storm Wolf Sect.


    Liang Chen wasn''t completely certain what it meant to join a sect, what sort of responsibility would be thrust onto his shoulders and what would be expected of him. But he knew that joining a sect would give him access to better resources and techniques, allowing him to increase his strength even further. And Yan Ying and his men were all good people, so even if he was wrong in his guess and they were part of a smaller sect, he would still join them. But it seemed like his guess had been spot on, Yan Ying nodding his head.


    "You already guessed it, huh? Very well, should you leave this hidden realm after us, you can just come to the Storm Wolf sect, I will tell them to keep our doors open for you."


    Yan Ying''s face lit up with a smile. It had only taken Liang Chen a few months to reach his current level of strength, and that was without any proper resources or teachers! There was no telling how far he might go if they could give him some proper guidance and aid. Yan Ying turned his head slightly, looking at the massive pillar that loomed in the distance, the pillar that could be seen from any location within this hidden realm.


    "Well, before we talk about any of that, we should probably focus on our present goal, breaching the inner parts of this hidden realm and reaching that pillar. Do you want to join us, or would you rather go back to where it''s safer?"


    This was what the five great powers had come for, to see what was located at the center of the hidden realm. That was why Guo Huashi had started to gather up all the members of the Moon Dragon sect that had entered this hidden realm, the final charge to breach the center of this hidden realm would soon begin. Liang Chen also turned his head to look at the distant pillar, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "I''ll join. I''m not worried about risks."

 Glacial Shroud.

    After transplanting the Gale Tulip and searching the bodies of the dead Moon Dragon disciples, the group returned to their carriages and continued their journey towards the inner parts of the hidden realm.


    The carriages stopped once night rolled around, forming a circular formation with a campfire in the middle. Zhu Chun returned to focusing on absorbing the Earthen Heart, doing his best to quickly increase his strength. Because of that, the dinner preparation was left to Liang Chen, prompting a quick comment from Yan Ling.


    "Eh, You are the one cooking, Little Freak? Are we sure we can eat this?"


    Yan Ling sent a sideways glance at the cauldron of stew that Liang Chen was preparing. She knew that he could use the element of poison, so her words were simply meant as harmless small talk. Because of that, Liang Chen simply ignored the statement and continued the cooking. He quickly finished up the food, handing everyone a bowl. Everyone eating in silence seemed to annoy Yan Ling, so she decided to pull out some more banter after tasting the food.


    "What''s this, it''s actually good? You can do something besides fighting?"


    Yan Ling swept the group that sat around the fire with her eyes, seemingly hoping for someone to join in on her banter. She looked a bit pitiful, so Liang Chen decided to throw her a bone and at least respond with a shrug of his shoulders.


    "It''s just something my mother taught me. There is no need to be so dramatic about a bit of cooking."


    Since he hadn''t had any interest in cultivation or training as a child, his mother and father had taught him some cooking and other various small skills that would be useful to know if one didn''t have any cultivation. Yan Ling got someone to join in with her small talk, but the answer wasn''t what she had hoped for, so she could only lower her head slightly and let out a low murmur.


    "But I can''t cook..."


    Her big brother was the Young Master of the Storm Wolf sect, so her position could be imagined. It was not strange for someone like her to not be able to cook, as people in her position were more predisposed to viewing it as a plebeian skill. Yan Ying seemed like he couldn''t stand to watch his little sister get ignored like this any longer, so he clapped his hands and drew everyone''s attention


    "Alright, enough about that, let''s talk about our future plans."


    Before they could charge into the inner parts of the hidden realm, there were still some things that they had to do first. Everyone quickly focused their eyes on Yan Ying, lowering their bowls of food. After making sure that he had the attention of everyone around the fire, Yan Ying spoke up.


    "In six days we will reach our third destination. We might encounter people from the Fiendgod sect, but as long as it''s Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui they are unlikely to fight us over the Glacial Shroud. We might have to give them a few of our treasures, but it''s better than engaging in a bloody battle."


    The Storm Wolf sect didn''t have a bad relationship with all the other sects. The Fiendgod sect was one such example, they were rivals, but still on good terms with each other. It wasn''t like the Moon Dragon sect or the Ghost Soul sect, where a battle was practically guaranteed once they met.


    "Seven days after that, we''ll reach Four Clouds city, the last city before the unexplored area. We''ll stop there for a few days to rest up and wait for the remainders of our scattered forces to gather together, marching into the unexplored area as one large group."


    Liang Chen''s eyes lit up after hearing that they were going to enter a city again. Zhu Chun and the others had given him all the items that the people he killed had on them, so he had a bit more capital now, capital which he could use to buy poison element Demonic beast parts. Yan Ying''s expression quickly turned serious, his eyes landing on Yan Ling.


    "Once we enter Four Clouds city, we must stay low and do our best to not attract too much attention to ourselves. The other sects likely have people there as well, and there are a large number of unaffiliated cultivators there as well. If they learn that we are from the Storm Wolf sect, they might band together to rob us, forcing us to expend a lot of energy to flee. Do you understand?"


    Yan Ling stuck out her tongue, but she still nodded her head to show that she understood. The group returned to eating, but this time they humored Yan Ling and started chatting a bit so that the area wasn''t dominated by silence.


    Once dawn rolled around, the group continued their journey towards their third destination. As the days passed, the area got colder and colder, with more and more snow gathering on the ground. Once the sixth day arrived, the group abandoned their carriages and made the rest of the journey on foot, as it would get too cold for their steeds once they got even closer to their goal.


    While wading through the snow, which by now already reached up to Liang Chen''s waist, Yan Ling spotted a bright red rose growing out of the snow a short distance away. Her eyes lit up as she made her way towards the rose, calling out to Yan Ying.


    "Big Brother, look at this pretty flower!"


    The flower wasn''t far from her, so she quickly reached it and stretched out her arm to pluck it. But before she managed to grasp the rose, Liang Chen dashed through the snow at full speed, grabbing onto her wrist and forcefully pulling it back.


    "Don''t touch it!"


    Yan Ling was caught completely off guard by Liang Chen''s sudden action, her expression becoming slightly annoyed. She turned her head and sent a slight glare at Liang Chen, planning on scolding him.


    "Hey, what ar-"


    Before she managed to start scolding him, Liang Chen grabbed onto the rose and pulled it up, revealing the thorns that were a faint pink in color. He pricked the thorns with his finger, giving a short explanation.


    "It''s poisonous. Touch it and you might end up losing your hand."


    Yan Ling looked at the pink thorns, trying her best to examine them. But even after examining them closely, she was unable to tell if they were actually poisonous, so she looked at Liang Chen with eyes that carried a trace of doubt.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "You can tell that it''s poisonous?"


    She wasn''t able to tell if it was poisonous, even when she was so close to it, but he had seemingly already noticed it while she was making her way over to it, otherwise he would not have been able to stop her in time. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulder and gave a simple explanation.


    "I''m very sensitive to poison."


    Just like lightning element materials, his body craved poison element resources. The moment he had noticed the rose, his instincts and body had started salivating, urging him to go and eat the flower.


    After giving his explanation, he tore the stem of the rose in half, a faint pink liquid spilling out and dying the snow pink. Once the pink liquid landed on it, the snow started to fizzle and seethe, a faint fishy smell spreading through the air, convincing Yan Ling that it was in fact poisonous. And because she was now convinced that it was poisonous, she couldn''t help but comment on Liang Chen''s actions.


    "You just said we shouldn''t touch it!"


    He said that she might lose her hand if she touched it, but not only had he touched it, he had even torn it in half. Even when the pink liquid dripped on him, he didn''t seem affected at all, he even seemed to find it pleasant. Liang Chen finished pouring the pink liquid onto his arm, correcting Yan Ling.


    "I said YOU shouldn''t touch it. Poison like this isn''t too effective on me, so I can touch it as I please. It''s even beneficial to me."


    The poison swiftly sank into his skin and traveled through his body, entering his Ascended Tower. Liang Chen was slightly worried that the poison would be absorbed by the Lightning Seed, just like all the lightning he absorbed was. But in the end, it seemed that his worry was needless, the poison smoothly settling in his Ascended Tower.


    He absorbed some more poison, but it did nothing to raise his cultivation. His body and Ascended Tower, as well as his Lightning Seed, were all baptized by azure, crimson, and violet lightning, which was then stored away inside the Lightning Seed. If he wanted to raise his cultivation, he would need a large amount of poison, enough to balance out the lightning he had already absorbed, allowing his Ascended Tower to be perfectly balanced.


    This had both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that his cultivation couldn''t rise until he actually balanced the two forces. But the advantage was that once he actually managed to balance the two forces, his cultivation would skyrocket, as he would have everything necessary to build up his Ascended Tower.


    Yan Ling looked at the spot on Liang Chen''s arm where the poison had been absorbed, her eyes lighting up with interest as she reached out and gave it a few pokes.


    "He~eh, something like that is possible? Seems like you would be a rather useful thing to bring along for journeys."


    Not only could he produce a downright freakish amount of power, but he could also cook and detect poison, he was an excellent all-around type tool. Facing this strange type of praise, Liang Chen could only roll his eyes.


    "I''m flattered at your praise."


    Yan Ling seemed somewhat dissatisfied at how nonchalant Liang Chen accepted her praise. As he continued to follow Yan Ying and the others, she quickly chased after him to enlighten him about how he should act.


    "Why do I feel like you aren''t taking my praise as seriously should? Do you know how many people would cry tears of joy if I were to praise them?!"


    Liang Chen simply rolled his eyes again, deciding to temporarily ignore Yan Ling, who seemed to hope that Liang Chen would realize her greatness and prostrate himself.


    The group continued to walk for a few more hours until they finally reached their goal, stopping a short distance away from it. Yan Ying stretched out his arm, pointing at a small hill made out of ice.


    "That''s the Glacial Shroud. We''re in luck, it seems to have reached the 100-year grade. Old Chen, you can just go ahead and take it, we''ll protect you."


    The hill of ice was almost completely clear, with only a small part located right in the middle of the hill being murky, a strange fog rolling around within it. The hill itself wasn''t the Glacial Shroud, it was, in fact, this fog that was the Glacial Shroud they had come for.


    It was extremely condensed ice energy that had been saturated with so much Qi that it turned corporeal. Absorbing it would allow one to strengthen their own ice element, making it purer and tougher, as well as making it easier to absorb ice element energy.


    Two hours after Old Chen started to dig into the hill, the sound of people walking through snow reached the ears of Yan Ying and the others. Shortly thereafter, a group of people walked into view, the leader clicking his tongue upon seeing Yan Ying.


    "Tch, of course our luck ended up being so shit that you guys got here first."


    The group that had arrived were clad in the uniform of the Fiendgod sect, pitch black robes that were embroidered with a black turtle that had a snake for a tail, the snake coiling around the entire turtle. The male leader who had clicked his tongue had a rather slim body, amber eyes, short and spiky brown hair, and nails that were strangely long and sharp. Yan Ying didn''t draw his weapon upon seeing the youth, he instead raised an eyebrow in surprise.


    "Xuan Bao, they actually sent you?"


    For this attempt at pushing into the inner parts of the hidden realm, Yan Ying had expected the Fiendgod sect to send Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui, or at least Jia Xiang. This Xuan Bao was a bit weaker than those three, causing Yan Ying''s mind to start moving. Could it be that Xuan Bao had made a breakthrough in his Fiendgod cultivation?


    Not everyone cultivated in the same way, creating an Ascended Tower and then opening Heaven''s Gate. The true disciples of the Fiendgod sect, for example, cultivated their bodies, using various resources and Qi to strengthen their body to the peak, giving them superhuman strength and recovery powers. Facing people who used Fiendgod cultivation, just chopping off their heads or piercing their hearts wasn''t enough to kill them.


    One could even cultivate several different techniques at once, but the number of people who did so was generally low, as splitting one''s focus like this would drastically slow down their speed needed to advance in cultivation. Xuan Bao glanced at the hill of ice behind Yan Ying for a short moment, eventually returning his gaze to Yan Ying and stretching out his arm, opening his palm.


    "Yan Ying, because of your relationship with Senior Sister Yahui, I can let you take the Glacial Shroud without a battle, but not for free."


    Xuan Bao wasn''t willing to enter a bloody battle with one of his sect''s allies, not for something like a Glacial Shroud. But that didn''t mean he would just leave, he had to at least make some profit. Yan Ying''s face lit up with a smile as he pulled out an interspatial ring, tossing it to Xuan Bao.


    "Thank you. These should about cover the value of the Glacial Shroud."


    Xuan Bao caught the yellow ring, quickly scanning the contents with his mind. After giving it a quick look-over, he let out a snort, his eyes landing on the hill of ice.


    "Don''t try to scam me, that is a 100-year Glacial Shroud. What you have given me is only equal to a 75-year Glacial Shroud."


    His meaning was very clear, pay me more. Yan Ying''s smile turned slightly awkward as he fished out another interspatial ring, tossing it over to Xuan Bao and giving a shake of his head.


    "And here I was hoping you''d be blind enough to not notice, my bad."


    Xuan Bao caught and checked the interspatial ring, giving a satisfied nod of his head. He put away the two rings and had his group of people turn around, preparing to leave. Before he left, however, he turned his head slightly, giving Yan Ying a solemn reminder.


    "We can trade like this here, but once we enter the unexplored parts, don''t expect me to be able to show mercy like this. Should it come to it, we will disregard the alliance and all past relationships."


    All the sects were curious at what could possibly be located at the center of this hidden realm. If they could inherit the legacy of whatever mighty cultivator that created this hidden realm, it was worth having a falling out with the other sects. Yan Ying gave a solemn nod of his head, as he too understood that he could not show mercy if it should come to that.


    Old Chen quickly finished digging out the ice that surrounded the Glacial Shroud, carefully putting it into his interspatial ring so that he could start absorbing it while they continued their journey. The group quickly retraced their steps, returning to their carriages.


    They turned the carriages around and left the icy area, retracing their previous steps and taking a different path to reach Four Clouds city. While traveling, Zhu Chun focused on absorbing the Earthen Heart, and Old Chen focused on absorbing the Glacial Shroud, trying to get it done as fast as possible.

 Angel of death.

    Just like Yan Ying had said, seven days after they picked up the Glacial Shroud, they reached an area from which they could see Four Clouds city. The area in front of the city was the same as the first city that Liang Chen had visited, a vast and empty plain filled with tall grass. But the city itself was built onto a mountain, the deeper into the city one went, the higher up the mountain one would go. The walls that surrounded the city were made out of a silver colored metal, shining dazzlingly under the sunlight.


    Yan Ying stopped the carriages, storing them into his bracelet. Even the steeds were absorbed into the bracelet, shocking Liang Chen. There were storing treasures that could store up living beings? Yan Ying didn''t notice Liang Chen''s shock, pointing at the distant city.


    "That''s Four Clouds city. Those four palaces are where the current rulers of the city reside, so just try to stay away from them. Also, put on these, they''ll obscure your appearance and make it so that people can''t recognize you."


    He took out several gray cloaks with large hoods from his interspatial ring, handing one to everyone. Once they put on the robes, an array within the robes activated, their faces turning blurry and indistinct.


    The four palaces he mentioned were far larger than the other buildings in the city, one palace located at each corner of the city. The palaces were all pretty similar, massive square mansions made out of pure white stone. But there was one thing that set them apart from each other, the number of towers surrounding the mansion. One palace had only a single tower, a second had two, the third had three, and the fourth had four. Liang Chen didn''t know what these towers symbolized, but he guessed that having more towers was a sign of power.


    The group quickly crossed the plain, none of the people outside the city daring to stop them in an attempt to rob them. Even before he reached the city, there was a faint fragrance that tickled Liang Chen''s nose, stirring his hunger. Yan Ying and the others didn''t seem to notice this scent, so he didn''t bring it up. They quickly entered the city, which was filled with buildings made out of light gray stones or deep brown wood. After entering the city, Yan Ying pointed down a road to their left, speaking in a low voice.


    "We''ll head to the market, you guys are free to do as you please, just remember to not cause a commotion."


    Everyone but Xiao Yong and Liang Chen followed Yan Ying to the market. Xiao Yong went to find a restaurant where he could get some food, while Liang Chen decided to follow that enticing scent he had noticed, quickly heading down a small and nearly hidden street to his right.


    The smell quickly got stronger as he moved down the street, reaching its peak once he arrived outside a narrow alley that was only wide enough to fit a single Liang Chen. He was able to spot an old and hunchbacked man with a long white beard and a bald head standing inside the alley, shaking his head and muttering to himself.


    "Poor little girl, she didn''t deserve this."


    Liang Chen made his way into the alley and up to the old man, who didn''t seem too bothered by his presence. Liang Chen was not dumb enough to believe that this old man would be someone weak, as no weak people could survive the pressure of this hidden realm. He could tell that the scent came from a spot directly in front of the man, so he quickly peered past him to see what it was. But the scene he saw nearly made him hurl, it was only after taking two steps backward that he was able to stutter out a question.


    "This... What is this?"


    Lying among the trash in front of the man was a young girl who seemed to be close to her twenties. Her arms and legs were bent in unnatural directions, the bones clearly shattered. Her silken robes were torn and tattered, leaving her practically naked, showing all the bruises that covered her body. But worst of all was her face. Her eyes and mouth were sewn shut, the stitches still bloody. The old man glanced at the sickened Liang Chen, responding with a slight shake of his head and a voice that carried a trace of pity.


    "She was one of Liu Daning''s maidservants. She must have gotten in the way of one of his temper tantrums. And looking at what he did to her body, she likely saw and heard something that she shouldn''t have. Poor girl, no one deserves something like this."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be sickened. This was done by her master, the one who was supposed to take care of her? The old man took a few steps away from the girl, glancing at Liang Chen.


    "Would you mind taking her outside the city and dump her with the rest?"


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but twitch at the words of the man. Firstly because of how emotionless his voice had suddenly gotten, as if the girl was no longer something to be pitied, but merely a dead object. And secondly, because of what his statement entailed.


    "Dump her with the rest?"


    Were there others like her? Someone had done this repeatedly? The old man stretched out a wrinkly and thin hand, pointing at a small green rat that was hiding amongst the trash.


    "We can''t keep bodies like this in the city, it''ll attract pests. Because of that, all the corpses get dumped along the city wall."


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Liang Chen only glanced at the rat for a short second, giving a slight nod of his head. He carefully picked up the ruined body of the girl, carrying it out of the city as gently as he could. Once he reached the outside of the city and found a spot where no one could see him, he took out one of his arrows and cut open the stitches that covered the girl''s mouth and eyes.


    He then took out a pill from his bracelet, popping it into the girl''s mouth and forcing her to swallow it. The reason he had done this was very simple, he could still sense the electricity within her body. She was ruined and beaten, but not dead. The pill quickly started to take effect, her wounds getting somewhat better, so Liang Chen decided to ask his question.


    "Can you still talk? Can you tell me what happened to you?"


    The girl had a cultivation that was a little higher than his, having reached the early stage of the Xiantian Tower realm. Because of that, the moment the pill started to take effect, she quickly regained consciousness, her limbs moving slightly.


    Liang Chen wanted to know what happened to her, why these things had been done to her. Could it really be that this Lui Daning had done something this sinful just because this girl got in the way of his temper tantrums? The girl slowly opened her eyes, sight of them shocking Liang Chen.


    Her eyes were completely ruined, the process of sewing her eyes shut having cut several gashes into them. They were completely white, and the only thing Liang Chen could see in them was despair, death, and pain. The girl slowly started to talk, struggling to get the words out.


    "Young Master Daning... He was having an argument with his fiancee... Over the fact that he had slept...With one of the maids... I happened to overhear the argument... He made me sow my eyes... And mouth shut... Saying that he would spare my life... But then... Then he threw me to his... Soldiers..."


    Her voice was filled with nothing but pure anguish and misery. The state of her body and voice alone filled Liang Chen with fury, but her words caused his blood to boil. For something as petty as that, he had done this? For something as petty as that, HE HAD DONE THIS TO AN INNOCENT GIRL?!


    Liang Chen could feel his entire body tremble, he had to struggle to not clench his fists and accidentally harm the girl. Liang Chen had never met this Liu Daning before, but just for this single act, Liang Chen knew that Liu Daning had to die. And resonating with Liang Chen''s burning rage was his instincts. They cried out to erase the source of rage, to ease their boiling blood. And for the first time outside of battle, Liang Chen''s own thoughts perfectly aligned with his bestial instincts.


    The thing that brought Liang Chen out of his furious state was a bloody hand that gently touched his face, a weak voice sounding out from the girl.


    "Please... Please end this... Pain... This horrid pain... Please!"


    Again, her voice was filled with nothing but anguish. She had been beaten and ruined, her chastity and purity tainted by several groups of men. Even if Liang Chen fed her more pills and fully healed her, she would simply kill herself. Liang Chen placed his own hand over the girl''s, his voice calm, quiet, and determined.


    "I will. Rest easy and dream sweetly knowing the fact that Liu Daning will sooner or later follow you into death."


    He didn''t know how strong this Liu Daning was, so he didn''t dare promise that he would immediately kill him. But the end result had been determined. Liu Daning had been judged, and the verdict was guilty, the sentence, death. The girl''s despairing eyes lit up slightly, her bloody lips curling faintly.


    "My sweet... Angel of death... Thank you... Thank you..."


    Liang Chen placed his hand on the head of the girl, his poison flooding into her body, peacefully and painlessly shutting down all her organs, granting her the release that she begged for. Liang Chen lifted up her lifeless body and carried it further away, finding an empty spot where he buried her beneath the snow.


    He was too weak to dig a deep enough hole that could serve as a grave, but the snow in this hidden realm was everlasting, so it would have to do. After burying the girl, Liang Chen slowly walked back to the city, a light and self-deprecating laugh escaping his lips.


    "Right, I almost forgot. While people like Yan Ying and his men exist, there are still countless numbers of scum out there. This peaceful time almost made me forget that."


    The time he had spent with Yan Ying and the others was very enjoyable, they made him feel like he actually belonged, like he had a safe place where he could rest. And that feeling of safety almost made him forget the horrors he had seen. But now he had gotten a grim reminder of what the world could truly be like, now he promised himself that he would never allow himself to forget it again. The heavens wouldn''t punish people like Liu Daning, so he would have to do it for them.


    He quickly made his way through the city, heading to the market. The market in this city was far larger than the one he had seen in the first city he had been in, it was so larger that Liang Chen wasn''t able to see the end of it. He paid the tax needed to enter the market and followed the directions of a guard he had asked.


    He quickly arrived at a small booth located a few kilometers away from the market entrance, a booth run by a tall woman clad in a pale pink robe. Seeing the cloaked Liang Chen walking up to her, she quickly put on a seductive smile.


    "What are you looking for?"


    Liang Chen didn''t waste any time, taking out a small interspatial ring and tossing it at the woman.


    "Information on Liu Daning, everything you have. Price is no problem."


    The woman was slightly annoyed at Liang Chen''s brusque mannerism, but once she checked the contents of the interspatial ring, her face bloomed into a brilliant smile.


    "Pleasure doing business with you!"


    She quickly tucked away the ring, as if she was worried that Liang Chen would change his mind. She then cleared her throat and started to list all the information that she had.


    "Liu Daning, an unaffiliated cultivator who has reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, the Heaven''s Gate stage. He cultivates the elements of wood and water for defense and uses the strange element of piercing for attacks. He currently resides within the Second Cloud Palace, the place with two towers, along with his fiancee and several cultivators who have chosen to follow him. He rarely leaves the palace, worried about ambushes. So he either sends his henchmen or walks onto the large balcony on the third floor and shouts out his orders to whoever can hear them."


    This woman was the best information broker in the city, which was why Liang Chen had chosen to go to her after asking the guards of the market for directions. While speaking, she even brought out a small crystal and filled it with Qi, showing Liang Chen an image of Liu Daning and his fiancee. Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, turning around and leaving the market.

 Tide of blood.

    The Second Cloud Palace was visible from almost anywhere in the city, so it didn''t take Liang Chen to find and reach it. He stopped outside the palace, which was surrounded by a tall wall made of light yellow stone. He walked around the outside of the wall until he found a spot that was well hidden from sight, and then he stood there and observed the palace.


    He was hesitating. Liu Daning had reached the Heaven''s Gate stage, the same stage as the four Moon Dragon sect disciples that had ambushed him during the previous battle had. He knew that he had the strength to wound and kill Liu Daning if he was given the chance, but he was still hesitating.


    Liang Chen wasn''t here alone, he was here with Yan Ying and the others, and Yan Ying had repeatedly told them not to stir up any trouble. If he were to make a move against this Liu Daning now, what sort of trouble would it cause for Yan Ying and the others? They had been good to him, so he was rather unwilling to stir up trouble like this for them. While he was hesitating and thinking it over again and again, a voice suddenly rang out from his side.


    "Yikes, that''s a grim face your making there, I didn''t even know you could make a face like that."


    Liang Chen quickly turned his body, his vigilance shooting to the sky. Because he had been caught up in his own thoughts and was certain that this was a well-hidden spot, he had forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings. He only relaxed when he saw who it was that had spoken, tilting his head slightly.


    "Yan Ling, what are you doing here?"


    The cloaked Yan Ling was the one who was walking over. Their cloaks obscured their faces to others, but not to Liang Chen and the others so they were still able to recognize each other. Yan Ling quickly walked over, a slight hop to her steps, her expression dyed with interest.


    "I happened to spot you in the market, doing something shady, so I decided to follow you to see what you were planning. But looking at your expression, you seem to have encountered a problem or something. Come, come, tell this Big Sister about your worries, I will help you!"


    Yan Ling had followed Yan Ying to the market, but she split up after they entered the market, so she was the only one who had seen Liang Chen. He thought it over for a bit, but in the end, he decided to simply tell Yan Ling everything that he had heard, as well as his thoughts.


    Just like he expected, her expression distorted into one of disgust when she heard what had happened to the girl. But when he explained his thoughts to her, she let out a light laugh, rapping Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles.


    "So it was something like that. And here I thought that you were so very mature, but it seems like you are still thinking like a child, overthinking and worrying."


    Liang Chen was utterly confused at her sudden action, but before he got to put his confusion into words, Yan Ling spoke up.


    "Tell me, do you want to kill this scum, this Liu Daning?"


    Liang Chen''s blood boiled whenever he thought about the state of the girl, so he didn''t hesitate for even a single second before he answered.


    "I do."


    Yan Ling gave a slight nod, immediately asking another question.


    "Do you have the power to kill him?"


    Liu Daning was at the Heaven''s Gate stage, but Liang Chen had both wounded and killed people like that before, so he once again responded without hesitation.


    "I do."


    After getting his response, Yan Ling''s face lit up with a smile, her knuckles once again rapping Liang Chen on the head.


    "Then why bother hesitating!?"


    Liang Chen was once again completely dumbfounded, not properly understanding Yan Ling''s words. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Yan Ling felt like she had won a small victory, quickly letting out a laugh filled with pride and arrogance.


    "To cultivate is to go against the heavens, to impose your will on them and reign supreme! If you cannot even go and do the things you want to do, how will you ever be able to overcome the heavens? Don''t worry about stirring up a bit of trouble, you might not have officially joined yet, but you are a member of my Storm Wolf sect. Kill whoever you want, offend whoever you want! As long as you are following your heart, we will have your back and support you!"


    This was the difference between Liang Chen and Yan Ling. He was a normal youth tossed into the cruel cultivation world without fully understanding it. She, on the other hand, had been born in this cruel cultivation world, she was a bit sheltered, but she understood it far better than Liang Chen.


    You want something? Then take it! You don''t like someone? Then kill them! Go against the heavens, bend them to your will, force them to kneel to you! You don''t think the heavens are just? Then crush them and take over for them, impose your sense of justice on everyone else! So what if you are acting selfish, so what if you are stirring up trouble? Follow your heart, and you will never go astray!


    Liang Chen was completely stunned. Was it possible to act like that? Was he allowed to act as selfish as he wished, to do as he pleased? The hesitation in his eyes quickly vanished, lightning flashing past them as they grew determined. He locked eyes with Yan Ling, giving her a slight bow.


    "... Thank you, Yan Ling."


    She had blown away his hesitation and made him feel like an entirely new door had been opened for him. From the very start, his actions had already been selfish, imposing his sense of justice on others. Since it was like that, what did it matter if he was a bit more selfish and followed his heart? Yan Ling let out a slightly mischievous and proud laughter, rapping Liang Chen on the head once again.


    "That''s Senior Sister Ling to you. So, have you decided what you are going to do?"


    The way Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen proved that she knew exactly what he was going to answer to her question. Normally, Liang Chen would find this expression a bit amusing, but now it looked a tiny bit cute. He nodded his head, glancing at the surroundings.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "I have. Can you protect me for a bit?"


    Yan Ling''s smile grew even brighter, even more filled with interest. She quickly puffed out her chest and put on the airs of a dignified Senior Sister.


    "He~eh, the Little Freak needs me to protect him? How could I possibly say no?"


    Liang Chen did not waste any more time after getting her agreement, sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, tapping into all of his Qi. Tiny motes of violet light flew out of his body, constantly splitting up and shrinking in size. They quickly became so small that they were impossible to see, even smaller than dust particles. Unable to understand what Liang Chen was doing, Yan Ling could only tilt her head.


    "This...?"


    What Liang Chen was doing was fairly simple actually. Since he could use his lightning to scan for living beings in the surroundings, why couldn''t he do the same with his poison? Each of those tiny particles of poison would become another eye for him, letting him see everything within a large area. Of course, this wasn''t perfect. It required 100% of his concentration, leaving him completely defenseless, and it rapidly tired his mind, threatening to knock him unconscious.


    Under his control, the tiny particles of poison quickly swarmed into the palace, spreading to every corner and observing everything. And what he saw only served to enrage him further. Liu Daning, a handsome youth with flowing blonde hair and dazzlingly blue eyes, was lying on a couch, getting fed grapes by his fiancee, a curvaceous girl with exquisite features, light pink hair, and emerald green hair.


    But while this picturesque couple was leisurely eating grapes, the rest of the palace could only be called hell. There were men and women clad in various robes spread throughout the rooms of the palace, some of them enjoying themselves with unwilling maids or butlers, some using the maids and butlers as outlets for their torture fantasies. Liang Chen even spotted one person who was casually walking down a hallway, and suddenly struck out at a young butler, crushing his head like a watermelon. Just like they said, birds of a feather flock together. Every single one of Liu Daning''s men were just as bad as him.


    Liang Chen swallowed his rage, putting most of his focus on Liu Daning and his fiancee. He quickly noticed that they weren''t just eating grapes, they were watching a show. A few maids and butlers were chained up in front of them, each one holding a shoddy weapon. Liu Daning occasionally called out two names, the ones that were called out would then proceed to fight each other to the death. The winner would be unshackled and allowed to return to their duties in the mansion.


    Liang Chen''s entire body now burned with rage, every fiber of his being screaming at him to kill, to drown the entire mansion in blood. Under his rage, even his Ascended Tower and Lightning Seed were trembling slightly, resonating with his fury. But he didn''t move yet. He couldn''t make his move just yet, he had to wait and prepare.


    He didn''t move for an entire two days, his poison thoroughly invading not only the palace but even the bodies of the cultivators within it. Everyone but the maids and butlers, as well as Liu Daning, who by far had the highest cultivation, was infected and steeped in Liang Chen''s poison. Not even Liu Daning''s fiancee was spared, as she joined Liu Daning in his actions. The reason Liu Daning wasn''t infested with the poison was simple, his high cultivation made Liang Chen uncertain if it would work, so he had decided on something else for Liu Daning.


    The strain on his mind over these two days was massive, and had it not been for Yan Ling guarding him and feeding him pills when he looked like he was about to collapse, he would have already passed out. But after two days passed, he was fully prepared. He opened his eyes, his golden pupils narrowing until they resembled the eyes of a serpent, something that Yan Ling noticed but didn''t comment on.


    "Scum, you all deserve death."


    With a single thought, Liang Chen activated the poison that infiltrated everyone within the mansion. The cultivators that were willing to serve Liu Daning were all far weaker than him, after being invaded by poison for two entire days, it was already too late for them to do anything. The poison activated and attacked every inch of their bodies, their organs, skin, bones, flesh, hair, everything. They could only watch as their bodies melted into a bloody mess, the pure white palace quickly stained red, a tide of blood washing over it.


    Liu Daning was enjoying some wine with his fiancee when Liang Chen moved into action, so he got a front side seat as he watched her melt. She stretched her hand toward Liu Daning, hoping for him to save her, but her arm was gone before it managed to reach him. Screams sounded out through the mansion, so he could guess that something similar was happening throughout the mansion.


    His rage reached a boiling point as he stormed through the mansion, reaching the large balcony that faced the city. He threw open the doors to the balcony, his furious shout thundering throughout the city.


    "Who dares attack the people of me, Liu Daning?!"


    This was the chance Liang Chen was waiting for. His head was thundering with pain, but he simply ignored it, numbing his own sense of pain and touch with his Poison Soul technique. He quickly stood up and pulled out his bow, which had started to melt slightly at the side from the repeated lightning that coursed through the arrows that Liang Chen had loaded onto it, and a single arrow, calling out to Yan Ling.


    "Now, throw me!"


    Yan Ling was still stunned at the sight in front of her. She could see blood pouring out from some of the openings in the castle, some cultivators had been standing by the windows when they started to melt, so she had been able to clearly see their fate. In her stunned state, the meaning of Liang Chen''s words didn''t instantly register.


    "Throw you?"


    Liang Chen gave an immediate nod of his head, his eyes firm.


    "Throw me!"


    Yan Ling quickly regained her senses, wind howling around her as she grabbed onto Liang Chen. She gathered as much force as she could, tossing Liang Chen as high as she could, even using wind to support him and slow his descent.


    The moment Yan Ling threw him, he started to call upon the lightning within the Lightning Seed. But this time he dug deeper than he had ever done before, demanding the Lightning Seed to give him as much strength as he could bear.


    His call was quickly responded to, three arcs of lightning seeping out from the Lightning Seed. One arc was golden, one was azure, and the last one was crimson. The three arcs danced around each other, moving through Liang Chen''s body like molten metal, his body breaking wherever they passed. The strain of these three arcs, that mutually strengthened each other, was far higher than the strain of a simple crimson arc.


    But thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he was able to ignore the pain and continue, his body teetering on the brink of collapse, but never crossing that final line. Liu Daning quickly spotted the now skyborne Liang Chen, his now savage face turning toward him.


    "Was it yo-!"


    Liu Daning was unable to finish his sentence, for Liang Chen had loosed his arrow and sent out his judgment. A single streak split the air apart, three colors lighting up the sky around the streak. Liu Daning didn''t even get the time to react. The arrow struck his chest and then exploded, the thundering sound of an explosion rocking the entire city, three bolts of lightning shooting into the sky. But this city was clearly incredibly sturdy. Despite the large explosion that the arrow had created, turning Liu Daning into dust, there was not a single scratch on the palace or the balcony.


    But Liang Chen was unable to see the aftermath of the magnificent attack he had launched. The moment he launched the arrow, his vision started to darken his consciousness slipping as he fell to the ground. Before he hit the ground, he felt himself land in a soft embrace, a shocked and excited voice ringing out in his ears.


    "You really are Little Freak. That really was a horrifying poison. And wasn''t that arrow even stronger than the ones you used against the Moon Dragon Sect? You can use even stronger ones!?"


    Liang Chen''s consciousness was almost completely gone, he didn''t even notice Yan Ling forcing several pills into his mouth. He only knew that they had to leave this area as fast as possible.


    "...Go..."


    That was the only word he managed to squeeze out before his body gave out on him, his mind rapidly descending into darkness. But before he completely passed out, he was still able to hear the last sentence of Yan Ling.


    "Right, right. Don''t worry, just leave the aftermath to Big Brother, you just get some sleep."

 The first battle.

    Liang Chen did not immediately start looking for Demonic beasts after getting used to the pressure. If things followed their usual pattern, the two hunters would pass through the area again within the next day. To avoid encountering them face to face, Liang Chen decided to quietly wait for the couple to pass by him. After all, there were no laws in this hidden realm. If they spotted him as he killed a Demonic beast, they might just attack him to steal the corpse.


    Just as he had expected, a few hours after he went into hiding, the couple moved through his area. They were dragging the corpse of a deer-like Demonic beast, grins on their faces, so it seemed like they had just completed a hunt and were on their way back to the entrance so that they could take the beast apart and sell it.


    Liang Chen did not know what they had done, whether or not they had made a deal with them or whether or not they were part of the same group. But the couple didn''t seem to have a problem with the same robbers that Liang Chen had encountered as he first entered the hidden realm.


    Once Liang Chen made sure that the two had left the area and he was the only one left, he climbed higher up the tree. The higher he climbed, the greater the pressure he experienced. But the increase in pressure was not great enough to deter him, so he continued to climb higher until he reached halfway up the tree.


    At the halfway point of the tree, the branches started to extend further out, connecting with the other trees and forming natural bridges that one could use to move from tree to tree. Since Liang Chen was unable to use his lightning to track the surrounding Demonic beasts, he had decided to use this method, moving from tree to tree while keeping an eye on the ground, to find any Demonic beasts.


    Thanks to the constant snow that was fluttering towards the ground, the branches were a bit slippery, making it somewhat risky to traverse them. But Liang Chen was steady on his feet and was able to use his sword to cut marks into the branches, allowing him something to grab onto whenever he felt that things got risky.


    Since Liang Chen only had to carry his sword on him, there was nothing weighing him down as he moved from branch to branch with nimble motions. He moved slower than he would in the outside world, but still far faster than he had once he first entered the hidden realm.


    As he moved, Liang Chen would occasionally spot a human or Demonic beast, but as the few Demonic beasts he spotted had a higher cultivation than him, he made sure to stay hidden so that they would not detect him. Luckily, the forest was filled with Demonic beasts, so he only had to move through the trees for a few hours before he spotted a Demonic beast that was close to his level of strength.


    The Demonic beast looked like a large porcupine, its back covered in spines that were almost half a meter long and as thick as two fingers. The beast itself was actually a bit larger than Liang Chen, almost reaching two meters in length. But it had very thick and short legs, so it was clear that it was not the fastest of beasts.


    It was currently digging into the ground, releasing snorting sounds from time to time as it searched for any roots and vegetables. Liang Chen quietly made his way across the branches, slowly making his way down the tree that was closest to the Demonic beast. But no matter how quietly he moved, he was still facing a Demonic beast, so by the time his feet touched the ground, the beast had noticed him.


    The porcupine stopped what it was doing and turned to face him, letting out several loud grunts in warning. It could sense that Liang Chen had the same strength as him, so it would be best if it could avoid combat that would leave the both of them with nothing to gain but a few injuries.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    But how could it know that Liang Chen had no intention of backing off? Even if he ended up losing this fight and getting injured, he would still feel that it would be worth it, as he would have gotten more experience and training. As long as he made sure to leave before he died, he would gain something from this fight.


    His right hand grasped his sword, arcs of golden lightning dancing around the blade, and his left hand started glowing with a light that kept changing between green and violet, his entire body tensing up as he stepped forward. The Demonic beast''s eyes narrowed as it realized that the human in front of it was not willing to back down from this pointless fight.


    A short moment of silence followed between the two, Liang Chen stepping forward and the porcupine taking a few steps backward. The silence between the two of them was shattered, both of them starting their attacks at the same time. Liang Chen coated his body with lightning, his speed rapidly increasing as he dashed forward. The Demonic beast, on the other hand, lowered its body slightly and pointed its spines at Liang Chen.


    The spines turned into blurs that shot forward in a straight line, slightly catching Liang Chen off-guard, as he had not expected the beast to be able to shoot its spikes like projectiles. But he quickly reacted, lowering his body, his head almost touching the ground.


    The spines grazed his back, one slicing a small gash into his left shoulder, blood dripping onto the snow. Despite Liang Chen''s body being coated in lightning, the snow around him did not show any signs of melting, the blood that touched the snow quickly freezing and becoming part of the snow.


    Liang Chen ignored the burning pain coming from his shoulder, pushing his body off the ground with his left arm and stepping forward at the same time. He slashed upwards with his weapon, aiming to cleave the head of the Demonic beast in two with a single attack.


    As his sword neared the head of the Demonic beast, the monster raised its head slightly and opened its maw, revealing its thick and flat teeth. Liang Chen''s weapon clashed with the teeth of the porcupine, cracking them and sinking a bit in, but it was unable to do any actual damage to the Demonic beast.


    Liang Chen saw the eyes of the Demonic beast shine with a hint of a smile, but he simply ignored it. He let go of his weapon and reached out with his arm, grabbing at the neck of the Demonic beast. The beast sensed danger from Liang Chen''s hand, so it quickly lowered its head and pushed forth its spines to force Liang Chen to pull his hand back.


    But how could it expect Liang Chen to be as reckless as he was? Liang Chen ignored the spines, continuing to reach for the neck, even when one of the spines pierced through his palm. Lightning coiled around his finger as he grabbed onto the neck, his fingers piercing through its hide and giving Liang Chen access to the insides of the beast.


    Poison flooded out from his fingers and into the neck of the Demonic beast, following the veins as well as the spine of the beast, overloading its heart and brain with Liang Chen''s mixed and highly corrosive poison. Its mouth started to froth with a bloody foam, its eyes melting thanks to the poison and lightning that was rampaging through its body.


    Thanks to the blood that landed on Liang Chen''s fingers, they felt like they were lit ablaze with horrid flames, but he grit his teeth and forced himself to endure. He had to make sure that there was enough poison within the body of the Demonic beast before he pulled his arms back, otherwise, it might manage to survive.


    After a little over two minutes, the beast was no longer able to resist, collapsing to the ground. Its eyes had completely melted, its brain and heart no more than a mushy mess thanks to the poison. Liang Chen finally pulled back his hand, plunging it into the snow to clean away any of the beast''s blood that remained on his fingers.


    Once his hand was clean of blood and the pain was gone, he looked at the corpse of the Demonic beast, a smile spreading on his face. This was not like the beasts he had killed in Sky Piercer Forest, nor was it like the wolves he had killed on the way here. This was an actual Rank 1 Demonic beast, one that did not rely on its pack for strength, and he had managed to kill it all on his own.


    But he quickly forced his excitement down, vigilantly checking the surrounding area. Once he saw that there was no one around, he quickly grabbed onto the corpse of the beast and started dragging it after him. He could not bring it up into the trees with him, so he dragged it along the ground until he found an old and hollow tree that was somewhat hidden. He dragged the beast into the hollow tree, covering the entrance behind him with a mixture of fallen branches and snow. Now he just had to take the beast apart, and then he would see if he could use it to increase his strength.

 Tattered and worn.

    The inside of the hollow tree was filled with fallen leaves that resembled needles, so Liang Chen guessed that someone else might have used this place as a hideout before. But looking at the undisturbed state of the leaves, and how they had all turned almost completely brown, it seemed that it hadn''t been used in quite a while.


    Liang Chen let go of the beast, his wounded arm trembling from a mixture of pain and over-exertion. But for the moment, there was little he could do about it, all his medicinal herbs had already been stolen when he entered the hidden realm. He tore off a piece of his robe, tying it tightly around his hand to stop the bleeding from the wound in his palm. Once he bandaged up his hand, he tore off the left sleeve of his robe and used it to bandage the wound on his shoulder, bandaging the last of his wounds.


    Liang Chen did not immediately start taking the Demonic beast apart after he bandaged his wounds, he took several deep breaths and closed his eyes, resting to restore to peak condition. Not only had he lost quite a bit of energy during the short fight, but he had also lost a bit of blood as he dragged the beast here. To make sure that he was able to properly handle anything that might happen, he could not afford to stay beneath peak condition for too long.


    His recuperation lasted for half a day, only stopping when he heard the sound of howling wind outside the hideout. Over the last seven days, he had already gotten used to the rather frequent storms that this hidden realm had. Liang Chen simply ignored the wind and turned towards the corpse of the beast in front of him.


    Despite half a day passing, he was not worried about the blood inside the beast coagulating, as it was so filled with Qi that it would stay liquid for at least another week, or until all the Qi within it was drained. Liang Chen grabbed his sword and stabbed it into the beast, running it along beneath the hide.


    He first removed the hide and spines, laying the skin on the ground so that he could place the rest of the Demonic beast parts on top of it. He then removed the beast''s four limbs and head, then he split open its chest. All the blood that ran out from the wounds gathered on the ground, forming a small pool next to Liang Chen, rippling slightly as it released a foul scent.


    Liang Chen made sure he never came into contact with the blood, as it filled him with the same dangerous feeling that the wolf blood had when he was about to touch it. Once he split open the chest, his eyes landed on a dull brown crystal that was growing next to the beast''s heart. This was its Demon Crystal, the crystallization of almost all the Qi that was within the Demonic beast''s body. Compared to this crystal, the Qi within the blood and flesh was nothing.


    Of course, since it contained more Qi, it was also far more dangerous to try and absorb it. Liang Chen carefully removed the crystal, placing it amongst the severed limbs of the beast, leaving only the bloody torso. Without Liang Chen noticing it, another half a day had passed as he carefully took apart the Demonic beast, the removal of the limbs taking the longest time.


    The storm outside had gotten fiercer, the sound of rain hammering against the outside of the tree. After he had completely taken apart the best, he turned towards the pool of blood, taking a deep breath. It gave him a dangerous sensation, but he had to check it out for himself and see if it was the same as the wolf blood.


    He clenched his fist and plunged it into the blood, gritting his teeth as he prepared for the pain. The moment his hand plunged into the blood, it felt like fire spread up from his hand, his entire being screaming at him to pull his hand back. But he persisted, he ignored his own instincts and left his hand in the blood. But there was no reaction from the Qi around him, it, in fact, seemed like his own hand was starting to reject the Qi within the blood and air around him.


    He pulled his hand out from the blood, his expression distorting as he looked at it. Not only the wolf blood but now even the blood of this Demonic beast proved to be ineffective, unable to help him increase his strength. He cleaned away the blood from his hand, and could not help but hit the inside of the tree a little, venting his frustration through his punches.


    Only once his knuckles started to ache did he stop punching, his mind calming down as he heaved for breath. Had it only happened once, he could chalk it up to coincidence. But now it had happened twice, so he had to admit that there was a problem that prevented him from properly absorbing the Qi within the Demonic beast blood. But what sort of problem could it possibly be? Liang Chen did not get the time to think too much about it, as a faint voice reached his ears through the sound of rain and thunder.


    "The trail of blood continues over here, it seems to be leading towards the old hideout of that Shentu boy we once met."


    Liang Chen''s entire body immediately tensed up, all other thoughts vanishing from his mind. He recognized the voice he just heard, it belonged to the female hunter who was part of the couple he had seen several times lately. At the same time, he also felt like smashing his own head against the tree. He thought they had left the hidden realm to go sell their spoils, so he had not bothered erasing the faint marks of blood that dripped out of the Demonic beast he had dragged after him.


    His mind raced as he worked on figuring out what he should do now, how he should act. Hiding was already too late, as they had clearly seen the hideout he was using. His eyes started to slowly narrow, a dangerous light flashing in them as he decided on his next course of action.


    He grabbed his sword and stood out, removing the branches he had placed in front of the opening. He could not face the two people inside the hollowed out tree, as there was not enough space to freely move. Once he left the hideout, the falling rain hammered against his body, each drop feeling like a blow from mace. The pressure within the hidden realm had compressed the rain and increased its speed, allowing it to reach dangerous levels of speed and strength.


    Just like he had expected, the couple of hunters were standing a short distance away from the hideout, examining the faint tracks of blood. Despite the downpour of rain, the blood from the Demonic beast was still completely visible in the snow, even releasing a faint scent. The couple, a short woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a tall man with needle-like black hair, turned towards him, their eyes narrowing in vigilance. Upon seeing Liang Chen''s cultivation level, as well as the corpse of the beast behind him, the man spoke out.


    "So it wasn''t a wounded Demonic beast, but a fellow hunter that was taking apart his prey. Kid, in the future, you must make sure to remove all traces of blood behind you. This time it was just us that found you, but in the future, it might a Demonic beast that follows the trail and eats you up. Take this lesson to heart, it will allow you to live longer. But for now, hand over those parts behind you. I can let you keep two limbs, but you must hand over the rest."


    The man lost most of his tension after he saw Liang Chen, his shoulders lowering somewhat. Despite his demands, the man considered himself rather benevolent. After all, most people would just kill Liang Chen and take the entire corpse, but the man not only allowed him to keep a little of the beast, he even gave him advice. But despite that, Liang Chen only spat out a short reply, raising his weapon.


    "I refuse."


    Liang Chen did not mind giving up certain things if the enemy was too strong, like the medicinal herbs and Demonic beast blood right after he entered the hidden realm. But there were also things he would not give up, and there were times where he would not allow people to simply walk over him. This was one of those times, he was confident that he could hold off these two, so he was not willing to simply give up his spoils of battle, even if they were currently useless to him. The expression of the couple sank, the man grabbing onto two daggers fastened to his waist as he spoke out in a low voice.


    "Kid, please don''t act strong here. If it was a one on one, we might be a bit wary to fight you, but right now it is two on one, giving us the clear advantage. It is not worth losing your life over something as small as that beast behind you. It is better to live to fight another day."


    From the man''s perspective, Liang Chen''s refusal was merely a child wanting to act strong and defiant, it was the same as asking for death. Killing a child was not his favorite thing to do, but he would not shy away from doing it if it let him net a good profit. The woman also grabbed onto her weapon, a thin and flexible sword, but Liang Chen did not relent.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "I said I refuse, so I will not let you have a single piece."


    As long as he was strong enough, he would not give up a single thing that was his, no matter who it was that was demanding it. The expression of the couple sank further, but they did not waste any more time on words. They both pulled out their weapons and dashed forward, water surrounding the man and snow surrounding the woman, forming sharp spikes that shot toward Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen also dashed forward, raising his sword to block the spikes of snow and twisting his body to dodge the spikes of water. He had already seen this couple fight against Demonic beasts a few times, so he was somewhat familiar with how they fought.


    He dodged the spikes of water, but as they flew past him, they absorbed the droplets of rain, twisting into new shapes that slashed at Liang Chen''s neck. Liang Chen quickly removed all the strength in his legs, collapsing to the ground to dodge the water. Once his entire body approached the ground, the snow beneath him spiraled upwards to pierce through him.


    Liang Chen stabbed his sword into the ground and pushed himself aside, dodging the majority of the snow spirals, but some still grazed his chest and left bloody marks that dripped blood onto the snow beneath him. Liang Chen pushed himself forward, slashing upwards at the man, poison coiling around his blade and dyeing it a wonderful violet.


    As the man moved to dodge, Liang Chen channeled a bit of lightning into his arm, drastically increasing its speed, allowing his blade to slash a small wound into the arm of the man. The skin and flesh on his arm started to melt, blood pouring onto the snow and dyeing it red. The man jumped backward and grit his teeth, shouting to the woman.


    "He has the poison element! let''s fight him from a distance."


    The woman quickly nodded her head and followed the man, moving away from Liang Chen. Since both of them had the elemental advantage, they could just keep their distance and slowly whittle down Liang Chen with ranged attacks, not letting him get close to them.


    While they continued to rain attacks upon Liang Chen, dodging backward whenever he got closer to them, the man swiped a red ring on his finger, a bottle filled with green liquid appearing in his hand. The man poured some of the liquid on the wound that Liang Chen had cut on his arm, slowing down the bleeding and the spread of the poison. The bottle then turned into light that vanished back into his ring, so it was clear that the ring was an interspatial ring.


    As the battle dragged on, the couple fully using their environment and elements to their advantage, more and more wounds started to appear on Liang Chen''s body, his blood dyeing the snow in a large area red. His blood was filled with Qi, so even the rain was unable to wash it away immediately.


    Energy started to quickly leave his body, until he was finally unable to keep standing, his knees and hands hitting the ground. Only when they saw Liang Chen heave and bleed did the couple feel that it was safe to move a little closer. But just as the man opened his mouth to say something, he noticed the slight curl on Liang Chen''s lips.


    He wanted to warn his wife, but at that time it was already too late. Golden lightning flooded out of Liang Chen''s body and into the snow beneath him. Since the snow was tainted by his blood, which was filled with lightning Qi, his lightning managed to easily move through the snow, instantly reaching the couple and flooding into their body.


    Their defenses were lowered, so there was nothing to stop the lightning as it charged into their organs and evaporated their blood. The heart of the woman stopped almost immediately, her body falling over, lifeless. The man was able to resist longer, but he lost control over his body, falling to the ground. When he saw Liang Chen stand up and slowly make his way towards him, he spoke out in an unsteady voice.


    "Kid...you are fucking...insane."


    The man had realized that they had been duped. The moment Liang Chen saw that they were going to use range to their advantage, he had decided on a strategy, allowing them to freely wound him so that his blood could taint a large area of snow. All for this chance, the moment the couple would lower their guard. Liang Chen''s lips curved into a bloody smile as he placed his sword against the man''s throat, a somewhat chilly voice sounding out.


    "I have to be, that is the only way I can achieve anything."


    With his normal talent, Liang Chen had to do insane things to increase his strength fast enough to accomplish his goals. Liang Chen did not give the man a chance to say anything else, driving his sword through the man''s throat and ending his life. Once he saw life leave the man''s eyes, he bent over and removed the ring from the man''s hand, looking at it with glimmering eyes.


    Now he had his own interspatial ring so carrying things would be far easier in the future. He sat down on the ground and put on the ring, testing it by inserting a bit of his mind to check the contents. It was mostly filled with food, water, and medicine, but it also contained a bit of money and Spirit Stones.


    After checking the contents of the ring, Liang Chen simply sat on the ground and heaved heavily, slowly applying some of the medicine he found within the interspatial ring onto his wounds. He had killed the two people, but the price was that his entire body was riddled with wounds, blood covering most of his body. Most of the wounds were surprisingly superficial, but the loss of blood would get serious if he did not do anything about it.


    He continued to spread a light green paste over the wounds, his bleeding quickly stopping as the wounds got covered. While Liang Chen was working on covering up his wounds, he heard a sound from behind him that caused all the hairs on his body to stand on end.


    He didn''t even turn around to look, he simply dove forward and rolled away, the sound of something hitting the ground behind him quickly reaching his ears. Once he stopped rolling, he kneeled on the ground and raised his head to look at what had attacked him.


    A large, a little over three meters long, serpent had snuck up on him, its body covered in white scales that were covered in yellow dots. It had a triangular head and looked at Liang Chen with its amber eyes, studying the prey in front of him. The serpent was even stronger than the couple, having reached the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm. Even if he was in perfect condition, he was uncertain if he would be able to beat it, but now he didn''t even have the energy to flee. Looking at the snake that had snuck up on him while he was battling the couple, he could not help but let out a slightly maniacal laughter.


    "Hahaha, are you fucking kidding me, just how bad can my luck be? Come then, I won''t go down that easily."


    He stood up, his legs somewhat unsteady, glancing at the sky as his thoughts moved. When he looked at the snake in front of him, his instincts howled, screaming at him. But they didn''t scream for him to escape, but for him to slay the snake and devour it, every fiber of his being wanted to eat the snake and bathe in its blood.


    The snake looked at him for a bit, but eventually decided that the child in front of it was no threat, so it coiled up its body and shot itself forward, charging at Liang Chen with its maw wide open. Liang Chen did not even have his sword in hand, having dropped it while he applied the medicines to his wounds, so he could only welcome the serpent''s maw with his arms wide open.


    The two quickly clashed, the serpent trying to bite down on Liang Chen. Liang Chen grabbed onto the two fangs of the snake, grasping them tightly and exerting all his strength to hold open the mouth of the serpent for even a second longer. While holding onto the serpent''s fangs, he raised his head to the sky, grasping at his one hope.


    His mind and Qi stretched out, reaching towards the sky, towards the lightning that rumbled high above him. His own lightning was not strong enough to kill this snake, which had its guard up, so he could only do his best to call down the lightning that lit up the sky in this hidden realm.


    After a short moment, it seemed like his silent prayer was heard. An ear-deafening boom sounded out, the trees and ground around Liang Chen trembling from the sound alone. A bright red ray of light shot down from the sky, all the rain around it evaporating as it headed straight for Liang Chen.


    The serpent blocked the path of the lightning, so before it could reach Liang Chen, it had to pierce through the head of the snake. The lightning hit the head of the snake, a crunching sound ringing out as its skull shattered under the might of the lightning. The snake was slammed into the ground, Liang Chen following it as he was currently holding onto its fangs.


    A small amount of the red lightning entered Liang Chen, his entire body feeling like it was being torn apart. But as Liang Chen had already tempered his body with lightning before, the small amount that entered him was unable to cause any true damage, instead only nourishing his body and cultivation.


    Liang Chen laid on the ground, the now roasted head of the snake lying on top of him. The smell was pungent, but when Liang Chen smelled it, his entire body seemed to greedily absorb it, a weak laughter escaping from Liang Chen.


    "Ha...ha...ha...I win, now give me...my prize..."


    He crawled out from under the snake, moving towards his sword, picking it up and slowly making his way back to the snake. He stabbed the blade into the neck of the beast and cut open its entire stomach. He seemed to have pierced the poison sac of the beast, as a viscous yellow liquid was mixed with the crimson red blood. But he did not care, his instincts screaming at him to submerge himself in the blood and poison, to grow stronger. As he looked at the blood, even the screams of his instincts grew faint and distant, his mind slowly turning black as he collapsed, falling face first into the blood and poison, his consciousness fading.


    First, he had endured the pain of dipping his hand in Demonic beast blood that seemed to be at odds with him, then he had used a suicidal way of fighting the couple, then he had to hold open the maw of the serpent while he called for the lightning rumbling in the sky. And finally, he had to endure the small amount of red lightning that had entered his body. He was tattered and worn, his entire body on the verge of breaking apart, so it was not strange that he collapsed once everything was over.


    His unconscious body was quickly covered in the blood, poison, organs, and even the Demon Crystal of the snake, the energy from all of them seeping into his body. Since he was unconscious, his instincts acted on their own, guiding the energy into his body and using it to strengthen him, waiting for the moment he awoke.

 Six great rulers.

    While Liang Chen was unconscious, he dreamt. For once, he did not have the same nightmare that he had ever since that day, he instead saw a peaceful dream, a dream that tugged at his heart.


    In the dream, he was back in Green Rivers City alongside his parents. There was no Qing Lan Yong, no execution, no relentless desire for strength. He did not bother spending too much time on cultivation, picking up a career as a chef instead, opening a restaurant of his own. After a few years, he married Qing Chun and had three children with her, every day of their lives filled with peace and love.


    But despite experiencing the passage of years, Liang Chen did not for one second forget that it was naught but a dream. There was a constant voice in his ear, whispering to him about the truth, describing the final moments of his parents. Each word that the whispering voice spoke caused his blood to boil harder, strength hidden deep within him slowly welling up, roaring as it surged towards the surface.


    As the dream neared its end and Liang Chen started to somewhat regain consciousness, the whispering voice in Liang Chen''s ear was slowly replaced by other sounds, the sound of a light breeze, the sound of crunching snow, as well as a different voice that sounded a bit distant.


    "Isn''t that the two hunters that roam around here? Did they die fighting this snake? Huh, there is someone inside it?"


    The voice seemed to belong to a male youth, Liang Chen feeling his body twitching somewhat after hearing a sudden unfamiliar voice. The sound of crunching snow rang out again, someone seemingly walking closer. Liang Chen heard what sounded like bodies being moved, the sound of crunching snow coming closer. The unfamiliar voice rang out once more, this time sounding much clearer and closer.


    "The poor kid must have been swallowed whole. Someone sliced open the stomach, but it seems to have been too late. Well, can''t allow anything to go to waste."


    After a somewhat pitying sigh, Li Yang felt something touch his body, the first proper sensation he felt since he fell unconscious. His entire body tensed up from the touch, all traces of drowsiness and unconsciousness vanishing as his eyes shot open. Liang Chen sat up and his arm stretched out on its own, grabbing onto the throat of the youth that was touching him. Liang Chen''s poisonous Qi flooded towards his hand, but it slowed down as the youth screamed out.


    "Stop, stop! I didn''t do anything, I swear!"


    Liang Chen''s instincts screamed at him to fill his hand with poison, to melt the youth who had dared lay his hands on him, but Liang Chen forced the violent instincts down, taking a good look at the youth in front of him. The youth was a man who seemed to be approaching his thirties, his head was covered in unkempt brown hair and he had a slight stubble on his chin. His skin was somewhat pale and his somewhat larger than usual eyes were a bit red and bloodshot. He was clad in a silver robe engraved with the image of a white dragon coiling around the moon. With his hand still on the man''s throat, Liang Chen spoke out.


    "WhO aRe yoU!?"


    Liang Chen''s voice came out louder than he had planned it to, it was also rather distorted because he had just woken up from an unknown period of unconsciousness. The man shivered slightly as he looked at Liang Chen, quickly answering after sending a scared glance at Liang Chen''s eyes.


    "I am Shentu Jun, a junior disciple of the Moon Dragon sect!"


    Liang Chen could not see it, but Shentu Jun had been able to see Liang Chen''s pupils contract when he spoke out, resembling the pupils of a snake. Luckily, the contraction only lasted for a short second before it vanished, Liang Chen''s pupils returning to their normal state. Liang Chen did not let go of Shentu Jun''s throat, continuing to question as he swept his own body to see if anything was missing.


    "Moon Dragon sect? What is that?"


    Liang Chen knew about the strongest powers on the Fallen Cloud continent, but he had never heard about any power called the Moon Dragon Sect. Shentu Jun did not even dare breathe too deeply, lest Liang Chen''s hand tighten around his neck.


    "The Moon Dragon Sect is one of the five great rulers that control the eastern part of this planet. We got news of this hidden realm, so a few junior and senior disciples were sent to see what we could learn! I swear I am telling the truth!"


    Shentu Jun had reached the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm so he had felt rather confident as he traveled the outskirts of the hidden realm. But whenever he glanced at the faint purple glow that was gathering in Liang Chen''s hand, he felt his entire body tremble, a feeling of death flooding him. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to talk.


    "Five great rulers? What about the five great clans?"


    Liang Chen had always been taught that the five great clans were the mightiest powers around, no one else even close to them. But according to this Shentu Jun, there were even greater powers out there, powers that could control an area much larger than any one of the clans. Shentu Jun once more quickly responded, he loved live, so he did not even dare think about lying.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "They are only subsidiaries to the five rulers, each clan belonging to one of the rulers. The Moon Dragon Sect controls the Huang clan."


    Shentu Jun was not surprised that Liang Chen did not know about the five great rulers, as it was information that only the strong knew about. Even within the five clans, only those close to the peak of the clan knew about the fact that they were subsidiaries to greater powers. Liang Chen stayed silent for a bit, taking in the information before he asked his next question.


    "Who are the other four rulers?"


    Liang Chen mostly believed Shentu Jun, mostly because he could feel Shentu Jun''s fear, not only seeing it in his eyes but even smelling it like a faint fragrance. If he was able to lie while feeling such intense fear, there was nothing Liang Chen could do. But Shentu Jun was just as terrified as Liang Chen believed, so he quickly told Liang Chen everything he had been taught by Senior Disciple Yao.


    "The other four rulers are the Nightshield sect, the Ghost Soul sect, the Fiendgod sect, and the Storm Wolf Sect. Along with the Moon Dragon Sect, they control the entire eastern half of the planet. As for the western part of the planet, it is controlled by the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, but I don''t know if they have sent any disciples to investigate this hidden realm!"


    Liang Chen fell into another short silence as he took in all the information. Six great powers that controlled the entire planet, and the great clans he had feared before were nothing but subsidiaries, pawns to be used. It was a bit hard for him to accept it immediately, but there was something he wanted to know.


    "Which of the rulers is in control of the Qing clan?"


    Qing Lan Yong was the most talented disciple that the Qing clan had seen in the last 1000 years, cementing his position as the Young Master. If he joined one of these great powers, how hard would it be for Liang Chen to catch up to him, to kill him? Shentu Jun searched his memories for a short moment before speaking out in a somewhat uncertain voice.


    "The Qing clan is under the control of the Nightshield Sect. I heard that one of the Qing clan ancestors has a high position in the sect, so the Qing clan is treated well by the Nightshield sect."


    After Shentu Jun told Liang Chen everything, an uneasy silence descended between them. Liang Chen was busy taking in all the new information, his head somewhat lowered, while Shentu Jun was busy trying to calm down his hammering heart. After a minute of silence, he could no longer bear it, speaking out in a begging voice.


    "I swear, I am telling the truth! So please, don''t kill me."


    Liang Chen stopped his thinking, his eyes landing on Shentu Jun again. Liang Chen felt his hand twitch, the poisonous Qi within it trying to flood into Shentu Jun''s throat, trying to obey Liang Chen''s instincts. Liang Chen narrowed his eyes, glaring at his own arm as he forced the Qi within it back into his Ascending Tower. He let go of Shentu Jun''s throat, his arm trembling slightly.


    "Leave, quickly."


    Shentu Jun immediately stood up and spun around, dashing away without even looking back. Liang Chen continued to glare at his arm until the trembling stopped and it calmed down. He was in control over this body, not his instincts, he would only kill when he allowed himself to kill. Shentu Jun had not done anything to him, so he would not allow himself to just kill Shentu Jun. Liang Chen took a deep breath, glancing at the sky as he muttered to himself.


    "Five great rulers, Dawn''s Blade Alliance? Forget about it, none of them matter."


    He could only shake his head. None of the great rulers had anything to do with the weak him, and it was unlikely that he would have too much to do with them in the future. All he wanted to do was kill Qing Lan Yong, and then maybe see if there truly existed a way to bring back the dead.


    It was only after shaking his head that Liang Chen noticed that he was still covered in Demonic beast blood and guts, the corpse of the snake lying right next to him. Liang Chen clenched his fist and examined his own body, checking the increase of his strength. Upon seeing the result, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes landing on the snake.


    "My strength...seems to have increased by quite a bit. My poison has also gotten more vicious. Should be because of you?"


    Liang Chen''s cultivation had completely skipped the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm, jumping directly to the late stage, his Ascending Tower now having three floors. His poison still changed between green and purple, but there was now a faint yellow light glowing within the poison, turning it even more vicious.


    The snake had only been at the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm, so Liang Chen had never expected it to propel him all the way to the late stage. But what he forgot was that he had also absorbed a tiny amount of the crimson lightning that descended from the sky, the lightning had also helped him increase his cultivation.


    He stood up and stretched his body, a soft popping sound ringing out from his joints. His ability to resist the omnipresent pressure in the hidden realm had also increased somewhat, his body growing stronger and faster. Liang Chen quickly checked the body of the snake, but he did not find what he was looking for.


    "No Demon Crystal, so it was either stolen or I unconsciously absorbed it."


    Liang Chen found it unlikely that someone had stolen the Demon Crystal, as they would have also taken the rest of the snake''s body, as well as the interspatial ring that Liang Chen was now carrying. Looking at the dead snake and sensing his increased strength, Liang Chen''s lips slowly curved into a wide grin.


    "The wolves didn''t work. The porcupine didn''t work. But this snake, this snake worked. Lightning also works just as wonderfully as the first time, could it be that I can only use blood from Demonic beasts that have the lightning and poison element to cultivate? How troublesome, I wish someone had warned me about that before I wasted so much time."


    This was the most logical conclusion that Liang Chen could think of at the moment. But how could he know that it was not normal for people to only be able to use the blood of Demonic beasts with certain elements? Liang Chen quickly stored away the body of the snake within his interspatial ring, saving the meat for later.


    After storing away the corpse, Liang Chen swept the surrounding forest with his eyes, but there were no traces of Demonic beasts. He climbed up a tree and found a secure branch, scrubbing himself clean with the snow that had gathered on the tree, planning what he would do next.


    "At least I know now so that I can stop wasting time and focus my efforts. My strength has increased, so the number of Demonic beasts I can kill has grown somewhat."

 Deeper into the hidden realm.

    Liang Chen stalked the outskirts of the forest, hiding in the trees and dropping down on unsuspecting Demonic beasts that he felt were weak enough for him to kill. Despite staying in the outskirts, he quickly learned that there was quite a diversity in the strength of the Demonic beasts.


    The weakest he had seen was at the bottom of Rank 1, but he had also seen some which had an obscure cultivation but radiated such a strong pressure that it caused him to feel fear from the bottom of his being. After reaching the late stage of the Mortal Tower stage, he was able to tell the strength of others all the way up to the late stage of the Xiantian Tower stage. For him to only see their cultivation as obscure, they had most likely transcended the Ascended Tower realm.


    His hunting speed had actually gotten slower after his increase in cultivation, not only because of the diverse strength of the Demonic beasts but also because he needed very specific Demonic beasts. Only Demonic beasts with the lightning or poison element were useful to him, any others would only cause his instincts to scream at him, his veins refusing to absorb the Qi within their blood.


    Even after stalking the outskirts for a little over two weeks, he had only managed to kill three Demonic beasts, one that had the poison element, and two that had the lightning element. None of the battles had been easy, one of the lightning Demonic beasts, a fox with hard and spiky fur, had reached the very peak of Rank 1, almost entering Rank 2. But despite its hard fur, it had weak internal defenses. Once Liang Chen managed to penetrate its fur, it quickly fell to his poison.


    Liang Chen had managed to kill three Demonic beasts, pushing his strength into the early stage of the Houtian Tower stage, but he had lost far more battles than he had won. There were even a few battles where he had almost lost his life, only able to flee thanks to his speed being a bit faster than the speed of the Demonic beasts he fought.


    There were frequent storms sweeping over the hidden realm, thunder and rain hammering the earth. But Liang Chen could only look at the lightning filled sky with resignation. His body was too weak to handle the crimson lightning that flashed in the sky, only able to handle the smallest of arcs, arcs of such a small size that he was unable to properly attract them. Thanks to that, he could only spend every moment not spent fighting on strengthening his body with his own lightning.


    But not everything was going against Liang Chen, a few things went well for him. With the increase of his cultivation and the strength of his lightning element, he slowly became able to once again sense the electricity of the surrounding living beings. He did not know why, but a sense of peace and security returned to Liang Chen once he became able to sense the surrounding electricity again.


    His instincts had also grown sharper, but whether it was due to all the battles he had fought, or the Demonic beast blood, he was uncertain. But thankfully, he had not had any relapses where his body chose to listen to his violent instincts rather than his own orders.


    After two and half weeks of hunting, Liang Chen stopped his ceaseless searching for Demonic beasts, his brows furrowing as he sat on a branch. Night had already descended, a moonless sky covered in bright white dots spreading out above Liang Chen. The reason his brows were furrowed was because of a middle-aged woman he could see sitting a small distance away from him.


    She had made up a small campfire, roasting some Demonic beast meat as she wrote in a small leatherbound book. She had smooth features, waist-length brown hair and was clad in a tight leather armor that accentuated her curves. Her strength was only a little bit higher than Liang Chen''s, at the late stage of the Houtian Tower stage.


    The reason his brows were furrowed was because she had not put up any defenses, she wasn''t even keeping an eye on the surroundings, focused completely on her writing. There was a faint and repugnant smell surround her campfire, but Liang Chen could not see where it came from. How could she sit around so casually with her low strength? Liang Chen observed her for a bit, trying to figure out how she could act so casual. But little did he expect that she would turn towards him, smirking as she spoke in a teasing voice.


    "Are you hoping for a little show? Sorry, but I have a bit more class than that."


    Liang Chen''s entire body tensed up, lightning and poison quickly starting to flow through his body. Liang Chen was quite confident in the hiding technique he had come up with after stalking around in the outskirts, how had she discovered him? Liang Chen''s thoughts were racing, trying to figure out the best course of action. Completely ignoring him, the woman spoke out again, chuckling slightly.


    "No need for the quiet treatment, thanks to this, I know that you are out there. I am Luo Shui''er, why not join me here for some food? I promise I won''t gobble you up."


    While she spoke, the woman raised her left hand, a bronze plate appearing in her palm. Liang Chen recognized the plate, as he had one of his own, it was the mark of someone from the Eternal Dragon Pavilion. He thought about it for a bit longer but eventually decided to leave hiding, dropping down from the branch he was sitting on and approaching Luo Shui''er. With the fire illuminating him, Luo Shui''er let out a small exclamation.


    "Oh, why didn''t you say you were so young and cute earlier? Now I am not certain whether or not I can keep my promise to not gobble you up."


    Liang Chen felt a slight shiver go up his back when he saw the way Luo Shui''er was looking him up and down, licking her lips slightly. His body tensed up slightly as he continued to approach, a slight smile appearing on his face. He had not talked with anyone since he talked to the youth from the Moon Dragon Sect, so finally talking to someone else would make for a nice change of pace. Seeing his slightly tensed body, Luo Shui''er raised her hand and chuckled slightly, continuing to tease Liang Chen.


    "It''s just a joke, a joke. Or is it, I wonder? What''s your name, little cutie?"


    Liang Chen had to admit that this was the first time he had been teased like this by someone, but he did not allow it to disturb his calm mind. He sat down at the fire, across from Luo Shui''er, giving a slight nod of his head and introducing himself.


    " And here I thought I was hiding properly. Good evening, I am Liang Chen. How could you tell where I was hiding?"


    She said that it was because of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, but Liang Chen had never been told about such a function, so he was a bit skeptic. Luo Shui''er simply raised the bronze plated engraved with her information, nodding at it.


    "As I said, it''s because of this thing."


    Liang Chen glanced at the plate, apparently looking at it with a skeptic gaze, as Luo Shui''er tilted her head upon seeing him look at it.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "When you signed up, did they not explain to you how to use them?"


    Since she could sense his presence with the plate, it was clear that Liang Chen was also a member of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, so how could he not know about one of the main functions? Seeing the somewhat wry smile that appeared on Liang Chen''s face, Luo Shui''er quickly understood that she was correct, pushing out her chest and raising her head in an assuring gesture.


    "Aww, I guess you were so cute that they didn''t want you to actually sign up. Let this Big Sister explain it to you. After signing up and personalizing the plates with blood, the Eternal Dragon Pavilion will activate the plates using their own little secret technique. Thanks to this secret technique, anyone who holds such a plate will be able to sense the location of others holding a plate. This will allow associates to recognize each other and work together should they meet each other. Or it allows people from the pavilion to know about the location of targets that might be ripe for robbing."


    Liang Chen felt like cursing at the receptionist that helped him as he signed up. Why had he not explained such a major function, and for that matter, why had he not activated Liang Chen''s plate? But how could Liang Chen know that the reason his plate had not been activated was because the receptionist did not want Liang Chen to be discovered and robbed by other members of the pavilion? Luo Shui''er quickly let out a slight laugh after finishing her sentence, once again licking her lips as she looked at Liang Chen.


    "But there is no need to worry about anything like that with me. There is also no way I can rob something as cute as you."


    The corners of Liang Chen''s lips could not help but twitch as he looked at Luo Shui''er. Was she simply teasing him, or was she truly someone who had a preference for boys as young as him? Liang Chen quickly switched the subject, talking about the reason he had stopped to observe her.


    "How can you rest here so casually, without any defenses? What if a Demonic beast is entranced by the fire and sneaks up on you?"


    While speaking, he swept the surroundings with his eyes. Despite the fire burning in front of them, Liang Chen was unable to sense any Demonic beasts. Could it be because of the strange smell? Luo Shu''er pulled out a small vial filled with a white and fine powder, raising it high. As she pulled it out and started to explain, Liang Chen noticed that the repugnant smell was getting stronger.


    "Dried Demonic beast feces. I spread the dried feces of strong Demonic beasts in an area around the camp, and any Demonic beasts in the area will quickly leave the territory of the stronger Demonic beast. It''s unnoticeable by humans, but Demonic beasts are very sensitive to it, can''t go anywhere without it. Since you are inside this hidden realm, I guess you took on the mission to gather information about it. Did you not buy the guide they offered?"


    Luo Shui''er tilted her head as she looked at Liang Chen. Not only the plate activation but even this elementary piece of information, had the people at the pavilion not told him anything. Liang Chen looked at the vial for a bit longer, a slightly foreboding feeling gathering at the pit of his stomach when he heard that humans weren''t supposed to be able to notice it. He took a deep breath, giving a casual shrug of his shoulders.


    "They didn''t tell me that there was a guide. But then again, I was broke at the time, so I wouldn''t have been able to afford it anyway."


    Liang Chen had not had a single piece of currency, nor anything he could sell, on him at the time he signed up with the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, forced to sleep on the streets and eat rats for breakfast. The eyes of Luo Shui''er lit up after hearing Liang Chen''s casual reply, swiping the ring on her finger and pulling out a thick book.


    "Aww, poor little thing. Want to buy my copy, it''s only 15 low-quality Spirit Stones? Of course, if you don''t have money, I am certain we can come to an agreement."


    Luo Shui''er once again licked her lips, looking at Liang Chen with eyes that seemed like they wanted to eat him. Now there was no doubt in his mind that Luo Shui''er was the type of woman who liked to eat up young men. He gave a slight smile, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out 15 Spirit Stones, crystals made out of pure Qi.


    "I fear for my precious chastity, so I''ll pay for it with15 Spirit Stones. Please hand over the guide."


    Liang Chen was not above making a few jokes from time to time, it was simply that he had become far more focused on his training, increasing his strength so that he could eventually kill Qing Lan Yong. With Liang Chen''s quick reply, Luo Shui''er puffed out her cheeks a little, pouting as she threw the book at Liang Chen.


    "You need to learn to be cuter and more accommodating, the women will certainly appreciate it. Then again, if you had a brash attitude, it might create a cute contrast."


    Liang Chen caught the book and tossed the Spirit Stones at Luo Shui''er. The book was rather heavy, so it seemed like it contained quite a large amount of information. He opened the book and started to skim through the information, Luo Shui''er handing him some meat from the fire.


    "Here, take some food. Inside this hidden realm, you need to constantly keep your nerves and strength above a certain level."


    Liang Chen glanced at the speared meat. Not only blood, but even the meat of Demonic beasts that didn''t have the poison or lightning element was also bad for him. The few times he had tried to eat the meat of a Demonic beast without those elements, hid body had immediately forced it out again, ending up with him curled up on the ground, heaving as he vomited. All he could do was push the meat away with a slightly awkward smile.


    "No thanks, I have my own food."


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring, taking out some of the meat he had gained from the snake he had killed two weeks ago. He grabbed a small twig, pierced the meat, and then placed it over the fire to give it a quick roast. Roasting it made it easier to eat, but he found that the taste of the raw meat was better. Luo Shui''er pulled back the offered meat, her expression turning from a pouting one to a teasing one.


    "You don''t seem to trust me too much. Still afraid I am going to gobble you up?"


    Luo Shui''er moved slightly, getting a little closer to Liang Chen. Liang Chen shrugged his shoulder and acted like nothing, but he was constantly keeping an eye on the electricity within Luo Shui''er''s body, closely watching her every move, ready to respond in less than a second.


    "It''s not that, it''s just that most Demonic beast meat doesn''t sit well with me, so I have gotten accustomed to only eating the meat of certain Demonic beasts."


    Luo Shui''er stopped getting closer when she was within arm''s reach of Liang Chen, glancing at the meat he was roasting in the fire. She could smell a faint sweet fragrance from the meat, the sweet fragrance of poison, allowing her to easily guess what sort of Demonic beast he had gotten the meat from. But since he had said so, there was not much she could say, shrugging her shoulders.


    "If you are picky like that, you will never end up growing taller. Then again, that would be just fine with me. Are you preparing to return to the pavilion? I can yell at them for not activating your plate if you want."


    Liang Chen did not wear anything on his upper body, only clad in somewhat tattered pants. Looking at his state, as well as the fact that he was at the outskirts of the hidden realm, she figured that it was likely that he was on his way to leave and report. But contrary to what she expected, Liang Chen shook his head.


    "Nah, I was planning on heading deeper into the hidden realm. I was told to check out a few things deeper within the hidden realm, so I am preparing to head over there."


    With the guide in hand, Liang Chen was now much better equipped to traveling in the hidden realm. Just from the little bit he had skimmed through already, he could see that it contained information about the various types of herbs, Demonic beasts, danger zones, even some safe places where people gathered. Luo Shui''er could not help but raise an eyebrow after hearing Liang Chen''s response, but she quickly switched over to a teasing tone again.


    "You''ll head even deeper, with your strength? Well, with your hiding technique, I guess it might just work, as long as you make sure to not fight anything. Once you leave, you can come to look for me at the branch located in the Falle Cloud city, I''ll help you remove all the stress that you have accumulated."


    Just like Liang Chen thought, Luo Shui''er was someone who liked to eat up young boys. Especially young boys like Liang Chen, who quite clearly had never experienced intimate relations with others. Liang Chen''s mouth twitched a bit, but he made sure to maintain a composed state of mind.


    "...I''ll make sure to keep it in mind."


    The two continued to chat with each other, eating meat, even drinking some fruity wine that Luo Shui''er pulled out, the night quickly fading away without either of them sleeping. Once dawn rolled around, the naturally split up, Luo Shui''er heading towards the entrance of the hidden realm, while Liang Chen headed deeper into the hidden realm

 The first stop.

    After splitting up with Luo Shui''er, Liang Chen quickly memorized the guidebook and made his way deeper into the hidden realm. He didn''t move in a straight path, climbing into the trees and taking a roundabout way through the forest. He had two reasons for doing this, the first one being that he was running out of medicinal herbs and was in dire need of new ones to refill his stock. Taking a roundabout path allowed him to follow the directions of the guidebook, tracking down the marks left by some medicinal herbs that he could pluck.


    The second reason was that there were actually several dangerous zones within the forest, the most prominent one located at the center of the forest. The guide was vague about exactly what was located at the center of the forest, but the few people that had managed to come back after reaching the depths of the forest had reported that it was a land of death, with even the land itself dying and distorting.


    Liang Chen wanted to take the chance and see if he could find more Demonic beasts that he could absorb. But even when he followed the exact directions of the guidebook, finding the tracks of Demonic beasts that were weaker than him, their nests would always end up being empty.


    Had it been just one empty nest, he could consider it a coincidence. But over the span of five days, he had come across four empty nests, each of them showing signs that the Demonic beasts had quickly left. He couldn''t help but wonder, had they noticed his approach, or was there some other reason that they were fleeing from their nests? And if they had indeed noticed his approach, why would they flee? Demonic beasts were famous for their ferocious nature, with most of them hating humanity. They would gladly take any chance they had to fight against humans, even if they were weaker.


    The path through the forest that he had settled on went past a spot that was very close to a spot that was considered to be the edge of the depths of the forest, allowing Liang Chen to get a slight glimpse of the land of death that was the center of the forest. And upon seeing the scenery that spread out, he fully understood why it was called a land of death.


    The land of death was one of the few places in the outskirts of the hidden realm where there was no snow. No matter how much snow fell onto the land of death, it would dissolve before it even touched the ground. The earth was an ashen gray in color, the trees brittle and dried up, twisting and contorting as if they were in immense pain. A faint white mist lingered over the ground, coiling around the bleached bones that littered the earth.


    From his vantage point that was a small distance away from the edge of the land of death, Li Yang could see bones that belonged not only to humans but also several different types of Demonic beasts. When he turned to look deeper into the land of death, a terrifying sense of death filled every inch of his being, his instincts letting him know that there was no chance of survival if he were to set foot into that place. Just what could be located there, to even be able to kill the land?


    Even if he spent time thinking about it, Liang Chen would not come to a proper answer, so he simply threw the thoughts and questions to the back of his mind. He had already been traveling for five days, the marks of human activity growing more abundant as Liang Chen started to get closer to the end of the forest, closer to the first goal he had decided on after reading the guidebook.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    On the seventh day after splitting up with Luo Shui''er, Liang Chen managed to leave the forest, having spent almost an entire month within the forest. Thanks to the constant pressure in the hidden realm, Liang Chen''s body had gotten more toned and muscular, his childish features vanishing because of the brutal training he put himself through. Since he could only wash himself with the surrounding snow, his body was somewhat dirty, but he paid it no heed.


    A vast plain greeted him after he left the forest, waist-height grass swaying in the wind, the faint fragrance of flowers drifting on the breeze. Liang Chen merely swept the plain, his eyes settling on a small city in the distance. The buildings in the city were created by cultivators who had either the stone or metal element, so their shape and looks varied greatly. He could see a stone forest spread out far behind the city, trees of stones and large boulders covered in moss stretching towards the sky.


    The city was his first stop, while the forest of stone was his second stop. The city being one of the few places that could be considered safe within this hidden realm. But when the guidebook called it safe, that was only from Demonic beasts, the danger of humans was still very present within the city. Inside the city, the strongest ruled freely, with the weak forced to obey any order. Murdering those you didn''t like, raping the beautiful women, robbing those you knew had many resources, all these things were very common, even happening directly on the streets.


    Yet despite being almost lawless, these cities were the only places one could buy or sell items within the hidden realm. Each city within the hidden realm had a single market that was protected by a collaboration of the strongest groups within the city. As long as one paid a small tax to the rulers of the city, they could freely buy and sell things within the market, their safety guaranteed. Of course, once you left the market, you could only rely on yourself to protect your wealth.


    Liang Chen had some Demonic beast meat that didn''t fit his elements, so he was looking to sell it, he was also looking to buy more Demonic beast meat and blood that suited his two elements, allowing him to continue to quickly increase his strength.


    The reason he wanted to go to the stone forest was also quite simple. The stones within the forest contained a strange attractive force that drew down lightning from the sky. The stones harvested and stored the lightning, forming crystals that contained large amounts of pure lightning energy. There were also quite a few lightning element herbs and Demonic beasts that could only be found within the stone forest, making it an excellent place for Liang Chen.


    But before he could think about what to do in the stone forest, Liang Chen had to enter the city and manage to sell his items. He took his eyes away from the stone forest and started making his way toward the city. He could see a few people walking in and out of the city, as well as what seemed to be corpses nailed to the large stone walls that surrounded the city.


    As he started to get closer to the city, a low sound started to ring within his head, like an indistinct whisper that tried to warn him about going places with people. Liang Chen''s expression sunk a little as he rubbed his own temples, muttering to himself.


    "Be quiet, you don''t control me, and you certainly don''t choose where I go."


    Liang Chen knew exactly what this indistinct whisper was, it was the influence from the Demonic beast blood he had bathed in several times, trying to get him to avoid places with multiple humans. Liang Chen was fine with listening to his more bestial instincts during battle, but he refused to let them control him. It was he who would control his instincts, not the other way around.


    He took a few deep breaths as he continued to walk, the whispering fluctuating between quiet whispering and loud screaming, but he simply continued to ignore it, rapidly approaching the city. He hoped that he could enter it and quickly finish his business, without anything troublesome happening.

 Buying Information.

    Liang Chen followed the downtrodden path that led to the distant city, his eyes vigilantly sweeping across the surroundings. The grass around the path went all the way up to his waist, so it was easy for other people or Demonic beasts to hide within it, ambushing travelers. He could sense that there were indeed some living beings lurking in the grass around the path, but as soon as he got close, they would either lie low or retreat, so nothing ended up happening.


    It was only as he got closer to the city that he could properly see the sheer immensity of the circular stone wall that surrounded the city. The wall stretched at least a few hundred meters into the sky, and it seemed to be a few tens of meters thick. The top of the wall was covered in large jagged spikes that resembled the teeth of a ferocious beast. Just how strong did one have to be, to create a wall like this?


    At the end of the path that Liang Chen was walking, built into the immense wall, stood two massive wooden doors, each one covered in strange carvings that resembled a nine-floored pagoda that stood atop a gargantuan planet. With the doors being this massive, Liang Chen could not help but wonder how people opened and closed them.


    Liang Chen quickly threw the questions to the back of his mind as he got closer to the wall, as there were several people meandering around outside the two wooden doors. There was a mixture of men and women, young and old, people clad in rags and people clad in neat robes, each of them vigilantly sweeping the surroundings as they kept a short distance between each other.


    The people wandering around outside the doors quickly noticed Liang Chen, stopping in their tracks for a short moment. Two men quickly locked eyes, moving towards Liang Chen before anyone else had the chance to move. Upon seeing the two men make their move, the others clicked their tongue and resumed their wandering. The two men quickly reached Liang Chen, stopping him from moving further.


    "Halt, you must pay a tax to enter the city. 5 low-quality Spirit Stones per person."


    Both men had tanned bodies and unruly black hair that hung down a little over their eyes. Their chests were bare, a pair of brown leather pants covering their legs. There was a slight smile on their face, but Liang Chen merely raised an eyebrow as he responded.


    "Hoh, there is a tax just for entering? Sorry, but I don''t have the Spirit Stones, so you get nothing."


    Liang Chen knew that there was no tax for entering the cities, as it was explicitly mentioned in the guide that none of the ruling powers wanted to set too many taxes, as it meant fewer people would enter the cities. Not to mention, Liang Chen only had about 30 Spirit Stones left, and he was not willing to waste any before he got to buy what he was looking for. He tried to brush past the two men, but one of them grabbed onto his shoulder and stopped him.


    "Kid, we are trying to be nice here. If you don''t pay the tax, your life beyond that wall won''t be fun."


    The man tightened his grip somewhat, but not only was Liang Chen''s cultivation higher than theirs, but his body was also strengthened by cultivating with lightning and Demonic beast blood. Liang Chen''s bestial instincts did not appreciate being stopped again, but he quickly forced them to calm down.


    "You don''t need to bother, I know that there is no tax. Just leave me be and go bug someone else."


    He brushed away the hand that was placed on his shoulder, once again attempting to move past the two men. Thanks to his lightning, Liang Chen was able to sense the movements of the two men, so when one of them send out a punch in anger, Liang Chen was quick to react.


    He took half a step to the side, causing the punch to slide past his neck. He gave his body a slight twist, his left arm shooting out and grabbing onto the man''s throat. Liang Chen''s grasp tightened as he did his best to hold back the poison that was trying to flood his hand. His eyes narrowed somewhat as he opened his mouth to talk.


    "I said..."


    Liang Chen had no interest in killing the man he was holding, as the attack the man had sent out was not meant to kill him, it was merely supposed to stop him in his tracks so that he would listen. But Liang Chen''s words were quickly interrupted when he noticed the movements of the other man. The man had taken up position behind Liang Chen, pulling out a dagger and aiming a stab at Liang Chen''s back, straight at his heart.


    Liang Chen''s expression sunk. The first man had not aimed to kill him, but it was clear that this other man was aiming to end his life and rob his corpse. Liang Chen kicked the man whose throat he was holding onto, pushing him backward. He used the force of the kick to spin his own body around, his sword appearing in his right hand. He parried the dagger to the side, his sword moving forward and piercing through the throat of his attacker. The man looked shocked at having his throat pierced, a few unclear words sounding out as blood rushed into his throat.


    "You...you..."


    Liang Chen''s eyes were narrowed and cold as he looked at the man. Liang Chen was not merciful enough to spare someone who had attempted to kill him. He pulled out the sword, the man collapsing onto the ground, blood pouring out from his throat. Liang Chen turned his head towards the man he had kicked away, who was now looking at him with a terrified and pale expression.


    "Trying to kill me just because I didn''t pay 5 Spirit Stones? You can''t blame me for not showing any mercy. You, fuck off."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The man could only nod his head, sweat pouring down his face. They had been too occupied with getting to Liang Chen before any of the other people, so they didn''t take the time to check his cultivation level. Had they known he was stronger than them, there was no way they would dare to even think about making a move on him.


    Liang Chen paid no more attention to the man after seeing his nod, continuing towards the city. He swept the other wandering people with his gaze, but none of them chose to make a move on him, allowing him to easily enter the city.


    There was a strange scent that filled the entire city, a mixture of sweat, blood, and waste. The streets were wide enough to fit at least 10 people walking side by side and paved with a thin layer of stone that showed no signs of age. There were quite a few people walking around, making sure that they kept a distance from anyone who wasn''t part of their group.


    Liang Chen spotted several groups of people who were clad in similar robes, so he guessed that these groups belonged to the clans and sects who were the current rulers of the city He did not want to waste any time, so he walked up to a somewhat short man who was leaning against the wall of a building, puffing from an ornate pipe in the shape of a dragon''s head, smoking something that released a bitter scent.


    "Could you tell me where the market is?"


    The man glanced at Liang Chen, looking him up and down for a short moment. He removed the pipe from his mouth, blowing out a thick plume of pitch black smoke. He used the pipe as an indicator, pointing down the road to his right.


    "At the center of the city. Follow this road for about five minutes and you will start seeing some signs. Just don''t forget about the tax, or you will be thrown out."


    Liang Chen thanked the man and then started following the road. As he walked, he made sure to keep a constant and vigilant watch on his surroundings, not the slightest movement escaping his senses. Being surrounded not only by walls but also other people, his bestial instincts were on full tilt, shouting at him to escape. He simply continued to force them down, quickly finding the signs that the man had mentioned.


    He followed the directions of the signs, reaching a large square plaza after a few minutes. The entire plaza was surrounded by a three-meter tall metal fence to keep people out, a few gates placed along the fence. Liang Chen walked up to one of the gates, a man clad in a thin cyan-colored robe stepping in front of him once he got closer.


    "5 low-quality Spirit Stones to enter the market, each day you spend in the market past the first one will cost an additional 5."


    Liang Chen quickly handed over the Spirit Stones, the man placing them against a crescent-moon shaped necklace that he wore around his neck. The stones vanished into the necklace, the man giving a slight nod of his head.


    "Are you looking to buy, or looking to sell?"


    Liang Chen guessed that the necklace was the same as his interspatial ring, only that it had been molded into a different shape. Liang Chen could use a guide for where to buy what he needed, so he quickly listed what he was looking for.


    "Both. I am looking to both buy and sell Demonic beast blood and flesh, I am especially looking for parts that came from Demonic beasts with the poison or lightning element. I am also looking to buy medicinal herbs and some information about the Nightshield sect."


    The man did not bat an eye at Liang Chen''s requests, he had worked as a guard for quite some time, so he had heard all types of strange requests. He fondled his chin for a short moment, before twisting his body slightly and pointing at a few different stands located within the plaza.


    "You can sell your items to that woman over there, she belongs to the Moon Dragon sect, so her prices can be considered decently fair. Buying medicinal herbs is best done from that man over there, he should have ones that fit you. Getting parts from poisonous Demonic beasts will be hard, but that youth over there has some parts that came from lightning element Demonic beasts. As for the information you are looking for, you can check with that man over there. He is a member of the Nightshield sect, but whether or not he is willing to divulge any information is uncertain."


    Liang Chen quickly memorized the four stands that the guard pointed out, giving him a short thanks before stepping past him and entering the plaza. Liang Chen saw far more people in the market than he had seen in the rest of the city, showing just how much they valued the guaranteed safety.


    His first stop was the stand where he could sell his items and acquire a few more Spirit Stones. The brown-haired woman who owned the stand was clad in the same silver robe that Shentu Jun had worn, it also had the same emblem embroidered, so it seemed the two of them were truly from the Moon Dragon sect. He handed over the bodies he was looking to sell, the woman quickly tallying up how much they were worth.


    After acquiring an additional 51 low-Quality Spirit Stones, Liang Chen made his way towards the stand owned by the member of the Nightshield sect. He was uncertain if all the corpses he sold were truly only worth 51 Spirit Stones, but as he did not know much about the value of Spirit Stones, there was nothing he could do about it.


    The member of the Nightshield sect was a man with ear-length silver hair and a slight stubble. He was clad in a black robe embroidered with the emblem of the Nightshield sect, a round shield facing a dark mountain. Upon seeing Liang Chen approach him, the man put on a faint smile, pointing at the various armors and weapons he had placed on the wooden table in front of him.


    "I have mostly weapons and armors, some are a bit rusty, but they are still quite usable. What are you interested in?"


    The man did not mention where the weapons had come from, nor how they had gotten rusty, so it was likely that he had stolen them off the corpses of other cultivators. But Liang Chen did not care about that right now, immediately stating his business.


    "Information about the Nightshield sect. I want to know if there is someone called Qing Lan Yong in your sect, and if he is part of your sect, I want to know as much about him as possible."


    Shentu Jun had mentioned that the Nightshield Sect highly valued the Qing clan, so there was a chance that someone like Qing Lan Yong, who held a high position in the Qing clan, might have been accepted by the sect. The man raised an eyebrow after hearing Liang Chen''s question, rolling his eyes for a short moment as he thought it over.


    "Qing Lan Yong? There is indeed someone like that in my sect, but I hope you don''t expect information about my own sect to be cheap. 60 low-quality Spirit Stones."


    The man was only a junior disciple of the sect, but not only did he specialize in information gathering, but Qing Lan Yong joining the sect had also been a surprisingly big deal, so he did know a little. The man did not think that Liang Chen was foolish enough to actually pay 60 low-quality Spirit Stones for the information, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a smile appear on Li Yang''s face, a bag appearing in his hands.


    "Take them. Tell me everything, if you have an image, show it to me."

 I will become wrath.

    The eyes of the man lit up when he saw the bag land on the counter in front of him. He quickly grabbed it and held it close, opening it and counting the Spirit Stones within. After making sure that it contained all 60 Spirit Stones that he asked for, he stored the bag into his interspatial ring and cleared his throat, starting his explanation with a professional expression.


    "Qing Lan Yong, the young master of the Qing clan. Three wives, four concubines, eight legitimate children and one illegitimate. Transcended the Ascended Tower realm at the age of 9, reached the peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm at the age of 17, the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm at 37, and at 68 years of age, he finally entered the Primordial Immortal Realm, entering the Nightshield sect. Current cultivation is unknown."


    Liang Chen listened intently, making sure he didn''t miss a single word that the man said. Hearing that Qing Lan Yong had already transcended the Ascended Tower realm at 9, Liang Chen could only marvel at the difference that talent brought about. Liang Chen was now almost 13, but he was only halfway through the Ascended Tower realm, far worse than Qing Lan Yong. But his determination did not shake, he would become stronger than Qing Lan Yong, he would kill him, no matter how much he had to tear himself apart to do it. The man from the Nightshield sect paid no attention to Liang Chen, casually continuing his explanation.


    "The laws he is known to cultivate are earth, wood, and fire, but there might be more that he is hiding. Despite a lack of resources, he managed to reach the Primordial Immortal realm before the age of 100 so he was immediately accepted as a core disciple by one of the 5 Hall Masters, the Duskshield Hall Master."


    Liang Chen did not know how the Nightshield sect was set up, so he had no idea how big it was to become the core disciple of a Hall Master. Within the Nightshield sect, there were only two people above the hall Masters, the Grand Elder, and the Patriarch. And he hadn''t become just any normal disciple, he had become a core disciple, the highest rank of a disciple, the one that would inherit everything from his master.


    "When this hidden realm abruptly appeared seven years ago, he was among the first who wanted to explore it. But since he had already entered the Primordial Immortal realm at that time, he was unable to enter it, so he could only send in a few Junior Brothers and Sisters that worked as his subordinates."


    When the man finished his sentence, he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a dull grey crystal, placing it in front of Liang Chen. He inserted a bit of Qi into it, an image quickly appearing in the air above the crystal. The image depicted a handsome man who looked like he had just entered his twenties, his skin unblemished and smooth. He had sharp eyebrows that slanted upwards, accentuating his emerald green eyes. He had silky black hair that was tied into a neat bun, a bright smile on his face. Liang Chen grabbed the crystal and pulled it closer, muttering to himself as he looked at the image.


    "So this is how you look..."


    Despite the seething hatred he felt for Qing Lan Yong, Liang Chen had never actually seen what he looked like, until now. Liang Chen made sure to burn the image into his mind, not allowing himself to forget it. He sent a sideways glance at the shopkeeper, who gave a short nod of his head. Liang Chen stored the crystal into his interspatial ring, giving the shopkeeper a slight bow.


    "Thank you for sharing the information."


    Not only had he learned a lot about Qing Lan Yong and his current position, but he had also managed to acquire a picture of Qing Lan Yong. The man from the Nightshield sect simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he spoke.


    "No need to thank me, it was only business."


    Liang Chen thanked the man once more before he started looking for the other items that he needed. Because the information was so pricey, he only had around 20 Spirit Stones left, so the number of things he could afford were low. Buying Demonic beast blood or meat was out of the question, so he could only spend the rest of his Spirit Stones on medicinal herbs, storing them into his interspatial ring and leaving the market.


    He had bought the things he needed, expending all his money, so his next course of action was to head into the stone forest where he could find lightning type herbs and Demonic beasts. But not long after he left the market, he sensed seven people surrounding him and blocking off all paths, the one who seemed to be the leader speaking up.


    "Kid, don''t try anything, just follow us and don''t make a scene. Try to resist or make too much noise and we will kill you."


    Liang Chen swept the surrounding people, his eyes somewhat narrowed. They were all clad in different robes or armors, so it didn''t seem like they came from any specific sect. They had surrounded him shortly after he left the market, so he guessed that they might have seen how many Spirit Stones he spent and were hoping to earn some easy coin. Liang Chen swept the seven people with his gaze one more time, before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders.


    "Very well."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    He raised his arms, showing that he wasn''t carrying any weapons. The seven men all moved a bit closer, forming a circle to prevent him from escaping while they took him away. Liang Chen quietly followed them as they made their way through the alleys, looking for a place where no one could see them rob Liang Chen. After all, it would be terrible if they were robbed right after robbing Liang Chen.


    After entering a deserted alley a good distance away from the market, the man who seemed to be the leader of the group, a man with short brown hair and a slight stubble, stepped forward, looking at Liang Chen with a serious gaze.


    "Alright, kid, we won''t make things too hard for you, just hand over everything you are carrying and we will let you leave alive."


    His hand rested on the hilt of the saber that hung at his waist, showing that he was serious. He was hoping to scare Liang Chen into instantly nodding his head, but Liang Chen only gave a slight tilt of his head, his eyes narrowing even further.


    "And if I say no?"


    The only things Liang Chen had on him currently were medicinal herbs as well as some Demonic beast meat and blood, both which were things he needed. The man gave a slight nod after hearing Liang Chen''s question, unsheathing his saber and placing it against Liang Chen''s throat.


    "Then we will kill you."


    The blade of the saber was quite sharp, a thin red line appearing on Liang Chen''s throat. Liang Chen lowered his eyes slightly, but he only gave the saber a short glance before he turned his eyes back onto the brown-haired man. Seeing Liang Chen''s unyielding expression, the man spoke up again, pressing the saber even harder against Liang Chen''s throat.


    "I get it, kid, I truly do. You have just started cultivating and have had some success, so you like to believe that the world revolves around you. But let me warn you, people die all the time, people just like you. Some die just because they had bad luck, a poor roll of the dice. But the world always keeps turning, none of the deaths mattering as much as people would want them to."


    Despite the encouraging words, Liang Chen still did not budge, calmly looking at the surrounding men. The leader was about to give Liang Chen one last chance when his vision suddenly started to turn blurry, a pounding pain assaulting his head. The man lost control over his body, collapsing to the ground, the six other men quickly following. He did his best to steady his shaky vision, glaring at Liang Chen as he tried to speak.


    "...! You...What did you...do?!"


    He found that his chest felt stuffy, his lungs burning with pain with every breath he took. His throat seemed to be closing up, making it somewhat hard for him to talk. But what the man didn''t notice was that the rest of his men weren''t even able to talk, clutching at their throats, completely unable to breathe. Had it not been for his strength being higher than theirs, he would have been in the same state. Liang Chen looked at the seven men on the ground, his eyes cold and merciless as he spoke.


    "If you just spend a bit of time experimenting with it, you will find that poison is surprisingly versatile. It can melt flesh, shut down organs, even put people to sleep, it all depends on how you use it."


    One could increase their strength even without increasing their cultivation, for example by training one''s body and reflexes, or by getting more accustomed to the elements one could control. Liang Chen had spent quite a bit of time experimenting with his poison and lightning elements, testing their limits and how to best use them. Upon hearing the truth, the leader could not help but open his eyes wide, almost spitting out the words.


    "Poison?! You...poisoned us?!"


    He struggled to figure out exactly when it was that Liang Chen had poisoned them, and how he had managed to get all of his men with the poison, but Liang Chen had no interest in explaining it to him. The moment the seven people surrendered him and made their demand, he had already moved into action. His poison element could do more than just coat his body, he could also excrete it in other ways, say like a fine mist released with his sweat.


    The leader used all of his strength to reach for the small leather bag that was tied to his leg, pulling out a small vial that contained a light green liquid. Liang Chen did not stop the man as he opened the vial and poured the liquid into his mouth, doing his best to swallow it. After swallowing the liquid, the man raised his eyes, wondering why Liang Chen wasn''t stopping him.


    But he quickly found out why he hadn''t been stopped. Even after an entire minute passed, the antidote he had drunk had done nothing to alleviate the effects of the poison. When the man realized that the antidote wasn''t going to work, Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, affirming the thoughts of the man.


    "Not working? My poison seems to be a mixture of a wide variety of poisons, so you would need a rather strong antidote to neutralize it."


    Liang Chen''s poison was gained after bathing in the flesh of poisonous Demonic beasts, his poison was the fusion of all those poisons. It was because it was a fusion that he was able to have it produce a myriad of effects. Upon hearing the truth, the man opened his eyes wide in shock, doing his best to speak out.


    "You..."


    The man was a robber and a murder, but he had some knowledge about cultivation. He knew that even if one person cultivated the element of poison, they were almost always limited to only having one type of poison, so how could this youth in front of him use several different types at once? Liang Chen did not know the thoughts of the man, crouching down in front of him, his sword appearing in his hand.


    "It''s just like you said. A man dies, and the world keeps turning, just as it does when an innocent family is torn apart. It''s just a roll of the dice. A bad roll and you die because of someone else''s crimes, a good roll and you get to live in peace and luxury. No matter what, the world will keep turning as if nothing happened, the heavens ignoring everything beneath them."


    Liang Chen wore a bitter and forlorn smile as he spoke. His family had suffered from that bad luck, torn apart as scapegoats. But the world kept turning as if nothing had ever happened, people simply averting their eyes. Liang Chen placed his sword against the man''s throat, putting his own determination into words, once again affirming it.


    "I once believed that the heavens were just, that they would save the innocent and those who did good. But that was nothing but a lie, the existence of people like you and Qing Lan Yong showing just how much of a lie it was. The heavens are indifferent at best, and cruel at worst. But so what? If the heavens aren''t just, it simply means that someone else will have to take over their role. I will become the wrath that the heavens have always been too lazy to deliver."

 Forming a group.

    Liang Chen only had to slice the throat of the brown-haired man, the rest of his group had already succumbed to Liang Chen''s poison, their throats closing up and their lungs ceasing to function. He wiped his blade clean on the man''s robe, placing it back into his interspatial ring. He then searched the bodies of the seven people, looking for anything that might prove useful.


    But he quickly learned that the seven men were in the same situation as him. They had a few vials of medicinal liquid or antidote, as well as a few spare weapons, but when it came to Spirit Stones, they only had 3. Liang Chen took all the vials filled with liquids of various viscosity, the weapons, and a few gray robes that one of the men had on him.


    The robes were too big for Liang Chen, the sleeves hiding his hands and the bottom dragging along the ground, but it was better than his current topless state, so he quickly put one on and did his best to cut it to size. Once the robe was cut to a size where it would not interfere with his movements, Liang Chen left the deserted alley and quickly made his way out of the city. He had finished all the business he had in the city, so there was no longer a reason for him to stick around.


    None of those that skulked around outside the city, waiting for naive newbies they could exploit, attempted to stop Liang Chen when he started moving towards the stone forest. He had only been in the city for a short while, so the memory of what he had done to the two people that tried to rob him earlier was still fresh in the mind of everyone outside the city. He was not a naive newbie. Before trying to rob him, they would have to consider whether or not it was worth risking their lives.


    Connecting the city with the stone forest were several winding paths, each one leading to a different entrance. There was no snow on any of the paths, so it was clear that they were used quite frequently. Entering the stone forest was easy and could be done from any spot, but the winding paths led to the entrances that were considered to be safest, so they were the most popular ones.


    Liang Chen was not the only one who was making his way down these beaten paths at this moment, but he was the only one who was traveling on his own. Just a simple sweep of his head would reveal several groups that were either entering or leaving the stone forest. Some groups looked to be in high spirits and bursting with vigor, while others were more deflated and clearly wounded, some were even carrying dead bodies or pieces of dead bodies. These wounded groups made sure to stay far away from any other groups, taking precautions in case they got attacked while weakened.


    The stone forest was located quite a bit away from the city, so Liang Chen had to walk for almost half a day before he actually managed to reach the stone forest. There were a few groups that had left the stone forest that were using the same path as him, resulting in both parties tensing up as the carefully walked past each other. Luckily, there didn''t seem to be anyone too keen on starting a battle, so he managed to peacefully reach the stone forest.


    The rocks that made up the stone forest were incredibly tall, each one at least several hundred meters tall, it was practically a forest of small mountains. Liang Chen noticed several groups of people standing around outside the stone forest, inspecting anyone who got close to it. While Liang Chen was slowly moving towards the stone forest, carefully inspecting it, he heard someone call out to him.


    "Please halt, we have a proposition for you."


    Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly to glance at the people that had called out to him. Three people were coming towards him with quick steps, two male youths and a female youth. They were clad in different robes of differing quality, so they didn''t seem to come from the same place. They stopped a few meters away from Liang Chen, giving him plenty of space so that he would not be suspicious of them. The three people gave him a slight bow, one of the male youths speaking up with a smile.


    "Thank you for stopping. We noticed that you are the same as us, one that made his way here on his own. But the deeper into the hidden realm you go, the harder it gets to progress, especially if you travel alone. All of us thought we could hunt solo in this stone forest, but the Demonic beasts and frequent storms make it borderline impossible to move without a group."


    The male youth that spoke up seemed to be approaching his mid-twenties, was almost two meters tall, and had a sturdy physique, his skin tanned dark. He had dark brown eyes and a slight stubble on his chiseled chin. His brown hair seemed freshly washed and was tied into a neat bun. His upper body was clad in a slightly dented and scratched metal armor, while his lower body was covered by thick leather pants. Liang Chen understood the gist of what they wanted, but there was still a question on his mind.


    "So basically, you want me to join your group, making it easier to hunt within this stone forest. Why me?"


    They had approached him the moment he got close to the stone forest. There was no way that they knew too much about him, so it was clear that there was something about him, on the surface, that had made them want to ask him to join them. The brown-haired youth''s smile grew a bit brighter as he quickly nodded his head.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Exactly, I am glad that you understood it so quickly. We thought about joining up with one of the other groups, but most of them come from some clan or sect, so we were scared that they would pressure us with their numbers and unity, taking all the good rewards. How about it, interested in joining us?"


    Liang Chen fell into a short silence after hearing the response. It was quite normal for them to realize that he did not belong to any sect or clan, almost anyone who was part of a sect or clan considered it to be their pride, openly carrying the robes they were provided with. After mulling it over for a bit, Liang Chen asked another question.


    "How would all the rewards get split?"


    Liang Chen would prefer to hunt on his own, as it would mean that he would not have to share any of the spoils he acquired. But traveling in a group would make it easier to take down larger and stronger prey, so he was not completely against the idea. The three people seemed delighted that Liang Chen showed interest in joining them, so they quickly answered.


    "When it comes to rewards we have acquired without a battle, such as medicinal herbs that are out in the open, if there are enough, we will share them equally, if not, the one who found them gets them. But when it comes to spoils gained from battle, we will divide them based on everyone''s contributions during the battle."


    The three people had already been waiting outside this stone forest for two days, wishing that a lone traveler would arrive soon so that they could continue hunting within the stone forest, so when it came to how they would split the rewards, they had long come to an agreement. Liang Chen gave it a bit more thought, but in the end, he nodded his head.


    "Alright, I can agree to that."


    Liang Chen agreed to join them because of the prospects of getting better prey, as well as the fact that it was indeed safer to travel in groups. People would be far more cautious about trying to rob groups, so it could save him some trouble. Another reason he could agree so easily was the fact that the three people only had a cultivation that was a tad bit higher than his, the brown-haired you had reached the late stage of the Houtian Tower realm, while the two others had reached the middle stage. If there was a need for it, he could easily flee thanks to his speed.


    The group lit up with smiles after Liang Chen agreed, the brown-haired youth giving another short bow before quickly introducing himself.


    "Wonderful! I am Lei Qiang and I come from Eternal Stream City, I stem from a long family of military men, so I have some knowledge about arrays and how to organize groups of people. I specialize in using the earth element, so you can leave the frontlines to me!"


    Lei Qiang formed a small ball of earth between his palms, showing that he was telling the truth. Liang Chen''s eyebrow twitched slightly when he heard where Lei Qiang came from, as the name was familiar to Liang Chen. Eternal Stream City was where Huo Yantian, one of the dead caravan guards, had come from. The group did not notice the twitch, the second male youth introducing himself.


    "My name is Tang Chao, I come from Lost Peak City, my parents own an apothecary. The element I specialize in is water, so you can come to me if you have any wounds or if you get poisoned."


    Tang Chao was also quite a bit taller than Liang Chen, only half a head shorter than Lei Qiang, he seemed to be about the same age as Lei Qiang. But where Lei Qiang was sturdy and muscular, Tang Chao was thinner and more flexible, well-suited to the water element. His eyes were somewhat narrow, his pupils black in color, and he had shoulder-length hair that was a light blue in color. He was clad in thin leather armor, but the faint jangling sound that rang out when he moved made Liang Chen guess that he might be wearing chainmail beneath the leather armor. The last member of the group, the only girl, quickly gave an energetic greeting.


    "I''m Sun Xia! I was born in Valley''s Gate City as the daughter of a family of bakers, so you can leave all the cooking to me, I''ll make you meals that you will never forget! I specialize in using the stone element, so I can join Lei Qiang on the frontlines!"


    Sun Xia was a bit shorter than Tang Chao, but she was still taller than Laing Chen. But that was to be expected, Liang Chen was still only 13 after all. Sun Xia had clear black eyes and brown hair that hung freely down to her buttocks. Her skin was rather clean and unblemished, so Liang Chen guessed that she made sure to take good care of it. She was not clad in armor, but rather a strange brown robe that seemed to be made out of the skin of a scaled Demonic beast. Liang Chen took a step closer, cupping his hands in greeting as he gave a short introduction.


    "I am Liang Chen, I come from Green Rivers City. My family is as normal as it comes, nothing worth mentioning. I specialize in the element of lightning, so I guess you can leave attacking to me."


    Liang Chen did not mention his poison element, as he wanted to keep at least one of his cards hidden. And it was normal for people at their cultivation level to only have a single element, as the more elements you had, the harder it would be to increase your cultivation. After everyone had performed their introductions, Lei Qiang swept the group with his gaze, a bright smile on his face.


    "Two defenders, one healer, and one attacker. Perfect, with a party like this, we will have a much better chance of surviving in this stone forest. Or do you want to wait and see if we can find more people to join us?"


    There was a short silence as everyone thought about it, but that silence was quickly broken by Tang Chao, who gave a slight shake of his head.


    "We had to wait two days for Liang Chen to show up, there is no telling how much longer we will have to for someone else to show up. I say we just enter, our party is quite good after all."


    Lei Qiang and Sun Xia quickly nodded their heads in agreement, as what he said sounded reasonable. Of course, there was also one other reason that none of them had said out loud. If they waited for more people, they would have to split the spoils into smaller portions. They glanced at Liang Chen, who simply gave a quick nod of his head. With everyone agreeing, Sun Xia quickly pumped her fist into the air.


    "Since everyone is in agreement, then let us set off, onto adventure!"

 spoils of battle.

    At first, Liang Chen thought that Lei Qiang had been exaggerating somewhat when he spoke about the difficulty of hunting solo in the stone forest, but he quickly changed his mind after they actually entered it. There was enough space between the tall stones for everyone to walk shoulder to shoulder, protecting the person next to them. But even then, they had to be on guard at all times, vigilantly keeping an eye on their surroundings.


    The Demonic beasts within the stone forest had already adapted to it, so most of them were able to camouflage themselves almost perfectly, blending into the surroundings as they waited for suitable prey to pass by them. Because of the fact that all the stones attracted lightning, there were also frequent storms that battered the forest, torrential rain and thunderous lightning striking the forest, forcing the group to raise their defenses as to not suffer any injuries.


    After just one day in the stone forest, the group had already experienced three different storms, drastically decreasing their speed. There was also another factor that made it hard to traverse the stone forest, but to Liang Chen, that factor was just as much a blessing as it was a curse. And that factor was the very lightning that struck the stones around them.


    The lightning didn''t leave the stones, it instead stayed within the stones, slowly getting compressed as more and more lightning struck the stones. Because of this, even while walking or resting, the group had to raise their defenses somewhat, otherwise, the lightning would enter their bodies and scorch their veins and organs.


    The reason this was both a blessing and a curse for Liang Chen was that the lightning that struck this stone forest was a light blue in color, not the same red that he had seen right after he entered the hidden realm. This light blue lightning was weaker than the red lightning but still stronger than Liang Chen''s golden lightning. With the lightning coursing through all the stones around them, it was very easy for Liang Chen to slowly absorb small amounts, using it to temper his body as well as his Ascended Tower.


    But the ever-present lightning also blocked up his senses, overloading his mind with information. After increasing his strength, Liang Chen had somewhat regained the ability to sense the movements of anything living in the surroundings, tracking them through the electricity that flowed through their bodies. But now that there was lightning all around him, whenever he tried to sense the surroundings, his mind would be flooded with information, every strand of lightning appearing in his mind, each of them virtually indistinguishable from the other.


    Because of that, he was forced to spend a great deal of his concentration on filtering out the useful information from the useless one, a process that was slow and exhausting. But even this served as both a blessing and a curse, as he could take the chance to train his mind, allowing it to work faster and faster as he trained it.


    Liang Chen''s group was currently huddled together, hiding behind one of the smaller stone trees as they peered past it. A bit of a distance ahead of them was a rather large boulder that was covered in spiky moss, a few thin arcs of lightning flashing along the surface. Sun Xia stretched our her arm, pointing at a spot on the boulder, letting out a quiet whisper.


    "It''s over there, hanging horizontally onto that boulder over there. Those tiny brown dots? Those should be its eyes. I do not believe that it has spotted us yet."


    A few hours ago, the group had found tracks of a Demonic beast that seemed to be weak enough for them to hunt it, so they had started following the tracks. The beast was using the boulder as camouflage, but as Sun Xia specialized in the element of stone, she was able to somewhat sense its position even when it hid itself. The group focused their gazes on the five brown spots that Sun Xia had pointed at, Lei Qiang giving a slight nod.


    "Alright. I and Xia will draw its attention and do our best to keep it focused on us. Chao, you stay a bit further back and launch ranged attacks, aim for the eyes and joints to disturb its movement. Chen, you dash in and out, using your speed to whittle it down, aim for any spot that seems soft and weak."


    The rest of the group had no problem with Lei Qiang''s orders, as they sounded very reasonable. The group quickly prepared, Tang Chao pulling out a bow made out of a flexible silver metal, Lei Qiang pulling out a long halberd that was neatly polished and covered in brown runes, and Sun Xia pulling out a thin shortsword and a large cross-shaped shield that was almost half her size. Compared to their neatly polished and clearly valuable weapons, Liang Chen''s completely normal sword was rather out of place. Lei Qiang seemed to think so at least, as he could not help but furrow his eyebrows.


    "That''s your weapon?"


    He hadn''t expected Liang Chen to pull out anything fancy, but he had not expected his weapon of choice to be such a normal sword. It didn''t even have any runes or arrays that strengthened it! Liang Chen gave the halberd a slight glance, simply shrugging his shoulders.


    "It''s not as neat as yours, but it is sharp enough."


    Even with the weapons he had scavenged from the bandits, the sword he had been given by Yi Huang was still his preferred weapon. It was sturdy, sharp, and he had already gotten used to it. Lei Qiang seemed quite pleased at having his halberd praised, as his face broke out into a smile as he let out a giggle, showing off the halberd.


    "Hehe, it really is rather pretty, isn''t it? My father gifted it to me when I turned 15 and graduated from the military academy. It has yet to fail me. Yours too, Xia, it seems like it cost quite a bit."


    Lei Qiang glanced at Sun Xia''s cross-shaped shield and could not refrain from commenting. The shield was thick and large, but it was clearly quite light in weight, Sun Xia easily able to swing it around. Sun Xia gave the shield a soft pat, shuddering slightly as she finished her sentence.


    "No joke. My parents had to save up for three years just to be able to afford this shield, so you can imagine the hell that awaits me if I ruin it."


    Lei Qiang and Sun Xia looked like they wanted to continue talking about their weapons, but Tang Chao luckily managed to stop them before they could get going, rapping them on the head with his bow.


    "Alright guys, focus on the task ahead."


    Tang Chao was in the same boat as Liang Chen, his weapon was not something gifted to him by his parents, it was something he had ordered from a blacksmith after finding a piece of mysterious ore.


    The expressions of Sun Xia and Lei Qiang immediately grew serious, the previous cheerful atmosphere instantly vanishing. The two jumped out from the hiding spot, dashing towards the hidden Demonic beast. While running, Sun Xia let out a loud laugh, taunting the beast.


    "Hey there, Fucko! Care to have a little dance with me?"


    As she taunted, she slammed her shield onto the ground, causing rocks to fly into the air, which she then propelled towards the beast. After getting hit by the rocks, the five brown spots that she had pointed out earlier opened, revealing five completely black eyes. The beast dropped down from the boulder, revealing its full body.


    It had the body of a large scorpion, almost four meters long But the curved tail that stretched out behind it ended in a three-pronged spike, and instead of its two arms ending in claws, they ended in long and thin scythes. Its entire body was covered by a layer of moss-covered stone, faint arcs of lightning coiling around its tail.


    All five eyes of the beast locked onto Sun Xia, its eight legs producing clicking sounds as it charged towards her. Sun Xia slammed her shield onto the ground, crouching behind it and supporting it with her shoulder, completely blocking the charge of the beast. Lei Qian took this chance to dash forward and slam his halberd down onto the back of the beast, the head of the weapon growing thicker as a layer of earth gathered on it.


    The scorpion had not forgotten about Lei Qiang, its tail intercepting the halberd, the spikes at the tip turning soft as they coiled around the halberd. Tang Chao and Liang Chen chose this moment to move into action, Liang Chen dashing in while Tang Chao let loose three arrows made out of highly compressed water. Two of the arrows aimed at the beast''s eyes, while the third arrow aimed at the topmost joint of the tail. The arrows hit, but the beast merely closed its eyes to block the two arrows, the third one unable to create a proper wound on the tail.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Liang Chen dashed in, his body coated with lightning as his speed reached its peak. If one paid very close attention to the golden arcs that danced around him, one would be able to spot a nearly undetectable trace of blue hidden within the golden. The lightning transferred to his sword as he sent a slash down onto the topmost joint of the tail, aiming to completely sever it.


    The scorpion wanted to pull its tail back, but since its spikes were coiled around the halberd, Lei Qiang took the chance to pull on his weapon, forcing the tail to stay in position. Liang Chen''s sword hit its mark, sparks flying as he carved a small scar into the layer of stone that covered the beast.


    The beast let out a low roar that sounded like two rocks being scraped together, the lightning that coiled around its tail shooting towards Liang Chen. At the same time, the stones on the ground around it started to wriggle, flying into the air and turning into blurs as they shot towards the three others, forcing everyone to quickly dodge and move away from the beast.


    The black eyes of the beast started to fill with a faint red color as it swept the group in front of it, the scraping roar sounding out once more, more and more lightning charging out from its body. Sun Xia quickly jumped in front of Tang Chao, blocking the lightning so that Tang Chao could fully focus on letting loose more arrows. Lei Qiang did the same for Liang Chen, dodging in front of him and parrying the lightning with his halberd, which was now fully covered in a thick layer of earth.


    Tang Chao continued to send out arrows, and Liang Chen continued to attack the beast with guerilla tactics, quickly in and quickly out. But besides leaving several scars on the layer of stone around its body, they were unable to produce any actual wounds. While Liang Chen was pondering over how he should finish the beast off, Sun Xia let out a loud shout, pointing at one of the beast''s legs.


    "Chen! Hit the underside, a little to the right of the place where its fifth leg is connected to the body!"


    Liang Chen followed Sun Xia''s finger, spotting a small crack in the defensive shield of the beast, a wound from a previous battle. He gave a nod of his head and immediately dashed forward, Tang Chao and Sun Xia drawing the attention of the beast with their ranged attacks, while Lei Qiang ran alongside Liang Chen and parried any attack that came at him.


    Liang Chen had slowed down his speed to a point where Lei Qiang could follow at his side, but he still quickly reached the beast. Once he was in front of the beast, he threw his body to the ground and transferred all his momentum into a slide that took him under the beast''s body. The scorpion seemed to have realized what he was aiming for, as it not only stabbed at him with its tail but even twisted one of the long scythes into an unnatural position to slash at him.


    Lei Qiang could only block one of the attacks, and Sun Xia was too far away to block the other, so no matter what, one of the attacks would reach him if he did not pull back. Lei Qiang chose to block the scythe, using the weight of his body to hold it back. Liang Chen glanced at the incoming spikes, but his eyes merely narrowed for a short moment as he locked onto the old wound.


    He twisted his body and stabbed out with his sword, opening the old wound and drenching his face in blood in the process. He ignored the searing pain that was a result of the blood hitting his face, letting go of his sword and digging his hand into the wound. As his hand pierced into the body of the beast, the tail of the beast hit his body, which had twisted a bit more to avoid the brunt of the attack, the spikes tearing out a large chunk of flesh from his left shoulder.


    But it was already too late, he had managed to make contact with the beast. With his hand inside the beast, he was free to unleash as much of his poison as he wanted, the others would never know. But he could not fully poison it, as the meat and blood might end up becoming toxic like that. His poison was carefully maneuvered, flooding only the brain of the beast, shutting it down and slightly melting it.


    The beast''s eyes turned dull as its body slumped forward. Had it not been for Lei Qiang quickly pushing it aside with his halberd, it would have fallen right onto Liang Chen. Lei Qiang helped Liang Chen stand up, taking care to not move his wounded shoulder too much. Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly came running, Sun Xia looking at the beast with utter amazement.


    "Wow, your attacks pack quite a punch! I know you hit one of the weaker spots on its body, but just how much lightning did you pump into it, for it to fall almost immediately?"


    She had expected Liang Chen to focus several attacks on the old wound, slowly bleeding the beast to death, she had never expected him to kill it just like that. Liang Chen quickly wiped away the Demonic beast blood on his face and hand, delivering a quick lie.


    "Not too much, I just had to fill its body with enough lightning to shut down its brain and heart, surprisingly easy once you know how."


    He made it sound easy, but Sun Xia and the others could not help but shudder slightly. Just how much experience did he have with shutting down hears and brains with his lightning, to be able to do it so easily? Lei Qiang quickly shook his head, his eyes landing on the hideous wound on Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    "You say that, but it still messed up your shoulder pretty bad, I am amazed you managed to take it with a straight face."


    The wound on his shoulder was so bad that one could see the bone, blood pouring down his arm and back. Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the wound, but he merely gave a low response.


    "It''s just a bit of pain, I''m already quite used to it."


    How much pain, emotional and physical, hadn''t Liang Chen already experienced to reach this point? Compared to the pain he felt when he saw his own parents'' heads roll, this shoulder wound was nothing. Lei Qiang looked at the wound a bit more, beckoning Tang Chao over.


    "What do you think, Chao, will it take long to heal?"


    Tang Chao was the one in charge of healing wounds and curing poisons, so depending on his answer, Lei Qiang was considering having the party leave the stone forest while they waited for Liang Chen to heal. Tang Chao inspected the wound up close, even touching the corners of it. He fondled his chin for a short moment, thinking it over before he gave his response.


    "If we can find a somewhat safe spot, I should be able to heal it in about one day''s time, but it is unavoidable that it will leave a rather nasty scar. You should have pulled back and waited for a new chance."


    When he said one day''s time, he meant 24 hours of continuous healing and medicine use, so it would require quite a lot of work. After hearing the advice of Tang Chao, Liang Chen shook his head slightly.


    "There is no telling how long we would have to wait for a new chance, and we can''t risk any prolonged battles in this environment, so I found it better to suffer a slight injury rather than extend the battle for an unknown amount of time."


    The smell of blood and sounds of battle would quickly attract more Demonic beasts, or even other people looking to acquire some easy spoils. Liang Chen was not willing to risk it, so he wanted to finish the battle as fast as possible. Tang Chao was about to say something, but Sun Xia used her knuckles to hit him on the head, interrupting him.


    "Enough about that, let''s discuss how we split up the spoils."


    The damage had already been done, so there was no point in arguing over it, it was better to quickly finish their business here and move on to a safer place. Tang Chao raised his arms in surrender, taking out some bandages and medicine from his interspatial ring, starting the treatment on Liang Chen''s shoulder, before he accidentally bleeds to death. Lei Qiang quickly jumped on the chance to talk about how to split the spoils, stating his idea.


    "Chen was the one who felled the beast and suffered the worst wound, so I say that he should get first pick. What do you think?"


    He swept the others with his gaze, but none of them had any counter-argument, nodding their head. Liang Chen was indeed the one who contributed most, so it was only fair that he gets to choose first. Liang Chen did not even need to think about the answer, pointing at the base of the beast''s tail.


    "It has an organ that allows it to store and discharge lightning, that organ is the only thing of use to me, so you guys can divide the rest."


    Liang Chen had noticed the organ while he flooded the brain of the scorpion with poison. Unlike the rest of the beast, which had both the stone and lightning element, that particular organ only had the lightning element, so it was the only suitable part for Liang Chen. Hearing his response, Lei Qiang could not help but raise his eyebrows in surprise.


    "Just the single organ, are you sure?"


    He did not want the Demon Crystal or any of its blood, the most valuable parts? Facing their surprise, Liang Chen merely shrugged his unwounded shoulder.


    "As I said, the rest isn''t very useful to me, so I don''t have a reason to take any."


    How was he supposed to explain to them that his body seemed to be unable to accept the blood and flesh of Demonic beasts that had any element other than poison and lightning? Since he could not think of a way to explain it, he simply chose to not talk about it, skirting around the subject. Since Liang Chen had said it twice already, there was no need for them to be polite, Lei Qiang matching eyes with Sun Xia.


    "Very well. Xia, can you help me cut the beast apart quickly?"


    Sun Xia nodded her head, putting away her shield and joining Lei Qiang in taking apart the beast. They quickly cut it into smaller pieces, separating the tail, legs, scythes, and head from the body, storing them into separate interspatial rings. Once they had taken the beast apart, Lei Qiang handed Liang Chen an organ that resembled a blue heart. The heart was a bit larger than Liang Chen''s head, arcs of lightning still coiling around it.


    "Here, the organ you wanted. Now let us find a place where we can at least get a modicum of rest and comfort while we divide the rest of the spoils."


    The rest of the group quickly nodded their heads, Tang Chao continuing the healing process on Liang Chen''s shoulder as they swiftly left the scene to find a more secluded location.

 Ambushed.

    The group quickly and stealthily left the area, Lei Qiang and Sun Xia using their attunement to earth and stone to look for any locations that could serve as their base for the night. After spending a little over two hours, Sun Xia found a large boulder that was mostly hollow on the inside, quickly carving an opening into it.


    The hollow inside of the boulder was quite rounded, so Lei Qiang brought in some earth from the outside to fill up the bottom, creating a somewhat flat surface they could sit on. The boulder was tens of meters tall and wide, so there was more than enough space inside it for everyone to lie down and still have space left.


    Sun Xia closed up most of the opening, leaving a few gaps for fresh air to flow into the makeshift cave. After the group settled in the cave, Sun Xia brought out a large pot and started working on setting up a fire, while Lei Qiang started working on dividing the spoils of the previous battle. Tang Chao sat down behind Liang Chen, taking out a vial filled with a thick blue paste that released a bitter and somewhat pungent scent. He opened the bottle and poured some of the medicine into his palm, giving Liang Chen a quick warning.


    "I''ll start the regrowing process now, let me know if the pain becomes too much."


    Liang Chen had lost quite a bit of flesh when the scorpion gouged open his left shoulder, so normal medicine was not quite enough to heal it, it would require some stronger medicine that could accelerate the healing speed of his flesh. Tang Chao started to apply the medicine, which caused a wriggling and burning sensation to spread through Liang Chen''s shoulder. The two sat pretty close to where Sun Xia was working on making dinner, so she quickly waved them away with her hands.


    "Shoo, Shoo! Do it a bit further away, I don''t want to get any blood into the food."


    Tang Chao gave a slight click of his tongue, but he still did as Sun Xia asked, bringing Liang Chen and moving closer to the entrance of the cave. Once he had covered the entire wound with the pungent paste, he took out a few six-pronged leaves that were a murky green in color, placing them over the paste and covering the entire thing with bandages.


    He pat Liang Chen''s right shoulder to let him know that he was done, for now, letting him put on a new robe. He was actually rather surprised at how hardy Liang Chen was, he had not made a single sound as Tang Chao applied the medicine. The food was also done not long after Tang Chao finished applying the medicine, so they joined the two others, quickly scarfing down the simple stew that Sun Xia had made. While eating, Tang Chao could not stop himself from commenting on the food.


    "I gotta say, I was kinda skeptical when you said to leave the food to you, but it actually did end up good."


    The three of them had been together for two days before Liang Chen joined the group, but they had spent the time looking for other party members, so there had not been any time to taste Sun Xia''s cooking during that time. Sun Xia quickly let out a pretentious snort, raising her nose high.


    "You doubted the prowess of someone magnificent like me? You better prostrate yourself in apology."


    Seeing Sun Xia put on such an exaggerated show of pretentiousness, Tang Chao almost could not stop himself from bursting into laughter. He quickly forced down the laughter, putting on a despairing face as he threw up his hands, joining Sun Xia in her little joke.


    "Ai, I bow down in the face of your greatness, can you ever forgive a sinner like me?!"


    Lei Qiang and Liang Chen simply sat at the side, eating the stew and enjoying the show that the two others put on. The life of a cultivator was often stressful and hard, so they would take any chance they could get to unwind. Sun Xia raised her nose even more, bending her head backward as she pointed at the bowl of food in Tang Chao''s hand.


    "This goddess shall forgive you only if you provide her with an offering of succulent meat!"


    Tang Chao quickly threw his gaze onto the bowl of stew he was holding, his face quickly turning downcast as he held it out for Sun Xia.


    "What a shame that this pious believer only has this dry meat here, will it suffice?"


    Sun Xia let out an involuntary snort of laughter, quickly snagging the bowl of stew. She placed the bowl at her side and leaned forward, chopping Tang Chao on the head with the side of her hand. After watching Sun Xia pretend to beat up Tang Chao for a bit, Lei Qiang let out a light chuckle and interrupted them.


    "Alright you two, finish your food and prepare to sleep. I and Chen will take the first watch, so the goddess and her pious believer can get some rest first."


    Having all of them sleeping at the same time would put them at risk of getting ambushed, so they had decided to split the night in half, two people keeping watch at all times. The two quickly nodded their heads, finishing off the rest of their food and putting away the bowls and pot. Before laying down on the ground to rest, Tang Chao gave Liang Chen a quick reminded, pointing at the bandages.


    "Keep this on through the night, it will keep out dirt and prevent the healing process from getting interrupted."


    Liang Chen gave a quick nod to show that he understood, to which Tang Chao gave a quick nod in return. Tang Chao and Sun Xia laid down on the ground at the back of the cave, a few meters away from the fire, leaving only Liang Chen and Lei Qiang sitting at the fire, occasionally poking it and throwing in more pieces of dried wood. After a few minutes, Lei Qiang cast a glance at Sun Xia and Tang Chao, making sure that they were sleeping before he started chatting with Liang Chen.


    "Chen, what was life like in Green Rivers City? I heard that it is directly controlled by the Qing clan, so I assume that your parents work for them?"


    Now that they finally had a chance to take a breath, Lei Qiang thought that it was a good time to maybe get to know a little bit more about his companions. Liang Chen''s eyes turned a bit distant, as if he had returned back to the days before his parents were executed. He took in a quick breath, telling a mixture of truth and lie.


    "Yes, they are accountants. They keep a tab on the herbal inventory, making sure that nothing gets stolen. As for how life was, it was rather dull. What about life in Eternal Stream City?"


    His parents had indeed been accountants, it was the job they had been assigned after they gave up their traveling and settled down. Liang Chen had already gotten quite adept at lying, so Lei Qiang did not notice anything off about his answer, his face quickly blooming into a wide grin as he excitedly talked about his hometown.


    "It is quite wonderful! Thanks to the popularity of the military academy, the people of the city are all very responsible and just, crime nearly nonexistent! Living at the academy involves a lot of tough training, but the men of my family have gone to that academy for many generations, each one serving the king, there was no way I would end that tradition."


    Lei Qiang puffed out his chest as he spoke, his voice tinged with heavy pride and respect. But upon hearing his answer, Liang Chen could not help but raise an eyebrow, asking out in confusion.


    "You serve the king, not the Qing clan?"


    Liang Chen had thought that the people of the military academy served the Qing clan, as this part of the continent was controlled by the Qing clan. Since it was controlled by the Qing clan, why would there be a need for a king? Lei Qiang sucked on his teeth for a bit, seemingly struggling with finding the words to properly explain it.


    "Both yes and no. Those who graduate from the military academy join the army of the Blazing Clouds nation, serving the king for the rest of their lives. Most of the time we fight against the other nations that have strength similar to Blazing Clouds, but all the surrounding nations are ultimately ruled by the Qing clan, so if they face a crisis, we must fight for them. So while we serve the king most of the time, in times of emergency we serve the Qing clan."


    It was much like how a country was built up of several smaller cities. Each city had their own ruler, but the country still ruled all the cities. The country controlled several cities, the Qing clan controlled several countries, and the Nightshield Sect controlled several clans like the Qing clan. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head in understanding, having a somewhat clearer picture now. Lei Qiang sent another glance at the sleeping Sun Xia, leaning in closer to Liang Chen as he spoke in a low whisper.


    "So tell me, Chen, what about Xia is it that attracts you?"


    Liang Chen was so caught off-guard by Lei Qiang''s question that he was unable to properly respond, his head tilting and his eyes narrowing in confusion.


    "What?"


    They had only spent a bit over one day together, so what could possibly have given Lei Qiang the idea that he had any romantic interest in Sun Xia? He did not mind admitting that she was an attractive girl, but that did not mean that he felt anything romantic towards her. Lei Qiang let out a low chuckle, looking at Liang Chen with suggestive eyes.


    "No need to play dumb, I have seen the way you glance at her. There is no need to be ashamed of it, you are at that age after all. I was even younger than you when I met my wife and lost my virginity to her. A piece of advice, just go for it. There is no telling how long we will be able to live, so there is no shame in acting as you please."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    It immediately became clear to Liang Chen where the confusion had spawned. He sent a glance at Sun Xia but quickly turned back to Lei Qiang, shaking his head.


    "Trust me, there is nothing like that going on here."


    There was no way he could tell Lei Qiang the truth, no way he could tell him that the reason he had glanced at Sun Xia several times was that the sight of her soft skin caused his instincts to almost go haywire. Her clean skin, her soft flesh, his bestial instincts screamed at him to bite into it and tear out bloody chunks that he could feast on. Lei Qiang let out another chuckle, shrugging his shoulders and winking at Liang Chen with an understanding smile.


    "Whatever you say. Just make sure you keep my advice in mind. Waste to much time and you will only be able to watch the opportunity slip through your fingers."


    The two continued to casually chat about how life had been in their hometowns, telling each other about their families. Liang Chen could only do his best to come up with some lies on the spot, being as vague about his parents as possible.


    After a few hours, they woke up Tang Chao and Sun Xia, having the two of them taking over the guard so that they could get some sleep before dawn. Liang Chen laid down, but he did not go to sleep, only pretending. He still did not like sleeping, as he would only relieve the past over and over again if he did. And it was because he did not go to sleep that he quickly reacted when Tang Chao nudged his body, whispering quietly.


    "Don''t make any noise, the place is surrounded."


    Liang Chen quickly sat up, his vigilance rising to the peak. He checked the lightning in the surroundings and could just vaguely make out that there were indeed some living presences around them, but because there was so much lightning in the surroundings, it was still impossible for him to make out anything specific. Sun Xia had her hand on the wall of the cave, her eyes closed as she used the stone on the outside to scout the enemies.


    "They are weaker than us, but they have more people, so we can''t underestimate them."


    Lei Qiang was also quickly woken up, his expression turning solemn as he pulled out his halberd, holding it ready. Tang Chao glanced at Liang Chen''s bandaged left shoulder, nodding towards it as he spoke.


    "How is the shoulder?"


    Liang Chen was the group''s main attacker, so if the wound weakened him too much, they would have to come up with a new strategy. Liang Chen rolled the shoulder slightly, his brows furrowing slightly as he examined it and gave his judgment.


    "At about 50% strength. But since it''s not my main arm, there won''t be too much difficulty in fighting."


    Tang Chao gave a short nod, his eyes turning towards Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang placed his palm on the ground, stretching his concentration to the max to join Sun Xia in scouting the enemies that surrounded them. After spending a short moment scouting, he opened his eyes and quietly spat out a few orders.


    "About ten people, covering every possible escape path. Chao, you focus on ranged attacks and support. Xia, protect Chao and make sure that no one reaches our backs. Chen, you and I will take the front. Try to take them down as quickly as possible so that we don''t get completely swarmed."


    The rest of the group nodded and prepared their weapons, gathering up by the entrance. Sun Xia matched eyes with them, using her fingers to count down from three. Once the countdown reached zero, she placed her palm on the sealed up entrance, the stone shattering and launching at the enemies outside.


    With the entrance open, the scene outside was fully revealed to Liang Chen. It was currently raining, bolts of azure lightning crashing down and striking the stones, charging them full of energy. There were 12 people gathered up outside the boulder, slowly making their way closer. They were clad in rather shoddy leather armor, the armor of most of them poorly patched together. Just like Sun Xia had said, none of them had a cultivation higher than them, the strongest merely having reached the late stage of the Mortal Tower realm. Had it not been for the fact that they had three times the people of Liang Chen''s group, as well as the fact that they thought they managed to ambush them, it was likely that they would not dare attempt to attack them.


    The group was made up of a variety of people, both men and women, some older and some younger. There was one that caught Liang Chen''s eye, a young boy who seemed to be about the same age as Liang Chen. His hands were tied together with an arm-length piece of rope, his shaky hands holding a short dagger, his entire face pale as he trembled from fear.


    Tang Chao, Lei Qiang, and Liang Chen took advantage of the confusion that the rain of stone produced, dashing out and launching their attacks. Tang Chao launched two arrows, one that pierced through the skull of one bandit, and one that pierced into the waist of a second bandit.


    Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving a short nod as the two ran out side by side. The moment they stepped out of the cave, the earth beneath them wriggled, two pillars rising up beneath their feet and launching them at the enemies.


    Liang Chen kicked off the pillar, dashing forward like a golden blur, arcs of lightning coiling around him. Liang Chen took advantage of the rain and the lightning, connecting his golden lightning with the azure lightning, redirecting it towards two of the enemies. The azure lightning struck the two men, their insides roasting from the sheer heat it released. While he redirected the lightning, he also slashed out with his sword, slicing through the throat of a third bandit.


    Lei Qiang, on the other hand, targeted the wounded bandit as well as one other. The earth beneath the wounded bandit turned soft, his feet sinking into the ground and preventing him from moving. A layer of solid earth coated his halberd, turning it into a long sledgehammer. He swung the weapon with both hands, smashing it sideways into the head of the wounded bandit, completely crushing it.


    He used the counterforce from crushing the head to spin his halberd to the other side, raising it high in the process. Once the halberd reached its highest point, he swung it down at full force, smashing it down onto the head of another bandit, her body smashed into the ground.


    Only a few seconds had passed since Sun Xia opened the cave and they burst out, but half the bandits had already been killed. This was the difference in strength that was brought about by a difference in cultivation. In most situations, there was little that people with weaker cultivation could do against those stronger than them, they were like sheep facing a ferocious tiger.


    Yet despite half their group dying, the bandits did not retreat, growing even more ferocious as they launched their own attacks to retaliate. There were two bandits close to Liang Chen who launched attacks at him, but one of them was the young child, who ended up being too scared to actually attack him with the dagger he held. The other bandit held an axe, dashing at Liang Chen and raising it high to cleave him in half.


    Liang Chen stepped toward the bandit, taking half a step to the left once he swung down the axe. The axe nearly grazed his body as it passed by him, but it failed to make contact in the end. He raised his right arm, his sword slicing upwards. The blade passed through the bandit''s wrists, separating his hands from his arms. The weapon continued unabated, passing through the throat of the man and separating his head from his body.


    The edge of the blade coursed with lightning, so its slicing force was greatly increased. Liang Chen heard a thud coming from behind him, quickly turning his body around. A wall of stone had risen up behind him, blocking an arrow that had been heading for the back of his neck.


    His eyes landed on Sun Xia, who stood by the entrance of the cave and sent him a smile and a nod. He nodded back at her, his eyes landing on the young boy who was frozen in fear not far from him. He started walking towards the boy, who closed his eyes in resignation as he waited for the strike that would end his life. But the attack never arrived so he could not help but open his eyes and look at Liang Chen, who was standing right in front of him. Since the expected attack hadn''t arrived, he could not help but utter a confused question.


    "Wha..."


    Before the boy got to finish his question, Liang Chen raised his sword and cut the rope that tied the boy''s hands together. He pointed towards the direction that led out of the forest, waving the boy away.


    "Leave, and don''t get caught by people like them again."


    It was easy to see that the boy was just an innocent bystander who had been captured by the bandits and forced along. The bandits had come with the intent to kill, so Liang Chen was fine with killing them, as they were scum. But the boy was innocent, it would not be right to kill him. If Liang Chen killed him, he would be just as bad as those he had sworn to kill, those who deserved the heaven''s wrath.


    The boy quickly nodded his head, giving Liang Chen a deep bow before he turned towards the direction Liang Chen had pointed, dashing away. There were not a lot of Demonic beasts in these outskirts, so even if the boy was on his own, it would not be hard to flee.


    Liang Chen turned around to inspect the rest of the battle, but it had already been finished, Lei Qiang and Tang Chao having dealt with the last bandits. But as his eyes landed on the others he saw that Tang Chao was drawing his bow, aiming an arrow at the boy Liang Chen had just let go. As Tang Chao drew the arrow back, Liang Chen quickly let out a thunderous shout.


    "No!"


    His body blurred as he dashed forward like a furious bolt of lightning, almost immediately arriving in front of Tang Chao. His position was not perfect, so he could only reach out with his left arm, ignoring the pain as he grabbed onto the head of the arrow, pushing the entire bow down and preventing Tang Chao from shooting. Being interrupted so suddenly, Tang Chao could not help but glare at Liang Chen.


    "Chen, what are you doing?! Why would you save him, he tried to kill us!"


    The way Tang Chao saw it, the boy was just another member of the bandit group that had come to kill them, showing mercy to him was nothing but foolishness. But faced with his glare, Liang Chen simply swept out with his right arm, pointing at the 11 corpses around them.


    "They were the ones that tried to kill us, he was simply someone they forced to tag along! Killing him would be wrong."


    No matter how much he wanted revenge, no matter how much the bestial instincts invaded him, Liang Chen still had principles that he would stand by and refuse to give up. And one of those principles was to not kill innocent people, or let them be killed in his presence. If he broke that principle, he would no longer be the Liang Chen that his parents and Qing Chun wanted him to be, he would be a mere beast, he would be just as bad as Qing Lan Yong. Tang Chao opened his mouth to protest but ended up shrugging his shoulders in defeat after seeing the determined expression on Liang Chen''s face.


    "But...Fine, fine. We''ll let the kid go."


    Tang Chao loosened the arrow he had prepared, causing it to turn into loose drops of water that fell to the ground. Liang Chen pulled back his arm, which had turned bloody from holding onto the arrow. Tang Chao furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes landing on Liang Chen''s left shoulder.


    "You used the wrong arm to stop me, you tore open the wound again."


    Tang Chao put away his bow, forcing Liang Chen to turn around so he could check out his shoulder. He removed the bloody bandages and gave the wound a quick inspection, letting out a short sigh as he turned towards Lei Qiang and Sun Xia.


    "You didn''t tear it up too badly, so the time needed to heal it luckily hasn''t gone up by too much. Qiang, I am going to take him back to the cave and get started on the healing, can I leave the cleanup to you and Xia?"


    The scent of blood from the bodies would attract Demonic beasts if they left them here for too long, so they had to be moved to a different place as fast as possible. Luckily, it was raining heavily right now so the smell of blood was washed away quickly. Lei Qiang glanced at Liang Chen''s bloody shoulder, giving a slight nod.


    "No problem, just get Chen back to full capacity as quickly as possible. Once you''ve done that, we can start looking for some of the rarer treasures."


    They were still in the outskirts of the stone forest so the number of rare treasures they could find was very limited. To find the better stuff, they would have to head deeper into the stone forest. And to do that, the entire group had to be at full strength.

 Lightning Quartz.

    After fending off the ambushers, the group returned to the hollow boulder they used as a base. Sun Xia closed up the entrance again, and Lei Qiang put out the fire, as it was likely the smoke that had alerted others to their presence. They did not go to sleep again, as everyone was wide awake after the previous battle. Sun Xia started working on a light breakfast, Lei Qiang stood guard at the entrance, using his control over the earth element to vigilantly scan the surroundings, and Tang Chao got to work on fully healing Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    After spending around half a day of concentrated effort, Tang Chao finally managed to return Liang Chen''s shoulder to an unwounded state. A large and rather gruesome scar still remained where the attack had torn out a chunk of his shoulder, but his left arm could now be used at full capacity again, so the group would be able to move out again soon.


    They would have to be at full strength to travel deeper into the stone forest, so they collectively decided that it was best to wait for the next day before setting out, giving Tang Chao a chance to rest after spending so much time focusing on Liang Chen''s shoulder. The moment the sun rose the next day, the group set out once more, aiming for the depths of the stone forest.


    Two days after setting out, the group had managed to travel a good distance deeper into the stone forest, the pressure growing stronger, the frequent storms more harrowing. They were now forced to travel in a defensive formation, two people constantly raising a small layer of Qi around the group, defending them from the strong winds, rain, and lightning. With two people focusing on defending them, the third could focus on scouring for treasures, while the fourth could keep a vigilant eye on their surroundings.


    Sun Xia currently had her hand placed on the ground, which occasionally crackled with lightning, her eyes closed in deep concentration. After spending a few minutes like this, she opened her eyes again, her brows furrowing slightly. They had already been traveling for two days without finding anything, so Tang Chao could not help but anxiously ask.


    "Find anything?"


    Sun Xia''s brows were still furrowed as she sucked on her teeth, seemingly still thinking over something. In the end, she turned towards Liang Chen, who was currently working together with Lei Qiang, shielding the group.


    "There might be a low-grade Lightning Quartz a few kilometers to the west, but its a bit hazy. Chen, can you try?"


    As she spoke, she pointed in the general direction where Liang Chen should search, narrowing it down for him. Tang Chao took over the role of working together with Lei Qiang, allowing Liang Chen to fully focus his senses and check out what Sun Xia had found.


    Lightning Quartz was the name given to the crystals that were formed when the lightning within the stones crystallized. The more lightning gathered together, as well as the purer and stronger the lightning was, the higher the grade of the quartz was, going from low to mid, to high, to top, to transcended.


    As for how they searched for these Lightning Quartz and other treasures, it was rather simple. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia would use their connection to the stone or earth element to find places where these two elements were more diluted, while Liang Chen would use his connection to the lightning element to find places where the lightning element was denser, as these were the places where it was most likely for treasures to be formed.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes, stretching his consciousness into the surrounding and connecting it with the lightning element in the area, following it in the direction that Sun Xia had pointed out. After spending a few minutes, he opened his eyes again, giving a slight nod.


    "The lightning is far denser a few kilometers to the west, but it''s not dense enough for me to tell if it''s a Lightning Quartz. If we can stop at a spot a bit closer, it should be easier to tell."


    The others quickly lit up with excitement at the prospects of finally acquiring some more rewards, so they quickly set out again, surrounding Liang Chen so that nothing could disturb him as he continued to sense the lightning in the surroundings. After spending about an hour moving a mere two kilometers, Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, pointing at a tall stone that looked like a seven-clawed hand stretching towards the sky.


    "There is indeed a Lightning Quartz over there, a few meters into that claw-shaped stone over there. But it''s not as dense as it first seemed, so it is likely that it has only reached the lowest reaches of low-grade."


    Liang Chen knew very little about Lightning Quartz, so he could only guess at the actual grade of it, but if he were to give his guess, he would say that it had formed not long ago, just barely taking shape. Lei Qiang was overjoyed that they had found something, but he did not completely lose himself because of it, quickly questioning a bit further.


    "It''s still low-grade, so it''s good enough. Sense any guardian?"


    A Lightning Quartz was very useful to humans or Demonic beasts that that had the lightning element, so most Lightning Quartz or other similar treasures would most often be guarded by Demonic beasts or people waiting for them to mature. Liang Chen had already expected the question, so he quickly gave his answer, his voice somewhat uncertain.


    "I managed to sense only one, there might be more, but the one I sensed doesn''t seem to be stronger than us."


    The entire stone forest was filled with lightning energy, so while sensing places where that energy was dense was easy, it was far harder to sense any living beings and how strong they were, so Liang Chen did not guarantee that he had sensed correctly. Lei Qiang and the others thought it over a bit, but in the end, decided that it was still worth risking it, Lei Qiang quickly handling the matters of their battle formation.


    "Alright, we''ll go with the usual formation. Xia, protect Chao, I''ll go with Chen. It''s raining so be careful, it might use the rain as a conduit for its lightning. Once we weaken it sufficiently, heighten your vigilance, lest it calls down lightning from the sky, then we''ll really be in trouble."


    Demonic beasts and cultivators that had a good affinity with the lightning element could stretch out their Qi and concentration, acting as lightning rods for the lightning that danced around far above them. Liang Chen himself had already done this several times, even doing it once within this hidden realm, when he called down a bolt of crimson lightning to kill the snake while he was wounded.


    The group quickly got into formation, making their way towards the claw-shaped stone. They spotted a cave dug into the bottom of the stone, a few meters in height and width, so it was likely that the Demonic beast guardian was using it as a home while it kept an eye on the Lightning Quartz.


    As they got closer to the cave, they slowly became able to see the Demonic beast that was resting within the cave. It was in the shape of a three-meter tall toad, its leathery skin a murky yellow in color, covered in fist-sized green boils. The four people in the group locked eyes, giving each other a quick nod before they sprung into action, Lei Qiang jumping forwards and letting out a loud shout.


    "You overgrown toad, why don''t you watch how I stomp you!"


    He slammed the ground with his halberd, causing several finger-length spikes to grow up from the earth around him, flying at the toad and piercing into its skin. The beast let out a loud croak, the sound echoing out from the cave. The toad jumped towards Lei Qiang and Liang Chen, the ground shaking every time it landed and kicked off. The toad glared at Lei Qiang, thick and foul-smelling green blood slowly oozing out from the small wounds created by the earthen spikes.


    The cheeks of the beast expanded as it drew in a breath, letting out a loud croak that shot out a ball of lightning at Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang matched eyes with Liang Chen, giving him a slight nod and dashing forward. His halberd was coated in a thick layer of earth, intercepting the ball of lightning, pushing it down and crushing it against the earth. Earth was one of the elements that countered the lightning element, almost completely neutralizing it.


    After slamming the ball of lightning into the ground, Lei Qiang bent his body forward, Liang Chen dashing up from behind him. He jumped up, using Lei Qiang''s back like a springboard as he jumped forward, quickly arriving above the head of the toad. He laid his body flat and gave it a slight spin, slashing down with his sword, lightning crackling around the edge of the blade as it sank into the flesh of the toad.


    The attack left a wound on the toad, but it also cut open one of the many boils that covered the skin of the beast, an acidic-smelling green liquid covering the front half of Liang Chen''s blade. Upon coming into contact with the green liquid, his sword started to sizzle and smoke, deforming and melting. The toad was just about to turn its head and lash at Liang Chen with its tongue, but three arrows cut through the air and rained down on the head of the beast, piercing its hide and one of the boils. Liang Chen took this chance to kick the head of the toad, using the resulting force to put some distance between them, warning the others.


    "Watch the boils, they contain corrosive liquid!"


    A bit before Liang Chen''s foot made contact with the ground, two small pillars grew up from the earth, acting as footholds he could step on. Once he made contact with the pillars, they quickly moved backward, pulling him away from the toad so that he wouldn''t suffer another attack. The eyes of the beast landed on Liang Chen, recognizing him as the current threat. It wanted to jump at him, but several more arrows came flying, forcing it to jump back and dodge.


    Lei Qiang took this chance to dash forward and close the distance between him and the beast, lashing out with his halberd to draw the attention of the beast. And it was thanks to this that he managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of the cave, discovering that there were two indents in the ground, marks that something large had spent a lot of time sleeping there. Since there were two indents, that could only mean one thing, his expression distorting as he quickly called out.


    "Xia, there''s another one!"


    He had discovered it quickly, but as he turned his head and warned, he realized that they had still discovered it too late. There was a second Demonic beast currently sneaking up on Sun Xia and Tang Chao. The Demonic beast looked like a slimmer toad with smoother skin, but it moved in an unnatural way, crawling low to the ground on all fours, moving extremely quietly. Lei Qiang and Liang Chen could see bloody limbs sticking out from the closed mouth of the beast, so it seemed like it had just come back from a hunt and stumbled upon the scene. Sun Xia quickly reacted, spinning around and using her cross-shaped shield to bash at the toad, cursing at it all the while.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "Fuck off, don''t you sneak attack me!"


    While Sun Xia focused on bashing the toad to force it back, Tang Chao jumped away, out of the beast''s range so that he wouldn''t suffer any attacks. Lei Qiang''s expression distorted slightly, his eyes turning towards Liang Chen. Liang Chen understood what he wanted to say, so he gave a quick nod, letting go of his now melted sword and pulling out one of the saber''s he had scavenged from the bandits he met in the city.


    Lei Qiang swiped his interspatial ring, throwing Liang Chen a murky white crystal, a Low-grade Spirit Stone. During a battle, they could only rely on their own Qi to form a defense against the harrowing storms, something that quickly drained their Qi. This meant that they could only rely on Spirit Stones if they wanted to quickly refill their reserves and continue fighting. After tossing him the Spirit Stone, Lei Qiang turned around and dashed away from the beast, running towards Sun Xia to aid her.


    Liang Chen placed the Spirit Stone inside his mouth, slowly draining the stored Qi to refill his own. With Lei Qiang gone, the eyes of the toad once again landed on Liang Chen, a loud croak sounding out as it jumped towards him, lightning dancing around it and spreading into the surroundings thanks to the rain. Liang Chen tightly grabbed the saber, which was far heavier and thicker than the sword he was used to. He didn''t try to dash away and use guerilla tactics to wear down the beast, he instead dashed forward, right at the beast.


    The toad landed on the ground, its cheeks expanding as all the lightning around it, as well as the lightning in its immediate surroundings, gathered inside its mouth. It opened its mouth, but there was no ball of lightning that shot out this time. Instead, its long tongue shot out like a blur, the sound of thunder ringing out. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed somewhat as he stomped down, halting his own momentum and using the counterforce to take half a step the right and give his body a slight twirl, causing the electrified tongue to just barely miss him.


    The tongue moved so fast that he was unable to properly see it, so he had simply given up on locating it through sight. He simply quieted down and listened to his instincts, tracking the tongue by the dense amount of lightning that had gathered around it. After dodging the tongue, he delivered a quick upward slash with the saber, cleanly slicing through the tongue before the toad managed to pull it back. The foul-smelling green blood splashed onto his face, but he was far too focused to pay attention to it now.


    It was the blood of a lightning element Demonic beast, so his body did not reject it, doing its best to absorb it the moment it landed on his skin, the pain only causing Liang Chen''s instincts to sharpen further. He pulled out another weapon from his interspatial ring, a simple metal spear. He grasped it tightly with his left hand, a faint purple light gathering around the tip, turning into a single drop of concentrated poison.


    He gave the spear a quick jerk, throwing it at the beast, lightning arcing around it and forcing its speed up. The toad was still reeling from the pain of having its tongue cut, so it was unable to react to the spear in time, the weapon piercing into one of its eyes, the drop of poison quickly causing the flesh around the spear tip to sizzle and melt, turning into a bloody stream that ran down the beast''s body.


    The toad let out a loud scream, a sound Liang Chen had not expected it to be able to make. But now was not the time to wonder how it managed to produce such a sound, now was the time to deliver the finishing strike. He dashed forward, grabbing onto the saber with both hands and raising it high, the lightning in the surrounding area gathering towards the edge of the blade. He quickly arrived in front of the reeling beast, delivering a forceful downward slash onto the head of the beast.


    The saber dug into the head, almost cleaving it in half, rampant lightning flooding its body and roasting its organs. Even though it was a lightning element Demonic beast, if too much, and too strong, lightning entered its body, it would die just like everything else. Lei Qiang, Sun Xia, and Tang Chao were not specialized in attacking, like Liang Chen, they geared more towards a defensive style, so they had yet to kill the second Demonic beast. It had been badly battered thanks to their combined effort, but it was still able to see the end of its mate, something that drove it into a mad frenzy.


    It let out a silent and sorrowful scream, gathering all its energy in its two hind legs, the lightning that arced around them so intense that small burns started to appear. Before Lei Qiang and the others had a chance to stop it, the beast kicked off and shot towards Liang Chen, whose back was turned since he had just delivered the finishing blow.


    The beast, that had put its all into this one attack, was far faster than Lei Qiang and the others were able to react, they could not even call out in warning. But just as the beast approached Liang Chen''s back, he jumped to the side and turned his body halfway around, his eyes landing on the approaching toad. Lei Qiang and the others were unable to see it since he was covered by the beast, but his golden pupils had narrowed, glaring at the toad like a beast gazing at its prey.


    He let go of the saber, pulling another spear out from his interspatial ring, turning the tip toward the beast. If he simply tried to block it head on, he would be smashed by the force of the beast, so he had decided to do something else instead. He pointed the tip at the toad, but the handle of the spear was placed against the ground. The moment the beast touched the tip of the spear, he let go of it and threw himself onto the ground, dodging beneath the beast.


    The sheer speed and force of the beast forced the spear into its body, almost skewering it right through. The beast passed over Liang Chen and crashed into the ground, completely dead. When he stood up, his pupils had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Lei Qiang and the others quickly ran over, their mouths agape in shock and awe. Sun Xia pumped her fist in excitement, but even she could not help but question.


    "Holy... How did you manage to react to that in time?"


    Even they had been unable to react to the speed of the Demonic beast, so how had Liang Chen, who had a lower cultivation, been able to react in time, even preparing a counter attack? Liang Chen merely gave a simple explanation, pointing at the cave.


    "I''ve got good instincts. Let''s fetch the spoils of battle."


    He had no idea how to explain his bestial instincts to them, nor was he interested in explaining them, so he simply settled on giving a casual excuse. With his words, Lei Qiang and the others were quickly reminded of what they had come here for, rushing into the cave to look for the Lightning Quartz.


    Liang Chen stored the two corpses into his interspatial ring before entering the cave. They were both lightning element Demonic beasts, so their blood and flesh would be useful for him. He then quickly followed the others, passing by several half-molten bones and regurgitated meat, feathers, and fur. It was not hard for them to find the Lightning Quartz, as it was located at the very end of the cave.


    The Lightning Quartz was shaped like an oval orb and was embedded in the wall, about the size of a grown man''s head. It was light blue in color, pulsating with a faint light, the muffled sound of thunder sounding out from within it. Even without touching it, Liang Chen could clearly feel the concentrated power of lightning within it. If something like this had barely reached the low-grade, just how precious and mighty were the higher grades. The eyes of Lei Qiang and the others lit up as they looked at the Lightning Quartz, their eyes gleaming with a nearly lustful gaze, Lei Qiang licking his lips as he moved a bit closer.


    "Ain''t that a thing of beauty? Hard to imagine that such a pretty thing can contain such destructive force."


    Lightning Quartz was lightning energy concentrated to a terrifying degree. If it were to shatter and become unstable, all that energy would be released at once, resulting in a massive explosion. Lei Qiang and Sun Xia carefully dug out the Lightning Quartz, their hands trembling as they looked at it, the light of greed appearing in the eyes of Lei Qiang, Tang Chao, and Sun Xia. Even if they couldn''t use it for themselves, they would gain a large amount of Spirit Stones once they sold it. They quickly took several deep breaths, repressing their greed, Lei Qiang handing the quartz to the one person who hadn''t looked at it with the same greed as them, Liang Chen.


    "Chen, you hold onto it for now, lest we all start fighting amongst each other. We can sell it once we return to the city."


    Liang Chen would not say no to something like that, so he carefully grabbed the orb and stored it into a secluded spot within his interspatial ring, making sure that there was nothing around it that could come into contact with it. The three others could not help but let their gazes linger on his interspatial ring for a bit longer, but they still managed to repress their greed.


    The group gave the cave one last sweep, but there was nothing else valuabel they could take, so they decided to leave. Shortly after leaving the cave, a strange phenomenon took place. All the lightning in the surrounding area started to vanish rapidly moving to the north, deeper into the stone forest. After just a short moment, there was no more lightning in the area, even the gathered lightning within the stones had been pulled away. Facing such a strange occurrence, Liang Chen could not help but glance at Lei Qiang, questioning him.


    "What... was that?"


    Liang Chen was rather surprised when his eyes landed on Lei Qiang and the others because he could see that their bodies were trembling slightly, their eyes gleaming with even more excitement than when they had seen the Lightning Quartz. Lei Qiang locked eyes with Sun Xia and the others, his voice trembling.


    "It can''t be... a Lotus, so far out?"


    The two others nodded their heads, similarily trembling from joy and excitement. Liang Chen, on the other hand, was utterly confused and lost. Since they were acting like this, it was clear that this lotus was not a normal lotus, so he quickly asked for clarification.


    "What''s a lotus, is it something rare?"


    Just this one Lightning Quartz had taken them quite some searching to find, was it possible that they would encounter something even rarer this quickly? Did they truly have such great luck? Of course, what Liang Chen failed to realize was that any bout of great luck would often be followed by great risks. Lei Qiang quickly took several deep breaths, rapidly explaining.


    "Both yes and no. They are incredibly rare this close to the entrance of the hidden realm, but a bit more common in the deeper parts. But only the Lotuses with one to three petals are a bit more common, those with more are still extremely rare. There is no telling what sort of bloody battle will happen if a lotus with more than three petals were to appear."


    Lei Qiang''s eyes were darting around, searching for any trace of this lotus. Sun Xia and Tang Chao were also doing the same, but Lei Qiang had yet to actually explain what one such lotus was, so Liang Chen had to press on with his question.


    "You still haven''t explained what it is."


    Lei Qiang quickly snapped back to reality after hearing Liang Chen''s somewhat flat comment. He quickly let out a slightly awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head as he made sure to give a proper explanation, wanting to make Liang Chen understand the rarity of what they were facing now.


    "Right, right. Sorry, got a bit too excited. They are called Elemental Lotuses, and thanks to how hard it is for them to be formed, they are extremely rare in the outside world, even the larger clans only have a very limited storage of them, and even those should only be of the lowest grades. They are created when large amounts of normal and elemental Qi are compressed together thanks to great pressure, forming a lotus. The more elements that are compressed together, the more petals the lotus will have, and the rarer it will become."


    It was one thing to create a One to Three-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but it became far harder the more elements you wanted to mix in. Because of that, even the larger clans and sects like the Storm Wolf Sect and the Moon Dragon Sect were unlikely to have a large amount of them. Lei Qiang turned to the north, towards where all the surrounding lightning had been drawn. His voice rising an octave as he locked eyes with the others.


    "The one that was born just now should only be a One-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but we might be lucky, it could be a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. We need to hurry over before too many other people learn about it and come to try their luck! Let''s dip into our storage of Spirit Stones, they will let us refill our Qi while we move."


    Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly agreed, and Liang Chen had no reason to refuse, so they immediately started moving. They each pulled out some Spirit Stones from their interspatial rings, holding onto them as they moved as fast as they could, hoping to reach the Elemental Lotus first so that they could avoid a large scale battle.

 Two-Petaled Lotus, harbinger of death.

    Liang Chen and his group ran as fast as they could, constantly taking out new Spirit Stones which they could use to restore their draining energy. As they ran, the sky started to slowly darken, a whirlpool of clouds, rain, and lightning forming in the distance, right above their destination. Seeing the sky change like this, Tang Chao''s expression distorted slightly as he couldn''t help but comment in annoyance.


    "The disturbance is getting greater, seems that getting there before too many people learn of it is going to be almost impossible."


    With even the sky itself changing because of the birth of the lotus, it was clear that hiding it was utterly impossible. The information would spread like a wildfire, drawing in the greed of everyone who was even remotely close to the area. Slightly nervous about the upcoming battle, Sun Xia could not help but turn to Lei Qiang.


    "How should we proceed once we get there? Not counting the people that will have heard about it, there should also be a strong guardian beast."


    Lei Qiang had the most experience when it came to organizing groups and making plans, so during the time they had traveled together as a group, he had become the one who made most plans. Lei Qiang rubbed his chin as he ran, his mind racing as he quickly settled on a plan that put the group''s security as the most important objective.


    "We wait and see. We let the stronger people move in first and deal with the guardian beast. We should only make a move once the others are exhausted or when we are absolutely forced to."


    They simply had too little information, so making an actual plan was far too difficult just yet. Lei Qiang was also keenly aware that they were highly unlikely to be the strongest group in the area, so they could forget about using overwhelming force to grab the Elemental Lotus. The others quickly nodded their heads in agreement to the temporary plan, returning their focus to keeping an eye on their surroundings.


    But while running, Liang Chen was only using half of his concentration to keep an eye on his surroundings, his other half was spent on something else, testing out two ideas he had come up with recently. One he came up with after seeing the effect of his poison on the group of bandits in the city, and the other he had come up with after seeing the Lightning Quartz. Both ideas were only in their infant stages, but he felt that he come up with something that would be quite useful to him.


    After spending a little over three hours running, the pressure around them had increased quite a bit, the Qi within the air around them getting thicker and more chaotic, causing the expressions of the group to become more solemn, Lei Qiang giving the group a reminder.


    "The energy is getting thicker, we are getting very close."


    Liang Chen had just recently heard about Elemental Lotuses, and he had never seen one before, but just seeing the spectacle that it wrought as it was born was enough to let him realize how special it was. Not only did the sky change, but even the strong pressure of this hidden realm was strengthened even further. It was just in the area around the lotus itself that the pressure increased, but that alone was already very impressive.


    After another two hours of running, the group arrived close to the spot where the whirlpool was making contact with the earth. The area was rather well-hidden, located at the center of a circle of mountains that were a few thousand meters in height.


    It was only after reaching the peak of one of the mountains that the group was able to see the place where the lotus had been born, a large open area that was dotted with droplet-shaped gray boulders of various sizes. The group slowly made their way down the side of the mountain, hiding behind one of the larger boulders placed at the very edge of the open area. After hiding, Sun Xia pointed at a seven-meter tall boulder located at the very center of the area.


    "There, atop that drop-shaped boulder. It must have been slowly forming within the stone, bursting through the top once it managed to form itself. Let me see if I can check what element it is."


    Just like she said, the top of the boulder had exploded outwards, the stone melting and then solidifying into a twisted shape that formed a shell filled with holes. Thanks to the faint cyan light and the dense Qi that seeped out from the holes, it was clear that the lotus was located within that shell. The Qi within the boulder was so dense that not even the rain that was pouring from the sky was able to get close to it.


    Sun Xia closed her eyes, carefully and stealthily sending out her perception to scan the energy around the boulder, checking which type of Qi was densest there. After a short while, her eyes opened wide, a bright light shining in them, her voice trembling from uncontrollable excitement.


    "By the gods, it really is a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus! The second petal has just barely managed to take form, but it is undoubtedly there! The elements seem to be lightning and wind, not the most useful to us, but we can sell it for a fortune, enough to live like kings for centuries!"


    Tang Chao and Lei Qiang also started to tremble with excitement after hearing her judgment. Liang Chen''s eyes were glued to the faint light that came from the boulder, his heart hammering in his chest. Even before Sun Xia had said anything, he knew what element the Elemental Lotus had. His body hungered and screamed, far more than it ever had when he saw the sleeping Sun Xia or the corpses of Demonic beasts that had his element. It felt like he was a starving man that finally saw some food after hundreds of days without eating. Lei Qiang quickly took several deep breaths, calming himself and commenting.


    "Don''t let the excitement get to your head, we first have to get our hands on it. And looking at the sheer amount of people that have already gathered, that is going to be very hard. Chen, close your mouth, you are drooling."


    Liang Chen quickly shook his head and took several deep breaths, closing his mouth and wiping the corners. His body had been so enticed by the lotus that he had not even noticed that he was drooling. Sun Xia and Tang Chao also quickly took several breaths, their eyes meeting for a short second as they calmed themselves down. Sun Xia quickly swept the surrounding area with narrowed eyes, speaking out in a slightly hushed down.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Right, right, can''t get ahead of myself. Everyone try to see if you can sense how many people and Demonic beasts have arrived, as well as what their strength is."


    The group was actually highly specialized when it came to scanning the surroundings around them in this area. Lei Qiang could check for other beings by sensing where they stepped on the earth, Sun Xia could scan for other beings by sensing where they were in contact with the various stones, and Tang Chao could scan for other beings by sensing the rain that landed on their bodies. Thanks to the large amount of lightning around them, Liang Chen was at a disadvantage when it came to scanning for living beings using his lightning, but he was still passable at it. After everyone spent a bit of time scouring the surroundings, Lei Qiang opened his eyes, a bitter smile on his face.


    "I detected almost 200, with several of them having a very hazy cultivation. What about you guys?"


    If their cultivation looked hazy to him, that could only mean one thing, they had already transcended the Ascended Tower realm, making them far stronger than anyone in their group. Tang Chao and the others also opened their eyes, Tang Chao''s expression darkening as he reported his findings, pointing to the eastern area.


    "I found about 300, with more and more coming from the distance."


    With the number of people that were swarming over, there would soon be close to a thousand people gathered in the area, everyone greedily staring at the Elemental Lotus. Lei Qiang followed Tang Chao''s finger, his bitter smile growing slightly as he shook his head and sighed.


    "It seems that we are quite unlucky, several people must have quickly spread the news."


    For this many people to have arrived this quickly, it was likely that someone had detected the birth of the Elemental Lotus even before them, sending out a message to their friends and allies as quickly as they could.


    Since they had discovered the other people in the surroundings, they had certainly also been discovered. But despite everyone knowing that they had been discovered, no one made a move to grab the lotus, everyone cautiously waiting and keeping an eye on the others. After waiting for five tense hours, there was finally someone who could no longer bear it, a large group of people stepping forward and speaking out with a booming voice.


    "Everyone, please listen! I am Tian Shentu from the Fiendgod Sect, and my sect has been keeping an eye on this Elemental Lotus for quite a while, even grooming it by throwing lightning element treasures at it. Because of that, I hope you will all leave peacefully, saving us the trouble of having to deal with you."


    The one who shouted out was the man standing at the very front of the group, a man who was a little over two meters tall and had a body so burly it resembled a bear''s. He had short and spiky black hair, brown eyes that had a sharp light, and a large scar that separated his face into two halves right down the middle. Despite the man stepping forward and using both the name of the Tian clan and the superpower that was the Fiendgod sect, none of the surrounding people pulled back. Rather than pull back, there was a large group that stepped forward and scoffed at Tian Shentu''s words.


    "Blow it out your ass, Shentu! Your Fiendgod sect wasn''t the one who groomed this lotus, it was my Ghost Soul Sect! Everyone, I am Zhao Daiyun, one of the members of the Ghost Soul Sect that has been appointed with the task of raising this lotus. We have spent quite a bit of resource on raising it, so I hope you understand that we will not allow you to take it, so please leave peacefully."


    Zhao Daiyun was the polar opposite of Tian Shentu, she was a delicate and thin woman who had slightly pale skin, gray hair that hung down to her waist, as well as strangely white eyes. But there was one thing she shared with Tian Shentu, and that was the fact that her cultivation appeared hazy, clearly having transcended the Ascended Tower realm.


    Two groups led by people from not only two of the large sects, but also two of the superpowers, had stepped forward and spoken out, but no one left. Facing something like a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, they would be fools if they simply believed the words of others and left. Seeing that no one was willing to give face to either of the superpowers, Zhao Daiyun let out a snort and spoke up again.


    "Very well, since none of you seem willing to leave, we can only take matters into our own hands and plant the lotus in a different location."


    After Zhao Daiyun spoke out, her group immediately charged forward, dashing directly towards the lotus. Her actions immediately broke the tense stalemate that had existed earlier, the other groups instantly revealing themselves and charging at the lotus, letting out loud shouts as they gave orders to their companions.


    Not only humans charged forward, but also various Demonic beasts, in both human and beast shape, as well as people from the demon race charged forward, weapons at the ready as they launched attacks. With everyone charging forward, it seemed that the beast that was guarding the Elemental Lotus could no longer hide, the ground trembling fiercely as a massive boulder rose up from the ground.


    The Demonic beast that guarded this Elemental Lotus resembled a crab that was almost 30 meters tall, its shell made out of thick magnetic stone that spiraled upwards, four thick pincers growing out in front of the beast, six legs that had a razor sharp edge stretching out beneath it. The beast released a heavy pressure that was even more terrifying than the pressure Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun released, causing even Liang Chen''s bestial instincts to tremble in fear, completely overshadowing the hunger it felt when faced with the Elemental Lotus.


    Lei Qiang quickly took a deep breath, giving himself a heavy slap to forcefully calm himself down. His gave the others a heavy pat on the back, his face growing determined and solemn as he spoke out.


    "It was about time someone lost their patience. It seems like our old plan of waiting isn''t going to work with this many people, so we are going to have to do our best to sneak up now, while everyone is fighting. Follow me."


    There were over a thousand people here, it was not realistic to wait for all of them to tire themselves out. In that case, they could only take a risk and try to blend in with the other groups, sneakily charging forward and hoping they had a lucky roll of the dice.


    The group quickly dashed out from their hiding spot and charged into what could only be described as hell. Before even getting close to the lotus, the various groups had already started to fight amongst each other, blood flowing like a river, organs, body parts, and corpses littering the ground all around. Not only was there fighting between the groups, but even members of the same group were fighting against each other, using people they had called comrades as meat shields or killing them to take their Spirit Stones so that they could refill their own dwindling energy.


    Liang Chen found it an appalling sight to see so many people kill and betray each other without hesitation, all for a chance to get a single step closer to the lotus. Men and women, young and old, people who had no killing intent, people who were begging for mercy, people who had been forced to come along because they were slaves, all killed without mercy. That singular lotus. Was its existence really so great that it warranted all these people killing and betraying each other without regard? Was it worth all this bloodshed and the resulting grief?

 Lightning Seed, Poison Soul.

    Liang Chen had no answer to his question, nor would he ever be given an answer. This was simply how the cultivation world was, many people would kill and even betray their closest friends just to slightly increase their chances of raising their cultivation. After all, the weak could only follow the unreasonable demands of the strong, only when you had strength could you decide anything, only then could you control your own life.


    The groups of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun quickly made contact with the guardian Demonic beast, starting a battle that cracked the earth and boulders all around them. While Liang Chen''s group was quietly making their way forward, doing their best to avoid any battles, they quickly spotted other groups attempting the same tactic.


    When the various groups that were trying to sneak forward spotted each other, a fearsome glint passed through their eyes. It was clear that if they continued to sneak like this, there was a good chance that one of the other sneaking groups that had started before them would reach the target before them. In that case, they could only join in on the fray, killing the other sneaking groups before they could get any closer to the lotus. Seeing the various groups charging at each other, Lei Qiang''s expression twisted as he drew his halberd and called out in a loud voice.


    "Tch, of course they had the same plan as us. Change of plans once more! Charge forward and try to break through, protect Chen so that he can attack freely!"


    They were now closer to the lotus than they were to the exit of this area, so they could only risk it and charge forward, as charging backward meant they would have to fight through a larger number of people. As to what they would do if they managed to get a hold of the lotus, they would have to leave that question to when they actually managed to acquire it.


    Even more battles quickly broke out as the groups that had previously focused on sneaking forward joined the hell that was unfolding around them. Sun Xia and Tang Chao quickly listened to Lei Qiang''s orders, taking up formation around Liang Chen and defending him from attacks, giving him free rein to wreak havoc.


    Thanks to the Elemental Lotus, the entire area was filled with dense lightning energy, it was the perfect environment for Liang Chen. He didn''t even need to use Spirit Stones to refill his withering energy, he could simply absorb the lightning energy that was all around him, even using it as a conduit to strengthen his own attacks.


    All the lightning he absorbed coursed through his body, sinking into his flesh, muscles, bones, and his Ascended Tower, reinforcing them. His Ascended tower, which was golden in color and covered in a scaly pattern that continuously changed between emerald and violet in color, grew more and more corporeal as lightning sank into it. But even with all the lightning that sank into it, there were no signs of another floor being added to the tower, no signs of his cultivation rising.


    Liang Chen knew why it was like this, knew why his cultivation hadn''t shown any signs of rising despite all the lightning he had absorbed after entering this stone forest. The reason was that his Ascended Tower was not built up solely out of lightning, it was also built out of poison. No matter how much lightning he absorbed, he would also have to absorb just as much poison if he wanted his cultivation to increase. So until he could get his hand on poison that was not only strong enough but also plentiful enough, his cultivation would not rise.


    As he felt that it was better to have more range right now, Liang Chen pulled a spear out from his interspatial ring. He focused on delivering quick stabs with the spear, only attacking through the slim gaps that appeared between the bodies of Sun Xia and the others whenever they moved. Each stab was accompanied by the sound of muffled thunder and arcs of dancing lightning that was golden with a faint hint of azure, lighting up the area around him in a spectacular show.


    The speed of the group slowed down now that they were fighting, wading through heaps of corpses with the stench of blood stinging their noses. But while Lei Qiang and the others scrunched their noses, Liang Chen unknowingly started to hum, humming a cheerful tune that his mother had taught him when he was only a few years old.


    Not only did Liang Chen fail to notice that he was humming, he didn''t even notice the fact that his lips curled into a grim grin, blood splattering his face. He was surrounded by death and blood, flesh and corpses, the perfect place for his bestial instincts to thrive. And since Liang Chen was so focused on the task at hand, he failed to even notice the fact that his bestial instincts were somewhat dictating his actions


    But Liang Chen had already fought his bestial instincts for a while, so even with them unknowingly dictating some of his actions, his mind was still mostly clear, his morals were still there. He killed anyone who truly came at him with the intent to kill, but he left those who were unwilling or hesitant alone, hitting them with the handle of the spear and pushing them away as he gave them a warning.


    "Leave this place before you die an early death."


    His merciful words drew a stark contrast from his grim grin and cheerful humming, but none of the people he spared would take the time to tell him this, quickly fleeing now that they had been given the chance. Tang Chao and Sun Xia were not too pleased with Liang Chen letting several people leave alive, as that meant there were more people left that could steal the lotus from them. But in the heat of battle, they could only turn a blind eye and accept it.


    Blood continued to pour, not even the heavy rain able to wash it all away. Over a thousand people had arrived for the lotus, but now, after a mere ten minutes of fighting, more than half of them had all died, perishing so that someone else could have a slight chance at either getting richer or stronger.


    Liang Chen was certain that right now, in this area, to the other people fighting, the lives of everyone else had lost all worth, becoming nothing but a farce. For a short second, he could not help but let out a weak and dry chuckle at how little a life was seemingly worth, compared to what he had previously believed. Someone took advantage of this short moment where he was distracted, an arrow whizzing through the gap between Sun Xia and Lei Qiang, piercing into Liang Chen''s waist and quickly returning him to reality. Two more arrows came whizzing, but Lei Qiang quickly blocked them, one with his halberd and the other with his arm. He grit his teeth to endure the pain, quickly barking out another order.


    "Xia, protect Chen''s back! We can''t afford to have him get any more injured now that we are so close!"


    No matter how hard they tried to protect Liang Chen, it was impossible for them to block all the attacks, so several wounds had already appeared on his body, the arrow piercing into his waist being the largest of the wounds. Sun Xia quickly switched places with Tang Chao, taking up position a little to the right of Liang Chen''s rear.


    The groups of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun were still fighting the crab, suffering heavy losses, but managing to inflict wounds on the beast in return. The Demonic beast was far stronger than it had first seemed, so all of the strongest people were forced to work together in an attempt to bring it down. Thanks to that, Liang Chen''s group had managed to get very close to the Elemental Lotus, only a few hundred meters away from it. With the goal so close, Lei Qiang took out several large Spirit Stones from his interspatial ring, handing them to the rest of the group as he let out a heavy breath.


    "Last push, everyone stay focused and don''t get caught off-guard!"


    The last few hundreds of meters would be the hardest, as everyone would disregard everything and launch reckless attacks. Lei Qiang sent one last look at the members of his group, wondering if all of them would be able to make it through this alive, or if one of them would fall before it was over.


    The others quickly absorbed the Qi within the Spirit Stones, refilling their dwindling reserves as they prepared themselves. Their preparations only lasted for a short moment before they dashed forward at their highest speed, competing with the other groups over who could run faster, launch their attacks faster and stronger.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Lei Qiang and the others did their best to block attacks, but there were still quite a few that somehow managed to slip through their defenses, landing on Liang Chen and staining the ground with his blood. Lei Qiang glanced at Liang Chen with worry, but to his surprise, Liang Chen''s face was completely calm, as if the pain from the attacks wasn''t bothering him in the slightest. Had he trained his mind to such a level that pain no longer bothered him?


    Before Lei Qiang could get an answer to his question, the group arrived within fifty meters of the Elemental Lotus, the dense energy refreshing their bodies and mind. Thanks to the fact that their group was excellently balanced, they were the foremost group, the group closest to claiming the lotus.


    But that also meant that they had to face the collective attacks of the other group. A flurry of attacks was launched at them from behind, heading directly for Tang Chao and Sun Xia, who were defending the rear. The two matched eyes once more, giving each other a short nod. As if they had planned it ahead of time, both reached out and grabbed onto the backs of Liang Chen and Lei Qiang, calling out in a loud voice.


    "You block that for me!"


    They grabbed onto them tightly and exerted all their strength, and thanks to the fact that neither Liang Chen or Lei Qiang had expected it, they were able to throw the both of them behind them, right in front of the oncoming attacks. Being betrayed and thrown so suddenly, Lei Qiang could not help but call out in a dumbfounded voice.


    "Xia, Chao?!"


    Sun Xia and Tang Chao completely ignored the shout of Lei Qiang, quickly crossing the last few meters and reaching the boulder that contained the Elemental Lotus. Sun Xia shattered the shell that surrounded the lotus, quickly shouting at Tang Chao.


    "Grab the lotus, we need to flee fast, and don''t forget my cut!"


    It was not hard to realize that Tang Chao and Sun Xia had at some point come to an agreement that they would rather share the money they would get from selling the lotus between the two of them, rather than splitting it into four portions. Liang Chen''s expression turned a bit downcast at the actions of the two of them, a regretful mutter sounding out.


    "Really, how saddening."


    They had not spent a lot of time together, but they had fought and bled together, so it would be a lie if Liang Chen were to say that he did not have some warm feelings towards Tang Chao and Sun Xia. Had it not been for their actions now, he felt that they could have become good friends in the future. But sadly, they valued money more than they did friendship. But not everyone was like Sun Xia and Tang Chao. Seeing the attacks that were quickly approaching Liang Chen, Lei Qiang quickly let out a loud shout.


    "Chen, dodge!"


    Lei Qiang forcefully stabilized his body, stomping the ground and dashing forward, moving right in between Liang Chen and the oncoming attacks. Sun Xia and Tang Chao had betrayed them, but Lei Qiang came from a long line of military leaders, morals and solidarity were deeply ingrained in his bones. No matter what, betrayal was one of the things he would adamantly refuse to do. Even now he upheld those morals, doing his best to defend Liang Chen, just like he said he would when they first started charging.


    He braced himself to forcefully intercept the attacks with his own body, but it was at that moment Liang Chen moved into action. Lightning exploded out from his body, his aura and strength rapidly rising. But with the release of the lightning, bloody cracks started to appear on Liang Chen''s body, his flesh splitting apart as arcs of lightning poured out from the wound. Just looking at it made Lei Qiang cringe with pain, but Liang Chen''s face was still completely calm, if a bit downcast.


    He grabbed onto Lei Qiang with his bloody arms, holding him tightly as he stomped on the ground, turning into a blur as he shot forward, far faster than he had ever been before. The attacks that had been coming straight for them completely missed their mark, Liang Chen and Lei Qiang almost instantly reaching Tang Chao and Sun Xia.


    Liang Chen let go of Lei Qiang, stretching out his arms and grabbing onto the necks of Tang Chao and Sun Xia. The two were completely shocked at the change, Liang Chen had simply acted and moved far too fast, they didn''t even have the chance to react.


    They once worked together, but now Tang Chao and Sun Xia had betrayed them, showing that they were more than willing to kill Liang Chen and Lei Qiang if they had any incentive to do so. And because of that, the only mercy Liang Chen would show them was a quick and merciful death, his poison flooding their bodies and eroding their hearts and brains, instantly shutting them down and causing their bodies to collapse and fall down from the boulder.


    With the two of them dead, the Elemental Lotus was directly in front of Liang Chen and Lei Qiang, allowing Liang Chen to get his first glimpse of the item that had caused such an absurd amount of death.


    Even though it was called a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, it looked just like a normal lotus. The only difference was that half of its petals were a light azure in color, while the other half of the petals were a light cyan in color. The petals slowly rotated around the lotus, the Qi around it so dense that it almost turned into a fine mist. But even with the lotus directly in front of him, Lei Qiang''s eyes were locked on Liang Chen, his mouth muttering in disbelief and shock.


    "You... Chen, how did you...?"


    He had seen Liang Chen fight, he even thought very highly of Liang Chen, not only because of his strength but also because of the morals he had shown so far. But the strength he had shown so far was nothing compared to what he had shown now. The aura that radiated from his body made even Lei Qiang feel fearful, so he was certain that he would fare no better than Sun Xia if he were to try and fight Liang Chen.


    Had he hidden his strength previously? What other explanation was there for him to suddenly explode with such strength? Liang Chen ignored the shocked gaze of Lei Qiang, nudging the lotus with his foot for a short moment before he shook his head and spoke up, pointing at a small open path to the north that could be used to flee.


    "Qiang, you should flee, there is no way for us to keep this lotus, it will only bring death."


    When Liang Chen shook his head, the skin on his neck cracked open, lightning and blood pouring out. Liang Chen had no intention of explaining how he had suddenly gotten so strong, mostly because right now really wasn''t the time for it.


    The secret behind Liang Chen''s sudden explosion of strength was one of the two ideas he had come up with earlier, the one he had thought up when he saw the Lightning Quartz. The Lightning Quartz was in truth just highly concentrated lightning energy that had solidified. If it were to shatter and be released, it would release horrific amounts of energy in every direction.


    Since the Lightning Quartz could do so, why shouldn''t he be able to do the same? That was the insane thought that struck him when he touched the Lightning Quartz, an idea that could only be called reckless and dangerous. But to the weak Liang Chen, even if the idea was reckless and dangerous, he found it worth to grab onto it.


    He had quickly moved into action, using his own Qi to dig a hole into his own flesh, carving out a hollow area right beneath his heart, much like a second dantian. Once the hollow area was complete, he started to pour lightning energy into it, concentrating and compressing it until it suddenly formed a tiny seed. The tiny seed was exceedingly strange, no matter how much lightning energy he poured into it, it would not grow larger, nor would it shrink when he drained the lightning within it. Even when he drained all the lightning in it, the seed simply turned dim, it did not vanish. The seed also seemed insatiable, no matter how much lightning he poured into it, it would always be ready to accept more. He was uncertain why it was like this, but he took advantage of the situation.


    His original plan had been to carve several such hollow points in his body, filling them with lightning and detonating them when he was in dire need, using the violent energy that was released to temporarily force his strength to rise. But with this strange lightning seed, there was no need to carve several hollow points, just the one was enough. And he didn''t even have to detonate all the lightning, he could choose how much he wanted to detonate, choosing how much he raised his strength. He wasn''t certain what to name it, so he simply gave it the temporary name of Lightning Seed.


    But the technique was still in its infant state, so Liang Chen had barely any control over it. When he activated it just now, all the lightning was released in an uncontrollable fashion, overloading his body and causing it to slowly break down, hence the cracks in his flesh. This, of course, brought with it maddening amounts of pain. But luckily, Liang Chen had already activated another one of the techniques he had been working on, another technique that could only be called insane and dangerous.


    How could Liang Chen fight so recklessly during this battle, not even batting an eye when he was wounded, as if the pain meant nothing to him? That was because before the battles even began, Liang Chen had poisoned himself. He had flooded his own body with poison, numbing his nerves to a state where he was unable to feel pain. This not only allowed him to ignore any wounds, but it also helped him release more strength, as he was no longer limited by his own subconsciousness. He hadn''t come up with a proper name for this technique either, so he gave it the temporary name Poison Soul.


    But just like his Lightning Seed, this Poison Soul technique was still in an infant stage, so he was unable to use it properly. He had used too much poison, not only losing all sense of pain but even losing all sense of touch in his body, almost causing him to lose control of it. But for the moment, it had worked well enough, he could focus on working out the kinks in the future.

 Thunder Kings Judgment.

    Lei Qiang did not pursue the fact that Liang Chen had brushed aside his question, his eyes landing on the lotus in front of him. His eyes gleamed and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but he quickly shook his head, his worried eyes turning to Liang Chen.


    "But what about you?"


    Liang Chen had told him to flee, he had not said anything about himself fleeing. Was he planning on staying? Here, in this hell where everyone was his enemy? Had it not been for the fact that the other groups were shocked by his sudden burst of strength, the two of them would have already been drowned in attacks. Facing his question, a bitter smile appeared on Liang Chen''s face as he picked up the lotus, which was a little larger than his palm.


    "Even if I were to throw this lotus at them, they would worry that I have done something to it, so they likely won''t just let me leave. Because of that, there is something I am going to do. Don''t worry, I won''t die here, not yet, not before I have killed those I must kill."


    Liang Chen had, in fact, told a little lie just now. It wasn''t that they would worry that he had done something to it, it was that they would realize he had done something to it and chase him. The moment Liang Chen had gotten close to the lotus, his instincts went into overdrive, shouting and screaming, clawing at the inside of his mind.


    Liang Chen managed to ignore his instincts, as he was certain that if he were to do anything to this lotus, the remaining survivors would swarm him and kill him. It was a shame, but this lotus was not something he could have, this entire trip had been in vain. But even if he thought that, it seemed like he was not allowed to have it that easy.


    The moment he got close to the lotus, the lightning energy within it started to automatically enter his body, attracted by his Lightning Seed and all the other lightning energy within his body. If the others were to see the lotus, they would quickly realize that some of the lightning energy within it had vanished. And since Liang Chen was one of the few that had touched the lotus, as well as the fact that he had the lightning element, it would not take a lot of guessing to realize that it was he who had absorbed the missing lightning energy.


    Lei Qiang had no idea what he could say in this situation. He knew that Liang Chen was right, this lotus was not something they could have, this trip was nothing but a disaster for them. And seeing Liang Chen''s determined eyes, he knew that there was no changing his mind. In the end, he decided to stand up and stretch out his hand, giving Liang Chen a wide smile.


    "Very well. Once you get out of here, come to find me in Eternal Stream city, we can share some drinks, I would love to hear about where you came from, a bit more in-depth this time."


    He found Liang Chen to be somewhat similar to him, he was a person that would be a good friend. Lei Qiang''s words also implied what he planned to do after fleeing this place, leaving the Mystic''s Hidden realm and returning home. Liang Chen also put on a smile, stretching out his free hand, the both of them shaking hands.


    "That sounds nice, let''s do that."


    After shaking hands, Lei Qiang gave Liang Chen one last long look before he turned away and started running, fleeing with all his might, turning back to look at Liang Chen twice as he ran. No one chased Lei Qiang, so he quickly managed to leave the area, fleeing to freedom. Liang Chen on the other hand, faced the group of people that were greedily eyeing him and the lotus, casually sitting down and waiting.


    After waiting for close to 15 minutes, a large explosion rocked the area, the crab Demonic beast finally collapsing to the ground, its spiraling shell shattered. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun had lost many people, but their groups were still the strongest in the area, so when they walked over with heavy breaths, everyone made way for them, silently cursing themselves for not making a move on Liang Chen earlier. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun stopped a short distance away from Liang Chen, glancing at the lotus in his hand before they stretched out their hands and spoke simultaneously.


    "Kid, hand over that lotus and allow us to extract the energy you have absorbed from it. If you do that, we will let you leave alive."


    Their words left Liang Chen no quarter, gave him only a single way out. The energy extracted from the lotus had gone straight to his Lightning Seed and Ascended Tower, extracting it would require them to shatter both of those things, completely crippling him in the process. Facing all the people that were greedily looking at him and had probably already sentenced him to death, Liang Chen found that his mind turned crystal clear, a light laughter ringing out from his mouth as he stood up.


    "Just look at the lot of you. A single Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus is born, and all of you are ready to kill and betray everyone around you, just for a chance to touch the lotus, it is laughable."


    It was truly laughable how easily all of these people were willing to kill and betray others, despite knowing that they were probably never going to even get close to the lotus. Tian Shentu only let out a cold snort after hearing Liang Chen''s laughter.


    "Don''t try to lecture us kid, you did exactly the same."


    They had not seen how Liang Chen had reached the lotus, but it was clear that he had killed several people to acquire it, there were even two corpses on the ground right next to the boulder he stood on. Faced with Tian Shentu''s cold snort, Liang Chen gave a slight shake of his head, narrowing his eyes slightly as he glanced at some of the people that were hiding in the crowd.


    "No, I only killed those who wanted to kill me, the rest I let go. I won''t deny that I am bad, but I am not even close to as bad as the rest of you, who killed everyone in sight. I even saw some of you specifically target others so that you could kill and rob them."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Liang Chen did not consider himself a good person. He had decided to kill people like Qing Lan Yong and the bandits, bad people who remorselessly ruined the lives of others, often innocent people. But that did not change what he did. He killed people, he ended lives and probably tore families apart. Just like those he killed, he could be considered a monster. Even more so when he thought about how easily his body absorbed Demonic beast blood and even their Demon Crystal, even his body was slowly changing to becoming more monstrous.


    Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun seemed to be wary of each other and the remaining people, so while it looked like their patience was reaching its end, none of them made a move, they simply crossed their arms in front of their chest and spoke to Liang Chen.


    "Kid, whatever you are trying to say, just get it over with and hand over the lotus and the absorbed energy."


    They were not only worried about the remaining people but also worried that Liang Chen would ruin the lotus if they acted rashly. So since Liang Chen seemed to be the chatty type, they decided to take advantage of the situation to stealthily restore their energy. Liang Chen had plans of his own, so he did not reject the offer of Tian Shentu, a faint sneer appearing on his face as he questioned them.


    "You won''t let me go until I hand over the lotus and let you extract the energy that I absorbed from it? Even if doing so will cripple me?"


    If they crippled him right here, his body would lose the Qi that protected it. Not only would the pressure of this hidden realm completely crush him, but the ever-present lightning in this area would also roast him, quickly killing him. Extracting the energy was the same as giving him a death sentence. This time it was Zhao Daiyun who let out a snort, causing Liang Chen to wonder if the people who came from the superpower sects were fond of snorting like this when talking to others.


    "So what? You shouldn''t have absorbed something that wasn''t yours. If you truly want to curse something, curse your own bad luck that caused you to be so unlucky that you were close to the lotus as it was born, you just had a bad roll of the dice."


    Zhao Daiyun''s words reminded Liang Chen of the words that the bandit leader had told him when they were trying to rob him inside the city. His slight sneer vanished, turning into a faint smirk as he looked at Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun. Since he was standing atop the boulder, it gave the impression that he was looking down upon them, that they were beneath him.


    "A bad roll of the dice, huh? I seem to be getting those a lot, it''s quite annoying. But let me tell you this, I refuse to let someone else roll the dice for me. I will roll it, I will choose what it lands on."


    Liang Chen was tired of getting bad rolls, tired of others blaming things on good or bad rolls of the dice. He would grab the dice, he would decide his own actions and outcomes, his fate was his and his alone to decide. If he were to succeed or fail, it would not be because of the roll of a dice, it would be because of his own hard work, or lack thereof. Tian Shentu did not like how it felt like Liang Chen was looking down on them, so he stamped his foot slightly and started to speak out in an annoyed voice.


    "Kid, my patience..."


    Tian Shentu was not able to finish his words, the laughter of Liang Chen interrupting him. Liang Chen held the lotus high with his right hand while using his left hand to point at the crowd in front of him, the smirk on his face turning into a grin that held a hint of insanity.


    "Look at the lot of you. You can''t wait to tear me apart, even though I have never met or harmed any of you before. Monsters, scum, and trash, that is all I see around me right now. None of you deserve this lotus, so let it all vanish, like ash on the wind."


    The moment Liang Chen finished his sentence in a strangely calm fashion, a horrifying sense of danger flooded Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, making them feel like they were facing the god of death. They did not bother thinking about the reason, they simply shouted out a desperate order at the top of their lungs, pulling out talismans and flags from their interspatial rings.


    "Defensive formation, NOW!"


    But it was already too late, Liang Chen had bought all the time he needed. The air all around him lit up, crackling with tiny arcs of crimson lightning. The lotus in his hand trembled fiercely as if it was releasing a cry towards the high heavens. A loud booming sound rang out, drowning out everything else. The sky split apart, crimson bolts of lightning flashing across the heavens and dying the earth red.


    This was what Liang Chen had decided on doing the moment he let Lei Qiang flee, to call upon the lightning that resided within the sky of this hidden realm. Not the azure lightning that filled every inch of this land, but the crimson lightning that resided even higher than the azure lightning, maybe even lightning that resided higher than that.


    But he could not do it on his own, he was too weak to call upon enough lightning, he needed a conduit, something to amplify his own calling power. And wasn''t this Elemental Lotus just perfect for that?


    He sent almost all of his energy and mind into the lotus, then stretching out towards the heavens, past the clouds, higher than ever before. And the heavens responded to his call, sending forth furious bolts of lightning to punish those he had deemed monsters.


    But the lotus was still only a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, the lightning within it was also of the azure variety, so there was no way for Liang Chen to actually control the crimson lightning that he summoned, he could only let it wreak havoc, just like when he used it to kill the snake.


    But the bolts of lightning that answered his call this time were far thicker than the one from back then, there were also far more of them, the entire sky covered in them. Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun sent Liang Chen a horrified gaze, terrified at what he had brought. They immediately knew that their defensive formations were useless in this situation, so they swiped their interspatial rings and took out a talisman that looked like a pair of transparent wings.


    Before Liang Chen got to see what the talismans would do, the bolts of lightning descended down onto the earth. The rain evaporated, the stones melted, the people who still remained were blown apart upon being struck by the furious lightning. The Thunder King had proclaimed his judgement, and the punishment was death.


    Liang Chen was not able to see what became of Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, a single dreadful bolt of violet lightning descending from the sky. The crimson bolts of lightning gave the violet bolt plenty of space, it was like a king descending to the earth. And the place where the violet lightning was headed was precisely the lotus that Liang Chen was holding.


    There was no way for Liang Chen to react, the bolt of lightning traveled far faster than any speed he had ever seen, any speed he was able to imagine. By the time he noticed it, it had already arrived by him. The lotus turned to ash before it was even struck but the lightning, the ash sticking to Liang Chen''s body and entering it through the cracks in his flesh.


    The lightning struck Liang Chen''s body and the world instantly turned dark, not even giving him time for a single thought or blink. The crimson bolts of lightning quickly started to dwindle, leaving behind only a ruined landscape covered in body parts and ash. The only sound present within this hellish landscape was the faint beating of a heart.

 The maw in the darkness

    The sound of running footsteps started to approach the hidden basin a bit of time after Liang Chen called down the crimson and violet lightning, a group of people quickly appearing at the peak of one of the surrounding mountains. The group consisted of almost 10 people that were mixed in age and gender.


    Standing at the front of the group was a male youth who looked like he was in his early twenties, Yan Ying. He had deep green hair that reached down to just above his ears, chiseled features, pitch black eyes, and was clad in tight-fitting armor made out of the hide of a scaled beast. When his eyes landed on the basin below them, which was still filled with body parts and blood, he couldn''t help but scrunch up his nose, pointing at the basin.


    "This is the place where the heavenly lightning struck. It''s a gruesome sight, but let''s try to see if we can find any traces of what might have summoned the lightning."


    Yan Ying''s group had felt it when the crimson and violet lightning ravaged the earth here, rushing over at their fastest speed. Heavenly lightning would only descend when a magnificent treasure was born, or when power people were making a breakthrough in their cultivation. The people behind him quickly dashed into the basin, Yan Ying following right after them.


    They quickly spread out and started to scour through every inch of the basin in search for what they presumed was a great treasure. Everyone who had died there had been a cultivator, every inch of their body containing Qi. Because of that, even though several hours had passed, the blood that dyed the earth red was still fresh and wet, splashing around as people walked through it. Yan Ying could not help but look at all the corpses, his eyebrows furrowing.


    "Blown apart, evaporated, some even melted. Just how much heavenly lightning had to strike this place to cause such havoc? Any luck with the search?"


    Such a large area had been affected, so many people dying, it was clear that there had been far more than just one bolt of heavenly lightning that struck this place. Shortly after Yan Ying called out his question, there was a shocked shout from the center of the basin.


    "Young Master, there is a survivor!"


    Not only Yan Ying, the others that were searching were also surprised at the response. There were so many dead here, just how had someone managed to survive this carnage? Yan Ying quickly dashed over to the subordinate that had called out, finding a naked child lying on the ground.


    The child had emerald green hair, and pushing open his eyelids showed that he had golden pupils. His body was covered in blood and a few wounds, scars that resembled cracks filling his back. Yan Ying crouched down next to the child, Liang Chen, and inspected the outside of his body, letting out a slight mutter after giving him a quick inspection.


    "There really was a survivor. He looks to be in bad shape, but nothing fatal. Did you find anything else here?"


    The subordinate, Dong Qiu, a dwarf of a man that had a bushy blonde bear and a bald head, pointed at the molten earth below Liang Chen, at what used to be a several meters tall boulder.


    "Traces of what might have been a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. That might be what drew down the heavenly lightning."


    There were no remains of the Elemental Lotus, as it had turned to dust before the violet lightning even struck it, but Dong Qiu was still able to sense traces of its Qi in the air. Yan Ying also sensed the traces of the Elemental Lotus, giving a slight nod of his head before turning towards another one of his subordinates, an old man covered in wrinkles and spread tufts of white hair.


    "Maybe. Bring the kid with us. Old Chen, take a look at his state and see if there is anything we can do."


    A Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus was indeed capable of calling down heavenly lightning with some assistance but was it truly enough to call down the amount of heavenly lightning needed to cause carnage like this? But as they had found nothing else, Yan Ying could only accept it for the time being. The man called Old Chen couldn''t help but start slightly after being called out, glancing at the unconscious Liang Chen before stating his opinion with a shake of his head.


    "You wish to bring him with us? Young Master, I must advise against bringing someone unknown with us."


    Old Chen could tell that Liang Chen''s cultivation was far lower than even the weakest member of their group, but he was still someone unknown, so he could be a risk. Yan Ying stood up after hearing Old Chen''s opinion, he pointed at Liang Chen, speaking in a firm tone that left no room for rebuttal.


    "By the gods, he is just a young child, he doesn''t even look like he has come of age yet! Just look at his wounds, it is clear that he has suffered quite a bit. I don''t know what brought him here, but as long as I have the power, I will not leave such a young child to die. Bring him with us."


    Yan Ying would not allow another child to die in front of his eyes because he had chosen not to take action, that was the one thing he would never allow himself to do. With Yan Ying this determined, Old Chen could only lower his head and follow orders.


    "As you wish."


    The rest of the group quickly finished their scouring of the basin but found nothing of worth, even the interspatial rings of the dead had disintegrated because of the lightning, their contents lost in space. Since they found nothing of interest, they grabbed Liang Chen and left the basin.


    Outside the basin stood several carriages that resembled small houses, large horses covered in scales standing calmly in front of the carriages. The group boarded the carriages and started making their way deeper into the hidden realm, back to where they had been exploring earlier.


    Yan Ying and Old Chen broughtLiang Chen onto the rearmost carriage, placing him down on an empty bed. The inside of the carriage was shaped like a single large room filled with several empty beds, a place where they could let others take a rest if they encountered them on their journey. Yan Ying sat down on one of the empty beds, beckoning towards Liang Chen.


    "Old Chen, you can start examining the kid now."


    Old Chen nodded and walked over to Liang Chen, placing his palms on Liang Chen''s chest and using his Qi to inspect the inside of Liang Chen''s body, examining every nook and cranny. As he continued his inspection, his face couldn''t help but distort, an unbelieving mutter escaping from his lips.


    "By all that is holy..."


    Yan Ying rarely saw Old Chen make an expression like this, so he quickly walked over, glancing at Liang Chen''s scarred body as he questioned.


    "What did you find?"


    Old Chen removed his palms from Liang Chen''s body, taking out a cyan colored robe from his interspatial ring and placing it over his naked body. As he looked at Liang Chen, his eyes contained a hint of pity. He took a deep breath and then started to report what he had found.


    "His insides are in a horrid mess, but they are slowly repairing themselves, draining what little Qi he has left to heal him. It... It is also likely that the child has suffered inhumane and forbidden torture from a young age."


    Not only were Liang Chen''s organs and veins charred and twisted, many of his bones were broken in several places. But despite these wounds, Liang Chen had not died and was instead slowly healing! Even if they had not found him, Old Chen guessed that he would wake up after a few days and be mostly healed.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "His veins, his flesh, his blood, every inch of his being has been twisted and tainted by lightning and poison Qi. The Qi has sunk so deep into his very being that his body will likely never be able to absorb any other types of Qi again, they will be like poison to him, tearing him apart if he should try to absorb them."


    Old Chen wasn''t lying when he said every inch, even Liang Chen''s heart and brain, even his spiritual sea, the place where his mind and soul resided, were tainted by those two elements. Old Chen had a much higher cultivation than Liang Chen so he did not believe that an unconscious Liang Chen could hide anything from him.


    But there was, in fact, one thing he was unable to see as he meticulously searched Liang Chen''s body, and that was the Lightning Seed that was located just below Liang Chen''s heart. The seed had originally been golden with a tint of azure, but now it had also taken on a slight hue of crimson and violet, hair-thin roots spreading out from the seed and entering Liang Chen''s Ascended Tower. Yan Ying listened to the explanation but failed to see the connection between that and Old Chen''s earlier words, so he raised an eyebrow and asked.


    "What does that have to do with him likely being tortured?"


    Old Chen took another deep breath, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a thin book that was bound in strange gray leather. He opened the book, turning towards a page near the end and showing it to Yan Ying as he continued his explanation.


    "Because it is very reminiscent of an ancient experiment performed while cultivation was still in its infant stages. The basis was that one filled the body of a child who had yet to absorb any Qi with Qi of a certain element, staining every inch of their being with it. The experiment tried to forcefully raise one''s affinity towards a certain element, but it would always result in a horrifying death after having to suffer unimaginable pain. It was quickly banned as a forbidden experiment, but there are still some that try to perfect it. Even after all these countless years, there have never been reports of any humans surviving the experiment. If he truly was forced to go through that horrid experiment, his survival is nothing short of a miracle."


    The time period Old Chen spoke of was incredibly ancient, taking place not long after the birth of this universe. It was impossible for him to have lived that long, so all he knew about the experiment and that time period were things he had read in the deeper parts of his sect''s library. Yan Ying quickly caught onto the meaning of Old Chen''s oddly specific words, so he pressed on.


    "No humans have ever survived it? So some of the other races have managed to survive it?"


    The universe was inhabited by a vast number of races, each which had their own special abilities or traits. Humans were not the most blessed of the races, but they managed to breed quickly, so they were able to spread all over the universe. Old Chen gave a deep nod of his head, flipping a few more pages of the book.


    "Indeed. The experiment was occasionally conducted on some of the other races, almost always leading to their death. But there were two that managed to survive the experiment, one was from the Fiendgod race of the Hidden World, and the other was from the Undead race of the Hidden World. But both of the survivors became crippled because of the experiment, not able to absorb any types of Qi. After that, one turned feral and had to be killed, while the other turned mad and killed himself by slamming his head into the ground until he died."


    The Hidden World was just that, a place that no one really knew where was, nor did they know what the continent was like. The only people from that place that had arrived on this planet or others had done so by being sucked into a spatial rift and forcibly teleported away. But after arriving on the planets, none of those people spoke a word about their own homeworld, not even giving its name. When they tried to force the words out of their mouths using torture or mind-controlling drugs, the people chose to kill themselves instead of telling anything.


    But there was one piece of information that people managed to guess about this Hidden World, and that was the fact that it likely contained very few humans. Over countless years, quite a few people had arrived from this Hidden World, but they were always from some strange races, there had never been a single human. Yan Ying wasn''t clueless about the Hidden World and the known races that came from there, so he couldn''t help but look at Liang Chen with a raised eyebrow.


    "And this kid? He doesn''t seem to be from their races."


    Of course, it could be that Liang Chen was someone from a previously unknown race, but Yan Ying found it highly unlikely that there could still be any unknown races in this universe, too many years had passed for them to stay hidden and unknown. Old Chen quickly spoke up, his voice high-pitched and tinged with excitement.


    "That''s the strange part! He has no features that place him among any other race, he seems to be completely human. And looking at his Ascended Tower, he can even cultivate normally, as long as it is only the elements of poison and lightning! There are two possibilities that I can think of. The first is that I am wrong and the child has never undergone that experiment but rather something similar. The other possibility is that the child was forced to go through the experiment and managed to survive, that he is a miracle."


    Old Chen could only imagine the inhuman pain Liang Chen had to endure for every inch of his body to be tainted in poison and lightning, and for that, he pitied him. But at the same time, he was quite excited at the prospects that there might be someone who had managed to perfect that ancient experiment. Yan Ying ignored Old Chen''s high-pitched voice, placing a finger on Liang Chen''s chest, where his heart was placed.


    "What about his heritage, is he from any of the clans?"


    The various clans and races had special bloodlines, while the various sects had special marking methods. Checking either of these would allow others to quickly learn where the other party had their origins, making it easy to identify them. Old Chen had already checked for this, so he immediately shook his head.


    "No, he doesn''t have the bloodline belonging to any of the large clans or races, nor the mark of any sect."


    This was another part that Old Chen found strange. Even the slaves and servants of sects and clans would have some type of mark placed on them. For Liang Chen to have nothing like this, it most likely meant he came from no sect or clan, he might just be a completely normal child. But then, how had his body ended up in the state that it was? Yan Ying removed his finger from Liang Chen''s chest. He hadn''t found any marks either, so he gave a nod of his head and put the matter aside for the moment.


    "I see. Let''s wait for him to wake up, we can ask him about his past then. Have Teng Yimu stand ready for that time."


    Teng Yimu was one of his subordinates that specialized in a very strange element, one based on the soul. Thanks to that, he was able to use his Qi and the energy of his soul to determine if people spoke the truth. He was perfect for a questioning session like this.


    --


    While Liang Chen''s unconscious body was taken away by Yan Ying and the others, his mind sank deeper into the darkness, once again dreaming of that haunting scene. But this time, the dream was a bit different from how it had always been.


    He stood in front of the scaffolding where his parents were to be executed, but this time, it wasn''t his Uncle Xiang that stood next to his parents, it was Qing Chun. The three of them stood in front of the scaffolding, the surrounding crowd strangely quiet as Liang Chen looked at the three of them. He knew that this was nothing but a dream that his subconscious had created, but looking at the three people standing in front of him, he still couldn''t help but burst into tears and spill out his feelings.


    "Father, Mother, Big Sister Chun... I am so terribly lonely. Why did you leave me all alone?"


    Liang Chen was barely 13, yet not only had he lost his parents and been forced to split up with the one person he could consider a friend, he had also been chased out of the city he had called home all his life. No matter how determined he was to get his revenge, all this still took a toll on him and his mind. He wasn''t expecting a proper answer, but the Qing Chun in front of him actually walked forward, shaking her head.


    "Because you are weak. With your little strength, how could we possibly stay at your side? We would only die an early death."


    Liang Chen was shocked at the response from Qing Chun, but before he got the chance to say anything, his parents stepped forward. Just like the day they were executed, they placed their hands on his shoulder and spoke up.


    "Son, you must listen to me."


    Liang Chen instantly focused on them his eyes growing red. With the both of them in front of him, it was like they had never left. His mother''s long black hair, his father''s short brown hair, their kind features, their familiar scent, their brown eyes, Liang Chen remembered it perfectly. After making sure that Liang Chen was paying full attention to them, his parents spoke up, their voices strangely synchronized.


    "You must release me, you must set me free."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but tilt his head in confusion, as he failed to understand the words. But before he got to state his confusion, the world around him turned into a nightmare. The faces of his parents and Qing Chun, as well as all the surrounding people, started to droop and melt. A black crack appeared in their heads, splitting them wide open, like a massive maw. His parents and Qing Chun grabbed onto him, while the surrounding people were slowly walking closer, a distorted and horrid chant sounding out.


    "RelEAse Me! ReLEAse Me rEleaSE ME! SeT ME FrEe AnD LEt mE feAST!"


    The surrounding people started to melt into the ground, the entire city around him trembling fiercely. A massive crack split the entire city in half and started to slowly widen, like a massive maw that was trying to swallow Liang Chen and the rest of the city, his parents trying to draw him into the darkness below. But before they were able to draw him down into the depths of the darkness, his entire body jolted awake and he found himself lying in an unknown bed.

 Yan Yings offer.

    Liang Chen''s face was pale as he jolted awake, quickly sitting up. His body was drenched in sweat, the blanket and bed almost completely soaked. He tried to tell himself that what he had just seen was nothing more than a bad dream, a horrid nightmare. But why did it feel so real? Why was there a voice he had never heard before present within the nightmare? Liang Chen quickly shook his head to discard the thoughts, sweeping the room around him with his gaze, muttering to himself.


    "Where am I?"


    The room he was in was completely devoid of any decorations, containing only several beds that were identical to the one he was lying in. There was a door a few meters away from him, but Liang Chen didn''t choose to see where it led, first gathering his thoughts and checking his own body.


    The first thing he noticed as he gathered his thoughts was the fact that the omnipresent pressure had grown much stronger than it was in the stone forest. It had reached a point where he felt as if he had returned to the first day after entering the hidden realm, where even the simple act of walking was strenuous, so it was likely that he was currently located at a location deeper within the hidden realm. His interspatial ring was gone, most likely destroyed by the bolt of lightning that struck him, he was also clad in a cyan robe he had never seen before.


    He sank his vision into his own body, checking the condition of his wounds and his Ascended Tower. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only had most of his wounds fully healed, but his body had also grown quite a bit stronger. But that was completely normal, after all, the process of strengthening one''s body was all about breaking down the body and then rebuilding it stronger than before.


    Finally, Liang Chen checked his Ascended Tower, shocked at what he saw. There were hair-thin roots coiling around his Ascended Tower, even digging into it. The roots came from his Lightning Seed, which was now more colorful than when he first made it. Liang Chen was not only shocked at the fact that the Lightning Seed had sprouted roots, but also at what those roots were doing.


    They were leeching off the energy within his Ascended Tower, the energy vanishing into the seed. Had it not been for the abundant Qi within the air around him continuously replenishing the Qi within the Ascended Tower, it was likely that he would have already been drained of all his Qi. Looking at the seed, Liang Chen could not help but mutter to himself.


    "Just what are you, what have I created?"


    When Liang Chen had started compressing his lightning Qi, he would never have guessed that it would spawn something like this Lightning Seed. Even he, as the creator, had no idea what was going on with it, or what it would turn into.


    As he checked his Ascended Tower and the Lightning Seed, he also checked his cultivation. Despite the great amount of lightning energy that he had absorbed, his cultivation had not risen in the slightest, still stuck at the early stage of the Houtian Tower realm. But that was something he had already expected. His Ascended Tower was constructed from his lightning and poison elements, so it would need to be nourished by both if he wanted to increase his cultivation.


    While Liang Chen was checking out his Ascended Tower and the Lightning Seed, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. He quickly raised his head, spotting a youth who seemed to be in his twenties, with black eyes and deep green hair. Yan Ying immediately noticed that Liang Chen had woken up, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "You have awoken, good."


    Yan Ying touched the violet bracelet that hung on his left wrist, one that was in the shape of a coiling dragon, a milky white orb appearing in his hand. He inserted some Qi into the orb and whispered a few words into it, putting it away once he was done.


    He waited by the door for a bit, the sound of rushing footsteps quickly getting closer, two more people entering the room. The ones who entered the room was the wrinkled and white-haired Old Chen, as well as Teng Yimu, a middle-aged man who had a face covered in freckles, short brown hair, and a chin covered in silver stubble. After the two entered the room and joined Yan Ying, they walked forward, Yan Ying sitting down on the bed that was located next to Liang Chen''s, putting on a calming smile as he spoke.


    "I am Yan Ying, this is Old Chen and Teng Yimu. I know that you have just woken up, but we want to ask you a few questions, please answer them honestly."


    Liang Chen could only give a short nod after hearing Yan Ying''s statement. Ever since Yan Ying had entered the room, Liang Chen''s tension and vigilance had shot through the roof. Looking at Yan Ying and the two others, he felt only one thing, despair. Even without his sharpened instincts telling him, he knew that there was no way for him to fight these three people. He couldn''t tell what cultivation level they had reached, but he was certain that he was no more than an ant to them.


    This was a feeling Liang Chen had only felt twice before. The first time was when he watched his parents get executed and knew that he was unable to do anything. The second time was when he first met the two strange people that had acted as guards for his Big Sister Chun. Yan Ying paid no attention to Liang Chen''s tension, simply starting the questioning.


    "What is your name, where do you come from, and are you connected to any sects or clans?"


    After Yan Ying asked his question, Teng Yimu stealthily moved into action, an invisible stream of energy entering Liang Chen''s soul and spiritual sea. The moment Liang Chen spoke a lie or tried to hide something, Teng Yimu would be able to feel it. But facing overwhelmingly strong people like these, the thought of lying never even entered Liang Chen''s mind.


    "My name is Liang Chen, I come from the Green Rivers city, and no, I am not connected to any sect or clan."


    If Liang Chen had any connection to a clan, it would be the hatred he felt towards the Qing clan for what they had done to his parents. Yan Ying tilted his head slightly after hearing the answers, rolling his eyes slightly.


    "Green Rivers city, why does that sound so familiar?"


    The name rang a bell within his mind, but he failed to grasp exactly where he had heard it. Old Chen quickly sent him a sound transmission, words wrapped in Qi so that he could send them wherever his Qi could reach. With the reminder from Old Chen, Yan Ying immediately recalled everything, clapping his hands as he realized something.


    "Oh, it''s the city where that entire farce took place! Wait, your name is Liang Chen, weren''t your parents the ones that got..."


    Yan Ying quickly stopped his words when he saw Liang Chen''s face darken and realized that his words were basically the same as poking a wound with a red-hot knife. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Liang Chen, returning to his questioning.


    "But if your parents were part of the Qing clan, then doesn''t that mean that you are part of the Qing clan?"


    Liang Chen said that he had no connection to any of the clans or sects, and Teng Yimu had informed Yan Ying that Liang Chen was speaking the truth. Did this mean that Liang Chen was able to deceive Teng Yimu and his senses? Liang Chen''s expression turned a bit gloomier, but he still honestly answered.


    "I am not their true son. They found me abandoned in a forest while I was a baby. But even if I were their true son, I would never have a connection with the Qing clan."


    Liang Chen knew that he was not the actual son of Qing Lan and Qing Feng, he was only a substitute they had picked up because they were unable to have children of their own. But despite that, they had treated him like a true son, and he had seen them as his actual parents. Even if he were to meet his birth parents in the future, he would refuse to acknowledge them.


    Yan Ying''s eyes lit up with understanding. If he was an adopted child, it would explain why he didn''t have the clan bloodline or marking technique, it also made his earlier statement of not having any connection true. With Teng Yimu letting him know that Liang Chen was speaking the truth, Yan Ying continued to press on with more questions.


    "We found you unconscious, surrounded by body parts and blood. What happened in that basin?"


    Even if he pitied Liang Chen for losing his parents at such a young age, he still had to get an answer to a few more of the questions he had. Once again, Liang Chen answered honestly.


    "A Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus was born, starting a massive battle. In the end, I had to use the lotus to call down the lightning in the sky, resulting in the bloodbath you saw."


    Liang Chen had no idea where this Yan Ying came from, but with the might they possessed, he doubted that they would care tremendously about a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus. But even if they did care about it, Liang Chen didn''t even have an interspatial ring on him anymore, so he doubted that they would believe he still had the lotus. Just like he guessed, Yan Ying didn''t pursue the topic of the Elemental Lotus, not even asking how he had used it to draw down the lightning from the sky, instead asking about something completely different.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "What elements do you cultivate?"


    Yan Ying and the others already knew what elements Liang Chen cultivated, he mostly just asked about it to see if Liang Chen had the intentions of hiding anything. But once again, Liang Chen answered honestly, so Yan Ying guessed that he either wasn''t the type to lie, or he realized the vast difference in strength.


    "Poison and lightning."


    After getting the honest response, Yan Ying leaned a bit forward, his eyes narrowing slightly as he asked one of the questions that both he and Old Chen were most curious about.


    "And how did you come to possess these two elements, did your parents perform any vile or painful experiments on you?"


    Old Chen''s ears perked up slightly, making sure that he would not miss anything. What if his parents had used him as a guinea pig, perfecting that ancient experiment? Liang Chen''s expression quickly sank, lightning flashing within his eyes as he loudly growled out an answer.


    "My parents were good people! They would never do anything like that to me!"


    Even if the difference in strength between them was insurmountable and fighting them was the same as asking them to kill him, there were things Liang Chen would never allow, and insulting his parents like that was one of those things. Yan Ying leaned backward after getting the angry response, raising his hands to show that he had not meant anything bad with his question.


    "Sorry sorry. Then how and when did you acquire your two elements?"


    It seemed like the answer Liang Chen had given was the truth. Was it really just a coincidence that his current state resembled that ancient experiment? Liang Chen''s eyes grew a tad distant as he remembered the first time he cultivated using Demonic beast blood. It wasn''t that long ago, but it felt like several years had passed since then.


    "I acquired them shortly after my parents were made into scapegoats and executed. I had to quickly start cultivating and grow stronger, but the speed of my cultivation was simply too slow, so I had to use a different method. I killed weak demonic beasts and gathered up their blood, filling a hole I had dug in the ground with it. Once the hole was full, I jumped into the blood and used it to cultivate, drawing upon some lightning that happened to be present in the sky at the same time. Since the blood mostly came from Demonic beasts that used poison, I ended up acquiring the poison element after the blood and the energy within it invaded my body."


    Not only Yan Ying, even Old Chen and Teng Yimu were quite shocked at Liang Chen''s reply. The first thing he did as he started cultivating was to bathe in Demonic beast blood? Even if it was the blood of the weakest Demonic beasts, it should still be enough to tear apart his body, especially if one added on the violent energy contained within lightning. Yet he had survived through it! Just how much pain did he endure as he made it through it, and just how did he manage to keep onto his sanity?


    "You bathed in Demonic beast blood, with your strength? Why?"


    Since Liang Chen said that the speed of his cultivation was too slow, it was clear that he had a goal in mind. It was likely also this goal that had allowed him to keep his sanity throughout the torturous ordeal. Liang Chen''s eyes once again flashed with lightning, his voice dripping with hatred.


    "There is someone that I must kill, so I couldn''t afford to stay weak."


    Talking with this Yan Ying was strangely calming and freeing. Liang Chen was uncertain if it was because of how calm and relaxed, even sympathetic, Yan Ying looked, or if it was because this was the first time Liang Chen had actually talked with anyone else about what he had gone through and what he was planning. Since Yan Ying knew a bit about what had taken place in Green Rivers city, he didn''t even need to ask to figure out who Liang Chen wanted to kill, an amused chuckle escaping his lips.


    "Let me guess, Qing Lan Yong? Heh, you got quite the goal there, Little Chen, that''s gonna be quite tough. But hey, it would make for quite a tale if you manage it."


    The sect that Yan Ying was part of didn''t have a friendly relationship with the Nightshield sect that Qing Lan Yong was part of, they could even be called slightly antagonistic against each other. So Yan Ying did not care if Liang Chen wanted to hunt down Qing Lan Yong and cause trouble for him. Quite the opposite even, if Liang Chen managed to kill Qing Lan Yong, the Nightshield sect would lose a very promising disciple.


    Yan Ying rolled his eyes for a bit, thinking if there were any other questions he wanted to ask. In the end, he could not come up with any more questions about Liang Chen, so he instead gave him a choice.


    "Alright, Little Chen, those were all the questions I wanted to ask. We are currently quite a few kilometers away from the stone forest where we found you, and we are still heading deeper into the hidden realm. Do you want to come with us, or do you want to go back and meet up with your group?"


    The way Yan Ying saw it, Liang Chen had likely teamed up with some other people to venture into the stone forest, as very few people would choose to wander that place alone. Liang Chen only spent a short moment thinking about the choices before he gave his answer.


    "I don''t have a group, so if you don''t mind me following you, then I will do so."


    Judging by the pressure that was currently crashing down on him, they were clearly quite deep within the hidden realm. The resources he could find here would be far better than the ones he could find in the stone forest, so as long as he was willing to risk it, he could reap great rewards. And if there was one thing Liang Chen was not afraid of, it was taking risks.


    After all, what else did he have left to lose at this point? His parents were gone, his only friend had gone someplace unknown, Liang Chen was completely alone. Of course, that did not mean that he would simply accept death if it were to come for him, he would fight back with everything he had, clawing to life no matter how shameful he ended up looking. Yan Ying nodded his head at the expected reply, waving his hand at Teng Yimu.


    "Alright. Yimu, mind getting Little Chen some more clothing and a weapon or two, something he can use to defend himself. At the same time, introduce him to the others."


    Liang Chen''s interspatial ring had disintegrated thanks to the violet bolt of lightning, so he would of course not have any weapons of spare clothing on him. Teng Yimu quickly nodded his head, helping Liang Chen stand up and assisting him out of the room. He was still a bit wounded, and with the pressure crushing down on him, his walking speed was almost snail-like.


    The moment Liang Chen and Teng Yimu left the room, Old Chen couldn''t help but look at Yan Ying, a worried expression on his face.


    "Young Master, are you sure you should trust him like that, bringing him along?"


    Old Chen had to admit that Liang Chen didn''t seem like a bad person, but that was only based on the first impression, they still didn''t know what he was really like. Yan Ying on the other hand simply shrugged his shoulders casually in the face of Old Chen''s worried expression.


    "Trust him? There is no way I am trusting him, I barely know anything about him."


    Yan Ying was a mostly easy-going person, he even felt sympathy for Liang Chen, but that did not mean that he trusted him. Old Chen was simultaneously relaxed and surprised at Yan Ying''s response, once again questioning.


    "Then why bring him along? Especially now that we might encounter those overgrown lizard worshippers?"


    They were currently on their way to meet up with the rest of their squad, then they would head out to pick up a few treasures they had their eyes on. One of those treasures was also eyes by people of the Moon Dragon Sect, enemies they could not afford to underestimate. Bringing along an unknown factor could quickly become dangerous if he were to sneak attack them during a crucial moment. Yan Ying''s eyes turned a bit distant, his head turning toward the door, a sigh escaping his lips as he returned a question to Old Chen.


    "Because I pity and somewhat believe in him. Old Chen, in our sect, at what age do we let our disciples go out and get some actual experience with the real cultivation world, and why?"


    People died all the time, families were torn apart all the time. But knowing this fact was one thing, facing someone who had suffered that pain was something else entirely, one could not help but pity such people when one met them. Old Chen was a bit caught off guard by the sudden question, but he quickly responded.


    "When they are around 18 or 20, as their minds will have matured more at that point, making them more steadfast and letting them quickly accept the brutality of the cultivation world."


    If they let their disciples out into the cultivation world before their minds had gotten enough time to mature and harden, they would quickly become warped or corrupted by the sheer brutality of the cultivation world. Because of that, most sects and clans would have their disciples stay within the clan, only sending out younger disciples in rare cases. Yan Ying continued to look at the closed door, another sigh escaping his lips.


    "Exactly, they are already adults before we let them see the truth about the world. Yet that child, who isn''t even 13 yet, has already fully experienced the cultivation world and its horrors, losing everything in the process."


    With his cultivation, Yan Ying was easily able to see Liang Chen''s actual age. And even thought Liang Chen hadn''t explicitly stated it, the slightly desolate tone he used when he said that he didn''t have a group implied that he was completely alone. Even when Yan Ying''s sect sent out their disciples to face the horror that was the cultivation world, none of those disciples had to face it alone. Yet this Liang Chen had not only faced the brutal cultivation world all alone at such a young age, he didn''t seem to have let it corrupt or break him. Yan Ying seemed to suddenly remember something, speaking up again, Old Chen simply listening quietly.


    "If I''m not wrong, it hasn''t been that long since the farce in Green Rivers City. Yet in that short amount of time, that child''s body is already filled with scars, his eyes have already hardened and become determined."


    Yan Ying had seen how Liang Chen''s body was filled with scars and wounds, with his entire back and most of his chest being a horrid mess of crack-like scars. A short silence descended upon the room, only broken by Yan Ying after a few minutes.


    "...He reminds me of how I was in the past when I was a few years older than him. At that time, I had Father to pull me up and save me before it was too late, but that child has no one like that, if he did, they would not have let him reach a stage like this."


    One of the reasons Yan Ying was able to sympathize so much with Liang Chen was because he saw his past self within him. Yan Ying had also lost his parents at a young age, a burning desire for revenge nearly swallowing him completely. But before it became too late to save him from the desire for revenge that threatened to swallow him, he was saved by a man who adopted him and treated him like his own child, even allowing him to take on the same surname. Yan Ying was filled with nothing but admiration and gratitude to this man, always striving to become more like him. After another short moment of silence, Yan Ying let out a hollow and weak-sounding chuckle, slightly lowering his head.


    "Maybe, just maybe, we can be like Father and pull him up from the ground before it becomes too late, before he becomes another Yan Xieren. And I won''t deny it, part of my reasoning is quite selfish. If I manage to save him, I feel like I might be able to somewhat atone for my sins."


    Yan Ying had been saved before he was completely swallowed by his desires, but he had still done several horrid things, things he would never forgive himself for, things that haunted him whenever he closed his eyes. Seeing the downcast Yan Ying, Old Chen gently pat him on the shoulders, gently comforting him.


    "Young Master is full of benevolence, I am sure that Master will be filled with pride once we return to the sect."

 The basics.

    After leaving the room, Liang Chen realized that he had been inside a carriage this entire time, shocking him quite a bit. It had basically been a small house, could carriages really be this luxurious? It was also only now that Liang Chen got to take a look at the surroundings.


    Just like every other place in this hidden realm, there was a constant light drizzle of snow. Liang Chen could spot a few massive trees in the area around him, but the area was mostly dominated by what seemed to be warped structures of clear ice growing out from the ground, like claws trying to grasp at the sky. Liang Chen looked at these claws of ice with a bit of surprise. It wasn''t all that cold in the area, yet these ice structures didn''t show any signs of melting.


    There were also several carriages located not far from Liang Chen and Teng Yimu. The carriages were placed in a circular formation, a plume of smoke rising from the center of the circle, with another carriage located a bit further to the right of the circle. While Liang Chen was marveling at the ice around him, Teng Yimu spoke up to catch his attention.


    "So, Lil'' Chen, any weapons you specialize in?"


    Since he had been ordered to get Liang Chen some weapons, he would, of course, have to figure out if there was anything that Liang Chen was better at using. Liang Chen quickly took his eyes off the ice structures, turning to face Teng Yimy, giving a slight shake of his head.


    "No, I don''t specialize in any weapons, nor do I have any proper training in using any weapons."


    Liang Chen had never bothered to cultivate or train while his parents were still alive, and once they died, there had been no one that could teach him. Teng Yimu rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth slightly after hearing the reply, thinking about what weapons would be best suited for someone like Liang Chen. In the end, he came to a conclusion and pulled out two weapons and a bracelet made out of violet beads from his interspatial ring.


    "Then you can take these two, they are the easiest to use for beginners. Use the bow to assist us with ranged attacks, and the spear you can use to defend yourself. I''ll get someone to give you a bit of basic training later. Here''s some extra clothing and a bracelet you can store it in. The clothing is a bit too big for you, but you''ll have to live with it."


    The weapons he took out were a simple spear made out of flexible ashen wood, with a spearhead made out of silver metal. The bow seemed to be made out of a strange type of metal, the string made out of Demonic beast tendon. Grasping the weapons, they were far lighter than Liang Chen expected them to be, so they were clearly of a rather good quality, at least for him.


    Teng Yimu also helped him put on the bracelet and taught him how to use it, as well as showing him the several cyan robes that were already placed within the bracelet. The bracelet was the same as an interspatial ring, it simply had a different shape. The robes were indeed too large for Liang Chen, trailing behind him and hiding his arms. But even when he tried to use the spear tip to cut the robes to size, he found that he was unable to pierce the robe, so it seemed to also have some defensive function.


    Teng Yimu supported Liang Chen as they moved towards the circle of carriages, the sound of loud voices slowly starting to reach them. Moving past the carriages, a campfire was revealed to Liang Chen. There was a pot placed in the fire, the fragrant scent of soup drifting out from beneath the closed lid. Sitting around the campfire were four people, three men and one woman. They were all passing around two jugs of wine, happily chatting with each other. Once they got closer, Teng Yimu called out in a loud voice, drawing their attention.


    "Alright you drunks, listen up! This here is lil'' Liang Chen, he''ll be traveling with us for the foreseeable future, so I don''t want to see any of you old foogies picking on the young! Did I make myself clear?"


    The people around the campfire quickly put their hands to their foreheads, standing up and giving Teng Yimu an overdramatic salute. Looking at the group of people, Liang Chen was reminded of the time he spent with the caravan guards as he hitched a ride to the hidden realm. Teng Yimu took Liang Chen''s silent reminiscing as a sign that he was a bit frightened by the four people, so he pat him on the shoulder and introduced the group to him.


    "There''s no need to let them scare you, these bastards are harmless on the inside. He''s Zhu Chun, that''s Xiao Zeming, that needlessly tall one is Xiang Qing, and the old hag disguised as a pretty lady is Lu Ruogang. Don''t fall for her looks, she has a preference for young people like you, so she might just gobble you up. There are a few more people in our group, but they have all gone ahead to scout out various areas, I''ll introduce you once we meet up with them."


    Zhu Chun looked like he was in his early thirties, and had green eyes and short orange hair that was slightly curly. He raised the jug he was currently holding, giving Liang Chen a smile and a toast.


    Xiao Zeming had slightly pale skin and sunken eyes that had dark bags underneath them, he looked extremely tired. His eyes were a light brown in color, and except for a small palm of brown hair on the back of his head, the rest of his head was completely shaved.


    Xiang Qing had light brown hair was indeed very tall, Liang Chen guessing that he reached about two and a half meters in height. His body was also rather thin, so he made for a strange sight. But his green eyes were looking at Liang Chen with a calm and gentle gaze, so he seemed like a calm person.


    The last person in the group and the only woman, Lu Ruogang, hadn''t stopped looking Liang Chen up and down since she noticed him. She was a bit short but very curvaceous, her yellow robe designed to emphasize her curves. She had smooth and delicate skin, black eyes and deep brown hair that hung down loosely. Upon seeing that Liang Chen looked at her, she sent him a smile and a slight wave.


    Looking at the four people in the group, Liang Chen could not help but be surprised. He was a stranger they had never met, they had basically picked him up at the side of the road. But despite that, they were all treating him well, not even looking down on him. And as far as he could tell, they didn''t have any hidden motives, their smiles and actions genuine. After greeting the four people, Teng Yimu spoke up and pulled a bit on Liang Chen, the two heading towards the carriage that was located a short distance away from the others.


    "Let me take you to the ass who is going to give you a bit of basic training."


    The two quickly reached the carriage, which looked like a small house on wheels. The door was closed, so Teng Yimu gave it a few heavy knocks, calling out in a loud voice that echoed through the area.


    "Oy, Fat Yong, get your ugly mug out here!"


    While Liang Chen was caught off guard by the way Teng Yimu spoke, the door to the carriage was flung open, a truly wide man waddling out. The man was almost as wide as he was tall, his fat jiggling as he moved. He had green eyes and greasy black hair that stuck to his forehead from sweat. He let out a snort, pointing at Teng Yimu and firing back a few insults of his own.


    "You trying to start a fight, you shit-faced lanky bastard? Just look at me beat you up and steal all the sweets you keep hidden away!"


    Despite the two of them insulting each other, they didn''t seem to truly mean what they sad. Teng Yimu had a slight smile on his face, clicking his tongue and grabbing his own crotch as he mocked the man called Fat Yong.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "As if I''d let myself get beaten by someone who can''t even see his own crown jewels. You try to fight me, and I''ll knock you so far into the dirt that you''ll be able to finally find your dignity again."


    The two suddenly broke into a loud laughter, Fat Yong delivering a punch to Teng Yimu''s shoulder. The punch seemed light, but Liang Chen could see that it forcefully pushed away the air around the fist, so it was clearly far stronger than he could imagine. Yet Teng Yimu took it like it was nothing, his body only moving slightly. Fat Yong''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, moving on to actual business.


    "So what can I do for you? I''m guessing it has something to do with the kid?"


    Fat Yong looked Liang Chen up and down, rubbing his double chin as he did so. Their group rarely gained new members, so whenever someone new joined them, it often brought a breath of fresh air. Teng Yimu nodded his head, gently pushing Liang Chen toward Fat Yong.


    "Right. This is lil'' Liang Chen, he''ll be traveling with us from now on. I want you to teach him the basics of using a bow and the spear."


    Despite his great weight, Fat Yong was one of the best fighters in their group, there were very few weapons that he hadn''t mastered to a high degree. Fat Yong nodded his head at the words, stretching out his arm and grabbing onto Liang Chen''s hand, giving him a handshake as he introduced himself.


    "Just the basics huh, alright. Kiddo, I am Xiao Yong, but the guys around the camp just call me Fat Yong. I''ll make a special exception and grant you the right to refer to me as such."


    As he spoke, Xiao Yong threw his head backward, as if he was delivering a great grace unto Liang Chen. But all that met his display was the stifled laughter of Teng Yimu, as well as fake wretching sounds.


    "Alright, quit it with the fake prestige, you''re gonna make me hurl."


    Xiao Yong''s eyes narrowed slightly, glaring at Teng Yimu. He let out a loud snort, waving Teng Yimu away as if he was a stray dog.


    "Hah, you''re still here? You''re so lanky I failed to spot you. Fuck off, I''m gonna start teaching the kid, let him get a feel for the weapons before we set off again."


    Teng Yimu responded with another chuckle, but he did not leave immediately, his voice growing a tad solemn.


    "Alright. I''m on first watch today, you wanna take second?"


    Xiao Yong''s eyes also grew a tad solemn after hearing Teng Yimu. Looking at how serious Xiao Yong seemed when he nodded his head at Teng Yimu, Liang Chen guessed that these watches were quite important, most likely who was keeping watch over the camp during the night.


    "Leave it to me."


    Teng Yimu seemed satisfied at the answer, giving Xiao Yong another nod and then heading towards the circle of carriages, joining the others that were drinking around the campfire. After Teng Yimu left, Xiao Yong turned towards Liang Chen, who was now focusing on getting used to the strengthened pressure.


    "Alright, Lil'' Chen, since we only have time for the basics, I will focus on teaching you two things. The first thing will be how to shoot straight, the second will be how to use the entire spear. It''s gonna be rough, but I don''t wanna hear any whining."


    Xiao Yong stayed true to his words, only focusing on those two things as he trained Liang Chen. He made Liang Chen pull the string of the bow, correcting his stance whenever it was off, giving him a feel for how he should stand to shoot the arrow straight. As for what he meant when he said ''using the entire spear'' he meant literally that.


    The tip of the spear, the edge of the spear tip, the flat side of the spear tip, even the handle and the butt of the spear, everything could be used for combat or defense, one just had to know how to move the spear to use it properly.


    Liang Chen quickly fell into something of a routine. During the morning, he would help Zhu Chun with making breakfast, during the afternoon he trained with Xiao Yong or one of the others, during the evening he would help with making dinner, and during the night he would cultivate. He expected himself to get tired fast, but even after this routine went on for a week, he didn''t feel an ounce of tiredness, he, in fact, felt more energetic than ever before.


    If there was one thing he wanted to complain about then it was the fact that he couldn''t absorb any more lightning. There had been several lightning storms over the last seven days, even some where he could absorb small amounts of lightning. But all the lightning he absorbed into his body or Ascended Tower was quickly swallowed by the Lightning Seed, vanishing without a trace. He also hadn''t been able to find anything that contained poison, so his cultivation still wasn''t rising.


    During the evening of the eighth day, after Liang Chen had finished helping with dinner and was focusing on his cultivation, Yan Ying walked over to Xiao Yong and the others, who were currently drinking and scarfing down a thick stew. Seeing Yan Ying walk over, they quickly stopped what they were doing, standing up and giving him a respectful salute.


    "Young Master, what brings you here?"


    Despite being in this hidden realm, there were a lot of tasks that Yan Ying had to take care of within the sect. Because of that, he usually spent most of his time within his own carriage, contacting various disciples and groups that they had connections with. Yan Ying sat down next to the campfire, grabbing the jug of wine that Lu Ruogang was holding, taking a few sips as he spoke.


    "What else but Little Chen? I heard that you were put in charge of training him so I decided to come and check how it goes. Been any problems?"


    He hadn''t had any time to check up on Liang Chen after the original questioning, so now that he finally had some free time, he was a bit curious at how things had gone. But even without getting a report from Xiao Yong, he had been with the members of the group long enough that he could tell that there was no one in their group that had anything against Liang Chen. Xiao Yong and the others sat down again, Xiao Yong giving his report, his expression a bit strange.


    "No problems. Kid''s nice and polite, he doesn''t whine or complain, and follows orders to the dot. He''s not a prodigy or great talent, but he is able to absorb knowledge quickly, and what he lacks in talent he makes up for with diligence. Although, he might be a tad too diligent. I told him to practice drawing the bow, letting him get a feel for the weight and resistance. I figured he would stop once he got tired, but he continued to draw the string until his fingers bled and was forced to tell him to stop. He did the same when I told him to practice stabbing, sweeping, and spinning the spear, continuing to repeat the moves until his hands were raw and bloody."


    Xiao Yong had seen talents before, people that could master any techniques within a few days, he had even seen prodigies before, people that could master the spear within a day. But he had never seen anyone like Liang Chen before, a child that trained without regard for his own body, even ignoring it when the string of the bow cut into his own fingers. After Xiao Yong delivered the report, Xiang Qing couldn''t help but ask Yan Ying a question, a question that the others were also wondering about.


    "Whenever he trains, it''s like his entire demeanor changes, his eyes growing determined and hard. Young Master, just what is it that drives the kid like that?"


    They knew that Liang Chen wasn''t even 13 yet. A child that young should spend their days running around and playing with their friends, maybe cultivating for an hour or two a day. They should be happy and cheerful, they certainly shouldn''t train like Liang Chen did, they shouldn''t have eyes like his. But despite their curious gazes, Yan Ying didn''t answer their question.


    "You should ask him that, not me. Tell me, do you think we can bring him along when we move out?"


    Yan Ying knew why Liang Chen trained like that, why he craved strength to a point where he ignored his own pain. But it was something very personal, so it was not his place to tell others about it. Xiao Yong fell into a short silence after hearing the question, rubbing his double chin for a bit before answering, nodding his head.


    "Honestly? It shouldn''t be a problem. The kid''s got a low cultivation, but his body is strangely strong and resilient. His speed is also pretty decent, and he is able to use a wide variety of moves thanks to his two elements, he''ll be able to protect himself. If we bring him along and give him a few arrows, he should be able to create a few good distractions that we can take advantage of."


    As the one in charge of training Liang Chen, Xiao Yong had paid close attention to Liang Chen. Despite not having any formal training, he had excellent instincts that greatly aided him in battle, so even if they brought him along to a somewhat dangerous place, he felt confident that Liang Chen would be able to make it out alive. The others also quickly chimed in, giving their agreement and own assessments. Seeing his men give such high evaluations of Liang Chen, a slight smile appeared on Yan Ying''s face, glancing at the currently cultivating Liang Chen who sat a bit of a distance away.


    "Seems like we lucked out and picked up a diamond in the rough then. We''ll arrive at the first stop in two days, make sure he is ready for what we might face. Also, have Lu Ruogang keep an eye on him during the battle."


    Even if his men gave Liang Chen surprisingly high evaluations, it did not mean that Yan Ying would leave Liang Chen completely unguarded as he brought him into a dangerous area. Since he had decided to save Liang Chen back then, he, of course, had to make sure he protected his life. Having been given an order, Xiao Yong and the others quickly responded with solemn nods.


    "As you wish."

 Battle Support.

    Two days later, while the group ate the breakfast that Liang Chen and Zhu Chun made, Yan Ying sat down on a log next to Liang Chen, handing him a waterskin that was filled with water that contained a large amount of Qi.


    "Alright, Little Chen, we''ll arrive at one of our destinations in a few hours. We are likely to encounter some enemies there, so you need to be careful, just focus on supporting us with arrows from a distance."


    Yan Ying had noticed that Liang Chen was often pretty low on Qi, and since he did not know about the existence of the Lightning Seed that constantly drained his Qi, he assumed that he had to use a lot of his Qi to protect his body from the pressure.


    Liang Chen accepted the waterskin and sipped some of its contents. He was quickly amazed at the results, as a single mouthful filled his entire body to the brim with Qi. He quickly stored the waterskin into his bracelet, giving Yan Ying a quick bow.


    "Understood, I''ll make sure not to be a hindrance."


    He wasn''t sure what cultivation Yan Ying and the others had, but he could tell that it was far above him. In a fight between people like that, what sort of help could he possibly give them? The best he could do was stay out of the way and do his best not to drag them down. Yan Ying understood Liang Chen''s thoughts so he gave him a quick pat on the shoulder, giving him a calm smile.


    "No need to worry about that, just focus on keeping yourself alive."


    Yan Ying was of the same opinion as his men. Liang Chen was just a child, he shouldn''t bother with worrying about things, he should just play around and be merry. After patting Liang Chen on the shoulder, Yan Ying stood up and returned to his carriage, returning to the work he had to finish before they reached their destination.


    A few hours later, Liang Chen got to see what their destination was. The place they had arrived at was a strange hill. Liang Chen could still see the warped claws of ice that stretched out of the ground, some of them growing of the large barren hill. But the ones that grew out of the hill were all shattered and broken, so it seemed like the hill had suddenly appeared on top of them, shattering them and resulting in them turning even more twisted. But how could a hill like this, which was a few hundred meters in height and width, suddenly just appear?


    Yan Ying stopped the carriages a fair distance away from the hill, making sure that the scaled horses didn''t get dragged into the fight that would certainly take place soon. Everyone drew their weapons and started to walk closer to the hill, stopping a short distance away from it. Yan Ying scrunched his nose in disgust, shouting at the hill.


    "You can try to hide all you want, but there is no way you can hide that putrid scent you give off."


    Liang Chen was rather curious about who Yan Ying shouted at, as even when he used his lightning to try and check the surroundings, he was unable to sense anyone. And because he was unable to sense anyone, he was quite shocked when he heard a loud snort coming from the other side of the hill.


    "Heh, of course the mangy mutts have a good sense of smell, should have known."


    Shortly after the snort sounded out, a group of people came over the hill, standing at the top and looking down at Yan Ying and the others. The people in the group were clad in black robes and shared features that reminded Liang Chen of Zhao Daiyun, who he had seen as they fought for the Elemental Lotus. They had slightly pale skin, strangely white eyes, and ashen gray hair.


    The man who stood at the front of this group had hair that hung down to his waist, and it wasn''t solely gray, it had strands of black mixed into it. Once the group appeared, it was Yan Ying''s time to let out a snort, pointing his sword at the hill.


    "So it''s Li Delan. Should have known that a ghoul like you would come here. Fuck off and return to your little tomb, we will be taking this Earthen Heart."


    Despite the two of them having a rather similar status in their respective sects, Yan Ying didn''t give Li Delan any face. Nor did any of Yan Ying''s men, sneering at Li Delan with obvious contempt. Li Delan''s eyes narrowed into slits, a crimson flag appearing in his hand. The flag looked like it was made of silk, a strange symbol that looked like a human silhouette embroidered into the flag. Holding the flag, Li Delan''s lips curled into a challenging smirk as he spoke up.


    "Aren''t you greedy? Do you really think we''ll let you just take the Earthen Heart for free?"


    The men behind Li Delan also pulled out various weapons, holding them at the ready and smirking at Yan Ying and his men. But despite their strong front, Yan Ying only responded with a mocking laughter.


    "Oh, you want to fight us here? Do you think I don''t know about your recent attempt to capture the Nethersky Wyrm Queen? Tell me, how did that go for you?"


    Li Delan''s face immediately turned gloomy, his knuckles turning white from how strongly he grasped the flag. He had no idea how Yan Ying had gotten information about that operation, but even if he knew, Li Delan had to at least put up a fight, otherwise, he would be dragging the face of the Ghost Soul sect into the dirt.


    "Kill them."


    Li Delan''s men immediately charged at Yan Ying and the others after the order was given. Whenever they swung their weapons, ghostly shrieks would fill the air, faint silhouettes flying out alongside the attacks. The worst were the silhouettes coming from the flag that Li Delan was holding. Every time he swung the flag, thousands of these humanoid silhouettes, human souls, would fly out and shriek as they charged at Yan Ying and the others.


    Yan Ying and his men were not to be outdone, valiantly charging forward with their weapons drawn. Li Delan had the advantage in numbers, having three more people, but Yan Ying had the advantage in quality, his group slightly stronger on average.


    Liang Chen quickly distanced himself from the fight, which was far above his level. Every attack that Yan Ying or any of his men sent out would alter the area around them, the earth turning to ice, the wind raging, tall spikes of ice shooting up from beneath the snow. Compared to them, the power that Liang Chen could produce was like a firefly in front of the bright moon.


    But he still refused to just stand back and do nothing, so he did the only thing he could do. He pulled out his bow, he loaded an arrow, and he shot it straight. No fancy tricks, no special techniques, he simply loaded arrow after arrow and shot them perfectly straight, aiming for the people from the Ghost Soul sect.


    Both the bow and the arrows he had been given were able to hold a fairly large amount of Qi, so he could charge them with both poison and lightning. But even then, the poison and the golden lightning he could draw from his little Ascended Tower was unable to produce any result. Most of the time, the people he shot at could simply ignore the arrows, they would just bounce off their bodies when they were hit by them.


    And that''s when he heard that faint whisper, murmuring at the side of his ear. It was different from the usual whispering or screaming that his instincts did, it felt more real, like there was really someone at his side, gently whispering into his ear, gently guiding him.


    After his 13th arrow proved ineffective, he decided to try what the whisper was suggesting, as the idea itself didn''t sound too harmful. Instead of drawing lightning from his Ascended Tower, he tapped into his Lightning Seed, trying to draw out some lightning from within it.


    The moment his mind touched upon the Lightning Seed, a horrid scorching pain filled his entire chest, blood quickly moving up his throat and leaking out from the corners of his mouth. But it worked, a tiny arc of faintly crimson lightning seeping out from the Lightning Seed. The arc followed his veins, quickly reaching his arm and sinking into the arrow he had loaded. He charged the arrow, he took aim, he fired.


    The arrow flew far faster than before, vanishing from sight and only leaving a thin crimson line in the air. The disciple of the Ghost Soul sect noticed the arrow close in on her shoulder, but she simply ignored it as she had before, focusing on the hammer that Zhu Chun was swinging at her. And that was where she made her mistake.


    The arrow struck her shoulder, the head piercing into her shoulder and only stopping when it reached the bone. The sudden and unexpected pain and force behind the arrow caused the disciple to lose her focus and balance, her saber tilting slightly, giving Zhu Chun the perfect chance. His hammer was surrounded by a deep brown light, its weight increasing massively as it slammed down on the woman''s head. A sickening crunching sound rang out, the female disciple crushed into paste against the ground.


    The sudden death caught not only the Ghost Soul sect off guard, but even Zhu Chun and the others were also caught off guard, surprised that Liang Chen had been able to wound the disciple. But Liang Chen paid no mind to their surprised faces, loading up another arrow and charging it, more blood spilling out from the corners of his mouth, some even dripping out from his eyes. Despite the pain that filled his body because of the lightning, he felt strangely good, strangely comfortable.


    He took aim, he fired the arrow. The arrow vanished from sight once more, heading for the thigh of a Ghost Soul Disciple. The disciple quickly reacted, human souls flying out from his sword and moving to block the arrow. But lightning was the nemesis of souls and ghosts, so the moment they came into contact with the arrows they released awful screeches and were torn to shreds.


    The disciple jumped back, but the arrow still hit him in the foot, piercing it clean through and leaving a bloody hole. With the hole in his foot, his battle efficiency would drop by quite a bit. Realizing this, Li Delan''s face twisted slightly as he spat out a few unwilling words.


    "Tch, consider yourself vicious. We''ll let you hold onto that Earthen Heart for now, but we''ll come to take it eventually!"


    Li Delan brought the rest of his men and quickly retreated, not willing to lose more strength, they still had to prepare to carry out their main plan. With Li Delan pulling back, there was nothing to prevent Yan Ying and the others from claiming their rewards. Yan Ying had Zhu Chun quickly dig into the hill to pick up the Earthen Heart. While Zhu Chun did that, Yan Ying walked over to Liang Chen, who was already surrounded by Xiao Yong and the others. He pat Liang Chen on the shoulder, a smile on his face.


    "You didn''t do bad, Little Chen. Your arrows packed more of a punch than I thought."


    Liang Chen nodded his head, wiping away the blood that had dripped out from his eyes and the corners of his eyes. Seeing him bleeding like that, Teng Yimu pushed a small blue pill into his hands, forcing him to swallow it. When the pill entered his throat, it turned into a stream of energy that coursed through his body, covering the wounds that had appeared because of the crimson lightning. While the pill was taking effect, Liang Chen decided to ask a question he was curious about.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "What''s a Nethersky Wyrm Queen?"


    For it to be strong enough to seemingly wound Li Delan, it was clear that this wyrm was a very powerful Demonic beast. If it was this strong, how could the guide he had bought from Luo Shui''er, the woman from the Eternal Dragon Pavilion that he had met in the forest, not mention anything about it? Yan Ying merely shrugged his shoulders, giving a quick explanation.


    "It''s one of the Nethersky Wyrm''s possible evolutions. A Nethersky Wyrm Queen resides within the main death zone in the forest you see right after entering the hidden realm. Those ghouls from the Ghost Soul sect wanted to capture it and use it to further refine their souls. But they underestimated it, so they got beaten pretty badly. It''s not something you need to worry about, just focus on what''s ahead. In five day''s we''ll reach our next destination and meet up with some of our hidden scouts, make sure to keep yourself safe then."


    A Nethersky Wyrm was a Demonic beast that was a bit stronger than a common Demonic beast, but it could not evolve forever. It would meet a limit, it would never be as strong as a Divine beast or other truly earth-shaking Demonic beasts, Once it reached the Primordial Immortal realm and became a Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, it would forever stagnate. With his explanation, Liang Chen was reminded of the land of death he had read about and seen inside the forest, the place where not even the ever-present snow was able to remain. Was this where the Nethersky Wyrm Queen lived?


    Zhu Chun quickly retrieved the Earthen Heart, an item that looked like a heart made out of brown stone, it even pulsated faintly, releasing a rumbling sound. He didn''t hand it to Yan Ying but rather stored it into his own interspatial ring. No one said anything about it, so Liang Chen guessed that it had been considered Zhu Chun''s from the very start.


    The group returned to the distant carriages and continued with their journey. But there was a slight difference now, now it was only Liang Chen who made breakfast and dinner, Zhu Chun holed up in his carriage with the Earthen Heart.


    Their journey continued for five days before the scenery changed around them, the group entering a small forest. The trees were still several hundred meters tall, but the forest itself was only a few thousand meters in each direction, far smaller than the one Liang Chen had entered right after entering the hidden realm.


    At the center of this forest was a circular clearing, a small mountain of dead beasts and trees gathered at the center of the clearing. And growing atop this small mountain of death, was a single light green tulip, a light breeze constantly blowing around it. The moment Yan Ying''s group neared the clearing, they pulled out their weapons and slowed down. Once they accidentally entered the clearing, a sweet voice rang out from behind the mountain of dead beast and trees.


    "There you are, I was wondering when you would arrive."


    The expressions of Yan Ying and the others instantly turned solemn upon hearing this voice. Lu Ruogang took a few steps closer to Liang Chen, waving her hand and pointing at a spot behind her.


    "Little Snack, hide behind me. This battle is going to be tougher than the previous one."


    Just like Teng Yimu had said, Lu Ruogang had a fondness for young men like Liang Chen, so she had taken to calling him Little Snack, rather than Little Chen. Liang Chen did not try to act brave, taking up position behind Lu Ruogang. While a group of people walked out from their hiding spot behind the mountain of corpses, Yan Ying spat out his words.


    "Hoh, so the lizard worshippers actually sent out the Rainbow Slut? It seems like you are rather determined this time around. But what a shame, this Gale Tulip is ours."


    The group that stepped out from behind the mountain outnumbered Yan Ying''''s group, containing a little over twice as many people, 17 people in total. They were all clad in silver robes embroidered with the image of a white dragon coiling around the moon, the robes of the Moon Dragon sect that Liang Chen saw Shentu Jun wear once.


    The woman standing at the front of the group had a tall and buxom figure, the silver robe sticking close to her body. She had delicate and sharp features, silver eyes, and rainbow-colored hair that hung down freely behind her, Guo Huashi. Yan Ying''s eyes landed on one of the members in Guo Huashi''s group, a youth Liang Chen recognized as Shentu Jun, the middle-aged man with unkempt brown hair that had taught Liang Chen about the six great ruling powers on this planet.


    "What''s this, you even brought someone like that along? Let me guess, you want to use numbers to charge into the depths? Poor guy, does he not know that you are offering him up as fodder?"


    Shentu Jun''s expression distorted and paled slightly after hearing Yan Ying''s words. He really didn''t want to be here, but it had been an order from his sect superior, so he had no choice but to listen. Guo Huashi neither affirmed nor denied Yan Ying''s words, letting out a snort and pointing at Liang Chen with her chin, sneering at Yan Ying.


    "Are you one to talk? You think I can''t see that child you brought along? At least mine is an adult that has left behind children, how old is that kid you are bringing along as fodder?"


    Guo Huashi wasn''t the kindest of people, but she at least made sure that each of the men she brought along on this mission had left behind children that could carry on their legacy. But this child that Yan Ying had brought along was too young to possibly have left behind children. With his death, his lineage would likely end here in this hidden realm, buried in blood and dirt for someone else''s ambition. Facing Guo Huashi''s sneer, Yan Ying instantly rejected her words.


    "He is not fodder, he is just someone we saved along the way. If we bring him deeper into the hidden realm, we will, of course, protect him."


    Yan Ying glanced at Liang Chen, slightly relieved that he didn''t seem to have taken Guo Huashi''s words to heart. Liang Chen''s thoughts on the matter were actually very simple. Yan Ying and the others had saved him and treated him well, meanwhile, he had no idea who this Guo Huanshi was. Because of that, it was clear to him whose words it would be better for him to believe.


    On the other hand, even if Yan Ying wanted to drag him along as fodder, what could Liang Chen possibly do to stop them? He could draw out some crimson lightning from the Lightning Seed, but even if he could draw out enough to kill everyone in Yan Ying''s group, it would likely leave him so wounded that it would be impossible for him to make it out of this hidden realm. Seemingly surprised at Yan Ying''s words, Guo Huashi''s mouth curved into a mocking smile, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she laughed.


    "What''s this, the Bloody King has grown a heart? I am sure your little brother would be very proud if he got to hear about it."


    Yan Ying''s expression immediately turned so dark it almost became pitch black. He didn''t bother wasting any more time on words, drawing out his sword and charging forward, barking out a quick order.


    "Kill them all."


    Xiao Yong and the others let out a loud roar, dashing after Yan Ying. Lu Ruogang seemed to be furious about something, as she completely forgot about the fact that she was supposed to be protecting Liang Chen.


    The battle quickly broke out, and even though Guo Huashi''s group outnumbered them, a large part of her group was made out of people like Shentu Jun, people who could not participate in the battle. Had it not been for Guo Huashi stepping forward in time, Shentu Jun and the others would not even have had the time to flee.


    Liang Chen distanced himself from the battle again, pulling out his bow. He loaded an arrow, he charged it with red lightning, he swallowed the blood that started pooling in his mouth, he aimed, he shot. Even if it filled him with horrid pain to draw out the red lightning from his Lightning Seed, it was the only way he could fight here, so he had no choice but to endure, something he had gotten very good at.


    Yan Ying wildly attacked Guo Huanshi and her right-hand man, each of his attacks causing waves of blood to appear and bear down upon the two enemies. This was one of the elements that Yan Ying cultivated, the element of blood, a gruesome element that was just as frowned upon as the poison element. Both elements were gruesome and could kill people stealthily and inhumanely, so many cultivators feared or looked down on people who used those elements.


    With Yan Ying taking on the two strongest, Teng Yimu and the others were free to handle the others. With the arrow support from Liang Chen, they were able to slowly whittle down the enemies, who at first didn''t expect Liang Chen''s arrows to do anything, catching them off guard. Thanks to that, the battle quickly swung in the favor of Yan Ying''s group. In the end, Guo Huanshi was forced to jump back, her pretty face lighting up as she gave a slight bow and a sweet smile.


    "So that''s where your confidence came from, you managed to reach the Wandering Immortal stage, congratulation on your breakthrough. Very well, I accept my defeat here."


    Liang Chen had read about the Wandering Immortal stage, it was the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, the cultivation level that was just below the Primordial Immortal realm. After reaching the Primordial Immortal realm, one would have to leave this hidden realm, so Yan Ying was very close to that limit. Despite Guo Huanshi bowing out, Yan Ying''s face didn''t relax, it even grew a bit darker as he quickly called out.


    "It''s a diversion, watch out!"


    Others might be caught off guard, but Yan Ying already had some experience with people like Guo Huanshi, so he was prepared. Or so he thought. He heard a wooshing sound coming from behind him, a dark premotion filling his chest. He turned around just in time to see four people who had hidden in the forest dashing out, charging directly at Liang Chen with their weapons drawn.


    "Little Chen!"


    Even though he called out, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to reach Liang Chen in time. These four people were a bit weaker than the rest of Guo Huanshi''s group, having reached the Heaven''s Gate stage, but they were still far stronger than Liang Chen. But Liang Chen was not someone who would just watch death come for him.


    He jumped back, golden lightning crackling around his body. He wanted to detonate his Lightning Seed like he had done when he first picked the Elemental Lotus, but he heard that gentle whisper again, warning him that doing so would result in his death, all the gathered up lightning bursting his body.


    Now was not the time to ignore his instincts, or whatever the gentle whisper was, so he could only use his normal golden lightning. At the same time, he used his Poison Soul technique, numbing his own sense of pain, as well as numbing some of his limbs because he still wasn''t able to control the technique properly.


    Thanks to his quick reaction, only two of the four attacks landed on his body. One of the attacks was a dagger that pierced through his waist, the other was a spear that stabbed into his leg, going straight through his thigh. He took two attacks, but thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he was able to ignore the pain and launch a retaliation attack.


    He quickly loaded and arrow, charged it with crimson lightning, spat out some blood, and shot the arrow at the man who had pierced his waist. Since he was so close, the man only had a split second to dodge out of the way, the arrow missing his heart and piercing through his left lung. He wasn''t dead, but heavily wounded. Seeing that Liang Chen had managed to avoid instantly dying, Yan Ying turned towards the forest and called out in a loud voice.


    "Ling''er, take him away!"


    Shortly after he called out, the sound of rushing wind came from the forest at Liang Chen''s left. A breeze brushed past his body, a sweet fragrance tickling his nose. And the next thing he knew, he was thrown into the air, high above the men that had attacked him, an annoyed voice sounding in his ear.


    "Tch! I told him that he shouldn''t have brought you here, you''ll drag him down."


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, seeing that there was now a girl behind him, stepping on the air. No, on closer inspection, he saw that she had hardened the air beneath her feet, as well as used wind to lighten her own body, simulating flight.


    The girl looked like she was about 18 years old, had delicate and pretty features, sapphire blue eyes, and cyan hair tied into a single long braid. She was clad in the same cyan robes as Yan Ying and the others, so Liang Chen guessed that she came from the same sect. While he was looking at her, the girl once again grabbed him and threw him, this time tossing him sideways, to a position closer to the four men that had attacked him. Liang Chen was still a bit shocked at suddenly getting thrown around, so he could only gaze at the girl in surprise, trying to get out a sentence.


    "You...?"


    Before he could finish his sentence, the girl grabbed him for a third time, throwing him higher into the air so that he didn''t fall to the ground. As she threw him higher into the air, she glared at him, pointing at the four men beneath them.


    "Don''t just gawk dumbly! Are you incapable of launching any attacks?!"


    Liang Chen quickly managed to gather himself. It was a strange feeling to be tossed around through the air, but from up here, he had perfectly clear shots at the four men. He quickly loaded up an arrow and charged it, shooting it at the man he had already wounded, finishing him off. Once he shot his arrow, the girl once again grabbed onto him and threw him higher up, a bit to the side this time, giving him a better aim at the three other people, who were now fleeing. Seeing the scene, Yan Ying''s eyes quickly turned bloodshot as he shouted out, his voice turning a bit hoarse from the volume.


    "Ling''er?! I told you to take him away!"


    But the only thing that met Yan Ying''s hoarse shout was the sound of rumbling thunder and the light laugh of the girl.


    "It''s fine, we''ll manage!"

 Yan Ling, Storm Wolf sect.

    Liang Chen loaded and charged another arrow, blood continuing to pour out from his seven orifices. Thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he couldn''t even tell if he was in pain, allowing him to fight as recklessly as he wished. The arrow left the bow and vanished from sight, but it only managed to graze past the waist of one of the fleeing Moon Dragon Sect people. The moment the arrow left his bow, the girl, Yan Ling, once again grabbed onto him and threw him through the air. Being tossed for the fifth time, Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a slight complaint.


    "Could you stop throwing me around?"


    Were there no better ways to keep him in the air? Could she not just solidify the air beneath him as well? After hearing his complaint, Yan Ling placed her hands on her waist, letting out a slight snort.


    "Why should I? Can you fly on your own? Can you move around in the air? Well, can you?"


    Liang Chen''s could only put on an awkward smile after hearing her questions. Since he wasn''t able to use the element of wind, he would have to wait until he reached the Soaring Immortal realm before he could fly through the air.


    "...No."


    Because of their quick discussion, Liang Chen had started getting closer to the ground, so Yan Ling once again grabbed onto him and flung him into the sky. His body spun uncontrollably, but just as he was starting to get dizzy, Yan Ling grabbed onto his shoulders to stabilize him. After Liang Chen stopped spinning, Yan Ling quickly called out, pointing at one of the three fleeing men.


    "Then stop complaining and just let me throw you around! Look, one of those three is getting closer to Fat Yong, kill him already!"


    The fleeing man was weaker than Xiao Yong, but since Xiao Yong was currently engaged in a fierce battle, any distraction could prove fatal. Liang Chen quickly loaded up an arrow and charged it, taking aim at the back of the man and sending the arrow flying. The arrow rapidly approached the man, but since there was a bit of distance between them, he was able to dodge it in time, the arrow only grazing his shoulder.


    The arrow failed to wound the person, but it did at least force him to change direction and leave Xiao Yong alone. Liang Chen''s face, which was now completely covered in blood, couldn''t help but twist slightly. He glanced at Yan Ling, who once again threw him through the air, his brows furrowing as he spoke out.


    "Can you at least launch some attacks of your own? Or get a little closer?"


    Because of the distance between Liang Chen and the three disciples was considerably large, his arrows needed a bit of time to reach them, giving them time to dodge. Yan Ling once again stopped his body from spinning uncontrollably, shaking her head.


    "Fat chance. If I were to get closer, they would kill me with a single attack. And even if I were to launch some attacks, I wouldn''t be able to penetrate their defenses."


    Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling had only reached the middle stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, so her words were likely true. He also guessed that her low cultivation was the reason she had to continuously throw him, she simply didn''t have enough Qi to support the flight of two people. After hearing her statement, Liang Chen couldn''t help but comment on what she had said earlier.


    "And you said that I was the one dragging down Yan Ying?"


    He might not be able to resist the attacks of the enemies, but he could at least wound them. In comparison, what could this Yan Ling do to the enemies? Yan Ling blushed slightly from shame, but she quickly sent a glare at Liang Chen, as if she was looking to take a bite out of him.


    "Is that a complaint I hear? Want me to drop you?"


    The bloody corners of Liang Chen''s mouth couldn''t help but twitch as Yan Ling glared at him. Was this what happened when one pointed out the faults in her words, one got threatened? Yan Ling once again threw Liang Chen through the air, proudly puffing out her chest while he shot out another arrow.


    "I might not be able to wound them, but I can toss you around so that you can wound them, so that counts as my achievements. Hence, I am very useful here."


    Liang Chen was uncertain if he should cry or laugh. He was the one doing all the work, to the point that all of his orifices were bleeding. Yet she said that it counted as her achievements? Seemingly realizing that her words were a bit too mean-spirited, Yan Ling quickly cleared her throat.


    "Well, maybe 40 % of the achievements go to you, your lightning is rather powerful."


    Yan Ling glanced at the faint arc of crimson lightning that coiled around the arrow Liang Chen had loaded. The glow from it lit up his bloody face, giving him a ferocious appearance. For the lightning to let someone like Liang Chen, someone who had a weaker cultivation than her, wound someone far stronger than them, it was truly powerful lightning. After shooting the arrow, Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a wry smile and give a sarcastic remark.


    "I''m flattered"


    He wasn''t able to tell whether or not Yan Ling was serious or not, so giving a sarcastic remark was the best he could do for the moment. Yan Ling didn''t seem to notice that sarcasm in his voice, beating her own chest, her face carrying a satisfied expression.


    "You should be, I rarely praise people."


    Yan Ling continued to throw Liang Chen around, constantly repositioning him so that he could get clear shots at various people. After she tossed him for the 10th time, she took out a pill from her interspatial ring and stuffed it into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it.


    The pill was the same one that Teng Yimu had given him after they faced the disciples of the Ghost Soul sect, his wounds starting to quickly heal. With the pill healing him, he could continue to shoot arrows without worrying too much about his own body. The battle continued on for some time, with Yan Ling feeding Liang Chen a pill every five minutes, keeping him in a state where his body wouldn''t suddenly break down.


    Having so many pills stuffed into his mouth, Liang Chen couldn''t help but wonder if pills like these were nothing to the large sects. While the Moon Dragon sect disciples had the advantage in numbers, Yan Ying and his men had a slight advantage in cultivation levels. Adding on Liang Chen who was constantly harassing the disciples that were running around or were engaged in fights, the battle quickly started to favor Yan Ying''s group.


    As the leader of the Moon Dragon sect disciples, how could Guo Huashi fail to notice that the battle was slowly turning against them? In the end, she could only grit her teeth and give an unwilling order for retreat. With Guo Huashi and the other disciples fleeing, Yan Ling stopped throwing Liang Chen through the air, lowering him down to the ground after some troubles.


    Once his feet finally stood on solid ground again, Liang Chen''s legs couldn''t help but go soft underneath him, his body quickly falling into a sitting position. Thanks to the abundance of pills he had swallowed, as well as his already rather strong body, most of his wounds were already healed. His legs had simply gone soft because his body wasn''t used to being thrown through the air like a ragdoll. After putting down Liang Chen, Yan Ling quickly ran toward Yan Ying, who had only suffered a slight wound on his left arm.


    "Big Broth-"


    Yan Ling didn''t even get to finish calling out to Yan Ying. He quickly stretched out his arm and hit Yan Ling on the head with his knuckles, shouting out so loudly that his face turned red.


    "You absolute idiot! Are you insane, did some of your screws come loose because of the time you spent here?! What the fuck were you thinking, taking part in the battle instead of fleeing?! A single attack would have been enough to kill you!"


    That was the reason he originally hadn''t made Yan Ling reveal herself, she was simply too weak to be of any proper use in the battle, she was far more likely to die. Yan Ling quickly rubbed the top of her head, pouting slightly as she pointed at Liang Chen, who had managed to stand up thanks to the help of Xiao Qing and the others.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "But that''s why I made sure to stay far away and let this little freak do the attacking, it was perfectly safe. Besides, I still have that talisman..."


    The way Yan Ling saw it, little freak was a perfectly valid nickname for someone like Liang Chen. Not only because of how she had seen him fight, destroying his own body to kill the enemy, but also because of the downright strange amount of power he had been able to produce. But Yan Ying didn''t calm down because of her excuse, hitting her on the head with his knuckles again, his voice hoarse and his eyes bloodshot red.


    "Do you think that is a valid excuse?! Does that change the fact that a single attack would have either crippled you or torn you to pieces?! If that happened, how could I ever stand to face Father again?!"


    Yan Ling didn''t give a retort or excuse this time, because she could tell that Yan Ying had been truly worried. She obediently lowered her head, her voice downcast.


    "I''m sorry for worrying you, I won''t do it again."


    Yan Ying raised his arm again, wanting to hit her on the head again. But in the end, he gently lowered his arm and pat Yan Ling on the head, pulling her in for a tight hug.


    "You...! Haah. Fine, all''s well that ends well. At least you didn''t get hurt."


    The two hugged for a short moment, Lu Ruogang and the others making sure that Liang Chen didn''t have any wounds that would leave behind scars on his insides. Only when Old Chen assured them that his body was already slowly healing itself did they heave a quiet sigh of relief. Because of Liang Chen''s personality and diligence, they had gotten rather attached to him over the half a month they had spent together, so they didn''t want to see him ruin his own future just to aid them in battle. Yan Ying dragged Yan Ling over to Liang Chen, lowering his head slightly.


    "Little Chen, I''m sorry that she dragged you into it and forced you to fight like that for an extended period of time."


    Yan Ying and the others did not know how Liang Chen had managed to absorb the crimson heavenly lightning into his body with his low cultivation, nor did they know where he drew it from. But they could easily see that every time he used it, it would wound his body and bring horrendous pain so it was clear that fighting like that for any stretch of time was hard.


    They also didn''t intend to ask Liang Chen how he was able to use the heavenly lightning, as every cultivator had a secret or two, respecting these secrets was the unspoken rule among cultivators. Zhu Chun and the others quickly started to check the bodies of dead Moon Dragon sect disciples, leaving Liang Chen with Yan Ying and Yan Ling. Yan Ying placed his hand on Yan Ling''s head, forcing her to lower it slightly.


    "You, apologize to Little Chen!"


    As he was the one who forced her head down, Yan Ying wasn''t able to see Yan Ling give a slight roll of her eyes, a sly glint flashing past her eyes. She slightly stretched out her tongue, far enough that Liang Chen was able to see it, but not far enough that Yan Ying was able to see it.


    "I''m sorry for keeping you safe, I won''t do it again."


    Yan Ying hadn''t said what she should apologize for, how could she not take advantage of that fact? Yan Ying''s expression sank slightly, raising his arm to rap Yan Ling on the head again.


    "You-!"


    Before he got to lower his hand, Liang Chen interrupted him, waving his hand with a light chuckle.


    "It''s fine, I don''t mind, I''ll just consider it a new experience. Just like you said, all''s well that ends well."


    Liang Chen could see Yan Ling''s expression, so he could tell that she was simply trying to pull a joke. She was clearly older than him, but it seemed that she was quite a bit more childish than him. But that was only to be expected. Liang Chen had been forced to mature rapidly after the death of his parents, he couldn''t afford to stay a child any longer. Yan Ying lowered his arm, letting it hang at his side as he let out a sigh.


    "Let me introduce the two of you. This is my little sister, Yan Ling. Ling''er, this is the child I told you about, Liang Chen. As you see, you could stand to learn a bit from him, at least he doesn''t recklessly fly into battles where he can''t do anything."


    Yan Ying wanted to give Yan Ling a slight lesson with his words, but after he spoke out, Yan Ling quickly raised her head and pointed at Liang Chen, seemingly pouting slightly.


    "But, but he did just that! He did exactly the same as me!"


    Yan Ying wanted to retort but suddenly realized that he couldn''t. Liang Chen had a cultivation that was even lower than Yan Ling''s, had it not been for his self-destructive use of the crimson lightning, he would be just like Yan Ling, recklessly joining a battle where he couldn''t do anything. Yan Ying quickly shook his head, taking out a ceramic pot filled with pale yellow earth from his bracelet, handing it to Yan Ling and pushing her away.


    "Just go and transplant the Gale Tulip."


    The Gale Tulip that they had come for wasn''t quite ready yet, it had to grow a bit more, that was why Guo Huashi hadn''t just taken it away immediately. The pot he handed Yan Ling was filled with special earth that would let them take the herb away, even speeding up its growth somewhat. Yan Ling grabbed the pot and stretched out her tongue at Yan Ying, heading over to the flower. After looking at the back of the grumbling Yan Ling, Yan Ying turned back to Liang Chen, giving a slight sigh.


    "Please forgive her. She doesn''t get to leave the sect all that much, so now that she finally got to experience the outside world, she''s gotten a bit too excited."


    Yan Ying was truly apologetic. Yan Ling at least had a few lifesaving talismans, so even if things went wrong, she would likely get out mostly unharmed. But Liang Chen was different, any mistake could easily have cost him his life. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders with somewhat wistful eyes, not too bothered by it.


    "Like I said it''s no problem. It was my first time flying like that, and even though it was rather dizzying, it was kinda fun."


    At first, it had been strange, but he quickly got used to it, even enjoying it. When he was thrown around high above the enemies, he felt like he stood at the top of the world, like a king who could decide everything. If he had been someone like that, could he have saved his parents before they were executed, could he have changed anything? Yan Ying could guess at what Liang Chen was thinking from his eyes, so he stretched out his arm and pat Liang Chen on the head, gentle and soft pats.


    "I wish she had your mental state and wasn''t this childish, her cultivation would skyrocket."


    Cultivation didn''t simply rely on talent and resources, determination and mental state were also important. If one''s mind was easily disturbed, they could end up losing control over their Qi and suffer a backlash. This was the first time since the execution of his parents that Liang Chen had been pat on the head like this, so for a short second, even he couldn''t stop himself from getting slightly emotional. That short second was quickly interrupted by the loud voice of Yan Ling.


    "I can hear you!"


    Yan Ying removed his hand from Liang Chen''s head and turned around, shouting toward Yan Ling, who was carefully scooping up the light green tulip.


    "Good, maybe you''ll learn something!"


    Yan Ling stuck out her tongue again, returning to her work. Yan Ying also turned back to Liang Chen, rolling his eyes slightly as he seemed to think about something. Liang Chen waited a bit, allowing Yan Ying to come to a decision.


    "Little Chen, let me ask you something. Would you consider joining our sect?"


    They had traveled together for about half a month, and despite the fact that Yan Ying had spent a lot of that time cooped up in his carriage, he felt that he had a good grasp of Liang Chen''s personality. After all, they had even fought battles together, and there was no better place to figure out someone''s personality.


    Liang Chen was diligent, if perhaps a bit too diligent, strong-willed and determined, and most importantly, he was not someone who would betray others if things seemed to go wrong, something he proved when he didn''t even beg for mercy or anything of the like when he was ambushed by the four Moon Dragon sect disciples. Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond to the question, returning one of his own first.


    "Your sect should be the Storm Wolf sect, correct? If you don''t mind someone like me, then I won''t refuse. But it will have to wait until I leave this hidden realm."


    Liang Chen had seen the uniform of the Nightshield sect in the image he got of Qing Lan Yong, and he had encountered the other great sects one by one. The only ones he had yet to see were the Storm Wolf sect and the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. And looking at how Yan Ying was talking to Guo Huashi and Li Delan, it was clear that he came from either of these two powers. He had been told that the Dawn''s Blade Alliance controlled the western part of this planet, quite a distance away from this hidden realm, so it was uncertain if they had sent any disciples here. Because of that, he found it more likely that Yan Ying and the others came from the Storm Wolf Sect.


    Liang Chen wasn''t completely certain what it meant to join a sect, what sort of responsibility would be thrust onto his shoulders and what would be expected of him. But he knew that joining a sect would give him access to better resources and techniques, allowing him to increase his strength even further. And Yan Ying and his men were all good people, so even if he was wrong in his guess and they were part of a smaller sect, he would still join them. But it seemed like his guess had been spot on, Yan Ying nodding his head.


    "You already guessed it, huh? Very well, should you leave this hidden realm after us, you can just come to the Storm Wolf sect, I will tell them to keep our doors open for you."


    Yan Ying''s face lit up with a smile. It had only taken Liang Chen a few months to reach his current level of strength, and that was without any proper resources or teachers! There was no telling how far he might go if they could give him some proper guidance and aid. Yan Ying turned his head slightly, looking at the massive pillar that loomed in the distance, the pillar that could be seen from any location within this hidden realm.


    "Well, before we talk about any of that, we should probably focus on our present goal, breaching the inner parts of this hidden realm and reaching that pillar. Do you want to join us, or would you rather go back to where it''s safer?"


    This was what the five great powers had come for, to see what was located at the center of the hidden realm. That was why Guo Huashi had started to gather up all the members of the Moon Dragon sect that had entered this hidden realm, the final charge to breach the center of this hidden realm would soon begin. Liang Chen also turned his head to look at the distant pillar, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "I''ll join. I''m not worried about risks."

 Glacial Shroud.

    After transplanting the Gale Tulip and searching the bodies of the dead Moon Dragon disciples, the group returned to their carriages and continued their journey towards the inner parts of the hidden realm.


    The carriages stopped once night rolled around, forming a circular formation with a campfire in the middle. Zhu Chun returned to focusing on absorbing the Earthen Heart, doing his best to quickly increase his strength. Because of that, the dinner preparation was left to Liang Chen, prompting a quick comment from Yan Ling.


    "Eh, You are the one cooking, Little Freak? Are we sure we can eat this?"


    Yan Ling sent a sideways glance at the cauldron of stew that Liang Chen was preparing. She knew that he could use the element of poison, so her words were simply meant as harmless small talk. Because of that, Liang Chen simply ignored the statement and continued the cooking. He quickly finished up the food, handing everyone a bowl. Everyone eating in silence seemed to annoy Yan Ling, so she decided to pull out some more banter after tasting the food.


    "What''s this, it''s actually good? You can do something besides fighting?"


    Yan Ling swept the group that sat around the fire with her eyes, seemingly hoping for someone to join in on her banter. She looked a bit pitiful, so Liang Chen decided to throw her a bone and at least respond with a shrug of his shoulders.


    "It''s just something my mother taught me. There is no need to be so dramatic about a bit of cooking."


    Since he hadn''t had any interest in cultivation or training as a child, his mother and father had taught him some cooking and other various small skills that would be useful to know if one didn''t have any cultivation. Yan Ling got someone to join in with her small talk, but the answer wasn''t what she had hoped for, so she could only lower her head slightly and let out a low murmur.


    "But I can''t cook..."


    Her big brother was the Young Master of the Storm Wolf sect, so her position could be imagined. It was not strange for someone like her to not be able to cook, as people in her position were more predisposed to viewing it as a plebeian skill. Yan Ying seemed like he couldn''t stand to watch his little sister get ignored like this any longer, so he clapped his hands and drew everyone''s attention


    "Alright, enough about that, let''s talk about our future plans."


    Before they could charge into the inner parts of the hidden realm, there were still some things that they had to do first. Everyone quickly focused their eyes on Yan Ying, lowering their bowls of food. After making sure that he had the attention of everyone around the fire, Yan Ying spoke up.


    "In six days we will reach our third destination. We might encounter people from the Fiendgod sect, but as long as it''s Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui they are unlikely to fight us over the Glacial Shroud. We might have to give them a few of our treasures, but it''s better than engaging in a bloody battle."


    The Storm Wolf sect didn''t have a bad relationship with all the other sects. The Fiendgod sect was one such example, they were rivals, but still on good terms with each other. It wasn''t like the Moon Dragon sect or the Ghost Soul sect, where a battle was practically guaranteed once they met.


    "Seven days after that, we''ll reach Four Clouds city, the last city before the unexplored area. We''ll stop there for a few days to rest up and wait for the remainders of our scattered forces to gather together, marching into the unexplored area as one large group."


    Liang Chen''s eyes lit up after hearing that they were going to enter a city again. Zhu Chun and the others had given him all the items that the people he killed had on them, so he had a bit more capital now, capital which he could use to buy poison element Demonic beast parts. Yan Ying''s expression quickly turned serious, his eyes landing on Yan Ling.


    "Once we enter Four Clouds city, we must stay low and do our best to not attract too much attention to ourselves. The other sects likely have people there as well, and there are a large number of unaffiliated cultivators there as well. If they learn that we are from the Storm Wolf sect, they might band together to rob us, forcing us to expend a lot of energy to flee. Do you understand?"


    Yan Ling stuck out her tongue, but she still nodded her head to show that she understood. The group returned to eating, but this time they humored Yan Ling and started chatting a bit so that the area wasn''t dominated by silence.


    Once dawn rolled around, the group continued their journey towards their third destination. As the days passed, the area got colder and colder, with more and more snow gathering on the ground. Once the sixth day arrived, the group abandoned their carriages and made the rest of the journey on foot, as it would get too cold for their steeds once they got even closer to their goal.


    While wading through the snow, which by now already reached up to Liang Chen''s waist, Yan Ling spotted a bright red rose growing out of the snow a short distance away. Her eyes lit up as she made her way towards the rose, calling out to Yan Ying.


    "Big Brother, look at this pretty flower!"


    The flower wasn''t far from her, so she quickly reached it and stretched out her arm to pluck it. But before she managed to grasp the rose, Liang Chen dashed through the snow at full speed, grabbing onto her wrist and forcefully pulling it back.


    "Don''t touch it!"


    Yan Ling was caught completely off guard by Liang Chen''s sudden action, her expression becoming slightly annoyed. She turned her head and sent a slight glare at Liang Chen, planning on scolding him.


    "Hey, what ar-"


    Before she managed to start scolding him, Liang Chen grabbed onto the rose and pulled it up, revealing the thorns that were a faint pink in color. He pricked the thorns with his finger, giving a short explanation.


    "It''s poisonous. Touch it and you might end up losing your hand."


    Yan Ling looked at the pink thorns, trying her best to examine them. But even after examining them closely, she was unable to tell if they were actually poisonous, so she looked at Liang Chen with eyes that carried a trace of doubt.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "You can tell that it''s poisonous?"


    She wasn''t able to tell if it was poisonous, even when she was so close to it, but he had seemingly already noticed it while she was making her way over to it, otherwise he would not have been able to stop her in time. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulder and gave a simple explanation.


    "I''m very sensitive to poison."


    Just like lightning element materials, his body craved poison element resources. The moment he had noticed the rose, his instincts and body had started salivating, urging him to go and eat the flower.


    After giving his explanation, he tore the stem of the rose in half, a faint pink liquid spilling out and dying the snow pink. Once the pink liquid landed on it, the snow started to fizzle and seethe, a faint fishy smell spreading through the air, convincing Yan Ling that it was in fact poisonous. And because she was now convinced that it was poisonous, she couldn''t help but comment on Liang Chen''s actions.


    "You just said we shouldn''t touch it!"


    He said that she might lose her hand if she touched it, but not only had he touched it, he had even torn it in half. Even when the pink liquid dripped on him, he didn''t seem affected at all, he even seemed to find it pleasant. Liang Chen finished pouring the pink liquid onto his arm, correcting Yan Ling.


    "I said YOU shouldn''t touch it. Poison like this isn''t too effective on me, so I can touch it as I please. It''s even beneficial to me."


    The poison swiftly sank into his skin and traveled through his body, entering his Ascended Tower. Liang Chen was slightly worried that the poison would be absorbed by the Lightning Seed, just like all the lightning he absorbed was. But in the end, it seemed that his worry was needless, the poison smoothly settling in his Ascended Tower.


    He absorbed some more poison, but it did nothing to raise his cultivation. His body and Ascended Tower, as well as his Lightning Seed, were all baptized by azure, crimson, and violet lightning, which was then stored away inside the Lightning Seed. If he wanted to raise his cultivation, he would need a large amount of poison, enough to balance out the lightning he had already absorbed, allowing his Ascended Tower to be perfectly balanced.


    This had both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that his cultivation couldn''t rise until he actually balanced the two forces. But the advantage was that once he actually managed to balance the two forces, his cultivation would skyrocket, as he would have everything necessary to build up his Ascended Tower.


    Yan Ling looked at the spot on Liang Chen''s arm where the poison had been absorbed, her eyes lighting up with interest as she reached out and gave it a few pokes.


    "He~eh, something like that is possible? Seems like you would be a rather useful thing to bring along for journeys."


    Not only could he produce a downright freakish amount of power, but he could also cook and detect poison, he was an excellent all-around type tool. Facing this strange type of praise, Liang Chen could only roll his eyes.


    "I''m flattered at your praise."


    Yan Ling seemed somewhat dissatisfied at how nonchalant Liang Chen accepted her praise. As he continued to follow Yan Ying and the others, she quickly chased after him to enlighten him about how he should act.


    "Why do I feel like you aren''t taking my praise as seriously should? Do you know how many people would cry tears of joy if I were to praise them?!"


    Liang Chen simply rolled his eyes again, deciding to temporarily ignore Yan Ling, who seemed to hope that Liang Chen would realize her greatness and prostrate himself.


    The group continued to walk for a few more hours until they finally reached their goal, stopping a short distance away from it. Yan Ying stretched out his arm, pointing at a small hill made out of ice.


    "That''s the Glacial Shroud. We''re in luck, it seems to have reached the 100-year grade. Old Chen, you can just go ahead and take it, we''ll protect you."


    The hill of ice was almost completely clear, with only a small part located right in the middle of the hill being murky, a strange fog rolling around within it. The hill itself wasn''t the Glacial Shroud, it was, in fact, this fog that was the Glacial Shroud they had come for.


    It was extremely condensed ice energy that had been saturated with so much Qi that it turned corporeal. Absorbing it would allow one to strengthen their own ice element, making it purer and tougher, as well as making it easier to absorb ice element energy.


    Two hours after Old Chen started to dig into the hill, the sound of people walking through snow reached the ears of Yan Ying and the others. Shortly thereafter, a group of people walked into view, the leader clicking his tongue upon seeing Yan Ying.


    "Tch, of course our luck ended up being so shit that you guys got here first."


    The group that had arrived were clad in the uniform of the Fiendgod sect, pitch black robes that were embroidered with a black turtle that had a snake for a tail, the snake coiling around the entire turtle. The male leader who had clicked his tongue had a rather slim body, amber eyes, short and spiky brown hair, and nails that were strangely long and sharp. Yan Ying didn''t draw his weapon upon seeing the youth, he instead raised an eyebrow in surprise.


    "Xuan Bao, they actually sent you?"


    For this attempt at pushing into the inner parts of the hidden realm, Yan Ying had expected the Fiendgod sect to send Han Zhenya or Sun Yahui, or at least Jia Xiang. This Xuan Bao was a bit weaker than those three, causing Yan Ying''s mind to start moving. Could it be that Xuan Bao had made a breakthrough in his Fiendgod cultivation?


    Not everyone cultivated in the same way, creating an Ascended Tower and then opening Heaven''s Gate. The true disciples of the Fiendgod sect, for example, cultivated their bodies, using various resources and Qi to strengthen their body to the peak, giving them superhuman strength and recovery powers. Facing people who used Fiendgod cultivation, just chopping off their heads or piercing their hearts wasn''t enough to kill them.


    One could even cultivate several different techniques at once, but the number of people who did so was generally low, as splitting one''s focus like this would drastically slow down their speed needed to advance in cultivation. Xuan Bao glanced at the hill of ice behind Yan Ying for a short moment, eventually returning his gaze to Yan Ying and stretching out his arm, opening his palm.


    "Yan Ying, because of your relationship with Senior Sister Yahui, I can let you take the Glacial Shroud without a battle, but not for free."


    Xuan Bao wasn''t willing to enter a bloody battle with one of his sect''s allies, not for something like a Glacial Shroud. But that didn''t mean he would just leave, he had to at least make some profit. Yan Ying''s face lit up with a smile as he pulled out an interspatial ring, tossing it to Xuan Bao.


    "Thank you. These should about cover the value of the Glacial Shroud."


    Xuan Bao caught the yellow ring, quickly scanning the contents with his mind. After giving it a quick look-over, he let out a snort, his eyes landing on the hill of ice.


    "Don''t try to scam me, that is a 100-year Glacial Shroud. What you have given me is only equal to a 75-year Glacial Shroud."


    His meaning was very clear, pay me more. Yan Ying''s smile turned slightly awkward as he fished out another interspatial ring, tossing it over to Xuan Bao and giving a shake of his head.


    "And here I was hoping you''d be blind enough to not notice, my bad."


    Xuan Bao caught and checked the interspatial ring, giving a satisfied nod of his head. He put away the two rings and had his group of people turn around, preparing to leave. Before he left, however, he turned his head slightly, giving Yan Ying a solemn reminder.


    "We can trade like this here, but once we enter the unexplored parts, don''t expect me to be able to show mercy like this. Should it come to it, we will disregard the alliance and all past relationships."


    All the sects were curious at what could possibly be located at the center of this hidden realm. If they could inherit the legacy of whatever mighty cultivator that created this hidden realm, it was worth having a falling out with the other sects. Yan Ying gave a solemn nod of his head, as he too understood that he could not show mercy if it should come to that.


    Old Chen quickly finished digging out the ice that surrounded the Glacial Shroud, carefully putting it into his interspatial ring so that he could start absorbing it while they continued their journey. The group quickly retraced their steps, returning to their carriages.


    They turned the carriages around and left the icy area, retracing their previous steps and taking a different path to reach Four Clouds city. While traveling, Zhu Chun focused on absorbing the Earthen Heart, and Old Chen focused on absorbing the Glacial Shroud, trying to get it done as fast as possible.

 Angel of death.

    Just like Yan Ying had said, seven days after they picked up the Glacial Shroud, they reached an area from which they could see Four Clouds city. The area in front of the city was the same as the first city that Liang Chen had visited, a vast and empty plain filled with tall grass. But the city itself was built onto a mountain, the deeper into the city one went, the higher up the mountain one would go. The walls that surrounded the city were made out of a silver colored metal, shining dazzlingly under the sunlight.


    Yan Ying stopped the carriages, storing them into his bracelet. Even the steeds were absorbed into the bracelet, shocking Liang Chen. There were storing treasures that could store up living beings? Yan Ying didn''t notice Liang Chen''s shock, pointing at the distant city.


    "That''s Four Clouds city. Those four palaces are where the current rulers of the city reside, so just try to stay away from them. Also, put on these, they''ll obscure your appearance and make it so that people can''t recognize you."


    He took out several gray cloaks with large hoods from his interspatial ring, handing one to everyone. Once they put on the robes, an array within the robes activated, their faces turning blurry and indistinct.


    The four palaces he mentioned were far larger than the other buildings in the city, one palace located at each corner of the city. The palaces were all pretty similar, massive square mansions made out of pure white stone. But there was one thing that set them apart from each other, the number of towers surrounding the mansion. One palace had only a single tower, a second had two, the third had three, and the fourth had four. Liang Chen didn''t know what these towers symbolized, but he guessed that having more towers was a sign of power.


    The group quickly crossed the plain, none of the people outside the city daring to stop them in an attempt to rob them. Even before he reached the city, there was a faint fragrance that tickled Liang Chen''s nose, stirring his hunger. Yan Ying and the others didn''t seem to notice this scent, so he didn''t bring it up. They quickly entered the city, which was filled with buildings made out of light gray stones or deep brown wood. After entering the city, Yan Ying pointed down a road to their left, speaking in a low voice.


    "We''ll head to the market, you guys are free to do as you please, just remember to not cause a commotion."


    Everyone but Xiao Yong and Liang Chen followed Yan Ying to the market. Xiao Yong went to find a restaurant where he could get some food, while Liang Chen decided to follow that enticing scent he had noticed, quickly heading down a small and nearly hidden street to his right.


    The smell quickly got stronger as he moved down the street, reaching its peak once he arrived outside a narrow alley that was only wide enough to fit a single Liang Chen. He was able to spot an old and hunchbacked man with a long white beard and a bald head standing inside the alley, shaking his head and muttering to himself.


    "Poor little girl, she didn''t deserve this."


    Liang Chen made his way into the alley and up to the old man, who didn''t seem too bothered by his presence. Liang Chen was not dumb enough to believe that this old man would be someone weak, as no weak people could survive the pressure of this hidden realm. He could tell that the scent came from a spot directly in front of the man, so he quickly peered past him to see what it was. But the scene he saw nearly made him hurl, it was only after taking two steps backward that he was able to stutter out a question.


    "This... What is this?"


    Lying among the trash in front of the man was a young girl who seemed to be close to her twenties. Her arms and legs were bent in unnatural directions, the bones clearly shattered. Her silken robes were torn and tattered, leaving her practically naked, showing all the bruises that covered her body. But worst of all was her face. Her eyes and mouth were sewn shut, the stitches still bloody. The old man glanced at the sickened Liang Chen, responding with a slight shake of his head and a voice that carried a trace of pity.


    "She was one of Liu Daning''s maidservants. She must have gotten in the way of one of his temper tantrums. And looking at what he did to her body, she likely saw and heard something that she shouldn''t have. Poor girl, no one deserves something like this."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be sickened. This was done by her master, the one who was supposed to take care of her? The old man took a few steps away from the girl, glancing at Liang Chen.


    "Would you mind taking her outside the city and dump her with the rest?"


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but twitch at the words of the man. Firstly because of how emotionless his voice had suddenly gotten, as if the girl was no longer something to be pitied, but merely a dead object. And secondly, because of what his statement entailed.


    "Dump her with the rest?"


    Were there others like her? Someone had done this repeatedly? The old man stretched out a wrinkly and thin hand, pointing at a small green rat that was hiding amongst the trash.


    "We can''t keep bodies like this in the city, it''ll attract pests. Because of that, all the corpses get dumped along the city wall."Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Liang Chen only glanced at the rat for a short second, giving a slight nod of his head. He carefully picked up the ruined body of the girl, carrying it out of the city as gently as he could. Once he reached the outside of the city and found a spot where no one could see him, he took out one of his arrows and cut open the stitches that covered the girl''s mouth and eyes.


    He then took out a pill from his bracelet, popping it into the girl''s mouth and forcing her to swallow it. The reason he had done this was very simple, he could still sense the electricity within her body. She was ruined and beaten, but not dead. The pill quickly started to take effect, her wounds getting somewhat better, so Liang Chen decided to ask his question.


    "Can you still talk? Can you tell me what happened to you?"


    The girl had a cultivation that was a little higher than his, having reached the early stage of the Xiantian Tower realm. Because of that, the moment the pill started to take effect, she quickly regained consciousness, her limbs moving slightly.


    Liang Chen wanted to know what happened to her, why these things had been done to her. Could it really be that this Lui Daning had done something this sinful just because this girl got in the way of his temper tantrums? The girl slowly opened her eyes, sight of them shocking Liang Chen.


    Her eyes were completely ruined, the process of sewing her eyes shut having cut several gashes into them. They were completely white, and the only thing Liang Chen could see in them was despair, death, and pain. The girl slowly started to talk, struggling to get the words out.


    "Young Master Daning... He was having an argument with his fiancee... Over the fact that he had slept...With one of the maids... I happened to overhear the argument... He made me sow my eyes... And mouth shut... Saying that he would spare my life... But then... Then he threw me to his... Soldiers..."


    Her voice was filled with nothing but pure anguish and misery. The state of her body and voice alone filled Liang Chen with fury, but her words caused his blood to boil. For something as petty as that, he had done this? For something as petty as that, HE HAD DONE THIS TO AN INNOCENT GIRL?!


    Liang Chen could feel his entire body tremble, he had to struggle to not clench his fists and accidentally harm the girl. Liang Chen had never met this Liu Daning before, but just for this single act, Liang Chen knew that Liu Daning had to die. And resonating with Liang Chen''s burning rage was his instincts. They cried out to erase the source of rage, to ease their boiling blood. And for the first time outside of battle, Liang Chen''s own thoughts perfectly aligned with his bestial instincts.


    The thing that brought Liang Chen out of his furious state was a bloody hand that gently touched his face, a weak voice sounding out from the girl.


    "Please... Please end this... Pain... This horrid pain... Please!"


    Again, her voice was filled with nothing but anguish. She had been beaten and ruined, her chastity and purity tainted by several groups of men. Even if Liang Chen fed her more pills and fully healed her, she would simply kill herself. Liang Chen placed his own hand over the girl''s, his voice calm, quiet, and determined.


    "I will. Rest easy and dream sweetly knowing the fact that Liu Daning will sooner or later follow you into death."


    He didn''t know how strong this Liu Daning was, so he didn''t dare promise that he would immediately kill him. But the end result had been determined. Liu Daning had been judged, and the verdict was guilty, the sentence, death. The girl''s despairing eyes lit up slightly, her bloody lips curling faintly.


    "My sweet... Angel of death... Thank you... Thank you..."


    Liang Chen placed his hand on the head of the girl, his poison flooding into her body, peacefully and painlessly shutting down all her organs, granting her the release that she begged for. Liang Chen lifted up her lifeless body and carried it further away, finding an empty spot where he buried her beneath the snow.


    He was too weak to dig a deep enough hole that could serve as a grave, but the snow in this hidden realm was everlasting, so it would have to do. After burying the girl, Liang Chen slowly walked back to the city, a light and self-deprecating laugh escaping his lips.


    "Right, I almost forgot. While people like Yan Ying and his men exist, there are still countless numbers of scum out there. This peaceful time almost made me forget that."


    The time he had spent with Yan Ying and the others was very enjoyable, they made him feel like he actually belonged, like he had a safe place where he could rest. And that feeling of safety almost made him forget the horrors he had seen. But now he had gotten a grim reminder of what the world could truly be like, now he promised himself that he would never allow himself to forget it again. The heavens wouldn''t punish people like Liu Daning, so he would have to do it for them.


    He quickly made his way through the city, heading to the market. The market in this city was far larger than the one he had seen in the first city he had been in, it was so larger that Liang Chen wasn''t able to see the end of it. He paid the tax needed to enter the market and followed the directions of a guard he had asked.


    He quickly arrived at a small booth located a few kilometers away from the market entrance, a booth run by a tall woman clad in a pale pink robe. Seeing the cloaked Liang Chen walking up to her, she quickly put on a seductive smile.


    "What are you looking for?"


    Liang Chen didn''t waste any time, taking out a small interspatial ring and tossing it at the woman.


    "Information on Liu Daning, everything you have. Price is no problem."


    The woman was slightly annoyed at Liang Chen''s brusque mannerism, but once she checked the contents of the interspatial ring, her face bloomed into a brilliant smile.


    "Pleasure doing business with you!"


    She quickly tucked away the ring, as if she was worried that Liang Chen would change his mind. She then cleared her throat and started to list all the information that she had.


    "Liu Daning, an unaffiliated cultivator who has reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, the Heaven''s Gate stage. He cultivates the elements of wood and water for defense and uses the strange element of piercing for attacks. He currently resides within the Second Cloud Palace, the place with two towers, along with his fiancee and several cultivators who have chosen to follow him. He rarely leaves the palace, worried about ambushes. So he either sends his henchmen or walks onto the large balcony on the third floor and shouts out his orders to whoever can hear them."


    This woman was the best information broker in the city, which was why Liang Chen had chosen to go to her after asking the guards of the market for directions. While speaking, she even brought out a small crystal and filled it with Qi, showing Liang Chen an image of Liu Daning and his fiancee. Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, turning around and leaving the market.

 Tide of blood.

    The Second Cloud Palace was visible from almost anywhere in the city, so it didn''t take Liang Chen to find and reach it. He stopped outside the palace, which was surrounded by a tall wall made of light yellow stone. He walked around the outside of the wall until he found a spot that was well hidden from sight, and then he stood there and observed the palace.


    He was hesitating. Liu Daning had reached the Heaven''s Gate stage, the same stage as the four Moon Dragon sect disciples that had ambushed him during the previous battle had. He knew that he had the strength to wound and kill Liu Daning if he was given the chance, but he was still hesitating.


    Liang Chen wasn''t here alone, he was here with Yan Ying and the others, and Yan Ying had repeatedly told them not to stir up any trouble. If he were to make a move against this Liu Daning now, what sort of trouble would it cause for Yan Ying and the others? They had been good to him, so he was rather unwilling to stir up trouble like this for them. While he was hesitating and thinking it over again and again, a voice suddenly rang out from his side.


    "Yikes, that''s a grim face your making there, I didn''t even know you could make a face like that."


    Liang Chen quickly turned his body, his vigilance shooting to the sky. Because he had been caught up in his own thoughts and was certain that this was a well-hidden spot, he had forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings. He only relaxed when he saw who it was that had spoken, tilting his head slightly.


    "Yan Ling, what are you doing here?"


    The cloaked Yan Ling was the one who was walking over. Their cloaks obscured their faces to others, but not to Liang Chen and the others so they were still able to recognize each other. Yan Ling quickly walked over, a slight hop to her steps, her expression dyed with interest.


    "I happened to spot you in the market, doing something shady, so I decided to follow you to see what you were planning. But looking at your expression, you seem to have encountered a problem or something. Come, come, tell this Big Sister about your worries, I will help you!"


    Yan Ling had followed Yan Ying to the market, but she split up after they entered the market, so she was the only one who had seen Liang Chen. He thought it over for a bit, but in the end, he decided to simply tell Yan Ling everything that he had heard, as well as his thoughts.


    Just like he expected, her expression distorted into one of disgust when she heard what had happened to the girl. But when he explained his thoughts to her, she let out a light laugh, rapping Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles.


    "So it was something like that. And here I thought that you were so very mature, but it seems like you are still thinking like a child, overthinking and worrying."


    Liang Chen was utterly confused at her sudden action, but before he got to put his confusion into words, Yan Ling spoke up.


    "Tell me, do you want to kill this scum, this Liu Daning?"


    Liang Chen''s blood boiled whenever he thought about the state of the girl, so he didn''t hesitate for even a single second before he answered.


    "I do."


    Yan Ling gave a slight nod, immediately asking another question.


    "Do you have the power to kill him?"


    Liu Daning was at the Heaven''s Gate stage, but Liang Chen had both wounded and killed people like that before, so he once again responded without hesitation.


    "I do."


    After getting his response, Yan Ling''s face lit up with a smile, her knuckles once again rapping Liang Chen on the head.


    "Then why bother hesitating!?"


    Liang Chen was once again completely dumbfounded, not properly understanding Yan Ling''s words. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Yan Ling felt like she had won a small victory, quickly letting out a laugh filled with pride and arrogance.


    "To cultivate is to go against the heavens, to impose your will on them and reign supreme! If you cannot even go and do the things you want to do, how will you ever be able to overcome the heavens? Don''t worry about stirring up a bit of trouble, you might not have officially joined yet, but you are a member of my Storm Wolf sect. Kill whoever you want, offend whoever you want! As long as you are following your heart, we will have your back and support you!"


    This was the difference between Liang Chen and Yan Ling. He was a normal youth tossed into the cruel cultivation world without fully understanding it. She, on the other hand, had been born in this cruel cultivation world, she was a bit sheltered, but she understood it far better than Liang Chen.


    You want something? Then take it! You don''t like someone? Then kill them! Go against the heavens, bend them to your will, force them to kneel to you! You don''t think the heavens are just? Then crush them and take over for them, impose your sense of justice on everyone else! So what if you are acting selfish, so what if you are stirring up trouble? Follow your heart, and you will never go astray!


    Liang Chen was completely stunned. Was it possible to act like that? Was he allowed to act as selfish as he wished, to do as he pleased? The hesitation in his eyes quickly vanished, lightning flashing past them as they grew determined. He locked eyes with Yan Ling, giving her a slight bow.


    "... Thank you, Yan Ling."


    She had blown away his hesitation and made him feel like an entirely new door had been opened for him. From the very start, his actions had already been selfish, imposing his sense of justice on others. Since it was like that, what did it matter if he was a bit more selfish and followed his heart? Yan Ling let out a slightly mischievous and proud laughter, rapping Liang Chen on the head once again.


    "That''s Senior Sister Ling to you. So, have you decided what you are going to do?"


    The way Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen proved that she knew exactly what he was going to answer to her question. Normally, Liang Chen would find this expression a bit amusing, but now it looked a tiny bit cute. He nodded his head, glancing at the surroundings.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "I have. Can you protect me for a bit?"


    Yan Ling''s smile grew even brighter, even more filled with interest. She quickly puffed out her chest and put on the airs of a dignified Senior Sister.


    "He~eh, the Little Freak needs me to protect him? How could I possibly say no?"


    Liang Chen did not waste any more time after getting her agreement, sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, tapping into all of his Qi. Tiny motes of violet light flew out of his body, constantly splitting up and shrinking in size. They quickly became so small that they were impossible to see, even smaller than dust particles. Unable to understand what Liang Chen was doing, Yan Ling could only tilt her head.


    "This...?"


    What Liang Chen was doing was fairly simple actually. Since he could use his lightning to scan for living beings in the surroundings, why couldn''t he do the same with his poison? Each of those tiny particles of poison would become another eye for him, letting him see everything within a large area. Of course, this wasn''t perfect. It required 100% of his concentration, leaving him completely defenseless, and it rapidly tired his mind, threatening to knock him unconscious.


    Under his control, the tiny particles of poison quickly swarmed into the palace, spreading to every corner and observing everything. And what he saw only served to enrage him further. Liu Daning, a handsome youth with flowing blonde hair and dazzlingly blue eyes, was lying on a couch, getting fed grapes by his fiancee, a curvaceous girl with exquisite features, light pink hair, and emerald green hair.


    But while this picturesque couple was leisurely eating grapes, the rest of the palace could only be called hell. There were men and women clad in various robes spread throughout the rooms of the palace, some of them enjoying themselves with unwilling maids or butlers, some using the maids and butlers as outlets for their torture fantasies. Liang Chen even spotted one person who was casually walking down a hallway, and suddenly struck out at a young butler, crushing his head like a watermelon. Just like they said, birds of a feather flock together. Every single one of Liu Daning''s men were just as bad as him.


    Liang Chen swallowed his rage, putting most of his focus on Liu Daning and his fiancee. He quickly noticed that they weren''t just eating grapes, they were watching a show. A few maids and butlers were chained up in front of them, each one holding a shoddy weapon. Liu Daning occasionally called out two names, the ones that were called out would then proceed to fight each other to the death. The winner would be unshackled and allowed to return to their duties in the mansion.


    Liang Chen''s entire body now burned with rage, every fiber of his being screaming at him to kill, to drown the entire mansion in blood. Under his rage, even his Ascended Tower and Lightning Seed were trembling slightly, resonating with his fury. But he didn''t move yet. He couldn''t make his move just yet, he had to wait and prepare.


    He didn''t move for an entire two days, his poison thoroughly invading not only the palace but even the bodies of the cultivators within it. Everyone but the maids and butlers, as well as Liu Daning, who by far had the highest cultivation, was infected and steeped in Liang Chen''s poison. Not even Liu Daning''s fiancee was spared, as she joined Liu Daning in his actions. The reason Liu Daning wasn''t infested with the poison was simple, his high cultivation made Liang Chen uncertain if it would work, so he had decided on something else for Liu Daning.


    The strain on his mind over these two days was massive, and had it not been for Yan Ling guarding him and feeding him pills when he looked like he was about to collapse, he would have already passed out. But after two days passed, he was fully prepared. He opened his eyes, his golden pupils narrowing until they resembled the eyes of a serpent, something that Yan Ling noticed but didn''t comment on.


    "Scum, you all deserve death."


    With a single thought, Liang Chen activated the poison that infiltrated everyone within the mansion. The cultivators that were willing to serve Liu Daning were all far weaker than him, after being invaded by poison for two entire days, it was already too late for them to do anything. The poison activated and attacked every inch of their bodies, their organs, skin, bones, flesh, hair, everything. They could only watch as their bodies melted into a bloody mess, the pure white palace quickly stained red, a tide of blood washing over it.


    Liu Daning was enjoying some wine with his fiancee when Liang Chen moved into action, so he got a front side seat as he watched her melt. She stretched her hand toward Liu Daning, hoping for him to save her, but her arm was gone before it managed to reach him. Screams sounded out through the mansion, so he could guess that something similar was happening throughout the mansion.


    His rage reached a boiling point as he stormed through the mansion, reaching the large balcony that faced the city. He threw open the doors to the balcony, his furious shout thundering throughout the city.


    "Who dares attack the people of me, Liu Daning?!"


    This was the chance Liang Chen was waiting for. His head was thundering with pain, but he simply ignored it, numbing his own sense of pain and touch with his Poison Soul technique. He quickly stood up and pulled out his bow, which had started to melt slightly at the side from the repeated lightning that coursed through the arrows that Liang Chen had loaded onto it, and a single arrow, calling out to Yan Ling.


    "Now, throw me!"


    Yan Ling was still stunned at the sight in front of her. She could see blood pouring out from some of the openings in the castle, some cultivators had been standing by the windows when they started to melt, so she had been able to clearly see their fate. In her stunned state, the meaning of Liang Chen''s words didn''t instantly register.


    "Throw you?"


    Liang Chen gave an immediate nod of his head, his eyes firm.


    "Throw me!"


    Yan Ling quickly regained her senses, wind howling around her as she grabbed onto Liang Chen. She gathered as much force as she could, tossing Liang Chen as high as she could, even using wind to support him and slow his descent.


    The moment Yan Ling threw him, he started to call upon the lightning within the Lightning Seed. But this time he dug deeper than he had ever done before, demanding the Lightning Seed to give him as much strength as he could bear.


    His call was quickly responded to, three arcs of lightning seeping out from the Lightning Seed. One arc was golden, one was azure, and the last one was crimson. The three arcs danced around each other, moving through Liang Chen''s body like molten metal, his body breaking wherever they passed. The strain of these three arcs, that mutually strengthened each other, was far higher than the strain of a simple crimson arc.


    But thanks to his Poison Soul technique, he was able to ignore the pain and continue, his body teetering on the brink of collapse, but never crossing that final line. Liu Daning quickly spotted the now skyborne Liang Chen, his now savage face turning toward him.


    "Was it yo-!"


    Liu Daning was unable to finish his sentence, for Liang Chen had loosed his arrow and sent out his judgment. A single streak split the air apart, three colors lighting up the sky around the streak. Liu Daning didn''t even get the time to react. The arrow struck his chest and then exploded, the thundering sound of an explosion rocking the entire city, three bolts of lightning shooting into the sky. But this city was clearly incredibly sturdy. Despite the large explosion that the arrow had created, turning Liu Daning into dust, there was not a single scratch on the palace or the balcony.


    But Liang Chen was unable to see the aftermath of the magnificent attack he had launched. The moment he launched the arrow, his vision started to darken his consciousness slipping as he fell to the ground. Before he hit the ground, he felt himself land in a soft embrace, a shocked and excited voice ringing out in his ears.


    "You really are Little Freak. That really was a horrifying poison. And wasn''t that arrow even stronger than the ones you used against the Moon Dragon Sect? You can use even stronger ones!?"


    Liang Chen''s consciousness was almost completely gone, he didn''t even notice Yan Ling forcing several pills into his mouth. He only knew that they had to leave this area as fast as possible.


    "...Go..."


    That was the only word he managed to squeeze out before his body gave out on him, his mind rapidly descending into darkness. But before he completely passed out, he was still able to hear the last sentence of Yan Ling.


    "Right, right. Don''t worry, just leave the aftermath to Big Brother, you just get some sleep."

 blood-haired Liang Chen.

    Yan Ling placed Liang Chen''s body on her back, carrying him in a piggyback position. Blood was dripping from all his orifices and several cracks that had appeared in his body, staining both his and Yan Ling''s robes in blood. Yan Ling glanced at the blood, suddenly remembering something.


    "Oops, can''t be seen wearing these."


    The robes had hidden Liang Chen''s features, but people would still be able to recognize him if they saw her carrying him and they were both clad in those cloaked robes. She quickly stripped Liang Chen, storing the bloody robe into her interspatial ring. This was the first time she had seen Liang Chen''s bare body, so this was the first time she saw all the scars that covered his back and arms, as well as a large portion of his chest and legs.


    She couldn''t help but be slightly stunned, tracing the crack like scars with her fingers. How had his entire body been covered in scars like this? Not only were there crack like scars, but there were also scars gained from other wounds, such as the large scar on his shoulder, where a Demonic beast had taken out a large chunk. She quickly regained herself, focusing on the task at hand. She took out a light yellow robe and quickly put it on Liang Chen, repeating the process for herself right after.


    After she clad both of them in the new robes, she carried him through some of the smaller alleys and roads that went away from the palace. As she carried Liang Chen and ran, she could hear people surrounding the palace behind her, their shocked voices sounding out.


    "What the hell just happened?!"


    "Where did Liu Daning go?"


    "Where did all this blood come from, did all the men inside the palace die?!"


    Yan Ling couldn''t blame them for their shocked reactions. With all the cultivators inside the palace melting, a veritable flood of blood started seeping out from every opening. She was completely confident that the inside of the palace now looked like a scene straight out of hell itself.


    Yan Ling quickly retraced her steps, dashing away from the palace and heading to the market where her big brother was. It seemed like Yan Ying and his men had noticed the commotion, as she spotted them running towards the palace. She quickly called out to them, holding Liang Chen''s body on her back with one arm and using the other to wave at Yan Ying, a bright and amused smile on her face.


    "Big Brother, over here!"


    Yan Ying quickly turned his head when he heard the voice of Yan Ling. His eyes landed on the unconscious and bloody Liang Chen, and he instantly guessed at what had happened. His group quickly ran over to Yan Ling, and Yan Ying couldn''t help but let out a deep sigh when he saw the smile on his sister''s face.


    "Of course it had to be you. I knew that something was wrong the moment I hadn''t heard from you in two days."


    For him to not hear from his sister in two days, it could only mean that she was being rowdy somewhere, probably getting on the nerves of some poor fellow who had to deal with her. Yan Ying gave Liang Chen a quick check, his expression turning a bit solemn when he saw the extent of the injuries.


    "Old Chen, take care of Little Chen. I don''t think a few pills will make it this time."


    Yan Ling handed Liang Chen to Old Chen, who was most suited to dealing with injuries. The moment Old Chen saw just how serious the injuries were, he poured his Qi into Liang Chen''s body, ice starting to gather on some of the larger wounds, preventing him from bleeding out. His body was slowly healing itself, but if left alone, he would bleed out before he finished healing. While Old Chen was taking care of Liang Chen, Yan Ying sent a slight glare at Yan Ling.


    "There was only one thing you had to keep in mind inside the city, one thing! Can you tell me what that one thing was?"


    Yan Ying thought that his sister had understood after he made sure to repeat it several times, at least three times a day. Yan Ling gave a quick nod of her head, repeating what Yan Ying had told her several times. She even wore a serious expression on her face.


    "Don''t stir up any trouble."


    Yan Ying gave a faint nod, she at least remembered what he had told her several times. He then sent her another slight glare, pointing at the distant commotion.


    "And what did you just do?"


    Yan Ling didn''t even glance at the commotion behind her, her lips curling into a smile that revealed her cute canine teeth, a bright laughter escaping her lips.


    "Nihihi, we just stirred up quite the trouble!"


    Her expression clearly showed that she held no remorse for doing the exact thing that Yan Ying had told her repeatedly not to do. Yan Ying felt a headache approach, he wanted to scold Yan Ling, but in the end, he could only let out a defeated sigh.


    "You... you... Ha~ah, just tell me what the hell you did."


    Yan Ling quickly started to explain what Liang Chen had told her, as well as what Liang Chen had done. Yan Ying''s eyebrows twitched slightly after hearing about the things Liu Daning had done. Yan Ling had watched Liang Chen for two days, so she had been able to come up with a guess at what he was doing as he sat there, so she also told Yan Ying about what she guessed Liang Chen had been doing for those two days. After hearing the entire story, Yan Ying gave a nod of his head, but he still let out another sigh.


    "Well, I can''t say this Liu Daning and his men didn''t deserve it. But couldn''t you wait for a better time, like right before we leave the city?"


    Yan Ying and Yan Ling didn''t know what Liu Daning''s men had done, as Liang Chen had passed out before he could tell Yan Ling. But birds of a feather flocked together, so they were likely just as vile as Liu Daning. Facing Yan Ying''s exasperated sigh, Yan Ling let out another bright laugh, her eyes gleaming with light.


    "Nihihi, where''s the fun in that? Hey, did you see that lightning at the end, did you?!"


    When she closed her eyes, Yan Ling could still see those three bolts of lightning that soared into the sky. One golden, one azure, one crimson, all three coiling around each other as they ascended into the sky. It was a truly magnificent, and terrifying, sight. The group quickly returned to the market, to the only place in the city where battles were forbidden.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Of course, since Liang Chen had just killed one of the rulers of the city, the ones that ensured that the rules within the market were upheld, there was no telling whether or not anyone would still care about those rules. While making their way back to the market, Yan Ying responded to Yan Ling''s question with a somewhat exasperated voice.


    "Of course we did, the whole city saw that lightning!"


    Not only had the lightning created a thunderous explosion that resounded through the entire city, but the bolts of lightning were also so large and eye-catching that it was impossible to miss them. When Yan Ying thought about those three bolts of lightning, even he couldn''t help but feel a slight shudder go through him.


    "I knew that Little Chen could produce quite the amount of strength, but I didn''t expect it to have reached that level. It seems that he can''t handle all that power right now, but imagine the day where he can properly control all that power. He can launch as many of those attacks that he wants without ending up as he has now! And it seems like his poison is quite a bit stronger than I first expected it to be."


    Looking at how Liang Chen tore himself apart whenever he wanted to use lightning of that strength, it was clear that the power was far stronger than his body could handle. But that was only for now! One day he could use as much lightning as he pleased, decimating everything with heavenly wrath! And what if he had stronger lightning? What if that crimson heavenly lightning wasn''t his strongest? Just the thought that Liang Chen might have violet heavenly lightning caused Yan Ying''s heart to thump violently. Yan Ling couldn''t help but give a rare solemn nod of her head.


    "Yeah, it really was quite terrifying. Blood poured out from the openings in the palace, like a tide of blood had suddenly been unleashed inside it."


    Yan Ying shuddered at the thought of Liang Chen''s lightning, but Yan Ling was more amazed by his poison. She knew that his poison was weaker than his lightning, that was why his cultivation had stagnated for the moment. But even that weak poison had caused several cultivators to completely melt! What would it become once he strengthened it? What sort of insidious and terrifying poison would be born then? But her solemn expression didn''t last long, a smile appearing on her face.


    "But hey, he''s on our side, so the freakier he is, the better!"


    Liang Chen had already agreed to join their Storm Wolf sect, and he was on good terms with everyone in their group. He was a terrifying enemy, but an amazing ally. Yan Ling suddenly thought about something, her smile growing even wider, a somewhat mischievous and even slightly sinister laughter sounding out.


    "Nihihi, I''d like to see if those ghouls and lizards are still going to dare be arrogant once the next sect competition starts."


    Since all the sects were technically rivals, they would often compete with each other. Even normal training exercise and hidden realms like this turned into competitions between the younger generation. Hearing her somewhat sinister laughter, Yan Ying gave a slight nod of his head, agreeing with her.


    "True, Deng Wuying and Qian Yunwen aren''t bad, but compared to how strong Little Chen might be once the competition rolls around? They fall a bit short I fear."


    Yan Ying knew the strength of his sect quite well. While the older generation of disciples still had some very power disciples that could keep the other sects at bay, the younger generation was quite a bit weaker when compared to the other sects. But that was mainly because of how the Storm Wolf sect treated their younger disciples, mostly forbidding them from experiencing the cruelty of the world before they were a certain age.


    The group reached the market after not too long, heading to the eastern side of it. They quickly reached a row of small square houses, each one only a few rooms large. Yan Ying took out a gray quartz from his interspatial ring, placing it against the door as he spoke.


    "Alright, let''s go and hide in the house we have rented, keep out of sight and hope for the best while we wait for Little Chen to wake up and the rest of our guys to arrive."


    --


    While Yan Ling was carrying Liang Chen through the city, Liang Chen found his mind sink through the darkness, approaching a red light. Once he passed through the red light, he found himself standing in a familiar ruined city. He once again stood in Green Rivers city, looking at the scaffolding where his parents were executed.


    But things were different this time. There were no people around the scaffolding, he didn''t relive that day. The city around him was also ruined, split open at the middle, a massive black crack that resembled a maw dividing the city in half. Liang Chen recognized this crack, it was the one that had appeared last time he fell unconscious, when he heard that strange and distorted voice.


    There was also a thin layer of blood covering the ground of the entire city, bones and corpses lying in the blood. Liang Chen recognized these corpses, they were the people he had killed. Even the young girl he had killed out of pity was there, her ruined body lying face down in the blood. As Liang Chen was looking at the crack and the blood, his own voice suddenly sounded out from behind him.


    "You know, for a guy who does his best to not fall asleep, you knock yourself out quite a bit. This is, what, the third time already since you entered the hidden realm?"


    Liang Chen quickly turned around to inspect whoever it was that had arrived. The person that arrived looked almost exactly like him, but there were a few differences. His golden pupils were narrowed, like a serpent''s, and instead of emerald hair, he had hair that was as red as blood. Liang Chen looked this clone of himself up and down for a short moment.


    "Your voice is different from the one I heard last time, what are you?"


    The voice of this clone was the same as his own voice, it was different from the distorted voice that had told Liang Chen to release him. The blood-haired clone put on a mysterious smile, casually walking closer and looking at the massive crack that split the city in half.


    "I wonder who I am, I wonder. I am part of you, just like that voice you heard last time. Well, that thing is quite a bit more monstrous than me, so I would prefer if you never get in contact with it, just keep it sealed away down there."


    The blood-haired Liang Chen didn''t seem interested in giving a proper answer, but it also didn''t seem interested in attacking Liang Chen. Liang Chen looked down into the crack, but all he saw was an all-encompassing darkness.


    "That thing? It''s sealed away inside me, that voice I heard last time?"


    Could it be that someone had sealed something inside him when he was a baby? Was that why he had been abandoned in the forest? The blood-haired Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, seemingly uncertain of the answer as he responded, returning a question to Liang Chen.


    "Not exactly sealed, just slumbering, waiting for you to release it. Or maybe it''s waiting for you to release yourself? I wonder which one applies in this situation?"


    Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulder in the face of the question. If not even this blood-haired clone knew, how could he? A short moment of silence fell over the two Liang Chen''s, both gazing into the crack in silence. After a little while, Liang Chen''s body started to become faint and translucent, the blood-haired Liang Chen letting out a slight sound in surprise.


    "Oh, leaving already? Your body must be healing faster than I thought, seems you have already come into contact with that thing down there."


    Liang Chen raised an eyebrow at the words. Was it because of that thing in the crack that his body was so strong, healing itself? His body quickly started to vanish, the blood-haired Liang Chen letting out a slight laugh, a mysterious smile on his face.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be waiting here for you. No matter how much time passes, no matter what you do, the two of us can never be separated again, so I''ll always be waiting."


    Liang Chen vanished from the bloody city, leaving behind that massive crack and the blood-haired Liang Chen. The remaining Liang Chen sent one last glance into the depths of the crack, turning around and walking away, his light laughter echoing through the empty city.


    "Haha, I wonder what will happen first. Will I get to eat you, will you eat me, or will you reach that place and release that beast?"

 Endless path.

    After leaving the bloody city, Liang Chen found himself seeing a strange sight. He was seeing the inside of his own body, but it was slightly different from how he usually saw the inside of his own body when he checked his Ascended Tower. He could see his own veins, his blood, his bones, even the electricity that flowed through his body and sent signals to his brain was laid bare before him.


    Other than the normal electricity that flowed in everyone''s bodies, Liang Chen also saw three other streams flow through his body, moving through his veins. One stream was a dazzling golden in color, crackling with lightning, the second stream was emerald green, a faint mist lingering around it as it moved.


    Liang Chen could easily guess that these two streams were his lightning and poison element, but when it came to the third stream, Liang Chen had no idea what it might be. The third stream was the largest of the three, almost twice as large as his lightning and poison element. It was almost completely translucent, a faint gray in color.


    Liang Chen felt like he could interact with these three streams, so he probed them with his mind. The gray stream didn''t listen to him at all, not even responding, seemingly asleep. The golden stream, however, slowly reacted to his probing, leaving his veins and moving into his flesh and bones.


    Liang Chen thought that since the golden stream was his lightning element, there was no problem with introducing it into his flesh and bones. But the moment the stream left his veins, he could feel horrendous pain overtaking his body, threatening to tear him out of the strange state he was in. More than just feeling painful, it felt wrong, as if he had made a mistake. He quickly recalled the golden stream, swiftly inspecting the area where it had made contact with his flesh.


    To his surprise, the flesh that had made contact with the stream had grown a tiny bit stronger. It was nearly unnoticeable, but it had unmistakably grown stronger. Liang Chen thought that it was similar to the technique he had come up with after being forced to flee from Green Rivers city, the technique where he used his own lightning to toughen up his body.


    But upon closer inspection, it seemed that it wasn''t completely correct. The technique he himself had come up with only toughened up his body, but looking at that tiny piece of affected flesh, it had not only grown tougher but also stronger and more flexible. It was clear that what had just happened was much more thorough than his old technique, much more useful.


    But when he thought back to how it felt like he had done it wrong, as well as the horrendous pain that it brought, Liang Chen felt that now wasn''t the time to attempt it again, he needed to first figure out what he had done wrong.


    The last stream he probed with his mind was the emerald stream. Just like he did with his golden stream, he didn''t give it any proper orders, he just touched it ever so slightly with his mind. And just like the previous one, this stream also moved on its own. But rather than move into his flesh and blood, the emerald stream flowed to his chest, to an empty spot next to his heart.


    Just as Liang Chen was wondering what it was going to do, a small piece of the emerald stream vanished. And as that small piece vanished, Liang Chen''s vision cracked and shattered like glass, a feeling that he had done something horrendously wrong flooding his body. A pain unlike any he had ever felt before assaulted his mind. Far worse than any physical pain he had ever felt before, this pain felt like it threatened to drive his mind into madness and insanity.


    The pain vanished quickly, after only half a second. But to Liang Chen, it felt like he had suffered hours of torture. His vision started to slowly repair itself, the shattered pieces reconnecting. Once his vision was no longer cracked, and he was certain that there wouldn''t be another bout of that nightmarish pain, he let out a mental sigh of relief, his thoughts moving. Could it be that the emerald stream had accidentally come into contact with his soul, the very essence of his being? There was no one that could answer that question for Liang Chen, so he could only put the question aside.


    As Liang Chen returned to inspecting the inside of his body, learning how it worked, he suddenly felt something touch him. It felt like something soft was repeatedly touching his cheek, gently poking it. While he was trying to figure out what it was he felt, faint voices suddenly reached his ears.


    "Didn''t I tell you to stop poking him while he is unconscious?"


    The voice sounded distant, but Liang Chen was able to tell that it belonged to Yan Ying. His cheek continued to be poked, so Liang Chen tried to force his body to move and wake up. As he did so, another voice rang out, this one much closer.


    "But he just spasmed, so I thought he might be waking up!"


    The voice belonged to Yan Ling, and as it sounded out, the speed at which his cheek was poked increased, so it was likely she who was responsible for the sensation. Liang Chen continued to try and force himself awake, Yan Ling giggling slightly as she continued to poke his unconscious body.


    "And besides, his cheeks feel so tingly, like there are tiny bolts of lightning running through it. It''s surprisingly comfortable."


    After feeling his cheek get poked for a little over a minute, Liang Chen was finally able to force his body to move, immediately leaving the strange state he had been in and opening his eyes. He saw an unfamiliar wooden roof above him as he opened his eyes, he also saw Yan Ling sitting right next to him, her finger still touching his cheek as he woke up. She quickly pulled back her finger, acting like nothing had happened as she called out to Yan Ying.


    "See, I told you that he might be waking up! Little Freak''s already up!"


    At first, Yan Ying thought that she was just joking, but then he actually saw Liang Chen sit. While Yan Ying was walking over to him, Liang Chen took the chance to inspect the room he was currently in. The room was a few meters in width and length, contained two normal-sized beds, two large closets, a single round table, four chairs, as well as two small tables placed next to the two beds. Yan Ying placed a chair next to the bed Liang Chen sat on, handing him a cup filled with a deep green liquid that released a strong herbal scent and some faint steam.


    "You woke up quite a bit faster than we thought you would, it seems we underestimated your body. How do you feel?"


    The tea was incredibly bitter, but it filled his body with a comfortable warmth, so it clearly wasn''t normal tea. Liang Chen held the cup with his left hand, clenching his right a few times before answering, giving a slight bow of his head.


    "Strangely good. Thank you for taking care of me."


    As he clenched his fist, Liang Chen had paid close attention to the tip of his little finger. When that golden stream left his veins and entered his body, it was the little finger on his right hand that it had entered, so he wanted to make sure that what he had seen wasn''t just an illusion. And after closely examining his little finger, he came to the conclusion that it hadn''t been an illusion, the tip of his little finger having grown a tiny bit stronger. Yan Ying stopped Liang Chen before he could finish his bow, shrugging his shoulders.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "Don''t sweat it, you''re one of us after all."


    Seeming to have noticed the chatting in the room, a few more people quickly entered it. Liang Chen recognized Zhu Chun and the others, but there were three people that he had never seen before, two men and one woman. Yan Ying followed Liang Chen''s gaze, and upon noticing that he was looking at the newcomers, he swiftly introduced them.


    "You were out for about five days, so the rest of our people have arrived. This is Xie Bo, this is Jiang Hong, and this is Zhang Tujie."


    Xie Bo was a somewhat short and slim fellow who had brown eyes and short black hair that was slicked backward. His eyes were a bit narrowed and sharp, and strangely enough, he didn''t have any eyebrows. Jiang Hong was rather tall and muscular, had crimson eyes and was completely bald, three rows of three brown dots covering his scalp. Zhang Tujie had a more normal height and seemed to be somewhat flat and skinny, she had brown eyes and golden hair that was tied up into two pigtails.


    Liang Chen found her choice of hairstyle rather odd, but he was not one to judge something like that, so he didn''t give voice to his thoughts. He introduced himself to the three newcomers and then turned to Yan Ying.


    "Did anything happen while I was out?"


    He had made such a grand spectacle when he killed Liu Daning, one of the city rulers, so he would find it strange if the city moved on as normal. The one who responded to his question was Yan Ling, who let out a light giggle.


    "Nihihi, the city''s currently experiencing quite the uproar. People are trying quite hard to figure out exactly who it was that massacred Liu Daning and all his men, not even leaving behind any body parts."


    Liang Chen had expected something like this, so he wasn''t too surprised at the answer. He once again bowed his head slightly, apologizing to Yan Ying for the trouble he had caused them.


    "I''m sorry, I stirred up trouble, despite you telling us not to."


    Yan Ying stretched out his arm, rapping Liang Chen on the head with his knuckles. After rapping him on the head, he forced Liang Chen to sit up straight, a stream of Qi preventing him from bowing again.


    "Don''t be. Ling''er told me what happened. As long as you follow your heart and have no regrets, you have nothing to be sorry for."


    Yan Ying wore a casual smile, and Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ying truly meant what he said. For a split second, Liang Chen could not help but admit that this pair of brother and sister were truly rather similar, despite one of them being adopted. He wanted to bow his head once more, but Yan Ying''s Qi prevented that.


    "Thank you."


    Since they wouldn''t accept his apologies, then he could only give them his thanks instead. The casual smile on Yan Ying''s face grew a bit wider as he gave a slight nod of his head. He glanced at his own men and then looked Liang Chen''s body up and down, looking at him with a questioning gaze.


    "That''s more like it, a thanks is always better than an apology. You said you felt strangely good, does that mean we can head towards the inner parts in two days?"


    The rest of his men had arrived, so they were only waiting for Liang Chen to wake up before they decided when to enter the central area of the hidden realm. Liang Chen''s body felt better than ever, so he gave a quick nod of his head.


    "Shouldn''t be any problem."


    The smile on Yan Ying''s face quickly grew excited, soon they would be able to explore the previously unexplored inner reaches of the hidden realm. He stood up and left the room with his men, finishing up the last of their preparations. The only ones left in the room now were Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who continued to look Liang Chen''s body up and down. Eventually, Liang Chen felt slightly embarrassed under her continued stare, so he couldn''t help but comment.


    "Are you going to keep staring at me like that for the next two days?"


    Yan Ling stretched out her hand after hearing his comment, poking at his chest a few times before she commented in a slightly amazed voice.


    "Just curious how this body is able to heal so quickly. The more I learn about you, the better the name Little Freak fits you."


    She knew about the extent of Liang Chen''s injuries. It should be impossible for him to heal them all within just five days, even with the medicine they had used. For him to not only have those freakishly strong elements but even such an exaggerated healing ability, the name Little Freak was perfect for him. Liang Chen was already used to Yan Ling''s strange form of praise, so he only gave a light shake of his head.


    "I''ll just assume you consider that to be a form of praise, so I''ll pretend to be flattered."


    Even if her words were a bit sharp at times, and were borderline insults at other times, Liang Chen could tell that she didn''t mean anything bad when she said them, she truly thought of them as praise. Seeing his nonchalance, Yan Ling clicked her tongue slightly.


    "Tch, just you wait till we get to the headquarters of the clan, then you''ll see how many people are dying to receive my praise!"


    She was the sweetheart of the clan, every disciple and even some of the elders would be ecstatic if she were to praise them like this, yet this Little Freak always only shrugged his shoulders.


    Two days quickly passed, with no one in the group leaving the house during the two days, quietly preparing for the upcoming challenge. Dawn of the second day, they all left the house and quietly left the city. This city was the last stop before the unexplored area, so they only had to walk past the mountain that the city was built on to reach the unexplored area.


    They quickly passed through the forest that was located at the sides of the mountain, reaching the edge of the unexplored area. Liang Chen was rather surprised to see that the unexplored area was actually incredibly simple. It was just one massive meadow, a single wide path snaking through the meadow, stretching into eternity. When he strained his eyes, he could see that there seemed to be signs placed along the side of the road at certain places, but since they were so far away, he was unable to read what was written on them.


    He was also surprised to see that they weren''t the only ones who had arrived at the edge of the unexplored area. There were four other groups already there, with Liang Chen recognizing three of them.


    The first group belonged to the gray and black haired Li Delan and his Ghost Soul sect. His group had grown a bit larger since Liang Chen had last seen them, he even recognized one of the new faces. It was Zhao Daiyun, the female who had tried to force him to give up the Elemental Lotus and return the energy he had absorbed. It seemed like she had somehow managed to escape before the bolts of lightning struck.


    The second group belonged to rainbow-haired Guo Huashi and her Moon Dragon sect. Her group had also grown slightly since last time, so it seemed like they had met up with the remainders of their people.


    The third group belonged to the amber-eyed and brown-haired Xuan Bao and his Fiendgod sect. Just like the two other groups, his group had grown slightly, calling over everyone for this final expedition. Liang Chen also saw Tian Shentu, the male youth that had joined Zhao Daiyun and tried to force him to hand over the Elemental Lotus.


    The last group was one that Liang Chen hadn''t encountered before, but he recognized their robes, as well as one of its members. The people in the group wore the black robes embroidered with the insignia of the Nightshield sect, a round shield facing a dark mountain. The one person that Liang Chen recognized in the group was the man he had encountered in the first city he entered here, the one who sold him information about Qing Lan Yong.


    Liang Chen''s eyes were glued to the people of the Nightshield sect, his heart thundering in his chest as he forced himself to stay calm. He knew that most of these people were the servants of Qing Lan Yong, they were his people, people directly tied to him. He quickly looked away from the group to force himself to stay calm and not look suspicious, but Yan Ling still managed to notice his agitated state. Yan Ying, on the other hand, was completely focused on one of the new members of Li Delan''s group, a man with ruffled, unruly black hair and deep silver eyes who was not clad in the robes of the Ghost Soul sect.


    "You seem to have picked up someone new? I am amazed that someone was willing to join you ghouls."


    Had Li Delan picked up just anyone, Yan Ying wouldn''t have bothered saying anything. But the problem was that this man had reached the Wandering Immortal stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, the same cultivation level as Yan Ying. He was even slightly stronger than Li Delan, so why would he be willing to join him? Li Delan''s lips curled into a cold, almost taunting sneer upon seeing Yan Ying''s expression.


    "What, are you the only one allowed to pick up new members in this hidden realm?"


    Li Delan''s eyes landed on Liang Chen after he finished his sentence. He had seen the might that Liang Chen was somehow able to produce, and it amazed him quite a bit. Yan Ying let out a cold snort, not bothering to say anything else, his eyes landing on the path in front of them. From start to finish, he had not even acknowledged the existence of the Nightshield sect group, neither had the people from the Nightshield sect glanced at Yan Ying.


    There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between these five groups, as shortly after Yan Ying and his group arrived, they simultaneously headed towards the path ahead of them. Liang Chen felt his heart thump as they stepped closer to the path, as if it was calling to him. They all set foot on the path simultaneously, and then they all suddenly vanished into thin air.

 Ocean Kings Palace.

    The moment Liang Chen stepped onto the seemingly endless path, space around him started to twist and distort, surrounding him in a cocoon. Before he got the chance to react, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes, dyeing his vision a deep silver. The light only lasted for a short second, but once it vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing in an unfamiliar location, with 12 other people standing around him, looking just as confused as him.


    "What... What just happened? Where are we? Where are the others?"


    After hearing someone call out in a confused voice, Liang Chen started to inspect his surroundings. The 12 people around him were all part of the groups that had stepped onto the endless path together, but Liang Chen could not see Yan Ling or anyone else from the Storm Wolf sect.


    He recognized Tian Shuten and Zhao Daiyun, but he had no idea who the other people were. Other than these two that he recognized, there were three others in the group that he had taken notice of before they stepped onto the endless path. The first was the new member of Li Delan''s group, the silver-eyed man who had unruly black hair, the man who Yan Ying had paid some attention to. The last two were members of the Nightshield sect, the subordinates of Qing Lan Yong.


    Despite being separated from the rest of his group and ending up in an unfamiliar place, Liang Chen found himself strangely calm, much like how he was when he entered battle. He took a single deep breath and then gave his surroundings a closer look.


    The 13 people were currently standing in a massive hallway, at least several hundred meters high and wide, and at least a few thousand meters in length. Just what sort of people would need a hallway this large? The corridor was made out of deep blue stone, the walls of the hallway decorated with massive spiraling golden pillars that stretched from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Liang Chen could see a massive door at each end of the hallway, as well as several smaller doors lining the walls.


    While Liang Chen and a few others were examining the surroundings, one of the two men from the Nightshield sect, a middle-aged man with a slight stubble and slicked-back brown hair spoke up, stating his guess.


    "It must have been a spatial formation, that''s the only explanation I can think of. It probably sent the others somewhere else, but why?"


    Spatial formations could bend space according to the will of their creator, transporting people countless kilometers through space. As long as they were fueled by enough energy, there was virtually no limit to how far they could send one. The others quickly agreed with his guess, trying to figure out as much about their current situation as they could.


    As they were cautiously examining the corridor and trying to figure out why they had been sent here, a thundering voice rang out around them, the entire hallway trembling under the voice.


    "Move fast, think fast, react fast. Escape the palace and claim your rewards!"


    Liang Chen felt like his head was going to split apart when the voice sounded out, but luckily, the voice vanished swiftly. The other people couldn''t help but be shocked after hearing the voice, a blonde-haired woman clad in the robes of the Ghost Soul sect breaking the silence, her voice trembling slightly from excitement.


    "It''s a trial? Could this hidden realm be a testing ground left behind by a mighty cultivator?"


    When some powerful cultivators were looking to accept new disciples, or if they knew they were going to die, they would sometimes set up trials, handing out rewards to anyone who had good enough results. The others also quickly grew even more excited.


    "If we''re lucky and do well, maybe we can become disciples of that person!"


    Whoever set up this palace was likely the same person who set up this entire hidden realm, someone who possessed supreme might. If they could become the disciple of that person, their cultivation would likely sky-rocket. Of course, whether or not this was true, they had no way of actually knowing, they could only guess. The blonde-haired woman from the Ghost Soul sect seemed to be unable to contain her excitement any longer, as she cupped her hands at the others.


    "The voice said to move fast and escape this palace, so gentlemen, I won''t stick around. May the best man win."


    The woman immediately started dashing towards one of the massive doors that stood at each end of the hallway, hoping to be the first one to escape and earn a better reward. But just as the woman started to dash, Liang Chen sensed a tremendous feeling of danger coming from the ceiling above them.


    He quickly raised his head and saw that a massive blue stone had loosened from the ceiling, quietly falling towards the dashing woman. He didn''t seem to be the only one who noticed this, as someone quickly called out a warning.


    "Above!"


    The woman quickly raised her head, but it was already too late. With a deafening thump, the square piece of blue stone landed on the woman, smashing her into the ground and turning her body to paste. And just like that, 13 had become 12. The remaining people quickly paled and pulled back, with one of the people who hadn''t sensed the danger when the stone loosened letting out a disbelieving sound.


    "This...?!"


    The stone had fallen without a sound, aiming directly for the dashing woman, there was no way it was something like a coincidence. The silver-eyed man had a slightly grim expression, pointing at the ceiling above them.


    "It''s a piece of the ceiling, you can see where it fell out."


    Only now did some of the others in the group realize where the stone had come from, glancing at the ceiling with dark expressions. There was a perfectly square hole in the ceiling, but none of them were able to figure out exactly what it was that had caused the stone to aim for the woman.


    The sound of doors being kicked open caused everyone to take their eyes off the ceiling, their vigilance rapidly rising. All the small doors in the hallway had been opened wide, humanoid creatures starting to swarm out from them. The humanoid creatures were about a meter and a half in height, had two legs, two arms, and a single head. Their bodies were covered in murky blue scales, their nails resembling claws.


    But worst of all was that they didn''t have a normal mouth, they had a massive round sucker mouth that covered half their face. Filled with razor-sharp teeth, it resembled the maw of a leech. The moment the murky white eyes of these creatures landed on Liang Chen''s group, they immediately started running at them with clumsy motions, causing someone to call out in disgust and shock.


    "By the heavens, what are those things?!"


    Seeing such grotesque creatures run at them, the people in the group quickly jumped backward and prepared to defend themselves. But when they tried to maneuver their Qi, they discovered something horrible.


    "My Qi, it won''t come out?!"


    Liang Chen and the rest of the people in the group wore ugly expressions. Whenever they tried to move their Qi and have it leave their bodies or temporarily strengthen it, a crushing pressure descended on them and forced their Qi back into the depths of their bodies. The message was clear, as long as you are in this palace, you cannot use your Qi to attack.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Not being able to use their Qi to attack, most of them were as weak as normal mortals, their only advantage being their years of experience. The people from the Fiendgod sect were a bit better off, as they focused on training their body. But they still couldn''t release their true techniques without Qi, so there wasn''t much they could do.


    The group also quickly learned another shocking thing about the palace they were currently. In front of their eyes, the hallway itself was starting to twist and change, new doors appearing. One of the massive doors that showed where the corridor ended suddenly vanished, turning into an empty wall. The floor split open, new parts rising up from below, extending the corridor. It didn''t take much thinking to realize exactly what was happening around them.


    "The palace, it''s changing?!"


    They couldn''t use Qi, strange monsters were attacking them, and the palace itself was changing in front of their very eyes. How were they supposed to escape the palace like this? The grotesque monsters were rapidly approaching them, so there was only one thing the group could do, an old man taking the lead and shouting out.


    "Run! Keep a close eye on your surroundings and run!"


    Right now there was no point in thinking about the trial or any possible rewards, now they had to focus completely on staying alive. The group immediately turned around and dashed towards the remaining massive door, Liang Chen, the silver-eyed man, and the two people from the Nightshield sect making up the rear of the group. Stones would occasionally fall from the ceiling, but those who noticed them gave quick warnings to the others.


    The grotesque monsters turned out to be quite a bit slower than them, so they managed to reach the massive door without trouble. The doors were hundreds of meters high, but a single youth from the Moon Dragon sect was able to easily push them open, so they didn''t seem to weigh that much.


    After pushing open the doors and continuing their dash, the group found themselves in a massive, empty hall. The hall was made out of the same blue stones as the hallway, the walls decorated with massive golden pillars. There were three other massive doors in the hall, one to their front, one to their left, and one to their right. They had no idea where to run, so they could only pick one at random.


    "Over there!"


    The Moon Dragon sect youth who had pushed open the door pointed at the door to their right, the entire group quickly dashing towards it. The youth once again managed to easily push open the doors, revealing a luxurious bedroom, a several thousand meters long and wide bed covered in purple silk serving as the centerpiece of the room. Standing at the far back of the group alongside the silver-eyed man, Liang Chen was able to see his expression rapidly pale as he muttered to himself in a low, almost inaudible voice that dripped with terror.


    "The Consort''s chambers!"


    The silver-eyed man didn''t even spend a second thinking, immediately turning around and dashing for the door at the other side of the room. Looking at the room filled Liang Chen with a sense of utter despair, a faint whisper screaming out in his mind. Liang Chen swiftly turned around and followed the silver-eyed man, only giving a slight glance backward when he heard a terrified outburst.


    "By the gods!"


    The Moon Dragon sect youth had entered the bedroom, but the moment he set foot into it, his entire body was crushed into a fine paste, which then turned to dust before the shocked eyes of the onlookers. Exactly what was it that had killed him?! 12 became 11, and the remaining people of the group immediately dashed away from the room, quickly overtaking Liang Chen and the silver-eyed man.


    They carefully pushed open the door that was on the other end of the room, finding another large hall past it. The wanted to properly check if it was safe, but the palace was constantly changing around them, stones falling from the ceiling, and the monsters in hot pursuit, so they didn''t have the luxury of time.


    A woman from the Fiendgod sect entered the room, the rest of the group following when they saw that nothing happened to her. The hall was a bit smaller than the one they had just been in, and it wasn''t as empty. A massive crystal chandelier hung above them, casting a faint blue light over the entire room. There were two other massive doors in the room, one to their left and one right in front of them.


    The right side of the room was occupied by what seemed to be a massive fireplace, a strange symbol in the shape of two serpentine dragons coiling around each other decorating the wall above the fireplace. Upon seeing the insignia, the woman from the Fiendgodsect couldn''t help but call out in terror.


    "That insignia, it can''t be!? Why are we here?!"


    The rest of the group also saw the insignia, but not all of them knew what it signified. A youth from the Ghost Soul sect fell to his knees, his face pale and his eyes red, filled with nothing but despair.


    "This is the Ocean King''s Palace, we''re doomed!"


    Liang Chen hadn''t heard about this Ocean King''s Palace before, nor had the guide he owned said anything about it, but it seemed like it was a truly terrifying place. The room they were in started to change, the floor falling apart as the room seemed to transform into a sideways corridor. Now wasn''t the time to despair, so an old man from the Ghost Soul sect picked up the kneeling youth and dashed towards the door that was at the other end of the room.


    "Keep running, focus on staying alive!"


    The group quickly continued their mad dash, running through room after room. As they continued to run, Liang Chen noticed that the silver-eyed man was carefully inspecting the surroundings, as if he was looking for something specific.


    After running for over two hours, the amount of grotesque monsters that were chasing them had grown to a despairing number. They were slower than the group, but even after running for two hours, they didn''t seem tired in the slightest, their white eyes containing only a furious hunger.


    The group pushed open another massive door, entering another long hallway filled with doors and pillars. The group quickly headed for the door at the end of the hallway, but after they made it a little over halfway, one of the small doors in front of them opened, a single creature walking out.


    The creature was a bit taller than the blue monsters, its entire body covered by a dirty and tattered black robe. They couldn''t see its face or body, only a single pitch black arm that had skin like tree bark. The arm held onto what seemed to be a collection of rusted keys, its body slowly turning towards the group. The moment the robed creature appeared, the expression of the silver-eyed man once again turned grim, a faint curse escaping his lips.


    "The Dungeon Keeper?! Why is my luck so shit?"


    The group quickly sped up and dashed passed the creature, which made no moves to stop them from passing it. But once they made it past it, the creature turned towards them, pointing the rusted keys at the group. Chains that had rusted from age suddenly grew out from the walls and the floor, slithering towards the group.


    The chains moved rather slowly, but as they were able to come from the walls and floor, they still managed to pierce through the bodies of four people. Two people, Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, were pierced through the chest and died instantly, but the other two were only pierced through the legs or shoulders. They survived getting pierced by them, but then the chains started to move in reverse, returning to the robed creature, bringing the four people with them.


    "Save us!"


    "What is this thing?!"


    The two surviving people called out in terror, but before anyone had time to react, the chains sped up and reached the robed creature. The chains vanished into the robe of the creature, bringing the four people with them and silencing the cries of the surviving two.


    11 became 7, the remaining survivors turning pale from what they had just witnessed. The robed creature once again started to stretch out the arm that held the keys, so the group sped up as much as they could, pushing open the door at the end of the hallway. They entered a hall much like the first one they had entered, each of its four walls holding a single massive door.


    The floor in the room started to collapse the moment they pushed open the door, so it was clear that they had to choose a door quickly. Just as they were about to choose a door at random, the silver-eyed man pointed at the door to their left.


    "There, that room over there!"


    The door he pointed at had a strange symbol carved into it, a symbol that resembled a clawed hand shaking a seemingly human hand. The group was going to choose at random anyway, so they immediately dashed for the door that had been chosen. For the first time since they entered this palace, the silver-eyed man overtook everyone in the group, reaching the front as he dashed for the door.


    The group ran as fast as they could, but the floor only started to collapse faster and faster. And in the end, the collapsing floor caught up with the rear of the group. There were only three people at the rear of the group, Liang Chen and the two people from the Nightshield sect.


    Liang Chen''s body was quite a bit stronger than a normal person''s, so he was a bit faster than the two who hadn''t bothered to train their bodies. Because of that, when the collapsing floor caught up with the group, it was the two Nightshield sect disciples that found themselves without footing. They just barely managed to grab onto the floor in front of them, but even that was collapsing, so they could only turn to the closest person, Liang Chen, and beg for help.


    "No! Save us!"


    Liang Chen stopped for a split second and looked at the two, looked at the subordinates of Qing Lan Yong, the subordinates of the man who had ruined his life. All he had to do was ignore them, he could simply turn his head away and they would likely die, falling to their deaths. His heart burned with hatred as he looked at the two who were begging him to save them. When Qing Lan Yong had his parents executed, did anyone listen to Liang Chen''s begging?

 Sealing God Empyrean, jade fragment.

    Liang Chen''s heart burned with hatred, the whispers in his mind telling him to just turn around and keep running. Qing Lan Yong had killed his parents, so it was only fair for him to kill some of Qing Lan Yong''s subordinates.


    But in the end, he found himself unable to take that final step, unable to just turn around. His heart burned with hatred for Qing Lan Yong and people like him, but it didn''t burn with hatred for these two. As far as he knew, they hadn''t done something that earned them death, so if he killed them just because of his hatred for Qing Lan Yong, he would be just as bad as those people he despised. And that was one of the one things Liang Chen would never allow.


    Liang Chen threw himself forward, grabbing onto the arms of the two people. He let out a deep growl and exerted all his strength, pulling them up and away from the collapsing floor. The three of them quickly dashed away from the collapsing floor, reaching the door that the silver-eyed man had pointed out and entering the room that the rest of the group had already entered.


    The room contained a massive wooden table that was oval in shape, chairs of various sizes completely surrounding the table. Other than the door they had used to enter the room, there was only a single normal sized door at the right side of the room. The door shut behind Liang Chen and the two people from the Nightshield sect, a calm silence descending over the room.


    The two people from the Nightshield sect let out a heavy sigh of relief, thankful that they were still alive. They quickly turned to Liang Chen, giving him a deep bow as they spoke up, their voices filled with sincerity.


    "Thank you!"


    Liang Chen merely waved his hand, telling them not to worry about it. The rest of the group cautiously checked the room, only the silver-eyed man acting calm and relaxed. He even sat down on one of the many chairs, letting out a deep breath and addressing the others.


    "There, we should be temporarily safe here."


    The group still cautiously checked the room, only letting out deep sighs of relief when the room didn''t start to change or collapse as the others had. They all found themselves a seat, a man clad in the black robes of the Fiendgod sect speaking up.


    "I am Cui Leizong, and as most of you have probably guessed, we have entered the Ocean King''s Palace, one of the zones of absolute death in this hidden realm. If we wish to clear this trial and escape, I am afraid we will have to work together. I think we should do a small round of introductions, now that we have a brief moment of respite."


    One of the absolute zones of death, a place no one had ever entered and left to tell the tale. Was this the truth about the inner area of the hidden realm, it simply teleported you to a land of death as a trial? Or were all the lands of death just trials? The remaining survivors nodded their heads at Cui Leizong''s words, introducing themselves.


    "Liao Min."


    "Qing Feng."


    "Jiang Wushu."


    "Tian Yinwu."


    "Yuan Xuefeng."


    "Liang Chen."


    Of the remaining 7 survivors, Liang Chen was from the Storm Wolf sect, while Cui Leizong and Liao Min were from the Fiendgod sect. Qing Feng and Jiang Wushu were from the Nightshield sect, while Tian Yinwu and Yuan Xuefeng were from the Ghost Soul sect.


    Cui Leizong had wrinkly skin and short hair that was amber in color. Liao Min was a bit short and had deep brown hair that seemed a bit dirty, Qing Feng had sharp features and emerald green hair that hung down to his ears, Jiang Wushu was the middle-aged man with a slight stubble and slicked-back brown hair. Tian Yinwu had smooth features and black hair tied into a neat bun, while Yuan Xuefeng was the silver-eyed man who had unruly black hair.


    After the introductions were made, Cui Leizong let out a deep sigh and shook his head, glancing at the remaining group members.


    "I don''t have any reports of people ever managing to enter the palace, everyone dies before they even reach it, so I''m afraid I have no information about this palace. Do any of you have anything?"


    Whenever someone mentioned the Ocean King''s Palace as a land of death, they actually meant the entire lake that the palace was located in. Entering the lake meant never leaving it again, had it not been for a special technique that the Ghost Soul sect used in the past, no one would have even known that there was a palace located at the bottom of the lake, nor would they have seen the insignia of the Ocean King, which was engraved at the gates of the palace. The rest of the group shook their heads, but Liang Chen spoke up, pointing at Yuan Xuefeng.


    "He has some information, at least more than us. When we encountered those two dangerous areas, he was the first to recognize their danger, even muttering their names."


    The gazes of everyone instantly turned towards Yuan Xuefeng, who wore an expression of mild shock as he looked at Liang Chen. After coming over his mild shock, he shook his head and let out a light laugh.


    "You managed to hear that, huh? You have good ears."


    His words were a type of confirmation that Liang Chen had indeed spoken correctly, Yuan Xuefeng knew something about this palace. The rest of the group quickly pulled closer to Yuan Xuefeng, seemingly worried that he would escape. But Yuan Xuefeng simply let out a light laugh and shrugged his shoulders.


    "No need to look at me like that, now that it has come to this, I will, of course, share all the information that I have."


    No one bothered with the fact that Yuan Xuefeng hadn''t shared any of this information before, as their survival was all that mattered to them now. Yuan Xuefeng quickly organized his thoughts, sweeping the room with his gaze as he started to share his knowledge.


    "This palace has three safe zones. The first one is this meeting hall, the second is the dining hall, and the third is the ballroom. If we manage to enter any of those rooms, we will be safe from attacks for at least half a day."


    The expressions of the group changed slightly when they heard that they would only be safe for half a day. But half a day was better than nothing, at least it gave them some time to plan things out.


    "There are three ways to clear this trial and escape this palace. The first is to kill the Ocean King or his queen who slumber at the depths of this palace. The second is to reach the grand entrance or one of the four minor exits and flee the palace, while the third is to completely unravel the formation that surrounds and supports this palace, allowing it to change shape at will. We stand zero chance of killing the rulers, and the formation is far too complex for us, so our only hope is to reach the grand entrance."


    Yuan Xuefeng shook his head slightly as he spoke. Kill the Ocean King or his queen? They were so strong that every single cultivator in this hidden realm could band together, and they still wouldn''t be able to leave a proper wound on either of them. And the formation? It had been prepared by the Everlasting Godking, even if they all spent a million years investigating the formation, they would not be able to even come close to unraveling it.


    "While the palace seems to be changing at random, it actually follows certain patterns that we can use to determine our location and how far away from the grand entrance we are. If I can study the formation a bit, I should be able to determine which pattern it is currently following, allowing us to take the easiest path to the entrance."


    Unraveling the formation was impossible for them, but if he just had to figure out which pattern the formation was using, Yuan Xuefeng was confident that he could manage it within a decent amount of time. After Yuan Xuefeng finished his explanation, a short silence descended on the people in the room, Qing Feng breaking the silence.


    "How long would you need?"


    They would only be safe for half a day, after that, those grotesque monsters would continue to chase them, and the room they were in right now might even start to transform. Yuan Xuefeng rubbed his chin slightly, thinking for about a minute before he gave his answer.


    "A day, maybe more. This room won''t change even after half a day has passed, but the Blue-scaled Leeches will start to attack."


    Qing Feng nodded his head slightly, his expression a bit solemn.


    "So we have to protect you while you check the formation? That''s going to be tough."


    Yuan Xuefeng had to inspect the formation so that only left six of them to defend him. And since none of them were able to use their Qi, they were far weaker than normal. A heavy silence descended on the group, but it was quickly broken by Liang Chen.


    "How do you know all these things?"


    Yuan Xuefeng not only knew the names of the monsters and some of the places they had seen, he even knew how the formation that supported this palace worked, it was clear that he likely had quite the connection to this place. Yuan Xuefeng let out a somewhat self-deprecating sigh after hearing the question, his smile a bit cramped.


    "This entire hidden realm was set up by my Master, the Sealed God Empyrean. Well, I say that he is my master, but I can barely be considered an honorary disciple. I came to this hidden realm to see if I could beat the trials Master set up, earning the right to learn one of his techniques."


    The rest of the group was instantly shocked. His master had set up this entire hidden realm? This vast hidden realm that prevented people above a certain cultivation realm from entering? Just how mighty a figure was he? Another thing they wondered about was the cultivation level of his master. Most of the people in the group had read many books about cultivation, but none of this books had ever mentioned a realm that went by the name of Empyrean. Seeing the expressions of the group, Yuan Xuefeng quickly waved his hands.


    "Don''t bother asking me about my Master, there is very little I am allowed to say about him. It would be better to spend our time examining the formation and resting up."


    The moment he became an honorary disciple, he had to swear an oath that limited what he could tell others. Should he try to break the oath, his very soul will be destroyed, preventing him from even being reborn.


    The group could only nod their heads at Yuan Xuefeng''s words, doing their best to rest up and restore their strength. Yuan Xuefeng, on the other hand, continued to sit in his chair, closing his eyes and raising his arms in front of him. A faint light appeared between his hands, constantly changing as he waved his hands, his mouth rapidly moving.


    After restoring their strength, the group started to move some of the smaller chairs that they could lift, placing them in front of the two doors into the room. They were uncertain if they would be enough to slow down the Blue-scaled Leeches, but it was better than nothing. After half a day quietly passed, the low sound of scaled feet moving over stone floors came from outside the massive doors.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Here they come, keep them away from Xuefeng!"


    Jiang Wushu was the one who called out, everyone gathering in a circle around Yuan Xuefeng, drawing their respective weapons. The massive door was quickly flung open, revealing a vast horde of Blue-scaled Leeches, the entire massive hall outside the meeting room completely filled with them. The group quickly turned pale, tightly gripping their weapons.


    The horde started to slowly move into the room, the barricade of chairs completely useless. Luckily, the movements of the Blue-scaled Leeches were slow and clumsy, as if they hadn''t moved in several years. As the Blue-scaled Leeches started to slowly approach the group, Cui Leizong gave the people around him one last glance. His gaze stopped on Liang Chen, a click of his tongue quickly following.


    "Tch, completely forgot about him! Chen, step into the defensive circle and don''t get in the way! Wushu, take over for him!"


    They had completely forgotten that Liang Chen was merely a child. He was far weaker than them even when his Qi wasn''t sealed into his own body, much less now. Jiang Wushu quickly nodded his head, ignoring Liang Chen''s protests and forcing him to join Yuan Xuefeng at the center of the circle.


    Shortly after Liang Chen was pushed away, the battle broke out. The group was able to watch each other''s backs thanks to the defensive formation they had placed themselves in, preventing any single one of them from getting surrounded. The Blue-scaled Leeches also turned out to be very weak, most of them dying after only a single attack.


    But the problem was that they seemed to be endless in number, constantly swarming into the room. Even when a small mountain started to form from the corpses, the Blue-scaled Leeches would simply climb over the bodies and launch themselves at the group, forcing them to slowly move away so as to not create a mountain that towered above them.


    Liang Chen had been pushed back, but he didn''t stay idle. He took out the spear he had been given by Teng Yimu, stabbing through the openings in the formation and taking down any enemy that might have been overlooked for the moment.


    But the room was only so large, and they didn''t have an endless supply of stamina restoring pills. And because of that, after a little over half a day of endless slaughter, everyone was running on fumes and the room itself was completely filled with corpses, making any more movement challenging. After killing another leech and suffering another wound to his shoulder, Liao Min had to turn to the still focusing Yuan Xuefeng.


    "Xuefeng, how much longer do you need?!"


    Everyone in the group besides the protected Liang Chen and Yuan Xuefeng was riddled in injuries, their breathing heavy and their vision blurry. Half a day of continuous battle without being able to use their Qi, their bodies were screaming in pain, begging for rest. Yuan Xuefeng''s eyebrows pricked up slightly, his hands moving faster and faster.


    "I almost have it!"


    Liao Min and the others could only grit their teeth and do their best to hold on. But after another hour passed, Tian Yinwu ended up making a mistake because of his weariness, falling prey to a Blue-scaled Leech. The leech grabbed onto Tian Yinwu and opened its sucker-like maw wide, biting down onto Tian Yinwu''s head. A disgusting slurping sound rang out, Tian Yinwu''s body starting to wither away in front of their eyes.


    Liang Chen quickly jumped forward to fill in the spot that Tian Yinwu''s death left, grasping his spear with both hands. Xiao Yong had only taught him the basics, how to use every part of the spear as a weapon, so that was what he did. He used the butt of the spear to push, the tip of the spear to slash and pierce, and the handle of the spear to smash.


    His body had been tempered by lightning several times, so he was a tiny bit faster and stronger than Tian Yinwu, but he had spent far less time training, so his endurance wasn''t as good. Luckily, he only had to hold the line for another two hours before Yuan Xuefeng called out in a loud and excited noise.


    "Got it! Follow me!"


    Yuan Xuefeng sprung up and immediately dashed for the small door that was located on the right side of the room. He pushed away any leeches that got in his way, creating a small path that the rest of the group could use to follow him.


    They all swallowed the last of their stamina restoring pills, ignoring everything else as they followed after Yuan Xuefeng. Liang Chen brought up the rear, as he was the one with the most energy remaining, barring Yuan Xuefeng.


    As the one who brought up the rear, he was the one who suffered the most attacks and had to face the most pressure, holding off an endless army of monsters as the group pushed through mountains of corpses. In conditions like that, it was only normal for there to come a time where an opening appeared.


    A claw struck his left elbow, forcibly pushing his spear to the side and leaving his chest wide open. The Blue-scaled Leeches immediately dove for his chest, aiming at it with their claws and suckers. Liang Chen prepared himself, seeing if he could detonate his Lightning Seed for an instantaneous burst of power to defend himself. But just as he readied himself, an arm reached around his waist, lifting him up from the ground, a light laughter ringing in his ears.


    "Up you go, kiddo!"


    Liang Chen was shocked for a moment but quickly realized that Qing Feng had lifted him up and placed him over his shoulder, carrying him as he ran for the door, which was now right in front of them. Yuan Xuefeng pushed open the door, the group swiftly dashing through it.


    They ended up in another long hallway, this one a bit smaller than the previous ones. Qing Feng put down Liang Chen now that things were a bit safer, allowing him to run on his own. The room started to spin and change the moment they entered it, but Yuan Xuefeng led the group, dashing towards one of the small doors that lined the hallway.


    With Yuan Xuefeng leading the group, they ran through countless rooms and hallways, dodging falling stones and hordes of leeches, as well as the collapsing floor. After running for a little over an hour, they passed through a massive door, arriving in a room that was different from the others they had seen so far.


    They stood at the top of a wide staircase covered in a red carpet, a gargantuan jade chandelier dangled from the ceiling, providing a gentle light that warmed the soul. And at the bottom of the staircase, after just a short walk, stood a truly exquisite pair of doors engraved with the insignia of the Ocean King, the two coiling serpentine dragons. Yuan Xuefeng was the first one to dash down the stairs, laughing loudly.


    "Hahaha! Safe, we''re safe!"


    The rest of the group quickly followed, stopping in front of the massive doors, next to Yuan Xuefeng. After they stopped running, a screen of white light surrounded them, the same voice that rang out when they entered the palace ringing out once more.


    "You have completed the first trial. Receive your rewards and then await the arrival or escape of the remaining challengers."


    The white light flooded everyone''s vision, and Liang Chen found himself standing in a pure white space. A peach-colored light appeared in front of him, taking a human shape, speaking to him in a calm voice.


    "Challenger, your performance rank is Lackluster. Normally, you should receive no rewards. But you chose to save someone, despite the great hatred you carry, so I will make an exception and give you one of the lowest ranked rewards."


    Liang Chen looked at the human shape with a curious gaze. Was this an image left behind by the Sealing God Empyrean, or was it someone else? He couldn''t care less about getting a low rank or possibly not getting a reward, he just wanted to get out of here alive with Yan Ling and the others. The human shape raised its arm, a small piece of shattered blue jade appearing above its palm.


    "This fragment of jade was something I acquired during the Genesis War. I found it after one of the worst and bloodiest battles, lying among the corpses of countless dead Sebettu and people of this universe. The fragment only gives an incredibly vague description of a possible technique, but even after scouring through several other universes, I have not managed to find any other fragments like it, leaving the technique incomplete and practically worthless, only good for gathering small amounts of inspiration."


    Not even the Sealing God Empyrean or any of his friends had managed to gain anything from the jade, but he felt that throwing it away was a waste, so he left it as one of the lowest ranking rewards in this trial. Perhaps someone would be lucky enough to gain a sudden spark of insight from the words it contained.


    Liang Chen could not help but be shocked at the words he heard. Genesis War? Scouring through several other universes? There existed other universes out there? And what sort of battle was grand enough to earn the title of Genesis War? The human shape cared not for Liang Chen''s shock, vanishing from sight.


    The jade flew over to Liang Chen, landing in his hand. It felt slightly cool to the touch, and as Liang Chen looked at it, he could almost swear that the inside of the jade seemed to move, as if it was filled with water.


    The white light around him vanished, returning to the scene in front of the massive doors. As the white light vanished, Liang Chen was shocked to see that all his wounds had been fully healed, even his tattered robe had been repaired. The rest of the group all had a mixture of expressions, some were excited, some were disappointed or downcast. According to the words they had heard, they would now have to wait for the other groups to either die or finish the trial. Liang Chen sat down on the carpeted floor, sinking his mind into the fragment of jade. The only thing the jade contained was a few words that were filled with a strange energy.


    ''Lord of the ocean, grasp its might and let it transform you. A drop, a puddle, a lake, a river, an ocean, a peerless ruler.''


    Liang Chen could feel a strange energy from the words, but he wasn''t able to learn anything, nor could he figure out what the strange energy was. He could only let out a sigh and place the jade into his interspatial bracelet, clearly understanding why it was one of the lowest ranked rewards.


    After waiting for another two days, the sound of doors being opened rang out, a group of people appearing at the top of the staircase. Jiang Wushu was the first one to notice them, calling out to the rest of his group, which was focusing on cultivating.


    "Someone else is arriving!"


    The group that stood at the top of the staircase didn''t move down immediately, cautiously scanning the surroundings. Only when they spotted Liang Chen''s group at the bottom of the stairs did they speak out, their voices containing a hint of disbelief.


    "Have we finally reached the end of this blasted place, are we free?"


    Liang Chen also opened his eyes, inspecting the group that was approaching them. This group was far larger than his, containing almost 20 people. He quickly swept the group with his gaze, a bright smile appearing on his face when he spotted Yan Ying and Yan Ling. The two of them also quickly noticed Liang Chen, letting out relieved sighs.


    "Little Chen, you''re safe!"


    Yan Ying was rather confident in the chances of all his men, as they all had certain treasures they could use to protect their own lives. But Liang Chen had nothing, he only had a bow and a spear he could use to defend himself. When they ended up separated, he was truly worried that Liang Chen would perish. Yan Ling also looked at Liang Chen, but she only shook her head with a nearly exasperated sigh.


    "I told you, no way that anything would happen to Little Freak."


    Despite the way she was acting, as if it was common sense that nothing would happen to Liang Chen, he was still able to notice the tinge of relief within Yan Ling''s voice. The large group joined up with Liang Chen''s a white light surrounding them, handing out their rewards.


    Once the white light vanished, a deep blue light surrounded Yan Ling''s entire body. A deep blue battle armor that almost looked like it was made from jade quickly formed around her body, covering everything but her head. Once the armor was fully formed, Yan Ling gave a slight frown as she looked at it. The armor seemed to have received an order, as it turned back into light, changing form and becoming an elegant robe that was deep blue in color. The back of the robe was decorated with the image of two serpentine dragons coiling around each other as they soared towards the sky. Looking at the armor, some of the other people couldn''t help but let out envious sounds.


    "It seems your rewards were quite good, you must have had excellent results."


    Yan Ying only put on a mysterious smile, not explaining what they had gone through. Yan Ling examined the robe for a bit, seemingly pleased with the form it had taken. She then skipped over to Liang Chen and sat down next to him, poking him in the side as she immediately started to nag him.


    "Little Freak, what did you get? Anything good?"


    Liang Chen had very little experience when it came to things like that, but even he could tell that the armor Yan Ling had been given was of extremely high quality. As long as she had that, her odds of survival would be far greater. Compared to her, his reward was truly insignificant. He let out a light chuckle, taking out the jade fragment and tossing it to Yan Ling.


    "No, just this fragment of jade that contains a vague description of a technique."


    Yan Ling sank her mind into the jade and read the words, but she wasn''t able to gain anything from it, so she handed the jade back to Liang Chen. After handing the jade back, she started to show off her robe, gloating over the fact that her reward had been better than his. Liang Chen had been rather worried about her and Yan Ying, and he could tell that she had been rather worried about him, so he decided to play nice for once and humor her.


    Half a day later, the entire palace trembled fiercely, a bright silver light surrounding Liang Chen and the others. Space around them started to twist and distort, so they weren''t too surprised when that same voice once again sounded out.


    "The remaining challengers have escaped the palace, prepare for the next trial."


    Immediately after the voice rang out, Liang Chen and the others vanished into thin air, the palace returning to the quiet calm it had been in before they arrived.

 Second trial, determination.

    A silver light once again flooded Liang Chen''s vision as he and the others were transported through space. After a short few seconds, the silver light receded, allowing Liang Chen and the others to inspect their new surroundings.


    They now found themselves standing atop a plateau made out of dry earth that held a faint tinge of yellow. A weak breeze blew past them, gently lifting up the dust on the plateau. Spreading out below the plateau was a myriad of arid valleys that snaked around and through each other, forming a vast maze that spread out for as far as the eyes could see. While everyone was gazing at the natural maze, the booming voice sounded out above them.


    "The trial shall start in five minutes. Rest up and restore your energy."


    Five minutes to prepare, Liang Chen guessed that it was likely because they had just finished a trial that they got some time to prepare, as the previous trial had no preparation time. Liang Chen and some of the others started to inspect all the people that had arrived on the plateau, one old woman letting out a remorseful sigh.


    "So this is the location of the next trial. Seems like there were quite a few people that died in the previous trial, I wonder if this one is going to be much harder."


    Counting everyone who had arrived and comparing it to the number of people that had stepped onto the path to the inner region, 1/3 was already gone, after just one trial. If they just got harder and harder, didn''t that mean that everyone would likely end up dead? A solemn and nervous atmosphere descended onto the plateau, but the silver-eyed Yuan Xuefeng shook his head lightly.


    "No, it should be at about the same level of difficulty as the last one, just a bit different contents."


    Not everyone knew that Yuan Xuefeng was the honorary disciple of the person who set up this hidden realm, so there were some people that simply ignored his words, merely giving him a slightly curious glance. But Liang Chen and the others knew the truth, so the amber-haired Cui Leizong narrowed his eyes sharply as he looked at Yuan Xuefeng.


    "I believe it is time for you to tell us as much as you know about these trials."


    Most of the others that knew the truth also pressed up closer to Yuan Xuefeng, sending him slight glares. He had been able to help them in the last trial, so their chances of survival were much higher if they got him to tell them everything he knew. Yuan Xuefeng quickly raised his arms, taking half a step backward.


    "Calm down, calm down. I''ll tell you everything that I know."


    By now, it became clear to the others who didn''t know the truth that Yuan Xuefeng knew more about these trials than they did. They quickly moved closer, doing their best to hear everything he said. Yuan Xuefeng sat down on the ground, explaining a little about his status as an honorary disciple. One he finished repeating what Liang Chen and the others already knew, he pointed at the massive tower that could still be seen in the distance.


    "This hidden realm can be considered a trial ground where Master can find people worthy of his skills and some of the numerous objects he has acquired throughout the years. It will change location once every thousand years, allowing Master to find disciples all over the universe. Most of his skills, as well as all the best rewards, are all stored in that massive tower over there, his Nine-Floored King Sealing Pagoda."


    The group couldn''t help but look at the tower with their mouths agape. Sealing God Empyrean, King Sealing Pagoda, just how grandiose weren''t these names? And this entire hidden realm could move through space on its own? That alone told a lot about the might of the Sealing God Empyrean.


    "To get to the nine-floored pagoda, we have to pass three trials and be acknowledged by six guardians. In the last trial, the Ocean King and the Ocean Queen were the guardians. The Ocean Queen set up the Blue-scaled Leeches and the Ocean King was the one who fuelled the formation with his energy. They were slumbering, but they are connected to the palace, so they can see everything that goes on within it."


    Three trials, six guardians, a nine-floored pagoda, Liang Chen guessed that this Sealing God Empyrean liked the number three. Yuan Xuefeng allowed the others to digest the information and then continued his explanation.


    "Escaping meant that we passed the trial, and everyone who acquired the acknowledgment of the two guardians was sent here. If they didn''t acknowledge you, you would be returned to the edge of the endless path, or as Master called it, The King''s Road."


    The King''s Road. Did the name mean that those who walked the road would become kings, or did it mean that only kings could walk the road? Only the Sealing God Empyrean, the creator, would know the answer. Yuan Xuefeng took a light breath, his expression turning somewhat bitter.


    "There are many different types of trials spread throughout the entire hidden realm, but its impossible to know exactly which trial we are sent to, as it is nearly random. Also, I have some bad news. The guardians of the previous trial are lazy and spend most of their time sleeping, so their trial hasn''t changed in countless years. But the other guardians are different. They change the trials based on their moods, so even I don''t know exactly what trials we will face, nor how to clear them."


    This was the reason he didn''t mind telling the others about the trials. It was only luck that he knew how to clear the first trial, as it hadn''t changed once since it was first set up. Every future trial, on the other hand, would likely have changed quite a bit by now.


    The expressions of the others distorted slightly upon hearing that Yuan Xuefeng didn''t know exactly what they would face. They didn''t suspect him of lying, as only an absolute fool would lie if he was being pressured by this many cultivators. And shortly after Yuan Xuefeng finished his explanation, their five minutes of preparation were up, the booming voice resounding once more.


    "Show your determination, never stop moving forward, no matter what."


    Before anyone could try to figure out exactly what the trial would be, space around everyone started to twist and churn, surrounding them. They quickly understood what was happening, Yan Ying shouting at Liang Chen and Yan Ling.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "It''s separating us again! Little Chen, Ling''er, take extreme caution!"


    A silver light flooded their vision and they were swiftly thrown through space. When the silver light vanished, Liang Chen found himself within one of the arid valleys that made up the natural maze. The moment he arrived within the valley, he was immediately smashed into the ground, an ungodly pressure pushing down on every inch of his body.


    This pressure was far worse than any pressure he had felt in the hidden realm, it felt like he was standing at the bottom of the ocean, carrying an entire mountain on his back. The ground beneath his flattened body even started to crack, his body sinking slightly into the ground. Liang Chen was so shocked that he couldn''t help but let out an utterly shocked exclamation.


    "What sort of pressure is this?!"


    Just the act of moving his hands proved incredibly challenging, so standing up and walking was completely out of the question. Liang Chen took a quick deep breath to calm down, his thoughts moving around as he tried to figure out exactly what he had to do in this trial. He spent a few minutes, both examining his surroundings and testing out a few things that came to mind.


    The first thing he noticed was that if he didn''t move, not only would the pressure slowly grow heavier, but strange creatures that looked like wolves made from earth would start to rise up from the ground, preparing to pounce him. The moment he started to move again, however, the wolves would sink back into the ground. His Qi wasn''t technically locked within his body, but the amount of energy and effort it took to make it resist the pressure and leave his body could only be considered insane.


    He also discovered that there were markings in the valley, either carved into the ground or onto the walls. The markings were very simple, they were plain arrows that pointed forward, deeper into the labyrinth. Liang Chen took another deep, his lips struggling to form a wry smile.


    "Stop and you die, not very pleasant. So this is what you''re testing, huh?"


    The booming voice had been very literal in its explanation. You had to show your determination to move forward, not stopping for anything, as stopping meant death. There was no way for Liang Chen to walk under this pressure, so there was only one thing he could do, crawl.


    He slowly stretched out his arms, digging his fingers into the earth and pulling himself forward. He only had average talent, but if there was one thing he had in abundance, it was determination. He would kill Qing Lan Yong, and then he would see if it was possible to bring back people from the dead. Before he achieved both of those things, he refused to die.


    Liang Chen continued to crawl across the earth, the dust mixing with his sweat and sticking to his body. After crawling for half a day, his nails had been completely torn off from the repeated crawling, his hands bloody and dirty. The pressure pushed down on every inch of his being, his body feeling completely devoid of any semblance of strength. But even so, he continued to crawl.


    "Do you think my determination is so weak that it can be crushed by something like this?!"


    Liang Chen could only bite his lips, the taste of blood helping him stave off the pain and empty feeling in his body. After two days of crawling, even the Qi that he used to support his body had been completely emptied, leaving him with no source of energy other than his unyielding determination.


    He could not stop moving, because if he stopped moving for even a second, he knew that he would not be able to start moving again. He would be pressed flat by the pressure and assaulted by wolves made of earth, drawing his last breath all alone in this valley whose location he didn''t even know. After five days of crawling, his entire body was covered in dust and dirt. His face, his arms, and his legs were all covered in dirty blood. He made for a truly unsightly sight. But even so, he continued to crawl. No matter how much his body ached and cried for rest, he continued to crawl. No matter how unsightly he might seem to others, he continued to crawl, muttering to himself to keep himself going.


    "You cannot...stop me...I will...push on...unto eternity...I won''t fall...before I...have...accomplished my...goals..."


    After ten days of crawling, Liang Chen was no longer able to see anything around him, not even his own hands. But he could still feel his body ache, so he knew that it was still there. So he continued to crawl, using the pain locate his own body parts so that he knew how to move.


    Even Liang Chen was surprised by how strong his determination was, how long it had allowed him to continue crawling even though he was completely devoid of energy. And as he continued to crawl, completely focused on moving his arms and legs, he failed to notice tiny slivers of lightning entering his body from his Lightning Seed, quietly sinking into his bones, slowly strengthening them and giving him a tiny amount of energy.


    Liang Chen''s monotonous crawl came to an end after 15 days, at which point his mind had turned completely blurry and confused. He wasn''t even able to feel the pain anymore, so he wasn''t even certain if he was actually still crawling.


    The pressure that crushed him into the ground suddenly disappeared, the arid earth around him vanishing as if it had been nothing more than an illusion. His mind instantly cleared up, his vision returning to him. He found himself standing at the gates of a very familiar city, Green Rivers city.


    He quickly checked himself and what state his body was in. To his shock, he was clad in a light green robe and his body had grown taller and more muscular. There was a puddle on the ground, so he was able to see that his eyes had returned to their previous emerald green, his hair returning to the black color it had been before he started cultivating. His Ascended Tower had also changed, it had shrunk, only reaching the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm, as well as turning an icy white in color and releasing a cold mist. Liang Chen couldn''t help but tilt his head slightly, looking at the people around him in confusion.


    "This? Did I lose consciousness?"


    But why would he fall unconscious, he had just been out for a little walk to clear his head in the fresh evening air, hadn''t he? The moment the thought struck him, Liang Chen violently shook his head, forcefully discarding it.


    Memories started to flood into his mind, memories he shouldn''t have. His 13th birthday, the proud look on his father''s face when Liang Chen was able to successfully enter the Ascended Tower stage, the first time he joined his father hunting. Liang Chen clutched his head, trying to drown out these memories that weren''t real, these fake memories that never happened.


    Had he lost consciousness in the valley, was this a dream his mind conjured up in his final moments? Or was this just a trick that the blood-haired Liang Chen he had seen the last time he fell unconscious was pulling on him?


    Right now, Liang Chen was thankful that he had been forced to relieve the death of his parents several times, he was also thankful that he had met the blood-haired Liang Chen inside the bloody city in his own mind. Had it not been for those things, which were basically just illusions he had been forced to see, he felt that it was likely he would have fallen for whatever was going on here, truly believing it to be real.


    After discarding all the fake memories, Liang Chen checked his surroundings, even touching a few things and people to try and figure out exactly what was going on. In the end, he came to a conclusion, shaking his head.


    "No, it feels different, too real."


    This all felt far too real to be just a trick by the blood-haired Liang Chen, it also felt completely different from those times he had relieved his parents'' death. Then what was it, was it really just a dream he saw before death? Or was it part of the trial? While Liang Chen was thinking it over, he heard a voice call out to him, his entire body freezing up.


    "Chen''er, there you are!"


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, forcing his thundering heart to calm down, slowly turning around to face the person who had called out to him. Currently moving towards him with hurried steps were his mother and father. They looked slightly different from how he remembered them. Their hair had grown a bit longer, their skin turning a bit wrinklier, his father even had some gray streaks in his brown hair. Looking at the two people who he had dreamt of reuniting with, Liang Chen''s eyes couldn''t help but turn a bit red, his voice hoarse.


    "...Mother...Father?"

 Praying for a dream.

    He knew, he was completely certain that this wasn''t real. But they both felt so real, so lifelike as they stood there in front of him. It was as if that horrible day had never happened, allowing their family to live on in peace. He wanted it to be real, he prayed for it to be real. His mother, the brown-eyed and black-haired Qing Lan walked forward with quick steps, sharply pinching Liang Chen''s ear as she scolded him.


    "How dare you stay out for so long?! You know you have to get back before the night sets in!"


    The pain felt so real, as if his mother was really pinching his ear. Even her voice sounded so real, just as soft and gentle as he remembered it. Even if this was an illusion or a dream, he couldn''t help but want to lose himself in it. He quickly put on an apologetic, gently holding onto his mother''s wrist.


    "I''m sorry, I completely lost track of time."


    His father, the brown-eyed and brown-haired Qing Feng also walked over. He placed his hands on Qing Lan''s shoulders, a faint smile on his face as he tried to calm her down.


    "Come on now dear, don''t be too angry. Chen''er isn''t a child anymore, so that curfew is completely unnecessary."


    He had tried to tell her several times that Liang Chen was already 16, there was no need to restrain him so much, but she wouldn''t listen. Qing Lan sharply turned around, giving Qing Feng a glare that only an angry mother could produce. Qing Feng quickly shrank back, letting out a slightly awkward cough as he changed the subject in hopes of distracting his wife.


    "Come now, let''s return before dinner gets cold. We can''t keep that lass Chun''er waiting for too long."


    This clumsy attempt seemed to work, as Qing Lan let go of Liang Chen''s ear. Liang Chen rubbed his ear to get rid of the pain, tilting his head slightly as he questioned. Had this illusion also created an image of Qing Chun?


    "Big Sister Chun is also here?"


    Last time he had seen Qing Chun was when the two of them were forced to split up. Even now he still remembered the mighty power that her two guards radiated. When would he be able to see her again, when would he be able to listen to her story? Qing Feng quickly let out a hearty laugh, placing his hand on Liang Chen''s shoulder as they started to walk down that familiar street.


    "Of course she is! Your wedding is in three days, so she needs as much time with your mother as she can get, otherwise, things won''t get ready in time."


    Liang Chen immediately stopped walking, completely dumbfounded. His parents stopped walking to see what was going on, tilting their heads slightly. Liang Chen couldn''t help but give voice to his dumbfoundedness.


    "...Wedding?"


    He was getting married in this illusion? And to Qing Chun of all people? He looked like he had reached 17 years or so of age in this illusion, so he was at a ripe age to get married. But why to Qing Chun? Exactly what had happened in this illusion for the two of them to end up marrying? Was that what would have happened if his parents hadn''t been executed? Qing Feng let out a light chuckle, rapping Liang Chen''s forehead with his knuckles.


    "Did you hit your head while you were out and about and forget about your own wedding?"


    Liang Chen quickly shook his head to regain his clarity. It was a bit of a strange choice for the illusion, but he wanted to see where it went, wanted to stay a bit longer with his parents. So he shook his head and lied with an amused chuckle.


    "No, of course not! It was just a joke, not my fault you guys don''t have any humor."


    Even though they were nothing but illusions, Liang Chen had just lied to his parents. His parents had told him to never ever tell a lie, and now he had lied directly to them, or at least to an illusion of them, and it hurt his heart, far more than he thought it would. Qing Feng let out a light snort, ruffling Liang Chen''s hair.


    "Cheeky brat, trying to insult your parents?"


    Liang Chen simply let out another chuckle, not responding. The three people continued to walk down a familiar street, quickly arriving at that familiar house. In this illusion, it was a place he could return to whenever he was hurt. But in real life, he had nowhere to return to, this house already burned down and turned to ash.


    pacing around in front of the house was a more grown-up Qing Chun. Her chestnut brown hair hung was tied into a small ponytail that hung down over her shoulder, her clear blue eyes filled with worry. When she saw Liang Chen and his parents arrive by the house, she immediately ran up to them, embracing Liang Chen and burying her face in his chest, scolding him lightly.


    "Chen''er, you''re back! You shouldn''t worry aunty Lan like that."


    Liang Chen looped his hands around her waist and held her tight, placing his nose against her hair and inhaling that familiar fragrance, one of the last things that remained of his old life. He let out another light chuckle, lying with an apologetic face.


    "Sorry about that, I promise that it won''t happen again."


    The group entered the house and gathered around the table, eating a hearty and warm meal that was filled with so many familiar flavors that Liang Chen had to force his tears back. Qing Chun and his parents thought that he was acting a bit weird, but they didn''t think anything too much about it.


    Liang Chen continued to indulge himself in the illusion, spending the days in peace. He would go hunting with his father, he would help his mother with the wedding preparations, he would go on dates with Qing Chun. Each day was filled with bliss and warmth, Liang Chen''s heart praying that it would never end.


    When the day of their wedding arrived, the entire town was covered in red and golden cloth and decorations. The streets were lined with people as they watched Liang Chen, who was clad in a crimson robe decorated with a roaring dragon, and Qing Chun, who was clad in a red dress that was tight at the top and loose at the bottom, walk through the city hand in hand.


    When they arrived outside their home, Liang Chen followed the traditions and kowtowed three times, once to the heavens, once to his parents, and once to his spouse, Qing Chun. After he kowtowed, the both of them paid their respects to the Qing clan, to their deceased ancestors, and then to their parents.


    Once they finished paying their respects, the invited guests went to the prepared feast, while Liang Chen and Qing Chun went to their bridal chambers to consummate the marriage. They were both very clumsy and awkward, but it was a moment for just the two of them, so they took their time to make sure that everything was right and that both were satisfied.


    Once the wedding was over, the peaceful and calm days returned, with Liang Chen spending as much time as he could with his parents and Qing Chun. But he knew that even though he wanted to drown in this sweet illusion, he could not do so, he had to keep moving forward, he would keep moving forward.


    Six days after the wedding took place, Liang Chen sat in the living room of their house. He and Qing Chun sat on one of the couches, while his parents sat on the couch across from them, the four of them drinking tea and enjoying each others presence. Qing Chun locked eyes with Liang Chen''s mother for a short second, nodding her head and speaking up, looking at Liang Chen with worried eyes.


    "Chen''er, are you okay?"


    Liang Chen was slightly caught off guard by the question, worried that they had discovered something strange about him. He knew that he had to end this illusion, but he was a bit unwilling to do so just yet. He wanted to soak in this long gone warmth for just a bit longer, so he tilted his head curiously and acted like nothing.


    "What do you mean? Do I not look okay?"


    Qing Chun looked deeply at him, studying his face for any signs of what might be wrong with him. Under such a close inspection from Qing Chun, Liang Chen couldn''t help but get a bit nervous. Luckily, Qing Chun pulled back after a bit, tightly grasping his hand.


    "You have been acting different since a few days ago. Your eyes have changed, it''s like they''re not looking at the things around you. You might be able to fool others, but you can''t fool me or your parents."


    Liang Chen''s heart skipped a beat after hearing her words. Ever since he arrived in this illusion, he would occasionally stare into empty air or at certain places or people, comparing the illusion to how it was in reality. Liang Chen put on a slightly forced smile, gently cupping Qing Chun''s face.


    "It''s nothing, I''m fine, I''m looking at you properly."


    He had fought hard and suffered so much pain, was he not allowed to enjoy this warmth for a bit longer? Qing Chun rested her head against Liang Chen''s hands, her eyes turning red as she begged him.


    "You''re a bad liar, you always were. Please, look me in the eyes and tell me what you see, please!"


    Liang Chen looked her deep in the eyes, and in the end, he let out a deep and sorrowful sigh. It seemed like it was time to stop this charade, this charade that had almost, but only almost, absorbed his heart and mind. No matter how much longer he wished to rest in this warmth, he had to let go before it became too late, before he became unable to let go. He let go of Qing Chun''s face, standing up from the couch.


    His eyes stared into the distance, as if they could see through everything. In front of his eyes, the house they were sitting in started to burn, the garden his parents had planted started to burn, an angry mob standing outside the gates. When he glanced at the couches, he saw the headless bodies of his parents, and Qing Chun was completely gone. But once he blinked, everything returned to normal. Liang Chen let out a low and weak laugh, rubbing his wrist.


    "What I see? I see a perfect paradise, but it''s tearing at the seams."


    This illusion was truly a perfect paradise where he had everything it wished for. But he knew that it was fake, he knew how things really were. He continued to rub his wrist, searching for a bracelet that wasn''t there, tears slowly starting to fall from his eyes.


    "I wish it was real, I wish I didn''t have to deceive myself in an attempt to believe it. I tried so hard to sink into it, to convince myself that all of this was real. But I can''t erase the past, I can''t change what has already happened. No matter how much I hope, this will never be real."This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    A light flashed in his hand, a spear made out of ashen wood appearing in his grasp. As the spear appeared in his hands, his appearance also returned to how it really looked, his scarred body, his emerald hair, and his golden eyes. He didn''t know how to end this illusion, how to leave it, so he could only take drastic measures. Seeing a spear appear in Liang Chen''s hand, Qing Chun and his parents couldn''t help but call out in shocked voices.


    "Chen''er?!"


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he was trying to drown out their voices. He opened his eyes again, his gaze landing on the silver tip of his spear. This was real, they were not. When a dream was faced with reality, it would shatter and vanish. He raised the spear, his arm trembling slightly.


    "I know that this is fake, that none of you are real. But please, please forgive me for this."


    He didn''t know if his arm was trembling from sorrow at what he was about to do, or if it trembled from rage at whoever created this illusion and forced him to do this. He also didn''t know if he was asking the illusions to forgive him, or if he was telling himself to forgive him for what he was about to do.


    The sound of thunder exploded out within the living room, Liang Chen''s spear turning into a blur as it moved. Three quick stabs, each one piercing one heart, spraying blood all over the room. Qing Chun and Liang Chen''s mother died instantly, but his father was able to hold on for a short moment, placing a bloody hand against Liang Chen''s cheek, his voice weak and filled with sorrow.


    "My son...why?"


    Right after speaking, the light vanished from Qing Feng''s eyes, his body falling to the ground, his bloody hand sliding down Liang Chen''s body and leaving a stain. Liang Chen continued to tell himself that it wasn''t real, muttering out in a weak voice.


    "Please, forgive me. One day, I hope that one day we can all gather together again, for real."


    If there truly was a way to bring back people from the dead, then he could meet up with his parents again, part of this illusion could turn into reality. As for what he would do if there wasn''t a way to bring back the dead, Liang Chen didn''t dare think about that yet. Things had to be taken one step at a time.


    He stored the spear into his bracelet again and took a deep breath, the stench of blood flooding into his nose. Whenever he took part in battles, the scent of blood was rather sweet and delicate to him, but now it seemed like the worst stench in the world, his stomach turning. After waiting for another few seconds, everything around him started to blur, the city turning into an arid valley, allowing Liang Chen to let out a breath.


    "It''s over."


    The city quickly vanished completely, disappearing along with the breeze. Liang Chen stood at the bottom of the valley, a dusty breeze blowing past him. There was no longer any crushing pressure pushing down on him, his body also seemed completely revitalized, the wounds he had suffered on his arms and legs from crawling for so long had already completely vanished.


    But to his surprise, Liang Chen realized that the bloody handprint that Qing Feng had left on his cheek and clothes still remained. He touched the blood, which still felt warm and wet, a question he had no answer to escaping from his lips.


    "In the end, what was it that I just saw?"


    Liang Chen was a bit curious where he had to go now, as he could see the end of the valley a few thousand meters ahead of him. Just as he thought he had to walk over there, the booming voice that announced the trials rang out around him.


    "You have completed the trial, receive your rewards and await the arrival of the remaining challengers."


    It seemed like he had indeed cleared the trial, now he just had to sit down here and wait for the others. He wondered how long he would have to wait, as well as how long he had actually been indulging in the illusion, had it truly been several days? There was no answer to his question, a white light flooding his surroundings and taking him the same white space where he had received the reward from the first trial. The same peach-colored light appeared in front of him, taking human shape and speaking up.


    "Challenger, your performance rank is Great. You showed great determination in moving forward and your result in the Dream Heart trial was wonderful."


    Liang Chen was a bit curious at how this trial was judged. He had indulged himself in the illusion for quite some time, so how was his result wonderful? Was it perhaps because he had realized from the start that something was wrong and that it was an illusion or something similar? The human shape raised its hand, a deep crimson ring appearing above its palm.


    "Your reward will be this ring. It was forged by a friend of mine, Sovereign Blacksmith. Not only can you speed up and slow down the passage of time within it, but it can also hold minor living beings like plants and herbs, allowing you to carry around your own herbal garden."


    Sovereign Blacksmith, just what level did he have to reach to earn that title? The ring flew over to Liang Chen, landing in his palm. The white space vanished, so Liang Chen sat down on the ground and inspected the ring, which radiated a powerful energy. Upon grasping it, he learned that he had to drop some of his blood on the ring to personalize it, making it so that only he or those he gave permission to could use it. Upon dropping some blood onto it, the energy it radiated pulled back, the information on how to use the ring entering his mind. It was completely empty, but the space within it was countless times larger than the bracelet he wore right now. He also played around with the time control function, which was surprisingly easy to use.


    He didn''t put on the ring, storing it into his bracelet for the moment. If the people from the other four sects learned about this ring, they might just choose to kill him to acquire it, so he had to hide it until he was safe. After putting away the ring, he felt his stomach growl, so he took out some food and water, slowly eating as he waited for the others to arrive.


    After waiting for two days, someone new appeared in front of Liang Chen in a flash of silver light. The amber-eyed and brown-haired Xuan Bao looked at his surroundings with a sharp gaze, his eyes eventually landing on Liang Chen.


    "You were the first one to clear it? How did you manage that?"


    Xuan Bao knew how horrifyingly hard this trial had been. Had it not been for the fact that he trained in the Fiendgod Manual, he would probably have collapsed long ago. And that terrifying illusion at the end, he had almost lost himself in it. Liang Chen had already prepared a lie, so he simply shrugged his shoulders.


    "The trial must have been easier for me because of my low cultivation, I only had to resist the pressure for one day and then pass through a weak illusion."


    Since the trial changed according to the mood of the guardians, no one could prove that he was lying. They could only assume that the guardians had pitied this weak child and made the trials easier for him. Hearing Liang Chen''s lie, Xuan bao couldn''t help but stare at him with his mouth agape.


    "They weakened the trial by that much for you? Did you get a reward for that?"


    He had to resist the pressure for close to twenty days, constantly moving to avoid dying. And then he even had to break through that horrifying illusion, spending another 10 days, all so that he could get a performance rank of Decent. If he not only got a weaker trial but even got to earn rewards, Xuan Bao would really find it too unfair. Liang Chen''s smile turned bitter as he disappointedly shook his head.


    "No. My performance rank was Poor, so the human shape refused to give me a reward."


    Xuan Bao gave a slight nod, letting out a stealthy sigh of relief. Liang Chen was merely a child, Xuan Bao refused to believe that he was able to lie in front of his overpowering presence. Xuan Bao sat down a bit of a distance away from Liang Chen, quietly cultivating as he waited for the others to arrive.


    After Xuan Bao finished the trial, people started to arrive more frequently, five or six people finishing the trial each day. Xiao Yong and the others also arrived one by one, each of them looking ragged and exhausted, but alive.


    Seven days after Xuan Bao finished the trial, Yan Ying arrived in front of Liang Chen in a flash of light. His face was as white as a sheet of paper, his eyes completely bloodshot. He looked both mentally and physically exhausted. Liang Chen took out a waterskin from his bracelet, tossing it at Yan Ying.


    "You look absolutely horrible."


    Yan Ying returned to his senses when the waterskin hit him in the face and Liang Chen''s voice sounded out. He caught the waterskin before it hit the ground, taking a few deep swigs. After drinking his fill, he handed it back to Liang Chen, a weak laughter escaping his lips.


    "Heh, it wasn''t a very pleasant trial."


    Yan Ying walked forward and sat down a short distance away from Liang Chen, seemingly scared of getting closer to him, his hands trembling faintly. He took out a small crystal that contained a slight amount of Qi, his reward for this trial. He closely examined it, but in the end, he let out a self-deprecating smile.


    "As I expected, a pretty poor reward."


    He put the crystal away and laid down on the ground, letting out a deep sigh. Liang Chen could tell that something was on Yan Ying''s mind, but he could also tell that he didn''t want to talk about it, at least not yet.


    Half a day after Yan Ying arrived, a flash of light appeared in front of Liang Chen, Yan Ling arriving. She was also pale and had bloodshot eyes, but she looked a bit better than Yan Ying. Liang Chen noticed that when Yan Ling arrived, Yan Ying actually shrank back slightly, turning his face away in shame.


    Yan Ling didn''t even check the reward she got, she immediately scoured the area for Yan Ying. Once she spotted him, she quickly ran over and gave him a tight hug, speaking to him in a gentle voice.


    "It''s okay. I promise, it''s okay. I don''t blame you, nor do I hate you. No matter what, you will always be my Big Brother."


    Liang Chen could see Yan Ying''s eyes turn red, tears starting to run down his cheek. He raised his arms to return the hug, but stopped halfway, seemingly uncertain if he should do it. In the end, he managed to embrace her with trembling arms, his voice choked.


    "...Thank you..."


    The two continued to hug for a bit, both shedding tears. After a few minutes passed, they separated, wiping away their tears. It had only been a short hug, but Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ying was already looking much better, like he had dropped a heavy weight from his shoulders. Only after making sure that Yan Ying was doing better did Yan Ling take out the reward she had gotten, a ring that was almost identical to the one Liang Chen had gotten, the only difference being that her''s was violet in color. She hadn''t had time to personalize the ring yet, so when she brought it out, it radiated a strong energy, letting the others know that it was an excellent treasure, resulting in some of them clicking their tongues in envy.


    "Tch, seems like your luck in getting rewards is really great."


    First, she had gotten that excellent armor, and now she even got that ring? Just how much luck could one girl have? Yan Ling played with the ring a bit before her eyes landed on Liang Chen, who sat on his own a short distance away. Seeing a chance to gloat, she quickly skipped over.


    "Nihihi. Little Freak, look at this reward that I got! Not only can I slow down or speed up time in it, but I can also store herbs inside it!"


    Yan Ying stood up after Yan Ling left, also walking over and sitting down closer to Liang Chen, his face now much calmer and energetic. Yan Ling remembered the reward Liang Chen had gotten in the first trial, so she continued to rub it in as she held the ring in front of his face.


    "So how about you, what did you get? Another piece of jade?"


    Liang Chen sat a bit away from everyone else, so no one was paying attention to them, not having heard Yan Ling''s words. Seeing the gloating and teasing smirk on her face, Liang Chen decided to knock her down a peg, so he took out the crimson ring he had gotten, flashing it in front of her face for a short moment before putting it away again. Just like he thought, Yan Ling''s smirk vanished after seeing the ring, as she could tell that it was the same as hers.


    "Geh, you also got one?"


    She lowered her voice as she talked, as she could tell that Liang Chen didn''t want the other groups to learn about the reward he had gotten. Teasing and gloating was one thing, but she wasn''t going to be dumb and cause trouble for Liang Chen just because she wanted to have some fun. Feeling a slight sense of victory, Liang Chen responded with a smirk of his own.


    "What, are you the only one allowed to get good rewards here?"


    His first reward had been a fragment of jade that was useless to him, while Yan Ling had gotten a powerful suit of armor that could change shape as she wished it. This fact was something she made sure to rub in his face, so now that he had gotten a treasure that was just as good as hers, how could he not retaliate a little? Yan Ling sat down next to Liang Chen, puffing out her cheeks slightly.


    "Humph, just you wait for the next trial. I''ll get a reward so good that it''ll leave yours in the dust."


    If she didn''t manage to get a better treasure, how could she possibly rub it in Liang Chen''s face and gloat? Yan Ling was a proud girl, so when she encountered Liang Chen, who was more useful than her in this hidden realm, she had to at least tease him and gloat whenever she got the chance. Facing her strange challenge, Liang Chen only gave a slight smile.


    The groups continued to wait, with more and more people arriving. After another three days of waiting, another person arrived, the booming voice sounding out through the valley.


    "All remaining challengers have arrived, prepare for the next trial."


    Liang Chen swept the surviving people with his gaze. Surprisingly enough, quite a few people had survived, only six or seven people missing. So many people had managed to survive that ungodly pressure? Of course, what he failed to account for was the fact that everyone here had a higher cultivation and various treasures they could use to protect themselves. Compared to them, he had nothing. A silver light flashed in front of everyone''s eyes, everyone vanishing from sight.

 Third trial, Land of death.

    After the group vanished from within the valley and the silver light disappeared from their vision, they found themselves standing in a pure white space. While everyone was looking around, the booming voice that announced the trials thundered out in their ears.


    "The trial shall start in five minutes. Rest up and restore your energy."


    Everyone quickly checked their surroundings, seeing if there was anything within this white space. They could walk around a little, but were quickly stopped by an invisible wall that pushed them back. After checking the invisible walls for a bit, the gray and black haired Li Delan couldn''t help but let out a slightly annoyed question.


    "So we aren''t even allowed to see the location of the third trial before it starts?"


    If they got to see the location of the trial while resting, they could at least start thinking about what sort of things they might face and plan accordingly. While the others either rested up or continue to check the white space, Yan Ying walked up to Liang Chen, handing him a few bottles filled with light green pills, an apologetic smile on his face.


    "Little Chen, I didn''t expect the inner area of the hidden realm to be so strange, so I didn''t give you these earlier. If we end up separated again, you can use these to quickly restore your energy."


    He hadn''t expected them to get split up the moment they entered the inner area, so he had neglected to give Liang Chen any pills to restore his Qi. And after clearing the two previous trials, he always saw Liang Chen acting casual and relaxed, so the thought had completely slipped his mind.


    Liang Chen accepted the pills, storing them into his bracelet and thanking Yan Ying. He didn''t know if using pills affected the rank he got, but as long as he survived, he couldn''t care less about what sort of rank he got. After waiting for five minutes, the booming voice announced the trial they were about to face.


    "Show your strength and ability, survive the hunt for seven days."


    Hearing the contents of the trial, Liang Chen''s expression sunk slightly. Of all the remaining people, he and Yan Ling were among the weakest, meaning that this trial, which required them to show strength and ability, was disadvantageous to them. Space around them started to twist and distort again, and everyone knew what was about to happen, Yan Ying clicking his tongue in annoyance.


    "Tch, it really is splitting us up again! Little Chen, Ling''er be extremely careful!"


    A silver light flashed in front of Liang Chen''s eyes, and then everything turned quiet. Once the silver light vanished, Liang Chen was completely alone in a withered forest. The earth beneath him was an ashen gray in color, the trees in the area brittle and dried up, twisting and contorting into strange shapes. Much like the previous trial ground, the snow in this hidden realm was unable to reach the ground, dissolving when it got close to the earth. Seeing the area around him, Liang Chen''s expression couldn''t help but sink even further.


    "This is the location of our third trial? And we are going to be hunted by something here for an entire seven days? This might be a very hard trial."


    Liang Chen knew where this was, he knew which danger zone he was currently in. This was the land of death that was located inside the forest he had first entered after arriving in this hidden realm, the danger zone that filled him with an immense feeling of death when he first laid his eyes upon it.


    Liang Chen''s vigilance instantly reached a peak, his gaze cautiously scanning the surroundings. His instincts were strangely calm, not screaming and shouting at him that danger was all around him. Instead, his instincts warned him that there was something dangerous to his left, as well as below him.


    He slowly moved to the right, his steps quiet and slow. He continued to walk until his instincts started to calm down, no longer warning him about a danger to his left. Once his instincts calmed down, he crouched down, placing his right palm on the ashen earth and closing his eyes.


    "The ground is a bit strange, it seems to be draining my energy. Or is it just a misconception?"


    He had only spent a short amount of time walking, but for some reason, it felt like he had lost more energy than he should. There was also the fact that his instincts warned him of danger from below, further raising his suspicion. In the end, he took his hand off the ground, shaking his head lightly.


    "I shouldn''t risk it. I''m all alone here, so I need to be as careful as possible."


    Rather than assume that he had been wrong, he would rather assume that he was truly losing energy. Liang Chen closed his eyes and calmly started to wait, carefully sensing his own energy. After standing still for a little over two hours, he felt certain that the ground was draining his energy, and the speed at which it was doing so was growing quicker as time passed.


    Liang Chen decided to try something, maneuvering his Qi into his feet, forming a thin shield around them. Once the shield appeared around his feet, the sense of danger he felt from the ground started to fade slightly, so he quickly reinforced the shield to a point where he no longer felt any danger.


    After fully forming the shield, he closed his eyes again and returned to quietly waiting. He stood still for another two hours before opening his eyes. Forming a shield of Qi around his feet cost him some energy, but the speed at which it drained was slower than the speed at which the ground drained his energy, so it was better to keep it active.


    With the shield around his feet active, Liang Chen started to carefully walk through this land of death. He carefully listened to his instincts, avoiding any location or direction that felt was dangerous. Despite being a land of death, the forest it was located in was quite close to the entrance of the hidden realm, so the pressure here was quite a bit lower than Liang Chen had gotten used to.


    He had long ago gotten used to a heavier pressure than this one, so he was able to not only move swiftly and easily, but he was also able to use his lightning element to sense the surrounding living beings. Thanks to being able to sense the electricity within the surrounding living beings, Liang Chen felt that his chances of surviving this trial had increased quite a bit.


    But even after he had walked around for half a day, the only other living beings he had discovered were some of the people that had entered this trial alongside him. There weren''t even bugs or small animals in this withered forest, it was a true land of death.


    As for those people he discovered, he didn''t move to make contact with them, spying on them from a distance. This land of death was filled with large bones and withered trees, so there were plenty of places where Liang Chen could hide. They were all people from the other sects, people he couldn''t trust. He would rather move on his own than move with people he couldn''t trust.


    He continued to move around according to his instincts, occasionally stopping to inspect some of the various bones he saw. Some of the bones were human-sized, but others were tens or hundreds of meters long. Just how large did a Demonic beast have to be to leave behind bones like this? And just how had such a Demonic beast died here?


    After having walked for an entire day, and having been forced to swallow two of the pills Yan Ying had given him, Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowing as he muttered to himself in slight confusion.


    "There is someone nearby, but why aren''t they moving?"


    He could sense that there was a human nearby, but the person wasn''t moving, seemingly sitting on the ground. He thought it over for a bit, but eventually decided to at least go and take a look from a distance, just like he had done with the other people he had discovered.


    He slowly made his way to the person he had discovered, stopping a short distance away. But strangely enough, when he looked at the spot where he could sense someone, a small circle of withered trees, he was unable to see anyone, the area was completely empty.


    He continued to observe the area for a bit longer, his brows furrowing as he failed to understand the situation. Only after spending a bit more time observing, and making sure that his instincts didn''t warn him of danger, did he come out from his hiding spot beneath a curved bone and approached the area with slow steps.


    Once he got closer, a strange scene appeared in front of his eyes. The area inside the circle of trees started to shimmer slightly, a familiar person appearing within the circle. Liang Chen''s vigilance quickly rose, but upon seeing that familiar person sitting on the ground, he let out a light sigh, his vigilance dropping somewhat.


    "Yan Ling, so it was you who was hiding here. What sort of skill did you use to turn completely invisible."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    The person sitting on the ground amidst the circle of trees was Yan Ling. Her knees were tucked up against her chest, her arms folded around her knees and holding them in place, as if she was curling up. When she first appeared in the circle of trees, her expression had been somewhat downcast, but it grew a bit brighter as she started to talk, her voice a bit low.


    "It''s thanks to a rare talisman that Father gave me. It first hides all traces of my Qi and then sets up a screen around me that completely hides me. It''s pretty useful, but only big enough to hide one person."


    Liang Chen couldn''t even imagine how one went about creating such a talisman, that could be considered the perfect hiding tool. Had it not been for his ability to sene the electricity that flowed within people''s nerves, he would never have noticed her. Liang Chen rubbed his chin, giving a slight nod.


    "I see, that really does sound useful. You should continue to hide within it, I''ll move away so that I don''t draw any attention to this area."


    He would honestly prefer to travel with Yan Ling, as she was someone he knew and felt he could trust. But it was simply safer for her to hide here with that extraordinary talisman. But as soon as Liang chen turned around to walk away, Yan Ling called out in a sharp voice, quickly standing up and grabbing onto his sleeve.


    "No!"


    Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, turning back toward Yan Ling. Her expression had turned a bit pale, a trace of fear and desperation appearing within her eyes. Before Liang Chen got to say anything, Yan Ling spoke up again.


    "No, I''ll go with you."


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but furrow slightly. It was clearly far safer to just hide here and wait out the seven days, so why was she so intent on following him.


    "But it''s safer to stay here and hide, just wait out the seven days."


    Even though Liang Chen could detect living beings around him, he could not assure that nothing strange would happen during the next six days. But Yan Ling seemed to be fully intent on following him, her voice turning low, almost pleading.


    "Please, please don''t leave me alone..."


    Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen with pleading and desperate eyes, clearly terrified of being left alone. Seeing her like this, how could Liang Chen possibly reject her again? He lightly shrugged his shoulders, lightening the mood with an overly exasperated sigh.


    "Alright, but don''t start kicking me if we get spotted by others and have to start running like mad."


    His actions seemed to work, Yan Ling''s face turning a bit brighter, not as downcast and despairing as it was earlier. She quickly let out a cold harumph, puffing out her chest in an excessively prideful manner.


    "Humph, I would never kick you, I have more class than that."


    Seeing her expression and hearing her statement, Liang Chen couldn''t resist raising an eyebrow and delivering a quick retort.


    "But throwing me around is fine?"


    Yan Ling showed no shame when Liang Chen pointed out how she had tossed him around like a ragdoll when they first met, her face the very picture of innocence as she spoke up, her voice sounding as if what she was saying was common sense.


    "Completely different. It''s of the highest of class, only queens and empresses can do it. In fact, you should be grateful that I would be willing to throw you around like that."


    Liang Chen was the one who brought this on, so he could only play along with her arrogant act for a bit. After her mood had returned to normal, the two started to move through the danger zone as a group. Liang Chen was the one who decided where they would go, briefly informing Yan Ling about his sharp instincts.


    The two continued to walk, quietly chatting with each other and inspecting some of the strange sights within the danger zone. Yan Ling had the same idea as Liang Chen, that unless they were able to trust them, they shouldn''t meet up with the people they discovered as they traveled.


    After walking together for a little over one day, slowly moving in a circle around the danger zone, Yan Ling suddenly spoke up about a different subject, her voice a little hesitant.


    "Hey, Little Freak... During the previous trial, what sort of illusion did you see?"


    Her voice was not only hesitant, but it was also rather low. It was clear that she hadn''t asked the question simply because she was curious, she probably wanted an excuse to talk about what she had seen. Liang Chen''s eyes grew a bit distant as he thought back to the illusion, responding after a short moment of silence.


    "... I returned to my old home. I returned to my parents and my old friend, spending a few peaceful and calm days with them."


    Yan Ying, Old Chen, and Teng Yimu hadn''t told the others about what happened to Liang Chen''s parents, so not even Yan Ling knew about it. She tilted her head slightly as she questioned.


    "Your old home? Do you want to return there after you leave this hidden realm? You don''t have to come to our sect immediately, you can return home and rest a bit first."


    They had traveled together in this hidden realm for quite a bit of time already, but other than the one comment he made about his mother teaching him cooking, this was the first time Liang Chen had ever mentioned anything about his life outside the hidden realm. Her question was completely normal and innocent, so she was a bit shocked to see Liang Chen stop walking for a second, taking a single deep breath before he responded.


    "No. Even if I go there, it won''t be there anymore. I no longer have a place I can return to."


    His words were simple and strangely calm, but Yan Ling was able to sense a desolate feeling from them, a tremendous sorrow. He didn''t outright say it, but Yan Ling was easily able to understand the meaning of his words, his parents and friend were no longer there, he was alone. The two continued to walk in silence for a bit before Yan Ling spoke up, a weak and forced smile on her face.


    "... I returned to the sect. I got to meet my younger brother and sister, getting to spend some time with them again. I even taught them a bit about cultivation and how to fight. Their smiles, their laughter, it all seemed so real, so lifelike. So why, why did I have to know that it was all fake?"


    There was no answer to her question, she hadn''t sought an answer in the first place, she simply wanted to give vent to the feelings that she had kept tucked away. Liang Chen could recognize the sorrow in her voice, for it was the same sorrow that tinged his voice when he talked about his parents. This was a cruel world, a world that tore loved ones apart far too easily.


    Both of them had loved, and both of them had lost, and in their pain, they found someone they could talk to so that they could vent their anguish. After another short moment spent in silence, Yan Ling asked another question, her voice a tiny bit less sorrowful after having gotten to vent a little.


    "When you left the illusion, how did you do it?"


    Once again, Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes. He could still clearly see and feel that moment when his spear had pierced through their chests, the anguished expression on his father''s face, the hot blood on his face. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, his voice determined as he continued to walk.


    "...No matter how much I prayed for that illusion to be real, I always knew that it was fake, nothing more than a sweet dream. I can''t erase the past, so I drew my spear and I killed them. My parents, my friend, I stabbed them through the heart. And then I continued to move forward."


    Only by embracing the pain of the past, using it as a motivator and moving forward could he reach his goals, only by moving forward would he be able to maybe revive his parents. Liang Chen was still young, so he was a bit shorter than Yan Ling, but for a short second, she felt that his straight back was as tall and steady as a mountain. After a short moment of hesitation, she spoke up with her own story.


    "...I wanted to do the same. To harden my heart and push forward, to forget the past and step over it. But I couldn''t, I just couldn''t give up on them, I couldn''t be too slow once again. In the end, rather than give up on them, I forgave myself, I forgave Big Brother. And it seemed to work, the illusion faded away and I got the performance rank of Great."


    Liang Chen had carved a path through the illusion using pain and blood, while Yan Ling had opened a path through the illusion using love and forgiveness. Two different paths, but they both ended with the same result. After hearing her story, Liang Chen couldn''t help but glance at her with a questioning gaze.


    "To forget the past, huh? Why would you try to do that?"


    Yan Ling didn''t seem to understand exactly what Liang Chen was trying to say, tilting her head sideways and uttering a confused exclamation.


    "Huh?"


    Why she would try to forget the past? Why wouldn''t she? The past was painful, it was better to be forgotten so that one could focus on the good things in the future. Yan Ling''s thoughts were clearly visible on her face, so Liang Chen shook his head and repeated himself, saying a bit more this time.


    "Why would you want to forget the past? Those who don''t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I won''t forget the past, I refuse to let that happen. I will always remember it, the good and the bad, and I will use it to keep myself going."


    If he ever forgot the pain of losing his parents, wouldn''t that mean that he would also forget exactly why it was that he had chosen to set out on this path of cultivation? That loss was his greatest pain, and also his greatest motivation. Yan Ling''s eyes grew a bit distant, those scenes from the past flashing past her eyes before she quietly repeated his words.


    "Those who don''t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, huh? That''s a pretty neat saying."


    She wasn''t certain if she could be like Liang Chen, using the pain of her loss to propel her forward, as she wanted to do nothing more than forget those painful memories. But she felt that even if it was just for a little, she could at least try, even if it was just to honor the memories of those good times. Liang Chen wore a faint smile, his memories also flashing back to the past, to before his parents were killed.


    "My father taught it to me when I was young, it''s stuck with me ever since."


    The mood between the two of them became a mixture of somber and joy, both of them quietly reminiscing about their respective pasts as they continued to walk.


    After they spent three hours walking in this strange mood, Liang Chen decided that it was time to lighten up the mood again. But rather than pull a joke this time, he stealthily moved his arm behind Yan Ling, who was walking right next to him, and poked the side of her waist that wasn''t right next to him. What followed was a loud shriek and a curse as Yan Ling was caught completely off guard and got spooked, jumping into the air.


    "By the go--! You fucker!"


    She swept the surroundings for a short second, her eyes landing on the chuckling Liang Chen, giving him a deadly glare that made it look like she wanted to take a bite out of him.


    "What are you chuckling about?! You think this is funny, eh?!"


    Yan Ling quickly swept out with her leg, wind gathering around her foot as she delivered several swift kicks to Liang Chen''s rear and his legs. She controlled her strength rather well, so the kicks only hurt a little, but Liang Chen still jumped away and retorted.


    "Oy, you said you had more class than kicking!"


    It had only been around a day since she herself made a big deal out of the fact that she was above kicking, and yet here she was, furiously kicking his rear. Yan Ling simply spat a cold harumph, continuing to kick him for a bit.


    "Peh, who cares if I do some low-class things to you?! Or do you think you are worthy of my high-class punishments?!"


    Liang Chen''s actions once again served their purpose, the mood lightening, at the cost of some pain in his rear. The two continued making their way through the danger zone, waiting for the seven days to pass so that the trial would end.

 An eternal moment

    Time continued to pass as they moved and did their best to not be discovered by any groups of people that they could not trust. But as time moved on, Liang Chen''s brows started to furrow more and more. And one day, while he was rubbing his chin, Yan Ling couldn''t stand it any longer, questioning him.


    "What are you mulling about?"


    Liang Chen continued to rub his chin for a bit longer, sweeping the dried bones and withered trees around them for a bit before he told her about his thoughts.


    "Don''t you find it strange? The trial was to survive the hunt for seven days, but now it''s already been five days, and we haven''t encountered any living beings other than the people who entered the trial with us. So what exactly is the hunt? Are we hunting something, or is something hunting us and we have just been so lucky that we haven''t been found?"


    Five days of almost continuous travel, yet they hadn''t encountered any other living beings that might be the hunters of this trial. Could the third trial really be this easy, could this land of death really be that empty? Yan Ling also found it suspicious, but she only gave a light shrug of her shoulders, not too bothered by it.


    "Maybe you''re just overthinking it? You are guiding us quite excellently after all."


    With Liang Chen acting as the guide, they hadn''t encountered a single danger, not even suffering any wounds. He always discovered people ahead of time, giving the both of them ample time to hide. Wasn''t it possible that they had simply managed to avoid the hunter thanks to his sharp instincts?


    In the end, his thoughts were only running in circles and taking him nowhere, so Liang Chen could only give a light nod and give a vague response.


    "Hmm, maybe."


    The two continued to move through the danger zone, and Liang Chen started to slowly realize where they were going. At first, they were moving in a rather roundabout way, so he thought they were moving in a circle around the land of death. But now he noticed that the trees were becoming more and more sparse, with bones of all shapes and sizes taking their place.


    Liang Chen had seen the edge of this particular land of death, so he knew that there were mostly trees around the edge, with a few bones here and there. Now that the trees were growing sparser, he guessed that they were likely heading deeper into the land of death.


    Were the depths of this danger zone safer than the outskirts? Or were his instincts wrong? There was no one who could answer his question, as very little information was known about this land of death, so even Yan Ling knew next to nothing.


    As what Liang Chen assumed to be the dawn of the sixth day arrived, Liang Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks, his expression distorting slightly. He turned towards the right, gazing past Yan Ling and into the distance. He gave a loud shout and grabbed onto Yan Ling''s wrist, quickly running for a hiding spot.


    "Several people are coming!"


    He could sense a large group of people heading in their direction. The group was moving rapidly, so it was clear that they were running from something, something that Liang Chen was not yet able to sense.


    Yan Ling didn''t say anything, allowing Liang Chen to drag her to a hiding spot within a massive bone that was filled with holes and paths that they could move through. From their hiding spot, they were able to observe a large area, cautiously scanning the area as they waited for the group of people to enter their sights.


    A group consisting of over 10 people quickly entered their sights, running at full speed. They were clad in the robes of the five sects, but none of them were trying to fight each other, focusing completely on running. Spotting Yan Ying running at the front of the group, Yan Ling jumped out from the hiding spot, calling out to him and waving her arm.


    "Big Brother!"


    Liang Chen also came out from the hiding spot, but his expression was far from pretty, his face pale from shock. Yan Ying immediately spotted Liang Chen and Yan Ling, joy filling his face.


    "Little Chen, Ling''er?"


    But shortly after joy filled his face, it quickly vanished, replaced with worry and nervousness. He quickly waved his arms, pointing into the distance and shouting at the top of his lungs.


    "Quickly turn and run! Head straight until you reach a large circle of bones, the others are already there!"


    Yan Ling wasn''t able to understand why her brother wanted them to met up with the others, why couldn''t they just wait here for Yan Ying and then meet up with the others together?


    "Huh, but wh-!"


    Before Yan Ling got to shout out her question, the pale-faced Liang Chen had grabbed onto her wrist, let out a quick order, and then forcefully pulled her along as he started to run with all his might.


    "Don''t talk, run!"


    Yan Ling looked utterly confused as she started to run with her own strength, turning towards Liang Chen and waiting for an explanation. Liang Chen glanced behind him, at Yan Ying and the others that were quickly catching up.


    "Something very dangerous is chasing them. Since he said that the others are waiting by the circle of bones, it seems like they might be luring that thing there on purpose."


    He couldn''t see anything chasing them, but his instincts were screaming at him to flee as fast as he could. Their screaming was even worse than it was the first time he laid eyes on this land of death, so it was clear that was chasing Yan Ying and the others was an utterly horrifying being. Was this the hunter who was supposed to have chased them for these seven days?


    Yan Ling didn''t ask any more questions, completely trusting Liang Chen''s words, putting all her strength into her legs as she dashed at full speed. The two ran in a straight line, the area that Yan Ying had told them about appearing in front of them after a short while.


    There was a circle of humongous bones only a short distance in front of them, the curved bones stretching at least 200 meters into the air. They were lying in such a formation that it seemed like a massive monster had coiled up there as it was waiting for death. Had such a beast died of natural causes or was there something that had been able to kill such a massive monster?


    Now was not the time to think about that, so Liang Chen quickly tossed away the thought, dragging Yan Ling after him as he entered the circle of bones. He could spot people hiding behind all the bones, their bodies tense and nervous. Liang Chen ran straight past these people, heading to the very back of the bone circle where there was no one else, the safest place in the upcoming mayhem. He pushed Yan Ling towards one of the thinner but more complete bones, shouting at her as he jumped behind a different bone that was around 20 meters away from hers.


    "Quick, hide behind the bone!"


    In a rare moment of obedience, Yan Ling didn''t retort, obediently making herself as small as possible and hiding behind the bone that Liang Chen had pushed her towards. Yan Ying and his group reached the circle of bones shortly after Liang Chen and Yan Ling, the earth trembling slightly as they entered the circle of bones. The moment the earth started to tremble, the leaders of each group stepped forward, letting out loud shouts that sounded like thunder.Stolen story; please report.


    "It''s coming out, prepare to attack!"


    The people who had been hiding in the area all stepped forward, their faces grim and determined. The earth continued to tremble, the shaking growing stronger and stronger with each passing second until finally, the ashen earth burst open.


    Large chunks of earth and buried bones were thrown throughout the air, a massive Demonic beast bursting out from the ground, releasing a strange sound that seemed to be a mixture of hissing and roaring.


    The Demonic beast that burst out from the ground looked like a massive serpent with a triangular head, its entire body covered in pitch black scales, its eyes strangely white in color. Liang Chen could see that the snake had four limbs, two front legs and two hind legs, but they were so small that there was no way the serpent could actually use them.


    The serpent was massive in size, but when Liang Chen compared it to the bones that they were currently hiding behind, he had to admit that this snake was not large enough to leave behind bones like this. Had there been other Demonic beasts like this serpent here?


    Yan Ying and most of the others that had jumped out from their hiding spots wasted no time after the snake appeared, each of them launching their own attacks. A myriad of colors filled the sky and earth as attacks of all kinds of elements were thrown out, completely covering the serpent.


    The ones with the strangest attacks were the people from the Fiendgod sect. Their bodies twisted and contorted, changing both size and shape. Some of them grew extra arms, some grew several meters taller, some had skin that suddenly turned as tough as metal, or arms and fingers that turned as sharp as weapons. Just how did one cultivate their body to let it become like this?


    The first volley of attacks landed on the beast, the sound of scales cracking ringing out through the area. Liang Chen was completely dumbfounded as he saw the result. All those mighty attacks had landed on it, and yet they had only been able to crack some of its scales?! Guo Huashi and the other group leaders didn''t seem too surprised at the result, quickly calling out their next order.


    "Second volley!"


    The ones that hadn''t launched their attacks the moment the snake appeared stepped forward, launching the attacks that they had kept ready for this very moment. The sky and earth was once again lit up by a myriad of colors, the ashen earth cracking and shattering under the pressure and might of those attacks.


    The attacks struck the cracked scales of the serpent, fully shattering the scales and finally drawing blood. The blood of the serpent was completely black in color, and the moment it hit the ground, the ashen earth started to dry up and wither away, the land itself dying wherever the blood splashed.


    The two volleys of attacks had shattered several scales and caused the serpent to bleed, but the wounds weren''t too large, far from fatal. Xuan Bao clicked his tongue loudly, pulling a three-meter-long greatsword that was light red in color from his interspatial. He pointed the weapon at the cracked scales, letting out a loud shout.


    "Tch, so that wasn''t enough to kill it. Prepare for the actual battle, don''t stay too close to it for too long, lest its deathly aura erodes your lifeforce!"


    The rest of the people that were standing in the area let out loud shouts of war, drawing their weapons and raising them high. They were certain that if they could kill this serpent, they would get an excellent grade on this trial, probably getting great rewards. Of course, first, they had to actually kill the monster.


    The bow-users moved to the back, focusing on aiming their attacks on the already shattered scales and open wounds, while the people who fought with either their bodies or more close range weapons took turns rushing up to the serpent and attacking it. Liang Chen couldn''t see it, according to Xuan Bao, the entire beast released an aura that eroded lifeforce, lowering peoples lifespan and bringing them closer to death.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t participate in the battle, not even with ranged attacks, still hiding at the very back of the bone circle. Liang Chen was quietly observing the battle, but Yan Ling seemed somewhat antsy and worried, turning towards the somewhat distant Liang Chen.


    "Should we get involved?"


    It didn''t feel quite right to her that they were just hiding here in the back while the others were fighting such a fierce battle. Liang Chen shook his head, stating the uncomfortable truth.


    "No. We won''t be able to wound it, we will just get in the way. Let''s just hide here and wait."


    The two of them were simply too weak compared to everyone else who was fighting. Liang Chen was confident that even if he used the attack that had killed Liu Daning, he would only be able to leave a very minor wound on the serpent. And the price for that minor wound would be him likely falling unconscious again. It was more likely that them entering the fray would distract Yan Ying and the others from the Storm Wolf sect.


    It wasn''t nice to hear it, but Yan Ling realized that Liang Chen''s word were the truth, so she could only put on a bitter smile and continue to observe the battle from her hiding spot.


    The battle continued to drag on, with the attacking people routinely jumping back and having someone else take over for them, allowing them a brief moment of rest to restore their energy and prepare for their next attacks.


    The serpent was stronger than any one of the people in the group, but it was completely alone, a disadvantage that slowly became crippling. The countless attacks that landed on it started to show an effect as time passed on, more and more scales shattering, black blood staining the earth.


    Of course, the beast wasn''t the only one who suffered. Liang Chen watched as several people were either torn apart by the maw of the serpent or crushed beneath its thick body. Some were even hit by the drops of blood, their bodies quickly withering away and turning into bleached bones that joined the others.


    The serpent started to bleed more and more, and it swiftly realized that the odds were stacked against it. It let out another loud sound that was a mix between a roar and hiss, pushing forward and creating a small opening in the people that surrounded it. It suffered a few more wounds to create the opening, but now it had a clear path to escape, rapidly slithering away. Li Delan quickly let out a loud shout, recklessly launching attacks at it.


    "It''s trying to flee, stop it!"


    The serpent ignored the attacks, continuing its wild flight. Upon seeing the direction that the serpent was fleeing, Yan Ying felt his entire body turn cold, all blood draining from his face as he let out a desperate shout.


    "No, Ling''er!"


    The serpent was fleeing towards the back of the bone circle, and directly in its path was the bone that Yan Ling was hiding behind. Yan Ling had been observing the battle from her hiding spot, and as the serpent started fleeing, she just so happened to meet its eyes.


    Her entire body froze up from that short moment of eye contact, a feeling of despair and fear washing over her. She knew that she had to flee, to dodge as fast as she could, but no matter how much she tried to move her body, it only resulted in some slight trembling, a strange energy snatching away the control she had over her body.


    Compared to the massive serpent, Yan Ling was so very small, so very insignificant. There was no reason for it to change its course to avoid her, it simply opened its maw, which was filled with razor-sharp teeth, aiming to charge directly over her and swallow her up as it moved.


    Liang Chen thought that since he had pushed her behind one of the more complete bones, that she would be a bit safer, but he had completely underestimated the strength of the serpent. The bone was pushed aside like it was nothing, leaving Yan Ling''s frozen and terrified body right in the open, the serpent right in front of her.


    Liang Chen was witness to all of this as it happened, and when he saw what was going to happen, his entire body felt icy cold. After spending so much time with Yan Ying and his sister, Liang Chen could tell that the both of them truly cared for him, and in turn, he cared for them. Yan Ling liked to gloat and tease him, but that was simply because she used it to hide the fear and pain she felt on the inside.


    Was she going to die here? Was he going to have to watch helplessly once more as someone he cared for was robbed from him by the cruel world? Once again, Liang Chen was reminded of the words that he had been told by a bandit.


    A person dies, and the world keeps on turning, it''s all just a roll of the dice. Yan Ling simply had a bad roll of the dice, resulting in her ending up directly in the path that the serpent chose to flee. She had a bad roll of the dice, and now she was going to die. And then the world would keep on turning as if nothing had happened. The words rang out within his head, causing Liang Chen to loudly curse inside his own mind. Don''t fuck with me!


    He had already decided, he would not let his fate be reliant on the roll of a dice! He would grab hold of his fate, he would move it as he wished! And he sure as fuck wasn''t going to let someone he cared about die in front of him, only able to helplessly watch!


    And at that moment, there was a thump in his chest, a low and nearly unnoticeable thump. And then, then the world turned silent and slowed down, as if time halted to a crawl and allowed that one moment to last an eternity.


    Liang Chen''s eyes were strangely calm, golden lightning coiling around his body, a sense of power filling every inch of his being. He shot forward far faster than he had ever moved before, arriving next to the frozen Yan Ling within the blink of an eye. The maw of the serpent was so close, only a few centimeters away from swallowing her. Yan Ling seemed to notice Liang Chen, her eyes slowly turning towards him, horror filling them. But in response to her horror, Liang Chen simply let out a light laugh and gave her a calm, nearly cheeky smirk.


    "You shouldn''t freeze up like that."


    And then he pushed her away with all his might, taking her place in front of the open maw of the serpent, and time seemed to start again, that jaw of the serpent clamping down on him and causing the world to turn dark.

 A brilliant sun.

    All color was drained from Yan Ling''s face when she saw the scene in front of her, the image of the snake''s maw clamping down on Liang Chen forever burned into her mind. It shook her so bad that she needed two seconds to properly process what had just happened, stretching out her arm and giving a shout so hoarse that one would think her throat had been scraped bloody.


    "Little Freak, no!"


    Had she done it again? Had she once again failed to react because of her fear, once again losing someone because of her own slow reactions? Was she going to be forced to relive that nightmare all over again now that she felt like she was getting close to overcoming it?


    While Yan Ling was once again sinking into her past nightmare, Yan Ying was also turning pale, his arm was outstretched, trembling faintly. He was even slower than Yan Ling, but he still let out a shout that bordered on despair.


    "Little Chen!"


    Had he done it again? Had another child died because he chose to not take action? When the serpent started to flee, to conserve more of his energy, Yan Ying had chosen to not step forward and try to force it back with a few attacks. This had allowed it to charge at Yan Ling, forcing Liang Chen to take her place. It wasn''t really his fault, even if he stepped forward, the snake would likely just ignore his attacks and charge past him, but he still couldn''t help but blame himself.


    But even while he blamed himself, he was also happy. He was so happy, so happy that his sister was fine, that she hadn''t been eaten. But at the same time, he hated himself for how relieved he felt when he saw that Liang Chen had taken the place of his sister.


    Yan Ying quickly regained himself, completely ignoring the serpent, which had already fled past Yan Ling, not even stopping after swallowing Liang Chen. He ran over to Yan Ling, who was kneeling on the ashen ground, her fingers digging into the dirt as she muttered to herself with blurred eyes.


    "No... Not again, not again. I did the same thing again..."


    Other than the people from the Storm Wolf sect, no one else cared about the well-being of Liang Chen and Yan Ling. They swarmed after the serpent, quickly slowing it down with attacks so that they could surround ut. The silver-eyed Yuan Xuefeng held a triangular talisman made from black jade that was engraved with a pagoda, pushing it towards the serpent as he shouted loudly.


    "Don''t let it flee further! Surround it from all sides!"


    Each time he pushed out the jade talisman, a strange ripple would pass through the air and push down on the serpent. Each ripple would act like chains that tied down the serpent, sealing its movements. As the honorary disciple of the Sealing God Empyrean, he used a cultivation technique that gave him the power to seal things.


    Yan Ying didn''t even glance at the battle that was starting up again a bit away from them, kneeling down next to his sister and grabbing onto her shoulders. He quickly shook her body, loudly calling out to her.


    "Ling''er, calm down! Little Chen was swallowed whole, so he is likely still alive! The stomach acid of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen is very powerful, so I don''t know how long he can last, but he should still be alive!"


    Yan Ying himself wasn''t very confident in the words he was speaking, but he needed to say something that Yan Ling could grasp onto, something that he himself could grasp onto. It worked as intended, Yan Ling''s eyes quickly regaining their clarity.


    "Alive? Right, alive!"


    She grasped onto that thin glimmer of hope with all her might, holding it close to her chest. He was still alive, she could still save him! She didn''t have to live through that nightmare once again! She couldn''t change the past, but she could change the present, change what was happening right now. She quickly stood up, her eyes burning with determination as she glared at the serpent.


    "I won''t let it repeat itself, not this time!"


    She swiped the interspatial ring she had received as a reward for the last trial, which already held all her items, pulling out a palm-sized piece of paper that was light yellow in color. Strange symbols were drawn onto the paper, a force far stronger than anything even Yan Ying could produce radiating from it. This was a life-saving talisman her father had given her, the symbols were drawn using his own blood.


    Liang Chen had already slid down the throat of the serpent and entered its stomach. It was pitch black around him, and it reeked horrendously. Strangely enough, as Liang Chen was lying in its stomach acid, he let out several heavy breaths, laughing lightly.


    "Hah, hah, hah. Oh boy, I''ve really done it now."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He hadn''t thought too much about it as he did it, but jumping in front of a massive serpent and pushing someone else out of the way was a rather insane thing to do. His entire body ached from when the serpent slammed its mouth shut on him, but he still managed to raise his arms, holding his hands in front of his face and letting out another laugh.


    "It''s so dark in here that I can''t even see my own hands, could really use a nice candle or something."


    Liang Chen had no idea what else he could do. The only way he could drive away the fear and despair that was threatening to swallow him was by making jokes and laughing. So he continued to laugh and make jokes.


    The stomach of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen was incredibly large, so after struggling a little, he managed to sit up, leaning against the inside of the beast''s stomach. He placed his hand against the wall of the stomach, tapping into his lightning seed and drawing out as much lightning as he could handle in his wounded state.


    Arcs of golden and azure lightning lit up the inside of the stomach, allowing Liang Chen to see that the flesh in the stomach hadn''t even gotten singed in the slightest. He tried for a bit longer, but in the end, he could only let out another laugh.


    "Hahaha, so even the flesh on your inside is so strong that I can''t wound it? You ridiculous thing you."


    He leaned his head against the wall of flesh behind him, closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths. As he continued to breathe, he felt the entire stomach thump periodically, a low thundering sound resounding throughout the body of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen.


    "That thundering sound... Its heartbeat maybe?"


    Liang Chen''s thoughts started to move slightly. He stopped leaning against the wall of flesh, doing his best to stand up. But it seemed like his legs had given out underneath him, either from fear or from his wounds. Since his legs didn''t want to listen to him, he could only use his arms and crawl forward.


    He crawled through the stomach acid, he crawled through the dissolving remains of other people and beasts. He had long since activated his Poison Soul technique, but his entire body was still engulfed in pain as he crawled, eliciting another laugh from him.


    "Hahaha, you know, your stomach acid really burns like hell, it even goes right through my Poison Soul technique."


    He couldn''t see where he was going, he could only use the sound of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen''s heartbeat to guess at his current position. When he first started cultivating and was preparing a bath of Demonic beast blood, he had killed quite a few snakes, so he was a little familiar with their anatomy. He knew that there was one point where their stomach got very close to their heart.


    Crawling was both painful and hard, but he continued to do so, even when it felt like his fingers were melting. He didn''t want to die, he wasn''t going to die here, he wouldn''t let himself. Not once had the idea to just lie down and accept death struck him, not even when the maw of the serpent slammed down on him and he was swallowed. After a few agonizing minutes of crawling, Liang Chen reached the spot where he felt certain he was closest to the heart.


    "This seems to be as close as I can get, but there is still quite a bit of flesh between me and my target, huh?"


    The flesh around him thumped loudly, the sound of rushing blood clearly audible. Liang Chen had a plan in mind for how he would escape, and maybe even kill this beast. His Lightning Seed had gathered up large amounts of lightning, even storing that one bolt of violet lightning.


    He couldn''t fully detonate the Lightning Seed within his body, he was certain that it would end up tearing him apart and kill him. What he wanted to do was take the seed out from his body and place it against the body of the snake, completely shattering and detonating it. He would lose the Lightning Seed and would have to create a new one, but it was far better than dying. But when he moved to put his plan into action, he immediately encountered a problem.


    "You won''t move huh? Guess I''ll have to use something else then."


    The Lightning Seed wouldn''t move. No matter how much he ordered it to leave his body, it didn''t budge an inch, stubbornly refusing. He didn''t know what caused the thought to sprout in his mind, but he felt like the seed didn''t want to move because there was something growing within it, so it didn''t want to leave before it finished growing.


    But Liang Chen was flexible. If his Lightning Seed didn''t want to leave his body and detonate for him, he would simply use something else. His mind connected with his Ascended Tower, causing it to tremble and slowly move. There were several roots from his Lightning Seed that grew into the Ascended Tower, so as he started to pull out the tower, these roots were obviously forced out of the tower.


    The moment the roots were forced out of the tower, they started to wriggle around, as if they were searching for their home. They couldn''t find their tower, so they settled on a new home, Liang Chen''s flesh. The roots sank into his body, digging into his flesh, his bones, his veins. Even more pain started to flood his body, but he simply grit his teeth, a mad glint in his eyes.


    His Ascended Tower slowly left his body, appearing above his palm. His Ascended Tower was four floors tall and made out of golden stone that glimmered with electricity, a scale-like pattern growing around his tower, switching between violet and emerald green. He gazed at the tower, the corners of his lips curling upwards.


    "You thought you could kill me just by swallowing me? You really underestimated my stubbornness, I will survive. It doesn''t matter if I have to start over from scratch or try something new, I will survive, and I will continue moving forward."


    His Ascended Tower contained far less energy than his Lightning Seed, but it had still been baptized by the crimson and the violet lightning, so it contained a bit of their might. Detonating this tower would force Liang Chen to rely on his Lightning Seed while he started cultivating from scratch again, but that was a small price to pay.


    The tower started to tremble and crack, arcs of lightning and a faint mist of poison gathering around it as the energy within it grew more violent. Liang Chen raised the tower high, holding it as close to the wall of flesh as he could, a mad laughter sounding out.


    "You won''t be able to see it, but let me light up some wonderful fireworks!"


    After Liang Chen finished laughing, a rainbow-colored sun bloomed above his hand. A beautiful sight that contained terrifying power.

 Third trial, completed.

    Yan Ling''s eyes glared death at the Nethersky Wyrm Queen, her cyan hair fluttering in the wind. The yellow paper talisman that she held in her right hand was starting to release more and more energy, the air around her distorting from the might it was releasing, a faint yellow human figure appearing behind her.


    With so much energy being released, how could the people that were fighting the Nethersky Wyrm Queen not notice it? The leaders of the various groups quickly pulled back a bit, turning towards Yan Ling. Once they saw what she was planning, the rainbow-haired Guo Huanshi hurried to shout out.


    "Little girl, are you insane?!"


    They were certain that if Yan Ling unleashed the attack stored in that talisman, it would tear the Nethersky Wyrm Queen into countless pieces. With the body torn into pieces, each of the remaining pieces would lose almost all of their energy and worth, rendering all their efforts up to now worthless.


    But how could Yan Ling possibly care about their efforts or the body of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen? She wanted to safe Liang Chen, so that was exactly what she was going to do. The talisman in her hand lit up with ghostly gray flames, the human figure behind her turning almost completely corporeal.


    The yellow human stepped forward, a two-meter-long greatsword appearing in its hand. The figure raised the sword and then quickly brought it down, unleashing a single attack, a thick silver colored slash shooting out from the tip of the blade. The earth was split open, a grating screeching sound ringing out as space all around the silver slash trembled, tiny cracks spreading. The hearts of Li Delan and the other leaders immediately sank, using all their might to jump away with a loud shout.


    "Dodge!"


    The silver slash got to continue unimpeded, no one even daring to believe that they could slow it down. The Nethersky Wyrm Queen had also noticed the slash, but the slash had surrounded it with a strange pressure, preventing it from moving and dodging. All it could do was accept its fate.


    But as everyone was waiting for the slash to tear apart the Nethersky Wyrm Queen, a strange scene appeared in front of everyone''s eyes. The throat of the beast suddenly bulged out violently, a rainbow-colored light shooting out from the mouth of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen. Facing this strange and unexpected scene, the onlookers couldn''t help but call out in shock.


    "What?!"


    In front of the shocked gazes of the onlookers, the throat of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen exploded in a rain of blood and flesh, a blinding rainbow-colored sun visible within its torn open throat. And blasted out from the throat, along with all the blood and flesh, was Liang Chen, a nearly maniacal laughter sounding out.


    "Hahaha! I told you, I told you! I will survive! I live, you die!"


    The people continued to look on in shock, but Yan Ling quickly regained her clarity, her face turning pale. If the attack she sent out continued to follow the set path, it would completely disintegrate Liang Chen.


    "Little Freak!"


    She hurriedly bit down on her own tongue and spat out some blood on the burning talisman, causing the entire talisman to crackle and hiss, dissolving into a fine red ash. The silver slash turned faintly red, its course forcefully changed so that it avoided the now dead Nethersky Wyrm Queen and the chuckling Liang Chen. As the slash vanished into the distance, the onlookers couldn''t help but stare at Liang Chen with dumbfounded gazes.


    "He''s...still alive?!"


    The stomach acid of a Nethersky Wyrm Queen was so incredibly powerful that it wouldn''t have been strange for Liang Chen to dissolve after merely 10 seconds. Yet here he was, still alive, kneeling on all fours and chuckling.


    After forcibly changing the direction of the attack, Yan Ling and the others from the Storm Wolf sect dashed over to Liang Chen, their expressions distorting when they saw his state. The skin on most of his body had been dissolved by the strong acid, his fingers completely ruined and bent.


    But it seemed like he didn''t even notice his horrendous state, still chuckling merrily. Yan Ling was overjoyed that he was alive, but at the same time, she was angry that Liang Chen had taken her place in front of the snake, as well as angry at the fact that he didn''t seem to care about his own injuries. And because of these conflicting feelings, she ended up giving his rear a few swift kicks while she was pulling out several different pills.


    "Little Freak, you absolute idiot! Quickly, eat these!"


    She didn''t even wait for any response from him, grabbing onto his bloody face and forcing the pills into his mouth. When the pills entered his stomach, they turned into streams of pure energy that started to slowly regrow his skin. Yan Ling let out a relieved sigh when she saw that his skin started to heal, delivering a few more swift kicks to his rear. Liang Chen had regained his clarity now, so to show that he was doing fine, he let out an exasperated remark.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "I''d say I have at least earned something different from this low-class treatment."


    After letting out the remark, Liang Chen switched to a sitting position, letting out several deep breaths. Yan Ling''s eyes turned red when she heard his remark, as it meant that he was fine. But she still continued to kick him, but her kicks were far softer now, basically just gentle nudges.


    "What, you think an idiot like you deserves a more high-class punishment?!"


    While Liang Chen was assuring Yan Ling that he was fine, the expressions of Yan Ying and the others from the Storm Wolf sect were a bit more complex, their eyes locked on his dantian. Yan Ying wanted to say something, but he couldn''t quite get out the words.


    "Little Chen... Your Ascended Tower..."


    They could tell that Liang Chen didn''t have any Qi in his body, his dantian completely empty. A situation like this could only mean one thing, his Ascended Tower had been completely destroyed. And when they thought about that rainbow-colored sun they had seen, it was clear to them just how his Ascended Tower had been destroyed. To most cultivators, this was no different from becoming a cripple, it could easily crush their spirits. But Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, wincing slightly from pain.


    "It''s not a big loss, not like my cultivation was high to begin with."


    In truth, Liang Chen felt very strange right now. Since there was no Qi within his body, he felt completely empty, but not as he weak as he had thought. He couldn''t feel any of his poison element, but he could feel his lightning element clearer than ever before. He was even confident that he could still draw out lightning from within the Lightning Seed and use it to fight. He couldn''t help but wonder, did his Lightning Seed not use any Qi?


    Yan Ling hadn''t noticed it earlier, but now that Yan Ying had mentioned it, she immediately noticed that Liang Chen had lost all of his cultivation. A horrible sense of guilt filled her heart because she knew that it was her fault that he had been forced to cripple himself, it was she who had frozen up when she met the eyes of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen.


    But seeing the calming and nonchalant expression on Liang Chen''s face as he looked at her, she knew that he didn''t want her to feel too bad about it, so she didn''t mention her guilt.


    "It''s fine, it''s just like you said right? You just have to continue moving forward. I''m sure that you will be able to regain all your cultivation in no time."


    She put on a smile, but even she was able to tell that her smile looked beyond forced. But she couldn''t help it, once an Ascended Tower was destroyed, it would be far harder and more time consuming to rebuild it. Liang Chen flashed her a smile of his own, giving her a thumbs-up to show his confidence. Yan Ling sent a slight glance at Yan Ying, leaning in a bit closer and speaking to Liang Chen in a low voice.


    "Also...thank you."


    She wanted to apologize for being the one responsible for what Liang Chen had just gone through, but she knew that Liang Chen had already taken Yan Ying''s words to heart, rather than say sorry, say thanks. If she apologized, he might even get angry at her. Just as Liang Chen was about to shrug his shoulders and tell her not to worry about it, a thundering voice boomed out over the area.


    "The hunter has been slain, the trial has been completed early.


    Space around everyone started to twist and distort, silver lights flashing in front of them. Everyone was already used to this, so they weren''t too shocked. But Li Delan quickly remembered something, his eyes landing on the corpse of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen as he let out a loud shout.


    "No, the body!"


    He wanted to run over and store the corpse into his interspatial ring, but the distorted space around him prevented him from moving. This meant that they had to leave the body there, rendering their efforts void and null.


    Everyone vanished from where they were, Liang Chen once again finding himself standing within a pure white space. As he stood there, a thick stream of energy entered his body, his wounds starting to quickly heal. But the stream of energy only healed his wounds, his Ascended Tower was still destroyed. For a third time, and likely final time, a peach-colored light arrived in front of him, turning into a human shape and delivering its judgment.


    "Challenger, your performance rank is Outstanding. You showed excellent instincts and decision making, dodging every dangerous area you encountered. Your strength is lacking, but you showed great courage and compassion in saving your friend, after which you showed your determination in choosing to detonate your own Ascended Tower."


    The trial was to show their strength and ability by surviving the hunt. Liang Chen''s strength was lower than basically all the other challengers, but his instincts were incredibly sharp. His sharp instincts mixed with his final actions netted him the highest score he had gotten so far. The human shape raised its right arm, a black light flashing above its palm, turning into a watermelon-sized egg covered in a scale-like pattern.


    "Your reward will be this, an eternal companion to follow you down whatever path you choose. Take good care of him, treat him right, and he will be a friend even in your direst hours."


    Liang Chen looked at the egg with some curiosity. One could get Demonic beast companions as rewards in these trials? The egg turned into a flash of black light that sank into Liang Chen''s body, vanishing without a trace. After the egg vanished, the human shape stretched out its arm, pointing at Liang Chen.


    "You failed to receive the acknowledgment of the Ocean King and the Ocean Queen, so you have not qualified to receive a chance to learn my main skills and possibly become one of my main disciples. But you still have a chance to compete with the remaining people in this trial ground for a chance to become my honorary disciple. Bring out your best and show your worth."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but tilt his head slightly, somewhat confused. Yuan Xuefeng said that anyone who was sent to the next trial had obtained the acknowledgment of the guardians, yet now he was told that the Ocean King and Ocean Queen hadn''t acknowledged him. Could it be that Yuan Xuefeng had been wrong? Or maybe he had lied to them? At the same time, he wondered what the human shape meant when he said ''the remaining people in this trial ground''.


    What neither Liang Chen or the other people who had entered the trials knew, was that the moment they finished the third trial, the gates to the King Sealing Pagoda had opened. And once the pagoda opened, a terrifying suction force swept through the hidden realm, picking up every single living person within the hidden realm and forcing them into the pagoda.

 Demons graveyard

    A silver light flashed in front of Liang Chen''s eyes as he was pushed out of the white space and sent to a new location. When the light vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing at the top of a tall mountain, overlooking a vast area.


    He could see forests, lakes, plains, several more mountains, even a volcano puffing out smoke in the distance. Liang Chen only gave his surroundings a quick glance, turning his gaze into his own body to check his state. After checking his body, he rubbed his chin slightly, muttering quietly.


    "It was stored in there, huh? I wonder exactly what it is."


    The black egg that was his reward for the third trial had appeared in his dantian, where his Ascended Tower had previously been. There was a thin line of blood connecting Liang Chen to the egg, constantly funneling some of his blood into the egg to nurture it, to bond the creature within it to him. Liang Chen swept the surroundings with his gaze, his body strangely light and comfortable.


    "So, where exactly am I? And where are the others?"


    He was unable to see any other people from his vantage point, but he did give his surroundings a closer look. Now that he was examining things more closely, he noticed a large number of Demonic beast corpses spread out in the area around him.


    These corpses were different from the bones he had seen in the previous trial, these corpses were completely fresh. They looked so fresh that they seemed alive, but Liang Chen was able to tell that there was no life within their bodies. While Liang Chen was sweeping the area from his vantage point, a light flashed in the sky. A peach-colored human shape appeared in the air above the area, its voice reaching every corner of the land.


    "You are probably all wondering exactly how you ended up here. Let me introduce myself, I am the Sealing God Empyrean and I am the one who set up this trial ground, this hidden realm. I have transported all of you who were inside the hidden realm into this, the lowest floor of my King Sealing Pagoda, the Demon''s Graveyard, and all of you will receive the chance to become an honorary disciple of mine."


    Liang Chen quietly listened to the voice, slowly making his way down the mountain. At the same time, he was rather curious why the Sealing God Empyrean was so eager to accept disciples and honorary disciples. Could it have something to do with that Genesis War that he heard about after he cleared the first trial?


    The human shape waved its hand, causing five beams of light to shoot out from its fingers, forming five large images that floated in the air. One of the images was of Liang Chen, the second was of Qing Feng, the third was of Yan Ling, and the last two were of people who Liang Chen recognized from when they entered the first trial, but he didn''t know their names.


    "These five are the ones who are closest to becoming my honorary disciples, but these rankings can change at any moment. Show your strength, show your worth, prove that you deserve to become my honorary disciple. After three days, everyone who has shown enough strength will be allowed to move on to the next trial."


    After the human shape finished speaking, the five images each sent out a thick beam of light that flashed through the land. Just looking at the light of beam filled Liang Chen with a foreboding feeling, one that was quickly proven correct when the beam of light landed on him, highlighting his position. Seeing this situation, Liang Chen could only put on a bitter smile.


    "So Yan Ling is also here on this floor. Did Yan Ying receive the chance to become a main disciple, or is he also here? And it seems like this Sealing God Empyrean is really looking to push anyone who has a chance to become an honorary disciple to the very edge."


    With their positions highlighted, anyone who was close to becoming an honorary disciple would immediately become the target of every other person in this place, forcing them to do their best to resist the onslaught of countless other people.


    With his position highlighted like this, Liang Chen didn''t see any point in hiding himself. He instead chose to head toward the pillar of light that was connected to Yan Ling''s image, as it would be a little easier for them if they were to meet up. Yan Ling''s pillar of light was also moving, heading in his direction, so it seemed like they both had the same idea.


    There was quite some distance between him and Yan Ling, so even after two hours of walking, he was still quite far from her. But after two hours, his luck had run out, a loud shout sounding out from the forest to his left.


    "One of them is over here!"


    Liang Chen''s vigilance instantly rose to the peak. He hadn''t been able to sense any living beings in his surroundings, so he thought that no one was nearby. Could it be that he couldn''t sense the electricity in living beings without his Ascended Tower, or was it because of the area they were in?


    A group of seven people quickly dashed out of the forest, dashing directly towards Liang Chen with weapons drawn, their bodies radiating killing intent. The strongest in the group was someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, so Liang Chen knew that he was not capable of beating them.


    "Haha, seems like my situation is pretty bad."


    In a situation like this, where he didn''t even have any cultivation or Qi any more, what could he do but laugh? But he had no intention of just lying down and accepting death, so he quickly sprung into action. His Ascended Tower and Qi were gone, but he still had his Lightning Seed.


    He tapped into it with his mind, drawing out some lightning from within. He didn''t try to draw out any of the crimson lightning, as it would end up wounding him, he instead drew out a few strands of azure lightning. The lightning immediately listened to his orders, following the roots of the Lightning Seed and spreading through his body.


    His speed instantly shot through the roof as he dashed away, far faster than he had ever moved when he used his Qi to control his lightning. As he used the lightning to increase his speed, he also noticed that the lightning seemed to be far more docile than it was when he used his Qi to command it, easily listening to his orders as it continued to move through his body. His brows couldn''t help but furrow as he continued to dash, pondering about his situation.


    "I can''t use my poison, but my lightning seems to be even easier to control. Could it be because of the Lightning Seed?"


    He knew that there was still poison in his body, hiding within his flesh and blood, but he couldn''t feel it or control it, so he couldn''t even use his Poison Soul technique. He couldn''t help but wonder, if he had created a Poison Seed alongside his Lightning Seed, would he be able to control his poison now?


    An arrow suddenly whizzed through the air, piercing into Liang Chen''s right elbow and forcing him to abandon his train of thought. It was clear that more and more people were starting to approach his location. They could see him, but he couldn''t sense them, so he even risked running into others as he fled. Liang Chen instantly abandoned all other thoughts, focusing fully on fleeing as more and more voices started to sound out around him.


    "He''s running this way, surround him!"


    More and more attacks started to fly at him, coming for him from all angles. He furrowed his brows slightly, testing out an idea he had. Some more azure lightning seeped out off his Lightning Seed, pouring out from his skin and crackling around his body, forming a defensive shield. Whenever an attack got close to him, a small bolt of lightning would flash out and meet the attack, either blocking or weakening it.


    The shield proved rather effective, far more effective than Liang Chen had first thought it would be, but it could not block every attack. Wounds both large and small started to spread on Liang Chen''s body, his speed getting slower and slower because of blood loss. And in the end, one of the larger attacks hit him. A spear flashed through the air, passing through his waist and taking a large chunk of flesh with it as it continued to fly into the distance.


    "I got him in the waist, he''s slowed down!"Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Liang Chen spat out a large mouthful of blood, but he continued to grit his teeth and run, drawing out more and more lightning from his Lightning Seed to keep himself going. But seeing his wounded state, the ferocity of the people chasing him simply continued to rise, each of them swallowing pills like they were candy to increase their chances of killing him.


    But in the end, despite his wounds, Liang Chen managed to achieve his goal. Not far in front of him was a thick pillar of peach-colored light, the pillar rapidly approaching him as a voice that contained a mixture of happiness and worry reached his ears.


    "Little Freak, there you are!"


    Yan Ling came running through the forest, a large group of people chasing her and launching attacks. But stuck to Yan Ling''s body were two paper talismans, one that sent out a stream of energy to block all incoming attacks, and one that sent a stream of energy into her body to increase her speed.


    Yan Ling waved at Liang Chen, but her expression turned gloomy when she saw his state. His body was covered in wounds and blood, a large chunk of his waist torn out, blood pouring out. She quickly increased her speed even further, almost instantly arriving in front of Liang Chen. She grabbed onto him, and then threw him high into the air, jumping after him.


    She hardened the air beneath her feet and lightened her own weight using wind, allowing her to fly after Liang Chen. Every time it looked like Liang Chen was about to drop slightly, she grabbed onto him and threw him higher into the air, further away from the groups chasing them. There were several in those groups who chased after them, copying Yan Ling''s actions and simulating flight.


    But thanks to the talisman that increased her speed, none of them were able to catch up with her. Once the two were high in the sky and far away from any attackers, Yan Ling let out a light giggle.


    "Nihihi, doesn''t this remind you of the first time we met?"


    The first time the two had met, she had thrown him through the air so that he could dodge some attacks that were aimed at him. Liang Chen continued to let himself get thrown around, chuckling somewhat weakly as he spun around.


    "Yeah, except back then, you threw me around more violently than this. Compared to that time, this is basically like flying on a cloud."


    Back then, Yan Ling had just thrown him through the air as if he was a ragdoll, but now she was using a bit of wind to slow down the speed at which he spun around, making it quite a bit less discomforting. Yan Ling''s lips curled into a slight smirk, her hands grabbing onto Liang Chen''s shoulders to throw him once more.


    "Is that an invitation to throw you around with more force?"


    Liang Chen quickly shook his head, a wry smile appearing on his face. If she threw him even harder than this, wouldn''t all his wounds just get worse?


    "Please don''t, my wounds really hurt."


    Liang Chen couldn''t use his Poison Soul technique, and even though he had a stalwart will, he still felt the pain of all his wounds. Yan Ling seemed to have been caught off guard by his words, as her eyes actually lit up with surprise, a surprised exclamation escaping her lips.


    "What''s this, so even you can feel pain?"


    Now it was Liang Chen''s time to be caught off guard. Why did it seem like Yan Ling was actually surprised at the fact that he could feel pain?


    "What, did you think I couldn''t?"


    She couldn''t have honestly have believed that, right? But contrary to what Liang Chen thought, Yan Ling ended up giving a light shrug of her shoulders after she once again threw him through the air.


    "Well, you never really complained about it, taking it with a straight face. So I just kinda assumed you didn''t really feel pain, or at least didn''t care about it."


    Liang Chen wanted to retort that she was wrong, but when he thought back to the time he spent with her, he had always used his Poison Soul technique to numb his sense of pain, so he had indeed always taken it with a straight and calm face. Since he couldn''t retort like that, he could only let out a sigh.


    "Come on, I''m still human, of course I feel pain."


    Yan Ling grabbed onto his shoulders and tossed him through the air once more, letting out a light giggle.


    "Nihihi, you learn something new every day."


    She had seen Liang Chen use his lightning to increase his speed earlier, so she wanted to ask him how he could still use his lightning, but she also realized that this wasn''t the right place to ask. It could wait until they left this place where they had enemies everywhere.


    Yan Ling continued to throw Liang Chen through the air, as it was safer to travel around like this than it was to descend to the ground. Liang Chen ate a few pills to heal his wounds, but the largest wounds were too big to be healed by just these pills, so they still remained.


    Thanks to the fact that they were traveling through the air, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were able to get a good look at the various Demonic beast corpses, as well as the general situation within this first floor of the pagoda. And what he saw caused Liang Chen to release a sigh.


    "It''s pretty bad here, isn''t it?"


    There were battles taking place everywhere, screams sounding out as people died. Of the original five that had been deemed close to becoming honorary disciples, everyone but Liang Chen and Yan Ling had already died and been replaced several times after only half a day. Yan Ling gave a slight nod of her head, her gaze sweeping the area below them.


    "Yeah, people have gone completely insane, doing everything they can to become an honorary disciple. I can''t even imagine how many people have already died."


    Just how many people had there been in this hidden realm when the pagoda opened, and just how many of them had died by now? Liang Chen had also realized the same, letting out another sigh.


    "Really, people can show such ugly faces at times."


    He was actually rather angry, both at the people in this trial and at the Sealing God Empyrean. He was angry at the people in the trial because they were willing to kill everyone, innocent or not, just for the slight chance at becoming an honorary disciple to an unknown powerhouse. As for the Sealing God Empyrean, he said that he had brought everyone from the hidden realm into his pagoda, meaning that even the weak maids and butlers had been forced into this pagoda, serving as fodder for those who wanted to show their might.


    The two continued to travel through the air, the energy within Yan Ling''s talismans quickly draining after a little over a day had passed, resulting in their speed drastically dropping. The two talismans weren''t quite empty, but they weren''t as useful as they had been earlier. And because their speed dropped, people were now able to catch up with them again, a loud shout sounding out as a myriad of attacks approached them.


    "Get down!"


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling were forced down to the ground, landing at the side of a thin river that stretched far into the distance. More and more people appeared around them, eyeing them with eyes filled with bloodlust. Looking at the situation, a wry smile appeared on Liang Chen''s face.


    "Seems like they''ve prepared quite a bit, we''re completely surrounded. Thing''s aren''t loo-!"


    Before he got to finish his sentence, his legs gave out under him and he started to violently cough, spitting up several mouthfuls of blood. Yan Ling quickly supported him and helped him stand up, calling out with a worried voice.


    "Little Freak?!"


    Liang Chen finished coughing after a bit, wiping away the blood around his mouth with the sleeves of his robe. He glanced at some of the larger wounds that the pills hadn''t been able to heal, a weak laughter escaping his lips.


    "Hahaha, seems like the wounds are getting worse. Must have been some type of acid or another corrosive element mixed in among all the attacks that hit me."


    Liang Chen guessed that it was because of the hole in his waist, as it seemed to have gotten a bit larger as time passed. Liang Chen glanced at the people surrounding them, his mind quickly moving as he whispered to Yan Ling.


    "Did your father give you any other talismans?"


    He had seen three of her talismans and heard about the fourth one while they were traveling. If she had more talismans like that, their odds of surviving would be far greater. But his hopes were quickly dashed when Yan Ling shook her head.


    "Only one, but it''s an escaping talisman. Once I use it, I will be teleported directly back to the clan."


    Each of the talismans required not only a lot of resources but also someone with a strong cultivation to make them. Just the fact that she had four different talismans was already very surprising. Liang Chen was opened his mouth to talk, but Yan Ling hit him on the head before he even got to say anything.


    "Don''t even try, dumbass. I''m not just leaving you here alone. We''ll find a way out of this, I''m sure of it."


    Liang Chen''s lips curled into a bitter smile. He had indeed planned on telling her to use the talisman to escape, but it seemed like she wasn''t intending to leave. But he couldn''t blame her, he would have done the same as her. The people that had surrounded them were starting to slowly move closer, wary of each other. Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s thoughts continued to race as they tried to find a way out of this situation, and in the end, Liang Chen decided to risk it.


    "... Do you remember that one corpse we passed by a little bit ago, that white spider?"


    There was a myriad of corpses spread throughout this hidden realm, and many of them had stirred the appetite of Liang Chen''s bestial instincts. Around one hour ago, the two of them had passed by the corpse of a large spider, at least 100 meters long, that had a pure white carapace. This spider had stirred Liang Chen''s hunger to a degree it had never been stirred before, so he guessed that it contained both poison and lightning. Yan Ling quickly nodded her head, as the spider was rather memorable.


    "I do, what about it?"


    She remembered the spider, but she didn''t understand why Liang Chen was bringing it up now. Could there be something about the spider that might save the two of them? Liang Chen spat out some more blood, glancing at the people around them with cold gazes.


    "Can you get us there?"


    All these people had come to kill the two of them, despite none of them having any grudge with each other. They wanted to kill them him and Yan Ling? Very well, then you can''t blame me when I kill you! Yan Ling could see a strong determination in Liang Chen''s eyes, a ferocious desire to live, so she quickly responded.


    "I can."


    If she completely drained the two talismans of energy, as well as pushed her body to the limit, she was confident that she would be able to get the two of them to the corpse within a short amount of time. It would be very painful and she would suffer a few wounds, but she could do it. Liang Chen''s lips curled up slightly at her response, revealing a bloody smile.


    "Then let''s go."

 Scourge King.

    Liang Chen looked at the wall of people that was slowly moving closer to them, each one vigilantly eyeing the other, worried that someone would steal their prey. Even though Yan Ling said that she could get him to the Demonic beast corpse, he was still a bit worried that she might have some trouble getting through this wall of people.


    "Do you need me to open a slight path at the start?"


    If Liang Chen opened a small path with his crimson lightning, it should be easier for Yan Ling to breach through. His injuries would get worse, but it was better than not getting through. He said it to be helpful, but Yan Ling puffed out her chest and let out a low snort.


    "Don''t you think you''ve gotten to show off enough? I''m the older one here, so where will my dignity be if I keep letting you do everything? Just you watch and let me show off a little."


    After she spoke, Yan Ling removed the two talismans that were stuck to her body, sticking one onto each of her legs. She bit her tongue and spat out some blood, smearing some of it on the talisman responsible for increasing her speed. The talisman lit up with a bloody light, quickly draining the energy in the other talisman and turning it to dust.


    Once the second talisman turned to dust, the first one let out a resplendent crimson light that sank into Yan Ling''s body. She grabbed onto Liang Chen and immediately kicked off the ground, dashing forward, her entire body turning into a blur. She moved with such force that the blood vessels in her legs exploded, the bones in her legs starting to creak and shatter. Her face distorted from the pain, but she didn''t let out a complaint.


    She reached the wall of people in less than the blink of an eye, once more kicking off the ground and jumping up. She used the head of one person as a steppingstone, kicking off it and dashing forward, stepping on several more heads to keep herself above the group. Each head she stepped on exploded into a rain of blood, showing just how much force each of her steps produced.


    She moved so fast that only a few people were able to react to her movements, launching attacks to try and slow her down. The talisman responsible for defending her had been drained of all its energy, so she had nothing to defend her from the incoming attacks.


    Liang Chen heard the sound of an attack hitting her left shoulder, completely shattering it and causing her arm to hang down limply. An attack also approached Liang Chen, who was carried under her right arm, but she quickly twisted her body and let the attack hit her back instead, blocking it for Liang Chen. He wanted to say something, but Yan Ling cut him off before he could get out the words.


    "You''re the one who is going to get us out of this mess, so can''t exactly let you accumulate more wounds."


    Yan Ling sent him a smile and a light laugh, signaling him to not worry about it. Since she didn''t want him to worry about it, he quickly changed the words he was going to say, giving an exasperated shake of his head.


    "Didn''t you just say that I''ve gotten to show off enough and that it was your time to show off?"


    They were surrounded by enemies, both of them wounded pretty badly. Their situation looked pretty dire, so Liang Chen did what he had gotten used to doing, joking around to lighten up the situation. Yan Ling immediately played along, letting out a chuckle.


    "Am I not doing that right now?"


    With Yan Ling''s speed, it didn''t take long for the two of them to escape from the people that had surrounded them, giving them some breathing room. But Yan Ling knew that her speed wouldn''t last much longer, so she quickly forced herself to move as fast as she could, reaching the corpse that they were looking for after only five minutes.


    The spider was around 100 meters long, had thin legs that ended in sharp points, and a pure white carapace covered in small barbs. Yan Ling quickly dropped Liang Chen by the corpse of the spider, her legs trembling fiercely, threatening to give out under her. If it wasn''t for the fact that she was trying to put on a strong front, her broken legs would have already given out under her. She glanced at the spider, but she still didn''t know what they were doing here.


    "Alright, we''re here, now what? They''ll catch up quick, so you better work fast."


    Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the chest of the spider, the part of the corpse that seemed to be the softest. His entire body seemed to hunger for the spider, some drool starting to drip down from his mouth. He quickly took a deep breath, swallowing the saliva and turning back to Yan Ling.


    "Now I carve open the chest of this thing, and you run and hide somewhere far away, someplace where I can''t find you."The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    There was no telling what might happen to him after he drenched himself in the blood of this spider, he might lose his mind, or he might just explode from the sheer amount of energy. If Yan Ling was next to him when either of those things happened, she would get caught up in it. Yan Ling forced her legs to step forward, quickly rapping Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles as she scowled at him.


    "You''re still trying to get me to leave you alone?"


    She had already told him earlier that she wouldn''t leave him here alone, so why was he still trying to tell her to flee on her own? Did she really seem like such an unreliable person? Liang Chen could only put on a bitter smile when he saw her be this adamant about not leaving, giving a weak shake of his head and trying to explain himself.


    "I don''t know what I might do once I pull this off. I might just lose myself and end up attacking you alongside the others."


    His plan was to drench himself in the blood of the spider, using the massive amount of energy stored within it to forcefully increase his strength and either rebuild his cultivation or create a Poison Seed. But because of the aggressive nature of the energy within the blood, he might very well end up losing his mind to his bestial instincts. But in contrast to Liang Chen''s bitter smile, Yan Ling let out a light giggle after hearing his explanation.


    "Really, and here I thought that you had gotten a little better, but it seems like your thought process is still as childish as it was back in Four Clouds city."


    Liang Chen was completely caught off guard by her sudden giggle. How was his thought process at this moment in any way comparable to how it had been in Four Clouds city when he wanted to kill Liu Daning? Yan Ling once again rapped Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles, but she did it softer this time, gentler.


    "You''re not here alone, there is no need for you to try to do everything on your own, to carry everything on your own shoulders. If you just ask, there are several people who would be willing to help."


    Not just her, but Yan Ying, Teng Yimu, Xiao Yong, as well as all the others. If Liang Chen would just ask for help, all of them would spring forth to help him, there was no need for him to try and solve everything on his own. Liang Chen was stunned into silence after hearing her words, his words slightly hesitant as he spoke up.


    "...Then if I asked, would you... would you save me if I were to lose myself?"


    It hadn''t even been a year since his parents died, but he had already been forced to get used to doing things on his own, to struggle for the things he wanted. Was it truly okay for him to just ask someone else for help? Yan Ling''s face lit up with a bright smile as she nodded her head, nudging Liang Chen with her right elbow.


    "Of course I would! And besides, compared to the tantrums my sister could throw, I am certain that what you are about to do is nothing."


    They were both wounded and weak and might be facing death at any moment. But despite that, they were still able to smile and joke around, the desire to live burning strongly in their chests. Liang Chen also put on a smile of his own, forcing himself to stand up and move towards the chest of the spider, his spear appearing in his grasp.


    "You''ll have to tell me about those tantrums someday."


    It sounded like a casual statement, but it carried a deeper meaning. We will both survive and escape so that we could chat freely in the future. Yan Ling nodded her head, forcing herself to walk up next to Liang Chen, her legs finally giving out under her once the two of them reached the chest of the spider.


    "It''s a promise, so you just focus on getting us out of this pickle, we''ll have plenty of time to talk after that."


    Liang Chen gave a slight nod, stabbing his spear into the chest of the spider. The spider had been here countless years, so the carapace had weakened considerably, allowing Liang Chen''s spear to sink deep into the spider. But as he was about to pull out the spear, he heard the sound of running footsteps from around them, someone calling out to them.


    "So this is where you ran to hide."


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, glancing at the people that had once again surrounded them. There seemed to be even more of them this time around, just how many people had surrounded them in hopes of killing them and taking over their spot as a possible honorary disciple? While Liang Chen was sending them a deadly glare, a blonde-haired middle-aged man holding a thick and long saber took half a step forward, his expression containing a trace of pity as he looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    "Listen, I know that you must be pretty monstrous to not only be able to become most likely to become an honorary disciple but also to survive for this long. But no matter how monstrous you are, we won''t let you run anymore. This is the end of the line."


    All the other possible honorary disciple''s had been replaced several times by now, only Liang Chen and Yan Ling had been able to hold onto their positions. For them to be able to do so even while being chased by so many people, it was clear that their skills were rather monstrous. Liang Chen didn''t give a proper response to the man''s words, only letting out a low mutter that only he and Yan Ling could hear.


    "Monstrous? Just you watch, I will show you a monster."


    Liang Chen pulled out the spear slightly, using the tip to slash open the chest of the spider, making sure to not cause a wound that would spill any blood on the nearby Yan Ling. He then took a step forward and drenched his own body in the blood, poison, and organs that poured out from the wound. It was unknown how many of the people surrounding them would be able to survive past today, but all those that survived would remember this day for the rest of their lives, for it was the day that the Scourge King was born.


    There wasn''t even any time for Liang Chen to feel pain, his entire body suddenly burst forth with a tremendous amount of energy, his bones creaking and his veins protruding and wriggling like worms beneath his skin. But Liang Chen didn''t notice any of this, his mind flying far away, sinking into a familiar city that was now flooded with blood. And as his mind flew far away, he heard the laughter of the blood-haired Liang Chen ring out within his own mind.


    "Hahaha, it didn''t take you long to come back to me. I. Win."

 Twin seeds cracking, Lightning God Physique.

    Liang Chen''s mind quickly sank into a version of Green Rivers city that was completely flooded with blood, the houses halfway submerged in it. Compared to the last time he was here, the number of corpses had also increased.


    Not only could he see the corpses of the Blue-scaled Leeches that he killed, but there were constantly new bodies appearing in the blood, allowing him to guess that his body was likely engaging in a rather gruesome slaughter right now.


    Liang Chen quickly landed in the city, but strangely enough, he didn''t sink into the blood, standing on top of it. He felt strangely light, completely filled with energy. The city was still split in half by that massive black crack, which seemed to be growing slightly as he looked at it. But as he looked at that crack, he felt a slight connection with it, a faint stream of energy flowing out from the crack and connecting with him, making his body feel even lighter.


    His eyes eventually landed on the now several meters taller blood-haired Liang Chen, who stood submerged in the blood, a wide and victorious grin on his face. Looking at the grin, Liang Chen couldn''t help but chuckle lightly.


    "Is that what I look like with a shit-eating grin? Doesn''t really suit me."


    The eyebrow of the blood-haired Liang Chen twitched slightly when he saw how casual Liang Chen was acting. But before he got the chance to even open his mouth, Liang Chen started to walk towards him, a calm smile on his face as he gazed up at the blood-haired Liang Chen.


    "Yo, you''ve grown quite a bit larger since I last saw you. It seems like you''ve gorged yourself on all that aggressive energy."


    Last time Liang Chen had been here, this blood-haired Liang Chen had been the same height as him, but he was no at least around 7 meters tall. The blood-haired Liang Chen was once again caught off guard by Liang Chen''s casual gait and his words, raising an eyebrow as he responded, his voice deep and gravely.


    "You realized?"


    He thought that it would at least take Liang Chen a bit more time to figure out what he really was, but now it seemed like he had already realized it. Liang Chen gave a light shrug of his shoulders, only giving a vague response.


    "Not immediately, I wasn''t completely certain until I saw you just now. I''m quite surprised that you chose to take my own appearance."


    The first time Liang Chen had seen this blood-haired version of him, he had been rather confused at just who he was, but now there was no doubt in his mind. This blood-haired Liang Chen was the form of his bestial and savage instincts, the aggressive energy that had invaded his body after he bathed in the blood of Demonic beasts. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have grown so much after Liang Chen drenched himself in the blood of that white spider.


    The blood-haired Liang Chen responded with a similar shrug of his shoulders, not too bothered by the fact that Liang Chen had realized what he was.


    "Wasn''t my idea. Since I''m a part of you, I just ended up taking your form."


    It was just an amalgamation of aggressive energy and the instincts of several different Demonic beasts, it was completely formless. So once it became a part of Liang Chen''s mind, it would, of course, take a form that was very similar to his. After shrugging his shoulders, the blood-haired Liang Chen rubbed his chin slightly, looking Liang Chen up and down.


    "I must say, you are far calmer than I expected you to be. I thought you would be fighting me tooth and nail so that you could retain yourself."


    The fact that he was now so much larger than Liang Chen meant that he was far stronger than Liang Chen, taking over his mind would be a cinch. He had been with Liang Chen since he first started cultivating, so he knew that Liang Chen wouldn''t just let him take him over as he pleased, he would fight even if it seemed pointless. Because of that, he was slightly wary of Liang Chen''s current calm and nonchalance.


    He should also look far weaker than he did now, his body sinking into the blood and barely being able to stay afloat. But here he was, walking on the blood as if it was solid ground. How did he do it? Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to give a shrug of his shoulders, his lips curling up slightly.


    "That was my intention at first, but things changed. If I had to fight you alone, I would indeed have fought with everything I had."


    Right after Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders, the blood beneath his feet started to wriggle and rise, turning into thick vines that shot forward and coiled around the blood-haired Liang Chen, quickly tying him down.


    "This?!"


    The blood-haired Liang Chen was completely caught off guard. He was also shocked when he realized that he couldn''t do anything to these bloody vines that were seemingly draining his energy, forcing him to shrink. He couldn''t understand it. This place was inside Liang Chen''s mind, so it wasn''t strange that he could do something like this, but how did he have the energy to do so right now? He should be wounded and exhausted, his mind on the brink of collapse. The rapidly blood-haired Liang Chen could only look on as Liang Chen slowly walked over, placing one hand on his forehead.


    "But I''m not fighting you alone. There is someone out there who is willing to put herself on the line just to save me, so I''m feeling pretty energetic right about now, good enough to take on several of you at once."


    Liang Chen''s left hand was on the forehead of the blood-haired Liang Chen, and his right hand touched the air in front of his own throat. He could feel a weight on his back, arms wrapped around his neck, a faint voice in his ear. He couldn''t see it, but he guessed that Yan Ling had grabbed onto him when he started the massacre, probably shouting at him to get him to retain his mind.


    He had promised her that he would get them out of this mess so that they could chat freely in the future. And to honor that promise, there was no way he could allow himself to lose to something as pathetic as his own savage instincts.


    Other than that, there was also that strange stream of energy coming from the black crack, which was only growing faster and faster. The blood-haired Liang Chen seemed to be scared of whatever was inside of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be looking to help Liang Chen, fuelling him with energy. The expression of the blood-haired Liang Chen quickly turned sour, a defeated laugh escaping his lips.


    "Hahaha, so I still ended up losing at the final step. What a shame, if only you had given in to your instincts once or twice, my influence would have already been ingrained in your very soul."


    If Liang Chen had only listened to his instincts once or twice outside of battle, killing some people that hadn''t tried to kill him, or eating Sun Xia, then the savage instincts would have been able to seep into his actual mind, properly infecting him. But what a shame, Liang Chen had always pushed those instincts down, not allowing himself to be swallowed by them.


    After letting out a defeated laugh, the now only half a meter high blood-haired Liang Chen glanced at the black crack that had grown much larger, a vicious laughter escaping his lips before he vanished.


    "Fine, you get to be the king, but whether or not you get to have the last laugh is still unknown! You''ve opened that crack all the way now, so it''s only a matter of time until it comes flooding out, all it needs is one last push!"


    His laughter continued to echo out, but his body had already vanished. In the battle between Liang Chen and his savage instincts, Liang Chen had won. Never again would his bestial instincts tell him to avoid cities or eat people. All that would remain were the instincts he himself chose to keep, the sharpened ones that let him detect danger and which Demonic beasts he could eat.


    After dealing with the blood-haired Liang Chen, the blood and corpses in the city around him didn''t vanish, so it seemed like they were connected to it, but to something else. Liang Chen slowly walked over to the crack, which was still fuelling him with energy, and peered into the dark depths, muttering to himself.


    "I really do wonder what exactly is located down there."


    Why was this crack located in his mind, why did it provide him with energy, why was the blood-haired Liang Chen scared of it, and just what was located at the bottom? All these questions floated in his mind, but he still couldn''t get an answer to them.


    Since he couldn''t get an answer, Liang Chen decided to put the questions aside, for now, focusing on the situation at hand. He closed his eyes, allowing his mind to fuse back into his body, giving him full control over it again.


    When he opened his eyes, he was back in the Demon''s Graveyard. His entire body screamed in pain, but at the same time, he felt filled with more energy than he had ever had before. The land around him was completely razed, torn apart corpses spread all around him. He could see a large number of people all around him, looking at him with a myriad of gazes. Some looked at him with fear, some with anger, others with shock. While he was sweeping his gaze around the area, he heard a weak voice in his ear.


    "...Took you long enough..."


    He turned his head slightly and saw that Yan Ling had indeed grabbed onto him, hanging onto his neck with all her might. Since he had stopped his slaughter, she guessed that he had managed to regain control over himself. When his mind regained control over his body, the memories of what he had done after drenching himself in Demonic beast blood also flowed into him.


    The first thing he had done was tear apart the corpse of the spider, further drenching himself in blood and guts. He then charged into the people around them, using his body as a weapon and tearing them apart with his bare hands. While doing so, he had moved so fast that Yan Ling almost fell off, the speed causing her to become nauseous. He quickly sent her an apologetic smile, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "Sorry, It''s all good now."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Liang Chen dashed back to the corpse of the spider, moving so fast that he crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. The vast energy in the blood of the spider was not only fuelling his body, but it was also speeding up the already fast natural healing of his wounds. He put down Yan Ling, leaning her against the spider.


    Considering what he was going to do now, she could not keep hitching a ride on his back. She realized what he was going to do, so she sent him a light smile and a short nod, giving him a thumbs-up. Liang Chen turned to look at the people that were still surrounding them. He had killed quite a few of them in his mindless state, but their greed still prevented them from fleeing, each of them desperate for the chance of maybe becoming an honorary disciple. Liang Chen took a deep breath, sinking part of his mind into his own body, muttering to himself.


    "For now, let''s focus on creating that Poison Seed, it''ll let me control all this poison."


    The blood of the spider was filled with the energy of poison and lightning but in his mindless state, Liang Chen had not been able to use any of it, using brute force to battle. Now that he had gained control over his body, his first course of action was to put the lightning and poison to proper use. He thought about using the energy in the blood to rebuild his Ascended Tower, but for some reason, it felt more correct to him to focus on the two seeds he had created, as if they were more useful to him.


    Half his mind sank into his own body, while the other half was used to control his body, azure lightning crackling around him as he charged at the rest of the people that were surrounding them. They wanted to kill him and Yan Ling, so he saw no problem with killing all of them.


    The white poison energy within the blood of the spider started to gather beneath Liang Chen''s heart, carving a new opening right next to his Lightning Seed. The poison energy was so potent that a small seed quickly formed, just as white as the carapace of the spider. Once the seed was formed, the speed at which the poison gathered there quickly increased.


    The poison element that had already been in his body quickly flooded towards the seed, violet and emerald colored poison mixing with the pure white poison as the seed rapidly grew. The Poison Seed quickly grew roots that dug into Liang Chen''s body, spreading through his veins, flesh, and bones, just like the roots of the Lightning Seed.


    The moment the Poison Seed was created, Liang Chen regained his ability to control poison, and he became a true scourge, a walking disaster. A faint white mist spread from his body, the very land around him dying under the poison, the air becoming unbreathable to everyone he deemed an enemy. Those unlucky enough to be touched by the mist found their organs starting to melt, their bones and flesh quickly following as they turned into puddles of tainted blood. These were all enemies, so there was no need for Liang Chen to use any sedative poison or the like, he was free to use the full might of his poison.


    Coupled with the azure lightning that was crackling around him, increasing his speed as he dashed around and either tore people apart or roasted them with his lightning, the remaining people all started to lose heart, some choosing to immediately flee.


    But the blood of the spider was filled with not only poison energy but also lightning energy, something that his Lightning Seed greedily devoured. The two seeds started to quickly grow, the roots growing thicker and larger, spreading through all of Liang Chen''s body. This continued for a short while until a change that surprised Liang Chen happened.


    "Oh? They''re both cracking, are they going to sprout?"


    The two seeds started to tremble and crack, the speed at which they were devouring energy once again increasing. Their roots continued to spread through Liang Chen''s body, even piercing through the shell of the egg that was located in his dantian, invading the egg. But strangely enough, they weren''t devouring the energy in the egg, but rather pouring their energy into whatever was growing within the egg.


    And as the seeds continued to crack, a tremendous pressure suddenly appeared above Liang Chen and the other people. Liang Chen quickly raised his head and saw that deep blue clouds had gathered above him, azure bolts of lightning flashing within them and unleashing a horrifying pressure. Looking at the clouds, not only Liang Chen, but everyone else in the Demon''s Graveyard was utterly shocked.


    "Those clouds... A heavenly tribulation?! But those aren''t supposed to show up until you reach the Soaring Immortal realm!"


    The arrival of deep blue clouds filled with azure lightning meant that the universe had sent a heavenly lightning tribulation in an attempt to destroy something that aimed to go against the heavens. There was azure, crimson, even violet heavenly lightning in this hidden realm, but all that lightning was kept within normal black clouds, none of them came in tribulation clouds. Liang Chen''s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the clouds, which were gathering energy.


    "Is it because of the sprouting seeds? I can''t think of anything else that it might be."


    Other than the two seeds in his chest that were now sprouting, he could think of nothing else that had changed, so it was likely that the tribulation was coming for him. His thoughts were quickly proven correct when an azure bolt of lightning flashed down from the cloud, heading directly for his head. The universe had decided that he was trying to go against the heavens, so they had decided to try and crush him.


    Liang Chen looked at the bolt of lightning, his eyes cold. He channeled as much of his own lightning as he could, forming a shield in front of the oncoming bolt of lightning. The tribulation bolt sank into his own lightning, flowing into his body in an attempt to wreak havoc.


    But when the lightning sank into his body, a strange scene took place. Rather than being ruined by it, his body greedily absorbed the lightning, pushing it towards the Lightning Seed. Looking at the scene, Liang Chen let out a light sigh of relief.


    "Seems like my body has already gotten completely accustomed to this azure lightning, so there shouldn''t be a problem."


    But what he failed to realize was that his body had already been baptized by both crimson and violet lightning, so how could this weaker azure lightning possibly pose even the slightest threat? Two more bolts flashed down from the tribulation cloud, sinking into Liang Chen''s body just like the earlier one.


    After sending out three bolts of lightning, the tribulation cloud started to disperse. The heavens would always leave a way out, very rarely would they actually send out a tribulation that one was considered to not have a chance of surviving. Liang Chen continued to keep an eye on the three bolts of tribulation lightning that had sunk into his body, carefully examining how they moved.


    After the tribulation ended, his two seeds quickly continued to sprout, each one growing a single tiny bud. The poison bud was pure white in color, while the lightning bud was a deep violet. Liang Chen continued to observe them, waiting to see what they would bloom into.


    But just as he thought they were going to grow and bloom, the two buds suddenly stopped growing, seemingly unable to bloom. Right after they stopped growing, Liang Chen felt the two buds release a strong longing feeling that stretched out into the distance, as if there was something in the distance that they needed to fully bloom.


    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed as he connected with the two buds, tracing the longing feeling. He followed that longing feeling, but it stretched out for so far that he was unable to follow it all the way, he could only follow it later.


    Even while he was doing all this, Liang Chen''s body was still running around, killing anyone who had surrounded him and Yan Ling. He was actually quite dumbfounded to realize that there were still people coming towards them, their eyes blazing with greed and killing intent. Were they all really so reckless that they would continue to try and attack him and Yan Ling in a situation like this, where he was killing people left and right?


    But how could Liang Chen possibly fathom the depths of human greed and ambition? Even if their odds were next to nill, they were still willing to risk their lives and do whatever it took, that was how the cultivation world was. Only the strong had a right to decide, so how could people not be willing to do whatever it took to become strong?


    After he stopped tracing the longing feeling, he continued to look at the three bolts of tribulation lightning that had sunk into his body. Most of the lightning entered his Lightning Seed, but parts of it continued to aimlessly flow through his body, occasionally sinking into his bones. Looking at the scene of the lightning sinking into his bones, Liang Chen''s brows furrowed slightly.


    "Hmm, this? It''s similar to when I first tried to send my lightning element into my flesh. But this time it seems to be working much better, I wonder why?"


    Liang Chen remembered his state after he killed Liu Daning. He had seen three streams flow in his body, one for his lightning element, one for his poison element, and one unknown one. The poison stream tried to enter his soul, while the lightning stream tried to enter his flesh. But both had filled him with an immense pain, as well as a feeling that made it feel like he was doing it wrong. Yet now there was lightning entering his bones, but there was no such feeling, why was that?


    He followed the lightning into his bones, getting a closer look at what was going on. The azure tribulation sank into the depths of his bones, entering his marrow and seemingly slowly strengthening it. Liang Chen''s eyes landed on a tiny part of his marrow that suddenly changed, turning azure in color. And as he looked at that scene of his bone marrow transforming thanks to the lightning, the light of enlightenment flashed in his eyes. His body suddenly let out a loud laugh, shocking the people around him.


    "This?! Hahaha, so that''s what the problem back then was! This is what that jade fragment was trying to say all along! An ocean starts from a single drop of water, grasp its might and let it transform you!"


    He still remembered the piece of jade he had gotten after clearing the first trial, he also remembered what it said; Lord of the ocean, grasp its might and let it transform you. A drop, a puddle, a lake, a river, an ocean, a peerless ruler.


    He instantly understood why it felt wrong when he tried to have his lightning stream enter his flesh to temper it, he also instantly understood what the technique in the jade was. The moment the flash of enlightenment struck him, the jade fragment that was stored in his bracelet lit up with an ocean-blue light, the strange energy in the words flooding into his mind, filling it with information about the technique, as well as its name, Ocean God Physique.


    It felt wrong because he had started in the wrong place! Before he could truly start to temper his flesh, he had to temper his bones and his bone marrow, which had to support his flesh. If they weren''t strong enough when he started to temper his flesh, they would be crushed under the might of his flesh.


    As for the technique, it was surprisingly simple, fully based around the starting sentence, Lord of the ocean, grasp its might and let it transform you. It meant just that, you had to grasp the might of your element and allow it to transform your very body. You started with a drop, your bone marrow, then moved onto a puddle, your bones, all the way until you reached the end, the ocean, your entire body.


    Once you could turn your entire body into your element, you would have mastered the Ocean God Physique and have acquired a nearly unkillable body that could reform from any single drop of water. Of course, Liang Chen was going to use this technique with his lightning element, so it would be more suited to call it Lightning God Physique.


    But despite his mind filling with information about the technique, it was just a fragment of the jade, after all, it barely contained enough information to finish the first step. If he wanted to fully master the technique, he would have to either search out the other fragments or alter the technique as he moved along. But it was good enough for now, it gave him a place to start his body cultivation. His lips curled into a bright smile, a curious mutter escaping his lips.


    "Later on, I''ll have to see if I can do the same with my soul. That''s two out of three, now I just have to figure out what that third element is."


    If he could do something similar to the Lightning God Physique to his soul using his stream of poison element, he would be able to train his soul just like he would his body. At that point, he would have the Lightning God Physique for his body, a Poison God Soul, and the two strange seeds, he would have three different strengths.


    He quickly took a deep breath to calm himself, returning his focus to the situation around him. He could tell that more and more people were attracted to this area, so he quickly stopped using part of his mind to keep an eye on the inside of his body, putting all his focus on his surroundings as he muttered to himself.


    "But before that, I better deal with the people outside, I also have to follow that longing feeling."


    A plan started to quickly form in his mind. His body was still being fuelled by the blood of the spider Demonic beast, but it wouldn''t last forever, the energy would eventually run out and he would return to his normal level of strength. So he had to quickly deal with all the people around them, find a way for him and Yan Ling to escape, and then he would have to find out what exactly it was that his two seeds were longing for, what it was that they needed to finish their growth.


    Once the very barebones plan finished forming, Liang Chen''s lips curled into a bloody smile, his spear appearing in his grasp. Step one, kill everyone who wanted to take the life of him and Yan Ling.

 Escape.

    Liang Chen grasped the spear and dashed around, his body blurring from the speed. Azure arcs of lightning danced around the spear, a white mist that smelled of flowers spreading around the tip, killing everything that it came in contact with.


    Every step Liang Chen took killed the earth around him, the poison mist seeping out from his body turning the area into uninhabitable land. The area around him was drenched in the blood of melted corpses, body parts and corpses he had torn apart spread around. His visage was firmly burned into the eyes of everyone who watched, the terrifying might he revealed chilling them to the bone as many tried to flee and plead for mercy.


    "Ahhh, have mercy!"


    "Please spare us, we promise to leave and never bother you again!"


    "You monster, just let us go!"


    They begged for mercy and tried to escape, but Liang Chen did not respond, nor did he halt his attacks. If he and Yan Ling had begged for mercy, would they have spared them? No, they would have killed them in cold blood. When his parents died, Liang Chen had tossed away his carefree nature that only wanted to play around. And when he saw how the cultivation world really was, he fully abandoned his remaining naivety.


    This world was cruel. If he wanted to protect people, if he wanted to impose his sense of justice on the heavens, then he would need strength, he would need to be cruel to those who were cruel. Mercy to one''s enemy was cruelty to oneself. So he grabbed his spear, and he killed those who were cruel.


    Liang Chen''s narrowed eyes swept the area around him, glaring at the people that were still trying to attack him and Yan Ling. There were still more people coming over from the distance, loud shouts ringing out through the area. Liang Chen felt his body ache, his brows furrowing.


    "About 2 minutes left. Gotta pull out a bit more."


    Liang Chen could tell that the energy within the Demonic beast blood was quickly running out. What he was doing was simply doping himself, so once the energy in the blood ran out, he would not only lose most of his strength, his body would likely become quite weak for a period of time. So before that happened, he had to take care of all these people.


    He touched upon the violet bud that his Lightning Seed had become, drawing out even more lightning to increase his strength. This time, he not only drew out more azure lightning but also a bit of crimson lightning. The crimson lightning started wreaking havoc within his body, the spear in his grasp starting to melt slightly once he channeled the lightning into it. Liang Chen grit his teeth to endure the pain in his body, his bloodshot eyes glaring death at the surrounding people.


    "Come on...Just hold on a bit longer, plant the fear deep into their souls."


    He had to make them believe that this was his own strength, that he could fight like this as he wished. He had to make them fear him so much that none of them would ever dare step close to him or Yan Ling.


    He stomped down on the ground, the dying earth cracking under the might, some stones melting because of the heat from the crimson lightning. His speed increased even further, most of the surrounding people unable to even see how he moved. Each thrust of his spear was accompanied by the booming sound of thunder and a horrified scream as another person was torn apart by the force of lightning.


    Even those that managed to dodge the brunt of his attacks would shortly die, a mere scratch of his spear enough to flood their bodies with pure white poison that quickly melted their organs and flesh.


    Liang Chen''s slaughter continued, more and more people fleeing in fright. As Liang Chen was dashing at a female youth, he suddenly sensed a strong feeling of danger assault him from his left and right sides. His eyes narrowed further as he stomped on the ground and stopped his dash.


    Two people suddenly appeared at his side, one of them jumping out of Liang Chen''s shadow, while the other one jumped out from the ground as if he was a mole. They both had a strange stream of energy surrounding their bodies, temporarily blocking his poison.


    The male who jumped out of his shadow slashed out with a thick green saber, while the woman who jumped out from the earth lashed out with a brown whip covered in thin spikes. But as Liang Chen watched the two attacks, a strange scene took place.


    The single slash by the saber suddenly grew stronger and turned into five identical slashes, forming a large green claw that grasped at Liang Chen''s head, each finger of the claw about two times stronger than the original attack. As for the whip, it suddenly wriggled and changed, taking on the appearance of a translucent snake, two large fangs aiming to pierce Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen immediately understood what was going on, they were using their battle skills. Whenever Liang Chen attacked, he only sent out his element and use brute strength and pure elemental power in a very crude way. Battle type skills cost a bit more energy to use, but they were able to drastically increase the strength of an attack. Taking the saber user as an example, he had only sent out a single slash, but by mixing it with his skill that one slash had doubled in power and multiplied by five! that was a drastic increase in strength and power!


    There were also different types of skills, such a defensive skills, movement skills, or auxiliary skills. Each skill one learned and mastered would allow a person more versatility in battle and would be another trump card, hence, most clans and sects carefully guarded their skills. Liang Chen could for the moment be considered a wandering cultivator, one who had no home or sect he belonged to, so he, of course, had no skills he could use.


    But just using skills and ambushing him was not enough for them to take him down. Right now, using the energy within the Demonic beast blood, Liang Chen was practically unrivaled beneath the Soaring Immortal realm. None of the people who surrounded him and Yan Ling had reached the Soaring Immortal realm, the highest cultivation among them was at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    How many people at the Soaring Immortal could there be in this hidden realm? Ever since entering the hidden realm, Liang Chen had only met six people who had stepped into the Soaring Immortal realm, and those people were the group leaders of the five great sects, as well as Yuan Xuefeng.


    Liang Chen stomped the ground once more and shot backward, dodging the faster of the two attacks, the whip that had turned into a snake. A flash of crimson lightning flashed by the eyes of the woman holding the whip, a cold hand grasping onto her and pushing her forward. Terror filled the heart of the woman when she saw where she was being pushed, directly into the large green claw that had aimed for Liang Chen.


    "Nooo!"


    The male youth was not able to stop his attack in time, so the claw grasped onto the head of the woman, completely crushing it. Just as he wanted to send out another attack, a flash of crimson lightning blinded him. He felt a hand grab onto the back of his head, and his heart immediately sunk into his chest. He felt Liang Chen exert force into his arm, smashing the male''s head into the ground.


    Liang Chen didn''t stop at once, he smashed the head of the male into the ground again and again, only stopping when a crunching sound rang out and the male stopped twitching. Liang Chen let out a few heavy breaths and let go of the man''s head, this was the first time he had seen anyone using a battle skill, and the might they had shown had shocked him quite a bit. As he was once again checking his surroundings, a loud shout that caused his expression to turn gloomy rang out.


    "He''s just doping himself, he won''t be able to hold on forever! Exhaust his energy!"The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    He could only let out a sigh. In the end, the secret behind his current power had been seen through by someone. Now that they knew that his strength was only temporary, it was unlikely that they would give up on trying to kill him and Yan Ling. But as Liang Chen''s mind was racing and he was trying to figure out what to do, he heard a familiar voice call out in a worried tone.


    "Ling''er!"


    Liang Chen''s lips quickly curled into a smile as he turned his head, gazing into the distance, a light chuckle escaping from his lips. Yan Ying and some of the others from the Storm Wolf sect were running over at full speed. He couldn''t see Teng Yimu, Zhu Chun, and Xiao Yong, so they had either died or failed to meet up with Yan Ying.


    "Heh, seems like luck is on my side for once!"


    Liang Chen could also see that Yan Ying and the others were in pretty bad shape, pale and wounded. But after giving it a bit of thought, he found that it was quite normal that they were wounded. Yan Ying had a cultivation at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one of the highest cultivation levels in this entire hidden realm. Since he had entered this floor of the pagoda, it was likely that many others were worried that he would easily take one of the spots as an honorary disciple, so they probably teamed up in an attempt to kill him, just like they were doing against Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen quickly dashed towards Yan Ying and the others, who had already reached Yan Ling, who was leaning against the corpse of the white spider. He removed the poison mist around him, lest Yan Ying and the others get poisoned on accident. Liang Chen was about to say something, but then he saw something that caused his heart to drop.


    Yan Ling had fallen unconscious, white spots appearing on her skin, slowly spreading over her entire body, she had been poisoned. Liang Chen felt like cursing and hitting himself, he should have kept a closer eye on her. She had grabbed onto him after he drenched himself in blood, so of course, some of the poison in the Demonic beast blood would come into contact with her, he should have realized this much sooner. His mind quickly moved, quickly glancing at the pale-faced and worried Yan Ying.


    "Do you have more of those teleportation talismans?"


    Since Yan Ling had a teleportation talisman that could return her directly to the Storm Wolf sect, it was likely that Yan Ying and the others also had some. Yan Ying stopped examining Yan Ling, giving a slight nod.


    "Each of us has one."


    The talismans had been prepared by the elders of their sect, so they had been able to just barely make one for each of the people that entered this hidden realm. Liang Chen gave a swift nod of his head, not wasting any time.


    "Good, use them to escape."


    With Yan Ling poisoned and Yan Ying and the others weak and wounded, it was clear that they could not continue to stay in this hidden realm. Liang Chen could use poison, but he was still only a newbie when it came to controlling it, so he didn''t know how to remove the poison in Yan Ling''s body, she would need a proper doctor to look at her. Xiang Qing and the others looked like they wanted to protest, but Yan Ying quickly waved his hand and stopped them, looking deeply at Liang Chen.


    "And you?"


    How could Yan Ying not see that Liang Chen''s suggestion was the right one? They were all wounded and weak, and Yan Ling urgently needed care, staying here would only risk all of them dying. But they didn''t have any spare talismans, so Liang Chen would be left alone here to face the wrath of the surrounding people, who were quietly waiting for Liang Chen''s doping to run out. Liang Chen''s expression was calm as he glanced at the surrounding people, seemingly not worried.


    "I can still keep this doping going for around one minute, it''s enough for me to escape them."


    One minute, if he focused on escaping with all his might for one minute, he would be able to put a good bit of distance between him and these people. And once he did that, then he would just have to figure out something else for how he would escape further. Yan Ying looked deeply at Liang Chen for a short second, his eyes filled with gratitude. He swiped the bracelet around his wrist, taking out a small green ring and handing it to Liang Chen.


    "Take this, it contains a map of the eastern part of this planet, it''ll lead you to our sect once you leave this hidden realm. There are also plenty of pills in it that you can use to heal yourself."


    Liang Chen had protected his sister twice in this hidden realm, once during the third trial, and then once again now when they were surrounded. The gratitude he felt for Liang Chen could not be described with words. Liang Chen grabbed the ring, immediately taking out a few pills and swallowing them, a warm stream of energy filling his body. After swallowing the pills, he glanced at the unconscious Yan Ling.


    "Once she comes to, tell her that I''m sorry she got poisoned because of me."


    Had Liang Chen paid better attention to her, put her further away when he drenched himself in blood, she would not have ended up in this state. Yan Ying gave a nod of his head, lifting up Yan Ling and taking out a silver paper talisman from her interspatial ring and placing it in her hand. He and the rest took out similar talisman, sending one last look and a nod at Liang Chen.


    "Don''t worry about it, just focus on escaping."


    After Yan Ying spoke up, the talismans lit up with silver flames, space around them distorting and twisting. Shortly after, Yan Ying and the others completely vanished in a flash of silver light, leaving Liang Chen completely alone. A loud shout rang out from the surrounding people when they saw that Yan Ying and the others vanished, everyone slowly pulling closer.


    "He''s alone now! surround him and continue exhausting his energy!"


    Liang Chen took a single deep breath, closing his eyes for a short moment. Now he was all alone again, just like he had been after he split up with Qing Chun. Of course, just like back then, he was only alone in body. In spirit, he had Qing Chun, Yan Ying, Yan Ling, as well as Xiang Qing and the others from the Storm Wolf sect, each of them wishing for him to be safe. He let out a deep breath, opening his eyes, which were calm and deep, clear as the morning sky.


    "Alright, no need to worry about Yan Ling any longer."


    He put away his spear, which had been almost completely ruined by the crimson lightning that he had channeled into it. He turned towards the distance, looking in the direction that his two buds were calling towards. He took a step forward, crimson lightning flashing around his body as he charged forward with all his might, eliciting a loud shout from the surrounding people.


    "He''s fleeing, stop him!"


    When he put all his focus onto escaping at full speed, none of the surrounding people were able to stop him or catch up to him, not as long as he was still doping himself at least. He quickly lost sight of the people that were chasing him, putting a large distance between him and them.


    And a little less than one minute later, the energy within the Demonic beast blood ran out, forcing him to slow down. His face was pale, his entire body aching, some of the wounds that had yet to heal opening again, blood dripping down his body as his chest heaved up and down from his heavy breathing.


    "Hah...hah...hah...it should take them a bit of time to catch up."


    The place he was at now was a large plain filled with several lakes, some small and some large. He turned towards one of the larger lakes he could see in the distance, his brows furrowing slightly.


    "The longing is pointing in that direction, does it want me to enter that area?"


    The longing feeling that his two seeds were unleashing pointed him towards a large lake filled with silver water that he could barely see from his current position. He could feel that the entire lake radiated a strong suffocating pressure, even slightly more oppressive than the pressure he had felt in some of the deeper parts of the hidden realm. In the end, he could only let out a deep sigh.


    "Ha~ah, at this stage, what does one more risk matter?"


    The people chasing him were surely running after him with their full speed, so they would catch up to him sooner or later. And in his now weakened and wounded state, there wasn''t much he could do against them without further worsening his situation. Besides, ever since he had entered this hidden realm, he had taken one risk after another, so one more really didn''t matter.


    He started to slowly walk towards the lake, the suffocating pressure quickly bearing down on him. But strangely enough, the pressure simply washed over him for a short moment before vanishing, turning into a soft and refreshing breeze.


    Liang Chen reached the shore of the silver lake after walking for a little over two hours. Despite walking for over two hours, he had not seen or heard anything from the people chasing him. Had they yet to catch up, where they really that slow?


    Liang Chen walked around the shore of the lake, carefully tracing the longing feeling that his two seeds unleashed. After making it to the other side of the lake, he found what his two seeds were longing for, tilting his head slightly in confusion.


    "A human corpse? I thought this was the Demon''s Graveyard?"


    Sitting with crossed legs at the side of the lake was the corpse of a middle-aged man. The man had chiseled features and flowing silver hair that swayed slightly despite the fact that there was no wind there. The man looked like he was just sleeping, but Liang Chen could tell that there was no life in his body, he was long dead.


    Liang Chen carefully took a few steps forward, reaching out with his hand to touch the corpse. Once his hand made contact with the forehead of the man, he felt space all around him freeze and turn solid. As he was feeling shocked, he felt a strong suction force coming from the corpse.


    Before he had the time to react, Liang Chen was swallowed by the suction force, a silver light flashing in front of his eyes. Once the light vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing at the foot of a massive mountain that looked like a sword piercing into the heavens. Sitting in the shade of a tree not far from him was the silver-haired middle-aged man, who now opened his eyes, a weak voice escaping his lips.


    "After so many years, has another child of my race finally reached this place?"

 The truth revealed.

    The moment the silver-haired man opened his eyes, Liang Chen once more felt space all around him turn solid, creaking and seemingly on the verge of shattering. Liang Chen quickly cupped his hands and gave the man a deep bow.


    "Senior, this junior apologizes for disturbing you, it was an accident!"


    He had no idea where this was, nor did he know if the silver-haired man in front of him was real or if he was just an image created by the corpse. But what he did know was that this silver-haired man was easily able to kill him, it probably didn''t even require a thought.


    But strangely enough, the silver-haired man didn''t do anything. He simply looked at Liang Chen with a calm gaze that contained a deep and gentle kindness, like a father looking at his child. The silver-haired man waved his hand, his voice weak and tranquil.


    "Don''t apologize. I died long ago, this is just a residual piece of my soul that i have kept in hibernation over the years. Come closer, child, let me take a look at how the Sebettu have changed over the years."


    Liang Chen quickly took a few steps forward, deeply shocked. This was just a residual piece of the man''s soul? Yet it still had so much power, even after his death, which had happened who knows how many years ago? Just how mighty was he when he was still alive?


    When Liang Chen stepped closer, he felt a thin stream of energy leave the silver-haired man''s body and enter his own, flowing through his veins. He didn''t know why, but this stream of energy felt so comfortable, so familiar. After a short moment, the eyebrows of the silver-haired man rose in surprise, a confused voice escaping from his lips.


    "Such a pure bloodline... It can only be this pure if you were born during the Genesis War, but your age..."


    Another stream of energy entered Liang Chen''s body, but this stream of energy flowed to his chest, to a spot next to his heart. Once the stream stopped moving, Liang Chen could feel the stream enter his mind, and he instantly felt that all his secrets had been seen through. The silver-haired man was far stronger than him, so Liang Chen could only quietly wait for him to finish whatever he was doing. The stream left his mind and chest after a short while, the silver-haired man shaking his head and letting out a pitying sigh.


    "So that''s how it is... Poor child, your parents didn''t even have time to tell you everything, they could only seal up the information inside your mind and hope for the best."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel his heart rate speed up. Did this silver-haired man know about his birth parents, as well as whatever was sealed up inside that crack in his mind?


    "Senior, what do you mean?"


    Liang Chen considered Qing Feng and Qing Lan to be his parents, they had raised him and treated him as their own son, so he saw them as his real parents. But that didn''t mean that he wasn''t at least a little curious about his real parents, about why he had been abandoned in the forest as a baby. The silver-haired man''s body shimmered slightly, but he didn''t pay much attention to it, slowly starting to talk.


    "Let me explain it all to you from the start, explain to you the history of us, the Sebettu, as well as about this multiverse. Child, did you know that there are multiple universes?"


    Liang Chen quickly gave a nod of his head. When he had received the jade fragment that contained the Ocean God Physique, the human shape had mentioned that it had scoured through several other universes to look for the remaining fragments. The silver-haired man looked slightly surprised that Liang Chen already knew this information, but he only gave a faint nod, continuing his explanation, completely blowing Liang Chen''s mind.


    "In this multiverse, there exist 81 main universes and countless minor universes. These 81 main universes all have their own rulers, making them so powerful that few dare invade them. The Void King rules 9 main universes, the Nine Star Demon God rules 9, the Divine Emperor rules 9, the Dark Dawn Lord rules 9, the Heaven Splitting King rules 9, and the last 36 are all ruled by a myriad of different alliances and weaker kings. These 81 main universes are far larger than any of the minor universes, countless times larger. I heard that the Nine Star Demon God and the Void King came from minor universes, but I don''t know if this is true."


    Someone could rule multiple universes? And not just normal universes it sounded like, but several of the main universes? Liang Chen made sure to firmly engrave the titles of these people in his mind, deciding to see if he could find information about them in the future. The silver-haired man raised his head to the sky, his eyes filling with a deep sadness as he seemingly peered through space.


    "This universe we are in right now is just one of the countless minor universes, it doesn''t even have a ruler of its own. Or at least, it didn''t have one back during the Genesis War, I don''t know about now. The Genesis War that took place all those years ago was one of the many wars of survival that our Sebettu race took part in. The Rahu universe that we came from is simply too small, it cannot hold all the members of our race. So to prevent our race from fighting and killing itself for resources and space, we had to start invading other universes, constantly looking for places where our race could build a new home."


    The more Liang Chen heard, the more shocked he became. Just this planet felt infinitely large to him, so he couldn''t even fathom how large this universe had to be. Yet there was a race that had so many inhabitants that a universe became too small for them, forcing them to seek out others? Just how many people did this race have? At the same time, Liang Chen noticed something from the silver-haired man''s words, but he almost didn''t dare believe his own thoughts.


    "Senior, what is the Sebettu race?"


    This silver-haired man was clearly from the Sebettu race, and it seemed like he had arrived in this universe during the Genesis War. Was that when he had died? Had this piece of his soul been here ever since the Genesis war? Liang Chen also remembered the human shape mention the Sebettu when he handed Liang Chen the jade fragment. A proud smile appeared on the face of the silver-haired man as he started to explain.


    "The Sebettu race is the name given to the children of the Heaven Devouring Dragon Origin Beast known as Rahu. An Origin Beast is a Demonic beast that was born alongside a universe, it holds unimaginable power."


    A Demonic beast born alongside an entire universe, just how much strength did such a beast hold? The silver-haired man let out another sigh, giving a weak shake of his head.


    "At his peak, Rahu could swallow minor universe whole, even devouring the laws of that universe and using them to strengthen himself. But Rahu died long ago, long before the Genesis War took place. Because of that, the bloodline of the Sebettu has gotten more and more impure over time, with only a few still holding on to some supremely pure bloodlines that contain a fragment of Rahu''s power."


    Liang Chen could feel his heart skip a beat. Swallow an entire minor universe?! Just how mighty was this Rahu? And just what could kill a beast like this? Liang Chen didn''t ask any of these questions now, continuing to quietly listen to the history of this multiverse, as well as the history of the Sebettu.


    "As the children of an Origin Beast, us Sebettu have inherited some of our Ancestor''s traits. The first trait is that all Sebettu only have average talent and the second trait is a part of Rahu''s Heaven Devouring ability. All Sebettu start as a blank canvas, clean and untainted, able to absorb all kinds of elements. When we start cultivating, we will devour a large amount of the element that we wish to cultivate, transforming our bodies so that they will only accept those elements. This gives us a greater affinity for those elements, but bars us from ever using any other elements."


    All Demonic beast had very low talent when it came to cultivation, the same was true even for Origin Beasts. Liang Chen felt his own thoughts grow more certain when he heard the explanation of the silver-haired man, but he still didn''t speak up, still not completely certain, almost not wanting to believe it.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "There is but one exception to this rule, and that is the element given to us by our bloodline. Rahu devoured countless universes and absorbed numerous laws, all of which entered his bloodline and was inherited by his children. The purer one''s bloodline is, the stronger the element you inherited was. I have heard that Rahu''s direct children even inherited his Heaven Devouring law, giving them a chance to reach his height. Your bloodline is pure, but it is quite far from that level of purity, it is at best at the purity of a fourth generation. Of course, mine is even further away."


    The words of the silver-haired man blew away the last remaining doubt in Liang Chen''s mind, a somewhat bitter smile appearing on his face.


    "So I am not human, but a Sebettu?"


    This was something he had never expected, that not only was he not a human, but he was also part of the race that had invaded this universe countless years ago. He couldn''t help but wonder, would his parents still have adopted him if they knew this? The silver-haired man nodded his head, a gentle and warm smile on his face.


    "Yes, you are one of my people."


    Right after the man spoke, he let out a cough, his body turning translucent, shimmering fiercely as the energy he radiated rapidly dropped. Liang Chen couldn''t help but hurriedly call out when he saw this scene.


    "Senior?!"


    This silver-haired man was the first person Liang Chen had met that knew something about Liang Chen''s birth, he was the only person who could answer some of the things that Liang Chen was curious about. The silver-haired man continued to cough for a bit, shimmering as if he was about to vanish. After he stopped coughing, he waved his hand in a casual manner, his face still calm and relaxed.


    "My soul has only been able to stay alive because it has been in a hibernating state. Now that I have woken up and am talking, my energy is rapidly draining. Very soon, I will vanish."


    He had already died all those years ago, this would just be the final part of his soul dissipating, allowing him to finally rest. Of course, had it not been for him sensing Liang Chen''s bloodline and waking up from his hibernating state, he could have kept sleeping here for many more years. The silver-haired man once again waved his hand, beckoning for Liang Chen to step closer.


    "Child, I thought I would have the time to tell you everything, but it seems that I was wrong. The best I can do is to slightly awaken your bloodline, breaking the seal that your parents placed on the information that they have stored inside you. Once that seal is broken, you should learn everything that you need to know."


    The silver-haired man placed his hand on Liang Chen''s head, and Liang Chen could feel his heart rate quickening. What exactly was the information that his birth parents had sealed up in his mind? The silver-haired man didn''t immediately awaken Liang Chen''s bloodline, speaking to him with a kind smile.


    "Child, your blood is that of the Sebettu race, but you have been raised in this world as a Human. Let the past stay in the past and let the grudges of the older generation be resolved by the older generation. Do not worry too much about labels, simply follow your heart and live as you wish, live as what you believe yourself to be."


    The silver-haired man had lived for countless years and experienced countless things. He was a calm and carefree man who believed that following one''s heart and living freely was the true way of living. After he spoke, a silver light flashed in the hand of the silver man, sinking into Liang Chen''s mind, directly entering that black crack.


    Right after unleashing that silver light, the silver-haired man vanished, the last piece of his soul dispersing, granting him true death. The space around Liang Chen started to shimmer and shake, quickly vanishing, replaced by the shore of that silver lake. The corpse of the silver-haired man was still sitting in front of him, as if everything he had seen just now was nothing but a dream.


    But at this time, Liang Chen''s eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed. After the silver light entered the crack, the entire city within Liang Chen''s mind started to tremble fiercely, as if it was about to shatter.


    The city stopped trembling after a bit, a gray stream of energy flying out from the crack and entering Liang Chen''s mind. As more of the gray stream started to enter Liang Chen''s mind, the crack started to slowly close up, disappearing after fulfilling its purpose.


    As the gray stream of energy flooded his mind with information and memories, a change also happened within his body. He had previously seen that there were three streams of energy in his body, the golden one that symbolized his lightning element, the green one that symbolized his poison element, and the unknown gray one.


    That gray stream now started to move and change, gathering together and condensing. Half of the stream condensed until it became solid, becoming a thin stream of gray blood that mixed together with his own, quickly spreading through his body, starting to repair his wounds and restoring his energy. The other half of the stream stayed in energy form, heading towards his two budding seeds.


    The stream of energy gathered beneath the two other seeds, quickly gathering together and forming a new seed, one that was completely gray in color, twice the size of his other seeds. The seed quickly started cracking, spreading roots throughout his entire body, some roots entering the black egg in his dantian.


    As the third seed started to grow and bud, the two other seeds started to follow suit, calling out in joy as they started growing again. After only a short bit of time had passed, all three seeds sprouted and bloomed. The three seeds bloomed into three lotuses, but these lotuses didn''t have any leaves, they only had the very core of the lotus. There were signs that each of the three lotuses was going to grow a leaf soon, but it had yet to fully grow.


    Once all three seeds had cracked and bloomed, Liang Chen opened his eyes and let out an understanding sigh.


    "So that''s how it is, that''s why I was lying in that forest as a child."


    The crack in his mind had flooded him with information and memories, all things that his actual birth parents had sealed up there. The names of his birth parents were Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren, with Yazhu being his birth mother and Shuren being his birth father. They were both third generation members of the Sebettu race, and they had volunteered to take part in the invasion of this universe.


    Towards the end of the Genesis War, they had given birth to Liang Chen. But as they realized that the war was lost and they were going to lose their lives, they had chosen to spare Liang Chen from sharing their fate. They pooled their powers, using all the energy within their bloodline to tear open a rift in time itself, throwing Liang Chen into it and sending him into the future, away from the war.


    The element, or law as it was often called by stronger cultivators, that Liang Chen had gained after awakening his bloodline, was the same law that his parents had, the law of time, one of the highest of laws. His bloodline had been just barely awakened, so he couldn''t properly use it just yet. Only once he became stronger would he slowly be able to bring forth the true might of his bloodline, the diluted bloodline of the Heaven Devouring Dragon.


    Liang Chen sank his vision into his own body, examining the gray blood that was his bloodline, as well as observing the three leafless lotuses that had grown beneath his heart, a slight mutter escaping his lips when he saw them.


    "Three lotuses, but none of them have grown any leaves, so my cultivation can be considered to be around the late stage of the Xiantian Tower realm."


    Part of the information that had been stored in his mind was about the cultivation systems of the Sebettu, things his birth parents had prepared for him. These lotuses were to a Sebettu what the Ascended Tower was to a human. The more leaves the lotuses had, the higher his cultivation would be.


    The way to increase the number of leaves was rather easy, he could either deepen his understanding over the elements he could control, or he could just gather up enough energy of said elements and pour it into the lotuses. The more leaves the lotuses had, the purer the energy had to be for them to grow.


    After the three lotuses bloomed, Qi once again started to flow through Liang Chen''s body. When he cultivated the Ascended Tower cultivation system, Liang Chen''s Qi had slightly disturbed his control over the lightning he drew from the Lightning Seed, they were two different cultivation methods after all. But this new Qi in his body came from his three lotuses, it would not disturb his control over his elements, it would instead make it even easier to control them.


    Liang Chen removed his vision from within his body, taking a few breaths as his thoughts started to move.


    "Sebettu...Human...?"


    He had the blood of the Sebettu but had been raised as a human. Because of the Genesis war, the two races didn''t exactly have a friendly relationship, with only a few rare Sebettu being friends with humans. Should he follow his blood, or should he follow his mind?


    After his thoughts continued to run in circles, Liang Chen gave himself a heavy slap, leaving a bright red mark on his face. After slapping himself, he shook his head with a light chuckle.


    "I am Liang Chen, the son of Qing Feng and Qing Lan. My enemy is Qing Lan Yong and vile people like him, my friends are Big Sister Chun, Yan Ying, Yan Ling, and the others from the Storm Wolf sect."


    Sebettu? Human? There was no need to bother thinking about any of those things. He was Liang Chen, he was the Bright Dawn. He would live as his heart wished to, just as he had done up to now. So what if he wasn''t human, it changed nothing.


    As for his birth parents, while he would use the power he gained thanks to their bloodline, the law of time, he would not recognize them as his parents. He only had two parents, Qing Feng and Qing Lan, the ones that had raised him.


    After clearing up his mind, Liang Chen felt completely relaxed and refreshed, a wide smile on his face. Entering this hidden realm had truly been the right decision. He had made new friends, increased his strength, even gained a completely new element he could use! All that remained now was to find a way to leave this hidden realm.

 End of the trial.

    After clearing up his thoughts and refreshing his mind, Liang Chen swept the surroundings with his gaze. Other than the silver-haired corpse sitting at the shore of the lake, there were no signs of anything else in the area. After the three lotuses bloomed, Liang Chen once again regained the ability to sense the lightning in the surrounding living beings, so he sensed that there weren''t any living beings around him. He lightly rubbed his chin, slowly backtracking his own steps.


    "They still haven''t caught up, huh? Could it be that the pressure is keeping them away?"


    After fleeing at full speed, he had spent two hours walking up to the spot where the silver-haired corpse was, so by now, the people chasing him should have already caught up. The only possibility he could come up with was that the pressure that the silver-colored lake released was keeping them from entering, or at least slowing them down.


    Liang Chen swiftly went back the path he had first taken to reach the lake, swiftly arriving at the spot where the pressure unleashed by the lake had first borne down on him. As he walked, he noticed that the pressure that the lake unleashed was slowly growing weaker, so he guessed that the pressure might have had something to do with the remaining piece of the silver-haired man''s soul. Once he reached the location where the pressure had first descended on him, his expression grew somewhat exasperated as he let out a slight exclamation.


    "Geh, you really were still here. But your numbers seem to have shrunk quite a bit?"


    Sitting with crossed legs just outside the pressure were five youths, three males and two females, each of them looking like they were in their early twenties. Since they were just sitting there and waiting, it seemed like they couldn''t get past the pressure. Liang Chen couldn''t help but wonder, did the pressure feel like a warm breeze to him because of his bloodline connection with the silver-haired man?


    Upon hearing the voice of Liang Chen, the five youths all opened their eyes, looking at him with determined eyes. One of the men, a youth with ear-length black hair and clear brown eyes shook his head, waving his hand into the distance.


    "Most of the others were not willing to sit here and wait for this pressure to grow weaker, they have already left to show off their might somewhere else."


    There was no telling if the pressure would weaken enough for them to step into it and actually hunt down Liang Chen, so the others found it better to try their luck elsewhere. Liang Chen sat down on the ground, a bit of a distance away from the five youths, tilting his head curiously.


    "And why didn''t you follow them?"


    If everyone else had left, why would these five bother staying here and waiting? He could tell that the highest cultivation among these five was the male who had just talked, he had a cultivation at the very peak of the Xiantian Tower realm, just a teensy bit stronger than Liang Chen''s own. The expressions of the five youths twisted with resignation, the black-haired youth letting out a self-deprecating laugh as he shook his head.


    "Are you kidding me? Look at us, of all the remaining people, we are among the weakest of the bunch. The only way for us to stand a chance at becoming an honorary disciple is by taking down you or one of the four others that have been designated as most likely to become an honorary disciple."


    Over a day had passed since everyone was brought into this Demon''s Graveyard, so the only ones still alive were the stronger ones. Among the five people designated as most likely to become an honorary disciple, Liang Chen had the lowest cultivation, everyone else had already reached the Heaven''s Gate realm, they were not people that their group could deal with. After hearing their reasoning, Liang Chen couldn''t help but question them.


    "You really are hung up on becoming honorary disciples, is it really worth it?"


    Was it really worth to fight so hard just for a chance to become an honorary disciple? They didn''t even know what an honorary disciple got, or if they even got anything at all! Nor did they know if being an honorary disciple came with any restrictions, yet everyone was willing to massacre others without regard. After he asked his question, the expression of the black-haired youth twisted slightly, a hint of sorrow appearing in his smile.


    "It''s no longer about whether or not it is worth it, we must become honorary disciples. We either become honorary disciples, or we die, and may even drag our families into it."


    Liang Chen cocked his head to the side after hearing the statement of the youth. Why would they die, and maybe even drag their families into it, if they didn''t become honorary disciples? The youth seemed to understand Liang Chen''s confusion, so he started to explain, his expression bitter.


    "You don''t get it? After getting dragged into this Demon''s Graveyard, how many people do you think we have killed in an attempt to show off our strength? How many sons and daughters of strong clans or powerful families have we ambushed, surrounded, and killed here?"


    At first, they had only killed people weaker than them, but after a while, they joined larger groups and started ambushing people stronger than them. At one point, they even ambushed and killed two people from the Fiendgod sect, one of the five great sects! For some, this would be a point of pride, but the expression of the five youths was a mixture of desperation and bitterness.


    "My parents are farmers, her parents work as teachers in a small academy, his parents own a tavern, his parents run an orphanage, and she comes from a very small sect. If any of the strong families or clans learn about what we have done here, they will surely come to take revenge on us. The only way we can prevent them from coming for revenge is if we have a strong backing. The Sealing God Empyrean is exactly the type of backing we need."


    They didn''t have the talent or the connections to join any large sects or families, so if anyone wanted to take revenge on them, they could easily do so without having to worry about them having a strong backing. So for these five youths, as well as several other people who were still alive in this Demon''s Graveyard, becoming an honorary disciple was the only path of survival they had left. After hearing the full story, Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head.


    "I see. I can sympathize with your situations, but if you come to kill me, I will fight back with everything I have in an attempt to kill you."


    He sympathized with these people, he even pitied them, but that did not mean that he would show them mercy. These youths weren''t innocent, they had killed several others who had done nothing to them, several others who were likely in similar situations as them. If they came at Liang Chen with the intent to kill, then he would kill them in return. Of course, from other peoples perspective, Liang Chen guessed that he was just as bad as those he himself killed and called vile. But that was how life is, very few people are ever truly innocent, there will always be someone who finds them vile and monstrous.


    The expression of the five youths didn''t change much after hearing Liang Chen''s statement, the black-haired youth simply giving a determined nod of his head.


    "That is a risk we must take."


    Silence descended on the six people sitting there, Liang Chen waiting to see if the pressure would last for the last two days of the trial, and the five youths waiting to see if it would vanish before then. After waiting for a little over half a day, a large portion of the pressure vanishing, the black-haired youth broke the silence.


    "Kid, do you have a name?"


    Liang Chen was currently focused on doing some slight experiments with his law of time, so he was caught a tad bit off guard by the words of the youth. But he still raised his head, giving a slight nod and giving them his name.


    "Liang Chen."


    The five youths stood up, stretching their bodies, Liang Chen doing the same. Most of the pressure had vanished, so it was now possible for the five youths to enter it without losing too much energy, it was time to battle. The black-haired youth put on a calm and peaceful smile, introducing the people in his group.


    "I am Zhan Huan, he is Dong Lim, he is Huo De, she is Xin Yating, and she is Lin Chan. Now, if any of us are to die here, at least there will be someone to remember our names."


    Cultivators had excellent memorization skills, the higher their cultivation the better their memory was. Liang Chen hadn''t reached a stage where he was able to fully remember everything he saw or heard, but remembering a few names wasn''t hard.


    Dong Lim was a tad short, had brown eyes, and had a buzz cut, Huo De had black eyes and blonde hair tied into a neat bun at the back of his head, Xin Yating looked a bit petite and had green eyes, as well as azure hair tied into a long ponytail, Lin Chan was more curvaceous and feminine, had somewhat pale skin, long black hair that hung down freely, as well as black eyes. The group pulled out their weapons, Zhan Huan sending Liang Chen a smile that was a mixture of pleading and desperation.


    "Liang Chen, I pray that we are able to kill you."


    After he finished speaking, the group no longer wasted any time, stepping forward and into the pressure, their expressions growing determined and ferocious. Zhan Huan kept an eye on Liang Chen, who seemed to be calmly waiting for them to get closer. He knew that Liang Chen was strong, so he raised his vigilance to its peak, blazing crimson flames appearing in the air around him.


    But just as Zhan Huan was about to send these flames at Liang Chen, he felt a cold hand grab onto his face, the Liang Chen who had been quietly standing there simply vanishing, as if he hadn''t been real from the start. Utterly shocked, Zhan Huan couldn''t help but let out an exclamation.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Wha-!"


    He never got to finish his exclamation, a torrent of golden lightning flooding into his head from the hand that was holding onto his face, melting his eyes and completely frying his brain, a quick and painless death. His body collapsed to the ground, never getting to know exactly what it was that had happened in front of his eyes.


    But while he was shocked, so too were the other members of his group. The moment they stepped forward, Liang Chen raised his arm and shot out golden bolts of lightning, a faint violet mist coiling around the lightning, forcing everyone but Zhan Huan to take several steps back, poison invading their bodies and starting to shut down their organs.


    Liang Chen was no longer being strengthened by the blood of the Demonic beast, so to not put too much of a strain on his body, he went back to using the golden lightning and his violet and emerald poison.


    And after being forced back, they could only watch as Zhan Huan simply looked past Liang Chen, who casually walked up to him and grabbed onto his face. Even worse, Zhan Huan hadn''t even reacted when they tried to call out to him, seemingly unable to hear their voices.


    After killing Zhan Huan, Liang Chen looked at his own hand, quietly muttering to himself as he took out a pill from his bracelet and swallowed it to restore his energy.


    "Just as you''d expect from one of the most supreme laws, it really costs a lot of energy if I want to use it on something other than myself."


    While he waited for Zhan Huan and the others to enter the pressure, he had done some small experiments with the law of time, testing it on himself and the area around him. While it cost quite a bit of energy to use it on himself and the area around him, the cost wasn''t even close to being comparable to how much it cost to use it on Zhan Huan just now. He had only used it for around five seconds, but it still drained almost 70% of all his energy, forcing him to immediately swallow a pill.


    As for what he had just done to Zhan Huan, it was surprisingly simple. He had focused his law of time in Zhan Huan''s eyes and ears, rewinding the time within and around them. Because of that, when Liang Chen took a step forward, time within Zhan Huan''s eyes wound back, making it look like Liang Chen was standing still. The same happened to his ears, time winding back to a point before the voices of his comrades reached him.


    Liang Chen also sent a bit of his consciousness into the flooded city in his mind, observing it as he killed Zhan Huan. Shortly after he killed Zhan Huang, his body fell into the flooded city, a bit more blood added to the already flooded city. Looking at the scene, Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel a cold shiver run up his back.


    "Bloody Soul Sea technique... really, the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline is quite scary."


    The information his birth parents had sealed up in his mind contained everything they knew about the Sebettu cultivation, so he now finally knew what this flooded city was. It was a bloodline technique that was only accessible to the Sebettu, the people who had the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline.


    Every time a Sebettu killed a living being, a portion of that being''s soul would be devoured by their bloodline, strengthening the soul of the Sebettu that killed them. The larger this pool of blood grew, the stronger the soul of the Sebettu would become. It was a rather horrifying ability, but it was quite useful to Liang Chen.


    Once his soul grew strong enough, it would appear in this flooded city, allowing him to control and interact with it. Once it did that, he could finally see if he could use the Lightning God Physique principles to further strengthen his soul. But before he could do that, he would have to deal with the people in front of him. As he returned his focus to the surroundings, he couldn''t help but mutter in a voice that only he could hear.


    "A shame I can''t try out the bloodline here, I should experiment a bit with it once I get out of here."


    Since he had a bloodline, Liang Chen could of course activate the bloodline for a temporary boost to his power. The Sebettu were very similar to humans, so unless Liang Chen actively used his bloodline, no one would be able to tell that he was actually a Sebettu. And even if he used his bloodline, only those who had been alive during the Genesis War, or those who had met a Sebettu before, would be able to tell exactly what his bloodline was. Most would only believe that he had the bloodline of a strong Demonic beast.


    But right now, Liang Chen was inside the pagoda of the Sealing God Empyrean, someone who had participated in the Genesis War. He didn''t know if the Sealing God Empyrean could notice what was going on in this pagoda, but he didn''t want to risk it, so he had decided to not use his bloodline inside this pagoda.


    The four remaining people were all weaker than Zhan Huan, so the moment they were struck by Liang Chen''s lightning, their defenses were torn down and their bodies invaded by his poison. Even the weakest version of his poison was still horrifyingly strong against people at or below his level of strength, so in the time it took him to kill Zhan Huan and check his Bloody Soul Sea technique, three of the remaining four had already succumbed to his poison, their organs painlessly shutting down.


    Liang Chen calmly walked over to the last person who was still clinging on to life, Xin Yating, who was resisting his poison with all her might. She had managed to last this long because she had the water and the wood elements, two elements that specialized in healing and could counteract the poison.


    She was holding the poison back, but her Qi was draining faster than she was purifying the poison, so eventually, she would fall prey to the poison. Looking at the calmly approaching Liang Chen, she couldn''t help but let out a sad and weak laughter.


    "Hahaha... So in the end, this is the result. I really hoped that we would be able to kill you."


    If they could kill him, they might stand a chance at becoming an honorary disciple. It was a faint and nearly impossible hope, but it was all they had, it was the only thing they could cling onto. After she finished laughing, her eyes turned slightly, looking at Liang Chen with an imploring gaze.


    "I know that I don''t deserve to ask this of you, but please, would you do me a favor?"


    Liang Chen stopped a short distance away from her, raising an eyebrow as he beckoned for her to continue talking. He expected her to beg for mercy, but she quickly proved him wrong.


    "The rings of Zhan Huan and Huo De, the bracelet of Lin Chan, this necklace, and the sword of Dong Lim, could you return them to our families? They all live in a city called Myriad Flowers Valley."


    She didn''t beg for mercy, nor did she try to bargain for her life, all she wanted was for someone to bring the news to their families, to deliver their mementos. She took out a small necklace from within her clothes, one in the shape of a purple flower, holding it towards Liang Chen, who gave a slight nod.


    "I''ll do it, I promise."


    Liang Chen stepped forward and accepted the talisman, then he walked over to the other corpses and picked up the items she told him about, a beaded bracelet, a simple silver sword, a green ring engraved with a soaring eagle, and a yellow ring engraved with a bright sun. He pitied them, so while he could not spare their lives, he could at least do this much for them.


    They were weaker than him, but Liang Chen still could not bring himself to spare their lives. The reason was very simple, he was scared. Scared that they would one day come back for revenge, or maybe go after those close to him to get their revenge. He knew that it was unlikely, but he still feared it, so he could not spare them. Seeing him carefully pick up the items, a smile appeared on Xin Yating''s face.


    "Thank you. Once you get there, you can just say our names, we are quite a big deal there, so you''ll easily find our families."


    Liang Chen gave another nod of his head, storing the items into the bracelet on his wrist, making a mental note to deliver the items after he left the hidden realm. He then walked back over to Xin Yating, who spoke out in a somewhat hesitant voice.


    "Wil... Will it hurt?"


    She had seen the three others succumb to his poison. They hadn''t made a sound, they had simply fallen over as their organs shut down. It didn''t look painful, but she still feared that it might be. Liang Chen gave a light shake of his head, softly placing his palm on the top of Xin Yating''s head.


    "I''ll make sure that it doesn''t."


    Xin Yating found it strange, they had clearly come here to kill this Liang Chen, yet she found that she completely trusted his words. After Liang Chen placed his palm on her head and gave his assurance, Xin Yating''s lips curved into a calm and peaceful smile.


    "Liang Chen, you are far too kind to people who were looking to kill you."


    Not only did he give them a painless death, he even agreed to deliver their mementos to their families. Most people would just brutally kill them and leave them to be forgotten here, so his actions could be considered rather kind. Liang Chen didn''t give a response, a single thin bolt of lightning piercing into Xin Yating''s head and melting her brain. Quick and painless, just like he promised. Her body fell backward and Liang Chen gave a light shake of his head.


    "Really, what a cruel world we live in. Sealing God Empyrean, if I ever meet you, I''m going to have to give you a few good hits."


    How many people had died because they were sucked into this pagoda? How many weak or young people who only wanted to test their fortune in this hidden realm had been needlessly killed just because the Sealing God Empyrean was looking to accept a few disciples?


    After giving another shake of his head and affirming his determination to give the Sealing God Empyrean a vicious beating, Liang Chen returned to the shore of the silver lake, sitting down with crossed legs, a faint mutter escaping his lips.


    "Alright then, let''s try this."


    He was uncertain if any other people would come to look for him during this last day and a half of the trial, but looking at how no new people had arrived even after he and Zhan Huan''s group had waited for half a day, he found it unlikely. That meant that he could spend a bit more time experimenting, of course, he would still keep a vigilant eye on his surroundings.


    He took a deep breath and calmed both his heart and mind, connecting with the gray lotus that contained his time element. He drew out as much as he could, gathering it in a small circle around him and speeding up the time in a small area around him. This was unlike the tests he had run before, where he just tried it on small parts, now he was speeding up the time for his entire body. After spending a bit of time testing, swallowing several pills to restore his energy, he came to a conclusion.


    "Seems like the best I can do right now is double the speed, and I can only keep it going for about half an hour before I need to restore my energy."


    If it was just in a one-meter circle around him, he could double the flow of time, turning one hour in the outside world into two hours for him. Right now it was only a small increase, but he was certain that he could strengthen it in the future. At that point, he could maybe turn 10 days of cultivation into 1 year, or maybe even more, completely negating his average talent!


    Liang Chen continued to experiment with his law of time, as well as experimenting with how much of his stronger lightning and poison element his body could handle. The more keenly aware he was of his limits, the better he could be prepared for future fights.


    And as he experimented like this, time quickly passed, the last day and a half of the trial quickly ending, a loud and booming voice resounding through the Demon''s Graveyard.


    "Three days have passed. Those who have shown their worth may move on to the next floor, the rest will be thrown out."


    The peach-colored human figure once more appeared in the air, looming high above everyone else, as if it was a god. While Liang Chen was looking at the human shape, a small part of it split up and shot down towards him, forming a smaller human figure that spoke to him.


    "You have been given the right to move on to the next floor, do you wish to move on up or do you wish to leave the trial grounds?"


    Liang Chen didn''t even need to think about it, immediately shaking his head.


    "I''ll leave, please send me out."


    Just this first floor of the pagoda had been so difficult, nearly killing him and Yan Ling. There was no telling how much harder the higher floors would be, and he might even be targeted by everyone else again, just like he had been during this trial.


    The human shape nodded its head, waving an arm and causing a door of light to appear in front of Liang Chen. Looking through the door of light, Liang Chen could see the scenery that was the outside of the hidden realm, right by the entrance he had used to enter it.


    It was clear that giving up on the chance to head to the higher floors meant that you gave up on becoming an honorary disciple, so you were no longer allowed to linger around within the hidden realm. This was perfectly in line with Liang Chen''s plans, so he stood up and stepped into the door of light, leaving the hidden realm.

 Dragon Lords Three Steps.

    After Liang Chen stepped into the door of light, he suddenly found himself standing at the side of the blue mass of energy that served as the entrance to the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. Liang Chen swept the surroundings with a quick glance, but other than the thin path that led away from the entrance and out of the forest, there was nothing but trees as far as the eye could see.


    There was only a slight amount of light visible through the openings in the trees, so it seemed like the time of day was around dusk, with night fast approaching. Liang Chen took a deep breath and stretched his body, a faint smile on his face.


    "Man, it really feels like its been quite a while. The outside world certainly feels more comfortable."


    So many things had happened since he entered the hidden realm that it felt like he had spent several years in there. Now that he was no longer within the hidden realm, there was also no longer an ever-present pressure bearing down on him, slowing down the speed of his Qi and his movements. He gave the surroundings one more quick sweep before he started to make his way deeper into the forest.


    "Let''s find a spot that''s a bit more hidden."


    He didn''t intend to immediately head to the Storm Wolf sect, there were a few things he wished to do first. One of those things was to fully go through all the information that his birth parents had sealed inside his mind, as well as memorizing the map that Yan Ying had given him, as it would make traveling easier.


    He quickly found a spot that was a good distance away from the entrance of the hidden realm, climbing up one of the many trees and hiding amongst the leaves. He sat down on one of the thick branches, crossing his legs and taking out the deep crimson interspatial ring that he had received as a reward in the second trial.


    Now that he was no longer in the hidden realm, he felt that it was safe to wear it, as no one would recognize it. He moved all his items into the ring and put it on the ring finger of his right hand, making sure that it wouldn''t accidentally slide off.


    After doing so, he spent around two hours going through all the information that had been sealed in his mind, before finally taking out a thumb-sized slip made out of blue jade, the map that Yan Ying had given him. He sank his mind into the slip of jade, doing his best to quickly memorize all the information that was stored in it. After spending another two hours going through the jade slip, he couldn''t help but let out a sigh and shake his head.


    "The world really is quite large, far larger than I first thought."


    The map he had gotten from Yan Ying only showed the eastern part of the planet, but it still vastly broadened Liang Chen''s mind. The eastern part of the planet contained two continents, the Fallen Cloud continent that he was on now, and the Soaring Cloud continent where the great sects resided.


    Liang Chen felt that the Fallen Cloud continent alone was incredibly vast, but the Soaring Cloud continent was a little over twice the size of the Fallen Cloud continent, it was far larger. The map also contained some information about the five sects and the five nations beneath them, such as their allegiances.


    The Qing clan controlled the Blazing Clouds nation, the Eternal Ocean nation, the Five-Peaks nation, the Horizon Plain nation, and the Myriad Valleys nation.


    The Zhao clan controlled the Grey Crystal nation, the High Fort nation, the Hollow Mountain nation, the North Coast nation, and the Violet Grass nation.


    The Bai clan controlled the Fallen Beast nation, the Snow Mirror nation, the Crimson Desert nation, the Floating Rose nation, and the Cliff Cave nation.


    The Tian clan controlled the Merrow Reef nation, the Yellow Mountain nation, the Fire Heart nation, Glacial Dance nation, and the Sword Cliff nation.


    The Huang clan controlled the Whitefall nation, the Coldburn nation, the Dragon Cloud nation, the Wildeash nation, and the Soul Mount nation.


    Even after Liang Chen finished memorizing all the names, the headache that was memorizing all the information about them didn''t stop for him. Each nation had their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as their own allegiances and beliefs, to such a degree that Liang Chen found it strange that some of these nations were controlled by the same clan.


    Blazing Clouds was at war with Eternal Ocean, so they allied themselves with Five-Peaks in an attempt to drain all of Eternal Ocean''s resources. In response to this, Eternal Ocean brought in outside help in the form of warriors from the Sword Cliff nation, a country controlled by an entirely different clan! Dragon Cloud had hostile relations with Fire Heart, but friendly relations with Fallen Beast, who had friendly relations Fire Heart, starting a strange and tense situation between them.


    Wildeash was situated in a vast forest, so it specialized in exporting lumber and some game, while Violet Grass exported a special type of herb that was only found in their area. Sword Cliff exported a lot of fish and other seafood, while Soul Mount was the only nation where one could buy Soul Gems, crystals formed after the souls of dead people and animals grew dense enough to crystallize.


    And all this was just on the Fallen Cloud continent, the Soaring Cloud continent was even larger, so it contained even more kingdoms and even more complicated relations! And then one had to remember that the planet still had a western side that was likely just as complicated. And then one had to remember that this was all just one planet, and who knew just how many planets there existed in this universe or one of the 81 major universes!


    Only now did Liang Chen truly realize how small he was compared to the rest of the planet, not to mention this universe or the even vaster multiverse. As he was right now, he couldn''t even be described as a frog at the bottom of the well or an ant, he was a speck of dust in the vast river of creation. But knowing this only caused Liang Chen''s blood to boil and seethe. One day he would transcend everything, he would stand at the peak and serve as the wrath of the heavens.


    Liang Chen put away the jade slip, his head aching slightly from the sheer amount of information he just had to memorize. After giving his head a bit of rest, he stood up, stretching his body and muttering to himself.


    "Oh well, seems like I have some backtracking to do."


    Liang Chen could head to the Storm Wolf sect by heading to the Floating Rose nation and having them check with the sect if he was actually a member. Once his identity was acknowledged, he could use a spatial array, a formation that would teleport one through space to a pre-determined location, to head directly to the entrance of the sect.


    But before he was going to do that, there were two stops he wanted to make first. One of the stops was the Myriad Flowers Valley where he had promised to deliver the mementos of Zhan Huan and the others. The second place he wanted to go was Eternal Stream city, as he had promised Lei Qiang that he would meet up with him for some drinks.


    Myriad Flowers Valley was located in Whitefall nation, while Eternal Stream city was located in the Blazing Clouds nation, so he decided to first head to Eternal Stream city. But to get there, he had to return to Wind''s Whisper city and then head south, rather than the east he had gone to reach the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, so he had to backtrack a little bit. After that, he would have to head north, through the Horizon Plain nation and the Crimson Desert nation, only then would he reach Whitefall nation.


    Once he had done both of those things, the only thing left for him on this continent would be his Big Sister Chun, but he had no idea where he could even begin to look for her. She said she had gone to Willow''s Rest, but after memorizing the map, Liang Chen realized that it didn''t mention a city of that name. That meant that Qing Chun had either lied about the name, or that it was so small that it wasn''t on a map.


    Liang Chen jumped down from the tree branch where he had been sitting, returning to the entrance of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm and then following the small path out of the forest. Once he left the forest, he simply had to follow the road and it would take him back to Wind''s Whisper city.


    As he moved, he would experiment around with his time and lightning elements, seeing which would help increase his speed the most. The answer was that for short-term speed, time was the best choice, but for long-distance movement, lightning was the better choice, as it cost less Qi to use.


    Liang Chen didn''t run all the way back to Wind''s Whisper city, he chose to take a small break in the city where the caravan he previously hitched a ride with stopped, Rolling Hills city. But the moment he entered the city, he noticed that something was wrong.


    The last time he was here with Yi Huang and the others, the people of the city wore large smiles and were quite merry. But now, people kept their heads low, the streets were almost empty, and a dreary atmosphere hung over the entire city.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Liang Chen found it strange that a city that was so cheerful not long ago was now so dreary, so he stopped one of the few people that were walking down the streets, an old man with a hunched back and a slight limp that was carrying a long cane, asking him about the situation.


    "Excuse me, but why is the atmosphere in the city so bleak? Last time I was here, the atmosphere was more cheery and carefree."


    The old man raised his head slightly, the wrinkles on his bald head vibrating slightly from the movement. The old man''s eyes were nearly completely white, so he seemed to be close to blind. The old man responded after a short delay, giving a weak shake of his head.


    "Must have been a little while since you were last here. About two months ago, a small group of bandits took up residence in the ruins of the old Rolling Hills City, using it as their base. Ever since then, they come by once a week to collect sky-high taxes and occasionally kidnap two or three people. They killed a few people in the beginning to establish their dominance, but since then they luckily haven''t killed many more, only those that tried to resist."


    This city was called Rolling Hills because of the many hills that surrounded the city, but these hills were a result of the frequent earthquakes that struck the area. Sometimes these earthquakes were so strong that the city was ruined, forcing the inhabitants to rebuild the city. This Rolling Hills city that Liang Chen stood in now was already the 15th Rolling Hills city. After hearing the explanation of the old man, Liang Chen couldn''t help but cock his head slightly to the right.


    "Have you warned the Qing clan or the kingdom about this?"


    The kingdom would take care of the cities beneath it, but if the problem became too big, they could request aid from the clan that ruled the entire area. The bandits had already been here for two months, so the kingdom or the Qing clan should have already dealt with them. The old man simply gave a weak, even somewhat despising, laughter in response to the question.


    "We have, but the Qing clan does not care much about a small city like this, and the leader of the bandits is only someone at the middle stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, so there is no telling when any of the Qing clan people will arrive. As for the kingdom, all the guards are currently gathered in the capital, defending it from any attacks while everyone else is celebrating the wedding between 3rd prince Zhenya and Crown Princess Nuan from Eternal Ocean."


    Liang Chen cocked his head even further after hearing the response. Why would a prince of Blazing Clouds marry a princess from Eternal Ocean, the nation they were at war with? He didn''t bother thinking too much about it, shrugging his shoulders lightly and turning around to leave the city.


    "I see. Well, I''m already taking two detours, so I might as well take one more."


    It was not his style to just ignore people like this, so he decided to quickly go and deal with the bandits before continuing with his journey. Besides, the captain was only at the middle stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, so he wasn''t a real threat.


    Liang Chen quickly made his way over the many hills, reaching the ruins of a city filled with small square buildings made out of stone after a little over two hours. When he got close to the ruins, he found a spot behind one of the larger hills, sitting down and closing his eyes. Poison the size of a grain of dust seeped out from his skin and was quickly carried away with the wind, flying into the ruins and allowing Liang Chen to observe the situation in the area. And what he saw only caused him to shake his head in disgust.


    "Really, why are there so many vile people in the world?"


    Compared to the things he had seen Liu Daning''s men do inside the hidden realm, the actions of these bandits were a bit better, but they were still disgusting. He saw men who were forced to work on rebuilding the city for some strange reason, whipped whenever they stopped or accidentally tripped due to being tired, women forced to serve as maids or tools for sexual relief, there were even some men forced to serve as tools for sexual relief.


    Liang Chen also got to check out the strength of everyone in the ruins, so he knew that none of the around 50 bandits were even close to being a threat to him. He could just kill them all using his poison, but an idea struck him as he stood up, clapping his hands.


    "Alright, now is a good time to test out that technique."


    He quickly made his way to the ruins, casually entering them and heading towards the center of the ruins, where the leader was living. Several of the weaker bandits saw him as he walked, but none of them dared to stop him, quickly converging at the center of the ruins.


    By the time he reached the center of the ruins, which used to be a circular plaza with a large fountain carved in the shape of a tiger at the center, all the bandits had already gathered there. The leader of the bandits was a tall and rather slim man, his back ramrod straight. He had a clean-shaven face and rather short brown hair, strong features and determined black eyes. Once Liang Chen arrived, the bandit captain wasted no time before he spoke up, his mood clearly rather sour.


    "Who are you and why have you come here?"


    Liang Chen wasn''t too interested in wasting any time either, so he also gave a quick nod of his head, not mincing his words.


    "You can say that I have come to punish you for your misdeeds."


    They kidnapped, they killed, and they raped the innocent. For these misdeeds, he had judged them worthy of death. The bandit captain seemed genuinely surprised at Liang Chen''s statement, curiously questioning.


    "Our misdeeds? And what would those be?"


    Liang Chen raised his right arm, causing the surrounding bandits to tense up. But he simply raised three fingers, calmly stating the crimes of the surrounding bandits.


    "Kidnapping, killing, and violating innocent villagers."


    The expression of the surrounding bandits distorted into grimaces after hearing Liang Chen''s calm words. The bandit captain turned his head to the side, spitting out in disdain as he responded.


    "Innocent villagers? Kid, you are far too naive, there is no such thing as innocent people. They are citizens of Blazing Clouds, meaning that they funded the war against our Five-Peaks. Their hands are stained with the blood of my countrymen."


    Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to be the surprised one. Blazing Clouds was at war with Five-Peaks? But according to the map he had gotten from Yan Ying, these two nations were allies. His head tilted slightly in confusion as he looked at the bandit captain.


    "You''re from the Five-Peaks Nation?"


    Was the map he got wrong? Or was it perhaps already quite old? The bandit captain straightened his back even further, the surrounding bandits following his lead, a tinge of pride appearing in their eyes as the captain responded.


    "I was. I held the rank of captain in the army, until your Blazing Clouds nation allied with Eternal Ocean to wage war on and destroy us."


    As he reached the end of his sentence, the bandit captain once again spat out in disgust, the surrounding bandits following his lead. Thanks to the captain''s words, it was now clear to Liang Chen that all these surrounding bandits were members of Five-Peaks nation''s army, or at least used to be. Liang Chen rubbed his chin lightly, letting out a low mutter.


    "Huh, seems like the map I got is a bit outdated. I hope too much hasn''t changed."


    The map he had been given mentioned nothing about Five-Peaks nation being destroyed, so it was clearly a bit outdated. The captain couldn''t hear Liang Chen''s quiet mutter, so he narrowed his eyes slightly and called out, sending a stealthy glance at his surrounding men.


    "What are you muttering about?"


    Liang Chen noticed the stealthy glance of the bandit captain, but he didn''t bother with it, he gave a light shrug of his shoulder, his eyes quickly turning sharp as he sent a narrowed glare at the bandit captain.


    "Nothing, nothing. So you think that these people deserve to be treated like this, just because they are citizens of a nation that was at war with yours, even though they had nothing to do with the war?"


    Where was the justice in something like that, hurting the innocent citizens who had nothing to do with the war? Liang Chen couldn''t see it, but this bandit captain clearly could, as he puffed out his chest and spoke in a self-righteous voice.


    "Of course they do. It was their money that was used to arm the soldiers that burned my country, they are just as guilty as the soldiers! Every one of them I kill will help appease my fallen comrades."


    The man seemed fully convinced in his reasoning, the surrounding bandits joining him and puffing out their chests. But Liang Chen couldn''t help but shake his head, his expression distorting slightly from disgust as he spat out his words.


    "Really, not only are your actions vile, even your reasoning is. You target the weak and innocent just because you don''t have the strength to go after the king and those who actually started the war."


    They were simply seeking an excuse, something to vent on. They knew that they couldn''t take on the king and his soldiers, so they targeted the weak who couldn''t fight back. The bandit captain only let out a snort, waving his hand.


    "Whatever you say, kid, we''ve stalled for long enough. Take him down."


    Right after he spoke, the surrounding bandits all moved at once. Runes of light gathered beneath their feet and connected them together, forming a large array that was common in the army. Liang Chen merely glanced at this array with a calm expression, his voice low.


    "Yeah, I''ve just about heard enough as well."


    Liang Chen took a step forward, arcs of golden lightning dancing around his body as waves of Qi billowed out from his body. He sent out a punch, but nothing happened, catching the surrounding bandits off guard. But then Liang Chen took another step forward and sent out another punch, a low voice sounding out.


    "Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, First Step Shatters The Body."


    Right after his voice sounded out, a thundering explosion rocked the ruins. A bolt of golden lightning as thick as a grown man''s thigh shot out from Liang Chen''s fist, the air around him pushed away by a strong shockwave. The bolt of lightning pierced through the bandit captain and the five people closest to him, piercing through several more houses before it stopped. As for the other bandits that had surrounded Liang Chen, the shockwave had completely crushed them, dying the plaza a bright crimson.


    Silence descended on the city after Liang Chen launched that one attack, 50 bandits killed by a single punch of his. Liang Chen''s eyes were still calm, his eyebrows a bit furrowed as he looked at his own hand and saw that a bloody crack had appeared on the back of his right hand.


    "As you''d expect from the supreme technique of the Heaven Devouring Dragon, its might is terrifying. But still... is this really all it has to offer?"


    Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, the strongest technique that the Heaven Devouring Dragon had come up with and left for his descendants before death. Each step doubled the power of the last attack, stacking it onto the next one. If one didn''t have a strong enough body when they used it, the resulting force of doubling and stacking up the power of your attacks would tear you apart before you got to launch them.


    The technique was incredibly strong, but after learning about it and trying it out for himself, he couldn''t help but wonder why it stopped at three steps. Had the Heaven Devouring Dragon died before he could come up with more, or was it really only possible to stack up and empower three attacks?


    Liang Chen threw these thoughts to the back of his mind, for now, he first had to finish his business in these ruins. He quickly round up all the people that had been kidnapped and brought here, gathering them together outside the ruins.


    "You should return to the city, these bandits can never bother you again."


    The people almost couldn''t believe that they were freed, crying tears of happiness as Liang Chen led them back to Rolling Hills city.

 Stealing techniques.

    Liang Chen delivered the freed captives to Rolling Hills city, reuniting them with their families before he left them, finding an inn where he could rent a room. Some of the citizens that knew what he had done wanted to give him a reward, but he firmly rejected it, giving them no choice but to leave.


    Liang Chen did not want to be rewarded for the things he did, mainly because he was very clear on what it was he was doing. He was using his power to kill those he deemed evil, those who ruined the lives of innocent people. While the people he killed were considered vile, it did not change the fact that he was using his power to kill those weaker than him because of his own personal opinion. He was just as bad as those he wanted to kill, so he did not wish to be rewarded for what he did.


    But this was fine for him, this was a resolution he had already made for himself back when Yan Ling cleared up his mind before he killed Liu Daning. Even if this path of his were to end in ruin, even if he had to crawl forward and look disgraceful, even if the whole world branded him selfish and evil, he would continue to move forward and follow his heart. No matter how battered he ended up, no matter how much wounds he had to suffer, no matter how much blood he had to spill, he would listen to his heart and move forward, working towards building the type of world he considered right.


    Liang Chen did not stay in Rolling Hills city for long, leaving the moment the sun peeked over the horizon and continuing towards Wind''s Whisper city. When he traveled with Yi Huang''s caravan, it took them three days to go from Wind''s Whisper to Rolling Hills city, but now that he was moving on his own, it only took him two days of constant moving.


    Ever since his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline fully awakened, Liang Chen had stopped feeling sleepy, so he didn''t need to stop to get any sleep, only to get some rest and restore his energy. Sleeping would only force Liang Chen to relive the execution of his parents, so this lack of sleepiness suited him perfectly.


    Wind''s Whisper city hadn''t changed since the last time Liang Chen was there. If he had to say one thing that looked different, it would be that the strange runes drawn on the stone wall around the city looked fresher this time, as if they had recently been painted anew.


    He easily entered the city and made his way through the crowded streets, heading directly for the Eternal Dragon Pavilion. He hadn''t forgotten that he had picked up a mission from the Eternal Dragon Pavilion to check out the hidden realm and gather information about it. Now that he had left the hidden realm and learned quite a bit about it, it was of course time to deliver a quick report and pick up the rewards.


    He received a few stares when he entered the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, some fearful, some wary, and others skeptic, but he paid them no mind. He walked up to the counter and told them as much as he could, keeping out the fact that those who participated in the first three trials received extra rewards.


    It seemed like others who had left the hidden realm after leaving the Demon''s Graveyard had already spread the news, as the woman behind the counter didn''t doubt Liang Chen''s words and swiftly calculated his reward and handed it over. He didn''t hand over any of the resources he had gotten in the hidden realm, one of the parts of the mission, so his reward was mostly just normal coins used by non-cultivators.


    Some cultivators would complain about receiving useless coins, but it suited Liang Chen''s plans nicely. After putting away the reward, Liang Chen inquired about whether or not there were any caravans heading to Eternal Stream city. Thanks to the military academy being located in Eternal Stream city, it got a frequent stream of visitors, so he would only have to wait five days for a caravan to set out.


    He bought a seat in the caravan and then left the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, renting a room at an inn and ordering some food for a late lunch. After eating, he left the inn and made his way to the completely round public library that he had visited once before. Entering it caused the familiar smell of mold and old wood to tickle his nose.


    Liang Chen didn''t come here to read any books, he came here to make a donation, so he was quickly led to the person in charge of handling the donations, an older man with graying hair and a somewhat tired face. Seeing the amount that Liang Chen was donating, a wide smile immediately appeared on the man''s face.


    "Thank you for your generous donation! Would you like to register this donation under a name and dedicate it for a specific purpose?"


    "You can register it under the name Luo Xinyu, and the purpose it is dedicated for is the continued employment of the young girl working as a librarian, Luo Xiushi."


    Luo Xinyu was one of the three caravan guards that had died while Liang Chen was hitching a ride with Yi Huang''s caravan. The man had been kind to Liang Chen, and thanks to his death, Liang Chen had learned a valuable lesson from Yi Huang. Even if someone died, as long as their hopes and dreams were passed on to someone else, they would never be truly gone.


    He had also been told that even if a dream seemed impossible to achieve, that was only because you were currently too weak, it would likely be completely different once you got stronger. These words had spurred on Liang Chen, planting the desire to revive his dead parents.


    Liang Chen left the library after making the donation, returning to his room in the inn. His caravan was going to leave in five days, so he decided to quietly cultivate while he waited for time to pass. This cultivation was also the reason he chose to utilize a caravan rather than running the entire way to Eternal Stream city, he wanted to start cultivating the Lightning God''s Physique.


    He sat down on the bed in his room, which only contained a bed, a single closet, and one nightstand at the right side of the bed. He closed his eyes and sank his vision into his own body, the inner workings of his body laid completely bare before him.


    He quickly found the three streams that represented his elements, connecting his mind with the golden one that represented his lightning element. The stream followed his orders, flowing through his body and quickly reaching his right hand.


    Liang Chen gave himself the chance to take a deep breath and then ordered the stream to sink into the bones of the fingers on his right hand. The stream split into five and started drilling into Liang Chen''s fingers, causing a piercing and electrifying pain to spread through his body. Even when he used his poison to numb his own sense of pain, it seemed like it didn''t work in the slightest, the pain continuing to assault his mind.Stolen novel; please report.


    Because of this, Liang Chen could only grit his teeth and endure. Besides, he had already gotten used to inflict torturous pain on himself, so he wasn''t worried about collapsing under the pain. He allowed the lightning to sink into the very depths of his fingers, slowly changing his bone marrow.


    At first, the lightning slowly strengthened his bone marrow, turning it golden in color. But even after it turned golden in color, Liang Chen continued the process, burning away all the bone marrow and replacing it with liquid lightning that released a golden glow. Only once all his bone marrow had turned into this liquid lightning would he have completed the first part of the Lightning God Physique.


    But this process would take a little while, something Liang Chen realized when the five days were up and he had only managed to fully change the bone marrow in two of his fingers. But despite realizing that the process would required quite a while, Liang Chen wasn''t disheartened. Once his cultivation grew, he would be able to speed up time around him by more and more, giving him all the time in the world to cultivate.


    He left the inn and headed to the gate from which the caravan would set out from. This was not a caravan that would deliver wares, but one that would deliver people, so the wagons were built to resemble small rooms where one or two people could live. Liang Chen showed them the token he got from buying a seat in the caravan and was directed to his wagon, one of the smaller ones that only had the bare necessities when it came to furniture, a bed and a closet.


    Liang Chen sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, continuing his cultivation. The caravan would require about 13 days to reach Eternal Stream city so he was confident that he could at least finish up changing all the bone marrow in the fingers of his right hand, probably even start on the rest of the bones in his right hand.


    He only kept a sliver of his mind outside his body, keeping a watch on the surroundings to make sure that he didn''t miss anything important while he was cultivating. The caravan set off after waiting for a few more hours, starting its journey to Eternal Stream city.


    Liang Chen got to quietly cultivate inside his wagon, but it seemed like caravans like these were very popular targets for bandits, as the caravan had to stop at least once every three days because of a bandit attack. This forced Liang Chen to halt his cultivation and leave the wagon, making sure that there weren''t any needless deaths.


    Most of the bandits that attacked were so weak that they were easily dealt with by the caravan guards and the other passengers, Liang Chen mostly just watched from the side, protecting and saving those that needed it. This formed a habit as the journey continued, so when they were attacked on the 10th day, Liang Chen could only halt his cultivation once again and let out a sigh.


    "There really are a lot of bandits, life must be really hard for non-cultivators who just wish to visit a new city."


    He stepped out of his wagon, his eyes sweeping over the 11 bandits that had surrounded the caravan and started their attack. None of the bandits had even reached the late stage of the Houtian Tower realm, so they weren''t a real threat to the caravan. But there was one bandit amongst the 11 that caught Liang Chen''s eye, causing them to light up.


    The bandit in question was a mature woman with long brown hair and a curvaceous figure covered by a tight leather armor. The reason she caught his eye was not because of her looks, but because of the element she used. Just like Liang Chen, she used the lightning element.


    Liang Chen had no one that could teach him about how to best use his elements, he could only learn by watching how others did it. The information that his birth parents sealed in his mind contained information about how they used their laws, but they used the law of motion, the law of piercing, and the law of time, so most of the information was useless to him.


    Liang Chen stepped forward and took over for the caravan guard that was fighting the woman, wanting to get a closer look at how she used her lightning element. He pulled out his spear, which was already close to breaking from having been forced to endure his usage of the tribulation lightning in the Demon''s Graveyard.


    But when he pulled out his spear, a strange scene unfolded in front of him. Some of the stones around him as well as the weapons of the other people who were nearby, all suddenly flew through the air, heading directly for Liang Chen''s spear. Liang Chen even felt that his own blood started to move strangely, as if it was trying to leave his body and gather around his spear.


    Liang Chen''s eyes immediately lit up as he activated his law of time, slowing down time around his spear as well as time around the woman''s head, slowing down the speed at which her mind was able to control her Qi. His only opponent right now was the woman in front of him, so it was clear that whatever was happening right now was because of something she had done using her lightning element.


    With the time slow in effect, Liang Chen got a moment to closely inspect his spear, allowing him to notice tiny arcs of lightning coiling around his spear, producing a strange attracting force that drew in the other weapons and some of the surrounding stones.


    Once he noticed the arcs of lightning and their strange attracting force, he took out some pills from his interspatial ring, stuffing them into his mouth so that he could swallow them whenever he wished. Once these preparations were finished, he sped up time around him as much as he could, swallowing one of the prepared pills whenever he felt his Qi start to run low.


    By slowing down the speed of the woman''s mind, she couldn''t maneuver her Qi at full speed, giving him a few moments of time. But these few moments were clearly not enough to properly understand exactly what it was the woman was doing, so he sped up time around himself, stretching those few moments into several hours.


    When he went for a sustained and manageable increase, he could double the speed of time around him and keep it going for half an hour before he had to restore his energy. But now he was focusing on increasing the speed as much as possible, not bothering with keeping it going for too long, so he could increase the speed of time even further, at the cost of his Qi rapidly draining.


    After taking out a new round of pills and swallowing his eighth pill, Liang Chen finally understood what it was the woman was doing, an amazed laughter escaping from his lips.


    "So that''s how it is, you turned my weapon into an electromagnet! Truly a fascinating way of using the lightning element."


    She used her lightning element to create a current around his weapon, forming a magnetic field that used his weapon as the center. His weapon then turned into a large magnet, attracting all the metal in the surrounding area, even the trace amount of metal that was present within his body.


    Now that he understood what she had done and even gotten quite some time to study the current she used, it was easy for Liang Chen to replicate or negate the phenomenon. His own arcs of lightning started to coil around his spear, overriding the electric current that the woman used to create a magnetic field, shutting it down.


    To Liang Chen, several hours had already passed as he studied the current, but for the woman, it had only been mere moments, so she couldn''t help but be shocked at the speed with which Liang Chen discovered her trick. Sadly for her, now that Liang Chen had managed to steal her utilization of the lightning element, there was no longer a need for him to dawdle.


    The woman had genuinely tried to kill him, so he showed her no mercy in return, a bolt of lightning flashing through her skull and reaping her life. Shortly after, the rest of the bandits were also dealt with, the caravan resuming its journey to Eternal Stream city.


    It was already the 10th day, so after only another 3 days, the caravan reached Eternal Stream city, one of Liang Chen''s stops before he headed to the Storm Wolf sect.

 Eternal Stream city.

    Eternal Stream city was incredibly large, at least around 200 kilometers in each direction, almost as large as Green Rivers city. The entire city was surrounded by a sturdy steel wall that was covered with a coat of silver paint, giving it a beautiful sheen.


    The reason it was called Eternal Stream city was because of the centerpiece of the city, a steep mountain that had a gorgeous, deep-blue waterfall cascading down the entire side of it. The waterfall ended in a small lake that diverged into several streams that snaked through the city, even going past the wall and vanishing into the distance.


    The buildings of the city were neatly lined up, a set of distance between each building, and followed an organized system where the buildings at the edge of the city were only one floor tall, and then got progressively larger the closer they got to the waterfall. The largest buildings were around six stories tall, each one looking like a large mansion that only the richest could own.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately go look for Lei Qiang, there was something else he wanted to do first. He stopped a few passersby, asking them about the various butcher shops in the city. He knew the name of Huo Yantian''s old butcher shop, but not where it was located, so he could only ask others about it.


    After asking the ninth person, he finally got the answer he was looking for, getting detailed directions. Once he reached the butcher shop, which was called Heaven''s Slicer, he didn''t even bother trying to properly negotiate. He immediately presented the owner with a sum of money so large that there was no chance he was going to say no. He had delivered very detailed information about the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, so he had plenty of coin on him at the moment.


    After acquiring the deed and keys to the butcher shop, he stuffed it all into an envelope and signed it with Huo Yantian''s name. He then brought the envelope to the home of Huo Yantian''s parents, and after making sure that he had gotten the right house, he slid the envelope under the door and left.


    Huo Yantian was the second of the three people that had died while Liang Chen was traveling with Yi Huang''s caravan. He was another person who had been kind to Liang Chen, as well as another one of the people whose death contributed to Liang Chen learning a valuable lesson, so Liang Chen had made sure to remember what Yi Huang said was Huo Yantian''s dream.


    After dropping off the envelope, Liang Chen headed for the military academy that was located close to the center of the city. The military academy was a strange place, it was a large open training ground surrounded by four long buildings that were colored a glowing orange and engraved with the symbol of the Blazing Clouds nation, a collection of fiery clouds that formed a circle.


    One of the four buildings was marked with the words ''Visitor Waiting Room'' so that was the one Liang Chen entered. The building was rather sparsely decorated, only containing a few couches and tables where people could rest while waiting for the one they were looking for.


    There was a short counter located at the back of the room, three young people, two boys and one girl, standing with straight backs behind the counter, they were the ones who would notify the one you were looking for that you had arrived. Once Liang Chen entered the room, the three people gave him a quick glance, their eyes lighting up with a mixture of fear and awe.


    Liang Chen ignored their gazes and walked up to them, stating who it was that he was looking for. He had no idea where Lei Qiang lived, so he could only come here in hopes that they knew where he lived. But rather than tell him where Lei Qiang lived, the three youths just told him to enter the eastern parts of the training grounds, as he would find Lei Qiang there. It seemed like Lei Qiang had returned to the military academy after leaving the hidden realm.


    Liang Chen thanked the three youths and then passed through the door they pointed at, the door behind them. Passing through the door brought him to the wide-open training grounds, where the ground was covered in a thick layer of sand.


    There were groups training in formations or engaging in sparring all over the training grounds, so Liang Chen followed the directions painted on the walls of the building behind him, quickly reaching the eastern parts of the training ground. He easily spotted Lei Qiang, who was currently shouting at a group of about 100 youths that were performing a basic set of martial arts moves. He casually made his way over, calling out to Lei Qiang.


    "Hard at work I see, Qiang."


    The youths that were training quickly turned to see who dared refer to their Lieutenant so casually, but their breaths caught in their chests when they saw Liang Chen. The tall and sturdy Lei Qiang also turned around. His slight stubble was now shaven clean, his brown hair tied into a ponytail rather than a bun. Once he spotted Liang Chen, his face lit up with a pleasantly surprised smile.


    "Chen!? You''ve already left the Mystic''s Hidden Realm?"


    Lei Qiang was about to walk over to Liang Chen but then seemed to remember something. He turned towards the youths that were staring at Liang Chen, shouting at them in a stern voice.


    "Alright, you lot, stop gawking! Continue with the basic training, give me 100 sets!"


    The youths quickly regained their wits, continuing to perform the martial arts moves that they had been performing earlier. Lei Qiang waved over a short raven-haired girl who looked like she had reached her early twenties, pointing at the youths.


    "Garrison Commander Youyin, make sure that no one slacks on their training."


    After Youyin gave a nod of her head, casting a glance at Liang Chen, Lei Qiang walked over to Liang Chen. He glanced at the training youths, who were still casting glances at Liang Chen, shaking his head with a wry smile.


    "You''ll have to forgive them for staring, they don''t often get a chance to see someone mentioned in the Mortal Titan list."


    Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, curious about this Mortal Titan list, but Lei Qiang gave Liang Chen''s shoulder a heavy pat before he got to voice his confusion, dragging him away with a bright laughter.


    "Come, come! You have surely come for the promised drinks!"


    Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulder and save the question for later, following Lei Qiang away from the training ground. Lei Qiang brought Liang Chen away from the military academy, leading him to a two-story house located a few kilometers away from the military academy.


    The house was completely square and had a small garden decorated with a single well and a round table and three chairs. The house was the same silver color as most other houses in the city, the only thing setting it apart from the others being the number written next to the door.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Sitting at the table in the garden was a tall and charming lady with black eyes and deep orange hair, as well as a young girl with brown hair and black eyes. The tall woman was clad in a loose yellow robe and looked to be about 30 while the young girl looked like she was only around two or three years old. Once Lei Qiang and Liang Chen reached the house, Lei Qiang quickly called out.


    "Wen''er, this is the friend that I told you about, Liang Chen."


    The woman, Wen''er, stood up, picking up the young girl and walking over to Lei Qiang and Liang Chen with a calm smile. She handed the young girl to Lei Qiang and then gave Liang Chen a polite bow. After being handed the young girl, Lei Qiang introduced both of them to Liang Chen.


    "Chen, this is my wife, Xue Wen. And this is my daughter, Lei Qiuxun."


    Liang Chen had already known that Lei Qiang was married, but he hadn''t expected him to already have a child. Liang Chen returned a polite bow, giving a standard greeting.


    "Greetings, sorry for the intrusion."


    Xue Wen gave a light wave of her hand, telling him not to worry about it. Lei Qiang spoke a few words with his wife, who then entered the house and allowed Liang Chen and Lei Qiang to sit down around the table. Xue Wen came back after a bit, carrying a tray that held two clay cups and a large pot filled with fragrant wine. Liang Chen tasted the wine, which turned out to be rather warm and spicy, his face changing slightly as he hadn''t expected it. Lei Qiang slapped his forehead after seeing Liang Chen''s reaction.


    "Ah, sorry, I forgot about your age, let me get you something else."


    Lei Qiang wanted to stand up, but Liang Chen waved his hand and stopped him, drinking another sip of the wine.


    "No need to worry. It''s a strange flavor, but it''s not bad."


    This was the first time Liang Chen had ever drunk wine, so he hadn''t been clear on what he should expect from the taste. The taste wasn''t bad, to the point where he could understand why people might choose to drink it when they relax.


    Lei Qiang sat down again and the two started to chat while drinking, talking about all sorts of topics, like the cities where they came from, the people they knew, what they had experienced during their travels. After spending a bit of time casually chatting, Liang Chen decided to bring up his earlier question.


    "Qiang, about that list you mentioned earlier, that Mortal Titan list, what is it?"


    According to Lei Qiang''s words, Liang Chen had been mentioned in this list, and it seemed to be a rather big deal. Lei Qiang couldn''t help but cock his head slightly after hearing Liang Chen''s question, seemingly quite surprised at the question.


    "You don''t know about it? It''s one of the lists that the Eternal Dragon Pavilion gives out, it serves as a sort of ranking list. The other lists are called Spiritual Titan, Heavenly Titan, and finally Titan Slayer. Each list ranks the top 100 people of their cultivation level. Mortal Titan ranks the Heaven''s Gate realm, Spiritual Titan ranks the Soaring Immortal realm, Heavenly Titan ranks the Primordial Immortal realm, and Titan Slayer ranks the Transcended Immortal realm."


    Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to be surprised, such lists actually existed? He had not spent a lot of time in the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, nor had he spent a lot of time with other cultivators outside of the hidden realm, so it wasn''t strange that he had yet to hear about them, as the lists didn''t really matter inside the hidden realm. But after understanding a little about the lists, another question popped up in his mind.


    "If it ranks the top 100, why did you say that I was mentioned by the Mortal Titan list?"


    Liang Chen had yet to properly test out his full strength when he used all his means, but he wasn''t so arrogant as to believe that his meager strength put him in the top 100 cultivators of the Heaven''s Gate realm on this planet. Lei Qiang merely shrugged his shoulders, giving a quick explanation.


    "You got an honorary mention because of the things you did in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. You didn''t get a rank, it just stated that if you used all your means, you had the strength to heavily wound or even kill someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm."


    Lei Qiang acted casual, but he had been utterly shocked when he saw the update to the Mortal Titan list and read about the things that Liang Chen had done. Had he already grown that strong in the little time they hadn''t seen each other? Liang Chen''s eyebrows furrowed slightly, slowly sipping some wine.


    "Because of the things I did in the hidden realm? How did the Eternal Dragon Pavilion learn about that?"


    He asked the question, but right after the words left his mouth, he managed to reach an answer on his own. It had been around half a month since he and probably many others left the Demon''s Graveyard, so it wasn''t strange for some to spread the news about what he had done to protect Yan Ling. His thoughts were quickly proven true when Lei Qiang swiped his bracelet and took out a gray slip of jade, handing it to Liang Chen.


    "You don''t know? You are actually quite famous right now. About half a month ago, a large number of people were thrown out off the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, and with them, they brought a large amount of information about things that had happened in the hidden realm, including your slaughter and some of the other things you had done. They even gave you a few different titles, take a look for yourself."


    Liang Chen grabbed the slip of jade and sank his mind into it, scanning the information within it. The contents of the jade slip were actually the various lists that Lei Qiang had mentioned, allowing Liang Chen to quickly read through them and memorize them. After he finished memorizing all of them, he couldn''t help but shake his head in exasperation.


    "Seems like their information network is rather vast, but what''s with these titles? Scourge King, Blood Tide, Bloody Lightning? Who comes up with these tasteless titles?"


    The information about him not only mentioned the slaughter he pulled off thanks to the doping but also mentioned the battles against the Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect, so it seemed like some of the people who had taken part in that battle had survived and left the hidden realm.


    Other than those battles, the information even contained speculations that it was Liang Chen who had killed Liu Daning and his men, as the state of Liu Daning''s men matched what happened to some others who had been killed by Liang Chen''s poison. The information also contained three possible titles for Liang Chen once he became strong enough to secure a spot on the list, Scourge King, Blood Tide, and Bloody Lightning. Facing Liang Chen''s exasperation, Lei Qiang could only shrug his shoulders with a slightly amused smile.


    "The higher-ups of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion usually come up with a title, but in other cases, like yours, they just give them whatever title people call them."


    Liang Chen''s expression changed slightly. People actually called him by those titles? But feeling exasperated about it wouldn''t help, so he could only throw those feelings to the back of his mind, thinking about some of the other names he had seen on the lists.


    Rank 89 on the Spiritual Titan list, Bloody King Yan Ying. Rank 3 on the Heavenly Titan list, Furious Volcano Qing Lan Yong. Qing Lan Yong was ranked third on the Heavenly Titan list, but it also mentioned that his current strength was unknown, so there was a chance that his rank should be higher. The list wasn''t quite accurate on Qing Lan Yong''s strength, but now he had at least gotten an even clearer image of the strength he would need if he wanted to kill Qing Lan Yong.


    Lei Qing let Liang Chen keep the slip of jade, as it wasn''t really hard to get one. The two continued to drink and chat, Xue Wen bringing them new pots of wine whenever they emptied one. As the sun started to approach the horizon, Lei Qiang glance at it slightly.


    "so, Chen, how long are you intending to stay here?"


    Liang Chen also glanced at the nearly setting sun. He gave it a bit of thought, sipping some cold wine as he responded.


    "Not long. I will leave this city before the sun fully sets."


    If he left before the sun fully set, he could return to Wind''s Whisper city using the same caravan he had used to get here, something that suited him perfectly, as he would have to head north if he wanted to reach Myriad Flowers Valley. Lei Qiang gave a slight nod of his head, letting out a light sigh as he raised his cup.


    "A shame, but you probably have many things that you need to do. Should you ever feel like it, you can just come to find me again, I''ll always keep some wine ready for you."


    Liang Chen''s lips curled into a light smile, giving a nod of his head as he raised his own cup, clinking it against Lei Qiang''s.


    "I''ll make sure to take you up on that offer once I have time."


    It was nice to have a place where he could come to relax whenever he left the Storm Wolf sect in the future. It wasn''t a home, but it was still a place where he felt welcome, so it was good enough for him.


    The two spent a few more minutes drinking before Liang Chen stood up, bidding Lei Qiang farewell. Lei Qiang also stood up, following Liang Chen to the edge of the garden, patting him on the shoulder.


    "Goodbye Chen, don''t forget to take care of yourself."

 To the Storm Wolf sect.

    Liang Chen left behind Lei Qiang and returned to the entrance of the city, showing the caravan leader his identification token and then boarding the wagon he had used during these last thirteen days. He once again sat down on the simple bed, crossing his legs and closing his eyes as he returned to his cultivation.


    He had managed to turn all the bone marrow in the fingers on his right hand into liquid lightning, so the next step was to start focusing on the rest of the bones in his right hand. At the same time as he did so, he decided to split off a part of his mind, having it focus on absorbing the surrounding Qi and slowly raise his cultivation.


    After around two hours, the caravan started its return journey to Wind''s Whisper city, now carrying far fewer people as most of the passengers stayed in Eternal Stream city.


    The number of bandit attacks they encountered on the return journey was actually greater than the number of attacks they had encountered on the journey to Eternal Stream city. It seemed like the bandits were rather well-informed, aware of the fact that the caravan now carried fewer people.


    But the attacks were never a real threat to the caravan, not with Liang Chen being one of the passengers. The Fallen Cloud continent had a vast population, so there was no shortage of bandits, but all those bandits were only at the Ascended Tower realm, they were people of no threat to Liang Chen.


    The reason it was like this was actually fairly simple, cultivators who had reached the Heaven''s Gate realm wouldn''t settle for robbing normal people, they would rob other cultivators who had somewhat similar strength. Normal people wouldn''t have any resources that were worth anything to cultivators at the Heaven''s Gate realm, so there was no point in robbing them.


    For this reason, most cultivators that had reached the Heaven''s Gate realm would either move to the Soaring Cloud continent or only loiter around the largest cities on the Fallen Cloud continent, the capitals that were closer to the five clans. Or at least, that was what the map given to Liang Chen by Yan Ying said.


    After reaching Wind''s Whisper city, Liang Chen paid for a seat on another caravan that would head for Horizon Plain nation. After waiting for three days, he met up with the caravan and they set off for Horizon''s Gate, a city at the very edge of Horizon Plain nation, reaching it after eight days.


    Horizon Plain nation got its name from the location of the nation, which was a single massive plain that was nearly completely flat. There weren''t any mountains or even any forests, only a few lakes spread through the plain that was covered in knee-high lush green grass. Liang Chen had no intention to stay in this nation for long, so he only gave the surroundings a few glances before returning to cultivation.


    But there wasn''t any caravan that went directly through Horizon Plain nation, so Liang Chen switched rides several times, moving from one city to the other. He didn''t have to worry too much about his funds drying up, as everytime they were attacked by bandits, he would retrieve the funds of the dead bandits after the battles.


    Since Horizon Plain nation was so flat, the caravans didn''t have to make any detours around forests or mountains, only rarely moving around some of the spread lakes. Because of this, Liang Chen only needed two months to reach the other edge of the Horizon Plain nation, at the edge of the Crimson Desert nation.


    During these two months, Liang Chen only rarely interrupted his cultivation, hoping to increase it as fast as possible. But his average talent perfectly displayed itself, his progress only able to be called lackluster.


    The buds on his three lotuses had grown somewhat, but they were still a bit of a distance away from blooming. As for his Lightning God Physique, after he finished up all the bone marrow in his right hand, his progress slowed down quite a bit. Right now, he had only managed to finish up the bone marrow in his right hand and halfway up to his elbow.


    Even if he used his laws of time, he was unable to keep it active long enough to have it make any proper difference, so he could only choose to use a different method right now.


    The caravan he was riding on stopped in a city called Mirror Lake city, the city located right at the edge of the Horizon Plain nation. The city wasn''t as orderly and organized as Eternal Stream city, the houses following no set pattern, seemingly built using all types of different materials and came in all shapes and sizes. It resembled Green Rivers city more than it did Eternal Stream city.


    This city was a bit smaller than Eternal Stream city, but it was still large enough to house a branch of the Eternal Dragon Pavilion and the Diamond Hand Merchants, so once the caravan stopped, Liang Chen headed directly for the building of the Diamond Hand Merchants.


    The building was in the shape of a pagoda with three floors, the outside of the pagoda painted a brilliant white that shone under the light of the sun. This was the first time Liang Chen had ever entered one of these buildings, but he had been told that they sold just about everything, so he guessed that they would have what he was looking for.


    He entered the first floor, which consisted of a large circular hall. Various booths and stalls were set up around the hall, people of all ages and sizes shouting out what they were selling, hoping to draw customers. At the very center of the hall stood a wooden spiraling staircase that stretched upwards, leading to the higher floors.


    The entire staircase was surrounded by a round counter, five young and elegant women clad in white robes standing behind the counters. Embroidered on the chests of the women''s robes was the insignia of the Diamond Hand Merchants, a large hand grasping a shimmering gem. Looking at it, it seemed like one had to talk to one of these women if one wanted to go to the higher floors, which was where the actual Diamond Hand Merchants were located, the bottom floor was open for others to sell their wares.


    Liang Chen didn''t bother checking the various stalls and booths, heading directly for the round counter that surrounded the staircase. One of the five women, a girl with blonde hair and emerald green eyes, spotted him as he approached so she put on a charming smile and awaited his arrival. Liang Chen didn''t waste any time, directly stating what he was looking for.


    "Do you have the blood of Demonic beasts that had the poison or the lightning element while they were alive?"


    Since his talent was so average that it would take him a bit of time to increase his cultivation on his own, he decided to use the way that his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline offered him, absorbing the energy in Demonic beast blood or other resources that carried his elements. The blonde woman gave a slight nod of her head, swiping her interspatial ring and handing Liang Chen a small jade orb that was green in color.


    "We do, here is a list of our stock and their prices."


    Liang Chen accepted the orb and sank part of his mind into it, quickly scanning over the listed contents. The jade contained information about all the various types of Demonic beast blood that they had available at hand, and just looking at all the different types was enough to almost make Liang Chen''s head spin. After going over the entire list, Liang Chen settled on two different types of Demonic beast blood.


    "I''ll take two jugs, one containing the blood of the Horizon Swallower and one containing the blood of the Skyborne Salamander. This should cover it."


    He handed the orb back to the woman, giving her a vial filled with pills. He didn''t have many Spirit Stones, so he could only use some of the pills Yan Ying had given him as payment, letting the Diamond Hand Merchants convert the pills into Spirit Stones.


    The Horizon Swallower was a type of turtle Demonic beast that buried itself in the ground, only keeping a small flower that grew out from its nose sticking out from the ground. Once prey got close enough, the beast had the flower release a poisonous fragrance that numbed the prey, allowing the Horizon Swallower to burst forth and swallow the prey whole.


    The Skyborne Salamander, on the other hand, was a Demonic beast that was literally born in the sky, amongst dark clouds filled with lightning. The adult Skyborne Salamanders would use the energy in these bolts of lightning to fuel the growth of their children, allowing them to be born with control over lightning.


    Horizon Swallowers were native to the Horizon Plain, the Violet Grass, and the Glacial Dance nation. The Skyborne Salamanders, on the other hand, were found in almost all nations, following the dark clouds that they called home. The jugs of blood that Liang Chen bought came from Demonic beasts that had reached Rank 4, meaning that they had the strength of someone at the Heavens Gate realm, perfect for him.


    After receiving the orb and the vial of pills, the blonde haired woman gave the pills a quick check, calculating their worth. Once she made sure that the pills were worth enough, she told Liang Chen to stay put and then ascended the spiraling staircase. She came back after around ten minutes, carrying three small leather bags, handing all three to Liang Chen with a smile.


    "Thank you, please come again."


    Liang Chen gave the three bags a quick check, going over their contents. Two of the bags contained the clay jugs he had paid for, while the third one contained around 15 Spirit Stones, the remaining change. He gave a slight nod of his head, storing all three bags into his interspatial ring and leaving the pagoda.


    He then headed to the Eternal Dragon Pavilion, paying for a seat on a caravan that was entering the Crimson Desert nation. There were two caravans he could choose from, one that left tomorrow, and one that left in a week. After giving it a bit of thought, he bought a seat on the one that left in a week.


    After paying for the seat, Liang Chen left the city, walking past the completely still and reflective lake that had given the city its name. He continued to move until he was a good distance away from the city and had reached a completely empty spot. He then sat down on the ground, taking out the two jugs of blood and placing them in front of him, letting his finger slide across them as he muttered to himself.


    "This should be enough to bloom one leaf, pushing me to the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm."


    Liang Chen was uncertain what would happen once he entered the Heaven''s Gate realm, but it was said to be the demarcating line between a mortal and a cultivator. He removed the lid on the two jugs, the sweet smell of blood tickling his nose. His eyes were determined as he lifted the jugs and poured their contents over his head, drenching his body in it.


    With the blood drenching his body, a strange sensation filled Liang Chen''s body. It wasn''t the usual painful sensation where his body felt like it was being torn apart, it was slightly different. The pain was still there, but mixed with it now was a strange feeling of pleasure, every part of his being greedily devouring the energy in the blood, rejoicing at the fact that it got to devour it.


    Liang Chen ignored the strange mixture of pleasure and pain, focusing on guiding the energy within the blood. The energy within the blood turned into two bloody streams, one sinking into his lightning lotus and the other into his poison lotus, acting as manure for them.


    While the two bloody streams worked on those two lotuses, a small grey stream of energy flowed out from Liang Chen''s mind and sank into his time lotus, slowly helping it grow. He didn''t have any resources that had the element of time, but thanks to the information that his parents had sealed in his mind, he had some understanding about the law of time, an understanding that had slowly grown as he rode the various caravans.


    It wasn''t very deep or profound understanding, it was mainly about how peaceful of a law time was. It didn''t use an ounce of violence or cause any destruction, it simply passed by in a calm and indifferent manner, turning everything in its wake to dust. The understanding was only the most basic understanding of time, but it was enough to help Liang Chen''s lotus of time bloom one leaf.


    The three streams of energy slowly caused the bud on the three lotuses bloom, fully forming after four days. The lightning lotus got a deep violet leaf, the poison lotus got a pure white leaf, while the time lotus got a leaf that was a ghastly grey in color. And once each of his lotuses had grown a single leaf, the world around him turned dark. Liang Chen raised his head, a disdainful smile appearing on his face.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Deep blue clouds, so you rear your ugly head again."


    Deep blue clouds had gathered above him, azure bolts of lightning flickering around within the clouds. Just like when his two seeds first cracked, another heavenly lightning tribulation had come in an attempt to strike him down. Liang Chen stood up, glaring at the clouds, mocking in a loud voice.


    "What, you can show up for this, but not when countless people all around the world perform vile deeds? You are not only useless, but you are also worthless."


    To him, the heavens were not only cruel and indifferent, but they were also worthless. The deep blue clouds did not respond to his mocking, a thick bold of azure lightning flashing down and crashing into Liang Chen''s body. But these azure bolts of lightning were already useless against Liang Chen, who had been baptized by them several times before, even having been baptized by stronger types of heavenly lightning.


    Once the azure lightning entered his body, it was immediately forced to listen to his orders, moving as he wished it to. He used part of the lightning to continue his cultivation of the Lightning God Physique, forcing it into the bone marrow on his right arm. The bone marrow in his right hand and halfway up to his elbow was already liquid golden lightning, so it was easy to upgrade it to become liquid azure lightning thanks to the copious amount of tribulation lightning.


    He first changed the bone marrow in the tip of his pinky, checking if it was indeed possible to upgrade from golden to azure lightning. Because if it was indeed possible, he could just focus on using his own azure lightning to finish the technique. The only reason he had used his golden lightning at the start was the fact that he was a bit worried about immediately hopping to azure lightning, worried that something would go wrong.


    But there were no problems, the liquid golden lightning that was his bone marrow turned azure in color and the bone marrow in his right hand grew even stronger. He didn''t use all the azure lightning from the heavenly tribulation to focus on his bone marrow, channeling some into his lightning lotus as well. As for the last part, it was automatically absorbed by the black egg that was residing within his dantian, the creature within it using the energy in the lightning to fuel its own growth.


    Six bolts of azure lightning struck him, and once the last one hit him, the blue clouds started to dissipate and vanish, returning the sky to the clear state it had been in before. Liang Chen looked at the dissipating clouds, a slight sneer appearing at the corners of his mouth.


    "Just as weak as the first time, you better bring something stronger next time."


    He quickly used up all the energy in the lightning, changing all the bone marrow in his right arm, up to his elbow at least, into liquid azure lightning. The violet color of his lightning lotus had also grown even deeper, the single leaf turning lusher. As for the egg in his dantian, it had started to pulsate slightly, the lifeforce of the creature within it growing stronger. If he could feed it some more energy like this, it should be able to escape the egg soon.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately return to the city, spending a bit more time on his three lotuses and checking for any changes. The most prevalent change that he noticed was his Qi. His Qi had previously been similar to a light fog, but now it had become thick and viscous, almost like blood. As it flowed through his body, it felt purer and stronger than before, slightly nurturing his body and soul, increasing not only his vitality but also his life force, increasing his lifespan.


    Since his Qi was now purer and stronger, he had to only use a fraction of the Qi he had needed to use to produce certain results earlier. His law of time for example, before he broke through, he could double the speed of time around him and keep it active for half an hour. But now? Now he could at least quadruple the speed of time in a one-meter circle around him, even keeping it active for around two hours before he had to restore his energy.


    That meant that as long as no one else entered that one-meter circle, forcing his Qi to act on their time as well, he could turn two hours of cultivation into eight hours, a very good increase for him. After ascertaining the effects of his increased cultivation, Liang Chen returned to Mirror Lake city and waited out the last few days before the caravan left.


    He joined the caravan and started making his way through the Crimson Desert nation, which was a very arid nation that was practically just one large desert. The sand was crimson in color, releasing such a large amount of heat that normal mortals were unable to step on it. They were forced to use a special type of cloth, a cloth that was woven from the silk of a weak race of Demonic beasts that was known as Glacial Silkworms, that they covered their bodies with, as well as covering the bodies of their steeds.


    The cities of this nation were either located around some of the spread oases or inside the valleys located between some large mountains, using the looming shadows to cool the blazing sand.


    Despite the fact that traveling through this nation was more troublesome than traveling through the Horizon Plain nation was, this nation was much smaller, so it only took Liang Chen one month to reach the edge of this Crimson Desert nation and arrive at the Whitefall nation.


    Whitefall nation received its name from its national sight, a mountain that went straight up and pierced into the clouds like a spear, a massive waterfall cascading down the side of the mountain. But this waterfall fell very slowly and gently, and the water was completely white, like milk. The legends said that this mountain was where the grand Argent Spear had met his end, allowing his spear to pierce the heavens one final time before he died, his blood cascaded down the side of the spear, allowing it to nourish the land of his birth.


    Of course, whether or not this legend was true was unknown, as this mountain had stood here for as long as people could remember. Liang Chen continued to hitch a ride with several caravans, reaching the eastern end of the nation after 11 days, arriving at his goal, Myriad Flowers Valley.


    Just as the name suggested, this city was located in a very deep and very long valley that stretched far into the distance. But the valley wasn''t arid and desolate, it was lush and filled with blooming flowers. A soft breeze blew through the entire valley, bringing along the fragrance of flowers as it gently brushed past all the living beings in the valley.


    Myriad Flowers Valley was located at the center of this valley, surrounded by all sorts of brilliant colors and delicate fragrances. The city seemed to be located in a safe location, as it didn''t even have a defensive wall surrounding it, it was completely open to the outside world. The buildings in the city were all built using earth, flowers growing out from the walls and the roofs, causing the city to almost blend in with the rest of the valley. Were it not for the paved roads covered in gray stone, it would be hard to even spot the city and know where one could walk.


    Liang Chen entered the city, asking some of the people he saw on the streets about the various families that he was looking for. After asking for some directions, he quickly reached a rather large building that consisted of several long and thing buildings that were connected together to form a large square with an open space in the middle.


    This was the Dancing Flowers sect, the small sect that the deceased Xin Yating had been a part of. He told a young male disciple that was just about to enter the sect why he was here, the face of the disciple quickly turning pale. He ran into the sect, quickly returning with two people, a man and a woman, both who were reaching their late sixties.


    The man had short black hair that was slowly turning gray, while the woman had rather long azure hair that was starting to turn gray. Both of them were at the middle stage of the Houtian Tower realm, so despite reaching their late sixties, their backs were still completely straight. But as they looked at the necklace that Liang Chen handed them, a necklace in the shape of a purple flower, their faces lost all color, their eyes turning red as tears started to run down their cheeks. The man''s voice was hoarse, but he still managed to speak out in a low voice.


    "Could you... Could you tell us how she died?"


    Liang Chen''s eyebrow ticked slightly, a somewhat complex expression appearing on his face. After a short moment of hesitation, he shook his head and spoke out with a sigh.


    "They died undertaking one of the trials of the hidden realm, but they wanted me to deliver their mementos to you."


    Was it better to tell them the truth that he had killed them and let them know who to hate, or was it better to hide the truth so that they wouldn''t grow to hate him, allowing them to believe that they had died because of a trial? Liang Chen couldn''t come up with an answer to this question, couldn''t figure out which one of the two options was better, so he only gave a vague and unsatisfying answer. The man gave a weak nod of his head, hugging his wife.


    "I see, so she really did die in that accursed hidden realm."


    The man raised his head to the sky, tears continuing to run down his cheeks as a very low and soft voice escaped his lips, a voice containing unimaginable grief and loss.


    "You fool... I told you that you shouldn''t go there..."


    The two continued to cry, tightly grasping that necklace, as if the necklace was their dead daughter. The two gave Liang Chen a deep bow, their bodies somewhat unsteady as the man spoke up.


    "Thank you... thank you for being a good friend and delivering her mementos."


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything, he simply turned around and walked away. Liang Chen had killed quite a few people, and he didn''t regret killing a single one of them, as each had come to kill him. But this was the first time Liang Chen saw the consequences of his kills, the first time he saw those who were left alone to grieve the loss. Seeing them reminded him of himself after he lost his parents, and he would be lying if he said it didn''t hurt a little.


    But he wouldn''t change his course, for he believed that he was right, so he would continue to move forward, no matter what sort of ending this path brought him.


    He delivered the rest of the mementos, Lin Chan''s beaded bracelet, Dong Lim''s silver sword, Zhan Huan''s green ring, and Huo De''s yellow ring. Their families reacted much like Xin Yating''s had, grieving their loss and thanking Liang Chen for delivering their mementos. Liang Chen left the city right after delivering all the mementos, a slightly bitter taste in his mouth.


    He hopped right onto a new caravan, leaving the Whitefall nation and returning to the Crimson Desert nation. He couldn''t find his Big Sister Chun, and the parents of Bai Changwu, the third caravan guard who had died while Liang Chen traveled with Yi Huang, were being taken care of by Yi Huang and the others, so he didn''t have to do anything for them. Because of this, it was now time for him to head to the Storm Wolf sect.


    He returned to the Crimson Desert nation, retracing his steps until he reached the center of the nation. Once he reached the center, he hopped on a caravan heading to the west, a caravan that would take him to the very edge of this continent, to the Immortal King''s Ocean.


    The Immortal King''s Ocean was the ocean that covered most of this planet, and according to the legends, it got its name because there was apparently a monstrous king living at the bottom of the ocean, ruling over every inch of it. Of course, this was just a legend Liang Chen heard as a child, whether or not it was true was unknown.


    One and a half month after leaving Myriad Flowers Valley, Liang Chen reached the western end of the Crimson Desert nation. The western end of the nation was a massive beach, a deep blue sea spreading out as far as he could see. There was a single city standing on the massive beach, Rose Reef city, the city connecting this continent to the island nation known as Floating Rose.


    Liang Chen entered the city, which was built using a type of pink stone that was very common in the vast ocean, it was this stone that had given both the nation and the city the name Rose. He hired the captain of a small ship to ferry him to the Floating Rose nation, setting out before the sun even set.


    The island, which was shaped like the petal of a flower, wasn''t located too far from the shore, so Liang Chen reached it after only six days. He thanked the captain and then entered Rose King city, the capital of Floating Rose and the only other city that the Floating Rose nation had, other than the distant Rose Reef.


    This city was far grander than the other ones that Liang Chen had entered on this long journey that had already taken half a year of his time. Even the smallest building was three stories tall, and almost all the buildings were dark pink in color. And located at the very center of the city stood a large palace, nine spires in nine different colors surrounding the square palace topped with a circular dome. This palace was the largest branch of the Bai clan, the clan that controlled this nation.


    It was also the place one had to go if they wanted to go to the Storm Wolf sect, so Liang Chen headed directly for it. Or rather, he was heading for one of the nine spires, a deep green spire that was engraved with a howling wolf. At the bottom of this spire, in front of a large wooden gate, stood two people clad in cyan armor, a strong fluctuation of energy radiating from their bodies. Once Liang Chen approached them, the two armored men pulled out thick sabers, forming them into a cross in front of the door.


    "Halt! Only members of the Storm Wolf sect are allowed to move past here."


    Their actions didn''t come as a surprise to Liang Chen, who quickly stopped and raised his arms to show that he didn''t hold any hostility. He quickly stated his purpose for coming.


    "I am a member, or at least I am going to be soon. You can send a message that Liang Chen has come to join the Storm Wolf sect."


    Surprisingly enough, after Liang Chen stated his name, the eyebrows of the two armored guards couldn''t help but raise, the both of them giving Liang Chen a deep look. Of course, thanks to their helmets, Liang Chen was unable to see this. One of the guards spoke up after a moment of hesitation, giving a nod of his head.


    "You''re... Liang Chen? Alright, I''ll send the message, please wait here."


    The guard swiped ring that was fitted on his armored glows, taking out a jade slip that was deep green in color. He sent a bit of his Qi into it, transmitting his words alongside the Qi. After waiting for a few minutes, the jade slip lit up with a faint light, a stream of Qi flying out from it and entering the guard. Once the Qi entered his body, the guard gave a nod of his head.


    "Your identity has been confirmed, please follow me."


    Liang Chen followed the guard into the spire, entering a large hall that was completely empty. The floor of the hall was engraved with deep red runes that formed a large formation, a faint sweet smell tickling Liang Chen''s nose, letting him know that these runes were carved using Demonic beast blood. The guard swiped his ring once more, taking out several nearly translucent Spirit Stones and placing them at the edges of the formation. Once he had placed 25 stones the guard stepped back, pointing at the center of the formation.


    "This formation will take you directly to the entrance of the Storm Wolf sect, from there you only have to follow the path."


    Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, stepping into the center of the formation, that was already starting to release a strong light. He looked at the guard, giving him another nod before the guard left the room.


    "Thank you."


    It had already been half a year since he left the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, it was finally time for him to head to the Storm Wolf sect and meet up with Yan Ying and Yan Ling again, it was finally time for him to start stepping onto the grander stage, onto the same stage as Qing Lan Yong. With those thoughts in mind, a silver light flashed in front of Liang Chen''s eyes and he vanished from the Fallen Cloud continent.

 The torn open mountain.

    The silver light only lasted for a short instance, space around him forming a viscous cocoon around him as he was flung through space. Once the light vanished and the cocoon dissipated, Liang Chen found himself standing in a small clearing, surrounded by tall trees that had gnarly white bark and leaves like needles. The trees weren''t as tall as the ones in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but they were all still around 100 meters high.


    Liang Chen gave the surroundings a quick sweep, taking in the sights. The earth beneath him was rather soft and somewhat moist, but the strange formation that was carved in the ground beneath him didn''t seem to be affected by this. Cutting through the forest ahead of him was a small path that was so narrow that it only had space for a single person.


    The path led into the distance, through the forest and to a massive mountain located ahead of him. The mountain was far taller than anything Liang Chen had ever seen before, easily hundreds of kilometers tall and thousands of kilometers wide, completely dominating his vision. The mountain wasn''t barren, trees and colorful plants that Liang Chen had never seen before covering almost every inch of the mountain.


    But something he found even more shocking was how the mountain was split open. The mountain was split open diagonally, as if a massive sword had tried to slice the mountain in twain but failed. Because of this, there was a gargantuan valley that split the peak of the mountain in two and then continued down the entire mountainside, forming a diagonal valley one had to ascend if they wished to reach either of the mountain peaks.


    Located at the two peaks of the mountain were two large palaces, one surrounded by six spires and one surrounded by three spires. There was nothing else around him, so Liang Chen guessed that this massive mountain was where the Storm Wolf sect was located.


    Liang Chen calmly started to follow the narrow path, vigilantly surveying his surroundings as he moved, not allowing the slightest hint of life or movements to escape his notice. The path through the forest wasn''t too long, so after walking for a little over two hours, Liang Chen left the forest and arrived at the foot of the mountain.


    He gazed up at the mountain, his gaze landing on the gargantuan valley that went diagonally up the mountain. While most of the valley was overgrown with plants, a strange silver light occasionally peeking out from beneath the grass, the most distant part of the valley, the part that was closest to the two palaces, had buildings carved into the sides of the valley, showing that there were clearly people living there. The narrow path he took out from the forest continued up the valley, so it was clear that he had to continue following it.


    Liang Chen once again swept the surroundings with a quick glance, but there weren''t any people, or any other living beings for that matter, in the area. For a sect as large as this to not have any living beings in the area was something Liang Chen found strange, so his vigilance quickly rose, his right hand opening slightly, staying on the ready in case he needed to bring out his spear.


    His eyes narrowed as the viscous Qi within his body started to speed up, ready to burst out at a moment''s notice. He slowly started to make his way up the diagonal valley, his narrowed gaze slowly sweeping over his surroundings. If there was one thing he had learned after getting in contact with the cultivation world, it was that one could never be careful enough when it came to surviving in this cruel world. After all, you only had the one life, you had to take care of it.


    He continued to make his way through the valley, following the narrow path with slow and careful steps. Because of his vigilance, Liang Chen didn''t even use any of his Qi to increase his speed like he normally did, causing his speed to drop by quite a bit. Because of this, even after he spent six hours walking, he hadn''t even reached the halfway point of the valley, still far away from where there were signs of people living.


    But Liang Chen was both patient and determined, so his vigilance hadn''t dropped the slightest, not even after the six uneventful hours. And it was because his vigilance hadn''t dropped in the slightest that he was able to react the moment the earth around him burst open.


    The ground around the path exploded outwards, around 20 people jumping out from the earth. The people were all clad in brown robes and wore masks that looked like red-skinned demons with four tusks growing out of their maw. Of the 20 people, half had reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, while the other half had reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    Half the group was surrounded by a stream of brown energy, while the other half was surrounded by a stream of green energy. Liang Chen recognized the first stream as Qi of the earth element, while the other was Qi of the wood element, two elements that completely countered his lightning element. He immediately understood that this was how they had managed to avoid his senses, preventing him from sensing the electricity in their bodies.


    He made a mental note to keep this in mind for the future, maybe even try to work on creating another technique to scan his surroundings as a counter-measure. But despite the fact that he was scanning the group and making this mental note at the same time, he didn''t forget to spring into action.


    His ashen spear appeared in his right hand, the handle scorched and distorted from having to endure the high heat of his lightning. All his Qi instantly burst out, blowing away all the dust and loose earth that now flew through the air after the ground burst open. Azure lightning and violet dust started to dance around him, a horrendous bloodlust covering the group of people around him.


    This bloodlust was something that had grown naturally inside Liang Chen after having gone through so many battles and killed so many people. Even if he didn''t intend to kill the people he was fighting, this bloodlust would instinctually come out. If he was trying to kill them, his bloodlust would turn into killing intent, instilling instinctual fear in opponents weaker than him.


    But even then, Liang Chen''s bloodlust was already plenty terrifying. He had the bloodline of the Heaven Devouring Dragon, a true Origin Beast that was born alongside an entire universe, and he had killed very many people, despite his short cultivation time.


    It might not do much against others at his level, but the 20 people around him actually froze up because of the bloodlust, showing that they didn''t have much experience with actual battles. Liang Chen took a step forward, piercing out with his spear once. He then took another step forward and pierced out with his spear again, a low voice resounding within his heart.


    "First step shatters the body."


    Surrounded by 20 people who had a cultivation that was either at his level or higher, Liang Chen did not dare hold too much back. The only thing he held back was his bloodline, not activating it. Using the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps was not enough for others to figure out that he had the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, as it was only a technique, there could be many others that were very similar. But the moment he activated his bloodline, anyone who knew about the Sebettu would instantly learn of his bloodline and his race.


    But just as his attack was about to launch, he noticed that the body shape of one of his assailants looked oddly familiar. His expression immediately distorted as he tensed all the muscles in his right arm, forcing his attack to changed direction, aiming it directly into the sky.


    A thick bolt of azure lightning that had a deep violet and highly poisonous coating around the tip roared out from the tip of his spear, sounding like a dragon as it shot into the sky, creating a loud boom as it shattered the sound barrier and unleashed a shockwave that just barely missed the surrounding people, who were now almost completely frozen in fear and shock.


    The force of the attack, plus the fact that he had to forcibly change the direction of his spear, proved too much for his already weakened spear, as it exploded in his hand, sending wooden and silver shrapnel flying through the area.


    Luckily, Liang Chen had started his training of the Lightning God Physique with the bone marrow in his right hand. Even though it was only his bone marrow that was strengthened, the blood that this new bone marrow produced served to slowly strengthen the rest of his body, familiarizing it with the technique. Because of this, his hand didn''t get mangled from the shrapnel that his spear turned into.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the familiar shape, which was now trying to scurry away and hide behind the other masked people. Liang Chen clenched his hand, his Qi mixing with the air in the area, stopping the time of the air. It was not realistic for him to be able to stop the time of these 20 people, all who were at his cultivation level or higher. But if it was just stopping the time of the air around them, that was something he could do.


    They would be able to break that stopped time by applying enough force, but it would take them about one second or so. And for Liang Chen to cross the necessary distance, about five meters, one second was far more than he needed.


    He took a step forward, the earth beneath his foot cracking as azure lightning danced around him, leaving a blue trail behind him as he turned into a blur. He instantly shot past the figures in front of him, arriving at the side of the familiar person, stopping the time of the air beneath his feet, allowing him to stand in the air. He stretched out an arm and grabbed onto the person''s neck, lifting them up and using his other hand to rap them on the head, causing a low yelping to escape that person''s lips.


    "Au!"


    Liang Chen ignored the exclamation, continuing to rap the person on the head with his knuckles, causing them to produce more yelping sounds. The 19 other people, who had by now already broken free of the frozen air around them, couldn''t help but stop when they saw this scene, completely dumbfounded. Liang Chen rapped the person on the head a few more times before finally stopping, removing the person''s mask and letting out a sigh.


    "Yan Ling, you are an idiot."


    With the mask removed, Yan Ling''s grimacing face was revealed. With Liang Chen lifting her up by the neck, Yan Ling couldn''t even escape, all she could do was curl up and use both of her hands to cover her face, scowling at Liang Chen and letting out an unsatisfied exclamation.


    "Can''t you handle a prank, Little Freak? Is there really a need to handle me this roughly, I''m a delicate girl you know!?"


    Noticing that he wasn''t going to rap her on the head anymore, Yan Ling stopped shielding her head, continuing to scowl at Liang Chen, who responded by raising an eyebrow and looking her up and down.


    "Delicate girl? I remember you handling me pretty roughly while we were in the hidden realm, throwing me around like a ragdoll."


    Back when they first met, she threw him around without regard, she didn''t even use any wind to slow down his speed. Also, comparing his current treatment of her with the fact that she might have died if he hadn''t changed the direction of his attack, he found that he was being gentle enough. Yan Ling seemed to take offense to how he looked at her, clearly mocking her statement of being a delicate girl.


    "But I was very gentle as I did it! You didn''t receive a single injury or experience any pain, did you?"


    Yan Ling puffed out her cheeks, seemingly pouting in a strange fashion. Looking at her, Liang Chen lost all will to argue, slightly loosening his hand, but not letting her go or lowering her, and letting out a sigh as he glanced at the 19 other people.


    "Ha~ah. So what''s the deal here?"


    The other people jumped slightly when Liang Chen''s gaze landed on them, clearly remembering his bloodlust and that final attack he had launched. Coupled with the strange way he had frozen the air around them, none of them managed to muster the courage to stand against him. Yan Ling puffed out her chest as best she could, letting out a proud harumph.


    "I told you, didn''t I? Once we return to the headquarters of the sect, I would show you how many people are dying to receive my praise."


    Liang Chen thought back a bit and did indeed remember her saying something similar to him after he woke up from his unconscious state after killing Liu Daning. A somewhat strange expression, a mixture between amusement and dumbfoundedness, arose on his face as he raised an eyebrow at the other people.


    "So these people...?"


    Were all these people really that eager to receive her praise, that they were willing to even do something like this? Yan Ling pushed her somewhat pitiable chest even further, doing her best to straighten her back, but as Liang Chen was still lifting her up off the ground, it only looked strange. She let out another proud harumph, a victorious expression her face.


    "All wanted to receive my praise, so they agreed to this prank!"


    Liang Chen couldn''t see the expressions of the 19 people, but looking at how they lowered their heads slightly, it was clear to him that having Yan Ling state it so loudly was somewhat embarrassing to them. Liang Chen didn''t comment on their states, once again looking Yan Ling up and down, giving a light chuckle.


    "You''re tone is strangely proud considering the position you are in."


    Liang Chen was standing in the air and holding onto Yan Ling''s neck, her legs dangling loosely in the air above the ground. For her to try to look proud and victorious in this situation could only be called comical. Yan Ling''s expression distorted slightly, she quickly reached out with her arms, grabbing at Liang Chen''s wrist in an attempt to loosen his grip.


    "Geh, you didn''t have to mention it, now let me down!"


    Liang Chen ignored her grasping at his wrist, continuing to chuckle lightly, moving his arm slightly, causing Yan Ling''s body to sway around in the air.


    "That depends, are you going to assault me again?"


    Yan Ling continued to grasp at Liang Chen''s wrist, trying to get him to stop the swaying. But even then, she still puffed out her cheeks, maintaining her previous statement.


    "It wasn''t an assault, it was a prank."


    After she puffed up her cheeks and spoke up, she glanced at Liang Chen for a quick second, the air in her cheeks vanishing as she whispered to herself in a low and nearly inaudible voice.


    "But who could have thought that the Little Freak would get even freakier after just half a year."


    She really couldn''t understand it. Last time she had seen Liang Chen, he had destroyed his own Ascended Tower and was forced to dope himself with Demonic beast blood to take care of their attackers. And now, after only half a year, his cultivation had grown much stronger, his strength increased by quite a bit. Truly someone worthy of the name Little Freak


    Liang Chen undid the frozen time beneath his feet, dropping to the ground and letting go of Yan Ling''s neck, who proceeded to stand up and act as if nothing had happened, guiding Liang Chen up the valley, leaving the other 19 people to follow them with lowered heads.


    While Yan Ling was guiding Liang Chen, Yan Ying and an unfamiliar middle-aged man were sitting in a small room that was decorated quite cozily. There was an ornate fireplace with a coiled dragon engraved on the mantle taking up most of the eastern wall of the room, while a small table covered in a fine white cloth was placed at the center of the room.


    There weren''t any chairs around the table, as it was designed so that people could sit on the ground with crossed legs around it. A clay pot filled with tea stood at the center of the table, Yan Ying and the unfamiliar middle-aged man, Yan Wuhan, sitting around the table, each one holding a clay cup and sipping the sweet tea.


    Yan Wuhan was rather tall and had strong features, eyebrows that slanted upwards and seemed to be as sharp as swords, his silver eyes shone like moons in the night, and his somewhat short hair was neatly slicked backward. Floating in the air in front of the two of them was a thin silver screen that was depicting Yan Ling and Liang Chen, as well as what had just happened. Looking at the two, Yan Wuhuan let out a somewhat exasperated sigh.


    "It seems like it was a good thing that you warned me about what she was doing."


    The two of them had been sitting here and watching what had happened, starting to observe before Liang Chen even started walking up the valley. Yan Ying also let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head.


    "I told you that you should have stopped her."


    He could be said to have a rudimentary understanding of Liang Chen, so he knew that if Yan Ling went through with her plan, there was a chance that someone might get hurt if Liang Chen acted on instinct. Yan Ying honestly wasn''t confident that he could properly protect 20 people from Liang Chen''s instinctual attack, so he had gone to his father and asked him to interfere. Yan Wuhan looked at Liang Chen, who was now walking and chatting with Yan Ling, chuckling lightly, an interested light flashing past his eyes.


    "But this turned out to be a good chance to test him, didn''t it? It also showed his strength to the other disciples, reducing the amount of trouble he''ll experience in the future. He''s quite an interesting kid."


    It was better for Liang Chen to show off his might and establish something of a position now, rather than trying to lay low. This was mainly because of the fact that both Yan Ying and Yan Ling had spoken rather highly of Liang Chen after they returned to the sect, causing quite a few people, both men and women, to grow jealous of him. Showing off some might now should prevent others from constantly seeking trouble with him.


    A short silence descended upon the two, who both continued to watch Liang Chen and Yan Ling. After sipping some more tea, Yan Ying broke the silence.


    "Father...That last attack?"


    When he saw that azure lightning bolt tipped with a coating of poison, even Yan Ying had to admit that he was astonished at the might of the attack. Just how had Liang Chen managed to produce such a strong attack without using his crimson lightning? But contrary to the explanation he expected, Yan Wuhan simply shook his head.


    "I have no idea what it was, but it seemed to be a type of technique, a rather terrifying one even. Had he not changed the direction, it should carry enough force to kill at least half of the attackers, shocking the other half for long enough to give him a chance to either flee or kill them."


    Of course, with Yan Wuhan keeping watch, even if Liang Chen had been unable to change the direction of the attack, he would have interfered and blocked it. There was no way he would let the disciples of his sect be killed while inside their own headquarters. Yan Wuhan continued to look at Liang Chen, the light of interest continuing to flash in his eyes as he chuckled lightly.


    "Heh, it seems like you brought back quite a good seedling after you left that hidden realm."

 Storm Hall, Wolf Hall.

    Yan Ling perfectly acted as if nothing had happened, her face perfectly calm and normal as she guided Liang Chen through the valley. While guiding him, she didn''t notice that Liang Chen''s eyes were flickering from time to time, a strange light flashing past them as his mind moved.


    His body was now strong enough to handle the azure lightning, something he had proven during that split second where he thought he was ambushed. This meant that his golden lightning was now practically useless to him, but it didn''t mean that his lightning lotus stopped producing this golden lightning.


    So even though he wouldn''t use it, he would always have that golden lightning available. This golden lightning was the first lightning that Liang Chen had ever acquired, so simply abandoning it felt somewhat wrong to him. And it was this thought that spawned a strange idea in his mind. Could he fuse different types of lightning together? What would happen if he were to fuse the azure and golden lightning together, would it become an even stronger type of lightning?


    Of course, even while this thought was racing through Liang Chen''s mind, trying to figure out how to perfectly fuse the two different types of lightning, a part of his mind was still focusing on Yan Ling. So as Yan Ling pointed out the various places hidden along the sides of the valley, he made sure to memorize them all.


    "Alright, so that place over there is where most of the disciples live. Don''t judge it by how it looks, there is, in fact, a small hidden realm located behind each door, so there is plenty of space."


    The place Yan Ling was pointing at was a part of the valley where a large number of cyan colored doors were placed into the left valley wall. Some of the doors were high above the ground, so stairs had been carved into the side of the valley. Liang Chen hadn''t noticed these doors or stairs when he first entered the valley, as they were very well hidden by the greenery.


    "That place over there leads to most of the different training grounds, well, the Storm Hall training grounds at least. There''s a whole load of different training grounds, so you''ll never get bored if you go there."


    This time, Yan Ling pointed at the right valley wall, showing that there were several deep tunnels dug into the valley. Liang Chen couldn''t see where they led, but he could feel a strange type of energy radiate out from each tunnel. The energy was similar to the energy he felt in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, whenever they were teleported around by spatial arrays, so he guessed that there might be spatial arrays at the end of the tunnels.


    "And over there, that big ugly spire thing, that''s where you''ll find most of the techniques that the disciples can learn. You''ll need contribution points to buy things, but a freak like you shouldn''t have any problem getting any."


    The spire she pointed at was one of the spires that surrounded the palace that only had three towers. It was dark blue in color and looked like a somewhat crooked horn that pierced into the clouds, the tip vanishing from sight. Liang Chen temporarily stopped thinking about the lightning fusion, glancing at the 19 people who were still following behind them.


    "Yan Ling, Wh-"


    Before Liang Chen got to finish his sentence, he was stopped by Yan Ling, who pointed her delicate finger directly into his face, a superior expression on her face.


    "That''s Senior Sister Ling to you, I am your senior after all."


    Liang Chen did his best to stifle the laughter that threatened to swell up, his lips twitching slightly as he looked Yan Ling up and down. She puffed out her pitiable chest, a superior and victorious expression on her face as she slightly wagged her finger in his face. No matter how he looked at it, she looked nothing like a senior. He scoffed lightly, using his thumb to point over his shoulder.


    "Yeah, no, maybe when you act like it. So what are you going to do about those fellows?"


    The 19 people, who were still following them, jumped slightly after being addressed. They had been thoroughly frightened by Liang Chen and his bloodlust, so even though he didn''t release any now, they still jumped whenever he even glanced at them.


    Yan Ling''s eyes landed on them, a surprised and somewhat embarrassed light flashing in them. Seeing this light, Liang Chen immediately understood the situation. She had completely forgotten about them. Yan Ling quickly hid away the embarrassment, letting out a light snort and shooing the people away.


    "Oh, you are still following us? You should be ashamed of yourselves, you were completely beaten by a kid with lower cultivation than you!"


    The 19 people instantly lowered their heads even further, filled with shame and indignation. Beaten by a kid with lower cultivation? Was it their fault that Liang Chen turned out to be such a freak? But just after Yan Ling''s words sounded out, a fist hit her on the top of her head, causing her to let out a yelp.


    "Au!"


    Yan Ling crouched down, covering her head with her two hands and glaring at Liang Chen, looking like she wanted to jump up and take a bite out of him. Liang Chen ignored her gaze, reprimanding her slightly.


    "Don''t act like that. They came on your orders, so the least you can do is thank them. And also, I recall a certain someone being beaten just as easily."


    Yan Ling stood up after making sure that Liang Chen wasn''t going to rap her on he head again. But strangely enough, rather than shirk back after having Liang Chen point out that she had been beaten just as easily, she simply clicked her tongue in an indignant manner, throwing her head to the side as if she was pouting.


    "Tch, that''s only because you had a higher cultivation than me, you practically bullied me. Just wait until I tell Big Brother and have him beat you."


    Liang Chen once again found his lips twitching, stuck between laughter and tears. She had brought 19 others to ambush him in a prank, and he was the one who was bullying her? Liang Chen had spent a bit of time with Yan Ling in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but it was only now he learned just how thick her skin was, how shameless she could be.


    Liang Chen decided that the best response was to give no response, only raising an eyebrow and pointing at the 19 people with his thumb. Yan Ling clicked her tongue, but she still turned towards the other people and cupped her hands, thanking them with a smile as well.


    "Thank you for listening to me and following me on this failed prank. I''ll make sure to call upon you once I figure out a new prank."


    This time it wasn''t only Liang Chen, even the others felt their lips twitch. Call them again once she came up with a new prank? She was going to continue trying to prank Liang Chen? But the others were still sensible people, quickly cupping their hands in return and then swiftly retreating, finally freed. Once they left, Yan Ling turned back to Liang Chen.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "There, happy?"


    Liang Chen found that Yan Ling for some reason wore a proud expression, as if she was showing off that she knew how to properly thank others. It was one of those situations where if you mention it, you lose, so Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders.


    "It''s better than the scolding at least."


    Yan Ling continued to guide Liang Chen through the valley, the two swiftly approaching the inner parts of the valley. As they moved, Liang Chen started to spot a few disciples walking around, moving from one door carved in the valley to another one. They cast him a cursory glance, a bit surprised when they saw him walking with Yan Ling, but then quickly returned to their own business.


    After a bit more walking, they reached the deepest part of the valley, where instead of doors being carved into the valley, entire buildings were built. The buildings were truly grand, made with stones and metals that came in all kinds of colors, or made with old wood that released a calming fragrance. As they were about to walk a bit more, an old voice interrupted them.


    "You were supposed to go greet the newcomer, so how come it took you so long to get here?"


    The earth in front of them started to tremble slightly, a two-meter tall human figure rising up from the earth. The figure shed the layer of earth surrounding it, revealing a muscular old man who had a long white beard that went all the way down to his waist. His head was bald but polished to a point where it reflected the light of the sun. He had deep blue eyes, and looking into them, Liang Chen felt like he was facing the vast ocean.


    Yan Ling''s face brightened when she saw the old man, quickly skipping forward and wrapping her arms around his right arm. She pointed at Liang Chen, stealthily sticking her tongue out at him.


    "Uncle Guanyu! It only took so long because he walks so slow! It was like I was trying to herd a Cloud Bison, it was awful!"


    Liang Chen found his lips twitch once again. In the few hours he had been at this Storm Wolf Sect, he had felt his lips twitch more than they had ever done before in his life. The old man Guanyu raised an eyebrow, casting a deep look at Yan Ling, a faint smile at the edge of his lips.


    "Oh? Is that what it was? Are you certain it wasn''t because a certain someone wanted to play around, like say, by ambushing someone?"


    Despite Guanyu practically stating that he knew the truth, Yan Ling still acted like nothing. She put on a serious expression and gave a heavy nod of her head.


    "100% certain!"


    Liang Chen could only look at Yan Ling in amazement, it seemed like her skin was far thicker than he had given her credit for just earlier. Was this still in the realm of shameless, or had it transcended it? Guanyu raised his arm and rapped Yan Ling on the head, causing her to yelp, but he simply ignored it and turned to Liang Chen.


    "Please forgive her, she lacks a bit of common sense. And as you can see, her skin is of extraordinary thickness."


    Guanyu could only shake his head with a slightly bitter smile, placing his large and rugged hand on Yan Ling''s head and giving it a few rubs. Yan Ling had been sheltered as the clan princess for quite some time, so even with her getting the chance to go out and explore the world a little, she was still shameless and still lacked some common sense. Liang Chen could only copy Guanyu''s actions, shaking his head with a wry smile.


    "It''s fine, I''ve already gotten used to her antics."


    During their first meeting, Yan Ling had thrown Liang Chen around like a ragdoll, and during their following days together, he had spent quite some time with her, so he had something of an understanding of her personality. Guanyu stopped rubbing Yan Ling''s head, giving a slight nod.


    "That''s good then. Has she told you how this sect is structured?"


    He asked the question casually, but when he saw Liang Chen shake his head, Guanyu''s eyes landed on Yan Ling. When she felt his gaze land on her, Yan Ling quickly put on an embarrassed smile, letting out an awkward chuckle, causing Guanyu to let out a deep sigh.


    "Ha~ah, you girl."


    Guanyu could only shake his head once again, causing Liang Chen to slightly sympathize with the man, he must have had it hard with Yan Ling for quite some time already. Guanyu stopped shaking his head and looked at Liang Chen, giving a quick explanation of the sect and how it was set up.


    "The Storm Wolf sect is divided into two different halls, the Storm Hall and the Wolf Hall. The Storm Hall is for those who wish to learn more about energy cultivation, while the Wolf Hall is for those who wish to learn more about body cultivation. But don''t worry too much about the choice, even if you were to become a member of Storm Hall, you would still be allowed to learn most of the skills from the Wolf Hall. Only the most supreme techniques are restricted, as they have very stringent requirements for how they are cultivated. Other than this, which hall you join only affects which side you will be on during the regular competitions hosted in the sect."


    Liang Chen didn''t find it strange that some supreme techniques were restricted. Take his Dragon Lord''s Three Steps for example. It could only be cultivated by someone who had a strong body, as they would otherwise be torn apart by the force. If it were to be handed to someone without a strong body, he might be so enticed by the description of the technique that he would ignore the danger and practice it anyway. Liang Chen gave it some thought, but he quickly decided on which hall he would join.


    "I see, then I would like to join the Wolf Hall."


    Guanyu didn''t say anything about Liang Chen''s choice, as everyone was free to choose what they wanted to cultivate. He simply gave a nod of his head and turned around, waving at Liang Chen to follow him.


    "Very well, please follow me, I will take you to meet the other elders and to finish up the sect joining procedure."


    Liang Chen quickly started to follow Guanyu, who was heading towards one of the two main palaces, the one that had three spires surrounding it. While they were walking, Yan Ling slipped away from Guanyu and moved over to Liang Chen''s side, whispering to him.


    "Why would you join Wolf Hall rather than the Storm Hall? Do you even know anything about body cultivation?"


    She had seen Liang Chen''s accomplishment in energy cultivation. In just half a year, he had managed to go from having no cultivation after shattering his Ascended Tower to reaching the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. In comparison to this, she had never seen him train his body before.


    Most people focused on either cultivating energy, body, or soul, maybe picking up a second cultivation system when they grew older and it was hard to make any new breakthroughs. The reason for this was simple, they didn''t have enough time to cultivate more than one system. Every second they spent cultivating their body was a second not spent cultivating their energy and increasing their cultivation.


    Liang Chen didn''t deny Yan Ling''s words, shrugging his shoulders casually.


    "Not a lot, which is exactly why I want to join the Wolf Hall."


    Liang Chen had a lot of information about how to cultivate energy thanks to the information he got from his birth parents. In comparison, he knew next to nothing about body or soul cultivation. The only thing he knew about body cultivation was the fragment of the Ocean God Physique, and all he knew about soul cultivation was the Bloody Soul Sea technique that was inborn to every Sebettu. So joining the Wolf Hall would allow him to learn more about body cultivation, making it easier for him to cultivate his Lightning God Physique.


    Liang Chen also wasn''t worried about not having enough time to cultivate all three systems, his energy, his body, and his soul. After all, thanks to his law of time, he did not lack time to cultivate, he only lacked resources.


    Yan Ling didn''t pursue it further, seemingly trusting Liang Chen''s choice. But she seemed to suddenly think of something, snickering as she brandished her fists.


    "Heh, well I''m a member of the Storm Hall, so you better pray that you don''t encounter me during the next competition, or I''ll beat you black and blue."


    The two halls had frequent competitions to compare the strength of the disciples, allowing everyone to get some battle experience and earn some rewards. With Liang Chen in Wolf Hall and Yan Ling in Storm Hall, it was obvious that they would end up on opposing sides in the upcoming contests.


    Facing her brandished fists, Liang Chen let out a light chuckle, raising an eyebrow.


    "Beat me black and blue? You, who can''t even escape my grasp?"


    After his words rang out, his arm shot out like lightning, grabbing on to Yan Ling''s neck and lifting her up once more, just like he had done earlier. As they continued to move towards the distant palace, the loud voice of Yan Ling echoed through the valley.


    "Bullying! That''s only because you are bullying me with your higher cultivation! Just you wait until I reach the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, I''ll show you a thing or two!"

 Top disciples.

    Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Guanyu were quickly approaching the palace surrounded by three spires, Liang Chen spotting more and more disciples as they approached the palace. All of the disciples he saw were clad in the same cyan robes that Liang Chen had seen Yan Ying and the others wear when he first saw them in the hidden realm, so it seemed like those robes were the official robes of the sect.


    While they were walking, Guanyu suddenly glanced over at Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who were chatting quietly while walking.


    "Alright, Little Girl, it''s about time for you to scurry off. That old thing is looking for you, so if you stay here any longer, old hag Guiying is going to start shrieking and cause troubles."


    Liang Chen didn''t know who this Guiying was, but the moment Yan Ling heard her name, her lips started to twitch. She quickly looked up at Guanyu with imploring, nearly begging eyes.


    "Can''t you hide me? She''s just going to scold me!"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise his eyebrow in interest. Just who was this Guiying, to even cause the thick-skinned Yan Ling to shrink back? But sadly, Yan Ling''s puppy eyes didn''t work on Guanyu, who simply gave her a heavy pat on the head, looking at her with somewhat pitying eyes.


    "She is going to help teach you, not scold you. So go be a good girl before she howls my ears off."


    Yan Ling understood that there was no help to get from Guanyu, he was intending to throw her to the wolves. She could only click her tongue and step back, puffing out her chest and acting like a good Senior Sister as she gave Liang Chen a reminder.


    "Tch, fine. Little Freak, if anyone tries to bully you, just come tell me about it, I''ll show them what happens when they bully my target."


    Liang Chen wanted to comment on the fact that she had designated him as her ''target'', likely for her pranks, but he felt that if he mentioned it, he would lose, so he nodded his head and held his tongue.


    Guanyu and Liang Chen watched Yan Ling leave, heading for the palace surrounded by six spires, dragging her feet in an unwilling manner. Once she was out of sight, Guanyu pat Liang Chen on the shoulder and pointed at the nearby palace with his thumb.


    "Alright, now that the thick-skinned princess is gone, let us finish up this sect joining procedure and introduce you to the people you can look for when you encounter any problems with your cultivation."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and continued to follow Guanyu, the two quickly arriving in front of the palace. The palace was a dark green in color and looked like a square building topped with a large dome. Of the three spires that surrounded it, one was silver in color and resembled a spear, one was dark blue and looked like a crooked horn, and the final one was cyan in color and resembled a tall pagoda.


    Standing in front of the palace, on a square stage made of sand, stood six other people. Three of the people were elders, two women and one man, while the other three people were youths, two men and one woman. The two reached the six others, Guanyu stepping in front of them and producing an orb made from green jade, holding it in front of Liang Chen.


    "Drip your blood on this piece of jade and then insert a small amount of your Qi."


    Liang Chen did as he was told, the orb of jade splitting into two half-moons. One piece sank into Liang Chen''s chest, fusing with his body, while the other half shot through the air and vanished into the distance, heading for the other palace. Guanyu gave a slight nod as he watched the jade vanish, explaining its purposes.


    "With our half, we can register your contribution points as well as ascertain whether or not you are alive or dead. Your part of the jade can be used by you to check your contribution points, to send an emergency message to the sect, and it will allow others to know that you are a member of our sect."


    Liang Chen didn''t check if he had any contribution points, but after the piece of jade entered his body, he became able to sense a faint energy that radiated from the chests of Guanyu and the six other people. Guanyu clapped his hands, giving a quick introduction of himself.


    "Alright, now with the formalities out of the way, let me introduce a few people to you. Just like the girlie said, I am Guanyu. No family name, just Guanyu. My official position is Third Elder and guardian of the Wolf Hall, but I mostly just lounge around, drinking wine and eating meat, occasionally giving pointers or protecting the sect."


    it was somewhat strange to not have a family name, but Liang Chen had no intention of prying, as the reason behind it might be very personal. After introducing himself, Guanyu pointed at the three elders and introduced them.


    "These old fogies are Meng Na, Xue Ping, and Long Hai, they are the three elders of the Wolf Hall. Meng Na has cultivated the Sunlight Blood technique, Xue Ping has cultivated the Chaotic Flesh technique, and Long Hai has cultivated the Tempest Heart technique, the three supreme techniques of our Wolf Hall."


    Meng Na was a woman who had white hair that was tied into a neat ponytail, eyes as black as the night, surprisingly smooth skin, and a slightly hunched back. Xue Ping was a woman who had a bald head covered in liver spots, a few small wrinkles on her face, and deep green eyes. Long Hai was a man with a face that was nearly covered in wrinkles, short gray hair, and a body that was as straight as a spear, completely covered in muscles. He had an eyepatch over his left eye, but his right eye was similar to Meng Na''s, as black as the night. Guanyu seemed to suddenly realize something, pointing at the three towers standing behind him.


    "Oh yeah, talking about the supreme techniques, that''s what those spires represent. Each spire holds a different supreme technique, reaching the peak of the spire means that you will be allowed to practice the technique. As you can see, our Wolf Hall has three supreme body cultivation techniques, while the Storm Hall has six supreme techniques. But their supreme techniques are mostly just singular attack skills, not like our supreme techniques, which are full-fledged cultivation techniques that contain several different attack and defense skills."A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Liang Chen was rather curious just what it took to be considered a supreme technique by a sect like this, but he knew that Guanyu wasn''t finished talking, so he wisely held his tongue. The next people that Guanyu introduced were the three youths.


    "These three kiddos are the top disciples of our Wolf Hall, Kong Heng, Mao Zexi, and Yao Ming. To become a top disciple of Wolf Hall, you have to gain a certain level of understanding of any of the supreme techniques. So while their ages and strength vary a little, they all know a lot about body cultivation and are the cream of the crop in our Wolf Hall."


    Kong Heng had black hair that was cut short and resembled needles, brown eyes, a somewhat square face, and a muscular body that was very similar to Long Hai''s. Mao Zexi was rather tall and slim, had a buxom figure that was barely hidden by her cyan robe, curly orange hair that hung down a little past her shoulders, and deep blue eyes. Yao Ming looked like the youngest, looking like he was still in his twenties. He had unruly black hair that hung down to his ears, smooth and delicate skin, as well as brown eyes.


    Having a high understanding of a cultivation technique didn''t automatically mean that you had a high cultivation, but all three of the youths in front of Liang Chen had already reached a realm that was even higher than Yan Ying''s. Liang Chen couldn''t sense it clearly, but he guessed that they had likely entered the Primordial Immortal realm. Liang Chen cupped his hands and gave the six people a slight bow, giving a short and polite greeting.


    "Greetings, I am Liang Chen, I look forward to receiving your guidance."


    All these people knew far more about cultivation, especially body cultivation, than Liang Chen. By receiving their guidance, he could shorten the time he himself needed, as well as avoid making any mistakes. The six people returned the greeting, either by cupping their hands or nodding their head.


    After the introductions were over, Guanyu pulled a clay jug out from his interspatial ring, grabbing onto a rope that was tied around the tip. A strong alcoholic scent was released from the bottle, so it was clear that it contained a rather strong alcohol. Guanyu started to sip from the jug, casually walking toward the entrance of the palace.


    "Alright, kiddos, you guide Lil'' Chen around a bit. Tomorrow morning you can bring him to the spires, we''ll check if he has an affinity with one of the supreme techniques, we''ll also take the chance to teach him more about body cultivation at that time."


    Strangely enough, before he even finished his words, he had vanished from sight, but his words still remained. The three elders also vanished during the short moment Liang Chen had followed Guanyu with his eyes, leaving only him and the three top disciples, who quickly bowed in the direction that Guanyu had vanished.


    "As you say, Grand Teacher Guanyu!"


    After finishing their bows, the three youths turned towards Liang Chen, stepping a bit closer. The tall and buxom Mao Zexi sent Liang Chen a charming smile, giving a short nod and pointing at the two men, once again introducing herself and the two others.


    "As Grand Teacher Guanyu said, I am Mao Zexi, this is Junior Brother Heng, and this is Junior Brother Ming. If you encounter any troubles or become confused about your cultivation, you can come to find us for pointers. We spend most of our time cultivating inside the tower that houses our supreme technique."


    To be a member of a sect was the same as joining a family, everyone taking good care of each other. Even though the Storm Wolf sect was divided into two halls, and there was somewhat of a rivalry between the halls, there was no real enmity between the people of the two halls. Because of this, almost all the disciples treated each other very well. After once again introducing their group, Mao Zexi wasted no time.


    "Now then, would you mind if I check your body cultivation foundation?"


    A faint light appeared in the eyes of Mao Zexi and the two others, a mixture of curiosity and battle lust. Their Wolf Hall was quite a bit smaller than the Storm Hall, as body cultivation required far more resources than energy cultivation, so every new disciple they acquired would be another person they could spar with and learn from. Liang Chen didn''t mind the request, giving a nod of his head.


    "Not at all."


    The smile on Mao Zexi''s face grew even brighter, her body taking a step back and holding out her clenched left fist.


    "Thank you, please punch my fist with all your bodily strength."


    Liang Chen also took a step back, allowing him to build momentum for his attack. He then stepped forward and put all his force into his right arm as he punched out, the faint sound of creaking bones sounding out. His fist clashed with Mao Zexi''s, the air between them forcefully pushed away as a loud thud sounded out.


    Mao Zexi stood completely still, but Liang Chen was forced to take three steps back to dissipate the remaining force. His entire fist ached after making contact with Mao Zexi, and even stranger, there was a burning sensation moving up his arm, but it quickly vanished after Mao Zexi unclenched her fist. Mao Zexi looked at her fist, giving a nod with a smile.


    "It seems you have a better foundation than we first thought, your body is surprisingly strong. It seems like we acquired a good seedling this time."


    She didn''t mention it, but the moment her fist made contact with Liang Chen''s a strange tingling sensation appeared in her hand. She crushed it immediately, but she still found it surprising.


    Liang Chen also looked at his fist with some shock. He had used all his force, while Mao Zexi had used none. Had it not been for the fact that all the bone marrow in both of his arms had already been turned into liquid lightning, the new blood slowly strengthening his body, he was certain that his entire arm would have shattered because of that small clash.


    Then again, he also guessed that if Mao Zexi used any energy in that last clash, his arm would have shattered even with the current strength of his body. Hearing the praise from Mao Zexi, the corners of Yao Ming''s mouth raised slightly.


    "Heh, if we can train you up fast enough within the next three months, you might be able to give Junior Brother Tu a good smack."


    Yao Ming chuckled lightly, Kong Heng also giving a slight nod of his head. But Liang Chen was new to this sect and didn''t know all the famous disciples, so he had to ask who they were talking about.


    "Junior Brother Tu? Who is that?"


    For this Junior Brother Tu to be spoken of so highly by these three disciples, it was clear that he should have rather great strength. For Liang Chen to take him on after only three months, wasn''t that a bit too unlikely? Kong Heng seemed to guess at Liang Chen''s thoughts, answering his question.


    "A disciple of Storm Hall. Since they have six supreme techniques, they also have six top disciples. Senior Sister Zexi and I can hold back four of them, while Junior Brother Ming can hold back another, but that still leaves the sixth one, the youngest and weaker Junior Brother Tu, running free. Because of this, as well as the fact that our Wolf Hall is quite a bit smaller than the Storm Hall, we are always at a slight disadvantage whenever we have a group competition, as his Chaotic Oceans technique is hard to deal with if you don''t have the strength of someone at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal real."


    It wasn''t that the Wolf Hall had no one that could deal with Junior Brother Tu, it was just that it was hard to lock him down. And whenever someone tried to deal with him, the other disciples of the Storm Hall would swarm over to defend him, making it even harder to get a hold of him. Kong Heng took a step forward, giving Liang Chen a heavy pat on the shoulder.


    "But don''t take Junior Brother Ming''s words to heart and let them bog you down, just focus on quiet cultivation and let us deal with the top disciples of the Storm Hall."


    Liang Chen had just reached the early stage fo the Heaven''s Gate realm. To ask him to produce the strength of someone at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm was not only unrealistic, but it could also end up stressing him so much that he made mistakes in his cultivation, which was dangerous. Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, and Mao Zexi clapped her hands, tilting her head with a smile.


    "Alright, shall we get this tour underway? We''ll do it like usual, start with the most important place and slowly work our way down."

 Grand tour.

    Liang Chen and the two other men nodded their heads as Mao Zexi''s words, allowing her to take the lead. Liang Chen was unable to tell the actual strength of these three, but looking at how they acted, he guessed that Mao Zexi was the strongest of the three, with Kong Heng being the second strongest, and Yao Ming being the weakest.


    Mao Zexi quickly led the group away from the palace, going back down into the diagonal valley that split the mountain two and separated the two palaces. Instead of going down the valley, Mao Zexi actually led the group further up the valley, past the two palaces and to the other side of the mountain.


    Once they reached the other side of the mountain, the side that had been hidden when Liang Chen first arrived at the foot of the mountain, an arched gate that was made out of cyan colored wood was revealed. The inside of the gate was covered by a silver screen of light, so it seemed like there was a hidden realm located behind the gate.


    The four people entered the gate, a silver light flashing in front of Liang Chen''s eyes and temporarily blinding him. Once the light vanished, he found that they were now standing on a large plain covered in green grass and blooming flowers, as well as a few weeping willow trees.


    Standing a bit in front of the group were six statues, each one depicting a man or a woman that had a grand and heroic bearing, the statues almost seeming lifelike. And spreading out behind these six statues were one-meter high jade rods that were engraved with names. There were so many of these rods that they stretched out as far as the eye could see, vanishing into the distance.


    Mao Zexi and the two other top disciples swept the jade rods and the six statues with their eyes, a respectful light flashing past their eyes. After a short moment of silence, Mao Zexi spoke up.


    "This is the most important place in the sect, the Hero''s Tomb. Any member of the sect that dies, whether it be on a mission or in their sleep, will be buried here so that we will never forget those who fought for our sect."


    Liang Chen looked at the endless amount of jade rods, an astonished expression on his face. These were all graves? Just how old was this sect, for so many disciples to have already died? Mao Zexi stretched out her arm, pointing at the six statues, her voice heavy with reverence.


    "Those statues depict the greatest heroes of the sect. Storm God Yan Yi, The founder of the sect who died during the first war against the Fiendgod sect, carving a path back to the sect for the disciples. Furious Tornado Yan Zedong, died during the third war against the now destroyed Demon''s Fang sect, dragging their sect leader with him to the grave and ending the war. Star Fist Shao Qigang, died protecting the disciples of the sect when the Soaring Cloud continent was facing an invasion from the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, singlehandedly holding back three of their Sovereign God realm cultivators. Impervious Duan Yong, died protecting the entire sect when it was besieged by the Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect, turning his own body into a protective formation that still defends the sect. Wind Empress Yan Cai, protected the sect when this continent was attacked by three rank 9 Demonic beasts, dying as she brought down one of the beasts and forced the two others to flee. Howling Wind Emperor Yan Huang, died in battle against an unknown race that came from a place only known as the Hidden World, but he managed to slay all the attackers before he fell to his wounds."


    Liang Chen almost felt his heart skip a beat when he heard these achievements. Turned his entire body into a massive defensive formation, fought back three Rank 9 Demonic beasts, singlehandedly holding back three people at the Sovereign God realm. Just how mighty were these people when they were alive, just how glorious were they? At the same time, something else also caught Liang Chen''s attention.


    "The people who have the surname Yan, did they all specialize in the law of wind?"


    Of the six people, four had the surname Yan, and each of them had a title that mentioned wind. He also knew that Yan Ling used the law of wind, could it be that it ran in the family? Mao Zexi nodded her head, a wistful sigh escaping her lips as she looked at the statues.


    "Indeed. They failed to awaken their bloodline, but even while dormant, their bloodline gave them great control over the law of wind, making it easy for them to cultivate it."


    Having a bloodline that would help one cultivate was the dream of most cultivators, as it would make things far easier for them. Hearing that the Yan family had a bloodline, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be surprised.


    "They have a bloodline, and such a strong one?"


    It was only after Liang Chen had his bloodline awakened that it started to actually help him cultivate, completing his two lotuses and creating the third one. His body devouring the poison and lightning elements to transform his body to suit those two elements wasn''t thanks to his bloodline, that was just how the body of the Sebettu were. And yet, the bloodline of the Yan family was able to help them cultivate, even when it wasn''t awakened. Just how strong was this bloodline? Kong Heng was the one who responded this time, giving a nod of his head.


    "They do. The founder of the sect, Yan Yi was the child of a human and a Sky Wolf, a Divine beast of the same rank as a True Dragon, making him a member of the demon race. But his father wasn''t just any Sky Wolf, he was a ninth-generation descendant of Star God Sirius. The sect doesn''t have much public information about Star God Sirius, but what little information is public states that he was a Demonic beast following someone known as the Nine Star Demon God, and that he is the progenitor of almost all wolf-type Demonic beasts in this universe. None of Yan Yi''s descendants have been able to awaken their bloodline, causing it to become more and more diluted, but it still helps them a little."


    Kong Heng and the others didn''t know the significance of that one title, but the moment Liang Chen heard it, his breath caught in his throat. The Nine Star Demon God? He was someone who ruled over 9 of the 81 major universes in this multiverse, just how strong was the bloodline of a Demonic beast capable of following him?Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Mao Zexi and the others didn''t notice Liang Chen''s utter shock, Mao Zexi giving a light shake of her head and looking at Liang Chen with a solemn expression.


    "So, now you know why this is the most important place in the sect, as it holds a large portion of our history. Whenever you come here, make sure to show your due respect to those who are resting here."


    Many of the people resting here had fought and died for the sect, none of the disciples would allow anyone to make fun of or disrespect these graves. Liang Chen nodded his head to show his understanding, following Yao Ming and the others as they started to return to the gate that brought them into this hidden realm.


    After leaving the graveyard, Mao Zexi led the group back to the large valley, this time heading down the valley. She continued to lead the group down the valley until she reached the spot where the tunnels leading to the various training grounds were located.


    The tunnels to the training grounds were carved into the right side of the valley, but Mao Zexi brought the group to a large crimson door carved into the left side of the valley. Pushing open the door and entering it brought the group into another hidden realm, one that was filled with the stench of blood.


    Liang Chen once again found himself standing on a large plain, several large holes dug into the ground. Each hole was filled with a bubbling red liquid, several herbs and flowers floating in the liquid. Liang Chen felt his instincts rear their head, telling him that this red liquid was Demonic beast blood that would be very beneficial to him. Mao Zexi didn''t bring the group closer, pointing at the holes filled with blood from their position, which was a short distance away from the closest one.


    "These are what we simply call the Blood Pits. They are filled with Demonic beast blood and various herbs, and an array at the bottom of the pit helps control the amount of energy that the blood releases. By paying contribution points, you can bathe in these pits and use the energy to cultivate your body."


    Liang Chen knew how he could use this blood to cultivate his body, but he was curious how other people did it, so he looked forward to learning more about it the next day. The group quickly left the Blood Pits, Mao Zexi pointing at the tunnels that led to the various training grounds.


    "These are the more standard training grounds, each tunnel leads to a spatial formation that will send you to a prepared training ground. Each training ground specializes in one element, you can see where each tunnel leads by reading the engravings on the tunnel walls. These also cost contribution points, so keep that in mind."


    Yan Ling had already told Liang Chen a little about these training grounds, but Mao Zexi and the others didn''t know about what happened between Liang Chen and Yan Ling after he entered the valley.


    After showing him how the wall of the tunnel was engraved with a sign that indicated which training ground it led to, Mao Zexi led the group further down the valley. This time, she stopped at the part of the valley where the entire left side was filled with cyan colored doors, the living quarters, pointing at them with one hand and tapping Liang Chen''s chest with the other.


    "These are the living quarters, the piece of jade that melted into your chest will point you toward which of the doors leads to your house, so you can just follow it."


    Liang Chen followed her advice, connecting his mind with the jade that had fused with his body. A faint stream of energy suddenly left his body, floating over to one of the cyan doors that was located close to the bottom of the valley wall. After making sure that Liang Chen found his house, Kong Heng and the others led Liang Chen up the valley again, quickly arriving by the second palace, the Storm Hall palace.


    The palace looked the same as the Wolf Hall palace, deep green in color and square in shape, with a large dome covering the top of the building. Standing amidst the six spires that surrounded the palace was a purple pagoda that had six floors. Mao Zexi was about to explain what it was, but was interrupted by Yao Ming, who spoke up faster than her.


    "This is the Myriad Treasures Pagoda, this is where you can spend contribution points to buy various resources or items that you might need. There are people working inside the pagoda, but you can just use the jade given to you earlier to check what the pagoda sells, you can even buy things directly through the jade, only needing to come here to pick up the items after you paid for them. It really is rather convenient when you want to laze around and don''t feel like coming here just to look at their inventory."


    Mao Zexi jabbed Yao Ming in the side with her fingers, but didn''t do anything else as punishment. Liang Chen gazed at the pagoda, curious as to what type of resources and items he could find. His spear had shattered and his bow was in bad shape, so he could use some new weapons soon.


    The group then left the area in front of the pagoda, heading back to the Wolf Hall palace. This time, they walked around the palace and headed to the back, revealing that there was actually a rather large building hidden away behind the palace. The building was pitch black in color and looked almost like a gothic castle, a rather pressuring atmosphere radiating from it.


    "This is the Mission Castle, this is where you can come to pick up missions if you want to earn contribution points. They have all sorts of missions of varying difficulty, so I highly suggest checking them out after you have spent a bit more time cultivating."


    Mao Zexi believed that it was best for Liang Chen to quietly cultivate until he was 18 or 20 years old, the same age that other disciples of the sect were when they were first allowed to leave the sect. At that point, his mind would be sturdier and better prepared for the cruelty of the cultivation world. Of course, Liang Chen had long since learned about the brutality and cruelty of the world, but they didn''t know that.


    After showing him the Mission Castle, the group returned to the front of the Wolf Hall palace. Mao Zexi stopped the group in front of the palace, introducing the various spires that were standing around the two palaces.


    "This is the last stop of the tour, as well as the place where you are to meet us tomorrow. This horn-like spire is also called the Thousand Technique Pavilion, as it holds most of the techniques and skills of the sect. Reading a summary of the techniques cost nothing, but buying them cost contribution points. But all these techniques only take up the lower half of the spire, the upper half is fully dedicated to the Chaotic Flesh technique."


    "The eight other spires you can see in the sect are much the same. Their lower halves are dedicated libraries that contain books from not only this planet, but even other planets. Anyone can enter these lower halves, but the upper halves are off-limits, dedicated to one supreme technique."


    Liang Chen looked at the nine towers with interest. Books not only from this planet, but also from other planets? Just what sort of information would they contain, what could he learn? It seemed like he would have to spend some time reading a few of the books in the libraries. After finishing the tour, Mao Zexi pat Liang Chen on the shoulder, a charming smile on her face.


    "Junior Brother Chen, I look forward to seeing if you have an affinity with any of our supreme techniques. If you do, cultivating them will be a bit easier for you."


    Liang Chen didn''t know what it meant to have an affinity for one of the supreme techniques, but he was very interested in finding out. All he had to do now was wait for the morning, and then he could properly start cultivating in this Storm Wolf sect.

 Body cultivation, three supreme techniques.

    After finishing the tour, Mao Zexi and the two other top disciples each entered one of the three towers, leaving Liang Chen on his own. Liang Chen didn''t leave the area, sitting down on the square stage of sand that was standing in front of the palace. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, focusing on quiet cultivation while he waited for morning to arrive.


    He didn''t use his control over the law of time to speed up the flow of time around him, as he didn''t know whether or not he would need his energy for tomorrow. The area in front of the palace was surprisingly populated, an uncountable number of disciples walking around, entering the towers or the palace itself. But even so, the area was peaceful and quiet, none of the disciples making too much noise as they moved, mostly just chatting quietly.


    There were some that cast cursory glances at Liang Chen, but it wasn''t strange for others to cultivate wherever they found space, so no one moved up to interrupt or disturb him. Thanks to this, Liang Chen got to focus on his cultivation all the way until the sun rose and morning arrived.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes the moment the sun rose over the horizon, standing up and ending his cultivation. He then proceeded to quietly wait for Guanyu and the others to arrive, calmly waiting with his hands behind his back.


    He didn''t have to wait very long, the doors to the palace and the three towers opening after only half an hour. Mao Zexi and the two other disciples were led out of the towers by Long Hai and the two other elders, while Guanyu came sauntering out of the palace, still holding the same clay jug he had taken out after leaving the last time Liang Chen saw him. The three elders and the three top disciples lined up quietly behind Guanyu, who gave a nod upon seeing Liang Chen.


    "You arrived early. Good, I like the enthusiasm. Before we take you to test whether or not you have any affinity, let''s give you a little lesson on body cultivation and energy cultivation."


    Liang Chen''s ears instantly perked up, all his focus gathering on Guanyu. Thanks to the information his birth parents had sealed in him, he knew a lot about how the Sebettu cultivated their lotuses, which were called Dragon Lotuses because of their bloodline. But Liang Chen knew next to nothing about how others normally cultivated, and he knew even less about body cultivation, all his information coming from a single jade fragment. Guanyu sipped some of his strong alcohol, savoring the taste before he started his in-depth explanation.


    "Body cultivation is very simple, in theory, that is. It is simply strengthening your body until it becomes far stronger and harder than any mortals body. But how could it really be that simple? If it actually were that simple, body cultivators would never be able to stand equal to energy cultivators."


    Guanyu''s words made sense. If all one had was a strong body, how would they be able to fight against energy cultivators, who could lay waste to whole cities and countries with a single wave of their hand?


    Guanyu stretched out his arm, grabbing onto Liang Chen''s arm and raising it, stretching out one of Liang Chen''s fingers. After he grabbed a hold of him, Liang Chen felt himself lose all control over the Qi in his body, which started to flow into his hand, a small cylinder of golden color Qi appearing above his finger as Guanyu continued his explanation.


    "If someone at your cultivation level were to create a finger-sized cylinder of Qi, it would hold the same amount of force as three fully grown men using all their strength. If a body cultivator truly only focused on strengthening their body, how could they ever hope to reach such a level of strength, that a single one of their fingers has the strength of three men?"


    Liang Chen had never thought about just how much force Qi actually contained, so he had to admit that he was rather shocked when he heard how much strength it contained. Of course, what shocked him even more was how his Qi refused to listen to him after Guanyu grabbed hold of him. Was this how strong Guanyu was, that he could just rob others of their control over their own Qi? Guanyu paid no heed to Liang Chen''s shock, letting go of his arm and continuing to explain.


    "Because of this, countless years have been spent creating various body cultivation techniques that can rival energy cultivation. And over the years, a system has slowly taken shape, a shining beacon for all other body cultivation techniques. This system mostly only serves as a guideline for most techniques, with each technique having their own peculiarity and uniqueness. What I am about to explain to you is exactly this standard system, as well as the equivalent energy cultivation system. Whatever technique you end up cultivating or end up creating might have some differences, so keep that in mind."


    This universe was far older than any recorded history on this planet, far older than most people were able to believe. So of course, countless different cultivation techniques have popped up over the years, each with their own unique point, some stronger than others.


    "An energy cultivator starts by reaching the Ascended Tower realm, allowing him to produce and harness Qi within his own body. The next stage for an energy cultivator is the Heaven''s Gate realm, where the cultivator will open the gate of their Ascended Tower and climb to the peak, tearing off the roof and allowing the tower to connect to the heavens, absorbing even purer Qi and starting to contact what we call Laws, the rules that control all things. The cultivator will then enter the Soaring Immortal realm, using these laws to change their bodies, making them ever more attuned to the laws, shedding their mortal coil and drastically increasing their lifespan."


    Guanyu started by giving a more detailed explanation of the energy cultivation system, mostly because the sect leader had told him a little about Liang Chen''s situation. Since he knew that Liang Chen knew next to nothing about cultivation, he made his explanations a bit more in-depth and varied than they would usually be.


    "Reaching the next stage, the Primordial immortal realm requires a cultivator to change their own Ascended Tower, turning the entire tower into a single law, a law that is almost fully unique to the cultivator. The Transcended Immortal realm requires a cultivator to saturate their Ascended Tower with Qi, bringing it to the brimming point and then shattering it. Once the Ascended Tower has fully shattered and the cultivator has managed to turn the fragments, and their entire dantian, into a miniature heaven composed of their own law, they will have reached the Sovereign God realm, becoming a god within their own little heaven. These are the cultivation realms for energy cultivation, if you wish for a more in-depth explanation, I suggest you check out the Fourth Library."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Liang Chen made sure to fully memorize every word that Guanyu had said, astonishment filling his mind. The peak of cultivation was to create one''s own heaven and becoming a god within it? But at the same time, he wondered if the Sovereign God realm really was the peak of energy cultivation. If it was, then why did the Sealing God Empyrean have a different title? Was it just because he came from a different planet? There was no answer to his questions, as Guanyu continued, starting to talk about actual body cultivation.


    "Next up is body cultivation, which is a bit different, but also rather similar. The first realm is the Bone Forging realm, where you focus fully on infusing your bones with Qi, strengthening them so that they can endure the pressure they will have to bear in the future. No matter what cultivation stage you reach in body cultivation, each of them will require you to strengthen your bones further, so the stronger you can make yours, the better. Between an energy cultivator at the Ascended Tower realm and a body cultivator at the Bone Forging realm, the energy cultivator will always be stronger."


    Liang Chen could understand the basis of always strengthening one''s bones, as they would have to bear almost all the force of one''s attacks. But at the same time, he was once again astonished. A body cultivator at the Bone Forging realm was always weaker than an energy cultivator at the Ascended Tower realm?


    "It is only after reaching the next stage, the Body Ascension realm, that this disparity is evened up. The Body Ascension realm requires you to pierce your own organs with Qi, laws, or other sources of energy, causing them to become fully saturated as you strengthen them. Once your organs and bones have become fully saturated and strengthened, they will automatically connect themselves with the heavens, spawning an energy that we call Fiendgod Essence, our version of Qi basically. The next step is the God Forging realm, where you must use this Fiendgod Essence, as well as whatever laws you have gained an understanding of, to pierce your own flesh, bones, and organs, replacing all the Qi within your bones and organs with this Fiendgod Essence and laws, as well as filling every inch of your flesh with them."


    Fiendgod Essence was a bit different from Qi, as it could only be found in some rare places, instead of everywhere, as Qi could. Because of this, when a body cultivator ran out of energy, they couldn''t just absorb the surrounding Qi to restore their lost reserves, they had to wait for their Fiendgod Essence to naturally restore.


    Fiendgod Essence was also a bit different from Qi, as it didn''t have an element of its own, one had to use a cultivation technique if they wanted to imbue it with an element. But despite these differences, Fiendgod Essence had two advantages over Qi. The first advantage was that it contained more force, making it stronger than Qi. The second advantage was that Fiendgod Essence, once created, would start to fuse with your entire body, becoming a single, highly integral, part of it. This filled every inch of your body with tremendous force, and it also meant that as long as you had Fiendgod Essence, your body would use it to rapidly heal any wounds, making body cultivators hard to kill with physical attacks.


    "Once your bones, organs, and flesh are fully saturated and strengthened for your current realm, things become far, far harder. The next realm is the Mortal God realm, and this realm is difficult because it requires you to not only change all your blood using your Fiendgod Essence and your laws, but it also requires you to force open all 361 of your acupuncture points. Opening the 361 points will strengthen your blood and Fiendgod Essence, as well as letting it flow more smoothly. Once all 361 points have been opened, you can enter the Fiendgod realm, at which point you have to use your laws, and a massive amount of Fiendgod Essence to change every inch of your body, slowly transforming your own body into a small heaven."


    Liang Chen quietly listened, growing more and more astonished the more he heard. But there was also a question in his mind, why hadn''t Guanyu mentioned anything about strengthening one''s bone marrow? Was that not a part of normal body cultivation? After finishing his last sentence, Guanyu stopped for a short second, awe appearing in his eyes.


    "And once your entire body has become a new heaven, every inch filled with the might of the heaven''s, you can enter the final stage, the Star God realm. The Star God realm is fairly simple and only has three stages, but each stage is far harder than all the earlier stages combined. There are three ways to reach the next stage, the first is to kill someone else at the peak of the Fiendgod realm, refining their heaven into your own. The second is to refine an entire universe into your own heaven, and the third, which is the one that sounds the simplest, is to refine an entire planet into your own heaven."


    If Liang Chen had been astonished before, he was not utterly shocked and dumbfounded. Refine an entire universe into your own heaven? Just how did one even go about doing that? And just how strong would something like that make you? The awe in Guanyu''s eyes vanished by a little, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he shrugged his shoulders.


    "Once you have done any of these things three times, you will have reached the peak of the Star God realm, your body immortal and endless, every move of your body capable of shaking the universes. Or so the legends state at least, I have never heard about anyone in this universe even reaching the late stage of the Mortal God realm, much less the Star God realm."


    When Liang Chen heard this, he couldn''t help but glance at Yao Ming and the two other top disciples, somewhat surprised. When he saw them and sensed the energy they radiated, he guessed that they had likely reached the Primordial Immortal realm of strength in body cultivation, but now it seemed like he had been wrong. It seemed like it was more likely that they cultivated both energy and body, with their energy reaching the Primordial Immortal realm and their body cultivation lagging behind.


    Guanyu had finished his explanation, giving Liang Chen a bit of time to properly digest all the new information he had just heard. Once he saw that it seemed like Liang Chen had fully digested the information, he nodded his head and waved his arm.


    "Now you know what body cultivation is, now you know just how long the road ahead of all of us truly is. Now come, let us see if you have an affinity with any of our supreme techniques. Open the gates!"


    Right after he waved his arm, the gates of the three towers sprung open. But there was something different about how they opened now. While he had waited for morning to arrive, countless disciples had entered the three towers, but Liang Chen had felt nothing. But now that the three gates shot open, Liang Chen could feel a horrifyingly oppressive energy burst out from the gates, the ground in front of the towers starting to sink downwards.


    There were three different types of energies, one that made Liang Chen feel like he was standing on the sun, one that made Liang Chen feel like he was standing in the center of a furious storm, and one that made Liang Chen feel like he was standing at the center of a chaotic maelstrom.


    Liang Chen didn''t even glance at two of the towers, his eyes immediately landing on the tower that looked like a crooked horn that was deep blue in color. The moment the gates of this tower sprung open and Liang Chen felt the chaotic energy that shot out, his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline moved slightly, as if the chaotic energy was resonating with the bloodline.

 Chaos King technique.

    Guanyu wanted to explain which supreme technique was stored away in which tower, but he shut his mouth when he saw that Liang Chen''s eyes were fully focused on the tower that looked like a crooked horn. Seeing Liang Chen''s reaction, the three elders and the three top disciples were also looking at Liang Chen with curious gazes.


    Liang Chen ignored their gazes, stepping towards the open gate of the horn-like tower. The energy of the supreme technique in this tower, the Chaotic Flesh technique, was able to stir his bloodline, so there was no way he would just ignore it, it had to be the first technique he checked out.


    The gate to the tower, two large metal gates that were colored black and covered in strange runes that seemed to form the images of countless Demonic beasts, were already open, so he could easily enter the tower and follow the energy.


    Right behind the gate was an arched hallway that went on for about 10 meters, the walls of the hallway completely smooth. Right after he left the hallway, he saw a rainbow-haired elder with a drooping white mustache sitting in a wooden rocking chair, calmly resting in front of the hallway. Liang Chen couldn''t feel any energy from this elder, but he was certain that he was likely terrifyingly powerful, most likely the guardian of this tower.


    Liang Chen cupped his hands at the elder and gave him a small bow in greeting, following proper etiquette for young disciples. The elder didn''t open his eyes, but he gave a slight nod at Liang Chen, stretching out a thin and wrinkly arm and pointing towards the opposite side of the room, at a wooden staircase that spiraled upward.


    Liang Chen once again gave a bow to the elder, slowly making his way through the room. There were bookshelves filling the room, neatly lined up so that there was a narrow path one could use to navigate between them. The bookshelves were filled with thin books, with most of them only having five pages.


    And carved into the bookshelves, beneath these small books, were the names of the techniques that the books gave a quick description of. Liang Chen knew that one could freely read these descriptions, but if one wanted to actually study the technique, they had to pay with contribution points. Looking at the room that was filled with old bookshelves and ancient books, Liang Chen was a bit surprised that the room didn''t smell of mold and old wood, but rather carried the faint scent of camellia flowers.


    Liang Chen walked up the spiraling stairs, which creaked slightly as he put his weight on them, a rare sign of their actual age. Guanyu and the six others quietly followed, with even Guanyu cupping his hands to the elder sitting in the rocking chair.


    The second floor was very similar to the first floor, with neatly lined up bookshelves filling the entire room. But what shocked Liang Chen the most after he finished ascending the stairs and saw the second floor was that the rainbow-haired elder in the rocking chair had appeared on the second floor, still just calmly rocking in the chair.


    Liang Chen glanced at the old man, but still continued to calmly walk through the room, his fingers gently sliding along the sides of the bookshelves he passed. He quickly ascended to the third floor, but there he was once again shocked, as the rainbow-haired elder had already appeared there, rocking his chair with closed eyes. Liang Chen couldn''t help but be both shocked and curious, just who was this old man?


    He continued to ascend the tower, the chaotic energy growing stronger and stronger as he reached the higher parts of the tower. And on each of the floors, the rainbow-haired elder was sitting in his rocking chair, just quietly rocking his chair, not even looking at Liang Chen and the others.


    This continued all the way until Liang Chen reached the ninth floor of the tower. The stairs that led up to the tenth floor were a bit different, they were pitch black in color, rather than the normal wooden. Liang Chen could also feel a horrifying energy form a wall in front of the stairs, preventing others from stepping on them. It was as he looked at this wall of energy that the rainbow-haired elder stood up from his rocking chair, speaking up as he slowly walked towards the stairs.


    "Normally, I would make people wait until they reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm before I let them ascend higher up and study me, but I''ll make an exemption for you, as we have some affinity."


    The voice of the old man was very strange, as it sounded like a mixture of countless other voices, both male and female. Liang Chen''s pupils violently contracted after he heard the words of the old man. He said ''study me'', did this mean that this old man was the Chaotic Flesh technique? Guanyu saw Liang Chen''s shock, so he used a technique to wrap his words in Qi, letting him send them wherever he wanted, preventing those who weren''t far stronger than him from hearing them.


    "It is as he said. This is Elder Chaotic, he is a spirit that was born within the item that contains the supreme technique, he is also the guardian of this tower, making sure that everyone follows the rules inside it."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Even though Guanyu explained it, Liang Chen was still shocked. An item could form a spirit that was this lifelike? In that case, what was the difference between this old man and a normal person?


    Elder Chaotic reached the ascending stairs after a few minutes, slowly stretching out his arm and touching the wall of energy, dissipating it. He then waved at Liang Chen, beckoning for him to climb the stairs and continue onwards.


    Liang Chen cupped his hands and thanked Elder Chaotic, ascending the stairs and entering the tenth floor. Strangely enough, the tenth floor was completely empty, the walls and floor pitch black in color. There was nothing on this floor, other than a staircase that led higher up, but a strong pressure covered the entire floor, seemingly testing the bodily strength of those that stepped into it.


    Elder Chaotic was already standing by the ascending staircase, removing the wall of energy that blocked it, allowing Liang Chen to continue ascending. The 11th floor was also empty, the pressure having grown a little stronger than on the previous floor. Looking at Yao Ming and the two other top disciples, who seemed to have a bit of a harder time with the pressure, it was clear that Elder Chaotic was lessening the pressure Liang Chen was experiencing.


    The empty floors continued, all the way to the 17th floor, where it seemed like even the three elders that Guanyu had brought along were starting to struggle a little with the pressure. Elder Chaotic once again removed the wall of energy that blocked off the stairs, allowing Liang Chen to reach the 18th floor.


    The 18th floor was different from the previous ones, it was slightly slanted, the top of the room forming a strange coiled shape, making it clear that they were close to the top of the tower. This room only contained a single item, a three-meter tall stone that was pitch black in color, the surface looking rugged and coarse to the touch. Elder Chaotic stood at the side of the stone, waving Liang Chen over.


    "Come, child, lay your hand on me and let me impart my knowledge to you."


    Liang Chen ignored the strange wording that the elder used, stepping forward and approaching the rock, which unleashed a chaotic and ancient energy, almost enveloping Liang Chen. Guanyu and the others wore both interested and excited expressions on their faces, so Elder Chaotic turned towards them, giving them a stern warning.


    "Old Goat, you must remember the deal we made. No matter what he obtains, he is forbidden from imparting it to others and you are forbidden from scouring his memories for it, if either of you does so, I will leave forever."


    Liang Chen was once again shocked, glancing at Elder Chaotic. His words made it clear that he could leave whenever he wished, with the sect being unable to stop him. It also sounded like there was more inside this stone than just the Chaotic Flesh technique. But just the Chaotic Flesh technique was enough to be considered a supreme technique, so what else could it hold? Guanyu could only put on an awkward smile after receiving the warning, nodding his head.


    "Don''t worry, Elder Chaotic, I have not forgotten the ancient agreement. Whatever he obtains, only he will know how to cultivate it, we won''t search his memories or make him tell us."


    Elder Chaotic hadn''t said anything concrete, but his warning alone was enough to let Guanyu and the others know that it was likely that Liang Chen was going to receive more than just the Chaotic Flesh technique. Just what sort of affinity did Liang Chen have with Elder Chaotic, for him to receive such a favor?


    Elder Chaotic nodded his head, beckoning at Liang Chen to lay his hand on the stone. Liang Chen did as he was beckoned, placing both his palms on the stone, the coarse surface feeling rugged and even somewhat painful to touch.


    Shortly after his palms made contact with the black stone, a chaotic energy that felt like it came from the ancient ages gushed out from it and into Liang Chen''s body. The energy simply swept passed his Dragon Lotuses, but once the energy came in contact with the gray blood that was his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, a change occurred.


    The bloodline suddenly unleashed a frightening devouring force, sucking in the ancient energy, even tracking it back to the stone and attempting to invade it. This devouring energy was the remnant glory of the Heaven Devouring Dragon, something that was hidden away in the bloodline of all Sebettu. It was just that only the direct children of the Heaven Devouring Dragon had the chance to access this devouring force, it was impossible for the other Sebettu.


    Liang Chen immediately paled, worried that Guanyu and the others would notice the devouring force and start to suspect something. But luckily, it didn''t seem like they noticed anything out of the ordinary, not even sparing a glance at Liang Chen, their eyes fully focused on the black stone.


    The devouring energy wanted to enter the stone, but it was pushed back by the strange ancient energy that had stirred it to become with. The devouring force could only slink back into Liang Chen''s body, returning to the depths of his bloodline. Shortly after the devouring force returned, the voice of Elder Chaotic resounded within Liang Chen''s mind.


    "So I wasn''t wrong, you truly do have an immense devouring force within your body. Very well, you are fit to learn my full technique."


    Elder Chaotic wasn''t able to see exactly where the devouring force in Liang Chen''s body came from, but he could tell that it hid within Liang Chen''s blood, making it a part of him. It was the fact that he had noticed this devouring force when Liang Chen first stepped into the tower that he had decided to allow Liang Chen to reach this point.


    Shortly after Elder Chaotic''s words finished sounding out, the chaotic and ancient energy increased in intensity, flooding into Liang Chen''s mind. The energy quickly arrived above the city inside Liang Chen''s mind, the one that was completely flooded with blood.


    The energy then turned into a black book that was surrounded by a chaotic maelstrom of ancient energy. The energy was so potent that even the blood that flooded the city in Liang Chen''s mind was sucked up, creating a bloody whirlpool around the book. Liang Chen sank part of his consciousness into his mind, his eyes landing on the book and reading the golden text that was written on the front.


    Chaos King Technique, Devour all living beings and reign supreme.

 Terrifying Chaos King Technique.

    The words on the front of the book radiated the same potent energy that the bloody maelstrom that surrounded the book released. Liang Chen felt his eyes and mind sting just from reading the words, making it clear that this was no normal technique, and that just reading and understanding it would be a test on its own.


    But how could Liang Chen know that in this wide universe, only some of the more supreme techniques could contain the words King, there were only two ranks of techniques above this, Sovereign, and Empyrean. It wasn''t strange for him to not know this, as these ranks had only come about many years after the Genesis War, so they didn''t exist when his birth parents sent him into the future.


    While Liang Chen was observing the book, it slowly started to open, revealing pages that were as black as the cover, tiny words written in scarlet ink that resembled blood covering every inch of the pages. With the book opening, the information that was written on the first page, an introduction of the technique, started to flood Liang Chen''s mind.


    As the information entered his mind, Liang Chen felt a soul-tearing pain spread through his mind, all of his consciousness forced into his mind as he felt like his head was about to split in two. He didn''t notice, but Guanyu and the others could see that he was starting to bleed from all seven of his orifices, his face quickly turning bloody. Had it not been for Elder Chaotic waving them away, they would have rushed forward to check on him.


    The information that flooded his mind didn''t stop at just a short introduction, it slowly started to imprint how to cultivate the first part of the technique into his mind. And as the information on how to cultivate the first part of the technique entered his mind, Liang Chen could feel his soul quickly reach its breaking point, on the verge of shattering. But just as he reached the very limit, the information stopped flooding his mind, the voice of Elder Chaotic once again sounding out in his mind.


    "That''ll be all for now. You can continue to read it when you have strengthened yourself. But don''t be hasty! You need to strengthen not only your soul but also your cultivation and your body, otherwise, you won''t be able to handle the further parts of the technique."


    Liang Chen let out a sigh of relief after the information stopped flooding his mind, returning his consciousness to his body. It was only now that he noticed that his face and robe were covered in blood, but he simply ignored it, giving Elder Chaotic a deep bow.


    "Thank you for imparting this technique to me!"


    Liang Chen didn''t know how techniques were ranked, but he could tell that this Chaos King Technique was truly superb. The first thing it mentioned was that a king wasn''t allowed to have a weakness, and the rest of the technique was fully based on this concept. It wasn''t just a body cultivation technique, nor an energy cultivation technique. It was a technique one could use to cultivate one''s soul, body, and energy! It was exactly what Liang Chen was in need of right now!


    After reading the introduction to the technique, as well as how to cultivate the first part, Liang Chen also understood why this Elder Chaotic said that they had an affinity. The technique focused on devouring, refining other beings and using them to increase one''s own strength. Liang Chen could only cultivate the first part, but that alone would let him refine other living beings that he killed, absorbing 25% of any single part of their strength.


    This meant that he could kill an enemy cultivator and then refine either 25% of their body, their soul, or their Qi and take it for himself! Of course, the technique wasn''t completely perfect. The max percentage he could absorb after fully studying the technique was 75% of an enemy''s soul, body, or Qi. And he also had to be careful that he properly purified the things he wanted to refine, otherwise, there might be remnant pieces of consciousness left behind, influencing his own personality. There was also the fact that this was the only way for cultivators of this technique to cultivate it, it didn''t have any other way of cultivation, one had to devour others.


    But even with these parts, Liang Chen was still perfectly happy with the technique, as it even contained nine different skills, three for the first part of the technique, three for the second part, and three for the third part. Elder Chaotic calmly watched Liang Chen give his bow, nonchalantly waving his hand.


    "Don''t worry about it, it''s because of our affinity. Just make sure you prove that my old eyes still work, and don''t let the technique go to waste. You should leave and get some rest, it''s not easy to read the first part of the technique with that weak soul of yours."


    Liang Chen straightened up his body and nodded his head, taking a piece of cloth out from his interspatial ring and wiping his face, cleaning away the blood. He then gave Elder Chaotic one more bow to show his gratitude, before swiftly returning to Guanyu and the others, who looked at Liang Chen with a mixture of shock and curiosity.


    The three top disciples and the three elders looked like they were dying to ask Liang Chen something, but were unable to muster up the courage to ask. Guanyu also looked like he wanted to question Liang Chen, but he wasn''t like the six others, so he could easily get out the question.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "Seems like your harvest was more than just a little good, which of the techniques did you get?"


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, glancing at Elder Chaotic, who had somehow brought forth a rocking chair and was now calmly rocking it again. Liang Chen had heard his earlier words, so he was a bit uncertain just how much about the technique he could share. It was only after Elder Chaotic gave a slight nod of his head that Liang Chen turned back to Guanyu and responded.


    "I got a technique called the Chaos King Technique."


    The six others behind Guanyu looked utterly shocked when they heard Liang Chen''s response, but Guanyu only gave a faint nod of his head, an awed and excited expression on his face. He pat Liang Chen on the shoulder, speaking out with a faint chuckle as the group turned around and started to descend the tower again.


    "So it really was that one... Kiddo, your luck really is excellent."


    Liang Chen quickly followed them, the three top disciples and three elders having somewhat overcome their shock. The eyes they used to look at him now contained a large amount of excitement, a blazing light present in them. It seemed like Guanyu and the others already knew a little about the technique, so Liang Chen was slightly curious how many others cultivated the technique.


    "Has the technique appeared in the sect before?"


    He was only given the technique thanks to the devouring force hidden deep within his bloodline, so he was also a bit curious about how others acquired it. Did they also have strong devouring force, or could one acquire the technique in a different manner? Guanyu let out a soft sigh, his eyes growing distant as reverence and respect filled them.


    "Only twice. The first person who cultivated it was the one who found it while he was traveling through a different universe, the founder of this sect, Storm God Yan Yi. The second person who cultivated it was the person who still protects the sect to this day, Impervious Duan Yong. Other than these two, most others only get the Chaotic Flesh technique, or if they are very lucky, the Chaos Prince Technique, which contains the energy and body cultivation parts of the Chaos King technique. The last time someone acquired the Chaos Prince Technique was around 14,000 years ago, which is why the sect only considers the Chaotic Flesh technique as our supreme technique, the others are simply too rare to rely on."


    Liang Chen once again grew shocked after hearing the reply. In the long history of the Storm Wolf sect, only two others had been able to acquire this technique? Liang Chen could somewhat guess at how Yan Yi had acquired the technique, as he could be considered a 10th generation descendant of a Demonic beast that was able to follow the Nine Star Demon God. But how had Duan Yong been able to acquire the technique?


    The group continued to descend the tower, with Elder Chaotic appearing on each floor, calmly sitting in his rocking chair as he guarded the tower. Liang Chen couldn''t help but be curious about him, turning to Guanyu.


    "Grand Teacher Guanyu, do you know Elder Chaotic''s origins?"


    Liang Chen didn''t actually know what he should call Guanyu, so he mimicked what Mao Zexi and the others called him. Guanyu had said that Yan Yi had discovered Elder Chaotic in a different universe, but he didn''t say who created him. Guanyu glanced at Liang Chen, giving a slight shake of his head.


    "You can just call me Uncle Guanyu, the title of Grand Teacher is too stuffy. And no, he didn''t even tell the founder where he came from. The only thing he said was that he was a piece of someone, or something, called Longinus the God Devourer. Other than that, he refuses to say anything else."


    Liang Chen gave a faint nod of his head, so not even Yan Yi, the one who found Elder Chaotic, knew exactly where he came from or who had made him. Liang Chen made sure to memorize the name Longinus the God Devourer, just in case he managed to someday find some information about him.


    The group quickly left the tower, the gate shutting on its own behind them. Guanyu placed his palm on Liang Chen''s shoulder, sending him an expectant smile.


    "Well, now that you''ve gotten that technique, you have to make sure to study it diligently and focus on your cultivation. I hope that our Wolf Hall will have another top disciple in three or four years."


    Only two people had ever received the Chaos King technique, and both had become supreme powerhouses in the sect, so it was clear that Guanyu was hoping for Liang Chen to become someone similar. Liang Chen nodded his head, his eyes landing on the other eight towers that were located in the sect.


    "I will, Uncle Guanyu. But first I would like to spend a bit of time in the various libraries."


    Liang Chen now had a supreme cultivation technique he could use for the foreseeable future, but he was still sorely lacking in knowledge and information about most other things. So what he wanted to do now was to go through the libraries, using his law of time to quickly read through as many books as possible. Guanyu didn''t advise against it, nodding his head and giving Liang Chen a reminder.


    "That''s good too, having enough information and knowledge is just as important as having enough strength, study to your heart''s content. Also, don''t tell others what technique you have acquired. If anyone asks, just say that you have acquired the Chaotic Flesh technique."


    For a second Liang Chen didn''t quite understand why he shouldn''t tell others, but he quickly realized it. The Storm Wolf sect was only one of five large sects, and there was even the larger Dawn''s Blade Alliance at the other side of the planet. There would obviously be some spies in each sect, so if news of his Chaos King technique were to spread, the other sects might quickly learn of it.


    And who knew what they might do once they learned that he had acquired this supreme technique, it was likely that they would kill him before he became strong enough to threaten them. Liang Chen gave a solemn nod of his head, assuring Guanyu that he wouldn''t tell anyone else.


    Guanyu made sure that the six others also understood that they were forbidden from telling others, an order that everyone solemnly nodded their head to. The group split up after this, the three elders and top disciples entering the three towers to focus on their own cultivation, while Liang Chen returned to his own house to give himself a quick clean before he started to scour the libraries.

 Kidnapped by a mischievous fox.

    The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, casting a pink glow over the entire Storm Wolf sect. But despite it being this early, Liang Chen was already drenched in sweat, his cyan robe sticking close to his body. In his grasp, he held a long wooden stick that was a little shorter than the spear he had been given by Teng Yimu.


    He was currently standing in the area that was his living quarters, continuously repeating the basic moves that he had been taught by Xiao Yong while he was in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. He didn''t know any advanced moves or techniques, so these basic stances were the only thing he could practice.


    His living quarters were rather beautiful, consisting of a small hidden realm that only he or those he allowed were able to enter. The place wasn''t too large, containing a small lake, only around 100 meters in each direction, filled with crystal clear water. At the side of the lake stood a large weeping willow, drooping down over the lake, as well as a single wooden hut, which was where he was supposed to sleep.


    Once the sun had fully risen over the horizon, Liang Chen stopped repeating the basic moves. He took off his robe and jumped into the crystal clear lake, the cold water refreshing his mind. He took a quick bath before leaving the lake, drying himself with a large piece of coarse cloth he had prepared beforehand, changing into a fresh cyan-colored robe and leaving his living quarters.


    Liang Chen slowly made his way through the valley that nearly split the mountain half, occasionally greeting others or getting greeted by others, stopping for a little chat.


    "Up as early as always, Junior Brother Chen. Heading to the Third library again?"


    The one who stopped Liang Chen was a somewhat short girl, only around a meter and a half in height. She had long black hair and soft features, as well as kind eyes that were a strange yellow in color. Liang Chen cupped his hands, returning the greeting with a light laugh.


    "I''m afraid not, Senior Sister Xinya. I finished with the Third library six days ago, so I have already started with the Fourth Library."


    Liang Chen had joined the Storm Wolf sect outside of the normal entrance period, so he was the newest member. This meant that he had to greet all the other disciples with Senior Brother or Sister, while everyone else called him Junior Brother. Hearing that he had seemingly already finished with the Third Library, Situ Xinya couldn''t help but click her tongue.


    "Tch, already done with the Third library? I really don''t know how you can read that fast. Oh well, you have fun with your reading, just don''t forget to keep your cultivation in mind. The next competition starts in three months, so you''ll be able to gain some experience there."


    The eight libraries of the Storm Wolf sect were incredibly large, containing a vast variety of books that spoke about most topics. And yet this Junior Brother Chen of hers, who had only been in the sect for a little over two months, had already finished reading all the books in three of the libraries. His reading speed truly left one baffled. Liang Chen nodded his head with a faint smile, cupping his hands and walking past this Senior Sister of his.


    "Don''t worry, Senior Sister Xinya, I haven''t forgotten about it."


    Liang Chen didn''t head for the Wolf Hall palace after splitting up with Situ Xinya, he headed for the Storm Hall palace. Once he reached the palace, he headed to the back of it, stopping in front of one of the six towers that surrounded it. Compared to the other eight towers in the sect, this tower looked a bit more normal, resembling a nine-storied pagoda carve out of green jade.


    Liang Chen pushed open the large gate, stepping through the short hallway and entering the tower, giving a quick greeting to the two people who were sitting at a small table, playing a game of Go.


    "Good morning, Elder Jade, Senior Brother Jiahao."


    The people playing Go were a middle-aged woman with an elegant bearing and skin that was snow as white. Her skin seemed rather strange, as it gave off a faint luster. She had long green hair, orange eyes, and always carried a charming smile. The other person was a robust man with shoulder-length brown hair, thick eyebrows, skin that resembled the woman''s, and black eyes.


    The woman was the spirit of the supreme technique stored in this tower, the Jade Skin Technique, a skill that could temporarily increase a person''s defense and physical attack through a special utilization of their Qi. The man was Fan Jiahao, one of the Storm Hall top disciples, the one who specialized in the Jade Skin Technique. The woman only gave a faint nod in greeting, but Fan Jiahao cupped his hands in a polite greeting.


    "Good morning, Junior Brother Chen. Have you come to continue what you were doing before I threw you out?"


    Fan Jiahao chuckled lightly as he looked at Liang Chen, who could only scratch his cheek with a somewhat awkward expression. Fan Jiahao chuckled once more, waving his hand at Liang Chen and allowing him to calm down.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t throw you out this time. That is, only as long as you remember to return to your quarters and rest every now and then. Studying and cultivating is fine, but you mustn''t overdo it and ruin your body."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    A little over one day ago, Fan Jiahao had thrown Liang Chen out of the tower, forcing him to return to his living quarters. The reason for this was that ever since Liang Chen had acquired the Chaos King Technique, he had basically started to live inside the libraries, only leaving for the occasional walk or to get some food.


    Fan Jiahao was worried that Liang Chen would ruin himself if he didn''t get some sleep soon, but how could they know that Liang Chen no longer needed to sleep, thanks to the awakening of his bloodline. Liang Chen once again cupped his hands at Fan Jiahao, nodding his head with a smile.


    "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother Jiahao."


    Liang Chen bid the two people farewell, heading higher up the tower and finding the bookshelf he had been on when he was forced to leave. He picked out a large stack of books and brought them over to a small table, sitting down on the only chair placed next to the table.


    Once he was sitting, Liang Chen mobilized his law of time and sped up the flow of time around him. Had this been in the outside world, he could quadruple the speed of time for around two hours. But the Qi in the air within the Storm Wolf sect was far denser and more abundant than in the outside world. This was especially so for the libraries, which were covered in formations to attract the surrounding Qi and purify it.


    As long as he was inside the libraries, Liang Chen could keep his law of time active for most of the day, drastically increasing the amount of reading he could do in one day. Of course, he didn''t only spend these last two months reading, he always split off two parts of his mind to focus on other things. These other things he focused on would not be done as fast as if he had focused his entire mind on it, but thanks to the increased flow of time, it was still very effective.


    The things Liang Chen focused the most on were his Lightning God Physique and starting to cultivate the Chaos King Technique. One couldn''t just start to refine other beings after acquiring the Chaos King Technique, there was one thing that had to be done first, carving new channels for your Qi to flow.


    There were a total of nine new channels that had to be carved, three for your Qi, three for your body, and three for your soul, with each stage of the Chaos King Technique requiring you to carve a new channel. Over these last two months of reading and cultivating, Liang Chen had managed to carve the channel needed to refine the souls of other beings, as well as turning all the bone marrow in his legs into liquid lightning. Next, he would have to start working on his torso and head, which required a bit more care and effort, so they would require all his concentration.


    This cultivation had also left its marks on Liang Chen. Since he had continuously sped up time around him, he had grown quite a bit taller in just two months, now standing at 1.70. His height, coupled with his rather delicate features, his emerald green hair, and his golden eyes, made him look like a rather handsome scholar.


    He was technically only thirteen, but he already looked like a youth of about 16. The sped up time he had been using so often made it so that he was now approaching the end of his growth phase, at which point his aging and growth would slow down drastically thanks to his cultivation.


    Liang Chen wanted to finish reading all the books that the sect had to offer, gathering up a large amount of knowledge before he started to check out to the other cultivation areas of the sect. And for two months, this plan had been going swimmingly, but it seemed like it wasn''t meant to be, as today, his peaceful reading time was interrupted by a loud voice.


    "Geh, you really are cooping yourself up in the libraries. I heard you haven''t even checked out any of the cultivation areas after you received the Chaotic Flesh technique, is this true?"


    Liang Chen returned the flow of time to normal, raising his head from the book he was reading. Yan Ling was walking towards him, raising an eyebrow at him, as if she found his actions to be a bit strange. Liang Chen closed the book, placing it back on top of the stack next to him, shrugging his shoulders.


    "It''s not wrong, I wanted to finish reading all the books the sect had to offer first, increase my knowledge. What can I help you with?"


    Since Yan Ling had come, it was clear that he would be unable to continue reading, as she had obviously figured out something ''fun'' that they could do. And just like he thought, she stopped in front of him, her lips curling into a smile as she let out an excited laugh.


    "Nihihi, I''ve found a good mission we can undertake. What do you think?"


    Liang Chen was actually rather taken aback at her words. This was the first time in two months she had come to find him, so he expected her to have prepared another prank to pull on him. He didn''t immediately respond, placing his elbow on the table and leaning his head against his hand, a somewhat surprised expression on his face.


    "You''re actually asking about my opinion instead of just dragging me along?"


    He had something of an understanding when it came to Yan Ling, so he had expected her to completely disregard his opinion and then just drag him along. Yan Ling saw the expression on Liang Chen''s face, her smile growing a bit brighter as she snickered.


    "Nope, I''m just asking you what you are thinking before I tell you what we are doing. It''ll help you feel better."


    Before Liang Chen even had the time to think ''as I thought'', Yan Ling stretched out her arm and grabbed onto the collar of Liang Chen''s robe, pulling him up from the chair and starting to walk. This was the first time they had met in two months, or rather eight months for Liang Chen, so he was in a rather good mood and decided to play along, walking backward and letting her drag him along by the collar as she comforted him.


    "Don''t worry, it''s a good mission that''ll net the both of us some good profit, it also isn''t too dangerous."


    Liang Chen didn''t doubt Yan Ling''s words, as he was certain that her father and big brother wouldn''t allow her to head out for a mission that was too dangerous. And even if the mission proved more dangerous than first thought, she had likely been handed several talismans, just like the ones she had used in thet Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    The two continued with their play, quickly descending the tower. They received a few shocked looks, but no one stepped forward to stop them or ask what they were doing. When they passed by the two people playing Go by the entrance, Liang Chen cupped his hands, while Yan Ling gave them a cheery nod of the head.


    "Good morning, Elder Jade and Senior Brother Jiahao! I''ll be borrowing this one!"


    The two then quickly left the tower, Yan Ling dragging Liang Chen to the Mission Castle that was located by the Wolf Hall tower. Fan Jiahao''s expression was a little ugly after seeing Liang Chen and Yan Ling, but Elder Jade only let out an amused chuckle.


    "Borrowing? Why did that look more like a kidnapping?"

 Golden chariot.

    Yan Ling continued to drag Liang Chen after her by the collar, eliciting several strange gazes and a few snickers from the onlookers. Yan Ling was the little princess of the sect, so there were a few who weren''t too happy seeing her so close to another man, but Liang Chen couldn''t be bothered to care about a few jealous glares, chatting with Yan Ling.


    "Alright, so exactly what mission is it I am being dragged to?"


    There was a myriad of different missions, ranging from picking herbs to slaughtering smaller sects or participating in battles against disciples from the other large sects. He didn''t think that Yan Ling would drag him along if it was a mission he would be uncomfortable with, but it was still best to make sure.


    Yan Ling let go of Liang Chen''s collar as they started to approach the Wolf Hall palace, as if she suddenly cared about how others were looking at the two of them. She swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a scroll that was made using faint yellow paper, handing it to Liang Chen as she continued to head towards the Mission Castle.


    "It''s a protection mission. The Snow Mirror nation is going to sign a peace treaty with the Merrow Reef nation in a few days, so the mission is to protect the Crown Prince and his siblings while the king and queen head out to sign the peace treaty. The mission to protect the king and queen is a bit higher ranked, so the two of us aren''t allowed to accept it yet, we''ll have to settle."


    Liang Chen opened the scroll and gave the contents a quick glance. The contents were just a repetition of what Yan Ling had just told him, so he rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Yan Ling. After handing back the scroll, he rolled his eyes slightly, suddenly realizing something.


    "I assume we can expect the Moon Dragon Sect or the Ghost Soul sect to attempt something?"


    The Snow Mirror nation was controlled by the Bai clan, which in turn was controlled by the Storm Wolf sect. The Merrow Reef nation, on the other hand, was controlled by the Tian clan, which in turn was controlled by the Fiendgod sect. The two nations signing a peace treaty was likely orchestrated by the two sects, a sign that they wished to further deepen their friendly relations. Yan Ling nodded her head, patting Liang Chen on the shoulder and putting on the image of a senior sister.


    "Clever. Just as you guessed, either of the sects might attempt to harm the princes and princesses, mostly just to throw a wrench in our plan and annoy us. The mission to protect the king and queen has a higher rank than this one, so the two of us aren''t allowed to accept it."


    The Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect had poor relations with the Storm Wolf sect, so how could they just let things go as the Storm Wolf sect wished? Even if disrupting this peace treaty was only a minor inconvenience, they were still willing to do it, just like the Storm Wolf sect was willing to do the same to them.


    But even though they were likely going to try and disrupt the occasion, there were limits to what they were willing to do. If they sent a cultivator at the Soaring Immortal realm or higher, the Storm Wolf sect would obviously reply in kind, so they might lose some strong cultivators. To lose people at the Soaring Immortal realm, just to cause a minor inconvenience? The sects were not willing to suffer such loses. If they were to sacrifice their higher cultivation level disciples, it had to be for a much grander purpose.


    The two quickly reached the pitch black Mission Castle, pushing open the wooden gate and entering it. The inside of the Mission Castle was a convoluted collection of hallways and rooms, with each room either holding a different rank or type of mission.


    Yan Ling led Liang Chen down a narrow hallway to their right, turning right and left a few times until they reached a peach-colored door. The two stopped in front of the door, Yan Ling taking a finger-sized tablet made from milky jade out from her interspatial ring, handing it to Liang Chen.


    "Hold onto this tablet, otherwise you''ll have to walk the entire way up the mountain again once we return."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and put the tablet into his interspatial ring. This jade tablet was something handed out to people who accepted missions and had to be returned once the mission was over, as they were hard to make, meaning that the sect didn''t have too many. As long as you had one of these tablets, any of the sect''s spatial arrays would send you back to the Mission Castle, rather than the other places they would usually send you.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    After Liang Chen put away the tablet, the two pushed open the door and entered the room, revealing that it was completely empty. The room was very similar to the room that held the spatial array that first led Liang Chen to the Storm Wolf sect, in that it was completely empty, the floor covered in a formation drawn using Demonic beast blood.


    Once the two stepped on the center of the formation, it lit up with a bright light, blinding them as space around them turned into a viscous cocoon. Once the cocoon vanished and the bright light receded, Liang Chen and Yan Ling had arrived in the center of the spatial formation located in the Floating Rose nation.


    The two left the room, arriving outside the deep green spire that was engraved with a howling wolf. Once they stood outside the tower, Liang Chen could see that a large number of guards clad in cyan armor had lined up, forming a path the two of them could walk. With Yan Ling and Liang Chen stepping out of the tower, all the guards straightened their backs and hit the chests of their armors, producing a loud sound as they called out in a unified voice.


    "We greet the Young Masters! We wish you a successful mission!"


    Their voices, mixed with the sound of them hitting their armors, was so loud that it echoed throughout the city. Liang Chen didn''t expect for them to be greeted like this, even Yan Ling looked somewhat caught off-guard by it. But she quickly regained her calm, clearing her throat and swiping her interspatial ring, taking out a strange item, an elongated golden chariot. Yan Ling stepped onto the chariot, waving at Liang Chen.


    "Come on now, come on up, it won''t explode."


    The fact that she said it won''t explode only made Liang Chen more wary of it, as it meant that it might possibly explode, but he couldn''t really say that. He stepped onto the chariot and saw that Yan Ling was placing several Spirit Stones into an oval hole. Once she had put in 10 Spirit Stones, the chariot suddenly rose up from the ground, shooting into the air and soaring through the sky, quickly leaving behind the city beneath them.


    Liang Chen hadn''t expected something like this to happen, so he was completely caught off-guard. This was also the first time he had ever been this high into the air, so he couldn''t help but hold onto the side of the chariot, looking around in shock. This seemed to be the exact response Yan Ling had wished for, as he could hear her giggle at him.


    "Nihihi, what''s the matter, never flown on a Skyborne Chariot? Are you scared, are you shocked? You are, aren''t you?"


    While she giggled, she also stepped forward and poked his sides, continuing to laugh all the while, enjoying his shocked expression. Liang Chen had read about special items that could fly through the air using formations, but reading about one and experiencing one were two completely different things.


    But his shock swiftly transformed into astonishment and excitement. After one reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one could form wings using their Qi, allowing one to fly in the air. Only if one had the law of wind could one simulate flight before this, but that was only simulating flight, it wasn''t like this. Yan Ling was not one to miss a chance to tease Liang Chen, so she immediately changed her words once his shock turned to astonishment.


    "Nihihi, It''s pretty cool, isn''t it? But this one is mine, so you can''t have it! Are you jealous, envious of how cool it is? You are, aren''t you?"


    While Yan Ling was laughing and poking Liang Chen''s waist in an attempt to tease him, Liang Chen suddenly turned his body. His right arm stretched out like a bolt of lightning, catching Yan Ling completely off-guard. She wanted to pull back, but before she got to do that, Liang Chen gave her forehead a heavy flick, leaving a red mark behind. His lips curled into a smirk, flicking her forehead once more before she finished pulling back.


    "Trying to brag in front of me, are you? You want me to pick you up by the neck again? Shall we see how the princes and princesses react then?"


    Yan Ling staggered backward, her back hitting the other side of the chariot as she covered her forehead. This chariot was covered by a defensive formation that prevented one from falling over, so she wasn''t worried about suddenly falling while pulling back. She continued to cover her forehead, shrinking her neck as she stuck out her tongue.


    "Geh, you''re just a brute who only knows how to bully me thanks to your higher cultivation. Just you wait till this mission is over and I increase my cultivation, then it''s my turn to bully you."


    Yan Ling''s plan was to use the resources she would get from this mission to enter the Heaven''s Gate realm, at which point her cultivation would be the same as Liang Chen''s. Liang Chen had some tricks, but so did she, so she was confident she could at least bully him a little once she increased her cultivation. But facing her threats, Liang Chen simply stretched out an arm, flicking the air in front of him in a challenging manner.


    "Bring it, I''ll flick your forehead and lift you by the neck no matter how high your cultivation gets."

 Snow Mirror royal family.

    The two continued to bicker and chat as the chariot flew through the air, Yan Ling occasionally refilling the oval hole with Spirit Stones to keep the chariot going. This flying chariot was far faster than any carriage or caravan Liang Chen had ever been on, it could also fly in a straight line over the various nations, saving a lot of time as it headed for King''s Mirror city, the capital of Snow Mirror nation.


    Snow Mirror nation was located close to the center of the Fallen Cloud continent, so they had to head south for quite a long distance, even passing Eternal Stream city. Liang Chen guessed that it would likely take around three to four months if he wished to reach it using a normal carriage, but using this golden chariot, they managed to reach Snow Mirror nation after as little as a week, utterly astonishing Liang Chen.


    Snow Mirror was a nation that was perpetually covered in snow, reminding Liang Chen of his time in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. It was a bit smaller than the other nations, but the average strength of its soldiers was a bit higher than the other nations, allowing them to stand equal with the others. The capital, King''s Mirror, was a magnificent city, something that Liang Chen could see clearly thanks to their high altitude.


    The capital itself was in the form of a spiral that formed a massive defensive array, the streets forming the lines, while the castle and the various buildings owned by the Bai clan served as the focal points of the formation. Every building in the city was built out of ice that was strangely murky, preventing others from looking into the buildings from the outside.


    The castle was also rather strange, as it wasn''t one large building, but several medium-sized ones that were either connected by long hallways or were placed close to each other. Each of the castle buildings was either round or oval in shape, with the roof being dome-shaped in form, bulging outwards and ending in a slight point.


    By the time their chariot reached the city, the sun had already set long ago, the land descending into darkness. But it didn''t seem to matter to Yan Ling, who flew the chariot directly to the castle, landing in front of one of the oval-shaped buidlings that was a bit larger than the others. This building was also decorated with several banners that hung down the sides, banners carrying the mark of the royal family, a blue turtle carrying a mountain on its back.


    The chariot landed in front of the building, the snow beneath it releasing a light crunching sound. The two large doors that led into the building were hurriedly thrown open, a somewhat short and chubby man who had short brown hair and was clad in silk clothing quickly stepping forward. There was some sweat on his forehead and neck, and his clothing was a bit disheveled, so it was clear that he had hurriedly dressed and rushed out to greet them.


    The chubby man quickly dipped into a graceful bow, stepping to the side and beckoning for Liang Chen and Yan Ling to step onto a blue carpet that led into the building.


    "Young Masters, this lowly one is Steward Zhan. The Crown Prince and his siblings have prepared a feast for you in the welcoming hall, so please."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling were somewhat curious how they had managed to throw together a feast this quickly, as they had clearly not expected them to arrive when they did. But they didn''t voice their question, Yan Ling storing the chariot into her interspatial ring and following the carpet deeper into the building.


    Liang Chen also stepped onto the carpet and followed Yan Ling, the two walking shoulder to shoulder, with Steward Zhan following a few paces behind them, keeping a respectful distance. Liang Chen took this chance to observe the interior of the castle, which was filled with statues carved out of either ice or ivory, as well as many large and gorgeous paintings.


    The carpet they were following was lined with guards clad in white armor, each one standing with straight backs and presenting their weapons in a respectful manner. It didn''t take long for them to reach a large set of doors engraved with the mark of the royal family, Steward Zhan quickly jogging forward and pushing open the doors.


    Stepping into the room behind the door, they entered a large circular hall, a long table placed at the center of the room. A large variety of dishes, both hot and cold ones, covered the table, servants clad in black uniforms rushing to place more food on the table.


    Standing in front of this long table was a group of 11 people, seven women and four men. Their ages varied greatly, the youngest one being a blue-haired girl who looked like she was only seven, and the oldest one being a slim and elegant man with silky blue hair who seemed like he had reached his late thirties.


    With Liang Chen and Yan Ling entering the hall, the rushing servants immediately halted everything they were doing, putting away the trays they were carrying and kneeling on the ground. The 11 people also stepped forward and bowed, the oldest looking one taking a step forward and introducing himself.


    "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Young Masters. I am Song Bowen, the Crown Prince of this small nation, and these are my siblings. We have prepared this meager feast and a small welcoming gift, please give me some face and accept them."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The blue-haired and black-eyed Song Bowen calmly and gracefully introduced himself, a young female servant running over after he finished speaking. She kneeled in front of Liang Chen and Yan Ling, presenting the silk pillow she was carrying. On top of the silk pillow laid two interspatial rings, both of surprisingly high quality. Liang Chen was at a bit of a loss at what he should do, but seeing Yan Ling accept one of the rings, he did the same.


    And sinking part of his mind into the ring to check the contents, he instantly understood why Yan Ling said that this mission would net them a good profit. The ring was filled with various types of cultivation resources, ranging from herbs to Demonic beast pieces, or even some liquids and pastes that had been prepared by alchemists, people who specialized in making pills and medicines.


    Liang Chen was rather curious at why this Song Bowen was willing to hand over so many resources, but that was only because he didn''t understand Song Bowen''s position. As the Crown Prince of Snow Mirror nation, Song Bowen had to keep the interests of his nation in mind, especially when so many of the other nations could be considered their enemies.


    If he could leave a good impression on someone from the Storm Wolf sect, not only would his position as Crown Prince be strengthened, but they might even aid if the nation was in danger of being attacked by the other nations who served the Bai clan. Liang Chen wondered if they were also going to accept the feast, glancing at Yan Ling. He had no idea how to act in a situation like this, so he could only leave things up to her. Yan Ling had accepted the interspatial ring, but after glancing at the table filled with food, she shook her head.


    "Greetings, Song Bowen. I am Yan Ling, and this is my Junior Brother, Liang Chen. We are grateful for your gifts, but as it is late, we would like to postpone the feast and get some rest."


    Yan Ling put a heavy emphasis on the words Junior Brother, sending Liang Chen a stealthy smirk. Song Bowen wasn''t perturbed by Yan Ling''s refusal, quickly nodding his head with a smile, waving at Steward Zhan.


    "Of course, forgive me for not realizing that you would be tired. Please allow Steward Zhan to show you to the prepared quarters, I hope you will find them adequate."


    Steward Zhan quickly ran over, bowing to Song Bowen and then to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, leading them out of the hall and back to the entrance of the building. With Steward Zhan leading Liang Chen and Yan Ling away, the other servants also quickly retreated, only leaving behind the 11 children of the royal family.


    Song Bowen let out a deep sigh, his back damp and cold from sweat. Standing face to face with people who could likely decide the fate of his nation, there was no way he wouldn''t be nervous. He turned his head, glancing at his equally nervous siblings. After a short moment, the youngest girl let out a somewhat hesitant noise.


    "Big Brother... Are we really going to do this?"


    Song Bowen looked at his youngest sister, Song Yanyue, letting out a deep sigh. He felt a twinge of pain in his heart, but he still gave a resolute nod of his head.


    "We have to. If we can gain their favor, our nation will be far more secure in the future. If we do well enough, we might even be moved closer to the headquarters of the Bai clan, or even to the Floating Rose nation, at which point no one will dare move against us or our citizens."


    Song Yanyue and the other siblings nodded their heads, their faces growing resolute as they split up and started the final preparations of their plan. While they were doing this, Steward Zhan led Liang Chen and Yan Ling out of the building, bringing them over to a somewhat smaller building a few hundred meters to the left of the oval-shaped building.


    This building was smaller, but it was a bit more luxurious, the outside of the building decorated with statues and various rainbow-colored flowers that could bloom through the snow. Steward Zhan opened the doors, which were made from green jade, bowing and indicating that they should enter.


    The inside was just as luxurious, with even more statues and pillars decorating the corners and walls. The entire floor was covered in a fuzzy carpet made from a strange white fur, a pleasant aroma drifting through the air. The building was rather small, only containing six other rooms, besides the entrance room that was right past the doors.


    Steward Zhan led Liang Chen and Yan Ling to their rooms, which were placed right next to each other. The rooms were decorated even more extravagant than the rest of the building. The bed was large enough to fit five people and was completely covered in strange and fine silk that Liang Chen had never seen before. Various flowers that released a calming aroma were placed at the four edges of the room, the aroma also seemed to help stimulate the body, increasing the speed at which one absorbed Qi.


    A dresser made out crystal leaned against the wall, with a round table made out of jade stood at the center of the room, a crystal pitcher filled with spicy wine standing ready. Even the three chairs around the table were luxurious, made out of a material that resembled gold, covered in sapphires and rubies.


    Seeing such a needlessly luxurious room, Liang Chen could only click his tongue. He walked over to the bed and sat down, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. He didn''t start to cultivate, spreading out his senses as far as he could, keeping a close watch on all the buildings in the castle. He was observing the actions of every living being thanks to the electricity flowing in their nerves, keeping an eye out for people that might harm Song Bowen and his siblings.


    But after only half an hour had passed, he was forced to stop this. He retracted his senses and opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the door to his room as he let out a sigh.


    "No need to wait out there, you can enter."


    There was a startled yelp from outside his room after he spoke, the door quickly opening. Song Bowen''s seven sisters entered the room, even the youngest one, each of them clad in a light blue negligee that was so thin it was practically see-through. They weren''t wearing any underwear, so their private areas were fully visible to Liang Chen. The two oldest of the sisters were able to keep a somewhat composed face under his gaze, but the five youngest ones turned red, either from shame or something else.

 Incensed Yan Ling.

    Liang Chen calmly looked at the faces of the seven girls that were offering themselves to him. Faced with his calm gaze, even the two previously composed elder sisters were starting to blush, shrinking their necks slightly. After only a few seconds, which felt like several hours, Liang Chen turned away, waving his hand and tossing the bedsheets at the girls.


    "Put on some clothing, I have no idea where I should look. It was Song Bowen who put you up to this, wasn''t it?"


    The silken bedsheets landed on the girls, covering their heads. The five youngest quickly grabbed the sheets and wrapped them around themselves, covering their practically nude bodies. But while the five youngest were doing this, the two oldest grit their teeth, looking at Liang Chen with determined gazes, only taking a small piece from the bedsheets to cover their most private parts.


    "Are we truly so unattractive that you won''t even look at us? Despise us if you will, but this is something we must do for our nation."


    Not only were they presenting themselves, practically nude, which was already shameful enough, but Liang Chen didn''t even look at them, making it even more shameful to them. But even if he despised them for acting like harlots, which is what they assumed was the reason behind him looking away, they still had to do it. Liang Chen turned his gaze back to the girls, tilting his head slightly.


    "Despise you? While I do feel a bit of loathing right now, it''s not towards you."


    His loathing wasn''t aimed at them, but rather at himself, or more precisely, his past self. Looking at the seven girls standing in front of him right now, he was reminded of his past self. Just like Liang Chen had been unable to help his parents when they were executed, these seven girls were unable to properly assure the safety of their nation and their people.


    The difference between them was that Liang Chen had been able to change, clawing his way through painful training, slowly accumulating more strength. Of course, these girls could do the same as him, but they didn''t dare to do so. Liang Chen had been all alone when he started his torturous training, even if he died, nothing would have changed, no one would have been implicated. But if anything happened to these girls, it could easily affect the entire nation, making it so that they didn''t dare easily risk their lives.


    Liang Chen stood up from the bed, taking out some large robes from his interspatial ring and wrapping them around the two eldest girls, fully covering their bodies. After doing so, he gave a slight shake of his head.


    "I don''t despise you, I both pity and somewhat respect you. I pity you because you have to resort to something like this in an attempt to assure the safety of your nation, but I also respect you for being willing to sacrifice your chastity and reputation for your nation and its people. But that does not mean that I will accept you into my bed."


    They were willing to sacrifice something that was supremely important to most girls, all so that their citizens could be safer, this was an admirable thing. Liang Chen sat down on the edge of the bed after wrapping up the eldest sisters, but they still didn''t relent, putting on bitter smiles as they looked at Liang Chen, their expressions looking as if they were about to cry.


    "Are we really that unattractive?"


    They had no choice but to push on, it was already too late for them to pull back. If they simply left now, they found it likely that this event and their actions might actually leave behind a bit of bitterness or anger in Liang Chen, which would only make it harder to assure the safety of their nation. Of course, they only thought like this because they had no idea how Liang Chen actually thought. Facing their bitter expressions, Liang Chen simply shook his head in a calm fashion.


    "It has nothing to do with your appearance. I won''t accept you into my bed because it wouldn''t feel right, there is no other reason."


    Liang Chen didn''t consider himself picky, nor did he consider these girls unattractive. On the contrary, the four oldest ones were extremely beautiful, with the three others being too young for him. But the simple fact was that none of these girls gave him a sense of peace and belonging, so sleeping with them would feel wrong.


    The seven girls looked like they still wanted to say something, but just as the youngest one mustered up her courage and opened her mouth, a loud sound from the hallway interrupted them. The seven girls were immediately spooked, jumping slightly and running to Liang Chen for protection.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "What was that?! Are we under attack!?"


    The rooms within this building were specially prepared for important guests that would be visited by maids trained in the sexual arts, so they were supposed to be completely isolated and soundproof. For such a loud sound, as if someone had shattered the walls, to resound through this building, the girls could only guess that the expected assassins had arrived. But contrary to their scared expressions, Liang Chen wore a much calmer expression, even looking as if he was about to laugh. He stood up from the bed and started heading for the door, letting out a low chuckle.


    "That would be the less patient and calm one."


    The girls didn''t understand the meaning behind his words, but they felt safer around him, so they quickly followed behind him, entering the hallways. After entering the hallway, Liang Chen saw the expected scene.


    Song Bowen and his three brothers were sprawled in the hallway, moving slightly as they struggled to stand up. They weren''t wearing clothing that was as revealing as the clothing of the seven sisters, what they wore was more focused on showing off their masculinity and manliness.


    The door to Yan Ling''s room was completely shattered, pieces of it spread around the hallway. Shortly after Liang Chen and the seven sisters entered the hallway, a huffing and puffing Yan Ling stepped out of her room, pointing a shaking finger at the four men.


    "What the hell do you think you are doing?! Do I look like a harlot to you?!"


    It was easy for Liang Chen to guess that Song Bowen had tried to entice Yan Ling, but it seemed to have gone far worse for Song Bowen than it did for his sisters. Song Bowen just barely managed to stand up after being flung out of the room and was just about to retort. But it seemed like Yan Ling had been truly incensed by their actions, so seeing Song Bowen open his mouth, she sent out a swift slap, the wind around her hand accelerating its speed.


    Song Bowen was only at the late stage of the Houtian Tower realm, so there was no way for him to dodge, he could only close his eyes and wait for the slap. But the slap never hit him, a calm laughter sounding out.


    "Alright, that''s enough, no need to overreact like that, it''s not like they meant anything bad with it. Just take a deep breath and calm down."


    Song Bowen warily opened his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that Liang Chen had stepped forward and stopped the slap by grabbing onto Yan Ling''s hand. Yan Ling still glared at Song Bowen and his brothers, but she quickly followed Liang Chen''s advice, taking a deep breath to calm down. She then swept the people in the hallway with a quick gaze, stopping on the seven sisters for a short second, her gaze eventually landing on Liang Chen, her lips curling slightly.


    "No wonder you are so accepting of it. I didn''t know your tastes were so special, enjoying them all at once."


    The seven sisters were clad in either the bedsheets or robes given to them by Liang Chen, but one could just barely see the transparent negligee they were wearing. Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling''s words were said as a teasing joke, her strange way of apologizing, so Liang Chen fired back with one of his own.


    "And I didn''t know that someone like you would wear this kind of cute nightwear, I am truly shocked."


    His eyes swept Yan Ling up and down as he spoke. She was clad in a thin nightgown that reached down to just above her knees and was light yellow in color. The entire nightgown was covered in embroidered images of small wolf puppies created using green stitches. Compared to how brutish and mischievous she usually acted, it was a bit strange to see her wearing clothing like this. Yan Ling actually blushed slightly out of embarrassment at being seen like this, but she quickly covered it up with a snort.


    "What, you think everyone can be like you? Never sleeping and always clad in robes?"


    Liang Chen had already told Yan Ling that he no longer felt sleepy, he had told her while they were on the way here, keeping an eye on the chariot and making sure that it was always fully charged while Yan Ling was sleeping. Liang Chen could tell that Yan Ling was still rather angry at the actions of Song Bowen, so he continued to play around with her to lighten her mood.


    "What, you want me to remove my robes, is that what you are trying to say? Pervert."


    Liang Chen let go of Yan Ling''s hand, which he had forgotten to let go of earlier, taking a step back and crossing his arms in front of his chest, as if he was trying to shield himself. Yan Ling couldn''t help but break into laughter, as the image she saw in front of her clashed completely with the fierce and monstrous Liang Chen she had seen in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, the contrast too much for her to bear. Once she finished laughing, she waved her hand at Song Bowen and his siblings, dismissing them.


    "You can leave. We will never speak of this again."


    Song Bowen and his siblings let out a stealthy sigh of relief. Facing the furious Yan Ling, Song Bowen and his brothers had truly feared for their lives. The 11 siblings quickly cupped their hands and bid Yan Ling and Liang Chen farewell.


    "Thank you for letting us leave. I will send over Steward Zhan tomorrow when breakfast is ready. Until then, please feel free to occupy another room while I have someone fix the door."


    Despite being somewhat bruised and in some pain, Song Bowen managed to show his skills as a Crown Prince, as well as his thick skin, acting as if nothing has happened. The 11 Song siblings quickly left, leaving behind Yan Ling and Liang Chen. After a short moment of silence, Yan Ling spoke up, her voice a bit low.


    "Thank you."


    She had lost control in her anger, lashing out at Song Bowen. Had her slap hit, while he was unlikely to die, it would have at least shattered his lower jaw. Liang Chen gave a faint smile, shrugging his shoulders and patting Yan Ling on the head.


    "No problem, we all lose control at times. Get some sleep, breakfast is going to be rather interesting."

 The assassins arrive.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen split up, Yan Ling switching room, now occupying the one to the right of Liang Chen''s, rather than the one to his left. Liang Chen returned to his own room, sitting on the bed that no longer had any of its sheets. He closed his eyes again and continued observing the entire castle area, but this time he changed it up a little.


    Rather than observing everyone using the electricity in their bodies, something that required all of his focus as it observed everyone, he instead spread out an incredibly weak version of his poison, dusting the entire castle area with it. This was similar to what he had done when he spied on Liu Daning and his men, but slightly different.


    Back then, he used the poison as his eyes, allowing him to see everything that happened in the mansion. But this time, he only spread it out and kept a faint connection with it. The connection was too weak to allow him to see everything that was going on around the poison, but it was enough to let him feel the approximate strength of everyone who came in contact with it.


    Like this, he would know the moment someone new entered the castle area, what their strength was, and the general direction of their movements. It still took a toll on his mind and Qi, but far less than the version he used against Liu Daning did, so with a bit of mental straining, he could keep it active while moving.


    The night slowly passed, Liang Chen keeping a close watch on everything. He thought that Yan Ling was sleeping, but he noticed that whenever he noticed some strange movements, Yan Ling also reacted to them, so it seemed like she had her own way of keeping watch over the castle area and make sure that no one snuck up on the Song siblings.


    Morning arrived without incident, a servant cautiously knocking on Liang Chen''s door to notify him that breakfast would soon be served. After receiving a response from Liang Chen, four female servants entered the room, keeping their heads respectfully lowered. They carried a robe made from deep blue silk, so it seemed like they had received an order to help Liang Chen get dressed. They stepped forward to carry out their orders, but Liang Chen waved them away.


    "No need to help me, I can dress myself, you can return."


    The four females quickly gave a respectful bow and then left the room, heaving what they believed to be stealthy sighs of relief. Liang Chen looked at the silken robe, which was surprisingly cool to the touch. Other than the blue silk that it was made of, there were golden threads embroidered into it, forming the image of several ferocious shark-like leviathans, the insignia of the Bai clan.


    Liang Chen swiftly unrobed and put on the new robe. It was a bit too large for him, but it automatically shrunk after he put it on, turning into a size that fit his body perfectly. He already looked like a handsome scholar, but once he put on the blue and golden robe, his charm was brought out even more. Thanks to his somewhat sharp and upwards angled eyebrows, he now took on a more princely air, brought out even further by the calm look in his eyes.


    He walked to the side of the room and inspected himself in the large square crystal mirror that adorned the wall. After giving a slight nod, he turned around and left the room, meeting up with the already waiting Yan Ling. Since he had been able to tell that she was using some technique to observe the entire castle area, she too of course had been able to tell that he did so. Because of this, she hadn''t bothered to knock, as she knew that Liang Chen likely already knew that she was waiting outside his room.


    Yan Ling had also been given a blue and golden silk robe, just like Liang Chen. Hers was a bit tighter than his, emphasizing her slim waist and curved hips, as well as doing its best to hide her somewhat pitiable chest. While Liang Chen was looking at Yan Ling, she was sweeping him up and down with her gaze, giving a slight nod.


    "So even a brute like you can be made up to look like a decent person with the right clothing, how magical."


    Liang Chen didn''t give her a proper response, clicking his tongue and flicking her forehead before she had the time to react. He then nodded in the direction of the exit, starting to walk as he ignored her standard complaints about how he was using his superior cultivation to bully her.


    Standing outside the building and waiting for them was the somewhat chubby and brown-haired Steward Zhan. He hurriedly bowed when he saw Liang Chen and Yan Ling, quickly beckoning towards the large oval-shaped building they had entered the day before.


    "Please follow me, breakfast is ready for the Young Masters."


    The two followed Steward Zhan, once again entering the oval-shaped building and following the carpet to the circular hall that held the long table. The 11 Song siblings were respectfully standing at the side of the table, along with several servants clad in black uniforms. Everyone bowed when Liang Chen and Yan Ling entered the room, the slim and blue-haired Song Bowen beckoning towards the two seats of honor, one on each end of the table.


    "Please take a seat, our chefs have prepared a wonderful breakfast for you."


    Liang Chen sat down in one of the seats of honor, but Yan Ling only glanced at the other spot for a short second before turning away and sitting down on the chair next to Liang Chen''s. Why would she sit so far away when the only person here she could talk freely with was Liang Chen?


    The Song siblings quickly adjusted, Song Bowen giving a few quiet orders to his siblings. Song Bowen and the two oldest sisters, a blonde hair and curvaceous woman named Song Hanying, and the somewhat slimmer but more graceful blue-haired Song Hanxue, sitting down on the seats closest to Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    The three other brothers and the five other girls weren''t as thick-skinned as Song Bowen and the elder sisters, so they flushed red when they looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling, remembering the events of the previous night. Song Bowen made sure to avoid mentioning the previous night, flattering Liang Chen and Yan Ling while the first course of the breakfast, a creamy soup, was being served.


    "You must forgive my bad manners, I completely forgot to thank you for coming to protect us. With your strength, I am certain that no assassins will be able to harm us. I am even somewhat hoping that some will show up, just so that they can learn how foolish it was of them to stand against you. Who knows, you might even get to teach our soldiers and captains a thing or two by having them join you in battle."


    Song Bowen chuckled lightly, wearing a flattering smile in hopes of pleasing Liang Chen and Yan Ling. But Liang Chen wasn''t used to flattery and Yan Ling didn''t like it, so neither of them reacted as he hoped, both of them only giving a lukewarm response. Yan Ling slowly tasted the soup, sweeping the soldiers who guarded the room with a quick glance, before tilting her head at Song Bowen.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "What''s the strength of your soldiers and captains like?"


    This was the first time Yan Ling had taken the lead in starting a conversation, pleasing Song Bowen. He quickly answered, raising his head and somewhat puffing out his chest in pride.


    "Our soldiers are between the middle stage of the Mortal Tower realm and the early stage of the Houtian Tower realm. All our captains have reached the early stage of the Xiantian tower realm, with the generals having reached the middle stage."


    The soldiers and captains were put through a tough training regime, which was what allowed the nation to have such a strong army. In other nations, captains might only have reached the Houtian Tower realm, with many of their soldiers not even having started cultivation. But faced with Song Bowen''s prideful expression, Yan Ling only gave a dismissive wave of their hand, pointing at Liang Chen with her thumb.


    "In that case, they should just stay away from the battles. Anyone below the Heaven''s Gate realm, unless they have some special means like Little Freak here, are useless in battles against those who have entered the Heaven''s gate realm."


    Her words quickly deflated Song Bowen, but she didn''t say them to be rude. Each new cultivation realm was far stronger than the previous one, so only people with excellent strength and various techniques could fight those in a higher cultivation realm. But how could the soldiers and captains of a mere nation like this have access to such techniques?


    Yan Ling was confident that if they were to face a single cultivator at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gat realm, that cultivator would be able to at least drag around 25% of the nation''s army with him to the grave. Such was the truth of cultivation, anyone at a lower realm was close to being an ant.


    This fact was the main factor behind her giving Liang Chen the name Little Freak, as only a true freak could kill people at a cultivation realm much higher than his own. After Song Bowen deflated from hearing the truth, Yan Ling continued to press on, her gaze sweeping over the entire hall, as if she could see through the walls and look upon the other buildings that surrounded them.


    "And also, do you have any idea how many people might die if we were to start fighting here? The entire castle area might be turned into ruins if Little Freak starts going wild, most if not all of the servants and soldiers would die at that point. It would be far better if no assassins showed up and we could complete this mission quietly."


    Yan Ling enjoyed playing around and could even be called selfish, but she still detested dragging other innocents who couldn''t protect themselves into her battles. Song Bowen knew when to pull back, so he quickly put on a humbled expression and gave Yan Ling a deep nod.


    "It seems like I grossly underestimated not only the strength of the possible assassins, but even yours. Please forgive me, let us hope we can avoid any battles. But if it should come to blows, I will make sure that we all engrave your tremendous strength into our minds, so that we have a goal to strive towards."


    He acted humble, but he didn''t forget to throw in some flattery to please the two. Yan Ling merely gave a nonchalant nod of her head, not bothering too much with Song Bowen''s honeyed words.


    The first course was quickly finished and cleaned away, the second dish arriving, the servants carefully placing down the plates. The second dish was a light fish dish which was quickly devoured, replaced by the third dish, a small noddle dish. As the servants placed down the plates, Yan Ling glanced at them, before once again turning towards Song Bowen, who was desperately trying to come up with conversation topics that could interest her.


    "Your servants, they seem to be afraid of something. Has anything happened?"


    Some of the servants were able to hide it, but others were a bit pale, while others were sweating or trembling. It wasn''t that bad with the servants that were handing the food to Yan Ling, but she noticed that the servants who were bringing food to Liang Chen were having a harder time hiding it.


    Song Bowen''s eyes flashed with a quick light, his eyebrow ticking up slightly without him noticing it. He quickly waved the servants away, putting on an apologetic expression, his eyes landing on Liang Chen.


    "You must forgive them, they rarely get to interact with people of your level. And while they may not be able to grasp just how mighty your esteemed sect is, they are quite familiar with the Mortal Titan list. And since this Young Master was given several honorable titles and was even given an honorary mention, they are rather awed at his presence."


    Liang Chen''s honorary mention on the Mortal Titan list, the ranking list of the 100 strongest Heaven''s Gate cultivators on this planet, didn''t mean much in the Storm Wolf sect, which had several thousand cultivators of this level. But to normal people who weren''t part of any of the large sects, this honorary mention was enough to instantly propel Liang Chen to fame, and even some infamy because of his titles and deeds.


    Yan Ling seemed to only just now remember about the honorary mention, turning towards Liang Chen with an expression that was a mixture between smugness and teasing, chuckling lightly.


    "Right, that was a thing wasn''t it? What were your titles again? I believe it was Scourge King, Bloody Lightning, and Blood Tide? Rather fitting titles for a Little Freak like you, truly appropriate."


    Faced with Yan Ling''s expression, as well as her mention of his titles, which could only be called embarrassing, Liang Chen could only click his tongue.


    "Tch, so even you got to hear about it."


    Knowing Yan Ling''s personality, he was certain that she was never going to let him hear the end of it. And just like he thought, Yan Ling responded by laughing even louder, her expression growing even smugger.


    "Nihihi, don''t think I''ll let you live it down."


    She couldn''t beat him in strength just yet, but at least she hadn''t been given such embarrassing titles that made him seem like a cruel villain. The two continued to chat, occasionally responding to Song Bowen or one of the elder sisters.


    The Song siblings quickly realized that Liang Chen and Yan Ling weren''t too interested in the topics they brought out, so when the ninth course was brought out, Song Bowen quickly introduced it, hoping that it would at least produce a spark of interest.


    "Ah, desserts are arriving. This is the specialty of our chefs, a special type of pudding made using the milk from the Icesoul Bison''s that only live here, I hope it pleases you."


    The pudding was shaped like a star and was light yellow in color, the faint scent of lemons and vanilla hanging around it. The Song siblings grabbed their spoons and put some of the silky soft pudding on it, swiftly bringing it to their mouths, before they were suddenly interrupted by Liang Chen.


    "I wouldn''t eat it if I were you, it''s poisoned."


    Liang Chen held up the plate, closely observing the pudding that was jiggling on it. The sensation was somewhat faint, but he could clearly feel that there was poison inside all the puddings. The Song siblings lowered their spoons, Song Bowen finding it a bit hard to believe it, tilting his head.


    "Poisoned, are you sure?"


    Liang Chen hadn''t even tasted the pudding, so how could he know that there was poison in it? But Yan Ling was keenly aware that Liang Chen was very sensitive to poison, so she immediately dropped her spoon, her eyes narrowing.


    "Do you know who poisoned it?"


    It seemed like they had been a bit too casual, forgetting to take into account that the assassins wouldn''t necessarily be people with high cultivation. Liang Chen closed his eyes, strengthening the connection he had with the poison that he had spread around the entire castle area, turning it into eyes for him.


    He swiftly found a slim man clad in a gray chefs uniform, the man''s fingers carried the sensation of poison, so he should have been the one who poisoned the dessert. But the man was already dead, purple puss oozing out from his seven orifices. Liang Chen gave the rest of the castle area a quick sweep, checking every room, ignoring the pain that appeared in his head. But he didn''t find any other signs of poison, so he opened his eyes and shook his head, delivering the news.


    "Too late, he''s already killed himself. He must have ended his life right after poisoning the desserts."


    Liang Chen took out some pills from his interspatial ring, swallowing them to quickly restore himself to peak condition. With this assassination attempt failing, another one might swiftly follow it, a more direct one.


    Liang Chen''s fears were quickly proven correct, several presences entering the castle area and coming into contact with the poison he was using to keep guard. Yan Ling also seemed to detect them, her face turning grave as she stood up.


    "Congratulations, Song Bowen. The battle you wished for has arrived, and it seems like it''s going to be a grand one. Evacuate everyone."

 One versus six, one versus two.

    Song Bowen did not dare believe that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would play a joke on him right now, so his face instantly grew solemn. He stood up so fast that his chair was pushed backward, orders rapidly flying from his mouth.


    "Hanying, take care of sector 1 and 3. Hanxue, sector 2 and 8. Hekang, sector 5 and 6. I''ll take care of sector 7 and 9. Fengwu and Dansu, the two of you grab half the heirlooms and flee using the secret tunnels. The rest of you, make sure that there are no stragglers who might wander into the area."


    Song Bowen''s siblings also understood the severity of the situation, standing up and nodding their heads without saying a word, each of them leaving to carry out the orders. Looking at how smoothly they moved and acted, it was clear that they had long prepared for a situation like this.


    Looking at them, Liang Chen couldn''t help but admire them quite a bit. Despite their somewhat tasteless efforts to befriend him and Yan Ling, they were still true royalty, their actions showing some of their majesty. Especially the two who were told to flee, Song Fengwu and Song Dansu.


    Song Dansu was the blue-haired and black-eyed youngest sister, who looked no older than seven years old, and Song Fengwu was the youngest of the four males, a youth who looked to be in his early twenties and had black hair and blue eyes. The reason these two were told to flee was very simple, they were the ones who had the greatest talent, so on the off-chance that the Song family was destroyed here, the two would have the chance to rebuild it in the future.


    Compared to the two of them, everyone else was expendable, even Song Bowen, the crown prince and future ruler of the nation. They were the youngest, but they were still able to accept and carry this responsibility with determined faces. While the Song siblings were moving to carry out their own duties, Liang Chen and Yan Ling also stood up, Yan Ling turning towards Liang Chen.


    "Are you able to get a clear picture of their numbers? I wanna see if what I spotted was correct."


    Yang Ling''s face was serious, her voice solemn, showing that even this mischievous fox knew when to be serious. Liang Chen nodded his head, glancing at the four directions that their enemies were coming from.


    "Should be eight of them. Six of them have reached either the early or the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, while two of them have reached the late stage. It seems like they view this assassination rather seriously."


    There was a rather large jump of strength between each cultivation stage and realm, so while Liang Chen felt confident that he could deal with people at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, he wasn''t as confident when it came to someone at the late stage.


    That wasn''t to say that he was unable to kill them, he had managed to kill Liu Daning after all. But Liu Daning had been caught unaware by a sneak attack, and to kill him, Liang Chen had nearly killed himself in the process. To repeat that same feat against someone who was prepared, and in frontal combat of all things, it was hard to know what the results would be.


    Yan Ling had similar thoughts to Liang Chen, her expression somewhat unpleasant. People of this level of strength weren''t supposed to show up on this mission, it was supposed to be peaceful and easy, that was the entire reason she had dragged along Liang Chen. But what''s done is done, there was no way they could change it now, they could only face it head-on. With that thought in mind, Yan Ling narrowed her eyes somewhat.


    "Are you able to hold back the two strongest people?"


    After hearing her words, and what they implied, Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. Yan Ling was still only at the late stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, yet she was saying that she could deal with the six remaining people on her own? But looking at her somewhat grim expression, it was clear that it wouldn''t be easy for her. With Yan Ling like this, how could Liang Chen disappoint her?


    "Aye, shouldn''t be a problem. You just focus on dealing with the other six, call for me if you need any help."


    Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders in a calm and casual manner as he spoke, as if he wasn''t about to head into a life or death battle. Saying that it wouldn''t be a problem was a bit of a boast, but if it was just holding them back for a while, it was far easier than beating them. Of course, as Liang Chen didn''t know the abilities of the enemies, his words could be considered a bit too boastful. With Liang Chen acting this calm, Yan Ling''s lips couldn''t help but curve into a slight smile. She gave Liang Chen''s shoulder a light punch, giggling faintly.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Nihihi, you said it, so I''ll hold you to it. Let''s beat up these bastards, live to tell the tale, and then eat some good food as we brag to others about our deeds."


    Yan Ling stretched out her fist, holding it in front of Liang Chen after she finished giggling. Liang Chen nodded his head, giving Yan Ling a fist-bump, the two splitting up and moving to face their own enemies. Liang Chen used the eastern exit of the building to head to the north-eastern part of the castle area, while Yan Ling took the main entrance and headed to the south-western part of the castle area.


    Liang Chen calmly walked, his steps slow and sure. He swept the surrounding area with his gaze as he walked, observing the people that were hurriedly rushing away, gathering at the center of the castle area. The previously pristine and powdery snow on the ground was completely stomped and ruined, the doors and windows of the various buildings left wide open. Liang Chen stopped looking at the surroundings, his eyes turning towards the front, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head.


    "Ha~ah, seems like even I still have some desire to show off buried within me."


    Taking on two people at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, even if it was just to hold them back, was still a very difficult task. Had it not been for Yan Ling acting as she did, it was more likely that Liang Chen would suggest that they help the Song siblings with the evacuation, focusing on evading the enemies. But since it had come to this and he had said what he did, he would not turn back. He had made a promise, and this one he would keep.


    While he was walking, he suddenly heard a loud sound come from behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw that one of the buildings close to the entrance of the castle area had been shattered, fragments tossed through the air, it seemed like Yan Ling had already started fighting her enemies.


    While Liang Chen was looking at the scene, the wind around him started to move, gathering towards the area where Yan Ling was battling. But a strange scene occurred in front of his eyes, the wind was starting to slowly turn crimson as it got closer to Yan Ling''s area, the smell of blood tickling Liang Chen''s nostrils. He guessed that this was likely because of some secret technique by Yan Ling, probably something to do with her bloodline.


    Liang Chen didn''t spend too long looking at the scene, turning his head away, his enemies had arrived. Two men were slowly walking towards him, their steps slow and wary. One of the men was clad in a silver robe that carried the emblem of the Moon Dragon sect, had long blonde hair, rounded features, and green eyes. The other man was clad in gray robes that bore the emblem of the Ghost Soul sect, had short brown hair, gray eyes, and more rugged features, a large scar going over his left eye. The two stopped a short distance away from Liang Chen, their eyes roaming over his body.


    "The information actually wasn''t wrong, the both of you really are here. Seems like it really was worth it for us to come here. Liang Chen, you can return to the earth knowing that it was Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao who sent you and Yan Ling on your way."


    The one who spoke was the man with the silver robe, Geng Zhen, so Xiao Daibao was most likely the man in the gray robe. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed dangerously after hearing their words, his thoughts starting to race. It seemed like they hadn''t come here for the Song siblings, but rather for him and Yan Ling. And it seemed like someone had given them this information, but just who had it been, and when had they done it? Was there a spy in the Storm Wolf sect that had found out that Yan Ling and Liang Chen went on this mission?


    While Liang Chen''s thoughts were racing, his instincts suddenly warned him of danger, and shortly after, the earth all around him suddenly burst open. Sharp spikes of stone covered by a thin layer of a strange transparent energy shot at him, aiming to pierce every part of his body. Neither Geng Zhen or Xiao Daibao had shown any sign that they were going to attack, nor had Liang Chen sensed their Qi moving. Had it not been for his instincts, he wouldn''t have known about the attack before it had arrived in front of him.


    But Xiao Daibao and Geng Zhen didn''t relax after their attack arrived directly in front of Liang Chen, because they could see that his golden eyes were still dreadfully calm. And in front of their wary eyes, a scene that shocked them took place.


    Liang Chen''s emerald hair and his golden eyes suddenly started to change, turning a dull gray in color. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, his fingertips growing sharper as shimmering gray scales started to grow on his arms, spreading up to his neck. A strange energy was unleashed by his arm, the spikes of stone starting to age and wither, turning to dust that blew away in the wind. Liang Chen''s now gray eyes landed on the two men, a low voice sounding out.


    "Sorry, but I have no intention of returning to the earth. I still have someone I need to kill, and I made a promise that I would hold the two of you back. I managed to kill Liu Daning with a sneak attack, so come, let me see how much stronger I have gotten since then."


    Liang Chen''s voice had turned deeper, even giving off a slightly savage feeling. Since he was facing two people at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, he couldn''t afford to hold back. So for the first time since he awakened his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, he activated it and was going to use it in combat.

 Fighting one against two.

    While Geng Zhan and Xiao Daibao looked at Liang Chen with wary and shocked gazes, Liang Chen clenched his fist, looking at his fist. The shimmering gray scales covered both his arms and part of his neck, stopping at his adam''s apple. His gray hair and eyes produced a strange charm, causing Liang Chen to give off a dreary feeling, as if he was the inevitable passing of time that turned all life to dust.


    Liang Chen felt his entire body brimming with power, far more than he ever felt himself control before. The bloodline of an Origin beast was truly something spectacular. But Liang Chen knew that this was just the start, nothing but the tip of the iceberg.


    Back when the Sebettu elder awakened his bloodline, he had only been a small remnant fragment of a soul, his power was limited. That was why he said that he would only slightly awaken Liang Chen''s bloodline, he truly didn''t have the remaining power to fully awaken it. So Liang Chen''s bloodline was still in the process of fully awakening, and once it fully awakened, it wouldn''t be just his arms that became covered in scales.


    Liang Chen''s gaze was lifted and returned to Geng Zhen and Xiao Diabao, who had both taken three steps back and pulled out their weapons. An unexpected situation had arisen, but that did not mean that they were going to flee. Even if things spiraled too far out of control and they died here, they had to at least gather up some information and do their best to send it back to their sects, that way their lives wouldn''t have been lost in vain.


    Geng Zhen wielded two small double-headed axes, while Xiao Daibao wielded a strange metal staff that had a spearhead on both ends, allowing both ends of the weapon to be used as a spear. There were vein-like grooves etched into the weapon, most likely so that any blood that splashed on the weapon didn''t make him lose his grip.


    Liang Chen didn''t have a weapon of his own, as his weapon shattered as he entered the Storm Wolf sect, and he had yet to buy any new weapons he could use. Since that was the case, he could only raise his fists and take on a battle-ready stance. With both sides taking on their stances, a tense silence descended on the area, even the distant sounds of Yan Ling''s battle becoming hushed.


    The silence was broken when the earth beneath Liang Chen suddenly changed, turning almost liquid as it started to churn and seethe like waves, destabilizing his foothold. This was when his enemies dashed forward, perfectly exploiting the moment Liang Chen''s body was forced to move.


    Xiao Daibao was the first to arrive by Liang Chen, moving far faster than Liang Chen ever expected him to. In less than the time it took to blink, he had already arrived behind Liang Chen, stabbing at Liang Chen''s spine with his two-sided spear, transparent energy surrounding the tip and drastically increasing its speed.


    Time around Liang Chen''s head started to speed up, allowing him to glance at the spear tip coming for his back, and then glancing at the approaching Geng Zhen. Geng Zhen was still a short distance away, but he had placed both his axes together, a silver light gathering around them as he charged up what was likely going to be a rather powerful attack.


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed dangerously as he twisted his body, turning around to face Xiao Daibao''s stab. A two-layered bubble of energy surrounded the tip of the weapon, slowing down time and decreasing its speed while also speeding up the time of the transparent energy that surrounded it, causing the energy to wither at a faster pace.


    Activating his bloodline drastically strengthened his law of time, but it was still very draining to use it on other living beings or pure energy, so there was a limit to how much he could do. With the speed of the attack slowing down, Liang Chen got a bit more time to prepare.


    He stomped down on the churning earth beneath him, azure lightning bursting forth from his foot, shattering the semi-liquid earth and sending chunks flying through the air. He stopped time beneath his feet for two seconds, allowing him to stand in thin air and face Xiao Daibao''s attack.


    He sent out a sideways bunch with his left arm, diverting the path of the spear and having it slide past his waist. He then raised his right knee, aiming it at the middle of the weapon, he also slammed his right elbow down on the handle, aiming for the same spot that his knee was about to hit.


    His knee and elbow both hit the weapon at the same time, azure lightning bursting forth and pouring into the weapon. But things didn''t go as Liang Chen wished, the weapon showed no signs of breaking or weakening.


    His actions were backed by the law of time and the law of lightning, allowing him to perform them incredibly fast, but Xiao Daibao was also able to react incredibly quickly. The moment Liang Chen''s attack failed, Xiao Daibao exerted all his strength with his arms, the robe covering them exploding and revealing his thick arms covered in bulging veins.


    He forcefully pushed his other arm forward, turning the still ongoing stab into a strong push, the handle of the spear digging into Liang Chen''s abdomen and pushing him back, right towards Geng Zhen, who had now arrived right behind him.


    Geng Zhen sent out a sideways slash with his axes, still holding them against each other. The silver light around them had almost turned blinding, stretching towards the sky as if it wanted to connect with the unseen moon. Liang Chen swiftly reacted, freezing the time of the air right in front of the axes.


    The attack managed to shatter the blockade after only a short second, completely overpowering it, but that short second was enough for Liang Chen to prepare another layer of defense. He took half a step back, just enough to put a few centimeters of distance between himself and the double-sided spear that Xiao Daibao was holding against Liang Chen''s stomach.


    With the distance created, he grabbed onto Xiao Daibao''s wrists and forced the right side of the weapon to tilt slightly upwards, just enough to push it into the path of the incoming axes. But Liang Chen had grossly underestimated the strength of the attack, he had also underestimated the determination of his enemies.


    Understanding Liang Chen''s intent, Xiao Daibao actually eased up how much strength he had put into his arms, allowing Liang Chen to tilt the weapon into an almost perpendicular position. Once the weapon was in an upright position, Xiao Daibao put strength into his arms again, stabbing one end of the weapon into the ground, forcibly lowering it somewhat. He then stretched out his arm and grabbed onto Liang Chen''s robe, pulling him closer, both of them now standing almost right next to the weapon.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    The two axes slammed into the spear with full force, the power of the attack causing the weapon to spin. The ground burst open as the lower end of the weapon swung upwards and sliced a wound into Geng Zhen''s leg, meanwhile, the top end swung downwards and sliced a wound into Xiao Daibao''s cheek.


    Both of them had wounded themselves to do it, but they achieved the desired effect. The axes slid along the now horizontal weapon, slamming into the forcibly pulled forward Liang Chen, who could only raise his left arm in defense, his right arm stretching out and attempting to grab onto Geng Zhen''s right wrist.


    The axes reached his left arm before he was able to grab onto Geng Zhen''s wrist, but his fingers were still able to slightly make contact with Geng Zhen''s wrist, gently brushing them. The axes smashed into Liang Chen''s arm, a shattering sound ringing out as several of the shimmering gray scales were crushed.


    The force was transmitted to the rest of Liang Chen''s body, resulting in him being thrown through the air like a cannonball. He smashed into the nearest building, the walls of ice caving in the moment he made contact with them. The entire building was reduced to rubble, large chunks of ice burying Liang Chen''s body.


    Liang Chen could feel his left arm burning, hot blood pouring out from the places where the scales had shattered. The bones inside his arm were aching, but he was still able to move his arm, so he was sure that it hadn''t broken from the attack. His ribs were also aching, his breathing rather rushed and shallow, so he guessed that one or two of his ribs had shattered from the transmitted force, possibly puncturing one of his lungs.


    Was this the strength of someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm? Just a single attack, one which he had done his best to block, and yet it was enough to almost shatter his arm while also breaking several of his ribs.


    Liang Chen pushed away the chunks of ice that were covering his body, standing up and tossing away the thoughts. Even if the difference in strength was greater, he would still make sure to hold back both of the enemies while Yan Ling was dealing with the others. And it wasn''t like he was completely helpless and unable to retaliate, there were still ways for him to fight.


    After standing up, his eyes landed on Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, who were both standing a short distance away, their defenses raised. They weren''t certain what Liang Chen was capable of, so neither of them were willing to walk up to him while he was buried by the rubble, just in case he launched a sneak attack. Seeing him stand up and gaze at them with narrowed eyes, his pupils having turned into gray slits, their mouths couldn''t help but twitch.


    "You really did manage to survive that. Is it because of that strange law you used?"


    Liang Chen didn''t respond, but their words allowed him to ascertain something. If their informant really was someone from the Storm Wolf sect, they didn''t have a very high position, they were likely a disciple. The fact that Liang Chen had the law of time wasn''t a complete secret in the Storm Wolf sect, Yan Ling and her family knew it, the higher ranked elders like Guanyu knew it, even the guardians of the nine different Supreme Techniques knew it.


    But none of the disciples knew this piece of information, the various elders who knew about it helping Liang Chen keep it hidden, allowing it to serve as a trump card should he ever face people from the other sects who had ties with spies inside the Storm Wolf sect.


    Seeing that they weren''t going to get a response from Liang Chen, Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao prepared to resume combat. But as they were raising their weapons, Geng Zhen''s right arm suddenly trembled fiercely, an intense pain shooting up his entire arm. His right hand involuntarily loosened its grip, letting go of the axe it was holding.


    In shock, he swiftly tore away the clothing that covered his right arm, revealing his arm. A yellow mark in the shape of a small spider had appeared on his wrist, in the location that Liang Chen''s fingers had brushed past earlier. The veins on his right arm were bulging and wriggling, a faint yellow liquid visible in them even through his skin. His expression couldn''t help but twist, uttering a shocked and confused exclamation.


    "Poison from a Yellow-veined Birdeater? But how?!"


    A Yellow-veined Birdeater was a type of Demonic beast, a weak spider-type monster who''s only notable feature was the fact that it had a slow working poison that could corrode not only flesh and blood, but also Qi. But the poison truly was slow working, sometimes taking several weeks or even months before taking effect and starting its corroding.


    Looking at the poison, which was rapidly corroding his right arm, Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao couldn''t help but be shocked. Yellow-veined Birdeater''s couldn''t live in this cold environment, and they hadn''t entered a place where such a weak type of Demonic beast lived for several years already. So just how had the poison entered Geng Zhen''s body, and how was it working so rapidly?


    Their eyes quickly landed on Liang Chen, the only explanation they could think of. Their information only said that he could use lightning, even able to use the azure heavenly lightning, it had never mentioned anything about poison. But what other explanation was there for such a strange situation?


    Their guess was spot on. A yellow-veined Birdeater was among the Demonic beasts that Liang Chen had first killed when he started cultivating, when he bathed in his first ever Demonic beast blood. The Qi corroding effect of this poison was exactly what he was after now, looking to weaken Geng Zhen. It was slow working, but with his law of time, it was easy to speed up the time of the poison, allowing it to work far faster than normal.


    Liang Chen didn''t ease up after poisoning Geng Zhen''s arm, he suddenly dashed forward. Time all around his body sped up, azure lightning crackling around him as his speed reached its peak. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Geng Zhen, who hurriedly did his best to jump back. Xiao Daibao stabbed at Liang Chen with his double-sided spear, buying time for Geng Zhen.


    But Liang Chen''s target had never been Geng Zhen, his target was the axe that he had dropped. Liang Chen crouched down and picked up the axe with his right arm, stretching out his left to block the incoming spear. The spear stabbed into Liang Chen''s left hand, the transparent energy around it allowing it to pierce through his scales and arm as if they were butter. The spear continued onward, piercing through Liang Chen''s left shoulder.


    But Liang Chen didn''t even reach to his hand and shoulder getting pierced, having already numbed his sense of pain. Instead, he used his pierced hand to grab onto the spear, pulling Xiao Daibao closer. As Xia Daibao was forced to take a step forward, Liang Chen burst forth with all his strength, slashing out with the axe in his hand, a soft voice sounding out within his heart.


    "Second step splits the waterfall."


    Liang Chen instantly used his strongest attack, the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. He had gotten more accustomed to the technique, so he no longer had to do the actual steps before unleashing the attack, allowing him to burst forth with all his might in a split second.


    The axe he was holding disintegrated from the energy produced by the attack, the bones within his fingers shattering as his body was still unable to properly contain the energy of the second step. But the attack was still delivered, the earth in a 50-meter circle around Liang Chen and Xiao Daibao shattering and blown apart. An earth-shattering explosion rang out as the sound of thunder silenced everything else, a blinding azure light drowning out everything else, obscuring Liang Chen and Xiao Daibao from sight.

 Working together, leaning against each other.

    When the light started to dim and the thundering sound in Geng Zhen''s ears started to recede, he was finally able to see the result of Liang Chen''s attack. And what he saw nearly caused his eyes to pop out, a shiver running up his spine.


    Everything within 50 meters of Liang Chen had turned to ash, even the ground itself becoming concave, Liang Chen and Xiao Daibao located at the center of this hole, both of them an absolute mess. A thick arcing groove extended away from the hole, forming the image of a bolt of lightning that continued on into the distance, carving a path through three houses before finally stopping.


    Xiao Daibao was in a truly wretched state, his arms and legs twisted in unnatural directions, his fingernails blown off. His chest had completely caved in, turning it nearly completely flat. And at the center of his chest, a fist-sized hole had appeared, going directly through him, the edges of the hole burned to charcoal, not a drop of blood visible. Thanks to the strong vitality of someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, he was still alive, but it was clear that his death was already set in stone, he would at best last for another half minute.


    Liang Chen was in a better state, but he still looked exceptionally ragged and worn. The cloth around his arms had completely burst apart, revealing his scaly arms. Most of the scales on both of his arms had shattered, the fingers on his right hand contorting into strange shapes, and Xiao Daibao''s weapon was pierced through his left hand and shoulder.


    His chest heaved up and down as he took quick and deep breaths, blood pouring down both his arms and chest, there was even blood pouring out from his seven orifices. It was clear to Geng Zhen that whatever attack Liang Chen had launched to kill Xiao Daibao, it took a heavy toll on him.


    As Geng Zhen was looking at him, Liang Chen suddenly stood up, his body trembling, his legs nearly giving out underneath him. He turned towards Geng Zhen, his hair and eyes alternating between gray and their normal emerald and golden, showing that he didn''t really have the energy to keep his bloodline activated much longer.


    He was a spent force, on the verge of shutting down after launching his mightiest attack. Geng Zhen knew this, he knew this clearly. But looking at Liang Chen''s slit pupils, his calm gaze, Geng Zhen couldn''t help but feel an instinctual and primal fear flood his body. The thing in front of him was not the child he had been informed about, nor was he a man. He was a monster, a monster that had to be killed before it grew too strong and ended up becoming a calamity, a scourge to all living beings.


    Geng Zhen tightly grasped his remaining axe, doing his best to ease the fear that he was feeling. The speed of the poison that was corroding his right arm had slowed, so he only needed to use a little less than a quarter of his Qi to suppress it, he still had more than enough energy to kill Liang Chen. He took a deep breath to suppress his fear, casting a steely gaze at Liang Chen.


    "I must admit, we truly underestimated you. You are far stronger than I first thought, strong enough to earn my respect and fear. But, Liang Chen, you have failed to kill both Xiao Daibao and me, so I will still have you return to the earth today."


    Geng Zhen started to slowly walk forwards, carefully observing Liang Chen, making sure that he wasn''t caught off-guard and attacked. But Liang Chen didn''t make any moves, he didn''t even raise any defense. He simply looked at Geng Zhen, his lips weakly curling up as he let out a laugh.


    "Kill you? My goal was never to kill you, it was to hold you back. And that, that is something I managed to do just fine."


    If he managed to kill them, wonderful, but if he didn''t, that was also fine. As long as he held them back, he would have accomplished his goal, he would have fulfilled his promise. Hearing Liang Chen''s laughter, Geng Zhen couldn''t help but stop in his tracks, even more fear starting to sneak into his heart.


    He took another deep breath to push his fear down, assuring himself that Liang Chen''s words were nothing but some bravado he uttered before his death. But just as he was about to take another step forward, the wind around him turned ferocious, a bloody scent surrounding his body. His expression quickly dropped, but Liang Chen let out another light laugh.


    "It sure took you long to deal with the six of them, I was starting to wonder if you would have to come to collect my corpse once this was all over."


    Liang Chen''s gaze drifted past Geng Zhen, landing on a crimson wind that had arrived a short distance behind Geng Zhen. Yan Ling stepped out of the wind, a cheeky grin on her face as she let out a giggle.


    "Nihihi, what happened to all that boasting you did earlier? Call for you if I need help? Aren''t you the one that needs saving here?"


    Despite both of them laughing and joking, both of them were clearly in a bad state. Yan Ling''s entire body was drenched in blood, droplets continuously oozing out from her pores, likely a result of whatever technique she was using to forcibly raise her strength. Her cyan hair which was usually braided into a single neat ponytail was currently in complete disarray, swirls of crimson hair mixing with her cyan hair. Her usually sapphire blue eyes had turned dark green in color, crimson light occasionally flashing past them.


    Geng Zhen instantly realized that his situation had turned sour, he also realized that he was likely the last person alive. His eyes started to dart all over the place, trying to come up with a course of action that would let him at least send a message back to the sect, telling them as much as he could about Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s power. He could die, but this information had to reach the sect, otherwise, his fellow disciples might suffer in the future.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes, both giving an imperceptible nod. Just as Geng Zhen started to move, dashing towards the left, the both of them also sprung into action. Yan Ling dashed after Geng Zhen, the bloody wind coiling around her and helping her increase her speed. Liang Chen pulled out the double-sided spear that was pierced through his left arm and then swiftly took out a pill from his interspatial ring and swallowed it, allowing him to restore some of his Qi as he also dashed after Geng Zhen.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    With some of his Qi restoring, he started increasing the flow of time around the poison inside Geng Zhen''s arm, forcing him to use more Qi to suppress it. Yan Ling stretched out a bloody arm, the air in front of Geng Zhen pushing against him to slow his speed further, allowing the two to catch up.


    Geng Zhen''s expression was downcast when he noticed the two of them catching up. He grit his teeth, determination appearing in his eyes. He stopped suppressing the poison in his arm, taking out a small jade orb from his interspatial ring and grasping it with his right arm as he turned around. He started inserting his Qi into the jade, filling it with the information he wished to bring back to his sect.


    This was a special type of communication treasure, so once he finished inserting his Qi and filling it with information, it would shatter and turn into a stream of energy, carrying the information and delivering it to the specified point.


    While his right arm was doing this, he struck out with the axe he held in his left arm, aiming a downward slash at Yan Ling''s head. But Yan Ling didn''t even glance at the axe, all her attention focused on Geng Zhen''s right arm, at the jade he was currently filling up.


    As the axe was about to hit her head, Liang Chen suddenly dashed up behind her and pushed her forward, taking her place. After he pushed her forward, her body suddenly sped up, while Geng Zhen''s own thoughts started to slow down, as if time itself was distorting.


    Only now, when he himself felt it, did Geng Zhen realize just what strange law Liang Chen had controlled. It was time, one of the four supreme laws, only below the two origin laws of destruction and creation. Upon realizing this, Geng Zhen became even more determined that he had to send this information back to the sect, they had to know about the existence of this monster.


    Geng Zhen''s axe landed on Liang Chen''s raised left arm, only stopping once it reached the bone, adding another wound to his almost mangled left arm. But his move did the trick, Yan Ling was able to get close enough to Geng Zhen''s right arm.


    She stretched out her right arm, turning her hand into a blade as wind gathered around it. She slashed it down at his wrist, at the same time sending blades of wind towards his throat, forcing him to block them. Since he had to block the blades aimed at his throat, Yan Ling was able to hit his wrist, her blade hand cutting through it like it was butter.


    Before the severed hand and the jade orb had the chance to even hit the ground, the wind around them turned into a strong pressure. The hand was squeezed into paste, while the jade orb was crushed and turned into tiny fragments, the vital information within it forever unable to be sent.


    Geng Zhen let out a loud and frustrated growl, but it was already too late. The jade orb was shattered, his right hand had been severed, and the poison in his right arm had reached his chest and neck. He was going to die here, and it would all be for naught, he wouldn''t even be able to warn the sect. He cursed at himself, cursed that he didn''t send the information to the sect the moment he noticed Liang Chen use the law of time for the first time.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both turned their eyes onto Geng Zhen, launching their attacks at the same time. Liang Chen twisted his left arm around the axe, grabbing onto Geng Zhen''s wrist and pulling him closer. At the same time, he punched out with his right arm, forcing his shattered fingers to curl up into a fist that headed directly for Geng Zhen''s chest.


    Yan Ling also attacked, taking advantage of Liang Chen pulling Geng Zhen closer. She stretched out her right arm, placing her palm softly on Geng Zhen''s abdomen. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s attacks landed at the same time, exploding forward.


    Liang Chen''s fist collided with Geng Zhen''s chest, sending out a two-fold attack. The first part of the attack was an azure lightning bolt that pierced through his chest, while the second part of the attack was a stream of poison that mixed together with the poison that was already in Geng Zhen''s body, making it even more corrosive as it headed directly for his brain.


    Yan Ling''s attack was a bit stranger, as it left no marks on the outside of Geng Zhen''s body. But the moment her palm made contact with his abdomen, all the air within his body suddenly changed, turning into a terrifying pressure, as if all the wind of the world was pushing down on him. His lungs and veins exploded from the pressure, his other organs crushed into a thick paste, leaving his insides a horrid mess.


    He instantly died and fell to the ground, blood and crushed organs pouring out from his mouth, his molten brain leaking out from his ears and nose. Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at his corpse, their chests heaving as blood continued to pour from their wounds.


    Neither of them was able to continue standing, their legs giving out underneath them as they fell down in a sitting position. They twisted their bodies a little, leaning their backs against each other as they continued to heave. After a short while, Yan Ling broke the silence with a burst of weak laughter.


    "Nihihi, we did it. We came out alive just like I said. Well, you needed a bit more help than your boasting would lead me to believe. Well, you did manage to kill one of them, despite it being two against one, so I guess you did live up to your Little Freak title."


    Liang Chen couldn''t see her face, but from the slight gurgling sound that sounded out as she spoke, he guessed that she accidentally spat out some blood as she spoke. Both of their injuries were pretty bad, but neither of them seemed to care about that right now, Liang Chen clicking his tongue.


    "Tch, I don''t wanna hear anything from the person who came in at the end just to steal all the glory."


    Their injuries were bad, but they were still cultivators, so their vitality was greater than most people. Neither of them had wounds that were fatal, so they could afford to joke around a little, helping each other calm down again. Yan Ling responded with another laugh, leaning the back of her head against the back of Liang Chen''s.


    "Nihihi, just you wait, I''m gonna take all the credit when we return to the sect. I''ll hog all the rewards and make you watch as I use them to increase my strength to a level where I can bully you."


    After she finished talking, silence fell over the two, who continued to lean against each other as they caught their breaths. Unbeknownst to either of them, the powerful bloodlines within their bodies had already started working on repairing their bodies and healing their wounds, even taking the chance to make their bodies a bit stronger than before. The one who broke the silence was Liang Chen, his lips curling into a faint smile.


    "Alright, we made it out alive, now let''s hope that they have all that good food that you promised me."


    Just like Yan Ling said, they had beat the bastards, they had lived to tell the tale, now they just had to go back and eat some good food while they bragged about their deeds. Yan Ling couldn''t help but laugh after hearing his statement, wincing slightly from the pain it caused in her chest.


    "If they don''t, we''ll just have them make some. That pudding looked good, so we''ll have them make that, without the poison this time."


    The pudding had been poisoned last time, so Yan Ling had of course not eaten it. Only Liang Chen, who was practically immune to poison could eat the pudding without worries. And it was because he knew this that he couldn''t help but respond with a quip.


    "But the poison was such a good spice, made it that much better."


    His words once again caused Yan Ling to burst into laughter, forcing her to lean forward and grasp her chest as she alternated between wincing in pain and laughing. In the end, she managed to get the laughter under control, returning to leaning on Liang Chen''s back as she responded.


    "Little Freak, remind me to never taste any food that you give me."


    Liang Chen responded with a burst of laughter, silence descending over the two of them, the both of them simply enjoying the presence of the other, enjoying the fact that they had survived such a tough battle.

 Mission complete.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued to sit there, their wounds starting to slowly heal themselves as they took deep breaths. After a few minutes passed, Liang Chen leaned his head against the back of Yan Ling''s, breaking the silence.


    "Ey, Yan Ling, could you take out one of the pills from my interspatial ring and feed it to me? My hands don''t seem to listen to my orders right now."


    His left arm was practically completely mangled, and all the fingers on his right arm were shattered and twisted, his arms simply refused to move in this state. Yan Ling let out another giggle, but she didn''t do as he said, she instead took out a strange green paper covered in crimson writing from her interspatial ring, slapping it onto the back of Liang Chen''s head with a laugh.


    "That''s Senior Sister Ling to you, when will you learn that?. And no need for a pill, this thing will work much better. Father gave me some convoluted explanation of how it worked, but I tuned out halfway through. Let me say it like this, that''s that Yan family quality!"


    After speaking, Yan Ling took out another piece of paper, sticking it to her own body. Once the paper was stuck to Liang Chen''s body, a thick stream of energy poured into his body, flowing through all his veins and spreading to every part of his body. The energy was thick and potent, but it felt like a gentle spring breeze, the scent of sweet flowers and honey tickling Liang Chen''s nose.


    With the energy spreading through his body, he was shocked to see his injuries heal at a rapid pace, even his bones starting to put themselves back in their original position. He didn''t have to guess too much to realize what this was, it was a talisman created using a portion of the Sect Master''s own Qi. Creating such a talisman not only required a lot of resources, but also expended a lot of Qi and time, so it was clear that Yan Ling''s father was quite worried about letting her leave the sect. With this talisman, Liang Chen had no need to worry about his injuries, so he quickly thanked Yan Ling.


    "Yan family quality huh? Knowing you, that can''t be too good for me, but thank you."


    Yan Ling responded with a laugh, but didn''t say anything, the two returning to silence as they let the talismans heal their wounds. Liang Chen found it a peculiar sensation to have his own bones return to their original position, but it wasn''t as painful as he expected it to be.


    Another few minutes passed, the worst of their wounds almost becoming fully restored. Liang Chen wasn''t sure just how strong the Sect Master was, but looking at the strength of these talismans, he was certainly tremendously powerful, probably to a degree Liang Chen couldn''t even fathom just yet.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both stood up, their legs still trembling slightly as they were practically out of energy. Yan Ling swept the surroundings with a quick gaze, looking at the ruined buildings that were a result of Liang Chen''s battle, chuckling lightly.


    "I told him, didn''t I? If Little Freak goes wild, the entire castle area might turn to ruins. Your fight didn''t last for that long, but four buildings were completely ruined, imagine how many more had been destroyed if you kept fighting."


    Liang Chen only shook his head with an exasperated sigh, not bothering with giving an answer. Kept fighting, in his state? If he had tried to keep fighting on his own, he would likely have died before he got to destroy any more buildings. After shaking his head, Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the corpses of Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, his thoughts moving as he spoke up.


    "Mind if I take their bodies?"


    Both of them had reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, they were perfect for his Chaos King technique. Since he had killed both of them, his Bloody Soul Sea technique had already taken a part of their soul, but by using the Chaos King technique, he could devour even more of their soul to strengthen his own. Yan Ling had no need for the bodies, so she nodded her head.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "Sure, I have no need for them."


    Not only did she not have a need for their bodies, but she also knew that they would be very useful to Liang Chen. Guanyu had told Liang Chen to not tell others about his Chaos King technique, but how could Guanyu not tell the Sect Master about this Supreme Technique once again appearing in their sect? And since the Sect Master knew that Yan Ling wasn''t a spy and was rather close to Liang Chen, he ended up telling her.


    Liang Chen gave a grateful nod of his head and walked over to the corpses, putting them into his interspatial ring so that he could save them for later when he had more time on his hands. He tossed the interspatial ring of Geng Zhen to Yan Ling, but he kept Xiao Daibao''s for himself. Yan Ling didn''t reject the ring, as she knew that Liang Chen wouldn''t take it back even if she tried to hand it to him.


    After dividing the spoils, the both of them left the area and returned to the oval-shaped building where they had been eating breakfast. They were completely out of energy, so keeping their tracking techniques active was out of the question, so they could only search for Song Bowen by checking the building where they had last been together.


    The entire building was filled with people who formed an orderly line to a previously hidden staircase that led into the ground. Song Bowen and the chubby Steward Zhan stood by the side of the staircase, directing the line of people. Seeing Liang Chen and Yan Ling move towards them, a mixture of hope and unease appeared on Song Bowen''s face, who quickly stepped forward. Liang Chen waved his hand at Song Bowen, allowing him to relax.


    "The assassins have been dealt with, they won''t be bothering us anymore."


    Song Bowen let out a heavy breath, his shoulders relaxing as a grateful expression appeared on his face. If Liang Chen and Yan Ling weren''t able to deal with the assassins, most of the people here would have died and the Song family would likely become almost extinct, leaving only the two youngest siblings who were fleeing as well as their parents.


    With the confirmation that the assassins were dead, Song Bowen called off the evacuation. He called off the evacuation, but he didn''t immediately call back his two fleeing siblings, just in case there were some assassins that were waiting for them to drop their guard. If there really were some assassins hiding, this act of calling off the evacuation could also serve as bait, drawing them out. Doing this might cause the death of him and the siblings that remained, but it was better than calling back the two fleeing ones and causing their deaths.


    But luckily, it seemed like there were no more assassins lying in wait, as nothing happened even after two days passed. But Song Bowen still didn''t call back the two siblings, deciding to wait until his parents returned before he let his fleeing siblings know that they could return. Only like this could he be certain that there were no more assassins lying in wait.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t retreat to their rooms after letting Song Bowen know that the assassins were dead, they simply continued their recuperation in the dining hall, with Song Bowen handing out orders to everyone else while standing not far from them. Until they restored enough energy to spread out their observation techniques again, they would not leave the side of Song Bowen.


    Liang Chen''s bloodline was somewhat awakened, while Yan Ling''s was still dormant, so his recovery abilities were better than hers. This resulted in him being fully healed five days after the battle, while Yan Ling, whose injuries weren''t as severe, was only fully healed seven days after the battle.


    They both spread out their observation techniques again, covering the castle area with poison and wind, but they found no one suspicious, so it seemed like there truly weren''t any more assassins. They didn''t find any assassins immediately, but they didn''t lower their guards, continuing a close watch on the entire castle area.


    But it seemed like they had earned some rest, as no more assassins showed up to try anything funny. It seemed like neither the Moon Dragon sect or the Ghost Soul sect weren''t willing to send over more assassins, as they would either die to Liang Chen and Yan Ling or would die to whatever reinforcement that ended up being called if they sent over any stronger assassins.


    Ten days after the battle against Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, the king and queen returned to the Snow Mirror nation, and following them were the Storm Wolf disciples that had accepted the sect mission to protect them while they signed the peace treaty.

 Like a flower, proud and alone.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling joined Song Bowen and the remaining Song siblings when they left the castle area to greet the returning king and queen. Of course, they joined them so that they could greet their fellow sect disciples, the king and queen of this nation actually had a lower standing in the sect than Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    The ones that had accepted the mission to guard the king and queen were Long Hai and Long Chang, two twins who were approaching their sixties but still looked like they were in their twenties. They were tall and staunch, with square faces, blue eyes, and short blonde hair. The only way to tell the difference between them was using the scar that Long Hai had, one that went sideways over his nose. When the four people met, they cupped their fists and gave each other a bow, the Long twins being the ones who opened their mouths first.


    "Greetings, Junior Brother Chen, Young Mistress Ling. We''ve already heard about what you''ve done here, and I must say that I am truly surprised. It seems like we can expect a good show during the next tournament, I hope you can give our Storm Hall disciples a good fight."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling had sent a message back to the sect after they finished the battle, telling them about the enemies. The sect had sent this information on to the Long twins, who then increased their speed so that they could return faster.


    Both the twins were members of Storm Hall, but the appearance of a strong disciple like Liang Chen, someone who could kill people at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm while still at the early stage, was greatly welcomed, even if he was a disciple of Wolf Hall. The Long brothers also didn''t forget to praise Yan Ling quite a bit, she was the daughter of the Sect Master after all.


    Once the greetings and introductions were out of the way, the four people split up. The Long twins followed the king and queen to the castle area, as they had to protect them for a few more days before their mission could be considered complete. Liang Chen and Yan Ling, on the other hand, left the city, as their mission was now complete and they could return to the sect to pick up their rewards.


    Yan Ling brought out the elongated golden chariot that the two of them had ridden to the Snow Mirror nation, both of them stepping onto it and letting it fly them away from the city. But as they were flying, Liang Chen could tell that there was something on Yan Ling''s mind, she seemed to be thinking quite deeply about something.


    His thoughts were confirmed after two days of flying, when Yan Ling brought the golden chariot down, landing in a rather large and dense forest located quite a bit away from the Snow Mirror nation. The trees in this forest were a bit strange, as the leaves were so deep green in color that they were almost black, they were also long and thin, resembling needles.


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything after the chariot landed, simply leaning against the side of it as he waited for Yan Ling to open her mouth. She seemed to struggle a bit with it, but after two minutes passed, she was able to say what was on her mind.


    "I want to break through to the Heaven''s Gate realm here, at the same time, I also want to try to awaken my bloodline, can you safeguard me while I do that?"


    Yan Ling''s eyes were strong and determined, almost blazing, as they stared at Liang Chen. Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, cocking his head slightly as he gave her a deep look.


    "Can I assume that since you aren''t willing to wait until we return to the sect, that you aren''t actually allowed to attempt awakening your bloodline?"


    They would be able to return to the sect in a few days, but Yan Ling seemed unwilling to wait until then. He didn''t think she was so impatient that a few days would cause her to act like this, so the reason could only be something else. Yan Ling''s lips stretched into a wry smile as she nodded her head, seemed like she had been seen through immediately.


    "Father doesn''t want me to attempt it, he says that it is pointless to try something we know won''t work."


    Other than their first ancestor Yan Yi, no one in the Yan family had been able to awaken their bloodline. By now it was so diluted that most of the people who inherited the bloodline thought it impossible to awaken it. Liang Chen still didn''t respond, his eyes rolling as he thought it over. Seeing him act like this, a pleading look appeared in Yan Ling''s eyes.


    "It''s not dangerous, I promise. So please..."


    This would require her full attention, so if any Demonic beast or the like came close, there was no way she could defend herself. If she didn''t have Liang Chen to safeguard her, it would become incredibly dangerous. Liang Chen rolled his eyes a bit more, but eventually threw his arms up in defeat and let out a sigh.


    "Ha~ah, fine, fine. I''ll keep you safe from intruders, so you just focus fully on your breakthrough."


    Yan Ling was his friend, so even though he knew that she was actually forbidden from doing this, he still wanted to help her. Yan Ling''s face instantly lit up with a bright and charming smile, giving Liang Chen a short and quick bow.


    "Thank you!"


    She quickly stored away the chariot and cleared away some of the surrounding trees, creating an open area where she could cultivate. After creating the clearing, she sat down at the center and started to take out several items from her interspatial ring. The items she took out were various herbs and crystals she had gotten from Song Bowen right after they arrived, or they were taken from the interspatial ring of Geng Zhen.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Once she was completely surrounded by herbs, crystals, vials of blood, and Demonic beast parts, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A stream of Qi seeped out of her body and surrounded all the items, breaking them down into energy that was then drawn into her body.


    Her Ascended Tower floated out from her dantian, shining with a deep green light. This was the first time Liang Chen saw someone break through to the Heaven''s Gate realm, so even though he was also keeping guard, he was also closely observing Yan Ling.


    As more and more energy was brought into Yan Ling''s body, the gates of the green tower started to slowly open, a faint humming sound spreading throughout the area, like a soft song that calmed the soul. It wasn''t hard for her to break through to the Heaven''s Gate realm, not with her preparations. So after only one day, the gates of the tower were thrown wide open, showing that she had entered the Heaven''s Gate realm. After the gates opened, the tower retreated to her dantian.


    But this was only the start, now came the actually difficult part, awakening her bloodline. She took out more vials of blood and different Demonic beast parts from her interspatial ring, surrounding them with her Qi and drawing out all the energy within them.


    The energy formed a crimson stream of energy that released a bloody scent. The stream turned into several thin needles that stabbed into her body, digging their way into her veins and flesh, spreading throughout her entire body, prodding at her bloodline in hopes of awakening it.


    The wind in the area started to pick up, growing stronger and more ferocious, an emerald green tornado starting to form around Yan Ling. The energy she was radiating grew stronger and stronger, a strange pressure starting to seep out from her body, even Liang Chen''s bloodline started to feel pressured under this strange pressure. But he knew that even though he felt this, Yan Ling''s bloodline was still far away from actually awakening.


    Awakening a bloodline as grand as the bloodline of Star God Sirius wasn''t easy, the heavens would not allow it to be easy. The sky started to turn dark, thick clouds gathering above them, a heavenly tribulation had come to punish Yan Ling.


    Seeing the thick clouds, and sensing the energy gathered within them, Yan Ling stood up, a grave expression on her face. This was a tribulation, she had to face it on her own. If anyone tried to aid her, the tribulation would not only grow tremendously in strength, it would also start to aim at the one who had interfered, looking to strike them down and kill them. Knowing this, who would truly be foolish enough to interfere in a heavenly tribulation? It was tantamount to suicide.


    Yan Ling took a deep breath, gazing at the clouds with a determined expression. If she could surpass this tribulation, she would be a step closer to awakening her bloodline. If she failed, she might very well die, which was the main reason her father didn''t want her to attempt this.


    A thunderous rumbling sound rang out, crimson bolts of lightning flashing out from the deep blue clouds, dancing in the air beneath the clouds. Seeing these bolts of lightning, Liang Chen''s expression grew solemn. He knew very well just how strong this crimson lightning was, trying to resist it was no easy feat.


    But then, a change occurred in the clouds above them. Azure flames started to spew out from the clouds, forming thick pillars that hovered beneath the clouds. Yan Ling and Liang Chen grew even more solemn when they saw this. Not only tribulation lightning, but she also had to resist the equally powerful tribulation fire?


    If she had any regrets, it was already too late to think about them, the fire and lightning starting to descend. A thick pillar of flame and a large bolt of lightning flashed down from the clouds, heading directly for Yan Ling.


    Yan Ling clenched her fists, the wind all around her gathering around her fists, forming small tornados. She sent a punch at the bolt of lightning that arrived first, the force of it tearing apart the tornado around her fist and leaving gashes on her hand. But the attack did the trick, the bolt of lightning dissipating right in front of her.


    The next to arrive was the pillar of blue flames, which was met with a punch of her other hand. Taking on this hit was a bit easier for her, as her wind was strong enough to extinguish the flames. But blocking it still left burns on her left hand, her fingers turning black.


    This was just the first volley, so she didn''t even have the chance to catch her breath, another pillar and another bolt of lightning quickly arriving. She didn''t even have the time to prepare a proper defense, she could only punch out with all her might, gathering as much wind as she could.


    The bolt of lightning arrived first, tearing through her defenses and striking her arm. Large cracks started to appear on her arm, blood pouring forth as it seemed like her arm would split apart. Then came the pillar of flame, the wind she used as defense turning to ash after only a short second. The cloth around her arm was the next to turn to ash, her entire arm starting to scorch black as the disgusting smell of charred human flesh started to fill the area.


    She was now wounded and somewhat weak, but she had managed to block the second volley. But who knew how many volleys there were in this tribulation, who knew how much she would have to resist before she was done?


    As the third volley started to descend, Liang Chen continued to watch, keeping a close eye on Yan Ling. Wounded and weak, her body bleeding heavily as she faced the might of the heaven. She looked so small and weak in front of that might, but she didn''t even flinch, she even carried a challenging smile. Amidst blue fire and crimson lightning, she bloomed like a flower, proud and alone.


    Looking at the scene, a question appeared in Liang Chen''s mind. What if she failed to resist it? What if she perished here, struck down by the might of the heavens? Once the questions appeared in his mind, he instantly reached an answer. He didn''t want that. He didn''t want her to be struck down by the heavens, he didn''t want her efforts to be in vain, he didn''t want her to die here, it would be too much of a shame.


    Once the answer came to him, he wasted no time. Time around him sped up and he stepped forward, his hair and eyes turning gray as shimmering gray scales appeared on his arms. He stepped next to Yan Ling and took out a few different pills from his interspatial ring, stuffing them into her mouth and pushing her to the side, causing her to let out a shocked exclamation.


    "What are y-?!"


    She didn''t get to finish her sentence, a thunderous explosion sounding out as Liang Chen''s scaly fist made contact with the bolt of lightning. One of his scales cracked, but the bolt of lightning managed to do no further damage before it sank into his body, nourishing it.


    The pillar of fire followed right after the bolt of lightning, Liang Chen punching it with all his might, a thick bolt of azure lightning flashing out from his fist and piercing the flames, only stopping when it reached the clouds above them. He didn''t look at Yan Ling, his blazing eyes landing on the deep blue clouds as he spoke.


    "Just focus on the flames, leave this lightning to me."


    He didn''t want Yan Ling to die, and he also didn''t want the heavens to have their way. So what if they increased the strength of this tribulation? He would still beat it down and survive, and he would also ensure that Yan Ling survived this tribulation. That azure bolt of lightning was his proclamation, a proclamation that not even the heavens were allowed to kill someone he wanted to keep alive.

 Brilliant emerald light.

    Yan Ling wanted to say something, she wanted to protest and push Liang Chen away from this tribulation. But she couldn''t, not when she saw his blazing and determined eyes that shone like gray flames that pierced through the dark clouds. In the end, she could only swallow the pills that Liang Chen had stuffed into her mouth, a low voice sounding out.


    "Be careful."


    She wiped away some of the blood around her mouth, casting a steadfast gaze onto the plumes of azure fire that were gathering beneath the clouds. Liang Chen said to leave the lightning to him, so she focused all of her attention on the fire, the wind around her speeding up as a heavy pressure formed around her body.


    Liang Chen glanced at Yan Ling out of the corner of his eye, but upon seeing that she kept her steadfast gaze, he turned his eyes back to the lightning, the fourth volley was on the way. A bolt of crimson lightning as thick as a full-grown man''s thigh was heading directly for Liang Chen, while a somewhat smaller pillar of fire was heading for Yan Ling.


    This tribulation was meant for Yan Ling, but Liang Chen had interfered, so the tribulation grew in strength, especially the parts that headed for him. Liang Chen clenched his fists, golden and azure lightning crackling around them. His poison wasn''t well suited to dealing with elements like lightning, which could burn and purify the poison, so he had to rely on his law of time and his law of lightning.


    The bolt of lightning quickly arrived in front of him, Liang Chen sending out a heavy punch. Arcs of golden and azure lightning coiled around his fist, just barely touching each other, looking as if they were trying to fuse. Liang Chen had come up with this idea when he first joined the Storm Wolf sect, fusing his golden and his azure lightning.


    He had made a few attempts in his spare time, but he wasn''t able to get the two types of lightning to properly fuse. They were similar, but they were still two different types of lightning, containing a different amount of energy and power. Normally, if they were to come into contact with each other, it should result in either the stronger energy swallowing the weaker or in a large explosion. It was a bit dangerous, but he was hoping to use the pressure of this tribulation to once again attempt the fusion.


    When Liang Chen''s two types of lightning collided with the thick crimson bolt, another thunderous explosion rang out, the air in front of Liang Chen growing so hot that his robe caught on fire. Several more of the scales on his arm cracked, blood leaking out from between the cracks as the sweet taste of blood welled up in his mouth.


    The bolt of lightning exploded into pieces, several arcs sinking into Liang Chen''s body and nourishing it a bit more. Liang Chen spat out a glob of blood, the next bolt of lightning already arriving in front of him. Since he had dared to defy them, the heavens would not allow him to get any rest or let him catch his breath.


    He punched out once again, but he hadn''t gotten the chance to gather up any energy, so his attack was quite a bit weaker than the previous one. His fist collided with the bolt of lightning, which was even stronger than the previous one. The bolt of lightning didn''t immediately explode this time, piercing into his fist and forcing him to take several steps backward. As he moved backward, Liang Chen slowed down the speed of time in front of him, giving him more time to deal with future bolts of lightning.


    After a short moment, Liang Chen managed to crush the lightning bolt, absorbing a few more small arcs. His right hand was now bloody, shattered scales running up his entire arm, his blood staining the earth around him. He glanced at his arm, but his expression didn''t change, his gaze landing on the next bolt of lightning that was heading for him.


    Golden and azure arcs of lightning once again started to dance around his arm, occasionally touching each other for a short moment before swiftly jumping away from each other again. He punched out with his bloody fist, speeding up its time and allowing it to reach an inhuman speed and power as it clashed with the bolt of lightning. His golden and azure lightning made contact again, sinking into each other under the coaxing from Liang Chen and the surrounding pressure.


    But the two types of lightning weren''t able to fuse, separating again after his fist made contact with the bolt of lightning. What followed was a few seconds of stalemate, before the bolt of lightning exploded into a bright light, the shockwave throwing Liang Chen back. He felt like a sledgehammer had smashed into his chest, his ribs shattering as blood poured out from his seven orifices. After stabilizing himself, standing on shaky feet, Liang Chen looked at his right arm, his brows furrowing as he spoke into empty air.


    "Don''t fuck with me, I said you are going to fuse, so you are going to fuse."


    He felt like he had been very close just now, only a step away from fusing the two types of lightning. But at the final moment, they were still able to separate and drift apart, disobeying his orders to fuse.


    The next bolt of lightning, this one as thick as two thighs, arrived in front of Liang Chen, the air around it burning from the sheer heat it released. Liang Chen didn''t step back when faced with this bolt, both his fists punching out in quick succession, first his right and then his left.


    His right fist was able to stop the bolt for a short second, the bones within his hand completely shattering as a result. After his right hand stopped the bolt of lightning, his left hand came to finish the job, golden and azure arcs of lightning still trying to fuse when he punched the bolt of lightning. His left fist struck the bolt of lightning, but was unable to cause it to explode, it could only hold it back for a bit longer.


    Liang Chen''s expression grew a bit ugly when he saw that he was unable to shatter this bolt of lightning, it had already become so strong that it could resist his two types of lightning. Liang Chen could still use the crimson type of lightning to defend, but doing so would only cause him to suffer even more injuries, as he wasn''t really able to handle the strength it contained.


    His two fists were only able to hold the lightning back for a few seconds before they were eventually pushed aside, allowing the lightning to strike his chest, shattering the rest of his ribs. But Liang Chen was after all quite attuned to the law of lightning, so after shattering his ribs, the remnant energy of the lightning wasn''t able to harm him. It sank into his body and started to nourish it, slowly repairing the injuries it had caused.


    Liang Chen spat out more blood, his right and left arms hanging at his side. He had used his Poison Soul technique to numb his sense of pain, but even that wasn''t able to drown out the pain he was feeling. He raised his head, his gaze landing on the cloud above him.


    The lightning below the cloud had mostly vanished, a single bolt remaining. But as he looked at it, the bolt of lightning started to slowly change, the color growing deeper and deeper. It slowly turned from deep crimson to a beautiful violet, the energy radiating from it reaching a terrifying level. Liang Chen''s expression grew even more solemn as he looked at this bolt of lightning, the edges of his lips curling into a bloody smile that revealed his sharp canine teeth.


    "You seem quite angry that I intervened. Come then, let me show you how I crush this final plan of yours."


    Liang Chen knew that violet lightning was far stronger than the crimson lightning, but that did not mean that he would step back, not when he was faced with the heavens. Liang Chen took a deep breath, his chest aching terribly because of his shattered ribs. He raised his trembling left arm, forcing it to stop shaking.


    Golden and azure arcs started to crackle around his arm again, constantly touching each other, slightly sinking into each other. The violet bolt of lightning wasn''t the first to arrive, first came the horrid pressure that it unleashed, as if it was trying to force the whole world to kneel to it.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Liang Chen''s feet sank into the ground, but he refused to kneel, he would never allow himself to kneel to the heavens. He could feel his bones creak under the pressure, but since Liang Chen had already started to strengthen his body quite a while ago, they didn''t end up breaking under the force.


    The golden and azure arcs around his left arm were starting to sink more and more into each other, Liang Chen taking advantage of the pressure to force them to become one. It felt like a long time passed, but the violet bolt of lightning arrived in front of Liang Chen only a split second after the pressure reached him.


    Liang Chen''s eyes were blazing as he looked at the bolt, his fist rumbling out. The time of the air in front of the violet bolt of lightning froze, creating several layers of frozen time to slow it down. But each layer of defense was swiftly broken through, shattering like fragile glass when faced with a falling mountain.


    Liang Chen''s left fist made contact with the bolt of lightning, the bones within his left hand shattering completely, just like the ones in his right hand. But even with his hand shattering, he grit his teeth and held back the bolt of lightning, a nearly fanatical light glimmering in his eyes as he looked at his own left hand, at the lightning that surrounded it.


    Golden started to mix with azure, Liang Chen''s fanatical orders borrowing the strength of the pressure to force the lightning to fall in line and listen to his orders. The different energy within the two types of lightning ran rampant, wanting to explode in a violent manner. But the heavy pressure exerted by the violet lightning prevented them from exploding, pushing them closer and closer together, trying to crush them.


    After what felt like an endless moment, a gorgeous emerald light radiated from Liang Chen''s right arm, arcs of emerald lightning dancing around his arm. Looking at the emerald lightning, Liang Chen knew that he had succeeded, throwing his head back and letting loose a burst of loud laughter.


    "Hahaha! So you are useful for one thing at least, you shitty heavens! I guess I should thank you for this, but I really don''t feel like it!"


    Having managed to fuse his lightning once, he could save a bit of it inside his Dragon Lotus and use it to make future fusing much easier. This emerald lightning was a bit weaker than the crimson lightning, but it was stronger than his azure lightning. And it might even be able to grow indefinitely, growing stronger and stronger the more different types of lightning Liang Chen fused into it.


    Liang Chen was still wounded and bloody, but he felt so good that he couldn''t be bothered to pay any attention to it. His experiment with lightning fusion had succeeded, allowing him to grow a bit stronger. His bloody smile grew even wider as he drew out more and more energy from his body, tapping into every little reserve that he could.


    The emerald lightning grew brighter and brighter, even starting to slowly grow more luminous than the violet bolt of lightning that was still trying to pierce Liang Chen''s fist. The stalemate didn''t continue for much longer, the energy within the violet bolt of lightning starting to drain faster and faster.


    Liang Chen was also growing weaker at a rapid pace, but in the end, it was the bolt of lightning that proved to be less tenacious. It became unable to push forward and keep Liang Chen''s lightning at bay, exploding with a thunderous sound after coming in contact with the emerald lightning.


    Liang Chen was flung away, crashing through several trees thanks to the might of the explosion. The explosion flung him away, but he still laughed loudly. That was the last bolt of lightning, he had succeeded in holding back the tribulation. Dealing with just the flames was far easier for Yan Ling, they didn''t present a lethal threat to her.


    As Liang Chen was flung back, small arcs of violet lightning sank into his body. But as this lightning was about to sink into his flesh to nourish it, the Heaven Devouring Dragon blood within Liang Chen''s body stirred. It quickly surged through his veins, snatching up the violet lightning and devouring it.


    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed when he saw this, as this violet lightning was rather useful to him, so he''d rather keep it for himself. But after the blood devoured the small arcs of lightning, Liang Chen was shocked to sense that it had grown a tiny bit stronger.


    His thoughts started to quickly race when he saw this. He could use lightning to strengthen his bloodline? This hadn''t happened with the crimson or azure lightning, so it was clear that not just any lightning would do, it had to be extremely powerful.


    Liang Chen sat up, leaning against the tree that ended up stopping his flight. His bloody lips curled up a bit more, he had found another way he could grow stronger. He didn''t know exactly what benefit strengthening his bloodline would give him, but for a bloodline like the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, it was clear that the benefit wouldn''t be shabby.


    Liang Chen raised his head slightly, gazing at the clouds above the area. They were starting to disperse, so it was clear that this tribulation had ended, he and Yan Ling had managed to surpass it. But Liang Chen''s smile sank a little after seeing this, his eyes turning towards the direction where Yan Ling should be.


    He heard footsteps move through the forest, Yan Ling quickly reaching the place where he had landed. Looking at her, and seeing the bitter and downcast smile on her face, he knew that he had guessed correctly.


    "I failed."


    Her words were quick, and her voice quite low. As the clouds dispersed, Liang Chen hadn''t been able to sense the strong bloodline pressure that Yan Ling had radiated as the tribulation started, so he guessed that something might have happened. And sadly, it seemed that he had been right, she had reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, but her bloodline failed to awaken, returning to a dormant state. It wasn''t completely impossible to awaken it in the future, but after failing once, it would only become harder.


    Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, his lips slowly starting to curl up again, forming a teasing smile. Since she was feeling down, he was going to use his tried and true method to raise her spirits. Seeing Liang Chen look at her with such a teasing smile, his eyes roaming all over her body, Yan Ling felt that something wasn''t quite right. She wanted to say something, but Liang Chen spoke up first.


    "Quite a nice sight, much better than the Song sisters."


    Yan Ling didn''t immediately understand what Liang Chen meant, tilting her head in confusion. Yan Ling then followed his eyes, lowering her head and checking out her own body. And once she saw her own state, her face turned completely red, quickly crouching down to cover herself.


    She had been too preoccupied with checking up on Liang Chen, so she had failed to check her own state before now. She had been giving it her all while she resisted the azure flames, but just like Liang Chen couldn''t stop the lightning from hitting him, she couldn''t stop the flames from hitting her. And because of that, her clothing had already turned to ash, leaving her completely nude. And she had run up to Liang Chen and checked up on him in this state. With her face dyed completely red from embarrassment, she fished out a robe from her interspatial ring, glaring at Liang Chen.


    "Why didn''t you look away?! Or warn me!?"


    He had spent a good several seconds looking at her, not even bothering to give her a warning about how she looked. He even dared to tease her and say that it was a ''nice sight'', how embarrassing was that to someone like Yan Ling? Facing her glare, which made it look like she was dying to take a bit out of him, Liang Chen simply let out a laughter.


    "I thought you were offering, so it would be rude not to accept it."


    Yan Ling had put on a new cyan robe, but she was still crouched down, glaring daggers at Liang Chen. Liang Chen chuckled for a bit more but eventually leaned his head against the tree behind him, his voice turning soft and soothing.


    "It was just one failure. You can still try again in the future, so don''t worry about it. Just tell me beforehand, and I''ll come to help you, just like I did here."


    Yan Ling''s glare weakened slightly after hearing Liang Chen''s words. She wasn''t really angry at him, as she knew him well enough to know that he had only teased her because he wanted to cheer her up with a joke. She looked Liang Chen up and down, observing his bloodied and wounded, yet still smiling, state. What a joke she was.


    Yan Ling put on a somewhat self-deprecating smile, heavily slapping her own cheeks. After slapping herself, her eyes regained their usual vigor and liveliness, growing determined. She stood up and puffed out her chest, speaking out in a bright voice


    "Of course I can try again in the future! And just you watch, I never fail twice, it has been proven to be impossible!"


    She raised her nose high, as if she was looking at everything with an arrogant gaze, perfectly complementing her words. Liang Chen let out a light chuckle, happy that she had returned to her normal state. Yan Ling walked over as Liang Chen chuckled, lending him her shoulder as she helped him up, whispering quietly.


    "Liang Chen, thank you."


    Her voice was so low that it was barely audible, brushing past Liang Chen''s ears like a breeze. This was the first time she had ever called him by his name, rather than the nickname she had given him. But Liang Chen didn''t react in the happy manner that she expected, he actually stuck out his tongue.


    "Geh, don''t call me that, having you call me that is too strange."


    His words were mostly joking and jovial, but he actually meant what he said. Ever since they first met, she had been calling him Little Freak, so Liang Chen had already grown used to it. With Liang Chen reacting like that, Yan Ling puffed out her cheeks and let out a snort.


    "Humph, fine, Little Freak it is! Just watch, I''ll call you that for the rest of your life, see how you like that!"


    Laing Chen simply responded with a laughter, leaning on Yan Ling''s shoulder as the two returned to the clearing Yan Ling had created, preparing to return to the sect for real this time.

 Sect Master Yan Wuhan, the cracking egg.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both climbed onto the golden chariot, Yan Ling filling it with Spirit Stones that supplied it with enough energy to take off and fly through the air, heading for the Floating Rose nation. Liang Chen sat down, his back leaning against the side of the chariot as he started to focus on healing his wounds.


    Yan Ling didn''t have any more of those miraculous talismans they had used earlier, so he had to rely on his own regenerative ability, as well as plenty of pills and medicines. This method was far slower, so Liang Chen opted to focus on healing his wounds on the superficial level first, making it look like he was fine. Once they returned to the sect he could lock himself up in his abode and focus on fully healing everything.


    They were already a bit of a distance away from Snow Mirror nation, so they managed to reach Floating Rose nation after only another five days of flying. Both Yan Ling and Liang Chen were wounded and weak on the inside, so they simply flew past the soldiers that guarded the tower that held the spatial formation that would return them to the clan. They flashed their sect identification as they flew past, so none of the soldiers dared to stop them.


    The two swiftly entered the spire and activated the spatial formation, both of them blinded by a flash of light as they were flung through space. Once they regained their vision, both of them were standing in the Mission Castle, in the empty room with the peach-colored door that they had used to leave the Storm Wolf sect.


    But the moment they returned, Liang Chen already felt that something was wrong. It was simply too quiet, there were no sounds of people talking or moving around within the castle, as if it had been completely emptied. Yan Ling also seemed to notice that things weren''t quite right, her gaze scurrying all over the place as they were slowly making their way through the castle, heading for the exit.


    Just like they both thought, the castle was completely empty, not even the people who were supposed to work there were present. The uneasy feeling they felt only grew stronger and stronger, reaching a peak when they opened the gates of the castle and saw a lone man standing outside, his hands behind his back as he seemed to calmly wait for them.


    The man was rather tall and had strong features that produced a strangely calming charm. He had glimmering silver eyes and somewhat short hair that was cyan in color. Just by standing there, he seemed to melt into the surrounding space, as if it was all a part of him. He was looking at Yan Ling with a rather stern gaze, causing her to cower slightly.


    Even without getting an introduction, Liang Chen could guess at who this man was, Sect Master Yan Wuhan, Yan Ling''s father. Seeing his stern gaze, it was clear that he likely knew about what Yan Ling had tried to do earlier. Yan Ling knew she was in trouble, so she quickly did her best to toss part of the blame onto Liang Chen, taking cover behind him as she spoke up.


    "I couldn''t help it! I saw Little Freak use his bloodline power and got envious, so I had to try awakening mine!"


    Liang Chen could feel the corner of his mouth twitch after hearing her accusations. He didn''t know if her words were true, but even if they were, she should have at least waited a bit longer before she threw him to the wolves like this. Yan Wuhan continued to look at them with a stern gaze for a bit before he eventually let out a sigh, speaking up him a soft voice.


    "Do you now see why I didn''t want you to try awakening it? Had it not been for Liang Chen, you would have died there and then."


    Yan Ling could only meekly lower her head after hearing her father''s words. She had been too confident and hasty in trying to awaken her bloodline, not preparing well enough. She stepped out from her hiding spot behind Liang Chen, giving a slight bow to Yan Wuhan.


    "I''m sorry for worrying you."


    Yan Wuhan let out another sigh when he saw the meek actions of his daughter. How could he possibly stay angry at her when she acted like this? He stepped forward, interrupting Yan Ling''s bow and embracing her in a hug. Only he knew how worried he had been when she tried to awaken her bloodline, when he saw those dark clouds gather. But there was nothing he could do, the tribulation would reach an unbearable level if he were to interfere, she would turn to dust just from standing near it.


    Liang Chen looked at this father and daughter pair hugging. His gaze was calm, but he had to admit that he was feeling a tinge of envy. What the two of them were sharing now was something he might never feel again. But at the same time, he was wondering where her mother was. She had already told him about how she had lost her little brother and sister, but she had never mentioned her mother.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But even if he was curious, it was clear that it was a rather sensitive topic, so he didn''t plan to ask about it, waiting for her to be ready to talk about it on her own. The father and daughter pair finished their hug, Yan Ling stealthily wiping away a tear. Yan Wuhan''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, who suddenly felt like all his secrets were seen through. His body quietly tensed up, but Yan Wuhan simply waved him over.


    "Follow me, we can''t have the two of you walking around with those injuries, not with the Hall Competition coming up."


    The Hall Competition would start in only a few days, the disciples of the two halls getting the chance to compare their strength. Liang Chen didn''t even get the chance to nod his head, Yan Wuhan waving his hand once more. Liang Chen didn''t feel anything, nor did he see them move, but before he knew it, they had vanished from their previous location.


    The group of three had suddenly appeared on a quiet meadow, a stream of crystal clear water meandering past them not far from their current location. Various trees and flowers were in full bloom, a delicate fragrance covering the entire area. But the thing that caught Liang Chen''s attention was the sheer amount of Qi present in the area. There was so much Qi here, and it was so thick, that it had formed a fine mist that covered the entire area, giving it an ethereal charm.


    Here, Liang Chen didn''t even have to make a conscious effort to absorb any Qi, it sank into his body of its own accord. Yan Wuhan seemed to notice Liang Chen''s astonishment, giving a short explanation.


    "This is one of the sect''s herbal gardens, one of the smaller ones. That stream is what you will be using to heal for the next few days, the water flowing in it comes from a very rare and very powerful tree known as the Immortal God''s Vein."


    Liang Chen didn''t know exactly what sort of treasure this Immortal God''s Vein was, it wasn''t even mentioned in any of the books he had read in the sect, but for Yan Wuhan to describe it as rare and powerful, it was clear that it was far from normal.


    Yan Wuhan led the two over to the stream and set up a screen of warped space around a small portion of it, preventing anyone from looking through it. He let Yan Ling enter this screen of warped space and then led Liang Chen further down the stream, taking him to a spot that was a few hundred meters away from Yan Ling. He set up another screen of warped space, indicating for Liang Chen to enter it.


    "You can just focus on recuperating here. If you haven''t fully healed when the Hall Competition starts, just ignore it and focus on recuperating. The energy in the stream is very potent, so it will allow you to cultivate with three times the efficiency, it will also make it easier to use certain techniques, like the Chaos King technique. Consider it my thanks for saving Ling''er."


    Yan Wuhan knew that Liang Chen had suffered those wounds because he chose to protect his daughter, so he of course had to reward him. Very few people got the chance to cultivate in this stream, as doing so would weaken the Immortal God''s Vein, so it was considered a great privilege.


    Liang Chen cupped his hands in gratitude and stepped into the screen of warped space, submerging himself in the stream. The water was surprisingly deep, at least several hundred meters. As his body started to sink, he heard a soft mutter released by Yan Wuhan, and the words he heard caused his heart to nearly skip a beat.


    "Of course she''s much better than the Song sisters, she is my daughter after all."


    Cold sweat started to quickly gather on Liang Chen''s back when he heard this soft mutter. For Yan Wuhan to speak those words, it could only mean that he knew about the fact that Liang Chen had seen Yan Ling naked, even teasing her about it. Liang Chen was utterly astonished and shocked, had Yan Wuhan been observing them the entire time? Luckily, it didn''t seem like Yan Wuhan was planning on pursuing it, vanishing from the area.


    Liang Chen let out a relieved breath. If Yan Wuhan wanted to do anything to him, there was little Liang Chen could do to stop him. Liang Chen closed his eyes to focus on the energy in the stream around him, quickly noticing that it was indeed as potent as Yan Wuhan had said.


    If Liang Chen were to use his law of time here, he felt confident that he could increase the speed of time by at least eight times, and keep it active at all times. The moment he realized this, he immediately implemented it, as the more time he had here, the better.


    With time speed up in a small area around him, the speed at which his wounds were healing drastically increased, reaching a point where it would nearly be visible to the naked eye. But Liang Chen didn''t continue this healing for too long, a sound from his dantian drawing his full attention.


    The black egg that was the reward he had received from the third trial in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm had moved, a crack appearing in the shell. The egg had absorbed a portion of all the energy Liang Chen had absorbed ever since he had received it, it also absorbed part of his blood at all times, using it to nourish itself and build a bond between both of them. Even his Dragon Lotuses were connected to the egg, their roots sinking into it.


    It had absorbed a large amount of energy as time passed, and thanks to the lightning energy he had absorbed from the recent tribulation, it seemed like it was time for it to hatch, more and more cracks spreading on the surface.

 Liang Yumao, materialized soul.

    Liang Chen looked on with great interest as more and more cracks started to spread across the surface of the egg, a black mist seeping out from the egg. As more and more cracks started to appear, the egg started to wantonly absorb energy, drawing in anything it could get its hand on, using the vast and potent energy to further fuel its own growth. In just a few short seconds, the egg had absorbed so much energy that if Liang Chen had been the one to absorb it, he would have exploded seven times over.


    After absorbing such an exorbitant amount of energy, the entire egg, which was now completely covered in cracks, finally exploded. When the egg exploded, black fog billowed out from it, shrouding Liang Chen''s dantian in darkness, a low hissing sound sounding out. And out from this dark fog came a strange Demonic beast.


    It looked like a small snake, only about 20 centimeters long, its head was triangular in shape, and its body was covered in black scales. But while its abdomen was completely smooth and scaled, its back was covered in small black feathers, the scales visible beneath the feathers, a line of tiny spikes running its spine. There were two tiny knobs growing on the sides of the snake, one on each side, which looked like they were going to grow into wings. Its eyes were a ghastly gray in color, much like Liang Chen''s own eyes when he activated this bloodline.


    Liang Chen had never seen or read about a Demonic beast like this before, but just by looking at it, he could feel a connection with it. This Demonic beast had been born in part thanks to his blood and Qi, so the two of them were now forever connected.


    The feathered snake looked at Liang Chen, tilting its head cutely. When it looked at him, Liang Chen could hear what seemed to be words sound out within his mind. But these words were garbled and hard to understand, so he could only barely make out what they were saying. The words came from the feathered snake, it was doing its best to introduce itself. Or rather, it would be better to say that he was doing his best to introduce himself.


    The little snake continued speaking to Liang Chen within his own mind, the words growing clearer and more pronounced as he kept talking, so he seemed to learn very quickly. But even if he learned quickly, the snake was still a newborn, so he knew very little and wasn''t able to tell Liang Chen much about himself.


    The best he was able to do right now, as he didn''t really know much about himself, was to tell Liang Chen about what sort of element he could instinctively use, and what he had to do to grow. The little snake could create and control darkness, and if he wanted to grow, he not only needed large amounts of Qi but also items that had the element of darkness.


    Liang Chen looked at the snake, which was doing his best to tell Liang Chen as much as he could, and he couldn''t help but feel fond of him. He had grown using Liang Chen''s own blood, so this fond feeling was instinctual, almost like a parent looking at their own child. He waited for the snake to finish talking before he spoke to him.


    "Can you leave my dantian on your own, or do you need me to bring you out?"


    Since he could understand the words of the snake, he too could, of course, understand Liang Chen''s words. He quickly nodded his head, vanishing into the dark mist. Once the snake vanished into the dark fog, a small weight appeared on top of Liang Chen''s head, so he removed his mind from the inside of his dantian.


    The snake was now lying on Liang Chen''s head, his head hanging down in front of Liang Chen''s eyes, waving from side to side to catch his attention. Liang Chen smiled slightly, reaching up and patting the snake on the head using one of his fingers. Before he chose what to do next, he asked the snake a question.


    "Tell me, are you willing to follow at my side? Or would you rather I find a nice and quiet place where I can release you?"


    The snake was born using his own blood, but that did not mean that Liang Chen would treat him as property, he would treat him like a friend. If he wanted to, Liang Chen would find a place where he could live in peace and set the snake free. But it seemed like he didn''t want that, as the snake quickly shook its head, its entire body swaying because of the movement. He was born because of Liang Chen''s blood, so to him, Liang Chen was his father. Liang Chen smiled faintly when he saw how the snake acted, speaking up again.


    "Alright, but if you''re going to be following me, you''ll need a name. How does Yumao sound? Well, I guess it would be Liang Yumao if we were to mention the whole name."


    Liang Chen wasn''t terribly good at coming up with names, so he simply used a word he had read about before. It apparently used to mean Feather or Feathered. The snake didn''t immediately respond, seemingly sinking into thought for a short moment. After thinking it over, he nodded his head several times, letting out a low hissing sound. And just like that, Liang Chen had gained a new companion and given him a name, Liang Yumao.


    Yumao continued to mutter his own name, the words appearing in Liang Chen''s mind. After muttering his name for a few minutes, Yumao let out a weak yawn, jumping into Liang Chen''s dantian to go to sleep inside the black fog. Yumao was just born using a massive amount of energy, so he needed some time, and rest, to stabilize himself and make sure that all the energy was under control.


    As for the black fog inside Liang Chen''s dantian, that was the home of Yumao, so as long as he was alive, this black fog would remain in Liang Chen''s dantian. As Yumao grew stronger, this black fog would even grow thicker and stronger, becoming a source of power for Yumao, but Liang Chen was unable to use it, so he didn''t bother with it.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    After Yumao went to sleep, Liang Chen continued to heal his wounds using the energy in the stream. With him speeding up time by eight, it didn''t take long in the outside world for his wounds to heal. Of course, it wasn''t just his speeding up of time that made his wounds heal so fast, the incredibly potent yet mild energy in the stream was a great help.


    After his wounds were fully healed, Liang Chen calculated that about half a day had passed in the outside world. It had taken him four days to fully heal his wounds, even with the potent energy of this water, so it was clear that his wounds were surprisingly severe. Had it not been for him being able to speed up time, he would likely not have managed to heal in time for the Hall Competition.


    After he finished the healing process, Liang Chen decided to move on to the next thing he had planned, cultivating. He swiped his interspatial ring, taking out the corpses of Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, the two cultivators at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm that he and Yan Ling had killed in their most recent mission.


    The corpses floated on the water in front of him, Liang Chen freezing the time of the air around them to keep them in place. He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, placing a hand on each of the two corpses. His consciousness sank into his own mind, into the bloody city that represented his mind.


    The black book that was the Chaos King Technique was still floating there, surrounded by a bloody maelstrom. He connected his consciousness with the book, circulating his Qi according to the instructions of the book. Two invisible streams flew out from the book, one end of the streams connected with the bloody city, while the other end of the streams flowed into his arms and entered the two corpses.


    The two streams vanished after entering the corpses, a strong devouring power appearing within the corpses. After a short moment, two murky balls of energy appeared within the corpses, the two invisible streams dragging the two balls, the souls of Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, back into Liang Chen''s body.


    The Chaos King Technique allowed one to devour and absorb the souls, Qi, or flesh of other living beings, using them to supplement your own. But as of now, Liang Chen had only carved the channel that let him devour the souls of other living beings, as his own soul was his greatest weak point.


    The two souls tried to struggle free as they were being dragged towards Liang Chen''s mind, following their instinctual desire to not be devoured. Liang Chen''s expression was solemn as he looked at these two souls, emerald lightning crackling through his veins as it headed for the two souls. He had to properly purify these souls, otherwise, they might start to influence his personality, they might even cause such discord in his soul that it simply shattered.


    The emerald lightning surrounded the two souls as they were dragged through his body, whipping them and whittling them down, weakening their resistance. Once they were too weak to resist, he fully flooded them with his emerald lightning, the strongest lightning he could use without wounding himself, it was also the lightning that he himself had created by fusing the azure tribulation lightning and the normal golden lightning.


    Yumao noticed the commotion, so he poked his head out of the black fog to check what was happening. But when he saw that Liang Chen had everything under control, he went back to sleep.


    Liang Chen''s emerald lightning did a good job of weakening the souls, but they were the souls of cultivators at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm after all, so his lightning wasn''t able to perfectly purify them. Liang Chen wasn''t willing to have his personality altered just to gain some strength, so he tapped into his poison lotus, drawing out a dusty white poison.


    The poison quickly moved through his veins, the scent of death following it. This was the poison he gained after bathing in the blood of the large spider type Demonic beast in the Demon''s Graveyard in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. The poison was so potent that he couldn''t use it for too long, as it would backfire and wound him if he tried to do so, but it was perfect for this situation.


    The white poison joined the emerald lightning, sinking into the two souls and purifying them, erasing the last few traces of Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao. Once both the murky souls were completely purified, they became as clear as crystals, gleaming with a faint light. The two souls then arrived within the bloody city, sinking into it and vanishing.


    When they vanished, Liang Chen could clearly feel a refreshing, almost breeze-like energy enter his mind and nourish it, allowing his thoughts to move even faster. More and more energy continued to flood into his mind, 25% of Geng Zhen''s and Xiao Daibao''s souls becoming a part of him.


    Once the Chaos King Technique had finished absorbing all the energy, Liang Chen could feel the bloody city in his mind trembled, a strange energy gathering in the air above it. As he watched, a body was slowly formed in the air, quickly taking on Liang Chen''s likeness.


    Liang Chen knew what this was, it was his soul, it had finally fully materialized. The soul was the crystallization of everything that Liang Chen truly was, so it looked almost exactly like him. There were only two differences between him and the soul, and that were the eyes and the hair color. His own hair was emerald and his eyes were golden, but the hair of his soul was a bloody red, while the eyes were a ghastly gray in color.


    The bloody hair came from the bestial instincts he had devoured after bathing in so much Demonic beast blood, and the gray eyes came from his Heaven Devouring Bloodline. Looking at his own soul, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be excited.


    Since his soul had now materialized, he could see if he could strengthen it using the principles of the Lightning God Physique, but switching out the lightning for his poison. He could also do things far more efficiently now that his soul had materialized.


    In the past, while he could split his mind to focus on several tasks at once, the downside was that this would reduce the efficiency. If he split his mind to focus on two tasks, both tasks would only be performed with 50% efficiency, meaning he couldn''t truly focus on two different cultivation techniques at once.


    But now that his soul had materialized, he could split his concentration in two and have both tasks be performed with 100% efficiency. His own mind would focus on one task, while his materialized soul would focus on the other. This meant that if he wanted to, he could now sit in the various libraries in the sect and read books, while at the same time cultivating his Lightning God Physique or focusing on cultivating his soul or Qi.


    But before Liang Chen''s excitement could get the better of him, he was snapped out of it by the sound of the warped space around his location vanishing, footsteps coming closer. It seemed like more time than he thought had passed, the Hall Competition had likely arrived.

 Start of the Hall Competition.

    Liang Chen opened his eyes and saw that the warped space that surrounded this part of the stream had indeed vanished. Yan Wuhan and Yan Ling were standing at the edge of the water, quietly waiting for Liang Chen. Yan Ling''s mouth had curled into a slightly evil-looking expectant smile, so it was clear to Liang Chen that this mischievous fox had already made plans to mess with him.


    Liang Chen raised himself up from the water by grabbing onto air whose time he had stopped, he then froze the time of the air beneath his feet and walked over to the shore, drying himself using the high heat of his lightning. He stopped in front of Yan Wuhan, who gave a slight nod of his head.


    "It seems like you have spent this time wisely, having a stronger soul will make future cultivation easier. The Hall Competition will start soon, and since it seems like your injuries are healed, there should be no problem with you participating."


    The Storm Wolf sect had certain rules, and one of these rules was that new disciples had to at least partake in one battle during the first Hall Competition after they joined. This was to better gauge the strength and progress of the disciples, making it easier to know how best to help them in their future cultivation.


    Yan Ling didn''t say anything, but Liang Chen could hear a subdued snicker coming from her, so whatever she had planned, it was going to happen during the Hall Competition. Noticing that Liang Chen had ended his cultivation, Yumao popped out from within his body, curling up on top of Liang Chen''s head, looking at the surroundings with a curious gaze.


    Yan Wuhan only looked at Yumao with a somewhat interested gaze, but Yan Ling''s eyes instantly lit up. Yumao was rather small, and coupled with the small feathers that covered his back, he looked rather cute. And because of that, Yan Ling stepped closer, staring intently at Yumao.


    "Who''s this? Why didn''t you show her to me earlier?!"


    She stretched out her arm and picked up Yumao, who looked at her with a curious gaze. Even while inside his egg, he had been able to hear a little of the outside world, so he had heard Yan Ling''s voice before and knew that she was a friend of Liang Chen. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have allowed himself to get picked up that easily. Since Yumao didn''t resist, Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders.


    "He''s Yumao. I got his egg as the reward for the third trial in the hidden realm, but the egg only hatched just now."


    There was no need to lie about this to Yan Ling or Yan Wuhan, but to others who he didn''t know as well, he would probably come up with some lie. After hearing the name, Yan Ling couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow as she looked at Liang Chen, her lips curling into snickering smile.


    "Really, Feather? You couldn''t come up with anything better?"


    How could she not laugh when the name was so bad? It was only one step above naming him based on his color or his race. The corners of Liang Chen''s lips twitched slightly after hearing her taunts.


    "Trying to laugh at my naming skills? Want me to lift you by the neck again?"


    Liang Chen formed his hand into a claw, stretching it out slightly as he made it look like he was going to grab her by the neck and lift her up like he had done shortly after entering the sect. Faced with the threat, Yan Ling placed Yumao on her own head and let out a challenging snort.


    "Bring it, I''ll whoop your ass so bad you won''t be able to sit straight for days."


    Her cultivation had reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, she had gotten to cultivate and recuperate in this stream that came from the Immortal God''s Vein, and she had tried to awaken her bloodline. She had failed to awaken her bloodline in the end, but she had roused it somewhat before it returned to slumbering, so it still made her quite a bit stronger.


    Looking at the two of them, Yan Wuhan could only shake his head with a sigh. Had they already forgotten that he was standing right next to them, or that they had a place they needed to be? He gave a quick wave of his hand, interrupting the two and addressing Liang Chen.


    "Alright alright, enough of that. The competition starts soon, so we have to get over there. Liang Chen, during the competition, you are forbidden from using your law of time, your emerald lightning, and your bloodline, understand?"


    Liang Chen didn''t understand it a first but quickly realized what Yan Wuhan meant, so he nodded his head. He had to keep those hidden for the same reason he kept his Chaos King Technique, they were simply too overwhelming. If the spies of the other sects got wind of these things and told their sects about them, who knows how hard the other sects would try to kill Liang Chen while he was still young.


    He was a member of the Storm Wolf sect, so there was next to no chance that he would ever become one of their disciples. Even sects like the Fiendgod sect, which had friendly relations with the Storm Wolf sect, might try to secretly assassinate him. After all, if Liang Chen grew so powerful that he could suppress all the other sects, wouldn''t they just have to wait for him to come and force them to either integrate or disband?


    After making sure that Liang Chen understood that he had to hold back, Yan Wuhan nodded his head and the three people started walking away, heading towards where the Hall Competition would take place. Yan Ling didn''t return Yumao, keeping him on her head and feeding him small slices of dried Demonic beast meat that she kept stored in her interspatial ring. Yumao would of course not reject free treats like this, so he happily ate anything she handed to him.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The three swiftly left the herbal garden, which turned out to be located inside a hidden realm that was located on the other side of the split mountain that the Storm Wolf sect was located on. Liang Chen knew that this was the back side of the mountain because he could see the cyan arch that led to the sect''s graveyard, the Hero''s Tomb, located a short distance to his left.


    The three walked up the side of the mountain, Yan Wuhan walking in front while Liang Chen and Yan Ling walked side by side a bit behind him, quietly chatting about how their cultivation in the stream went. At the same time, Liang Chen shared what little he knew about Yumao with her, even telling her how much energy he absorbed in order to hatch.


    The group quickly arrived by the palace that belonged to the Storm Hall, walking up to an arched gate made from black wood that stood behind the palace. The gate didn''t lead into any buildings, so Liang Chen guessed that it likely connected to some hidden realm, just like the Hero''s Tomb.


    His guess was proven correct when Yan Wuhan pushed open the gate and they entered it, stepping onto a vast prairie. The prairie was completely flat, not even the smallest hill or mountain in sight. Standing a few kilometers in front of them were several large stages made up from square stones, each stage about five kilometers in each direction. Each stage was surrounded on three sides by a large structure where people could sit and watch the battles, almost like a coliseum.


    All but one of the stages were empty, a large group of people gathered around the stage closest to Liang Chen''s group. The seating area of this stage was also completely filled, so it seemed like a large portion of the sect disciples had arrived to observe or partake in this Hall Competition.


    Yan Wuhan led Liang Chen and Yan Ling over to the stage, which had a special multi-layred throne-like seating area prepared close by the stage. There were quite a few elders sitting there, even Elder Chaotic was there, so it was clearly for the sect elders. Yan Wuhan sat waved Yan Ling towards the seating area to the left of the throne-like seats, while Liang Chen himself was waved towards the seating area on the right.


    Liang Chen''s eyes landed on the seating area he was waved towards. There were quite a few gazes looking at him, some with curiosity, some with jealousy, and some with hostility. He noticed the orange-haired and buxom Mao Zexi wave him over, pointing at a seat next to her and the two other top disciples of the Wolf Hall.


    When he walked over and sat down next to them, the youngest looking of the three top disciples, the unruly-haired Yao Ming, stretched out his arm and raised his thumb at Liang Chen.


    "Nice going, but you better watch your back, there''ll be quite a few jealous ones."


    They had seen him walk over with Yan Wuhan and Yan Ling, chatting happily with Yan Ling. She was the little princess of the sect, and the target of many a man''s affection, so whenever someone else displayed even the slightest closeness to her, they immediately burned with jealousy. Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, he didn''t really bother with what other people thought about him being close to Yan Ling.


    After Yan Wuhan stepped onto the throne-like seating area for the elders, he turned to look at the surrounding disciples, who were starting to bubble with quiet excitement. He cleared his throat and spoke out in a soft voice, his clear words reaching the ears of all the disciples present.


    "The Hall Competition will proceed as always, divided into two different stages. First, we''ll have individual duels between disciples chosen at random, one from each hall. This stage will go on for two days before we finally move onto the group stage, where the two halls will be divided into several groups that take turns engaging in group battles."


    The reason the individual duels were between randomly selected disciples was to prevent the same disciples from stepping forward time and time again. It also added a bit of excitement to it, as one never knew who would be the next to fight or who you would face. After letting his words sink in, Yan Wuhan''s gaze landed on Liang Chen.


    "As is customary, the new disciples will be the first to fight. Liang Chen, step onto the stage and await your opponent."


    Liang Chen stood up and walked onto the gray stone stage, calmly waiting for his opponent. One of the elders of the Storm Hall stood up, a beam of light shooting out from her body and landing on someone sitting in the Storm Hall seating area. Liang Chen''s enemy quickly walked onto the stage, causing Liang Chen to raise an eyebrow.


    "You are my opponent?"


    Standing a bit away from him was Yan Ling, who carried a somewhat triumphant smile as she giggled at him.


    "Nihihi. Didn''t I tell you? Once I reach the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, it''ll be my turn to show you a thing or two, as well as my turn to bully you."


    Her words didn''t outright state it, but they made it abundantly clear what she had done. Liang Chen couldn''t help but look at her, his mouth somewhat agape in amazement.


    "You rigged the Hall Competition, for this?"


    She had gone through the trouble of rigging a competition like this, just for the chance to battle against him? Yan Ling puffed out her chest, the triumphant smile on her face growing a bit wider, like a child waiting for praise.


    "Just the selection of your opponent."


    She had nagged her father for quite a bit after she was placed in the stream to recuperate, nagging him until he could only let out an exasperated sigh and agree to her demands. Getting confirmation from her, Liang Chen felt like letting out a weak sigh.


    "Really, you spend your energy on the weirdest things. Yumao, please take cover for a bit."


    Yumao, who was still coiled up on Yan Ling''s head, perked up when he heard Liang Chen''s voice. His body sank into Yan Ling''s head, vanishing into the shadows of her hair and re-appearing within Liang Chen''s dantian. With Yumao vanishing because of Liang Chen''s orders, Yan Ling puffed out her cheeks slightly as she pouted.


    "Boo, no fair."


    She found it unfair that a brute like Liang Chen should have such a cute beast companion like Yumao, it was completely wasted. Liang Chen could feel that he wouldn''t have any peace if he didn''t appease Yan Ling slightly, so he waved his hand shaking his head as if he was tired.


    "You can keep coddling him once I''ve beaten you down, consider it my apology for beating you in front of an audience."


    His words were not only a form of appeasement, but they were also a tease, his lips forming a smirk only visible to Yan Ling. Seeing his smirk, Yan Ling stopped pouting, letting out a snort as her lips curled in a similar smirk and she took up her battle position.


    "Heh, big talk you got going there. But just you watch, it''s my turn to lift you up by the neck."

 Awkward tactic.

    Liang Chen also took up his battle position, holding his left fist close to his chest and his right fist a bit further away, a standard boxing position. Yan Ling''s eyes narrowed faintly, a serious expression starting to creep onto her face. She knew about Liang Chen''s actual strength better than anyone else, so she knew that he was a dangerous foe, even with the various restrictions currently on him.


    She swiftly swiped her interspatial ring, a somewhat strange sword appearing in her grasp. The blade of the sword was completely white in color and almost a meter long. It was as thin as a cicada''s wing, and the blade curved slightly upwards, a blue wave-like pattern running along the side of the blade. This was the first time Liang Chen had ever seen Yan Ling''s weapon, and his eyebrows couldn''t help but tick up slightly when he saw it, involuntarily clicking his tongue.


    "Tch, you''re really taking every advantage you can get to bully me."


    Liang Chen didn''t know a lot about how weapons were ranked, but judging from the energy that her sword radiated, Yan Ling''s sword was clearly of very high quality, far better than anything Liang Chen had ever seen. Hearing his complaint, Yan Ling simply replied with a snicker.


    "Nihihi, to bully a brute you, I''ll need any advantage I can get."


    Her words sounded as joking and teasing as always, but there was a kernel of truth and seriousness hidden in there. Liang Chen always managed to pull up some new trick or ability from his sleeve, greatly surprising her. Who knew what sort of previously unseen ability he''d show her this time.


    Both of them ceased talking, quietly sizing up the other, looking for any opening they could take advantage of. Other than the short exchange with Geng Zhen, this was Liang Chen''s first time seeing Yan Ling take part in a battle. And he had to admit, he was greatly surprised by the focus and seriousness she showed, she had clearly trained quite a bit.


    After the two sized each other up for a bit, Liang Chen decided on a battle plan, stepping forward and breaking the silence. His Qi started to course through his body, azure lightning coiling around him as he dashed forward, the sound of muffled thunder sounding out as he turned into a blur.


    He arrived directly in front of Yan Ling, his body somewhat crouched as he sent an upwards punch towards her abdomen. Yan Ling was clearly prepared for him, so the moment he appeared in front of her, she took half a step backward, slashing down at Liang Chen''s arm. Yan Ling knew that no matter how restricted Liang Chen was, she would never be able to match him in terms of speed, so she would obviously prepare a countermeasure ahead of time. As long as Liang Chen was unable to use his time element, he would create wind by moving, allowing Yan Ling to track his location and movements.


    She didn''t hold back in her attack, the blade of her sword swiftly arriving directly above Liang Chen''s fist. He quickly reacted, opening his fist and forcefully changing his punch into a slap, pushing the sword to the side. His palm only made contact with the side of the blade, but several small cuts still appeared on Liang Chen''s hand, the entire weapon seemingly surrounded by tiny blades of wind.


    When Liang Chen pulled his palm away from the sword and took a step forward to chase after the dodging Yan Ling, he noticed that his hand was moving slower than usual, as if a gust of wind was constantly pushing in the opposite direction of whatever way he was moving his hand. He didn''t know if this was something Yan Ling created using her control over wind, or if it was something that the sword did whenever someone touched it, but what he did know was that unless he used more Qi to counteract the wind, it would severely impact the speed of his hand.


    He put more Qi into his right hand, temporarily pushing the strange wind away using a few arcs of lightning. He continued with his step forward, all he needed was to finish this step, and he would be within arm''s reach of Yan Ling. But as his foot was about to touch the ground, his instincts rang the warning bell. He lowered his gaze slightly, concentrating it on the ground beneath his foot.


    A very thin and nearly invisible layer of ice had appeared on the ground, just beneath his currently lowering foot. If he continued as he had, he would have stepped on the ice without knowing it, and he would likely have slipped, disturbing his balance. Liang Chen raised his gaze again, locking eyes with Yan Ling. He put more strength into his left foot, turning his normal step into a heavy stomp, shattering the ice beneath his foot.


    With the ice shattered, he put weight onto his leg, leaning forward and sending out a palm strike with his bloody right hand. But Yan Ling was quick to react, the shattered ice beneath Liang Chen''s foot growing thicker, turning into tiny spikes that dug into his foot. Once they dug into his foot, the spikes of ice were forcefully moved a few centimeters to the left, his foot forced to follow them.


    His balance was ruined and the course of his attack forcefully diverted, his palm sliding past Yan Ling''s waist. Yan Ling took this chance to punch out with her left arm, aiming a downward punch at Liang Chen''s right shoulder. It seemed like she was determined to incapacitate his right arm as quickly as possible, hoping to lower his combat efficiency.


    But right after she sent out her punch, a strange heat spread up from her waist, from the place where Liang Chen''s palm had slid past her. Her concentration and focus was disrupted for a second, slowing down her attack and giving Liang Chen more time to react.


    Liang Chen used the movement of the ice underneath his left foot to his advantage, kicking off with his right leg and allowing his entire body to fall to the left. He stretched out his left arm, digging his fingers into the stone stage and using his hand to support the weight of his body as he raised both of his legs, the spikes of ice breaking off and remaining within the sole of his left foot.


    With both legs in the air, he put more strength into his left arm and gave it a light twist, spinning his entire body and allowing him to deliver an upside-down sideways kick to Yan Ling''s approaching fist. The fist was pushed to the side, another burst of warm energy flooding into Yan Ling''s body from the point of contact, further disrupting her concentration.


    Liang Chen took the chance this created to push off the ground with his left arm, removing his fingers from the stone and launching himself away from Yan Ling. He spun slightly in the air, allowing him to land on his feet a few meters away from Yan Ling, his expression having grown more solemn and serious.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Luckily, he had finished changing the bone marrow in both his arms and legs into liquid lightning using the Lightning God Physique, so his physical strength was a bit better than other people at his age and cultivation level. He glanced at his now bloody left foot and the spikes of ice that were lodged in it, turning to Yan Ling with some surprise in his eyes.


    "I didn''t expect you to be able to already add another element to your Ascended Tower. But why the ice element?"


    One could introduce another element into their cultivation whenever they wanted, but most would only do so after reaching the Heaven''s Gate realm. The reason for this was that trying to build an Ascended Tower comprised of multiple elements was far harder to build than one that only had a single element.


    The law of ice was excellent for defense, but Yan Ling already had the law of wind, which would let her move in ways far more flexible than most people. Because of this, the law of wind was excellent for dodging and parrying attacks, but in exchange, it didn''t excel in attacking. Because of this, Liang Chen thought it would be better for Yan Ling to choose a law which specialized in attacking, like fire, piercing, or slicing.


    Yan Ling, who was now rosy red in the face and sweating lightly, shook her head slightly after hearing Liang Chen''s statement, telling him how it really was.


    "Not the ice element, the water element. I am able to turn the water into ice by mixing it with my wind element, turning it cold enough to freeze instantly."


    Fusing different laws would produce countless wondrous effects, so Liang Chen wasn''t surprised that Yan Ling was able to create ice by mixing wind and water. But her answer left him with another question.


    "But why water? Why not something with a bit more attacking force?"


    The law of water was even worse at attacking than the law of ice, it also didn''t have the defensive strength of the law of ice. The law of water was more focused on support, especially in the healing and purifying aspect. Yan Ling narrowed her eyes slightly, sending a faint glare at Liang Chen as she let out a light snort.


    "Humph, I wouldn''t take this law if it wasn''t for the fact that there was a certain someone that always ran around and ignored his own injuries."


    Even back when the two first had met, Liang Chen had fought in a way that could only be described as self-destructive, tearing down his own body to kill his enemies. Even now he still did that, something he showed quite clearly during their previous mission, where he had practically ruined himself twice within a short span of time, once against Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao, and again when Yan Ling faced the heavenly tribulation.


    Among the two of them, Liang Chen wasn''t the only one worried about the other. Yan Ling was worried that if Liang Chen kept fighting as he did, he would eventually run himself into the ground. But even if she was worried, she knew that there was no way for Liang Chen to stop fighting like this, he had to fight like this if he wanted to beat his enemies. And so, she had picked up a law specialized in healing and support, so that she could help ease his inevitable wounds.


    Upon hearing her statement and realizing what she meant, how could Liang Chen''s face not soften? His raised guard lowered slightly, his lips curling into a grateful smile as he spoke up.


    "Thank y-!"


    Before he got to finish his sentence, his instincts once again rang the alarm bell, the sound of rushing wind coming from behind him. He threw himself forward and onto the ground, a thin blade of wind grazing past the back of his head and cutting off a few strands of his hair. He pushed himself up from the ground, the corners of his lips twitching slightly.


    "Come on now, that''s just rude."


    She had purposely waited for him to lower his guard because of his gratitude, aiming for that slight opening. Had his instincts not warned him, that blade of wind might have reached his neck, forcing him to surrender. Yan Ling, whose face had grown even redder, her robe damp with sweat, simply responded with another snort.


    "Humph, I don''t wanna hear that from a brute like you."


    The two became silent again, once again sizing each other up. But Yan Ling clearly found it quite a bit harder to concentrate, squirming slightly. This was part of Liang Chen''s plan, so he quickly dashed forward, turning into a blur and leaving behind blue arcs of lightning in his wake.


    He arrived at her side with the sound of rumbling thunder, aiming a punch at the right side of her waist. Yan Ling quickly took a few unstable steps to the side, sending out a hurried slash to block Liang Chen''s punch. But her attack was quite a bit weaker than her previous ones, so Liang Chen simply opened his fist and grabbed onto the blade of the sword.


    Tiny blades of wind tore open his hand even further, the blade digging into his palm. But as Liang Chen had already shut down his sense of pain, he didn''t feel any of it. He gave a strong pull, yanking the weapon out of Yan Ling''s hand and then throwing it away. He stretched out his left arm to grab onto Yan Ling''s neck, but she responded by punching his hand away using her now empty hand.


    She jumped back to put some distance between them, but her legs were trembling slightly, more and more sweat appearing on her body as he breathing started to grow rushed and her vision blurry. Liang Chen''s gaze was calm as he dashed forward like a furious bolt of lightning, appearing next to Yan Ling, who by now found it hard to even concentrate on keeping up with Liang Chen''s movements.


    Liang Chen stretched out his arm again, grabbing onto her neck with a soft grip. He didn''t clench his hand or lift her up, he simply held onto her neck as a sign of victory. After grabbing onto her neck, he raised his eyebrow slightly, a teasing smile appearing on his face.


    "Want me to keep going and lift you up?"


    It was already clear that he had won, but how could he let the chance to tease Yan Ling slip through his fingers? Yan Ling didn''t respond, turning to Liang Chen with blurry eyes and rushed breath, speaking out in a soft voice only the two of them could hear.


    "What sort of poison did you use on me?"


    Liang Chen cocked his head slightly, not quite understanding the meaning behind her question. Did the type of poison he used on her matter that much? But even if he didn''t understand it, he still gave an honest response.


    "I used the poison of a weak Demonic beast known as the Silver-tipped Larvae, it''s supposed to be good for disrupting the concentration of others. I spread it through the air right after the battle started, and then poured more and more into your body every time I touched you."


    The Silver-tipped Larvae was a rank 0 Demonic beast that could be found in most large forests. It could never even reach rank 1, so Liang Chen had only glanced over the description provided by the book about Demonic beasts that he had read, only memorizing the part where it said the poison was excellent at disrupting concentration.


    Liang Chen had chosen this poison as he didn''t want to use a poison that was too vicious, afraid that it might accidentally cause irreversible harm to Yan Ling. After hearing Liang Chen''s explanation, Yan Ling''s blurry gaze turned into a fierce and embarrassed glare, as if she was dying to eat him alive.


    "The poison of the Silver-tipped Larvae, good for disrupting concentration? You idiot, it''s an aphrodisiac!"


    Liang Chen''s breath got caught in his throat after hearing Yan Ling''s words, resulting in him heavily coughing. It was an aphrodisiac? His eyes grew wide as saucers as he looked at Yan Ling, looking her up and down. Her skin had become covered in a charming and enticing rosy blush, her legs were squirming, her breathing rushed, and her eyes somewhat blurry.


    He had thought nothing of it at first, but now that he knew that the poison was, in fact, an aphrodisiac, it became clearer and clearer that these weren''t symptoms produced by a poison. He could only let out several more awkward coughs, doing his best to quickly remove any traces of poison from Yan Ling''s body. This was a poison that he himself had created using his Qi and then sent into Yan Ling''s body, so it was easy for him to remove it.


    Even with the poison gone, the symptoms would still remain for a little while. Yan Ling sent him another glare, letting out a loud snort and turning around, fleeing from the stage as quickly as she could. Liang Chen could only look at her fleeing away from the stage, rubbing the back of his head in an awkward manner.

 Excusing himself from the competition.

    Liang Chen stood awkwardly at the center of the stage, rubbing the back of his head, unsure what it was he should do now. While he was wondering if this counted as the battle ending in his victory, he felt a calm gaze land on him. All the hairs on his body instantly stood on end, as if a massive beast was breathing down his neck, ready to eat him.


    With stiff movements, he turned around, his gaze landing on the throne-like seating area. Yan Wuhan was currently looking at him with a faint smile, not saying anything. Accidentally using an aphrodisiac on a girl in front of her father, who was the Sect Master no less, was quite the blunder. Sitting to the right of Yan Wuhan was the muscular and bald Guanyu, who was doing his best to hold down his laughter as he raised his thumb at Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen''s gaze also landed on the person sitting to the left of Yan Wuhan, a beautiful woman who seemed to be in her early thirties. She had delicate and smooth skin, enchanting pink eyes, rainbow-colored hair that hung loosely down to her buttocks, and a tall and curvaceous figure. Since Guanyu, who was the Third Elder and the guardian of Wolf Hall was sitting to the right of Yan Wuhan, this woman should be the Second Elder and the guardian of Storm Hall, Guiying, the woman Guanyu once called an old hag.


    Guiying noticed Liang Chen''s gaze, her lips raising into a charming and kind smile. Looking at this smile, Liang Chen felt something pull on his consciousness, the world in front of his eyes quickly turning dark. Before his entire consciousness could be pulled away, Guiying turned her face away, allowing his consciousness to return to his body.


    When Guiying turned her face away, Liang Chen felt cold sweat spread all over his body. Just a smile alone was enough to nearly rob him of his consciousness, just how terrifying was this woman? Luckily, she had turned away before he actually fainted, so it didn''t seem like she sought to harm him.


    Yan Wuhan stood up from his seat, so Liang Chen''s gaze returned to him. Yan Wuhan cleared his throat, once again sending a faint smile at Liang Chen, causing his hair to stand on end.


    "Due to the escape of his opponent, the winner of this battle is Liang Chen. You seem to have suffered some wounds, so there will be no need for you to participate in the group contest. You should do your best to recuperate."


    No one disputed Liang Chen''s victory, as it was clear that he could have easily killed her in the last exchange. Yan Wuhan''s words also carried a second meaning, so Liang Chen swiftly cupped his hands and excused himself.


    "Thank you, Sect Master. This disciple will do as you say and return to my quarters."


    Yan Wuhan''s words sounded like the thoughtful care of a Sect Master, go and take care of your wounds. But they were really the words of a father, go and apologize to my daughter. After cupping his hands and leaving the stage, just as Liang Chen was about to leave the hidden realm, the snickering voice of Guanyu landed in his ears.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Hehehe, good going, little fellow, it''s nice to see that shameless princess suffer some embarrassment."


    Liang Chen could only let out another awkward cough before leaving the hidden realm, not daring to turn around, just in case he accidentally met the gaze of Yan Wuhan again. Guanyu found it funny, but Liang Chen felt like he was walking on razor-sharp pins.


    After leaving the hidden realm, Liang Chen swallowed a few pills to accelerate the healing speed of his wounds. Only his right hand and left foot had some injuries, but to the current him, these cuts could only be called minor wounds. Healing them would not take long at all.


    After swallowing the pills, Liang Chen headed for the valley that separated the two different halls, heading directly for the hidden realm where Yan Ling lived. He hadn''t been there himself, but he knew where it was located, so he didn''t have to search for it.


    The door that led to her hidden realm was located rather close to the Storm Hall palace, showing off the status she had within the clan. The cyan-colored door was tightly shut, so Liang Chen could only walk up to it and give it a few knocks as he announced his presence.


    "It''s me, are you there?"


    There was no response from the other side of the door, but this was the most likely place for her to run, as it was only here she could be alone. Liang Chen knew this, so he could only continue knocking on the door, hoping that she would eventually open it. After knocking for a few more minutes, there was finally a response from the other side, a loud shout.


    "Please leave! I really don''t want to see you right now!"


    After hearing her response, Liang Chen could only let out a sigh. How could he not understand her sentiment? He had after all used and aphrodisiac on her in front of so many people. She was usually a teasing and cheerful girl, but something like that was bound to make her feel embarrassed and make her want to be alone for a bit. Since she clearly didn''t want to see him, Liang Chen could only give her a reminder before leaving.


    "Alright, I''ll leave you alone. If you need me, you can find me in one of the various libraries."


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately leave after giving the remainder, raising his left arm. A black light flashed in his palm, Yumao appearing on top of his hand, looking around with a curious gaze. Liang Chen used a finger to pat Yumao on the head, smiling faintly at him.


    "Sorry to ask this of you, but could you stay here and keep an eye on her, as well as letting me know if anything happens?"


    He didn''t think that anything would happen, but it was better to be safe than it was to be sorry. Yumao nodded his head, vanishing into his own shadow and disappearing from sight. Thanks to the connection between the two, he was able to sense that Yumao had appeared beyond the door, directly entering the hidden realm.


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be a bit shocked upon noticing this, as entering a hidden realm without going through the gate was incredibly hard, only getting harder as the cultivation of whoever set up the hidden realm rose. Yet Yumao had entered it just like that, without putting in any effort.


    Liang Chen turned around after Yumao entered the hidden realm, letting out a light sigh as he made his way towards the library he had been in before Yan Ling dragged him along on their previous mission. It seemed like he had accidentally screwed up rather badly this time, so he could only give Yan Ling some time to calm down before he did his best to appease her.

 Soul Cultivation, asking for help.

    Liang Chen quickly reached the library where he had been reading before Yan Ling kidnapped him, the Fourth Library. He pushed open the gates and entered the library, making his way up to the point where he had been at last time he was here.


    The library was empty, but Liang Chen didn''t believe for even one second that it was unguarded. The guardians of the library were able to keep constant watch, observing every nook and cranny without even being present in the library. So as he picked up the books he was busy reading last time, he made sure to show due respect to the library and his surroundings.


    He sat down at a small round table, placed down his stack of books, and started immersing himself in reading. Thanks to his soul having materialized, he was able to fully focus on two things at once, so while his soul was focusing on reading, his body was practicing the Lightning God Physique.


    He needed to turn the bone marrow in his torso and head to liquid lightning, but these bones needed more care than his arms and legs, so he had waited with working on them until he got the chance to give it his full attention.


    Liang Chen didn''t forget to use his greatest advantage, his law of time. He wasn''t within the stream of the Immortal God''s Vein, but thanks to the arrays surrounding the libraries, he was still able to keep the flow of time around him at a constant speed of four times the normal.


    Liang Chen stopped paying attention to the flow of time in the outside world, immersing himself in cultivation and reading. The only thing he would pay some attention to was Yumao, making sure he kept in regular contact with him, allowing him to constantly be aware of Yan Ling''s state.


    His reading speed had drastically increased compared to before, as he was now practically reading with full concentration, rather than the 25% percent he had used when he first arrived in the Storm Wolf sect. Because of this, after only a single month had passed in the outside world, Liang Chen was able to finish up both the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth library, moving on to the Seventh.


    It was while he was in the Seventh library that he found a book that caught his interest. The book was rather thin, only a few pages thick, but the contents of the book were a detailed description of the various stages of soul cultivation. Liang Chen had the Chaos King Technique to cultivate his soul, but his soul wasn''t strong enough to read most of the technique yet, so he didn''t actually know the names and differences of the various stages. After quickly reading the book, he finally had a more clear understanding of the soul cultivation stages, as well as how a soul cultivator battled.


    The first stage was the Materialized Soul, which required one to nourish their soul enough to let it take form within the mind of the cultivator. This was easily achieved by just eating enough pills or herbs that nourished the soul. The difference between the early, middle, and late stages of this cultivation realm was how corporeal the soul was. Currently, Liang Chen could be considered to have reached the early stage of this realm.


    The next stage was called the Ascended Soul realm, and it was a bit harder to reach. This not stage not only required one to strengthen their soul quite a bit, but they also had to let their soul leave their body and connect it with the heavens. This would spawn a type of energy unique to Soul cultivators, Anima Essence. This Anima Essence, while it could act like Qi and affect the world around it, it was specialized in attacking the soul and essence of other living beings.


    The next step was called the Soul Rebirth realm, and it required the cultivator to use the Anima Essence to completely shatter their soul, only keeping a tiny sliver of their consciousness alive. Once their soul was completely shattered, they had to use the energy of the heavens, as well as their own Anima Essence, to rebuild the soul from scratch, stronger than ever before. The slightest mistake in this step could lead to death, so most people made sure to make ample preparations.


    The next step was the Soul Lord realm, and it required one to use not only their own Anima Essence but also whatever laws they had gained insight into to change their now strengthened soul, having it slowly take on the properties of whatever laws they had gained any insight of. During this process, one had to fuse all their laws into one, creating a law that would be completely unique to that person.


    The next, and also the second to last step is called the Heaven''s Soul realm. This step is known as one of the most painful steps in cultivation, as it requires one to tear their soul free from the heavens, severing the connection between them. After severing the connection, one must use their own insight and understanding of the heavens to once again alter their soul, turning their own soul into an independent heaven. Their soul will become the heavens, and their will becomes the will of the heavens.


    The final step was known as the Universe Soul realm, the highest of peaks that all cultivators dream of reaching. With your soul as the source, you must create a minor universe in your own image, with your soul serving as the heavens of that universe. At this step, even the smallest of movements from your soul would bring with it the might of your entire universe.


    After reading the full description of the soul cultivation realms, Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a deep breath. Just like when he was first told about the Qi cultivation realms and the body cultivation realms, his mind felt completely blown. Turning one''s own soul into the center of a universe, just how grand and majestic was that?


    At the same time, he couldn''t help but wonder how many of the countless minor universes had been created in this manner, and just how many people who had reached this step were still alive?


    Such a question was far above his level of strength, so even if he found someone who knew the answer, it was unlikely that he would actually get an answer. Knowing this, Liang Chen could only shake his head and continue his reading, swiftly blowing through the books in the library.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Half a month later, Liang Chen finished up the last of the books he could read in the Eighth library, officially finishing all the public books that the Storm Wolf sect had to offer. To others, it looked like he had only needed three and a half months to completely read all the books, causing them to gasp in awe.


    But to Liang Chen, who constantly kept up a flow of time that was four times faster than normal, it had taken a grand total of 14 months, over a year of continuous reading. But the reward for this strenuous effort was that he now knew far more than he did before he entered the Storm Wolf sect, his level of knowledge worlds apart compared to what it used to be.


    When Liang Chen shut the last book and leaned back against the wall behind him, he let out a deep breath, his eyes closed in relaxation as he muttered to himself.


    "14 months... It really has been a while, hasn''t it? Last time it was eight months of reading, and now it was six... Been quite a while since I last talked to someone or got some proper exercise."


    It was just one and a half months to others, so they didn''t see a need to bother the deeply absorbed Liang Chen. But six months without human contact made Liang Chen feel a bit lonely and starved for contact. There was also the fact that Yan Ling had yet to leave her abode, so he hadn''t even gotten the chance to properly apologize to her yet, further contributing to his loneliness. He stood up from his seated position, stretching his body slightly.


    "Let''s see if I can''t find a mission I can bring her along to, that might cheer her up."


    He was hoping that getting some exercise, as well as spending some free time playing around in the outside world would help Yan Ling''s mood improve. There was also the fact that Liang Chen had to undertake some missions anyway, he needed the contribution points.


    After completing the previous mission with Yan Ling, Liang Chen now had 150 contribution points he could spend as he wished. But after checking the stock of the Myriad Treasure Pagoda, he was shocked to find that even the cheapest of their weapons cost around 500 contribution points, so he was still a bit off from being able to buy a new weapon.


    He placed the books around him back in their original slots, bidding the elder of this tower farewell and heading for the Mission Castle. He got a few glances as he left the Storm Hall area, but no one called out to him or stopped him, so he managed to quickly reach the gothic-like Mission Castle that was located behind the Wolf Hall palace.


    He pushed open the wooden gates and entered the Mission Castle, which was a convoluted collection of hallways and rooms. Back when he entered this place with Yan Ling, they took a hallway to the right, but now he walked straight ahead, following a completely straight hallway until he reached a large hall.


    Various counters manned by disciples and elders lined the walls of this hall, ready to aid anyone who wished to accept a mission. At the center of the room stood three-meter tall crystal pillar that shimmered with a purple light. Liang Chen walked up to the pillar and placed both his palms on it, sinking his mind into it.


    This pillar contained a list and description of all the missions that the sect had, allowing one to search through the various missions before they decided on which one they wished to accept. As his mind sank deeper into the pillar, words and images flashed past his eyes, mission after mission being read through and discarded.


    Liang Chen continued to search through the missions with a calm expression, setting some aside for further reviewing after he finished checking the others. But his calm expression was suddenly shaken when he read through the contents of one mission, his entire face shaking slightly as he gave the mission another thorough read-over.


    The mission was rather simple, a group of disciples from the Qing clan had killed quite a few disciples from the Bai clan, which was a subsidiary of the Storm Wolf sect. The Bai clan asked for help from the Storm Wolf sect, so they sent over a few disciples. But in the end, these disciples were also killed by the Qing clan disciples, who had seemingly hidden their strength earlier.


    The mission was to go out and kill this group of people, completing the request of the Bai clan and avenging the dead Storm Wolf disciples. The reason this mission had caught Liang Chen''s attention was the location of the mission, the place where the Qing clan disciples had chosen to hide after killing the Storm Wolf disciples, Green Rivers city.


    Reading the name of his old home town, Liang Chen''s mind couldn''t help but be dragged into the past, it had been quite a while since he had last been there. He was also reminded of another thing, the fact that he had never even learned where his parents had been buried after their execution. Were they buried in the clan graveyard, had they been buried outside the city, or had their bodies just been dumped somewhere?


    When his thoughts reached here, Liang Chen could feel his chest clench, and intense desire to see his parents welling up within him. But it might be impossible for him to see them again, the best he could do for now was visit their graves. At the same time, he could also finish up the mission and visit the site where his old home had been located, seeing if anything new had been built there.


    Liang Chen took a deep breath to calm himself, he couldn''t get hasty or careless. The mission wasn''t exactly easy, and it certainly wasn''t something he could complete on his own. The group of Qing clan disciples had at least one person who had reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, there might even be two. They were also hiding in the Green Rivers city, so getting to them might be troublesome.


    Liang Chen took another deep breath, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his face as he mocked himself.


    "I truly am selfish. I wanted to pick a mission to cheer her up, but now it seems like I can only lower my head."


    He hadn''t forgotten that his original purpose for coming here was to pick up a mission that might help cheer up Yan Ling, but now he was completely forgoing that for his own desires, even possibly dragging her into it. He wanted to beat himself up, but there was no one else he could ask.


    Liang Chen walked over to one of the counters and had the young boy behind it hand him a copy of the mission he was interested in, grabbing the scroll and leaving the Mission Castle.


    He held the scroll in his hand as he walked towards the location of Yan Ling''s abode. Yumao was still with her, so Liang Chen knew that she had yet to leave the hidden realm where she lived. He stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath before knocking on it. He waited for a bit of time, but there was no reply, so he knocked again. He knew that Yan Ling knew that he was the one knocking, she was just ignoring him. After waiting for a bit longer, there was finally a reply from behind the door.


    "Please leave, I can''t face you right now."


    She still wouldn''t see him, but at least it was better than the last time he was here, when she said that she didn''t want to see him. But Liang Chen didn''t leave this time, leaning his forehead against the door as he spoke up in an uncharacteristically soft and almost pleading voice.


    "I''m sorry about what I did back then, I truly didn''t know the full effects of the poison. I know you don''t want to see me, but please, I need your help. I have no one else that I can ask."


    There was a short silence from beyond the door, but after about half a minute, the door that Liang Chen was leaning against slowly opened, allowing him to enter the hidden realm.

 Setting out.

    Liang Chen took half a step back to allow the door to fully open, letting him see into the hidden realm that was Yan Ling''s abode. This was the first time he was seeing the living quarters of someone else, and it didn''t quite look as he had expected it to.


    He thought that all the hidden realms that served as living quarters looked the same as his, a small hut standing next to a small lake that had a single weeping willow growing by the shore. But Yan Ling''s living quarters were quite a bit different, consisting of a large lake that held a small island at the center, a cozy hut serving as a house placed on the island.


    There were several trees growing on the island, blooming with pink and yellow flowers that reminded Liang Chen of the trees that used to grow outside his childhood home. To get to this island, several flat stones were placed in a straight line from the door all the way to the island, allowing one to skip across the stones to reach the house.


    Liang Chen could see Yan Ling sitting on a couch covered in soft pillows outside the wooden hut, her knees tucked up against her chest. Yumao was coiled up on top of her head, occasionally being fed a treat by Yan Ling. Yan Ling was looking at Liang Chen, but she seemed to avoid meeting his gaze, turning her head away.


    Liang Chen''s lips rose into a grateful smile and he stepped forward, moving from stone to stone as he headed towards the island. As he moved, Yan Ling suddenly scrunched up her nose, her gaze landing on Liang Chen. She suddenly gave a wave of her hand, a strong gust of wind pushing Liang Chen down from the stone he was standing on and into the water.


    When he landed in it, the water suddenly started to coil around him and drag him down beneath the surface. Liang Chen didn''t resist, as he didn''t feel any hostility from Yan Ling, who was clearly the one behind this. He was only pulled down to just beneath the surface before the water released its hold on him, allowing him to swim back to the surface. Yan Ling didn''t give him the chance to ask what she meant by this, as she spoke up the moment his head breached the surface.


    "Geh, you reek. When was the last time you took a bath?"


    Liang Chen rolled his eyes slightly as he thought back, trying to remember when the last time he cleaned himself was. He quickly realized that he had gotten too absorbed in his reading, a somewhat awkward smile appearing on his face as he responded.


    "It should be... About six months..."


    The last time he took a bath was when he was thrown in the stream that came from the Immortal God''s Vein, so when one took into account the increased speed of time he kept active when he was reading, it had already been half a year. Even if he was a cultivator, going half a year without bathing would inevitably cause him to stink quite a bit. After getting his answer, Yan Ling couldn''t help but scrunch up her nose and let out an involuntary giggle.


    "Six months, and you walked around the sect like that? Are you trying to embarrass yourself? Here, clean yourself before you do anything else."


    Yan Ling swiped her interspatial ring, taking out what seemed to be bars of soap, throwing them at Liang Chen. She had giggled and seemed to be in a better mood than Liang Chen had first thought, but she still threw the soap with quite a bit of force, resulting in them hitting Liang Chen''s forehead.


    Looking at the soap that was now floating in front of him, Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow, moving his gaze between the soap and Yan Ling. Yan Ling seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking, letting out a snort.


    "What, is a girl not allowed to carry around some soap? I''ll have you know that cleanliness is a virtue!"


    Liang Chen could only swallow the question he was going to ask, giving an obedient nod of his head. Yan Ling turned around after tossing the soap at Liang Chen, indicating that he should hurry up and clean himself. Liang Chen grabbed the soap and let himself sink into the water, quickly cleaning himself. Once he was clean, he climbed up onto one of the rocks and dried himself using the heat of his lightning, putting on a fresh and clean robe.


    Now that he was clean and no longer reeked, Yan Ling didn''t stop him from stepping onto the island, letting him walk over to where she was. Standing in front of the couch she was sitting on was a round table made from glass, as well as another soft couch standing on the opposite side of the table.


    The first thing Liang Chen did after reaching Yan Ling was to lower his head and dip into a bow. She had agreed to hear him out, but he still had to apologize for what he did. But before he got the chance to voice his apology, Yan Ling interrupted him, waving her hand and using some wind to stop him from completing his bow.


    "I''m not mad at you. Do you think I don''t know you well enough to realize you wouldn''t use that poison if you knew what it would really do? I was just too embarrassed to face you after being seen like that."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a stealthy sigh of relief after hearing Yan Ling''s words, at least she wasn''t mad at him or hated him for what he had done. Yan Ling still didn''t give Liang Chen the chance to say anything, narrowing her eyes slightly as she continued to talk.


    "But you still made me put on such an embarrassing display in front of so many people, so you still need to get punished. Come over here."


    Liang Chen had poisoned her with quite a heavy dose of aphrodisiac, so by the time she fled the stage, her robe was sticking to her skin because of her sweat and her face was completely flushed. To look like that in front of so many fellow disciples, how could she not be embarrassed and want to hide her face for a bit?


    Liang Chen did as he was told and walked over to Yan Ling. Even if he didn''t know what the poison would do, he couldn''t escape the responsibility of being the one who had made her put on such an embarrassing display, so he didn''t mind suffering the punishment. Yan Ling stood up from her seat and stopped Liang Chen when he was right in front of her.


    Just as Liang Chen was wondering how she planned to punish him, Yan Ling made her move. She swiftly leaned forward and opened her mouth, biting down on the inner part of Liang Chen''s left shoulder with all her might, her teeth sinking into his flesh and drawing blood. Liang Chen hadn''t expected such a strange and sudden punishment, and since he hadn''t numbed his sense of pain, his face cringed slightly from the pain. His body wanted to launch an instinctual counter-attack, so Liang Chen had to calm down his instincts to make sure that he didn''t harm Yan Ling.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    After biting his shoulder for about ten seconds, Yan Ling seemed to be satisfied and pulled away, wiping away the blood that was now around her lips. After wiping away the blood around her lips, Yan Ling tossed an interspatial ring to Liang Chen.


    "Take it. I planned on giving it to you when I sought you out to make up, but you got to me before I could build up the courage to look for you."


    Liang Chen caught the interspatial ring, ignoring his shoulder. Even though Yan Ling used all her might, it was still only a small bite, such a wound would heal in a very short amount of time. Liang Chen''s expression softened further when he heard that Yan Ling was planning on seeking him out to reconcile, his mind sinking into the interspatial ring.


    Upon seeing the contents of the ring, he couldn''t help but gape slightly in surprise, pulling out the single item that was inside the ring. A long spear appeared in his hand, the entire spear nearly three meters long. The body of the spear was made from a type of golden crystal that was filled with lightning energy, Liang Chen guessing that it was probably a type of Lightning Quartz. The spearhead was made from a blackish-silver type of metal, the tip and edges of the spearhead gleaming with a sharp light.


    No matter how he looked at it, this spear was countless times better than the spear he had used previously. It was also rather well suited to him, especially his law of lightning. He couldn''t help but turn to Yan Ling with gratitude and curiosity, wondering where she had suddenly gotten a spear like this from.


    She used a sword, so there was no reason for her to carry around a spear like this. There was also the fact that this spear was rather well suited to Liang Chen, so he didn''t think it was a coincidence. Guessing what Liang Chen was thinking, Yan Ling gave a casual wave of her hand as she sat down on the couch and responded.


    "I bought it from the Myriad Treasure Pagoda about half a month after the Hall Competition. It cost quite a bit, so you better not break it, or I''ll be forced to bite you again, even harder this time!"


    After she finished giving the explanation, Yan Ling pointed at the couch across the table in front of her, indicating for Liang Chen to sit there. Liang Chen sat down on the couch, storing the new spear into his interspatial ring. Yan Ling''s explanation had raised another question in his mind, so he cocked his head slightly.


    "How did you buy this? Ever since the competition, you haven''t left this place."


    One could buy things from the Myriad Treasures Pagoda through the jade that had fused with their bodies, but they still had to walk over to the pagoda to pick up the items. But Liang Chen knew that Yan Ling had never left this hidden realm ever since the competition. Yan Ling didn''t give a proper answer, her lips curling into a smirk.


    "And who was it that told you that?"


    Liang Chen instantly understood what she meant, his gaze landing on Yumao, who was still coiling up on top of Yan Ling''s head. It was Yumao who had been keeping an eye on Yan Ling and told Liang Chen about her location. Yumao turned his head away, silently chewing on some meat that Yan Ling had given him. Understanding the situation, Liang Chen could only let out a chuckle and shake his head.


    "Betrayed by my own companion, what a sad fate."


    After shaking his head and chuckling, Liang Chen gave his interspatial ring a soft trace with his finger. After tracing the ring, his eyes landed on Yan Ling, a gentle gratitude in them as he lowered his head slightly.


    "Thank you."


    She had not only forgiven him, but even bought him the thing he needed the most right now, a weapon. A weapon would allow him to better channel and focus his power, increasing the strength of his attacks by a decent amount, especially when the weapon was so well suited to him. Yan Ling simply waved her hand, leaning against the back of the couch.


    "Don''t worry about it, I did ignore you for quite a bit of time for no good reason. So, what is it that you needed my help with?"


    She knew that although she had only ignored him for a month and a half, to Liang Chen it had been six months. She was embarrassed because of what had happened, but even with that in mind, she could not even imagine ignoring him for six months, not with how close the two of them were.


    Liang Chen had stored the scroll with the mission details into his interspatial ring the moment Yan Ling pushed him with that gust of wind, so it hadn''t fallen into the water with him. He removed it from his interspatial ring and handed it to Yan Ling, who gave the entire thing a quick read before raising an eyebrow, looking at Liang Chen.


    "This is what you want help with? But why, I can''t imagine it''s to avenge the dead disciples?"


    She knew that Liang Chen was a surprisingly rightous person who would even help those who had no connection to him, as long as he deemed them as innocent that was. But there was no way to tell if the people who died in this mission were innocent, so there had to be something else he was after. Liang Chen''s eyes grew a bit distant, and after a short moment of silence, he started to talk.


    "Green Rivers city is where I lived as a child, it''s also where my parents were executed. I want to take this chance to find out where they are buried."


    Liang Chen told her everything, about how Qing Lan Yong had framed his parents, about how they were executed, about how he started his cultivation because of it, how he was forced to flee the city, he told her everything about his past. He didn''t see a need to hide it from her, so he even told her about the things he had learned inside the Demon''s Graveyard, the truth about his bloodline and actual ancestry.


    Yan Ling listened intently, making sure to not miss a single word that he said. The two were close, even having gone through some life and death battles together, both saving the other from death more than once. But this was the first time Liang Chen had ever opened about his past, the first time Yan Ling ever got to hear his story. They had briefly spoken about it inside the third trial of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but back then, Liang Chen had only said that he no longer had a place to return to.


    It was also only now that Yan Ling realized how much Liang Chen had gone through in such a small frame of time. It had only been a bit over a year since his parents were executed, and yet he had gone through so many difficulties, all to reach his current stage. And while she was extremely surprised when she learned about his actual ancestry, it didn''t really matter to her. After all, his bloodline and lineage didn''t decide who he was, it was his actions and beliefs that made him who he was. Some might dislike the fact that he wasn''t human, but Yan Ling herself couldn''t truly be called human, as one of her ancestors was a Sky Wolf, a Divine Beast.


    Yan Ling felt a mixture of sorrow and gratitude as she listened to his story, sorrow at the things he had to go through, but gratitude at the fact that he felt that they were close enough for him to share this with her.


    When Liang Chen finished talking, he let out a deep breath. Yan Ling was the first person he had ever told this story to, so other than him and Qing Chun, she was the only one who knew his full story. After he let out another deep breath, he looked at Yan Ling and once again asked his question.


    "Please, will you help me?"


    He could go to Green Rivers city on his own, but the odds of him being able to finish the mission on his own were far too low, so going to Green Rivers city was dangerous, as he ran the risk of running into the targets of the mission. Yan Ling barely waited for a second after Liang Chen asked his question, giving another snort and curling her lips into a teasing smile.


    "Of course I''ll help, otherwise you and Little Yuma are going to keep whining and nag at me until I help you."


    Liang Chen''s lips curled into a smile of their own after hearing her response, a gentle, warm, and grateful smile. He knew that she was talking in such a teasing manner because she wanted him to cheer up after talking about his sad story. Seeing Liang Chen''s lips curl into a smile, his mood rising, Yan Ling stood up from her seat and nodded her head.


    "Alright, let''s strike while the iron is hot! We''re moving out immediately!"


    Yan Ling stepped forward without giving Liang Chen the time to react, grabbing onto the collar of his robe and dragging him along, just like she had when she dragged him onto their previous mission. As she dragged him along, skipping over the stones while still dragging him by the collar, their bickering voices sounded out within the area.


    "You know, I''m fairly certain that saying you just used doesn''t apply for this situation."


    "Doesn''t matter! It sounded appropriate! Don''t make me drop you in the water again!"

 Heaven Altering Mask.

    While Yan Ling was dragging Liang Chen towards the Mission Castle, not giving him the chance to walk on his own, Yan Wuhan and Yan Ying were sitting on the floor, a table with a steaming pot of standing between them. Floating in the air in front of them was a silver screen that showed Yan Ling and Liang Chen''s current action. Looking at the two, Yan Wuhan shook his head with a light sigh, turning to Yan Ying.


    "Really, they got back from a mission just recently, but already they are running off again. She really has started ignoring us quite a bit ever since he came along, almost makes me jealous as a father."


    Yan Wuhan had been paying attention to both Liang Chen and Yan Ling after the Hall Competition, keeping an eye on their actions. Of course, he still respected their privacy and didn''t actually watch what went on insides of their houses. He did, however, listen in on the conversation the two had after Liang Chen entered Yan Ling''s living area, so he and Yan Ying had heard everything the both of them talked about.


    Upon hearing about his birth and bloodline, both of them could not help but be shocked, as they had never expected Liang Chen to have such an extreme bloodline. But neither of them knew much about the Genesis War, and they certainly weren''t alive back then, so the word Sebettu didn''t mean much to them. As Liang Chen and Yan Ling got closer to the Mission Castle, Yan Wuhan seemed to suddenly remember something.


    "Ying''er, could you deliver this to them? Since the other sects have already sent assassins after them once before, they should at least hide their appearance when they leave the sect. Also, tell them to be careful."


    Yan Wuhan waved his hand, a ripple passing through space in front of him, two items falling out of the ripple. The items looked like translucent masks as thin as a cicada''s wing, a strong fluctuation of Qi running through them. These masks were called Heaven Altering Masks and were made from a special type of silk only created by a ferocious Demonic beast known as the Rainbow-scaled Wyrm, a Demonic beast that could evolve so much it could become a rank 9 Demonic beast.


    Because of this, the masks were notoriously hard to produce if one wasn''t able to get their hands on a young Rainbow-scaled Wyrm, making them rather expensive. Being made by such a rare material, the effect of these masks was of course extremely useful. Wearing the masks, one could connect their mind to them and freely change one''s appearance and aura, either perfectly copying someone else or becoming someone completely new.


    Yan Ying looked at the masks in front of him with some surprise. The Storm Wolf sect was quite old and very powerful on not only this but some of the few surrounding planets as well. But even then, they only had a grand total of seven such masks, so it was clear that his father placed quite a bit of importance on Liang Chen. He gave a short nod of his head, picking up the two masks and standing up.


    "Don''t worry, Father, Little Chen is surprisingly cautious."


    Yan Ying had some understanding of Liang Chen''s personality, he knew that he was rather serious and mature, to the point where he might even be called callous and cold at times. But what he forgot to take into account was that while Liang Chen could indeed be like that at times, it was a bit different when he was around Yan Ling.


    Yan Wuhan simply nodded his head and waved his hand, a ripple surrounding Yan Ying and sending him away. After sending away Yan Ying, Yan Wuhan''s gaze returned to the silver screen, another light sigh escaping from his lips.


    "I''m more worried about what trouble Ling''er might cause."


    Yan Wuhan knew his daughter well, and he knew that she had a lively and bubbly personality, she also had a penchant for causing trouble whenever she left the sect, or even within the sect. Last time, she was confined to the castle of the Snow Mirror nation to protect the princes and princesses, but now she would be practically given free rein to explore an entire city, who knew what havoc she might cause.


    But he didn''t want to restrict his daughter too much, especially now that she had found someone like Liang Chen, someone who could slowly heal the wounds she kept hidden within her. Because of that, he could only give another shake of his head, gazing at the image of the silver screen with a gentle gaze.


    "Liang Chen, Ling''er, I hope that you manage to find the things you are searching for."


    Liang Chen was still being dragged to the Mission Castle by Yan Ling when space in front of them suddenly started to ripple, Yan Ying walking out from the ripple. Yan Ying looked at the two, a faint smile visible at the corners of his lips as he gave a casual salute.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "Yo, long time no see, Little Chen. Although, I guess it might have been longer for you than it has for me."


    Yan Ling let go of Liang Chen''s collar, allowing him to finally straighten his body and properly stand up. He cupped his hands at Yan Ying, giving him a respectful greeting.


    "It really has been a while, Senior Brother Ying."


    Liang Chen truly respected Yan Ying, not only because of his strength but also because of the kindness Yan Ying had shown him. Had it not been for Yan Ying, Liang Chen would not have been able to join the Storm Wolf sect, he might even have been killed and eaten by a Demonic beast after he used the Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus to summon the heavenly lightning back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    Yan Ying had picked him up and given him a chance to join them, even giving him some weapons and training, allowing him to better protect himself. Liang Chen was very clear on the fact that without Yan Ying, the current Liang Chen would probably not exist.


    While Liang Chen was cupping his hands, he suddenly felt all the blood in his arms freeze up, preventing his hands from completing the respectful greeting. Yan Ying let out a light chuckle, flicking his finger and causing Liang Chen''s arms to return to his side.


    "No need for such a respectful greeting, just treat me like you would any normal friend. We are friends, after all, right?"


    They had fought and bled together, and even though there was quite a big difference in strength right now, Yan Ying did not for one second doubt the fact that Liang Chen would swiftly catch up to him, possibly even surpass him. Facing Yan Ying''s chuckle, Liang Chen could only return a smile of his own.


    "Right, sorry. It really has been a while, Brother Ying."


    Yan Ying was the most likely future sect leader of the Storm Wolf sect, so even though they had a rather friendly relationship inside the hidden realm, Liang Chen thought that things might change after they met again in the Storm Wolf Sect. But it seemed like his thoughts had been completely wrong, Yan Ying didn''t care in the slightest about the difference in position.


    After getting the proper greeting from Liang Chen, Yan Ying nodded his head with a smile and flicked his finger again, allowing Liang Chen to regain control over his arms


    "Much better."


    While Liang Chen was waiting for Yan Ying to speak, as it was clear that he had come here with a specific goal in mind, he felt someone give his side a sharp pinch. Turning his head slightly, he could see Yan Ling fiercely pinching his side, glaring at him.


    "Oy, why does he get to be called Senior Brother?"


    Her big brother was respectfully referred to as either Senior Brother Ying or Brother Yang, but she was still referred to as Yan Ling. Why was the difference in treatment between the two of them so big? Facing the glare of Yan Ling, which could only be described as cute, Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, a faintly teasing smile creeping up on his face.


    "What can I say, he''s just so damn respectable. Much better than a certain someone who throws people through the air like they were ragdolls, or kicks them, or throws them in water before even greeting them."


    Yan Ling only pinched him harder after getting his response, only stopping when she noticed that Liang Chen numbed his sense of pain. She straightened up her body, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and then let out a snort.


    "You deserved all of those. And I would, and will, do all of those again if given the chance, just you watch."


    Liang Chen was about to retort, but Yan Ying waved his hand, interrupting the two which seemed to have completely forgotten about him.


    "Alright, let me finish what I came to do and not hold the two of you up for long, wouldn''t want to get in the way."


    After he caught their attention, he swiped his interspatial ring and took out the two Heaven Altering Masks, handing one to Liang Chen and one to Yan Ling. Yan Ling was rather shocked upon seeing the masks, but since Liang Chen didn''t know what they were, Yan Ying gave a quick explanation.


    "These are a gift from Father, he said you should hide your appearance when you are outside, otherwise the other sects might send more assassins. Ling''er can teach you how to use it."


    Liang Chen didn''t know the exact effect of the masks, but it was easy to guess at what they did from Yan Ying''s words. And looking at the shocked expression of Yan Ling, and the fact that they were a gift from the Sect Master, it was clear that their effect was rather strong. Liang Chen stored away the mask, cupping his hands in gratitude.


    "Please convey my thanks to the Sect Master."


    These masks were clearly not cheap, and they were also extremely useful to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who had already faced assassins once before. With these masks, doing missions would become far easier for the two of them. Yan Ying only gave a casual wave of his hand, sauntering away with a nonchalant gait.


    "No problem. I''ll be leaving now, so the two of you are free to continue what you were doing."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the leaving Yan Ying for a short moment before they continued heading towards the Mission Castle. While they were walking, the voice of Yan Ying suddenly fluttered into Liang Chen''s ears.


    "Little Chen, please take care of Ling''er."


    Yan Ying was so far away that Liang Chen had no way of responding, so he could only give a stealthy nod of his head and hope that Yan Ying somehow noticed it.


    After this, Liang Chen and Yan Ling entered the Mission Castle and put on the Heaven Altering Masks, their appearance changing and making them unrecognizable. They picked up the tokens needed for them to return to the Mission Castle after completing the mission and then set out, once again leaving the Storm Wolf sect.

 Constellation Kings Competition.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling left the Storm Wolf sect and arrived in the Floating Rose nation, swiftly mounting Yan Ling''s chariot and flying away, heading directly for Green Rivers city. While they were flying, making sure to fly so high up in the air that no one on the ground could see them, Yan Ling looked Liang Chen up and down.


    "Little Freak, have you increased your cultivation in the time we didn''t see each other? You feel a tad bit different."


    She had felt it when she first met him, but only vaguely. Now that she got the chance to give him a more thorough look-over, the feeling she got only increased in intensity. It was a strange feeling, as if Liang Chen had gotten both more pressuring and captivating, drawing the eyes of people who glanced at him. Liang Chen didn''t lie to Yan Ling, nodding his head and explaining his current cultivation.


    "I have indeed increased my cultivation somewhat. My Qi cultivation is getting closer to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, while my body cultivation has reached the peak of the Bone Forging realm and my soul cultivation has reached the peak of the Materialized Soul realm."


    The increase in body cultivation resulted in the pressuring feeling, while the increase in soul cultivation resulted in the captivating feeling. Liang Chen cultivated the Lightning God Physique, which was different from the body cultivation systems of this planet. So even though he had only turned most of his bone marrow, only lacking the bone marrow in his skull, into liquid lightning, he was considered to be at the peak of the Bone Forging realm. And once he finished turning all his bone marrow into liquid lightning, he guessed he would probably enter the early stage of the Body Ascension realm.


    As for his soul, he had channeled some of his Qi into it ever since it materialized. After doing this for the six months he had spent reading in the library, it had reached the peak of the Materialized Soul realm, now he just had to attempt to fuse it with one of his elements, seeing if he could use the principles of the Lightning God Physique on it. If he could do that, he guessed that he might be able to enter the Ascended Soul realm rather swiftly.


    After getting the confirmation from Liang Chen, Yan Ling could not resist raising one of her eyebrows, sweeping his entire body with a quick glance before clicking her tongue.


    "Tch, must be nice to have the law of time. Do you have any idea how many people would kill to have the same amount of time as you?"


    Very few people cultivated more than one cultivation system, only those who had heaven-defying talent cultivated two or even three. And the main reason was simply the fact that if they tried to split their cultivation focus too much, they would end up lagging too far behind everyone else. By the time they managed to reach the same stage as everyone else, they would have already wasted all their talent and gotten too old to get anywhere meaningful.


    But Liang Chen didn''t have this problem, he could use his law of time to turn one and a half month of cultivation into six months. And that was just now, who knew how much more he could increase the flow of time in the future when he got stronger. Seeing Yan Ling click her tongue, how could Liang Chen resist smirking and teasing her?


    "Is that jealousy I hear? Are you jealous? Are you?"


    He could just tell her that he could also increase the flow of time for others around him, it would just be slower than when he did it for only himself, but where was the fun in that? While he was teasing her, Liang Chen also stretched out his arm and poked Yan Ling''s shoulder, much like how she did to him occasionally.


    How could Yan Ling, the one who always did all the teasing, allow Liang Chen to not only smirk at her and tease her, but also poke her like that? Just as Liang Chen''s finger once again made contact with her shoulder, she lunged forward and pushed him down.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "You''re 1000 years too early to tease me like that!"


    Yan Ling pushed Liang Chen onto his bag and straddled him, raising both her arms. She pointed both her index fingers at Liang Chen''s chest and started to viciously poke him, using wind to increase the speed of her arms to the limit. Faced with her ferocious poking, Liang Chen could only do his best to squirm free, squeezing out a few words between the bursts of involuntary laughter.


    "Stop... I surrender!... I surrender!... Stop, we''re... Really fucking high... Above the ground!"


    The two of them were currently flying amongst the clouds, if they were to accidentally fall, they would turn into nothing but a red stain on the earth. But Liang Chen''s plea for surrender fell on deaf ears, Yan Ling continuing to deliver rapid-fire pokes to his chest for a good five minutes before she stopped, freeing Liang Chen and returning to her previous position. After returning to her previous position, Yan Ling proceeded to act like she had not just spent the last five minutes viciously straddling and poking Liang Chen.


    "What do you think, will you be able to increase your cultivation in time for the Constellation King''s Competition in six months?"


    Liang Chen didn''t sit up immediately, spending a bit of time catching his breath, which had just been ferociously tickled out of him. Only after he managed to return his breathing to normal did he sit up and nod his head.


    "Shouldn''t be too hard to break through in my body and soul cultivation, my Qi cultivation should also be able to increase at least one stage. I read that the Constellation King''s Competition is pretty brutal and bloody, but the book didn''t say anything about where it takes place, do you know?"


    The Constellation King''s Competition was the name the sects gave to the grand competition they held as a tempering and ranking exercise for their younger disciples. Each sect would send out a certain amount of disciples to participate in the competition, and the top five people would all receive a title based on their rank, of course, the would also receive sufficient rewards.


    The top-ranked was called the Dragon King, then came the Phoenix King, the Tiger King, the Turtle King, and the fifth-ranked got the title Wyrm King. The competition only took place every 10 years, and only disciples below the Primordial Immortal realm were allowed to take part in it. Yan Ling knew a bit more about the Constellation King''s Competition, so she nodded her head, filling Liang Chen in on the rather special location of the competition.


    "The competition takes place in a space that is rather special, it''s called the Myriad Convergence. The Myriad Convergence isn''t part of this planet, it is part of some other planet that was torn apart, the various pieces sent flying through space. Space around and in the Myriad Convergence is rather unstable, so plenty of spatial rifts and tunnels open there, causing a large variety of treasures and strange items to appear there, making it a natural oasis of treasures. Once the competition starts, we need to do our best to pick up as many treasures as possible and bring them back to the sect. The fewer treasures the other sects get to pick up, the better."


    The unstable space of the Myriad Convergence made it not only a natural oasis for treasures, but it also made it a very dangerous place. With spatial rifts and tunnels opening all over the place, one had to be careful that they weren''t swallowed up and sent away to some unknown place.


    As a natural oasis of treasures, each of the five sects, even the distant Dawn''s Blade Alliance, of course, wanted to monopolize the place. But the moment someone tried to take full control over it, the other sects would gang up on them and eradicate them, so they could only split it evenly, using it for the Constellation King''s Competition. Of course, there would always be hidden undercurrents, people scheming to wipe out the other sects and take full control over the entire planet.


    The next five days of flight, Yan Ling and Liang Chen continued to either chat or quietly cultivate, occasionally teasing the other if the atmosphere aboard the chariot got too boring. And during the afternoon of the fifth day, they arrived a short distance away from Green Rivers city, so Yan Ling brought the chariot down to the ground.


    If they flew the chariot all the way to the city, their disguises would mean nothing, so they had collectively decided to land a bit away from the city and walk the rest of the distance, drawing less attention to themselves.


    As they got closer to the city, Liang Chen couldn''t help but grow quieter. It had been so long since he had last been here, the memories of his childhood couldn''t help but resurface. The smiling faces of his parents, the various gifts they had given him, the advices they had given him, the taste of his mothers cooking.


    Yan Ling could sense his somber mood and showed a rare moment of gentleness, quietly pulling closer and staying by his side, simply providing him with a bit of warmth. Like this, the two entered the city, Liang Chen leading Yan Ling down a road that was so very familiar to him. Following this road, it didn''t take long for the two of them to spot the ruins of a burned down house.

 Ashes and hope.

    Standing in front of Liang Chen and Yan Ling was a small plot of land that was scorched black. One could see the burnt remains of a few trees and two small buildings, practically only cinders remaining of everything. A small wooden fence had been set up around the entire plot of land, the words ''Lest we forget the sin'' carved into a sign that hung at various places on the fence.


    He had expected it, Liang Chen had honestly expected that his old home would be gone. He had prepared himself for the burnt remains to have been torn down and the land flattened so that they could build a new house on top. Even this strange scene of his old home being turned into a memorial that would constantly remind the Qing clan what the fate of ''traitors'' would be was something he figured might possibly happen.


    He expected it, and he made sure to prepare himself for it before he entered the city. But once he actually saw it, witnessed the burned remains of his past, all those preparations turned out to be for naught. Liang Chen''s entire body stiffened, his heartbeat skyrocketing as his Qi involuntarily started to seethe and surge.


    This was where he had lived, this was where he had made most of his wonderful memories. And now it was all gone, burned to ashes and used as a reminder for others, warning them not to sin or turn against the clan. The fact that his parents were actually innocent only made it worse, it turned this memorial into nothing but a mockery. This place, this warm home where he had spent his childhood, nothing but a mockery, a cold joke.


    Liang Chen''s expression started to slowly darken, the seething Qi within his body bubbling to the surface, tiny white dots of poison slowly seeping out from his skin. He was angry, he was utterly furious. How dare they do this? After forcing his parents to make the ultimate sacrifice for the clan, they even desecrated their home? How fucking dare they?!


    Just as the world in front of Liang Chen''s eyes was about to be dyed a mixture of red and black, he felt someone give the back of his head a strong slap. The unexpected pain of the slap instantly brought Liang Chen back to his senses, the poison that had seeped through his skin sinking back into his body. He turned his head slightly, his eyes landing on Yan Ling, who was looking at him with a gaze that was a mixture of concern and scolding. He put on a somewhat forced and weak smile, giving a slight nod of his head.


    "Thank you, I''m okay now."


    Had she not brought him back to his senses, his fury would have resulted in his poison and lightning being frenziedly spread into the surroundings, acting on his strong emotions. They were in the middle of a city inhabited by countless people, there was no telling how many people he would have ended up killing, how many innocent families would be ruined by his spontaneous act.


    Yan Ling gave Liang Chen a deep gaze, only nodding her head after seeing that he truly seemed to have regained his wits. Liang Chen turned his gaze back onto the ruins of his home, his eyes sweeping over the entire plot of land. Slowly, his burning fury started to cool, turning into a deep sadness, a feeling of sorrow and longing that dug into his bones like maggots.


    His parents and their warmth was gone and he might never be able to acquire that warmth again. No matter how close he got to others, no matter what they did together, he would never be able to replicate the warmth he had felt here. The only hope he had for rebuilding that warmth was the faint hope that had been given to him by the caravan guard leader he had traveled with just before he first entered the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, Yi Huang.


    As for that hope, it wasn''t even fit to be called hope, it was more fit to be called the desperate dream of a lonely child. Just because he was unable to revive his parents now, there was no telling it would stay the same in the future. Perhaps once he reached a truly supreme level of strength he would be able to revive his parents. That was the frail hope Yi Huang had given Liang Chen, those were the words Liang Chen whispered to himself as he endured the pain he experienced in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    Liang Chen took a deep breath and stepped forward, easily jumping over the fence that surrounded his burnt down home. He didn''t care about the surrounding people that might see him, he could just change his appearance once more using the Heaven Altering Mask.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Yan Ling followed after Liang Chen, quietly walking by his side and providing what warmth she could, waiting for Liang Chen himself to speak up, something he did once they reached a spot located at the left of the ruins.


    "I used to live here. The place where we are standing right now used to be the lone bedroom in the house, the place where we all slept. They thought about building a second bed for me, but they had no idea where to place it, so the idea was shelved."


    Liang Chen could still see the bedroom when he closed his eyes, the scene perfectly replicated in his mind. The bed was cramped with the three of them, but it was comfortable, it felt safe. Liang Chen walked a few meters to the north, entering the ruins of the smaller building.


    "This used to be our bathroom, my parents built it with their own two hands to make sure that we didn''t have to use the shared baths and toilets."


    Yan Ling swept the area with a quick gaze, but the fire that raged here back then ended up becoming so fierce that nothing was left, only a few pieces of the walls still barely standing. Liang Chen stood still for half a minute before stepping back into the ruins of his house, into the place that used to be the living-room. He crouched down at the center of what used to be the living-room, digging in the ashes and pulling something out.


    "This was a knife that my parents gave me shortly before their execution, it was supposed to protect me and keep me safe from harm after they were gone."


    He hadn''t been able to take the knife with him as he was forced to flee so abruptly, so it had been left here in the house. It was now completely ruined, the blade having nearly fully melted during the fire it had now stiffened into several drop-like formations that were just barely connected thanks to a small piece of metal that was still connected to the handle, which was so burnt it had become charcoal.


    Liang Chen placed the knife into his interspatial ring, keeping it safe for the future. He then stood up and took a deep breath with closed eyes, as if he was trying to inhale the ashes and memories of his past. When he opened his eyes again, the sorrow and longing were gone from his eyes, replaced with his usual determination.


    He grabbed hold of Yan Ling''s hand, dragging her over to a spot located a bit in front of the ruins of his house. He let go of her hand and crouched down again, digging into the ashes and earth with his bare hands as he spoke.


    "There used to be several trees here. They weren''t planted by my parents, but they made sure to take great care of them. When they bloomed in the summer, it made for a spectacular sight. They were the same type of trees as the ones that grow around your house, so you might be able to somewhat imagine it."


    Liang Chen finished digging into the earth, pulling up a small seed that was somewhat burnt but still mostly fine. He held up the seed with his now dirty hands, looking at it with a gentle gaze as he spoke.


    "One day I will rebuild the warmth I had here. No matter how strong I must become, no matter how much pain I have to suffer, I will rebuild it. Just like this seed will one day grow into a mighty tree, I will rebuild this warmth and make it so strong that it can never vanish again."


    Liang Chen carefully stored the seed into his interspatial ring. This ring was the reward he had earned after completing the second trial in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, it was forged by someone known as Sovereign Blacksmith. The inside of the ring could even hold minor living things like plants and herbs, so it looked like a vast and verdant plain.


    Liang Chen used his control over the ring to plant the seed in a secluded spot, speeding up the passage of time inside it. This speeding up of time was not something he did using his own powers, it was one of the functions of the ring, which was explained to him by the phantom of the Sealing God Empyrean when he was given the ring. After planting the seed, he turned his head slightly, looking at Yan Ling.


    "If I asked for your help, would you give it to me?"


    Liang Chen rarely asked for help, more often than not just doing things on his own. It had been like that ever since his parents were executed and he was forced to survive on his own. To him, asking others for help was something that felt strange and uncomfortable. But when he asked Yan Ling for help in rebuilding his past warmth, it didn''t feel strange at all, it simply felt right, almost comfortable.


    But at the same time, he also felt worried and nervous. What if she said no? After all, even though they were close friends, she had no obligation to help him with a goal that might be impossible to achieve. If she were to say no, no one could blame her. But all his worries were for naught, as Yan Ling responded with giving him a bright smile, pulling him up from his crouched position and giving the back of his head another slap, a gentler one this time.


    "Of course I''ll help you, you''re my Little Freak after all! But before we even think about any of that, we must finish up the mission we have accepted here. And I might just know a way we could make the mission quite a bit easier."

 Yan Lings plan.

    Yan Ling pulled Liang Chen away from the ruins of his old house, ignoring the curious stares of the onlookers as she pulled him through the streets until she found a small alley that was somewhat well-hidden from sight. Looking at her actions, it seemed like she didn''t want others to hear about the plan she had come up with.


    After they reached the alley, Yan Ling waved her hand and caused a strong wind to blow around them, preventing anyone outside the wind from hearing their voices. She then swept the surroundings with a quick gaze, making sure that she hadn''t overlooked anyone when she ran into the alley. Only once she had done all this did she speak up and explain the plan she had come up with.


    "In seven days, the Qing clan is going to host a small gathering for the younger generation, a little party where the younger members of the five clans can meet up and socialize, maybe even compare their strength. The people we are hunting are of course going to show up during this meeting, it''s a perfect chance for the Qing clan to show some strength."


    It wasn''t uncommon for the clans to host parties for the younger generation, even the great sects occasionally did that. The excuse was that the parties were set in place for the younger generation to socialize and make friends, but the truth was that they were set up so that each clan could show that their disciples were stronger and better. After making sure that Liang Chen was still listening, Yan Ling continued to explain.


    "I got the news about this party from Big Brother, and he also told me that the Bai clan is sending over a few people to participate in this party. Using these masks, we can hide our identities and infiltrate the party. All we have to do then is cause a bit of chaos, and then we can take advantage of the chaos to round up and kill the targets."


    Since the Bai clan was controlled by the Storm Wolf sect, Yan Ling could easily order them to let the two of them take up two of the spots they had received for their own clan members. Liang Chen quickly threw away the melancholy he felt earlier, shifting his focus onto the mission ahead of them. He rubbed his chin slightly, voicing a question he had.


    "The plan isn''t terrible. As long as the only cultivators that are present during the party are people who have reached the Heaven''s Gat realm or below, it should indeed be possible. But how would we go about causing chaos without drawing the attention of everyone? If they know that we are the ones who have caused chaos, everyone might just gang up on us. And where would this party take place? It would be hard to flee from the headquarters of the Qing clan after killing some of their disciples."


    Yan Ling''s plan was better than anything Liang Chen had come up with, mainly because he didn''t really have a plan in place just yet. But with any plan that involved infiltration, it of course carried risks that they had to keep in mind. Yan Ling seemed to have already guessed that Liang Chen would ask such questions, as she gave the answer right after he stopped talking.


    "The party is going to take place in a small city located on the other side of Sky Piercer Forest, a place called Mountain''s Gate city. There''s no need to worry about any cultivators above the Heaven''s Gate realm being there, the Qing clan and the other clans don''t dare send any people of that cultivation realm. If any of the clans were to do so, it would only result in the other clans banding together and wiping out that clan."


    Above the Heaven''s Gate realm was the Soaring Immortal realm, and cultivators of this realm were valued even by the great sects. But the reason none of the clans dared send any people of this cultivation realm was the simple fact that doing so would cause the other clans to believe that the clan who sent the cultivator was planning on using him to kill the disciples sent by the other clans.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Even if this wasn''t true, the other clans could use this slandering as an excuse to band together and wipe out one of the clans, meaning that they themselves would be able to acquire a bit more power. Because of this, the various clans could only send cultivators of appropriate strength and leave it up to them to represent them.


    Yan Ling''s lips curved into a devious smile as she was about to continue her sentence, immediately filling Liang Chen with a sense of foreboding. Whenever Yan Ling ended up smiling like this, it would always end up somehow involving and affecting Liang Chen. His thoughts were quickly proven correct when Yan Ling stated how she intended to cause chaos.


    "You want to know how we are going to cause chaos? Don''t we have a walking bag of poison right here? I wonder what would happen if you were to poison the food and drinks, activating the poison at an appropriate time? We might even be able to kill the targets straight away like this! One of the Bai clan spies is part of the cooking staff, so we''ll just have you take his place and then you''ll have plenty of time to seep all kinds of poisons into the food and drinks."


    Liang Chen had read all the books in the Storm Wolf sect libraries, so he already knew about the infiltration technique that the clans and sects used, reincarnating one of their own members into one of the other clans. With one of the Bai clan spies serving as one of the cooking staff, it saved the two of them the trouble of having to knock out or kill one of the cooking staff so that they could take their place. Liang Chen raised an eyebrow after hearing the full plan, looking at Yan Ling with a dubious gaze.


    "I can''t help but notice that this infiltration plan doesn''t really involve you, you don''t intend to laze around while I do all the work, right?"


    The plan seemed sound, poison the food, cause a disturbance, try to use the chance to assassinate the targets. But not once while explaining the plan did Yan Ling mention what she was going to do, it was all Liang Chen. Yan Ling coughed slightly after hearing Liang Chen''s question and seeing his dubious gaze. She quickly puffed out her chest and let out a snort, defending herself.


    "Of course not! I''m going to sneak in as one of the Bai clan members and sample some of the food and drinks that you haven''t made, making sure that they aren''t poisoned! At the same time, I''ll also be keeping an eye out for our targets, making sure that things go according to plan, and even ask around to see if I can find out where your parents are buried!"


    She explained it in an eloquent way, but Liang Chen could explain it in far simpler terms, she intended to eat plenty of food and relax while Liang Chen was doing the rest of the work. He wanted to say something, but he could only shake his head, it was truly a Yan Ling type of plan. Yan Ling simply giggled when she saw his actions, not having the slightest bit of shame. Liang Chen gave the plan a bit more thought, eventually swiping his interspatial ring and taking out an empty waterskin.


    "Alright, I''ll go along with what you planned, but you need to create some water for me, just enough to fill this one."


    Yan Ling didn''t quite understand why Liang Chen wanted her to fill up the waterskin, but as she had already started gaining insight into the law of water, it was no problem for her. After she filled up the waterskin, Yan Ling seemed to suddenly remember something, swiping her own interspatial ring and taking out a cherry-sized orb of blue jade.


    "You should take this. You haven''t really left the sect much, so I completely forgot to give it to you. You''ve probably already read about it, so I won''t bother explaining what it does. Right now it only has my mark in it, so you can only contact me."


    Liang Chen accepted the orb and gave it a quick inspection, his finger sliding over the completely smooth surface. He had indeed read about this item before, it was an item simply titled communication jade. Using an array inside the jade, others could leave a mark using a different communication jade, allowing the two people to contact each other across vast distances with just a bit of Qi. As it made the delivering of information easier, it was commonly used in all clans and sects.


    Liang Chen tested the communication jade once, and after the two made sure that it worked, he stored both the jade and the waterskin into his interspatial ring. The two of them shared a glance and nodded their heads, splitting up to set their plan in motion.

 Causing chaos.

    After splitting up, Liang Chen changed his appearance once again, turning into an old woman with a hunched back. This was to make sure that no one who saw him rummaging through the ruins of his old house also saw him heading towards the house of the Qing clan member that was a spy for the Bai clan.


    Yan Ling had already sent Liang Chen the location of the Bai clan spy, so it only took Liang Chen half an hour to reach the house of the spy, a small two-room house. This spy didn''t have a high position in the Qing clan, he was practically only a step above a servant, so his house was located rather close to the northern exit of the city, a good distance away from the actual branch of the Qing clan in this city.


    Liang Chen knocked on the door of the house, the sound of footsteps swiftly coming from within the house. A tanned man who seemed to be in his fifties, with graying hair and a few wrinkles in his face, opened the door and greeted Liang Chen.


    "Good morning, how may I help you?"


    Liang Chen swept the man with a quick glance, making sure that he fit the description that Yan Ling had sent him. Once he ascertained that he was talking to the right man, he gave a slight nod of his head and answered.


    "It''s a lovely day for cooking, isn''t it? Would you mind letting me cook a bit for you?"


    The words were a code Yan Ying had come up with after Yan Ling sent him a message telling him to have the Bai clan inform their spy that Liang Chen was coming to take over his spot. Yan Ying informed the Bai clan and then sent Yan Ling the keyword, who promptly sent it to Liang Chen. There was no change in the expression of the man, he simply gave a calm nod of his head and stepped aside, beckoning for the disguised Liang Chen to enter his house.


    "It really is a wonderful day for cooking, please come in and show me your spicy cooking."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and entered the house, the man closing the door behind him. Two hours after Liang Chen entered the house, he left the house again, now disguised as the man and carrying a leather bag slung over his shoulder. The reason he had waited for two hours was just in case anyone happened to be looking at the house, it would seem suspicious if the man left right after receiving a visitor.


    After leaving the house of the man, Liang Chen left Green Rivers city using the northern exit, following the curved road that went around Sky Piercer Forest and would take him to Mountain''s Gate city. While moving, he also made sure to keep in contact with Yan Ling, so he knew that she was currently walking through the city and questioning people about the place where Liang Chen''s parents were buried.


    Liang Chen purposefully walked at a slower pace than normal, making sure that he spent a little over two days reaching the city. Although the city was called Mountain''s Gate, it was actually located a short distance away from the mountain, mostly because the entire mountain was surrounded by a large forest that housed quite a few Demonic beasts.


    Most of the buildings in the city were built using solid stone, almost all of them completely square in shape. At the center of the city stood a circular wooden mansion that almost resembled a deep green pagoda, a large and blooming garden surrounding the entire mansion.


    After arriving in the city, Liang Chen walked up to one of the houses located close to the mansion. This house was owned by the Qing clan, and it was where the cooking and wait staff for the upcoming gathering had to report. Liang Chen reported that he had arrived, and a somewhat gruff older woman immediately brought him to the circular mansion, leading him down into the basement of the mansion.


    While the woman was leading him, Liang Chen made sure to memorize the path they were walking, at the same time he also scanned the areas where they walked, checking out the various people he saw. Most of the people in the mansion were only servants that were hurriedly trying to prepare for the upcoming party, but Liang Chen also spotted one man in his thirties who had reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    The man matched the description of one of the targets that Liang Chen was looking for, so Liang Chen had a tiny amount of poison seep out from his finger and fly through the air, landing on the neck of the man. This amount of poison wasn''t enough to infect the man, but it would let Liang Chen track the movements of the man, which was enough.


    The basement of the mansion was a large kitchen which currently held nine other chefs that were doing their best to prepare the food for the party. They knew the purpose of the party, so each of them was filled with nervousness, afraid that they might be punished if they made any mistakes. The gruff woman directed the disguised Liang Chen to one of the workbenches, telling him to start working.


    There was a list of things that had to be done on the workbench, so Liang Chen gave it a quick read over and then got to work. His mother had taught him some cooking, so he was rather good at cooking, enough to make Yan Ling and Yan Ying exclaim that his food was good.


    With Liang Chen joining them, the now 10 chefs cooked as if their lives depended on it, preparing so much food that Liang Chen guessed they might be able to feed at least a thousand people. They barely even slept or took breaks, the five days leading up to the party being filled with nothing but cooking and checking over the food that they had made.


    Liang Chen made sure that there was constantly poison seeping out from his body, allowing it to sink into all the food and drinks that were made. Now, everyone who ate or drank would have his poison inside them, allowing him to activate it whenever he wanted to. One could even say that the lives of everyone at the party were held in the palm of Liang Chen''s hand.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    If they were to know about this, there would certainly be quite a few who would be rather fearful, even if they didn''t have a grudge with Liang Chen. After all, who was insane enough to want someone with the title of Scourge King to hold control over their lives?


    Five days quickly passed, the eve of the gathering arriving. Liang Chen and the remaining cooks were forced to put on a type of clothing that Liang Chen had never worn before, a type of black suit that was common for butlers and waiters. They then carried all the prepared food and drink up from the basement and into the hall where the party would be held, a large circular hall that had a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.


    There were only a few couches and chairs where people could sit, so it seemed like most of the party participants were supposed to stand while they mingled. Liang Chen placed the food on the various tables that were prepared and then returned to the kitchen. He took out the waterskin he had filled with the water Yan Ling gave him, using the water to brew one of the finer tea''s that had been prepared by the Qing clan. He then brought the prepared tea and placed it on the VIP table, making sure that it was clearly visible.


    The participants started to quickly enter the hall, Liang Chen and the rest of the wait staff respectfully standing along the wall and waiting for the party to officially start. Thanks to the piece of jade that had fused with his chest and allowed him to sense the presence of other Storm Wolf disciples, Liang Chen instantly knew when the Bai clan members arrived.


    His eyes landed on Yan Ling, who had disguised herself as a woman in her early twenties with raven black hair and deep green eyes. She was clad in an extravagant blue robe decorated with golden threads, so it seemed like the person she had disguised herself as had a rather high standing in the Bai clan.


    Yan Ling''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, and although her expression didn''t change much, he was able to notice that she was snickering at him and his appearance. Liang Chen could only do his best to keep a straight face, making a mental note to whack her on the head later on when he got the chance.


    The hall was quickly filled up with people, the cultivators with equal strength gathering together to chat. Liang Chen did his ''job'' as a waiter, carrying a tray of food and drinks, handing them to various people. At the same time, he also scanned the people in the hall, quickly locating the targets that the mission specified. He did his best to ignore the blatant smirk Yan Ling wore as he served her a glass of wine, quickly moving away to continue his ''duty''.


    They didn''t intend to enter the final stages of the plan just yet, they wanted to wait a bit longer and give the people present a chance to drink and eat as much as possible. Only like that could they ensure that everyone was truly seeped with Liang Chen''s poison.


    A few hours after the party started, two disciples, one from the Zhao clan and one from the Huang clan, decided to have a little spar to compare their strengths. An opening was quickly created in the hall and the spar was conducted, the girl from the Huang clan winning over the girl from the Zhao clan. With these two taking the leads, more and more people started to spar, kicking off the true purpose of the meeting, comparing the strengths of the younger generation.


    The sparring went on for a few more hours, Liang Chen and Yan Ling keeping up their disguises. After one of their targets, one of the two people at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm had completed a sparring match, Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes, giving each other a nod.


    Liang Chen activated the poison that had been present in the food and drinks, the poison quickly taking effect in everyone who wasn''t a member of the Qing clan. The weaker people almost instantly coughed up blood, while the stronger ones only grew pale, blood slowly starting to seep out from the corners of their mouths. The poisoned people swiftly figured out what was going on, glaring at the members of the Qing clan as they shouted out.


    "You poisoned us!"


    "Do you wish for our clans to go to war?!"


    With everyone but the people from the Qing clan suffering the effects of Liang Chen''s poison, which he made sure to keep at a level where they wouldn''t die, how could they think anything other than that the Qing clan was trying to kill them? The people of the Qing clan had no idea what was going on, so they did their best to calm down the others.


    "Please calm down! There must have been some sort of accident, there is no way we would poison you!"


    None of the poisoned people believed the Qing clan members, partly because the evidence was against the Qing clan and partly because they feared for their own lives, wanting to force the Qing clan to hand over the antidotes.


    "Give us the antidote and we might believe you!"


    "Yeah, hand us the antidotes, prove your innocence!"


    The other clan disciples pushed closer to the people of the Qing clan, the atmosphere turning volatile. It was at this time that Liang Chen locked eyes with Yan Ling, who was only faking being poisoned, and indicated towards two of the Qing clan members, the weakest of their targets for this mission.


    At first, Yan Ling didn''t understand what Liang Chen wanted her to do, but after giving the two Qing clan people a closer examination, her eyes lit up with realization. She cast a glance at Liang Chen, her gaze containing a mixture of awe and horror. Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulder, once again indicating at the two people.


    Yan Ling nodded her head and turned back towards the two, giving a slight flick of her finger. After she flicked her finger, the two Qing clan disciples suddenly bent forward and groaned in pain, swiftly falling to the floor, dead. Another Qing clan disciple quickly turned them over, allowing everyone to see that they had holes in their abdomens and chest, spikes of water sticking out of the holes.


    This was why Liang Chen wanted Yan Ling to create some water for him. She was too weak to control the water that other people had in their bodies, but if she got them to drink the water she created, she could still control it even if it was inside their bodies.


    With two of their disciples dying like this, the remaining Qing clan disciples immediately grew furious, blaming the disciples of the other clans. At the same time, they even thought that they were all just faking being poisoned so that they could use it as an excuse to kill the Qing clan disciples.


    The atmosphere turned from volatile to hostile, the Qing clan disciples and the disciples from the other clans glaring daggers at each other. It didn''t take long for one of the Qing clan disciples that was friendly with one of the two dead ones to launch an attack against the poisoned disciples, seeking vengeance for his dead friend.


    That attack became the straw that broke the camels back, a violent battle breaking out between the Qing clan disciples and the poisoned disciples. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes once again, nodding their heads and turning towards the targets of their mission. Now their plan had entered the endgame.

 Storm Kings Fist.

    Neither Yan Ling or Liang Chen recklessly jumped into the large battle that was currently going on. They hadn''t discussed it beforehand, but both of them were smart enough to realize that it would be best for them to wait a bit longer. Their targets would grow weaker and weaker as time passed, and once they were too weak to defend themselves properly, then it would be time for them to reap their lives.


    Liang Chen stealthily took a few steps back, his narrowed eyes sweeping over the ongoing battle, reminiscent of the eyes of a serpent that surveyed its prey. His gaze landed on one of their targets, a woman who had reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. She was currently doing her best to defend against the frenzied attacks of three enemies, her own hands having turned into solid iron.


    With his eyes landing on her, it was the same as her death being set in stone. A faint black light flashed on his shoulder, the feathered serpent Yumao appearing on his shoulder. Yumao had been patiently resting inside Liang Chen''s dantian, waiting for a chance to stretch his body a little. How could he possibly stay still now that a battle was going down? Liang Chen used a finger to pat Yumao on the head, quietly whispering to her.


    "Start with that girl, her neck and her eyes. Don''t worry about her attacking you, I''ll give you an opening. After that, head over to Yan Ling and help her deal with the remaining eight people."


    Yumao eagerly nodded his head, darkness swallowing him and causing him to vanish. The moment Yumao vanished, Liang Chen fully awakened the paralyzing poison within the girl''s body, causing her muscles to stiffen up for a quick second. She didn''t understand why her body suddenly stopped moving, but she knew that this one second of inaction likely meant her death.


    A black light stealthily appeared behind her, Yumao landing on her neck and sinking his fangs into her flesh. He was small and young, but his fangs were as hard as iron, even harder than the scales of some Demonic beasts that had reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. His teeth easily pierced her flesh and sank into her neck, cracking it with a single bite. Liang Chen wasn''t sure if Yumao''s bite would be enough, which was why he also told Yumao to go for her eyes, stalling her further. But looking at how easily he cracked her neck, it seemed like his worry had been needless.


    At the same time, the three people she was fighting noticed her second of inaction, so they frenziedly launched attacks. Fire, iron, and a colorless type of energy landed on her defenseless body, tearing it apart and killing her. As her body was torn apart, Yumaoo disappeared into his own shadow and left the area. With the girl dying, the number of targets left to kill was only eight, with two of them having reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    "Scratch that, only six remain. She works fast."


    Liang Chen corrected his own thoughts with a soft mutter. In the time he and Yumao had sneak attacked the girl, Yan Ling had taken care of another two of their targets. They were only at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, the same as her, but for her to kill them so quickly, it showed that her strength was out of the ordinary. One of the two was killed by having his throat slit with a blade of wind and the other died from having water forced down his throat, drowning him on dry land.


    The six targets that remained were the strongest, two girls who had reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, two men who had reached the same stage, and two men who had reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. But the Qing clan disciples were vastly outnumbered, so the strength of their targets was quickly wasting away as they were forced to defend themselves and the other Qing clan disciples.


    After two more minutes passed, Liang Chen''s gaze landed on one of the two men who had reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. At the same time, Yan Ling''s gaze landed on the other man who had reached the same stage, their gazes the same as the judgment of the god of death. Both understood what the other was planning, so they moved into action at the same time.


    Liang Chen awakened the poison that the man had ingested and caused it to flood into his eyes, melting the veins within them and blinding him with his own blood. The people close to him took advantage of this chance, ignoring the other Qing clan disciples and launching all their attacks at him. This caused the nearby Qing clan disciples, including the one that Yan Ling was targeting, to forego their own defenses in hopes of protecting their comrade. After all, everyone was targetting the currently blinded one, so who would launch any attacks against them?


    The attacks collided with the hastily prepared defense set up by the Qing clan, a loud explosion rocking the hall. Under the cover of the large explosion, Yan Ling dashed into the bosom of the Qing clan disciple she was targeting. She took a deep breath and stomped on the ground, sending out a palm strike that gently collided with the chest of the Qing clan disciple.


    Liang Chen thought that the attack looked rather soft, but the Qing clan disciple immediately started spewing blood and fell over dead, so it was clear that the attack was far stronger than it looked. At the same time, Liang Chen also finished up the disciple that he had blinded with his poison. The attacks launched at him were all blocked, but he was too weak to resist Liang Chen''s poison, so his death was already certain.


    The corrosive poison left his eyes and flooded into his brain, turning it into mush that started to leak out of his ears and nose as he fell over. To the onlookers, it simply seemed like the Qing clan had failed to block all the attacks, a perfectly normal occurrence in a battle like this. Six turned into four, Yan Ling and Liang Chen setting their deadly gazes onto the last of their targets.


    The two locked eyes for a short second, just long enough for both of them to get across what they were thinking. Their eyes then landed on the two girls, who were doing their best to defend against the waves of attacks, continuously shouting out that they hadn''t poisoned the other disciples. But at this stage, it was already too late for words, too much blood had been shed, too much fear had spawned in the hearts of everyone.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling sprung into action, sealing the fates of the two girls. Yan Ling had Yumao appear inside the sleeve of the girl, allowing him to stealthily create spears of darkness that pierced into the girl''s wrist, rendering her arm useless. Yan Ling, disguised as a member of the Bai clan, took this chance to rally the surrounding disciples and have them launch all their attacks on the girl.


    The attacks landed on the girl and caused everything from her chest and up to explode into a bloody mess, her remains collapsing to the ground. While the surrounding disciples switched their focus onto the remaining Qing clan disciples, Yumao stealthily caused the remains of the girl to vanish into the darkness, seemingly storing away her body for later.


    While this was going down, Liang Chen was taking care of the other girl. A quick thought of his awakened the poison in her body and had it swarm her right shoulder, corroding the flesh, veins, and bones in that shoulder. As a result, her dominant arm became completely useless in the midst of defending against an attack, allowing it to land on her and shatter her chest, instantly killing her.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    With this, the only targets remaining were the two disciples who had reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. Liang Chen and Yan Ling had purposefully saved them for last, allowing them to waste as much of their enemies strength as possible before they made their move. Their two targets were located at the leftmost and rightmost side of the Qing clan disciples, responsible for supporting the sides of the reverse triangle defensive formation they had hastily assembled.


    They were besieged by the other disciples who had reached the Heaven''s Gate realm, but since they focused on defending, they were able to keep themselves safe and the enemies at bay. If things continued without changing, they would probably be able to continue defending like this for at least one or two hours, plenty of time for reinforcements from the Qing clan to arrive.


    But would Yan Ling and Liang Chen allow them to defend like this for much longer? The other targets were dead, and the two last ones were already weakened somewhat, it was time to reap their lives and finish the mission. And once the mission was finished, Liang Chen could finally find out where his parents had been buried.


    Liang Chen sent a quick look at Yan Ling, letting her know which of the two targets he was going to aim for. After making sure that she understood, Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the Qing clan disciple that was located at the rightmost side of the defensive formation. He had already planned out how to deal with him, so he wasted no time springing into action.


    He awakened the poison within a few of the Qing clan disciples located at the front of the defensive formation, temporarily paralyzing them. The enemies responded by launching ferocious attacks on the paralyzed disciples, forcing the surrounding disciples to hastily put up a defensive wall. Another loud explosion rocked the hall and tossed up a thick cloud of dust, Liang Chen and Yan Ling dashing forth at the same time.


    As Yan Ling dashed forth, a gentle breeze started to blow around her, her appearance reverting to normal. The wind around her suddenly turned crimson in color, her blue eyes turned deep green, and strands of crimson hair started to appear in her normal cyan hair. She had activated the secret technique that stimulated her mostly dormant bloodline, forcibly increasing her strength.


    If she wished to deal with someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, she had to rely on this strengthening technique. Thankfully, the wind around her further kicked up the surrounding dust, making it so that no one was able to see anything except for what was right in front of them.


    Her speed drastically increased after activating her strengthening technique, her body turning into a crimson blur that swiftly arrived in front of the target she was responsible for. The man quickly cast his gaze onto her, shock appearing in his eyes. He pushed out both of his palms to force away Yan Ling, but she simply ignored his palms and launched her own attacks.


    Wind and water gathered around her palms, wind around her left and water around her right. The wind moved clockwise while the water moved counterclockwise, both growing faster and faster. Yan Ling allowed the attack of the man to land on her left shoulder, tearing open a deep gash. But in return, she pushed out both of her palms and had them gently make contact with the chest of the enemy.


    Once again the attack looked gentle, but the moment her palms touched his chest, the cloth around her arms was torn to shreds and burst outwards. The chest of the man imploded, all the organs and bones in his chest crushed into a fine paste and instantly killing the man.


    What Yan Ling had just used was a secret technique that her father had taught her, a technique called the Storm King''s Fist. It used the law of water and the law of wind, the pressure of the deep sea and the pressure at the center of a tornado, to forcibly crush anything it came in contact with. It was a devastating attack, but she wasn''t yet able to use it properly, so this one attack had caused cracks to appear in both her wrists, leaving them on the verge of shattering.


    But her enemy was dead, so the attack was a complete success. While the cloud of dust still covered her, she swiftly picked up the interspatial ring of the man, deactivating her strengthening technique and putting on her disguise again. At the same time, Yumao popped out from the shadows and had the body of the man vanish into the darkness, storing another body for later.


    While Yan Ling was dealing with one man, Liang Chen was dealing with the other. He dashed through the cloud of dust, his disguise melting away as he activated his bloodline, his hair and eyes turning gray as gray scales started to grow all over his arms, only stopping when they reached his jaw. Liang Chen also swiped his interspatial ring, the golden spear with a blackish-silver spearhead that Yan Ling had gifted him appearing in his grasp.


    Emerald lightning started to coil around him, increasing his speed by so much that he was able to reach the front of his target in less than a second. When the man''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, fear immediately filled them as he realized Liang Chen''s identity and hastily tried to back up.


    "It''s you! The Scourge Ki..."


    The man didn''t get the chance to finish his sentence, Liang Chen stomping down and unleashing a lightning fast stab with his spear, a soft voice sounding out in his heart.


    "First step shatters the body."


    Liang Chen instantly unleashed the first attack of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, all the energy of the attack gathering at the tip of his spear. The tip of his spear made contact with the chest of the man, all the energy gathered in it bursting forth in an instant.


    A green light flashed at the tip of Liang Chen''s spear, a rumbling sound mixing together with the explosion that had occurred when the various attacks had collided with the defenses of the Qing clan disciples. An emerald bolt of lightning as thin as a finger shot out from Liang Chen''s spear, piercing through the man''s chest and continuing upwards, piercing through the ceiling of the hall and vanishing.


    This was the advantage of having a weapon, it made it far easier for Liang Chen to concentrate and compress his power. Not only did it waste less energy, but it also made his attacks far more penetrative and damaging. With the bolt of lightning piercing through the man''s chest, his heart was scorched into ash by the heat, the light in his eyes dimming.


    Liang Chen swiftly snatched the man''s interspatial ring, storing both it and his own spear away. He undid his own bloodline and put on his disguise again, quickly retreating from the area. Once he left the cloud of dust, he locked eyes with Yan Ling, who had also just finished her target. Both of them nodded their heads, Yan Ling changing her appearance to match one of the wait staff from the Qing clan.


    They both then dashed away at full speed, looking like two weak servants who were afraid of getting caught up in the chaos. While running away, Liang Chen weakened the poison inside the bodies of the various disciples, making it look like it was naturally vanishing. No one stopped Yan Ling and Liang Chen, mostly because everyone else was busy taking part in the large battle.


    The two ran through the city, occasionally running into an alley to change their disguises. Only when they left the city and entered Sky Piercer Forest did they feel safe and stop running, sitting down on the ground and leaning against each other''s back to catch their breath. While they were catching their breath, Yan Ling let out a victorious laugh.


    "Nihihi, it was a good plan, wasn''t it? Didn''t I tell you that I had a good plan?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but chuckle. They had just snuck away from a large battle, and the first thought that came to Yan Ling''s mind was apparently to fish for praise. But her plan was indeed good, so Liang Chen did not mind indulging her this once.


    "Yup, it was a good plan that made things a lot easier, you were quite clever to come up with it."


    Receiving the praise only made Yan Ling''s laughter turn even more victorious, as if she had just beaten Liang Chen at something. The two continued to lean against each other and catching their breath, resting for a few minutes before Liang Chen turned to face Yan Ling and asked the question that was at the forefront of his mind.


    "So, did you manage to find out where my parents are buried?"


    To find out where his parents were buried was the main reason Liang Chen had accepted this mission, so he was of course quite eager to find an answer to where they had been buried. But after he asked the question, he saw that Yan Ling''s body stiffened, an expression that was a mixture of bitterness and sorrow appearing on her face. Seeing her expression, Liang Chen instantly felt his heart drop to his stomach, an uneasy feeling flooding him. It seemed like the place where his parents were buried was no normal place.

 The location of their grave.

    Yan Ling didn''t respond to Liang Chen''s question, her mouth moving slightly as she seemed to search for a way to best word her sentence. Seeing her like this, Liang Chen only turned even more uneasy and nervous, grabbing onto her shoulders with trembling hands, his eyes filled with a pleading light.


    "Yan Ling, please, no matter what the situation is, I need to know."


    Even if his parents were buried in a mass grave, at the headquarters of the Qing clan, or even if they were just buried on some random plot of land, Liang Chen needed to know. He had to know where he could look for them, had to know where they finally got to rest in peace. Faced with the pleading eyes of the usually stalwart and calm Liang Chen, Yan Ling could only nod her head.


    "Okay, I''ll take you to the place. But you have to promise me that you''ll be calm once we get there."


    Yan Ling''s expression was a mixture of seriousness and concern, showing that she was truly worried that Liang Chen would do something stupid. Of course, this only served to further increase Liang Chen''s unease, but he still gave several rapid nods of his head.


    "I promise."


    Yan Ling let out a deep breath and grabbed Liang Chen''s hand, dragging him deeper into the forest, heading for the mountain that stood at the center of Sky Piercer Forest. Liang Chen only grew even more nervous when he saw the direction they were heading, they couldn''t have buried his parents in this forest, right?


    Yumao noticed the solemn atmosphere, so he popped out from Liang Chen''s dantian and coiled himself up on Liang Chen''s shoulder, nestling close to his neck in an attempt to comfort him. The three of them were able to easily move through Sky Piercer Forest, none of the Demonic beasts living in it daring to attack them.


    As long as the Demonic beast was below Rank 4, equal to the Heaven''s Gate realm, they wouldn''t dare get close to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who had incredibly strong bloodlines. While there did indeed live Demonic beasts of Rank 4 or higher in Sky Piercer Forest, most of those lived on the higher parts of the Sky Piercer mountain, so they didn''t encounter any of them while moving.


    They quickly reached the foot of Sky Piercer mountain, which started out like a slowly inclining hill which eventually turned into a nearly vertical incline when it reached the halfway point of the mountain. Once you crossed that halfway point you would encounter the truly terrifying Demonic beasts that lived on the mountain, so some considered it to be the line that separated life and death.


    The speed of the group slowed down somewhat after they started ascending Sky Piercer mountain, Yan Ling seemingly trying to give Liang Chen some time to calm his nerves and prepare. Two hours after they started to ascend Sky Piercer mountain, Yan Ling stopped walking, indicating that they had reached their goal.


    Liang Chen quickly scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing around them. They stood on a small circular outcropping that stretched a few meters out into empty air, a fall of a few kilometers awaiting them if they stepped over the edges of the outcropping. There were no gravemarkers, no bumps in the earth, no signs that anyone had been buried here.


    Liang Chen took a few uncertain steps forward, continuously scanning the area. Since Yan Ling had brought him here, this was where his parents should be buried. So why was he unable to see anything? As he continued to check the surroundings in an uncharacteristically dull manner, Yan Ling spoke up in a bitter manner.


    "Your parents were never buried. After they were executed, the Qing clan cremated their bodies and scattered their ashes to the wind from this location. This was the only thing that was left here when I first arrived here."


    Yan Ling swiped her interspatial ring and took out a yellow crystal the size of a human''s eye, walking over and gently handing it to Liang Chen. Liang Chen accepted the crystal, but his mind was completely blank, his gaze dull and hollow. They had been cremated and spread to the wind?


    There was a belief that was very prevalent among most people on this planet, and that was that upon death, your soul would return to the great wheel of samsara and await its time to be reborn. But there was a requirement for this to happen, and that was that one had to be buried, their body returning to the earth in one way or another.


    Even if one got eaten by Demonic beasts, they would eventually return to the earth, either as feces or when the beast died, allowing their soul to become a part of samsara again. But if one got cremated and had their ashes spread to the wind, they would never return to the earth, their ashes would follow the wind and continue moving for all eternity, their soul forever barred from returning to samsara, forever unable to attain rest and peace. It was the greatest punishment one could sentence someone to, a sign of how great one''s sins were.


    At one point, Liang Chen also followed this belief, but after coming in contact with the cultivation world, he was no longer so certain. But whether or not this belief was true or not didn''t matter right now, what mattered to him was that not only had the Qing clan forced his parents to become scapegoats, they had even given them a punishment like this.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    They knew very well that his parents were innocent of their accused crime, and just executing them was enough to sell the silly story that they had cooked up. Yet they still gave them this burial, the burial reserved only for the greatest of sinners. They had laid down their lives for the reputation of the clan, but even then the clan decided to desecrate their bodies like this.


    Qi slowly started to seep out of Liang Chen''s body due to his unstable emotions. When the Qi entered the crystal that he was holding, the crystal suddenly lit up with a bright light. The Qi moved through the crystal, passing through an array that was hidden inside it. Once the Qi passed through the other side of the crystal, the array caused the Qi to gather together and form an image.


    The image featured three people, a child, a woman, and a man. The woman was tall and had clear blue eyes, cherry-red lips and long black hair tied into a loose ponytail, the man had a rugged figure and features that looked like they were carved from stone, his skin was somewhat tanned, he had short brown hair, and his eyes were a deep black, like the night sky. Standing in between these two was a young child who seemed to only be around one year old, he had short black hair, smooth and delicate features, and deep green eyes.


    Liang Chen felt as if everything around him froze when he saw this image, for he knew it very well, he now also understood what sort of crystal he was holding. The crystal was a special type of material that was very sensitive to Qi, and thanks to an array carved into it, one could connect their Qi and mind to the crystal, engraving whatever they were seeing into the crystal, allowing one to see it whenever they wished.


    This particular crystal and image was something Qing Xiang had created for Liang Chen''s father, Qing Feng, it was a gift to celebrate Liang Chen''s first birthday. Since this crystal was here, it was likely that Qing Xiang had visited this place and left it behind as a sort of gravemarker, marking the place where Liang Chen and the rest of his family were resting.


    Qing Xiang had never seen Liang Chen''s new appearance after he started cultivating, nor did he know that Liang Chen had managed to increase his cultivation after Qing Xiang left the city again. He only knew that Liang Chen had been forced to flee the city, and since Qing Xiang didn''t know about Liang Chen''s strength, coupled with the fact that there had been no news about him, Qing Xiang likely believed Liang Chen to have already died.


    Liang Chen''s name and appearance had popped up on the Mortal Titan list, but he had changed so much since his time in Green Rivers city that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to recognize him, so it was only logical for Qing Xiang to believe that Liang Chen was already dead.


    Looking at the image, tears involuntarily started to run down Liang Chen''s face, the Qi seeping out from his body turning violent. The earth beneath him cracked, the air around him lighting up with arcs of lightning, his emotions an absolute mess. His heart was filled with fury at how the Qing clan had treated his parents grave, sorrow because of the fact that they were dead, hatred at how the Qing clan had killed his parents for something as pitiful as their reputation, a tinge of joy that he finally had a picture of them, but also self-loathing.


    Ever since the execution, Liang Chen had thought about his parents several times, forced to relive their execution everytime he closed his eyes to rest or sleep. So he thought he had been able to remember their looks perfectly, that their appearance would forever be perfectly ingrained in his mind. But looking at the image in front of him, he realized that he had been wrong.


    The last time he ''saw'' his parents was during the second trial of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, where he had been forced to break through a joyous illusion based on his memories. In that illusion, his mother had brown eyes and black hair, and his father had brown eyes and brown hair. It was just a minor change, the color of their eyes being slightly off, but it was a sign that he had slowly started to forget how they truly looked, their appearances distorting within his own mind. So little time had passed, but he had already started to forget what they truly looked like, this simple fact filled Liang Chen with an intense self-loathing.


    More and more tears started to uncontrollably stream down Liang Chen''s face, all the sadness and sorrow he had felt since his parents'' execution hitting him at once. All the emotions he had forced himself to drown out while cultivating bubbling to the surface, striking at every inch of his body like a furious tidal wave. More and more Qi started to billow out from his body, the air growing thick with lightning and poison, the earth around him corroding from both poison and an increase in the flow of time.


    He had drowned them out for so long, bottling them up and keeping them within him so that they wouldn''t break him, so that he could use them to push forward through any pain. But he was still just a child, even with the increased flow of time he had used while cultivation, now that they came rushing to the surface, he was unable to stop his tears from flowing, his emotions from going on a rampage.


    As his tears continued to pour down his face, obscuring his vision, he suddenly felt something warm embrace him, a sweet fragrance filling his nose. A somewhat pained voice gently floated into his ears, somewhat calming his rampaging emotions.


    "It''s okay, it''s fine to cry. You''re not alone, so it''s fine to just let it all out. Even if you are stronger than others, even if it''s you, it''s fine to cry. So just cry, let it all out."


    His tears eased up somewhat upon hearing this voice, allowing him to just barely see that it was Yan Ling who was embracing him in a tight hug. The lightning and poison that was raging around him struck her from time to time, but she only grit her teeth and did her best to endure it, continuing to comfort Liang Chen.


    Seeing this, Liang Chen forcefully reclaimed control over his emotions and the Qi that was billowing out from him, calming it down so that it didn''t continue to hurt Yan Ling or Yumao, who was still coiled up on Liang Chen''s shoulder and doing his best to endure.


    The lightning and poison around him started to avoid Yan Ling and Yumao, but it didn''t retreat into Liang Chen''s body, still reacting to his strong emotions. Once the Qi had calmed down, Liang Chen returned the hug that Yan Ling was giving him, burying his head in her hair as he continued to cry.


    He gave vent to all the emotions he had drowned, emptying out all the sorrow and loneliness he had felt, all the pain he had endured. And for the first time since his parents were executed, Liang Chen acted like a child his age, leaning on someone else and freely crying.

 Once again facing the deep blue clouds.

    Liang Chen continued to cry for several minutes, only stopping once his tears had dried up and his heart had released all the stored up sorrow and pain. And once the sorrow and pain was gone, all that remained was a determination so sharp that it could cleave the skies.


    The area all around them was completely ruined, the stone outcropping reduced to only a small circle connected to the mountain thanks to a thin path. Sensing that his mood had improved, Yan Ling let go of Liang Chen and took a step back, stretching out her arms with a smirk.


    "Have you cried it all out? Or do you want this senior sister to give you another hug? Come on now, don''t be shy, let this senior sister comfort the vulnerable junior brother."


    Liang Chen was halfway tempted to accept the offer, but seeing the insufferable smirk on Yan Ling''s face, he knew that he would never hear the end of it if he said yes. Since that was the case, Liang Chen decided to simply repay in kind, taking a quick step back.


    "Geh, who would want to be hugged by you? I bet it would feel like trying to hug a wooden board."


    As he spoke, Liang Chen let his gaze roam over Yan Ling''s body, stopping on her pitiful chest for a second longer, his meaning clear. Having her weak spot pointed out, how could Yan Ling not flare up?


    "Humph, you dare tease your senior sister? Want me to tell the other disciples about this when we return to the clan and have them beat you up?"


    With her popularity, it would not be hard for her to gather a few disciples and have them gang up on Liang Chen. But Liang Chen was confident, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his lips curling into a smirk.


    "Go ahead, it''ll just end like last time, with me carrying you by the neck."


    Back when Liang Chen had first entered the sect, Yan Ling had ambushed him with about 20 other disciples, hoping to show just how many people were willing to follow her orders. Sadly, it ended less than favorably for her. Yan Ling let out a snort but didn''t continue with the conversation, changing the topic.


    "So what are you thinking now?"


    They had finished the mission and also completed the task Liang Chen had actually come here for. The mission was a success, but finding the grave of his parents ended in a sorrowful failure, so she was wondering what Liang Chen was planning to do now. Liang Chen turned his head away, looking past the sea of trees that spread out around them. After a short moment of silence, he spoke up in a voice that was a mixture of reminiscence and determination.


    "You know, a man once told me that as long as you believe that your dream is impossible to achieve, you will truly never achieve it. That the only reason you believe the dream to be impossible is that you are currently too weak to achieve it. I want to... No, I will revive my parents. Even if I have to become stronger than anyone else, even if I have to endure more pain than anyone else, even if I have to personally scour this entire planet for every grain of ash that is left of them. I will revive them."


    The caravan guard Yi Huang was the one who had told Liang Chen these words, it was he who had spawned the hope that Liang Chen could revive his parents at some point. While Liang Chen continued to look into the surrounding forest, Yan Ling suddenly walked up to him and hit him on the head, drawing his attention.


    "Don''t you go leaving me out of this, not after you have already asked for my help. It''s not ''I will revive my parents'' it''s WE will revive your parents! Of course, if you do ever reach that level of strength, to bring back the dead, then you have to help me bring back a few people too, that''s only fair."


    Yan Ling had her hands on her hips as she spoke, her expression not leaving any room for discussion. Liang Chen had already asked for her help back when they searched through the burnt ruins of his old home, so there was no way he was allowed to exclude her now. Yumao also chimed in, letting out a hiss and giving Liang Chen''s neck a few headbutts. Liang Chen''s lips curled into a bright smile as he shrugged his shoulders.


    "Of course I won''t leave you out. At this point, I don''t think I''d be able to get rid of you even if I wanted to. But all that is talk for the distant future, for now, we''ll have to focus on what''s ahead of us, the Constellation King''s Competition. We only have about six months until it starts, so I intend to break through in my body and soul cultivation before we return to the sect."


    Both his body and soul cultivation were at the peak of their respective realms, just short of breaking through. If he could break through in both of them, he was confident that he could increase his strength by a decent bit. He could then use the next six months to try and further increase his cultivation, preparing for the Constellation King''s Competition, the competition hosted by the six grand sects of this planet.


    Not only could one find rare and powerful treasures in the location where the competition took place, but the winners would also receive great rewards. The stronger Liang Chen and Yan Ling were before the competition the better it was for them. Yan Ling found Liang Chen''s plan to be very reasonable, so she nodded her head and scanned the surroundings.


    "Sounds good, when and where are you planning on doing it? I''ll guard you and make sure that no one gets close."


    Every breakthrough required one''s full concentration, there could be no interruptions. so if one could not set up a perfectly quiet and peaceful place beforehand, it was common to have others you trusted to protect you. Liang Chen cast his gaze down to the base of the mountain, at a spot where the forest was especially dense.


    "Down there, and I''ll do it right now, no point in waiting."


    The reason he chose to do his breakthroughs right now was a mixture of confidence and impatience, a desire to increase his strength as fast as possible. Yan Ling found it to be a bit hasty, but she still nodded her head, a sign of the trust she had in Liang Chen.


    The two swiftly descended the mountain and reached the spot that Liang Chen had pointed out, the trees there so dense that it was nearly impossible to see that there was a small clearing among them. Liang Chen walked to the center of this clearing and sat down with crossed legs, closing his eyes to focus his mind. While he was doing so, Yan Ling sat down a short distance away, Yumao coiling up on her shoulder as the two kept a vigilant watch.


    As Liang Chen closed his eyes, he sank his mind into his own body. His breakthrough in body cultivation was easy, he just had to turn the bone marrow in his skull into liquid lightning, it was his soul cultivation and his various ideas that were a bit more troublesome. One of the ideas he had was that he wanted to see if he could use the principle of the Lightning God Physique, turning one''s body into a certain element, to cultivate his soul.


    He didn''t know whether or not this was possible, but the moment this idea had struck him, it had stuck to him like a maggot, refusing to leave his mind. Originally he planned on using his poison to transform his soul, turning it into the purest of poison. His body would be lightning and his soul would be poison, that was the plan he had come up with. But after awakening his bloodline and acquiring the law of time, his thoughts started to change, spawning his second idea.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He knew that he could use his poison to cultivate his soul and lightning to cultivate his body, he had already discovered this back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, when he had first discovered the three streams that were his elements. But now he was wondering, rather than simply using lightning for his body and poison for his soul, couldn''t he infuse both with his law of time as well?


    If he could, his body would be timeless lightning and his soul would be timeless poison. It would likely be harder than just using one element, but if he succeeded, he guessed that his strength would increase drastically. And since he was searching for the strength to kill Qing Lan Yong and revive his parents, he had decided to try out these ideas of his.


    Thanks to the fact that his soul had already materialized, Liang Chen was able to try out both ideas at the same time. He drew out his law of time from the gray Dragon Lotus that controlled his law of time, leading it into the bone of his pinky, delivering it to his bone marrow. Liang Chen had already changed the bone marrow in his body after acquiring his new lightning, so it was a brilliant emerald in color.


    Liang Chen tried to fuse his law of time with his new bone marrow, turning them into one. But once the law of time came in contact with the bone marrow, a burst of lightning thundered forth, fiercely pushing back the law of time before retreating. Liang Chen tried again and again, but his new bone marrow rejected the law of time, refusing to fuse with it.


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but furrow when he saw this, wondering if his idea would end up being fruitless. Liang Chen decided to change his method, asking for help from the thing in his body that was far better than him at using the law of time, his bloodline. His law of time came from his bloodline, the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, it was far better than him at using the various laws that the bloodline contained.


    He drew as much strength as he could from his bloodline, surrounding his law of time with it and once again trying to fuse his law of time with his blood marrow. Another burst of lightning thundered forth, trying to push back the law of time.


    But as the lightning made contact with the law of time, the might of the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline burst forth, a loud roar ringing out within Liang Chen''s body. The bloodline reacted to being challenged, unleashing all its might to force back the one that dared challenge it, the lightning. Faced with the might of the Heaven Devouring Dragon, Liang Chen''s lightning could only return to his bone marrow with a whimper, no longer daring to show itself.


    His law of time started to slowly fuse with his bone marrow, mixing together with the emerald lightning that was his bone marrow. Liang Chen''s bloodline made the fusion process very simple, as it was thanks to this bloodline that he had been able to acquire the elements he had. Whenever the lightning tried to revolt, the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline would release another earth-shaking roar and force the lightning back, allowing the fusing process to continue.


    After an unknown amount of time passed, the bone marrow in Liang Chen''s finger had changed, turning into liquid lightning that was ghastly gray in color. Sometimes it moved so fast it was impossible to see, sometimes so slow it seemed to be completely frozen, sometimes it seemed to be corporeal while at other times it seemed to turn incorporeal, it was an exceedingly strange sight.


    But Liang Chen didn''t care how strange it looked, the corners of his lips curving into a wide grin. His idea had worked, he had been able to fuse lightning and time together for his Lightning God Physique. He quickly started working on turning the rest of his bone marrow into the same gray lightning, using the experience of having done it once to increase his speed.


    While he was trying to change the bone marrow in his body, he was also working on infusing his soul with the two elements. He was standing in the bloody city that was his mind, the blood-haired and gray-eyed Liang Chen that was his soul standing in front of him. He was pondering over how he should try to infuse his soul with the two elements, an idea slowly forming in his mind.


    The soul in front of him started to slowly change, its skin turning transparent. The soul was an almost perfect copy of him, so even though it wasn''t a real body, it still had what appeared to be flesh and bones, even something that looked just like blood flowing through its veins. The ''flesh'' and ''bones'' of the soul also started to turn transparent, revealing the ''bone marrow'' of the soul.


    Liang Chen''s plan was to simply use the exact same idea of the Lightning God Physique. He would start by turning the bone marrow of his soul into poison and time, allowing him to make the process a bit easier since he had some experience with it from changing his own body.


    His poison and time started to flood into his soul, a strong pain filling Liang Chen''s mind. The pain was almost mind-rending, but it didn''t feel wrong, it felt like the normal pain one felt when they underwent extreme training. Liang Chen continued to push on, enduring the pain as his poison and time flooded into the soul.


    At first, the poison and time refused to fuse and change his bone marrow, but once he discovered that he could use the power of his bloodline, the process became simpler. The pain slowly started to lessen as the bone marrow inside his soul started to change, turning into a light gray powder that released the faint fragrance of apples.


    Seeing this powder, Liang Chen knew that he was on the right track, the desire to let out a loud laugh almost overwhelming him. Not just one of his ideas had worked, both had worked, thanks to his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, he could fuse his law of time with his two other laws.


    The bone marrow in both his body and his soul started to rapidly change, Liang Chen''s power slowly increasing as time passed. Before long, only his own skull and the head of his soul remained, and even they were slowly changing. But just as the bone marrow in both his body and soul was about to be fully changed, a heavy pressure descended down onto Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen had felt this pressure before, so he knew what it meant. He opened his eyes and stood up, leaving it up to his soul to keep the cultivation process going. He cast his gaze into the sky, onto the deep blue clouds that were gathering above him, onto the heavenly tribulation that was once again about to descend on him.


    More and more blue clouds swiftly gathered, covering the sky over the area of the forest where Liang Chen and Yan Ling were. While Liang Chen was watching the clouds, three things started to gather beneath the clouds, charging up their energy. One of the things was an azure bolt of lightning, the second was a blue tornado, and the third was a blue tree.


    Each element had a heavenly equivalent, not just fire and lightning. The more of the heavens might that the element contained, the stronger and more terrifying it would be. Looking at the scene, it seemed like Liang Chen would have to endure the assault of not only heavenly lightning, but also heavenly wind and heavenly wood if he wished to break through in his body and soul cultivation.


    Liang Chen felt like sneering at the scene in front of him, wondering why it was so much greater than the time he had broken through to the Heaven''s Gate realm. But as he was sneering at the clouds that were gathering energy, he heard a cheerful voice coming from his side.


    "Alright, now watch me swoosh right in!"


    Liang Chen turned his head just in time to see Yan Ling slide right at him, having used her water and wind element to create a small path of ice that she could slide on. She did her best to put on a graceful display as she slid, but she quickly realized a fault in her plan, she had no idea how to stop herself.


    And because of this, while she was trying her best to come up with a graceful way to stop herself, she crashed into Liang Chen, completely breaking the tension that had descended on the area. Luckily, Liang Chen was able to keep his balance and hold onto Yan Ling, preventing the two of them from falling to the ground, Yumao also took this chance to slither onto Liang Chen''s head. Looking at Yan Ling, who had entered the range of the heavenly tribulation, the corners of Liang Chen''s mouth couldn''t help but twitch.


    "Yan Ling, why must I keep asking you this question, are you an idiot?"


    With her entering the range of the heavenly tribulation, it would only increase in might, just like it had when Liang Chen jumped in and helped her during her tribulation. Facing a heavenly tribulation with three elements was hard enough, but now it would only grow stronger. Yan Ling altered her position slightly so that she stood shoulder to shoulder with Liang Chen, letting out a confident giggle.


    "Nihihi. You helped me during mine, so I''ll, of course, help you during yours. What, are you scared of one widdle tribulation? Want this senior sister to protect? You can cower behind me you know?"


    Liang Chen felt a tinge of warmth when he saw how willing she was to jump into a heavenly tribulation with him. But he didn''t show his thoughts, his lips curling into a challenging smirk.


    "Heh, we''ll see who has to end up protecting who. By the end of this, I''ll have you calling me senior brother and begging for my protection."

 Walking an unknown path.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen stood shoulder to shoulder, their eyes glued to the deep blue clouds and the three tribulation elements that they had to endure. Liang Chen swept the three elements, wind, wood, and lightning, with a quick gaze, cocking his head slightly as he spoke to Yan Ling.


    "I''ll leave the wood tribulation to you, I''m no good with it. In turn, you can leave the lightning to me, as for the wind one, I''ll try to handle it, but we might need to share the burden."


    The wood element was a nearly perfect counter to Liang Chen. Not only did it completely subdue his lightning because of its sturdiness, but it was also so filled with vitality and even slight healing power that it almost completely negated his poison. Only his law of time would be able to properly attack the wood element, but he couldn''t really use his law of time to attack the heavenly tribulation, it wouldn''t really do anything.


    Yan Ling placed her eyes on the azure tree that was floating beneath the clouds, giving a nod of her head. She had joked around just a second ago, but Liang Chen was relieved to see how solemn her eyes were, it seemed like she was taking this as seriously as she should.


    The three elements started to move, so Liang Chen activated his bloodline, gray scales covering his arms and shoulders. Yan Ling also activated her secret technique, strands of crimson hair mixing with her usual cyan-hair. Liang Chen cast a glance at her, somewhat curious about the technique she was using.


    "Are you sure you''ll be fine, activating that secret technique again within such a short time period? It left you rather weak the last time you used it."


    When she had used this secret technique during the mission the two had accepted in the Snow Mirror nation, she had ended up greatly weakened afterward. She had then used it again when she was resisting the tribulation as she attempted to awaken her bloodline, once again ending up rather weak. And now she had just recently already used this secret technique, using it to kill the targets of their mission. Liang Chen was a bit worried that her body wouldn''t be able to handle it, but it seemed like it was unnecessary to worry, Yan Ling giving a confident not of her head.


    "It''ll be fine. It''s a secret technique that stimulates my bloodline, the reason it left me so weak earlier was because my bloodline was completely dormant. I failed to awaken it fully, but I at least prodded it, so it''s no longer fully dormant, meaning that the repercussions of using this technique aren''t as great any longer."


    Having a slightly awakened bloodline was far better than having a completely dormant one. Liang Chen was one such example, his bloodline had yet to fully awaken, but it was already providing him with great benefits, he could only imagine how much strength it would provide him once it finished fully awakening.


    A short moment after the two finished talking, the heavenly tribulation had gathered up enough energy, the three elements descending in all their wrathful glory. The azure tree grew thick branches that gleamed with a terrifying sharpness, each one as thick as a grown man''s thigh. The azure tornado turned faintly crimson, splitting in two and sending a tornado made from sharp blades of wind at Liang Chen and Yan Ling. And last came the lightning, turning fully crimson as it grew as thick as Liang Chen''s arm, descending at them with a thundering roar.


    Liang Chen took a step forward, emerald lightning dancing around his body and causing him to be covered in a beautiful glow. But that glow contained a terrifying might, one that was put on full display as he gave a heavy stomp and punched out, two thick bolts of lightning shooting out from his fist. One of the bolts clashed with the crimson bolt of lightning, the other one clashing with the faintly crimson tornado.


    The tornado was fully dispersed under the might of the lightning, but the crimson bolt of lightning was only weakened, striking Liang Chen''s fist. But this weakened bolt of lightning was unable to harm Liang Chen, harmlessly sinking into Liang Chen''s flesh and quickly being absorbed and used as nourishment for his body.


    While he was dealing with these two, Yan Ling dealt with the thick branches that aimed to impale the two of them. She gave a wave of her left arm, a small wave of water rushing forth and covering the branches, she then gave a wave of her right arm, causing a chilly gust of wind to blow over the wet branches, freezing the water and as a result the branches. Her wind wasn''t cold enough to freeze other things, but as long as it was water she herself had created, she could lower the temperature of the water enough to allow her wind to freeze it.


    After the branches froze, she jumped up and used her wind to launch herself higher, bringing her to the side of the branches. She then delivered an overhead smash to the branches, as if she was trying to spike a ball into the ground. Since they were frozen and weakened, the branches were unable to resist her attack, shattering into fine frozen dust and scattering to the winds.


    After she returned to the ground, the second wave of attacks was swiftly launched by the tribulation. Even more branches stretched towards them, another faintly crimson tornado was sent at them, and two even thicker bolts of crimson lightning roared out as they thundered towards them, aiming to strike them down.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling exchanged a quick glance, wordlessly conveying their thoughts. Liang Chen once again took a step forward, punching out twice in quick succession, once with each fist. The first punch sent out a bolt of emerald lightning as thick as Liang Chen''s arm, while the other punch sent out a cloud of white powder.


    The bolt of emerald lightning crashed into one of the crimson bolts of lightning, weakening it to a point where it could not harm Liang Chen. As for the cloud of white powder, it headed for the other bolt of lightning completely coating it. After the entire bolt of lightning was coated, it started to quickly burn away the white powder, but even though it was being burnt away, the white powder still corroded the bolt of lightning, causing it to shrink as it continued to head for Liang Chen.


    By the time it reached him alongside the other bolt of lightning, it had grown so small that it was no longer capable of damaging Liang Chen, allowing him to absorb both bolts of lightning. Normally his poison would not be suitable for dealing with lightning, as it would just be burnt away by the sheer heat. But this cloud of poison was amplified by the law of time, causing it to corrode the lightning at a pace far faster than normal.


    The reason Liang Chen had to use both poison and lightning to deal with these two bolts of lightning, rather than just use two bolts of emerald lightning, was the simple fact that the crimson lightning was too thick. If he wanted to produce two bolts of lightning that were strong enough to weaken both crimson bolts at the same time, he would need at least two seconds of time, which he didn''t have right now.


    Since Liang Chen was dealing with the lightning, Yan Ling was dealing with the wind and the branches. She dealt with the branches the same way she had done previously, freezing them and then shattering them with a strong punch. Ice was one of the better elements to use against the wood element, second only to the fire element.


    At the same time as she dealt with the branches, she also neutralized the tornado. The way she neutralized it was by sending out a tornado of her own, one focused entirely on spinning speed. She had this tornado spin in the opposite direction of the faintly crimson one, causing the two to cancel each out other out when they collided. Thanks to the myriad of elements between the two of them, they were a perfect pair for dealing with this particular heavenly tribulation.


    After dealing with this second barrage of attacks, the tribulation clouds above them stopped for a short moment. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling knew what this meant, the tribulation was gathering up more strength for the final attack of this tribulation.


    After about 30 seconds, the tribulation had gathered up enough energy, launching the final attack. The azure tree descended to the ground, turning faintly crimson as its branches and roots stretched out. The tornado also descended, turning fully crimson as it caused the wind in the entire area to become ferocious. The lightning also changed, turning faintly violet as it descended, a single bolt of lightning as thick as Liang Chen''s thigh.


    Liang Chen glanced at Yan Ling, using a movement of his head to tell her what he wanted her to do. Yan Ling nodded her head, cupping her hands together and crouching slightly. Liang Chen ran at her, stepping on her cupped hands and allowing Yan Ling to throw him into the air, using her wind to launch him even further into the air.


    The direction she launched him was right past the tornado and the tree, directly at the faintly violet bolt of lightning. As he soared towards it, Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and withdrew his golden spear, grasping it tightly and flooding it with his emerald lightning. Just as he and the bolt of lightning were about to collide, he stabbed out with his spear, launching the first step of Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, First step shatters the body.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    An emerald bolt of lightning as thick as his finger shot out from the tip of the spear as it clashed with the bolt of lightning, piercing directly through the faintly violet bolt. The tribulation lightning had more power than Liang Chen''s lightning, but Liang Chen''s lightning was better controlled and more focused, allowing it to pierce clean through it.


    As the emerald lightning pierced through the faintly violet bolt, the emerald lightning also exploded outward, turning into several smaller bolts of lightning that dug their way through the faintly violet bolt, weakening it further. But even with this, it was still a tribulation bolt that was approaching the violet level, so this was not enough to weaken it enough.


    The bolt moved through Liang Chen''s spear and swiftly reached his arm, the scales on his right arm shattering under the remaining force of the lightning, resulting in blood spurting out from his arm. The lightning then coursed through his body, doing its best to wreak havoc on his organs and veins. Luckily, Liang Chen had weakened it enough, allowing him to subdue it before it managed to wound his more important organs.


    While he dealt with the bolt of lightning, Yan Ling jumped up to deal with the descending tree, using her law of wind to keep herself in the air. She didn''t hold back anything, hardening the air beneath her so that she could run through the air and approach the tree. A few of the branches stabbed at her, piercing into her shoulders and legs, but she ignored them so that she could get close enough to launch her attack.


    A root stretched out and stabbed at her head, so she ducked down to dodge it, taking the last step forward and stretching out both her arms. Wind coiled around her right hand while water coiled around her left, her palms making contact with the tree as she launched her strongest attack, Storm King''s Fist. The two opposing pressures made contact inside the tree, causing the entire thing to suddenly implode and distort into a twisted mess of broken wood.


    Both Yan Ling and Liang Chen then descended to the ground, Yan Ling using her law of wind to ensure that neither of them were falling too quickly. Both had suffered some wounds, but they had dealt with two of the three elements, only leaving the still descending tornado to deal with.


    By the time the both of them reached the ground, the tornado was right above them, sharp blades of wind slicing open their skin and staining their robes in blood. Thanks to their wounds, neither of them would be able to deal with the tornado on their own, so they pooled their strength to resist it.


    Liang Chen raised his left arm, using his law of time to somewhat slow the descending tornado, buying them a few more seconds of time. He then raised his right arm, unleashing a cloud of white poison that mixed into the tornado, eating away at the Qi that the tornado was made up of. He sped up the speed of the poison using his law of time, so he was not only slowing down the time of the tornado but also unleashing and controlling poison, as well as speeding up the effect of the poison. Not only did this rapidly drain his Qi, but it was also a large strain on his mind, especially having to control the law of time in two different ways at once.


    Luckily he didn''t have to resist the tornado on his own, Yan Ling aiding him in his efforts. She stretched out both arms, wind gathering in front of her palms and turning into two orbs, both rapidly spinning in the opposite direction of the tornado. She launched the two orbs into the tornado, snapping her finger and causing both orbs to rapidly expand, each orb covering one half of the tornado. With the combined effort of her wind and Liang Chen''s poison and time, the tornado slowly started to shrink and dissipate, finally vanishing once it was only two meters away from them.


    With the tornado vanishing, the deep blue clouds above them also started to drift apart and vanish, the heavenly tribulation ending. As the tribulation ended, Liang Chen felt all the bone marrow in his body and soul complete their transformation, both his body and soul simultaneously entering the Body Ascension and the Ascended Soul realm.


    When they entered this realm, Liang Chen could feel both his body and soul spawn a new type of energy that quickly spread through him. His soul spawned a pale gray energy that released the faint smell of apples and felt both real and unreal at the same time, his Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi. His body spawned a grayish-green energy that crackled with electricity and felt incredibly heavy, this was his Fiendgod Essence, the body equivalent of Qi.


    The normal cultivation paths on this planet required a cultivator to either connect their Ascended Tower, their body, or their soul to the heavens, drawing power from them before finally transcending them. But Liang Chen was completely different, walking a completely different path that was previously unknown. For Qi cultivation he had his Dragon Lotuses, which only relied upon absorbing and compressing energy and laws. For body cultivation he had his Lightning God Physique, turning his own body into lightning and time, not requiring him to connect to the heavens. And for soul cultivation he also had the Lightning God Physique, or in this case, the Poison God Soul, turning his soul into poison and time, once again circumventing the need to connect to the heavens.


    He was somewhat curious how his body and soul spawned Fiendgod Essence and Anima Essence without connecting to the heavens, but he currently had no way of getting an answer to that question, so he could only drop it for now. With this increase in body and soul cultivation, Liang Chen was certain that not only had he grown stronger, but he had also gained a new way of attacking, aiming directly for the enemy''s soul using his poisonous Anima Essence.


    Having dealt with the heavenly tribulation, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling sat down on the ground, leaning against each other''s backs as they took deep breaths. The first two attacks had been easy enough to deal with, only costing them quite a bit of energy. But the last attack was more troublesome to deal with, both of them ending up with some rather nasty wounds and having to use a great deal of their remaining energy to deal with the attacks. While they were both resting and catching their breaths, Liang Chen couldn''t help but click his tongue.


    "Yan Ling, I swear, you are going to be the death of me."


    Had she not jumped in just before the tribulation began, it would have been far easier to deal with it. It might have cost him quite a bit of energy and even caused a few wounds, but Liang Chen guessed that it would be nowhere near their current state. Yan Ling responded letting out a light snort, giving the back of Liang Chen''s head a backward headbutt.


    "Humph, I''m the best thing that''s ever happened to you and you know it, just look at how easy I made this tribulation!"


    She touted her own greatness, but of course chose to not include the part where she had made the tribulation harder than it had to be. Liang Chen knew that even if he tried to retort, he would only be met with another headbutt, so he chose to utilize his right to remain silent. After another short moment of silence, Yan Ling prodded the back of Liang Chen''s head with her own, drawing his attention.


    "Little freak, I''m starving, make me some food."


    As if it was to underline her point, Yan Ling''s stomach released a low growl after she finished talking. Liang Chen couldn''t help but turn his head slightly, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Yan Ling.


    "You''re hungry? We just left a party where there was so much food that one could get sick from just looking at it."


    It hadn''t been long since they left the party that the Qing clan had hosted. There had been several tables filled with food and drinks, enough to feed a small village. How could she already be hungry again? Yan Ling swiftly delivered her reply, somewhat stunning Liang Chen.


    "Eh, I didn''t bother eating any of that food, gotta make sure I only eat the food that I know you have tried hard to make, you know what I mean?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but place his head in his hands after hearing her words. She basically wanted to make sure that whenever she ate his food that he had made sure to do his very best on the food, nothing but the best was good enough. Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to give Yan Ling''s head a quick backward headbutt.


    "Really, how spoiled can you get. I can''t make any food, but I hid some of the better food in my interspatial ring, you can have that."


    Working around so much good food, how could Liang Chen not get hungry? Shortly before the party started, he had snagged some of the better food he had made and stored it in the interspatial ring that could somewhat control the flow of time, slowing it down as much as possible. This ensured that the food was still perfectly fresh, so Yan Ling swiftly nodded her head.


    Liang Chen took out a few plates of food and some cutlery from his interspatial ring, handing one pair to Yan Ling and taking the other for himself. While they were eating, Yan Ling tilted her head slightly and broke the silence that had descended on them.


    "We''ve finished the mission and you''ve completed your breakthrough, you wanna head directly back to the sect? Or do you have any detours in mind?"


    Yan Ling didn''t leave the sect that often, so whenever she left it she would make sure to drag it out for as long as possible. Of course, with Liang Chen arriving at the Storm Wolf sect, she also found that it could be fun to just stay in the sect, as long as she had the right company. Liang Chen chewed the food he had in his mouth for a bit as he thought it over, swallowing the food and answering.


    "There is one place I wanna go, Eternal Stream city. I want to visit a friend there and then pick up some wine. If you have any place you wanna visit, just let me know."


    The friend he had in Eternal Stream city was Lei Qiang, the man he had teamed up with for a short moment in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. To Liang Chen, it had been a while since the two last met, so he wanted to check up on him, drink a bit more wine together. Hearing his plans, Yan Ling put on an intentionally overly-dramatic shocked face and turned around, placing a hand on Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    "Little Freak, you have friends?"


    She wore an overly-dramatic shocked face, but Liang Chen could clearly see the teasing light flashing in her eyes. Liang Chen simply responded by clicking his tongue and raising his fist, waving it in front of her face.


    "You looking for a beating? Want me to carry you around by the neck again? Or maybe I should use a bit of that pink poison again, what do you say?"


    Since Yan Ling was looking to tease him for the somewhat distant and guarded personality he had around others, Liang Chen decided to reply in kind. Yan Ling blushed slightly when he brought up the pink poison he used during the Hall competition, but she refused to lose out, waving both of her fists in front of his face.


    "Bring it, I''ll trash you any day of the week."


    The two continued to bicker and banter, allowing their wounds to slowly heal as they simply enjoyed the presence of each other.

 Yan Lings title.

    A few days after Liang Chen and Yan Ling finished resisting the heavenly tribulation, the flying chariot they rode landed a few kilometers away from Eternal Stream city. Even Yan Ling, who was used to some of the marvelous sights within the Storm Wolf sect, was slightly spellbound when she saw the tall mountain and the deep-blue waterfall that gave Eternal Stream city its name.


    After Yan Ling stored the chariot into her interspatial ring and the two started heading towards the distant city, Liang Chen turned his head slightly and spoke up.


    "Before we go to find my friend, there is one other place I want to check out. It won''t take long, it''ll just be a quick check."


    Yan Ling didn''t mind spending more time away from the sect, so she of course did not have a problem with this arrangement, curiously looking at the city around her while they walked through it. Liang Chen didn''t know too much about this city, but he still did his best to introduce the few places in the city he knew a little about. Both of them wore the Heaven Altering Masks, so they didn''t have to worry about being recognized.


    They swiftly reached the location that Liang Chen wished to check out, a small butcher shop by the name of Fire''s Embrace. Liang Chen didn''t enter the butcher shop, he only looked at it from the outside for a bit before turning around and leaving, a somewhat curious Yan Ling following after him.


    This butcher shop was the one owned by the parents of Huo Yantian, one of the caravan guards who had died while Liang Chen was hitching a ride with a caravan that passed by the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. Huo Yantian''s death had allowed Liang Chen to learn a lesson, so Liang Chen had fulfilled Huo Yantian''s wish after leaving the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, buying his parents'' old butcher shop and returning it to them. When Liang Chen bought this butcher shop it was called Heaven''s Slicer, so it seemed like Huo Yantian''s parents had changed its name after getting it back.


    After checking up on the butcher shop, Liang Chen and Yan Ling took a detour through the city, checking out some of the various stores and street vendors. Liang Chen still had quite a bit of normal money on him, so he and Yan Ling tasted quite a bit of the various dishes that the street side vendors sold.


    It was only four hours after arriving in the city that Liang Chen and Yan Ling arrived at the military academy where Lei Qiang worked. To avoid announcing their identities, the two of them entered the building marked ''Visitor Waiting Room'', entering the waiting room that only contained a few couches and tables, and told the three people behind the counter at one end of the room that they were friends of Lei Qiang who were looking for him.


    They were told to sit down and wait, so they did just that. A little over a minute later, the tall and tanned Lei Qiang entered the room through a door behind the counter. His brown hair was a bit unruly and messy, so it seemed like he had been in the middle of training. He was looking at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with a confused gaze, trying to figure out who they were. Just as he was about to tell the people behind the counter that he had no idea who Liang Chen and Yan Ling were, Liang Chen had a faint glimmer of lightning flash past his eyes. This was enough for Lei Qiang to realize that this was Liang Chen in disguise, so he hurriedly swallowed his words and stepped forward.


    "My brother, you''ve returned! Shen Tu, tell Garrison Commander Youyin that an old friend has come to visit so I''ll leave the remaining training up to her."


    Lei Qiang was able to tell that Liang Chen was trying not to be recognized, so he did not refer to him by his usual ''Chen''. He did not bother waiting for the youth he ordered around to respond, walking over to Liang Chen and Yan Ling. He looked at Yan Ling with a curious gaze but knew that this wasn''t the place to talk, swiftly bringing the two of them out of the building and heading towards his own house.


    The three of them swiftly reached his house, a two-story building located a few kilometers away from the academy. The house had a small garden which held a single well and a small table surrounded by four chairs. Unlike last time Liang Chen had been here, the entire garden was now lined with what seemed to be pear trees, making it so that one could not see what was going on in the garden. When the three reached the house, Lei Qiang called out in a loud voice.


    "Wen''er, Xun''er, we have visitors!"


    The three of them entered the garden as Lei Qiang called out, two people stepping out of the house shortly after. The two people were Lei Qiang''s wife, the black-eyed and orange-haired Xun Wen, as well as his three-year-old daughter, the black-eyed and brown-haired Lei Qiuxun. Xue Wen tilted her head slightly as she looked at the disguised Liang Chen and Yan Ling, wondering who they were.


    Since the pear trees were blocking the garden from view, Liang Chen and Yan Ling removed their disguises and returned to their original looks. With his original appearance restored, Xue Wen finally remembered Liang Chen, so she greeted him with a smile, sitting down on one of the chairs and placing her daughter on her lap.


    "So it''s Mister Chen. It''s good to see you again."


    Lei Qiang sat down next to his wife, Liang Chen and Yan Ling sitting down on the two chairs opposite of them. Lei Qiang started to fish out cups and a pitcher of wine from his interspatial ring, so Liang Chen moved to introduce Yan Ling. But before he got to do so, Lei Qiang cut him off with a chuckle.


    "No need for you to introduce her, Chen. You should be Miss Yan Ling, the young mistress of the Storm Wolf sect, right?"


    Liang Chen was somewhat surprised that Lei Qiang had figured out her identity immediately. But before he got the chance to state his surprise, Yan Ling leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and resting her head in her hands.


    "Yup! Did he talk about me that much last time he was here?"


    She nodded at Liang Chen as she spoke, making it clear who she was talking to. But contrary to what she expected, Lei Qiang shook his head, pouring some warm and spicy wine into four cups.


    "He talked a bit about you, but that''s not the reason I was able to recognize you. I was only able to recognize you immediately thanks to your appearance on the Mortal Titan List. Let me tell you, it''s good that the two of you are using disguises, otherwise, the streets would be a bit chaotic right about now."


    Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to lean forward in interest. He had almost completely forgotten about the Mortal Titan List, the ranking list of the top 100 Heaven''s Gate realm cultivators. He knew that he had been given a special mention on the list thanks to his actions in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but now it seemed like Yan Ling had received the same, surprising him slightly.


    "She was mentioned on the Mortal Titan List as well? When was this?"


    Liang Chen had some guesses as to why she might have appeared on the Mortal Titan list, but it was still best to get proper confirmation. Yan Ling, of course, knew about the Mortal Titan List, she just hadn''t really looked at it that much. So to hear that she had been mentioned in it, she was also rather curious about it. Lei Qiang seemed to have expected their questions, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a jade slip, handing it to the two of them as he explained.


    "She appeared on the list about two months ago. Just like your first appearance, she only received a special mention. This one was given out thanks to her show of strength in the Snow Mirror nation, where she apparently took on six cultivators at the early or middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm and then joined you in taking down one at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. Due to her status, and the way she appeared after activating some technique, she was granted the title of Bloody Wolf Queen. As for you, you once again got a special mention on the list, this time because you apparently took down a cultivator at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm on your own, fully cementing your title of Scourge King."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both read over the info while Lei Qiang explained, getting a more detailed explanation. Yan Ling''s battle against the six cultivators in Snow Mirror nation was widely known, mostly because it took place very close to the exit of the castle area of Snow Mirror nation, in a location that was clearly visible. The place where Liang Chen had fought was more hidden from sight, so there were no witnesses.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    But thanks to their spies in the various sects, the Eternal Dragon Pavillion knew that two cultivators at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm were sent to take part in the assassination. Thanks to the fact that one of the assassins tried to flee and thus ended up being seen by others, the Eternal Dragon Pavillion knew that Liang Chen and Yan Ling had worked together to kill him. But that left one assassin unaccounted for, and looking at the fact that the other assassin tried to flee, it was easy to guess that Liang Chen had likely already killed the other one.


    A cultivator at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm fighting against two at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, even killing one of them, just how great of a tale was this? If such a person didn''t receive a mention on the Mortal Titan List, then who deserved such an honor? After reading over the entire information, Liang Chen''s lips couldn''t help but curl up slightly as he stretched out an arm and poked Yan Ling in the side.


    "Bloody Wolf Queen, eh? Oh, ye great ruler, please haveth mercy on this lowly servant, thou must be righteous and just."


    Now that Yan Ling had received such an over-dramatic title like Bloody Wolf Queen, how could Liang Chen not tease her while he had the chance? Yan Ling let out a snort, puffing out her chest and raising her head high, her lips curling into a smirk.


    "You think you have any right to talk, oh ye magnificent Scourge King? At least I have some royal demeanor, much better than a brute like you."


    Even if she had a somewhat embarrassing title, she could at least find solace in the fact that Liang Chen had a title that was equally embarrassing. Faced with this retort, which poked right at the heart of the matter, Liang Chen could only admit defeat, picking up the cup of wine that Lei Qiang handed over with a warm and relieved smile. Yan Ling also accepted her cup, taking a drink of the wine and then swiftly spitting it out with a grimace.


    "Geh! Yikes, that''s spicy!"


    Yan Ling looked at the clay cup with a grimace, puckering up her mouth. She had seen Liang Chen drink the wine easily, but when she herself tasted it, she found that it was far too spicy for her to drink, it practically burned her mouth and throat. Lei Qiang was a bit caught off guard by Yan Ling''s sudden action, but his wife, Xue Wen was quick to respond, letting out a soft laughter.


    "Oh, sorry, you probably prefer something milder. We''re out right now, but I was going to head out to buy some later, so I might as well do so now."


    She handed Lei Qiuxun to Lei Qiang, standing up from her seat and giving her robe a quick brush with her hands to straighten it up. Liang Chen downed the rest of the wine in his cup, standing up and giving his body a slight stretch.


    "I''ll join you, I came here to buy some wine anyway."


    One of the reasons he came to this city was to buy some of the wine that Lei Qiang was serving them right now, so he decided that he might as well follow Xue Wen now. He was surprisingly fond of this warm and spicy wine, it filled him with a comfortable and peaceful feeling.


    Neither Lei Qiang or Yan Ling said anything about this arrangement. Yan Ling knew that Liang Chen came here to buy some wine, so he might as well get it out of the way now. As for Lei Qiang, he would of course not say anything against this. With someone like the Scourge King following his wife to the store, she couldn''t be any safer.


    Liang Chen put on his disguise again and followed Xue Wen, the two of them swiftly leaving the garden and heading for the store where they usually bought wine. After the two left, Yan Ling and Lei Qiang sat in silence, Lei Qiang playing with his daughter and occasionally feeding her some snacks.


    Lei Qiuxun was still young, so she quickly grew tired thanks to the playing, so Lei Qiang carried her into the house and put her to sleep. After he came back out again and sat down, his eyes landed on Yan Ling, his expression growing a bit warmer as he gave her a deep nod of his head.


    "I don''t know what your relationship with Chen is, but please, take good care of him."


    Yan Ling was somewhat surprised at the sudden request, involuntarily raising an eyebrow as she looked at Lei Qiang. Lei Qiang picked up his cup of wine, gazing into it as his eyes turned a bit distant, as if he was recalling a scene from the past.


    "I''m not going to lie or assume that I know more than I do. To be frank, I barely know Chen, I''ve only spent a few days with him, so there is probably quite a lot that I don''t know. But when I first met him in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, he had those eyes. They contained a mixture of sorrow, loneliness, determination, resentment, and pain."


    When Lei Qiang met Liang Chen, it hadn''t been long since Liang Chen''s parents had been executed. It was also right after Liang Chen had come to the conclusion that if the heavens weren''t just, it simply meant that he had to take over for them, it was a rather complex time for him. Lei Qiang took a sip of the spicy wine, taking a short break before he continued talking, his eyes landing on his own house.


    "When I saw those eyes, even though I didn''t know him, I pitied him. He was no more than a child back then, his somewhat small and thin body looked like it was carrying so much on his back, his body covered in tales only scars could tell. And then when our teammates betrayed us, his eyes once again caught my attention. They didn''t seem surprised or even angry at the betrayal, only disappointed and hurt. I don''t know what caused him to be like that, what gave him eyes like that, but no one should have eyes like that, especially not a child like him. I have seen veterans have eyes like that before, and all of them ended up falling into an abyss they were never able to escape from. Just imagining my daughter having eyes like that at his age fills me with fear and sadness."


    Yan Ling knew a little about the things Liang Chen had done in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm before meeting up with her big brother, but she only knew the bare minimum. Now that she had a chance to learn more, she listened with great interest. Lei Qiang placed down his cup of wine, bowing his head so deep that his forehead nearly touched the table.


    "When he was here last time, he looked a bit better. But I have always been somewhat good at reading people, so I knew that even though he had gotten somewhat better, he was still hiding a lot deep within him, bottling it up and hiding it somewhere it would never see the light of day. Looking at him now, he looks far better, his eyes far clearer than before. I''d like to believe that I can consider myself a friend of his, so please allow me to say this. Thank you for saving him before he fell too deep, and please continue to take care of him in the future."


    Looking at the mention the two of them had gotten in the Mortal Titan List, as well as the fact that he brought her here, it was not hard for Lei Qiang to guess that it was Yan Ling who had allowed Liang Chen to release all the pent up emotions he had bottled away. After Lei Qiang finished talking, Yan Ling''s lips curled into a charming smile as she turned her head and looked in the direction that Liang Chen had left.


    "Raise your head, I would do that even if you didn''t ask me. I''ll continue to take good care of him and save him if he needs it, because he did the same for me."


    Lei Qiang didn''t know what Yan Ling meant when she said that Liang Chen had done the same for her, but seeing that she didn''t intend to explain it, he didn''t pry into it. Everyone had a secret or two, and this was clearly one of Yan Ling''s.


    The two continued to talk, Lei Qiang telling Yan Ling about the things Liang Chen had done while they traveled together and she telling him about the things Liang Chen had done in the sect. After a few minutes, Liang Chen and Xue Wen returned, sitting down in their seats again, Liang Chen joining the conversation.


    "So what are we talking about?"


    Lei Qiang sent a quick glimpse at Yan Ling, his lips curling into a somewhat mischievous smile as he leaned back in his seat and sipped some more wine while responding.


    "Talking about how you were unable to keep your eyes off of Sun Xia while we were traveling together, what else?"


    This was something he had not told Yan Ling about, so the moment he mentioned it, he could see her eyebrows prick up slightly. Liang Chen also seemed to notice this, quickly clicking his tongue and defending himself.


    "Geh, I already told you, it was nothing like that."


    Sun Xia was the female party member that had been traveling with him and Lei Qiang for a short while, one of the two people that had betrayed them in hopes of getting her hands on the Elemental Lotus. Liang Chen had indeed been looking at her quite a bit back then, but that was because he had yet to get his instincts under control so they were telling him to sink his teeth into her soft flesh and eat her.


    Lei Qing simply shrugged his shoulders, casting another glance at Yan Ling before turning his eyes back to Liang Chen. He sent Liang Chen a quick wink, tapping his own nose and speaking up with an intentionally vague tone.


    "Whatever you say. But Chen, make sure you remember the advice I gave you back then, seems like you still need it."


    The advice he was talking about was the advice he had mentioned when he thought Liang Chen fancied Sun Xia. The advice was very simple, just go for it. There was no telling how long one would be able to live, so there was no shame in following one''s heart and acting as you pleased. The two of them understood what he was talking about, but Yan Ling and Xue Wen were kept in the dark. Since she didn''t understand what they were talking about, Yan Ling decided to ignore it, turning to Liang Chen with expectant eyes.


    "What did you get for me?"


    Her eyes were practically sparkling as she looked at Liang Chen, fully convinced that he had picked up something for her while they were out shopping. Liang Chen did not disappoint, swiping his interspatial ring and pulling out a few skewers of glazed meat and a few jugs of wine.


    "Fruit wine so sweet and juicy that just smelling it is enough to nearly make my teeth fall out, as well as a few skewers of roasted meat a vendor was selling."


    Liang Chen knew Yan Ling well enough to know that she liked sweet things and that she had a rather voracious appetite, so he made sure to come prepared. Yan Ling showed no restraint, practically jumping on the meat and wine. Her mood turned out to be infectious, as Liang Chen and Lei Qiang and his wife also joined her, eating and drinking to their heart''s content.

 The past laid bare.

    The four people continued to drink and eat for quite some time, only stopping when Lei Qiang''s daughter woke up and started making noise. Xue Wen went in to check up on her daughter, and seeing that the sun was already setting, Liang Chen and Yan Ling decided that it was about time for them to leave, standing up and stretching their bodies.


    "Alright, we''ll be returning to the sect and stop emptying all your wine and taking up your time. If you ever need anything, you can just send a message to the Bai clan, they''ll notify me immediately."


    While Liang Chen was speaking, he and Yan Ling put on the Heaven Altering Masks and changed their appearances again. Lei Qiang raised the cup of wine he was holding, nodding at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with a smile.


    "Alright, I''ll make sure to keep it in mind. If the two of you ever get tired or just want some company while drinking, you know where to find me, the doors to my home are always open. And Chen, you''re growing up faster than a weed, so keep my advice in mind before it''s too late."


    Lei Qiang sent Liang Chen a quick wink, causing Liang Chen to roll his eyes before turning around and leaving, giving Lei Qiang a wave as walked away. Lei Qiang didn''t say anything else, simply chuckling lightly and bringing the cup of wine to his mouth, sipping it slowly and enjoying the spicy taste.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling quickly made their way out of the city and headed for a secluded place where they could take out the flying chariot without being seen. They quickly found such a spot, boarding the chariot and taking off, flying towards the Floating Rose nation so that they could return to the Storm Wolf sect.


    While they were flying, Liang Chen noticed that Yan Ling was rather quiet, clearly thinking about something. She had done the same when they left the Snow Mirror nation and she had decided to undertake the heavenly tribulation in hopes of awakening her bloodline. Because of this, Liang Chen kept himself ready and vigilant just in case she decided to do something similar this time.


    In the end, his vigilance was for naught, the two of them reaching the Floating Rose nation without incident. They didn''t waste any time in the Floating Rose nation, using their spatial array to return to the Storm Wolf sect, appearing inside the Mission Castle.


    The two turned in the mission and received the rewards, 300 contribution points, pushing Liang Chen''s total up to 450 contribution points. It still wasn''t enough to buy even the cheapest weapon, but as he no longer had a need for a new weapon, he could spend the points on other resources instead.


    Yan Ling continued with her thoughtful silence even after they returned to the Storm Wolf sect and handed in the mission, so Liang Chen was starting to get curious just what it was that she was thinking about. But he could tell that whatever it was she was thinking about, it was not something easy for her to talk about, so he was in no rush to ask her. His patience was rewarded shortly after the two left the Mission Castle and were making their way back to their lodgings, Yan Ling speaking up with a somewhat low voice.


    "Would you be willing to follow me somewhere and listen to a disjointed story?"


    It seemed to have taken Yan Ling all her strength just to say those words, but at the same time, it also seemed like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Since she had mustered up her courage to ask, how could Liang Chen disappoint her?


    "Of course. As long as you are willing to talk, I am willing to listen."


    Yan Ling nodded her head, grabbing onto Liang Chen''s sleeve and speeding up slightly, leading him through the sect. They received quite a few stares from the disciples they passed, but even in the past Liang Chen hadn''t cared about their stares, much less now that he had gotten used to them.


    Yan Ling led Liang Chen away from the housing area, bringing him to the back of the mountain and leading him to an arched gate made from cyan wood. Liang Chen knew what this gate was, it was the entrance to the Hero''s Tomb, the graveyard where the disciples of the Storm Wolf sect were buried. Seeing the place where she was bringing him, Liang Chen could somewhat guess what Yan Ling was about to show him.


    The two entered the arched gate and stepped into the hidden realm that was located past the gate, a vast plain covered in verdant grass and blooming flowers, jade rods engraved with names covering most of the plain. Standing only a short distance away from the place where Yan Ling and Liang Chen arrived were six statues, the statues that depicted the greatest heroes of the Storm Wolf sect.


    Yan Ling continued to lead Liang Chen, bringing him deeper into the hidden realm, past the countless jade rods that served as grave markers. The two continued to walk for over three hours before Yan Ling finally stopped in front of a tall oak that had two jade rods standing in its shade. Carved into these two jade rods were the names Yan Xieren and Yan Xuefeng.


    Yan Ling looked at the two jade rods with a forlorn expression, her shoulders slumped. She sat down in front of them and curled up, pressing her knees up against her chest and resting her chin on them, sitting in a fetal position as she continued to look at the two names. She continued to look at the names for some time, occasionally opening her mouth and looking like she was about to speak. but each time she opened her mouth, she closed it again, her eyes turning redder as time passed.


    Liang Chen stood at her side while she continued like this for several minutes. After she closed her mouth again for the eighth time, Liang Chen decided that it was about time for him to do something. He stepped back and sat down behind her, coiling his arms around her and embracing her in a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. She trembled slightly when Liang Chen stepped back, seemingly worried that he was leaving, so he spoke up in a soft voice after embracing her in the hug.


    "This is something my mother did for me when I was a child. Whenever I was hurt, afraid, or lonely she would do this, blowing away all my worries and fears. I''m not going anywhere, so you can take your time."


    Yan Ling stopped trembling when Liang Chen spoke up, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. After she spent a few minutes calming herself, she slowly started to talk, her gaze firmly locked on the two names on the jade rods.


    " Xieren and Xuefeng were my younger siblings, a pair of twins born six years after me. Xieren was my younger brother and Xuefeng was my younger sister. You know, despite being the oldest sibling, I was the weakest and least talented. Xieren was born with a bloodline that was already slightly awakened, so his strength and control over the law of wind grew blindingly fast. By the age of 8, he had already entered the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. Xuefeng didn''t have Xieren''s bloodline strength, but she inherited my mother''s talent in the law of darkness, growing stronger at a pace just a bit slower than Xieren''s, entering the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm when she turned 8. The two had the greatest talent our sect had seen in the last 10 000 years."


    Liang Chen could not even begin to fathom just how blindingly fast that cultivation speed was. The target of his hatred, Qing Lan Yong, had reached the peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm at 17 years and was considered a genius. Yet Yan Ling''s little brother had reached practically the same stage at just 8 years old, showing just how mighty the bloodline flowing in the Yan family was once it managed to awaken even by a little.


    "Just Xieren and Xuefeng were enough to cause the entire sect to rejoice, with the two of them, our future was secured. But then father returned from a journey and brought with him Big Brother, a child with excellent talent in the law of blood, causing the sect to rejoice even further. Big Brother had lost his entire family after his previous sect was wiped out by the Moon Dragon sect, so when he arrived here he was filled with hate and resentment, wanting nothing more than to burn down the entire Moon Dragon sect. When he arrived in the sect, Xieren and Xuefeng had just turned eight, and I was about to turn 14."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Liang Chen knew that Yan Ying wasn''t Yan Ling''s blood brother, but this was the first time he was hearing about the circumstances behind him being adopted by Yan Ling''s father, Yan Wuhan. Liang Chen could guess how Yan Ying must have felt back then because he too had been in the same position as him. Yan Ling took a short break from talking, taking a few more deep breaths to calm her emotions.


    "Over the next two years, thanks to the care and love that father showed, Big Brother was slowly becoming better, his flames of hatred slowly diminishing. Xieren and Xuefeng were still just children, so they were a bit too arrogant and proud, so they didn''t treat Big Brother as well as father did. They weren''t mean to him, just dismissive and indifferent, mostly just ignoring him."


    This was only to be expected. No matter how well they were raised, if one was hailed as a genius from a young age and was constantly better than everyone else, they would, of course, grow an ego, especially if they were still just children.


    "Two years after father returned to the sect with Big Brother, he decided that it was time for him to break through to the middle stage of the Transcended Immortal realm, increasing the strength of our sect by quite a bit. He set up a specially prepared hidden realm and prepared all the resources he felt that he would need to flawlessly complete his breakthrough."


    Liang Chen was somewhat shocked at hearing about the sect master''s cultivation for the first time. The Transcended Immortal realm was the realm just below the Sovereign God realm, the cultivation realm that the books said was the peak. In this realm, each breakthrough would require vast amounts of energy and resources, as well as a deep understanding of the laws. Yan Ling''s voice turned a bit lower as she continued, a tinge of hatred appearing in her voice.


    "He started his breakthrough, everything going smoothly at first. But then, just as he was at the most important point in his breakthrough, my mother attacked him. No one had expected it, so we were unable to even react in time, mother drawing her sword and stabbing father straight through the chest, nearly mangling it completely in the process."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be shocked once more. Her mother had attacked her father while he was in the midst of his breakthrough? No wonder he had never heard anything about her mother, it was clearly an extremely sensitive subject. And it was because he realized how sensitive this subject was that he felt warm inside. Yan Ling telling him this story was a sign of how much she trusted him, of how close the two had grown.


    "It turned out that mother was a spy prepared by the Nightshield sect. And she wasn''t just any spy, she was one of the Nightshield sect''s 5 Hall Masters who had voluntarily killed herself so that she could be reincarnated into the Storm Wolf sect and serve as a spy that could infiltrate the higher echelons of the sect thanks to her fast rate of improvement."


    Just how great was the status of a Hall Master in the Nightshield sect? It was the position just below the patriarch, below one but above thousands. How could anyone guess that such a person would be willing to kill themselves just so that they could become a spy?


    "I''m not sure if she did something to him or not, but Xieren flew into an extremely unusual and violent rage, activating as much of his bloodline as he could, drastically increasing his strength. Like a bloody gale, he dashed at mother and brandished his axe, trying to cleave her in half with a single swipe. But mother simply vaulted over father and pushed him into the path of the attack, using him as a shield. Xieren had completely lost his mind in his rage, so he wasn''t even able to see that father had been pushed into the path of the attack."


    Yan Ling''s eyes were distant as she talked, as if she was seeing into the past and reliving the scene once more. Liang Chen didn''t say anything, he simply continued to hug her from behind and quietly listen to her story.


    "Big Brother dashed forward as fast as he could, but he specializes in attacking, not in speed, so he would need time to reach father and Xieren. But Xuefeng was different, she could connect herself to father''s shadow and instantly move to it, which she did. She appeared right in front of father, right in Xieren''s path of attack. She pushed father back and hastily prepared her defenses. She wanted to block the attack, but she had always been weaker than Xieren, especially now that he was blinded with rage and had activated his bloodline."


    The law of darkness was an exceedingly strange one that had countless applications, it was useful for just about every situation. It was very popular and powerful, but gaining insight into it was very hard, so it was hard for people to cultivate it, especially if they didn''t have the talent for it. As Yan Ling continued to talk, a slight shudder ran through her body, tears starting to run down her face.


    "His axe went directly through her hastily prepared defense, cutting through her chest and killing her almost instantly. Xuefeng failed to block the attack, but by taking the attack for father, she had been able to buy Big Brother a bit more time. Xieren was still blinded with rage, so he didn''t even notice that he had killed Xuefeng, preparing his axe for the next attack, once again aiming it at father. It was at this time that Big Brother reached Xieren."


    Just what did such a scene have to look like, just what would one feel in such a situation? Liang Chen had no way of imagining it, no way of even guessing at what sort of pain Yan Ling must have felt back then.


    "Big Brother barely had any time, only a short split second, to stop Xieren''s attack. And in that split second, he decided that saving father was the most important, so he drew his sword and stabbed out with all his might. Xieren was fully focused on his own attack, so he hadn''t prepared any defense, allowing Big Brother''s sword to pierce cleanly through his throat and steal his life, his axe and body dropping to the ground with dull and haunting thuds. And while all this was going on, I stood stock still a short distance away, frozen in fear and shock. I wanted to move forward alongside Big Brother and Xuefeng, I wanted to attack mother like Xieren, but my body refused to move, completely frozen."


    Yan Ling let out an exceedingly weak and self-deprecating laughter after she finished talking. She hadn''t been able to do a single thing, all she could do was watch. She stretched out her arms slightly, holding her shivering hands up in front of her face, looking at them with a mixture of disgust and rage.


    "Even now I can still remember it, that horrid feeling when I realized that I had only stood and watched, that I had only been able to stand and watch as father was attacked and my two younger siblings died. Even to this day it haunts me in my dreams and steals my sleep. Back then, why couldn''t I be a bit braver? Why couldn''t I have been a bit stronger? If I had just been a bit of either, I might have been able to make a difference, maybe Xieren and Xuefeng wouldn''t have died."


    Would things have changed if she had been more focused on cultivation? Would she have been able to save them if she had put more effort into her training? She didn''t know, she had no way of knowing, she could only guess, hope.


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything, only further tightening the hug. He knew how she felt, because he had been in the exact same situation as her. He watched his own parents get executed, cursing his weak self that was unable to save them. Would the Qing clan have chosen someone else as a scapegoat if Liang Chen was stronger? Would he have been able to tear them away from the Qing clan and flee if he had more strength? Just like Yan Ling didn''t know, so too did Liang Chen not know.


    "Right after she pushed away father, mother fled using some strange talisman, her sword still stabbed through father''s chest. Father ended up surviving thanks to a talisman he had been given by the previous sect master, but Xieren and Xuefeng were already completely dead, with no way of saving them. Big Brother always blamed himself for what happened, saying that Xieren and Xuefeng died because he hesitated for a split second before dashing with all his might. Even I hated him for a bit after hearing this, pushing all the blame for Xieren''s and Xuefeng''s death on him."


    Now Liang Chen understood the meaning behind the words Yan Ling had spoken to Yan Ying after she finished the second trial in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, the trial where they had to overcome an illusion. She didn''t blame him for Xieren and Xuefeng''s death, she didn''t hate him for the choice he had made.


    "But it wasn''t his fault, it had never been. Everyone would hesitate for a bit upon seeing such a scene. The one who was at fault was mother, it had all been her fault, her''s and the damnded Nightshield sect that gave her the orders."


    Yan Ling''s voice practically dripped with hatred as she spoke, the same hatred Liang Chen''s voice dripped with whenever he spoke of Qing Lan Yong. It seemed like both had quite some fate with the Nightshield sect, both of them losing people dear to them because of someone from the Nightshield sect. Yan Ling placed her hands on top of Liang Chen''s her gaze growing determined and steely.


    "I want to become stronger. I want to awaken my bloodline and become so strong that the entire Nightshield sect quakes in fear. And then, then I will kill mother and present her corpse to these gravestones. And after that, you will help me bring Xieren and Xuefeng back to life, just like you promised me."


    Before Liang Chen and Yan Ling faced the heavenly tribulation in Sky Piercer Forest, Liang Chen had told Yan Ling that even if he had to scour this entire planet for every grain of ash that remained of his parents, he would revive them. In response, she told him that it wasn''t he that would revive them, they would do it together. But in return, he had to bring some people back for her, something he had easily agreed to. Yan Ling had finished her story, so Liang Chen spoke, his voice starting out soft and gentle but slowly growing determined.


    "I will, don''t worry I will. I''ll help you with your revenge and I''ll help you bring them back, I promise."

 The dragons gaze.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued to sit in front of the two grave markers for a few more minutes, neither of them saying anything. After Yan Ling managed to calm herself and dry the remains of her tears, the two stood up and left the graveyard. Returning to the valley where the sect''s abodes were located. As they walked, Liang Chen recalled that there was a question he had intended to ask Yan Ling, so he figured he might as well ask it now.


    "I forgot to ask this earlier, but for the upcoming Constellation King''s competition, will any of the previous title holders take part? And if so, which one?"


    The top five people in the Constellation King''s competition received a title based on their rank. These five people were the cream of the crop, the strongest people below the Primordial Immortal realm, perhaps strong enough to fight against Primordial Immortals. Yan Ling placed a finger on her chin, tilting her head for a short moment as she thought before answering.


    "I think all five should take part, unless they managed to somehow increase their cultivation in the past 10 years. The fifth-ranked is Wyrm King Huang Dong from the Moon Dragon sect, the fourth-ranked is Turtle Queen Gong Shun from the Nightshield sect, the third-ranked is Senior Brother Jiahao, Tiger King Fang Jiahao, the second-ranked is Phoenix Queen Xie Yahui from the Fiendgod sect, and the top-ranked is Dragon King Liu Bai from the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. The Ghost Soul sect had some bad luck in the previous competition, so they were unable to secure themselves a spot in the ranking. Except for Senior Brother Jiahao, you need to make sure to not encounter the other four during the competition."


    Fan Jiahao was one of the Storm Wolf sect''s top disciples, the one who had mastered the supreme Jade Skin Technique. Liang Chen hadn''t had much interaction with this Senior Brother, only talking to him twice before, once when Fan Jiahao threw him out of the library to get some rest and then once when he returned to the library.


    Liang Chen nodded his head to show that he understood that he had to stay far away from these people during the competition. The two then split up to resume their cultivation, doing everything they could to prepare for the upcoming competition, which was only around five and a half months away at this point.


    Yan Ling headed over to the main building of the Storm Hall, probably to meet up with her father so that he could guide her cultivation. Liang Chen followed her for a bit, but split up with her when he reached his goal, the Myriad Treasures Pagoda, the place where the sect''s disciples could spend their contribution points. He had already ordered the items he was looking for as he was walking with Yan Ling, so he only had to enter the pagoda and prove his identity to pick up the items. After picking them up, he returned to the small hidden realm that was his abode and sat down at the side of the small lake to start his cultivation.


    Liang Chen bought two items, one that was called Fragile Heart Mushroom and one that was called Nightborne Dew. The Fragile Heart Mushroom was a mushroom that grew from the feces of certain Demonic beasts that could use illusions or control other beings through a special type of mental energy. It was something he had bought for himself, it was a poisonous mushroom that contained a somewhat weak poison that could cause weaker people to become muddle-headed and easily susceptible to suggestions.


    The poison was a bit weak on its own, but if Liang Chen mixed it with his other poisons, especially his Anima Essence, he could directly assault other peoples souls and practically control them like puppets, or so was the theory he had come up with at least.


    The other item, the Nightborne Dew, was a type of water that could only appear in an environment where there was a lot of Qi that contained the darkness element. The Qi would mix with the moisture in the air, slowly forming several pitch-black drops that contained a highly concentrated Qi of the darkness element. This item was something he had bought for Yumao, as it was the type of item he would need if he wished to increase his strength and properly grow.


    He knew that Yumao had taken away several bodies after their most recent mission, storing them away so that he could eat them and use the energy within them to increase his cultivation. Yumao was a Demonic beast, so Liang Chen knew that he could eat the corpses of other cultivators or Demonic beasts to increase his cultivation. Liang Chen had already talked with Yumao about eating the corpses of people, as long as it was people who he didn''t consider good or innocent, he wouldn''t have a problem with it.


    Yumao handed over the interspatial rings and other items that the corpses wore, leaving only their flesh and blood for himself. He then retreated into the darkness to focus on increasing his own cultivation using the Nightborne Dew and the corpses. While Yumao was doing that, Liang Chen absorbed the poison of the Fragile Heart Mushroom and focused on mixing it into the poison that he had fused into his soul.


    After doing so, Liang Chen used part of his mind to focus on increasing his cultivation and the other part on thinking about his cultivation. He had finished cultivating the first part of the Lightning God Physique, turning his bone marrow into liquid lightning. The next stage would require him to turn his bones into liquid lightning, but the problem was that Liang Chen only had the first part of the technique, he had no idea how to take the next step.


    It sounded simple to turn his bone marrow into liquid lightning, but it required him to form tiny strings of pure lightning, twining the strings into every cell of his bone marrow, allowing the strings to slowly fuse with and take over the bone marrow. It was a delicate and intricate process that was far too profound for Liang Chen to properly understand. Without the second part of the technique, he could only try to come up with a continuation on his own, using trial and error to see what worked.


    Of course, only when he was completely certain that he had reached a safe conclusion would he try it out on his own body, he wasn''t suicidal after all. Luckily he had his law of time to increase the flow of time around him, giving him plenty of time to think about possible solutions that he might be able to use.


    Liang Chen continued to mostly focus on his cultivation as time passed, occasionally leaving his abode to meet up with Yan Ling and spend some time with her, the two of them sparring to test out some new moves or ideas they had come up with. Liang Chen wanted to check up on the progress of Yumao, but he had completely sealed himself off in the darkness, which was practically a different dimension that only people who cultivated in the laws affiliated with darkness could access. Those who had enough strength could still discover and send attacks into this dimension, but they couldn''t enter it on their own, so it was a good hiding place for those with lower strength.


    Like this, time continued to pass, the entire sect preparing for the upcoming competition. Once there was only a single month left before the competition, Liang Chen''s monotonous routine was interrupted, someone knocking on the door that led into his hidden realm and calling out to him.


    "Junior Brother Chen, this is Fan Jiahao, may I enter?"


    Liang Chen stopped his cultivation, one of his eyebrows raising in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Why would Fan Jiahao come looking for him? But still, he could not, and had no reason to, refuse the request of his Senior Brother, so he stood up and allowed Fan Jiahao to step into the small hidden realm that was Liang Chen''s abode.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    As the fair-skinned and robust brown-haired Fan Jiahao entered his abode, Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and brought out a table and two chairs. He placed them in front of him, sitting down on one side and beckoning Fan Jiahao to the other side, taking out an assortment of drinks.


    "Would you like some wine or tea?"


    Other than Yan Ling, this was the first visitor Liang Chen had ever gotten to his abode. Fan Jiahao was also the highest ranked disciple in the sect, so Liang Chen had to at least show him some respect and hospitality. Fan Jiahao sat down in the chair Liang Chen beckoned towards, sweeping his gaze over the drinks for a short second before answering.


    "I''ll have some of this spiced wine, thank you."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and poured some of the spiced wine into two cups, handing one to Fan Jiahao and taking the other for himself. He then proceeded to sip the wine and patiently wait for Fan Jiahao to state his business, not too interested in trying to make small talk or flattering this top disciple. Fan Jiahao gently sipped the wine for a bit before raising his eyes and looking directly at Liang Chen.


    "Junior Brother Chen, I''ll be honest with you. I hate you. I absolutely despise you, just looking at you makes me angry and causes my blood to boil."


    Of all the things Liang Chen had expected Fan Jiahao to talk about, him stating his hatred for Liang Chen had never even been up for consideration. Liang Chen had barely ever interacted or even met with Fan Jiahao, so what reason could he have to hate him? Liang Chen raised an eyebrow, but he still didn''t say anything, waiting for Fan Jiahao to continue speaking.


    "I have been at Yan Ling''s side since she was born. I watched her grow up, helped her with her cultivation, I was there when her siblings were born, and I was at her side when tragedy struck and she was at her lowest. Laugh at me if you want, call me disgusting if you want, but I have loved her ever since she was 12 and have since been waiting for her to grow old enough for me to confess my feelings."


    Fan Jiahao sipped his wine with a composed expression, his eyes filled with a gentle and distant light. Fan Jiahao was already quite a bit older than Liang Chen, approaching his 200th birthday. Of course, as cultivators had extremely long lifespans, it wasn''t uncommon for some cultivation couples to have thousands of years in age difference. As Fan Jiahao continued to talk, the grip he had on the cup grew somewhat tighter, cracks spreading on the cup.


    "But even though I have waited for so long, been so close to her for so long, she still treated me the same as everyone else, polite but distant. I did everything I could to get close to her, but she still continued to treat me like that. I thought to myself that this was just how she was, I would just have to accept it and spend even more time trying to get close to her. After all, they do say that love only gets better with age."


    Fan Jiahao placed down the cup, taking out a new one and pouring the wine over into it. He then took out another new one and handed it to Liang Chen, politely replacing the one he had just cracked. Once he finished replacing the cup, his gaze once again landed on Liang Chen.


    "But then you came along and everything changed. She doesn''t treat you like everyone else, she is far closer and more intimate with you. She doesn''t even like others casually touching her but does it so easily when it''s with you. Every time I see the two of you together, it feels like someone is stabbing me in the side with a burning blade, it infuriates me."


    Fan Jiahao had never expected that the moment Yan Ling left the clan, she would return with a man who she was far closer to than anyone else. He had been certain that she would end up being his wife, so how could he not get angry when he saw her close with another man. But even though he was angry, he still maintained his composure, showing his age and experience as he continued to talk.


    "I don''t know how you feel about her, whether you love her or not, if you intend to treat her right or if you are just playing with her. Honestly, I just want to beat you down and rip her away from your side, to return everything to how it was. What do you think?"


    He wanted so desperately to break down Liang Chen and take back Yan Ling, to return her to how she had been before, at least then he would feel like he still had a chance. Liang Chen tapped his cup of wine slightly for a short moment, the only thing breaking the silence being the sound of his finger hitting the cup. After thinking for a bit, he raised his head slightly, letting out a light breath.


    "Love, huh? I can''t say that I know too much about that emotion. The only experience that I have with that emotion is the love I felt towards my parents and the girl who acted like my older sister. But that love will never go past a familial love, so it''s probably not the love that you are talking about. So even if you ask me, I don''t know if what I feel towards Yan Ling is love."


    Liang Chen hadn''t really had much time to think about something like love. The closest he had ever gotten would be what he felt towards Qing Chun, but he was certain that what he felt towards her wasn''t that type of love. Even if he had ended up marrying her in the illusion he experienced in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, he would never be able to see her as anything else than a close big sister.


    Fan Jiahao didn''t seem too pleased with Liang Chen''s answer, but Liang Chen simply ignored him and closed his eyes. In the past, whenever he closed his eyes, he would be forced to relive the execution of his parents, but that had slowly changed over time. Now, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see the proud and challenging Yan Ling had when she faced the heavenly tribulation when she tried to awaken her bloodline. She was wounded and weak, certain to die as she faced the wrath of the heavens.


    But still, she looked so proud, even daring to challenge the heavens. Ever since he saw it, that smile had been burned into his mind. At other times he saw her teasing smile, the smirk she had when she felt victorious, her embarrassed look when she teased him, her tears when she talked about her siblings, how lonely she looked when he met her in the third trial of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    Countless expressions and smiles, each one as wonderful as the last. And then he thought about her vanishing from his sight, leaving his side. And just like it was when he thought about this during the time she faced the heavenly tribulation, he came to the same answer. He didn''t want that, he didn''t want her to leave his side. Just the thought of someone taking her away from his side filled him with so much anger that it felt like even his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline was starting to move. He opened his eyes again, his pupils unknowingly having turned into slits. His gaze landed on Fan Jiahao, who seemed like he was about to say something due to his annoyance, but his words caught in his throat when he saw Liang Chen''s eyes.


    "But what I do know is that if you, or anyone else, were to try to take her away from my side, I would kill you all and tear you apart without caring in the slightest for the repercussions."


    As Liang Chen spoke, Fan Jiahao felt like he saw an illusion appearing behind Liang Chen. A massive gray serpentine dragon so large that it could coil around and crush a planet appeared behind him, one eye a beautiful emerald green and the other a gloriously golden. The dragon seemed to be staring directly through Fan Jiahao, its gaze the judgment of the god of death. The illusion vanished as quickly as it appeared, Fan Jiahao letting out a deep breath.


    "Then there you have it, your answer, what your emotions are."


    Fan Jiahao downed the rest of the wine in his cup and stood up, his body looking as if it had gotten lighter. He turned around and started to head towards the door that led out of the hidden realm, his composed voice sounding out.


    "I only came here to vent my feelings, to release these emotions before they suffocated me. Well, that and to receive your reply. I won''t do anything to you, Junior Brother Chen, because she is happier with you then she would be with me. But be warned, if you ever make her cry or make her sad, I will be there to pick her up, I will be there to punish you."


    Liang Chen didn''t stand up to see Fan Jiahao out, remaining in his chair and sipping the wine. He raised his head slightly upon hearing Fan Jiahao''s voice, speaking out in a voice that was hardened with determination.


    "I don''t need you to tell me that, I will never allow her to be sad."


    Fan Jiahao stopped slightly, his hand on the knob of the door. After a short moment, he opened the door and nodded his head, leaving the hidden realm and leaving behind a few words.


    "Good, make sure you keep that promise."

 To the Myriad Convergence.

    The days continued to pass after Fan Jiahao left Liang Chen''s abode, the day where they would be leaving for the Constellation King''s competition swiftly arriving. The entire sect was bustling with excitement and nervousness, the disciples who had spent the last few months preparing all eager to show off their skills.


    Liang Chen was currently sitting in front of the green palace that was the Storm Hall headquarters, sitting on a chair he had brought along. There were about 700 other disciples around him, with more and more arriving as time passed, and all of them were contestants that were going to take part in the competition. Each sect was allowed to send 1000 people to take part in the competition, so in total there would be 6000 people taking part in the competition.


    Usually, between 30-50% of all the people taking part in the competition would end up dead by the end. This was the brutal reality of the sects, only the strong would be able to survive, the sects could only afford to let the strong ones survive. If they let the weak ones survive, they would take too many resources from the strong ones, lowering the speed at which their strength grew and as a result lowering the overall strength of the sect.


    Liang Chen was sipping some spicy wine from a clay jug, absentmindedly staring at the sky. He had spent the last six months cultivating and training, constantly using his law of time to quadruple the speed of time around him. This meant that the six months of cultivating had turned into two years for him, giving him ample time to cultivate. But for the first time since he properly started cultivating, he hit the wall that was average talent.


    Two years of cultivating and his cultivation had barely risen. He had carved the last two channels for the first stage of the Chaos King technique, allowing him to devour the Qi and bodily strength of dead bodies to cultivate himself. He had then snagged some bodies from Yumao, using them to cultivate with the Chaos King technique to somewhat increase his cultivation speed. But even then, his body and soul cultivation hadn''t risen by much, both only growing a bit tougher.


    He had managed to push his Qi cultivation to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, all three of his Dragon Lotuses now having three leaves. The number of leaves that a Sebettu''s Dragon Lotuses had was a sign of his cultivation realm, with each new stage doubling the previous number. The early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm meant having one leaf, the middle stage meant three, and for the late stage, he would need a total of six leaves on each lotus.


    He was using a supreme technique like the Chaos King technique, but even so, his cultivation had only barely risen in the last two years. In the outside world, this achievement would be average, neither good nor bad. But Liang Chen wasn''t in the outside world, he was in the Storm Wolf sect, a place that was filled with talented people. There was also the matter of his and Yan Ling''s revenge, he could not afford to be average.


    To make up for the slow increase in his cultivation, Liang Chen also used a bit of time to study some different techniques and skills. The Chaos King technique was a complete cultivation manual, so it also contained a few different skills that could be used in battle. It contained a grand total of nine different skills, three for each stage in the cultivation manual. Over these last six months, Liang Chen had managed to train in two of the three skills belonging to the first stage, one based on defense and one based on movement.


    He also studied two other skills, but these came from the information that his birth parents had sealed up in his mind. These skills were different from the two skills he learned from the Chaos King technique, they were skills that could only be used if he was in immediate danger of dying. The reason behind this was that they were self-destructive at best and suicidal at worst, they were meant as a last-ditch effort to survive. But even if they were risky and dangerous to use, they at least meant that he had another trump card he could use when he was in danger.


    As he continued to sit there and absentmindedly stare into the sky, his mind distant, he was suddenly jolted out of his absentminded state by the sound of someone talking to him.


    "It''s a tad rare to see you like this, are you thinking about something?"


    Liang Chen lowered his head and blinked rapidly a few times, clearing up his mind and looking at the one that had spoken. Standing only a few steps in front of Liang Chen was Yan Ying, who was currently clad in a clean cyan-colored robe, his deep-green hair swept back. His head was slightly tilted, looking at Liang Chen with a somewhat curious gaze. After spending a second regaining his wits, Liang Chen figured that since he wasn''t going anywhere with just his own thoughts, he might as well as Yan Ying.


    "Brother Ying, I am indeed thinking about something. What is love? How does one know when they are in love?"


    Back when Liang Chen brought Yan Ling to Green Rivers city and Yan Ying had delivered the Heaven Altering Masks, Yan Ying had told Liang Chen to dispense with the formalities. As such, Liang Chen didn''t need to call him Senior Brother Ying and could refer to him directly as Brother Ying.


    This question was what Liang Chen had been absentmindedly thinking about, the words that Fan Jiahao had said to him. Did he love Yan Ling? Did he feel for her what a man would feel for a woman, or was it something else he felt for her? He had no experience with that kind of love, so even if he tried thinking about it, he couldn''t figure anything out.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Yan Ying gawked slightly when he heard Liang Chen''s question, not surprised by the fact that Liang Chen had actually asked for his advice, but by the contents of Liang Chen''s question. He quickly collected himself, bursting into laughter for a short moment before giving Liang Chen a deep look and chuckling.


    "That''s what you are wondering about? Well, I guess that even you have some normal worries and thoughts from time to time."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but roll his eyes slightly after hearing Yan Ying''s laughter. Of course he had normal thoughts and worries, he was still a normal person after all. Yan Ying tapped his chin for a short second, seemingly thinking about a proper response. He caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eyes, causing his lips to curve into a faint smile as he responded.


    "There''s no point in thinking about it. Just close your eyes and think about the person in question, you''ll receive an answer to your question."


    Yan Ying looked at Liang Chen with a knowing smile, but he didn''t say anything else, turning around and leaving. Liang Chen decided to try out Yan Ying''s suggestion, so he closed his eyes and completely emptied his mind. He didn''t even need to think about anything, Yan Ling''s face started to appear in his mind on its own, her various expressions flashing past his eyes. The stories she had told him, the time the two had spent together, the advice she had given him, all of them flashed through his mind.


    As he was absorbed in his recollection and thoughts, he didn''t notice someone sneak up behind him. He was finally jolted out of his thoughts when he felt someone flick his ear, whispering right next to his head.


    "What''re ya doing there, Little Freak?"


    Liang Chen had become fully absorbed in his thoughts, not paying the least bit of attention to the outside world, so he hadn''t noticed anything before it was too late. Liang Chen was so caught off guard that he couldn''t help but jump slightly, toppling over the chair he was sitting on and ending up falling on his ass.


    As he fell on his ass, he could hear a crystal clear and very familiar giggle from behind him, making it very clear to him who it was that had just spooked him. He stood up and brushed off the dirt on his robe, turning around and letting out a light breath.


    "Yan Ling, are you trying to end my life by giving me a heart attack?"


    Standing right behind him was Yan Ling, who was clad in the same cyan-colored robe that the other disciples in the area wore. These robes were the official robes of the Storm Wolf sect, so now that they were about to head out to a tournament to represent their sect, they would, of course, wear these robes. Yan Ling didn''t show the slightest sign of repenting, continuing to giggle at Liang Chen.


    "What do you expect me to do when you are sitting there like that? Next time I see you like that, I''m going to viciously poke your waist, see how high I can make you jump by applying different levels of force."


    Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, who was happily laughing right in front of him. Seeing her cheerful smile, all the thoughts and questions he had were simply blown away. It was so simple that he couldn''t help but let out a light laugh, picking up the chair and sitting down again.


    "Really, it was so damn easy. Can''t believe I spent that much time thinking about it, now I just feel like an absolute idiot."


    Seeing her smile it all became clear to him. He wanted to make Yan Ling happy. He wanted to ease her sorrows, to fulfill her wishes, to help her reach her goals, he wanted to make her so happy that there was no sorrow that could leave a mark on her.


    He had spent the last month thinking over it, four months in total thanks to his law of time, his thoughts running in circles and not getting him anywhere. He had wasted so much time when all he had to do to receive an answer was to go see Yan Ling, how could he not laugh at himself? Yan Ling didn''t understand the meaning of Liang Chen''s words, so she took a step closer and curiously pushed on.


    "Oh? Little Freak has finally seen the light and realized his stupidity? Come now, tell this Senior Sister what caused you to realize the truth."


    Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, who seemed like she was ready to start poking his waist if he didn''t answer her soon. He placed his elbow on the armrest of the chair, leaning his head on his hand and giving Yan Ling a nondescript smile.


    "I wonder, I wonder. Do you want to know, do you? Are you dying to know? So curious that you can''t stand it? Well too bad, I have no intention of telling you, so you can just suffer in your lack of knowledge for a bit."


    Liang Chen didn''t intend on voicing out his feelings just yet. He knew that he probably had close to 0 EQ, but even he knew that this place, surrounded by nearly a thousand other disciples, was not the place to have that kind of conversation. He would have to see if he could find an opportune time during the Constellation King''s competition, it was at least better than doing it here.


    Yan Ling clicked her tongue upon receiving Liang Chen''s cheeky reply, stretching out her hands so fast that they turned to blurs. Before Liang Chen got the chance to react, she started to viciously poke his waist, digging her fingers as deep as she could into his sides and causing him to once again jump slightly.


    "Oy! It''s cheating to use your Qi to increase your speed and strength, cheating I say!"


    Liang Chen tried to defend himself, but as Yan Ling had gotten the drop on him, it was already too late for him to put up any resistance, Yan Ling continuing to poke his waist.


    "Stop, I surrender! I...surrender...stop...surrender."


    Yan Ling did not care for Liang Chen''s accusations and his following pleas for surrender that were mixed with an involuntary laughter. She also ignored the stares of the surrounding people, continuing to exact her vengeance, vengeance for Liang Chen daring to even think about being cheeky against her.


    "Bah, who cares if I cheat a little when it comes to you? If I tried to play fair, a certain brute would just take advantage of the situation!"


    Yan Ling continued to poke Liang Chen''s waist, forcing him down from the chair and onto the ground, her law of wind increasing the speed of her hands until they turned into blurs as she started to poke Liang Chen all over his body. At first, it was because she wanted to enact vengeance on Liang Chen for daring to be cheeky, but the purpose swiftly changed. Now she was just doing it because she found it fun, she wanted to see just where Liang Chen''s weak spots were, just where he was ticklish.


    Even as the ground all around them lit up with silver runes as a massive array activated did she continue to poke him, only stopping when the array fully activated and sent the now 1000 disciples through space, to the place where they would meet up with the other sects before entering the Myriad Convergence where the competition would take place.

 Meeting the Wyrm King.

    A bright silver light flashed in front of Liang Chen''s eyes and blinded him, space all around him turning viscous and distorted. His body felt like it was being tossed around by waves of mud, but he knew that it simply felt like this because they were currently moving through space thanks to a spatial array prepared by the Storm Wolf sect.


    When the silver light vanished from his vision, the disciples and elders from the sect found themselves standing on a piece of arid earth, the ground beneath their feet yellow and dusty. The area was entirely barren, with not even the smallest plant in sight. In the distance stood a small city, the place where they would meet up with the other clans before the start of the competition.


    If one looked past the city, one would see a strange area, a wall of distorted space that was impossible to see through, countless colors flashing over the wall. This wall was the edge of the Myriad Convergence, beyond this wall was an unstable space that would open countless spatial rifts that either sucked in things and sent them off or delivered items from faraway planets.


    At the time the array had activated, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were in the middle of their playful act. so they were still in the same positions. Liang Chen was lying on his back, Yan Ling straddling his waist with her arms raised high, ready to unleash even more pokes so fast that they looked like blurs. Seeing that they had arrived at their destination, and that everyone was looking at the two of them, Yan Ling stood up and stepped back as she brushed off the dust that had gotten on her robe, letting out a light cough.


    "I''ll consider that to be punishment enough for now. But if you try to be cheeky with me again, I''ll show you all 1000 of my terrifying torture techniques."


    With Yan Ling no longer straddling and poking him, Liang Chen could finally catch his breath and stand up. He brushed off the dust that had gotten on his robe, looking at Yan Ling with a raised eyebrow.


    "1000 techniques? Knowing you, I''d be amazed if you could come up with even five techniques, much less 1000."


    Yan Ling''s eyebrow ticked up when she heard Liang Chen''s teasing manner, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. Her lips curled up slightly as she started to crack her knuckles and walk closer to Liang Chen.


    "That''s it, you''re getting beat."


    Liang Chen simply raised one of his arms, making a beckoning gesture with his hand, his lips raising into a challenging smile. Even if he had realized his emotions for her, he had no intentions of treating her too differently, he liked how the two interacted with each other. Just as the two were about to go at it again, a clap sounded out, the chuckling voice of Yan Wuhan sounding out.


    "Alright you two, that''s enough. You''ll make everyone else jealous, so save it for later."


    Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling stiffened up slightly upon hearing the voice of Yan Wuhan, having completely forgotten that the sect master, and Yan Ling''s father, had joined them here. They both raised their arms in defeat, no longer playing around as they turned to face Yan Wuhan.


    The silver-eyed and cyan-haired Yan Wuhan nodded his head when he saw that the two of them followed his orders. He swept his eyes over the other disciples and the two other elders, one from the Storm Hall and one from the Wolf Hall, making sure that everyone had arrived safely. Once he was certain that everyone had arrived, he nodded his head once again and took the lead in heading towards the distant city.


    "Good, everyone is here. We''ll first head to Gate''s End city and show those other old fogies that we''ve arrived, then the lot of you will enter the Myriad Convergence tomorrow morning. Once you are in there, not even I will be able to see what is happening, so you must all make sure to take great care of your lives. Giving up a few treasures to survive is not a bad deal, only by coming back alive will you ever have the chance to become stronger."


    The Myriad Convergence was not a part of this planet, it was a piece of a different planet that was torn apart and crashed into this one. Space around it was so unstable that not even someone like Yan Wuhan could see past it, the only way for him to know what was going on inside was to head in there on his own. And because of this, even if one killed other disciples inside the Myriad Convergence, as long as there were no witnesses, no one would ever know what you did.


    Yan Wuhan said that they should give up treasures if it meant they would get to survive, but just how many of these disciples would do that? Even though this was called a competition, it was truly just a massive treasure hunt. The better the items you came back with, the higher your rank would be. Of course, to acquire these treasures, you had to possess sufficient strength. So even though it was a treasure hunt type competition, the top five that ended up receiving titles were still the strongest of the disciples that entered the Myriad Convergence.


    The 1000 disciples and the three elders swiftly arrived at the city, which was built by all six of the great sects that ruled this planet. Each sect had sent over quite a few members to build and keep an eye on the city, picking up any items that might stray out from the Myriad Convergence. Since there were six different sects that had built this city, the architecture varied greatly in different places, some buildings so extravagant they resembled palaces and some so simple they barely looked like houses.


    Yan Wuhan led the group to the center of the city, occasionally greeting some of the Storm Wolf disciples that were living in this city. Most of the disciples that lived here were those who felt like they were unable to advance their cultivation further, so they had decided to accept the offer to move here in an attempt to drain less of the sect''s resources.


    When they reached the center of the city, a large circular area that was completely devoid of any other buildings, there were already five other groups of people waiting for them. Liang Chen recognized the robes that four of the groups wore, they were the black robes of the Nightshield sect, the gray robes of the Ghost Soul sect, the silver robes of the Moon Dragon sect, and the black robes of the Fiendgod sect. Each of the robes were engraved with the respective emblems of the sects that they came from, so they were easy to distinguish.


    Liang Chen didn''t recognize the robes of the last group, golden robes engraved with a sword stabbed into a shining sun, but he could easily guess that they were the group from the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. Standing at the front of each group was a person who gave Liang Chen the same feeling that Yan Wuhan gave him, as if they were about to melt into the surrounding space. The gazes of the people gathered in the city center landed on Yan Wuhan and the people behind him, a slightly chubby woman with puffy cheeks and flowing blonde hair nodding her head and speaking up.


    "Good, now everyone is here. The competition starts tomorrow, none of us are allowed to interfere in the competition or steal the items that the disciples bring out, the rewards for the top five rankers will be handed out directly after they leave the Myriad Convergence and their positions have been decided."


    Looking at where the woman was standing, Liang Chen could guess that she was the sect master of the Fiendgod sect, one of the sects that was a bit closer to the Storm Wolf sect. These were the standard rules for the competition, meant to keep the sect masters and sect elders in check. The various elders and sect masters nodded their heads to show their agreement, the six groups splitting up and heading in separate directions.


    The sect masters would send the disciples into the Myriad Convergence once morning rolled around, this meeting was just to make sure that everyone had arrived. Should one of the sect masters send in a person who had entered or passed the Primordial Immortal realm, or try to send in the disciples earlier than the others, the other sect masters would instantly notice and retaliate in the same manner. Because of this, none of the sect masters were worried that the others would break the rules, they were, in fact, hoping that someone would break the rules, giving them an excuse to send in even stronger disciples to snag even more treasures.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The moment the six groups split up, Yan Ling grabbed a hold of Liang Chen''s wrist and dragged him away from the group. He knew that he had no say in this matter, he could only obediently follow her as she went sight-seeing in the city.


    As this was a city for the disciples to live in as they kept an eye on the Myriad Convergence, it contained quite a few places where one could have fun, making sure that none of the disciples got bored. Liang Chen and Yan Ling even walked past a brothel that was disguised as a souvenir shop, with only a few well-hidden signs showing that they were actually a brothel. Yan Ling wanted to enter it and see what they were selling, so it fell upon Liang Chen to explain to her that a city like this didn''t need a souvenir shop. She didn''t quite understand the underlying meaning of his words, so he could only be blunt and tell her exactly what the shop was truly selling.


    Liang Chen didn''t tell her, but he found the sight of Yan Ling blushing up to her ears extremely adorable. Yan Ling swiftly pulled Liang Chen away from the shop, all the while sending him a slight glare that made it seem like she was a tad bit angry at him for knowing about such shops.


    The two continued to pass the time by walking through the city, checking out the various places that the disciples had built to enjoy themselves. There were places one could play games, places where they could buy food, places where they could cultivate, even places where they could swim in a man-made lake. After they spent a few hours walking through the city, someone suddenly called out for them from behind.


    "Ling''er, so this is where you were!"


    Liang Chen could see Yan Ling''s expression sink the moment she heard this voice, so it was clear that she wasn''t very fond of the person who had found them. The two turned around to face the person who had called out to them, coming face to face with someone wearing the silver robes of the Moon Dragon sect.


    The man standing only a short distance away was almost two meters tall and had handsome features that looked like they were carved with a knife. He had silver hair that hung down to his shoulders and deep black eyes, a faint smile visible at the corners of his lips. The man took a step closer, but Yan Ling responded by taking a step backward with Liang Chen, sneering at the man.


    "Huang Dong, so even a disgusting salamander like you has arrived here? Shouldn''t you be hiding under some rock and waiting for someone to throw some waste your way? And what the fuck did I say about you calling me that?"


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed faintly when he heard Yan Ling mention the name of the man in front of them. Wyrm King Huang Dong, the one who ranked fifth in the last Constellation King competition. Looking at the aura he was radiating, Liang Chen guessed that he had reached the very peak of the Soaring Immortal realm, probably only half a step away from the Primordial Immortal realm.


    Huang Dong tried to take several more steps closer, but each time he moved Yan Ling would react by taking two extra steps back, clearly trying to avoid him. Huang Dong raised his arms in defeat after his tenth attempt at getting closer, looking at Yan Ling with an aggrieved expression.


    "Ling''er, why must you act like that to me, do you really wish to avoid marrying me that much?"


    The words of Huang Dong instantly caused Liang Chen''s eyebrows to tick up, his eyes narrowing faintly. But before Liang Chen even got the time to think about asking Yan Ling what Huang Dong meant, Yan Ling exploded with fury, shouting at Huang Dong, the wind around her starting to turn sharp.


    "Shut the fuck up, I will never marry you! The one who proposed that idea was that bitch who has nothing to do with me, so I have no idea why the fuck you think I would ever marry you! Now fuck off, I am enjoying myself here, and you are spoiling the mood."


    Her words easily explained it for Liang Chen, Yan Ling''s mother seemed to have proposed that Yan Ling marry Huang Dong. Huang Dong was a member of the Moon Dragon sect, and Yan Ling''s mother was an elder of the Nightshield sect, two sects which had an alliance. The proposal was likely put in place in an attempt to have the Storm Wolf sect become a part of their alliance. However, Liang Chen had no idea why the Moon Dragon sect would believe that Yan Ling would ever listen to any idea proposed by her mother, the one who had tried to kill her father and had been responsible for the death of Yan Ling''s two siblings.


    For the first time since speaking up, Huang Dong''s eyes landed on Liang Chen, who was looking at Huang Dong with a calm yet measuring gaze. After sweeping Liang Chen with a quick gaze, Huang Dong cupped his hands and politely introduced himself.


    "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, please forgive me. I am Wyrm King Huang Dong, I ranked fifth in the last competition, but I should be able to reach the third or second spot this time. Who are you?"


    His words sounded like a polite introduction, but what they really were was an attempt to scare Liang Chen, using his title and rank as a deterrent. But how could he possibly know that Liang Chen''s goal was far above someone like Huang Dong? Liang Chen''s spear was aimed at a core disciple of the Nightshield sect, and elder of the Nightshield sect, and even at death itself. Someone like Huang Dong would never be enough to scare him, so he simply nodded his head and gave a simple greeting in return.


    "Scourge King Liang Chen, the one currently having fun with Yan Ling."


    As he spoke, he flipped his hand slightly, shifting the grip Yan Ling had on his wrist into one where she held his hand. He then raised their hands up, showing it off to Huang Dong, a faint smile on his face as he did so. Yan Ling''s face contained a mixture of embarrasment, amusement, and a well-hidden joy, not doing anything to release the grip she now had on Liang Chen''s hand. Huang Dong''s lips and eyebrows twitched slightly when he saw this blatant provocation, but he still managed to appear calm, tilting his head slightly.


    "Liang Chen? I don''t think I''ve ever heard that name before."


    Since Liang Chen was trying to provoke him by using how close he was to Yan Ling, Huang Dong decided to provoke him using the difference in status between the two. One was a practically unknown cultivator while the other was one of the top disciples of their sect. But once again Liang Chen acted in the opposite way of what Huang Dong wanted, chuckling lightly.


    "Neither had any of the other people that I killed, but they still died in my hands."


    His eyes narrowed faintly as he chuckled, his pupils turning into thin slits that seemed to stare directly into Huang Dong''s soul. Huang Dong was about to fire back with another retort, but as he looked at Liang Chen, he caught a glimpse of the same illusion that Fan Jiahao had seen, the gray dragon with one gold and one emerald eye, so large that it could crush a planet by coiling around it. For a split second, Huang Dong felt a faint sense of danger sprout in his heart, but he quickly squashed it, giving Liang Chen a deep look.


    "Heh, is that so? Well then, Liang Chen, I hope that I will have the chance to meet you inside the Myriad Convergence, I would love to see what killed those people."


    After speaking, Huang Dong cast one last look at Yan Ling before he turned around and walked away, vanishing around a corner. After Huang Dong left, Yan Ling let out a light chuckle, using her free hand to poke Liang Chen''s waist.


    "It''s rather rare to see you get heated like that, you should do it more in the future, it shows others that you aren''t always aloof and cold."


    She knew that Liang Chen had a habit of being a bit distant when he was with anyone other than her, Yan Ying, or Lei Qiang. This attitude made it a bit hard for him to make actual friends, pushing away plenty of people. If he could show others the side of him that he showed her, she was certain that he would be able to gain a large number of friends. Of course, even though she said this, there was one thing she neglected to mention, she actually enjoyed being the only one who got to see his more casual side.


    The two proceeded to continue their sight-seeing of the city, coincidentally forgetting to let go of each other''s hand as they walked. Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling, thinking back to his meeting with Fan Jiahao and then the meeting they just had with Huang Dong. He couldn''t help but let out a light breathe, muttering to himself in a voice so quiet he was certain only he could hear it.


    "Really, first the Tiger King and now the Wyrm King. Are you gathering them up one by one to cause trouble for me?"


    Tiger King Fan Jiahao and Wyrm King Huang Dong, both were in love with Yan Ling, the one that Liang Chen had set his eyes on. Fan Jiahao wasn''t that big of a problem, as he didn''t seem to plan on doing anything to Liang Chen in hopes of acquiring Yan Ling. Huang Dong, however, he seemed like he would become a problem, he seemed less reasonable than Fan Jiahao.


    Liang Chen thought he had been so quiet that no one could hear him, but he hadn''t accounted for the fact that words were just vibrations moving through the air. So as someone who could control the law of wind, even his exceedingly quiet muttering had been picked up by Yan Ling. Yan Ling didn''t show any signs that she had heard his words, her the corners of her lips faintly rising as she let out a quiet mutter of her own.


    "I don''t need any of those kings, I only need the one king."


    Liang Chen couldn''t control the law of wind, so the only one who heard Yan Ling''s mutter was herself, the only one understanding the meaning of her words being herself.

 To the Fiend Kings Tomb.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued to tour the city until the sun set and night arrived, retreating to the part of the city where the Storm Wolf sect disciples lived. The disciples who were here to take part in the competition all lived inside a single tall pagoda, so the two of them found a room on the lowest floor and locked themselves up for the night.


    Yan Ling knew that Liang Chen no longer slept, so she used him as free labor, having him keep watch over their room while she slept. She knew Liang Chen, so she wasn''t worried that he would try anything funny with her while she slept. This also wasn''t the first time they had done something like this, what with the two of them flying around on her golden chariot when they were doing missions. Of course, with Liang Chen entering the same room as Yan Ling, he received quite a few stares, some that were borderline glares and some that seemed to be cheering him on. Faced with all these stares, Liang Chen went with his tried and true method of completely ignoring them.


    Just like Yan Ling expected, Liang Chen didn''t do anything to her while she slept, quietly cultivating while also keeping an eye on the pagoda and the area around it. With Yan Wuhan and two other elders residing within this pagoda, there was nearly no chance of anyone sneaking up on them, but Liang Chen would only feel safe if either he or someone else he fully trusted was keeping watch.


    But, just as expected, no one dared even get close to the pagoda throughout the night, dawn arriving without any incident. Shortly before the sun rose, Yan Ling woke up, sitting up in her bed and stretching her body. She looked at Liang Chen with bleary eyes and spoke up, her voice trailing slightly as she wasn''t fully awake yet.


    "Lil'' Freak...Breakfast..."


    She didn''t even form a proper sentence, but it was enough for Liang Chen to know what she was getting at, she wanted him to make some breakfast. Liang Chen halted his surveillance and cultivation, casting a sideways glance at Yan Ling, his lips curling up slightly.


    "Right, wouldn''t want to die, would we?"


    Liang Chen had many good things to say about Yan Ling, but her cooking skills were not among those good things. Her cooking was borderline poisonous, to the point where Liang Chen worried that even his poison absorbing abilities wouldn''t be enough to keep him safe. If cooking was left to Yan Ling, no one would be safe. Yan Ling tried to wave her fists in protest at the teasing starting so early, but she wasn''t exactly a morning person, so her efforts only resulted in her weakly flailing her arms.


    "Bring it... Beat you..."


    Yan Ling seemed like she wanted to stand up and step forward, but she seemed to forget that she had to stand up to do so, her entire body leaning forward and heading over the edge of the bed. Liang Chen took a quick step forward, his palm touching Yan Ling''s forehead and pushing her back into a proper sitting position as he made sure to retort to her half-finished statement.


    "Yeah yeah, you can beat me up later on. If you are strong enough, that is. But knowing you, my undefeated streak will only continue to grow."


    After making sure that Yan Ling wouldn''t almost fall off the bed again, Liang Chen walked over to the center of the room and sat down. The room they had picked was a rather simple one, containing only a single large bed, a closet where one could store clothing, and a single table and three chairs. Because of this, the center of the room was completely empty, giving Liang Chen ample space to prepare breakfast.


    He took out a watermelon-sized metal plate covered in runes from his interspatial ring, putting it down on the ground and channeling some of his Qi into it. Once it received his Qi, the runes lit up and a bright flame sparked into existence above the plate. Liang Chen then took out a large pot from his interspatial ring and placed it on top of the metal plate, allowing the flame to heat it up.


    He then took out pieces of meat and vegetables that he kept ready in his interspatial ring, tossing them into the pot and pouring some water and self-made stock into it. The vegetables came from a small garden Yan Ling made him plant inside his interspatial ring, ensuring that he always had fresh vegetables at hand should they end up needing them. The pot of soup he made now was far too large for just breakfast, but the rest could simply be stored inside their interspatial rings and saved for consumption during the competition.


    The soup was ready before long, Liang Chen spooning some into a bowl for Yan Ling and then preparing a bowl for himself. He put the rest of the soup into his interspatial ring and then handed Yan Ling her bowl and a spoon, allowing her to dig into the bowl of soup like she was a desert wanderer seeing water for the first time in days. After finishing the soup, Yan Ling leaned her head against the wall that the head-end of the bed was placed against, letting out a satisfied sigh.


    "Ahh, I''m alive again."Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    She moved a bit closer to the head-end of the bed, leaning her entire back against the wall and stretching her body. Liang Chen cast a quick glance at her, and unable to resist the temptation, he let out a light scoff.


    "That''s up for debate."


    The moment his words sounded out, Yan Ling ended her stretching and cast a glare at Liang Chen. She stretched out her arm slightly, pointing at him with the wooden spoon that she was holding, acting as if it was a sword.


    "You dare comment on a maiden''s appearance in the morning, after she was so gracious as to let you share a room with her? Are you looking to get stabbed?"


    Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders with a light chuckle, for once choosing to use his right to remain silent. Yan Ling still pointed the spoon at him, waving it around until he pulled out the pot of soup and gave her another portion, appeasing the beast before it decided to assault him.


    As Yan Ling was halfway through her second portion of soup, a faint tremor traveled through the space of the entire city, Liang Chen''s vigilance instantly rising to the top. But just as he stood up and was about to pull out his spear, Yan Ling waved her hand at him.


    "It''s nothing to worry about. It''s a sign that someone has been sent into the Myriad Convergence, it means that one of the other sects has sent their disciples into the area, starting the competition. Which means, we too will be heading in there very shortly."


    Yan Ling had never taken part in a competition like this before, but as her father was the sect master, she had been taught quite a bit about it. She at least knew far more about it than Liang Chen did, so she took it upon herself to teach him what she knew. And just like she said, the order to meet up outside the pagoda was swiftly handed down to all the disciples.


    Yan Ling had yet to finish her bowl of soup, so she simply carried it out with her, continuing to eat it as more and more disciples gathered in front of the pagoda, most of them tense and excited. Yan Wuhan and the two other elders also arrived in front of the pagoda before long, their hands behind their backs as Yan Wuhan addressed the disciples.


    "I won''t say too many words. Don''t worry about ranks or rewards, just go in there and do your best. I hope that I will get to see you all again alive in three months when the competition ends. Godspeed my dear disciples."


    Yan Wuhan clapped his hands after ending his words, a silver wave of energy spreading out from his hands. The wave surrounded the 1000 disciples, forming a thick cocoon as space around them started to twist and distort, the entire group sent flying into the Myriad Convergence. Liang Chen tried to see through the cocoon, but space was so distorted that he could only see blurry silver shapes.


    It was only after about half a minute that the cocoon around them started to grow thinner, the distortion of space getting less severe. Before long, the entire cocoon vanished and allowed the disciples to finally see their surroundings.


    Liang Chen saw that the group was now standing at the foot of a strange mountain, it was completely yellow in color and shaped like a trident where the three prongs bent closer and closer to each other the higher into the sky they reached, finally touching tips about 50 kilometers above ground. Other than the strange mountain, the Qi in the area was also a bit strange. It was far denser than in the outside world, but it was also far more chaotic and aggressive, as if all the various elements were trying to force each other into submission and merge together.


    Liang Chen also noticed that space was just as unstable as he had heard. From his position, he could see three different rifts in space, black cracks that seemed to be a tear in reality itself. After giving everyone a short second to catch their bearings, Fan Jiahao spoke out in a loud voice, catching everyone''s attention.


    "Alright, you lot heard the Sect Master, we must do our best to all return alive! Of course, if we can bring back a great number of treasures at the same time, that would be the icing on the cake. This place is incredibly large, so we''ll do it like we always do, we''ll split up into groups, giving everyone a chance to find some treasures and lucky opportunities. Who wants to go where?"


    Fan Jiahao had ranked third in the last Constellation King competition, so he was without a doubt the leader of the Storm Wolf disciples this time around. He was also the one who had the most experience when it came to this competition, so no one rejected him taking the leader position and calling the shots. People started to whisper amongst themselves after Fan Jiahao asked his question, deciding who would go into which group and go where. But before anyone else got to say anything, Yan Ling spoke out.


    "I''ll be taking Little Freak with me, the two of us will head for the Fiend King''s Tomb!"


    Yan Ling did as she usually did, not bothering to wait for any response. She grabbed onto Liang Chen''s wrist and started dragging him away from the others, rushing away at full speed. To some, it would look like she was eager to find treasures, but as he was the one being dragged away, Liang Chen could clearly see her expression.


    She was grinning from ear to ear, quietly giggling to herself. She hadn''t the slightest interest in this competition, she was just looking forward to going on a fun treasure hunt where they might be able to increase their strength. The number of treasures they found was secondary to the fun they would have.


    But the place she chose for the two of them was a rather appropriate place. The Fiend King''s Tomb was one of the more well-known places in this Myriad Convergence, it was a place where an ancient powerhouse had died, something they knew thanks to a few books they found in the location. The Fiend King could use a large variety of laws before his death, and all those laws had seeped into the land after he died, creating a place where herbs and other treasures of all kinds of elements could be born.


    For the two of them, who needed treasures of either the lightning, poison, wind, water, or time element, there were few places in this Myriad Convergence that were better. Since Yan Ling wanted to have some fun and look for some treasures, and since he saw no reason to deny her this fun, Liang Chen would, of course, indulge her and do his best to make sure she had some proper fun. And so, the two ran away from the other disciples at full speed, causing quite a few of them to shake their heads and chuckle lightly.

 Fruits of labor.

    The area around the three-pronged mountain was just as strange as the mountain itself, it was as if a wide variety of environments had been stitched together to form a single whole. Because of that, as Liang Chen and Yan Ling headed for the Fiend King''s Tomb, they constantly found themselves in new and strange places. They could be in the middle of a dense forest one second, and then after taking two steps the forest would end and give way for a scorched wasteland, which would then give way to a hilly plain.


    Never in his life had Liang Chen seen or heard about a place as strange and mysterious as this, a place that contained so many varied environments within a small area. Because of this, even Liang Chen started to have fun as they ran around and investigated everything Yan Ling found interesting. He was already having fun, just being with Yan Ling was enough to make him enjoy himself, but now he found that it only got more and more fun, a childlike joy slowly appearing in his chest.


    The two of them were currently moving over a small hill covered in snow so deep that they sank down to their knees. The strange thing about this hill was that the foot of the hill was in full bloom, colorful flowers covering the entire base of it, it was only halfway up the hill that the snow started to appear.


    Yan Ling was rummaging through the snow, checking if anything was growing beneath it, and just as Liang Chen was going to join her, he felt a faint tremble coming from his interspatial ring. Liang Chen immediately sent a sliver of his mind into the ring to locate the source of the tremor, but it vanished just as swiftly as it arrived, his ring falling silent.


    Liang Chen looked at his interspatial ring with slightly narrowed eyes, scanning every inch of its inside and outside. Something within his interspatial ring had just trembled, as if it was reacting to something. But since it had vanished so quickly, he was unable to figure out just what it was that had trembled, so he could only temporarily put it aside.


    The two made their way to the top of the hill and saw that the other side of the hill wasn''t covered in snow, but rather covered by a faint layer of mist, white flowers blooming amongst the mist. And just past this mist, right at the bottom of the hill, stood a stone forest where the stones were covered in a light-green moss. Yan Ling hadn''t forgotten one of Liang Chen''s skills, so she pointed at the mist before entering it.


    "What do you think, Little Freak, is it poisonous?"


    Liang Chen had already told her about his ability to detect poison back when they first met in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, and he had then once again shown it off when they accepted a mission in the Snow Mirror nation. Now that they were in a place like this, she was determined to work this ability of his to the bone, asking about nearly everything they saw. Liang Chen looked at the mist and the flowers, shrugging his shoulders and casually walking into the mist.


    "Yup, about as poisonous as it can get. You entering it would be the same as asking for death."


    Yan Ling''s expression changed a bit upon hearing his judgment, carefully examining the mist in front of her. Liang Chen had entered the mist, but he didn''t walk too deep into it, staying in a place where Yan Ling would be able to see him. Yan Ling continued to seriously examine the mist for over a minute before she caught a glimpse of the faint smile that hung on Liang Chen''s face. She instantly understood what he had done and found herself unable to resist cursing at him.


    "You absolute bastard, I''ll kick your ass!"


    Yan Ling charged into the mist and started chasing after the now fleeing Liang Chen, flailing her arms as she tried to grab onto him and hold him down. But no matter how fast she ran, Liang Chen always managed to stay just a few centimeters out of reach, deliberately making it seem like she had a chance to catch him so that she would keep chasing him. But just as the two reached the bottom of the hill, entering the stone forest that had stones reaching almost 20 meters into the sky, Yan Ling stopped her steps, calling out to Liang Chen.


    "Stop, there''s a Demonic beast hiding not far from here, it might decide to ambush us."


    Liang Chen instantly halted his steps, putting so much force into his foot that the earth beneath him cracked. Liang Chen and Yan Ling liked to play and joke around, but both of them knew when it was time to be serious, and now was certainly one of those times. Liang Chen swept the area around them with narrowed eyes, closely examining the stones, searching for any signs of a hidden Demonic beast. After not finding anything after half a minute of searching, he tilted his head towards Yan Ling.


    "I can''t find it, it seems to be able to cover up the electric signals in its body."


    Liang Chen didn''t think that Yan Ling was messing with him, there was something in her voice that made him certain that she was telling the truth. Yan Ling cast her gaze towards the right, her eyes landing on a fishtail-shaped boulder that was standing around half a kilometer away from them. She gave a slight nod at the boulder, her lips starting to curl up faintly.


    "It''s hiding behind that boulder over there. It''s pretty big but its strength isn''t all that high. What do you think, want to stock up on some more meat?"


    Demonic beast meat was excellent for cultivators to increase the speed of their cultivation, it was only a step below bathing in their blood. Liang Chen wouldn''t be able to eat the meat if the Demonic beast wasn''t of the time, lightning, or poison element, but as Yan Ling didn''t have any restrictions like this, he saw no harm in picking up some more meat.


    "Doesn''t sound like a shabby plan, looking at how much you usually eat, we might run out of meat before the end of this month. You wanna take care of it or should I?"


    Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk on his face. Yan Ling returned a scowl at him, scrunching up her nose and letting out a light snort.


    "Are you sure you wanna comment on a lady''s eating habits? Especially when she is the only one to actually eat your food? I''ll deal with it, just give me Little Yuma, I haven''t seen him in quite a while."


    Yan Ling held out her arm, beckoning with her fingers for Liang Chen to hand her Yumao. She hadn''t seen Yumao ever since the two of them returned from their previous mission in Green Rivers city, so she wanted to play around with him a bit again. But Liang Chen could only shake his head and give a light shrug of his shoulders.


    "No can do, he''s still locked up in his little cocoon. The energy within it has started to drastically decrease, so he should be coming out soon, but he can''t come out right now."


    Yumao had focused on devouring the various corpses he had picked up, using them to increase his strength right after they returned to the sect. He had completely sealed himself up in a cocoon of darkness, with not even Liang Chen able to see through it and peek on what was going on inside it. Faced with the reality of the situation, Yan Ling could only stick her tongue out slightly and sulk.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Bleh, you better tell me the moment he comes out, he owes me a bit of playing time."


    After sticking out her tongue, Yan Ling cast her eyes back onto the fishtail-shaped boulder. She swiped her interspatial ring and took out her weapon, the white sword that was slightly curved and incredibly thin. The two then started to approach the boulder, Liang Chen walking a short distance behind Yan Ling and keeping an eye on their surroundings.


    Once they arrived within 200 meters of the boulder, it seemed like the beast hiding behind it was unable to remain calm, jumping out from its hiding spot. The Demonic beast looked like a large and long-armed sloth, at least five meters tall, with light-gray fur and two large flappy ears that resembled those of an elephant. It had two large fangs growing up from its lower jaw, both fangs almost reaching its nose.


    The beast let out a loud roar that caused the surrounding stones to tremble slightly, the sound echoing between the tall stones. Yan Ling used this roar as a signal of the battle''s start, dashing forward with her entire body surrounded by wind, pushing her speed to its peak. The Demonic beast had the strength of a cultivator at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, meaning that Yan Ling shouldn''t have any trouble beating it as long as it wasn''t a Divine Beast.


    The sloth slammed out with both its arms in a clapping motion, aiming to smash Yan Ling with a single attack. Yan Ling responded by jumping up, stepping on the right arm of the beast. The moment her feet came in contact with the beast''s arm, a sharp and ferocious wind was released by the sole of her feet, leaving several gashes in the arm of the sloth.


    The Demonic beast reacted quickly, swinging his arm sideways as fast as he could to throw her off. But Yan Ling had clearly already expected this, stabbing down with her sword and burying it as deep as she could into the arm of the beast, using the sword to prevent herself from being flung off as the beast swung its arm around.


    Her sword was special, engraved with several arrays, so the moment she stabbed the Demonic beast, a strange wind started to surround the arm that was stabbed, forcibly slowing the speed at which the beast could move its arm. The sloth continued to swing its arm around, so Yan Ling knew that she would eventually lose her grip on her sword and be flung away. Since that was the case, she changed her tactic a little.


    She pulled out the sword slightly and used the force of the beast''s swing, as well as her law of wind, to aid her attack, spinning around the beast''s arm and carving a deep gash around the beast''s elbow. When she spun around to the spot where she had first stabbed the sword into the beast''s arm, she kicked off the monster''s arm and jumped away, putting some distance between them again.


    The sloth now had several gashes in its right arm, as well as a cut that went around its entire elbow and nearly took off its entire arm. After landing on the ground again, Yan Ling crouched slightly to dampen the landing, looking at the Demonic beast and unconsciously licking her lips slightly. Yan Ling enjoyed seeing her strength grow, she enjoyed knowing just how much stronger she had gotten, and there was no better way of finding out than taking part in a battle.


    The sloth let out a nearly ear-shattering roar, smashing the ground in front of it with its two fists. As it smashed the ground and threw up a large amount of dirt, the earth that had been thrown into the air started to gather around the beast''s body, coating every inch of it in a thick layer of earth that started to solidify and harden, forming a thick defensive shield. Just by looking at this scene, it was easy to guess that the sloth was a Demonic beast that could use the element of earth. But since it hadn''t used it in an attacking manner earlier, it might be that it was only able to use the element of earth in a defensive manner.


    But with this layer of hardened earth covering its entire body, it quickly became much harder for Yan Ling to wound the beast with normal attacks. But Yan Ling was quick-witted, so she came up with a new plan after giving the entire sloth a quick look-over. She once again dashed forward, repeating the same motions she had done at the start of the battle.


    And just like the beast had done at the start of the battle, it slammed out with both its arms in a clapping motion. But this time its arms were slightly raised, prepared to react the moment Yan Ling tried to jump up. But just as the beast''s hands were about to crash into her, she leaned backward and dodged beneath the hands, sliding along a small patch of ice that she had created on the ground.


    She had to lie down on her side to dodge the clapping hands, but thanks to the ice, she was able to continue moving forward. After sliding for a short distance, she reached out with her arm and grabbed onto the upper-arm of the sloth. The hardened earth that covered the beast was so solid that she didn''t even bother trying to pierce it with her sword, she had a different reason for grabbing onto the beast''s arm.


    Using the hold she had on the monster''s arm, she kicked off the ground and swung herself up from the ground. Normally this would send her straight up, but since she was holding onto the beast''s arm, she was able to twist her trajectory slightly and fling herself at the beast''s neck. She stepped on the beast''s neck and grabbed onto its large ear, allowing her to stand sideways on the beast''s thick neck.


    Even its neck was covered in hardened earth, so attacking that place was also useless. The beast opened its mouth and seemed like it wanted to turn its head and bite at her, a situation Yan Ling took full advantage of. She let go of her sword and stretched out her now empty arm, a large ball of water gathering in front of her palm. As the beast turned its head, she let go of its ear and grabbed onto one of the fangs that grew up from its lower jaw, using her arm to raise her up until she was right in front of the beast''s face.


    She sent the ball of water she had created directly into the sloth''s open mouth, forcing a large amount of water down its throat, flooding its lungs. This caused the monster''s body to start a coughing fit in an attempt to push out the water that had entered its lungs. This meant that for a short second, the beast lost full concentration, the hardened earth that had covered its body falling off like a snake shedding its skin.


    Yan Ling let out a victorious laughter, sharp blades of wind gathering around her right hand, the hand which had forced all the water down the beast''s throat. She stabbed out with her hand, the blades of wind turning her entire arm into something akin to a sharp spear, allowing her arm to stab into the sloth''s throat.


    The coughing fit that the Demonic beast was experiencing grew even worse, blood pouring out from its mouth and throat as it started to convulse. Yan Ling kicked off from the beast, jumping back and making sure that she landed gracefully, raising both her arms to signify the successful landing. Shortly after she landed, the hole in the sloth''s throat proved to be too much for it, and it fell over dead.


    Liang Chen, who was still standing a short distance away and had made sure to keep a close eye on their surroundings, could not help but give a nod of his head. He had focused on his cultivation with all his might after returning from their previous mission, but wasn''t Yan Ling doing the exact same? And this was the fruit of her hard labor, even though she was just a cultivator at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, she could easily kill a Demonic beast with the strength of someone at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    And what''s more, she was able to do this without having to activate her secret technique, so there was no telling how strong she would be once she actually activated that secret technique and fought with all her might. After seeing the beast fall over and making sure that it was dead, Yan Ling turned around and sent a victorious smile at Liang Chen, laughing proudly. Liang Chen knew what she wanted, and since she had earned it, he decided to indulge her.


    "Aye, you did well. Your strength really grows fast, it seems like I need to take care that my undefeated streak against you doesn''t suddenly end."


    Liang Chen walked forward and gave Yan Ling a thumbs up, making sure to praise her until she blushed slightly and tried to hide it with some more laughter. Liang Chen then walked over to the dead Demonic beast and stored its body into his interspatial ring. As he was the one who was in charge of cooking, it was, of course, he who had to carry the corpse and make sure that he took it apart properly later on. After Liang Chen stored the corpse into his interspatial ring, Yan Ling stretched her body and then pointed into the distance.


    "That was a nice workout, but unless they have one of your elements, we should probably avoid the other Demonic beasts we encounter in the future. We are getting closer to the Fiend King''s Tomb, and the faster we get there the better."


    Liang Chen had no objections to this arrangement, nodding his head in agreement. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out a large piece of cloth, handing it to Yan Ling so that she could clean up her arm, which was covered in Demonic beast blood. Once she was clean again, the two of them continued on their path to the Fiend King''s Tomb.

 Huang Dongs scheming.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued to make their way towards the Fiend King''s Tomb, leaving the stone forest after half a day of moving. Yan Ling said that they were getting closer to the Fiend King''s Tomb, but it would still take them about a week to get there, that was how large this Myriad Convergence was.


    After leaving the stone forest they stepped onto a plain made from crystal clear ice, a few frozen Demonic beasts visible deep within the ice. As they traversed the plain, parts of the ice rose up and revealed themselves as Demonic beasts that were made from pure ice and nothing else. Just like Yan Ling had suggested, they ignored these Demonic beasts and simply ran away from them and left the ice plain.


    The place they arrived after leaving the plain of ice was a place somewhat similar to the stone forest, but rather than large and strange boulders, there were glimmering crystals rising up all over the place. Each of these crystals was charged with potent lightning energy, each of them almost reaching the level of a Lightning Quartz.


    These crystals were perfect for Liang Chen, so he started to store several of them into his interspatial ring. He didn''t even bother cutting them into smaller pieces, he simply stored them whole into his interspatial ring, even those that were several meters high. These actions seemed to provoke the ire of the Demonic beasts that lived here, as Liang Chen and Yan Ling swiftly found themselves chased by a wide variety of lightning type Demonic beasts.


    If it were just one or two, they would be able to deal with them, but the horde that was chasing them consisted of several tens of Demonic beasts ranging from the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm to the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, fighting them was suicidal. As they ran at full speed, they quickly realized that Yan Ling would not be able to outrun these Demonic beasts that could use the lightning to increase their speed.


    As such, the only choice they had was for Liang Chen to pick her up and carry her. Liang Chen wanted to just throw her onto his back, but she turned extremely defiant and adamant, only relenting when Liang Chen agreed to carry her in a princess carry. After receiving his promise, Yan Ling jumped up and allowed Liang Chen to carry her as he ran at full speed.


    It was a bit hard to run while carrying Yan Ling in a princess carry, but Liang Chen decided to quietly endure it, mostly because it felt nice to hold her so close, her sweet scent tickling his nose. Of course, he had no intention of telling her this, as it would become something she could hold over his head. Hence, he complained the entire time they were running, making it seem like running while carrying her like this was incredibly strenuous.


    After an entire day of running, the two of them finally managed to leave the crystal forest, the Demonic beasts choosing to not chase after them into the plain dotted with valleys that they entered. Liang Chen put down Yan Ling and the two took a quick break to eat some food and for Yan Ling to get a bit of sleep while Liang Chen kept watch over their surroundings.


    After Yan Ling got some sleep, the two resumed their journey, making sure to walk around the various valleys so that they didn''t provoke any of the Demonic beasts that nested in the valleys. Two days later, they left the plain and entered a hilly area that was covered in a dense forest filled with somewhat bent and twisted trees, the needle-like leaves on the trees so deep-green that they were almost black.


    This forest was the last of the areas they had to traverse before reaching the Fiend King''s Tomb, it was also one of the larger areas within the Myriad Convergence, so large that it would take them three days to get through it. Upon entering the forest, the two of them also slowed down somewhat, as it was a place popular with both the Demonic beasts that lived in the Myriad Convergence as well as the various disciples that came to take part in the competition.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling walked shoulder to shoulder, both keeping an eye on the area around them as they moved. There was no telling what they might encounter here, so they had to make sure to keep a more vigilant watch than ever before. As they walked, Liang Chen''s eyes suddenly shot open, his body moving on instinct as he called out.


    "Watch out!"


    He stretched out with his arm and grabbed onto Yan Ling, pulling her along as he jumped backward, a horrible sense of danger flooding his entire body. Shortly after he jumped back, space a short distance ahead of where they had just been shattered and cracked open, a spatial rift forming. The spatial rift sucked in everything around it, but since Liang Chen had pulled Yan Ling back already, neither of them were affected by it. Yan Ling looked at the newly formed spatial rift, letting out a breath and wiping her forehead before giving Liang Chen a thumbs up.


    "Really, I knew that your freakishly sharp instincts would prove to be useful."


    Liang Chen had no idea what was going to happen, his instincts simply warned him that he was about to die so he took swift action to avoid whatever his instincts warned him about. As Liang Chen looked at the spatial rift, he once again felt a faint trembling coming from inside his interspatial ring. He quickly sank his mind into it, but the trembling once again stopped as soon as it had started.


    This wasn''t the first time something within his interspatial ring had trembled ever since he entered the Myriad Convergence, this was already the fifth time. The first time was as Liang Chen and Yan Ling were climbing the strange hill which was half-covered in snow, and the next three happened as the two of them continued to travel. Looking at the situation now, he started to wonder if something in his interspatial ring was reacting to the spatial rifts that were spread throughout this Myriad Convergence.


    As the two looked at the large spatial rift, something slowly started to drift out from within it. Before long, a piece of land that looked like it was made from charcoal was spat out from within the spatial rift. The piece of land was almost three kilometers in width and one kilometer in length, surprisingly large considering it came out from a spatial rift that was nowhere near that large.


    The piece of land shot into the distance right after it was spat out from the spatial rift, vanishing from sight as it flew away to become another piece of this Myriad Convergence. After the charcoal-like land was shot into the distance, the spatial rift started to shrink, Liang Chen once again feeling a short trembling from his interspatial ring as the spatial rift closed.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes for a short second, Yan Ling''s eyes sparkling with excitement. It wasn''t everyday one got to see a spatial rift open and spit out an entire piece of land, so how could she not be a bit excited after seeing something like that?


    After making sure that the spatial rift was gone and there was no more danger, the two continued to travel through the forest, getting closer and closer to the Fiend King''s Tomb.


    Two days after entering the forest, Yan Ling suddenly stopped in her tracks, placing her arm in front of Liang Chen and stopping him from moving further. She narrowed her eyes and looked into the distance, at a rather large hill that was so steep it resembled a small mountain. There were quite a few trees covering the hill, so it was hard to see anything on it. Yan Ling pointed at the hill, her lips curling up into a faint sneer.


    "There is someone hiding on that hill, about six people. I can''t quite tell from here, but they seem to be from the Moon Dragon sect, and looking at where they are placed, they seem to be planning on ambushing whoever walks past that hill."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow at her assessment. The hill was too far away for Liang Chen to scan it for living beings using his law of lightning, so he was rather surprised that she was able to accurately tell that there were not only people hiding there, but also how many and from which sect. Seeing his raised eyebrow and guessing what he was thinking, Yan Ling let out a light laugh and gave him a quick explanation.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Nihihi, you better not underestimate my skills when it comes to discovering other living beings. I might not be able to sense the electricity within their bodies, but as long as they are in contact with either air or moisture within a 10-kilometer circle around me, they cannot hide from my sight."


    Using the laws of wind and water, Yan Ling was able to tell if there were people around her based on how the air moved around them or based on how the moisture in the air touched them. Focusing on the places where the air or moisture was disturbed would allow her to get a better picture of the area, almost using the moisture or wind as her own eyes. When it came to things like tracking and surveying areas, she was far better than Liang Chen.


    This was the first time Liang Chen had gotten a proper description of the tracking technique Yan Ling used, and he had to admit that it was better than his. He now also understood how she was able to notice the sloth-like Demonic beast that was hiding behind the fishtail-shaped boulder back in the stone forest, despite it seemingly using a type of technique to hide. Yan Ling returned her gaze back to the hill, her lips changing from a smirk into a sly smile.


    "It hardly seems like a coincidence that someone from the Moon Dragon sect would wait here to ambush someone, they might have come here especially for us. The only ones who know that he would be taking this path are the disciples of our sect, so there might be a spy among the disciples that joined us. Say, since they wish to ambush us, how about we go and ambush them?"


    Her words were quite reasonable and logical, looking at the path they used when they split up with the other disciples, this would be the best path for them to take to get to the Fiend King''s Tomb. For someone to wait in ambush in this exact location, it was truly a bit hard to pass it off as a coincidence. Her idea of ambushing the ambushers also seemed sound, so Liang Chen nodded his head and the two went about setting the plan in motion.


    They backtracked a bit, moving far enough back that they would be out of sight from someone waiting at the top of the hill. They then started to slowly make their way around the hill, walking in a wide circle around it. Yan Ling used her control over the law of wind to divert the wind around them in a natural manner, just in case the ambushers were using the wind to locate them. Liang Chen did something similar, using his law of lightning to cover up and distort the electrical impulses that ran through their bodies, making them similar to the electrical impulses that were present in the bodies of smaller animals and some large insects.


    Like this, the two of them slowly started to approach the hill from the opposite side, the side where the ambushers were waiting. As they got closer, Liang Chen also managed to discover the six people, Yan Ling''s guess turning out to be right on the mark. Six people, clad in the silver robes of the Moon Dragon sect, were hiding amongst the tops of the dense trees that covered the hill.


    Looking at their cultivations, which were all at the middle-stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, as well as how they were hidden, it seemed like they were a group that specialized in ambushes and assassinations. Liang Chen was confident that he and Yan Ling would be able to deal with them in a frontal fight, but if they got ambushed, things would be far harder. Luckily, there were very few people who knew that the two of them had tracking and surveying abilities, so the spies who had most likely told the Moon Dragon sect about their path wouldn''t be able to warn them.


    After they got within four kilometers of the six people, Liang Chen gave a light wave of his hand and crouched down, using a thick tree as a cover. Yan Ling crouched down next to him, so he whispered her the plan he had come up with.


    "Leave them to me, I have a poison that is perfect for this."


    Yan Ling nodded her head and entrusted the task to Liang Chen, fully confident that he would be able to handle it. Liang Chen raised his right arm and opened his hand, a brown stream of poison starting to gather in his palm. This brown stream of energy was a poison he had infused with his Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi. He also inserted a bit of his law of time into it, increasing the speed at which the poison would take effect.


    After concentrating the poison a bit more, he pointed his palm at the six people, who were still hiding amongst the trees and keeping an eye on the path that Liang Chen and Yan Ling were supposed to take. He let out a light breath, the brown poison vanishing into the air. He then proceeded to quietly wait with Yan Ling, the poison finally taking effect after two minutes.


    The six people suddenly stiffened and fell out from the trees, crashing into the ground with dull thuds. But after they crashed into the ground, they stood up and started walking towards Liang Chen and Yan Ling with stiff movements, their eyes and expressions completely blank. Yan Ling tensed up slightly when she saw this, but Liang Chen calmed her down with a wave of his hand and stood up, calling out an order to the six people that were walking towards him.


    "Tell me who sent you here and how you knew that we would move through here."


    The six people stopped a short distance in front of Liang Chen, dropping into a kneeling position with lowered heads. Yan Ling also stepped out from behind the tree, looking at the six people with a mixture of curiosity and amazement. Just how had the Little Freak managed to do this to them?


    This was the effect of the Fragile Heart Mushroom that Liang Chen had purchased after Yan Ling told him the story of her past. As it was a mushroom that contained a somewhat weak poison that would turn weaker people and Demonic beasts into puppets, it was well-suited for a situation like this. Mixing the poison with his Anima Essence and his law of time, Liang Chen was able to have the poison directly attack the soul of his enemies, quickly taking control over them and turning them into his puppets. The six people all spoke up at once, doing their best to respond to the order given by their master.


    "We were sent here by Huang Dong to kill Liang Chen and to capture Yan Ling and bring her back to him. We knew that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would move through here because Huang Dong had already received a report from one of his spies. Huang Dong never told us the name of this spy, so we don''t know just who it was that gave the report."


    The words of the six people were a bit stiff at first, but they got smoother as they continued to talk, as if they were relearning the skills they possessed before becoming mindless puppets. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s expression sank slightly after hearing the response, both of them clicking their tongues.


    There really was a spy amongst the disciples that had entered the competition this time, this meant that Yan Ying and the others might be in danger. Liang Chen''s eyes were a bit narrowed, continuing to question the six.


    "So it really was Huang Dong. Really, what a scummy person. Where is Huang Dong now?"


    There was no way for those on the outside to see what was going on in here, so there was no telling what Huang Dong might have done to Yan Ling if he got his hands on here. Would Liang Chen allow such a threat to live, someone who might harm the person he loved? The answer was obviously no, Huang Dong had to die before he could harm Yan Ling. Never again would Liang Chen allow anyone to harm those that he loved, never again would he allow himself to lose another person dear to him.


    Of course, Liang Chen wasn''t so stupid that he would charge at Huang Dong now, he was only trying to figure out where Huang Dong was so that they could avoid him until he and Yan Ling grew strong enough to kill him. The six people quickly answered, unable to resist the insidiousness of Liang Chen''s poison.


    "Huang Dong has entered the Fiend King''s Tomb using the northern entrance, he is looking for something called a Gravity Well."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at each other after receiving the reply, their eyebrows furrowing slightly. Huang Dong had entered the same area that they were heading to, the Fiend King''s Tomb? Luckily, he had entered from the northern entrance while they were planning on entering from the western entrance, there was quite a bit of distance between the two entrances.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling exchanged deep glances, both of them able to understand the thoughts of the other. A mere Huang Dong was not enough to scare the two of them away from a place they sought to go. Their ambitions were set far higher than a mere Huang Dong, so if they were to let him scare them now, how would they ever face the enemies they had decided to kill in the future? They sent each other a fearless smile, nodding their heads and chuckling.


    "Alright then, let''s see if we have the luck of running into Huang Dong while exploring the Fiend King''s Tomb, maybe we''ll even be so lucky that we''ll get to kill him right there and then."


    After they spoke, Liang Chen waved his hand, the six kneeling people falling over dead, their souls so poisoned that the dissipated. His poison wasn''t strong enough to take permanent control over them, he could only control them within a 10-kilometer area around him. Because of this, they were useless as spies, and since they had tried to kill him and harm Yan Ling, he did not give them an ounce of mercy.


    After removing the interspatial rings of the six people and putting away their bodies for Yumao, Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued heading for the Fiend King''s Tomb, reaching the outskirts of it after another day of traveling.


    The Fiend King''s Tomb was located at the center of this hilly forest area, and it resembled a large scar in the land. It was a pitch black valley that dug deep into the ground, stretching on for as long as the eye could see. There were both small and large mountains standing within the valley, countless caves dug into the mountains and the valley walls themselves.


    The bottom of the valley seemed arid, but Liang Chen and Yan Ling knew that the valley was home to a wide variety of environments, The Qi within the valley was also especially rich and harmonious, the various elements in perfect balance. This allowed herbs of various elements to bloom in environments that shouldn''t normally host them, like a Fire Plum tree growing on a patch of glacial ice. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes once more, nodding their heads with fearless smiles and starting their descent into the valley.

 The Flood Dragon and the strange tree.

    The path that Liang Chen and Yan Ling used to get down to the bottom of the valley was a road carved into the side of the valley, only wide enough to hold one person at a time. This road was ancient, it had already been here when the sects first entered this Myriad Convergence, not even they knew just who had carved it.


    When they reached the bottom of the valley, they gave their surroundings a quick sweep. They could head to the north or they could head to the south, they could also check out the various mountains and caves, there were countless places where they could go to look for treasures, they just had to decide on a general direction first. After surveying their surroundings for a bit, Liang Chen turned to Yan Ling and gave his proposal.


    "I don''t think the direction we take matters too much, so how about we just head in that direction and see what we find? Your scouting technique is better than mine, so I''ll leave that to you. What do you think?"


    Liang Chen pointed down the southern side of the valley as he spoke, away from the entrance that Huang Dong had used to enter this place. Yan Ling would of course not have any objections to this arrangement, so she nodded her head and pulled her sword out from her interspatial ring, taking the lead and heading towards the south, for a claw-shaped mountain that was about four kilometers tall.


    Liang Chen also drew his spear, keeping it at the ready so that he could react to anything. He walked right next to Yan Ling, staying on her right side, allowing her to focus on her scouting and surveying of the area, her safety assured with Liang Chen by her side. Of course, her scouting technique wasn''t perfect, so Liang Chen still used his own as well, scanning their surroundings for any electrical impulses or items that contained lightning or poison.


    After the two had walked for a few minutes, Liang Chen''s eyebrows ticked up slightly as he stopped in his tracks and took a quick step back. As he took a step back, he gave a slight spin of his body and threw his spear, causing it to turn into a golden blur that nearly vanished from sight. His spear stabbed into a two-meter tall boulder located a few steps away from Yan Ling''s left shoulder, a shrill screech ringing out as a bat-like Demonic beast appeared on the surface of the boulder. It had been using a thin layer of stone to cover up its body, lying in ambush and waiting for anything to move past its area. Just as it had been preparing to launch its attack, Liang Chen''s spear had come flying and pierced through it.


    Liang Chen''s aim had been a bit off, so the spear hadn''t instantly killed the beast, piercing through the lower part of its abdomen and nailing it to the boulder. Liang Chen walked over to his spear and grabbed it, giving it a slight twist as he flooded the entire spear with emerald lightning. The lightning roasted the Demonic beast, silencing its shrill cries and allowing Liang Chen to pull back his spear and join up with Yan Ling again, the two continuing to head for the mountain.


    The two encountered several more of the bat-like Demonic beasts as they continued to get closer to the mountain, but all of them were taken care of with a quick stab of Liang Chen''s sword. None of these bats had even reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, they were not even close to being a threat to the two of them. Like this, the two of them got closer and closer to the claw-shaped mountain without any troubles.


    But when they were only a few kilometers away from the mountain, Yan Ling stopped in her tracks and turned her head to the side. She stretched out her left arm and pointed at a three-meter wide cave that was dug into the side of the wall, her eyes gleaming slightly.


    "That cave over there, the density of the water element is quite a bit higher in that cave than it is out here, so there should be some water element treasure growing within it."


    Liang Chen turned his gaze onto the cave, giving it a quick examination. It was three-meters wide and about two-meters high, and from what he could see, it was slightly slanted, going downwards at a slight angle. But the cave was too deep for him to see if anything was within it, so it seemed like they had to walk at least a short distance before reaching whatever treasure might be growing within it.


    But since they had found what they were looking for, something that might allow them to increase their strength, there was no reason to hesitate too much. Liang Chen nodded his head and the two of them changed their course and entered the cave, Liang Chen walking in front. The cave wasn''t so narrow that they couldn''t walk side by side, but doing so would somewhat lower their combat effectiveness, so it was better to walk like this.


    The air in the cave was slightly damp, the walls covered in fine drops of water that slowly ran down to the ground and then followed the slanted ground deeper into the cave. The cave got darker and darker as they followed it deeper downwards, so Liang Chen created several balls of golden lightning around him, sending them forward to serves as make-shift light sources.


    After following the cave for nearly half an hour, the sound of running water faintly reached the ears of Liang Chen and Yan Ling, the air growing damper and damper. The sound of running water grew louder and louder as they continued to descend, the source of the sound finally revealing itself to them after they walked for another two hours.


    The somewhat narrow cave they were in opened up into a wide cavern, shining crystals that resembled stars lodged into the walls and ceiling of the cavern. The cavern was at least a few kilometers in length and width, as large as some of the mountains that dotted the bottom of the valley. And running through the center of this cavern was a river that was at least a kilometer wide. There was a hole at each end of the cavern, one where the water came from and one that the water ran into, vanishing from sight.


    The water was moving rather fast, white froth visible on the surface of the river. But strangely enough, there was a small maelstrom located at the center of the river, a small tree with gnarled bark growing up from the center of the maelstrom. There were tiny fruits growing from the many branches of the tree, each fruit resembling a drop of crystal-clear water.


    Yan Ling didn''t have to tell Liang Chen anything, even he could sense the extraordinary amount of water element that these fruits contained. He couldn''t even begin to guess at just how valuable these fruits were, much less the entire tree. Liang Chen inspected the entire river for a short moment before turning to Yan Ling, pointing his spear at the river.


    "I''m probably not as adept as you are when it comes to moving on or in water. You pluck the tree and I''ll deal with the guardian."


    Liang Chen could tell that there was something swimming around in the river, circling around the maelstrom. Even if he couldn''t sense it, he wouldn''t be so naive as to think that a treasured tree like this one wouldn''t have a cultivator or a Demonic beast guarding it. Yan Ling nodded her head, her body tensing up as she prepared herself to dash forward once Liang Chen gave her the signal.


    Liang Chen continued to point at the river with his spear, small bolts of emerald lightning starting to gather around his spear. He wanted the first attack to be devastating, so he took some time to charge up his attack, stacking multiple powerful lightning bolts on top of each other.


    The air around his spear started to slowly distort as more and more bolts were stacked onto each other, a low droning sound resounding throughout the cave. In the end, the one who made the first move was the beast hiding beneath the river surface. It seemed like it didn''t dare let Liang Chen continue to gather up power, as it caused the surface fo the lake to explode outwards, the drops of water turning into thin spears that shot at Liang Chen.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Since the beast moved, Liang Chen would of course retaliate. He stabbed out with his spear, the emerald lightning bolts shooting forward with a thunderous roar, their speed so fast that they created shockwaves that pushed away the water spears. His bolts of lightning were aimed directly at the river, aiming to electrify the entire thing and force out the Demonic beast.


    If this was allowed to happen, the Demonic beast would not be able to avoid getting injured, so it knew that it had to react. It shot out from the river, jumping out of the water just as the bolts of lightning hit the river and caused it to sizzle and boil, the lightning moving throughout the entire river.


    The beast landed on the shore, revealing its form to Liang Chen and Yan Ling. The Demonic beast looked like a large snake, almost 10-meters long, its scales were a brilliant blue, its eyes a cold amber. It looked like a snake, but it had a tiny sharp knob between its eyes and what seemed to be tiny limbs growing out from its body, two on the front end of its body and two on the back end. Looking at this knob and the tiny limbs, Liang Chen knew what sort of Demonic beast he was facing, a Flood Dragon.


    A Flood Dragon was a snake that was trying to evolve into a true dragon, the closer it was to becoming a true dragon the stronger it would be. Looking at how small the knob and the limbs were, Liang Chen guessed that this Flood Dragon would still need a long time to evolve into a true dragon, at least a hundred thousand years. Becoming a dragon was not easy, it required the snake to not only be lucky and powerful but also very patient, as each step of the evolution would take thousands of years.


    Liang Chen sent Yan Ling a quick glance and then dashed forward, gray scales growing on his body. Liang Chen''s bloodline had awoken a bit more in these last six months, the scales now covering both his arms and his legs, his fingers becoming similar to claws.


    This Flood Dragon was only at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, but it had already started its evolution into a true dragon, giving it a faint dragon bloodline and making it far stronger than it looked. Underestimating it was stupid and could lead to his death.


    The Flood Dragon trembled slightly when it felt the bloodline that Liang Chen carried. This was the bloodline of a true Origin Beast, one of the greatest dragon-type Demonic beasts to ever exist. But it would not just lay down and allow Liang Chen to kill it, it would fight back with all it got.


    It let out a hissing sound, a large portion of the river behind it rising up and gathering together into a large orb that floated above it. javelin after javelin of water started to shoot out from the orb, each of them aiming to impale Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen glanced at the javelins, but then completely ignored them as he continued to dash directly at the Flood Dragon. The Flood Dragon didn''t leave all the work up to its javelins, slithering forward with an open maw, water shooting up from the river behind it and covering the ground in a wide area, creating a battleground that was perfect for it.


    Just as Liang Chen and the Flood Dragon charged at each other, Yan Ling also dashed forward, heading directly for the maelstrom and the small tree. The Flood Dragon saw this but had no choice but to ignore her for now, it would have to quickly kill Liang Chen before it could focus on Yan Ling.


    To get to the snake, Liang Chen had to step into the water it had brought forth to cover the ground, something he did without much thought or hesitation. The moment he stepped into the water, the Flood Dragon caused the water to turn thick and viscous in an attempt to trap his feet and slow his movement. It also caused several thick spikes of water to grow up and pierce towards Liang Chen''s abdomen, working in tandem with the javelins and itself.


    Just as all three attacks were about to hit him, Liang Chen tapped the ground with the tip of his spear. As the soft sound of his speartip touching the ground rang out, everything around Liang Chen stopped moving. The javelins were frozen in mid-air, the Flood Dragon was frozen right in front of him, and the spikes of water were frozen just before they could touch his robes. For a short second, Liang Chen had completely frozen the time in a small area around him.


    To freeze the time of an entire area like this, especially one that contained not just another living being but also several attacks containing quite a bit of Qi, was extremely draining, this short second draining nearly half of Liang Chen''s Qi. But that was fine, because he only needed a short second to accomplish his goal.


    He stomped the ground, emerald lightning thundering forth from his body and evaporating the water around him. He then used the force of the stomp to shoot forward, dashing past the open maw of the Flood Dragon and delivering a sideways smash against the side of its head, emerald lightning and brown poison sinking into its body.


    His Emerald lightning was strengthened using his Fiendgod Essence, the body cultivation equal of Qi. Fiendgod Essence wasn''t as versatile as Qi, nor as insidious as Anima Essence, but what it lacked in those fields it made up for with sheer strength. If one wanted to use Qi to replicate the power of Fiendgod Essence, one would have to use five times the amount of Qi to produce the same strength.


    Because of this, when his Fiendgod Essence reinforced lightning struck the Flood Dragon, it was like getting hit with a massive boulder made from pure lightning, its scales shattering as blood poured forth and its skull caved in slightly. Liang Chen had also used poison in this attack, mixing his Anima Essence with the poison from the Fragile Heart Mushroom. It would not be enough to turn the Flood Dragon into a puppet, but it would be enough to daze it for another few seconds, which was plenty of time for Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    After putting all his strength into that attack, unleashing his full might within a short second, he continued his dash, the frozen time starting up again. The Flood Dragon was smashed aside, its mind in a daze from a mixture of the pain and the poison, forcing it to spend a few seconds shaking its head and using its Qi to force out the poison and regain its focus.


    But by the time it fully regained its focus, it was already too late. It turned around and saw that Yan Ling had already plucked the tree it had been guarding for five hundred years, storing it into her interspatial ring alongside a large amount of water from the river. It wanted to charge at her, but just as it wished to do so, Liang Chen arrived at her side, Yan Ling hardening some air so that he had a place where he could stand.


    The eyes of the Flood Dragon narrowed dangerously as it looked at the two, its blood starting to boil due to its rage. The hit from Liang Chen showed the Flood Dragon just how strong he was, but the Flood Dragon was no fool, it was confident that he couldn''t unleash strength like that too often, it would be too draining on him.


    The Flood Dragon raised its head high, unleashing an ear-piercing hiss that echoed throughout the cavern, the river all around Liang Chen and Yan Ling rising up. After rising up, the river bore down upon them in the form of several massive waves, seeking to crush or drown them. Liang Chen glanced at Yan Ling, who gave a nod of her head and then stretched out both her arms.


    Wind gathered in front of both her palms, forming two orbs that started to rapidly spin in opposite directions. After a short second, the orbs of wind had gathered enough power, so she smashed them together, causing them to explode and unleash a heavy blast of wind that blew the waves apart.


    But just as the waves were blown apart, a loud cracking and rumbling sound echoed throughout the cave. The two quickly turned towards the source of the sound and saw that the Flood Dragon had used the tidal wave attack as nothing but a distraction, its real plan was to collapse the entrance that they had used to enter the cavern.


    It had shattered the walls of the cave, causing them to collapse and flood a large portion of the cave with thick stones, meaning that leaving through the cave they had come from was no longer an option. The Flood Dragon then turned to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, a vicious smile flashing past its eyes. It would trap them here with it, that way they would end up starving to death even if they managed to kill it.


    But faced with this vicious smile, Yan Ling simply returned a bright and cheerful smile of her own. She then grabbed onto Liang Chen''s hand and let out a laugh, pulling him into the water.


    "Staying here is no good, so let''s go for a little ride! I always did want to try a fun waterslide!"


    The cave they had used to enter this cavern was no longer traversable, and starving to death here after killing the Flood Dragon was certainly not an option either. Since that was the case, they might as well just follow this river and see where it led them, sooner or later it would end up somewhere.


    She pulled Liang Chen into the water, using her laws of wind and water to create a bubble of air around their heads so that they would be able to breathe even underwater. And then, then she let the current take them away, both of them following the river through the hole in the wall, taking this waterslide to an unknown location.

 Raging currents.

    The Flood Dragon let out a loud and furious hiss when it saw Yan Ling''s actions, quickly slithering forward to chase after them. But just as the Flood Dragon entered the river again, Yan Ling acted and made her move. She made a cutting motion with her arm, the water in front of the hole they had entered rising up and forming a furious tidal wave that pushed the Flood Dragon back.


    It only managed to push the Flood Dragon back for a bit, delaying it by a few seconds. But with how fast the current was taking them away, these few seconds were the same as an endlessly long chasm that separated them from the Flood Dragon. The Flood Dragon raised its head high and continued to let out several furious hisses, thrashing around in the river to release a fragment of its anger.


    Not only had it lost its treasured tree, it hadn''t even been able to hold back the thieves that had stolen its treasure. Now it would have to wait even longer for its next evolution, and without the fruits from the tree, it was far from confident in taking on the tribulation that would arrive when it tried to evolve further.


    While the Flood Dragon was unleashing some of its rage, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were being swept away by the violent currents. The water moved so violently that Liang Chen was unable to see anything, leaving him unable to know if he was about to hit a rock or if they arrived in a new cavern from which they could leave.


    Yan Ling, who could control the law of water, did not have this problem, so it fell upon her to make sure that the two of them didn''t crash into anything as they were being swept away. To make sure that the two didn''t drift apart, Yan Ling made sure to wrap her arms around Liang Chen''s waist, giving him a tight hug while using her law of water to control their bodies.


    This was an underground river that was moving strangely fast and ferociously, so the bottom and sides of the river were filled with jagged and sharp rocks that could at any second slice open Liang Chen or Yan Ling. She couldn''t afford to let her concentration lapse for even a second, her mind fully focused on their surroundings, on making sure that Liang Chen didn''t get hurt because of a decision she had made.


    She managed to dodge everything that they almost crashed into for the first three hours, but after that, her mind slowly started to tire out from being fully focused on such a large area for so long, resulting in minor mistakes happening.


    At first, it was just mistakes like dodging a rock a bit too late and having it get a bit too close to them, but these mistakes quickly piled on and grew. And finally, she made a bigger mistake, not noticing a jagged rock before it was too late, the rock leaving a gash in Liang Chen''s thigh. Yan Ling quickly corrected their position to prevent the rock from increasing the size of the wound, but the damage was already done.


    Liang Chen noticed that he got wounded, but he didn''t make a sound, he knew that this was a very stressful and tough moment for Yan Ling, so he didn''t want to make it worse for her by making her feel bad. He even felt like laughing at himself, laughing at how he was unable to do even the slightest thing right now.


    Shortly after not noticing the first rock before it left a gash in Liang Chen''s thigh, Yan Ling made a similar mistake, the stress and mental exertion starting to get to her. She missed another jagged rock, only noticing it when it was already too late to dodge it. But this time she managed to react in time, spinning their bodies around so that she was the one who got wounded, the stone leaving a gash on the lower side of her back.


    One wound led to another, and after following the stream for over half a day, Yan Ling''s body was covered in cuts both large and small. Liang Chen was a bit better off, as she was doing her best to protect him, but he still had a few gashes on his body, the blood of the two mixing with the water around them.


    And then, the water around them suddenly vanished and the two found themselves midair. The underground river had entered another cavern, the place where they came out being the top of a waterfall that was about a hundred meters high. The river they had just been in fell down the waterfall and then continued flowing through the cavern before entering another hole and vanishing from sight.


    They were no longer being carried away by the current, so Yan Ling could finally relax her tensed and tired mind, nearly losing consciousness, her grip on Liang Chen loosening. Liang Chen quickly reacted, reaching out and grabbing onto her as gravity caused them to rapidly descend towards the ground. He picked her up in a princess carry and used his law of time to freeze the time beneath his feet, creating tiny footholds he could use to safely descend down to the ground.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Once his feet stepped on dry land, he took out a dry robe from his interspatial ring and tore it into strips, using them as makeshift bandages to cover up Yan Ling''s wounds. He then took out a medicinal pill from his interspatial ring and had her eat it, lying her down on the ground in front of him as he spoke up.


    "Don''t worry about anything else, just focus on absorbing the medicinal energy and healing your wounds. Once you have managed to restore yourself a bit, you can use your law of water to speed up the healing speed."


    Yan Ling gave a slight nod of her head, her mind dazed and her vision somewhat blurry. Her mind was completely spent and she had lost a lot of blood, the fact that she hadn''t already lost consciousness showed how determined she was to stay conscious.


    While Yan Ling was focusing on using the pill to restore her own wounds, Liang Chen switched into a dry robe and swallowed a pill to restore his own wounds. He had taken quite a few interspatial rings from the people he had killed, so he wasn''t lacking when it came to pills to restore wounds. Just the six spies the two of them had killed on the way to this Fiend King''s Tomb carried enough pills to last the two of them for half a year.


    Half an hour after swallowing the pill, Yan Ling had restored enough to let her use her Qi and the law of water for healing. But rather than using it on herself, she turned towards Liang Chen and started to focus on healing his wounds, which were nowhere near as bad as her''s. Liang Chen wanted to whack her on the head to make her focus on herself, but looking at the determined and apologetic expression she wore, he couldn''t bring himself to lower his hand. In the end, he could only gently rub her head and mutter.


    "Really, you should focus on yourself in times like these. Don''t worry about these small wounds, they weren''t your fault, they were my fault for being useless in the water."


    Yan Ling didn''t give a proper response, simply sticking out her tongue and ignoring Liang Chen. With her acting like that, there was nothing Liang Chen could really do, he could only take out another pill and force her to swallow it, further speeding up her healing process.


    Yan Ling and the pill he had swallowed weren''t the only things healing Liang Chen, his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline also reacted to his wounds, automatically starting to repair the broken parts of his body, strengthening them ever so slightly. With these three things healing him, his wounds were rapidly restoring themselves and vanishing. Once over half of his wounds were gone, he forced Yan Ling to stop healing him and focus on herself, adamantly ignoring her protests until she had no choice but to relent.


    While Yan Ling started focusing on her own wounds, Liang Chen examined the cavern around them. This cavern was quite a bit smaller than the one where they had encountered the Flood Dragon, only stretching out about a kilometer in each direction. The same shining crystals that had been present in the previous cavern were located here, poking out from the ceiling and the walls, resembling small stars.


    Other than the waterfall and the river, the cavern was completely empty, but Liang Chen was able to see a cave dug into the wall of the cavern, slanting upwards and bending slightly, preventing Liang Chen from seeing where it led. But at least it was a place they could go, they wouldn''t have to ride Yan Ling''s wonderful waterslide again.


    There was also another fact Liang Chen noticed about the cavern, there was a very faint pressure present here, pushing down on them. It didn''t seem like the pressure he had felt in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, it felt more like the gravity in this area was just stronger than it was in other places. He scanned the cavern for anything that could be causing this, but as he didn''t find anything, he could only ignore it for now.


    Five hours after the two of them arrived in this cavern, Yan Ling finished healing up the last of her wounds, having swallowed several pills and used nearly all her Qi to heal herself. She stood up to show that she was fine, but then quickly crouched down and covered herself, looking at Liang Chen with a slight blush.


    "Turn around."


    Her robe was so drenched that it completely stuck to her body, revealing nearly everything. Now was not the time to mention that he had already seen her naked once before after her clothing was turned to ash due to a heavenly tribulation, so he obediently turned around and waited for Yan Ling to dry herself and switch into a dry robe.


    "You can turn around again now."


    Yan Ling still looked a bit bashful, a faint blush on her ears. She tried to hide it with a calm expression, but there was no way she could hide it from Liang Chen. Of course, mentioning it would be rude, so Liang Chen acted the part of the gentleman and said nothing about her red ears, placing both his hands on her shoulders and speaking to her in a serious and comforting tone.


    "Don''t worry too much about what happened in the river. You did the best you could and you did it wonderfully, it is thanks to you that we managed to get out from the river with injuries that are this light, so don''t be too hard on yourself."


    He didn''t want the wounds they had suffered because of her mistakes to weigh down on her mind, so it was best to take care of it immediately. Yan Ling looked like she wanted to say something, opening her mouth slightly, but upon seeing the gentle and caring expression of Liang Chen, she could only nod her head. Liang Chen then removed his hands from her shoulder, clapping his hands and pointing at the cave.


    "There''s a cave over there, it seems to lead upwards. There''s not really anything else here, so I suggest we check it out."


    Yan Ling''s gaze landed on the cave, which was about four meters wide and three meters tall. There really was nothing else in this cavern, so she nodded her head and the two of them headed into the cave, following its slightly slanted and spiraling path upwards.

 The worst possible outcome.

    The cave that Liang Chen and Yan Ling were walking in right now was a bit different from the one they had used to first arrive in the cavern where they found the strange tree, this one was far more arid, with the walls cracked in a few places. The walls were also a bit darker than the walls of the other cave, the stone here so dark that it was almost black.


    The two also discovered a strange phenomenon as they moved, the faint pressure Liang Chen had felt in the cavern was growing stronger and stronger. It was as if there were unseen hands pushing down on them, trying to force them down into the ground. There was clearly something in the area that made gravity grow stronger and stronger, and they seemed to be approaching it.


    Both of them grew vigilant, drawing their weapons and holding them at the ready. Liang Chen had an uneasy hunch about their location, but he was hoping that he was wrong, because he truly did not wish to believe that his luck was that abysmal.


    The cave continued to slant upwards in a spiraling manner, the two guessing that it might even go all the way to the surface again. The higher they got, the faster gravity grew stronger, the ground beneath them starting to creak from the force it had to endure as they walked on it. Gravity got so bad that even their Qi was getting affected, ending up nearly sealed up inside their bodies, rendering their scouting techniques practically useless.


    Due to this, their vigilance continued to rise as they followed the cave upwards, both of them tightly gripping their weapons and staying ready for combat at any second. After following the cave for a little over half a day, they spotted the end of the cave, a white light shining in the distance.


    The two carefully approached the end of the cave and saw that the white light came from a large cavern that the cave was connected to. This cavern was far larger than the first one they had entered, easily several tens of kilometers in width and length. Their cave was located about half a kilometer above the ground of the cavern, a small outcropping past the cave exit giving them a place to stand so that they could examine the entire cavern.


    They both stepped onto the outcropping and swept the massive cavern, somewhat amazed at the sheer size of it. They could see countless caves covering the walls of this cavern, leading to who knows where. There was a one-meter wide hole in the ceiling of the cavern, the hole went all the way to the surface, something they could tell by the sunlight that shone down from the hole.


    Looking at it, it seemed like something had either pierced through the ground in the valley and ended up here, or something had pierced up through the ground from here and entered the valley. Pillars of various sizes were spread throughout the cavern, some so tall that they reached the cavern ceiling and some so thick that they seemed to be at least one or two kilometers thick. The entire cavern was filled with the same star-like crystals that had been present in the other caverns, making it easy to see their surroundings.


    Strangely enough, the gravity in this cavern wasn''t as strong as it had been in the cave. Liang Chen guessed that they might have passed by whatever increased the strength of the surrounding gravity, letting out a light sigh of relief that his guess about their current location seemed to be wrong. After the two examined the parts of the cavern they could see from their position, Yan Ling pointed at a cave that was directly opposite of them, on the other end of the cavern. It was slightly obscured by a few pillars, but they could still see the left half of the cave.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I say we check out that one, it seems to lead upwards, so it might lead to the surface."


    Liang Chen had also seen that the cave seemed to slant upwards, so he felt like her guess was logical and reasonable, nodding his head. There was no path down to the ground from their outcropping, so they could only jump down, Yan Ling using her law of wind to control the speed of their descent.


    When they landed on the ground, they discovered that it was surprisingly brittle, minute cracks spreading out as far as the eye could see. The other caverns and caves they had seen were surprisingly sturdy, even the cave they had just left, which was covered in cracks, was sturdier than it looked. So how come this large cavern seemed so brittle, cracks covering the entire ground? Just stepping on these cracks caused them to creak a little, growing slightly, so the cavern was clearly just as brittle as it looked.


    The two carefully made their way across the cavern, walking around some of the pillars that blocked their path. Both of them kept their weapons at the ready, prepared for any situation that might pop up. The closer they got to the center of the cavern, the place where the hole in the ceiling was, the weaker the strengthened gravity got. But despite the gravity getting weaker and weaker, there seemed to be something within this cavern interfering with their Qi, preventing them from controlling it past a few meters beyond their bodies. It was clear that this Fiend King''s Tomb hadn''t become one of the more interesting and diverse places in this Myriad Convergence for nothing.


    No Demonic beasts attack the two of them, they didn''t even see any traces of Demonic beasts as they continued to walk, the entire cavern seemingly empty. But then the two of them walked around one of the thickest pillars in the cavern, arriving at the center of the cavern. And once the two saw the center of the cavern, their expressions rapidly distorted as they pulled back and tried to hide behind the pillar again. But it was too late, they had already been discovered, a pleasantly surprised voice sounding out.


    "Ling''er? Were you unable to contain yourself and came to look for me? I''m flattered."


    Sitting on the ground in the center of the cavern, in front of a watermelon-sized black stone that was surrounded by a field of gravity so strong that it distorted space around it, was Huang Dong. He was looking at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with a pleased smile, standing up and stepping away from the stone.


    Liang Chen felt like cursing at his own luck, curse at the fact that his guess had been right. They had headed south in the valley to avoid running into Huang Dong, but when they entered the raging river, they had been pulled north again at a high speed. And then when Liang Chen noticed that gravity had gotten a bit stronger after leaving the river, he remembered what the six spies had said, Huang Dong had entered the Fiend King''s Tomb to find something called a Gravity Well.


    He hoped that his guess had been wrong, that they hadn''t ended up close to this Gravity Well, but now it seemed like him hoping for that had caused some strange fate to laugh in his face and throw the worst possible situation at them. The strange black stone, likely the Gravity Well, didn''t distort the gravity in the place where they were right now, but even without the restriction of the strong gravity, Liang Chen was not the slightest bit confident that they could beat Huang Dong, someone at the very peak of the Soaring Immortal Realm.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s minds started to race, slowly stepping back as Huang Dong casually walked closer. The worst possible situation had come about, just how were they to solve this and escape from the predicament in front of them?

 The difference between a mortal and a deity.

    The silver-haired and black-eyed Huang Dong continued to casually walk closer to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who both took two steps back for each step Huang Dong took forward. Huang Dong didn''t seem disturbed in the slightest, happily talking to Yan Ling.


    "I''m truly overjoyed that you would come to find me, Ling''er. But why did you bring this one with you? What was it again, Scourge King Liang Chen?"


    Huang Dong barely even glanced at Liang Chen, as if he didn''t even bother with his existence. Listening to his words, Liang Chen felt like spitting in disgust. Did Huang Dong truly believe the words he said? Was he really that conceited and self-centered that he thought Yan Ling had come here to look for him? Seeing Yan Ling and Liang Chen continue to back up, Huang Dong''s lips curled up slightly, his gaze finally landing on Liang Chen as he taunted.


    "Why are you backing up, what happened to all that bravado you showed when we last met in the city? Didn''t you want to kill me? Well, I am right here."


    Liang Chen didn''t even bother responding, there was no way he would fall for such petty taunts. His mind was right now fully focused on figuring a way out of this predicament, Yan Ling was much the same, her eyes darting all over the cavern as she looked for anything they could use to their advantage.


    There was the black stone, the Gravity Well, but there was no way for them to get too close to it. If they entered the space where it had concentrated all the gravity, they would be distorted and crushed by the horrifying gravity it unleashed. Yan Ling''s lips curled into a light smile, one of defiance and determination, as she tilted her head at Liang Chen.


    "I assume you don''t have any super freakish techniques that will let you kill him? Cause if not, things aren''t looking too good."


    Even in this situation, she was still Yan Ling, she was still as fearless and challenging as ever. She still wore that smile that had made Liang Chen fall for her, that charming and oh so fearless smile. Looking at her, Liang Chen felt all his worries dissipate, but he still shook his head. If he had any such techniques, this wouldn''t have been a predicament. Yan Ling gave a slight nod of her head, the grasp she had on her sword tightening as she whispered to Liang Chen.


    "Let''s show him that we aren''t as easy to pluck as he thinks, we are roses with sharp thorns. I''m not as strong as you in close combat, so I''ll focus on supporting you and doing my best to launch sneak attacks. I''ll have to leave the brunt of the frontal attacks to you, a perfect task for my Little Freak, no?"


    Liang Chen''s lips started to curl into a smile very similar to Yan Ling''s after hearing her words. He gave a nod of his head, his blazing eyes landing on Huang Dong. Liang Chen stopped stepping back and took a step forward, all the Qi within his body billowing forth as gray scales started to cover his arms and legs. His bloodline reacted to his feelings and the crisis ahead of him, scales starting to faintly appear on his abdomen and chest as well.


    The earth beneath Liang Chen''s feet shattered and was blown away by the billowing Qi, emerald lightning and white poison dancing around his body. He took another step forward, the wind around him suddenly picking up and turning his body light as a feather, Yan Ling using her law of wind to support him.


    Huang Dong smiled at Liang Chen, a smile of derision and arrogance. Liang Chen had seen such smiles directed at him several times, but each time it was he who walked away alive, he hoped that he would be able to do the same here now.


    He stepped forward once more, turning into a blur as he shot forward in a strange movement. He was now using one of the Chaos King techniques he had learned before the start of this competition, the movement skill. The first three skills of the Chaos King technique all focused on the word chaos. This movement technique turned the Qi within your own body chaotic, making it hard for others to track your movements based on your Qi. And using this chaotic movement of Qi, it also distorted your own movements, turning them erratic to the point of being hard to follow and nearly impossible to predict. It was a movement technique focused on making close combat and dodging to escape easier.


    Huang Dong raised his right arm and pointed at Liang Chen, gravity all around Liang Chen suddenly turning incredibly heavy, the earth beneath him shattering as his feet sank into by almost half a meter. Huang Dong specialized in the law of gravity and the law of hardening, the law of hardening being a law that focused on just that, hardening all things in creation, turning them rigid and unmoveable.


    Liang Chen reinforced his body using his Fiendgod Essence, his physical strength drastically increasing and allowing him to resist the strengthened gravity. Huang Dong slightly raised an eyebrow when he saw Liang Chen resisting the gravity and continuing to charge at him, his opinion of Liang Chen increasing slightly.


    Liang Chen arrived in front of Huang Dong, the gravity having grown so strong that his entire body was slightly hunched. He stabbed out with his spear, lightning and poison coiling around the tip like serpentine dragons waiting to strike. Huang Dong clenched his fist and punched down on the spear, meeting the attack with his own fist.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    His fist collided with the spear, a loud explosion sounding out as Liang Chen''s lightning and poison were unable to enter Huang Dong''s hardened fist. But this attack was only a decoy anyway, so Liang Chen didn''t really care that it failed. The moment he struck out with his spear, he had also sent out his poisonous Anima Essence through his feet, aiming to have it dig into Huang Dong''s body through his feet.


    At the same time, sharp blades of wind came at Huang Dong from the left, aiming for his throat. Sharp spears of water also appeared behind Huang Dong, aiming to stab through his heart from behind. Liang Chen wasn''t here alone, Yan Ling was providing support in any way she could.


    But the one they faced was someone at the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm, far above them. There was a fundamental difference between someone at the Soaring Immortal realm and someone at the Heaven''s Gate realm. Those at the Soaring Immortal Realm had shed their mortal coil, to normal mortals, they were practically deities. Everyone below the Soaring Immortal realm was considered a normal mortal, and a mortal could never kill a deity.


    Huang Dong ignored the blades of wind and spears of water, the gravity around them turning so heavy that the attacks imploded in on themselves under their own weight. Even Liang Chen''s Anima Essence was unable to shake Huang Dong''s soul, the poison within the Anima Essence neutralized by Huang Dong''s Qi. Huang Dong simply grinned at Liang Chen, continuing to taunt him.


    "Is this it? What a disappointment, ''Scourge King Liang Chen''. Let me show you why you can never kill me, the difference between a mortal and a deity."


    Huang Dong clenched his other fist and aimed a punch at Liang Chen''s abdomen. Liang Chen had the law of lightning, so speed was something he excelled at, but he found himself nearly unable to see Huang Dong''s attack, barely even seeing a blur.


    Liang Chen immediately used the second skill he had learned from the Chaos King technique, the defensive one. This skill focused on using a chaotic flow of Qi to separate an opponents attack, or rather the Qi and strength within the attack, into several different segments, pushing each segment into a different direction to dissipate it. While preparing this defense, Liang Chen also moved his arm in front of his abdomen to block the attack.


    Huang Dong''s attack grew a bit weaker thanks to the skill, but it still contained enough force to push Liang Chen''s arm away, his forearm nearly shattering from the short moment of contact. Huang Dong''s fist then crashed into Liang Chen''s abdomen, unleashing all the remaining force it contained.


    Liang Chen instantly spewed up large amounts of blood, all his organs feeling like they had ruptured under the force of that one fist. His body was sent flying backward, only stopping when Yan Ling caught him. Liang Chen continued to throw up blood, the taste of blood filling his mouth and the scent filling his nose. That one punch alone was enough to nearly completely incapacitate him. Liang Chen was confident that if he actually had an Ascended Tower in his dantian, it would have shattered and crippled his cultivation. Huang Dong unclenched his fist, giving his hand a few casual waves as he continued to talk.


    "Did you see that? That is the difference between a deity and a mere mortal, that is the reason you will never be able to kill me. Ling''er, come to me, there is no need for you to suffer here. Just leave him behind and I promise you that the Storm Wolf sect will reach new heights."


    Huang Dong wore a very gentle and caring expression as he spoke, but his words were rather vicious. Yan Ling''s mouth curled into a sneer as she raised her arm and flipped Huang Dong off, cursing at him.


    "Fuck off, I''d never follow someone like you. Today I either survive alongside him, or I die alongside him. No matter which it is, I will have no regrets."


    Despite the horrid pain in his body, Liang Chen couldn''t help but smile when he heard those words. His smile was incredibly bloody, but it looked so very content, so very determined. Liang Chen forced his body to up, forced himself to separate from Yan Ling and stand up. His legs were unsteady, his upper body swaying uncontrollably as blood continued to pour out of his mouth. He turned his head slightly, looking at Yan Ling and opening his mouth to talk.


    "Ling''er..."


    This was the first time he had ever called her by such an intimate name, but before he even got to finish his sentence, Yan Ling hit him over the head, scowling slightly at him.


    "You better not tell me to run away or follow him. Like I said, I either survive with you or die with you. There is no way I am letting my Little Freak get out of my sight, who knows how much trouble you''d stir up if I were to do that."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but burst into laughter after hearing her words, the laughter increasing the pain in his body and causing him to cough up more blood. He waved his hand, a light smile on his face.


    "There''s no way I''d tell you something like that. I am far too selfish for that, I want to keep you by my side no matter what. What I was going to say is, I''ll leave the rest, and the aftermath, to you."


    Liang Chen then turned his gaze onto Huang Dong, his light smile turning vicious and savage, the blood dripping down his face only further increasing the savagery of his smile. Liang Chen stretched out two unsteady hands, talking to Huang Dong for the first time since they met here.


    "You''re right, Huang Dong, I am unable to kill you, I don''t have that strength. But what I do have, is the strength to allow another ''mere mortal'' to kill you."


    After he spoke, Liang Chen dug his own hands into his chest, piercing his flesh and crushing several of his ribs. Yan Ling was horrified when she saw the scene, but Huang Dong only looked on with some mild curiosity. When Liang Chen pulled his hands out of his chest again, he was holding six petals in his grasp.


    Two of the petals were a deep violet, two of them were a pure white, and the last two were a ghastly gray in color, they were the leaves from his Dragon Lotuses. By plucking them here, he had lowered his own cultivation back to the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, the price he had to pay to activate this Sebettu secret technique. He crushed the six petals in his grasp, a cold voice sounding out.


    "Mad King''s Rage."

 Mad Kings Rage.

    The six crushed petals turned into streams of pure energy that drilled their way into Liang Chen''s body, roaring through his vein as his blood started to seethe. The power radiating from his body drastically increased, an intense burning pain filling his entire body as his bloodline started to move within his veins.


    There was a reason this secret technique was called the Mad King''s Rage, and there was a reason Liang Chen hadn''t used the technique the moment the battle started. The technique was created by Wrathful King Shuten Yimo, the third-in-command of the second Sebettu Emperor, it was a technique he crafted to allow even the weakest of their soldiers to temporarily unleash great strength.


    The technique used the great energy that was created when one broke their Dragon Lotus to rouse the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline within their veins, bringing it to the brink of breaching to unleash terrifying might. The thing that gave the technique its name was the severe repercussion of using the technique.


    The energy that was unleashed when the bloodline was brought to the brink was so great that it placed so much of a strain on the Sebettu''s body that it was able to shatter their body and kill them. But it wasn''t this repercussion that gave the technique its name, the repercussion that gave this technique its name was the fact that since the technique brought the bloodline to the brink of breaching.


    Bringing the bloodline to the brink of breaching meant that you were practically burning the bloodline as you forced it to unleash more power than ever before. This meant that if one used the technique too much, all their Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline would end up vanishing, turning that Sebettu into a cripple who couldn''t even use their Dragon Lotuses, as they were dependent on the bloodline.


    Normal Sebettu could use this technique a total of three times, losing all their bloodline upon the third activation, but Liang Chen''s bloodline had yet to fully awaken, so he wasn''t a normal Sebettu. Thus, it would require more rousing to get his bloodline to unleash the strength of this technique, resulting in a greater loss than usual. Liang Chen guessed that he could at best use this technique one more time in his life, losing all his Heaven Devouring bloodline as he activated the technique.


    This was, of course, something he wished to avoid, which was why Liang Chen had not wanted to activate this technique here. But he did not regret activating this secret technique, as it was the only way to ensure the safety of him and Yan Ling.


    As more and more of his bloodline was forced to activate and unleash more strength than normal, changes started happening to Liang Chen. His hair was still as ghastly gray as it always was when he activated his bloodline, but his left eye turned a deep golden in color and his right eye a glimmering emerald. The scales covering his arms and legs started to once again grow, covering his entire torso, some of the scales turning a deep crimson as several of them shattered and blood spurted out, Liang Chen''s body unable to bear the burden of the strength.


    Under the shocked gaze of Yan Ling and the wary yet arrogant gaze of Huang Dong , a faint figure started to appear around Liang Chen. The figure was in the shape of a serpentine dragon covered in gray scales, one eye golden and the other emerald. The dragon was the exact same as the illusion Fan Jiahao and Huang Dong had briefly seen before, but this one was far smaller, only large enough to coil around Liang Chen.


    There was also another difference, this dragon was not an illusion. It was so faint that it was nearly translucent, but it was no illusion, anyone could see it, a sign of Liang Chen''s bloodline awakening a bit more due to the secret technique. Once his bloodline had fully awakened, the dragon would become completely corporeal, Liang Chen able to either control or fuse with it using his bloodline.


    Looking at Liang Chen''s scales shattering and turning bloody, Yan Ling bit her lips so hard that blood started dripping forward. She knew what had forced Liang Chen to use drastic measures like this, her stubbornness. Before this competition, her father wanted to give her several talismans, like the ones he had given her before she entered the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but she had rejected them all.


    She wanted to be more like Liang Chen, relying on herself rather than some talismans to keep herself safe as she increased her strength. If she continued to use her father''s talismans, would she ever grow to become strong enough to properly walk next to Liang Chen? It was these thoughts and worries that had caused her to reject the talismans, caused this scene in front of her to happen.


    Yan Ling continued to bite her lips, intently looking at what was about to happen. Liang Chen said he would leave the rest to her, leave the aftermath to her. She did not want to betray that trust he had put in her, so she could not let her watch drop for even one second, as that one second might result in her losing her chance.


    Liang Chen clenched his fists, a tearing pain running through them from that simple motion. He could not keep this technique active for long, his still weak body would not be able to handle it. He didn''t waste any time on words, stomping the ground and shooting forwards, the earth in surrounding one-kilometer area shattering due to the force of that one step.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Huang Dong was still filled with arrogance, but he felt that something was a bit wrong with the situation. Liang Chen looked like he was recklessly dashing at him, but there was not a single opening on his body, not one place where it looked like Huang Dong might land an attack. There was also that faint image of a dragon that coiled around Liang Chen, as well as the horrifying energy that his body released, there was clearly something wrong here.


    Huang Dong decided to temporarily not engage Liang Chen in a head-on fight, jumping away and using his law of hardening to turn the air in front of Liang Chen into a solid wall. But the wall proved completely ineffective, Liang Chen crashing through it like a juggernaut as he continued to charge at Huang Dong. He arrived in front of Huang Dong in less than a blink, punching out with a bloody right fist, time itself distorting uncontrollably around his fist.


    Huang Dong''s eyes narrowed slightly as he clapped his hands, the gravity around Liang Chen turning several times heavier than before, his feet sinking into the ground and changing the course of his attack. Huang Dong took the chance to jump back and put more distance between them, waving his right arm as he did so.


    The earth around Liang Chen''s feet hardened to a state tougher than any steel, trapping his legs. Several thin needles of gravity formed above Liang Chen, plummeting down and stabbing into his body. Each needle drastically increased the gravity affecting the places they stabbed, taking advantage of the fact that they only had to affect a very small area. Since the affected area was so small, the gravity became so heavy that Liang Chen''s left elbow, left shoulder, and three of his ribs instantly shattered, one of the shattered ribs piercing into his lungs and slowly filling them with blood.


    Liang Chen grit his teeth and swallowed down the blood that started to rise up his throat, tensing up his legs so much that the heel on his left foot shattered, the earth around it breaking. He knew that even if he used this self-destructive strengthening technique, his cultivation was too low to increase his strength by enough to kill Huang Dong. But his plan was never to kill Huang Dong, it was just too wound him so much that Yan Ling could kill him.


    With the earth around him shattering, a deep crimson bolt of lightning flashed out from Liang Chen''s body, heading directly for Huang Dong. Liang Chen jumped up and stepped onto the lightning bolt, riding it as it headed directly for Huang Dong. Liang Chen held his spear as he rode on the bolt of lightning, stabbing out with it, the tip of the spear completely white from the poison that covered it.


    Huang Dong''s eyebrows furrowed slightly when he saw the scene. He had never heard about Liang Chen being able to use crimson tribulation lightning, usually, only talented cultivators of the Primordial Immortal realm had a slight chance to be able to control this lightning. He didn''t want to take this lightning head-on, so he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a round ceramic plate covered in crimson runes.


    Huang Dong shattered the ceramic plate, the crimson runes spreading into the air and forming the image of a tall mountain. When Liang Chen''s spear and crimson lightning hit the image of the mountain, it felt like he had crashed into an actual mountain, neither his spear nor the lightning able to pierce through it. The image of the mountain grew fainter and fainter, eventually vanishing from sight, but by then it had already blocked Liang Chen''s attack long enough for Huang Dong to put more distance between them.


    Liang Chen looked at the remains of the ceramic plate with somewhat narrowed eyes. Never had he expected Huang Dong to carry a portable defensive array with him. Was it something he had been given or was it something he had created himself? Liang Chen raised his eyes, casting his gaze back onto Huang Dong. With his state rapidly getting worse, it seemed like he would have to take even more drastic measures.


    He stomped the ground, even more power bursting forth from his body, time itself starting to slow down around him, the earth beneath his feet corroding and vanishing as his poison leaked from his body. He then charged at Huang Dong again, blood starting to leak from his seven orifices as he resembled a raving beast.


    Huang Dong''s eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at the still-charging Liang Chen. It was easy to see that his state was getting worse, but at the same time, his power continued to rise. It wouldn''t take long for him to become so strong that he might actually be able to wound him. Huang Dong could not, would not, allow this, he had to strike down Liang Chen before that.


    And then, just as Liang Chen send out a sideways slash with his spear, Huang Dong found the opening he was looking for. He stepped closer to Liang Chen, using his left fist to punch the spear upwards and neutralizing the attack. He then punched out with his right fist, the attack easily landing on Liang Chen''s chest. Huang Dong hardened his fist and increased the gravity around it by so much that space around it started to creak slightly.


    He then had all the force from his attack move forwards, Liang Chen''s entire chest caving inwards his lungs practically turning into pincushions thanks to his shattered ribs. Huang Dong expected this to be enough to finish the battle, but then he saw Liang Chen let go of his spear and use his right hand to grab onto Huang Dong''s fist, which was still in contact with Liang Chen''s chest. Huang Dong instantly felt that something was wrong, his fears affirmed when he heard Liang Chen''s cold voice and saw his grim grin.


    "Now you can''t run from me."


    Huang Dong felt a horrid chill run down his spine, a sense of deathly danger flooding his mind. But it was too late for him to run now, Liang Chen tightly grasping his wrist. Liang Chen stretched out his left arm, placing his palm against Huang Dong''s chest. And as his cold voice rang out again, the faint dragon image that was coiling around him cast its merciless eyes onto Huang Dong.


    "Second step splits the waterfall."


    All sound was drowned out after Liang Chen''s voice sounded out, a crimson light spreading out from his left palm, so bright that it was blinding. The earth around the two of them turned to ash and vanished, even space itself starting to form thin cracks. But Liang Chen was unable to see any of this, having lost consciousness the moment he launched his attack. In his strongest state, Liang Chen unleashed the strongest attack he could bear, all so that he could wound Huang Dong so much that Yan Ling could finish him off.

 Final solution.

    The entire cavern was filled with a crimson light that swallowed up everything else, a silence that felt deafening following the light as it spread. And then, once the crimson light had spread to every corner of the cavern, a thunderous explosion rang out as the entire cavern shook and trembled. Furious bolts of crimson lightning decimated nearly everything they came in contact with, a pure white gas corroding even the stones as it moved around like a peaceful cloud. It was as if the entire cavern had been dropped into hell, pillar after pillar shattering or dissolving.


    This scene luckily didn''t continue for too long, only lasting a single second before it vanished, the entire cavern returning to a peaceful calm that made the previous events seem like naught but a dream. Lying at the center from which the red light had spread, a short distance away from the black rock that radiated such a strong gravity that it distorted space around it, was Liang Chen


    Liang Chen was currently unconscious, his entire body drenched in blood. Most of his bones were shattered, his lungs were filled with holes, and his entire chest had caved in. Except for a two-meter area around the black stone, everything within one kilometer had vanished, leaving behind a crater with Liang Chen at the center.


    Normal people would have died long ago, but Liang Chen was after all a cultivator with a powerful bloodline, he was somehow still alive, but only barely. It was clear that he would die soon if he did not receive some medical aid.


    Huang Dong was no longer in front of Liang Chen, he was embedded in a pillar a little over one kilometer away, his entire body in a horrid state. His right arm was missing, everything beneath the elbow still in Liang Chen''s grasp. There was a palm print on the left side of his chest, a finger thin hole at the center of the palm print going directly through his chest. The flesh around the palm print was completely white in color and released a sizzling sound. The white area was slowly growing, more and more of Huang Dong''s body being corroded by a vicious poison that even ate away at his soul.


    He was in a wretched state, vomiting large amounts of blood that was tainted with a white color, but he was still alive and conscious. Huang Dong continued to vomit tainted blood, his entire body in so much pain that it felt like it was defining his very existence. He turned his head onto the unconscious Liang Chen, so weak that even that simple motion was strenuous, cursing at him loudly.


    "You motherfucker, I''ll fucking ki..."


    Before Huang Dong got to finish his sentence, a ferocious wind arrived in front of him, Yan Ling appearing in front of him, swinging her white sword at his neck. Blood was seeping out from her pores, her eyes a deep crimson in color, several bloody strands of hair mixing together with her normally cyan hair. Her expression was one of extreme loathing and fury, as if she existed solely to kill the man in front of her.


    Liang Chen had practically ruined himself to give her this chance, if she failed now she would never be able to forgive herself. She put all her force into her sword, all the air in the cavern being sucked towards the edge of her blade, forming a compressed line so thin it was nearly invisible.


    Her sword arrived at Huang Dong''s neck, unleashing all the gathered up air in a single instant. The entire pillar was split in half, a thin line going directly through it. The pillar wasn''t the only thing cut by this attack, a thin line appeared on the wall of the cavern that was in front of Yan Ling, the line going so far to the left that four other pillars were also split in half.


    Yan Ling''s attack didn''t stop there. The second after the thin line appeared, it instantly multiplied into countless more. The split pillars were sliced into pieces so small that each one was about the size of a pea, while the wall of the cavern was suddenly covered in a net-like pattern that went several tens of meters into the cavern wall. This was Yan Ling''s full might unleashed in a single attack, in one single attack. She didn''t want to hold anything back, so this attack even contained a bit of her bloodline power, drastically strengthening the wind used in the attack.


    And yet, when she saw the result of her attack, her expression was one of disbelief and shock. Huang Dong was no longer in his previous position, someone had appeared beneath him and pulled him away from the attack, dodging to the right before they were hit. The one that had appeared was a slightly older man with a wrinkled face and graying blonde hair, with a cultivation that had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. The man looked at the carnage that Yan Ling''s attack had caused, letting out a breath.


    "Truly someone worthy of receiving the title of Bloody Wolf Queen, I am truly astounded that you are able to release such strength despite your low cultivation realm."


    The man had placed Huang Dong on his back, carrying him in a careful manner so as to not worsen his injuries. Yan Ling''s expression was grim as she looked at the man. Just where had he come from? How had he appeared there without her noticing him? She quickly received an answer to these questions, the man helping Huang Dong insert some of his Qi into the gray interspatial ring that Huang Dong was wearing.


    After the man helped Huang Dong insert some Qi into the ring, three more people appeared around the man, standing in a defensive formation around him. Yan Ling immediately realized the situation, Huang Dong had an incredibly rare interspatial ring, one that could carry living beings, and had been carrying several of his subordinates with him. He probably hadn''t brought them out earlier because he saw no need for them, and once Liang Chen''s attack landed it was already too late to bring them out to defend against that attack.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Yan Ling''s expression was grim to the point of nearly turning black. She wanted so badly to kill Huang Dong right now, to tear him limb from limb and have him slowly bleed out as she slowly stabbed him. But she couldn''t, not with these four people guarding him. She had failed. Liang Chen had put his life on the line to give her this chance, trusted her to see it through. And she had failed. She had no words to describe how furious and disappointed this simple, yet unchangeable fact made her.


    With these four people guarding Huang Dong, she could only change her plans. She tightly grabbed her sword, the air within the entire cavern gathering around her blade as she prepared herself to launch the same attack again. Two among the four guards were just about to dash forward to stop her when Yan Ling launched her attack, swinging her sword and sending the thin line of wind at Huang Dong.


    All four people instantly moved to defend, pooling their powers together to block the attack. Yan Ling used this chance to dash backward, away from Huang Dong and the four people. She landed next to Liang Chen, picking up his body and holding him in a princess carry. She glared at Huang Dong, practically spitting out her words, her voice dripping with killing intent.


    "I''ll come for you one day, Huang Dong. And at that time, even if the entire Moon Dragon sect wishes to protect you, I will take your head and present it to him. Enjoy your life while you can."


    After leaving behind her words, Yan Ling ran away as fast as she could, dodging into the upwards slanting cave that she and Liang Chen had spotted earlier. The four guards didn''t chase after her, to them it was more important to treat the wounds of Huang Dong, removing the poison that was still corroding him before it became too late.


    Yan Ling followed the cave at her full speed, pushing her body and Qi to the limit, worried that the others would follow her so that she wouldn''t be able to treat Liang Chen before it became too late. She encountered a few small Demonic beasts in the shape of insects as she continued to run, more and more appearing as the cave started slanting more and more, a sign that she was getting close to the surface.


    She simply dispatched these Demonic beasts with a violent gust of wind, crushing them flat against the wall or floor of the cave, not allowing a single one to get close to Liang Chen. While running, she was also making sure to constantly send some of her Qi into Liang Chen''s body, using her law of water to somewhat ease his wounds. It was nowhere close to healing him, but it would at least stabilize him somewhat and stop him from dying in her arms while she carried him.


    Thanks to the fact that she was running at full speed, as well as the fact that the previous cave they had taken to reach the cavern where they met Huang Dong had also slanted upwards for a good while, she was able to leave the cave, as well as once again reaching the bottom of the valley that was the Fiend King''s Tomb, after two hours of running.


    The moment she arrived within the valley again, she ran away from the cave at full speed, only stopping an hour later when she found a small outcropping located halfway up the valley wall. She placed Liang Chen on the ground, sitting down in front of him and placing one palm on his caved in chest.


    Using her other arm, she took out several pills from her interspatial ring and placed them into an orb of water that she created, allowing the pills to dissolve into the water. While the pills were dissolving, she poured all her Qi into Liang Chen''s body, using her law of water with all her might to heal his wounds. It was for this exact reason that she had chosen to focus on the law of water, so that she could heal his wounds whenever he started fighting recklessly.


    Once the pills were dissolved in the orb of water, she slowly started to transfer the water into his body, carefully coating all his wounds and helping them absorb the medicinal energy.


    But things weren''t going as she wished, his wounds were far more severe than her current healing capabilities were able to handle. What was even worse was the fact that he had brought his unawakened bloodline to the brink of breaking, leaving it too weak to help heal his wounds like it normally would. He had also lost a great deal of blood and some of his bloodline, so his natural healing was so weak that it was nearly nonexistent.


    Yan Ling continued to heal him for a bit more time, doing her best to lessen his injuries and somewhat restoring his bloodline. But with his bloodline so weak that it almost seemed to be going dormant, he was losing life faster than she was able to restore him. Her expression wavered for a short second, but she quickly made up her mind, leaning in close and whispering to Liang Chen.


    "You said you were too selfish to tell me to leave, that you want to keep me by your side no matter what. Well, I feel the same, so don''t think that I''ll allow you to leave me here like this."


    After she finished whispering to him, she stretched out her right arm and placed the tip of her finger on Liang Chen''s chest, right where his heart was. She then stretched out her left arm and created an incredibly thin needle of wind right above her finger, pointing the needle at her own chest.


    She drove the needle into her chest, stabbing it into her heart and using it to draw out some of the most important blood in her body, some of the Star God bloodline that was dormant within her body. After drawing out the blood, she used the needle of wind to bring the blood through her right arm, directly to the finger that was located on Liang Chen''s chest.


    Yan Ling wasn''t strong enough to heal Liang Chen, neither were any of her pills able to heal him. In that case, the only thing she could do to keep him from dying was to give him some of the bloodline within her body. It was dormant, but still incredibly powerful and potent, it should be able to increase the speed of his natural healing to a point where her healing would take effect as well. It might even be able to somewhat restore his weakened bloodline, allowing it to join in on the healing.


    It was a faint hope, her bloodline might not merge properly with his body, it could be too weak since it was still dormant, his body might even reject it. But she still had to try, because she did not want him to die here, she would not allow him to die here. And with those thoughts in mind, she continued to infuse more and more of her Star God bloodline into his body, his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline slowly starting to move as it discovered the feast offered to it.

 Reckless and Willful for someone else.

    Yan Ling felt herself grow weaker as more and more of her bloodline entered Liang Chen''s body, but she didn''t mind it. Her bloodline was still dormant, so while it offered her some aid, it wasn''t too great, not like Liang Chen''s bloodline. And if she managed to someday fully awaken her bloodline, she would be able to make up for this lost portion that she was giving to Liang Chen.


    At first, there was not much reaction from Liang Chen''s body when she sent her bloodline into it, causing her heart to drop somewhat. But then, just when she was wondering if even this last resort would fail, there was a response from Liang Chen''s body. A subdued roaring sound rang out from within his body, his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline started to move on its own, flooding towards the Star God bloodline that Yan Ling was giving him.


    The Heaven Devouring Bloodline completely surrounded and overwhelmed the Star God bloodline, trying to devour it so that it could strengthen itself. But the Star God bloodline came from Star God Sirius, a follower of the imposing Nine Star Demon God, how could it allow itself to be devoured just like that?


    The bloodline unleashed a deep howl, causing even the air in the surrounding area to vibrate as the bloodline slowly awoke due to sensing a threat. Since it was now slowly waking up due to the threat, the Star God bloodline pushed back the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, carefreely flowing through Liang Chen''s body.


    The Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline continued to assault the Star God bloodline, like a dragon jumping at it with ravenous hunger. The Star God bloodline seemed annoyed at these continued efforts, striking back at the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline. The result was that the dragon bloodline was pushed back once again, Liang Chen convulsing and vomiting more blood due to the force of the clash.


    The dragon bloodline was not willing to give up on this extravagant feast, nor was the wolf bloodline willing to let itself be devoured, the two continuing to struggle with each other. And with each collision, Liang Chen would convulse and vomit more blood, his state getting worse and worse, rather than better.


    At this point, Yan Ling was already on the verge of crying, her eyes bloodshot and red. Not only had she not been able to heal him, she was instead making it worse, pushing him closer to death. She desperately tried to control the wolf bloodline she had poured into his body, begging it to stop fighting with the dragon bloodline, begging it to stop harming Liang Chen.


    As if it was able to hear her prayers, the wolf bloodline slowly stopped fighting with the dragon bloodline, calming down. It didn''t let the dragon bloodline devour it, but it at least stopped fighting it. Yan Ling let out a deep breath of relief, looking at the bloodline with deep gratitude. For a short second, she felt like she saw the image of the bloodline becoming a gray wolf with azure eyes that was looking at her, but the image vanished as quickly as it appeared.


    The dragon bloodline didn''t stop its assault right away, but it seemed to notice that its actions were not only futile, but they were also a danger to its host. A strange calm followed, the two bloodlines flowing right next to each other, almost as if they were communicating with each other. Yan Ling didn''t know what was going on, but Liang Chen''s natural healing speed was starting to increase, allowing her to use her law of water to start actually healing his wounds.


    The strange quiet continued for over two hours, Liang Chen''s injuries slowly starting to heal thanks to the combined efforts of Yan Ling and the two bloodlines. She had just finished healing the holes in his lungs when a change occurred in the two bloodlines that were flowing next to each other. As if they had been waiting for his body to reach a certain stability, the two bloodlines started flowing towards his heart, merging together and entering his heart.


    Neither swallowed the other, they both merged together to become a single bloodline previously unheard of. One listened to the prayers of his original host, doing its best to aid the one whom she cherished, and the other listened to its own host, doing its best to aid him in recovering and reaching the peak. Both had different reasons, but they had the same goal, so they decided to work together. Since both bloodlines wanted to work together, and were of Demonic beasts that had a similar rank, the fusion process was far smoother than it would usually be.


    With the two bloodlines merging in his heart and then spreading through his body, his natural healing speed increased drastically, his wounds healing faster and faster. At this point, Yan Ling was unable to hold back her tears anymore, leaning her head against Liang Chen''s chest and thanking the bloodlines, thanking fate, thanking destiny, thanking whatever she could think of.


    After two days of meticulous care from Yan Ling, and the healing from the merged bloodline, all of Liang Chen''s wounds had been healed. They were unable to fix his dropped cultivation, but he would easily be able to cultivate back to his normal realm if he got his hands on enough resources. Yan Ling knew a little about the technique he had used, Liang Chen explaining the more important details to her.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    His Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline had fused with the Star God bloodline, but the merged bloodline still contained his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, meaning that he was still subject to the repercussions of the Mad King''s Rage. Should he try to activate the technique again, he would end up burning up his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline in exchange for incredible power. Yan Ling was uncertain what would happen to the Star God bloodline should this happen, but she guessed that since they had fused it would be burned up alongside the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline.


    Liang Chen''s wounds had healed, but he still didn''t wake up from his unconscious state. Yan Ling guessed that his mind had been overloaded due to the technique and the pain he experienced, he had likely forgotten to numb his sense of pain in the heat of the battle. He would wake up eventually, so she continued to wait at his side for him to wake up.


    Her wait continued for another five days before a change finally happened. But the change wasn''t to Liang Chen, it was to the surroundings. Cracks started to appear in the air about two kilometers away from the two of them, a sign that a spatial rift was about to open. Yan Ling quickly picked up Liang Chen and jumped away, not wanting either of them to get sucked into the rift and end up who-knows-where.


    But as she picked him up and jumped away, she felt a slight trembling from Liang Chen''s interspatial ring. It was faint at first, vanishing nearly instantly. But as the spatial rift continued to open, the trembling became more frequent and grew stronger, as if something within the ring was resonating with something on the other side of the spatial rift.


    When the spatial rift fully opened, the trembling became especially intense, almost taking on a longing emotion. Yan Ling furrowed her brows slightly, using some of her Qi to lead a bit of Liang Chen''s Qi into the interspatial ring, opening it up for her. She then sank her mind into the ring to locate whatever was trembling within it.


    She quickly located a shattered jade fragment that was deep blue in color, looking exceedingly unassuming. The fragment was currently trembling and releasing a blue light, calling out to the spatial rift. There was clearly something on the other side of the rift that this fragment was reacting to, something it wanted to join up with.


    Yan Ling knew what this fragment was, it was the jade fragment that held the first part of the Ocean God Physique, a body cultivation technique that was very important to Liang Chen. This technique formed the basis of his body and soul cultivation, it was perfectly suited to him who could absorb lightning and poison to cultivate. He only had the first part, so he had some troubles properly increasing his body and soul cultivation, forced to come up with various ideas for the next steps.


    Yan Ling took out the jade and held it in her hand, the blue light it released swiftly flying into the spatial rift. Yan Ling looked at the jade and the spatial rift with a complicated expression. She knew how important this cultivation technique was to Liang Chen, he could become much stronger if he could get his hands on the other parts of this technique. And now it seemed like Yan Ling had found a lead on where to find the other parts, but that lead was located on the other side of this spatial rift.


    She had no idea where this spatial rift might lead, so who knows if they would ever be able to find this lead again if they were to miss this chance. But what if there was some danger on the other side of the spatial rift? What if there was no way for them to return here within a short period of time?


    Her expression continued to fluctuate for a short moment before she took out an orb of crystal clear quartz from her interspatial ring, throwing it into the spatial rift. She then took out a circular quartz mirror, putting some of her Qi into it and quietly observing it.


    Shortly after she inserted her Qi into it, the mirror started to flicker with light, an image starting to appear on it. The image showed a vast and empty plain, the grass a withered yellow in color, gently swaying in the wind. There were no buildings, or even living beings, as far as the eye could see. She swiped the image a little, the scenery changing slightly, but still showing an empty plain.


    What she had just thrown into the spatial rift was a gimmicky item she had taken from her father. As long as she had this mirror, she could see everything that was going on around the orb of quartz she had thrown into the spatial rift. It sounded useful, but the orb was incredibly easy to break, even a drop from a small height would be enough to shatter it and render it useless.


    Her expression continued to fluctuate when she saw the empty plain, her gaze shifting between Liang Chen, the mirror, and the spatial rift. As the spatial rift started to slowly shrink, Yan Ling''s expression grew determined, storing away the jade fragment and the mirror. She placed Liang Chen on her back in a piggy-back, taking out her own communication jade and muttering quietly.


    "Father always did say that I was a somewhat willful and reckless girl with a tendency to be selfish. Just this once, let me be willful and reckless for someone else."


    She sent Yan Ying a quick message, telling her what she was planning to do, telling him to await the return of a much stronger her and Liang Chen. She didn''t even bother waiting for a response, running forward and entering the spatial rift.


    She had failed to live up to Liang Chen''s trust, Huang Dong escaping alive. She would not fail him this time, she would not let him miss the chance to get his hands on the continuation of a technique as important as the Ocean God Physique.


    With Yan Ling carrying Liang Chen, they entered the spatial rift and vanished from the Dragon''s Gate planet, one of them unconscious and the other uncertain of their destination. But one thing was certain, thanks to their presence, no place they traveled to would ever be dull or peaceful.

 Waking up in an unknown place.

    When Liang Chen regained consciousness and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a damp earthen ceiling above him. There were a few small roots sticking out from the ceiling, prompting Liang Chen to assume that he was currently lying on the ground in a small cave. He couldn''t see any source of light, but even though the area around him should be pitch black, he was still able to see everything around him with perfect clarity.


    Liang Chen felt a strange feeling he hadn''t felt before, it felt like his consciousness stretched out beyond just his body. He could feel a slight wind moving through the cave, brushing past the hanging roots, every groove and bend on them perfectly visible in his mind. He could also feel the wind move around something else in the cave, around a person leaning against the wall that was half a meter to his right, Yan Ling.


    Liang Chen felt like he could touch reach out and touch the wind, gathering all the air in the area around his fingers. It was similar to the feeling he felt when he stood in the middle of a lightning storm or was close to items that contained poison, but it was the first time he had ever felt like this when it came to wind. He couldn''t resist the feeling and stretched out his right arm, his fingers reaching for the wind that moved around the roots. The wind started to slowly move to his fingers, but his concentration was broken by a shout from Yan Ling.


    "Little Freak, you''ve woken up?!"


    Yan Ling took out a yellow crystal that started to release a bright light, pushing away the darkness of the cave. Liang Chen pulled back his arm and sat up, his gaze landing on Yan Ling. He didn''t know how long he had been unconscious, but he could see that Yan Ling was rather dirty, mud and dust covering most of her arms and robe, her cyan-hair so dirty that it clumped together.


    There were deep bags under her bloodshot eyes, her cheeks somewhat sunken in. She had clearly been keeping watch at his side for quite a while, making sure that she didn''t fall asleep for even a second. Liang Chen''s expression softened when he saw her, his arms stretching out and pulling her into a soft hug. He leaned his head against the top of her''s, softly speaking.


    "It must have been hard on you. Thank you for keeping watch over me."


    He didn''t know what had happened after he passed out, but there was no way it had been pleasant. He wanted to apologize for making her go through whatever she had to go through, but both she and Yan Ying had already told him that it was always better to say thanks rather than sorry.


    Yan Ling hadn''t expected to suddenly be pulled into a soft embrace, but she didn''t resist. She leaned her head against Liang Chen''s chest, listening to his calm and steady heartbeat and letting out a soft breath of relief. The two didn''t say anything for a few minutes, simply enjoying the silence and the fact that they were still alive. But after a few minutes passed, Yan Ling seemed to remember something, hastily pulling away from Liang Chen and giving his body a few sweeping glances.


    "How does your body feel? Are there any places that feel weaker than normal, any problems with your Qi circulation?"


    All his wounds had been healed but that didn''t mean that there wouldn''t be any problems, like places that had become weaker after sustaining such grievous injuries. Liang Chen closed his eyes and started to check up on his entire body, looking for any places that might need special care in the future. After spending a bit of time checking, he opened his eyes again, clenching his right fist slightly as he responded.


    "No problems. On the contrary, my body seems to have grown quite a bit stronger than before. If there is anything that''s strange, it would have to be my bloodline. It seems to have fallen a bit more dormant after I was forced to overload it. But that''s not the strange part, I can activate less of it than in the past, but it seems to have grown even stronger. I''m also suddenly able to sense and somewhat control the surrounding wind, but I''m not sure if that has anything to do with my bloodline. Ling''er, exactly what happened after I fell unconscious, and where are we right now?"If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    With things having reached this point, Liang Chen no longer saw a reason to call Yan Ling by her full name, deciding to use the more intimate form of her name. Yan Ling had expected his question, so she nodded her head.


    "I''ll explain everything to you in a second, but you should first take a look at your appearance."


    Yan Ling raised her right hand, a bit of water gathering above her palm. She froze the water using a chilly wind, forming a floating mirror that perfectly reflected Liang Chen''s current filthy appearance. He too was currently covered in quite a bit of mud and dust, most of it coming from the ground of the cave he had been lying on until just now. But Liang Chen ignored all the filth, focusing on his appearance.


    Ever since he first started cultivating in that bath of Demonic beast blood, his eyes had been golden and his hair had turned emerald in color, but that had changed now. His left eye was still golden, but his right one had turned a light cyan in color, reminiscent of Yan Ling''s hair color. His own emerald hair had also changed, turning a very light gray, as if it was a mixture of his law of time and his pure white poison.


    While Liang Chen was curiously inspecting his new appearance, Yan Ling started to explain everything that had happened after he passed out. She explained how she failed to kill Huang Dong, how she had healed his wounds by implanting her own Star God bloodline into him, and finally she explained how she had jumped into the spatial rift because of the trembling from the jade fragment. After leaving the spatial rift, she had immediately dug a hole in the ground and covered it up again, creating the cave they were currently sitting in.


    And since she entered the spatial rift, two weeks had passed before Liang Chen finally woke up, allowing her to no longer worry about him never waking up again. The jade fragment hadn''t trembled any more after they arrived here, causing Yan Ling to guess that something, or someone, was blocking the resonance between the two pieces.


    While she waited for him to wake up, Yan Ling had also taken the liberty to name his new bloodline, dubbing it the Heaven Devouring Wolf bloodline. After telling Liang Chen everything, Yan Ling lowered her head slightly, preparing to face Liang Chen''s disappointment at the fact that she had failed to live up to his expectations. But his disappointment never came, he instead pulled her in for another hug.


    "So Huang Dong still lives? That''s good, that means I get to see you kill him with my own eyes."


    He didn''t say that he would kill Huang Dong, because Yan Ling had set killing him as her goal, and he would not rob her of the goal she had set for herself. He would help her with all his might, but he would never complete it for her, it just wouldn''t be the same if he did.


    Her explanation also made it clear why Liang Chen''s bloodline felt like it had fallen a bit more dormant and why he suddenly could sense and slightly control the wind. His awakening Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline had fused with the mostly dormant Star God bloodline, the fused bloodline producing his current appearance.


    But since the Star God bloodline was mostly dormant, relying on the power of the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline to slightly awaken itself as they fused, it meant that his entire bloodline had indeed fallen a bit more dormant after fusing. But the new bloodline was already in the process of awakening. Given enough time, it would fully awaken and give all its power to Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen could feel that Yan Ling was slowly starting to fall asleep in his embrace, the strain of having to stay awake and stressed for so long finally catching up to her. Before she managed to fall asleep, he pulled her a bit away from him, looking her directly in the eyes with a serious expression.


    "I''m gonna say this before you fall asleep. I wanted to wait for a better time, but who knows when something like that is going to come around nowadays. I want to stay at your side, no matter what may come to pass, no matter what sort of enemies we end up facing, I want to stay at your side as we face it all. And I want you to do the same, I want you to stay at my side, through thick and thin, until this multiverse collapses and crumbles, I want us to always stay together."


    They didn''t know where they were, they didn''t know what they were going to face, so Liang Chen wanted to say these things now, before something happened that might make it impossible for him to ever say it.


    Yan Ling''s tired face bloomed into a splendid smile that, to Liang Chen, shone like the sun itself. She could feel her consciousness slipping, so she quickly leaned in and planted a kiss on Liang Chen''s lips, her wordless response. Her vision then blackened as she fell asleep in his arms, barely managing to squeeze out a few words.


    "Now you''re stuck with me, my Little Freak."

 Sharing the technique.

    Liang Chen altered his position a little, making it so that Yan Ling''s head was resting on his lap rather than on his chest. He gave her dirty hair a few gentle strokes, closing his eyes and sinking his mind into his own body. He had given it a quick check earlier, but now he was preparing to get a closer look at his current state.


    He first examined his dantian, checking out Yumao''s current state. Yumao was still wrapped in a cocoon of darkness, but a few hair-thin cracks had started to spread on it, so it seemed like he would wake up sooner rather than later. Liang Chen was growing more and more curious about just what kind of Demonic beast Yumao was, it was not normal for it to take this long for a Demonic beast to mature and grow stronger.


    Liang Chen then examined the area beneath his heart, the spot where his three Dragon Lotuses resided. All three of them had lost two leaves as a result of him pulling them out to activate the Mad King''s Rage, the energy they radiated having shrunk as a result. They had also moved slightly since he last saw them, creating just enough space for another lotus.


    Seeing this open spot, Liang Chen came up with a guess that he was almost fully certain was correct. When he first bathed in Demonic beast blood and was baptized by lightning, his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline had activated, absorbing the poison in the blood and the lightning that struck him, using them to forever alter his body.


    As a result, his body became forever unable to hold any Qi that didn''t contain the poison or lightning element. He could still use Qi with the element of time because of his bloodline, but all other types of Qi were detrimental to him, causing him harm. Now that the Star God bloodline had fused with his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, it seemed like he would also be able to use the law of wind much like he used the law of time.


    Seeing how the surrounding air had gathered towards his hand earlier, he also guessed that he didn''t have to create a Dragon Lotus for the law of wind to control it. But he still intended on creating a Dragon Lotus for the law of wind, as it would only enhance his control over the wind, allowing him to unleash even greater power.


    After he finished checking his Dragon Lotuses, Liang Chen proceeded to check out his soul and his body. His soul had changed slightly after the fusion of the two bloodlines, its left eye becoming light cyan. Its right eye was still a ghastly gray and its hair was still blood-red, the left eye being the only thing to change. His soul had grown slightly stronger, but as neither the Star God nor the Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline focused on the soul, the increase in strength wasn''t all that much.


    His body, on the other hand, had grown quite a bit stronger after the fusion of the two grand bloodlines and his wounds being healed by the new bloodline. His Qi cultivation had dropped to the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm and his soul was still in the early stage of the Ascended Soul realm, but he guessed that his body had grown so strong that it had already reached the middle stage of the Body Ascension realm, equal to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    And with the increased strength of his body came another pleasant surprise. Liang Chen opened his eyes and raised his left arm, pointing up with his finger. A tiny arc of crimson lightning flashed out from his fingertip and started to dance around his arm, distorting the air around it. It was only a small piece, but he could now use a little of the crimson lightning and not have it tear apart his insides. When he went over everything, even though his Qi cultivation had decreased, his overall strength had actually increased.


    Of course, he didn''t for one second thing that this increase of strength was due to his efforts. This increase in strength was all thanks to Yan Ling, thanks to the sacrifice she had made for him. The part of her bloodline that she had given him would be incredibly hard for her to get back. Even if she managed to fully awaken her bloodline, she would at best only make up for the lost portion.


    Liang Chen knew this, so he swore that he would not only help her fully awaken her bloodline, he would do everything in his power to increase the strength of her bloodline to previously unheard of proportions. If his new Heaven Devouring Wolf bloodline was a bloodline worthy of a king, he would give her a bloodline worthy of a goddess.


    After checking his entire body, Liang Chen proceeded to wait for Yan Ling to wake up. He used his right hand to gently brush her hair and his left hand to play around with the wind in the cave. He got the wind to gather around his outstretched hand, he even managed to make it form a ball of concentrated wind, but that was it. He was unable to have it form sharp blades, deadly needles, he could just barely form a small tornado. Compared to Yan Ling, who had been trained in the law of wind since she was a child, Liang Chen still had much to learn when it came to the law of wind.


    Two days after Liang Chen woke up and Yan Ling fell asleep, she started to stir and wake up, her movements groggy and slow. She raised her head from Liang Chen''s thigh, looking around the cave with nearly closed eyes, mumbling forth a nearly incoherent sentence.


    "Fast...Freak Lil''...break."


    She had slept for two days and should have gotten rid of all her tiredness, but she was still absolutely terrible when it came to mornings. But Liang Chen was already used to this, so he understood what she was trying to say and got to work. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out some of the soup he had made before the Constellation King''s competition started, using his lightning to heat up some for Yan Ling before he handed her a bowl.


    Yan Ling accepted the bowl and took out a wooden spoon from her own interspatial ring, quickly starting to devour the soup. Only now did Liang Chen notice that he too was hungry, so he heated up more of the soup and joined Yan Ling in eating breakfast. Both of them were clearly rather hungry, as they finished up all the soup that Liang Chen had stored away, almost 20 liters in total. Yan Ling was finally fully awake after waking up, and the first thing she said to Liang Chen was a simple order.


    "Turn around."


    As she spoke, she looked down at her own dirty body, clearly a bit ashamed at her filthy state. Liang Chen did as he was ordered, turning around so that he couldn''t see her, even going as far as to cut his connection with the surrounding wind, muttering quietly to himself.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Not like I haven''t seen it all before..."


    He thought he was being quiet, but he once again forgot that words were just vibrations moving through the wind, which meant that Yan Ling was easily able to pick them up. And so, his quiet stating of the truth earned him a quick bath, Yan Ling waving her hand and causing a large orb of icy cold water to appear above Liang Chen and fall down on him.


    Liang Chen knew that he had been busted, so he could only raise his arms in surrender and use the cold water to quickly clean himself. He stood up and dried himself using the heat from his lightning, switching to a dry robe. He wasn''t sure if Yan Ling was watching him change, but he didn''t really care even if she was, it was only the two of them here after all. Shortly after he put on his fresh robe, Yan Ling gave him the clear signal.


    "Alright, I''m done. It''s about time we start investigating just where we have ended up."


    Liang Chen turned around and saw that Yan Ling was walking towards the other end of the cave, to the sealed up entrance. He took a step forward and grabbed onto her shoulder, stopping her before she managed to unseal the entrance.


    "Wait a bit, there''s something I wanna do first."


    He turned her around and leaned forward, catching her off-guard and planting a kiss on her lips. She had initiated the last one, so now it was his time to take the lead. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before Liang Chen pulled back, leaving Yan Ling with an expression that was a mixture of shock and confusion. She locked eyes with him, voicing her confusion.


    "Little Freak, this is..."


    She didn''t finish her sentence, seemingly not certain which words would be best suited to describe what he had just done. Liang Chen gave a nod of his head, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.


    "It''s only the first part, I myself haven''t gotten to study the second or third part yet but I''ll hand those to you when I manage to learn them. If Elder Chaotic wants to complain when we return, I can only apologize and explain our situation. Hopefully, he''ll listen."


    The kiss hadn''t been just a simple kiss, he had infused all his knowledge of the Chaos King technique into a small orb of Qi and transferred it to Yan Ling with the kiss, giving her the entire first part of the technique. There was no telling what they might face here, so it was better for both of them to have as many ways of getting stronger as possible.


    When he had first learned this technique, Elder Guanyu and everyone else present had been strictly warned that Liang Chen was not only forbidden from teaching what he learned to others, but they were also forbidden from scouring his memories for information on the technique. Should they do either, Elder Chaotic would forever leave the Storm Wolf sect, likely also taking back all the information about the technique that he had given to Liang Chen and whoever else might have learned it.


    Yan Ling nodded her head, understanding Liang Chen''s thoughts. She memorized the first part of the Chaos King technique and sat down on the ground, starting to carve the three channels. The two of them had plenty of resources on their hand, most of it taken from people they had killed while out on their missions, so carving the channels was no problem for Yan Ling. She also had a body stronger than normal thanks to her Star God bloodline, so except for a bit of pain and strain while carving the channels there were no other problems.


    It still took some time to carve the three channels, so it was only after another week that the two of them got to leave the cave and explore the unknown world where they had ended up. Yan Ling unsealed the entrance of the cave slightly, using her scouting technique to make sure that there was no one around them. Only when she was certain that there was no one in the area did she fully unseal the cave, she and Liang Chen leaving the cave.


    This was Liang Chen''s first time seeing their surrounding area, so he thoroughly examined it. There were no buildings or living beings as far as the eye could see, there were barely even trees on the plain. He spotted a few pillar-shaped mountains stretching up in the distance, so tall that they pierced the clouds. The grass reached up to his ankles and was a withered yellow in color, its texture rather reminiscent of leather. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes, both of them coming to the same conclusion.


    "Mountains?"


    "Mountains."


    Both of them realized that going to the mountains would be their best option, as they would be able to climb them and get a better view of their surroundings. With both of them in agreement, they started walking towards the mountains, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.


    They didn''t move at full speed, but their speed was still considered very fast, the mountains quickly getting closer. But even before they got to reach the mountains, they discovered their first living beings. Yan Ling was the one who discovered them thanks to her scouting technique, a group of six beings traveling towards them at a somewhat slow pace.


    The six beings were covered in a thick layer of gray metal armor but looked humanoid, but three of them had four arms instead of just two, so she called them beings rather than people. She was able to somewhat detect their strength, five with strength equal to someone at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm and one with strength equal to someone at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    Looking at the way they moved, slow steps accompanied by sweeping glances that examined the area around them, they seemed to searching for something. Liang Chen and Yan Ling hid themselves, digging another cave into the ground and only leaving a small opening so that they could listen to any words or sounds that the six beings might make.


    The six beings quickly got closer to the area where the two of them were hiding, one of the beings with only two arms suddenly stopping. It started to carefully sweep the area, seemingly having noticed that something was wrong. After a short moment, Liang Chen felt an ethereal type of energy enter their cave, spotting the two of them.


    Liang Chen recognized this energy as Anima Essence, the soul cultivation equivalent of Qi. He clicked his tongue, realizing that they had likely been discovered by the six beings. Just like he thought, the being that had stopped pointed at the entrance to their cave, speaking up in a somewhat hoarse voice.


    "There are two cattle hiding over there, but I don''t know how they managed to escape their pen."


    Liang Chen didn''t have to say anything, Yan Ling also realizing that they had been discovered. She blew away the entrance of the cave, both of them jumping up and leaving the cave. The moment the two of them left the cave, the six beings drew the weapons that were slung over their shoulders, the energy within their bodies starting to move. They were clearly intending to attack before even checking who Liang Chen and Yan Ling were.


    Yan Ling swiped her interspatial ring and took out Liang Chen''s spear, handing it to him. Since he had fallen unconscious after launching his final attack against Huang Dong, he had of course not been able to put it into his interspatial ring. Luckily, Yan Ling had picked it up as she grabbed him and fled. She then pulled out her own weapon, pointing it at the strongest of the six beings, one of the four-armed ones.


    This one was a little over three meters tall and carried two large double-headed axes, the helmet covering his head had two large horns sticking out from the front, a crimson mohawk running down the middle of the helmet. As she pointed her sword at him, she cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen and spoke up.


    "Try to keep that one alive, it should be the one with the most knowledge. I''m really quite curious just what they meant when they said cattle."

 Realizing their location.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes for a short second, giving each other a short nod. Without any need for more words to get their meaning across, the two dashed forward. Liang Chen dashed at the tall leader, the man who had discovered them using his Anima Essence, and another one of the normal-looking beings. This left the two other four-armed beings and one normal looking one to Yan Ling, the six enemies neatly divided between the two of them.


    The six beings were currently in the process of rearranging themselves, taking up their positions for battle. The three tall and four-armed ones stepped forward while the three normal-looking ones stepped back, attempting to take cover behind the larger ones. But as Liang Chen and Yan Ling had acted swiftly, the six beings had yet to properly enter their positions.


    As Liang Chen dashed, he also activated his bloodline, deciding that now was a good time to test it out. Gray scales started to grow on his arms, his fingers turning more claw-like as both his arms were fully covered in gray scales. Previously when he activated his bloodline, his eyes and hair would also turn gray, but now his eyes stayed in their heterochromia state and his gray hair turned a light cyan, the same as Yan Ling''s.


    Power welled up from deep within him, his entire body turning as light as the wind itself. Coupled with the speed granted to him by his law of time and his law of lightning, his speed drastically increased after activating his bloodline. He gave a heavy stomp and dashed forward even faster, his stomp causing deep cracks to spread out in the surrounding 10 meters.


    He set his sights on the being that had discovered them, the one with a hoarse male voice, turning into a faint blur that left a trail of emerald lightning. The being noticed that he was the first one to be targeted, so he swung the sickle he was carrying, aiming at the spot where Liang Chen would have to stop if he wanted to launch his attack.


    But just as his sickle reached its destination, a strong gust of wind rose up from beneath the being, pushing both the sickle and his arms high up into the air, leaving him defenseless. It was at this moment that Liang Chen arrived in front of him, his golden and cyan pupils having turned into slits that instilled a primal fear in the being. Liang Chen swung his spear sideways with all his might, reinforcing his body with his Fiendgod Essence to check just how strong his current physical strength was.


    The handle of his spear smashed into the side of the being''s gray helmet, which was shaped like a wailing face. The metal that the helmet was made of immediately distorted and bent under the force of the attack, a loud crunch sounding out as the being''s head was jerked to the side, both the skull and neck shattered in a single hit. But the attack still had plenty of force behind it, resulting in the neck not only shattering, but also being torn completely off.


    The being''s head was removed from its body in a brutal manner, both head and helmet flying to the side and gushing forth nearly black blood that released a rotting scent. But Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed faintly after the head flew away, because he could feel a faint and ethereal energy linger around within the decapitated body of the being, hiding away deep within its chest.


    Liang Chen reached out with his left arm, the air crackling with emerald lightning as he sank his hand into the being''s chest. His claw-like fingers easily pierced through the armor covering the being''s body, his hand sinking deep into the being''s chest, quickly reaching the hidden away energy, the soul and Anima Essence of this being. He channeled his own Anima Essence through his arm, using its poisonous property to corrode and dissolve the soul of the being, truly killing it.


    The reason Liang Chen had targeted this being first was a simple fact that he was a bit worried that he might target Yan Ling. She didn''t have a soul as strong as Liang Chen''s, so it might be a bit hard for her to resist the Anima Essence of this being. This was another one of the reasons Liang Chen had given her the Chaos King technique, even if it might get him in trouble with Elder Chaotic and the Storm Wolf sect.


    The Star God bloodline gave her a strong body and excellent Qi cultivation talent, but it did nothing for her soul, the moment she encountered a soul cultivator she would have no way to defend herself. There was no way Liang Chen would allow Yan Ling to have no way to defend herself, so even if he did get in trouble with Elder Chaotic or the Storm Wolf sect, he would not regret the decision he had made.


    After killing the first being, Liang Chen swung his left arm sideways, tossing the corpse at the leader with the horned helmet. The leader slashed at the oncoming corpse with his two axes, aiming to slice it into pieces and charge at Liang Chen.


    But the moment his axes came in contact with it, the entire corpse exploded with a thunderous roar, emerald lightning and violet poison spreading out and assaulting the leader. A gust of wind was also released by the body as it exploded, surrounding the leader and trapping the powdery poison in a small area around the leader.


    Liang Chen had dashed away the moment he threw the corpse at the leader, so by the time it exploded, he had already reached the second of the three people he was facing, the second normal-looking one. This being rapidly took several steps back, waving his arms and causing a grayish Anima Essence to billow forth. The Anima Essence unleashed a strange shrieking sound that seemed to drill into Liang Chen''s mind in an attempt to throw his thoughts into disarray by shaking his soul.


    But Liang Chen''s soul had already materialized, he had even fused the law of poison and the law of time into his soul, turning all the bone marrow of his soul into a type of timeless poison that was unique to him. His soul was far too strong to be shaken by someone like this being.


    Liang Chen raised his spear high and brought it down in an overhead smash, the handle crashing into the top of the being''s head. The helmet was unable to endure the force, twisting and distorting as the being''s neck was shattered and its entire head was turned into a bloody pulp. Looking at how easily these two normal-looking beings had been utterly crushed by physical strength, it seemed like they focused on cultivating their soul and neglected their bodies, resulting in them having weak bodies.


    Liang Chen stretched out his left arm and stabbed it into the chest of the being, channeling his Anima Essence into his hand to grab onto the soul of the being. Just like the previous one, this being had tried to hide its soul deep within its chest, probably planning on feigning death until Liang Chen and Yan Ling left. But what a shame, it had encountered Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen didn''t dissolve the soul of this being, he simply filled it with so much lightning and poison that all consciousness was wiped out from it. The strong soul of this being would be perfect for Yan Ling, she could use the Chaos King technique to absorb it and strengthen her own soul. Had it not been for the fact that he had been a bit worried at the start and his thoughts fully focused on killing the first being, he would have also snatched the soul of that being so that he could give it to Yan Ling. Only when she had strengthened her soul to a point where she could defend herself against other soul cultivators would he feel relieved enough to absorb a few souls for himself.


    After wiping away the consciousness within the soul, Liang Chen stored the entire body of the being into his interspatial ring, putting it away for later. He then turned around and faced the leader, who had just now finished dealing with the lightning and poison that Liang Chen had used to keep him occupied. The leader faced Liang Chen, tightly grasping his two axes as he growled forth in a deep and robust voice.


    "You are too strong to be cattle from out town. Are you ones that have escaped from the pens in Ten Thousand Hearts city or one of the other cities?"


    Liang Chen had no idea where they were, so there was no way he would know where Ten Thousand Hearts city was or how grand that name truly was. He cast a quick glance at Yan Ling and saw that she had already finished off the normal-looking being and was currently fighting the two three-armed ones. Her face was a bit pale and her eyes rather bloodshot so it was clear that the normal-looking one had given her a bit of trouble, it was likely a soul cultivator just like the two others.


    Liang Chen couldn''t feel the soul of the normal-looking being, so it seemed like Yan Ling had already destroyed it. One could destroy the soul of a soul cultivator by flooding it with vast amounts of Qi, but it would take far more Qi than it would take Anima Essence, so it wasn''t the most efficient manner. Liang Chen turned his gaze back onto the leader, raising his spear and pointing the tip at his head.


    "We''re not cattle. We are hunters, and you are our prey."


    Liang Chen stomped the ground after his words sounded out, the earth cracking as he turned into a blur and left behind a trail of lightning. Liang Chen appeared at the right side of the leader, sending out a sweeping slash that aimed to remove the leader''s right arm. The leader was quite a bit faster than the two first beings, so he was able to take a step to the side and raise his right arm, blocking the spear with one of his axes.


    Liang Chen''s spear collided with the two-headed axe, the loud sound of metal hitting metal ringing out. The two-headed axe was pushed away, but Liang Chen felt a jolt run up his arm through the spear, the leader had physical strength far greater than the two earlier beings.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Liang Chen didn''t relent, stopping the time of the air beneath his feet and using it as a foothold that he could kick off from, launching himself forward. With how close the two were to each other, he nearly instantly arrived next to the shoulder of the leader and punched out with his left arm.


    His fist collided with the shoulder of the leader, packing enough punch to completely crack the armor that covered the leader''s shoulder. Lightning and poison burst forth as his fist made contact with the shoulder, the lightning heating up the armor so much that it started to glow a faint red while the poison started to sizzle and corrode the armor, seeping onto the leader''s body through the slowly growing cracks in the armor.


    But as he punched the leader, Liang Chen felt like he had hit a boulder. The leader''s body was incredibly solid and tough, as if it was forged from pure steel. Liang Chen now understood how the leader had such great physical strength, he seemed to focus on strengthening his body quite a bit. The leader let out a deep growl and slashed out at Liang Chen with the two-headed axe he held in his two left arms, forcing Liang Chen to put some distance between them.


    The leader quickly tore off his armor and threw it aside, the leather-like yellow grass starting to burn when it came in contact with the hot armor. When the leader removed his armor, Liang Chen finally got to see how he looked, and what he saw caused his eyes to narrow.


    The leader''s skin was pitch black and released a faint glimmer, resembling the shell of an armored beetle, a very tough and durable exoskeleton. His fingers were rather long and his nails pointed and sharp, resembling the sharp tips of arrows. His eyes were also quite large, his sclera completely red and his pupils crimson. Contrasting with his pitch black skin he actually had golden hair hanging down to his ears, making for a somewhat strange sight. Upon seeing the leader''s appearance, Liang Chen muttered slightly, almost certain that he now knew where they had arrived.


    "So you''re a Fiendgod, then this one?"


    As he spoke, he sent part of his mind into his interspatial ring and checked up on the corpse he had just placed into his interspatial ring, removing the armor that covered it. What revealed itself beneath the armor was a male that looked human but had snow-white skin, blue lips, and a third eye in the middle of the forehead. All three eyes were gray and glazed over, like the eyes of a corpse that had been dead for a while. After seeing the appearance of this corpse, Liang Chen once again muttered to himself.


    "Someone from the Undead race. Does that mean this is the fabled Hidden World?"


    The Hidden World had received this title because of the fact that no one on Dragon''s Gate planet, Liang Chen''s home, knew just where it was. A few people from this place had occasionally arrived on Dragon''s Gate planet after being sucked into spatial rifts, but none of them were willing to say anything about their own homeworld, causing it to be shrouded in mystery.


    Liang Chen had read practically all the books that the Storm Wolf sect had, so he had already read all they had about the Hidden World. Quite a few people from this Hidden World had arrived on Dragon''s Gate planet over the years, but they were always either from this Fiendgod race or the Undead race, there had never been any humans.


    The Fiendgod race was known for their incredibly strong bodies, rivaling Demonic beasts and even surpassing some body cultivators. Their bodies were so strong and contained so much lifeforce that they could rapidly regenerate wounds, some even being able to regenerate lost limbs after a while. After dissecting a few Fiendgods, it was revealed that they cultivated by infusing their bodies with Demonic beast parts that came from Demonic beasts that had an element that suited the cultivator. The Fiendgod sect had taken their name and cultivation technique from these Fiendgods, their signature black robes emulating the black skin of the Fiendgods.


    As for the Undead race, they were more fit to be called ghosts. They were a race that focused entirely on the soul, cultivating and sustaining themselves by eating the souls of other living beings. They were actually just a strange type of soul, so no one on the Dragon''s Gate planet knew how they reproduced or even created bodies for themselves. They were marked as highly strange and dangerous, best left to soul cultivators.


    Now that he knew what he was up against, and where they had likely arrived, Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly. No humans from this place had ever arrived on Dragon''s Gate planet, and whenever a Fiendgod or an Undead arrived on Dragon''s Gate planet, they adamantly refused to talk about their own homeworld, especially the humans there.


    Taking this fact and putting it together with what these people had called Liang Chen and Yan Ling earlier, cattle, a disturbing and disgusting image started to form itself in Liang Chen''s mind. But he wasn''t certain yet, and it was best to not jump to conclusions, so he would have to first incapacitate this Fiendgod so that they could get some information from him.


    He cast a sideways glance and saw that Yan Ling had also seen the appearance of the leader, probably also guessing at where they had ended up. She had dealt with one of the three-armed people in her group and was currently dealing with the last one, adjusting her fighting style to better deal with her enemy.


    Liang Chen returned his gaze back onto the leader, tightening the grasp he had on his spear. Since he now knew what he was dealing with, it would be easier for him to handle this leader, all he had to do was attack in a different manner.


    He crouched down slightly, stretching out his left leg so that it was a bit behind his right and placed his left hand on the ground as if he was a cheetah preparing to launch itself at its prey. Emerald lightning mixed with faint arcs of crimson lightning started to dance around his body, the air crackling and heating up, the grass around him starting to burn.


    The leader sensed incredible danger from Liang Chen and realized that he was about to launch an attack that aimed to end the battle. He crossed his axes in front of his chest and let out a deep breath, his entire body growing nearly a meter taller. His skin started bulging out slightly, his back splitting open and revealing two leathery gray wings. His arms grew almost twice as thick, dense brown fur starting to cover his arms. He had unleashed all his strength, revealing the Demonic beast parts he used to cultivate.


    Liang Chen kicked off the ground with his right leg, the force from the movement resulting in a shockwave rippling through the air, a small crater appearing where his foot had just been. Before cracks could even spread out from the crater, Liang Chen had arrived in front of the leader.


    The air around him was alight with arcs of emerald and crimson lightning, the heat so strong that the air was heavily distorted. Mixed with the arcs of lightning were small clouds of violet and white poison, both releasing a sweet scent as they corroded away anything they touched. All this, coupled with the ferocious wind that raged around him and caused his hair and robe to flutter, made him look like a furious deity descending to deliver punishment on his enemies.


    He stabbed out with his spear, all four of his laws as well as his Qi, Fiendgod Essence, and Anima Essence gathering into a single dot at the very tip of the spear. A tearing sound rang out as the air itself seemed to be sliced open, leaving behind a vacuum in the wake of the spear. The tip of his spear collided with the two axes, a low mutter ringing out in Liang Chen''s heart.


    "First step shatters the body."


    Liang Chen unleashed the first part of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, instantly doubling the power of his attack. The wind, lightning, poison, and time, that had gathered at the tip of his spear turned into a single pure gray bolt of lightning. The two axes disintegrated under the might of the bolt, allowing it to pierce through the chest of the leader, passing directly through him and shooting in the distance.


    The bolt left behind a finger thick scar in the ground that stretched out for an entire kilometer, the grass and earth around the scar simply disintegrating and vanishing, not even leaving behind ash. The leader simply stood there dumbly, a finger-sized hole in his chest. Compared to his four-meter tall body, this finger-sized hole seemed nearly completely insignificant. But it was this small hole that had sealed his fate.


    His insides had already turned into a ragged mess, green blood pouring forth from the hole and dying the earth. He was a Fiendgod, so a wound like this would usually not be fatal to him. But the energy of the attack continued to rage through his body, tearing him to shreds from the inside out and rendering his regeneration useless.


    Of course, Liang Chen had no intention of killing this leader just yet, they had to gain information from him first. Some of the poison that had invaded his body came from the Fragile Heart Mushroom, his weak soul under constant assault. Once he became a puppet, Liang Chen would pull back the remaining energy, assuring that the leader didn''t die before he was allowed to. Liang Chen stored away his spear when the leader''s eyes glazed over and all strength left his body, a sign that he had succumbed to the Fragile Heart Mushroom''s poison. As he put away his spear, a shout from Yan Ling drew his attention.


    "You''re slow, I already finished ages ago! Don''t you know that it''s rude to make a lady wait like that?"


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly and saw that Yan Ling had indeed finished off the last of her enemy. She had focused all her wind and water onto the edge of her blade, slicing a small wound into the exoskeleton that covered the Fiendgod. Through this wound, she had infiltrated his body with water and wind, using her wind to slice him apart from the inside and her water to drown him.


    But looking at the Fiendgod, who was still twitching, he had clearly only died a few seconds ago at best, there had been no waiting at all. Liang Chen started to turn his head, sweeping the area around them in an exaggerated manner as he spoke.


    "It is indeed rude, but I can''t see any lady here, so it doesn''t matter. Or was one of the people you were fighting a lady?"


    Liang Chen''s lips curled up slightly, a smirk appearing on his face as he took the chance to tease Yan Ling. Yan Ling let out a snort, grabbing the three corpses and storing them into her interspatial ring as she walked over to Liang Chen and complained.


    "Bleh, you''re just a brute, so what do you know."


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out the soul of the Undead race man he had stored away, handing it to Yan Ling. At the same time, he also nodded his head, responding to her complaint.


    "Aye, but I''m you''re brute, and it''s too late to trade me in."


    Before she had the chance to respond or react, he used his law of lightning to increase his speed and leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips, causing her to blush slightly as he pulled away. She sent him a slight glare after being kissed in such an unexpected manner, sticking out her tongue and pointing at the daze leader.


    "Bleh, you''re not even a brute anymore, you''re just a lecher. You better have him spit out some information about this place before I give you a beating."


    She tried to sound displeased, but the faint blush on her face said otherwise. Liang Chen also noticed another thing she tried to hide, the fact that she had given her lips a quick lick while Liang Chen was pulling away. But he knew when to not push his luck, giving Yan Ling a quick salute before turning around and facing the leader.


    "Aye aye, Captain."

 Tripartite God.

    Liang Chen faced the dazed leader, who had by now already kneeled down in front of Liang Chen and Yan Ling and was awaiting his orders. The energy of Liang Chen''s attack was still wreaking havoc on his insides so Liang Chen swiftly pulled it out of his body and had the energy dissipate in the surroundings.


    The leader''s wound started to heal at a very slow speed, causing Liang Chen to marvel at how much lifeforce and strength his body contained. To still be able to slowly regenerate his wounds after taking so much damage, his body likely contained even more lifeforce than Liang Chen''s. Liang Chen stopped examining the regenerating wound, starting the interrogation with a simple order.


    "Tell us a little about yourself and this planet."


    The more they learned about this Hidden World, the better they would be equipped to deal with future events. And since they knew next to nothing about this place, even a simple question like this could teach them a lot. The leader started to speak in a monotone and almost mechanical voice, his words trailing at times.


    "I am Fan Jia and I am a Five-hearts Fiend Prince who serves as the vice-captain of the guards that protect Claw Valley city, which is located inside the valley located at the foot of the Heaven Reaching Pillars mountains. I am married to the captain of the guards, Huo Feng, and we have been married for almost 52 years. This planet is known as Tripartite God and it is ruled by us Fiendgods, the Undead race, and the White Orchid race, with each race controlling a third of the planet."


    Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling raised an eyebrow after hearing the words of Fan Jia. Firstly because they had never heard about this White Orchid race, and secondly because of how old Fan Jia had to be to have been married for almost 52 years. There was also the strange title he used to introduce himself, Liang Chen choosing this title as his next question.


    "Five-hearts Fiend Prince, is that your title or is it the rank of your cultivation? Also, tell us all that you know about the cultivation ranks used by the various races on this planet."


    Knowing the different cultivation ranks and cultivation processes used by the races on this planet was rather crucial, as it would make it easier to asses the strength of their enemies. Sensing their strength based on the energy they gave off wasn''t always accurate, so it was better to know a bit more. Fan Jia couldn''t resist the poison, so he could only spill everything he knew.


    "It is the rank of my cultivation. Us Fiendgods rank our cultivation based on how strong our bodies are and how many times we can regenerate our heart after it has been destroyed. I can regenerate my heart five times, meaning that I am only a Five-hearts Fiend Prince. After I become able to regenerate my heart more than nine times, I will become a Ten-hearts Fiend Lord, and once I can regenerate it more than 99 times I will become a Hundred-hearts Fiend King. The next step is known as Thousand-hearts Fiend Emperor and finally Ten Thousand-hearts Fiend God. Each of these steps is divided into nine different sub-ranks, so the second rank of a Thousand-hearts Fiend Emperor is Two Thousand-Hearts Fiend Emperor."


    When they first spotted Fan Jia and his group, Liang Chen and Yan Ling had noticed that Fan Jia had the strength of someone at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm- Now hearing him list off the various Fiendgod cultivation ranks, as well as hearing his own rank, Liang Chen guessed that the One-Heart Fiend Prince cultivation realm was equal to the Heaven''s Gate realm. This likely also meant that a Ten-hearts Fiend Lord would be equal to someone at the Soaring Immortal realm. Liang Chen''s thoughts were cut short by slight laughter from Yan Ling.


    "One-heart Fiend Prince, Ten Thousand-hearts Fiend God? Do you really call your cultivation realms that? Who came up with these silly names?"


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly and saw that Yan Ling was doing her best to suppress her laughter, to the point of even holding her stomach. It seemed like these names, which did indeed sound rather strange to them, were extremely funny to her. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, flicking Yan Ling''s forehead.


    "Don''t mock the cultivation realms of the strange race from a different planet. They can''t be blamed for it, a strange race will breed strange names."


    The Fiendgod race was indeed a race that would look strange to people like Liang Chen and Yan Ling. Their exoskeleton like skin, their four arms, their strange eyes, and the strange appearance they took on when they fully activated their strength and revealed the Demonic beast parts they used to cultivate. Everything about them could be considered strange to the two of them. Yan Ling did her best to stifle her laughter so Liang Chen had Fan Jia continue his explanation.


    "The Undead differ from us Fiendgods in that they focus on cultivating their soul, their cultivation rank based on how many extra souls they are able to create and control. Their ranks are One-Soul Spirit Prince, Ten-Souls Spirit Lord, Hundred-Souls Spirit King, Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor, and finally Ten Thousand-Souls Spirit God."


    Hearing the description of the Undead race cultivation realms, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be somewhat curious. Creating and controlling multiple souls? Did each soul have the same personality as the main soul, or were there differences between them? If they implanted one such soul into a new body and had it travel the world, would they learn everything it learned? Liang Chen''s questions were put on hold when Fan Jia started talking about the next race, immediately catching Liang Chen''s and Yan Ling''s attention.


    "The White Orchid race focuses on cultivating their Qi and their laws, their ranks based on how many leaves their Tiger Orchids have. Their ranks are One-leaf Tiger Prince, Ten-leaves Tiger Lord, Hundred-leaves Tiger King, Thousand-leaves Tiger Emperor, and finally Ten Thousand-leaves Tiger God."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes after hearing the description, both thinking the exact same thing, this White Orchid race likely had a connection to the Sebettu race. The Sebettu cultivated their Dragon Lotuses, their cultivation rank based on how many leaves their lotuses had. The two of them refused to believe that this White Orchid race didn''t have a connection with the Sebettu race, their cultivation systems were simply too similar, there was no way it could be a coincidence.


    There was also another thing Liang Chen noticed after hearing about the three ruling races. One cultivated the body, one cultivated the soul, and the last one cultivated their Qi, perfectly divided and organized. It was simply far too neat and divided, why wasn''t there any race that cultivated or specialized in more than one of the systems? Just how had these three specific races come about to be the rulers of this planet? Liang Chen temporarily put these thoughts aside, asking his next question.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "You called us cattle previously, why? And is there a powerful human organization on this planet?"


    Yan Ling pricked up her ears after Liang Chen asked this question, her eyes narrowing slightly as she awaited Fan Jia''s answer. Both of them already had their guesses, but they still wanted confirmation. Fan Jia slowly spoke up, affirming their fears.


    "I called you cattle because that is what humans are on this planet, animals to be reared and raised for food. Your souls are excellent food for the Undead, your bodies are good nourishment for us Fiendgods, and your Qi and laws are perfect for the White Orchid race to use in cultivation. There are no human organizations on this planet, this is because of the fact that we kill any humans before they can become too strong."


    They had expected the answer, but the expressions of Liang Chen and Yan Ling still twisted in disgust after getting confirmation. This was why there had never been any humans who had arrived on their planet after being sucked into spatial rifts, they were kept in pens and reared as food, unable to enter any places where spatial rifts may open.


    One might argue that humans were no better, as they did the same to pigs and cows, but Liang Chen and Yan Ling were humans, so they would, of course, take the side of the humans in this argument. Knowing that humans were nothing but food to these people, Liang Chen and Yan Ling wanted nothing more than to kill Fan Jia right now, but there was still two more questions Liang Chen wanted to ask.


    "What sort of place is Ten Thousand Hearts city and the other cities you mentioned earlier, and are there any places on this planet where some of your cultivators train their body by transforming it into a single element?"


    Earlier, Fan Jia said that Liang Chen and Yang Ling were too strong to be cattle from their town, asking if they were from a place called Ten Thousand Hearts city. Could it be that even people of their strength were reared as cattle in some cities on this planet?


    Liang Chen also hadn''t forgotten why Yan Ling had risked entering the spatial rift that brought them here, the fragment of the Ocean God''s Physique that he owned had resonated with something here. Since they were already here, they would, of course, have to do their best to find that fragment. Fan Jia nodded his head, swiftly responding to the questions.


    "Ten Thousand Hearts city is the main city of the Fiendgods on this planet, the main city of the Undead race is the Ten Thousand Souls city and the main city of the White Orchid race is the Ten Thousand Leaves city. The cities are the ultimate tempering grounds on this planet, holding both great dangers and great opportunities. The cities are each built around a tower that houses several arenas, the people entering the towers engaging in deadly battles in order to increase their ranking so that they can earn rewards. On average, only 1 in every 10 000 who enters any of the towers ever leaves alive. But since anyone can enter these towers, there are always more people willing to test their strength."


    The concept of the cities was not unheard of to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, as even their own home planet had similar places. The best way for cultivators to grow stronger was through repeated battles, so each sect, clan, even the smaller cultivation families, had places where their disciples could engage in battles to temper themselves. Their most recent venture into the Myriad Convergence could be considered something like this, tempering themselves through battles while hunting for treasures.


    Of course, looking at the death rates, which were even more horrid than the death rate of those who entered the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, it was clear that these towers were incredibly bloody and deadly, likely far bloodier than anything Liang Chen and Yan Ling had ever seen. Fan Jia continued to explain, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling listening intently.


    "The reward for reaching the top 10 ranks is a piece of a technique that sounds like the one you are asking for. But if one wants to earn the full technique, they must reach the top rank in all three towers, a feat only achieved by the current Tripartite Slayer, the overlord of this planet, Sun Cailin."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes, a complicated and bitter expression flashing past their eyes as they shook their heads. So it really was like that. If they wanted to get their hands on the thing they had come here for, they would have to jump into the maw of the beast. The two exchanged looks once more, their eyes growing determined, Yan Ling giving a strong nod of her head. Liang Chen returned a nod of his own, turning his eyes back onto Fan Jia.


    "Last question, where are these cities located and how can we get there?"


    They had come here for the Ocean God''s Physique technique, so they could not avoid heading to these cities. There was also the fact that they had no idea how they could return home, so they would have to head to large cities like these to look for any information on how to leave. Of course, they also had some assurance in their choice. They had the Heaven Altering Masks, they could change their appearance and aura as they wished. They could easily make themselves look like someone from the Undead race, or depending on how they looked, the White Orchid race.


    There was also another thing they had realized. This planet was perfect for cultivating their Chaos King technique, to the point that it was almost scary how well-suited it was. There was one race for the body, one for the soul, and one for their Qi, they could freely pick whichever they wanted to cultivate and just devour people from the race that fit. The people of this planet ate humans to grow stronger, and in turn, Liang Chen and Yan Ling would eat the races of this planet to grow stronger. Fan Jia turned his head slightly, stretching out his arm and pointing to the distant right.


    "All three cities are located close to each other, forming a triangle, so reaching one allows you to quickly reach the other. Walking a few tens of thousands of kilometers in that direction will allow you to reach the city, but your best option is to head to any city or town and catch a ride with the Tripartite Ship that leaves once every month, bringing new people to the cities so that they can enter the towers."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes once more, their future course of actions decided. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, Yan Ling understanding what he meant. She stabbed out with her sword so fast that it turned into a white blur, the tip of it stabbing into Fan Jia''s eye and piercing through his head. The sword unleashed a burst of wind inside Fan Jia''s head, turning his brain to mush and killing him.


    Yan Ling had been waiting to kill Fan Jia ever since she heard that they reared and ate humans, so this left her rather satisfied. She stored his body into her interspatial ring, saving it for later cultivation. Liang Chen looked into the distance, at the foot of the pillar-shaped mountains. Fan Jia said that he came from the city located there, he also said that they could hitch a ride with something called the Tripartite Ship that would take them directly to the three main cities. He pointed at the city with one hand, taking out his Heaven Altering Mask with the other.


    "The town should be over there, let''s hope that we can catch a ride with that ship as quickly as possible. While we''re there we should also see if there is anything we can do for the people being reared as food."


    The thought of people living in pens and being reared as food disgusted Liang Chen. It also served to further reinforce his belief that the heavens were truly indifferent, to the point of being vile and cruel. There was truly no need for any heaven that allowed something like this to happen to exist, the universe was better of if such heaven was destroyed.


    Yan Ling nodded her head and took out her own Heaven Altering Masks, the two of them putting them on and altering their appearance so that they looked like people from the Undead race. They then started making their way toward the distant city, both of them thoroughly disgusted with this entire planet.

 Claw Valley city.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen swiftly made their way closer to the pillar-shaped mountains, and while they did meet a few more patrols of armored guards as they got closer to the mountains, their disguises made it so that they weren''t stopped or attacked. As they got closer to the mountains, they also started occasionally seeing a few non-guards, citizens out taking a walk.


    Some of these citizens were people from the White Orchid race, giving the two of them their first look at their appearance. They looked rather similar to humans but still had a few distinctions that set them apart from normal humans. Their eyes were rather narrow and were tilted vertically rather than horizontally, their wheat-colored skin was covered in white markings that looked like vines covered in leaves, and they had an extra mouth located just below their throat, this one filled with teeth that were quite a bit sharper than normal ones.


    Two days after killing Fan Jia and the five other patrolling guards, Liang Chen and Yan Ling reached Claw Valley city. The reason it was called Claw Valley city was clearly because of how the valley it was located in looked, like a five-pronged claw. The five fingers of the claw were each at least several tens of kilometers in length and ten kilometers in width, the palm part of the claw was also incredibly large, at least a few tens of kilometers in width and length.


    Coupled with the three tall pillar-shaped mountains located at the side of the valley it made for quite a marvelous sight, as if an actual claw had once been buried here at the foot of the mountains.


    But as they inspected the valleys closer, the two of them noticed signs that these valleys weren''t created by nature or by some wayward attack, these valleys had been dug out on purpose. There were marks along the walls of the valleys that showed the valleys had been made using a mixture of manual labor with shovels and having people use the law of earth to lift pieces of the earth. They had no idea how long it took to create these valleys, but it clearly took a great deal of work.


    The cities within the valleys were also a sight to behold. Each of the five valleys that made up the claws contained a city which filled up the entire claw, all the cities connecting together into a single large city that filled the entire palm part of the claw. There were large and wide sets of stairs carved into the valley walls at certain points, allowing people to walk from the city up to the prairie. There was also a place at the rear of the palm part where the valley wall had been carved into an upward slanting road that could be used by merchants bringing wares to the city.


    The architecture of the city was also a rather interesting sight, mainly because Liang Chen and Yan Ling had never seen anything like it. All the buildings were made from the same stone as the valley itself, and it looked like the valley itself had been carved out to create these buildings. Looking at some of the buildings that were located closest to the valley wall that they were standing on, it seemed like that truly was the case, that the valley had been carved to create these buildings.


    There were markings on some of the walls that made it clear that these buildings had been meticulously created as the entire valley was being created, someone using the law of earth or the law of stone to form the buildings and then continued to create the valley.


    It was an amazing sight to behold, but since they knew that the inhabitants of this city saw humans as no more than livestock to rear, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were unable to enjoy the sight. The two locked gazes for a short moment before nodding their heads, heading down the stairs that led into the part of the city located in the palm part of the claw-shaped valley.


    The streets of the city were teeming with people from the three races that ruled this planet, it wasn''t very different from the cities on Liang Chen''s own home planet. They could see streetside peddlers hawking their wares, children running through the streets and alleys as they played together, housewives gathering together to chat or buy groceries, it was so normal that it was eerie.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling had expected them to be more savage and brutal, they were a race that ate humans and treated them like animals after all. But they weren''t brutal or savage, they were just normal people trying to maintain a living. The two of them spotted a blue-haired woman from the White Orchid race who wore armor similar to the one that Fan Jia and his men had worn, so they walked up to her and stopped her.


    "Excuse me. We are nomads looking to head to Ten Thousand Hearts city, could you tell us when the next Tripartite Ship is heading out? Also, from where will it leave?"


    The woman turned around after being stopped, looking Liang Chen and Yan Ling up and down. They had both disguised them as people from the Undead race, and as long as they had the Heaven Altering Masks, not even people far stronger than them would be able to see through their disguise, so they weren''t worried about the gaze of this woman. After a short moment, the woman gave a nod of her head and pointed further into the city with a smile.


    "Aye, the next Tripartite Ship will arrive at the city center in 11 days, it should arrive around noon. It''ll stay here for about a day and then leave, heading back to the Ten Thousand Hearts city in a somewhat roundabout way, picking up more passengers. But I wouldn''t suggest going with it. There might be riches in those cities, but the arenas are just too dangerous, it''s far better to just stay here where it''s safe."


    She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head slightly as she finished talking, clearly not recommending people head to the three main cities. After all, what good were riches if you were dead? Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked gazes for a short moment after hearing that they would have to stay here for 11 days. Yan Ling gave a slight nod of her head, so Liang Chen turned back to the woman and asked another question.


    "I see, so it won''t arrive for another 11 days. In that case, could you tell me which inn is closest to the place where the Tripartite Ship stops?"


    After killing Fan Jia and the other guards, Liang Chen and Yan Ling had acquired everything they were carrying, including all the money they carried. They used a type of currency Liang Chen had never seen before, one focused around pea-sized crystal orbs of different colors, with the orbs of deeper color being worth more. They had asked one of the people they had met outside the valley about the currency, using the excuse that they were nomads who weren''t used to using the money. The woman once again nodded her head, giving them detailed directions.


    "If you follow this road for about seven or eight kilometers, you''ll reach the star-shaped center of this city, the Starheart Plaza. Just ignore all the peddlers hawking their wares, they usually don''t have anything good at this time of the day. You''ll want to head to the right side of the plaza and find the place called Linji''s rest, you can''t miss it, just find the giant purple flower that hangs above the inn. They are a bit pricy, but their good food makes up for it. The Tripartite Ship will stop about a kilometer away from the inn, so it is one of the closest ones."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t even dare think about what this ''good food'' might be, thanking the woman for the information and then heading down the road she had directed them towards. They followed the road until they reached the center of the city, which was indeed shaped like a giant star that spanned at least ten kilometers in width and length, taking up a good part of the palm part of the valley.


    It didn''t take the two of them long to find Linji''s rest, a four-story-tall building that had a three-meter-tall purple rose growing up from the roof. They entered the building, which had a surprisingly simple interior. An ascending staircase took up most of the right side of the entrance, while the left side only held a door that led into a different room. Between the door and the staircase was a wooden counter, a young girl from the Fiendgod race standing behind the counter. She was reading some thin book, not paying much attention to the room.


    Her face gave away the fact that she was a young girl, but the Fiendgod race was naturally tall, so she was a little taller than Liang Chen, almost two meters in height. The two of them walked up to the counter and stated their business.


    "Hello, we would like a room for the next 11 days, do you have anything available? We don''t need any food, we just want a room."


    The girl jumped slightly after being addressed, hurriedly closing the book and pushing it away. She nervously cleared her throat when she saw Liang Chen and Yan Ling but then quickly did her best to hide her nervousness.


    "Hel... Hi! Yes, we have a few rooms available. All our rooms cost the same, so if you want one for 11 days it''ll cost 145 Yellow Gibbings. Ah, no, wait, you didn''t want food, so it''ll be 120 Yellow Gibbings."


    The girl tried to stealthily clench her hands a few times to hide her nervousness, but it clearly showed that she was not used to working this position and having to talk to others. Since Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t know much about the currency here, they were unable to tell if the price was high or low, they simply took out 120 of the yellow orbs from their interspatial ring and handed them to the girl.


    The girl gave them a quick count and then placed them in a wooden box, nodding her head and taking a metal key out from a different wooden box. She handed the key to Liang Chen, directing him up the staircase to the right.


    "Here''s your key. You just have to take this staircase up for two floors and then follow the hallway to the very end, your room will be the one at the right, the one marked with the number 18. Please enjoy your stay... and please... try to be quiet at night... the walls are not perfectly soundproof."


    The girl struggled a bit with getting out her last sentence, stopping quite a bit as she nodded her head at the two of them several times. Understanding what the girl was getting at, Yan Ling couldn''t help but blush slightly, casting a somewhat bashful sideways glance at Liang Chen. Seeing that he didn''t react to what the girl was implying with her words, Yan Ling''s bashful expression turned into a slight glare. Liang Chen found it best for his own safety to not say anything right now, accepting key and swiftly fleeing up the stairs.


    The room they had received was surprisingly nice, actually consisting of three smaller rooms. There was one bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom that even contained a bathtub. The bedroom contained a single double-bed, two closets for clothing, and a single nightstand. The living room contained two couches separated by a table, a small corner serving as a kitchen, a few square windows, and a few cupboards where one could store things.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling sat down on one of the couches, taking out some food and drinks from their interspatial ring. Luckily, they had quite a lot of ingredients stored up, so they would not have any problems with food for the foreseeable future. After taking a bit of time to eat and drink, Liang Chen spoke up, telling Yan Ling what he was planning in a hushed voice.


    "Once night falls I''ll probably head out to find out where they are rearing the humans."


    Knowing that there were humans here who were treated like animals, reared to be food, Liang Chen felt sick to his stomach. He wasn''t sure what he could do for them, but he wanted to at least see if there was anything he could do. Yan Ling finished up a cup of sweetened wine, nodding her head.


    "Alright, but I''ll be joining you."


    Her tone of voice left no room for argument, her joining him on his nightly escapade already an established fact. But Liang Chen still furrowed his brow and at least pretended to protest.


    "Of course, what sort of nightly scouting mission would be complete without a loud firecracker at my side? It''ll be perfect for alerting them of my location when I want to cause a ruckus."


    Yan Ling was caught completely off-guard by his statement, and unable to hold herself back, ended up letting out a subdued giggle. But just like Liang Chen had to pretend to protest, she had to at least pretend to be teased, raising her fist and waving it in front of her face. Sadly, she was still giggling, so there was no way Liang Chen could take her seriously.


    "Nihihi, you trying to get yourself beat?"


    The two continued to chat and waste away the time until the sun set, darkness and silence falling on the city around them. Just as Liang Chen decided that it was time to head out, Yan Ling pulled something out of her interspatial ring, a pair of gray robes Liang Chen hadn''t seen in a while. Seeing the robes, Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel some nostalgia.


    These gray robes were given to them by Yan Ying while they were still in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, just before they entered Four Clouds city, their effect was to obscure the face of the one that wore them. It was in this Four Clouds city that Liang Chen had ended up killing Liu Daning and his men, flooding the palace where they lived with blood.


    He had knocked himself unconscious back then, so Yan Ling had picked him up and fled the scene, in the process taking off their robes and switching into other less conspicuous ones. He hadn''t seen the robes since then, guessing that Yan Ling had thrown them away. But now it seemed like she had been taking care of them ever since, waiting for a chance to use them. The two donned the gray robes and left the room using the windows, disappearing into the dark city.


    The two were rather adept at moving without being seen or heard, Yan Ling using her law of wind to make their bodies so light that their footsteps didn''t make any sound. The city was mostly empty this late at night, with only some guards patrolling the streets. The two of them ambushed one of these guards, Liang Chen using his Fragile Heart poison to force the male from the Undead race to answer their questions, to tell them where the humans were being kept, as well as how they were reared.


    The humans were being reared in a rather unexpected place, within the three pillar-shaped mountains. All three mountains were apparently completely hollow, the humans living within cities built inside the mountains. After receiving all the answers they were looking for, Liang Chen flooded the mind of the guard with some poison he had mixed with his Anima Essence, wiping out every memory he had made in the last hour.


    This was a technique Liang Chen was not adept with, as it actually required him to erase not only part of the target''s mind but also part of their soul. He wasn''t adept enough to wipe out specific memories like this, so he could only erase everything the man remembered from the last hour, leaving the man unconscious in a small alley where he was hard to see.


    They then left the valley and traveled to the three towering mountains, following the path the man had been forced to tell them about. The path took them about five kilometers up the mountain and ended when they reached a cave that was a few tens of meters in width and height. They entered the cave and followed it for about half a kilometer before they reached the end, arriving on a small outcropping that revealed the hollow inside of the mountain.


    The mountain was about 20 kilometers wide, with about the inner 18 kilometers being hollow and turned into a city. There was a large array carved into the top of the mountain, the array creating a right like that emulated the sun. The architecture of this city was different from the city in the valley, the buildings in this city were all made from wood, the buildings were also slightly smaller in size. From their vantage point a few kilometers above the city, the two of them were able to see the entire city, as well as what was going on in it.


    Liang Chen had expected something different when he first heard that they were rearing humans like cattle, he certainly didn''t expect the scene in front of him. There were no people from the other races within the city, there were only humans moving around within it. They weren''t chained up or kept in small cages, they were free to move around in the city as they pleased. The city even had merchants and various shops that the people could use, it was just like a normal city.


    And just like any normal city, it had its fair share of scum. As they were watching, three teenage children assaulted an older man who was making his way past the small alley they were hiding in. They dragged him into the alley and hit him on the head with large rocks, quickly killing him. They searched his corpse for anything valuable and then fled the scene, leaving him to rot in the alley.


    But he didn''t get the chance to rot away, as three people from the White Orchid race suddenly entered the city using a hidden underground entrance, popping up not far from the alley. They quickly scurried into the valley and picked up the man''s corpse, carrying it to the underground entrance and then closing it behind them, both they and the corpse vanishing from the city.


    This was how they reared humans, this was what the guard they had interrogated earlier told them. They didn''t do much with the humans, they simply gave them a large place to live and then let them live freely, allowing them to ''follow their natural instincts to kill and ruin''. They only ever interfered in the city of a person was about to break into the Heaven''s Gate realm, swiftly entering the city and killing the person. Other than this, they allowed the people to live and breed as they wished, only picking up the corpses of the people that were killed and using them for food. Most of the people in this city probably didn''t even know that they were being treated like livestock.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling continued to overlook the city for a bit before leaving, following a different path and checking out the cities in the two other mountains. Each city was the same, a lawless area where people simply did as they pleased. In a way, Liang Chen found it very similar to the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, where lives were as cheap as grass. As they were overlooking the third city, Yan Ling pat Liang Chen on the shoulder and spoke up in a gentle and comforting voice.


    "Little Freak, you can tell me about your thoughts and worries, holding them in for too long will only poison you. Besides, you''re not alone, I''m right here."


    She could tell that Liang Chen was thinking about something, he had been ever since they saw the state of the first city. She had also already experienced that he had the bad habit of keeping his worries to himself, doing his best to solve them alone. But he wasn''t alone, not anymore. She was there, she could help him bear those worries. Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his expression growing a bit bitter.


    "I was just thinking, I can now somewhat understand why the heavens are indifferent."


    It was an admittance that Liang Chen never thought he would utter, that he was starting to understand the heavens that he kept cursing. Yan Ling didn''t say anything, she simply waited for Liang Chen to continue talking. Liang Chen turned his gaze back onto the city, his expression still bitter as he spoke.


    "When I heard that they were being reared like animals, I wanted to save all these people. I wanted to do what the heavens did not do, saving these people and punishing the people in Claw Valley city who placed them here. But is that really the right thing to do? If I save these people, I will unleash people just as bad as Qing Lan Yong, just as bad as the people I have killed in the past for being evil. And if I punish the people in Claw Valley city, won''t I end up killing many innocent people, like the children and those who have nothing to do with this? Who is it right to save, who is it right to punish? Is it wrong to even think about saving any of them?"


    He couldn''t help but wonder if this was why the heavens were indifferent, because choosing was sometimes simply too hard. Yan Ling tilted her head slightly as she looked at Liang Chen and then suddenly burst into a slight giggle.


    "Nihihi, so that is what you were worrying about? Back in Four Clouds city, I said that even though you acted so mature, your thoughts were still surprisingly childish. Your thoughts are no longer as childish, but now they are far too arrogant."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be caught a bit off-guard by Yan Ling''s statement. He was too arrogant with his thoughts? He continued to look at her, Yan Ling continuing to explain.


    "Chen''er, you are not a god, it is not up to you to decide what is right and what is wrong. You can only decide what you want to do, not whether it is right or wrong. And once you have decided what you want to do, you do it even if it turns out to be wrong, because it is what you yourself chose. No one else chose it for you, it was you yourself who chose it, so no matter what the rest of the world says, it is the right choice for you. You aren''t sure if it is right to save all these people? Then don''t do it. Chen''er, I love your dedication to doing what the heavens choose not to, but that doesn''t mean you have to save everyone, you have no obligation to do so."


    She didn''t call him Little Freak like she usually would, showing how serious she was being right now. She grabbed onto Liang Chen''s arm and stretched it out for him, opening his palm and intertwining his fingers with hers, continuing to talk as she held his hand.


    "You don''t have to save everyone, nor can you, no one can save everyone. You can only save those who you can hold in your grasp, like me, right now. You are holding me, and I am holding you. You saving me, and I hope to do the same for you. Thinking that you should, or can, save everyone is just too arrogant. And arrogance doesn''t suit you Chen''er, your carefree and slightly teasing demeanor suits you far better, it is absolutely lovely. So Chen''er, please don''t talk about saving everyone, only save those you want to, those you can."


    She didn''t want to see Liang Chen take on the burden of saving everyone, didn''t want to see him try to carry all that weight and then collapse under it. Liang Chen looked at her hand, looked at their intertwined fingers. He then turned to look at the city again, his voice a bit uncertain as he spoke up.


    "Is that really fine? Is it really fine for me to be that selfish?"


    Ever since his parents died, he had been thinking that he had to do what the heavens wouldn''t do, that he had to kill evildoers and save those who were innocent. He had done his best to follow this belief, killing everyone he had considered evil, even if they hadn''t crossed paths with him before. Yan Ling''s face bloomed into a bright smile as she gave a nod of her head, immediately responding to his question.


    "It is. To live is to do as one pleases. It''s not selfish to do as you want and reject what you don''t want, it is realistic. When you try to save everyone, you are living for them, not for yourself, living for someone you don''t even know is too sad. And you, Chen''er, have long since earned the right to live as yourself, to do as you please. Even if you do end up being a bit selfish, no one will blame you, we will instead support you."


    Liang Chen had suffered enough, she didn''t want him to continue suffering because of a desire to save everyone that could be considered innocent. She didn''t think that he deserved to continue suffering for someone else, he deserved to live happily, he had earned that right long ago. Liang Chen once again looked at their intertwined hands, his gaze then drifting over the city beneath them. After a few minutes, his gaze returned to normal as he sent Yan Ling a smile.


    "Ling''er, thank you. You are right, saving everyone is impossible, no one should try to do that. I won''t try to save everyone, I will just do what I can."


    Liang Chen had already forgotten the words he had told himself several times. If the heavens have no wrath, I will become their wrath. He wasn''t a savior or someone who brought salvation to others. He was Liang Chen, he was the Scourge King, the man who would bring endless wrath onto those he considered evil.

 An awe-inspiring sight.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t linger around the human cities for much longer after Yan Ling set Liang Chen straight, heading back to Claw Valley city. He calmed down a little after realizing his thoughts had been wrong, allowing Yan Ling to tell him something he hadn''t thought about yet, there was nothing he could do right now.


    Even if he did kill the ones guarding the human cities and helped free those he deemed worthy of saving, what then? They had no homes they could go to, no organizations where they could seek shelter. All the races on this planet were against them, and neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling owned a mobile abode, a portable house that could grow or shrink as they pleased. The moment these people were freed, they would be forced to flee for the rest of their lives. Freeing them now was not saving them, it was dooming them to a life of fleeing and pain. Right here, right now, the best course of action was to do absolutely nothing.


    They returned to Claw Valley city using the darkness of the night as their cover, scaling the walls of the inn and entering their room through the window they had left open. After entering the room again, Yan Ling removed the gray robe and let out a yawn and then jumped onto the bed, taking on a perfect diving posture. She cuddled up against the pillows, letting out another yawn as she addressed Liang Chen.


    "Alright, I''m gonna tuck myself in real nice and tight. Little Freak, try anything funny during the night and I might just savage your junior."


    She knew that there was no way Liang Chen would ever try anything on her while she was asleep, she mostly said it to tease him and to somewhat lighten up the mood. After all, they were on a planet where practically all the other races were against them, it was important to keep their mood bright and cheery. Liang Chen put away his own robe, sweeping Yan Ling''s body with a quick glance before letting out a snort.


    "No need to worry, I wouldn''t try anything on someone as childlike as you, I prefer my women more developed. Maybe I should head out and see if I can find someone like that."


    Liang Chen was always willing to play along when Yan Ling felt in a teasing mood, so he, of course, had to fire back with something in the same style as her. Yan Ling cast a stealthy glance at her own rather modest chest but then copied Liang Chen and let out a snort.


    "Hah, as if you could get anyone else to fall in love with you. With your personality, only someone as mentally deficient as me could fall in love with you. So whether or not you like it, you''re stuck with me for the rest of your life."


    Liang Chen couldn''t stop himself from letting out a light laughter upon hearing her words, which could be considered an insult to both of them. Liang Chen walked over to one of the couches in the room, sitting down and taking out some spicy wine before responding to Yan Ling.


    "You know, I fell like that statement can be turned right back at you."


    The two of them were rather similar, both had suffered in similar ways, and while they had dealt with their suffering in different manners, it had still left its marks on them. Both of them were forever scarred and changed by the events of their past, and it was these scars that had drawn the two of them together, forever linking them together.


    There was no response to Liang Chen''s words so he cast his gaze away from the jug of wine and onto Yan Ling, who had fallen asleep while he was sitting down on the couch. His expression softened into a gentle smile as he raised the glass of wine, whispering softly.


    "Goodnight Ling''er, sweet dreams."


    Liang Chen didn''t need to sleep ever since his bloodline awakened. He could sleep if he wished to, but whenever he did he would relive the execution of his parents, so he hadn''t slept for quite some time already. Liang Chen passed the night away in silence, drinking some wine as he watched over the sleeping Yan Ling and continued to think about various ways he could improve his body and soul cultivation techniques.


    He might get his hands on the other fragments of the Lightning God Physique, but he still continued to ponder over various paths he could take to improve his body cultivation until then. As of right now, he hadn''t come up with anything specific, but he had come up with an idea he felt plausible after they entered the Myriad Convergence.


    On their way to the Fiend King''s Tomb, they had passed through a stone forest that was filled with boulders made of crystals that contained concentrated lightning energy. Liang Chen had taken several of these boulders and stored them into his interspatial ring, saving them for his future cultivation. These boulders were almost like Lightning Quartz, concentrated lightning energy that had become so dense that it had crystallized.


    After seeing these, he couldn''t help but wonder, couldn''t he just turn his bones into this material? It would follow the principle of the Lightning God Physique, changing the entire body into lightning, but it would also allow his bones to become extraordinarily strong. He was still working on how exactly he should complete this process, as it differed somewhat from the usual Lightning God Physique technique, so he hadn''t actually put it into practice yet.


    Time continued to pass after Liang Chen and Yan Ling finished their scouting of the cities where the humans were being reared, the arrival of the Tripartite Ship getting closer and closer. Liang Chen wanted to just stay in the inn and quietly cultivate until the ship arrived, but this decision of his was quickly overruled by Yan Ling, who dragged him out of the inn and started to wander through the city.


    This was a completely new planet, there was no telling what sort of new things they might see as they wandered through the city. Yan Ling would never give up a chance like this, so there was nothing Liang Chen could do but follow her around and join her in her sightseeing. It turned out that the races on this planet didn''t eat only humans, they also reared normal animals like pigs and cows that they ate. Humans were more like Demonic beasts to them, a type of gourmet food that they could eat to aid in their cultivation.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling tried some of the food that they were certain wasn''t human flesh and found that it was surprisingly good. The races of this planet seemed to be rather fond of sweeter tastes, as most of the meat was coated in different types of sauces that ranged from very sweet to a more subtle sweetness. Before they knew it, they had already spent 11 days in Claw Valley city, the Tripartite Ship arriving in the star-shaped city plaza.


    The Tripartite Ship looked rather strange, it didn''t look like a ship or carriage at all, it looked like a large metallic tiger with wheels hidden inside the paws. The tiger was only around a hundred meters long, but when Liang Chen and Yan Ling stepped through the door located on the waist of the tiger, they entered a red room that was much larger than the tiger.


    The room they entered was circular in shape and at least a few kilometers in width and length, far larger than the ship itself. Liang Chen had never seen a ship like this, but Yan Ling explained to him that ships like this existed on their planet as well, they were used by the upper echelons of the sects. They were created in a manner very similar to an interspatial ring, compressing a large area of space into a small location and stabilizing it.


    The room was filled with couches, chairs, and tables, providing a seating spot for everyone who might board the ship. There were bedrooms on this ship, but most people simply spent most of their time in this large room, interacting with the other passengers. There were already quite a few people on the ship when Yan Ling and Liang Chen entered it, all of them on their way to the main cities so that they could enter the grand towers.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling found an empty room and grabbed the key for it, reserving it for themselves. It would take this ship about a month to actually reach Ten Thousand Hearts city so Yan Ling wanted to secure a place where she could sleep. After securing a room for themselves, they returned to the large room where most of the other passengers were located. They found themselves a place where they could sit and chat while surveying the room, calmly waiting for the ship to depart.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    After a little less than a day, the Tripartite Ship left Claw Valley city and started its journey to Ten Thousand Hearts city, stopping at a few other cities along the way to pick up a few more passengers. About two weeks after the ship left Claw Valley city, Yan Ling and Liang Chen were approached by a man from the Fiendgod race who waved at them and spoke in a loud tone.


    "Yo, the name''s Yin Weijing! I and a few others are gonna spar a little before we reach Ten Thousand Hearts city, test our strengths and see where we can improve, ya know? How bout it, wanna join us?"


    Yin Weijing had cultivation that lingered between the peak of the Ascended Tower realm and the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. If Liang Chen and Yan Ling were to spar with them it would be more like bullying. But it couldn''t be helped that he approached them, their cultivation realms seemed to be very similar after all, with Liang Chen at the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm and Yan Ling at the middle stage. Liang Chen couldn''t be bothered to spar with them, but Yan Ling jumped at the opportunity to show off a little.


    "I''ll join you, but you better not cry when I whoop your ass."


    Yan Ling snickered slightly as she spoke, smirking at Yin Weijing. Her words could be taken as sheer arrogance, but she had the right to be that arrogant. With her strength, she could even kill people at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, maybe even someone that had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, she had no need to put people like Yin Weijing in her eyes. Yin Weijing burst into laughter after seeing her demeanor, using his thumb to point at another Fiendgod sitting across the room. This Fiendgod had reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm and was only half a step away from the Soaring Immortal realm.


    "Haha, yer confident, I like it! Don''t worry about me cryin over a loss, I''ll take it like a man and focus on improving. But my Eldest Brother might have something else to say if you beat me, he might make ya cry just to make me feel better about losing."


    Yan Ling cast her gaze onto the Fiendgod but didn''t seem bothered by Yan Weijing''s words. She instead giggled lightly, casting a sideways glance at Liang Chen, who was drinking some wine and watching the two of them with a calm gaze.


    "Nihihi, you should advise him against doing so. I don''t think you can afford to make me cry."


    No one knew better than her just how brutal and savage Liang Chen could be, especially when he was furious. She had only seen his rage, or at least what she believed was his rage, twice before. The first time was when he engaged in a bloody massacre in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, the slaughter which had given him the title Scourge King, and the second time was against Huang Dong, where he put his life on the line just to wound Huang Dong to a point where she could kill him.


    She couldn''t help but be slightly curious, if they wounded her and made her cry, just how furious would he be? Yin Weijing understood what Yan Ling meant with her words and her glance, his gaze landing on Liang Chen. He inspected him from head to toe, shrugging his shoulders with a carefree laugh.


    "Heh, now yer just making me curious. But I''ll just take yer word for it, no need to poke a possible hornet''s nest."


    He couldn''t see anything special about Liang Chen, but he knew that looks could be deceiving, the normal looking youth could be far more terrifying than he first appeared. Yan Ling didn''t say anything, merely snickering lightly while Liang Chen raised the glass of wine in a casual greeting.


    Yan Ling left with Yin Weijing and met up with a few other people from the various races. They cleared up some space at the center of the room, creating a small ring where they could spar to test each other''s power. Liang Chen moved a bit closer, observing the battles as they took place.


    Just like he expected, Yan Ling was easily able to beat the others, to the point where it truly was nothing more than bullying. She held back a little but was still able to practically mop the floor with them, resulting in her getting quite a few awe-filled looks. Most of the people on this ship had cultivation around the Heaven''s Gate realm, with the stronger people already living in the three main cities. On this ship, Yan Ling was indisputably one of the strongest people.


    Once all the sparring was over, Yan Ling returned to Liang Chen and sat down next to him, Liang Chen handing her a cup filled with sweetened wine. Yin Weijing also came over, bringing a seat and placing it across of Liang Chen''s table, taking out some wine of his own as he started talking.


    "Yikes, ya weren''t kidding when you said you would whoop my ass, I haven''t been beaten like that in quite a while! And this guy''s supposed to be stronger than ya? I really wanna spar with you, but if what she said is true, I don''t think I''m in yer league. If ya spend some time in Ten Thousand Hearts city, and your strength really is that great, ya might even get the chance to meet the Tripartite Slayer."


    Yin Weijing seemed to be a rather casual person. He had just gotten completely dominated by Yan Ling, to the point of not even being able to touch her robes, but he didn''t mind it in the slightest. Just seeing the way he acted once again reminded Liang Chen that even though these races ate humans, they were still just normal people. Liang Chen finished his cup of wine and poured some more for himself and Yan Ling, taking the initiative to talk to Yin Weijing.


    "The Tripartite Slayer, could you tell me a little about her? We''re nomads who have spent quite a bit of time traveling through uninhabited areas, so we are rather lacking in the information department."


    Sun Cailin, the Tripartite Slayer. The only person to have ever reached the top rank in all three towers, the overlord of this planet. If Liang Chen wanted to get his hands on the fragment of the Lightning God Physique technique, he might have to fight her at some point. At that time, the more he knew about her the better his odds were. Yin Weijing opened his eyes wide, a rather strange sight since his race had naturally large eyes with red sclera and crimson pupils.


    "Ya don''t know a lot about the Tripartite Slayer? Ya really ought to pick up a book at times, readin is good for ya. The Tripartite Slayer is the overlord o'' this entire planet, strongest and noblest person around. Whenever someone on this planet starts approaching the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm they always end up leaving to explore the wider universe, but the Tripartite Slayer is on the brink of breaking into the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm but still remains on this planet. She watches over us and guards the planet, making sure that no harm can come to it. And not only has she almost reached the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realm, but she is also on the verge of reaching the Thousand-Hearts Fiend Emperor realm, having received a special body cultivation technique after becoming the Tripartite Slayer. She''s the goal that all cultivators on this planet strive to reach, both in strength and nobility."


    Yin Weijing''s eyes gleamed as he spoke, admiration clearly visible in them. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Yin Weijing talk about Sun Cailin. She was on the verge of breaking into the Thousand-Hearts Fiend Emperor and the Thousand-Souls Spirit Emperor realms meaning that she was on the verge of reaching the Transcended Immortal realm in body and soul cultivation. If he had to beat her to receive the full Lightning God Physique technique, things would become very difficult.


    But there was no point in worrying about that now. After all, it wasn''t certain that he had to beat her to receive the technique, he might be lucky and never have to even meet her. He and Yan Ling continued to chat with Yin Weijing, occasionally talking with some of the other passengers as well. No bandits were foolish enough to attempt ambushing the Tripartite Ship, so their journey was smooth and unimpeded.


    Two days before they arrived at Ten Thousand Hearts city, Yin Weijing suggested that they leave the Tripartite Ship for a moment, wanting to show Liang Chen and Yan Ling a stunning sight. They had nothing to lose, and Yan Ling really wanted to see this ''stunning sight'' so they agreed and left the ship for a short moment with him. And once they left the ship, Liang Chen saw a sight that filled him with immense awe, and even some dread.


    The ship was currently at the top of a hill, a small forest spreading out in front of them at the foot of the hill. In the distance, they were able to see Ten Thousand Hearts city, as well as the two other cities that connected with it and formed a triangle. But what caught Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s attention were the three massive towers located at the center of the cities.


    Each tower looked to be at least two or three thousand kilometers in width and were at least three times as tall. Each tower was ivory white in color and ended in a sharp tip that pierced the cloudless sky, an incredibly dominating sight. But it wasn''t the sheer size of the towers that shocked them, it was what the towers were made of. Each tower was made from a single fang, they weren''t shaped like fangs, they were fangs. Just what sort of monster could have fangs this large, just how large mustn''t the Demonic beast that shed these fangs be? And just how did such fangs end up here? Had someone actually killed such a Demonic beast and placed the fangs here?


    He asked Yin Weijing, but even he had no idea where these fangs had come from, they had apparently been here as long as recorded history. If anyone knew where they came from, they hadn''t made that information public. They could only put the question aside for now, catching up with the ship and entering it again. In two days they would reach Ten Thousand Hearts city, and then Liang Chen and Yan Ling would enter the towers to join the bloody arenas.

 King and queen ascending the stage.

    The last two days swiftly passed, all the passengers on the Tripartite Ship tense with excitement and hope. Battles in the arenas were bloody and deadly, unless your opponent was a merciful person you would be killed when you lost. There was no telling how many of the current passengers would still be alive after a year, or even just a month within those towers.


    Ten Thousand Hearts city was incredibly large, it had to be if it wanted to house one of the three grand towers after all. As Liang Chen and Yan Ling learned, the tower in Ten Thousand Hearts city was given the name Endless Heart Tower, while the two other towers were Heaven Reaching Souls Tower and God Piercing Fang Tower.


    Even though the city was called Ten Thousand Hearts city and was considered the main city of the Fiendgod race, it was home to countless others from the Undead race and the White Orchid race. This led to the city having a very varied architecture, with very few of the houses resembling each other. Some were made using a strange black stone and resembled castles, others were simple wooden shacks, while some were even built using the bones of Demonic beasts.


    The yellow-brick paved roads that ran through the city were very wide, able to fit at least three carriages side by side, making it easy for many people to traverse them at once. Surrounding the entire city was a black metal wall that was almost 50 meters in height and two meters thick, covered in countless runes to strengthen it. At the far end of the city, there was a road that stretched beyond the wall, connecting the city with the two other distant cities.


    And of course, the centerpiece of the city was Endless Heart Tower, the lower part of its ivory frame carved with delicate and exquisite decorations that depicted a battle that not even the oldest history book had information about. The tiger-shaped Tripartite Ship easily moved past the large gates that were built into the wall, quietly following the roads and approaching the tower. The citizens of this city knew what this ship was so there was no one that blocked its path.


    The ship arrived in front of the tower, stopping in front of two massive gates carved directly into the tower. The doors to the ship opened and the various passengers stepped out, looking at the massive tower in silent awe while the gates in front of them were slowly opening. Once the gates were fully opened, Liang Chen and Yan Ling could see several people from the various races standing ready inside the towers, each one carrying a small book as they called out to the people who had just left the ship.


    "Any new arrivals must come over here and give us their names, they will then have to participate in a quick group battle to showcase their strength."


    The passengers who had left the ship started to flood into the tower, Yan Ling dashing ahead and taking care of delivering her own and Liang Chen''s name. Since she handled the signing up, Liang Chen swept his surroundings with a few glances, inspecting the first floor of the tower.


    The first floor was so vast that Liang Chen was unable to see the end of it, so he found it likely that the entire fang that was this tower was completely hollowed out. He could see a ceiling painted to resemble a clear blue sky above him, they had even used an array to simulate the sun so that they could illuminate the inside. Past that blue sky was likely the second floor of the tower, just waiting for new people to reach it.


    He could see a large number of people from the various races spread out through the surroundings, countless buildings dotting the area. The inside of the tower was like a city of its own, the only thing setting this city apart from the city outside the tower being the various arenas spread through the area. Even from his position at the entrance Liang Chen was able to hear screams come from the arena, the scent of sweet blood tickling his nose. A few minutes after she dashed ahead of him, Yan Ling came skipping back.


    "Alright, I''ve finished the sign-up and asked a few questions about the tower. After we participate in this one group battle we can live inside any of the houses in the area. If anyone else wants the same house as us, we have to defend the house on our own. This place is kinda like a small city, so there are markets spread around, with the currency being the same Gibbings used everywhere else. On the four lowest floors, we have to take part in at least one battle every year, if we don''t, we get kicked out of the tower. If we want to reach the second floor, we have to win 10 straight battles, with each subsequent floor requiring double the wins of the previous one. To go from the second to the third floor requires 20 wins, then 40, then 80, then 120, then 240, then 480, and then 960 wins to finally reach the last floor, the mythical 9th floor where the top 100 rankers live. It''s pretty excessive so I can see why there has only ever been one person to reach the top rank in all three towers."


    The towers were somewhat lawless areas, with killing, robbing, and raping a very common thing in the streets. The only places were fighting was forbidden were the various marketplaces spread around, as well as some special areas on the higher floors. But even though the towers were this lawless, there were still some rules. The main rules were that one had to fight at least once a year on the lower floors and that there were places where fighting was forbidden. As for who enforced these rules, that would be the Tower Kings, the subordinates of the Tripartite Slayer. They have been given special authority and a corps of elite soldiers they can command as they wished. As for who enforced these rules before Sun Cailin became the Tripartite Slayer, that was so long ago that no one remembered any longer.


    After telling Liang Chen everything she had learned after asking the one who noted down her name, Yan Ling led him to the closest arena, a simple stone stage surrounded by a raised seating area. There were already quite a few other people on the stone stage, almost 100 people in total, and all of them had cultivation around the early or middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. There were a few people Liang Chen recognized amongst the 100, but only one he had ever actually talked to, Yin Weijing.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    There were also a few people that Liang Chen didn''t recognize, so they likely arrived at the tower in a different fashion, or by using a different Tripartite Ship. The female from the White Orchid race that had noted down Yan Ling, and thus Liang Chen''s names was standing at the side of the stage, nodding her head when she saw the two of them.


    "With the arrival of these two, we have gathered the necessary 100 people. You will now start a battle amongst yourself, and only the 10 people standing in the end will be allowed to actually enter the tower today. Anyone else that survives will have to wait at least half a year before they can try again."


    They had earlier called it a chance to showcase their strength, but this group battle was nothing more than a way to weed out the weak. There were thousands of new people arriving at each tower every day, if they had to house all of these people then even the towers would run out of space. Thus, a system like this had been set into place, at least somewhat limiting the number of people that entered the tower every day.


    The atmosphere on the circular stone stage immediately grew tense after the woman finished talking, the 100 people standing on it eyeing each other and doing their best to come up with a plan. While the others were wracking their brains to come up with a plan, Yan Ling simply stretched her arms high and let out a highly exaggerated yawn.


    "Ah man, I am beat after having to do all that sparring. Little Freak, I''m too tired to do anything, I''ll leave it all to you."


    The moment she finished her sentence, she leaned herself against Liang Chen''s back, resting her chin on his shoulder and putting all her weight on him. Clearly, she had no intentions of even moving during this first group battle. But she could not be blamed, the people on this stone stage were all around the early or middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. With how strong she and Liang Chen were, no one on this stage could challenge them.


    Her actions and words, as if she didn''t put any of the people on the stage in her eyes, caused her to receive quite a few annoyed glares. Liang Chen could only look at her from the corner of his eye, giving a light shake of his head.


    "Of course, just dump all the hard work on me."


    Tired after sparring so much? What she had done wasn''t sparring, it was bullying, plain and simple. There was no way something like that would tire her out. Hearing his retort, Yan Ling let out a light snort and poked his cheek, giggling slightly.


    "Of course, that''s what a brute like you is good for after all."


    Liang Chen once again shook his head and let out a light breath. He cast his gaze onto the other people on the stage, who were currently looking at the light-hearted chat the two of them were having with rather angry expressions. It seemed like they weren''t too fond of being disregarded like that.


    They locked eyes for a quick second, seemingly coming to the mutual conclusion that they would get rid of Liang Chen and Yan Ling before they properly started this group battle. The others here might be their opponents, but at least they didn''t disregard them like Liang Chen and Yan Ling did. Besides, in the end, only 10 of them would be standing anyway, so it didn''t matter if they teamed up at the start to get rid of a few people.


    With those thoughts in mind, they drew their weapons and prepared to attack Liang Chen and Yan Ling like a furious tidal wave. But the moment they tried to take their first steps, several of them collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out of their orifices. Before they even had the time to properly react to what just happened, more people among them started to collapse, their blood staining the stage.


    Before long, the only people left standing were Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Yin Weijing. Everyone else had collapsed and died, not quite sure just what it was that ended up killing them. Liang Chen gave a quick wave of his hand, storing the corpses into his interspatial ring to save them for future cultivation. He then turned to the woman who had started the battle.


    "Alright, can we leave now?"


    Liang Chen had started spreading his poison the moment he and Yan Ling stepped onto the stage, mixing it with his Anima Essence so that it could even deal with the people from the Undead race. Even if these people were all weaker than him and Yan Ling, there was no telling what might happen in such a chaotic group battle, dealing with them all at once was the best option.


    Yin Weijing, the only person other than Liang Chen and Yan Ling who was still standing, felt a horrid chill crawl down his spine. When Yan Ling said that they''d regret making her cry, insinuating that Liang Chen would get revenge for her, a small part of him thought that she was just bragging about her man. But seeing the scene in front of him, how could he not realize how wrong he had been?


    Never before in his life had he thanked his cheerful and open nature more than he did now, as it was this nature that had caused him to strike up a chat with Yan Ling and Liang Chen to begin with, causing him to slightly hesitate when everyone was showing their killing intent. He also knew that it was this hesitation that ended up saving his life right now.


    The woman in charge of the battle was clearly a professional, as her only reaction upon seeing the scene was a short twitch of her eyebrow before she calmly responded.


    "Yes, you may leave now. The winners of this battle are Yin Weijing, Scourge King, and Wolf Queen."


    Liang Chen was just about to start walking down the stage when he suddenly stopped. The names she had just used for him and Yan Ling caught his attention. And remembering that it was Yan Ling who had volunteered quite rapidly to sign up their names, he couldn''t help but turn his head slightly to glance at Yan Ling, who was still leaning against his back and resting her head on his shoulder. When his eyes landed on her, he immediately noticed her smirk, which he knew could only mean one thing.


    "Aren''t the names nice? King and Queen? They fit us quite nicely, don''t they?"


    Liang Chen wanted to say something, but faced with her smirk he could only let out a defeated sigh. It seemed like not even now, after ending up on a completely unknown planet, would he be able to escape that embarrassing title he had received. Since things had come to this, he decided to get revenge in a way only he could.


    He spun around slightly and picked up Yan Ling before she got the chance to react, lifting her up into a princess carry. He then started to walk down the stone stage so that they could look for a house, all the while ignoring her protests and continuing to carry her in a princess carry. She was good at teasing, but public displays of affection like this were still quite embarrassing to her so it was the perfect way for Liang Chen to get his revenge.

 To the second floor.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling quickly found a small house that suited them, locking it up so that there would be no interruptions. The two of them didn''t plan on staying on this first floor for long, the people here were simply too weak, meaning that they gained very little even if they killed them. Their plan was to rush to the higher floors as quickly as possible, reaching a floor where they could settle for a bit and cultivate using the resources they could buy, as well as the corpses of the other people they killed.


    But before they did that, there was one other thing they wanted to do first, increase Yan Ling''s cultivation. Once they locked themselves in the small stone house, Yan Ling set up a small array and fed it some Spirit Stones as well as the currency of this planet. The array would drain and somewhat purify the energy from the Spirit Stones and channel it to the center of the array, while at the same time also drawing in all the surrounding Qi at an increased rate. It was a very rudimentary cultivation array, not the most effective, but it would do the trick.


    Liang Chen sat down at the center of the array and Yan Ling sat down directly in front of him, so close that their knees touched when they crossed their legs. Liang Chen closed his eyes and focused half his mind on controlling his law of time and the other half on absorbing in all the Qi that the array was drawing in. He focused his law of time on Yan Ling, speeding up the flow of time around her.


    Since he was focusing his law of time on another living being, and since the array was rather rudimentary, he couldn''t increase the flow of time too much if he wanted to keep it active for long. He decided to only increase the flow of time to two times the normal speed, as this would allow him to just barely keep it active for as long as the array stayed active.


    While Liang Chen was focusing on his law of time, Yan Ling started to take out corpses from her interspatial ring and use the Chaos King Technique on them. She only took out corpses from the Fiendgod and the Undead race, aiming to cultivate her body and soul to a stage equivalent to her Qi cultivation.


    Her body was already strong thanks to her bloodline, so it only took her a week to reach the Body Ascension realm and acquire her own Fiendgod Essence. She only cultivated the Chaos King technique, not a strange one like Liang Chen''s Lightning God Physique, so her Fiendgod Essence was the normal pitch black color.


    It took a bit longer for her to reach the Ascended Soul realm and acquire her own Anima Essence, nearly three weeks of continuous cultivation. Calculating the increased flow of time, it took her two months to increase her body and soul cultivation to a stage similar to her Qi cultivation. It was only the first stages of body and soul cultivation, but it was still a rather amazing feat.


    Luckily she had received a supreme technique like the Chaos King technique from Liang Chen. Without that technique, increasing her body and soul cultivation would take far longer than just two months, it would likely take between half a year to a year. With her soul and body cultivation increasing, Liang Chen felt much more assured about their rush to the higher floors, ending their cultivation seclusion and standing up, stretching his body.


    "Alright, now I feel much more at ease. When do you want to head to the higher floors?"


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out two jugs of water, handing one to Yan Ling and taking the other one for himself. Yan Ling accepted the jug of water and quenched her thirst, rolling her eyes for a bit before responding.


    "As fast as possible, there really isn''t much for us on this first floor. I think I''ll spend about an hour or two getting accustomed to my new strength and then head directly to one of the arenas. What about you?"


    She had never used Anima Essence or Fiendgod Essence before, so she wanted to spend a bit of time getting used to it before she tried it out in a fight. Liang Chen took a few swigs of water, not spending too much time thinking before he responded.


    "I''ll head out to check some of the markets. Maybe I''m lucky and they have blood or parts from Demonic beasts that had the wind element. After that, I''ll head over to one of the arenas, probably the one closest to the entrance, and finish all the battles I need to head on up."


    Thanks to the Star God bloodline that had fused with his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, he could now somewhat use the law of wind alongside his other laws. But until he created a Dragon Lotus for his law of wind, his control over it would always be far weaker than any of his other laws. To create a Dragon Lotus for the wind element, he would need a lot of energy that had the wind element, Demonic beast blood or parts being the best choice for him.


    Yan Ling nodded her head and used a gust of wind to clean up the array as well as the dust that the various Spirit Stones had become, she then started to experiment with her Fiendgod Essence and Anima Essence. While she experimented, Liang Chen left the house and started heading for the closest market, occasionally glancing at some of the arenas spread throughout the area. After walking for a bit he heard someone call out to him, stopping in his steps.


    "Oh, you''re alone today? No Yan Ling to keep you company?"


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly and saw Yin Weijing jogging over, waving at him with two of his four arms. Liang Chen gave him a slight nod as a greeting, Yin Weijing continuing to talk.


    "You haven''t left the house for an entire month, so you might not know where everything is, need me to show you around?"


    Yin Weijing wore a light smile as he talked patting Liang Chen on the shoulder. He kept his hand there for a bit but removed it the moment he saw Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at it. His thoughts were exceedingly simple, he wanted to latch onto Liang Chen or Yan Ling for protection.


    He had seen the strength that Yan Ling and Liang Chen had, if he managed to latch onto the two of them, his odds of survival would be much greater. Killing was very common in the arenas, but if people knew that you had a strong backing they would be hesitant to kill you, afraid that someone would hunt them down for revenge. Liang Chen gave the proposition a bit of thought and then nodded his head.


    "Demonic beast parts and blood, show me the best place to buy them."


    His words were short and curt but Yin Weijing didn''t let it bother him, he clapped his hands with a casual smile and started leading Liang Chen in the opposite direction of the one he had just been going. Yin Weijing continued to lead Liang Chen for several minutes, passing by several other marketplaces. Yin Weijing only stopped after they had walked for almost a quarter of an hour, pointing at a marketplace not far from them.


    "That''s the best marketplace for Demonic beast blood and parts, it''s got quite a wide selection. It even has some Demonic beast bloodlines for those who want to implant them into themselves."


    The market place a short distance in front of them was in fact just a few rows of small houses surrounded by a square wooden fence. This fence signaled that this was a marketplace, meaning that any battles were prohibited past the fence. Liang Chen looked at the market, but something Yin Weijing said had caught his attention.


    "You can buy Demonic beast bloodlines here?"


    If he could buy Demonic beast bloodlines of adequate strength, not only could he feed them to Yan Ling''s bloodline to strengthen it and help it awaken, he could do the same to his own bloodline. Of course, to strengthen a bloodline like her Star God or his Heaven Devouring Wolf bloodline, the Demonic beast bloodline had to be a very strong one, it couldn''t come from just any Demonic beast. This question was the first thing Liang Chen had said ever since Yin Weijing started to lead him here, so he quickly responded.


    "Yup, there are some market places like this on every floor of the tower. The bloodlines are provided by the Tripartite Slayer herself, with the higher floors having stronger bloodlines available. It''s something of an incentive to make people do their best to ascend the towers."


    Sun Cailin clearly wanted people to increase their strength and ascend the tower, but exactly why she wanted this, Liang Chen had no idea. Liang Chen swept the surroundings of the market place, his gaze stopping on a few people who were loitering outside the marketplace. His lips curled up into a faint sneer but he still started approaching the marketplace. But just like he thought, three people from the White Orchid race stepped in front of him and Yin Weijing before they were able to enter the marketplace.


    "Sorry, but this marketplace requires that you pay a tax to enter it. About 200 Orange Gibbings should do it."


    Gibbings was the name of the currency on this planet, and they were graded on their color. The gradings were white, yellow, orange, and finally red. To equal one higher ranked Gibbing, one would need 500 of the Gibbing graded directly below it. Most families on this planet, as well as cultivators, would mostly only use Yellow Gibbings. Yin Weijing quickly stepped forward in an attempt to show off to Liang Chen.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "Humph, you trying to scam us? None of the marketplaces have any taxes needed to enter them, so you can just screw off!"


    Yin Weijing stepped forward, but the three people all had cultivation at the middle stages of the Heaven''s Gate realm, he was far from a match for them. The only reason he dared step forward was that Liang Chen was right behind him. The three people didn''t seem surprised that their scam was seen through, each of them pulling out a sword. One of them placed his sword against Liang Chen''s neck, while another one placed his sword against Yin Weijing''s neck.


    "I wouldn''t exactly call this a scam, it''s more of an extortion. I believe the saying is, your money or your life?"


    The man moved to tilt his head and smile at Yin Weijing, but his body froze as he was tilting his head. He shakily lowered his head, his eyes landing on a hand that was buried in his chest. He moved his gaze upwards, following the hand to Liang Chen, who was simply looking at him with a disinterested, if somewhat angry expression.


    Liang Chen drew back his arm, pulling an orchid out from the man''s chest, killing him in the process. The orchid was orange in color and had about five leaves on it, each of them releasing a small amount of heat. This was the Tiger Orchid of the man, it was the same as Liang Chen''s Dragon Lotus or Yan Ling''s Ascended Tower. Liang Chen looked at the orchid for a bit before clicking his tongue.


    "Not of the wind element, what a shame."


    He stored the orchid into his interspatial ring, saving it for later. This Tiger Orchid was created using the fire element so it wasn''t the most useful to Liang Chen or Yan Ling, but they could still use their Chaos King technique on it to strengthen their Qi cultivation. Liang Chen moved his gaze slightly, his eyes landing on the two other people. They would have killed him if he was weak and refused to hand over everything he owned so he would not have any mercy on them.


    They let out horrified screams and tried to flee, but it was already too late. Liang Chen dug his hand into their chest and pulled out their Tiger Orchids, checking if they were of any use to him creating his next Dragon Lotus. One of them had a Tiger Orchid made using the water element while the other was made using the metal element. The one with the water element would be very useful for Yan Ling, but the one with the metal element was only useful for the Chaos King technique.


    Liang Chen took the interspatial rings of the three people and then used his poison to dissolve their bodies, leaving only a small bloody puddle behind. Since he had already taken their Tiger Orchids, the rest of their body was useless to him. Looking at the scene, Yin Weijing couldn''t help but suck in a cold breath.


    When he had seen Liang Chen previously, while he might have seemed a bit distant he would also crack a few jokes and tease Yan Ling a little, he was a somewhat warm person. He was quite different from how he was now, quiet and cold, his gaze alone enough to instill fear in people. Yin Weijing didn''t say it out loud, but he swore to himself that in the future, he would only be around Liang Chen as long as Yan Ling was there as well. She clearly calmed him down, serving as an anchor that stopped him from acting like he was right now.


    Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yin Weijing after he finished dissolving the bodies, Yin Weijing quickly understanding what he had to do. He led Liang Chen into the market and showed him around to the various shop, pointing out the most affordable ones as well as the ones with the best stock.


    Liang Chen picked up two jugs of Demonic beast blood that had come from a Cloud Swallower, an eel-type Demonic beast with the wind element. He also looked for any bloodlines that might be of use to Yan Ling, but he didn''t find any so he decided to leave the market. He had bought what he could, now it was time to finish the 10 battles and ascend to the second floor.


    Yin Weijing continued to follow him, doing his best to chat in a cheerful and casual manner, telling Liang Chen as much as he knew about the towers. Before long, the two reached the arena closest to the tower entrance, the same one where they had to fight a group battle right after entering the tower.


    The seats around the stage were mostly full, a battle between two women currently taking place. Liang Chen walked up to the side of the stage, casually observing the battle while waiting for it to finish. Here on these lower floors, one could just enter the arena and fight whenever they wished, but on the higher floors, one had to actually schedule their fights by sending out challenges. You could reject a total of five challenges per floor, but after rejecting your fifth you had to take part in all the subsequent ones. Because of this, it was important to know when to reject a challenge and when to admit defeat during the battle and flee.


    The battle was rather evenly matched, so it took a little over an hour for it to actually finish. The moment it ended, Liang Chen stepped onto the stage, a graceful blue-haired female from the Undead race stepping onto the stage to serve as a commentator.


    "Our next combatant is the one known as Scourge King, I wonder what sort of battle he will show us here today! Do you have anyone specific you want to challenge?"


    Liang Chen winced slightly when he heard what she called him, quietly deciding to tease Yan Ling a bit later on for signing him up with that name. He swept the seats around the stage, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he responded.


    "No one specific I want to challenge. Anyone is free to come up, but I would prefer if 10 people came up at once, I want to leave this floor as fast as possible."


    The commentator and the audience were rather caught off guard by Liang Chen''s statement, raising a slight commotion. Fighting all 10 battles needed to ascend to the next floor at once? And not even one by one, but all at once? Was this not a bit too arrogant? Of course, there were one or two among the audience who remembered what Liang Chen had done the moment he entered the tower. These people simply leaned back in their seats, preparing for a show.


    Liang Chen''s statement served its purpose, a few people standing up from their seats and heading to the stage. Some of them stepped onto the stage because they were confident in their strength, some did it because they wanted to know Liang Chen down a peg, and some only stepped up because they were caught up in the atmosphere. The commentator looked at the people stepping onto the stage, shaking her head slightly before stepping down from the stage.


    "You asked for it, so there is nothing I can do to help you. I hope you are strong enough to back up your arrogance."


    Liang Chen didn''t respond, he merely swept the people who stepped onto the stage with a calm gaze. Their cultivations ranged from the late stage of the Ascended Tower realm to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, with none of them being very noteworthy. He wondered why those with cultivations lower than his even bothered to step onto the stage, but since they made the choice, there was nothing he could do. After a 17th person stepped onto the stage, no one else stood up and entered the stage, so Liang Chen spoke up.


    "Can we start?"


    The 17 people facing him flared up slightly after hearing his casual question, convinced that he didn''t even put any of them in his eyes. They quickly nodded their heads and drew their weapons, each of them bursting forth with power and bloodlust.


    But the moment they nodded their heads, Liang Chen had already made his move. He stepped forward and turned into a blur, arcs of emerald lightning trailing in his wake and causing the air to distort from heat. He pulled out his spear and gathered his three different energies at the tip, sending out a sideways slash with a quiet mutter.


    "First step shatters the body."


    The lightning and poison gathered at the tip of the spear were unleashed, turning into a thin line that changed between emerald and violet in color. The line cut cleanly through the 17 people, passing through their chests where their hearts would be. The four people from the Fiendgod race were quite a bit taller, so the attack only ended up separating their torsos from their lower body.


    But with the lightning and poison wreaking havoc on their innards, even their vast amount of lifeforce wasn''t enough to save them, death swiftly overtaking them. Liang Chen wasn''t a bragger, but he was confident that with his current strength he might even be able to put up a good fight against someone at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. This was the blessing that a strong bloodline gave you, strength far greater than you should have.


    Liang Chen waved his hand and stored the corpses and their interspatial rings into his own, turning his gaze onto the commentator. She needed a second to regain her wits after seeing the unexpected scene, but then she quickly stepped onto the stage again and walked over to Liang Chen''s side.


    "What an overwhelming show of power! It seems like Scourge King really had the right to speak those arrogant words! Congratulations, with that you have earned the right to move on to the second floor. You may head over to the center of this floor whenever you want, from there you will be brought to the second floor."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and started stepping down from the stage. He had completed his fights, but now he had to see if Yan Ling had already taken part in her fights. If she hadn''t, he could accompany her to the arena and observe her fights. That was his plan, but a voice called out to him when he stepped down from the stage.


    "Boo! Couldn'' you have spent a bit longer on that? You''re gonna make me feel bad for having to spend a few minutes on my fights."


    Liang Chen turned his head to the side, spotting Yan Ling making her way down from the seats in the arena, her cheeks slightly puffed out as she pouted. Her words made it clear that she had already finished her fights somewhere else, likely while Liang Chen was waiting for the previous battle to finish. Seeing her pouting face, and seeing a chance for revenge, his lips curled into a smirk when she walked over to him.


    "Is that jealousy I hear? Are you jealous that I completed my fights faster than you? Are you, are you?"


    Yan Ling''s cheeks puffed out further when she saw his smirk and heard how pleased his voice was. She stretched out her arm and pointed at him, opening her mouth to retort, but this was the chance that Liang Chen had waited for. In front of everyone currently in the arena, he grabbed onto her outstretched arm and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips.


    She enjoyed it for a short second, but upon remembering that everyone in the arena could see them she turned as red as a beet, even her ears turning red. She quickly pulled back and was once again faced with Liang Chen''s smirk.


    "That''s what you get for signing me u...!"


    Before Liang Chen got to finish his sentence, he was struck by Yan Ling. She hit him over the head, using her law of wind to increase the speed of her fists as she launched a barrage of hits, each one hitting Liang Chen over the head.


    "Trying to take advantage of me, are you? Just you wait until we get back to the sect and I tell father and Big Brother about this!"


    Her face was still completely red, so it was clear that she was trying to cover up her embarrassment. Yin Weijing was standing a short distance away, the corners of his mouth twitching as he looked at the scene. The image of this Liang Chen, with his teasing smirk and somewhat warm atmosphere, was simply too different from how quiet and cold he was when he was alone.


    Yan Ling continued to wail on Liang Chen to hide her embarrassment, but each hit was accompanied by a bit of her law of water, so even if one of her hits ended up actually wounding or hurting him, this law of water would immediately heal it. Liang Chen didn''t retaliate to the barrage of hits, chuckling lightly and just enjoying the presence of Yan Ling.

 A gentle brush, a sweet fragrance.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t waste much more time on the first floor, heading to the center of the floor the very next morning after finishing their fights. The center of the floor was a surprisingly normal looking square metal house surrounded by a wooden fence, signifying that any and all combat was forbidden within the house.


    The two entered the house, stepping into a mostly empty room that seemed to occupy the entire inside of the building. The only decorations in this mostly empty room were a few potted plants and a single round table surrounded by a few chairs covered in soft fabric. There was a woman from the Fiendgod race sitting on one the chairs, drinking something from a porcelain cup. She cast her gaze onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling when they entered the room, standing up and giving them a polite bow.


    "Greetings, I am Ma Wu, I am the one in charge of sending people up to the second floor. Congratulations on completing your 10 battles, Scourge King, Wolf Queen."


    Information about anyone who completed their 10 battles spread quickly, so even though it was only the morning after they completed their battles, information about Liang Chen and Yan Ling had already spread over the entire first floor. The woman beckoned towards the center of the room with her four arms, smiling politely.


    "Please step over here and I will send you up to the second floor. The rules there are the same as here, so there is nothing new that you must keep in mind."


    The two walked over the spot that the woman pointed at, curiously inspecting the floor. The woman took out a pendant that looked like a golden eye, placing it against the ground and filling it with energy. The energy moved through the pendant and into the ground, causing golden runes to appear on the floor beneath Liang Chen and Yan Ling. The two had seen several spatial arrays before, so they recognized these runes as being part of a somewhat strange spatial array.


    The array caused space around them to distort and cover them in a thick cocoon, a myriad of colors flashing past the surface of the cocoon. The cocoon only lasted for a short second before vanishing, Liang Chen and Yan Ling now finding themselves standing in a room that was slightly different from the previous one. It was a little smaller, but the plants were a bit larger, releasing a fragrant scent. There was a woman from the Undead race standing a short distance away from the two of them, bowing politely as she greeted them.


    "Scourge King, Wolf Queen, I welcome you to the second floor."


    The two nodded at the woman as a form of greeting and then stepped past her, leaving the house. The second floor was almost identical to the first one, the main difference they could notice was that the people they saw walking in the streets looked a bit stronger. But that was to be expected, anyone who could reach the second floor had won 10 consecutive battles on the first floor. There was no one here who was still in the Ascended Tower realm, everyone they saw was between the early and late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, with most being around the middle or late stage.


    The two walked through the streets for a bit, giving their surroundings a few sweeping glances so that they could memorize the locations of the various arenas. They didn''t plan on staying here for long either, their plan was to rush to the third floor, which was most likely occupied by people at the Heaven''s Gate realm and the Soaring Immortal realm.


    The two found an empty house and locked themselves up inside it, planning on cultivating a bit more using the new corpses they had acquired before they started entering the arenas. The house they picked contained a bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen where they could cook. Of course, as Liang Chen didn''t sleep, they only needed one bedroom.


    They entered one of the bedrooms, a rather nice room that contained a bed so large it could house three people at once. There were a few potted flowers lining the walls, as well as a mirror made from polished crystal hanging on the wall. There were even a few couches and tables spread through the room, so it was clear that the previous occupants who lived here had taken great care to make this room as nice as they could.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Liang Chen looked on as Yan Ling skipped over to the various flowers and gave them all a quick sniff, seemingly enjoying their soft fragrance. Liang Chen could tell that none of these flowers were poisonous, so he didn''t stop her, he simply watched on quietly. She then walked up to the mirror, excitedly checking herself out. She hadn''t brought a mirror with her when they entered the Myriad Convergence, so it had been a while since she last got to do this.


    While Yan Ling was eagerly checking her own appearance, fixing what she considered minor mistakes, Liang Chen walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. The inside of the house was completely quiet and peaceful, a stark contrast to just how bloody and chaotic the rest of the tower was, Liang Chen found it to be a nice change of pace.


    Yan Ling noticed Liang Chen looking at her thanks to his reflection in the mirror. She stopped fixing her hair and walked over to him, jumping onto the bed and sitting down in a kneeling position behind him. She leaned his body backward, resting the back of his head onto her lap, gently brushing his hair in a calming manner.


    "You don''t sleep, but at least you can rest a little like this."


    Yan Ling couldn''t even imagine what it was like for Liang Chen to not need sleep. She loved sleep far too much, so she was certain that even when she cultivated to a state where she would no longer need sleep, she would still choose to sleep frequently. Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, who was looking at him with a gentle and caring smile, simply doing her best to let him get some rest. Liang Chen''s eyes grew a bit distant as he slowly started to talk.


    "You know, I always wondered why my parents didn''t just flee. They knew that they would be executed, so why didn''t they just flee from the Qing clan? They would be chased, but at least they would get to continue living. So why didn''t they flee? Why did they choose to accept the punishment for a crime they had never committed?"


    This was one of the main questions Liang Chen had on his mind after his parents'' execution. If they had just chosen to flee, they might still be alive today, his entire life might have been completely different. Yan Ling didn''t say anything, quietly waiting for Liang Chen to continue his story.


    "Once my mind cleared up, I realized why they didn''t choose to flee. It was for me. If they fled with me, while they might have been able to escape, if they were to ever be caught, all three of us would be executed. But by accepting the punishment, they would be able to plead for my life, they could ensure that I got to keep living. When I realized this, I couldn''t help but wonder, did they regret it? Did they regret accepting the punishment so that I could live? Did they regret picking me up all those years ago, as I was now preventing them from escaping?"


    Liang Chen knew that these thoughts were nonsensical, but they still kept sprouting up in his mind, kept haunting him when he wasn''t expecting them. Liang Chen closed his eyes, a wave of tiredness washing over him and pulling at his mind. Laying in Yan Ling''s lap, for the first time in several years, he felt tired again, he felt like he wanted to sleep. But even though he felt himself get tired, he still kept talking, he wanted to finish what he was trying to say.


    "I didn''t find an answer to my questions for quite some time, always wondering if they regretted it. But when we faced Huang Dong, I felt like I found an answer to that question. Even if I ended up dying against Huang Dong, I wouldn''t have regretted it, not if it meant that you got to escape alive. So I think I can understand what they felt when they stepped onto that scaffolding when they accepted their punishment."


    He wouldn''t have regretted dying for Yan Ling, so he didn''t think that his parents regretted dying for him. Liang Chen could feel his mind getting pulled away, his body devoid of energy as the wave of tiredness continued to wash over him.


    "But Ling''er, I am not my parents. I am far too selfish to ever be like them. I refuse to reach the same end as them, I don''t ever want to leave your side, nor do I want you to leave my side."


    Liang Chen knew that he wasn''t the most romantic person, his EQ was also so low that it might be called laughable. But he wanted to say this, he wanted Yan Ling to know this, that he would never leave her side, that he wished for her to always stay with him. And once he finished his words, his mind was pulled away and he drifted off to sleep, the gentle touch of Yan Ling brushing his hair, her sweet fragrance tickling his nose as he slept for the first time in years. And for the first time in years, he didn''t relive the memories of his parents'' execution as he closed his eyes. Yan Ling continued to gently brush his hair, whispering softly.


    "Sleep, Chen''er. You have worked so hard for so long, you deserve to get some rest."

 Yumaos changes.

    When Liang Chen opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was the gentle smile of Yan Ling. He hadn''t seen any dreams, his mind had sunk deep into a peaceful darkness so he had no idea how long he had been out. For the first time in what felt like countless years, Liang Chen felt completely relaxed and at ease, his body as light as a feather. It was as if all his stress and worries had drifted away when he fell asleep.


    His head was still resting on Yan Ling''s thighs, her calming fragrance filling his nose and threatening to drag his consciousness away again. But as she was looking right at his face, Yan Ling noticed that he had woken up and gave his forehead a soft poke.


    "How was it, did you sleep well? Best pillows you''ve ever had, aren''t they?"


    She wriggled her thighs slightly as she spoke, making it abundantly clear what pillows she was talking about. Liang Chen shook away the tiredness and desire to sleep that now clung to him, stretching his body while simultaneously burying his head deeper into Yan Ling''s thighs.


    "Aye, I can''t deny that. They''re so good that I don''t wanna leave them."


    He continued to treat her thighs as pillows, burying the side of his face into them and closing his eyes, pretending like he was going to go back to sleep. Yan Ling let out a light giggle when she saw how he acted, but she tossed Liang Chen down from her thighs.


    "You can use them again in the future, but now it''s my time to enjoy myself. Present them."


    Liang Chen rolled around, something he could do since the bed in the room was incredibly large, sitting up in a kneeling position and facing Yan Ling. He knew what she meant with her words, but he still decided to play with her. He put on an aghast expression, crossing his arms in front of his chest to cover it up.


    "It can''t be...my chastity?!"


    It took Yan Ling a short second to understand what Liang Chen meant, but her face quickly flushed red when she realized what he meant. She delivered a lightning-quick chop to the top of his head, doing her best to hide her flushed face.


    "Bah, who would want the chastity of a lecher like you? Something like that would be best left in the gutter. Your thighs, I meant your thighs! Hand them over!"


    She sent Liang Chen a glare, but thanks to her reddened face he couldn''t see the glare as anything but cute. Liang Chen was in a jovial mood after having slept for the first time in so long, so he continued to play with Yan Ling, shaking his head in an overly-dramatic manner.


    "Aye, I would love to do that, but there''s a slight problem. You see, my thighs aren''t detachable, so I am unable to remove them and hand them over as you wish. Had it not been for this ironclad biological fact, I would do as you asked without giving it a second thought."


    Liang Chen even pulled on his legs a little to make it seem like he was truly doing his best to hand over his thighs. Yan Ling couldn''t resist letting out a burst of small laughter, completely caught off guard by his actions. But she quickly collected herself, her lips curling up slightly as she swept Liang Chen with a quick gaze.


    "Oh, I think I''ll be able to change that ''ironclad fact'' if I just try hard enough, just you watch."


    Yan Ling lunged forward before she even finished her sentence, not giving Liang Chen any chance to defend himself. She pushed him down and sat down on his waist so that he couldn''t roll away from underneath her. She then raised her right arm, gathering the air in the room around her fingers, forming it into a thin blade of highly compressed air that was rapidly spinning, practically a miniature chainsaw.


    She then slowly brought her fingers closer to Liang Chen''s thighs, as if she was aiming to cut them off. Liang Chen''s eyes shot open when he saw where her hand was going, but it seemed like Yan Ling had yet to notice that she was actually bringing her hand closer and closer to the place where his thigh connected to his groin. A few more centimeters and Liang Chen would become a eunuch.


    Liang Chen was far from ready to lose his junior like that, so he quickly opened his mouth to let Yan Ling know what she was about to do. But just as he raised his torso slightly and opened his mouth, Yan Ling dispelled the blade of wind around her finger. She grabbed onto Liang Chen''s chin with her left hand and leaned forward, planting a kiss on his lips while he wasn''t expecting it. After making sure that she had caught him completely off guard, she ended the kiss and un-straddled his waist.


    "Alright, now lend me your thighs, I want the same luxury you got."


    Liang Chen could only raise his arms and admit his defeat, the tables had been completely turned on him. He sat up and entered a kneeling position, allowing Yan Ling to rest her head on his thighs. He copied what she had done to him, gently brushing her hair in a calming manner as she drifted off to sleep.


    He could feel her body ease up as her consciousness was dragged away, and as he was looking at her, he felt the same she had felt when she saw him sleep in his lap, contentment. Both of them were rather cautious and wary people, even Yan Ling always kept up some guard when she interacted with others. But right here, when it was just the two of them, they abandoned all defenses and slept soundly, trusting the other to keep them safe. It was a sign of absolute trust, and to the two of them, there were few better ways of showing their love.


    Liang Chen continued to brush Yan Ling''s hair, doing his best to not make any motions that might disturb her slumber. After she had slept for a little over three hours, a slight sound broke the silence that had descended over the room. A barely audible cracking sound rang out from Liang Chen''s dantian, so soft that it almost caused one to wonder if it wasn''t just an auditory hallucination.


    But right after the crack sounded out, waves of darkness billowed forth from Liang Chen''s dantian and filled up the entire room. In less than a second, the room had gotten so dark that it seemed like Liang Chen had fallen to the bottom of an abyss, he could just barely see his hand by bringing it right up to his eyes. Were it not for the fact that he could still feel Yan Ling lying on his lap, he might have thought that she had vanished.


    Liang Chen wasn''t worried about this darkness, he could easily guess what had caused this darkness to suddenly appear. His guess was swiftly proven correct when he saw something moving through the darkness, swimming through it like it was water. He could only just barely see his hand when he brought it up to his eyes, but he was easily able to see the creature swimming through the darkness, mainly due to the fact that he shared a bond of blood with the creature.


    The one that had spawned this darkness and was currently swimming through it was Yumao, Liang Chen''s Demonic beast companion that had sealed himself in a cocoon of darkness to grow ever since Liang Chen and Yan Ling returned from Green Rivers city. But compared to how he looked back then, Yumao had changed quite a bit after growing up a little.


    Back then Yumao had only been a feathered serpent that was around 20 centimeters in length, but he was now a little over two meters in length, his black scales drawing all the surrounding light when he moved. The spikes running down his spine had grown as well, each one now around ten centimeters in length, almost resembling deadly fangs. The black feathers that covered his back had also grown a bit larger and more pronounced, his two crow-like wings growing from small knobs into fully fledged wings that were almost one meter in length.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Not only had his size increased by quite a bit but so had his strength, he had jumped directly to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. His teeth had been able to harm people at the Heaven''s Gate realm even when he was still small, Liang Chen couldn''t even guess at how much stronger he had grown after he finished his little seclusion in the cocoon.


    The darkness in the room flooded to Yumao, sinking into his body and vanishing. Yumao turned his gray eyes onto Liang Chen, a tinge of pride flashing past his eyes when he saw Liang Chen''s surprised expression. He flapped his wings and turned into a black blur, appearing above Liang Chen''s head in less than a second. His large body suddenly shrunk back to his previous size as he landed on Liang Chen''s head, curling up and letting out a satisfied hissing sound. Liang Chen continued to brush Yan Ling''s hair with one hand, using the other to pat Yumao on the head.


    "You''ve really made us wait quite a bit for you, Ling''er has missed cuddling with you. But looking at how much you''ve grown, there isn''t really much I can say, you truly caught me off guard."


    Liang Chen had not expected Yumao to grow so much after sealing himself up in that cocoon. Just what sort of Demonic beast was he, to grow so much so quickly? None of the books in the Storm Wolf sect mentioned a Demonic beast like Yumao, leaving Liang Chen without the slightest clue as to what Yumao really was. Yumao let out a few more proud hisses upon being praised, rubbing his head against Liang Chen''s hand and occasionally casting a curious glance at the sleeping Yan Ling.


    Yumao was smart enough to know that Liang Chen didn''t want Yan Ling to wake up yet, so he stayed quiet and waited for Yan Ling to wake up on her own. Like this, the hours continued to pass in silence, Liang Chen brushing Yan Ling''s hair and patting the patiently waiting Yumao on the head.


    After sleeping for another five hours, Yan Ling moved slightly, her eyelids twitching a bit before opening. She looked up at Liang Chen with a drowsy gaze, not immediately spotting Yumao. She stretched her body, her joints releasing soft popping sounds as she slurred forth a sentence.


    "Freak... me... breakfast..."


    She rolled down from Liang Chen''s thighs, continuing to stretch her body while lying on the bed. Liang Chen found that she was somewhat reminiscent of a cat that had just woken up, but decided that this thought was something best kept to himself. Instead, he just stood up and got down from the bed.


    "Aye aye captain, I''ll make some breakfast for us. Little Yuma, I''ll leave it to you to properly wake the sleeping beauty."


    Yan Ling was starting to drift off again as he was talking so Yumao let out a hiss and gave a nod of his head, flapping his wings and flying over to Yan Ling, using his head to poke her face. Liang Chen left the room and headed over to the kitchen, taking out various pieces of meat and vegetables that he had bought. While he was working on breakfast, he heard a surprised exclamation come from the bedroom.


    "Little Yuma, you''re awake again?! And just look at how big you''ve become, you''re already larger than me!"


    It seemed like Yumao had returned to his actual size to show off to Yan Ling, properly waking her up thanks to the shock at the same time. Shortly after the exclamation sounded out, Liang Chen heard the soft patter of naked feet running through the house, Yan Ling bursting into the kitchen. Yumao had indeed returned to his full size and was currently coiled around her body, resting his head on her shoulder. Yan Ling pointed at Yumao and spoke out in an excited voice.


    "Little Freak, look, look! It''s Lil'' Yuma, but look at how big he''s gotten!"


    Liang Chen looked at the two of them over his shoulder, and upon seeing a chance to once again play with Yan Ling, he quickly struck. He put on a shocked and surprised face, looking Yumao up and down.


    "Little Yuma, when did you wake up?!"


    Yumao looked a bit surprised for a second but then quickly caught on to what Liang Chen was planning. He decided to play along so he let out a few proud hisses, raising his head high. Yan Ling also raised her head slightly when she saw Liang Chen''s surprise, clearly quite satisfied.


    "Heh, so you didn''t get to see him yet? Guess that means he likes me better than you. It''s a shame for you, but it means he has good taste."


    Liang Chen walked over to the two, still acting surprised with his eyes glued to Yumao. But just as he reached the two of them, he stretched out his right arm and flicked Yan Ling''s forehead, causing her to involuntarily let out a yelping sound. Yumao then shrunk back to his small size and settled on Yan Ling''s head, mimicking Liang Chen as he chuckled.


    "Of course I''ve already seen him, I already saw him five hours ago when he first woke up."


    Yan Ling held onto her forehead, covering the spot where Liang Chen had flicked her. She glared at him like she wanted to take a bit out of him, but in the end, she only stuck out her tongue and started petting Yumao for comfort.


    "Bah, I''m against violence and deceit, a shame that''s the only thing a brute like you is good at."


    Liang Chen ignored her glare, returning to the kitchen counter where he had been preparing the food. He tossed a few more vegetables into the pot, giving a casual shrug of his shoulders and glancing at Yan Ling out of the corner of his eye.


    "Aye, that''s all I''m good at, but it was still enough to get a certain someone to fall for me. Says a little about your taste, really."


    At this point, the two of them had already gotten so used to throwing insults like this at each other that it practically became a type of flirting to them, it became an everyday occurrence. And just like it had become common for them to insult each other, it had become common for them to also insult themselves in the process, Yan Ling readily nodding her head to Liang Chen''s statement.


    "Yup, I''ve got horrible taste, it really is the worst. That''s the only explanation I can think of for why I fell for you. But then again, is your taste that much better, considering that you ended up falling for a spoiled princess like me?"


    Yumao let out a few hisses after Yan Ling spoke up, doing his best to chime in and become part of the conversation. Yan Ling continued to pet Yumao to assure him that he was part of the conversation, Liang Chen nodding his head with an intentionally thoughtful expression.


    "I guess there really is something to the old saying, Birds of a feather flock together."


    Liang Chen continued working on the food, quickly preparing one large pot of stew and one of soup, filling up some bowls that they could eat from and then storing away the rest so that they had it in reserve for the future. They returned to the bedroom and sat down on one of the couches, eating the food and chatting, talking about what they were planning to do later.


    "I''ll check out one of the arenas later today. There''s something I wanna check, so you need to come with me."


    Yan Ling didn''t specify what she was going to check, nor did she answer Liang Chen when he asked her for more details, it seemed like she wanted to stay mysterious. They quickly finished their food and then left the house, heading to the nearest arena. Yumao had returned to Liang Chen''s dantian, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling deciding to keep him hidden as a type of trump card should they ever need it.


    This arena was a bit smaller than the ones on the first floor, but there were more people present in the seats around the stage. The higher up the tower you got, the stronger the people you faced would be. It was a good idea to observe the various arenas, checking out the strength of your possible opponents, you might even learn a thing or two from watching others fight.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling walked up to the side of the square stone stage, observing the fight that was currently taking place while waiting for it to end. The fight seemed to have already gone on for a while before they arrived so it ended half an hour after they arrived, a man from the Undead race beating his opponent, a female from the Fiendgod race.


    Yan Ling skipped onto the stage after the surviving combatant stepped down, leisurely heading to the center of the stage. A few people among the audience checked her out, gauging her strength and wondering whether or not they should enter the arena.


    Yan Ling started talking to the judge, a man from the Undead race, pointing at Liang Chen while she spoke. The judge cast a glance at Liang Chen and then nodded his head, Yan Ling''s face lighting up with a smile. She waved at Liang Chen, beckoning for him to enter the stage and take up position next to her.


    Liang Chen did as she said, casually entering the stage and heading to her side. While he was walking, the judge called out for two combatants to enter the stage, allowing Liang Chen to guess what Yan Ling had wanted to check out.


    "So this is what you wanted to check out, huh?"


    Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling and then turned his gaze onto the two people that stepped onto the stage, a blonde-haired female from the Undead race and a man from the Fiendgod race. Yan Ling drew her sword and nodded her head with a giggle.


    "Nihihi, Yup. From here on out, it''s tag team battles for us!"

 Picking up a nostalgic weapon.

    Liang Chen looked at the two opponents that had stepped onto the stage, the blonde-haired and gray-eyed woman from the Undead race and the four-armed and crimson-eyed man from the Fiendgod race. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, their fingers already tracing their interspatial rings as they waited for the battle to start.


    Both of them were only a single step away from the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm so even if Liang Chen or Yan Ling were alone, they would still be able to deal with them. Of course, as they had managed to reach the second floor of this tower, it was highly unlikely that they didn''t have a trick or two up their sleeves. This wasn''t the first floor, the combatants here weren''t like the ones on the first floor, mostly rabble that had gathered together to feel strong.


    Their breathing was perfectly in synch, the energy within their bodies moving like well-organized waves. This was clearly not the first time they had fought together, causing Liang Chen to guess that tag team battles might not be as rare as he first thought. He cast another sideways glance at Yan Ling and then swiped his interspatial ring, his golden spear appearing in his grasp.


    "Alright, tag team battles it is. Leave that woman to me, you just deal with the man."


    In truth, doing their future battles in a tag team style put Liang Chen at ease. Not only did it make it far easier for him to protect her should there be a need for it, but she could also protect him if it became necessary, it was a perfect solution for the two of them. The judge moved her gaze between the two duo''s, and after making sure that they were both ready, she gave the signal to start the fight.


    The moment the judge gave the signal, the two opponents sprung into action. The woman crouched down and cupped her hands, allowing the man to step onto her hands and letting her launch him into the air. The moment she launched him into the air, his back split open and two leathery wings sprouted from his back, allowing him to fly. His jaws also elongated drastically, taking on the shape of a pair of pincers. Clearly, he had used parts from insect and bat type Demonic beasts to cultivate.


    Both the man and the woman traced their interspatial rings, each of them taking out bows. The woman only took out a single white bow but the man took out two white bows, taking advantage of the fact that he had four arms he could use. Seeing the actions of their opponents, Yan Ling turned to Liang Chen.


    "Throw me after him."


    Her expression contained a mixture of excitement and seriousness, this was the first time she would fight someone else who could move around in the air so she was looking forward to seeing what she could learn from him. Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow, his lips curling up slightly.


    "Oh, it''s my time to finally throw you around a bit?"


    Yan Ling had thrown Liang Chen around quite a bit since they first met, both physically and mentally. Now that it was his time to toss her around for a bit, how could he not be a bit excited? Yan Ling could easily read his thoughts, rolling her eyes in slight exasperation.


    "Yeah yeah, you can gloat all you want later on. But for now, chop chop, toss me! And it''ll only be this once! I''ll still have tossed you more than you have tossed me!"


    Liang Chen only responded with a light chuckle before suddenly sweeping out with his spear, a fine white mist gathering around the entire spear. His spear collided with three arrows that were headed directly for them, the white mist causing the arrows to dissolve and become part of the mist. He slightly raised one of his eyebrows after blocking the three arrows, casting a sideways glance at their two opponents.


    One of the arrows had been created using only Anima Essence, so it would have gone directly through his spear if his poison hadn''t been mixed with his own Anima Essence. The other two arrows were made using normal Demonic beast bones and fangs, but they were infused with a rather strong lightning element that even somewhat burned away his poison. After blocking the arrows, Liang Chen turned to Yan Ling again.


    "So what if you''ll still have tossed me more than I have tossed you? I take my victories where I can get them."


    After he finished his sentence, he stabbed his spear into the stone stage and grabbed onto Yan Ling''s shoulder and waist. He then gathered up power into his arms and threw Yan Ling into the air with all his might, almost as if he was throwing a sack of potatoes. He could hear Yan Ling grumble about the difference in treatment she received compared to what the man from the Fiendgod race received, but Liang Chen elected to ignore her for now. If she was adamant about grumbling, he could just appease her in the future.


    Liang Chen then grabbed his spear and turned his head to face his opponent, his gaze growing colder as he prepared his mind for battle. The blonde woman was already preparing another arrow, shooting it the moment he turned to face her. Liang Chen took half a step to the side, the arrow whizzing past his shoulder. He was just about to step forward when his instincts warned him of danger, his body instinctively crouching down.


    The arrow he had just sidestepped flew over his head, turning around shortly after missing him and coming for him again. He cast a slight glance at the woman, who was already preparing another arrow using her Anima Essence. Liang Chen flicked his spear upwards to block the arrow, but it changed direction just before the two touched, resulting in the tip of his spear just barely brushing past the arrow.


    The woman drew the string on her bow and prepared to shoot the next arrow, not even waiting to see if her one arrow would be enough to deal with Liang Chen. But just as she was preparing to fire the arrow, her vision turned blurry and her heartbeat became erratic. The arrow was still unleashed, but she had lost all control over which direction it flew.


    A drumming headache was starting to assault her, all other sound vanishing as the incessant drumming became the only thing she was able to hear. She didn''t know what was going on, but she knew that she couldn''t stay in one spot. She tried to dodge backward but found that her legs had grown soft, to the point that just taking one step caused her to fall over. Her vision had already become completely black, her body growing softer and softer as the horrible drumming sound that blocked out everything else grew louder and louder. She couldn''t even gather her Anima Essence any longer, her very soul growing weaker and weaker.


    Just as she was wondering what sort of hell she had entered, she felt a sharp spear stab into her chest, piercing through her soul. The spear was given a light twist, tearing her soul apart and silencing the horrible drumming sound.


    Liang Chen pulled his spear out of the woman''s chest, returning it to his interspatial ring before taking the woman''s interspatial ring for himself. She used quite a clever trick with her arrows, making them out of her own Anima Essence allowed her to control them as she pleased. As long as she used one arrow to occupy her enemy, she could prepare more and more arrows, filling the entire stage with her arrows.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    It was a rather clever thing to do, but it backfired when she used it against Liang Chen. As long as she was controlling the arrows there would always be a small connection between her and the arrows. There was nothing she could do about it, this connection had to be there to control the arrows. But Liang Chen could use this connection, flooding it with his poisonous Anima Essence and then having it enter the woman''s soul.


    All it took was that his spear grazed her arrow, that was all he needed to flood her soul with his poison. After infecting her soul he could then spread his poison to her body, melting her muscles so that she couldn''t launch more arrows while his poison was eating away at her soul. It was a rather gruesome way to kill someone, but it was exactly actions like these that had earned him the title of Scourge King.


    After killing the woman, Liang Chen turned his eyes onto the battle taking place in the sky. Yan Ling was trying to fight the man from the Fiendgod race in close quarters, but every time she got close he would fly away from her. She could only move in the air by using the wind to lighten her body and solidifying the air beneath her, she wasn''t as quick or as flexible as her opponent, who actually using wings to fly. The man also used lightning, meaning that his speed was naturally fast, making it even harder for Yan Ling to catch up to him.


    But she wasn''t completely helpless, she still had her ways of attacking him. She had to make her attacks rather light to make them fast enough to hit him, meaning that they didn''t have enough power to leave any lasting wounds on his tough and resilient body. So she focused her attacks on his softer spots, his wings and his eyes.


    It was a bit harder to hit his eyes, but each attack aimed at his eyes forced the man to fly away, interrupting his barrage of attacks. With his lightning aiding the speed of his arrows, it was a bit hard for Yan Ling to actually dodge the attacks, but by using her wind and mixing in a bit of water for mass, she was able to form a shield to both weaken and deflect the arrows.


    She had a hard time properly wounding him and he had a hard time wounding her, the battle between the two had entered a stalemate. There was no helping it, Yan Ling simply wasn''t fast enough to deal with the man''s speed. Once she increased her body cultivation and got enough physical power to move faster she would be able to more easily deal with opponents with speed like this.


    Liang Chen looked down at the corpse of the woman beneath him, his eyes landing on the bow she was still holding. He bent over and picked up the bow, giving it a quick inspection. The bow itself seemed to be made from a strange bow that was as white as milk, strangely soft but still very resilient. The string itself was made using a mixture of tendons and silk-like hair that were twinned around each other, forming a somewhat thick string that was rather heavy to pull back.


    Liang Chen had used a bow before, but as his strength increased it became harder to find a bow that could keep up with him. This left him with no choice but to temporarily give up on bows, at least until he found one that was tough enough for him to use. He had mostly used a bow back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm so he couldn''t help but be feel a bit nostalgic when he picked up the bow. He gave the bow a few tests, putting in some of his various energies and elements while drawing the string.


    To his surprise, he noticed that while the bow didn''t have any extraordinary special effects added to it using arrays, it had one natural effect that was perfectly suited to him. The more Qi he put into the bow and the string, the harder and tougher they became. This didn''t only mean that he could gather more force inside each arrow, it also meant that the bow could temporarily keep up with him.


    There was definitely a limit to how strong and tough the bow could become by being infused with Qi, it would break eventually if he continued to infuse it with his lightning or poison, but it was good enough for the time being. Liang Chen turned his eyes back onto the sky, calling out to Yan Ling.


    "Oy, Ling''er, could you lend me some of your wind? Just enough to form a hollow arrow would be good."


    Liang Chen''s control over wind was not yet good enough to form a hollow arrow that would be stable, thus he decided to leave it up to Yan Ling. Yan Ling looked away from her opponent for a second, glancing at Liang Chen. Seeing the bow in his grasp, she could somewhat guess at what he wanted her to do.


    She descended down to the ground, causing her opponent to fly higher up into the air, a vigilant look in his eyes. He could see that his partner was already dead, so it was up to him to deal with these two now, he just had to figure out how. Yan Ling landed next to Liang Chen, her cheeks puffed out slightly as she pouted.


    "I may be slower than you in dealing with my opponent, but that''s only because he is faster than me. Not everyone can be like you, freakish in all aspects. So don''t you even think about gloating!"


    Liang Chen felt like laughing, he was also tempted to pinch her cheeks to see what she would do. But he decided that now wasn''t the optimal time to do this, so he simply raised his arms in surrender.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll only gloat about the fact that I got to throw you around like a sack of potatoes. I''ll leave controlling the arrow to you, I''ll focus on stuffing it with enough force to blow him to kingdom come."


    Yan Ling wasn''t fast enough to catch the man, and Liang Chen was unable to fly after him. Since that was the case, they might as well just take him down from a distance, finishing him with a single arrow. Yan Ling clicked her tongue at being reminded how she was thrown, but she still did her part, creating a hollow arrow using her wind.


    Liang Chen grabbed the arrow and placed it on the bow, filling it with his emerald lightning and his white poison, using his law of time to create a clear divide between the two so that they wouldn''t start eating away at each other. He then filled the bow and string with his Qi, slowly drawing the string back and gathering as much force as possible within the arrow.


    Their opponent shot several arrows to prevent Liang Chen from fully preparing his, but each of those arrows was deflected by Yan Ling, giving Liang Chen as much time as he needed. It didn''t take Liang Chen long to fully prepare his arrow, the bowstring letting out a slight humming sound as he unleashed the arrow.


    The arrow turned into a faint blur as it cut through the air, letting out a slight howling sound as it cut through the wind and flew towards the man. The man shot several arrows in an attempt to block the arrow, but thanks to Yan Ling controlling the arrow, he was unable to block the arrow before it reached him.


    Realizing that he couldn''t block it with one of his own arrows and that dodging was impossible with Yan Ling controlling it, the man stored away his two bows and took out two thick shields, raising them to block the incoming arrow. But just as he was moving to raise the shields, Liang Chen activated one of the laws he had put into the arrow.


    The law of time that was used to divide his lightning and poison seeped out of the arrow, drastically increasing the flow of time around it. The arrow became even faster, vanishing from the man''s sight and flying past his halfway raised arms. The arrow stabbed into his chest, the lightning and poison within the arrow running rampant.


    A thunderous explosion rang out as a white cloud of poison surrounded the man, an emerald green bolt of lightning leaving the cloud and shooting into the sky, vanishing from sight. With the sound of the thunderous explosion still ringing in the ears of the audience, the smoking body of the man fell down from the sky and crashed into the stage. The right part of his chest had been torn out by the lightning, the white poison slowly dissolving his body.


    Liang Chen quickly waved his hand and took back the poison, preventing it from fully dissolving the man''s body. His strong body was perfect for Yan Ling and his lightning element was perfect for Liang Chen, they couldn''t let it go to waste. He stored both the body of the man and the woman into his interspatial ring, saving them for later cultivation. After putting away the bodies and their items, Liang Chen put away the bow he was holding and clapped his hands, turning to Yan Ling.


    "Alright, shall we go and do some shopping before we start cultivating and I get to do my gloating?"


    They had a bit of funds on their hands now so it wasn''t a bad idea for them to check the markets here for some resources. They might even be lucky enough to find a bloodline that was strong enough to be useful to Yan Ling. Yan Ling once again clicked her tongue when she heard Liang Chen''s words, the two of them stepping down from the stone stage while the judge announced their victory.


    "Tch, you sure are adamant about that."


    She could already picture his self-satisfied face as he recounted the tale of how he threw her like a sack of potatoes. Just imagining it made her want to chop him on the head, but she knew that wouldn''t be enough to stop him. Liang Chen chuckled lightly, shrugging his shoulders as the two of them left the arena and headed for the closest market.


    "As I said, I take my victories where I can get them."

 Restoring his cultivation.

    There was a market very close to the arena Liang Chen and Yan Ling had just been in, an attempt to get the people who just finished their fights to sell what their opponents had on them. This market was a bit different from the market Liang Chen had entered on the first floor, this market was quite a bit more open, and instead of there being several small houses serving as shops there were numerous small stalls placed around the area.


    The reason this market was a bit different was that the market he had visited on the first floor was filled with stores mostly owned by the Tripartite Slayer and the tower. The stalls in this market, however, were mostly run by competitors who were looking to earn resources by selling the items they had taken from their dead opponents. There was a chance one could get scammed or that the items might be of lower quality, but there was also the chance that one could find a hidden gem amongst the numerous items. Yan Ling stopped Liang Chen before the two of them could enter the market, holding out her hand in front of him.


    "Alright, hand em'' over."


    She made a beckoning gesture with her fingers as she spoke, her expression stating that she would not accept no for an answer. Liang Chen raised an eyebrow, looking at her hand for a short second before looking her up and down, a slight smirk on the corners of his lips.


    "Hand em'' over?"


    It wasn''t hard to guess at what she wanted him to hand over, but since she felt like being unspecific, he felt like making her say it again a needless amount of times. Yan Ling beckoned even harder with her fingers, pointing at Liang Chen''s interspatial ring.


    "The funds, the money, the dineros that''ll buy us what we want. You''re too bland, too much of a cheapskate while shopping. If I let you do the shopping we''ll never pick up anything fun. Besides, you could stand to get at least one piece of jewelry, we could even get a matching pair!"


    Yan Ling swept her finger all over Liang Chen while speaking, pointing out that he wasn''t wearing any decorations other than his interspatial ring. Liang Chen decided that it was in his best interest to not point out that Yan Ling wore just as many decorations as he did, instead simply raising his right hand and pointing at his interspatial ring, taking out all the funds he was carrying while he was at it.


    "Ah, striking right where it hurts, your specialty. Besides, we already have a matching pair of jewelry, did you forget about our rings?"


    Both of them had received nearly identical interspatial rings in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, ones engraved with a long vine covered in leaves. The only difference between their rings was that his was crimson while her''s was violet. Yan Ling clicked her tongue, snatching the funds from Liang Chen and putting them into her own interspatial ring.


    "I meant more like something we bought and chose ourselves, it''ll have more meaning. And no, you don''t have a choice in this matter."


    She gave the funds a quick counting while putting them away, taking stock of how much she could spend. Once she finished counting all the money she grabbed onto Liang Chen''s hand and dragged him into the market, giving him no choice but raise his free arm in surrender.


    "Right right, whatever you say, boss."


    Liang Chen didn''t see a reason to have any matching jewelry, not when they already had their rings. But since it was what Yan Ling wanted, he could only oblige her and follow along. Liang Chen moved his arm a little while she was dragging him into the market, loosening the grasp she had on his hand and allowing him to link his right arm around her left and pull her a bit closer.


    Holding his hand was one thing, but this action was quite a bit more affectionate and intimate so Yan Ling couldn''t help but blush slightly and cast a sideways glare at Liang Chen. Liang Chen knew that she wasn''t good with being too intimate in public, but he simply ignored her glare and smirked slightly.


    "Would you prefer I give you a kiss once every minute? Cause I don''t think I would mind that too much."


    His statement was clear, let us walk like this or I''ll keep kissing you in public. Yan Ling realized she was beaten, so now it was her time to raise her free arm in surrender, throwing out a quick threat with a click of her tongue.


    "Tch, should have known a lecher like you would pull a trick like that. Just you wait until Big Brother and father learns that you have blackmailed me, I''ll have them beat you up so much that you won''t even be able to sit straight."


    She knew that even though she had started properly cultivating her soul and body, her odds of beating Liang Chen weren''t terribly good. He was simply too freakish, his strength utterly abnormal when he decided to go all out. Liang Chen completely ignored her threat, chuckling lightly.


    "That''s fine, I''ll just lie down and rest on your lap again."


    Yan Ling''s blush grew a bit richer but she didn''t retort, letting out a light snort and proceeding to drag Liang Chen through the market. Had Liang Chen been the one in charge of the shopping they would have just checked out a few promising shops, but with Yan Ling in the lead, it would never be that simple.


    She didn''t even hesitate for one second in her choice, making a beeline for the stands that sold food and drinks. She dragged Liang Chen to every single stand that sold food or drink, buying a little from each so that they could taste everything. Only after satisfying her ravenous hunger and curiosity did they start checking out the other stands and their wares.


    But even then, she still didn''t head for the stands that sold resources or Demonic beast parts, instead choosing to go for the stands that had some jewelry for sale. Most of the jewelry were pendants or armbands that carried the same function as an interspatial ring but there were a few somewhat unusual ones also mixed in. After spending a little over three hours going from stand to stand, Yan Ling finally pointed at the items she had settled on, turning to Liang Chen.


    "These two, I want these two pairs. What do you think?"


    The items she pointed at were a pair of piercings for the ear and a pair of necklaces, both a set of two. The piercings were shaped like small pink lotuses while the necklaces were shaped like an amber dragon''s eye that had been split in half, each necklace making up one half. Liang Chen looked at the items, tilting his head slightly at Yan Ling.


    "Even if I said anything, would it matter?"This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    If he said that he disliked them, saying it in a truly sincere manner, then she would likely drop the matter and try to find something new. But he didn''t have anything against these decorations so he didn''t see a reason to say anything like that. Yan Ling giggled lightly after hearing his response, handing the seller a few Gibbings, this planet''s currency.


    "Nihihi, not in the slightest, but I gotta at least pretend like you have a choice, no?"


    The man from the White Orchid race that was selling the items handed them to Yan Ling, who took one of the earrings and one of the necklaces to for herself and handed the rest to Liang Chen, who shook his head in an overly dramatic fashion.


    "Ai, what a cruel mistress."


    Both the necklace and the earring could be used like an interspatial storage treasure, but as they were of a lower level than Liang Chen''s ring, they didn''t need to be bound using blood. They both put on the necklaces and then the earrings, Yan Ling piercing her''s into the earlobe on her left ear and Liang Chen into the earlobe of his right ear. The earrings were a bit small so one could only see their actual shapes if one got a bit closer.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t have to worry too much about the items breaking in combat, since they were supposed to serve as interspatial storage treasures they were far sturdier than normal necklaces and earrings. Yan Ling inspected the jewelry after the two of them put them on, and seemingly satisfied with how it turned out, proceeded to finally look for cultivation resources.


    They had already spent nearly five hours in the market, two hours eating and three hours looking for jewelry. But upon seeing the bright smile on Yan Ling''s face, Liang Chen found himself unable to say anything about it. Since the two had already checked out just about every single stand, it didn''t take them long to find the resources they were looking for, picking out what would be useful for them.


    After picking up everything they could afford, draining the rest of their funds, the two returned to the house they had picked out and started separating what they had bought. Most of the resources were to use immediately, but Yan Ling had also bought a few water element resources she planned on giving to the strange tree they had stolen from the Flood Dragon in the Myriad Convergence.


    The fruits on the tree were starting to grow larger so Yan Ling guessed that if she gave it a bit more energy the fruits would be ready to harvest. While they were busy separating the resources in the lightning, poison, water, and wind categories, Yan Ling suddenly opened her eyes wide, slapping her forehead.


    "I can''t believe I didn''t realize this earlier. Little Freak, you and I are the perfect disciples for the Storm Wolf sect!"


    Liang Chen wasn''t sure to expect when he saw Yan Ling slap her own forehead, but it certainly wasn''t this. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, looking at her with utter confusion while waiting for her to explain herself.


    "Don''t you realize it? A storm is made up of strong winds, fierce rain, and thundering lightning. I have the wind and the water, and you have the lightning. You''ll also gain wind soon enough, but let''s file that under not important for now. Adding on to that, I have the Star God bloodline held by the founder of the sect, and you have the Heaven Devouring Wolf bloodline. We are both the storm part and the wolf part, we are the perfect disciples for the sect!"


    After hearing her excited exclamation, Liang Chen couldn''t help but lower his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he let out a breath.


    "You know, I''m not sure why I expected anything else from you. And here I thought you had realized something important we had forgotten."


    He had even gotten worried for a short second, but her exclamation had completely deflated him, to the point where he simply felt like letting out a mindless laughter. Yan Ling swiftly stretched out her arm, pointing directly at Liang Chen''s face and puffing out her cheeks.


    "Oy, it''s important to me! This means we are perfect for taking over the sect in the future! Sect Mistress Ling and Sect Master Freak, it sounds perfect, no?"


    Liang Chen was simply too deflated after being caught off guard by her strange exclamation, to the point where he couldn''t even retort about how she thought the sect disciples would use his Little Freak nickname. He simply picked up the resources that were bought for him, placing them in the small array that Yan Ling had prepared for him and then sitting down in it while letting out a breath.


    "Aye aye, whatever you say Sect Mistress Ling."


    Yan Ling snickered lightly upon being referred to as Sect Mistress so it seemed like she truly wanted to take over as the leader of the Storm Wolf sect in the future, a fact that Liang Chen made sure to quickly memorize. He then closed his eyes and activated the array, which only had the function of drawing in the surrounding Qi so that he could better use his law of time. Since he was using it on himself this time he could double the speed of time without using Spirit Stones to supplement the array.


    Liang Chen started to absorb the energy of the resources he had placed around him, sending all the energy to his Dragon Lotuses. His plan now was to have his Qi cultivation return to the stage it had been before he used the Mad King''s Rage, creating his wind Dragon Lotus at the same time.


    He started with his three original Dragon Lotuses, the ones for his lightning, poison, and law of time. Since he had already sprouted the prerequisite number of leaves once in the past, the process of sprouting the new ones went smoothly, two leaves sprouting on each of the three Dragon Lotuses. He couldn''t buy any resources that contained the element of time so he could only use the slower method, mixing his understanding of the law of time with a vast amount of Qi.


    A week after the two of them finished their previous battle, Liang Chen finally returned to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, his three Dragon Lotuses once again bearing three leaves. With this process done, he started to focus on creating his new Dragon Lotus, absorbing vast amounts of energy that contained the wind element. Yan Ling had taught him a little about what she knew of the law of wind already, so he fused that together with the Qi while he was creating the Dragon Lotus.


    A seed slowly took form beneath his heart, roots quickly starting to spread out as he fed the seed more and more Qi. The roots dug into his body, following his veins and muscles, connecting together with the roots of the three other Dragon Lotuses to form a convoluted chain of roots that spread throughout his entire body.


    Now that he was focusing all his efforts on just the one Dragon Lotus, it grew faster than when he focused on his other three all at once. Two days after he started creating it, the seed cracked and started to bud into a leafless lotus, a cyan-colored leaf slowly sprouting from the lotus.


    The wind in the room grew violent and frantic for a short moment before it started getting sucked into Liang Chen''s chest, all of it entering the budding lotus. As the lotus started budding, blue clouds started to gather within the house, azure lightning crackling within the clouds. Just like the last time he had his Dragon Lotuses bud, a heavenly tribulation had arrived.


    Liang Chen didn''t even halt his cultivation, absorbing more and more of the surrounding wind and Qi into his chest. A tribulation of this level was unable to harm him even if he didn''t do anything, he didn''t even need to pay it any attention.


    Three azure bolts were unleashed in quick succession by the blue clouds, but they simply sank into Liang Chen''s body and were devoured as nourishment, some of the lightning heading to his Dragon Lotus and some of it sinking into his bones. The blue clouds dissipated after unleashing the three bolts of lightning, the heavenly tribulation ending without Liang Chen even opening his eyes to look at it.


    The first cyan leaf fully appeared after the tribulation ended, Liang Chen suddenly able to clearly feel all the wind flowing in the surrounding one-kilometer area. He didn''t stop after the first leaf bloomed, continuing to absorb more Qi and wind element resources until two more cyan leaves bloomed. The time it took for the last two leaves to bloom was five days, meaning that thanks to the increased flow of time, he had spent about a month cultivating.


    Liang Chen ended his cultivation and opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the still cultivating Yan Ling. She was fully focused on her cultivating, holding a blue pear-shaped fruit that had drops of water oozing out from its skin. The energy within the fruit was nearly completely drained, meaning that she was likely almost done with her cultivation as well. Liang Chen quietly stood up and left the room, heading to the kitchen to prepare some fresh food that they could eat when Yan Ling finished her cultivation. After that, it was time to rush up to the third floor.

 Born of a storm to become a storm.

    Liang Chen cooked up some fish and some vegetables while also preparing a bit of hot tea, storing both into his interspatial ring so that he could keep it warm for when Yan Ling finished her cultivation. Once it was all prepared, he returned to the bedroom and sat down on one of the couches, pouring himself a cup of tea and proceeding to quietly look at Yan Ling cultivating, working on his future cultivation plans.


    Even though the blue pear that she was holding was nearly drained of energy, it still took her another two days to fully absorb the remaining energy, her cultivation starting to approach the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. Normally it should take her a bit longer to reach this stage, but here she was able to freely use a supreme technique like the Chaos King technique, this fact coupled with the plentiful resources they had acquired made it so that her cultivation speed had increased quite a bit.


    The pear turned into water once its energy was completely drained, splashing onto Yan Ling''s hand and staining the wooden floor. Yan Ling spent another hour cultivating, digesting the energy she had absorbed and merging it with her Ascended Tower. She then slowly opened her eyes, her gaze landing on Liang Chen, who took out the warm tea and food from his interspatial ring, placing them on the table in front of him with a smile.


    "It''s only been about two weeks, not long at all. I''ve prepared some tea and food, you should fill your stomach."


    In the past, two weeks might have felt like quite a bit of time to him, but now two weeks was nothing to him, he could pass that time in the blink of an eye if he just focused on his cultivation. Stronger cultivators could even pass years, even decades or millennia, like this, barely noticing the passage of time as they cultivated. Yan Ling sprung up from her seated position, drying her hand on the bedsheets before skipping over to the couch and sitting down, looking at the cup of tea in front of her.


    "Did yo..."


    Liang Chen already knew what Yan Ling was going to ask about, he had known it before she even sat down on the couch, so he cut her off with a light chuckle.


    "Yup, three spoonfuls of sugar in the tea, so sweet it makes your teeth hurt just looking at it."


    Liang Chen simply couldn''t understand how Yan Ling could drink her tea with so much sugar, or how she could drink the sickly sweet wine he had bought for her. He himself much preferred spicier wine and a more bitter tea, but just like he failed to understand Yan Ling''s tastes, she couldn''t understand his. Yan Ling wasn''t annoyed that she got cut off, she instead grabbed the cup of tea with a smile.


    "I knew you''d get it right, just had to test ya."


    She downed the entire cup of tea in a single gulp before holding the now empty cup in front of Liang Chen, tipping it slightly. Liang Chen obliged her, taking out the teapot from his interspatial ring and filling up her cup again, placing the pot on the table after filling up his own cup again. Yan Ling brought some sugar out from her interspatial ring and poured it into the cup, drinking it more slowly this time. While drinking, she also ate the food and looked Liang Chen up and down, tilting her head after a little over a minute.


    "I take it the creation of the Dragon Lotus was a success? The flow of wind around you seems a bit different, more controlled and calm. Does that mean we can start our rush to the third floor?"


    Yan Ling was very sensitive to the wind in her surroundings, so now that Liang Chen''s new Dragon Lotus was interacting with the wind around him, she immediately noticed the change. Liang Chen nodded his head, spinning his finger and causing a wind to appear in the room, forming a calm tornado around the two of them.


    "Yup, as you can see, it went flawlessly. I still need you to continue teaching me how to fight using the law of wind, but my control over it has strengthened greatly. As for rushing to the third floor, there is something I want to test with your help first."


    Liang Chen had given his future cultivation plans a bit more thought, especially his body cultivation, and now there was something he wanted to try with his body cultivation. Yan Ling swallowed a piece of fish, looking at the tornado for a bit before nodding her head.


    "Alright, I''ll just finish eating and then we can test what you want to try out."


    It was one thing to control a law, it was something completely different to use the law to attack others. Liang Chen was lucky that his first laws were poison and lightning, two laws that were perfectly suited for attacking and didn''t need much thought behind their attacks. When it came to a law less suited for attacking, like the law of wind or the law of water, it was best to ask someone more experienced for help.


    Yan Ling quickly finished her first portion of food, swiftly starting and finishing her second and third portions before she was finally sated. She brought the dirty plates and cups to the kitchen, giving them a quick wash before placing them to dry. She then returned to the bedroom and sat down on the couch again, removing the table that separated her and Liang Chen.


    "Alright, so what do you need me for? But do keep in mind that my time is incredibly valuable, so you better be ready to cough up a lung or two to compensate me afterward."


    Yan Ling rubbed her thumb and index finger against each other while talking, her lips curled into a smirk as she put on the best overly exaggerated greedy expression she could muster. Liang Chen could only shake his head when he saw this kind of extortion, slightly loosening and opening his robe while putting on a bashful expression.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "I don''t think I''ll be able to live on if I have to cough up a lung or two, so I''ll just have to pay with my body. But do please be gentle, it''ll be my first time."


    Yan Ling''s expression immediately crumbled as a red flush spread over her face. She had expected him to tease her in return, but she hadn''t expected him to be this vicious in his teasing. She quickly stuck out her tongue and did her best to pull his attention away from the blush on her face.


    "Bleh, who would want something like that from a lecher like you? If I accepted that as payment I would just be doing you a favor."


    Liang Chen chuckled lightly and fixed his robe upon seeing her reaction, tactfully choosing to not draw attention to the blush that went all the way up to her ears. He stretched out his right arm, cupping his hand and using his left hand to point at the air directly above his cupped hand.


    "Aye, can''t really deny that statement. But yeah, what I need your help with is that I need your water Qi. I''d like you to continuously channel your water Qi into this spot."


    He specifically asked for her water Qi because Yan Ling''s water Qi was different from the water she created using said water Qi. Water Qi was the concentrated Qi she had within her body, the Qi that had fused with her law of water, it was highly concentrated and carried her aura. She could use this water Qi in tandem with her law of water to control the Qi in the air around her, turning it into actual water by altering it and then controlling it. It was the same for her law of wind and Liang Chen''s laws, this was how they could create vast amounts of water or lightning without having to drain all their Qi. Most of the time one just called their Qi for Qi, only when they had to be specific for some reason did they bother actually mentioning which element of Qi it was.


    Yan Ling nodded her head after receiving the explanation, not even bother to ask what he needed her Qi for. She stretched out her arm and pointed her finger at his palm, a thin stream of ocean blue Qi floating out from her finger and over to his palm, gathering into a small orb that was slowly growing larger.


    Liang Chen''s expression turned serious as he looked at the slowly growing orb, placing his left hand directly above his right, the two cupped palms facing each other. His own Qi seeped out of his hands, all of his elements except for his poison gathering around the orb of Yan Ling''s Qi. Liang Chen then started to slowly bring his hands together, more and more of his and Yan Ling''s Qi gathering between his palms, forced together into a single small spot by Liang Chen using a mixture of his Qi and bloodline.


    The air around his hands started to violently distort due to the energy that was unleashed when the four different elements were forced together, the energy just barely contained by Liang Chen. Yan Ling raised her eyes, a mixture of worry and curiosity visible in them as she looked at Liang Chen. But seeing that his expression was still calm, if a bit serious, she lowered her eyes and focused on giving him as much of her Qi as she could.


    The four different elements were forced to squeeze against each other, compressed again and again while they tried to reject each other. But thanks to Liang Chen''s Qi, especially his powerful time Qi, and the pressure of his bloodline, the four elements were slowly forced to merge together fusing into a single entity. Liang Chen had done something similar twice before, when he fused his law of time with his law of lightning and then with his law of poison.


    The pressure and energy between his two palms grew greater and greater, the distortion of the air around his palms growing so strong that even space itself started to creak and moan, warning that it would soon form cracks under the pressure. But just as space was about to become unable to handle the pressure, Liang Chen''s two palms clapped together, a shockwave spreading out from his palms and shattering the floor beneath him. Liang Chen and Yan Ling were strong enough to resist the shockwave, so they remained unharmed.


    All the energy that caused the air and space to distort was sucked into his clapped palms, the distortion calming down. Liang Chen slowly pulled his hands apart, Yan Ling looking at them with great interest. When Liang Chen pulled his hands apart, he revealed a fingernail-size gray crystal floating a few centimeters above his palm. The crystal wasn''t the same gray as his law of time, it was a far darker shade of gray, resembling the dark clouds one saw during a heavy storm.


    All the energy had gathered inside the crystal, so perfectly contained that one couldn''t sense the slightest fluctuation of energy from it. Liang Chen''s eyes were blazing with light as he looked at the crystal, the corners of his lips involuntarily curling up. Yan Ling tilted her head while looking at the crystal, not quite understanding what it was.


    "Well, don''t just smirk to yourself like that, what is it?"


    She couldn''t feel it, but she knew just how tremendous the energy stored inside the crystal was. But what she didn''t know was how Liang Chen planned to use it, using it to attack someone else didn''t seem quite worth it. Liang Chen grasped the crystal between his fingers, his smile growing wider as he spoke.


    "Didn''t you say it? You and I are the perfect inheritors of the Storm Wolf sect thanks to our laws and bloodline. This is our storm, the birth to the Endless Storm God Physique."


    This was the plan Liang Chen had come up with for his future body cultivation, and the key to it had been the words Yan Ling had told him. Water, lightning, and wind had a connection in that they were all part of a storm, a natural occurrence where all three elements worked together beautifully.


    He had been able to fuse his law of lightning and his law of time while cultivating his Lightning God Physique, so what''s to say he can''t fuse more laws into it at the same time? Poison didn''t have any connection to lightning, wind, or water, so he didn''t bother fusing it with them now, it might even cause the entire thing to become unstable.


    With this crystal as a test, he now knew that he could fuse all four elements together into a single one, forming a timeless storm that he could use to cultivate his body. His bone marrow would become a liquid storm and his bones would become a crystallized storm, just like the one he was holding right now.


    In the future, he might even be able to add more laws to his bloodline, laws that he could fuse with his poison to enhance his soul cultivation just like he was doing to his body cultivation right now. Just the thought of it fired Liang Chen up. Of course, Liang Chen didn''t forget that this technique had one thing that could be called a demerit, it needed Yan Ling.


    Without her to provide the water, he couldn''t create this timeless storm element. But he didn''t mind that, he had already decided that she was the one he would spend the rest of his life with, it was fine to rely on her like this.


    Yan Ling had spent enough time with Liang Chen to understand what he meant, understand what he planned to do with this fused element they had created together. And because of this, she also understood the demerit it had, that it required her aid, it needed her to be at his side. So for Liang Chen to choose this as his future cultivation path, it showed her how much he cared, how much he wanted her at his side. And to her, this meant more than any sweet and honeyed words.


    Liang Chen looked at the gray crystal, his thoughts drifting back to the past. When he first started cultivating, he had done so during a violent storm, and now, now he was going to become a violent storm himself.

 Sharpening their fangs.

    Liang Chen looked at the fingernail-sized gray crystal for a short second longer before allowing it to pierce into his hand, digging into his bone and dissolving into his bone marrow. Before starting the arduous process of turning his bones into this kind of crystal he first had to upgrade his bone marrow to a liquid version of this fused element.


    But before he started that process, there was something else he wanted to attempt first. He swiped his interspatial ring, taking out the jade fragment that contained the first part of the Ocean God Physique, tossing it to Yan Ling.


    "Check if you can learn anything from this one, it works excellently alongside the Chaos King technique."


    The Ocean God Physique had advantages and disadvantages over other body cultivation techniques, the main advantage being the fact that it turned your body into the element you chose, making you practically immune to attacks of that element. Of course, since you turned yourself into that element, you would be weaker against attacks that came from an element that was effective against yours.


    An example would be using lightning to cultivate the technique, it would make you far more susceptible to wood, stone, or earth-based attacks, as they were elements that greatly restrained lightning. Yan Ling caught the jade fragment, sinking her mind into it and studying the words written within it. After spending almost half an hour, she could only shake her head.


    "Nope, can''t make out anything. You''ve explained the principle to me, but I can''t glean anything from the words, they almost just seem like gibberish."


    Liang Chen wasn''t too surprised by her judgment, he had been the same when he first received it after all. Even the Sealing God Empyrean and his friends had been stumped by this jade fragment and its words, unable to acquire the cultivation technique hidden within. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, placing his finger on Yan Ling''s forehead and transmitting what he knew about the Ocean God''s Physique, much like how he had transmitted what he knew about the Chaos King Technique.


    The reason he had given her the jade fragment first was simply because he had it on hand and she might not end up needing him to transmit the information. But the moment he started to transmit the information to her, Yan Ling''s entire face distorted in pain, the veins on her forehead sticking out and wriggling like worms. She quickly called out, pushing away Liang Chen''s hand and rolling backward.


    "Stop, stop, stop!"


    Her eyes had turned bloodshot, the veins in her eyes threatening to explode while her breath had turned ragged and shallow. Liang Chen rushed forward to check up on her but she simply waved her hand to show that she was fine now. She spent a few minutes catching her breath, the veins on her forehead returning to normal as she cursed out.


    "Son of a bitch that hurt, I should slap you just for putting me through that. The information entered my mind, but it simply sounded like the roaring of a thousand beasts, all of them stomping inside my head while they were roaring in rage. I have no idea how you managed to learn anything from that, but it just made me realize that the name I gave you is just getting more and more appropriate."


    Yan Ling held onto the side of her head with her left hand while speaking, her brows furrowing as she was still in a bit of pain. She felt like her head would explode just from hearing that symphony of roars, she couldn''t even fathom how anyone could listen to that for longer than a few seconds. Liang Chen sat down in front of her grabbing onto her right hand and inserting some of his poison into her body, numbing her sense of pain while he spoke.


    "You heard it like the roaring of beasts? When I first understood the technique, the information just entered my mind as normal words, if a bit obscure in some areas. Maybe something special is needed to properly understand the technique, that might be why the Sealing God Empyrean was unable to learn anything."


    This was the only explanation Liang Chen could come up with, but he had no idea what this special something might be. He didn''t think it too strange that the Ocean God Physique would have some special requirements, it was a rather supreme technique after all. Yan Ling''s brows relaxed with the numbing poison entering her body, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.


    "Maybe, but whatever it is, it seems like that technique isn''t for me. No need to dwell on what we don''t know, I''ll just continue to cultivate the Chaos King Technique, we might find a different technique I can use in tandem with the Chaos King Technique in the future. "


    It was important to not be too greedy, so even though she would like to have another technique to further improve her body cultivation, she was also fine with just having the Chaos King Technique. After all, the Chaos King Technique was also a supreme technique, it alone was more than enough for most people. Yan Ling gave Liang Chen''s hand a squeeze, feeling the bone in his hand for a short second before speaking.Stolen novel; please report.


    "How far do you think you''ll be able to alter your bones for now?"


    The first step of the Ocean God''s Physique, the act of altering the bone marrow, was the easiest and fastest to cultivate, one could manage just fine even if they only used their own Qi to alter the bone marrow. But changing the bones, especially in the way Liang Chen was planning, would be far harder. After the two of them pooled together almost half of their Qi, they had only managed to form a fingernail-sized crystal. If they kept doing it like that, just how long would it take for Liang Chen to finish altering his entire skeleton?


    He had to fully focus on creating the crystals, so he couldn''t even increase the flow of time around them. At this point, it was clear that it was better for them to gather up various resources of their elements and using the energy within them to let Liang Chen cultivate his Ocean God''s Physique, or Endless Storm God Physique as it had become at this point. Liang Chen sank his mind into his interspatial ring, quickly counting over the resources that remained after the two of them had finished all their cultivation, giving a slight shake of his head.


    "With what we have left, one of my hands. If we were to suddenly acquire an endless supply of money and could buy up all the suitable resources from the markets we''ve checked so far, maybe one and a half arm."


    The more he cultivated, the more Liang Chen understood why it was rare to cultivate all three different cultivation systems. He needed poison and time element resources for his soul and his Qi, and he needed lightning and wind for his body and his Qi. He would have to split all his cultivation resources and time between his soul, Qi, and his body cultivation, meaning that all three would be lagging behind someone who focused solely on just one or two. But he still felt that the end result would be worth it, so he had no intention of changing his plans. Yan Ling nodded her head, checking her own interspatial ring and taking out all the remaining resources she had on hand.


    "Alright, then I say we finish altering all your bone marrow and then alter the bones in your right hand, it is your main one after all. After that is done we can start participating in battles again, we should be able to scrounge up enough money to alter a bit more of the bones in your right arm before we head up to the third floor."


    The third floor would have better resources and most likely have richer competitors, both would make it easier for the two of them to progress in their cultivation in a shorter amount of time. Liang Chen didn''t see a reason to reject Yan Ling''s plan so he simply nodded his head and brought out all the resources he had within his interspatial ring, Yan Ling doing the same.


    He then stretched out his other arm and grabbed hold of her left hand. Both of them closed their eyes, drawing out the energy within the resources in front of them and starting the slow fusion progress, slowly upgrading Liang Chen''s bone marrow.


    This wasn''t the first time Liang Chen had upgraded his bone marrow like this, thanks to this it only took them a week to fully upgrade all his bone marrow into the fused storm element, slightly increasing Liang Chen''s strength. They then started the slower and more arduous process of altering his bones.


    They did this by injecting the fused energy into Liang Chen''s bones, slowly adding more and more energy and condensing it, using the same principle as the one used to alter his bone marrow. Slowly but surely the energy became too much for Liang Chen''s bones to bear, cracks starting to appear on all the bones in his hand. Eventually, the bones in his hand became unable to handle the highly condensed energy, shattering into tiny fragments that were further crushed as more and more energy was condensed.


    The energy swallowed up and absorbed the small fragments while it was crystallizing, his already altered bone marrow aiding in the process by forcing the energy to crystallize and form the same shape as his old bones, even connecting the crystallized bones to his body.


    The process was excruciatingly painful, to the point where even numbing his sense of pain using his poison wasn''t enough anymore. Luckily he had Yan Ling by his side, she not only offered emotional support but was also able to use her law of water to help ease his pain and speed up the healing process when bone fragments dug into his flesh.


    Thanks to this, they were able to continue without pause, the process of altering all the bones in his right hand taking a little over a month. It required not only the full concentration of both of them but also a large amount of energy that they controlled exceedingly precisely, so spending only a single month was surprisingly quick.


    After the process was complete, the bones in Liang Chen''s right hand had become a somewhat transparent gray crystal, his gray bone marrow just barely visible if one looked close enough. He didn''t even have to test it out to know that his right hand had grown quite a bit stronger than it used to be, it might even have grown nearly twice as tough thanks to the change. Seeing the change, he couldn''t help but look forward to the future levels, just how strong would his body end up becoming if he could fully cultivate this technique?


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling took a three-day break to rest and recuperate, they had just spent over a month in full focus after all. After these three days, they started to enter the arena again, observing some battles and taking part in others. They were both young and quick-witted, so each battle they watched allowed them to learn something new. They watched and they learned, then they fought and tested it out, adding their own touches and improvements. They were like young dragons slowly sharpening their fangs and claws, preparing them so that they could sink them into the flesh of those they wanted to kill.

 Gatekeepers.

    After Yan Ling and Liang Chen finished altering the bones in his right hand, it only took them a week and a half to rack up another eight wins in the arena, meaning that they only needed a single more win before they could head up to the third floor. Normally it would take 20 wins, but since they were only doing partner battles where they fought against two enemies at once, it cut the needed wins in half. The two took a day of rest after completing their ninth battle, making sure that they were in peak condition when they headed to the arena and took a seat close to the stage, waiting for the currently ongoing battle to end.


    The battle ended after another half hour, Yan Ling and Liang Chen standing up from their seats and entering the arena. The judge didn''t even get the chance to announce their names before two people had stood up from their seats and jumped onto the stage. Looking at how fast they had acted, Liang Chen guessed that they might have been waiting for the two of them to enter the stage. And by looking at the strength of the two, equal to the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, Liang Chen was able to guess at their personality.


    Standing opposite of them were two men, one was a surprisingly slim man from the Fiendgod race, a large scar running down the entire length of his second left arm and another flower-shapes scar decorating the top of his head. The other was a man from the Undead race, his skin covered in a light-blue tattoo that depicted a thorny vine coiling around his entire body, his three eyes were all the same light-blue as the tattoo, all three eyes were currently sweeping over Liang Chen and Yan Ling, a somewhat confused and uncertain light in them. The man from the Undead race cupped his hands, giving Liang Chen and Yan Ling a slight bow as he introduced himself and the man from the Fiendgod race.


    "Scourge King, Wolf Queen, I am Kong Luxi and this is Shi Longyu, he could be considered...something of an acquaintance of mine. We will be your opponents today and test whether or not you really have the right to head up to the third floor."


    Kong Luxi spoke courteously, but his eyes continued to sweep over Liang Chen and Yan Ling in a vigilant, even somewhat vicious, manner. The third eye of the Undead race wasn''t just for show, it had the special ability to see the aura of living beings, allowing the Undead race cultivator to know the traits of a person and see which soul would be beneficial to them. But when Kong Luxi looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling, their auras were blurry and indistinct, almost as if they were covered by a thin layer of cloth, making it impossible for him to see their traits. He felt like he would be able to pierce the layer of cloth if he was a bit stronger, but for now, he had no way of seeing through them. Shi Longyu didn''t seem as polite as Kong Luxi, letting out a loud snort.


    "No need to sugar your words so sweetly, Luxi. Scourge King, Wolf Queen, we don''t think you have the right to move up to the third floor so we''ll beat you down here. You might survive if you get down from the stage right now, but looking at my enemies walk down the stage like cowards always annoys me oh so much, so please be a good kid and stay here. Of course, if you were to leave behind that sweet thing, I might not be against allowing you to head to the third floor. Then again, even if you refuse to hand her over, she''ll still be mine once the battle is over, I''ll make sure to treat her nice and delicate, they last longer like that after all."Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Shi Longyu pointed at Yan Ling as he spoke, the corners of his lips pulling up into a smile that was a mixture of taunting and lecherous. Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the two opponents, Yan Ling raising an eyebrow while casting a sideways glance at Liang Chen. She didn''t even seem bothered in the slightest by Shi Longyu''s comments, even snickering in an amused manner.


    "Yikes, one is a slimy bastard pretending to be nice and polite while the other''s an idiot whose clearly slow in the head. Think he was dropped on the head as a child? It''s gotta be that, right? Or maybe he just has his head so far up his ass that the force of him squeezing his cheeks is cutting off the blood to his head."


    Yan Ling didn''t show the slightest mercy in her ridicule, making sure that Shi Longyu and Kong Luxi were able to hear every word she was saying, their eyes narrowing in rage. Clearly, it wasn''t just Liang Chen who had guessed at their personalities, Yan Ling had also seen through them. Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders, seemingly not too bothered by what Shi Longyu had said.


    "Well, what do you expect from people who can only be considered the same as common bullies? They remind me a lot of some kids I once knew back in my hometown so it''d honestly surprise me if they were able to come up with better taunts to keep us on the stage. Well, we can consider them a test of sorts, it''ll make their presence a bit more bearable."


    Both Kong Luxi and Shi Longyu had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, they should already be strong enough to head up to the third floor. Liang Chen could only think of one reason for them to still linger around here, they likely enjoyed beating down people who were confident and were about to head to the third floor, crushing their hopes by using their high cultivation.


    Kong Luxi pretended to be polite while Shi Longyu used taunts, but both were using their own methods to keep their opponents on the stage, hoping to avoid them surrendering the moment they saw the cultivation of their enemy. What they didn''t know however was that there was no need for anything like that, neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling had any intention to surrender, this was a perfect chance to test out how much stronger they had gotten. To them, Kong Luxi and Shi Longyu were nothing more than a pair of gatekeepers that served as both a test and a grindstone.


    The two locked eyes for a second before simultaneously casting their gazes onto the judge from the Fiendgod race, nodding their heads to show that they were going to continue the battle. Liang Chen took out his spear and Yan Ling her sword, both of them pointing their weapons at the opponents, Yan Ling at Kong Luxi and Liang Chen at Shi Longyu. The judge announced the start of the battle, Liang Chen''s eyes narrowing faintly as he looked at Shi Longyu.


    "Don''t worry about me annoying you, I''ll make sure that you won''t be able to see me stepping down from this stage after the battle is over."


    Liang Chen knew that Shi Longyu''s words were nothing more than a poor attempt at a taunt to enrage them so that they wouldn''t shy from the battle in fear, but that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t get angry when someone talked about Yan Ling like that. Shi Longyu had pulled taunts like that countless times, never quite sure if they worked or not. Sadly, he never quite thought about what would happen to him should his taunts work on someone like Liang Chen.

 To the third floor.

    Kong Luxi and Shi Longyu''s lips curled into smiles when they saw that Liang Chen and Yan Ling weren''t going to shy away despite the difference in cultivation, both of them bringing out their weapons. Shi Longyu''s weapons were a pair of blue silk gloves on his upper set of arms and a pair of brass knuckles on his lower set of arms. Kong Luxi''s weapon of choice was a pair of silver swords that were strangely curved at the base and seemed like they could be connected at the handle, forming large scissors. Yan Ling used her free hand to point at Shi Longyu, letting out a loud huff.


    "Little Freak, you better beat him so much that he''ll cry for mercy and forgiveness before you kill him. If you don''t, you better be prepared to receive the silent treatment for the next month, at least."


    No woman, especially not one as proud as Yan Ling, would enjoy being talked about in the manner that Shi Longyu had used. The moment he decided to use taunts like that against the two of them, he had doomed himself to a terrible end, no matter which of the two he ended up fighting. Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner.


    "What, silence? For at least a month? Oh noooo, how would I ever deal with that peace?"


    The fact that the two of them were still joking around like this showed their confidence, the belief they had in each other and their own strength. The corner of Yan Ling''s mouth raised slightly as she cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen, slowly moving her sword closer to him.


    "Are those the words of someone looking for a beating? You think I won''t beat you up first and then toss you out of the arena alongside those scrubs?"


    Shi Longyu and Kong Luxi stood at the other side of the stage, looking at Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s flirting with vigilant gazes. They were confident in their own strength, but they knew that Liang Chen and Yan Ling weren''t easy prey, they were fine with taking their time and observing the situation. Liang Chen simply chuckled, tracing Yan Ling''s neck with a finger.


    "Beat me? Are you sure you won''t just end up being carried around by the neck like usual? Maybe I''ll just pick you up and slowly carry you back to the house, giving you a kiss every now and then so that everyone can know what I''m going to do to you when we''re alone."


    Liang Chen made his words as sickeningly sweet as he could, but Yan Ling barely showed a reaction. She didn''t even swat his hand away, she simply let out a sigh and hung her head slightly.


    "How did I ever end up together with a lecher like you?"


    At this point, not only Shi Longyu and Kong Luxi but even others in the audience were starting to look at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with somewhat strange gazes. They had seen many different scenes in the arenas before, but this was the first time they had ever seen people flirt so openly and shamelessly. Liang Chen pulled back his hand, chuckling once more and sweeping Yan Ling with a gaze, almost as if he had completely forgotten about their opponents.


    "Birds of a feather flock together, I''m certain that you are just as lecherous as me."


    He expected Yan Ling to reject his statement as vehemently as she had in the past, but she actually gave a short nod of her head, sending Liang Chen her best seductive wink while pointing her sword at Shi Longyu.


    "Aye, that might be true. Guess we''ll have to find out when it''s just the two of us. Who knows, I might even decide to give you a reward if you give him a good enough beating, so get to it already you slow bastard."


    The Qi within her body started to seethe right after she spoke, strands of her hair turning crimson as she activated her secret technique. Clearly, it was time to focus on the battle ahead so that the two of them could continue to climb the tower while enjoying each others presence.


    "Aye aye, ma''am. But I''ll make it fair, if you give him a good enough beating, I''ll be the one to give you a reward."


    Liang Chen sent a wink at Yan Ling and then stepped forward, immediately activating his bloodline. Gray scales covered his arms, his fingers turning more claw-like as his gray hair turned a light cyan in color. In the past, his eyes would have turned a dull gray in color, but now they stayed in their heterochromia state, one golden and one cyan. They were wearing the Heaven Altering Masks to disguise themselves as people from the Undead race, so Liang Chen made sure that the fake third eye on his forehead was the same color as his golden eye, making it seem like his cyan eye was somehow special.


    A thunderous sound rang out as Liang Chen shot forward and turned into a blur, faint trails of emerald lightning left in his wake. He arrived in front of Shi Longyu almost instantly, the tip of his spear stabbing towards the Fiendgods throat. Shi Longyu stretched out his upper set of arms and reached for the spear, aiming to clap his hands around the tip. At the same time, he also attacked with his lower set of arms, aiming one punch at Liang Chen''s waist and forming the other hand into a spear and aiming it at his chest.


    A somewhat strange scene appeared as Shi Longyu''s clap approached the spear tip, the air and space around the spear tip seemed to be compressed and pushed onto the spear tip, almost as if it was trying to dig into it. As for Shi Longyu''s second set of arms, the flow of energy around them seemed to become locked up, unable to move freely.


    Liang Chen quickly reacted, tilting the spear so that the tip went upwards, missing Shi Longyu''s throat by quite a bit but as a result also dodging his clap. Using the same tilting motion that raised the tip of his spear, he slammed the bottom of the spear handle into the ground and used it as a support, jumping up and using his grasp on the spear to hold himself sideways in the air, dodging the two punches and landing a kick on Shi Longyu''s abdomen, forcing him to take several steps backward.


    As he took several steps backward, Shi Longyu grabbed onto Liang Chen''s outstretched leg and exerted all his physical force to turn his body around and swing Liang Chen over his head like a sack of potatoes, slamming him towards the ground. When Shi Longyu grabbed onto his leg, Liang Chen felt like his entire right leg became sealed, the Qi and blood within it left completely locked up. At the same time, it felt like all the flesh and bones within his leg were trying to move, gathering at the center of his knee. Had it not been for the fact that he had strengthened his body through body cultivation, his entire right leg might have instantly crippled itself.


    Noticing this strange scene, Liang Chen came to the conclusion that Shi Longyu was likely cultivating in two rather strange and rare laws, the law of compression and the law of sealing. Finding Demonic beasts that could use these laws was very hard so it seemed like Shi Longyu had gotten quite lucky in the past. Liang Chen wouldn''t just let himself get slammed into the ground, so he retaliated while Shi Longyu was in the middle of swinging him down.


    He stored away his spear and took out the bow he had taken from the opponents they faced right after coming to this floor, drawing the string as far back as he could. The surrounding air gathered at his fingertips, forming a hollow arrow that rested on the bow. Crimson lightning gathered within the tip of the arrow while a violet poison filled the shaft of the arrow. Right now Liang Chen was only strong enough to use crimson lightning to fill the tip of the arrow, any more and he would start suffering wounds from the lightning. But he was confident that there would come a day where he could fill the entire sky with crimson lightning, even violet lightning or stronger types would have to follow his command.


    He unleashed the arrow when he was about half a meter from the ground, a screeching sound ringing out as the arrow flew. Since he was so close, there was no way for Shi Longyu to dodge the arrow in time, he could only look on as the tip pierced into his shoulder and the entire arrow exploded with a thunderous roar, scattering arcs of crimson lightning and a cloud of sweet-smelling poison that affected one''s vision, hearing, and balance.


    Shi Longyu was forced to let go of Liang Chen''s legs, but he was confident that it was too late for Liang Chen to avoid crashing into the ground. He felt strong vibrations in his feet as something hit the stage, but the cloud of poison obscured his vision and the poison in his body affected his hearing so he didn''t know exactly what had hit the stage. He quickly compressed the cloud of poison into a single point, using his law of sealing to prevent the poison already within his body from spreading any further, quickly casting his gaze onto where Liang Chen should be.


    Liang Chen had indeed crashed into the ground, but not head first as Shi Longyu had wanted. Liang Chen had stored away the bow and stretched out his right arm, his fingers digging into the stage as he held himself up in a handstand, preventing his head from hitting the stage.


    His head hadn''t crashed into the stage, but the leg that Shi Longyu had grabbed was aching, a deep imprint visible where Shi Longyu had grabbed on to him. The speed of the blood and Qi currently within his leg had also slowed down, still affected by the law of sealing. As it had been the center of Shi Longyu''s law of compression, Liang Chen felt a great pain whenever he tried to move his knee, making it very painful to move his leg. Had he let Shi Longyu hold on to his leg for a bit longer, his leg might have ended up with severe injuries.


    Liang Chen quickly bent his body, his feet touching the ground again but his fingers remaining buried in the stone stage. He gathered his strength in his right arm, pulling out a chunk of the stone stage and giving his body a quick twist, throwing the chunk so fast it broke the speed of sound as it headed for Shi Longyu''s abdomen.


    Shi Longyu quickly moved to dodge, taking half a step to the side so that the stone flew past his waist. But just as he moved, he saw that the corners of Liang Chen''s mouth started curving up. He turned his head to the side just in time to see Yan Ling grabbing onto the chunk and slamming it sideways into the right side of Shi Longyu''s abdomen, leaving a small crack on his hard exoskeleton in the process.


    Shi Longyu could see Kong Luxi a short distance behind Yan Ling, his mouth wide opened as he seemed to be shouting. But Shi Longyu was unable to hear anything, the earlier arrow filled with poison still disturbing his hearing. Kong Luxi raised both his swords and crossed them, aiming a crossed slash at Yan Ling''s unguarded back in retaliation.


    Yan Ling didn''t move to dodge, leaning forward and aiming a downward punch at Shi Longyu''s right foot to somewhat cripple his movement. Kong Luxi was a bit suspicious about why she wasn''t dodging, but he quickly received his answer. A thunderous roar rang out, a golden spear flying through the air and clashing with his crossed swords, blocking the attack. Liang Chen followed the spear like a blur, grabbing onto it with his left hand and stepping on Yan Ling''s back.


    He exerted a bit of force into his foot, jumping forward while also increasing the speed at which Yan Ling leaned forward, causing Shi Longyu to misjudge the time needed to dodge the attack. Yan Ling''s palm smashed into Shi Longyu''s foot, a crushing pressure unleashing from it and causing several cracks to appear on his foot.


    While she was doing this, Liang Chen had jumped into Kong Luxi''s bosom. He tilted his spear upwards with a quick motion, the bottom of the spear heading for Kong Luxi''s left knee. At the same time, he was reaching for Kong Luxi''s right shoulder with the claw-like fingers on his right hand.


    Kong Luxi had been in the middle of his attack when Liang Chen blocked him and jumped into his bosom, so he wasn''t in the best of position to dodge. He slid his crossed blades against each other to uncross them, the sword in his left hand moving to slice open Liang Chen''s right hand while the sword in his right hand moved to parry the incoming spear handle.


    The sword in his right hand was the first to meet its target, allowing Kong Luxi to realize that Liang Chen possessed greater physical power than he first gave him credit for. He wanted to quickly put more force into his left hand to better block Liang Chen''s right hand, but it was already too late for that.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Liang Chen grabbed onto Kong Luxi''s sword, the clash of the blade and the scales on his hand creating sparks as the scales on his hand shattered, blood pouring forth from his hand. Liang Chen clenched with all his might, the blade bending slightly because Liang Chen was grabbing onto it with the hand that had already gotten its bones altered. He drew back his arm with all his might, the sword leaving Kong Luxi''s arm and soaring through the air, landing only a few meters away from the audience seats, stained in the blood from Liang Chen''s hand.


    Kong Luxi''s brows furred as his expression sank, he specialized in fighting with both swords at once, losing one meant losing a bit of his strength. He clenched his now free left hand, ten transparent howling faces screeching out from his body and heading for Liang Chen, the air around them distorting as they screamed.


    Kong Luxi had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, or the Ten-Souls Spirit Lord if they were to use the terms of the Undead race. This meant that he could create and control ten extra souls, which was what he was using to attack right now, aiming an attack directly at Liang Chen''s soul. Liang Chen had a strong soul, but he couldn''t ignore the attack of a soul cultivator at the Soaring Immortal realm.


    He placed his right hand in front of him, his Anima Essence, poison, and lightning gathering in front of his hand, forming a shield with three layers to hold back the attack. Kong Luxi took this chance to grab onto Liang Chen''s spear with his left hand and pull at it with all his might, taking it out of his grasp before he had the chance to store it into his interspatial ring. He threw the spear as far away as he could, chuckling lightly.


    "You had quite a nice idea, I hope you''ll forgive me for copying you."


    Liang Chen finished blocking the ten wailing souls and then cast a quick glance past Kong Luxi, memorizing where the spear landed so that he could pick it up later. Leaving the stage meant losing, so he couldn''t go and pick it up now. Kong Luxi didn''t want to give Liang Chen any time to come up with anything, stabbing out with his remaining sword as quickly as he could, aiming for Liang Chen''s throat.


    Liang Chen quickly bent his knees and leaned backward, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out his bow again, creating another hollow arrow using wind. He filled this arrow with a gray gas, poison mixed with his Anima Essence and law of time. He aimed the arrow at Kong Luxi''s chest and unleashed it, causing it to turn into a gray blur.


    Kong Luxi copied Liang Chen''s movements, bending his knees and leaning backward to dodge the arrow. He unleashed the ten wailing souls at the same time, sending all of them at the arrow to swallow it up and neutralize the attack. The arrow suddenly exploded, turning into several smaller arrows, each containing a portion of the gray poison. The smaller arrows didn''t avoid the howling souls, heading directly into their maws and allowing themselves to be swallowed.


    The poison within them was unleashed, the ten souls immediately starting to howl even more as the poison started to corrode them. With his poison, lightning, and law of time, Liang Chen could be considered the nemesis of all souls, sending them out to face him was one of Kong Luxi''s greatest mistakes. The souls were part of Kong Luxi, so he too started screeching in pain, feeling all the pain that his ten souls were feeling.


    Liang Chen stored away his bow, twisting his body and placing his left arm on the ground, his fingers digging into the ground. He used his left arm as support and exerted all his force, stretching out both his legs and performing a sideways sweep that knocked the already unsteady Kong Luxi down. Once Kong Luxi fell on his back, Liang Chen pushed off from the ground with his left arm, throwing himself into the air and landing on his feet right next to Kong Luxi.


    As he landed on the ground, Liang Chen dipped into a kneeling position and clenched his right hand, his fist crashing into the screeching Kong Luxi''s chest. A crunching sound rang out as Kong Luxi''s chest caved in, Liang Chen''s right hand sinking deep into his chest and crushing his heart. Kong Luxi was from the Undead race, so his heart mattered little to him, one had to destroy all his souls to kill him.


    Poison flooded out of Liang Chen''s right hand, quickly spreading through all of Kong Luxi''s body and causing his flesh to dissolve and turn to mist, leaving only his ten screeching souls. Liang Chen gathered up more poison in his hand, sending out ten more arrows of concentrated poison, one into each soul.


    The screeching of the souls turned into gurgling as the corroding process was sped up, all ten souls quickly vanishing and signifying the death of Kong Luxi. Before he came to this planet, Liang Chen would not have been able to defeat someone at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal stage like this, but he had gotten far stronger with time. Liang Chen quickly turned his head to check how Yan Ling was doing against Shi Longyu, confident in her strength yet still worried about her safety.


    Yan Ling was currently embroiled in a violent battle with Shi Longyu, blood seeping out of her pores thanks to her secret technique. She was using quick and flexible movements to exchange blows with Shi Longyu, not giving him the chance to grab onto her and use his law of compression as he had done to Liang Chen''s leg. Cracks had spread over his exoskeleton, blood dripping forth from the cracks.


    He had a thin hole in his chest, right where his heart was, vast amounts of blood pouring forth. Yan Ling had clearly stabbed him through the heart at least once already, forcing him to spend a lot of his energy to regenerate it. He wasn''t the only one who could regenerate his wounds, Yan Ling also had some proficiency in it. She could mix her law of water with her Fiendgod Essence to drastically increase the speed at which her own wounds healed, allowing her to adopt a fighting style similar to Liang Chen''s, one that could only be called self-destructive.


    By taking the law of water as her secondary law, she had given up a lot of early attacking power, but what she had gained in turn was a healing ability that would allow her to fight with increased ferocity for longer periods than other people. And when Liang Chen remembered the attack Yan Ling had launched against Shi Longyu''s foot earlier, one which produced a crushing pressure that didn''t belong to the law of wind, he could also guess that she seemed to have come up with something rather interesting for her attacks.


    Right now, Shi Longyu was clearly going all out, the Demonic beast parts he used to cultivate appearing on his body. His two right arms had grown some brown fur, his fingers turning into curved claws. His two left arms took on a more metallic sheen, his hands growing thicker and rounder as his fingers almost merged together, almost resembling hooves. Spines had grown out of his back, completely covering it and almost making him resemble a large porcupine. One of the spines would occasionally vanish from his back, sinking into his back and then quickly flying out from a different part of his body as a type of sneak attack.


    Liang Chen once again pulled out his bow, gathering the surrounding wind to form an arrow, this one quite a bit thicker than the previous ones. He filled the tip of the arrow with emerald lightning and the shaft with his white poison, drawing the string and unleashing the arrow. The arrow split up the moment it left the bow, turning into countless tiny arrows that shot at Shi Longyu from all angles. Yan Ling turned her head slightly, locking eyes with Liang Chen, both of them nodding their heads. Yan Ling quickly jumped back, most of the arrows hitting Shi Longyu and exploding with a thunderous roar, spreading long arcs of lightning and a thick cloud of poison.


    The moment the arrows exploded, Liang Chen ran forward, dashing past Yan Ling and into the cloud of poison. Shi Longyu seemed to have noticed his approach thanks to the vibrations he created in the stone stage as he ran, one of his left fists coming directly for Liang Chen''s head. The three other arms were currently busy fending off several of the smaller arrows that had yet to strike Shi Longyu, leaving him with only this arm to defend against the oncoming Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen''s lips curled up slightly, his right arm shooting forward and grabbing onto Shi Longyu''s hand, grasping it like a vice. Shi Longyu felt like his hand had crashed into a metal wall, unable to move a single inch further. The cloud of poison was compressed into a single small orb by Shi Longyu, allowing him to properly see Liang Chen and sneer at him.


    "Do you really think this is enough to hold me down? Don''t think that this is the full extent of my transformation."


    Shi Longyu''s left arms started growing even thicker, his fingers fully merging together to form metallic hooves. He sneered at Liang Chen, waiting to see him lose his grip on Shi Longyu''s hand because it had grown so much larger. But the scene he expected never appeared. Instead, the arm that Liang Chen was holding onto was flooded with intense pain as it grew thicker.


    Shi Longyu''s hand grew much thicker, but Liang Chen''s hand didn''t budge in the slightest. Rather than Liang Chen''s grip budging, it was Shi Longyu''s hand that started to budge first, Liang Chen''s fingers shattering and piercing into Shi Longyu''s exoskeleton. Shi Longyu looked at Liang Chen''s immovable right arm with an expression filled with shock, unable to contain his voice.


    "What the fuck is that hand?!"


    Shi Longyu had no idea how Liang Chen''s hand could be that strong, to not only remain unmoved as he fully unleashed his transformation, but to even pierce through his exoskeleton and wound him. How could he know that Liang Chen had already altered the bones in his right hand using a technique as supreme as the Ocean God''s Physique? And he had even done it using an element as strong and unique as the fused element created by him and Yan Ling.


    Liang Chen''s right hand was wounded when he grabbed onto Kong Luxi''s sword, but it wasn''t to the point where it would weaken so much that Shi Longyu could escape his grasp. Shi Longyu suddenly picked up some vibrations coming from the ground behind him, quickly turning his head and spotting Yan Ling. She had managed to sneak up directly behind him, reaching for his back with both her palms.


    Shi Longyu instantly felt a foreboding feeling from her palms so he wanted to dodge, but with Liang Chen''s arrows occupying three of his arms and Liang Chen holding onto his last arm, there was nothing Shi Longyu could do. He shot out all his spines in a last desperate attack, but just as the spines left his body, a mighty wind blew down vertically from above Shi Longyu, all the spines force down into the ground by Liang Chen, not allowing them to harm or disturb Yan Ling. Shi Longyu turned his head onto Liang Chen again, fear finally visible in his eyes as he quickly called out.


    "Please don''t! My brother is friends with Qian Liao of God Piercing Fang tower!"


    He thought that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would at least hesitate upon hearing who his brother was friends with, but Liang Chen didn''t even bat an eye. He knew that God Piercing Fang tower was the name given to the tower in Ten Thousand Leaves city, but he had no idea who this Qian Liao was. It was easy to guess that he was someone strong within that tower, but Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t care. No matter how strong this Qian Liao was, their actual ambitions were placed far higher, their fangs were being sharpened to sink into the throats of people far stronger.


    Yan Ling''s palms landed on Shi Longyu''s back in a seemingly soft and gentle manner, as light as the spring breeze. But shortly after her palms touched his back, cracks spread over Shi Longyu''s entire body as blood poured forth and his eyes exploded. Blood and crushed organs leaked out of Shi Longyu''s mouth and the hole in his chest, splattering the stone stage beneath him as he collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes.


    Yan Ling had used her strongest technique, the Storm King''s Fist, an attack that fused the strengths of water and wind to form a crushing attack that ruined an opponent from the inside. This Storm King''s Fist had not only grown stronger since she was now also cultivating her body, but she had also added her own comprehension of the water and the wind element to it, making the attack even stronger.


    Shi Longyu had a tremendously strong lifeforce, but faced with this attack that Yan Ling had put all her focus on and charged up, his only end upon receiving it was to die. Liang Chen let go of Shi Longyu''s hand and bent over, picking up his interspatial ring and storing his corpse into his interspatial ring, after which he stretched his body and spoke up in a content voice.


    "You know, that felt really fucking good."


    He wasn''t just talking about the fact that they got to beat the two of them down, he was mostly talking about the clear proof that the two of them had gotten stronger since arriving here. If they continued to improve like this, how long would it be before they could kill Huang Dong, Qing Lan Yong, and Yan Ling''s mother? Yan Ling undid her own secret technique and looked at her two palms, a smile appearing on her face.


    "Yup, that felt really damn good. But just so you know, I was the one who beat him so you don''t get your reward."


    The one she was talking about was Shi Longyu, who had already been stored into Liang Chen''s interspatial ring. She said she would give him a reward if he made sure to beat Shi Longyu properly, but it had been Yan Ling who ended up fighting him. Liang Chen couldn''t refute her, as they were technically true, so he simply pointed at the only remaining thing of Kong Luxi, one of his swords and his interspatial ring.


    "If that''s how you wanna play, then I was technically the one who beat him so you don''t get your reward either."


    Liang Chen walked over to the sword, picking up the interspatial ring that was lying next to it and tossing it to Yan Ling. She caught the interspatial ring, her lips curling into a smirk as she put on what Liang Chen could only describe as the cutest yet smuggest smile he had ever seen.


    "Not true. I pointed at Shi Longyu, but you never specified who I had to beat, you only said that I had to give him a good beating. Hence, I still get to receive a reward of my choosing."


    Liang Chen was about to refute her words, but his words caught in his throat. He thought back to what he had done and said before the battle started, and realized that although he had implied that she had to beat Kong Luxi, he had never specified it. Since that was the case, he could only do his best to salvage what he could.


    "Well shit. But I never said the reward could be anything of your choosing, I just said a reward."


    Yan Ling did not care for Liang Chen''s thoughts, nor would she allow him to salvage anything. She stored the contents of the interspatial ring into her own, giggling as she walked over to Liang Chen.


    "Nihihi. Well, that''s what the reward is now, you don''t have the right to overrule it."


    Liang Chen once again felt like refuting her words, or at least complaining, but thinking about how she might sulk if he were to actually do that, he could only let out a sigh and shake his head.


    "Ai, what a shameless person we have here."


    He could only consider himself utterly defeated right now, not in the body but in the spirit, crushed by superior shamelessness. Yan Ling grabbed onto his right hand and used her law of water to heal the wounds he had received during the battle, the two of them leaving the arena and heading for the spatial array that would send them to the third floor, Yan Ling''s giggle echoing through the area.


    "Nihihi, yup, but you''re stuck with me, so suck it up."

 Damn you, damn me.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t have anything left for them on this floor, they didn''t store any of their items in the house and they had already scoured the various markets for items that could be useful to them. Because of this, they could immediately head to the center of the floor and find the square metal house that contained the spatial array that would send them up to the third floor.


    The two entered the house and were greeted by a man from the White Orchid race who was already standing at the center of the room, calmly waiting for them. It seemed like the news of them winning 10 battles and heading over here had already been sent over to this man, allowing him to prepare in advance. The man took a step to the side, giving a graceful bow and beckoning towards the spot next to him, which was already starting to light up with golden runes.


    The two stepped onto the golden runes, space around them forming a cocoon and sending them up to the third floor. When the cocoon vanished, they were standing in a room practically identical to the one they had just left, except for the fact that the one overseeing this room was a woman from the Undead race. She gave both of them a courteous bow upon seeing them, greeting them politely.


    "I am Luo Wenliu, I welcome you to the third floor, Scourge King, Wolf Queen. May you have luck in your battles."


    The two nodded their heads at the woman and then stepped past her, leaving the house and giving their surroundings a quick sweep. The third floor seemed far more organized than the previous two, the buildings were neatly lined up, the ones closest to the center of the floor being larger than the ones further out. There were signs all around the area that pointed to the various markets and arenas, the ground of the entire floor covered in a thin layer of surprisingly soft stone.


    There were quite a few people walking around, heading to the various arenas or markets, most of the people being either at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm or the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. This was the last floor where one could just enter the arena as they pleased, from the next floor and onward, one had to send out or receive a challenge declaration if they wanted to enter the arena and battle.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling walked around a bit, reading the signs and memorizing the locations of the arenas and the markets before picking out an empty house and entering it. These houses had signs out front that one could insert a bit of their Qi into, causing them to light up and signify that someone was living there.


    This house was closer to the outer parts of the floor so it was rather small, only containing a single bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a large tub. It seemed like the one who had originally built this house had placed more importance on the bathroom than any other room, as the bathroom was almost twice as large as the other rooms, the bathtub so large it could easily house at least four people at once.


    Yan Ling immediately headed for the bedroom, which contained a double bed, a large wooden closet, a circular table surrounded by four chairs, and a human-sized mirror made of crystal. She jumped onto the bed, burying herself in the silken sheets with a content expression.


    "Ahhh, the bed, my second home. Do your thing, send me off to wonderland."


    Yan Ling closed her eyes after talking, quickly drifting off to sleep. Liang Chen let out a chuckle and moved over to the circular table, sitting down on one of the chairs and taking out a gourd of spiced wine. He was just about to take his first sip when Yan Ling suddenly sat up in the bed, her eyes still half-closed as she had just forced herself to wake up.


    "Ah, don''t think that you''re off the hook! Once I properly wake up I''ll make sure you uphold your end of the bargain and give me the reward of my choosing! But first, eh, eh."


    She ended her half-awake sentence by pointing at the spot on the bed right next to her, tilting her head towards it to indicate what she meant. Liang Chen let out another chuckle, taking a sip of the wine and then storing the gourd into his interspatial ring. He stood up and walked over to the bed, sitting down in a kneeling position in the spot that Yan Ling had pointed at, presenting his thighs.


    Yan Ling nodded her head with a content expression and then rested her head on his thighs, adjusting the position of her body so that she could lie comfortably, quickly falling asleep. Liang Chen took out the gourd of wine again, holding it with his left hand and taking an occasional sip while using his right hand to gently stroke Yan Ling''s hair, the hours passing in a quiet peace one would think was unbefitting a couple titled the Scourge King and the Wolf Queen.


    The afternoon had only just begun when the two of them arrived on the third floor, Yan Ling only went to bed because she was tired after exerting a lot of energy in the previous battle. Liang Chen didn''t know if she was just that tired or if it was because she loved sleeping, but Yan Ling didn''t wake up until it was late afternoon the next day, sleeping for a little over a day. She slowly sat up, her hair a mess as she slurred out a few words.


    "Freak...me...hunger...fast..."


    Despite sleeping for over a day, Yan Ling was still absolutely terrible with waking up, her words not even forming a coherent sentence. But Liang Chen had been with her for long enough to know what she meant so he stood up and walked towards the kitchen with a leisurely gait.


    "Ai ai, captain, I''ll have breakfast done in a jiffy."


    Liang Chen entered the kitchen, Yumao jumping out from his dantian and helping him pick out a few things he could use to prepare food for the three of them. Liang Chen wanted to comment on the amount of meat Yumao brought out, but seeing his shimmering eyes he decided that there was no problem with indulging him like this from time to time.


    Yan Ling entered the kitchen after a quarter of an hour, sitting down at the square dining table and taking out the interspatial rings the two had picked up in the previous battle. Liang Chen had handed her one of the rings right after the battle, giving her the other one while they were making their way to the teleportation array. Her hair was somewhat damp, prompting Liang Chen to guess that she had used her law of water to give herself a quick shower before coming to the kitchen.


    She went through the contents of the rings, organizing them based on how useful they were to them, occasionally taking out an item or two and giving it a closer inspection. Liang Chen finished the food after a few more minutes, Yumao helping him bring it to the table and then shrinking down to a size where he could coil up on one side of the table, picking out the cuts of meat he wanted to eat. Yan Ling and Liang Chen also started eating, Yan Ling reporting on what she had found in the interspatial rings.


    "Seems like the two of them had been bullies for quite some time, their rings were absolutely stacked. Most of their resources are related to strengthening the soul or the body, not too terribly useful to us, but they should be able to fetch a decent price. Shi Longyu did have one interesting item, a map of this planet. It was signed with the name Qian Liao and Shi Tengriu, I guess they''re the ones who got him the map."


    She took out the map while speaking, a circular disk made from a strange type of brown metal. She put some Qi into it, causing it to project the image of a faintly pear-shaped planet in the air above it. The three great cities containing the three towers were clearly marked on the map, allowing the two of them to learn that they were located close to the middle part of the planet. There were quite a few different markings on the planet, Yan Ling pointing to one that was a bit away from their tower.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "This is the interesting part that caught my eye. ''Rot Dragon Nest, male returned in 1892 ASC, female showed unusual signs of voraciousness in 1895 ASC. Confirmed pregnant by Xu Peng in 1896 ASC. Should give birth in 1900-1901 ASC, head out to deal with the weakened male, the weakened female, and pick up the litter as quickly as possible, before anyone else learns of them. Bring Kong Luxi?"


    The two of them had spent some time on this planet by now, so they knew a little more about it. ASC was their measurement of years, meaning After Sun Cailin, showing how many years she had been the Tripartite Slayer. Each year lasted about 500 days, quite a bit longer than the years on Liang Chen''s own planet. The current year was 1900 ASC, the new year starting in about 70 days. Liang Chen gave the information a quick read over, guessing at what Yan Ling wanted.


    "I see, you want us to go over there and see if we can pick up anything useful. Since it has Dragon in its name, this Rot Dragon might actually have the bloodline of a true dragon, it would be very useful for awakening your own bloodline."


    The bloodline of a true dragon was an extremely potent thing, it would surely be able to rouse Yan Ling''s Star God bloodline and increase her strength. This map was owned by Shi Longyu, meaning that the notes were likely made by him as well. If Shi Longyu and Kong Luxi were strong enough to deal with the Rot Dragon, then Liang Chen and Yan Ling should be able to as well. Yan Ling nodded her head, casting a sideways glance at the still eating Yumao.


    "I thought that we might also be able to pick up another companion like him, I''m sure that Yumao must be getting lonely."


    Despite her words, Liang Chen could see that she was averting her eyes slightly. Clearly, she simply wanted to get a Demonic beast companion of her own since she was jealous that Liang Chen had one. Liang Chen gave the notes on the map another read over before leaning back in his chair.


    "I don''t have anything to say against going there, we just have to make sure to be careful. We still have about 70 days before the year ends, do you want to head out there early to keep an eye on the area? No telling who else Shi Longyu told after all."


    There was no problem with them leaving the tower, they just had to make sure they returned within a set amount of time, otherwise, they would have to start their climb from scratch again. It might even make for a nice change of pace, it would be like they were back on their own planet, heading out to complete a mission for the Storm Wolf sect. Yan Ling shook her head in response to Liang Chen''s question, her expression turned deathly serious as she took a deep breath and spoke up.


    "No, there is something I want to do before we leave, I want to receive my promised reward. I want you to cut and stab me, not enough to kill me, but seriously enough that I''ll feel it. I''d prefer if you could start right now and keep going until we have to leave."


    Liang Chen nearly fell over when he heard her words, looking at her with a dumbfounded expression. He thought that she was joking at first, but seeing her serious expression he had no choice but to admit that she was completely serious. He immediately shook his head, strongly rejecting it.


    "No. No, there is no way I''m doing that, I completely refuse. Why would you even want me to do that, what need is there for something as stupi..."


    There was no way Liang Chen could harm Yan Ling. Joking and sparring were fine, but actually using his spear to stab and slice her was completely out of the question, it would make him feel utterly horrible. He wanted to ask her why she wanted to do something so stupid but was interrupted by a loud shout before he could finish his question.


    "It''s not stupid!"


    Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen with eyes that were not only serious, but they also contained faint hints of desperation and worry. Clearly, whatever had sparked this question was very serious to her. Liang Chen closed his mouth, waiting for Yan Ling to explain herself.


    "I want to walk alongside you. No matter where you go, I want to stand right at your side and face all the adversity with you, just like I know you will do for me. Right now, I can do just that, my talent allows me to do that. After studying the Storm King''s Fist, I was able to gain a bit of insight into the crushing pressure used to perfect the attack, giving me a rudimentary control over the law of pressure and the law of crushing."


    Yan Ling had something that Liang Chen didn''t have, extraordinary talent. When she actually focused on her cultivation and on gaining insight, she would progress with a terrifying rate, at least in the early portions. This was one of the reasons she had such great strength, able to fight people above her realms. Liang Chen, on the other hand, used his natural gifts, his law of time and his ability to absorb lightning, poison, and now wind, to cultivate. Yan Ling took a deep breath, continuing her explanation.


    "But that''s just for now, what about in the future? Your law of time will only grow stronger and stronger, at some point you''ll be able to cultivate for several years in just the blink of an eye, no amount of talent will be able to keep up with you at that point. If I want to continue walking at your side, without holding you down, I need to prepare as much as possible, I need to become as perfect as possible."


    The law of time was one of the top four laws in existence, on par with space and just below creation and destruction, just holding it was enough to overshadow any talent most other people had. Even if he used his law of time on her in the future, it would never be as effective as when he used it on himself, so she would still continue to lag behind him. Liang Chen could somewhat start to guess at what Yan Ling wanted, but he still stayed silent, waiting for her to talk.


    "Just my law of wind and water are not enough. Even once I deepen my understanding of the laws of pressure and crushing, adding them to my own, it won''t be enough to keep up with a Freak like you, not even a supreme technique like the Chaos King Technique can do that. But if I were to gain insight into the law of piercing and the law of slicing as well, fusing it with my law of crushing and my law of pressure to create a law of attack unique to me, and then fuse that with my two other laws, my own bloodline, and the Chaos King technique, then I will become just as freakish as you, I''ll be able to walk at your side without holding you back."


    Yan Ling could not stand the thought of being abandoned, the thought of only being able to stand behind Liang Chen and watch as he bore all the danger for her. She would not allow things to reach that point, even if she had to suffer. After all, Liang Chen had suffered quite a bit in his cultivation, he still suffered even now when he cultivated, enduring the pain of shattering and replacing his own bones. If she wasn''t prepared to suffer as he did, she would never even deserve to walk at his side. Yan Ling stretched out her arms, grabbing a hold of Liang Chen''s hands and looking at him with pleading eyes.


    "Just using a sword to slice and pierce others or the air isn''t enough, I need to feel the sensation of getting sliced and stabbed if I want to have any hopes of gaining insight into those two laws. Please, Chen''er, I am begging you, please help me."


    Liang Chen''s expression twisted as he looked at Yan Ling and her pleading eyes. Despite her pleading look, she had such a determined light in her eyes, the same light that shone from her when she faced the heavens, the same light that had first entrance and charmed him.


    Yan Ling didn''t say anything else, waiting for him to respond. She knew that asking him to cut and stab her would pain Liang Chen as much as it pained her. But she still had to ask, she still had to put him through it, all for her selfish wish to stay at his side and watch his calm face and that faint smile that he never seemed to notice that he wore. Liang Chen''s expression continued to twist as he observed her eyes, his expression eventually becoming a grimace.


    "Asking me like that is just cheating, calling me that name is just cheating."


    Liang Chen stood up from the chair, his expression still a grimace as he looked at Yan Ling. He swiped his interspatial ring, his golden spear appearing in his grasp, his hands trembling.


    "Damn you for asking me to do this, Ling''er. Damn you for making me do this. And damn me for loving you so much that I can''t say no to you when you look at me like that and call me that."


    He could tell. He himself had that look in his eyes at times so he could tell what she was thinking. Even if he said no, she would end up finding a way. She might do it herself when she was alone, or she might let one or two attacks land on her while they were engaging in a battle, neither were as safe as Liang Chen doing it. In that case, he would do it himself, no matter how much it hurt him. All so that he could fulfill her wish. Yan Ling also stood up, her face blooming into a brilliant smile.


    "Thank you, Chen''er, I knew I could count on you."

 Playing the part of the oriole.

    Liang Chen awoke to a soft sensation gently prodding his cheek. He furrowed his brows and wrinkled his nose to show discomfort, the prodding sensation quickly stopping. He thought that would be it, but then he felt something clasp around his nose and close it shut, cutting off his air and forcing him to fully wake up and open his eyes.


    His gaze landed on Yan Ling, who was the one holding his nose. Seeing that he had opened his eyes, Yan Ling took her hand off his nose and gave his forehead a jab with her finger.


    "You''re the one who said we should leave early, so you better wake up, otherwise I''ll keep playing with your face."


    Liang Chen blinked his eyes a few times before sitting up, allowing Yan Ling to rub her somewhat numb thighs. She felt that since she was having Liang Chen use his spear to stab and slice her, something she knew made him feel absolutely horrid, letting him get some sleep on her thighs was the least she could do.


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his eyes roaming over Yan Ling''s body. She was wearing a light blue tightfitting sleeveless shirt that was open in the back, revealing her shoulder blades, and a pair of deep blue silken pants that were a bit looser than the shirt. His eyes stayed on her bare arms and shoulder blades for a bit longer, intently inspecting them.


    Her skin was smooth and clean, not a single scar visible despite the vast number of cuts and stabs he had placed on her arms over these last 60 days. He was happy that her law of water allowed her to heal the wounds before they managed to leave any scars, but that didn''t change the fact that he felt incredibly uncomfortable with the fact that he had used his spear to hurt her, and would have to keep doing so in the future to further deepen her insight into the law.


    Yumao, who had been curled up on top of Yan Ling''s head, flew over to Liang Chen and coiled up on his head, switching his resting spot. Liang Chen rubbed his face a little and cricked his neck, standing up from the bed and looking out the window.


    "Sun hasn''t risen yet. Let''s get some breakfast and then we can leave. No telling what else might be arriving there while they are giving birth, so it doesn''t hurt to show up even earlier."


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring after talking, taking out a pot filled with some soup and placing it on the table, taking out three bowls at the same time. Yumao immediately flew over and picked out one of the bowls as his own, eagerly waiting for the food to be handed to him. Yan Ling stood up walked over to the table, sitting down on the couch and rolling her eyes.


    "Yes yes, how many times are you going to keep telling me that? I got it the first time."


    She had already lost count of how many times Liang Chen had told her that they should get to the Rot Dragon nest early, it almost seemed like he had started saying it just to see how long it would take before it annoyed her. Liang Chen filled the three bowls with soup, slumping down into the couch and leaning backward with a light chuckle.


    "Never know when you''ll end up forgetting what I told you, so it doesn''t harm to truly hammer it into your head."


    Yan Ling simply rolled her eyes, not dignifying his statement with a response. She accepted the bowl of soup, quickly gulping down its contents and helping herself to a second portion. After starting her second portion, she cast her gaze out the window and let out a somewhat curious voice.


    "What do you think Big Brother and the others are doing now? We''ve been gone for quite a while already."


    Before they knew it, they had already been on this planet for around seven months, even longer if they counted the times Liang Chen had increased the flow of time around them. A lot could change in seven months so there was no telling what the situation on their own planet was right now. Liang Chen followed her gaze out the window, sipping some soup while giving his thoughts.


    "I''m not sure, I guess it depends on what the Moon Dragon sect is doing. If they are being stupid and trying to get revenge for us beating Huang Dong, then there is a chance that the Storm Wolf sect is engaging in a few battles with the Moon Dragon sect. But if they are playing it smart and not doing anything then Brother Ying and the others should currently be busy cultivating like normal, probably waiting for us to return. Although, knowing Brother Ying, he might just be biding his time and looking for a chance to crush Huang Dong."


    The Constellation King''s competition should have ended about four months ago, and even though deaths and injuries were very common and there was an unwritten agreement between the sects that they wouldn''t pursue any injuries and deaths, things might be different now. Liang Chen and Yan Ling had grievously injured Huang Dong, one of the top disciples of the Moon Dragon sect, who knew if they would just accept that in silence. The corners of Yan Ling''s lips curled up slightly, her eyes glancing at Liang Chen out of the corner of her eye.


    "You saying you wouldn''t be doing the same?"


    The way he spoke about Yan Ying''s actions almost made it seem like he disagreed with them, that it was better to not bide his time and look for a chance to crush Huang Dong. She knew what he would answer, but she still wanted to hear him say it, which he did with a casual wave of his hand, as if he was slicing the air.


    "Oh, I would be doing nothing but biding my time until I was strong enough to charge directly into the sect and kill him, no doubt."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Liang Chen was a very vengeful person, the moment Huang Dong hurt Yan Ling, his death had already been set in stone, it was only a matter of when. Of course, Liang Chen had already promised Yan Ling that she would get to be the one to kill Huang Dong, so there wasn''t really much he could do to Huang Dong without her complaining his ears off. Yan Ling chuckled contently, giving Liang Chen a thumbs up.


    "Nice and grand, I love it."


    It might sound exaggerated to say that he would storm into one of the strongest sects on this planet just to kill one person, but Yan Ling had no doubt that he would someday be able to do just that. She knew that there would come a day where no one would dare stop Liang Chen from doing what he wanted to, they could only bow their heads and submit.


    The two finished their food, Yumao returning to hiding within Liang Chen''s dantian before they left the building. They returned to the building where they had first arrived, taking the spatial array down to the second floor and then heading to the building that they had first arrived in when they arrived on the second floor, using the spatial array within it to get to the first floor.


    They were asked to hand over a bit of their Qi before they left the tower, the handed over Qi being inserted into a stone cylinder. When they returned to the tower, this Qi would be used to identify them and which floor they had reached. But the Qi could only last for half a year inside the stone cylinder, if they were to return later than that, they would have to climb the tower from the bottom again.


    The two handed over a bit of their Qi and then left, heading for the western exit of the city. The western exit led to a plain covered in rolling hills, a forest visible on the horizon, a small swamp located on the eastern part of this forest was their target.


    They left the city, Yumao popping out from Liang Chen''s dantian the moment they were far enough away from the city. Having to hide within Liang Chen''s dantian whenever they wanted to leave the house was unpleasant, so he relished in this chance to roam around freely. Yan Ling swiped her interspatial ring and took out an item Liang Chen hadn''t seen in a while, her golden chariot. Now that they had a map, there was no need for them to move cautiously and inspect their surroundings, they could use the chariot to fly through the air again.


    The two of them mounted the chariot and took to the sky, Yumao flying alongside them. Yan Ling increased the speed of the chariot as much as she could, but Yumao was able to keep up with them no matter how fast they were flying, he clearly didn''t have any problems with his speed. With the speed of the chariot, it only took the two of them a little over two days to reach the outskirts of the forest, several mountains with various shapes visible in certain locations of the forest.


    Yan Ling brought the chariot down at the edge of the forest, putting it back into her interspatial ring. Flying over a forest like this, which was infested with Demonic beasts, was not a good idea. They would also be able to remain hidden by walking, Yumao would also be able to hunt a few Demonic beasts to stretch his body if they were walking, it was about time for them to start stocking up on meat again after all.


    They entered the forest, covering up all traces of their own presence so that they could minimize the number of times they were attacked by Demonic beasts. As for Yumao, they just let him roam free and do as he pleased, with his control over darkness, he was even harder to spot than them. He let out a joyful hiss and then jumped into the darkness, vanishing from sight and starting his hunt.


    The two started carefully making their way through the forest, using the various mountains they could see to figure out where they had to go. They didn''t see Yumao, but as the days started passing, the corpses of various Demonic beasts were sent to them through the darkness. Yumao had even neatly sorted the Demonic beast corpses into two categories, those that could be used for cultivation and those that could be used for food.


    Due to the vast size of the forest, as well as the fact that their target was located rather deep into the forest, it took them a little over a week of walking to reach the large swamp that was the territory of the Rot Dragons. There was no open area between the forest and the swamp, the forest just suddenly turned into a black swamp filled with contorted trees and bubbling muck. At the center of the swamp stood a tilted mountain that had partially sunk into the swamp, a large number of caves digging into the mountain. Looking at the scenery, it almost looked like a large portion of the forest had just turned into a swamp one day, most likely when the Rot Dragons arrived and made it their nest.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s gazes landed on the tilted mountain, on the two dragons currently sitting there. The dragons had four thick limbs, a lizard-like body that had sharp spikes running down the entire spine, a thin whip-like tail that ended in a three-pronged spike, and four backward-curved horns on top of their head, just above their eyes. Their scales were a murky purple color and there was a faint black mist occasionally drifting out of their maws.


    A large amount of energy was pouring out of these two dragons, sinking into a purple-mottled egg that was placed between them. Both of the dragons looked rather tired and exhausted, they had clearly been doing this for quite some time already. The egg was moving slightly, but no cracks had appeared on it yet so it didn''t seem like it was hatching just yet. Yan Ling looked at the two dragons, clicking her tongue and cursing.


    "Shi Longyu, you are a fucking idiot. If I could bring you back to life, I would do just that, all so that I could beat your ass once again."


    The reason she cursed was because of the strength of the dragons. Both were clearly weakened somewhat, but they still had a strength that had at least reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. Just taking on two normal Demonic beasts at this level would be very hard for Liang Chen and Yan Ling, but these two had a dragon bloodline, it would be even harder, it might be just as hard as facing two Huang Dongs. Liang Chen reached out his arm and pat Yan Ling on the head, his lips curling up slightly.


    "No need to curse him like that, he might have helped us quite a bit. There is a small pack of five tiger-type Demonic beasts hiding in that forest over there. One of them seems to be pregnant but wounded, they might be hoping to use the dragon bloodline to aid the pregnant one. That, or they might just be looking to eat the dragons while they are weakened. The strength of their pack is lower than the two dragons, but there are more of them, so even if they fail to kill them, they should weaken them further, enough for the two of us to kill the dragons."


    Liang Chen hadn''t seen these tigers himself, it was Yumao that delivered the report. With his ability to hide in the darkness, the only way for him to be spotted was if he went right up to the two dragons. Yan Ling looked towards the part of the forest that Liang Chen had pointed at, her lips slowly curling up. The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

 Battles between Tigers and Dragons.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling pulled back a little to make it harder to discover them, Yan Ling using her control over wind and water to both wash and waft away any traces of their scent. There was no telling what might happen when the battle started, there was no harm in playing it as safe as they could. Once they made sure that they were properly hidden, they proceeded to quietly wait and watch.


    The pack of tigers was doing much the same as them, hiding within the forest and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The two Rot Dragons had to constantly feed their energy into the egg, the moment the egg had become saturated with energy would be when they were at their weakest. Of course, just how long it would take for them to reach this point was unknown.


    The days started to slowly pass while Liang Chen and Yan Ling were waiting, Yumao keeping them updated on what the tigers were doing. Thanks to the control the two had over wind they could eat any food they wanted while waiting, they just had to use the wind to blow away the scent. If any other Demonic beasts were attracted by the scent, Yumao quickly took care of them and added their bodies to Liang Chen''s stockpile. Of course, while adding corpses to the stockpile, he also saved quite a few corpses for himself that he could eat to increase his strength.


    Two weeks after the two arrived by the swamp, there was finally a change in the situation, the Rot Dragons stopped channeling their energy into the egg. Both of the dragons laid down around the egg, forming a protective barrier using their own bodies. They had finished channeling energy into the egg, but they still had the strength of someone at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal Realm, their strength not dropping by as much as Liang Chen and Yan Ling had anticipated.


    But this was as weak as the dragons were going to get, so the tigers had no choice but to move out immediately, before the dragons got to restore some of their energy. All five tigers charged out of the forest, even the pregnant and wounded one, showing how serious they viewed this upcoming fight. When Liang Chen and Yan Ling first saw the five tigers, they both came to the same realization, muttering quietly.


    "So that''s why they felt confident that they can take on the dragons."


    "Heh, seems like we are in for quite a rare treat now, didn''t expect two out of five to appear here."


    The tigers were almost five meters long, their claws and fangs gleaming with a sharp light, their bodies rippling with muscles that were as solid as iron. Their fur was a silvery- gray color, their stripes a nearly blinding white in color.


    When one talked about Divine Beasts, there were five Divine Beasts one could not avoid talking about, the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, the Black Turtle, and the Golden Peng. These five Divine Beasts were rumored to have been amongst the very first Divine Beasts ever born, the progenitors of countless bloodlines, the holders of some of the strongest bloodlines in the universe. Liang Chen even guessed that they weren''t Divine Beasts at all, but rather Origin Beasts on the same level as the Heaven Devouring Dragon.


    Any beast with a dragon bloodline could be traced back to the Azure Dragon and any beast with a true tiger bloodline could be traced back to the White Tiger. Of course, just like humans could have dormant bloodlines or different bloodline density so too could Demonic beasts, very few Demonic beasts actually had a very strong dragon or tiger bloodline, most only had a few drops mixed into their bloodline. These tigers clearly belonged to that category, ones that had a rather thin White Tiger bloodline.


    They probably weren''t on the same level as the Rot Dragons they were facing, it was more likely that they had the same bloodline density as the Flood Dragon that Liang Chen and Yan Ling faced in the Myriad Convergence. If one had to properly classify the difference, it would be like one of them having a one-meter-long sword and the other party having a small dagger.


    The five tigers charged forward, the swamp beneath their feet turning solid as they ran, giving them a solid place to put their feet. The two dragons, each of them almost four times larger than the tigers, stood up and spread their wings, letting out a loud roar that caused the air around them to tremble.


    A ripple moved through the air around them, the remaining trees and the small animals that were hiding in the swamp starting to die and rot after being touched by the ripple. The flesh of the animals turned black and moldy, their bodies releasing a yellow puss as their flesh started to shrivel and dry up, ending up almost looking like black jerky.


    The tigers let out a unified roar that created a shockwave that pushed against the ripple of rot, temporarily holding it back. But the wounded tiger wasn''t able to roar as strongly as the four others, creating a small weakness in the shockwave that ended up collapsing under the ripple, allowing it to wash over the five tigers.


    The tigers were strong enough to resist most of the rotting effect, but some of their hairs still ended up falling out, revealing that their skin had shriveled up slightly. The wounded one was protected by two of the other ones, allowing her and the child she was carrying to remain unharmed for now. The two dragons charged forward after unleashing their roars, not willing to battle right next to their egg.


    The two groups met a short distance away from the mountain, the three frontmost tigers raising their claws high and slamming them down onto the oncoming dragons. A layer of silvery ice started to cover the claws of the three tigers and causing them to grow a little longer. The two tigers in the back let out a deafening roar, causing a thin layer of gray metal to cover the layer of ice that had already covered the claws, further enhancing the power of the attack.


    The two dragons growled deeply, the swam all around them starting to roil and seethe, waves of foul-smelling muck rising up and blocking the claws. The claws crashed into the waves, immediately freezing them and cutting them apart, the paws of the tigers clashing with the horns of the two dragons.


    The smaller of the two dragons, the one that was a little smaller than 20 meters in length, took the brunt of the attacks, two of its horns shattering under the power of the two tigers'' paws that it blocked. The larger dragon, the one that was almost 25 meters long, only lost one horn, retaliating in the process by opening its maw and biting down on the closest tiger paw.


    The tiger''s paw started to rot the moment it was bitten, its flesh turning black and shriveling up, the rotting quickly spreading up the tiger''s left front leg. At the same time as it bit down on the tiger''s paw, the larger dragon also caused the swamp behind the tigers to rise up, forming a large maw out of the rotting muck. The maw bit down on the two tigers that were residing in the back, aiming to weaken the entire group by targeting the weakest link and her guardian.


    The tiger guarding the weakest link quickly let out a roar that caused the hair on its back to shoot out and grow in size, a layer of metal covering them an causing them to grow into thick iron bars that formed a shield against the maw. The tiger that was being bitten reacted at the same time, biting down on its own left front leg and severing it, preventing the rot from spreading to the rest of its body.


    It then let out an ear-piercing roar that spewed blood through the surrounding air. The blood froze under the roar, forming large crimson claws that struck down on the smaller dragon. The smaller dragon used its three-pronged tail to block two of the bloody claws, but the last three still managed to leave three deep wounds on its right hind leg.


    The maw of rotting muck caused the metal bars to rot at a rapid pace, almost acting like acid that caused the metal to grow weaker and weaker before simply falling apart into tiny pieces of rubble. The maw continued to descend, albeit a bit weaker than before, heading directly for the pregnant tiger. The guardian tiger quickly jumped over the pregnant tiger, blocking the attack with its own body. The places pierced by the maw started to quickly rot, the pregnant tiger assisting the guardian tiger by using her maw to bite out the rotting parts, preventing the rot from spreading uncontrollably.


    After just a short few seconds, one tiger had lost its left front paw, another tiger was bleeding heavily and had small traces of rot still spreading through its body, both dragons had lost at least one of their horns, and the smaller dragon had three large gashes on its right hind leg. Battles between Demonic beasts were much like battles between cultivators, they could end in only a few seconds if either party made a single mistake, so despite their wounds, none of the Demonic beasts lowered their vigilance, using the pain to stay fully focused.


    The tigers didn''t give up just yet, the two that were unharmed quickly launching a counterattack against the larger dragon. One of the tigers charged forward with open maw, biting onto the throat of the larger dragon before it managed to spit out the tiger paw that was still within its mouth. The larger dragon slashed out with its tail, a whistling sound ringing out as the three-pronged spike cut through the air and aimed for the incoming tiger.


    The second tiger had prepared for this, jumping forward and intercepting the tail, biting down on the three-pronged spike. The tail was so tough and moved so fast that several of the tiger''s teeth shattered when it bit down, its entire body following the tail as it continued to move. The tail continued to move but was forced into a lower trajectory thanks to the weight of the tiger, causing it to go so low that the other tiger could jump over it and sink its fangs into the throat of the larger dragon.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The throat of the larger dragon started to bleed heavily after the tiger bit into it, frost starting to form on its scales as the drops of blood started to freeze the moment they poured forth. The smaller dragon lunged forward with open maw, its tail following right after. The smaller dragon bit down on the waist of the tiger that was currently biting down on the other dragon''s throat, the tail of the smaller dragon slicing a wound into the side of the other tiger that was biting down on the larger dragon''s tail. Both tigers were forced to let go and jump back, the two groups putting some distance between each other.


    The tiger that had lost one paw let out a deep and unwilling growl, the other tigers quickly following suite. They started to slowly pull back, clearly intending to retreat before the entire pack ended up dying. The two dragons didn''t seem like they were going to chase, clearly not willing to leave their egg behind. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly, two arrows of wind forming over his hand. One arrow quickly filled up with a yellow acidic poison while the other one was filled with concentrated wind moving at high speed, he also had Yan Ling filled the wind arrow with a bit of her water. He kept his eyes on the dragons, muttering quietly.


    "Little Yuma, do me a favor and deliver this to them. The yellow arrow is for the tigers in the backline and the transparent arrow is for the dragon egg."


    Neither the tigers nor the dragons were weakened enough just yet, so Liang Chen could only encourage them to keep fighting each other. Yumao popped out of Liang Chen''s shadow, dragging the two arrows into the darkness and vanishing. He first appeared by the dragon''s egg, the transparent arrow filled with wind shooting out of the darkness and heading directly for the egg. He then vanished into the darkness again and appeared behind the retreating tigers, unleashing the arrow filled with poison.


    The wind arrow hit the egg and exploded, unleashing the concentrated wind within it and catapulting the egg away. The water within the arrow was also unleashed, making it seem like some ice had been used to launch the egg before melting. As for the arrow filled with poison, it hit the pregnant tiger and started to eat away at her old wounds, making it seem like she had been hit by an attack that carried a rotting characteristic.


    The dragons and tigers quickly reacted, the dragons rushed to the egg and the Tigers rushed to aid the one who had been hit by the poisonous arrow, freezing the affected parts. The two groups faced each other again after dealing with their own problems, roaring loudly at each other. The dragons thought the Tigers targeted the egg and the Tigers thought the dragons targeted them while they were retreating, both groups quickly growing furious.


    Both groups were already wounded and tired, becoming furious was enough to cloud their judgment and cause them to start fighting again. The smaller dragon placed the egg a bit behind it, in the place it felt the egg would be safest, it then joined the larger dragon and charged at the tigers again. The battle started again, Liang Chen and Yan Ling staying in their hiding spot and observing, waiting for the right moment.


    Both sides were already wounded so it didn''t take long for the first casualty to appear. The tiger that had lost one of its front paws made a mistake due to its missing leg, allowing the larger dragon to bite down on its head and completely crush it. The tigers quickly retaliated, however, launching a unified attack that not only left a large gash on the side of the smaller dragon but also ended up grazing the egg and shaking it pretty badly.


    This only caused both sides to grow even angrier, the battle growing fiercer as more and more of their blood was spilled into the swamp. Another tiger fell after not too long, the tiger responsible for guarding the pregnant one unable to resist its growing wounds, collapsing into the swamp and allowing the smaller dragon to stomp on its spine. The next to die was the pregnant tiger, the swamp beneath her rising up and forming a small prison filled with sharp spikes that caught her head and pierced it clean through with its rotting spikes.


    At this point, the smaller dragon also collapsed into the swamp, unable to keep itself standing due to the large amount of blood it had lost so far. The larger dragon faced the last two tigers, all three of them heavily wounded, so blinded by rage and fury that they lost sight of everything around them. Liang Chen glanced sideways, locking eyes with Yan Ling, who nodded her head in return.


    Liang Chen''s spear appeared in his grasp and Yan Ling''s sword appeared in her''s, their shadows suddenly rising up and swallowing them up. Yumao dragged both of them through the darkness, which was practically a separate dimension where they were not only unable to see anything, they couldn''t even breathe. Only people who could control the law of darkness could enter or live in this dimension so the two of them had to rely on Yumao to move them around.


    Yumao quickly brought them to their destination, Liang Chen appearing above the large dragon while Yan Ling appeared above the two tigers. Yumao appeared above the smaller dragon, quickly finishing it off by tearing open her throat and drilling his way into her body, tearing her apart from the inside with his razor-sharp teeth.


    Yan Ling activated her strengthening technique while Liang Chen activated his bloodline, both of them immediately unleashing their strongest techniques. Liang Chen used the second part of Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, Second step splits the waterfall. The tip of his spear unleashed a multicolored light, crimson lightning, white poison, and concentrated wind all gathering into a single small point that clashed with the neck of the dragon and then exploded, unleashing a thunderous explosion.


    The scales covering the dragon''s body completely shattered under the might of the explosion, pushing its entire body into the swamp as it unleashed a strong shockwave that caused the swamp around it to evaporate and even reached the distant egg, causing large cracks to form on it. The neck of the large dragon was unable to resist the force of the attack and ended up exploding, its head flying away. The dragon was able to resist Liang Chen''s poison thanks to its control over rot, but it was unable to resist the force of the lightning and the wind.


    Compared to Liang Chen''s attack, Yan Ling''s caused far less noise. She gathered all her might at the edge of her sword and sent out a sideways slash, a short thin line appearing in the air and heading for the two tigers. The line looked short and thin, but the moment it struck the unprepared tigers, its full might was unleashed.


    It cut clean through the tigers, a two-kilometer-long cut appearing in the swamp and separating the two parts from each other. The attack didn''t stop there, the moment the cut appeared, everything around it was crushed downwards by a horrifying pressure. The bodies of the tigers released a crunching sound, all the bones in their bodies shattering as they were crushed flat into the swamp. Having gained some insight into the laws of crushing, piercing, and slicing, Yan Ling now had a terrifyingly strong offensive power.


    In the future, if she continued to deepen her understanding of the laws, she could even use her law of piercing to pierce through space, giving her nearly unprecedented speed. But even though she knew this, she was not yet content, she wanted even more. She did not for even one second believe that just this would be able to keep up with the future Liang Chen, she needed even more strength, she needed to become even more freakish if she wanted to keep up with someone like her Little Freak.


    Liang Chen stood on the corpse of the dragon, a few drops of its blood dripping down his face after having splashed him. He cast a glance at the smaller dragon, which had a large hole in its throat and chest, Yumao''s entry and exit point. He then cast a glance at the shattered bodies of the two tigers, opening his mouth.


    "Let''s pick up the bodies and then take t..."


    Before Liang Chen got to finish his sentence, a soft sound came from behind him. He quickly turned his head, his gaze landing on the dragon egg, which was now covered in large cracks. The egg moved slightly, the cracks on it suddenly unleashing a strong suction force. The suction force drew in all the blood in the area, even the corpses of the Demonic beasts were being drawn towards the egg at a high speed. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling quickly reacted, locking eyes.


    "The bodies!"


    "Grab one!"


    Liang Chen quickly stored the dragon corpse beneath him into his interspatial ring, Yan Ling doing the same for the two tiger corpses beneath her. They wanted to grab the others, but it was already too late. The suction force of the egg had pulled all the other corpses close and crushed them so small that they were sucked in through the cracks, absorbed into the egg. It seemed like the suction force worked even stronger on the child within the stomach of the pregnant tiger, her stomach torn open as the dead child was pulled out and absorbed into the egg alongside the dead mother.


    The suction force absorbed the remaining corpses and all the blood, but it didn''t affect Liang Chen or Yan Ling, it didn''t even touch Yumao, who was closest to the egg. The moment all the corpses and blood were absorbed, the cracks on the egg closed up, as if it had just used all the corpses and blood solely to repair itself. The area then descended into silence, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling staring dumbfoundedly at the quiet egg, Yan Ling scratching her head.


    "This... what?"


    She didn''t even know what to say, how was one supposed to react to something like that taking place? Liang Chen also scratched his head in confusion, he had read a lot of books in the Storm Wolf sect, but he had never read about something quite like this. After a bit, he could only shrug his shoulders and give a slight shake of his head.


    "I have no idea what that was. Let''s quickly grab the egg and perform the bonding ceremony, we''ll find a quiet place to cultivate after that. If there is any dragon blood left after feeding it to your bloodline, there''s something I want to try with it."


    The bonding ceremony was rather simple actually, it was the act of a cultivator nurturing a Demonic beast egg or fetus using their Qi and blood, it was the same thing that Liang Chen had done to Yumao''s egg. As for the thing he wanted to try with the dragon''s blood, he wanted to see if he could fuse the rot element with his poison element. Both were rather similar so he thought that it might be possible to fuse the two, using the fused element to cultivate his soul.


    He might even find other similar elements he could fuse with his poison in the future, adding them onto it. At that point, he might end up having an Endless Storm God Physique and a true Scourge God Soul, a concept he found somewhat novel. Yan Ling nodded her head, putting away her sword and skipping over to the egg, storing it into her dantian and diverting some of her blood into it, nurturing the child within it. The two then quickly left the area to find a hidden place they could cultivate, neither of them noticing that the mottled purple spots on the dragon egg had gained an additional shade of white.

 World-shaking howl.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t have to go far to find a hidden place where they could focus on cultivating, they just had to enter one of the many caves dug into the tilted mountain located at the center of the swamp. This place still reeked of the Rot Dragons, it would take quite a while for the other Demonic beasts in the area to realize that the Rot Dragons were in fact already dead.


    After entering one of the caves, the two learned that all the caves were in fact connected together, forming a large maze that had a vast cavern in the center. With their control over wind, it was not hard for them to figure out the layout of the maze and arrive in the central cavern, which seemed to have been the home of the two Rot Dragons.


    The cavern was in the shape of a half-circle, the floor flat while the walls and the ceiling were arched. The walls and floor were covered in claw marks and tracks showing that the two dragons seemed to drag their tails while walking. A few strange vines that released the same pungent scent as the Rot Dragons rotting element grew along some of the walls, purple scales spread out through the entire cave, there were even a few claws or fangs lying on the ground, most likely having fallen out as the dragons grew older.


    At the very center of the cavern was a basin dug directly into the floor, a bubbling violet-green muck that released a putrid scent filling the basin. The muck released rather strong waves of Qi, all the vines that grew along the walls also stretched into this muck so it seemed like this muck was something used by the two dragons to cultivate. Yan Ling swept the entire cavern with a quick glance before pointing at an empty spot on the floor.


    "Let''s dump the bodies there and quickly drain their blood. It''ll take a bit of time to extract their bloodline, so I wanna get started as quickly as possible."


    A Demonic beasts bloodline was different from its normal blood, it was a separate type of blood that had merged into their normal blood. To separate these two from each other required a great deal of effort, time, and above all focus and control, a single mistake could ruin everything. Liang Chen nodded his head, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out the corpse of the Rot Dragon, Yan Ling taking out the two tiger corpses she had. Liang Chen''s dragon corpse was lacking the head and most of its neck, while Yan Ling''s tiger corpses were split in two and nearly crushed flat. Their states were far from perfect, but they still contained a large amount of blood they could use.


    The two tossed the corpses onto the ground and started the arduous process of extracting and refining the blood so that they could extract the bloodline. Meanwhile, Yumao was flying around the two of them, looking at the corpses with a hungry gaze, patiently waiting for the extraction process to finish.


    Liang Chen focused on the Rot Dragon while Yan Ling focused on the two tigers, more and more of their blood flying out of their bodies and gathering into orbs above the corpses. This process required them to only use their neutral Qi which had yet to be infused with any of their laws, so for Liang Chen, who was used to only using his law-infused Qi, this was a somewhat difficult task.


    But he persevered and carried on, exerting all his focus on the process of extracting the blood from the Rot Dragon. The bodies of powerful Demonic beasts or cultivators with strong bodies contained more blood than one would expect, a body cultivator at Liang Chen''s stage might have enough blood in his body to fill a large pool. As such, the complete extraction process took a full week, two large orbs of blood floating in the air above the three shriveled up corpses.


    Yumao got the clear signal from Liang Chen, descending on the corpses like a ravenous beast. Yumao knew what Liang Chen wanted to try with the rot element, so he plucked out the Demon Crystal of the Rot Dragon, which was filled with a dense amount of its rot Qi, and tossed it into the basin filled with bubbling muck. He then gathered up all the vines in the cavern and tossed them into the basin, preparing everything for Liang Chen before he started eating the corpses with great relish. Even after being drained of all their blood, the corpses were still a great aid to Yumao''s cultivation. Liang Chen and Yan Ling let out deep breaths, locking eyes for a short moment before Yan Ling let out a faint smile.


    "Well, here comes the hard part, let''s try to not fuck this up."


    Liang Chen nodded his head with a light chuckle, taking another deep breath and then focusing on the orb of blood again. Both of them were maintaining their Qi using their last few Spirit Stones and the currency of this planet, but it was still a mental strain to stay fully focused for as long as they were. The two quickly began the refining and extraction process, the orbs of blood slowly shrinking as they pulled out all the impure energy in the blood, leaving only the purest bloodline.


    Yan Ling had been trained in a place like the Storm Wolf sect, after all, so her refining process went quite a bit smoother than Liang Chen''s, she was also a bit faster than him. After spending two weeks, she had managed to shrink her orb of blood down to 50% of its normal size, while Liang Chen had only managed to shrink it down to 75% of its normal size. Another two weeks later, Yan Ling finished refining the tiger blood, the entire orb of blood shrinking down to only a thumb-sized drop of blood that had specks of white floating around in it.


    She put away the drop of blood and turned her attention onto the blood of the Rot Dragon, aiding Liang Chen in completing his refining process. Another five days later, the orb of dragon blood had become an apple-sized drop of blood with a few azure speckles floating around in it. Floating next to this apple-sized drop of blood was a fist-sized drop of blood that was a mixture of red and violet, this was the concentrated version of the Rot Dragon bloodline, containing a bit of its dragon bloodline and a large portion of its rot element. This drop of blood was for Liang Chen to experiment with and see if he could fuse his poison with the rot element.


    The three bodies had contained easily enough blood to fill a small lake, yet in the end, all that they managed to get out of them in terms of bloodline was about a fist-sized drop in total. The two took a two-day break after they finished refining the blood, allowing both of them to get some sleep before locking eyes and nodding at each other.


    "Ready?"


    "Ready."


    They sat in the cavern and took out the two different types of blood, causing them to float in the air between them. Yan Ling removed the upper part of her robe, only leaving a small piece of cloth to cover her chest. She wore a somewhat bashful expression, but her expression quickly turned solemn upon seeing how serious Liang Chen''s expression was. Liang Chen took control over the two drops of blood with his Qi, slowly leading some of the tiger blood over to Yan Ling''s chest and causing it to sink into the place where her heart should be.


    Yan Ling''s expression immediately twisted in pain as she grit her teeth so hard that it almost looked like they were going to shatter, blood even started to seep out from her gums. Their plan was to use bloodlines as grand as the Azure Dragon bloodline and the White Tiger bloodline to prod at Yan Ling''s Star God bloodline. They hoped that the bloodlines would either force her Star God bloodline to awaken to repel the foreign bloodlines, or that the bloodlines would fuse with her Star God bloodline and awaken it in the process.


    Yan Ling''s expression continued to distort in pain as more and more of the White Tiger bloodline was introduced into her body, her veins rising up and wriggling like worms. There was nothing they could do about this, introducing a new bloodline into a body was a horrendously painful process in which the body would more often than not try to reject the bloodline at first. Only by persevering and resisting this pain and rejection process would the cultivator be able to properly introduce the bloodline into their body.


    Liang Chen finished sending all the White Tiger blood into Yan Ling''s body, starting to send the Azure Dragon blood into her body in the same manner. With the introduction of a second bloodline, Yan Ling''s expression grew even worse, one of the veins in her shoulder exploding. Liang Chen''s brows quickly furrowed as he moved to pull back the blood, but a loud shout from Yan Ling stopped him.


    "NO! Don''t take it back, keep pouring it in! Chen''er, please, I need this. Please, don''t stop."


    She looked at Liang Chen with pleading eyes, several of the veins in her eyes had already exploded, leaving her with completely crimson eyes. Liang Chen''s expression once again started to twist, once again she was asking him to hurt her, to do the one thing she knew he hated the most. And once again, he could not say no to her, continuing to pour the blood into her body.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Before long, all the blood they had refined into the purest of bloodline had been poured into Yan Ling''s body, her expression continually twisting in pain. She did her best to form a thin smile with her mouth, blood pouring out from between her lips as she squeezed out a few words.


    "Just you...watch! A little something...like this...is not enough to...stop me! You just focus...on your cultivation...no need to worry about me!"


    Yan Ling closed her eyes after she finished talking, putting all her focus on accepting the two new bloodlines and using them to prod at her Star God bloodline. Liang Chen continued to look at her, observing her for an entire week before he actually did as she said and went to do his own cultivation.


    He brought out the concentrated Rot Dragon blood and walked over to the basin filled with bubbling muck, which had started to release even stronger waves of Qi after Yumao threw in the vines and the Demon Crystal. He had never shied away from self-torturous ways of cultivation, and he would certainly not do so now when Yan Ling was doing the same.


    He swallowed the fist-sized drop of blood and jumped into the pool, allowing the muck to wash over his entire body and invade him with its rotting characteristics. The blood attacked him from the inside while the muck attacked him from the outside, his flesh slowly starting to turn black and shrivel up. Had it not been for the fact that he had the law of poison, which shared quite a few similarities with the law of rot, he might have died immediately.


    Liang Chen''s bloodline immediately went to work, devouring the fresh blood that had been delivered to it. While his bloodline was busy devouring the new blood, Liang Chen put all his focus on fusing his own poison with the invading rot, attempting to put it under his control.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling were both cultivating, leaving Yumao rather bored with nothing to do. But despite being bored, he didn''t leave the cave to inspect the surrounding area, he didn''t want to leave the two of them here unguarded. He coiled up in the cavern, a wave of darkness spreading from his body and completely shrouding the cavern, not only making it impossible to see what was going on inside it but also making it nearly impossible to actually see the cavern itself.


    Time continued to pass within the dark cavern, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling focusing on their own cultivation. Yan Ling''s body would occasionally spurt forth some blood from a burst blood vessel, but it would quickly be repaired by her bloodline and her strong body, allowing her to continue resisting the torturous pain. As for Liang Chen, he was in a stalemate with the rot, just barely keeping it at bay while nibbling at it with his poison. his bloodline was still devouring the new blood, devouring it rather slowly now that his body was also in the process of battling the rot element.


    Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, the two had spent half a year inside the dark cavern, the longest either of them had ever spent focused on a single cultivation task. But it was after these six months that a change finally occurred in the cavern.


    The black flesh that was a result of Liang Chen''s body rotting suddenly changed, turning powdery white before sinking into his body and vanishing, revealing his smooth and unblemished skin. His body suddenly unleashed a strong suction force, all the wind in the area and the bubbling muck in the pool entering his body and vanishing, his cultivation quickly rising.


    After a few minutes, all the muck in the pool had vanished, leaving Liang Chen sitting at the bottom. His cultivation had shot up to the very peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm, only a short step away from the Soaring Immortal realm. Not only had his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline finished devouring all the Rot Dragon blood, but he had also succeeded in fusing his poison with the rot. He then fused this rotting poison with his law of time and infused it into his soul, increasing his soul cultivation to the same stage as his body cultivation, the equivalent of the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    He didn''t end up creating a new Dragon Lotus for this law of rot, it had simply fused into the Dragon Lotus for the law of poison, which now had six leaves, as did his other three Dragon Lotuses. In the future, he could use the law of rot much like he used one of his poisons, his strength growing once again.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes, his one golden and one cyan eyes flashing with a faint violet-black light that quickly vanished. He stood up and stretched his body, his joints producing crackling sounds after not having been moved for so long. Yumao pulled back the darkness that shrouded the cave and flew over to Liang Chen, coiling up on his head and rubbing himself against Liang Chen''s hair. Liang Chen gave Yumao a few pats, a faint smile creeping up on his face.


    "Sorry, it must have been hard for you to wait for so long. Next time I''ll make sure to prepare plenty of food for you so that you can join us."


    After speaking, Liang Chen cast his eyes onto Yan Ling, who was looking a little better. The wind around her was moving erratically, sometimes so slow it seemed to stand still while at other times so fast it seemed like it was going to fling her entire body into the distance. Her expression was still somewhat pained, but she didn''t grit her teeth or pop any blood vessels anymore.


    Liang Chen sat down a short distance away from Yan Ling, keeping a close eye on her while taking out some food from his interspatial ring for Yumao and himself. He quietly ate and watched over Yan Ling, waiting for her to finish her cultivation and tell him what the results were. He ended up having to wait for an entire month before there was finally a change in Yan Ling''s state.


    All the wind in the surrounding area, even beyond the mountain and the swamp, was suddenly sucked into the cavern, into Yan Ling''s body. More and more wind started to sink into her body, her strength slowly raising as the cyan color of her hair started to grow deeper and deeper, turning into a wonderful emerald color.


    Her strength quickly entered the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, continuing to rise without stopping. When it reached the peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm, thick blue clouds started to gather within the cavern, a heavenly tribulation had arrived, meaning that she was actually about to break into the Soaring Immortal realm.


    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed as he looked at the clouds and the crimson lightning that was gathering within them. Yan Ling was still cultivating so she was in no state to resist lightning like this, it seemed like it would fall on him to protect her in the final stages. He stood up from his seated position and took out his spear, preparing to face the heavenly tribulation.


    But just as the Qi within his body started to seethe in anticipation of facing the heavenly tribulation, another change occurred in Yan Ling''s body. The faint image of a wolf appeared around her, much like the faint image of a dragon occasionally appeared around Liang Chen. But this wolf looked a bit strange, it was about four meters long and had eyes as blue as the deep ocean, its gray fur also had a few white stripes on it, the same as the white stripes that the tigers earlier had.


    Clearly, Yan Ling''s Star God bloodline had not only been prodded awake by the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger bloodlines, but it had also absorbed them and caused all three to merge together, becoming a truly unprecedented bloodline.


    The wolf looked at the deep blue clouds for a short moment, raising its head and unleashing a long howl. The howl felt like it pierced directly into the soul, the blue clouds completely dispersing under the howl as it continued to spread into the distance. Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t know, but the entire planet resounded with the howl, every living being able to hear and feel the howl.


    Hearing this howl, Liang Chen knew that Yan Ling''s bloodline awakening was different from his. His own bloodline was still in the process of fully awakening, right now only about 35% of his bloodline had actually awakened. But just now, all of Yan Ling''s bloodline had awakened, this howl was a howl of joy from her bloodline, a symbol that it had fully awakened, that someone carrying this supreme blood existed. The moment Liang Chen''s bloodline awakened, it too would likely let out a roar like this, announcing to the universe that it had arrived.


    Yan Ling''s Qi and strength continued to rise after the howl dissipated the heavenly tribulation, settling in the early stage of the soaring Immortal Realm. She stood up from her seated position, the echoes of the howl still faintly audible. She opened her eyes, her gaze falling directly on Liang Chen, who was looking right back at her. Just like his appearance had changed slightly after his bloodline fused with Yan Ling''s, her appearance had changed a little now as well. Other than her cyan hair turning a deep emerald in color, her left eye had become ocean-blue while her right eye had become an icy-white, her eyes becoming the same heterochromia as Liang Chen''s. Liang Chen smiled at her, giving her a slight wink.


    "You really have to do everything in an over the top manner, don''t you?"


    He acted casual, but he was actually very happy on the inside. He had managed to keep the promise he had made her, not only had he helped her fully awaken her bloodline, he had given her a bloodline fit for a god. Yan Ling returned the smile and wink, giving Liang Chen''s shoulder a light punch.


    "Well, a certain someone I know just loves to be low-key and stealthy, so it always falls on me to be the one who does things over the top."


    She didn''t mention how grateful she was for Liang Chen''s presence, for staying at her side no matter how selfish she was, for helping her awaken her bloodline. There was no need for her to say anything like that, both of them knew it already, joking around like this suited the two of them far better.


    They originally only went out to quickly kill the Rot Dragons, pick up the egg, and see if they could awaken Yan Ling''s bloodline. But before they knew it, they had been gone from the tower for almost nine months, but as a result, both of their strengths had grown tremendously.

 Back to the tower.

    Liang Chen looked at Yan Ling, giving her a close inspection to see if anything other than her appearance had changed. After giving her a closer inspection, he couldn''t help but end up rather surprised. He noticed that despite looking directly at her, he was unable to actually sense her presence, it was like she wasn''t there in front of him. The electrical signals in her body were merging together with the electricity that was constantly present in the air around her, and the wind in the area seemed to be just moving directly through her, as if she was nothing more than a conduit for it.


    He could still spot her if he spread out some of his poison and used it to scout the surroundings, but if he tried to use his lightning or wind-based tracking techniques he was completely unable to detect her. Liang Chen could only come up with one explanation for this, Yan Ling''s affinity with the law of lightning and wind had reached a rather terrifying level after her bloodline finished its fusion and awoke. Noticing his raised eyebrow and surprised look, Yan Ling''s lips curved into a cheeky grin and she let out a light giggle.


    "Nihihi, surprised, are you? The amount of Azure Dragon and White Tiger bloodlines in my vein is still a bit low, but they gave me some really sweet things, check it out!"


    Yan Ling raised her right hand after talking, stretching out three fingers and channeling some Qi into her hand. Faint arcs of golden lightning started to coil around her index finger, a small stream of earth started to gather around her middle finger, and thin blades of metal started to gather around her ring finger. Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but raise even higher in surprise, fusing the two bloodlines into her own had given her access to three new elements? Yan Ling let out another giggle, waving her hand to dissipate the elements.


    "The Azure Dragon seems to control wind and lightning, while the White Tiger seems to control earth and metal, as for the other three, I have no idea what laws they might control. I have zero insight into these laws so they''re practically useless for anything but small tricks like these. But if I were to deepen my insight or get more of their bloodlines I will be able to greatly strengthen my control over them. You better watch yourself, otherwise, I might just steal all your lightning."


    If the Azure Dragon and the four other beasts were truly Origin Beasts, it wouldn''t be strange for each of them to control two laws. After all, the progenitor of Liang Chen''s bloodline, the Heaven Devouring Dragon, controlled the law of devouring, allowing it to use practically all laws in existence, the title of Origin Beast was not just for show. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head in understanding, asking the other question that was on his mind.


    "So, how much stronger did your bloodline get after fusing with the two new ones?"


    The process of fusing bloodlines was incredibly dangerous, the slightest wrong step would result in death, you might die even if you didn''t make a single mistake! Liang Chen''s first fusion with the Star God bloodline had only worked thanks to the fact that Yan Ling had done everything in her power to make her Star God bloodline calm down and willingly initiate the fusion process, which eventually worked because Liang Chen''s own bloodline was still mostly dormant and thus only acted on instinct to protect and heal its owner.


    Once the Star God bloodline calmed down and showed the willingness to cooperate, Liang Chen''s own Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline stopped fighting back and worked together with the Star God bloodline to fuse so that they could heal Liang Chen''s broken body. The fusion process just now was much simpler, mainly because the Rot Dragon blood he used only had a trace amount of the Azure Dragon bloodline. Yan Ling didn''t hide anything about her increase in strength, answering the question honestly.


    "I''m not a 100% certain, but looking at the strength that the progenitor of my family, Yan Yi, had with his bloodline, I''d say that my bloodline has grown at least 50% stronger after the fusion process. When I activate it, I should have no problem properly facing someone at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, maybe even someone at the late stage."


    It might not sound like much, but the higher one''s cultivation became, the greater the gap between the various sub-realms became. Someone at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm should not be able to beat someone at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, and someone at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm should be easily beaten by someone at the middle stage. Only by having extremely strong techniques or other advantages would people be able to defeat others above their cultivation realm. Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen, forming one of her hands into a fist.


    "With that being said, let''s spar. I want to see just how much stronger I have gotten."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and took a few steps backward, he too was a bit curious to see how much stronger he had gotten after increasing his cultivation and slightly strengthening his bloodline. He clenched his fists and took up his position, Yan Ling suddenly looking at him with an apologetic expression and bringing out her sword.


    "I''m sorry, Chen''er, but please bring out your spear. I want you to give it your all, only like that will I be able to see how strong I have actually gotten. So please, bring out your spear and hold nothing back, and in turn, I will do the same."


    Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly after Yan Ling made her request. They had sparred against each other before, but Liang Chen had never used his spear or his bow. It wasn''t that he was looking down on Yan Ling, he simply didn''t want to use his spear to harm her, just using it to stab and slice her so that she could gain insights was bad enough for him. If he were to use it while they both sparred at full strength, it would be far harder for him to control the amount of damage he inflicted. He grit his teeth slightly, his golden spear appearing in his grasp as he muttered quietly.


    "Really, talking to me like that is emotional extortion."


    Yan Ling couldn''t deny his words, she could only smile apologetically at him, activating her bloodline. When she activated her bloodline, her emerald hair turned a light gray in color, jagged white stripes running through it. Her pupils both became sky-blue in color and turned into sharp slits, her teeth growing razor-sharp. She no longer had to use the secret technique that her father had taught her so this time there was no blood seeping out her skin nor did any of her hair turn crimson.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The moment she activated her bloodline, it seemed like the area around her turned completely silent, all the wind around her suddenly stopping before being absorbed by her body. She took a step forward, her entire body blurring as she shot forward at full speed. Liang Chen inhaled a light breath before activating his own bloodline, gray scales growing up his arms and covering part of his chest and neck.


    Yan Ling arrived in front of him almost immediately, raising her sword high and aiming a downward slash at his left shoulder. Liang Chen swiftly raised his left arm and used the back of his fist to push the sword to the side, taking half a step forward, twisting his body slightly to the left and aiming a shoulder bash at Yan Ling''s chest.


    The moment his fist touched her sword, he felt a sharp energy pierce into his hand, shredding his scales and causing blood to spurt outwards. Yan Ling didn''t want Liang Chen''s shoulder to hit her so she stretched out her left arm and placed her hand on his shoulder, putting some force into it while jumping up, doing a handstand on his shoulder and vaulting over his body, aiming another slash at his left arm while doing so.


    As she placed her hand on his shoulder, she felt a large amount of lightning flood into her arm and spread through her body, her entire arm practically turning numb from pain. But thanks to the fact that she had some Azure Dragon blood in her now, she was able to prevent herself from losing control over her arm and complete her vault.


    Liang Chen glanced at the incoming blade for a split second before ducking down, lowering his entire body into a crouching position. He then spun his body around, aiming a sideways sweep at Yan Ling, who was currently in the process of landing after performing the vault. Yan Ling tried to push the spear away using her wind while also pushing herself back, but Liang Chen had simply packed too much force into the spear, it cut cleanly through the wind and left a gash on Yan Ling''s right thigh.


    She stretched down her left arm and grabbed onto the spear before it was able to reach her left thigh, giving it a strong pull. Liang Chen felt a crushing pressure squeeze down on his right hand the moment Yan Ling grabbed onto his spear, several of his scales shattering as his hand was forced to keep grasping the spear, leaving him with no choice but to take a step closer to her when Yan Ling pulled on the spear.


    Yan Ling stabbed out with her sword while Liang Chen was stepping forward, aiming at his chest. Liang Chen glanced at the sword but didn''t take any action to dodge it, his gaze locked on Yan Ling. Her expression faltered slightly when she saw his actions, her arm lowering so that her sword aimed at his abdomen rather than his chest.


    Her sword was infused with her law of piercing, slicing, and crushing, resulting in it easily piercing through his body, the law of slicing and crushing unleashing and wreaking havoc on his organs and bones. But at the same time as the sword pierced his abdomen, his left arm shot forward as fast as lightning, his palm landing on Yan Ling''s chest. His palm landed on her chest, but he didn''t unleash an attack, he simply let out a sigh, blood leaking out from the corner of his lips.


    "Can we stop this now? A battle like this is just pointless, you are unable to truly harm me and I am unable to truly harm you, we learn nothing from this."


    Thanks to his poison he was unable to feel the pain of the sword piercing through his abdomen, and even though his bones and organs were a bit wounded, it wouldn''t take long for him to heal from it if he just used a bit of medicine. He was a body cultivator, resilience and rapid healing were some of his greatest traits, especially considering his powerful bloodline.


    And his words weren''t wrong, they were unable to harm the other, they simply couldn''t bear it. Yan Ling had lowered her sword so that it didn''t pierce his chest, she had also prevented her law of crushing and slicing from harming any of his important organs. As for Liang Chen, not once had he used his poison or his two strongest types of lightning, too afraid that they would leave irreparable harm on her. Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen''s hand, which currently lodged in between her breasts, and then let out a sigh, both of them undoing their bloodline activation.


    "So even with all this, I''m unable to beat you. I''m sorry for stabbing you like this."


    Yan Ling knew that even with her increased strength, she would lose the moment Liang Chen hit her with a single attack. Liang Chen had his supreme technique, Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, any single attack could instantly become a finishing blow that not even her body could handle. Had he activated it when he sliced her thigh, she would lose both her legs, had he activated it when his palm landed on her chest, while she might not instantly die, she would take a great deal of damage.


    Yan Ling pulled her sword out of Liang Chen''s abdomen and then quickly closed up the wound with her left hand, channeling her law of water into his body to heal him. She put away her sword and took out a few pills from her interspatial ring, shoving them into Liang Chen''s mouth with her right hand.


    "Eat these, and don''t even think about spitting them out."


    Liang Chen crunched the pills slightly before swallowing them and allowing them to dissolve into streams of energy that flowed towards his wounds. After swallowing the pills, he rolled his eyes slightly at Yan Ling''s comment.


    "Do I look like such a child to you?"


    He had never spit out any pills or food before, so her comment was clearly meant just to tease him and prevent any silence from descending over the two. Yan Ling giggled lightly, her lips curling into a smirk as she cast a quick glance at Liang Chen.


    "Nihihi, you certainly act like it at times, so I have to make sure."


    Liang Chen continued to play along with Yan Ling, sending her a slight glare while cracking his knuckles, giving the top of her head a light knock.


    "Right, I''ll make sure to beat you properly next time."


    Yan Ling ducked slightly after Liang Chen knocked the top of her head, sticking out her tongue for a quick second before putting on an overly dramatic act of being scared.


    "Ohh, I''m shaking in fear, what will I ever do with such a brute chasing me?"


    With Yan Ling using her law of water to heal his wounds, coupled with the pills and his already strong body, it didn''t take long for his wounds to heal. Three hours after the two finished their sparring, Yan Ling pat Liang Chen on the stomach and stood up, stretching her body with an excited expression.


    "Alright, your boo boo''s all better now. We''ve been gone for quite a while, so it''s about time we return to the tower. We should probably be able to reach the fourth floor now, maybe even the fifth if we cultivate just a bit more."


    The standard strength of the people on the fourth floor was the early and the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, with the fifth-floor standard being the middle and late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. They were indeed strong enough now to reach the fourth floor, but they likely needed a bit more strength if they wished to stay safely on the fifth floor. Luckily, they would have access to quite a few resources on the third and fourth floor, allowing them to speed up their cultivation. The two left the cavern, Yumao shrinking in size and coiling up on Yan Ling''s head. Yan Ling brought out the golden chariot and fed it a bit of this planet''s currency so that it could soar into the air and bring them back to the city. They had been gone for so long that they would have to start climbing again from the first floor, but this just meant that they would be able to stock up on a few bodies and more resources they could use.

 Storm Wolf and the Nightshield.

    While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were making their way back to the tower, the entirety of their home planet, Dragon''s Gate planet, was bustling with activity. The mostly stable peace that the six great sects had maintained for so many years was starting to fray and tear, more and more small scale battles taking place and claiming the lives of both disciples and innocent passerby''s.


    The sun had just set when the spatial array that served as the entrance of the Storm Wolf sect flashed to life, Yan Ying appearing at the center of it. His expression was steely and his body was drenched in blood, his tattered robe and his deep green hair sticking close to his skin. He was carrying a straw sack wet with blood, droplets continuously seeping through the bottom and splashing the ground beneath it.


    Yan Ying wasted no time, immediately heading for the split mountain that was the headquarters of the Storm Wolf sect, not even greeting the occasional disciple he walked past. He entered the main building of the Storm Hall, directly entering the room that was forbidden ground for most disciples, the sect master''s quarters.


    The sect master''s quarters was a small room that was decorated rather cozily, an ornate fireplace with a coiled dragon engraved on the mantle taking up most of the eastern wall while a small table covered in a fine white cloth was placed at the center of the room, the sect master sitting at the table and drinking some strong wine with creased brows. There were no chairs around this table, sect master Yan Wuhan simply sat on the ground with crossed legs. Yan Ying walked to the table and sat down, placing the bloody bag on the table.


    "Another ambush by the Moon Dragon sect, they tried to make us hand over Ling''er and Little Chen again, but looking at how well-prepared they were it was clear that they never expected us to say yes. Two of the disciples I brought along were killed in the battle, my token was stolen so I activated the secret array within it, the other six disciples should have already arrived in the Mission Castle."


    While talking, Yan Ying placed two bloody orbs of jade on the table, the identifying orbs of the two deceased disciples. The secret array within his token was an emergency procedure engraved into it, allowing them to destroy it if it should fall into the hands of an enemy, preventing them from using it to arrive in the middle of their Mission Castle and wreaking havoc.


    Yan Wuhan placed down the cup filled with wine, glancing at the bloody bag and letting out a deep sigh. Ever since Huang Dong had been forced to leave the Constellation King''s competition early, missing his right arm and severely wounded and poisoned, the Moon Dragon sect had been adamant about getting the Storm Wolf sect to hand over Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    Of course, with the two of them having entered a spatial rift and ending up in an unknown place, this was impossible. And even if it was possible to hand them over, no one in the Storm Wolf sect would ever do so, they would rather fight. There was also another fact that Yan Wuhan knew, them not handing over Yan Ling and Liang Chen was only something that the Moon Dragon sect used as an excuse to start fighting the Storm Wolf sect. They were planning something else, but Yan Wuhan had no idea what. Yan Wuhan glanced at the bloody bag after he finished his sigh, leaning his head on his left hand and poking the bag with his right.


    "I don''t imagine you''d rush here so fast, nor drag their heads here just because you''re angry, was there something special about the group?"


    Yan Wuhan gave a light twirl of his finger after speaking, a hair-thin stream of water coiling around Yan Ying and washing away all the blood, revealing that the only wound he had suffered was a small cut on the back of his neck. Yan Ying shook his head slightly, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out an opened letter and a wooden token engraved with a small array that formed an erupting volcano.


    "The Moon Dragon sect group was nothing special, but the heads in the bag are quite special. They were handed to us as a gift by a group of assassins clad in black after we killed the group from the Moon Dragon sect, along with this token and this letter."


    Yan Wuhan sat up straight when he saw the token, his brows furrowing further. He grabbed the token and the letter, swiftly reading through the letter and occasionally glancing at the token. After he finished reading the letter, he opened the bloody bag and pulled out the head of a young man, placing his index finger against the forehead of the decapitated head, inserting a bit of Qi and closing his eyes. He opened his eyes again after a short few seconds, his expression sinking slightly.


    "The contents of the letter aren''t wrong. They are indeed from the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, and they''ve indeed allied with the Moon Dragon sect in secret. Sadly, none of the people in this group knew exactly why the two sects have allied."


    This was the reason that Yan Ying had rushed here so fast, he wanted to tell his father the news and have him ascertain whether or not the contents of the letter was true. One of the laws that Yan Wuhan specialized in allowed him to read the memories of people weaker than him, it even worked on deceased people as long as it hadn''t been too long since their death.


    The contents of the letter were very simple, stating that the Moon Dragon sect had formed an alliance with the Dawn''s Blade sect, which controlled the entire western part of the planet. This group of people was supposed to join the Moon Dragon sect group in ambushing Yan Ying, but the black-clothed assassins had taken care of them before they got the chance, a sign that their master was willing to work together with the Storm Wolf sect.


    Yan Wuhan placed the head back into the bag, washing his hands and glancing at the wooden token in front of him. He stretched out his hand, tracing the array engraved onto the token with his finger while muttering quietly.


    "Qing Lan Yong, exactly what are you planning?"Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The owner of this token, and the only one who could create the array engraved on it, was Qing Lan Yong, the man who was responsible for the death of Liang Chen''s parents. When he spoke the name of Qing Lan Yong, Yan Wuhan seemed to be reminded of Yan Ling and Liang Chen, his expression growing a bit distant.


    "It''s been quite a while already since we last heard from Ling''er, do you think they''re fine?"


    The last time they had received any word from Yan Ling was just before she entered the spatial rift, how could Yan Wuhan not be worried after so long had passed without any word? Yan Ying let out a light laugh, shaking his head to ease his father''s worry.


    "There probably hasn''t been any word from them since they ended up in a place so far away that the communication jade is no longer effective. You can relax, nothing''s going to happen to them, we just have to await their return."


    Compared to Yan Wuhan, Yan Ying was far calmer when it came to Liang Chen''s and Yan Ling''s situation. Yan Wuhan picked up the cup of wine again, downing the rest in one gulp and taking a crystal jug out from his interspatial ring, refilling the cup.


    "Are you sure? What if they encountered an enemy too strong for them, what if they ended up in a truly dangerous place? You know how Ling''er can be, can we truly be that confident?"


    Yan Wuhan treated Yan Ying as his own son, but that didn''t change the fact that Yan Ling was the last of his actual children, he was so worried about her that he could barely think straight at times. Yan Ying swiped his own interspatial ring, taking out a cup and a porcelain kettle filled with warm tea, pouring himself a cup while talking.


    "We can be that confident. With Little Chen around, there is no need for us to worry. Ling''er might be reckless and shameless, but Little Chen is still able to reign her in if he needs to, he might be the only one able to do so."


    Yan Ying had a great deal of trust in Yan Ling, but the main reason he could be so confident that they would be fine was the fact that Liang Chen was with her. He drank some of the tea he had poured himself, his own gaze growing a bit distant as he continued to talk.


    "I still remember when I saw Little Chen in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, we found him as the sole survivor in an area riddled with ruined corpses. I pitied him at first, offering him to travel with us so that I might do for him what you did for me. But then I saw him fight for the first time, I saw his eyes, his bearing, and I found myself filled with fear. Can you imagine that? Me, filled with fear upon seeing such a small child fight? I don''t know what it was, but even the smallest of the actions he did while fighting were enough to fill me with fear, I almost felt like I was looking at death itself, a truly irrational fear."


    Yan Ying chuckled lightly when he reminisced about the time he first picked up Liang Chen in the hidden realm. His words weren''t a lie, he was truly filled with fear when he saw Liang Chen fight for the first time, blood drenching his body as he held the bow and shot one arrow after the other, each one charged with crimson lightning.


    "And then we started to travel together and encounter more and more diverse situations, but he always looked so calm and composed, so prepared to deal with everything, just looking at him was enough to instill confidence and calmness in me. It was a truly strange sensation, filled with fear when I saw him battle and filled with confidence when I saw him in any situation."


    No matter the enemy, no matter how dire the odds, no matter how large the hurdle, Liang Chen had faced them all with a composed atmosphere and calm eyes, as if nothing was able to faze or stop him. Yan Ying drank some more tea, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.


    "And you know what? My feelings were always proven correct. No matter how great the obstacle ahead of us, no matter how dire it looked, we always managed to overcome it, Little Chen''s expression remaining as calm as always. And anyone he designated as an enemy? They all died in the end, unable to resist his fearsome attacks. The situation is no different now, the enemies will die and the obstacles will be overcome. And in the end, they will both return to us alive, stronger than ever before."


    Yan Wuhan wasn''t as filled with confidence as Yan Ying, but his brows unfurrowed a little after hearing him talk. He could only pray that Yan Ying was correct, that both Liang Chen and Yan Ling would be fine on their own, returning to them one day in the future.


    --


    The headquarters of the Nightshield sect was located above the vast ocean that separated the Soaring Cloud continent from the areas controlled by the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. A completely round island that spanned a few hundred kilometers in each direction floated on the water, five equally large islands hovering in the air about 10 kilometers above this island. The floating island was where the most common of disciples lived, while the five floating islands housed the five halls of the Nightshield sect, each of them held aloft by a massive array engraved into the island itself.


    A man covered in a black robe was currently making his way across the island that housed the Duskshield Hall, his appearance and body strangely blurry as a black mist cloaked his body. He swiftly arrived at a triangular palace made from a strange type of golden metal, a large courtyard that served as a diverse garden surrounding the entire palace.


    The cloaked man entered the courtyard, quickly making his way over to a small pond filled with colorful carps, a tall oak standing proudly next to the pond. There was a circular table placed next to the oak, a handsome man sitting on one of the eight chairs that surrounded the table. The man looked like he had just entered his twenties, his skin smooth and unblemished, his eyebrows slanted upwards and were rather sharp, accentuating his emerald green eyes. His silky black hair reached down to his nape and hung loosely, a young girl, most likely only two or three years old, with blue hair and emerald eyes grabbing onto it and playing with it.


    If Liang Chen were to see this man, he would immediately know who he was, Qing Lan Yong. The cloaked man vanished into the shadow of a tree, his voice drifting out from the shadow of the oak that stood next to the table, the young girl seemingly unable to hear it.


    "Young Master, we have done as you ordered and delivered the letter, but I must ask, are you certain you wish to do this? If you were to ally with Dawn''s Blade, you would be able to gain far more resources to increase your stagnating cultivation."


    This man knew that the Dawn''s Blade Alliance hadn''t just reached out to the Moon Dragon sect, they had also contacted the Fiendgod sect, the Ghost Soul sect, and the Nightshield sect, they had contacted every sect other than the Storm Wolf sect. But no matter what they had offered, Qing Lan Yong would always cause the negotiations to collapse, something that his great status in the Nightshield sect allowed him to do. Qing Lan Yong didn''t glance at the shadows, continuing to play with the child in his hand, a warm smile on his face as he responded in a quiet voice without even moving his lips.


    "Aye, thanks to the fact that Wu Huan somehow got lucky enough to become the honorary disciple of that Sealing God Empyrean, allying with Dawn''s Blade would indeed mean that I could get more resources. But, Old Li, this is not about resources. You can tell the Moon Dragon sect spies that keep trying to win you over that I owe Liang Chen a debt greater than any resources they can offer me, I will not allow them to lay a hand on either him or his sect."

 Ascending the tower.

    When Liang Chen and Yan Ling headed from the city to the forest, they had pushed the flying chariot to fly as fast as it could, meaning that they could make the trip in only a little over two days. But now that they were heading back to the city they took it a bit slower, they would have to start from the bottom anyway, there was no point in rushing.


    Yumao flew at the side of the chariot, occasionally flying away to check out a place he found interesting or to kill a Demonic beast he felt would be able to somewhat increase his strength. As for Liang Chen and Yan Ling, they were engrossed in their own cultivation. Half of the time Liang Chen would use his spear to help Yan Ling deepen her insight into the laws of piercing and slicing, at the same time teaching her what he knew about the law of lightning.


    The other half of the time, Yan Ling would aid Liang Chen in his body cultivation, providing as much wind and water as she could. By the time they got close to the city and Yumao was forced to return to Liang Chen''s dantian, all the bones in Liang Chen''s right arm, as well as the fingers on his left hand, had been altered using his body cultivation technique.


    The two didn''t waste any time in the city, heading directly for the tower at the center. Liang Chen wanted to be the one to register them this time but Yan Ling rushed ahead before he could even bring up the topic, quickly registering them under the same names as last time, Scourge King and Wolf Queen. She had clearly already figured out what he had been planning but was too fond of their titles to let him change them. Liang Chen couldn''t even say anything against it when he saw her cheeky grin, he could only shake his head with a sigh and head towards the closest arena, it seemed like he would have to live with people here referring to him with that title.


    Despite Yan Ling having already reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, the two of them still had to go through the same entrance test as last time. 100 people entered the arena, but only two remained in the end, Yan Ling easily sweeping everyone away. She wanted to get used to her increased strength and her new bloodline so she had asked Liang Chen to leave most battles to her, he was only to take part if the enemy was too strong.


    Liang Chen had nothing against this proposition, Yan Ling did indeed need to get accustomed to her increased strength. There was also the fact that she needed to get more accustomed to using her new laws, lightning, metal, and earth, in combat. The more battles she fought the easier it would be for her to come up with her own ways of utilizing those laws, allowing her to better utilize her strength.


    Yan Ling didn''t let the bodies of the 98 other people go to waste, quickly snatching them and storing them into her interspatial ring, leaving the task of sorting them for later. The two then checked out the various market on this first floor, using the funds of the people they just killed to buy any resources that would be suitable for their cultivation. They then found an empty house and settled down for a few days to use up the resources and the corpses, the cultivations of the two steadily rising.


    Both of them cultivated in the three different cultivation systems so the sheer amount of resources they required was enough to make some cultivators turn pale at just the thought. Because of this, they quickly used up all the resources and corpses, entering the arena and completing the 10 battles required to head up to the second floor.


    They checked the markets one last time, picking up any new items that might be useful for them and then headed up to the second floor. Just like on the first floor, none of the people here were able to stand against Yan Ling. There were quite a few people willing to test their strength and luck against Yan Ling so they didn''t lack for opponents, making it nice and simple for them to rack up the 10 required victories. They checked out the markets and spent all their money buying resources, holing up in an empty house for a few days to cultivate before they ascended to the third floor.


    Their speed slowed down a little on the third floor, the standard for strength here was between the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate and the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm after all. The enemies becoming stronger suited Yan Ling just fine, it meant that the battles would last longer and give her more time to get fully accustomed to her strength. Stronger enemies also meant that they would have better resources and that their bodies would be better suited to be used by the Chaos King technique, allowing the two to increase the effectivity of their cultivation.


    A month and a half after they entered the tower again, the 11th day after entering the third floor, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were holed up in an empty house and focusing on their cultivation, they only had one last battle left before they could head to the fourth floor. If things on this floor followed the same pattern as the second floor, the next enemies they faced would be stronger than the previous ones, likely strong enough to live stably on the fourth floor. At this point in time, the bones in both of Liang Chen''s arms had been fully altered thanks to the resources they had been able to buy, they had already started on his right leg.


    Liang Chen was currently sitting on a couch in the rater spacy yet sparsely decorated living room, engrossed in his cultivation, dividing his attention between his soul and his Qi cultivation to make sure that they didn''t lag behind. He hadn''t battled anything since they killed the Rot Dragons and the tigers, he had only watched as Yan Ling took care of the enemies they faced here in the tower.


    He didn''t like admitting it, but he had gotten so used to fighting and bloody battles that his body was starting to feel stiff and itchy now that it had been a while since the last time. It almost felt like battles had already become a vital part to him, something that his body craved and desired. He let out a light chuckle and returned his thoughts to his cultivation, but before he could get too engrossed in it, he heard a light shout and the sound of feet skipping over the wooden floor.


    "Little Freak, look at what I found!"


    Yan Ling came jogging from the bedroom, clad in a rather loose blue robe that she liked to use when she slept. Her hair was unkempt and untied, hanging loosely down behind her as she moved. She was carrying a scroll made out of a strangely yellow paper in her hand, unfurling it in front of Liang Chen while taking in an excited voice.


    "Do you remember what that Shi Longyian or whatever said before you killed him? He said that his brother was friends with someone named Qian Liao of the God Piercing Fang tower. His name popped up in this scroll I found in the ring of that White Orchid race man that faced us a few days ago, it seems like Qian Liao is a rather big deal in the God Piercing Tower, he is one of the strongest people on the seventh floor there, only a step away from entering the eighth floor."


    Liang Chen didn''t bother correcting Yan Ling by telling her that the name had been Shi Longyu, there wasn''t really a need to. He accepted the scroll and gave it a few quick reads, memorizing the information. The scroll actually contained a bit of information about some of the stronger people in each of the three towers, every single person mentioned in this scroll was at least among the strongest of the people on the seventh floor, it even mentioned quite a few people living on the ninth floor. After he finished reading over the scroll, he rolled it up and handed it back to Yan Ling, standing up and stretching his body.


    "Huh, no wonder he seemed so confident I would stop when he shouted out that name. The scroll doesn''t say when it was made, it might be a bit old at this point, Qian Liao might have already reached the eighth floor. But if it was just this, I don''t think you would be this excited, so what is it that you''re hiding so that you can use it to surprise me?"


    Liang Chen knew Yan Ling well, she would indeed be a bit excited finding out that they might have made a strong enemy they could use to sharpen their fangs. But it would not be enough to get her this excited, her eyes were practically sparkling with excitement. Yan Ling let out a light giggle upon realizing that she had already been seen through, fishing out another scroll from her interspatial ring.


    "Nihihi, you got me! Look at this, it''s the continuation of that scroll, it mentions more about the cultivation paths and various techniques of the people listed in the scroll. Look at what sort of Demonic beasts parts and blood Qian Liao has used to cultivate, don''t they sound perfect for you?"


    Liang Chen raised an eyebrow as he accepted the scroll, quickly locating Qian Liao''s name. After reading over the information, his eyebrow couldn''t help but rise higher, his own eyes starting to shine slightly.


    ''Qian Liao, a member of the Fiendgod race, used the corpse of a mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor to cultivate, absorbing the bloodline in the process. The mutation of this Nethersky Wyrm Emperor upgraded his law of darkness to the law of death, acquiring the bloodline and corpse has allowed Qian Liao to utilize the law of death in his attacks, one must take great precautions when facing him, making sure to dodge his attacks rather than block them.''


    Liang Chen had heard about the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor before, it was the evolved version of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen that had lived in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. A Nethersky Wyrm Emperor was a Demonic beast with the strength of someone at the Primordial Immortal realm, but it was normally impossible for it to evolve further and grow stronger. It could, however, circumvent this inability to evolve further in two ways, it could either acquire a stronger bloodline and fuse it with its own, or it might be lucky and have mutated in a manner that would allow it to get stronger. This Nethersky Wyrm Emperor corpse that Qian Liao had found clearly belonged to the latter category when it was still alive. Liang Chen read the information several times, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Aye, they truly do sound perfect, I might even be able to give some of the bloodline to Yumao, it should help him quite a bit. Seems like we might have to make a trip to that tower after we''ve increased out strength more. Well, we first have to reach the fourth floor to pick up some more resources."


    The law of death was actually rather similar to Liang Chen''s own law of time and the law of rot. Rot was, after all, the decay and decomposition of matter, something that most often took place after death, while the law of time would eventually bring all things to their promised end and turn them to dust. If he could acquire this mutated bloodline and fuse it into his own, he could merge this law of death into his soul cultivation technique and further strengthen himself.


    But first, they had to increase their strength some more. If Shi Longyu''s words were correct, then there was a chance that Qian Liao, or at least Shi Longyu''s brother, would try to seek revenge for Shi Longyu. They would have to increase their strength to resist their attacks before they even thought about acquiring that bloodline. Yan Ling''s lips curled into a grin as she snatched back the scroll, giggling lightly.


    "I know, I''m not so stupid as to say we should head over there immediately. We should first get so strong that they can''t even get the chance to retaliate, only then should we head to that tower. As for heading to the fourth floor, I was thinking we could head to the arena and do the last battle now, I imagine that those poor bullies who are surely waiting for us must be getting rather bored by now, we best put them out of their misery."


    She didn''t say it, but Yan Ling had actually spent quite a bit of time going through the various interspatial rings they had picked up, looking for any information that would be useful to Liang Chen''s cultivation. She knew that she wouldn''t be who she was not if it wasn''t for Liang Chen.


    Without him, she might not even have gotten out of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm alive, much less fully awaken and even strengthen her bloodline. He had done so much for her, but she had barely done anything for him, so she desperately searched for information that could help him. And in the end, she had luckily found something.


    Liang Chen nodded his head, the two leaving the house and heading to the closest arena. They took up positions at the side of the stage and waited for the ongoing battle to end, stepping onto the stage after a winner was declared. Just like they thought, the judge didn''t even have to announce them, two people among the audience immediately stood up when Yan Ling and Liang Chen entered the stage.


    One of the two was a rather muscular man from the Undead race, his third eye glowing with a faint rainbow-colored light, the second person was a man from the Fiendgod race, his lower set of arms actually having small pincers instead of hands. The two entered the stage, the man from the Undead race looking Yan Ling up and down before talking.


    "Wolf Queen right? I am Shentu Ningyu and this is my friend, Ping Gang. We''ve studied the battles you''ve participated in, you are very strong. But sadly, this is where your winning streak will come to an end."


    Shentu Ningyu stretched out his left arm, Ping Gang stretching out his upper right arm, their palms making contact. A strange scene occurred after their palms met, their bodies actually melted, the puddles gathering together and quickly forming a single person. This new person had the body of Ping Gang but the head of Shentu Ningyu, the rainbow-colored light in his third eye now far more pronounced. Shentu Ningyu spoke out, his voice now sounding quite a bit stranger, raspier and deeper.


    "This is one of the secret techniques my clan has come up with over the years, it allows me and Ping Gang to pool our strengths together and patch up our weaknesses. We might not be together for long, but please call me Shentu Gang."


    Neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling had ever heard about a technique like this before so they couldn''t help but marvel at it slightly, completely forgetting to comment on Shentu Gang''s apparent fondness for talking. The two couldn''t even begin to fathom how one would go about experimenting to create a technique like this, who would be the main consciousness and how would the bodies undo the merge later?


    They had quite a lot of questions, but it seemed unlikely that this Shentu Gang would answer them. Shentu Gang swiped his interspatial ring, four puppets appearing in front of him. The puppets were humanoid in shape, but their faces had been shaven clean of any defining traits, they were nearly completely flat, only having a few ridges where the eyes and mouth used to be.


    Both Yan Ling and Liang Chen looked at the puppets with wary gazes, they didn''t have much experience with fighting people who used puppets. But as they looked at the puppets, their eyes grew somewhat distant, even longing, neither of them noticing that the rainbow-colored glow in Shentu Gang''s third eye had grown even stronger and was currently pulsating. Yan Ling stretched out her left arm, reaching towards the puppets as she spoke up.


    "Xieren, Xuefeng, you shouldn''t play around here, Father and Mother will yell at you again."


    The puppets were completely devoid of features, but when Yan Ling looked at them, she saw her deceased siblings as well as her father and mother. She didn''t just see them, she felt like she was living with them, the five of them living a normal and content life in the Storm Wolf sect.


    When Shentu Ningyu fused with Ping Gang, they acquired the strong body of Ping Gang and Shentu Ningyu''s mastery over the soul, making up for the weakness of the Undead race and the Fiendgod race. Since they were fused now, they could, of course, use the specialties of each other, like Shentu Ningyu''s illusion techniques. The puppets were weapons he had made himself, they helped focus and increase the strength of his illusion techniques, making them feel more realistic.


    He couldn''t choose completely what to show them, he simply chose to either show them something happy or something sad, his Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi, would then dredge through the target''s memories and use them to create a fitting scene. When his opponents were trapped in the illusion he showed them, they would be unable to defend themselves and be easy to kill. Shentu Gang looked at the puppets, his head tilting slightly as he furrowed his brows.


    "Strange, strange, why are the two of them seeing humans?"


    As it was his Anima Essence that was in charge of producing the illusion, Shentu Gang was able to see what Liang Chen and Yan Ling were seeing, allowing him to see that both were actually seeing humans. He made Yan Ling see a happy illusion, mainly because he saw her as the main threat and it would be easier to keep her in check with a happy illusion.


    Liang Chen, on the other hand, was shown a more grim illusion in an attempt to break his mind. After all, Liang Chen had always been standing behind Yan Ling when the two entered the arena, simply observing the battle with a casual gaze, Shentu Gang considered him less of a threat. As to what he was seeing, he was forced to watch those closest to him get killed, tortured, and violated time and time again. His parents, Qing Chun, Yan Ling, Yan Ying, he was forced to watch every imaginable horrible thing happening to them.


    Shentu Gang shook his head, throwing the questions to the back of his mind, none of it would matter after he killed the two of them. He raised his foot to step forward, but the moment he placed his foot down again, he felt an unearthly chill run down his spine. His gaze quickly landed on Liang Chen, whose expression could only be described as terrifyingly volatile, it was like looking at a volcano seconds before an eruption.


    Gray scales suddenly grew up his entire arm and started to cover part of his chest, the scales were even expanding as Shentu Gang was looking at them, growing to cover parts of Liang Chen''s face, a horrifying energy starting to radiate from Liang Chen''s body. But worse than this horrifying energy was the chilling bloodlust that was radiating from his body. The bloodlust was so intense that even the judge and the audience were starting to turn somewhat pale, cold sweat dripping down their back.


    Yan Ling also noticed the bloodlust, using it to drag herself out of the illusion, her face pale when she realized what had just happened. Had it not been for the bloodlust, she would likely have stayed trapped within the illusion for a bit longer before she was able to dispel it.


    Liang Chen was different from Yan Ling, he infused his very soul with the laws of poison, time, and rot. The moment Shentu Gang''s Anima Essence came in contact with Liang Chen''s soul and dragged him into the illusion, his soul started to eat away at the Anima Essence, allowing him to break free much faster.


    But the damage was already done, he had seen all sorts of horrid things happening to those close to him. Seeing such things, and knowing that Shentu Gang had been responsible for it, how could Liang Chen not be furious. The fury mixed together with the discomfort that had gathered up in his body after having to continuously wound Yan Ling so that she could cultivate the laws of piercing and slicing, forming a truly explosive rage, a rage so great that it resonated with his bloodline and speeding up the awakening process. Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling, emerald and crimson lightning starting to coil around his body while his pupils turned into slits, the heat of the lightning melting the stone stage beneath his feet.


    "Ling''er, don''t hold me back."


    Right now, Liang Chen was furious. He was filled with such fury that it felt like it would burn up his body if he didn''t give vent to it, he wanted to brutally ruin this Shentu Gang for showing him such things. He didn''t want Yan Ling to stop him from acting on his anger, right now he simply wanted to unleash it all and rampage. Yan Ling had no idea what Liang Chen had seen, but how could she not understand that it had been absolutely horrible for him? She cast a sideways glance at Shentu Gang and then took a step back, sending Liang Chen a sweet smile.


    "No worries, go wild. Don''t bother with any consequences or anything like that, we''ll deal with them when they come, just like always."


    Just like Liang Chen knew Yan Ling, Yan Ling knew Liang Chen. He might not have noticed it before his body turned stiff and itchy, but she had known for quite a while that battle and bloodshed had already become a part of who he was, he needed it. It was also when he was in the midst of battle, when his face carried that confident smile that seemed like not even the heavens themselves would be able to contain him, that she found herself falling for him all over again.


    Liang Chen turned his gaze back onto Shentu Gang, all the bloodlust he was releasing focusing directly onto Shentu Gang. Emerald and crimson lightning coiled around his body and burned in his eyes, a purple mist with a rotting scent starting to slowly seep out of his skin. The energy he currently unleashed wildly was so strong that the mask he used to conceal his appearance was starting to loosen slightly, but in his rage, he failed to notice it.

 Blood sun rising.

    Shentu Gang looked at Liang Chen with somewhat narrowed eyes, a wary feeling sprouting in his heart. The energy that Liang Chen was wildly unleashing was strong enough to cause him to feel fear, especially the emerald and crimson lightning. He had never heard about emerald lightning before, but he was very familiar with crimson lightning and how strong it was.


    He originally didn''t think much of Liang Chen, he considered him more of an afterthought that could be dealt with in passing, but now it seemed like he had been wrong. He slowly moved his upper pair of arms, two roughly cut stone hammers appearing in his grasp, his preferred close quarter weapons. Since Liang Chen was giving him such a dangerous feeling now, he figured it was best to not underestimate him.


    But just as his weapons appeared in his grasp, a thunderous booming sound rang out in front of him. He only saw that the molten part of the stage where Liang Chen had just stood was now splashing into the air, Liang Chen already standing directly in front of him and throwing a punch. When it came to speed, the law of lightning was the fifth fastest in existence, the only laws faster were the laws of light, time, space, and speed. And since Liang Chen also had access to the law of time, he could fuse it with his law of lightning to reach speeds that could only be considered blinding.


    In a situation like this, where Liang Chen paid no mind to how much Qi he used to move as fast as possible, just reacting in time would take all of Shentu Gang''s speed. Liang Chen''s moved so fast that it pushed away all the air in front of it, a shockwave spreading around it as it broke the sound barrier and crashed into the now crossed arms of Shentu Gang.


    Another thunderous explosion rang out, emerald lightning scattering into the surroundings as Shentu Gang''s entire body was flung backward, crashing into the elevated audience area. Liang Chen immediately followed him, arriving in front of Shentu Gang and delivering a heavy stomp to his chest, the stone seats beneath Shentu Gang shattering from the force of the stomp.


    But just before the stomp connected, Shentu Gang''s black skin changed color and texture, becoming gray and gnarly, resembling thick stone. The seats beneath him were shattered, but his chest was only left with a minute crack. Shentu Gang''s expression was a bit twisted after suffering the two surprise attacks in quick succession, but he still managed to let out a little laughter when he saw that Liang Chen''s stomp barely did any damage.


    "Heh, sorry to disappoint you, but Ping Gang cultivates using stone-type Demonic beasts, his defenses are pretty ridiculous. After fusing with him, I''ll obviously gain access to these defenses."


    Their fusion was meant to be perfect, giving them perfect soul and body defense while also granting them excellent attacking capabilities against both the body and soul. They had been bred for this purpose, to pursue utter perfection in cultivation. He expected his words to at least shake Liang Chen a little, but all he got in return was a chilling smile.


    "That''s good, I wouldn''t want you to break too early."


    The tougher Shentu Gang was, the more of his frustration Liang Chen could take out on him. If Shentu Gang wanted to complain, he could only blame himself for trying to use such a cheap tactic on Liang Chen, he could only curse that the cheap tactic had worked perfectly.


    Liang Chen reached down and grabbed onto Shentu Gang''s head, flooding his mind with the law of time to slow it down, preventing him from raising any proper defenses. He then raised him up from the ground, gave his own body half a spin and then slammed Shentu Gang into the ground again, repeating this movement again and again as he flung Shentu Gang around like a sack of potatoes.


    After he was slammed into the ground for the 11th time, Shentu Gang finally managed to put up some resistance, smashing both of his hammers towards Liang Chen''s chest, one from the left and one from the right. Liang Chen let go of Shentu Gang''s head and ducked down to dodge the two hammers, which collided with each other and unleashed an ear-piercing sound.


    The two hammers dropped down after crashing into each other, Shentu Gang had let go of them and turned around, fleeing from the arena at full speed. Liang Chen caught the two hammers before they could hit him, grabbing onto their handles and standing up from his ducked position. He locked onto the fleeing Shentu Gang, exerting all his physical force to throw both hammers after him, both of them moving so fast that they became hard to see with the naked eye.


    Shentu Gang quickly turned around and blocked the hammer, knocking it to the side, wincing slightly at the resulting pain. The second hammer didn''t hit its intended target, flying past him and crashing into a building, turning it into rubble. After throwing the two hammers, Liang Chen took a step forward and turned into a blur as he chased after Shentu Gang, more of the seating area shattering as he moved.


    Not only Yan Ling and the spectators quickly followed after them, but even the other people on the floor that received this news quickly also tried to rush over so that they could observe the spectacle. After all, it was not every day you could see something like this on the third floor, most people here didn''t have the strength to completely trash a person like Shentu Gang, who had the strength of someone that could live stably on the fourth floor.


    Liang Chen was far faster than Shentu Gang, so he quickly arrived above the fleeing Shentu Gang, running through the air by hardening it beneath his feet. He moved his finger slightly, a strong gust of wind appearing beneath Shentu Gang and throwing him up into the air, bringing him closer to Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen sank down slightly so that he was right next to the rising Shentu Gang, delivering a sideways scissor kick to his waist and sending him flying into the nearest building. Liang Chen then hardened the air beneath his feet and kicked off of it, almost immediately arriving in the ruins of the house, standing above Shentu Gang.


    There was a gray spot on Shentu Gang''s waist, exactly where Liang Chen had kicked him. Shentu Gang was clutching the spot, his expression distorting in pain. Liang Chen placed his foot on top of Shentu Gang''s head, sneering at him.


    "It hurts, doesn''t it? I call it timeless lightning, you are far too weak to dispel it so it will continue to burn you for all eternity. It really costs a lot of Qi to use it, but you know what? Right now, I really don''t care, I just want to hurt you."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    This gray spot was a fusion of his law of time and his law of lightning, it was the gray lightning he had once turned his bone marrow into when he first came up with the idea to fuse the two laws. Unless someone far stronger than Liang Chen dispelled it using their superior energy, this lightning would continue to exist into perpetuity. Since the lightning was this special, using even a finger-sized bolt cost more Qi than it cost to use a human-sized bolt of crimson lightning, nearly one-fourth of Liang Chen''s total energy. Shentu Gang continued to clutch his side with a pained expression, pleading with Liang Chen.


    "Please spare me! I swear that I won''t tell anyone else your secret, I''ll even swear any oath you want me to!"


    Liang Chen tilted his head slightly, somewhat confused by Shentu Gang''s pleading. He seemed to think of something and touched the side of his face, finally noticing that his Heaven Altering Mask had come loose and was currently revealing half his face, showing that he was human, or a Sebettu in his case. His expression didn''t change much, with this much of the mask having slid off there was a good chance that others had already noticed the truth. Liang Chen simply raised his foot and brought it down on Shentu Gang''s head, the force of the stomp so great that it even blew away the debris of the house. Shentu Gang''s expression twisted further, a vicious light emerging in his eyes as he shouted out with all his might.


    "HUMAN! HE''S A HUMAN! THERE''S A HUMAN HERE!"


    He injected as much Qi as he could into his voice, causing it to boom out and echo throughout the entire area, catching the attention of a large portion of the people on the floor. This shout, coupled with the news of the battle, caused even more people to flood to the area, the first people quickly arriving outside the ruins of the house and seeing the scene.


    Upon seeing Liang Chen''s half revealed face, they knew that Shentu Gang''s words had been true, the light of greed starting to appear in their eyes. Humans were a great tonic to the races of this planet, they were like the finest cultivation treasure, especially someone strong like Liang Chen. A group of three from the White Orchid race were the first to become unable to resist their greed, drawing their weapons and charging towards Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen glanced at the three for a short moment but then simply ignored them. He tore off the mask and fully revealed his appearance, there was no longer a point in hiding it. He then raised his foot and stomped down on Shentu Gang''s head again, immediately raising his foot and stomping it down again, small cracks starting to appear on Shentu Gang''s head.


    The three people from the White Orchid race quickly approached Liang Chen, but before they were able to get too close, a thin line moved through the air, slashing down at the three from above. The line passed through their heads and bodies, splitting them in two from the top down, Yan Ling descending from the sky and landing in front of Liang Chen, taking off her own mask while giggling at Liang Chen.


    "Nihihi, it''s quite rare for you to be the reckless one. Just look at the situation around us, look how many people are looking at us with their greedy gazes."


    Yan Ling wasn''t too bothered about the situation around them. So what if all these people wanted to kill and eat them? They would just have to crush anyone who came at them and make everyone else realize that coming for them would only end in death. Liang Chen raised his head and swept the surroundings with a quick glance, once again stomping down on Shentu Gang''s head to disorient him.


    This stomp caused a smoke of gray poison to invade Shentu Gang''s head, settling on his brain and slowly eating away at it. Just like he had his timeless lightning he also had timeless poison, an everlasting poison that would corrupt and forever ruin everything it touched. More and more people gathered around them, the advantage of numbers causing more and more people to be filled with greed and desire. Yan Ling looked at the surrounding people, her sword appearing in her grasp as her lips curled into a smirk.


    "What do you say, should we show them that we''re not weak kitties but ferocious tigers?"


    Liang Chen, who by now had a large portion of his upper body covered in scales, swept the surrounding people with narrowed eyes, lightning and poison dancing around him as the wind turned violent. He once again stomped on Shentu Gang''s head, a small portion of his hardened skin shattering and falling off. He sneered at the surrounding people, giving them a very simple warning.


    "Fuck off, we won''t have any mercy on anyone who makes a move against us."


    He had calmed down somewhat after beating Shentu Gang like this, once again burying his rage and hatred within him. He felt like sighing at his carelessness that ended up revealing that they were humans, but this wasn''t the time to bother with it. When he thought back to Yan Ling''s words from earlier, that they would deal with the consequences when they came, he guessed that she might have actually noticed that his mask was coming loose.


    A few of the stronger people that were surrounding them slowly backed off, intimidated by Liang Chen''s display of power as well as his slit pupils. Looking at his heterochromia eyes and the cold expression in them, they felt like they were being stared at by a gargantuan dragon, their instincts were screaming at them that this was a battle it was best to avoid.


    Sadly, not everyone present had the same instincts, plenty of people choosing to risk it. They pulled out their weapons and prepared for combat, Liang Chen and Yan Ling locking eyes for a short moment. Yan Ling immediately awakened her bloodline, a ferocious grin appearing on her face as she charged directly at the people who had drawn their weapons.


    Liang Chen didn''t pull out his own spear, he grabbed onto Shentu Gang''s leg and lifted him up, planning on using him like a sledgehammer. Shentu Gang was currently clutching his head and wailing in pain, his voice distorted by the poison eating away at his brain and the lightning burning away at his waist.


    Liang Chen charged after Yan Ling, jumping into the surrounding crowd of people like a hungry tiger charging into a flock of sheep. Yan Ling used her sword and Liang Chen used the body of Shentu Gang, a bloody mist spreading through the area as they killed anyone who tried to attack them. With her bloodline awakened, and Liang Chen''s cultivation increasing, the two of them were both on the verge of having the strength needed to survive on the fifth floor. Here on this third floor, there was no one that could resist them when they fought with everything they had.


    Yan Ling wore a wide grin as she fought, occasionally glancing at Liang Chen, who at this point was wearing his usual and involuntary confident smile. With the two of them in this situation, Yan Ling felt like they had returned to the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, to the Demon''s Graveyard. Back then, she had been poisoned and was unable to battle, but Liang Chen had engaged in a slaughter just like this to protect her, it was this slaughter that gave him the title of Scourge King.


    Their situation looked rather grim, but at this moment, Yan Ling was truly happy. Despite the stench of blood and wails of pain and fear around them, Yan Ling was happy, happy that she could fight alongside Liang Chen, shoulder to shoulder, truly equal.


    The number of people drawn in by the commotion increased, which further increased the number of people who became greedy when they saw that Liang Chen and Yan Ling were humans, which in turn increased the number of people killed by the two of them. More and more people were killed, the stench of blood spreading over the entire floor. The mist of blood stretched high into the sky, covering the array that created a fake sun, a blood sun rising over the entire tower, a herald of the chaos that was to swallow the entire planet.

 End of the massacre.

    The third floor descended into utter chaos, some people rushing towards Liang Chen and Yan Ling while others fled as quickly as they could, only hoping to save their lives. The blood that splashed everywhere turned into a fine mist that soared into the sky and gathered together into clouds that brought all the blood back to the ground again in the form of rain, drenching most of the third floor.


    The only time something similar had happened in any of the three towers was right after the arenas were established, at a time where the three towers didn''t even have the most basic of rules. With how big of the commotion was, news quickly spread to the other towers, even reaching some of the more common populace on the planet after a while.


    A few kilometers away from Ten Thousand Souls city, the city that housed the Heaven Reaching Souls tower, stood a small and cozy wooden hut. The wooden hut was hidden away in a small forest and had a small garden adjoined to the side, a few mushrooms and vegetables currently growing in the garden. A strangely tall man from the Undead race walked up to the hut, respectfully knocking on the door. The man was missing his third eye, he only had a hole where the eye should be, a large scar going over the hole. After a short moment of waiting, the door to the hut swung open and the man entered.


    The inside of the hut was very simple and only contained three rooms, a small kitchen, a single bedroom, and a living room. The living room was sparsely decorated, a round table with a two-seater couch on each side of it taking up most of the center of the room. Other than this table and the couches, the only other furniture and decorations in the room were a few cabinets which had various flowers in pots placed on top of them.


    There was a graceful and mature woman sitting on one of the couches, calmly sipping tea from an earthenware cup. The woman was from the Undead race, but her skin wasn''t pale like it usually was, it was a more healthy wheat-like color. She had a curvaceous figure that her loose white robe couldn''t hide, black hair that hung down to her ears, and eyes that were as golden as the sun. The woman smiled at the man, beckoning towards the couch in front of her.


    "Dai Hong, it''s been a little while since you last visited me. Come, this year''s harvest has been especially good so I''ve been able to brew some excellent tea."


    The man, Dai Hong, walked over to the empty couch and sat down, another earthenware cup appearing on the table in front of him. Dai Hong picked up the porcelain kettle that was standing on the table, pouring himself a cup of tea and giving it a few sips before turning to the woman and stating his business.


    "Miss Slayer, I trust you''ve already heard about what is going on in the Endless Heart tower, I''ve come to ask how you think we should deal with this."


    The woman living in this wooden hut was the strongest person on this planet, and the only one known to have reached the top of all three towers, Sun Cailin, the Tripartite Slayer. Sun Cailin drank a bit more tea before placing down her cup and slightly cocking her head.


    "What a strange question. Why should we deal with it? They haven''t killed anyone in the areas where we forbade combat, there is no need for us to do anything."


    The only places where combat was forbidden in the towers were the areas that had been surrounded by the special fences, killing someone anywhere else was perfectly fine. The man''s eyebrow twitched slightly, seemingly somewhat surprised at the answer, but he immediately collected himself and drank some more tea.


    "But they have already killed almost 1000 people, and the number is rising as we speak. No one on the third floor is able to stop them, they are only getting more and more ferocious as they kill. If we let them continue, there is no telling how many more will die at their hands."


    There were so many people in each tower that 1000 people was actually an incredibly small number, but it was the fact that Li Yang and Fang Ying were killing them all at once outside of a match that made it somewhat special. Sun Cailin picked up her cup of tea and took a long sip before answering, her eyes not showing the slightest reaction to hearing how many people had died.


    "So? Deaths are common in the towers, killing people who have just left the markets is common, why should we care now that a few more people are killed? As long as they don''t break the rules, we have no need to do anything."


    The towers were the symbol of death, only 1 in ever 10 000 that entered the towers would come out again alive. Entering the tower was the same as agreeing that it was fine that you might die at any moment. The man''s eyebrow twitched again, his grasp on the cup tightening as he couldn''t help but raise his voice and let out his true feelings.


    "But they are humans! A pair of humans is kicking up a storm of blood in one of our towers!"


    He wasn''t angry that there were so many people being killed in one of the towers, he was angry that it was a pair of humans committing the murders. The way he saw it, what right did some escaped cattle have to kill so many people, to be so strong? Sun Cailin placed down her cup, giving a light shake of her head and sighing.


    "Dai Hong, how often must I tell you this? Humans are treated like cattle here, but that is only here. In the wider universe, and even beyond, it is humans that have conquered almost everything. Looking down on someone just because of their race will only lead to your downfall. Dai Hong, stay out of this, leave those two alone as long as they don''t break the rules. That is an order, understood?"


    Sun Cailin''s gaze left no room for retort or question, her words were an unviolable order that had to be followed. Dai Hong''s eyebrows twitched further, but he managed to keep his emotions under control, taking a deep breath and finishing the cup of tea before standing up and giving Sun Cailin a bow.


    "I understand. I will take my leave, thank you for the tea, Miss Slayer."


    Dai Hong calmly walked out of the hut, closing the door behind him and returning to the Heaven Reaching Souls Tower. Sun Cailin looked at the closed door, shaking her head slightly before picking up her cup of tea again.


    "Oh, Dai Hong, when will you learn? This planet needs to change, otherwise, we will all die. A storm of blood like this is exactly what we need to change, we need someone to take on the roles of bloody emperors, otherwise, we will never change."


    They were doing fine now, but what if in the future a powerful human came to this planet and saw what they were doing to other humans? It wouldn''t be strange for that person to wipe out everyone but the humans on this planet in his rage. Sun Cailin had seen it happen before, and she refused to let it happen on her planet. They had to change how they viewed humans, change how they treated them, otherwise their death would be assured.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    --


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling were completely unaware of the conversation Dai Hong and Sun Cailin had just had, they were completely engrossed in their slaughter. Liang Chen had even been forced to let go of Shentu Gang''s body and pull out his spear to make it easier to kill the people surrounding them. Shentu Gang''s body was now covered in cracks and wounds after being used as a weapon, Liang Chen''s timeless lightning and timeless poison were also wreaking havoc on him, so Liang Chen wasn''t worried that he would escape. Even if he somehow managed to flee, Liang Chen knew that he wouldn''t be able to escape.


    Everyone they killed had their own interspatial rings, so they had a practically endless stream of pills and herbs to restore their rapidly draining energy, allowing them to fight without worries. The attackers knew this, but they still thought that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would at least end up getting physically or mentally tired at some point, revealing an opening or two.


    But contrary to what they thought and hope, Liang Chen and Yan Ling only grew more and more ferocious as the killing dragged on. Both of them had the bloodline of truly supreme Origin Beasts, beasts that were born for massacring and killing. The more they killed, the more their bloodlines and instincts were stimulated, resulting in them only getting wilder and wilder, their attacks growing stronger and stronger.


    But despite this wild and berserk manner of fighting, they still kept their wits about them, they still kept an eye on each other. Yan Ling blocked some attacks for Liang Chen and he did the same for her, both of them perfectly in tandem as they became a perfect killing machine.


    Slowly but surely, more and more people realized that heading towards the two of them was the same as heading towards death, the number of people assaulting them growing smaller and smaller. And after engaging in a wild massacred for over half a day, the two finally killed the last person, the rain of blood finally stopping. There were no corpses spread around, but the destroyed houses and blood-drenched ground made sure that no one would think that what had just happened was nothing but a dream.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling were standing shoulder to shoulder, everyone else giving them plenty of space. Despite the rain of blood that had drenched most of the floor, the two of them were completely clean, any blood that had gotten close ended up getting burned away by Liang Chen''s lightning or blown away by Yan Ling''s wind.


    The two were breathing heavily, but their lips were turned up slightly, their bodies exuding pride and confidence. It was this confident smile of hers that had caused Liang Chen to first fall in love with Yan Ling, and it was this confident demeanor of his that always caused Yan Ling to fall in love with Liang Chen over and over again, but neither knew this about the other. Yan Ling swept the surrounding people, her smile tinged with a hint of a challenging intent.


    "What, no one else wants to try their luck? Come on, you were all so damn confident earlier, weren''t you?"


    Some people were aggrieved that a ''mere'' human was taunting them, but no one dared to move closer, they had all just seen the terrifying might that these two possessed. Liang Chen turned his head to the side, gazing into the distance with narrowed eyes, a sneer forming on his mouth.


    "I already told you that you can''t flee. I''ve let you live long enough now, time to end this."


    His vision landed on the distant Shentu Gang, who was doing his best to flee while resisting the ever-present pain he was now feeling. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out his bow, pulling back the string and forming an arrow out of concentrated emerald lightning. The tip of the arrow was made from crimson lightning, a tiny part of the two different types of lightning merging together where they met, creating a small arc of strange reddish-brown lightning.


    Liang Chen didn''t even have to aim, he simply unleashed the arrow and let it fly. A crimson and emerald line was drawn through the air, an ear-piercing screeching sound resounding over the area as the arrow hit Shentu Gang almost immediately, a thick bolt of emerald lightning tipped with a tinge of crimson soaring into the sky and destroying the buildings around it.


    Liang Chen could easily connect his lightning with the timeless lightning he had stuck to Shentu Gang''s body, which was why he was certain that Shentu Gang would be unable to flee. No matter where he ended up going, Liang Chen would be able to either find or hit him. Shentu Gang''s body was already cracked and wounded after being swung around as a weapon, this bolt of lightning was too much for him to handle, his body simply fell apart at the cracks as he died. Yan Ling stood next to Liang Chen, placing her hand abover her eyes in a salute-like manner as she peered into the distance.


    "Heh, nice and eye-catching, I love it. Let''s pick up the interspatial rings and then find a quiet place, we got a bunch of bodies we can use to cultivate before heading up to the fourth floor. Heh, they better not try the same as the people here, they''ll never know what hit em."


    Liang Chen let out a breath and smiled in response, Yan Ling''s casual chatter and joking were exactly what he needed to fully calm down. He grabbed her hand and the two of them turned into blurs as they rushed over to Shentu Gang''s corpse, picking up the various pieces and quickly storing them into their interspatial rings.


    The two then found a house that hadn''t been touched by the battle, locking themselves up inside, no one daring to stop or disturb them, afraid that they might go on another massacre. Yan Ling stepped behind Liang Chen and embraced him into a tight hug the moment they entered the house and closed the door, resting her head on his while speaking softly and gently.


    "I don''t know what he showed you, Chen''er, but you don''t have to worry, something like that will never come to pass, we''ll make sure of that."


    With how calm Liang Chen usually was, she knew that Shentu Gang must have shown him something truly vile to have him fly into such a violent rage. He had no one else, so in times like these, it was her job to comfort him and assure him that nothing bad would happen, they would overcome everything together. Liang Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath of Yan Ling''s fragrance, leaning against her body and murmuring quietly.


    "...Really, doing that is just unfair...You cheater."


    Yan Ling didn''t say anything as a response, she simply giggled and continued to embrace Liang Chen, whispering comforting words. Liang Chen enjoyed her embrace for a few minutes before opening his eyes again and stepping out of the embrace.


    "Right, let''s start our preparations to head up to the fourth floor. Don''t touch any of those bodies just yet, I wanna do something first."


    Liang Chen sat down after talking, closing his mind and sending his vision into his own mind. In the past, the inside of his mind looked like a replica of Green Rivers city that was flooded with blood and corpses. This was a result of one of the abilities Liang Chen had as a Sebettu, the Bloody Soul Sea technique. Whenever he killed a living being, he would automatically devour part of their soul and use it to strengthen his own, the larger the bloody sea in his mind was, the stronger his soul would be. It couldn''t help him break through to the next soul cultivation realm, but it would drastically strengthen his foundation and his Anima Essence.


    With all the people he had killed since he last entered his own mind, the city had now become completely flooded, a large lake of blood forming in his mind. The lake was around 10 kilometers in each direction, countless corpses floating within it, their faces gazing at Liang Chen with empty eyes. Liang Chen only had soul cultivation equal to the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, but thanks to this bloody lake, his soul was now as strong as a soul cultivator equal to the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm.


    Liang Chen''s eyes landed on a spot above the lake, there was a black book hovering above the lake, some of the blood forming a vortex around the book. The black book had the words Chaos King Technique written on the front in large golden letters, the entire book radiating a terrifying amount of energy. Liang Chen''s soul had been strengthened greatly since he first acquired this technique, it was time to learn the second part of it.

 Future ambitions.

    Under Liang Chen''s control, the black book slowly opened and unleashed a flood of information directly into his mind, bringing it to the point of overloading. Just like the first time he opened this book and learned the first part of the technique, blood quickly started leaking from his seven orifices, his entire soul in agonizing pain as it felt like it was being torn apart.


    Everything came at a price, and this pain was the price one had to pay for opening this book and learning a technique that was of the third highest rank in the universe. Of course, had Liang Chen''s soul been weaker, the price for learning this technique would have been death, his soul dissipating and leaving his body a lifeless husk.


    The Chaos King technique was divided into three parts, the first part that he had already learned allowed him to refine corpses and absorb 25% of their strength, while the second part he was learning right now would let him absorb 50% of the corpses'' strength, a rather substantial increase.


    Flooding into his mind alongside the information on how to cultivate the second part were the three skills that belonged to the second part of the technique, one for attacking, one for defending, and one auxiliary. The first part of the technique had also contained three skills, one for movement, one for defending, and one for attacking.


    Liang Chen used the movement and the defensive ones quite regularly, but he had yet to use the skill meant for attacking, it was simply too weak when compared to his Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. He gave the three skills a quick look-over, immediately seeing that two of them were simply upgraded versions of the attacking and defending skills from the first part, based completely on turning the Qi of the opponent chaotic and unruly.


    The auxiliary skill was a bit more interesting to him, it was designed to increase the speed at which one absorbed any type of energy, allowing for faster recovery and cultivation. It worked by using the cultivator''s energy, blood, and even their veins, to draw up an incredibly complex array that would automatically draw in any surrounding Qi, spreading it through the body. This was the first time Liang Chen had ever heard about drawing an array into one''s own body, but the skill seemed very useful so he made sure to memorize it.


    After memorizing the three skills and how to cultivate the second part of the technique, Liang Chen stood up and stretched his body, letting out a deep breath at the same time. Pain that made it feel like his soul was tearing apart was far from pleasant, but since it was necessary to grow stronger, he could only bear with it. While he was stretching, he felt a blast of cool water splash his face, followed by a dry towel hitting his face, Yan Ling throwing it at him while talking.


    "I take it that you''re done? If so, you should clean yourself, I dislike seeing you covered in blood."


    Liang Chen placed his hand on the towel and quickly wiped his face, washing away the blood that had poured out from his seven orifices. Once his face was clean and dry again, he put the towel into his interspatial ring and nodded his head,


    "Aye, I''m done for now, Can you come here for a bit?"


    Yan Ling tilted her head in slight confusion, she had no idea what Liang Chen had just done after all. But since she had full trust in Liang Chen, she walked over in an obedient manner. The moment she got within arm''s reach, he stretched out his arms as fast as possible and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a kiss on her lips. The two hadn''t gotten to be all that intimate lately so this served as a good chance to be a bit more intimate while also transferring the information about the second part of the Chaos King technique.


    Yan Ling blushed slightly at first, but she didn''t push him away, wrapping her own arms around his waist. Their lives were very stressful, this was a good way for them to ease some of their stress. Of course, she made sure to memorize the second part of the Chaos King technique and the three skills while also enjoying the kiss. When they ended the kiss and pulled away from each other, Yan Ling licked her lips slightly.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Still tastes a bit of blood, can''t say I expected more from a lecher like you."


    Liang Chen decided that not mentioning how into the kiss she had gotten would be the gentlemanly thing to do, raising his arms with a slight smirk. The two didn''t immediately start cultivating the second part of the technique, both of them needed some rest first, especially Liang Chen, who just had to bear the strain of learning the technique.


    The two walked over to a square table surrounded by four small couches, sitting down on a couch each. Liang Chen took out some food from his interspatial ring, Yan Ling taking out some tea from hers, the two quickly setting up a good lunch. Yumao popped out from Liang Chen''s dantian, looking at the food with a hungry gaze, just waiting for Liang Chen to let him go wild on it.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling chuckled lightly at Yumao''s demeanor, Liang Chen quickly indicating that it was fine for Yumao to start eating. The three then quickly started eating the food and drinking the tea, Liang Chen chatting with Yan Ling.


    "Ling''er, you want to take over as the leader of the Storm Wolf sect, right? Mind telling me why?"


    He had guessed that she wanted to take over as the leader of the Storm Wolf sect ever since he restored his cultivation after using the Mad King''s Rage. But while he knew that she wanted to take over the sect, he didn''t know exactly why she wanted to take over the sect, now that both of them were taking a break, it was a good chance to ask. Yan Ling swallowed the food she had in her mouth, responding in a rather serious manner.


    "I want to take over as the leader because I want to elevate the status of the Storm Wolf sect. At first, I just wanted to make it the strongest sect on our planet to show Mother that even with her betrayal and scheming, our sect would never fall to hers, it would be the ultimate humiliation before I killed her. But you know, I''ve started thinking that it might be nice to spread the name of the Storm Wolf sect even further than that, into the wider universe. The minimum requirement is to make the name just as famous as the name of the Sealing God Empyrean, I want everyone to know about our glory, and about Mother''s betrayal."


    The Sealing God Empyrean wasn''t known on their planet, but looking at how grand his hidden realm had been, even able to travel around the universe to find new disciples, it was clear that he must be a very famous figure. Half her drive came from her strong emotions to the sect, the other half coming from the hatred she felt towards her mother. But if anyone in the Storm Wolf sect had the chance of bringing it away from their planet and spreading its name across the wider universe, it would be Liang Chen and Yan Ling. After giving her response, Yan Ling tossed the question back to Liang Chen.


    "What about you, Little Freak, what sort of ambitions do you have? Other than bringing back my parents-in-law of course."


    Liang Chen brought the cup of tea to his mouth, slowly sipping it while giving the question a bit of thought. He had never really thought too much about what he wanted to do in the future, his thoughts had always been placed on killing Qing Lan Yong and bringing back his parents. After giving it a bit of thought, he placed down the cup and shrugged his shoulders.


    "I haven''t really thought much about it. I''m a pretty unambitious person, only ones I have are killing Qing Lan Yong and then bringing back my parents and your siblings. But if I had to say something else, it would be nice to reach the same height as the Sealing God Empyrean, I want to see why people like them always seem to have such a disregard for most other lives."


    Liang Chen didn''t consider himself a virtuous person, he could easily kill others if he considered them enemies or bad people. But the Sealing God Empyrean had been able to easily cause the deaths of countless people he had never even met before, forcing them into the final trial of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. How many times had he done this, how many people had been killed just because they were forcibly dragged into that trial?


    Yan Ling let out a light giggle upon hearing his casual reply. Unambitious? Reaching a stage where you could bring back the dead, as well as standing shoulder to shoulder with someone who might be at the peak of this universe, could goals like that really be called unambitious? Both had ambitions that could be called extremely grand, but neither of them was too worried about it, because they knew that they could walk side by side and work together to fulfill their ambitions.


    The two slowly finished up the remaining lunch while chatting, cleaning off the table and then sitting down on their respective couches with crossed legs. Now that they had rested it was time to start cultivating the second part of the Chaos King technique and then make use of all the corpses they had just acquired, which should be able to give their strength a nice boost.

 Rapid cultivation.

    Liang Chen closed his eyes and started focusing on his cultivation, doubling the flow of time around him. His reservoir of energy had increased quite a bit since he came to this planet, if he so wished, he could double the speed of time around him for an entire day before he had to restore his energy. If he had an array supporting him, or was in a location with particularly rich Qi, he could increase the speed even more and keep it going for longer.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately start carving the new channels for the Chaos King technique, he started by cultivating the auxiliary skill described in the second part of the technique. This skill required him to twist his own veins to form the array, the process was exceedingly painful and delicate. Thanks to the fact that he had a bit of experience with delicate procedures like this, mainly thanks to his body cultivation technique, he only failed twice before finally succeeding, spending a total of 6 days, or 12 for him, creating the array within his body.


    Thanks to all the corpses they had on hand they had a steady supply of pills they could use, so Liang Chen could just swallow a few pills whenever his Qi was running low, saving him the trouble of having to rest to restore his energy.


    The array automatically started to absorb the surrounding Qi, sucking it in at a speed faster than if he were to consciously try to draw it in. The reason Liang Chen did this first was to get this effect of the array, as it would allow him to increase the speed of time around him even further, now increasing it to three times the normal speed.


    After finishing the array and increasing the flow of time, Liang Chen started cultivating the Chaos King technique, carving the channel that would let him devour the Qi of the corpses. Thanks to the increased flow of time, his familiarity with the technique, as well as the plentiful resources they now had on hand, it only took Liang Chen a total of three days, nine for him, to carve the channel.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes after carving the channel, rubbing and stretching his neck for a bit. He cast a glance over at Yan Ling, who was seemingly working on forming the array within her own body. He stood up and quietly walked over to her, sliding her interspatial ring off her finger and taking out quite a few of the corpses they had just acquired, bringing them over to his own interspatial ring. He then slid the ring back onto her finger and returned to his seat.


    Since Yan Ling had already managed to materialize her soul, she was, of course, able to keep an eye on her surroundings and notice Liang Chen''s actions. But she had expected him to do something like this eventually, they had forgotten to divide up the various corpses earlier on, so he had no choice but to fetch them from her interspatial ring.


    Liang Chen sank his mind into the interspatial ring and looked at the corpses he had picked out, spending a quiet minute to look over the faces of every single one of them. Each person he killed, each corpse he carried, they all meant something to Liang Chen. They were the stones he used to build his path, the bones that built the mountain that would ascend him into the sky. They were a symbol of his determination and will, just like the lake of blood that resided within his mind.


    After looking over all the corpses, Liang Chen started to devour them using the Chaos King technique, focusing all his efforts on raising his Qi cultivation. More and more Qi flooded his four Dragon Lotuses, his own understanding of the various laws also flooding into them as more and more leaves started to bloom. As each new leaf bloomed, more and more roots would spread out from the Dragon Lotuses, digging into every inch of his body and nourishing it.


    In the Soaring Immortal realm, one would use their laws to slowly change their body in an act often considered the shedding of the mortal coil. One''s lifespan would drastically increase and one would gain a heightened affinity for the laws used to change the body. Liang Chen followed a different path from the normal Qi cultivation so he didn''t have to change his body using his laws, these roots would do that for him. Once these roots had truly pervaded every inch of his body, he would have reached the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm.


    After spending a month, three for him, devouring corpse after corpse, all four of Liang Chen''s Dragon Lotuses finally grew their 12th leaf, meaning that he had officially entered the Soaring Immortal realm. The moment the 12th leaf was born, Liang Chen''s Qi started to change, becoming as thick as mud as it flowed through his body. At the same time as his Qi grew as thick as mud, blue clouds started to gather inside the house, fire and lightning roaring within them.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes and cast a disdainful glance at the clouds, the mark of a heavenly tribulation. He stood up from his seated position and headed to the other side of the house, not wanting to disturb Yan Ling too much, she was currently in the process of carving the new channels. Yumao, who was currently chewing on a Fiendgod corpse, leisurely followed Liang Chen, calmly keeping an eye on him. Yumao had eaten his fair share of corpses while Liang Chen and Yan Ling were cultivating, growing a little as a result, now a little over three meters long.


    The clouds followed Liang Chen as he moved, settling above him when he arrived at the other end of the house. Liang Chen had Yumao surround Yan Ling in his darkness, isolating her just in case the sound of the tribulation ended up being too loud. Shortly after he reached the other side of the house, the tribulation officially began.


    First came a bolt of lightning and a pillar of fire, both such a deep blue that they looked like the depths of the ocean. Both were so weak that Liang Chen didn''t even have to resist, he could simply take it head-on with his body, absorbing the lightning and negating the fire. The second wave was a blue bolt of lignting tinged with a faint shade of red and a blue pillar of fire tinged with a shade of violet.


    Liang Chen absorbed the lightning once more, but the pillar of fire had to be blocked by a punch that contained his emerald lightning, a bit of his white poison, and some concentrated wind. After the second wave was blocked, the clouds gathered up their remaining energy into a final bolt of lightning and a final pillar of fire, one deep crimson and the other a brilliant violet.


    Only now did Liang Chen''s eyes turn a bit more serious, gray scales growing on his body and covering everything except his legs and face. His bloodline had awakened quite a bit more during the previous massacre, resonating with the rage he had directed at Shentu Gang.


    The clouds launched their final attack, the crimson bolt of lightning arriving in front of Liang Chen almost instantly. Liang Chen slowed it down somewhat with his law of time, his golden spear appearing in his grasp as he stabbed out, gathering all his energy at the tip of the spear. The weapon collided with the lightning, a thunderous explosion sounding out as an emerald bolt of lightning tinged with a faint shade of red, as well as a faint shade of white, tore through the crimson lightning bolt and pierced through the ceiling of the house. Liang Chen quickly had a strong gust of wind put out the flames that sprouted where the lightning pierced through the wooden ceiling, preventing the entire house from catching fire.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The pillar of violet flames arrived shortly after the bolt of lightning, the furniture within the entire room turning to ash, leaving what was once a bedroom completely empty, even the floor and walls were now gone. Liang Chen swiped out in a sideways slash with his spear, wind and a faint rotting smell gathering around the speartip as it collided with the flames.


    The flames turned violent as the wind started surrounding them, compressing them together in an attempt to smother them. The flames started to release sizzling sounds at the same time, the rotting energy causing the flames to grow weaker and weaker as they started to die out. After only a short while, the violet flames completely dissipated, silence returning to the house.


    Liang Chen put away his spear, the gray scales sinking back into his skin. He cast a glance at the hole in the ceiling and the missing walls and floor, letting out a sigh. The fire had luckily not turned all the walls of the house to ash, only the ones in this room. He left the room and fetched some wood that was about the right size, nailing it to the ceiling to cover up the hole before returning to the room where Yan Ling was still cultivating.


    She slightly opened her left eye and cast a glance at Liang Chen, winking at him. From the looks of it, Yumao''s darkness had been unable to fully isolate her. Liang Chen shrugged his shoulder casually, showing her that he was perfectly fine, and then sat down on the couch to return to his own cultivation.


    The reason he first increased his cultivation to the Soaring Immortal realm was simple, he wanted the qualitative change it would bring about in his Qi. With the internal array supporting him, as well as his now much stronger and more potent Qi, he could increase the speed of his own time by four and keep it active for an entire day, allowing him to be far more effective with his cultivation.


    Yan Ling looked on as Liang Chen returned to his seat and focused on his own cultivation. She closed her eye again and focused on her own cultivation, a serious expression appearing on her face. This was why she was so desperate to awaken and strengthen her bloodline as much as she could, so desperate to acquire any advantage possible. Liang Chen was only in the Soaring Immortal realm but could already quadruple the speed of time around him without relying on any external aid. Just how much stronger would that get in the future? If things had stayed as they were in the past, he would only continue to move ahead, widening the distance between them to a point where she might never catch up.


    With the speed of time around him quadrupled, Liang Chen started carving the two last channels for the second part of the Chaos King technique, finishing both of them after four and a half days, 18 for him. Once the last two channels were carved, Liang Chen started devouring the remaining corpses he had on hand. He saved half of all the corpses for Yan Ling, who started working on devouring them a few days after Liang Chen did.


    After spending another month, four for him, devouring the corpses, Liang Chen had emptied all the resources he had on hand, decreasing the speed of time around him to only twice the normal speed while he quietly cultivate and waited for Yan Ling to finish her own corpses. Yan Ling finished devouring all her corpses a little over a month after Liang Chen finished, once again showing Liang Chen just how much of a difference something like talent had when it came to cultivation like this.


    The two didn''t stop cultivating just yet, both of them putting their focus on Liang Chen''s body cultivation, which required both of them to work together. Liang Chen used his law of time to increase the speed of time around them but the strength was decreased since he wanted to affect something other than him, only doubling the speed of time around them.


    A month after Yan Ling finished devouring all her corpses, the two finished up Liang Chen''s body cultivation, all the bones in his body had become crystallized storm. With this, his Qi cultivation had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm and his body and soul cultivation had reached the peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    The reason they stopped his soul and body cultivation at that step was simple, Liang Chen had no idea what the next step would be. According to the description he had of the Ocean God Physique, the next step would be to transform his organs, but he had yet to figure out how to best alter them based on the principle of the technique. But even so, with his strong bloodline and repeated use of the Chaos King technique, his body was already as strong as someone at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, maybe even the middle stage.


    Yan Ling had it a bit simpler than him, so after using all the corpses and resources on hand, her soul, Qi, and body cultivation had all officially reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, her Qi cultivation only half a step away from the middle stage.


    Before either of them knew it, about five months had passed after the grand massacre they engaged in, Yan Ling able to squeeze an entire year''s worth of cultivation into those five months. They had used up a vast amount of resources, but both their strengths had increased by quite a bit, both of them were confident that they could easily sweep through the entire fourth floor and head directly for the fifth.


    It seemed like Yan Ling didn''t intend to head for the fourth floor immediately, lying down on the couch next to Liang Chen and stretching her body while resting her legs on Liang Chen''s lap the moment the two finished their cultivation.


    "Ahhh, it feels good to finally be done. Little Freak, I''m all stiff after having to sit still for that long, I have no idea how you can do it without complaining. Can you massage me, please? My legs feel like they are going to try fighting me if they don''t get some comfort. I''ll give you a nice reward if you do a good job."


    Yan Ling raised her legs and kicked in the air while talking, causing Liang Chen to let out an involuntary snort. Having been absorbed in his cultivation for so long, it was comforting to see that Yan Ling was still the same as usual. He grabbed onto her left leg and started to softly massage it, doing his best to remember how Qing Chun had done for him when he was younger.


    Yumao saw Liang Chen''s actions but failed to understand the purpose behind them, but since Liang Chen was doing it, he too had to do it. He shrunk himself somewhat and then coiled around Yan Ling''s arm, wriggling his body and doing his best to emulate Liang Chen''s movements, resulting in both of them letting out a burst of laughter and giving Yumao a few pats on the head. After Liang Chen spent around an hour massaging Yan Ling''s legs, she seemed to be content, turning her body so that her shoulders and head were resting on Liang Chen''s lap, raising her arms.


    "Now do my arms and shoulder, please?"


    Liang Chen rolled his eyes, choosing to not comment on how hard it would be to massage her shoulders in that position. He grabbed onto her left arm and was just about to start the massage when Yan Ling grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him down, planting a kiss on his lips. Their position was a bit awkward, but since Yan Ling was rarely the one who initiated things like this, Liang Chen elected to not say anything. The two ended the kiss after a few minutes, Yan Ling giggling lightly.


    "Nihihi, I''m just fucking with you, my turn to massage you, I did promise you a nice reward after all."


    Yan Ling sat up after giggling, pushing Liang Chen down so that he was face down on the couch. She then sat down on his lower body and tore off the upper part of his robe, revealing his bare back. She then started to slowly massage him, revealing that she was actually rather skilled at it.


    Liang Chen took a deep breath and closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation. After this, they would head up to the fourth floor and engage in more bloody battles, but that didn''t matter right now. All that mattered now was the peace he felt and the soft touch of Yan Ling. To Liang Chen, moments like these validated all the pain and hardship he went through in his cultivation, all the blood that he had to shed. Had he been weaker, he would have already lost these peaceful moments, this soft touch. No matter how many people he had to kill, no matter how much blood he had to shed, even if the whole world ended up calling him a demon, he would not allow anyone to steal these things from him.

 The fourth floor.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling spent an entire day just resting and relaxing before they actually left the house and made their way to the building which would send them up to the fourth floor. Quite a few gazes landed on them the moment they left the house, some filled with curiosity and some with fear.


    Those who had been here the day the two of them engaged in their massacre could only look at them with fear, seeing them as monsters rather than humans. As for those that had arrived on this floor after the massacre took place, they looked at them with curiosity, wondering if these two humans were truly able to do what the rumors said they had done.


    The two of them simply ignored these various gazes, there was no point in acting against any of these people as long as they were left alone. They quickly reached the center of the floor and entered the building that housed the teleportation array, a man from the Fiendgod race greeting them and showing them to the array.


    The array was activated and the two of them were sent up to the fourth floor, allowing the denizens of the third to breathe a slight sigh of relief. The two had already engaged in one massacre, but there was no way of knowing whether or not they would choose to start another one. At that point, the only thing these people could do was to hide in the fenced-off areas and hope that their patience would run out and that they would leave them alone.


    The two arrived in a building that was a nearly exact copy of the previous one, a surprisingly slender woman from the Fiendgod race welcoming them to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was a bit special, it was what many considered to be not only the true start to the towers but also the line that separated the rabble from the elite.


    Battles in the streets were far less common here, everyone was wary of each other and would do their best to avoid needless battles. The battles in the arena also became more organized and advertised, mainly because you from this point on had to send out challenges and wait for them to be accepted before you could enter the arena. No longer were you allowed to just jump onto the stage and take part in a battle, from this point on, you knew exactly who you would fight the moment you entered the stage.


    The standard of strength for this floor was the early stage and the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one had to be strong if they wanted to live here comfortably. Because of the fact that the average strength on these floors was so great compared to the others, there were a few special people who lived on each floor, scouts for the various clans.


    They had entered the towers just like everyone else, but they stopped climbing after reaching their desired floor, observing as many battles as possible to learn of up and coming cultivators they might be able to recruit. Of course, as the two of them were humans, it was highly unlikely that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would ever receive such offers.


    The two gave the Fiendgod woman a quick greeting before walking past her and stepping out of the building, sweeping their surroundings to inspect the fourth floor. The two had no intentions to waste too much time on this floor, they were confident that they would be able to stay on the fifth floor after increasing their strength after the massacre.


    The first thing they noticed about the fourth floor was how open it was, there was quite a bit more space between each house and the various markets. Yet despite this, the houses, which were all made from solid stone, were larger and felt a bit more luxurious than the houses on the lower floors. Each house here was also surrounded by a fence, signifying that you were forbidden from attacking anyone in the houses, another factor that made these higher floors a bit more peaceful than the lower ones.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The second thing the two of them noticed was the sheer amount of people currently standing outside the fence that surrounded this building, looking at the two of them with various gazes. Some people on the third floor must have sent up a message that the two of them were leaving, allowing these people to arrive here ahead of time.


    Yan Ling clicked her tongue when she saw the number of people surrounding the building. No one liked being stared at by such a large group of people, especially right now when the two of them just wanted to rush through this floor and reach the next one. She placed her hands on her hips, clicking her tongue once again while sweeping the surrounding group of people with her eyes.


    "Tch, well, who among you has come here for a battle? We aren''t willing to stay here for long, so I would prefer if you would just reveal yourself right away so that we can finish this as fast as possible."


    Her words could be considered very arrogant, but none of the people on this floor knew how much stronger the two had gotten after the massacre five months ago. Her own increase in strength wasn''t terribly great, but she knew just how strong Liang Chen had gotten in that time, he had spent twice as long as her after all.


    Some of the onlookers simply chuckled in response to her words, clearly not taking them to heart. But a few people locked gazes for a short moment, hesitating slightly as they were deciding on what to do. A middle-aged man from the White Orchid race hardened his gaze, pushing aside the two people in front of him and taking a step forward, his eyes blazing with desire as he looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    "I wi...!"


    Before the man could finish his sentence, a thunderous boom echoed across the area, Liang Chen appearing in front of the man. Neither the man or the people closest to him had a chance to react in time before Liang Chen grabbed a hold of the man''s throat, lifting him up with one arm. Liang Chen tilted his head slightly at the man, as if he was questioning his sanity.


    Liang Chen had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm in Qi cultivation and the very peak of the Heaven''s Gate realm in body and soul cultivation. All his bones had become crystallized storm, his speed and physical strength greatly increasing as a result. As for his poison, it had become so tightly intertwined with his Anima Essence that the poison was becoming less and less corporeal, growing increasingly hard to detect or defend against.


    But the greatest benefit of his increased cultivation was increase and strengthening his energy reserves had gone through. Now he had enough energy to use his law of time more freely, allowing him to utilize it in combat without having it rapidly drain most of his energy.


    Poison flooded into the man''s head through Liang Chen''s hand, his brain quickly melting and leaking out of his orifices. Liang Chen stored the corpse into his interspatial ring, an arc of emerald lightning sizzling over his hand and evaporating the brain matter that had landed on his hand. He then swept the surrounding people with narrowed eyes, the emerald lightning on his hand slowly growing larger as it snaked around his arm.


    "Anyone else feel like stepping forward?"


    They would have to stay on this floor for at least a few days, it would be incredibly bothersome if they were to be attacked every single time they left their house. It was better to quickly assert their dominance and make sure that these people knew what would happen if they should try to show any killing intent towards the two of them.


    The ones who had chuckled at Yan Ling''s earlier words didn''t have much of a reaction, they hadn''t come here to fight from the start, only to scope out their future competition. Those who had hesitated earlier, however, took a few steps away from the fence, showing that they understood. There was no point in engaging in a battle right here, especially on that they might very well lose.


    Liang Chen swept the surrounding people once more, making sure that no one was going to attack them now. After making sure that none of the surrounding people were going to attack them, only observe them, the two walked side by side and headed for a house that had a sign out front marking it as empty. No matter how long they would spend here, they would first have to pick out a house so that they could send out the challenges.


    While they were walking away from the crowd of people, a few of them took out jade, stone, or wooden talismans of various shapes and sizes, sending out the news to those interested in it, the storm had started moving again.

 Actions of Dawns Blade Alliance.

    Yan Ling quickly proved that the words she had said right after reaching the fourth floor weren''t a joke, they truly weren''t willing to stay on the floor for too long, sending out their first challenge a few hours after finding an empty house. The first two of their challenges were rejected, but the third one they sent out was accepted by a cultivator who already had a partner, saving them the time of having to wait for their enemy to find a partner.


    They quickly won their first battle, their enemies surrendering and fleeing after only two exchanges. Their other battles proceeded in much the same fashion, their enemies surrendering and fleeing shortly after the battle started and they figured out that they were no match for the two of them. They spent more time sending out challenges than they did actually fighting, it was a rather strange experience to them, especially considering how reckless the cultivators on the lower floor had been.


    In the end, they completed their tenth battle after only 17 days, only needing so many days because there were quite a few people who would reject their challenges and force them to keep searching. They didn''t head to the fifth floor immediately, spending one extra day on the fourth floor to relax.


    Liang Chen was currently resting in the bathroom of their house, one of the more luxurious parts of the houses on this fourth floor. The room was a little over a hundred meters long and wide, the bath itself was around 20 meters long and wide and was carved directly into the ground, supported by a small array that one could activate to fill the bath with clean and warm water.


    Liang Chen was sitting in the bath, his arms resting on the edges of the bath as he enjoyed the warm water with closed eyes, a wet towel wrapped around his waist. Yumao had stretched out to his full length, a little over three meters long, and was enjoying the bath alongside Liang Chen, swimming around in it and occasionally popping his head out of the water to let it rest on the edge of the bath. Just as Liang Chen stretched out his arm to grab hold of a jug of spiced wine that was placed not far from him, a short knock sounded on the door to the bathroom, a cheery voice quickly following.


    "Knock knock, pull down your pants and open your eyes, I''m coming through!"


    Liang Chen''s eyes immediately shot open and he sat straight up, turning his head just in time to see Yan Ling push open the door and enter the bathroom, the only clothing on her body a single white towel wrapped around her. Despite all his calmness and ferocity in battle and stressful situations, Liang Chen was still just a youth. Faced with the scene in front of him, he found it hard to remove his gaze, something that caused Yan Ling to let out a victorious giggle.


    "Nihihi, spellbound, are you?"


    She did a little twirl to show off, the towel fluttering and threatening to fully reveal her as she moved. She acted and spoke casual, but Liang Chen could see that the tips of her ears had turned almost fully crimson, she was clearly doing her best to suppress her own blush. Yan Ling walked forward and entered the bath, sitting down a few meters away from Liang Chen and lowering her body so much that the only visible part of her body was her head.


    Yumao popped his head out from the water for a bit, moving his eyes between Liang Chen and Yan Ling, who were now both suffusing faint blushes. In a situation like this, not even Liang Chen could resist blushing slightly, mainly because he knew what Yan Ling''s actions might imply. After spending a short second looking at the two of them Yumao shrank down to his miniature form and tactfully left the room.


    Silence descended over the bathroom, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling remaining quiet. Yan Ling occasionally cast a few fleeting glances at Liang Chen, the frequency of the glances increasing as the minutes passed in silence. In the end, she seemed to have lost her patience, scowling slightly at Liang Chen.


    "You know, aren''t men usually supposed to go a bit wild in situations like this? Am I really that unattractive?"


    Liang Chen looked at the scowling Yan Ling with a dumbfounded expression for a short moment, eventually leaning his head against the edge of the bath and letting out a mixture of a sigh and a laugh.


    "Here I am, doing my best to hold back and not go crazy, and then you ask me if you are unattractive? Tell me, what do you think my answer to that question is?"


    Not even when he faced the heavenly tribulations in the past had Liang Chen spent as much of his concentration as he was spending right now to keep himself in check. After all, even though there was a chance that Yan Ling was implying something by entering the bath alongside him, it wasn''t certain that she was implying anything. And asking would completely ruin any semblance of mood, so Liang Chen had done everything in his power to hold himself back while waiting for Yan Ling to say anything.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Yan Ling raised her body a bit after hearing Liang Chen''s reply, her expression growing more pleased. She stopped sitting up when the water reached the bottom of her throat, stretching out both of her arms as if she was reaching for a hug.


    "Well, then come here! I''ll leave it to you, the books said that a man always knows what to do in a situation like this."


    Yan Ling''s blush grew to cover her entire face, but she made sure to keep her eyes open and stare directly at Liang Chen, showing her determination and willingness. But the only response to her determination and seriousness was Liang Chen lightly scratching his cheek.


    "I think it''s best that I don''t ask what sort of books you''ve been reading, but what makes you think that I have the slightest clue what to do?"


    Yan Ling couldn''t help but blink rapidly after receiving the reply, looking at Liang Chen with the same dumbfounded expression he had used to look at her earlier. After a short second spent in shock, she couldn''t help but blurt out?


    "You don''t know? But the books said that the man always knows, and you''ve even read all the books that the Storm Wolf sect had, how can you not know?!"


    Yan Ling herself didn''t actually know how to proceed either, she had read a few things before, but nothing that went into the gritty details. She had hoped that the books were right and that Liang Chen would be able to take the lead and guide her through it. Liang Chen shook his head slightly, letting out an exasperated sigh and then a light chuckle.


    "Yes, I''ve read all the books in the Storm Wolf sect, but those were all cultivation books and history books, why would the sect have anything about something like that in their libraries? Really, this entire situation just feels perfectly ''you''."


    All the earlier tension and awkwardness had completely vanished, even Yan Ling ended up letting out a light giggle upon realizing how the situation had developed. After they both finished their chuckling, Liang Chen moved closer and grabbed a hold of Yan Ling''s hands, giving them a soft squeeze as he let his eyes roam over every inch of her body that he could see.


    "Well, since neither of us knows, we can only take our time and slowly figure it all out."


    Since she had shown her willingness and determination, there was no longer any reason for Liang Chen to hold himself back. Yan Ling''s blush grew so bad that it even started to spread down to her throat, but she still sent Liang Chen a sweet smile and nodded her head, pulling closer to him, the wet towel around her body sliding off as she moved.


    Tomorrow, the two of them would head on up to the fifth floor, where they would likely end up spending quite a bit of time both fighting and cultivating. But right now, all that mattered to them was this moment, in all its awkward tenderness, a moment for just the two of them, one they would never forget and always look back on.


    --


    While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were exploring each other in the bath, the bustling activity on their home planet had only grown greater with the passage of time. It had reached such a stage that even the normal citizens of the continents were starting to realize that something big was happening, the entire atmosphere on the planet growing tense.


    Sitting in his garden on one of the floating islands that housed the Nightshield sect, the black-haired Qing Lan Yong was currently spending some time with two of his daughters, one of his sons, as well as two of his wives. They were sitting around the table standing next to the pond, resting in the shade of the oak that grew next to the carp.


    Two of the children were sitting on his lap, one on each knee, while his youngest daughter was riding on his shoulders and pulling on his hair, trying to control him like a puppet. His wives were sitting across from him, drinking some fruity tea and looking at the scene with pleasant smiles, chatting lightly with each other. While Qing Lan Yong was rocking his legs to play with the two kids on his lap, a faint voice came from the shadow beneath the table and drifted into his hear.


    "Young Master, the people of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance are currently hunting someone in an attempt to lure out Liang Chen. It seems that they''ve looked into the background of Liang Chen and found someone who used to be close to him. The person in question is Qing Chun, or Tian Chun, someone from the Tian clan, she was born into the Qing clan using their minor reincarnation technique, serving as a spy until she helped him flee from his city, the reports say that she is something of a sister to him. She is currently branded a traitor by both the Qing and the Tian clan and they are aiding the Dawn''s Blade Alliance in trying to find her, they''ve already executed her parents to force her to show herself."


    Qing Lan Yong''s brows furrowed faintly after he heard the report from his spymaster. Previously he thought that the Dawn''s Blade Alliance just wanted the Storm Wolf sect to hand over Liang Chen so that they could hand him over to the Moon Dragon sect and more easily get them on their sides. But now that they were even going so far as to investigate his past and catch someone to lure him out, it was clear that things might not be as simple as he first thought. His thoughts quickly moved, a guess forming in his mind.


    They Dawn''s Blade Alliance hadn''t bothered with Liang Chen before Wu Huan became the honorary disciple of the Sealing God Empyrean, could their search for Liang Chen have something to do with Wu Huan, or even the Sealing God Empyrean? Qing Lan Yong quickly threw this last guess out of his mind, what sort of reason could someone as grand as the Sealing God Empyrean have to search for someone like Liang Chen? He temporarily stopped thinking about the question, gently placing down his children and standing up, apologizing to his wives.


    "Sorry, Shui''er, Jiang''er, I''ll have to go out for a bit. I should be back in not too long, so you can stay here and wait for me if you want."


    Qing Lan Yong vanished from the place right after talking, only the faint sound of rushing wind showing that he had moved. Since the Dawn''s Blade Alliance wasn''t willing to listen when he said that he was going to protect Liang Chen and those close to him, he could only take action and make sure that they truly understood his position and determination.

 The might of the Furious Volcano.

    Tian Chun was currently running with all her might, her mind practically completely blank. She occasionally felt something hit her face, but her vision was currently so blurry that she couldn''t even see what was hitting her. She had already lost count of how many days she had spent running, her legs were already so numb that she couldn''t even feel them anymore.


    Her once chestnut brown hair was caked with dried blood, her face so dirty that it was practically unrecognizable, a large cut going down her entire back. Her right arm was flailing uncontrollably as she ran, every single bone in the arm had been completely pulverized and the arm itself crushed nearly completely flat. She couldn''t even try to use her law of water to heal it, there were some strange symbols covering the arm that would immediately block out any Qi that got close to the arm.


    A few muffled sounds coming from behind her just barely registered in her muddled head, reminding her that she was still being chased, that she had to keep running. She didn''t know why, but the Tian clan had suddenly branded her a traitor and tried to capture her, forcing her to flee for her life. Her parents had been caught and publicly executed in an attempt to lure her out, but no matter how much she wanted to at least try to save them, she couldn''t. Their last words had been for her to keep fleeing, she couldn''t just go against their last wish like that, so she had to keep running and hiding.


    But then the Qing clan joined in on the hunt, teaming up with the Tian clan to track her down and chase after her. But what was even worse was that they didn''t seem to be too interested in actually catching her. Tian Chun knew her own strength well, she was so weak that she was practically an ant to any of the five great clans. And the people chasing her were clearly far stronger than her, they could capture her whenever they wished, which meant that they had a reason to not catch her.


    It might be that they were trying to lure someone out, or that they simply enjoyed playing with her, watching her squirm like a helpless worm. Tian Chun didn''t know, nor would the people chasing her give her time to properly think about it, she could only keep running until she ran out of energy and collapsed.


    After what felt like an eternity spent running, Tian Chun felt the last sliver of her strength leave her body. Her right arm was completely crushed and she had a large cut on her back, it was a miracle that she had been able to keep running for this long. But all miracles would someday come to an end, and this was the end of that miracle.


    She didn''t know what would happen to her once they caught her, but she found it a shame that she would never again be able to see the innocent smile of the youth she considered a little brother. Her legs gave out underneath her and she fell forward, her vision turning completely dark as her eyelids felt as heavy as the world itself. But just as the last sliver of consciousness was about to leave her, a hand supported her shoulder and poured an extremely pure energy into her body, a soft voice reaching her ears.


    "Tian Chun, right? Don''t worry, they won''t get to lay their hands on you."


    The pure energy flooded her body and healed the wound on her back, it even broke through the seals on her arm and started to slowly rebuild the shattered bones. Tian Chun''s consciousness slowly grew clearer as more energy flooded her body, allowing her to properly open her eyes and see who it was that had saved her, a shocked yelp escaping her lips.


    "Qing Lan Yong!?"


    She wanted to jump away from him, but the hand he had on her shoulder prevented her from moving away, her body practically frozen in place. She could only gnash her teeth and glare at him, doing her best to show no weakness. This was the man who had ruined Liang Chen''s life, the one that had stolen his peaceful childhood and life from him. For this, Tian Chun hated him with every inch of her being, she would never allow herself to show any weakness in front of this man. Qing Lan Yong looked at her indignant expression, lightly shaking his head.


    "I know that you hate me, but you must believe me when I say that I am here to save you. It is the least I can do to atone for my cowardice."


    After speaking, Qing Lan Yong raised his head, gazing past the needle-leaved trees that made up the dense forest that surrounded them. His gaze landed on the group that had been chasing Tian Chun, which was currently passing by the 10-kilometer tall mountain that stood at the center of the forest. The group sped up when they noticed Qing Lan Yong, quickly arriving only a few tens of meters away from the two of them. Qing Lan Yong''s gaze landed on the one who seemed to be the leader of the group, a hunchbacked old man who was strangely chubby for his age, his white hair cut short and slicked back using a thick layer of grease.


    "Figures that the leader of a group like this would be you, Qing Mo Cheng."


    Qing Lan Yong finished healing Tian Chun''s wounds and gave a slight wave of his free hand, one of the trees behind them suddenly vanishing, only leaving behind a small stump that released a faint heat. He sat her down on the stump and took up position in front of her, facing the group of 15 people that had chased her. The strongest in the group was Qing Mo Cheng, who had already reached the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, the third strongest person in the Qing clan. Qing Mo Cheng gave a wave of his hand, stopping the others in the group from moving forward, a bitter smile appearing on his face as he looked at Qing Lan Yong.


    "Little Yong, I didn''t expect to see you here. I know that we didn''t part on the best terms, but I''m still your uncle, I would like it if you called me the same as you did in the past."


    Qing Mo Cheng was the brother of Qing Shu Ren, the father of Qing Lan Yong. Qing Shu Ren was the second strongest person in the Qing clan, second only to his own father, Qing Jun Huo. Qing Lan Yong''s eyebrows twitched faintly for a short second, but he quickly stopped it before anyone could see it, shaking his head.


    "I will not. I stopped being a member of the Qing clan on that day, it is only due to the respect I have for father and grandfather that all I did was sever all ties with you."


    The two almost seemed to have a casual chat, but the people behind Qing Mo Cheng could feel the atmosphere grow tense, all of them grasping their weapons with slightly trembling hands. Qing Mo Cheng let out a deep sigh upon hearing Qing Lan Yong''s reply, looking at him with an imploring gaze.


    "Little Yong, must you really act like this? I know that you are saddened by the loss, but she was just a maidservant, we can find countless more for you. We had to do it for the sake of the clan, we must ALL make some sacrifices for the clan."


    Right after Qing Mo Cheng finished his sentence, Qing Lan Yong''s eyes narrowed dangerously. The earth in the entire forest suddenly cracked, even the mountain at the center of the forest trembling as cracks grew to cover it. A burst of intense heat spread through the area, several of the trees blazing up as Qing Lan Yong let out a furious shout.


    "She was not a maidservant! Her name was Yi Xinyi, AND SHE WAS MY WIFE!"


    Qing Mo Cheng quickly put up a defensive wall of Qi to protect the people behind him, preventing the hot air from reaching them as the entire forest trembled from Qing Lan Yong''s shout. Had he not made sure to protect her, Tian Chun would likely have turned to ash from just the burst of hot air that bellowed forth from his body. Qing Lan Yong quickly took a deep breath to calm his emotions, his voice becoming completely flat as he spoke up again.


    "You know, I hate the Qing clan, I hate it for killing my wife. But you know who I hate even more than the Qing clan? Myself. I abhor myself for allowing you to kill my wife, I detest myself for letting you sacrifice two innocent parents ''for the sake of the clan''. That is a sin that will forever stain me, the sin of cowardice that prevented me from going against my father''s words."


    Qing Lan Yong could have saved his wife, he could have saved Liang Chen''s parents. All he had to do was speak up, force the Qing clan to come up with a different explanation. He could even openly admit the truth if he wanted to, but he was too afraid to go against his father''s words, so he had remained silent. Qing Mo Cheng''s expression twitched slightly, but Qing Lan Yong spoke up before he could say anything, tilting his head slightly as a faint smirk crept up on his face.


    "You''ve heard, haven''t you? About Liang Chen, about the Scourge King? Can you imagine how much pain that child must have been in for his strength to increase so quickly? That''s why you''re doing this, isn''t it? You''ve heard about how quickly his strength has grown, and you became afraid. You fear the day he will come for the heads of the Qing clan, for the heads of the people who killed his parents."


    Qing Lan Yong had paid a lot of attention to Liang Chen after the execution of his parents, eagerly looking for any news of him. And even he admitted that the news he received scared him. In such a short amount of time, he had been able to carve a bloody tale into the Mystic''s Hidden Realm history, get a special mention on the Mortal Titan list, join the Storm Wolf sect, and finally, he managed to brutally wound Huang Dong.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    If he continued to grow stronger at this rate, how long would it take for his fangs to reach the throat of Qing Lan Yong and the rest of the Qing clan? How long until he could simply swallow them all? He was the kind of enemy that would leave on with sleepless nights. Tian Chun wanted to speak up when she heard that familiar name, ask about what sort of things had happened to Liang Chen after the two parted ways, but Qing Lan Yong once again spoke up before the words could even leave her mouth.


    "You wanted to lure him out before he became too strong for you to handle, allowing you to kill him before he became a problem. But I won''t let you do that. It was the sacrifice of his parents that ensured that my daughter got to continue living, he lost his family so that I could keep mine. I owe him far too much, so I won''t let anyone lay a hand on him or those close to him, just patiently wait for him to come for his promised revenge."


    Had it not been for Liang Chen''s parents taking the blame for the pregnancy, it was likely that the Qing clan would choose to kill both mother and child to cover up everything. And Qing Lan Yong would have been too afraid to say anything against it. Qing Lan Yong realized that most of Liang Chen''s rage was likely directed at him, his fangs would sooner or later come to pierce through his throat. But he was ready to bear that hatred, he deserved to be hated and attacked. But he would not let himself just be killed, he still wanted to live and spend more time with his family after all. Qing Mo Cheng''s expression twisted into a grimace, looking deeply at Qing Lan Yong.


    "Little Yong, you must learn to see this from the perspective of the clan. For the prosperity of all our clan members, we must all make sacrifices. And this is greater than just our fear, the Dawn''s Blade Alliance and the Moon Dragon sect are the ones pushing us to hunt him, you know that we cannot go against them."


    Qing Lan Yong couldn''t help but furrow his brows, wondering why the Dawn''s Blade Alliance and the Moon Dragon sect were so adamant about getting their hands on Liang Chen. Tian Chun didn''t even know what the Moon Dragon sect or the Dawn''s Blade alliance were, her position in the Tian clan had been far too low for her to learn of them. After smoothening out his brows again, Qing Lan Yong gazed deeply at Qing Mo Cheng, a faint sneer appearing at the corners of his lips.


    "We must all make sacrifices for the clan, really? Tell me, didn''t you give birth to a son just a few days before the execution of Liang Chen''s parents? If I were to tell you that he was a spy from the Tian clan, sent into our clan using the minor reincarnation technique of the Tian clan, would you kill him for the sake of the clan?"


    While the Qing clan itself might have a hard time figuring out who in their ranks was a reincarnator from a different clan, Qing Lan Yong had the entire intelligence department of the Nightshield sect at his disposal. It was far easier for him to weed them all out if he just tried. Hearing Qing Lan Yong''s words, Tian Chun thought back to what her master had told her right after they met up again, about how they had reincarnated someone as the child of a high ranking figure within the Qing clan.


    Qing Mo Cheng''s expression twisted even further, to the point of becoming incredibly ugly to look at. Qing Lan Yong hadn''t provided any evidence, but his words alone were enough to plant the seed of doubt within Qing Mo Cheng. Seeing that Qing Mo Cheng had no intention of responding, Qing Lan Yong let out a faint laughter.


    "Really, such a hypocrite. Well, I guess that''s just how all cultivators are. Leave, don''t ever think about laying a hand on anyone close to Liang Chen ever again. If you do, I will no longer hold back."


    Qing Mo Cheng cast a sideways glance into the distance for a short moment before his expression stopped twisting, becoming completely emotionless. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out a large two-headed hammer, hefting it over his shoulder while looking directly at Qing Lan Yong, a sign that they would not, could not, back down now. Qing Lan Yong nodded his head, his expression growing steely.


    "Very well, since that is the stance that the lot of you have chosen to take, then allow me to show you and those rats that are waiting in hiding exactly what my stance is."


    Qing Lan Yong swiped his interspatial ring, a three-meter-long halberd appearing in his grasp. The halberd was a deep brown in color, thick orange lanes that occasionally flickered with a red light running over both the handle and the axe head at the tip of the halberd.


    Qing Mo Cheng and his group raised their weapons and charged forward, their expressions steely and determined as they charged into what was likely certain death. But Qing Lan Yong only responded with a simple move, he raised the halberd, and then slammed it down on the ground.


    The moment his halberd crashed into the ground, everything around him completely vanished. The 100-kilometer wide forest vanished, the 10-kilometer tall mountain a short distance away from them vanished, and Qing Mo Cheng and his group were squashed flat against the ground. The weaker ones died instantly, becoming nothing more than a crimson smear on the earth, which had sunk by nearly two kilometers. The stronger ones survived for a bit longer, all the bones in their bodies pulverized.


    Qing Lan Yong didn''t make another move, his first attack had yet to finish. At the place where the mountain used to be, the center of the forest, the earth suddenly rose up. A large mountain quickly formed, the top of the mountain suddenly exploding as a thick pillar of magma burst forth, turning into a deadly rain that showered the earth, reducing even Qing Mo Cheng to nothing more than dust.


    Qing Lan Yong had received the title of Furious Volcano and was ranked 3rd on the Heavenly Titan list, meaning that the Eternal Dragon Pavilion ranked him as the third strongest Primordial Immortal on this planet. But even they admitted that they simply knew too little of his strength, he might be stronger than his rank suggested. And here, for the first time in 10 years, did Qing Lan Yong once again demonstrate his strength.


    A single slam of the halberd changed the geography of the entire area, a once verdant forest becoming a burning wasteland of molten earth. After dispatching Qing Mo Cheng and his group, Qing Lan Yong turned his gaze towards the distant, looking at the base of the volcano he had just created.


    "And, are you done watching now?"


    Tian Chun, who was safe thanks to being protected by Qing Lan Yong, couldn''t help but follow his gaze but was unable to see anyone. Mere seconds after he spoke up, light blue runes suddenly appeared on the ground around them, covering several tens of kilometers in their soft light. Tian Chun suddenly found that all the Qi within her body had become stagnant, unable to move in the slightest. Qing Lan Yong felt the same as her, all the Qi within his body forced into his dantian and then sealed up.


    Two blurs appeared in front of them shortly after the runes, a large array, appeared on the ground. The blurs both sent out attacks, moving faster than the eyes could see. Qing Lan Yong''s right hand suddenly flew through the air, his halberd following with it, and a blade pierced through his chest, right where his heart would be.


    After the two attacks landed, the two blurs revealed themselves as two men, one bald and one with short orange hair, both had completely golden eyes and were currently looking at Qing Lan Yong, who had blood leaking out from the corner of his mouth. The bald man gave a light shake of his head, letting out a sigh.


    "Qing Lan Yong, what a shame. Our Venerable Master actually appreciated your talent and would have been willing to take you on as an honorary disciple. With his guidance, you would likely be able to break past the Sovereign God realm before your 100 000th birthday, truly entering the ranks of great cultivators. But the death of Liang Chen comes before everything else, so go in peace and please forgive us."


    Just as the bald man finished his words, Qing Lan Yong''s left hand suddenly shot forward and clamped down on his throat. His right arm also suddenly shot forward, his missing right hand regrowing at a pace so rapid that he was able to grasp onto the throat of the orange-haired man before he had the chance to react. Qing Lan Yong''s gaze landed on the two, his previously emerald eyes turning a strange amber as mottled green scales started to grow on his face.


    "Ah, you''ve finally chosen to enter my range."


    The eyes of the two men quickly grew as round as saucers, a shocked expression clearly apparent in them. They had gone through countless reports on the strong cultivators on this planet, but not a single one of them had mentioned that Qing Lan Yong had a bloodline, especially not one that could heal a lost hand within a single second. Just how long had he been hiding this, saving it as a trump card?


    The bald man realized that things had gone south, quickly reacting. A silver wing-shaped talisman appeared in his grasp and he quickly crushed it, a ripple running through the surrounding space. Both he and the orange-haired man immediately vanished, teleporting so far that not even Qing Lan Yong was able to sense them any longer. He gave the surroundings a quick sweep before blinking his eyes, his eye color returning to normal as the scales vanished. He turned to Tian Chun and gave a wave of his hand, stopping the magma spewing from the volcano and causing it to fall dormant.


    "Well then, shall we leave this place and head somewhere I can more easily keep you safe?"


    He didn''t wait for her reply, the two suddenly vanishing from the area, the sound of rushing air the only thing remaining on the scorched wasteland that was starting to solidify. In the years to come, new plants would start to grow here, a new forest sprouting and taking the volcano as its center.


    While Qing Lan Yong was taking Tian Chun and leaving, the bald man and the orange-haired man fell out of a ripple in space on the other side of the planet, both of them rubbing their throats in discomfort. The orange-haired man clicked his tongue, turning to the bald man.


    "Tch, to think that he was hiding a bloodline all along. Senior Brother, what should we do now? Just the Essence Sealing Array we brought along won''t be enough to deal with him, there might also be a few body or soul cultivators on this planet that aren''t listed in the reports."


    They had arrived here under orders of their Venerable Master, Sealing God Empyrean, to assist their new Junior Brother Wu Huan in gaining control over this entire planet. At least, that was the original plan. But just before they left they suddenly received a new mission, directly from their Venerable Master. Find the youth known as Liang Chen and kill him, no matter the cost. The bald man furrowed his brows slightly, eventually letting out a sigh.


    "Master said that killing this Liang Chen takes priority over everything else and that we are to spare no expense. It might make us look a bit weak, but I''ll contact some more of our brothers and have them bring the other Sealing Arrays. Since things have developed to this point, we can only go with full force. Tell the Moon Dragon sect and the Dawn''s Blade Alliance that we can no longer try to do things the diplomatic way, we''ll just have to force Liang Chen out of hiding in the most forceful way. Let the flames of war engulf the planet."

 Immediate challenge.

    As the sun rose over the tower, Liang Chen and Yan Ling arrived in front of the building that would send them up to the fifth floor. This one was clearly more luxurious than the similar buildings they had seen on the lower floors, it was made from wooden logs covered in white runes that formed a defensive array. There were crystal or marble statues surrounding the entire building, each of them depicting someone from the three races that ruled over this planet. Yan Ling pointed at the statue standing right next to the door into the house, speaking up in a somewhat hushed voice.


    "Little Freak, that should be the Tripartite Slayer, no? You think the rest of the statues here show the people who have reached the top of any of the three towers?"


    Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the statue she had pointed at, a marble one featuring a mature woman with three golden eyes and short black hair that hung down to her ears. They hadn''t met Sun Cailin before, but they had heard plenty about her, including a description of her appearance. She was so famous that you could even buy drawings of her in some of the markets here in the towers. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, his gaze sweeping over the other statues.


    "That should be her, yeah. As for these other ones, I have no idea who they are, but looking at some of these statues, they should be even older than Sun Cailin''s. They might very well be the people who reached the top of one of the towers before her."


    According to what they had heard, Sun Cailin was the only person to ever reach the top of all three towers, acquiring the full technique that was hidden away within them. But that didn''t mean that there hadn''t been others that had reached the top rank in any of the towers, on the contrary, quite a few people had managed to reach the top rank in any one of the towers. But for some reason, it seemed like only she had ever been able to reach the top rank in all three towers.


    The two entered the house and saw that even the inside, despite only being a single room, was a bit more luxurious than the other buildings. There was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting a soft and slightly warm light over the entire room. The left side of the room contained a few small round tables surrounded by either chairs or couches covered in silken cloth, while the right side of the room contained a long counter that had a shelf of drinks standing behind it. Standing behind the counter was a somewhat short but beautiful brown-haired woman from the White Orchid race, smiling sweetly at them.


    "Greetings, Scourge King, Wolf Queen. Would you like to head to the fifth floor or are you just here to relax a little?"


    The woman reached behind her and grabbed a green bottle filled with a light red liquid, presenting it to the two as she spoke. Yan Ling looked at the bottle, as well as the other bottles on the shelf, with a curious look, tilting her head slightly.


    "We can relax here if we want to?"


    So far, these towers had been all about the fighting and the killing in the arenas, only the markets had been places where you could relax a little. From the fourth floor and up, the houses had also become protected areas where you were forbidden from fighting, so one could also relax there. But none of the floors had a place like that resembled the bar in front of them, specially designed for relaxation. The woman nodded her head, still wearing her almost overly sweet smile.


    "Yes, it is something that the Tripartite Slayer has set in place for the weary fighters. From the fourth floor and up, anyone who has earned the right to ascend to the next floor may choose to spend as much time as they wish on the floor, no need to partake in any battles. In those cases, they may come here and get some drinks and relax, you may consider this place a bar where you can unwind."


    Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise when they heard about this arrangement, somewhat curious why Sun Cailin had set up something like this if the purpose of the towers was to serve as a merciless training ground that weeded out the weak. The two shared a quick glance, making sure that they were on the same page before Yan Ling pointed at the center of the room.


    "Huh, didn''t expect something like that from a place like this. We''ll be heading directly up to the fifth floor."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Both of them had plenty of alcohol on them, they also didn''t see a need to relax here when they could just relax in one of the houses on the fifth floor, where it would be just them. The woman nodded her head and put the bottle back on the shelf before stepping away from the counter and walking over to the center of the room to activate the array. With the two of them standing at the center, the array quickly activated and sent them up to the fifth floor.


    They arrived in a room very similar to the one they had just left, with the sole exceptions that this room was a little larger and thus contained a few more pieces of furniture. There was no shelf stocked with bottles of alcohol here, so it seemed like that was only reserved for the buildings used to head to the next floor. A blue-eyed woman from the Undead race greeted them, her smile a bit more natural than the smile of the woman who had just sent them on their way.


    "Greetings, Wolf Queen, Scourge King, welcome to the fifth floor. I wish you luck in overcoming your future battles."


    The two nodded at the woman and then left the building, giving their surroundings a quick examination. This floor was a bit smaller than the fourth floor, yet there were even fewer houses here, with even more open space between each building. The buildings had grown a bit larger once more, causing the two to guess that the inside had likely also gotten more luxurious. This place was just like the rest of the world, the strong would always be treated better, the treatment getting better the stronger one was.


    There wasn''t a crowd of people observing them as there had been on the fourth floor, it seemed like they had finally shown enough strength to not be looked down on just for being humans. The two took a quick peek at the house behind them, looking at the statues that were placed around the house. Compared to the house on the fourth floor, there were two more statues here, both featuring men from the Fiendgod race.


    Now that they took a closer look, they also saw that there was writing carved into the very base of the statue, so small that it was hard to see. They leaned in an read the writing on some of the statues, slightly curious what they might say.


    ''Kong Tao, killed a Six-Headed Wyrm King that threatened the God Piercing Fang tower.''


    ''Ziyu Tengyan, defeated Shisen Yongyu and took the top rank of Endless Heart tower.''


    ''Yao Lingxen, killed a Four-Winged Anteater that invaded Endless Heart tower and wreaked havoc.''


    ''Qiu Xiao, killed the Heaven Crumbling Shark Emperor that threatened the planet, laying down his life in the process.''


    After reading a few of the inscriptions, it became clear that these statues served the same purpose as the statues placed in the Storm Wolf sect''s graveyard. They weren''t just here to show who had reached the top ranks of the tower but also to memorize those that had performed great deeds and were worth remembering.


    After reading over a few more inscriptions, the two decided that it was time to leave and find a house they could use as a home for the foreseeable future. They had quite a few resources on hand after their time on the fourth floor, but not so much that they felt it would be worth cultivating just yet, they needed a bit more if they wished to see a noticeable increase to their strength, meaning that they had to take part in a few battles.


    The two quickly found a house that was marked as empty, removing the sign and entering the house, which was a three-story house made from faintly warm wood. The first room they entered was a large living room furnished with a long table surrounded by two couches as well as a large cabinet filled with a few bottles of alcohol that were still full. Since it was hard to know the personality of the person who would live in each house, the actual decorations were kept to a minimum.


    Standing in the corner of the room was a watermelon-sized orb of green jade built directly into a round table, a faint light constantly radiating from it. This orb was what one used to send out and receive challenges, it contained a short description of every person currently on the floor. Liang Chen walked over to the jade and placed his hand on it, inserting some Qi and activating it, showing the rest of the people on the floor that someone new had arrived. After activating the jade, he turned to Yan Ling.


    "I''m gonna go take a bath, wanna join m..."


    Before Liang Chen got to finish his sentence, the orb behind him lit up with a bright light and let out a bell-like sound. Liang Chen frowned slightly and looked at the orb, Yan Ling also walking over with a frown. This light and sound meant that they had just received a challenge. They didn'' t frown at receiving a challenge, they frowned at how quickly it had arrived. The orb had only been active for a few short seconds before the challenge had arrived, it was simply too fast. Yan Ling''s lips curled up slightly, revealing her sharp canines as she placed her hand on the orb.


    "Seems like someone''s been eagerly awaiting our arrival, I wonder just who is so eager to seek revenge. Maybe it''s the brother of that Shi Longyu, the one who had connections with Qian Liao."


    Yan Ling wasn''t too worried about the fact that someone had been waiting on them, it would save them the trouble of looking for opponents. And in case the enemy did end up being too strong, they could just admit defeat and flee. The light of the orb grew even brighter, gathering above it and forming the image and information of the person that was challenging them, the one who would be their first opponent on the fifth floor.

 Liao Cui.

    The light above the orb gathered together and formed the image of a man from the White Orchid race, he had ear-length blue hair and brown eyes that were slightly slanted and narrowed. Written beneath the image was a bit of his information, such as his name and how long he had been on the floor. Yan Ling studied the image and information with a curious expression, somewhat surprised at what she read.


    "Liao Cui, been on the fifth floor for three days, no recorded challenges. I kinda said it as a joke, but it seems like he really has been here awaiting our arrival."


    Liang Chen also read the information, now fully convinced that this person had truly been waiting for the two of them to head up to the fifth floor. He tapped his chin slightly, memorizing the minuscule amount of information before muttering quietly and turning to Yan Ling.


    "The challenge doesn''t say anything about him having a partner, so he should be alone. If we accept the challenge, we should check with the judge if this will count as a victory for both of us or just one of us. What do you think?"


    He too wasn''t afraid of the fact that someone had been waiting for them. They had quickly gone through the fourth floor, but neither had revealed all their strength in that time, there had never been a need to. And even if they failed to win the fight, they could always just surrender and flee, if both of them focused fully on fleeing, it would be exceedingly hard to stop them. Yan Ling glanced at him, her smirk growing a bit wider.


    "What do you think, we''ll accept of course! They want to lay ambushes for us? Fine, we''ll just crush them head on."


    Yan Ling inserted her Qi into the orb, accepting the challenge and arranging for it to take place in three days. Yan Ling''s confidence and pride were already bone-deep, having seeped deep into her very core after emerging alive from so many bloody battles. She also wasn''t alone, she had Liang Chen at her side.


    Together they had dared start a fight with Huang Dong, which was borderline suicide, together they had ambushed Demonic beasts carrying Origin Beast bloodlines, together they had started a massacre on the third floor, there was nothing the two didn''t dare do when they were together. After accepting the challenge, Yan Ling casually stretched her body, grinning at Liang Chen.


    "Now then, I believe you were about to invite me to the bath?"


    She was completely relaxed, not carrying the slightest sliver of tension, she clearly wasn''t worried in the slightest about the upcoming battle. Liang Chen let out a light breath before presenting his elbow so that Yan Ling could hook hers around his.


    "Aye, that I was. Well then, Milady, would you please follow me?"


    Since she wasn''t nervous in the least, what reason did he have to be nervous? Should things somehow go wrong, they would overcome them together, just like they always had. Yan Ling was not one to miss an opportunity to play along with Liang Chen''s jokes, wrapping her elbow around his and giving him a polite bow.


    "Ah, most certainly. Milord, please do take the lead."


    A black light flashed out from Liang Chen''s dantian, Yumao rolling his eyes at the two before flying into a different room, not willing to hang around while they went about their private business. The two walked arm in arm to the bath, enjoying both the warm water as well as the presence of the other, awaiting the upcoming battle.


    The days quickly passed, the day of the battle arriving within the blink of an eye. Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling woke up as the sun rose in the early hours of the morning, both of them quickly getting dressed and prepared. It had gotten easier for Liang Chen to sleep lately, as long as Yan Ling was close enough that he could touch her, he could sleep without getting nightmares.


    Yumao hid away within Liang Chen''s dantian, just in case there ever came a need for him to quickly reveal himself to save them. The two then left the house, their expressions growing more serious the moment they stepped out of the door. Being relaxed when alone was one thing, but they still had to take this battle seriously.


    The closest arena wasn''t far from their house, only half an hour away. This arena was quite a bit grander than the ones on the lower floors, it resembled a pentagonal coliseum that could easily house at least several tens of thousands of spectators. The two entered the coliseum through one of the countless entrances carved into the base of the coliseum, following a long hallway to the square stage located at the center of the coliseum.


    The battle was still a bit off, but that didn''t stop the audience seats from being nearly filled. The spectators also acted differently from the spectators on the lower floors, there was no cheering or hollering, everyone was just quietly observing the battle, hoping to learn something new. Their opponent had yet to arrive so they stepped onto the stage and addressed the judge, a man from the Fiendgod race.


    "Liao Cui was the one who challenged us alone, despite knowing that we are a tag team. If we win, does that mean it counts as a victory for both of us or just one of us?"


    The judge turned to face the two of them, tilting his head downwards to properly look at them. They expected the judge to spend a bit of time thinking first, but he actually answered them immediately.


    "I have already received word from your opponent, he plans on using a puppet as his partner, so if you win it will count as a victory for the both of you."


    The two were somewhat curious what type of puppets Liao Cui would use, they would prefer to not face the same type of illusion puppets like the ones they had faced on the third floor, they were rather unpleasant. But there was no way the judge would tell them, so they could only quietly wait for Liao Cui to arrive.


    Liao Cui only needed a few more minutes before he too made his entrance, calmly walking up to the stage and jumping onto it. He was clad in rather tightfitting leather clothing that seemed flexible enough to not hamper his movements and he had two curved daggers hanging from his waist, one on each side. He had only reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, but neither of them underestimated him for this. He stopped in front of the two and gave them a courteous bow, introducing himself.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Greetings, Wolf Queen, Scourge King, I have come to kill you, please don''t hold it against me."


    Liao Cui swiped his interspatial ring after he introduced himself, a puppet refined from a Fiendgod corpse appearing next to him. The skin of this puppet shimmered faintly, the stage beneath it creaking from the sheer weight of it. The four hands of the puppet had spiky brass knuckles embedded directly into them, greatly enhancing its physical attacking power. Yan Ling and Liang Chen glanced at each other for a quick second, Yan Ling pointing at Liao Cui and the puppet with her thumb.


    "I''d ask how we should split them up, but I already know you intend to hog him for yourself so I won''t even bother asking. Just make sure you don''t underestimate him, he certainly has his own tricks."


    Liang Chen''s lips curled into a smirk and he gave a nod of his head, that was indeed what he had been planning. Liao Cui felt far more dangerous than the puppet, so if he could help it, Liang Chen wanted to be the one to fight him. But of course, he had to play around a bit with Yan Ling first, giving his head a light shake.


    "Ah, so now its the reckless one that is giving me advice? What a time to be alive."


    Yan Ling rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue, stretching out her arm and rapping Liang Chen on the head with her knuckles. She spoke up, waving her fists around to emphasize her point.


    "Let''s see if you still have that attitude after this, I''ll kick your ass so bad you won''t be able to sit straight for a damn week."


    Liang Chen didn''t think much of her threats, he had heard them countless times already after all. He simply cast a sideways glance at her thighs, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.


    "That''s fine, I''ll just lie down and use your lap as a pillow."


    Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen sweeping her thighs with his gaze, slumping her shoulders and letting out a deep and over-exaggerated sigh, both of them seemingly completely oblivious to the enemy standing in front of them.


    "You used to be so serious that it gave you a mysterious charm, now look at how you ended up."


    Of course, despite saying this, she still found his more natural joke-like personality far more charming. But as they were currently playing around, there was no way she was going to tell him that. Liang Chen gave a serious nod of his, grinning at Yan Ling.


    "Aye, you''ve corrupted me, so you better take responsibility."


    Liang Chen was certain that he would have become someone completely different if it hadn''t been for Yan Ling, he would likely have been far quieter and serious, a much darker and gloomier person. Yan Ling was about to retort when Liao Cui clapped his hands, addressing the two of them.


    "Excuse me, are you perhaps done?"


    The two turned their heads to glance at Liao Cui, who was looking a bit impatient. They had expected him to at least attempt a sneak attack while they were playing around, but it seemed like he had no intention of doing so for some reason. The two locked eyes once more, nodding their heads and approaching their respective enemies.


    Liang Chen brought out his golden spear and focused on Liao Cui, who had drawn both of his curved daggers and held his arms in a crossed position in front of his chest. Liang Chen lightly kicked off the stage, his bloodline activating as he shot forward and turned into a blur. His bloodline had awakened far more after the massacre on the third floor, but his gray scales had yet to cover his entire body, his legs still remained normal.


    He stabbed out with his spear, emerald and crimson lightning dancing around the tip while a faint white mist started to spread through the area. Liao Cui faced the attack with a serious expression, twisting his body slightly so that the attack slid along the edges of his daggers and giving him the opportunity to lash out with his elbow, aiming at Liang Chen''s chest.


    Liang Chen slid his left hand down the handle of the spear and gave it a quick push that caused the entire spear to enter an upright position, Liao Cui''s elbow colliding with the handle of the spear. A surge of lightning and rotting energy coursed towards Liao Cui from the spear, aiming to infiltrate his body and eat away at his body and soul.


    But just as the attack touched Liao Cui''s elbow, it seemed to simply vanish. And right after the attack vanished, Liang Chen felt a faint sense of pain coming from his own right elbow, a strange surge of energy flooding his arm. Liang Chen quickly drowned the strange energy with a torrent of corroding poison, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Liao Cui.


    He slammed down the upright spear, the base of it smashing into Liao Cui''s left foot. The moment the spear hit Liao Cui''s foot, Liang Chen felt pain coming from his own left foot, his eyebrow twitching for a short second. Liao Cui took advantage of this short second to slide his foot slightly to the side, destabilizing Liang Chen''s spear and providing a small opening in his defenses where Liao Cui could sneak the dagger in his left hand through.


    The dagger came straight for his heart, so Liang Chen had to block it unless he wanted to get injured. He let go of the spear and lashed out with his left arm, pushing Liao Cui''s incoming arm upwards and giving himself enough room to bend his body and twist it beneath the dagger. His bow appeared in his grasp as he twisted his body, an arrow made from poison quickly forming before being shot at Liao Cui.


    Liao Cui took a quick step back and pulled back his outstretched left arm, his dagger cutting through Liang Chen''s scales and leaving a wound on his arm. The arrow whizzed past his chest, but Liao Cui still felt nauseous, a single drop of blood leaking from his nose.


    Liang Chen didn''t let him rest, charging after him and producing another arrow, this one made using green lightning. The arrow was loosed and turned into a green line that shot at Liao Cui, far faster than the arrow of poison had been. Liao Cui quickly raised his right arm and just barely managed to block the arrow with his dagger, causing the arrow to explode and send him soaring backward.


    Green arcs of lightning filled the air and blinded Liao Cui, barely giving him any time to react to the next five lightning arrows that came flying in quick succession. Liao Cui frowned slightly, flourishing both his daggers to not block, but deflect all five arrows, subtly changing their direction so that they just barely grazed his body.


    He quickly charged forward after deflecting the arrows, which exploded when they touched the stage a good distance behind him. He reached Liang Chen again almost instantly, both his daggers stabbing out at the same time, one aiming for the head and the other for Liang Chen''s abdomen.


    Liang Chen already knew that these daggers could easily slice his scales, so blocking them with his body was a no go. He grabbed the bow and blocked the daggers using the body of the bow, spinning the bow to push the daggers away from his body. Liao Cui quickly reacted, letting go of the daggers and dropping into a crouching position, sweeping at Liang Chen''s foot with his right leg.


    Liang Chen quickly raised his right leg and then immediately brought it down, stomping down on Liao Cui''s shin. But once again, the moment he did so, pain flooded his own shin. Liao Cui quickly pulled back his own leg before Liang Chen could fully stomp it into the ground, picking up his two daggers and jumping back a step to fix his position.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately chase, dashing over to his own spear and picking it up again, returning his bow to his interspatial ring. He glanced at his own shin, as well as the few other places that now hurt slightly after their quick exchange. He clicked his tongue once, the corners of his lips raising slightly as he pointed his spear at Liao Cui.


    "So you''re specialized in using the law of reflection, or at least a very similar one. But looking at how you blocked some of my attacks and deflected others, your reflection shouldn''t be perfect. There is either a limit to how much strength you can bear to reflect, or there is a speed limit. Perhaps you need to be fully focused on the attack to reflect it, so you can''t reflect attacks that move too fast?"


    Liao Cui didn''t respond, no one would be dumb enough to spill the secrets behind their own power. But Liang Chen was still confident in his theory, it was the one that made the most sense. He lowered his spear slightly, the tip touching the stage and starting to dissolve the stone as he spoke.


    "Well then, let''s see just how much strength you are able to reflect before you become unable to bear it."

 The reflection of the moon.

    The wind around Liang Chen quickly grew ferocious as thin arcs of lightning started to fill the air around him, some green and some crimson. A few of the bolts clashed with each other and repelled each other, others started to slowly merge into a single brown arc, the air around them becoming nearly completely silent and repressed. Liao Cui''s expression was solemn, both his daggers held ready as he kept a close watch on Liang Chen, observing even his smallest movements.


    Liang Chen took a step forward, the stage beneath his feet melting as his body shot forward and turned into a blur, a thunderous boom resounding throughout the entire arena. Liao Cui''s eyes quickly shot up as he ducked down and spun around, stretching out his left arm to deliver a backhanded stab with his dagger.


    Liang Chen appeared behind him just as Liao Cui ducked down, his spear going just above Liao Cui''s head and scorching some of his hair in the process. Liao Cui''s dagger went straight for Liang Chen''s left knee, forcing Liang Chen to use a forceful gust of wind to kick his own feet out underneath him and put him into a horizontal position in mid-air.


    Liang Chen stretched out his left arm and hardened the air beneath it, forming a stable platform he could place his weight on. He dug his fingers into the hardened air and exerted all his physical might in an instant, lifting his body up into a handstand in mid-air and then giving his body half a spin and slamming his right heel down towards Liao Cui''s scalp.


    Liao Cui quickly raised his right arm and blocked the heel with his wrist, a crunch sounding out as the wrist became unable to withstand the force and caved inwards, crashing into Liao Cui''s head. Liao Cui grit his teeth slightly and forcibly altered the movement of his left arm, actually breaking his own elbow so that he could point the tip of the dagger upwards and drive it into Liang Chen''s leg, just a bit above his heel.


    The stab forced Liang Chen''s foot away and gave Liao Cui time to roll backward and put some distance between the two of them. He rolled into a crouched position and quickly sprung up, the sound of bones grinding against each other ringing out as his shattered wrist and elbow quickly healed themselves. He clenched his hands a few times to make sure that they were fine, sending Liang Chen a slight glare.


    "Hurts, doesn''t it?"


    He looked at Liang Chen''s leg and arm, his right foot was bleeding from getting stabbed and his own right wrist had caved in slightly, a result of Liao Cui reflecting the force of his own attack back onto him. Liang Chen didn''t even glance at the wounds, he simply channeled his Fiendgod Essence into them, causing them to rapidly heal, albeit a bit slower than Liao Cui''s own wounds. He gave a slight nod of his head after his wounds finished healing, his eyes never leaving Liao Cui.


    "Aye, it does indeed hurt a bit."


    Liang Chen was a body cultivator, his Fiendgod Essence was a result of his highly concentrated life force and physical power. Mixing this energy with his already strong healing factor from his bloodline, wounds like these were not too hard to recover from if he just focused on them. Liao Cui''s expression sank a little when he saw that Liang Chen was able to recover from his wounds this quickly, a faint mutter escaping from his lips.


    "So that''s why he warned me... Very well, then it seems like I must truly do as he said and forego all caution and desire for tomorrow."


    Liao Cui straightened out his back, a regal light flashing in his eyes as he looked at Liang Chen with a proud expression. He grasped his daggers tightly, plunging both of them into his own chest and declaring in a loud and proud voice.


    "Scourge King, you have gained my recognition, so let me show you my final move! I am the reflection of the moon on the cold lake, as transient as a dream but as real as the light of the sun!"


    Eight large orbs of water started to appear around Liao Cui as he shouted, each of them quickly condensing and forming an exact replica of Liao Cui, they even had his daggers and clothes. As for Liao Cui himself, his bones started to creak as his muscles bulged, all the blood vessels in his eyes exploding and dyeing his eyes crimson. The stone beneath his feet shattered as the energy his body unleashed grew even stronger, the tight leather clothing that covered his upper body tearing and revealing the bulging veins on his chest. A vein in his chest exploded and burst through the skin but it was quickly sucked back into his body, the wound repairing itself instantly.


    Liang Chen''s expression changed slightly as he looked at the spectacle, which unfolded within a span of merely two seconds. Each of the eight clones felt the exact same as Liao Cui, as if they were truly real and filled with power. It was also when he saw this spectacle that he guessed exactly which law Liao Cui had put all his focus on, the law of water. To be more specific, he seemed to have focused on both the healing capability as well as the reflective properties of water. Liao Cui pulled his daggers out of his own chest, blood leaking from his mouth as he looked at Liang Chen.


    "Come, Scourge King, let us see if either of us will be able to see the light of dawn tomorrow."


    All nine Liao Cui''s shot forward right after he finished his words, the stone stage beneath them completely shattering as they moved. They quickly surrounded Liang Chen, the true Liao Cui arriving directly in front of him and aiming a downward slash at Liang Chen with the dagger in his right hand, the eight clones using their daggers to stab at Liang Chen. As the daggers all came for him, he heard a loud shout from Yan Ling directed at him.


    "You seem to be a bit swamped, need some help?"


    Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at her and saw that she was currently tying down the puppet that Liao Cui had brought out, using superior speed and flexibility to outmaneuver the puppet that only had pure strength. Liang Chen quickly responded, turning his eyes back onto Liao Cui.


    "no need, just keep focusing on the puppet, the last thing I need is one more enemy to focus on, I can already feel my eyes spinning!"


    Liang Chen wanted to take on Liao Cui on his own, he wanted to use the battle to hone himself. After all, there was no better whetstone than a strong cultivator like this. There was also the fact that he could see that she wasn''t having an easy time with the puppet, she simply wasn''t used to dealing with opponents that only had pure power and nothing else, fighting the puppet would be a good experience for her.


    Liang Chen quickly raised his spear, pushing the dagger to the side using the side of the spear, deflecting it while also punching out with his left arm, white dust coating his hand. Even if he tried to block or dodge all the attacks coming at him, he would at best be able to avoid four out of the nine, the others would hit him. In that case, he might as well ignore the other eight attacks and put all his focus on killing the true Liao Cui.


    But when his hand came into contact with Liao Cui''s chest, it pierced straight through without resistance, as if he had plunged his hand into a lake. And at the same time, the attacks of the eight Liao Cui''s landed on his body, each of the daggers shattering his scales and piercing his flesh. The attacks were somewhat weaker than the attacks that Liao Cui had used at the start of the battle, the daggers a bit duller, but they were still strong enough to wound him like this. Some blood forced its way up Liang Chen''s throat and out of his mouth, the voice of Liao Cui coming from behind him.


    "I told you, I am the reflection of the moon on the cold lake. All of me is both real and fake at the same time."


    Liang Chen spat out a glob of blood and unleashed several thick bolts of lightning from his body, forcing the nine Liao Cui''s to jump back and put some distance between them. He spat out another glob of blood and quickly focused on healing his wounds, observing the nine Liao Cui''s with a sweeping gaze as they dashed closer to him again, each of them slashing out with their daggers.


    Liang Chen locked on to the Liao Cui that had just spoken from behind him, arcs of lightning and sharp wind surrounding the area around his own body to hamper the offensive of the Liao Cui''s. He then took a step forward and faced the Liao Cui he had locked onto, flourishing his spear and drawing arcs of emerald and white in the air.


    The tip of his spear collided with one of the daggers and pushed it down, Liang Chen quickly tilting the spear so that the base of the handle collided with the other dagger, pushing it and the other dagger aside in a single swift motion. He then swiftly tilted the spear upwards again, the spearhead cutting through Liao Cui''s chin and splitting his head in two, the lightning within the spear causing the head to explode while the poison ate away at the neck and chest, the flesh rotting away and revealing the dissolving bones.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    But just as he finished this, the other eight Liao Cui''s reached his body and sliced at him with their daggers, their own bodies getting sliced open and scorched by the lightning and wind. Clearly, Liao Cui had completely given up all regard for his own safety and put the death of Liang Chen as his highest priority. The daggers cut through his scales and left gashes on his body, blood pouring forth and staining his robes further.


    The eight Liao Cui''s didn''t relent in their attacks, even ignoring it when Liang Chen unleashed an even stronger burst of lightning to force them away. Even worse, water started to gather around the Liao Cui he had just killed, reforming the head and chest and expelling the poison, the new Liao Cui quickly joining the fray again and assaulting Liang Chen.


    Faced with the simultaneous attacks of nine Liao Cui''s, it was hard for Liang Chen to even put any thought on healing his wounds, he had to constantly block, dodge, and attack to somewhat weaken the force of the assault. The nine Liao Cui''s suffered from his attacks, but they would simply heal the wounds and reform themselves from water when he killed them.


    After suffering their assault for almost five minutes, Liang Chen stabbed out with his spear and pierced through the chest of one of the Liao Cui''s. He gave the spear a little twist, a burst of poison sped up using time causing the entire torso of this Liao Cui to dissolve and his body to collapse. A strong burst of lightning followed right after the poison, scorching and blowing away the two Liao Cui''s closest to the dead one.


    Liang Chen took this chance to dash through the opening that had appeared in their formation, putting distance between them again. His body was covered in wounds and blood, his breathing a bit ragged. He could heal the wounds now, but if he continued to suffer more of them, his Fiendgod Essence would eventually run out. He let out a deep breath, his narrowed eyes piercing through the various Liao Cui''s.


    "So that''s your trick, it really is quite clever. You create eight clones out of water so condensed that it is able to carry actual force and then surround your enemy, abandoning all defense and allowing all attacks to hit you. Whenever your actual body would suffer damage, you use some special technique to change place with one of the clones, creating the illusion that all nine bodies are immortal."


    Liang Chen had kept a very close eye on all the Liao Cui''s after he killed the first one, and except for one of the Liao Cui''s, the other''s had all died at least once already. He tracked which Liao Cui had already died by the poison and lightning he had used to kill them, always leaving a minuscule trace of it within their bodies, practically impossible to see. Just as he had been about to kill the last of the nine Liao Cui''s, a different Liao Cui, one which had already been killed earlier, switched places with it, causing Liang Chen to come up with his theory.


    The nine Liao Cui''s didn''t respond, but one of them had one of his eyebrows tick for a short instant, and that was all Liang Chen needed to affirm his guess. Liang Chen spat out some blood, raising his spear and pointing the tip at the nine Liao Cui''s, his lips curling up slightly.


    "I''ve figured out your trick, and now I''ll figure out how to kill you."


    Knowing the trick and knowing to kill him were two very different things, he had to find a way to kill Liao Cui before he could switch with one of his clones. It also had to be a truly instantaneous kill, as his rapid healing would otherwise allow him to recover and immediately switch with one of the clones. For the first time since Liao Cui created his eight clones, it was Liang Chen that charged forward, a trail of lightning tearing through the air in his wake.


    He charged into the nine Liao Cui''s like a deranged beast, stabbing and sweeping out with his spear. He barely even bothered with the attacks that came for him any longer, only blocking or deflecting those that might prove fatal by hitting his head or heart. Liao Cui couldn''t quite understand what Liang Chen was trying, continuing his own relentless assault, but Liang Chen was very clear on what he was trying to do.


    Speed, he needed more speed. He had to be faster than Liao Cui''s healing, faster than him switching between his clones, so fast that it filled Liao Cui with nothing but despair. Slowing down Liao Cui with his law of time wasn''t enough, it would take too much energy to slow down Liao Cui''s entire body by enough. Liang Chen had the law of time and the law of lightning, two of the five fastest laws in existence, he would be a disgrace to these laws if he failed to find a way to be faster than his opponent.


    Blood continued to splash as Liao Cui and Liang Chen tore away at each other, their fight even spilling over into the audience seating area after they completely ruined the stage. Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Yan Ling''s battle occasionally and saw that the puppet was actually growing stronger and faster, its movements more refined and controlled despite the fact that Liao Cui was this pre-occupied. From the looks of it, the puppet might not actually be his, it was likely controlled by someone else in a different location.


    Liao Cui''s expression was a bit dark as the battle continued to drag on, not because of the fact that his energy was rapidly draining, only able to somewhat maintain itself thanks to a treasure his master had prepared for him. No, the fact that caused his expression to darken was the fact that with each attack Liang Chen launched, he was growing faster, his attacks sharper and deadlier. He couldn''t understand it, how could he improve so quickly, at a rate visible to the naked eye?


    But Liao Cui didn''t know Liang Chen''s age, he didn''t know how young he actually was. He was in the prime of potential and had plenty of room to improve, this battle was helping him squeeze out all that potential, forming it into something useable, something terrifying and dangerous.


    Liang Chen''s eyes were blazing as he continued to attack and dodge, his vision blurry as Liao Cui didn''t even register in his eyes any longer. Liang Chen wasn''t chasing Liao Cui any longer, he was chasing a scene from his past. He was standing on ashen gray earth, a withered forest of dried up and contorted trees spreading out around him, giant bones protruding from the ground. Snow slowly fell from the sky, dissolving just before it touched the ground, this was the site of the third trial in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    There were people all around him, but his vision was focused completely on the one who stood a short distance away from him, Yan Ling. A massive black serpent with four tiny limbs was right in front of her, its maw filled with razor sharp teeth opened directly in front of her, less than a second away from crushing and swallowing her.


    But the snake didn''t move, nor did Yan Ling or the other people in the area, everything was perfectly frozen in Liang Chen''s eyes. This was the first time Liang Chen had ever touched upon his law of time, and it was this instant he was chasing after, this speed that caused the entire world to stand still in front of his eyes.


    He tried countless things to replicate this effect, but no matter what he tried, it would always result in failure. But each failure paved the way for the future, each failure brought him one step closer to success and victory. And ever so slowly, the law of time started to seep into his body, fragmenting into pieces so small that they couldn''t be seen by the naked eye. It spread through his entire body, sinking into his flesh, his veins, his organs, even his very nerves and brain.


    And in that instant, when the law of time had entered every single nerve in his body and was moving through them like an electrical current, Liao Cui''s speed slowed down drastically. Liang Chen''s lips curled up, it was far from as good as it had been back then, but it was a start, it would do.


    Liang Chen dashed forward without creating a single sound, the law of time merging with the electrical currents that ran through his nerves and brain, focusing entirely on forcing his nerves and mind to operate at a monstrous speed. His body reached a speed it had only reached during that one eternal moment in the past, his mind slowing down the entire world around him to aid him properly utilize his blinding speed.


    He dodged the daggers of the eight fake Liao Cui''s, arriving directly in front of the real one and stabbing out with his spear. This utilization of the law of time was incredibly draining on the mind, as it required him to focus on countless minuscule places at the same time, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to keep it going for much longer, so now was his only chance. He didn''t waste the chance, immediately unleashing his strongest attack with an inaudible mutter.


    "Second step splits the waterfall."


    Liang Chen''s body had grown much stronger over time, he could now safely unleash the second part of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. The tip of the spear touched Liao Cui''s chest, an incandescent crimson light blooming at the tip of the spear, a thunderous boom that sounded like the roar of a furious dragon drowning out everything else.


    A bolt of crimson lightning, tipped with a bit of white that released the smell of flowers, almost a meter thick tore through Liao Cui''s chest and destroyed the already evacuated seating area around them. The bolt of lightning continued into the distance, leaving a five-kilometer long and one-meter wide scar on the ground, the poison at the tip of the lightning dissolving three houses the moment they got in contact with it. Had it not been for the fact that every battle on these higher floors was spectated by practically everyone living on the floor, the people inside those houses might have been killed instantly before even knowing what happened.


    The light slowly dimmed down, Liao Cui''s ruined body collapsing to the ground. He was missing most of his torso, but even so, his body was still trying to slowly regenerate itself, fighting against the poison that was eating away at his body. But it was too late, all his energy was drained or eaten away, his death was set in stone. His completely blank eyes looked directly into the sky as he used the last of his Qi to send a few words to Liang Chen.


    "Scourge King, I did not believe my Master when he said that two humans might be a calamitous storm for this planet, but now I believe. But let me tell you, Scourge King, no storm is eternal, especially not one like you and her. Just like me, you will be torn apart at the hands of someone else, forever fading and vanishing."


    Liang Chen looked down upon the ruined Liao Cui, blood staining his entire body and his breathing ragged from practically draining all his energy and overloading his mind. But even so, his eyes were still as strong as before, a cold light visible in them as he placed his spear against Liao Cui''s forehead and casting a sideways glance at Yan Ling, who was starting to approach the end in her fight against the puppet, slowly disabling it by ruining its joints.


    "Thank you. Liao Cui, for helping me take a step closer to the strength needed to make this storm eternal."


    Liang Chen would not let anyone tear him and Yan Ling apart, he would continue to walk and fight at her side no matter what. He plunged his spear into Liao Cui''s head, flooding his brain with the last of the lighting and poison he could muster up, reaping his life.

 Sowing a seed.

    Yan Ling was curiously observing the puppet in front of her, somewhat in awe at the strength it contained, wondering how it was created. It was a bit larger than a normal Fiendgod, standing at almost five-meters tall, each of its four arms a little over two meters in length. At the start of the battle, she thought that it would be simple to defeat it, it was just a puppet after all, but she quickly realized how wrong she was as the battle started to drag on.


    The puppet wasn''t able to use any laws, it only had extreme physical strength and regeneration. But both of these aspects had been brought up to a ludicrous stage, it could regrow an entire arm in a single second, other wounds healed much faster. And due to its extreme strength, it moved so fast that it was hard for Yan Ling to even see it at times, making it incredibly hard to dodge its attacks at times. And considering that each of its hits would be able to inflict a large amount of damage to her, blocking the attacks wasn''t an option. She could only cast a glance at Liang Chen, who had just started engaging Liao Cui and his clones, cursing quietly at the puppet.


    "You cheap bastard, once I find whoever is controlling you I''ll make sure to slap them completely silly."


    When the two first started battling, the movements of the puppet had been somewhat stiff and it hadn''t been using its speed properly, allowing Yan Ling to tie it down by using superior speed and flexibility in movement. But the moment Liao Cui split into nine and focused all his efforts onto Liang Chen, a time where the puppet should have gotten even duller after its controller stopped paying attention to it, the puppet actually became much more proficient in using its advantages.


    It now properly utilized its vast strength to move so fast that Yan Ling could barely keep up with it, it utilized its rapid regeneration as bait, allowing attacks to hit it so that it could get a chance to attack Yan Ling. But worst of all, it seemed to become far smarter, as if it had been possessed by a cultivator skilled in close combat. Yan Ling wasn''t a fool, it quickly became clear to her that someone else was controlling the puppet now.


    A cracking sound from behind her caused all the warning bells in her head to go off so she quickly crouched down, a fist just barely missing her head. But just as the fist missed her head, it changed trajectory, slamming down towards her head. Yan Ling quickly rolled to the side to dodge the fist and then threw herself forward to dodge the foot that was now coming for her waist.


    She had moved a bit too slow, causing the tip of the foot to crash into her waist and knock all the air out of her lungs and send her flying to the side. She rolled on the stage for a bit before quickly rising into a kneeling position and involuntarily vomiting a bit of blood and breakfast. She quickly wiped the side of her mouth, glaring at the puppet.


    "Geh, don''t you know its bad manners to make a girl vomit in front of her man?"


    Yan Ling cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen, just in time to see him get swarmed by Liao Cui''s attacks and get drenched in his own blood. Yan Ling suddenly laid down flat on the stage, kick going over where her head had just been. The kick quickly changed trajectory, turning into a stomp that aimed to shatter Yan Ling''s spine.


    Yan Ling quickly reacted by rolling to the side and sending herself flying into the air using a strong gust of wind, ending up in a horizontal position right next to the head of the puppet. She spun her body around and used her wind to drastically increase the speed of her spins, drawing out her sword and delivering a downward slash to the puppet''s left shoulder.


    The blade cleaved directly through the two left arms of the puppet, severing them and giving Yan Ling at least a second of room to act. She quickly stopped her own spinning and created a platform of hardened air beneath her feet, kicking off of it to launch herself forward and deliver a sideways slice to the neck of the puppet as she flew past it.


    The head was severed from the body, but the puppet simply regrew its arms and immediately picked up the head, placing it back on its neck and causing it to reattach itself. Yan Ling gnashed her teeth a bit continuing to curse at the puppet in front of her while casting sideways glances at Liang Chen.


    "Really, why must you be built in such a stupidly durable way? Would it kill your creator to cut it back a bit next time?"


    Yan Ling had to keep herself talking, she had to keep making jokes, that was the only way she was able to keep herself calm and focused in situations like this. It was her way of staving off the nervousness that stemmed from seeing Liang Chen get swarmed by attacks, as well as seeing her own attacks barely do anything.


    The puppet ignored all of her cursings, continuing to charge at her without saying a single word. The puppet appeared directly in front of her and punched out with all four arms, one aiming for her head, one for her abdomen, and the two other for her shoulders.


    Yan Ling took a step forward and twisted her body, causing the punches to all just barely miss her body while also putting herself directly in the bosom of the puppet. She slashed upwards with her sword, severing the left leg that now came to shatter her knee from the side. She didn''t stop her attack there, her eyes blazing as she continued to draw the blade upwards, her law of slicing and crushing flooding into the blade as it tore directly through the torso of the puppet.


    Its entire torso collapsed in on itself from the crushing pressure, all its organs and its spine liquefying in the wake of the blade. But even so, the puppet continued to attack her while it was falling to the ground, two of its fist slamming into her left shoulder and the side of her head, knocking her to the side and causing a gash to appear on her head.


    The gash quickly healed thanks to her body cultivation and bloodline, but some blood still got into her eye and temporarily blinded her left eye, forcing her to close it. The puppet took advantage of this chance, all its wounds almost immediately restoring itself and allowing it to charge forward like a blur, appearing on Yan Ling''s left side. The puppet punched out with two of its arms, aiming for her head and waist.


    But despite the fact that it was attacking from her current blindspot, Yan Ling moved her entire body back half a step, further moving her head back to dodge the punch that came for her head. The fist flew past her face, but the one aiming for her abdomen halfway hit her, causing the taste of blood and vomit to flood her mouth. But Yan Ling simply grit her teeth and used the force of the punch to give her entire body a spin, sliding along the arm of the puppet and slashing out with her sword, once again decapitating the puppet.


    She didn''t stop her attack there, changing the trajectory of her sword immediately after decapitating the puppet, her sword cleaving diagonally downwards through its body before exiting through its waist, completely removing the top left half of the puppet''s body. Yan Ling took this chance to quickly pull back and cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen, spitting out some blood in the process.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Liang Chen was still getting swarmed by attacks, but it wasn''t as bad as before. On the contrary, he was starting to get faster and faster with each attack of his spear. His eyes were somewhat distant, as if they weren''t even looking at Liao Cui, but his mouth still wore that confident smile that had drawn in Yan Ling, that confident smile that could ease any fear and worry. Her own lips curved up slightly as she turned her gaze back onto the puppet, spitting out some more blood and giving her lips a quick lick.


    "Well, I can''t really allow myself to lag behind if he''s doing so well."


    In truth, Yan Ling currently wanted to laugh at herself. Her cultivation was higher and she had more diverse laws at her disposal, yet she could still only look at Liang Chen''s back while he took on what was basically nine opponents at once. She, on the other hand, was struggling with just the one in front of her, it was utterly laughable.


    She couldn''t even blame it on her bloodline being dormant any longer, he had helped her improve it and fully awakened it already. That meant that there could only be two reasons for her to be lagging behind like this, either she didn''t put in enough effort, or his law of time was simply too strong. Whatever the reason was, Yan Ling knew that she had to continue improving, and she had to do it faster than she had in the past. If she didn''t, she would end up being unable to do nothing but follow behind Liang Chen, being a hindrance all the while.


    Yan Ling charged forward, being the one to take the initiative this time. The puppet punched out with all four arms to block Yan Ling''s approach, but she simply gave her body a slight twist to dodge two of the fists, allowing the other two to strike her abdomen and right shoulder. She then quickly slashed out with her sword, severing the two hands that had hit her. She immediately slashed out again, severing the two other hands and stepping directly into the bosom of the puppet.


    She gathered all her laws in her sword and slashed out, cutting the puppet in two at the waist and causing its chest to collapse in on itself, tiny holes filling its lower body. There was only one advantage she had over Liang Chen, one she knew that she had to fully utilize if she wanted to catch up to him, her superior talent.


    She was far from as talented as her little brother had been, but she was still an exceedingly talented person. She could only use her talent to forcibly fuse her laws, especially crushing, slicing, pressure, and piercing, together far earlier than usual, creating a law that was strong enough to rival Liang Chen''s law of time. But fusing laws was far easier said than done, she had no idea where to even begin. As such, she decided to use the puppet in front of her, testing out any idea she could come up with.


    She knew that it was practically impossible to fuse her laws in just a day, but just getting a starting point, just an image of what the starting point should look like, would be good enough for her. So she continued to attack, her blade cutting up the puppet each time it regenerated, each attack producing a slightly different effect.


    She continued to attack, as if in a mad frenzy, the regeneration of the puppet slowing down slightly after she had sliced at it for almost two entire minutes. It only slowed down slightly, but it was enough to show her that the puppet could be beaten if she just continued to tear it apart and force it to regenerate. As such, she continued to attack, constantly trying to fuse her four offensive laws together into a single seamless whole.


    Of course, the puppet would not just allow her to wail on it like this as she pleased, it would launch attacks of its own whenever it had the chance. A kick here, a punch there, a headbutt there, slowly adding wounds to her body, causing it to scream out in pain. Her body cultivation and bloodline allowed her to quickly heal, but just like with Liang Chen, it had its limits, and it didn''t change the fact that it was painful.


    And ever so slowly, Yan Ling felt like she was getting a clearer picture of the starting point she was looking for. More and more attacks landed on her, but her own attacks got faster and sharper, the puppet slowly losing the ability to keep up with her blade. And then, a bright crimson light appeared behind Yan Ling, like a majestic sun dawning on the world and blotting out all else. Listening to the thunderous roar that followed, Yan Ling knew that Liang Chen was finishing his fight, so it was about time for her to do the same.


    She swung her sword one last time, deciding to test out the starting point that she had in mind. The puppet just barely saw her blade coming for its neck, calculating that it would have the time to punch out with all four of its arms before the blade hit it.


    It put all its strength into its arms, and then the blade suddenly sliced through its neck, and for the first time since the start of the battle, the puppet put on an expression of confusion and surprise. The one controlling the puppet knew, they knew that even if Yan Ling managed to drastically increase her speed in that short instant, the attack should not, would not, hit it before it managed to attack.


    So how had it happened, how had the blade suddenly reached it, apparently defying all notions of speed? The controller of the puppet did not know, and not even Yan Ling truly knew what she had just achieved, she had no idea which seed she had just planted in her laws, nor what it would become once she completed the fusion of her laws and realized her goal.


    Yan Ling changed the direction of her blade immediately after decapitating the puppet, slicing off its left arms and then once again changing the direction of her sword, cutting off its left leg. The puppet quickly regrew its arms and legs, but they moved a bit slower and stiffer than before.


    Yan Ling proceeded to launch as many stabs as she could, the tip of her blade piercing into the joints of the puppet, forcing it to quickly regenerate the wounded areas. But each time it regenerated, it realized that it got slower and stiffer, its body not moving as it wished. Before long, each of its joints had been stabbed several tens of times, the puppet falling to the ground, its body refusing to move. And for the first time since the start of the battle, the puppet opened its mouth and spoke.


    "I see, you targeted my joints and inserted a tiny amount of water with each hit, causing this body to regenerate the wounds and regrowing flesh and bone over the water, slowly clogging the joints until they became unable to move. You took advantage of the fact that this body feels no pain, putting me in a state where I can no longer fight back, allowing you to attack the other parts of this body until it is no longer able to heal. Clever."


    Yan Ling didn''t bother answering the controller of the puppet, breathing heavily while dripping with blood. She looked at her sword, her mind drifting back to the final time she decapitated the puppet. She knew that it was that attack that was her starting point, it was what would allow her to keep following at Liang Chen''s side as an equal, she only had to properly grasp it and understand it. The puppet let out a little laugh when it saw that it wouldn''t get an answer, turning its head slightly to look at Liang Chen, who was sitting in the spot where he had killed Liao Cui, observing the stage with narrowed eyes filled with a dangerous light.


    "Heh, Scourge King, Wolf Queen, is it? This puppet has lost here, but this is not the end. This glorious tower is not a place for the likes of you. We will meet again."


    The puppet suddenly exploded into a rain of blood and flesh after finishing its words, the controller clearly unwilling to let them gain any sort of benefit from the puppet. Yan Ling let out a deep breath, swiping her interspatial ring and wiping away the blood from her face, her necklace, and her earring, she couldn''t let the jewelry that matched with Liang Chen stay dirty for too long. She then put away her sword and turned to Liang Chen, sending him a cheeky grin.


    "Hehe, did you see that? You better watch out or I''m gonna end up overtaking you completely."


    Liang Chen let out a light chuckle, standing up from his seated position and walking over to Yan Ling. The two turned to face the judge, who wore a somewhat strange expression for a short second before announcing their victory, their battle firmly cementing their position on the fifth floor.

 Faint thumping.

    Liang Chen was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, the entire world practically completely silent to him, only a single wooshing sound occasionally reaching his ears. He took another deep breath and opened his eyes, a faint smile creeping up on his lips when his gaze landed on the source of the wooshing sound.


    Yan Ling was standing a few meters away from him, all her movements so slow that it seemed like she was barely moving. There was only one exception, the very tip of her white sword. Looking at the tip of her sword, Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter to himself, lightly rubbing his chin.


    "Really, just what is it that you''ve gained insight into?"


    No matter how hard he tried to, he couldn''t properly see the tip of Yan Ling''s blade. The tip of the sword looked shrouded and blurry, even in this state where it seemed like time had slowed to a crawl in front of his eyes. Liang Chen had read many books, but even he had no idea just what it was that Yan Ling had touched upon in her attempts to fuse her four offensive laws. He let out a light chuckle and shook his head, extracting the law of time he had injected into his brain to slow down time in front of his eyes.


    "Oh well, not like it matters too much what it is, what matters is that she has gotten stronger."


    After undoing his sped up perception of time, Liang Chen continued to just watch Yan Ling swing her sword around, sweat running down her face as her eyes darted all over the place. This continued for a bit before the top half of her sword suddenly vanished, revealing a small black line in the air. A victorious smile quickly spread on Yan Ling''s face as she stretched out her empty left hand, holding it in front of the line.


    "I win, Little Yuma, so you better prepare yourself."


    Yumao in his miniature form came flying out from the black line, his teeth chomping down on Yan Ling''s sword with an unsatisfied expression, letting out low growls as he pouted and grumbled in complaint. Yan Ling was training with Yumao, using his ability to jump into a separate shadow dimension to slowly get a better grasp of her fused law. The rules of their matches were simple, if Yumao managed to avoid her for an hour, she would make as much food as she could for him.


    But conversely, if she managed to stab into the separate dimension and find him, he would have to be her teddy bear for an entire day, forbidden from skulking away. No Demonic beast wanted to be treated like a little teddy bear, so Yumao made sure to give it his all to dodge during their duels. This was their 23rd match in the month that had passed since the two completed their first battle, and it was also Yan Ling''s third victory. She hadn''t even been able to properly activate her new law the first 20 times, complaining that it ''didn''t feel quite right''. But on the 21st try, she seemed to at least somewhat get the hang of it, able to just barely utilize the new law to win the 21st match and the two subsequent ones.


    Yumao cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen, a pleading look in his eyes as he begged for help from the only person who might be able to save him. But just like the last two times, Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders with a faint smile, leaving Yumao to his fate. Yumao slumped his entire body, flying over to Yan Ling and quickly serving as a teddy bear, quietly praying for the egg within her dantian to hatch soon so that he wouldn''t have to be treated like this any longer.


    Yan Ling walked over to Liang Chen and sat down on the couch, patting Yumao on the head with a satisfied smile. Liang Chen stood up from his seated position on the floor and sat down on the couch opposite of Yan Ling, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out some tea as well as a towel from his interspatial ring, handing both to Yan Ling.


    "You seem to be getting better at utilizing that new law, you managed to keep it active for almost half a minute today. Decided on a name yet?"


    Yan Ling accepted the towel and the tea, placing the cup on the table and using the towel to wipe her face, a stream of water appearing around her and giving her body a quick wash to rid herself of the sweat. She then took a sip of the sickeningly sweet tea to wet her throat, letting out a satisfied sight after emptying the cup.


    "Haah, this is bliss. And yeah, I feel like it has been getting a bit easier to grasp a hold of the law and use it to alter the surrounding Qi, but I''m still unable to use it for anything other than coating my sword. And no, I haven''t chosen a name for it yet. I feel like there''s still more to the law, so I wanna hold off on naming it until I know what it truly is."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Yan Ling held the cup in front of her, looking at Liang Chen with upturned eyes that conveyed her meaning. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out a pot of chilled tea, placing it on the table in front of Yan Ling, who quickly snatched it and poured herself a cup, emptying it in a single gulp. Liang Chen had no idea how she could drink such sickeningly sweet tea with such a happy expression, but she wondered the same about him and his spicy food and drink. After emptying another cup, Yan Ling seemed to remember something, bringing out her sword and placing it on the table.


    "There is one problem, my sword. It was perfectly capable of keeping up with me when I only had the law of water and the law of wind, it even managed to just barely withstand the laws of piercing, slicing, pressure, and crushing. But now that I''ve started trying out the new law, it has become unable to keep up with me."


    Liang Chen picked up the sword, holding it close to his face and studying the blade. Not just the sharp edge, the entire sword was starting to become covered in minute cracks, the tip was especially bad, chipped and practically broken. Liang Chen put the sword down and took out his own spear, nodding his head.


    "Yeah, it might be about time for us to get some new weapons, mine is starting to have troubles too."


    He was a bit reluctant to get rid of this spear, it was a gift that Yan Ling had bought for him after all. But there was nothing he could do, this spear was made from Lightning Quartz, aimed towards people who focused on the law of lightning. With his continued usage of poison and rot, the spear tip had started to corrode, the very tip already completely gone. The handle wasn''t faring much better, faint cracks starting to appear in it after having to endure both excessive force as well as the occasional use of his law of time. Yan Ling looked at the spear, her lips curling up ever so slightly as she looked at Liang Chen.


    "My my, you''ve already turned my gift into such a state. Did you already forget what I told you when I gave you this spear?"


    Yan Ling picked up the spear, poking Liang Chen''s chest with the handle for a bit before handing it back to him. Liang Chen put the spear back into his interspatial ring, his eyes sweeping over Yan Ling''s entire body before his lips curved into a slightly teasing smile.


    "How could I possibly forget? You said that it cost quite a bit, so if I ended up breaking it, you would be forced to bite me, even harder than you did back then. Well, I''m right here, so come at me, I am prepared to receive my punishment."


    Liang Chen stretched out both arms as if he was inviting Yan Ling in for a hug, the teasing smile on his lips turning into a grinning smirk. It was uncertain whether or not he was bluffing with his words, but Yan Ling did not even give it a second. She appeared in front of Liang Chen in less than a second, sitting down on his lap and placing her mouth on his right shoulder, right where it met his neck. Just like she said she would, she bit down on him, giving him a strong, yet gentle chomp and causing him to let out an involuntary yelp of surprise.


    "Yikes! Alright, if that''s how you wanna play!"


    Liang Chen lowered his own head and placed his lips on Yan Ling''s exposed neck, nibbling at it slightly in retaliation. Yumao, who had been abandoned on the other couch, quickly took this chance to slink away before Yan Ling remembered about him. But just as Liang Chen felt like things were going to get good between the two of them, a bell-like sound echoed throughout the house and forced the two of them to stop. Liang Chen turned his head to look at the glowing watermelon-sized orb of green jade that stood in the corner of the room, grumbling slightly.


    "Alright, I''m gonna beat up whoever sent that challenge."


    They couldn''t have waited a few minutes longer, or at best a few hours or days, before sending that challenge? Yan Ling giggled lightly and jumped down from Liang Chen''s lap, standing up and grabbing onto his arm, giving it a few tugs to pull him up from the couch.


    "Alright alright, no need to pout like that. Come, let''s check if someone fun has sent a challenge."


    The two headed over to the orb, placing their hands on it and causing it to display the information about the people who had sent them a challenge. The first person was a man from the Fiendgod race who had a name that seemed familiar to Liang Chen, Shi Tengriu.


    Shi Tengriu''s head was actually covered in fine spines that gleamed slightly, he was also missing his lower left arm, the stump remaining showing that he had likely lost it in battle. But compared to Shi Tengriu, whose name now sounded extremely familiar to Liang Chen, his gaze was drawn to the second man.


    Ren Ooyung, a man from the White Orchid race whose head was covered in white hair, his two eyes a deep crimson in color. The man actually held an amiable smile, but it wasn''t this smile or the strange message attached to the challenge ''I wish for a nonlethal sparring math'', that caused Liang Chen''s gaze to land on this man. No, what caused Liang Chen''s gaze to land on the image of this man was the fact that the moment he saw him, he felt a faint thumping coming from within his body, slowly moving through his veins.

 Ren Ooyung.

    Liang Chen''s pupils contracted as he looked at the picture, the faint thumping in his veins not showing any signs of stopping, proving to him that it wasn''t just a hallucination on his part. His bloodline had been pretty quiet ever since the massacre on the third floor, not showing any movements or further signs of awakening, so why was it reacting now? Yan Ling was reading up on the information about the two challengers, but she still noticed the change in Liang Chen''s expression, tilting her head at him.


    "What''s the matter, did you notice something?"


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, taking a few seconds to give his own body a quick check. After not finding anything out of the ordinary while checking his body, he gave a light shake of his head, pointing at the image of Ren Ooyung.


    "I''m not sure, but I can feel my blood thump slightly when I look at him, he might have some connection to my bloodline."


    Other than the remnant spirit that had helped awaken his bloodline, Liang Chen had never met anyone who had any connection to his Sebettu bloodline. Yan Ling nodded her head slightly in understanding, placing her palm on the orb and immediately accepting the challenge, setting the day of the battle for the following day.


    "We''d best go meet him then, who knows what he can teach you about your bloodline."


    Liang Chen had the memories and information that his parents had sealed up in him before throwing him into the time rift they had created, but they had no way of knowing if that information was all there was to know about Liang Chen''s bloodline. If this Ren Ooyung truly had some connection to the Sebettu, they had to see if they could learn something new from him.


    Liang Chen nodded his head and sent a slight grateful smile at Yan Ling, her habit of swiftly springing into action was very helpful to someone like him, who could easily get lost in his thoughts and worries. He then turned his eyes onto the partner of Ren Ooyung, finally realizing why the name sounded so familiar.


    "Ohh, that''s who you are, I expected you to be stronger."


    Yan Ling tilted her heads after hearing the unexpected words, Liang Chen swiping his interspatial ring and taking out the map they had acquired when they killed Shi Longyu. Engraved at the bottom of the circular metal disk were the names Qian Liao and Shi Tengriu. Seeing the name, how could Yan Ling not connect the dots?


    "So that''s the brother he told us about. I''ll be honest, I expected him to at least send a goon or two before coming after us himself. Maybe he doesn''t have all that many goons he can order around as he pleases?"


    According to Shi Longyu, his brother was a friend of Qian Liao, who was on the verge of entering the eighth floor of the tower he was in, a very fearsome man who could use the law of death. Compared to him, this Shi Tengriu had only reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, he could at best enter the sixth floor. If the two truly were friends, it meant that they either shared some history together or that Shi Longyu was in fact just a subordinate of Qian Liao''s. Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders at Yan Ling''s question, no way of having an answer.


    "No idea, I guess we''ll learn tomorrow. It doesn''t say anything about him wanting a non-lethal sparring match, so I''m guessing he''s aiming for a more standard life and death battle. Well, that''s to be expected really."


    It would have been stranger if Shi Tengriu came here just to spar with them, they had killed his younger brother after all, he was probably dreaming of tearing the two of them apart with his bare hands. Yan Ling removed her hand from the orb, heading back to the couch with light steps and a light smile on her lips. It had been a month since their last battle, she was looking forward to seeing if the two of them had managed to make some improvements over this one month.


    Liang Chen followed Yan Ling back to the couch, the two of them sharing a meal and some drinks while chatting, Yumao taking this chance to carefully sneak back into the room. Neither of them was interested in cultivating right now, it was better to rest up on the day before a battle, it made certain that they would be in peak condition.


    The day quickly passed in peace, the time of the battle coming closer and closer. Yan Ling and Fang Ying left the house the moment the sun rose, making their way through the streets as they headed for the location where the battle would take place, an arena on the other end of the floor. It was quite far away from their own house, requiring them to walk for over two hours before they reached the coliseum-like arena.


    The thumping Liang Chen felt in his veins grew stronger the closer they got to the arena, his bloodline slowly starting to move on its own, seemingly excited. Ren Ooyung was already waiting for them on the stage, Liang Chen could feel it. And sure enough, when they crossed the hallway that led to the square stone stage, they saw the three-armed Shi Tengriu and the white-haired Ren Ooyung waiting for them on the stage.


    Shi Tengriu was observing both of them with narrowed eyes, a baleful light swimming within his pupils. Ren Ooyung, on the other hand, was looking at Liang Chen with a mixture of curiosity and confusion, seemingly not quite sure about what he was seeing. Both of them stepped onto the stage and faced the two enemies, Shi Tengriu breaking the silence with a gravelly voice.


    "So you''re the ones who killed Lil'' Yu. I always did tell him that he should just leave the tower, that this wasn''t a place for the likes of him. I know that the two of you are strong, but I will still take revenge for my little brother here today, even if I must abandon my own life to do so."


    Shi Tengriu''s voice was heavy with conviction, he was truly ready to sacrifice everything just so that he could get revenge for his younger brother. Neither Liang Chen or Yan Ling knew, but Shi Longyu had been the last of Shi Tengriu''s family, their parents and older sister had died several years ago when their city was razed by a group from the Undead race. Shi Tengriu had never found himself a lover, nor did he have any friends that were as close to him as brothers. With the death of Shi Longyu, Shi Tengriu was now practically all alone.


    Neither Liang Chen or Yan Ling said anything, there was no point in it, there was nothing to say in a situation like this. A few seconds of silence followed Shi Tengriu''s statement, a loud clap from Ren Ooyung breaking the silence.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Right, that''s all well and good, but I would like to make it out of here alive at the end of the day. So Scourge King, Wolf Queen, I would like it if the two of you signed this Soul Oath before we start the battle."


    Ren Ooyung swiped his interspatial ring and took up a rolled-up scroll, tossing it to Liang Chen. Liang Chen unfurled the scroll, he and Yan Ling giving the contents a thorough read-over. A Soul Oath was a rather special type of item that was practically an array in writing form, drawing upon the power of the heavens. Anyone who signed such a Soul Oath would be bound by it, their souls destroyed by the heavens if they were to go against what was written in the contract. The only way to safely escape such a Soul Oath was to either complete it or getting the help of someone who had transcended the heavens.


    The Soul Oath that Ren Ooyung threw them was very simple, only stating that they weren''t allowed to truly attempt killing him, and that he was forbidden from killing them. As accidents could always happen, the Soul Oath specifically mentioned that it would be void if either side accidentally killed the other.


    It was very loose, so neither Liang Chen or Yan Ling had a problem with signing it, using their Qi to write their names, or in this case their titles, on the bottom of the scroll and tossing it back to Ren Ooyung, who quickly signed it upon receiving it.


    Shi Tengriu would of course not sign the Soul Oath, so he was not part of it, they were free to do their best in killing him. The signing of the Soul Oath was taken as the start of the battle, both sides starting to observe the other, Yan Ling moving her gaze between the two opponents.


    "So, how do you wanna split them up this time? Want to keep Ren Ooyung to yourself?"


    Liang Chen gave it a bit of thought but eventually ended up shaking his head and giving his shoulders a light shrug, glancing at Yan Ling out of the corner of his eyes with a light smirk.


    "Nah, let''s do it like a proper tag team for once, we''ll take em both on together."


    Their enemies were getting stronger and stronger, it would be easier for the two of them to keep an eye on each other if they were to work together rather than splitting up the enemies. Yan Ling''s lips curled into a smirk of her own, her sword appearing in her grasp.


    "I like the sound of that, you''d best not fall behind then."


    Yan Ling activated her bloodline and shot forward the moment she finished her sentence, the only sign of her passing being a soft breeze that was so sharp it left marks on the stone stage. Liang Chen let out a light chuckle when he saw how eager she was, bringing out his own spear and activating his own bloodline, quickly following behind Yan Ling, a thunderous roar resounding over the arena as he dashed forward, arcs of emerald lightning trailing in his wake.


    Shi Tengriu had a stoic expression on his face, stepping forward to face the two of them. He didn''t bring out any weapons, but a strange sheen covered his entire body as he stepped forward, the stage beneath his feet sinking downward as he grew heavier and sent out a punch with his sole left arm. Ren Ooyung also stepped forward, a whip made from a type of scaly-leather appearing in his grasp, his eyes fully focused on Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen could feel his blood thumping and rushing faster than ever before, but he didn''t immediately head for Ren Ooyung. He stepped in front of Yan Ling and intercepted Shi Tengriu''s punch by sending out a downwards punch with his left arm, his fist connecting with the top of Shi Tengriu''s fist and directing it downwards.


    Shi Tengriu''s punch connected with the stage, thick cracks immediately spreading over the entire five-kilometer wide stone stage as it threatened to immediately fall apart. Liang Chen''s own fist ached slightly after coming into contact with Shi Tengriu''s fist, which had been harder than any steel Liang Chen had ever seen.


    A gust of icy energy headed towards Liang Chen''s head while he was bust redirecting Shi Tengriu''s fist, the tip of Ren Ooyung''s whip speeding towards him. Yan Ling slashed out with her sword, the blade colliding with the tip of the whip and stopping it from moving further. She then quickly reached out with her free hand and grabbed onto the whip, pulling on it with all her migth.


    As someone who cultivated her body, she had far more physical strength than Ren Ooyung. He managed to hold onto his whip, his hand frozen to the handle, but his feet lost contact with the ground, his entire body pulled head first towards Yan Ling. It was at this moment that Shi Tengriu''s fist crashed into the stage, Yan Ling and Liang Chen exchanging a quick glance.


    The two kicked off the ground, switching spots at their fastest speed and launching their attacks. Yan Ling sent a stab towards Shi Tengriu''s left arm while Liang Chen moved his spear from his right hand to his left, his right fist tearing through the air and heading directly for Ren Ooyung''s face, a white mist seeping out from the skin on his fist.


    Ren Ooyung''s pupils contracted sharply when he saw the white mist, quickly punching out with his free left arm. A dazzling blue flame appeared on his hand as his fist collided with Liang Chen''s, the poison mist quickly evaporating under the heat. Liang Chen felt a searing pain coming from his hand, but his eyes opened wide, an excited light flashing past his pupils.


    The moment his fist made contact with Ren Ooyung''s, his bloodline started to move again. The gray scales on his body started to slowly grow again, finally making their way down his legs, the last place on his body that remained uncovered by the scales.


    Ren Ooyung flicked his right wrist, causing his whip to coil around Liang Chen''s left leg, and then gave it a strong pull to destabilize him. Liang Chen''s left leg was pulled to the side, ruining his balance and causing him to fall towards the ground. But Liang Chen quickly took advantage of the situation and retaliated.


    He grabbed onto the whip and leaned to the right while falling towards the ground, he then spun his body to the left and unleashed all his physical might, flinging both the whip and Ren Ooyung over his body, directly towards Shi Tengriu, who had just raised his body into a handstand to dodge Yan Ling''s stab and was currently in the process of slamming his heel towards Yan Ling''s head.


    Yan Ling quickly took a step to the left and then put all her power into her right shoulder, delivering a shoulder slam to the side of the foot that had come for her head. A gust of wind so powerful that it unleashed a howling screech exploded out from her shoulder, Shi Tengriu''s foot pushed to the side so fast it practically became a kick, one that was headed directly for the incoming Ren Ooyung.


    Ren Ooyung ignored the pain from his left hand and stretched it out once more, grabbing onto Shi Tengriu''s leg and vaulting over it. He pushed off with his hand as he vaulted over the leg, launching himself at Yan Ling and delivering a strong kick to her abdomen, a strong burst of fire and ice exploding forth from his foot, scorching the robe covering her stomach and sending her flying backward.


    Shi Tengriu pushed off the ground with his left arm and jumped up, his body still spinning for a short second before he landed on his feet, the stone beneath his feet turning to dust from his current weight and force. The two parties observed each other in silence for a few seconds, each of them fully aware of the strength that the others possessed.


    But while Shi Tengriu was staring at them with hate and Ren Ooyung looked at Liang Chen with the same curious and confused expression he had at the start, Yan Ling and Liang Chen were looking at them with excitement. Yan Ling was excited at the prospects of having a fierce battle where she could further perfect her new law and Liang Chen was excited at the prospect of being able to awaken his bloodline.


    Just that short touch had made it awaken a bit further, so there was no reason why it should be impossible for him to fully awaken his bloodline in this fight, he just had to come in contact with Ren Ooyung a few more times. With these thoughts in mind, Liang Chen put away his spear and cracked his knuckles, the air around him starting to tremble as his energy got restless. Today he would fully awaken his bloodline, even if it meant entering a brutal melee with Ren Ooyung.

 Monarchs roar.

    The one that broke the silence that had descended over the stage was Yan Ling, the sound of howling wind screeching throughout the entire arena as she shot towards Shi Tengriu, her sword at the ready. Ren Ooyung took a step forward to block Yan Ling, but he felt all the hairs on his body stand on end when he finished his step, quickly turning around and delivering a backhanded smash with his left fist.


    Liang Chen leaned his head backward slightly, the fist just barely grazing his nose as it whizzed past his face. Ren Ooyung quickly let go of his whip and punched out with his right arm, using the momentum of his spin to add more force to the punch. Liang Chen injected his law of time into his own brain and nerves, the punch drastically slowing down in front of his eyes.


    He tilted his head to the side and stepped forward, his right fist colliding with Ren Ooyung''s ribs and unleashing the gathered up energy. He had gathered a dense layer of ice over his skin just before the punch connected, but three of his ribs still ended up shattering under the violent force that was Liang Chen''s Fiendgod Essence, his entire body flung uncontrollably through the air.


    Liang Chen heard a rushing sound from behind him, a quick glance showing him that both of Shi Tengriu''s right arms were currently coming for him, one for his head and one for his spine. Liang Chen looked away from the two fists, his right arm stretching out and poking the waist of Yan Ling, who was currently passing by him at full speed. Poison flooded her body from the touch, overloading her nerves and completely numbing her sense of pain, ensuring that it wouldn''t distract her during the battle.


    Yan Ling ducked beneath Shi Tengriu''s fists by throwing her body to the ground and sliding beneath his legs, a forceful gust of wind mixed with the laws of pressure and crushing pushing down on both of his right arms. Both his right arms were diverted downwards, away from Liang Chen, who was already chasing after Ren Ooyung.


    Shi Tengriu''s brows furrowed slightly when he felt his arms get diverted, his left arm quickly punching downwards, aiming for the sliding Yan Ling. Yan Ling was currently between Shi Tengriu''s legs, her shoulders and head just about to completely pass through the gap, so dodging to the sides was not an option right now. She slashed out with her sword, a large gash surrounded by countless smaller cuts appearing on Shi Tengriu''s left wrist.


    She didn''t choose to push the punch away, allowing it to smash into her left shoulder, the impact hitting her so hard that her lower body was lifted into the air. She let go of her sword and buried both her hands into the stage, using the force of Shi Tengriu''s punch to lift herself into a handstand. She then wrapped her legs around Shi Tengriu''s chest, the law of pressure and crushing flooding into her legs and causing cracks to form on Shi Tengriu''s hard skin.


    She then exerted all her might and used her law of wind to lift Shi Tengriu up using her legs, slamming him into the stage head-first in a pile driver. As his head slammed into the stage, she stretched out her now free right arm, a gust of wind sending her sword flying back into her grasp. She stabbed down towards Shi Tengriu''s head, his right arms quickly stretching out to block the sword. Her sword pierced cleanly through his lower right arm, but it lost so much power in the process that he was able to punch the tip aside using his upper right arm, saving his head.


    Shi Tengriu then used his already bloody left arm to punch Yan Ling in the chest, knocking all the air out of her lungs and pushing her away, giving him the time to stand up. Shi Tengriu looked at his two bloody arms, clenching his fists to push away the pain that caused his arms to tremble, sending a slight glare at Yan Ling.


    "It seems like you''ve grown quite a bit stronger since I last received news of you, that or I just underestimated you to begin with."


    He was quite proud of the hardness that his skin possessed after he activated his energy, most attacks would simply bounce off without dealing any damage. Yan Ling simply sent him a cheeky and somewhat bloody grin, spitting out a glob of blood and not bothering to say anything. A loud exploding sound suddenly caught their attention, Liang Chen flying past Yan Ling and skidding across the ruined stage for a few more meters before he managed to stop himself.


    His robe was badly burned, only the cloth covering his lower body remaining somewhat intact. Some of his scales were scorched, others were cut open, and some others, in turn, had been frozen and then cracked, blood dripping forth and running down his body. Ren Ooyung''s whip was currently coiled around his abdomen, the sound of scales cracking sounding out as it got tighter and tighter. But even so, Liang Chen wore a smile on his face, his scales had already grown to cover his entire left leg.


    Liang Chen used both arms to grab onto the whip that coiled around his stomach, giving it a strong pull to force Ren Ooyung to get closer. But Ren Ooyung seemed to have learned his lesson already, thick spikes of ice grew out from his soles and dug into the stone stage, spreading out like roots and securing his footing. Sadly for him, Liang Chen cared not one whit for his preparations.


    "You. Will. Come. Here!"


    The muscles on his arms bulged and the stone stage beneath Liang Chen turned into fine dust under the rampant energy he released. Ren Ooyung didn''t show much of a reaction at first, but when he heard cracking sounds coming from around him, he knew that he had underestimated Liang Chen''s strength. Both Ren Ooyung and the stone stage around him were thrown into the air, Liang Chen stomping down on the stage once more, unleashing all his might to swing Ren Ooyung in a full circle before using him like a mace, slamming him down towards Shi Tengriu.


    Liang Chen then locked eyes with Yan Ling, who quickly understood what he wanted and nodded her head. She took advantage of the fact that Shi Tengriu had to deal with the incoming Ren Ooyung, dashing over to Liang Chen and slashing out with her sword, the tip turning blurry as she used her new law to slice through the whip that was coiled around Liang Chen''s stomach.


    Shi Tengriu looked at the incoming Ren Ooyung, as well as the part of the stage that was coming along with him, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He bent his knees and punched the shattered stage with all three of his arms, his fists burying themselves deep within the stage. He then took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, his voice turning so heavy that it seemed to affect even the air in the area.


    "Ox-Serpent''s Feast!"


    Not just the five-kilometer wide stone stage, but even the area between the stage and the seating area trembled fiercely after Shi Tengriu''s voice rang out. The entire area suddenly exploded outwards, countless two-meter-thick horned serpents made out of metal rushing out from the earth and stretching towards the sky, their bodies covered in razor-sharp spines that could easily shred a person''s body.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Neither Liang Chen or Yan Ling had seen anyone on this planet use a battle skill before, but they still reacted quickly to dodge. Yan Ling wedged her foot underneath Liang Chen''s foot and kicked him into the air. In turn, Liang Chen quickly leaned down and grabbed onto Yan Ling''s outstretched arm, throwing her up into the air, both of them using their wind to further propel themselves into the air.


    Ren Ooyung had a bit of an easier time dodging, he only had to twist his body slightly, the serpents even crushed the part of the stage that was still stuck to his feet. The iron serpents continued to chase Liang Chen and Yan Ling higher into the sky, only stopping when they had stretched four-kilometers into the air. Liang Chen looked down from his vantage point, his gaze landing on Shi Tengriu, a light mutter escaping from his lips.


    "Metal, huh? Alright, let''s finish you then."


    Liang Chen stretched out his right arm and pointed at Shi Tengriu, all the metal serpents suddenly twisting and distorting violently, smashing into him. Shi Tengriu had summoned countless metal serpents, now he was forced to suffer under their combined might and weight. He managed to resist the first 30 or so serpents just fine, but as more and more of them crashed into him, his body was slowly crushed. Even worse, he noticed that even after they crashed into him, they continued to press onto him, as if they were trying to go straight through him.


    Liang Chen could not control the law of metal, but he was quite skilled in the law of lightning. The technique he used just now was one he had actually stolen from a bandit he fought a little after leaving the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, she had used it on him and he had observed it, taking it for himself. He used the lightning he inserted into Shi Tengriu''s arm when they touched at the start of the battle to create a current that formed a magnetic field around his entire left arm, which was covered in metal, turning it into a large magnet that attracted all the metal he had summoned. Back when it was used against him, the woman was able to make the magnet strong enough to even attract the metal within Liang Chen''s blood, but he had yet to become that skillful with the technique.


    Trapped beneath the distorted mess that used to be the metal serpents, there was no way for Shi Tengriu to move. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring, his golden spear appearing in his grasp as he tilted his head slightly at Yan Ling.


    "Mind making a small opening for me? It just has to be large enough for my spear."


    Ever since she had absorbed the White Tiger bloodline, Yan Ling had technically gained control over the laws of earth and metal, it was just that her control over them was so weak that it wasn''t really useable in combat yet. But if it was just moving a bit of metal, she was more than capable of it, so she nodded her head and flicked her wrist, a small hole opening in the distorted metal mass, leading directly to Shi Tengriu''s head.


    Liang Chen raised his spear high, emerald and crimson lightning gathering within it, the tip of the spear turning completely white, a sizzling sound barely audible as poison started to fill the tip. The entire spear started to release a blinding light that was a mixture of emerald, crimson, and white, some of the spectators forced to look away. Once the spear was filled to the brim with energy, Liang Chen threw it with all his might.


    The spear turned into a bolt of lightning, a deafening shockwave spreading out from it as it easily surpassed the speed of sound and almost vanished from sight, only a thin line visible as it passed through the air. Shi Tengriu was trapped under the metal he himself had summoned, he had no choice but to take this attack head-on, not even able to use his arms to defend himself. He raised his head and looked at the thin line that came for him, calling out one last curse.


    "I curse you, Scourge King! I pray that all you hold dear is ruined!"


    His curses amounted to nothing, the tip of the spear colliding with his forehead. The poison melted any semblance of defense his skin had left, the spear going through his head and then through his back, stabbing into the ground that used to be the stone stage. Normally, this would not be enough to kill someone from the Fiendgod race, the race famed for their strong vitality. But the violent energy that the spear contained was fully unleashed inside his body, evaporating all his organs before they could even start to regenerate.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling descended to the ground again after Shi Tengriu died, now only Ren Ooyung remained. Ren Ooyung observed Shi Tengriu''s fate, but thanks to the Soul Oath, he wasn''t too worried, such an attack would go directly against it should they try to launch it against him. He looked at his whip, which was ruined after Yan Ling cut off the front part, throwing it aside and raising his fists, continuing to look at Liang Chen.


    "Just me left huh? Well, I''m still not done, I still have something I need to figure out, so come!"


    Yan Ling looked at the fired-up Ren Ooyung, shrugging her shoulders and stepping back, giving Liang Chen a pat on the shoulder, leaving the rest to him. Since he wanted to awaken his bloodline here, there was no point in her interfering in the battle. Liang Chen nodded his head and cracked his knuckles, stepping forward and charging towards Ren Ooyung.


    Neither of them used any fancy moves or techniques, they simply sent out punch after punch, aiming to break down the other. As he was a body cultivator, Liang Chen had a clear advantage in this situation, his wounds slowly healing while Ren Ooyung''s only got worse and worse. Since he was trying to fully awaken his bloodline, Liang Chen did not even bother dodging any of Ren Ooyung''s punches, letting all of them land on his body.


    Each time they touched, his bloodline would move a little faster, scales quickly starting to cover his right leg, energy welling up from deep within his body. And then, after the two slugged away at each other for almost two minutes, Liang Chen''s gray scales grew to cover his right leg, covering his entire body.


    A change immediately happened when the gray scales grew to cover his entire body, they suddenly vanished beneath his skin. All the scales sank into his flesh and skin, no longer visible, but still clearly there. As they were his scales, Liang Chen was even able to feel that they had grown thicker and sturdier than before, his defenses growing even stronger. Power started to well forth from the gray blood in his veins, spreading to every inch of his body and causing a majestic aura to radiate from his body.


    Ren Ooyung''s eyes shot open the moment Liang Chen''s gray scales vanished and his body started to radiate the majestic aura, his finger swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a jade orb. He immediately smashed the jade orb, a large and thick screen of smoke spreading out to cover what was once the stone stage, preventing anyone but those currently on the stage from seeing the following scene.


    The phantom of a large serpentine dragon appeared on the stage, coiling around Liang Chen, just barely hidden by the screen of smoke. The dragon was covered in gray scales, a few cyan stripes running through the scales along its side, the dragon''s left eye was a brilliant gold while the right one was a more ethereal cyan. Both eyes were filled with an unmistakable majesty and disdain, the dragon seeing everything around it as beneath it. The only one it didn''t look at with disdain was Yan Ling, as the dragon was a phantom of Liang Chen''s bloodline, it was able to sense the strong bloodline flowing in Yan Ling''s body, one that even it had to take very seriously.


    While Ren Ooyung looked on with trembling eyes, and Yan Ling looked on with eyes burning with excitement, the dragon raised its head and opened its maw, unleashing a horrifying roar. Just as it had been when Yan Ling''s bloodline awakened, the roar echoed over the entire planet, instilling the majesty and terror of the dragon in the minds of every living being, announcing the birth of a monarch.


    The dragon vanished after unleashing its roar and announcing the complete awakening of Liang Chen''s bloodline. As his bloodline had been gradually awakening all along, he didn''t get an instantaneous increase to his cultivation like Yan Ling had, but his strength still grew quite a bit, especially his physical strength. Right after the dragon vanished, a sound from Ren Ooyung drew Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s attention. Ren Ooyung had heavily kneeled down in front of Liang Chen, reverently lowering his head.


    "This subordinate greets the Young Prince!"

 Crown Prince Liang Chen.

    Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the kneeling Ren Ooyung with dumbfounded expressions, uncertain how they should react in a situation like this. Ren Ooyung suddenly seemed to remember their current location and situation, hurriedly standing up and giving Liang Chen another quick bow.


    "Forgive me for standing up without permission, but I don''t believe this location is proper."


    He turned around and waved his arm, the smoke covering the stage freezing and collapsing to the ground, allowing the spectators to finally see them again. Ren Ooyung faced the judge, who was still trembling slightly after hearing the roar that was a result of Liang Chen''s bloodline fully awakened.


    "I admit defeat, I am unable to beat them now that it''s two against one."


    A faint light flashed on Ren Ooyung''s interspatial ring immediately after he announced his surrender, the Soul Oath flying out and hovering in the air for a short second before disintegrating. Now, Liang Chen and Yan Ling could try to kill Ren Ooyung as they pleased, they would not suffer any consequences.


    Ren Ooyung turned back to Liang Chen after announcing his surrender, looking at him with quiet excitement as he awaited Liang Chen''s next words. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes for a second, both of them raising an eyebrow while glancing at Ren Ooyung, who almost resembled a puppy at this point. After giving it a few seconds of thought, Liang Chen turned around and beckoned for Ren Ooyung to follow them as the two left the stage.


    Ren Ooyung quickly nodded his head and followed the two of them, bending over and using a thin piece of cloth to gather up some of the blood that Liang Chen had spilled on the ground. He dropped the blood on a transparent claw-shaped crystal he took out of his interspatial ring, a dark gray light quickly spreading out from within the crystal. Upon seeing the gray light, Ren Ooyung grew even more excited, practically skipping after Liang Chen and Yan Ling.


    Liang Chen occasionally glanced back at Ren Ooyung as they headed to the nearest empty house. Now that his bloodline had fully awakened, he no longer felt any faint thumping when he looked at Ren Ooyung. Instead, he felt what he imagined an emperor felt when he looked at his subjects, an overbearing sense of control. It was quite a strange sensation to Liang Chen, who had never really felt anything like it.


    The three quickly reached an empty house, Liang Chen and Yan Ling temporarily taking it over while they were talking with Ren Ooyung. The moment they reached the living room and Liang Chen and Yan Ling had sat down on one of the couches, Ren Ooyung kneeled down again and bowed his head, his voice incomparably excited.


    "Please forgive my earlier offenses, Crown Prince, I did not know of your esteemed status back then. Please enlighten me, are you one of the children that escaped the cleansing, or are you perhaps one of the time-shifted children? Oh, I am certain that the King and Emperor will be thrilled when they learn about you, as long as you have several children with the First and Second Princesses, maybe even the Queen, the future of our race will be all but guaranteed."


    Ren Ooyung talked so quickly that it seemed like he wasn''t certain where he should start and was trying to cover all his bases at once. Yan Ling''s eyes narrowed faintly when Ren Ooyung reached the end of his sentence, a slight chill creeping down Liang Chen''s spine. He gave a light wave of his hand, cutting off Ren Ooyung before he got to continue talking in his overly-excited manner.


    "Calm down, I can''t understand a word of what you''re saying. Start from the top again, and make sure to properly explain everything you just mentioned, especially why you keep calling me a prince."


    Liang Chen was slightly curious about the manner in which Ren Ooyung addressed him. First, he had called him Young Prince, but now it was suddenly Crown Prince, it was quite a step up in rank. Ren Ooyung quickly took a deep breath, nodding his head and doing exactly as Liang Chen had asked.


    "As you wish, Crown Prince. Allow me to start by introducing myself properly, I am Ren Ooyung and I am a Captain of the Fifth Sky Devouring Army of the Sebettu race. I was stationed on this planet 300 years ago, shortly after the army was forced to withdraw from this part of the universe in favor of defending our main galaxy. I was stationed here to see if anyone from the White Orchid race, which can be considered a controlled mutation of our own bloodline, managed to purify their bloodline enough to become a Sebettu. Over these last 300 years, there has been one such case, and the cultivator in question has already been sent to our main galaxy in this universe."


    Liang Chen had some suspicions that the White Orchid race might be connected to the Sebettu when he first heard about how they cultivated, it was simply too similar to the way a Sebettu cultivated. But having his suspicion confirmed only raised another question, how did one control mutations to the point that they practically created a new race? Of course, this question was only a minor thought of his, he didn''t bother asking Ren Ooyung about it, continuing to quietly listen to his explanation.


    "As for why I am calling you Crown Prince, it is very simple. We Sebettu value bloodline purity over everything else, it, alongside our age, is what decides our status. The hierarchy of our race takes the Emperor as the grand leader, the king and queen as the second in command, and the various princes and princesses as the third in command. Our current Emperor, Raviel, has the same bloodline density as you, one belonging to the third generation of Sebettu. The King and Queen are a bit lower, only having reached the fourth generation. None of the princes are close to you, the closest one only has the bloodline density of an 11th generation, as such, the title of Crown Prince is rightfully yours. The princesses have had better luck with their bloodline, the First Princess has the bloodline of a fourth generation and the Second Princess has the bloodline of a fifth generation. If you have children with any of them, considering the strength and purity of your bloodline, your children are likely to inherit the bloodline density of you or their mother."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Ren Ooyung took out a claw-shape crystal as he spoke, a few drops of blood that Liang Chen recognized as his own currently running down the side of the crystal. The crystal radiated a dark gray light, especially around the areas touched by the blood it should be a device to check one''s bloodline density.


    Liang Chen remembered when he first learned that he was a Sebettu, the remnant spirit told him that he had the bloodline density of a fourth generation Sebettu. But now it seemed like his bloodline density had increased, could it be because of the Storm God blood and Rot Dragon blood that had fused into his bloodline? Could he fuse more and more bloodlines into his own, eventually making it just as strong as the original Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline? Could he make it even stronger? The questions swirled in his mind, but there was no way for Ren Ooyung to answer them, so there was no point in asking him. Ren Ooyung continued to talk, his expression sinking slightly.


    "The cleansing is what we call the great decline of our race, it has been going on for countless years already. We have lost more and more of the universes we once controlled, our territory growing smaller and smaller. By the time I was stationed here, the only bases we still had left were the Verdant Triangle Galaxy in this universe and our own Rahu Universe, everything else has been stolen away by other cultivators. As for time-shifted children, it is the title given to children who have been sent to the future by their parents or elders, either to spare them a gruesome fate or to leave a beacon of hope for our race. A beacon such as you."


    This was the first time Liang Chen ever heard about other people from the Sebettu race being sent to the future, but upon giving it a bit more thought he realized that it wasn''t too strange. His parents were most certainly not the only ones that could use the law of time, so of course there would be others that could send people into the future in case there should be a need for it. This, of course, raised another question, just how many people had been sent into the future by the Sebettu?


    Ren Ooyung still had his head lowered, so he didn''t see Liang Chen''s eyes rolling as his thoughts wandered. Ren Ooyung placed his forehead against the floor of the house, his voice choked with emotions.


    "Crown Prince, please come with me to the Rahu Universe! The Emperor and the King will certainly give you every commodity that you wish for!"


    In Liang Chen''s dense bloodline, Ren Ooyung saw hope for the future. The current Emperor had the same bloodline density, but he was old and decrepit, approaching death''s door, he could no longer have children. It was hard for people with such a dense bloodline to have children, but Liang Chen was young, he had plenty of time to try with the various princesses and the queen. Sooner or later, he would end up getting children, their bloodline density so strong that they could secure the future of the race. There was also the fact that Liang Chen himself was strong and still had plenty of room to grow, he could be the savior that the Sebettu needed. Liang Chen didn''t give Ren Ooyung an immediate response, changing the subject with a quick question.


    "Tell me, this planet, does it have a connection to the Sebettu race?"


    Since they would station someone like Ren Ooyung here, rather than just abandon it completely, it stood to reason that they had something they wanted here. He said that he was stationed here to see if any of the White Orchid race could become Sebettu, but since there had only been one case in the last 300 years, there was a chance that there was something more to this planet. Ren Ooyung was eager to please Liang Chen, so he quickly responded, listing everything he knew.


    "It does! The creator of this planet was a dear friend of our Progenitor. According to some of our ancient records, the creator of this planet left behind his legacy here on this planet, keeping it safe for his future descendants or the descendants of his dear friend. But we were forced out of this galaxy before we managed to find this legacy, and the records don''t say anything about just what this legacy is."


    The Progenitor he spoke of could only be one person, the original Heaven Devouring Dragon. Just what sort of person did the creator of this planet have to be, for an Origin Beast like that to be considered a dear friend? Liang Chen already had some guesses about the actual legacy, he guessed that it might just be the full Ocean God technique, hidden away at the top of these three towers. After digesting all the information, Liang Chen stood up from the couch and shook his head.


    "I see, thank you for telling me, but I''m sorry, I have no interest in heading to the Sebettu race. At least not yet, I have my hands full with my own matters right now. As for having children with any princesses or queens, you can forget about it, that''s not happening."


    He still had to increase his own strength so that he could kill Qing Lan Yong and Yan Ling''s mother, he also had to look for ways that he could revive his parents, there was no way he could just drop all that and go to the Sebettu. Especially considering the fact that the Sebettu were currently being hunted down and forced back, going to them now meant that he would have to devote all his time to focus on their problems. As for having any children with some princesses or a queen, that was even more out of the question, he had Yan Ling after all. Ren Ooyung quickly raised his head, looking at Liang Chen with imploring eyes.


    "But... Crown Prince, I beg of you to reconsider!"


    Ren Ooyung tried to stand up, but he felt his legs go soft when his eyes met Liang Chen''s, his blood nearly growing stagnant under the terrible suppression that came about from the difference in bloodline density. It had been present earlier, but it only fully materialized itself now, acting on Liang Chen''s will and emotions. Liang Chen repeated himself once more, resolutely rejecting Ren Ooyung.


    "No. I may head to the Sebettu race in the future, but it won''t be for quite a while, not until I finish dealing with all of my matters first. I''m sorry, but to be perfectly honest with you, I have practically no connection with the Sebettu race. I may have your blood in my veins, but I was raised by humans, as a human. And that is what I consider myself, a human."


    Liang Chen had never once considered himself a Sebettu, nor did he consider himself connected to them. He was the son of Qing Feng and Qing Lan, a human through and through. He might visit the Sebettu in the future if he found the time for it, but he could not be the person they wanted him to be, he could not be their savior.


    Liang Chen stretched out his arm, presenting his hand to the still sitting Yan Ling. She grabbed onto his hand and stood up, a radiant smile on her face. The two left the house, leaving behind a still immobile Ren Ooyung. Once Liang Chen left the area and the bloodline suppression vanished, Ren Ooyung took out a star-shaped piece of metal from his interspatial ring, quickly inserting his Qi into it.


    "I must report this to the general, she will know what to do."

 Challenged once again.

    Liang Chen left the house with quick steps and a light heart, he didn''t regret his choice in the slightest. Going to the Sebettu might mean that he would get his hands on countless resources and be the source of countless people''s admiration, but it was simply far too dangerous when he considered the Sebettu''s current position.


    Even worse, it wasn''t just dangerous for him, it was probably even more dangerous for Yan Ling. The Sebettu would definitely want Liang Chen to produce as many children as he could, all of them with other Sebettu. When he rejected them in favor or Yan Ling, just what would they do to her? They might just lock Liang Chen up and use him as a seed bank to pop out new children as often as possible. He would lose all control over his own life if he went to the Sebettu with his current strength, and all these factors mixing together made it very clear to him that he had to reject the offer to return.


    Yan Ling dragged her steps a bit right after the two left the house, ending up just behind Liang Chen. Just as he was about to turn his head and check what she was thinking, he heard a small exclamation from Yan Ling, her body quickly pressing against his back with her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms around his neck. Liang Chen let out a light breath and put his hands beneath Yan Ling''s thighs so that he could carry her in a piggyback.


    "So what happened to the cute girl who finds the simple act of holding hands in public to be somewhat embarrassing? This is at least two steps above hand holding, you know?"


    Of course, even though he said this, Liang Chen had no intentions of complaining, he would take any chance he could to be even the slightest bit intimate with her. Yan Ling gave his shoulder a playful bite before resting her chin on it, leaning her face against his and lightly puffing out her cheeks.


    "Humph, are you implying that I''m not cute like this? Also, I''ll have you know that I was knocked around a bit during the previous fight, I also had to expend a lot of energy, so it only makes sense for me to be so tired that I need to be carried around!"


    Liang Chen knew that she had actually been hit quite a bit in the previous battle and been forced to expend a great deal of her energy, but that clearly had nothing to do with this, she likely just wanted to be spoiled. Still, Liang Chen was not one to turn down a situation like this, half-heartedly nodding his head with a chuckle.


    "Aye aye, whatever you say."


    Liang Chen continued to carry a silent Yan Ling as they made their way back to their own house, ignoring the drifting gazes of the people they passed. After the two had walked for a little over half an hour, Yan Ling spoke up once more, her voice barely more than a faint whisper.


    "Hey, Little Freak... Thank you for staying with me."


    Yan Ling knew that Liang Chen only had to go to the Sebettu to get his hands on countless resources and riches, he would have a status that countless people dreamed of having. 9 out of 10 people would probably have immediately said yes to Ren Ooyung''s proposition. Since Yan Ling was resting her chin on his shoulder and leaning her head against his, Liang Chen could feel that she was currently rather cold, she was likely somewhat pale from worry. Liang Chen shifted his hands a little, bringing up his left hand and flicking Yan Ling on the forehead without even turning to look at her.


    "You''re an idiot."


    Liang Chen actually used some force when he flicked her on the forehead, a red mark immediately appearing. Yan Ling quickly rubbed her forehead with her right hand, letting out a surprised yelp.


    "Ey! I''m calling abuse, abuse I sa... EY!"


    Liang Chen flicked her once more and interrupted her sentence. Yan Ling shrunk her neck slightly and seemed like she wanted to file a complaint, but Liang Chen spoke up before she got the chance to open her mouth.


    "Do you remember what I told you when we first arrived on this planet?"


    Yan Ling was a bit caught off guard by the sudden question, rolling her eyes while going through her memories. They had already been on this planet for quite some time, but with how good the memory of most cultivators was, it didn''t take her long to find the answer.


    "You said'' It must have been hard on you. Thank you for keeping watch over me.''"


    Liang Chen flicked her on the forehead once more after she delivered her answer, causing her to let out another yelp and shrink her neck back again, glaring lightly at the back of Liang Chen''s head while he was talking.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "That''s not what I meant, and you know it. Through thick and thin, until this multiverse collapses and crumbles, I want us to always stay together. Do you remember what you responded with?"


    Those were the words Liang Chen had ended his confession with, they were his solemn vow, the everlasting promise he made to her. Yan Ling leaned her head on his shoulder again, responding after a short moment of silence.


    "...Now you''re stuck with me, my Little Freak..."


    Just like the words Liang Chen had spoken back then were burned into her mind, so too was her response, mainly because of how satisfying it had felt to be able to say ''My Little Freak''. Liang Chen gave a satisfied nod of his head, a light laugh escaping his lips.


    "Exactly. I am your Little Freak, and I am stuck with you until the end of time. And conversely, you are my mischievous fox and you are stuck with me until the end of time. We are stuck with each other, no matter what."


    That was what they were, two hopeless people bound to each other for eternity. Liang Chen could feel the part of Yan Ling''s head that was leaning against him, her cheek, heating up again, a sweet giggle ringing out next to his head.


    "Nihihi, you''re a terrible romantic."


    No flowers, no presents, just a simple stating of facts. He even used the term ''stuck together'', it was indeed not the most romantic as far as gestures were confirmed. But Liang Chen didn''t mind, his lips curling into a faint smirk.


    "Ey, I managed to bag you, didn''t I?"


    Liang Chen was accutely aware that he was far from a proper romantic, he almost considered it a borderline miracle that Yan Ling ended up loving him back. Yan Ling didn''t deny his statement, giving his cheek a light poke.


    "Doesn''t that say more about my tastes than it does your skills in romance?"


    Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to not deny her statement, giving a serious nod of his head and speaking out in the most arrogant voice he could muster.


    "Aye, it shows that you have the most excellent taste in the multiverse."


    Hearing such an uncharacteristic voice coming from Liang Chen, Yan Ling couldn''t help but burst out into laughter, nearly falling down from Liang Chen''s back when her grip on his neck loosened due to her laughter.


    The two took their time returning to their own house, spending another two and a half hours walking and chatting, the time passing in what felt like the blink of an eye. When they finally entered the house again, Yan Ling hopped down from Liang Chen''s back and jumped straight for the couch, landing on her stomach and cradling one of the pillows.


    "Ahhh, couch sweet couch! I''m gonna sleep, then I''m gonna sleep, and then I''m gonna sleep some more until I''m all done sleeping. And once I''m done sleeping, I''ll get some food and then go back to sleep!"


    Liang Chen closed the door behind him, Yumao immediately popping out of his dantian and curling up on top of Liang Chen''s head. Liang Chen gave Yumao a few pats on the head, casting a sideways glance at Yan Ling as he headed for the other couch.


    "And just where are you going to be getting that food at such a perfect time?"


    Yan Ling didn''t bother responding, she simply turned her head towards him and flashed him a wide grin, causing Liang Chen to let out a light breath and a mutter.


    "Yeah, I figured."


    Liang Chen was just about to sit down on the couch when a bell-like sound rang throughout the house, the watermelon-sized orb standing in the corner of the room letting out a bright light. Liang Chen looked at the orb, one of his eyebrows slowly rising.


    "Oh, we''ve already been challenged again?"


    It had only been a few hours since they finished their last fight, there was no way this timing was a coincidence. Liang Chen stood up and headed over to the orb, Yan Ling remaining on the couch and calling out, waving him over.


    "Whoever it is, tell them to just fuck off and leave us alone. After that, come over here, I need a hugging pillow."


    Liang Chen placed his hand on the orb and brought up the information about the person challenging them. Qin Nuan, a female from the Fiendgod race who actually had six arms rather than the normal four, her pitch-black skin also had strange white veins running across it. Liang Chen gave her information a quick read over, relaying it to Yan Ling.


    "Seems to be the same as Liao Cui, no records in this tower, probably came here just for us. But yeah, I''ll reject her for now."


    It didn''t say anything about her having a partner so Liang Chen guessed that she would likely be using a puppet, just like Liao Cui had done. Liang Chen rejected the challenge and was just about to head over to Yan Ling when the orb lit up again, Qin Nuan had challenged them again. He frowned slightly, once again rejecting her challenge. But shortly after he rejected it, she sent another challenge, and then another one after he rejected her again, causing Liang Chen to click his tongue.


    "Persistent, aren''t ya? Well, seeing as you came here just for us, I guess that is to be expected. Still, what a shitty system."


    Here on these upper floors of the tower, you could reject five challenges, but once you did that you would have to accept any future challenges. But the problem was, there was no cooldown on sending challenges, you could do as Qin Nuan was doing right now, sending a new challenge the moment you were rejected.


    Liang Chen had rejected three of her challenges, meaning that he had two rejections left he could use on this floor of the tower. He gave it a bit of thought, matching eyes with Yan Ling for a short moment before inserting his Qi into the orb and accepting the challenge, setting the date of the battle as far away as he could. After accepting the challenge, he shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the couch that Yan Ling was lying on.


    "Alright, we got a fight coming up next month, we should interrogate our opponents to find out just who it is that keeps sending these people. But first, let''s go along with your suggestion."


    Liang Chen bent forward and picked up Yan Ling, lifting her up into a princess carry and bringing her towards the bedroom, Yan Ling''s gleeful voice echoing throughout the house.


    "Yay, princess carry!"

 Qin Nuan.

    Liang Chen carried Yan Ling to the bedroom and dropped her down on the soft bed, quickly crawling under the covers and lying down next to her, the two of them quickly falling asleep in each other''s arms. Neither of them really needed a lot of sleep thanks to their cultivation, with Liang Chen not needing sleep at all thanks to his bloodline. But just like it was with eating and drinking, it was nice to do when they had the opportunity.


    Of course, neither of them forgot that they had a battle coming up next month so they made sure to not sleep for too long, only a little over two days. The two took a bath together right after they woke up, Yan Ling using her law of water to take care of all the remaining wounds the two still had from the previous battle. Once they were done bathing, Liang Chen prepared a light breakfast, with a heartier portion for Yumao, and the two sat down to eat. Yan Ling spoke up once they were halfway through the meal, wriggling her fingers as if she was trying to cast a spell while making a request.


    "You know that...thing you do with your law of time, the one that drastically increases your speed? Think you could use that on me? I feel like my control over the fused law is getting better and better so I''d like to try using it in the same way you use your law of time, but I have no idea how it''s supposed to feel, I need me some o'' that hands-on-experience."


    Liang Chen stopped his hand and raised an eyebrow at her request, not really seeing a reason to reject her, it was certainly better than having to stab and slice her repeatedly. He put down his fork and stretched out his right arm, giving her a quick warning.


    "Alright, I''ll let you get a feel for it, but you might have some trouble controlling it without experience."


    His finger touched her right arm, between her shoulder and elbow, his law of time flooding into her body and entering every nerve and cell in her right arm. He felt like trying to do it to her entire body would be too hard and drain his Qi too fast for her to properly feel it, so he only used it on her right arm. He felt his law of time move far smoother than it ever had in the past, guessing that it had something to do with the fact that his bloodline had finally fully awakened. After touching her arm for half a second, he pulled his arm back and beckoned with his hand.


    "Alright, try and see how it feels."


    Yan Ling didn''t immediately move her right arm, looking at it with a curious expression. Her entire right arm was tingling slightly, it almost felt like her entire arm was made from tiny pebbles that were vibrating and rubbing against each other, it was an exceedingly strange sensation. After prodding at her right arm with her left hand and curiously observing it for half a minute, Yan Ling tried to move her arm.


    Her right arm swung to the left so fast that it became nearly invisible to the naked eye. Yan Ling''s entire body followed her arm, spinning to the left and falling off the chair, falling face first onto the floor. She tried to quickly lift herself off the floor, but her right arm moved so fast that just the act of trying to lift it slightly off the ground caused it to shoot upwards, once again dragging her entire body along and spinning her around onto her back.


    Liang Chen looked at the scene with an amused smile while laughing. He eventually stood up and walked over to Yan Ling, placing his finger on her forehead and flooding her mind with the law of time, allowing it to keep up with the speed of her right arm. This was the main problem with this technique, he had to speed up his mind at the same time as his body, otherwise, he would be unable to control it. Liang Chen sped up himself after helping Yan Ling, chuckling lightly.


    "Well, how was it? Quite hard to control, no?"


    Yan Ling could understand Liang Chen''s words since he had made sure to speed himself up first. She carefully checked her right arm, making sure that it wouldn''t fly out of control the moment she tried to move it. The rest of her body felt like it moved at a snail''s pace now that her mind was sped up so drastically, but she was now able to properly feel the way the law of time was flooding through her arm and head. She turned her eyes onto Liang Chen after making sure that her arm wouldn''t go out of control, sending him a slight glare.


    "You ass, you knew this would happen."


    As the one who had come up with this technique, how could Liang Chen not know what would happen when it was used without speeding up the mind at the same time. But would he admit that to her now? Of course not, he simply shrugged his shoulders and moved the table away, clearing up some space in the room.


    "No idea what you''re talking about."


    Yan Ling continued to glare at him but didn''t pursue it further, she wanted to study this technique as quickly as possible. While she was focusing on studying the technique, Liang Chen checked out his own body, closely examining ever change he noticed after his bloodline awakened. The most noticeable change he felt was the increase in his physical strength, it had grown by quite a bit, at least 30% stronger. His defenses had also grown stronger, his gray scales at least twice as thick now.


    He could also bring out the scales whenever and wherever he wanted, he no longer needed to cover his entire body, he could choose to cover just his right hand. The other scales would remain beneath his skin, invisible to the eye but still providing a strong boost to his defense. And the third change he noticed was the one he had detected just earlier, his law of time was moving far smoother and faster than before.


    If it was being pulled along by donkeys earlier, it was now being pulled along by vigorous horses, moving through his body like a furious flood. Liang Chen cast a quick glance at Yan Ling, who was already fully immersed in studying the ways to apply her fused law to her own body. He took his eyes away from her after a few minutes and turned his gaze onto Yumao, who was currently stretched out on the couch and wore a lazy expression. Slowly, a content smile crept up on his face.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Really, peace like this is the best."


    They had a battle coming up, but right now they were all peaceful, just happily spending their days doing what they wished. To Liang Chen, this was a form of bliss, the type of bliss that validated all his hard work and pain. He took out some meat from his interspatial ring and tossed it to Yumao, who quickly caught and devoured it in a single gulp before shrinking down and coiling up on Liang Chen''s head, rubbing against his hair. Liang Chen gave him a few pats and then closed his eyes, focusing on his own cultivation.


    Time held no meaning in cultivation, the month before the battle quickly passing. Liang Chen and Yan Ling only rarely halted their training during this one month, mostly only to share a meal, share a bath, or for Liang Chen to refresh the law of time he had inserted into her body. They both halted their training on the day before the battle, getting a good nights rest and sharing a hearty meal before the battle, making sure that they were in their peak states.


    After they finished eating, Yumao jumped into Liang Chen''s dantian so that he could be ready just in case an emergency happened and he was needed. The two then left the house and headed for the scheduled arena, which was located a little over an hour away. The audience seating area was already packed when Liang Chen and Yan Ling arrived, a few hushed whispers going over the crowd as the two entered the stage and faced their opponent.


    Qin Nuan was standing on the other end of the stage, and just as they expected, she was alone. Her body was taller than Liang Chen first expected, she was actually almost seven meters tall, each of her six arms two meters long, her sharp nails at least 20 centimeters long. Her black carapace-like skin was covered in white veins that gathered on top of her head, becoming one with her waist-length snow-white hair. Her crimson eyes were looking at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with a steely expression, her fingers quietly tapping against her body.


    While Yan Ling was marveling at Qin Nuan''s gargantuan stature, Liang Chen was looking her up and down. Since they still had a few minutes before the scheduled start of the battle, he decided that he might as well waste the minutes by asking her a few questions.


    "I suspect you won''t answer me if I ask who it is that sent you and Liao Cui? I also imagine you won''t answer me if I ask why you people are so against having us here?"


    Qin Nuan stopped the tapping of her fingers, her gaze landing directly on Liang Chen. The two locked eyes for a short moment, and contrary to what he expected, Qin Nuan actually started talking.


    "You know, these three towers have been on this planet for as long as anyone can remember, it is their existence that allowed the Fiendgod race, the Undead race, and the White Orchid race to take over this entire planet. And while those who reach a certain cultivation realm always choose to leave this planet, that doesn''t change the fact that countless rulers of the three races have risen to prominence in these very towers. Their deeds and history is the pride of our races, the blood and sweat they shed in these towers are what has been used to pave the path to the future for our races."


    Qin Nuan swept her gaze around the area as she spoke, as if she could see the battles that took place on this very stage in the past. She was truly proud of the ancestors of the three races, they had fought and grown stronger in an untamed world, carving out a place for their three races. Her gaze slowly drifted back onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling, her fingers starting to anxiously tap against her body again.


    "Truth be told, I don''t really want to fight the two of you, but that''s just my destiny. If the two of you continue to climb the towers and get stronger, there is a good chance that you might tear down everything that our ancestors fought and bled for. You will become a leader to the humans and their sympathizers, and together you will sink your fangs into the throats of the three races, you might even be able to tear down one or two of the races."


    She was a Fiendgod, she cultivated by fusing Demonic beast parts into her body. There was no race better than hers to detect just how strong Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s bodies and bloodlines weres, the stronger the Fiendgod, the more acutely aware they would be. But even so, she would fight. Liang Chen locked eyes with Yan Ling, who turned her gaze onto Qin Nuan and then raised her hand, pointing to the sky.


    "We have no interest in becoming leaders for the humans, we just want to get stronger and get our hands on that which lies at the top of the towers."


    Yan Ling had made sure that Liang Chen realized that he didn''t need to save people just because they were suffering, no one could save everyone. He only had to save those he could grasp, those in front of him. So while they thought it would be nice to help the humans, which were no more than livestock on this planet, it was not their main goal here. Qin Nuan tilted her head slightly to the side after hearing Yan Ling''s statement, stretching out one of her arms and pointing at them.


    "You know, quite a bit of information about the two of you has already spread around the planet. Those humans living in hiding, the humans being raised and bred, their sympathizers, all of them already know about you and what you have done. And do you know what they call you? They are calling you their Bloody Emperors, the ones who will let them carve a bloody path to freedom and supremacy, you are their heroes."


    This was the first that Liang Chen and Yan Ling had heard about their information spreading across the entire planet, but it made sense when they thought about it. Most humans were being treated as livestock, taken care of before they could get too strong, there were even places where the humans had no idea they were being raised as mere livestock, the humans had no one to look up to, nothing to strive for. So with the appearance of Liang Chen and Yan Ling, two humans able to both ascend and stand proudly in the towers, how could the humans not look up to them and take them as their goal? Qin Nuan pulled back her arm, giving a slight shake of her head and letting out a soft sigh.


    "I believe destiny to be a funny thing, it doesn''t care about what we want or what we desire. You can''t go chasing your destiny nor can you go looking for it. It will come for you no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, no matter what you want. The moment the two of you stepped into this tower and showed your fangs, it became your destiny to become heroes for the humans on the planet, to be their guiding light, to forever change this planet, it doesn''t matter whether or not you wanted to. Even if I kill you here, whispers of your actions will continue to blow with the wind, legends of your strength will continue to find their way to human ears, and they will find strength in those rumors, they will use them as fuel to charge forward."


    The judge stepped onto the stage as Qin Nuan finished her sentence, signifying that the battle was about to start. Qin Nuan''s gaze locked onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling, one of her fingers swiping her interspatial ring and taking out nine puppets, three from each race.


    "So right here and now, I will fight you, I will do my best to stop you before its too late, before your legends and light become too blinding. That is the best thing I can do for this planet that I hold so dear."

 The Queens law.

    The nine puppets spread out the moment they appeared on the stage, taking up positions at the very edges of the stage and forming a nonagon around Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Qin Nuan. All nine puppets stretched out their arms, thick streams of energy rolling forth and connecting the nine. The Fiendgod puppets released Fiendgod Essence, the White Orchid puppets released Qi, and the Undead puppets released Anima Essence, all of which flooded directly into Qin Nuan''s body, causing her exoskeleton-like skin to bulge, the white veins wriggling like earthworms.


    Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at Qin Nuan, their expressions slowly growing more and more serious. Her cultivation had reached the very peak of the Soaring Immortal realm, both of them had guessed that she was about as strong as Huang Dong had been when they fought him. That alone was plenty strong, but now she was getting even stronger after receiving the energy of the nine puppets, this would not be an easy fight. Qin Nuan clenched her six fists, trembling slightly as she did her best to contain the overflowing energy.


    "These puppets were given to me by the one who ordered me to kill you, they can form a special array that gathers all their energy and transfers it to me. For the next 12 hours, all of me will be drastically strengthened and all my weaknesses will have been mended. Consider me telling you this my final respects for you and the efforts you must have gone through to acquire your strength."


    Four weapons appeared in Qin Nuan''s grasp after she finished talking, two long halberds and two shortswords. Her four lower arms grasped the halberds, which ended in a tip that had an axe-like blade on one side and a hammer-like cudgel on the other, and her remaining upper arms each grasped one shortsword which were light green in color and covered in what seemed to be tiny barbs.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both brought out their own weapons, giving them a quick glance. They were already in a bad state after having been forced to endure such excessive energy for so long, but they should still be able to get them through this fight. The judge raised his arm, the bodies of the three combatants tensing up slightly as they readied themselves, the air above the stage trembling slightly from the pressure they all unleashed.


    The judge lowered his arm, and the stage immediately shattered as all three people charged forth. Liang Chen and Yan Ling both activated their bloodlines, Liang Chen charging directly at Qin Nuan while Yan Ling aimed for one of the Fiendgod puppets at the edge of the stage. Qin Nuan glanced at Yan Ling but didn''t move to pursue her, facing Liang Chen and slashing out with both of her halberds, one high and one low.


    Liang Chen kicked off the ground and dove forward in a horizontal position, the halberds missing him by just a few inches. Qin Nuan had clearly expected, or even planned, for this to happen, slashing out in a downwards cross with both her shortswords. But just as she had expected his move, Liang Chen had expected her counter, swiftly reacting.


    His spear was pulled back into his interspatial ring and he gave his body a slight spin to the right, grabbing onto both the halberds and finishing his spin. A strong gust of wind blew down on his legs, returning him to a standing, if somewhat forward bent, position He exerted all his power and forced the handles of the halberds to cross just above his head, blocking the two shortswords. His plan was to see if he could either break the halberds using Qin Nuan''s strength or if he could block the shortswords with the halberds and then twist them in a manner that forced her to let go of at least one of her weapons.


    But for the first time in quite a while, Liang Chen made a mistake, one he had never really done before in his life, he underestimated his opponent. She slammed her shortswords down onto the halberds with all her might, making sure to not put any force in the arms used to grasp the halberds, forcing Liang Chen to bear the entirety of it. And the moment her shortswords hit the halberds, they were forced downward, the handles crashing into the top of Liang Chen''s head and slamming him down onto the stage with such force that the stones shattered.


    Liang Chen could hear a ringing in his ears as he crashed into the stone stage, the taste of blood appearing in his mouth. It had been a while since he had been overpowered this horribly, it reminded him of the time he put his own life on the line and fought against Huang Dong. But even with his ears ringing and his face smashed into the ground, Liang Chen did not let his concentration slip for even a single instant.


    He quickly pushed off the ground with his arms, raising his upper body and then quickly crossing his arms in front of his abdomen. Qin Nuan''s foot smashed into his crossed arms just as he raised his torso, him raising his body made it so that her kick missed his head. Liang Chen could hear a creaking from his arms when the kick connected, Qin Nuan''s body felt like it was made from the hardest of metals.


    Liang Chen''s body was raised into the air and flung backward from the kick, a light sizzling sound barely audible from Qin Nuan''s foot. Liang Chen did a backflip while flying backward, quickly landing on his feet in a somewhat crouched position, a thin line of blood leaking out from the corner of his mouth. Yan Ling suddenly arrived next to him, placing her hand on his back and flooding his body with her law of water, swiftly taking care of his wounds.


    "What happened?"


    Yan Ling''s voice was tinged with a mixture of worry and curiosity, it was quite rare for her to see Liang Chen beaten like that. Liang Chen clicked his tongue in annoyance, mostly at himself and his arrogance, casting a quick glance at Qin Nuan and her foot before responding.


    "I got cocky cause of our recent success, won''t happen again. She has us beat in physical strength, her soul is so strong that my poison was unable to harm it, and her Qi is probably just as strong. What about the puppets?"


    When she kicked him, he had made sure to insert some of his poisonous Anima Essence into her body, hoping for it to eat away at her soul. But the Anima Essence had been crushed by an overwhelming force the moment it got into contact with her soul, it was barely able to nibble away at it. Even the normally weak soul of a Fiendgod had been strengthened to such a degree, this was clearly a very powerful array. Yan Ling shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, pointing at one of the puppets using her thumb.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "No good, they are all surrounded by a defensive wall of Qi that not even my fused law was able to get through. Seems like we''ll have to smash her down in a standard battle. But hey, if we''re able to beat her, we''ll know that we''ve become strong enough to kill Huang Dong, that''ll at least be something."


    Yan Ling''s gaze landed on Qin Nuan, curiously inspecting her. Qin Nuan was doing the same to them, not in a rush to charge at them, she was quite wary of whatever strength they might still have hidden away. Liang Chen''s lips curved up slightly as he straightened out his body, his spear appearing in his hands again.


    "Ever the optimist, I love it."


    Yan Ling let out a sweet giggle as her only response, her eyes firmly locked on Qin Nuan. A short second of silence followed before Yan Ling suddenly shot forward, arriving in front of Qin Nuan almost instantly and slashing out with her sword. Qin Nuan quickly placed one of her halberds vertically at the side of her body and blocking the sword, a slight tremble running through the arms holding it. She retaliated by stabbing out with her other halberd and slashing downwards with both her swords, forcing Yan Ling to focus her attention on either the swords or the halberd.


    Yan Ling let go of her sword and bent forward, punching down on the handle of the incoming halberd with all her might, diverting its course downward and causing it to pierce into the stone stage. Liang Chen arrived behind her just as she bent forward, stepping on her back and jumping up into the air. He grabbed his spear with both hands and twirled it slightly, leaving faint trails of crimson lightning and white poison in the air.


    The handle of his spear arrived beneath one of the shortswords and the tip of his spear pushed at the side of the other shortsword, pushing it aside. The shortsword that was blocked by the handle of his spear heavily pushed it down, sliding along the handle and ending up going past Yan Ling''s side. But as the sword pushed the back of the handle down it also pushed the tip of the spear upwards, Liang Chen utilizing the force, as well as mixing in some of his own, to turn the tip of his spear into a blurry slash that cut directly through Qin Nuan''s throat. Her body might be as tough as iron, but even the most divine of irons would have to bow before the might of his crimson lightning and white poison.


    But the wound healed itself before the cut even had time to properly bleed, perfectly showcasing the strong body of someone from the Fiendgod race. Qin Nuan''s expression sank slightly when her throat was cut, it showed that Liang Chen and Yan Ling were still capable of killing her even after she received such a strong boost to her power.


    Qin Nuan let out a heavy breath, the air in front of her mouth heating up so much that flames started to appear. Her crimson eyes suddenly changed, turning into thin amber slits that had small flames dancing in them. Four backward bent obsidian horns grew out from her head, the tips shimmering with a sharp light. Her skin bulged even further, murky crimson scales quickly appearing over her entire body, her defenses growing even stronger. Two large leathery wings sprouted from her back, the tips of the wings ending in sharp spikes that resembled fangs.


    Liang Chen could guess that Qin Nuan had drawn out all her power, utilizing the Demonic beast parts she used for cultivation. And looking at the changes, and how the pressure radiating from her had gotten even stronger, it seemed like the parts used came from a very strong Demonic beast.


    Qin Nuan raised her right knee, crimson flames sparking into existence all around it as she aimed to crush Yan Ling''s head skull in one swift move. Liang Chen quickly reacted and flooded his own body with his law of time to speed him up as much as possible, a gust of wind pushing Yan Ling up from the ground and directly towards him. His spear vanished back into his interspatial ring and he placed both his arms onto Qin Nuan''s shoulders, wrapping his legs around Yan Ling''s waist at the same time.


    He instantly exerted all his force, vaulting both himself and Yan Ling over Qin Nuan''s head and horns, her knee ending up only hitting empty air. As Liang Chen was about to finish his vault, he loosened the grip his legs had around Yan Ling''s waist, throwing her a bit away from him and Qin Nuan. Yan Ling quickly corrected her position with a flip, landing on her feet and tensing her entire body, gathering her might in her right fist.


    Liang Chen let go of Qin Nuan''s shoulder and finished vaulting over her, grabbing onto her long hair as he started to approach the ground. The moment his feet touched the ground, he slid his right leg backward and kicked Qin Nuan''s right leg out from underneath her. The kick destabilized her enough for Liang Chen to gather all his might in the arms that were still holding onto her hair, throwing her over his shoulders and slamming her down towards Yan Ling.


    Yan Ling didn''t have her sword on hand right now, having let go of it to block Qin Nuan''s halberd, so she could only meet the incoming Qin Nuan with her right fist, which she had gathered all her energy in. She even used her fused law on her right hand, using it in the manner that Liang Chen had taught her. This fused law wasn''t inborn to her like Liang Chen''s law of time, so she was unable to use it on her entire body as of yet, she could only focus it in her right hand.


    She had experimented with this manner of using the law several times, but she had never actually launched an attack like this, spending the last month getting herself perfectly accustomed to how it should feel and how to maintain it for as long as possible. As this was the first time she would test out this way of using the law in combat, she was very curious to see what sort of power it would have.


    Qin Nuan couldn''t stop herself from being slammed towards Yan Ling, but she was still able to position her four weapons in front of herself to block Yan Ling''s fist. Yan Ling punched out, a blurry silver light gathering around her right hand as it approached Qin Nuan. But just as her hand was about to collide with Qin Nuan''s weapons, a strange scene took place.


    Yan Ling''s right hand vanished before it could touch Qin Nuan''s weapons, suddenly appearing behind Qin Nuan, a hazy silver light covering her wrist. Yan Ling was shocked at the result, but quickly reacted and stepped back, Qin Nuan crashing into the stage where Yan Ling had just been standing. Yan Ling turned her head towards Liang Chen, a shocked expression on her face as she cast a sideways glance at her right hand, which was still separated from her body by that hazy silver light.


    Yan Ling moved her Qi slightly, the hazy light suddenly swallowing her entire right hand and causing it to appear on her right arm again. Both she and Liang Chen looked at her right arm, which looked as normal as ever, with rather shocked expressions. They were both smart people who actually had quite a bit of knowledge about the various laws, so they knew exactly what had just happened, they finally realized just what sort of law Yan Ling acquired by fusing her four offensive laws. It might just be a rudimentary and currently imperfect version, but that was, without a doubt, the law of space.

 The eggs reaction.

    Yan Ling''s gaze continued to move between her right hand and Liang Chen, the corners of her lips twitching with a rapidly increasing frequency. Suddenly, her mouth curved into a grin so wide it almost seemed to go from ear to ear, Yan Ling bursting into loud and boisterous laughter while pointing at Liang Chen.


    "HAHAHA, did you SEE that? Did you? Did you? You''re not the only one who gets to have something like that, I can have it too! HAHAH...!"


    Qin Nuan''s foot crashed into Yan Ling''s abdomen and knocked all the air out of her before she got to finish her laughter, her body bending forward for a short moment before she was sent flying backward. She crashed into the stage a short distance away, the skin on her abdomen burnt black and bubbling slightly, blood leaking out from the corners of her mouth.


    Liang Chen arrived next to her with the sound of thunder, his spear sweeping upwards in a diagonal line and knocking aside the follow-up stomp that Qin Nuan was trying to perform. After sweeping away her right foot and destabilizing her body, Liang Chen took a step forward and gathered all his strength in his left hand, delivering a strong punch to Qin Nuan''s waist, which was exposed after he knocked aside her foot.


    She quickly placed her two halberds in front of the punch, but a fierce blast of wind was unleashed the moment Liang Chen''s fist touched the weapons, blasting the unstable Qin Nuan backward and giving him and Yan Ling some room to breathe. Liang Chen quickly pulled back his hand and grabbed onto Yan Ling''s wrist, pulling her up from the ground.


    "You gotta pay attention during a fight, that wasn''t like you."


    If Yan Ling had just been paying proper attention earlier, there would have been no way for Qin Nuan''s kick to actually hit her. Yan Ling covered her burnt stomach with her left arm, using her law of water as well as her strong body to quickly heal the wound before it got too bad. It clearly hurt quite a bit, but her face was still split open in a wide grin.


    "Nihihi, sorry sorry, I was just a bit too happy and lost my focus, won''t happen again."


    Right now, above anything else, Yan Ling felt truly happy. Liang Chen had a supreme bloodline and a supreme law, both would allow him to drastically increase his strength, especially his law of time, it made it virtually impossible for normal people to ever catch up to him. Because of this, Yan Ling had tried to grasp onto every chance she could get to become stronger, all so that she could make sure to keep up with him and not drag him down. He had helped her acquire a supreme bloodline, but that was not enough, not when he too had a supreme bloodline.


    But now, now she too had a supreme law, the embryo of the law of space, the sister law of the law of time. With her supreme law and her supreme bloodline, as well with her ceaseless effort, she was now certain that she could keep up with him no matter what, she would never become a burden. And that knowledge alone was enough to make her ecstatic enough to burst out laughing and forget all about the battle around them. Liang Chen made sure that Yan Ling was able to stand on her own before carefully letting go of her.


    "Alright, I can''t really say anything, seeing as I got cocky earlier and got smacked for it. But congrats, it may just be an embryo for now, but it''s still the law of space, that''s not something just everyone can acquire. Now, how about we beat down her and then go celebrate it somehow?"


    Yan Ling turned her gaze onto Qin Nuan, who was currently stabilizing her body, and nodded her head while still grinning brightly. Liang Chen held his spear at his side, the tip tapping the stage once before his body suddenly vanished, the stage where he had just been standing shattering from the force of his movement.


    He appeared next to Qin Nuan and stabbed his spear upwards, aiming for the gap in her ribs that should lead to her heart. When you fought someone who could regenerate like those from the Fiendgod race, it was best to make every wound a lethal one, it would drain their energy far faster. Qin Nuan quickly reacted by flexing one of her left arms, Liang Chen''s spear stabbing through the crimson scales covering her body and stopping when it reached the bone in her elbow.


    Qin Nuan lashed out with the shortsword in her upper left hand and the halberd she was holding in her two lower right arms, the halberd aiming for Liang Chen while the sword aimed for his spear. Just as she moved her halberd, Yan Ling arrived in front of Qin Nuan, the only sign of her arrival a faint gust of wind.


    Qin Nuan furrowed her brows slightly and sent out a kick with her right foot, slashing out with her other shortsword at the same time. With Liang Chen''s spear stabbed into the elbow of one of her left arms, her second halberd was currently unusable. Yan Ling jumped up slightly, stepping onto Qin Nuan''s foot and using the force of her kick to propel herself upwards at a rapid pace.


    She slashed out with her sword while being propelled upwards, slicing one of Qin Nuan''s right wrists into ribbons by using her law of wind and her law of slicing, mixing in a tiny bit of her law of space just to be certain. Qin Nuan''s grip on her halberd weakened for a short second thanks to one of her wrists becoming incapacitated, Yan Ling quickly taking advantage of it.


    She grabbed onto the halberd with her left hand and once again slashed out with her sword, cutting deep wounds into the other hand that was holding onto the same halberd. Qin Nuan was forced to let go of the halberd, for a single second, but that was more than enough time for Yan Ling. She returned her sword into her interspatial ring and snatched the halberd away from Qin Nuan, giving her entire body a quick spin while still being propelled upwards thanks to Qin Nuan''s kick.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    She lashed out in a sideways manner with the halberd while spinning, the axe-like blade slicing into her left shoulder and causing the arm that was currently swinging a sword at Liang Chen''s spear to turn limp for a second while it was regenerating. Yan Ling channeled as much of her law of space, slicing, and crushing into the halberd as she could, the blade shattering when it dug halfway into Qin Nuan''s shoulder as a result.


    One halberd had been taken away and broken, one of her shortswords and the other halberd were currently unusable due to wounds, only her last sword was still performing its attack, a sideways slash coming directly for Yan Ling''s waist. But Liang Chen took advantage of the chance she bought him before the sword could even reach Yan Ling''s waist.


    He pumped his spear full of poison, rot, and time, flooding Qin Nuan''s body with the three elements. The tissue in her left arm started to rot and wither away, her soul was attacked by the poison, and his law of time slowed down her Qi and mind so much that she was unable to immediately put up a proper resistance, temporarily weakening her defenses as her Qi became somewhat unsteady when her soul was attacked.


    Liang Chen took this chance to slide his right hand down the handle of his spear, letting go of it and pulling his arm back as far as he could. He gathered all his power in his right hand and then punched out, his fist colliding with the butt of his spear and forcing it forward, a low mutter sounding within his mind.


    "Second step splits the waterfall."


    He instantly unleashed his strongest attack, a faintly brown bolt of lightning and a light purple ethereal energy bursting out from the tip of his spear, an incandescent light engulfing the stage. A thunderous roar and a sizzling sound rang out from within the incandescent light, the bolt of lightning tearing through the stage and tearing a finger-width gash across the entirety of it, even cracking the energy shield surrounding Qin Nuan''s nine puppets, stopping just before it managed to actually touch the puppets.


    The ethereal energy affected the stage in a far more noticeable manner, the stone slowly turning more and more porous, eventually withering away into dust and blowing away in the wind. Within three seconds, the stage had been split in two and there was now also a nearly one-kilometer wide empty area at the center of the stage, all the stone there having turned to dust.


    When the light vanished, Yan Ling and Liang Chen stood at the center of the empty spot in the stage, Liang Chen somewhat pale and his breathing somewhat ragged. He cast a sideways glance at his spear, the top half of it was currently disintegrating, turning to dust just like the stage had. It had served him dutifully, but now it was no longer able to keep up with his strength and his laws, falling apart after supporting him and his final attack one last time. Liang Chen let out a breath and cast his gaze onto Yan Ling, a low voice sounding out.


    "Sorry, I broke your gift."


    The spear had been the first gift Yan Ling had given him, it had been a makeup gift after she had completely ignored him due to him accidentally using an aphrodisiac on her during a battle in the sect. Yan Ling gave a light shake of her head to tell him not to worry about it, a faint smile on her head. Both of them cast their gazes onto the mangled body lying in front of them, the body of Qin Nuan.


    The final attack had torn directly through her torso, tearing it apart and splitting her body into two pieces, both of which were quickly eaten away at by the poison and rot. Liang Chen thought this would be the end, but her body started to regenerate as he was looking at her, tendrils of meat stretching out from the two pieces and connecting them together.


    Qin Nuan''s eyes shot open as the tendrils of meat connected her lower body and torso. Her eyes were bloodshot and somewhat unfocused, her pupils drifting around as she shouted out in a voice so garbled it was hard to make out what she was trying to say.


    "I PRaayua ThHAAttyu AlllLLIi YOOUUUOO WisHHHSSSW TTTIIOOO PROttteCcattt BbBUURRNnnggss!!!"


    His poison and rot were specialized in dealing with souls, her soul had been strengthened by the array but under the amplification of his strongest attack, the strengthening was not enough to properly protect her soul. Even if they did nothing to her now, she would forever stay like this, unable to form coherent sentences and with a severely hampered thought process. If there was one thing regrettable about her current state it would be that they could no longer ask her about who it was that had sent her, they wouldn''t be able to understand her.


    Yan Ling pat Liang Chen on the shoulder, beckoning for him to step back so that he could get some rest. Qin Nuan was no threat in her current state, Yan Ling alone would be enough to waste away her energy and seal away her life. Liang Chen nodded his head and stepped back, proceeding to quietly watch as Yan Ling focused her attacks on Qin Nuan''s brain and heart, forcing her body to waste massive amounts of energy to regenerate them. She occasionally slashed her body into smaller pieces, preventing her from fully regenerating and moving.


    The array truly strengthened her a great deal, it took another half hour of slashing away at her before the last sliver of life finally vanished from Qin Nuan, the stage falling silent. After killing Qin Nuan, Yan Ling furrowed her brows slightly, using her body to carve open her body, inspecting some of her bones as well as the horns that had grown on her head. After inspecting her insides for a bit, Yan Ling stored the body, as well as the nine pupptes, into her interspatial ring and walked over to Liang Chen, whispering quietly to him.


    "I know that her strong body would be useful for our body cultivation, but mind if I take it? That egg we picked up from the Rot Dragon Nest is reacting to the Demonic beast parts and blood she used to cultivate, I might be able to make it hatch if I can feed her to it."


    The egg they had picked up back then had forcibly absorbed the bodies of one Rot Dragon and several tigers that had the bloodline of the White Tiger, for it to react to Qin Nuan''s Demonic beast parts, she had clearly used some very high-quality parts. Liang Chen didn''t hesitate to nod his head, he was very interested in seeing what would pop out from that egg.


    Yan Ling smiled and somewhat shyly wrapped her arm around Liang Chen''s, holding him close while doing her best to prevent a blush from creeping up on her face. She wasn''t good with public displays of affection, but right now she was too happy to really care too much. Both of them only cast a glance at the judge, who could only swallow his saliva before nodding his head and letting them leave, the battle ending in their victory.

 The lifeform in the egg.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen stepped down from the stage and calmly headed for the exit, Liang Chen throwing a small green pill into his mouth and swallowing it while rubbing his face with his right hand. His breathing quickly calmed down, color returning to his face as his dried up energy reserves were slowly filling up again.


    He was noticing that he was running out of energy far more frequently recently, soon it would become a serious problem. The problem was that he was only at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm in Qi cultivation, the peak of the Body Ascension realm in body cultivation, and the peak of the Ascended Soul realm in soul cultivation. His body and soul were quite a bit stronger than their actual cultivation level, but his Fiendgod Essence and Anima Essence remained at the level of a normal person at his cultivation level.


    With Qin Nuan able to easily best him in a contest of strength and knock him down he became even more certain, his current strength was insufficient to deal with the enemies they would face if they continued climbing now. His strong laws and awakened bloodline could carry him a bit higher, but that too would soon not be enough, he had to increase his strength further. Just as the two stepped out of the tunnel that led out of the arena, a familiar figure kneeled down in front of them.


    "Crown Prince! ... My Lady... I congratulate you on your victory, please use this pill to restore your wounds."


    The white-haired and crimson-eyed Ren Ooyung raised both arms, an orange pill flickering with a faint light and unleashing a transparent mist rolling around in his outstretched palms as he offered it to Liang Chen. Even as someone not too well-versed in the art of alchemy, Liang Chen could tell that this pill was rather extraordinary, just sniffing the transparent mist was enough to somewhat invigorate his body. But even so, Liang Chen only cast a quick glance at the pill before stepping past Ren Ooyung.


    "Not interested, leave us alone."


    Both of them brushed past the still-kneeling Ren Ooyung, Yan Ling giving him a somewhat pitying look as she passed him, it must be hard for him to be ignored so cleanly. Liang Chen had no interest in accepting anything from the Sebettu, he didn''t want to build a relationship with them, and he certainly wasn''t interested in becoming indebted to them, they would simply use it against him. Ren Ooyung quickly sprung to his feet and turned around, chasing after Liang Chen.


    "Crown Prince, please wait and listen to me! This pill is merely a small sliver of the wealth of the Sebettu, you can acquire all of it if you just agree to come with me!"


    Ren Ooyung stretched out his right arm to place his hand on Liang Chen''s shoulder as he ran, seeking to stop him and turn him around. Liang Chen gave Yan Ling a quick look, Yan Ling immediately understanding his intentions and acting. Her sword appeared in her grasp and she spun around at full speed, the flat side of her blade sliding along Ren Ooyung''s arm, his left arm quickly rising and placing his hand in front of his throat, blocking the sword before it could reach his throat. Liang Chen turned his head slightly, looking at Ren Ooyung out of the corner of his dangerously narrowed eyes.


    "Ren Ooyung, did I not tell you clearly enough last time? I will not have anything to do with the Sebettu as I am now, no matter what you offer me. And let me tell you this, were it not for the fact that both of us were exhausted after the fight just now, I would try to kill. How many people have you told about me? How many of your superiors have you notified in hopes of having them come here? Last time we talked we were within one of the houses that forbade fighting so I had no choice but to leave, but out here, there are no rules stopping me. If I encounter you outside while I am at my full strength, then I will try to kill you to prevent you from sending even stronger Sebettu after me."


    Liang Chen meant every word he said, Ren Ooyung could see that clearly in his eyes. He could feel his bloodline tremble, shivers running down his spine from the cold presence that Liang Chen was currently radiating. But the more he felt this, the more certain Ren Ooyung became in his decision to bring Liang Chen to the Sebettu no matter the cost, they needed someone like him to lead them, someone like him could return them to their past prime, maybe even help them reach a higher place.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Yan Ling pulled back her sword, she and Liang Chen walking away arm in arm, leaving behind a faintly trembling Ren Ooyung. Liang Chen had less than 10% of his energy available, and she had at best 30%, they were in no condition to fight right now, especially when they didn''t know all the cards that Ren Ooyung might be hiding.


    The two quickly reached their house, Liang Chen heavily sitting down on the couch. He leaned his head against the back of the couch, rubbing his temples while letting out a sigh.


    "Man, she really rung my head like a bell, I can still hear it ringing slightly. Give me a day or so of rest and then I''ll use my law of time to speed up the egg''s feeding."


    Even when he tried thinking back to his previous battles, Liang Chen didn''t remember any times where he had been hit on the head like that, it was a rather new experience to him. Yan Ling let out a slightly amused giggle, sitting down next to Liang Chen and pulling him down, resting his head on her thigh and running her hand through his hair, his eyes slowly growing heavy as she lulled him to sleep.


    What woke Liang Chen up was the sound of soft breaths, his eyes slowly opening. The room was covered in darkness so he guessed that it was some time at night right now, but he had no idea which day it was. His head was still resting on Yan Ling''s lap, her upper body leaning against the back of the couch as she let out a few low snores. Yumao was coiling around Liang Chen''s right arm, his head resting on Liang Chen''s shoulder, his tongue hanging out and wriggling slightly. It was the soft sound of Yumao''s sleeping breaths tickling his ear that had woken him up.


    Liang Chen looked at the two sleeping and smiled contently, closing his eyes again. This was his family and his home now, it was only missing his big sister. And once he awoke again, it might just grow a little larger. Liang Chen was still a bit tired, so he quickly fell asleep again after closing his eyes, joining the two others in their light slumber.


    The next time Liang Chen awoke, it was because someone was pinched his nose closed while something scaly was lying on his face. Liang Chen opened his eyes and saw the black scales of Yumao filling nearly his entire vision, he was just barely able to see Yan Ling pinching his nose.


    "Rise and shine cinderella, you''ve already slept for a day and a half."


    Liang Chen swept up Yumao from his face and sat up, stretching out his arm and pinching Yan Ling''s cheeks in retaliation. Yan Ling simply let out a giggle and a smile, letting go of Liang Chen''s nose and standing up from the couch, pushing away the table and other furniture at the center of the room.


    "I''ll prepare a small array for you, it should make it easier for you to sustain your law of time."


    Yan Ling drew a simple Qi gathering array on the floor, using some of this world''s currency to strengthen the effect. She then placed the corpse of Qin Nuan a short distance away from the array, placing the egg with mottled purple spots that were a faint shade of white right next to the egg. The moment the egg was placed next to Qin Nuan''s body, a weak attractive force was unleashed by it, drops of Qin Nuan''s blood slowly flying out from her wounds.


    Liang Chen stood up and handed the still-sleeping Yumao to Yan Ling, who placed him on top of her head, where he promptly curled up. Liang Chen then sat down at the center of the array, drawing in all the Qi it gathered and using it to fuel his law of time to drastically speed up the flow of time around the egg and Qin Nuan.


    The drops of blood quickly sped up, small cracks starting to spread across Qin Nuan''s body as the attractive force grew stronger, even ripping the crimson scales and horns directly off of her body. The egg greedily swallowed it all, everything that came into contact with the egg turning into a crimson liquid that seeped into the shell. After the scales and horns came Qin Nuan''s flesh and organs, and finally, after a total of five days of normal time, even her bones were absorbed by the egg.


    The egg had grown quite a bit after absorbing Qin Nuan, now almost a meter tall, moving slightly. Cracks slowly started to appear on the egg as it continued to move, the energy radiating from the egg growing stronger and stronger. The egg unleashed an even stronger attractive force, even sucking in all the Qi that the array Liang Chen was sitting in was gathering, greedily swallowing it to fuel its own growth.


    The cracks on the egg quickly grew larger, a few small chunks of the shell starting to fall off. More and more chunks fell off, revealing the being living within the egg, both Liang Chen and Yan Ling tilting their heads in surprise and confusion.


    "Eh?"


    "What''s this?"


    Sitting within the shattered remains of the egg was a little girl that looked like she was no older than two or three years old. Her eyes were as blue as the sky while her hair, which already reached down to her earlobes, was as white as snow. Her face carried some of Yan Ling''s features, she had the same small nose and pinchable cheeks, most likely due to the fact that Yan Ling had helped nourish the egg using a great deal of her own blood. While they were looking at the girl, she was looking back at them, her somewhat blurred eyes growing clearer and clearer, a soft voice sounding out.


    "Mamna? Papan?"

 Lan Yun.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen were completely caught off guard by the little girl that came from the egg, staring at her dumbfoundedly while trying to make sense of the situation. Because of how caught off guard they were, they didn''t notice the girl stretching out her arms, reaching for the two of them while continuing to call out to them.


    "Maman! Papan!"


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t notice the girl at first, but Yumao noticed her the moment she started calling out, lazily opening his eyes while still laying on top of Yan Ling''s head. Once his somewhat groggy gaze landed on the little girl, his eyes shot open wide, the feathers on his back standing straight up as he let out a wary hiss and placed himself in front of Liang Chen and Yan Ling as a shield, growing to his actual size, which was now over four meters long. Liang Chen and Yan Ling had terrifying bloodlines of their own so they weren''t able to sense it, but as someone who had a weaker bloodline, Yumao was able to perfectly sense the instinctual dread that the little girl''s bloodline filled him with.


    The little girl quickly pulled her arms back in fear when Yumao hissed at her and grew to his normal size, her entire body wincing slightly. Her gaze quickly grew blurry as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, the sound of fearful crying quickly spreading through the room. The moment the girl started to cry, Liang Chen and Yan Ling snapped out of their shocked states and sprung into action on instinct.


    The floor beneath them shattered as they dashed forward, Liang Chen grabbing onto Yumao''s body and jumping to the left, Yan Ling dodging to the right at the same time. Just as they jumped to the side, a faint breeze blew over where Yumao had just been standing. A strange scene took place after the breeze blew over the area, small parts of the floor changed slightly, two spikes growing up from it, one of metal and one of earth, tiny arcs of lightning arcing around both spikes.


    Yan Ling continued to dash forward right after dodging to the right, picking up the little girl and cradling her in her arms while softly shushing her to calm her down. The girl slowly calmed down in Yan Ling''s grasp, her crying coming to a halt as she buried herself in Yan Ling''s warmth, occasionally glancing curiously at Liang Chen and warily at Yumao. Liang Chen pat Yumao, who was still glaring warily at the girl, on the head, calming him down.


    "Thanks for trying to protect us, but it''s alright, there''s nothing to worry about."


    Yumao didn''t look quite convinced, but after a bit more assuring from Liang Chen he agreed to at least calm down a little, shrinking down and curling up on Liang Chen''s head while warily observing the girl. Liang Chen gave Yumao a few more pats, his gaze moving to the two spikes and then onto the little girl.


    "Well, there''s no doubt about it now, that''s... your daughter, the beast from the egg? What would we even call her?"


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling managed to sense the bloodline of the little girl the moment she used it to launch an attack to protect herself from Yumao. Her bloodline was the same as Yan Ling''s, a mixture of the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and the Star God bloodline. The egg had not only absorbed the corpses of the tigers and one of the Rot Dragons back then but also been nourished by Yan Ling''s blood, only like that could it get the exact same bloodline as her.


    She had the shape of a human, but the girl in front of them was without a doubt the Demonic beast that had been growing within the egg they had picked up. As to why she was born in human shape, while most other Demonic beasts and even Divine Beasts were born in their beasts shapes, they had no idea. Yan Ling looked at the girl, who was clutching onto Yan Ling''s forearms and looking at Liang Chen with a curious gaze.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Nihihi, if she''s my daughter, then that means she''s yours as well, and that would make Yumao the big brother. It might have happened quite a bit earlier than we planned, but it seems like our little family has grown larger."


    Yan Ling was quick to adapt, so she didn''t have a problem becoming used to this situation, even quickly finding perks in it. What sort of girl didn''t want to have a child with the person they loved? It might be quite a few years earlier than planned, but that was just something they would have to deal with. Liang Chen felt like letting out a sigh at how quickly Yan Ling accepted the situation and glossed over the strangeness of it, but since they wouldn''t get anywhere by asking questions they had no way of getting answers to, he might as well just go along.


    "True, it could be seen like that. Hear that Yumao, you can''t go around bullying your little sister in the future."


    Liang Chen pat Yumao a few more times on the head as he spoke, receiving a few grumbling hisses as a response, Yumao was clearly unsatisfied with the fact that his ''little sister'' had a better bloodline than him. Liang Chen didn''t have a problem with Yan Ling wanting to treat the girl as their daughter, after all, wasn''t he doing the exact same to Yumao? Liang Chen walked over to Yan Ling, the little girl looking warily at Yumao for a bit before letting go of Yan Ling and reaching out with her arms, stretching towards Liang Chen with all her might.


    "Papan! Papan!"


    Just like a baby duckling, she had imprinted onto the first people she saw, considering Liang Chen and Yan Ling her parents. Yan Ling handed the girl to Liang Chen, who did his best to carefully pick her up in the same manner he remembered his parents pick him up. The girl quickly buried herself in Liang hen''s embrace, slightly raising her head and sticking her tongue out at Yumao, who was peeking his head down to look at her. Liang Chen raised his head after making sure that the girl was comfortable, locking eyes with Yan Ling.


    "Well, have you thought of a name yet? Can''t really call her ''girl'' or ''eggy''."


    Even if they weren''t going to treat this girl like a part of their family, a proper name was a must. Yan Ling tapped her chin slightly, her gaze roaming over the little girl for a bit before her eyes brightened up. She stretched out her arm and rubbed the white hair of the girl, who smiled brightly and let out a cute giggle.


    "Her eyes are as blue as the sky and her hair as white as a cloud, so let''s call her Lan Yun, Yan Lan Yun, our little blue cloud."


    Liang Chen felt like saying something about her naming sense but felt a light prodding on his head from Yumao, reminding him that he had simply given Yumao a name that was supposed to mean ''feather''. As such, he quickly changed what he was about to say, having Yumao pick out a robe from his interspatial ring and draping it over the girl, Lan Yun.


    "Well, Lan Yun is currently naked, so we''d best find some clothes for her. We don''t have anything in her size on me, so we should see if we can''t find some in her size out there."


    Yan Ling immediately realized that Liang Chen was correct, after all, why would either of them bother carrying around clothing for children. Yan Ling stretched out her arms and picked up Lan Yun again, who happily called out ''Maman, Maman!'' She didn''t seem to know any other, or proper for that matter, words, so they would probably have to teach her later on.


    "Right, clothing! We need to get her some cute clothing! And something durable she can wear if we go out on longer walks! And something loose that she can wear around the house! Matching outfits, do we need matching outfits?"


    Liang Chen could only let out a smile upon seeing how excited and happy Yan Ling was, the two heading for the door. Yumao returned to Liang Chen''s dantian when they approached the door, Yan Ling trying to do the same to Lan Yun. Luckily, it seemed like Lan Yun was also able to enter Yan Ling''s dantian, making it easier for them to hide her existence from the people of this planet. After all, they had nothing but countless enemies here, it was better to hide Lan Yun and Yumao, Lan Yun so that they could protect her and Yumao so that they could have an additional trump card if they should encounter an emergency. After hiding away the two younglings, Yan Ling and Liang Chen left the house so that they could buy new clothes for their now somewhat larger family.

 Meeting the Tripartite Slayer.

    The market on the fifth floor looked a bit different compared to the markets on the lower floors, spaced out between the various shops and stalls were various trees and other spots of greenery, providing a fresh change of pace compared to the rest of the tower. The value of the items provided by the shops was directly decided by the strength of the residents on the floor, the stronger the residents were the better the items that were being sold would be. As such, the fifth floor had a large selection of items that were either very rare or very powerful.


    Of course, none of these items mattered much to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, mainly because they were mostly broke now. They had some funds after searching through the interspatial rings of the people they had killed on the fifth floor, but most of the resources had already been used to cultivate and could thus not be sold. But since they had only really come here to look for clothes for Lan Yun, they didn''t expect to spend all that much money.


    After the two of them had already spent three hours walking in and out of various shops, Yan Ling suddenly piped up and dragged Liang Chen towards a stand located in the shade of one of the larger shops.


    "Oh, look at this one, doesn''t it look nice? Excuse me, do you have this in gold and light green as well?"


    The stand that Yan Ling dragged Liang Chen to consisted of a single table stuffed to the brim with material that seemed to be used for tailoring. It didn''t have any finished dresses, but it had a vast variety of fabric samples that people could test out. The specific fabric that Yan Ling was pointing at and asking about was an ocean-blue fabric that was somewhat similar to silk and was covered in a pattern that contained a mixture of feathers and what appeared to be plum blossoms.


    The one running the shop, a burly man from the Fiendgod race, cast a quick glance at Yan Ling and Liang Chen, his pupils shrinking slightly when he saw them. There were very few people in the towers who didn''t already know about them, especially on this fifth floor and the lower floors. He gave a slight nod of his head, swiping his interspatial ring and bringing out two more rolls of fabric. One was in a light green color and the other was a dark golden with the pattern a dark green. The man placed the two rolls on the table in front of him, his voice somewhat gruff as he spoke.


    "That''s the best I have for gold, it''d look too garish if I were to make it completely golden."


    Yan Ling picked up the three rolls of fabric, weighing them in her hand and feeling the fabric for a bit before handing it to Liang Chen. Liang Chen simply gave the fabric a quick feel before handing it back, he knew nothing about fabrics so he had no idea if it was good or bad. He looked at Yan Ling while handing her the rolls of fabric again, somewhat surprised.


    "Seeing as you went straight for the fabric, you know how to make clothes?"


    He thought that they were looking for ready-made clothing that they could pick up but it seemed like Yan Ling had other plans. Yan Ling accepted the three rolls, giving Liang Chen a slight nod and a somewhat wistful smile before holding the three rolls up in front of the man from the Fiendgod race and pointing at a few more rolls of different fabric.


    "Yeah, my mother taught me a bit before she revealed herself, I''m not the best, but good enough to make some damn cute clothing. Oh, we''ll take these three rolls as well as this brown one, this light blue one, and this light yellow one."


    Yan Ling''s mother, the one who had caused the deaths of her two siblings and almost killed her father. Liang Chen didn''t have to be a genius to figure out that Yan Ling was likely more than just a little hesitant to use something taught to her by that woman. But Yan Ling valued those close to her higher than the hatred she had for her mother, so since she could use her skills to do something nice for Liang Chen and Lan Yun, she would do just that, no matter where those skills came from.


    The vendor nodded his head once more and picked out the three rolls of fabric she chose, the brown one was a bit sturdier than normal, it would make for excellent clothing for more rigorous activities, and the two others were a bit lighter, they would make clothing suited for warm weather. Yan Ling handed over the money for the rolls of fabric, which were a bit more expensive than they first anticipated, and then stored them all into her interspatial ring. Liang Chen wrapped his arm around Yan Ling''s after she put away the fabrics, smiling at her while dragging her away from the stall.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "It would be a waste to go back immediately, and it''s been a while since we last got a break like this, let''s enjoy it while we can."


    They rarely got to enjoy themselves while on this planet, it was mostly just jumping from battle to battle, or preparing for the next battle with ceaseless cultivation. Liang Chen would not allow them to waste it now that they had finally given themselves time for a break, even if it was just for a day. Yan Ling was a bit caught off guard at first, especially because of the fact that it was Liang Chen who initiated it, but then a bright smile quickly spread on her face as she nodded her head.


    The two walked through the market arm in arm, checking out the various stands and shops they had yet to check out. Once they finished with the market they were in now they moved on to the second market on the fifth floor, checking out everything there before heading to the third and final market on the fifth floor. By the time they had checked out every market on the floor and tried food from so many different places that they had lost count, they had already spent more than an entire day walking around, their funds starting to run somewhat dry.


    The two finally decided that it was time to cut their break short and return to their house, they had to check whether or not anyone had sent them a challenge while they were gone. It only took them a short moment for them to find their house and walk past the fence around it, heading for the door. But just as he was about to place his hand on the door handle, all of Liang Chen''s instincts rang in alarm, his arm freezing in place. Yan Ling noticed his change in demeanor, but Liang Chen spoke up before she could ask what was wrong.


    "We''re leaving, we''re either finding a different house or leaving the tower all-together."


    Liang Chen had no idea just who or what was currently in the house, but he had no interest in finding out. His instincts hadn''t betrayed him before so he didn''t expect them to betray him here. Yan Ling knew that now wasn''t the best time to ask questions, the two quickly turning around and dashing away from the house. But before they managed to even take five steps away, the ground in front of them rose up and formed a thick wall that prevented them from moving further. The door to the house opened, a soft voice drifting through the opening.


    "I''d much prefer it if you didn''t run away, not after I went through the trouble of taking some time off just to meet you. Don''t worry, I have no intentions of harming you, that I can swear to you."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both looked back at the entrance of the house, their fingers twitching slightly as they felt the energy that radiated from the opening. Whoever was currently in there was definitely stronger than them, and looking at how swiftly that wall had risen up, they were likely also at least a little bit faster than them. The two locked gazes for a short moment, their mouths forming somewhat bitter smiles as they spoke out at the same time.


    "Man, fuck our shitty luck."


    "We have the worst of luck at times, don''t we?"


    Just after they finished what felt like a well-deserved break, something had to come along and ruin it for them, they truly had terrible luck. They both took a deep breath and then headed for the door, since escape wasn''t an option right now, they could only face it head on and do their best to figure out a way to escape.


    The two entered the house and quickly reached the living room, their gazes landing on the woman sitting on the couch at the left side of the table. The woman was graceful and carried a mature charm, her third eye showing that she was from the Undead race. But unlike the usually pale skin of the Undead race, this woman''s skin had a more wheat-like tinge that went well with her curvaceous figure and her white robe. Her black hair hung down to her ears and all three of her eyes were as golden as the sun.


    Neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling had ever met this woman before, but they had seen enough statues of her to know who she was, Sun Cailin, the Tripartite Slayer and ruler of this planet. Their expressions sank slightly when they saw her, she was on the verge of reaching the Transcended Immortal realm in both body and soul cultivation, escaping from her would be extremely hard. Sun Cailin sent them both a faint smile, beckoning towards the couch situated across the table.


    "Please take a seat. And don''t look at me like that, I know that this must seem pretty dire to you, but believe me, I mean you no harm. In fact, I am actually here because I wish to thank, and help, you. Tell me, did you not enter this tower because you desired that which was hidden away at the top?"

 The ancient battle of the three monarchs.

    Neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling moved from their spot, Yan Ling placing both hands on her stomach and pressing down on it slightly. Liang Chen could guess at what she was doing right now, as he was experiencing the same thing as her. Yumao, who was hiding within Liang Chen''s dantian, sensed the danger they were facing and wanted to burst out to help them, only remaining quiet due to Liang Chen''s adamant refusal. Lan Yun was quite a bit younger than Yumao so she probably wasn''t as good at listening, forcing Yan Ling to use a more forceful way to prevent her from jumping out.


    Sun Cailin didn''t seem to mind the fact that they weren''t moving, patiently waiting for them to either say something or move, she was even taking the opportunity to make some tea. Liang Chen broke the silence after what felt like an eternity, taking a stealthy step closer to Yan Ling while talking.


    "Sorry, but I have no idea why you would want to thank us, and frankly, I don''t really trust you or your words. We''ve already been attacked twice, so for all, I know you''re just the next one who has come to attack us."


    Sun Cailin was far stronger than them, there was no point in dressing up his words or trying anything, it was best to just be perfectly blunt. Sun Cailin''s lips actually curved up slightly after seeing Liang Chen''s blunt mannerism, a somewhat amused laugh escaping her mouth.


    "Well, I haven''t killed you yet, have I?"


    For just a split second, Sun Cailin''s smile turned ferocious, an overwhelming amount of pressure bearing down on Liang Chen and Yan Ling. The pressure vanished as quickly as it appeared, Sun Cailin''s smile returning to normal, she simply wanted to show that if she wanted them dead, they would already be dead. She swiped her earring, which was shaped like a lion''s head, a rolled up scroll appearing in her hand. She threw the scroll to Liang Chen, picking up the kettle of tea and pouring out three cups while talking.


    "I want to thank you because you made it quite easy for me to find a dissenter, someone that would be detrimental to the future of this planet. That''s a blank Soul Oath, you can write whatever you want on it, that ought to make you trust me a bit more."


    Liang Chen caught the scroll, unfurling it while keeping an eye on Sun Cailin. Seeing that it was, in fact, a blank Soul Oath, he and Yan Ling quickly exchanged a few whispers to discuss what they should put on the scroll. They swiftly reached an agreement, filling up the scroll with text that they wrote using Demonic beast blood. The entire scroll lit up with light for a short second once they finished writing on it, showing that the Soul Oath was now complete and could be signed, Liang Chen tossing the scroll back to Sun Cailin.


    "Here."


    She said that they could write whatever they wanted on it, but she was likely to refuse signing it if they actually went overboard in what they wrote. As such, they only wrote in that she could not lie to them and that she could not try to harm them in any manner unless they tried to kill her first, these points would at least allow them to be somewhat at ease. Sun Cailin gave the contents of the scroll a quick, raising her eyes from the scroll for a short second when she saw that neither of the terms had a time limit attached, they would last for as long as both parties, or the oath, still existed. But even so, she still signed the Soul Oath using a bit of her own blood, showing off her signature with a light smile.


    "There, do you feel more comfortable now? Feel like sitting down?"


    Yan Ling and Liang Chen locked eyes for a short second before walking forward and sitting down on the couch across from Sun Cailin, who pushed two of the teacups closer to them. They glanced at the cups, but neither of them picked one up and drank from it, Yan Ling looking at Sun Cailin with somewhat narrowed eyes.


    "Alright, so how exactly did we make it easier for you to find a dissenter, and why are you here to help us? For that matter, exactly how are you planning on helping us, I don''t imagine it you''re simply planning on giving us the reward resting at the top of the tower."


    Yan Ling was just as blunt as Liang Chen, getting directly to the heart of the matter. Sin Cailin picked up the remaining teacup and took a sip from it, a pleased smile faintly visible on the edges of her mouth as she responded.


    "Really, I wish everyone would be as direct as the two of you, it always makes things nice and easy. I once had a man I considered to be my left-hand man, Dai Hong was his name. I thought he shared my vision for this planet, that it needed to change, that we had to stop treating humans like cattle if we wanted to survive in the long run. But the arrival of you two made him reveal his true colors, he was unable to lay down his feelings of superiority and disdain against humans, resulting in him defying my direct orders and sending people to kill you, he would have sent more if I hadn''t taken care of him."


    With Sun Cailin explaining it, the two of them finally understood who it was that had sent people after him, who it was that had supplied them with the strange puppets. And upon knowing who it was, they couldn''t help but feel a slight chill run down their spines. What if this Dai Hong had chosen to come directly for them? Just how strong would someone who could be the left-hand man of the planet''s ruler be? Sun Cailin raised her left hand and extended one of her fingers, extending a second while she continued to talk.


    "This is the first reason why I want to thank you, the second is much simpler, it''s just how dang scary the two of you are. Do you have any idea what some of the people outside the tower are calling you? Bloody Emperors, Rulers of Sin, Heroes of the Repressed, Dragons born of Blood, the list of names goes on and on. And that''s good. The stronger and scarier the two of you become, the easier it will be to convince the rest of the planet that we have to stop eating humans, before others like you come along and wipe us all out. Even if the two of you are not enough, you will be a start, the seed of fear will already have been planted in the hearts of others who will then decide that I am right, we must change if we wish to live. That belief will spread like a disease, and there will come a time where this entire planet will have changed, and our chances of survival will thus become much greater."


    Sun Cailin didn''t lie, she honestly told Liang Chen and Yan Ling about her fears and plans for the planet. Liang Chen and Yan Ling quietly listened, absorbing the information while their thoughts moved. Sun Cailin put down her hand after she finished talking, putting down the teacup while laughing lightly.


    "The reason I want to help you is because of this second reason, I need you to survive and grow stronger, only like that will you be able to spill more blood and incite greater fear in the hearts of the people on this planet. So don''t worry, my reasons for helping you are entirely selfish, I''m not doing it out of the good of my heart."


    It was sometimes much easier to trust the actions and words of people who did things out of selfish reasons because then you knew that they were doing it to help themselves, it made it easier to understand and anticipate what they would do next. Sun Cailin moved her head slightly, her gaze landing on Yan Ling, who stealthily pushed down a little harder on her dantian.


    "And no, I won''t be giving you the cultivation technique that rests at the top of the towers, mainly because it is useless to you. The cultivation technique hidden up there was created by the ancestors of our three races, it is specially designed for us and can thus only be cultivated by us. No, the way I plan to help you is by giving you the item that gave our ancestors the inspiration for the cultivation technique, as well as giving you a warning."


    The two of them had come to this tower because they had heard that the reward for reaching the top of the towers was a piece of a cultivation technique that was very similar to the description of the Ocean God Physique, but this was the first they ever heard of the technique only working for someone who belonged to one of the three races on this planet. Sun Cailin once again swiped her ear-ring, a drop-shaped ornament made from ocean-blue jade appearing in her hand.


    Liang Chen felt the jade fragment in his interspatial ring tremble fiercely once Sun Cailin pulled out the jade, but Sun Cailin failed to notice anything since Liang Chen had hidden the fragment deep within his interspatial ring. Sun Cailin tossed the drop-shaped jade to Yan Ling, looking at her and Liang Chen with an honest and sincere gaze.


    "That piece of jade is one that has been on this planet for countless years, even our earliest records mention not knowing how long it has been on this planet. One was resting at the top of each of the towers and all three contain the same thing, a silent recording of an ancient battle, you might get a bit of inspiration by watching it, just like our ancestors did. I am giving you one of the three jade pieces we have, so I hope you realize how sincere I am being here."


    It could be considered a treasure which had belonged to the three races for countless years, but the truth was that it was mostly useless to the people on this planet. The amount of inspiration one could gain from watching a recording of a battle was limited, and because of this, the cultivation technique that was the reward for reaching the top of all three towers hadn''t changed or been upgraded for quite a few years already.


    Liang Chen wanted to immediately check out this jade, but both he and Yan Ling knew that now was not a good time to check it, Yan Ling quickly storing it into her interspatial ring and allowing Sun Cailin to continue talking, finishing up what she had come here to do.


    "And now for my warning, leave this tower. Flee from this tower and change your appearances as you did in the past, enter one of the other towers under new identities, and this time don''t reveal yourselves. You killed Shi Tengriu, a close friend of Qian Liao, so now he is coming for the both of you, and as you are now, you will be unable to resist him."


    Qian Liao was a Fiendgod who cultivated using the body of a mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, something that allowed him to use the law of death. He stood at the peak of the seventh floor in the God Piercing Fang tower, he might have already entered the eighth floor. If the two of them faced him now there was indeed very little they could do. The expressions of the two turned somewhat gloomy as they exchanged glances, Sun Cailin taking the hint and standing up.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Now then, you don''t seem to be able to rest comfortably with me around so I''ll take my leave. But please keep my words and sincerity in mind, Qian Liao is coming for you, you should run, leave this tower within the next three months. I want you to survive, but I cannot make a move against Qian Liao if he doesn''t break the rules, doing so would mean that I have broken the rules. And due to something I took up when I became the Tripartite Slayer, I will lose everything if I were to break the rules, so I hope you understand why I won''t stop him for you."


    Sun Cailin gave the two of them a short nod as a farewell, leaving the house and removing the wall she had put up when they tried to flee at the start, quickly vanishing from the area. Liang Chen and Yan Ling sat in silence for a while after Sun Cailin left, their expressions remaining gloomy as the thought about what to do. They eventually decided that there was no point in worrying about whether or not Qian Liao was coming for them, they simply couldn''t risk betting on that Sun Cailin was lying.


    They both let out somewhat deep breaths, locking eyes and realizing that both were thinking the same thing, it was best to change the topic before they became too gloomy. Yan Ling took out the drop-shaped jade and handed it to Liang Chen, her eyes gleaming with excitement.


    "What do you think, is that it?"


    The only reason she had stepped into the spatial rift that brought them here was that she wanted Liang Chen to acquire the other parts of the Ocean God Physique. If this was truly it, she could consider her goal on this planet to be complete. Liang Chen gave a somewhat uncertain nod of his head, holding the jade drop in one hand while swiping his interspatial ring.


    "The fragment is reacting to it so it should be, but I have no idea what to do with it."


    Liang Chen took out his fragment of ocean-blue jade, wanting to compare the two pieces. But his fragment released a low rumbling sound just as he took it out, immediately flying over to the drop-shaped jade and merging into it, a bright blue light erupting from the jade and projecting images directly into Liang Chen''s mind.


    A vast wasteland suddenly spread out before Liang Chen''s eyes, a sky covered in orange stars visible above him. The barren wasteland spread out as far as he could see, merging with the distant horizon and going on for an unknown amount of distance. Corpses of people and beings from other races were littering the entire wasteland, only two people remaining standing.


    One of the standing people was a youth with ocean-blue hair and light-blue eyes, a green robe with a wavy pattern draped over his body, a rather large lake spread out behind him, breaking up the monotony of the wasteland. The other youth was clad in a simple gray robe, had hair as black as the night sky and eyes as white as snow, a hardened and somewhat pained expression in his eyes. The blue-haired youth opened his mouth, his voice drifting along with the wind and reaching every corner of the wasteland.


    "Must it really be like this, must we really fight? Can we not work together as we did in the past?"


    Liang Chen wondered why this recording, which should have been silent, actually had sound now, but he could only chalk it up to his fragment merging with the jade. He proceeded to focus fully on the scene in front of him, he was rather curious just what he would see here. The black-haired youth sneered slightly, contempt and hatred clearly audible in his reply.


    "Xiang Hong, you are the one who allied with the Parasites, do you really think you have the right to speak?"


    Liang Chen wondered if these ''Parasites'' might actually be the Sebettu, it was the image he had gotten of the race after hearing how they did things in the past. He quickly put the thought away before it could distract him, the blue-haired youth, Xiang Hong, shouting out a loud and helpless reply.


    "But they are stronger than us! Sure, we can push them back a few times, but there''ll come a day where they will be able to fully swarm into this multiverse, and we''ll be helpless to stop them! If we ally with them now we''ll be able to spare countless lives from ending each time we try to push them back, why can''t you see that?!"


    With the reply of Xiang Hong, Liang Chen quickly discarded the idea that they were talking about the Sebettu. The Sebettu were rather parasitic, but they at least came from this multiverse. At the same time, he became rather curious just what sort of race was capable of invading an entire multiverse, he also became curious just where they came from. Was there some void beyond the multiverse where other races could live, or were there in fact several multiverses? The black-haired youth''s expression twisted slightly in sadness when he heard Xiang Hong''s reply, but his expression quickly became steely.


    "It pains me to see you like this, your fear has dragged you so far down that you are truly lost to reason and logic. The Parasites bring only death, that is why we call them Parasites. And just like I swore back then, I will do everything in my power to prevent them from getting their filthy claws in our multiverse."


    The youth stretched out his right arm, a sword that was a wavy mixture of black and white appearing in his grasp. Xiang Hong''s expression changed slightly, turning just as steely as the black-haired youth''s as he spoke up.


    "Ning Hao, I know that you are strong, but with Brother Ying and Brother Yang defending the eastern universes you have no way of killing me."


    The lake behind Xiang Hong started to seethe as he spoke, drops of water rising up and entering his body, a long halberd made from crystallized water quickly appearing in his grasp. The black-haired youth, Ning Hao, let out another sneer and shook his head slightly, his response causing Liang Chen to become somewhat puzzled.


    "Don''t call them that, you have already lost that right. And you''re wrong, I have a way of killing you, even without them. Besides, it would be a shame if the multiverse were to lose its law of water just because we wanted to kill you."


    Liang Chen couldn''t quite understand what Ning Hao was saying, why would the universe lose its law of water if this Brother Ying or Brother Yang were to kill this Xiang Hong? But as this was just a recording, there was no one here to answer him, so he could only watch on quietly.


    Another youth suddenly appeared on the wasteland, only a few meters away from Ning Hao. This youth was clad in a light-yellow robe and had silver hair that somewhat contrasted his pitch-black eyes. Xiang Hong''s gaze landed o the newcomer, his brows furrowing slightly as he spoke somewhat uncertainly.


    "You brought along a newcomer, was it Yin Long? Listen, kid, I don''t know what Ning Hao told you, but the two of us don''t have any animosity or grudges, there''s no need for you to risk your life in a fight against me."


    Ning Hao didn''t interrupt Xiang Hong, allowing him to talk to the silver-haired newcomer, Yin Long. Yin Long allowed Xiang Hong to finish talking, giving a slight nod of his head in agreement after he heard everything Xiang Hong said. But as Yin Long started to talk, his voice grew colder and colder, the surrounding air starting to tremble faintly.


    "You''re right, the two of us don''t have any animosity, we don''t even know each other, we should have no reason to fight. But I once lived in a small village for a while after suffering a grievous wound, a group of young friends, no more than children, nursed me back to health with the help of their parents. I left the village once I regained my strength, but I engraved their kindness in my heart, I never did forget them. The next time I came back to the village, the Parasites had already been there, all I found was ruins and blood, mangled corpses that were completely drained. I have no grudge with you, but I will never allow the Parasites to step foot in this multiverse, so I will make sure that you die here."


    The trembling air suddenly moved, gathering in the palm of Yin Long and forming a very plain sword. Yin Long swung the sword, drawing a beautiful arc through the air as he unleashed an instantaneous attack. Xiang Hong''s body suddenly split in two at the chest, a thick black cut appearing in the surrounding space, forming a perfect circle that covered at least several thousand kilometers. The water from the lake behind Xiang Hong rose up and sank into his bisected body, rebuilding it as he spoke up.


    "You should know that something like thi...!"


    Xiang Hong''s voice suddenly came to a halt, his eyes shooting open as his head hurriedly moved from side to side, inspecting the surrounding area. His gaze eventually landed on Ning Hao and Yin Long, shock covering his entire face. Ning Hao''s expression remained steely, but Liang Chen was able to spot a slight twinkle in his eyes.


    "Did you notice it now? Quite the spectacular thing, no? I was just as shocked as you when I first saw it, a single slash to separate an area from the rest of the multiverse, truly stunning. In here, your physique won''t matter in the slightest, you will die just like the rest of the Parasites."


    Liang Chen couldn''t feel anything so he could only assume that what these people were saying was true, marveling slightly at what he heard. Just how much power did it take to separate an area from the remainder of the multiverse? If he hadn''t heard about it now he wouldn''t even have guessed that it was possible. While Liang Chen was marveling at it and Xiang Hong was shocked at it, something suddenly broke through the black circle that Yin Long had cut into the surrounding area.


    A massive gray dragon with a serpentine body broke through the black circle, which quickly repaired itself once the dragon finished breaking through. The three people present turned towards the dragon, Liang Chen''s eyes opening wide. Even if he couldn''t feel anything, he instinctively knew what this dragon was, the progenitor of his own bloodline, the Heaven Devouring Dragon. Xiang Hong''s expression twisted slightly when he saw the dragon, hurriedly shouting out while waving him away.


    "Brother Rahu!? Stop, turn around and flee!"


    Since Xiang Hong was telling the dragon, Rahu, to flee, it was clear to Liang Chen that Xiang Hong had realized what his fate was. Yin Long separating this area from the rest of the multiverse seemed to seal Xiang Hong''s death in stone. Ning Hao looked at Rahu, surprise clearly apparent on his face.


    "So you managed to even break in here, you Origin Beasts truly are amazing beings. But even so, Xiang Hong will die here, and you will too if you choose to aid him."


    Ning Hao stretched out his right arm, his palm facing the sky as his fingers were slightly curled. The surrounding corpses started to tremble faintly as Ning Hao opened his mouth, a single word filled with undisputable majesty echoing across the entire wasteland.


    "Arise."


    The countless corpses suddenly exploded with energy that was a wavy mixture of white and black. The energy burst forth from their bodies before sinking back into them, shadowy hands suddenly bursting forth from the corpses. The hands clutched onto the bodies as whatever was attached to the hands pulled itself out of the bodies, shadowy bodies that were a mixture of black and white rising up from each of the corpses, each one a perfect copy of the corpse they had climbed out from. With a single word and gesture, Ning Hao had gathered an army at his side, completely surrounding Xiang Hong.


    Everything suddenly turned blue before Liang Chen got to see what happened next, the wasteland and star-covered sky drowned out by the blue light. A transparent Xiang Hong appeared within the blue light, looking directly through Liang Chen as he spoke.


    "Since you hold an awakened fragment, you should be either a descendant of mine or a descendant of Brother Rahu, I''m fairly certain I made it so that only they would be able to awaken the jades I spread throughout the universes, only they would be capable of acquiring my greatest pride, my cultivation technique."


    Liang Chen''s heart started to speed up slightly as a thought entered his mind. Yan Ling, even the Sealing God Empyrean and his friends, were unable to understand the Ocean God''s Physique, could it be because Xiang Hong had created it like that? It would explain why he had been able to learn the first part of the cultivation technique from the jade fragment back then. If that really was the case, could he now acquire the rest and continue to cultivate his body and soul according to the path he had chosen?


    The transparent Xiang Hong turned his head slightly, as if he could still see the battle unfolding beyond the blue light. He turned his head back and continued to look directly through Liang Chen after a short while, his face showing not an ounce of regret for the choice he had made as he spoke, information starting to flood Liang Chen''s mind.


    "What you just saw were the last moments of me, Xiang Hong, and my sworn brother, Rahu. Don''t worry, I won''t ask you to avenge me or to satisfy some grudge I had, I''m already dead so none of that matters. All I ask is that you use my greatest pride, my Ocean God Physique, and use it to live freely. Follow your heart and decide on your own path, no matter what end it leads to, just as I did."

 The signal flare of war.

    Liang Chen blanked out for a bit while the information flooded his mind, doing his best to digest it as quickly as possible. He didn''t have to memorize it as the information imprinted itself in his mind, but actually understanding the information and what it was conveying required him to study it for a bit. Liang Chen opened his eyes again, uncertain when he had even closed them, once the information stopped flooding his mind, blinking his eyes a few times while turning to look at Yan Ling.


    "Did you also see and hear the scenes just now? And did you receive the flood of information?"


    The image of Xiang Hong said that only his own descendants or the descendants of Rahu would be able to awaken the jades and acquire his cultivation technique, but Liang Chen wondered if others around them could also acquire the cultivation technique if they were around at the time the jade awakened. But contrary to what he hoped, Yan Ling shook her head slightly, her eyes gleaming as she looked at the jade that Liang Chen was holding.


    "I saw the battle, but I couldn''t hear anything. Who were those people and what sort of information did you get? Also, I gotta borrow that jade, the attack made by the silver-haired one seemed to use the law of space, I think I''ll be able to learn a thing or two if I get to study."


    Liang Chen had already gotten everything he could from the jade so he tossed it to Yan Ling, who swiftly caught it and put it away. He then summarized what he had just heard the three people talking about, he also told Yan Ling the new information he had just received during the flood of information.


    "I also learned that there are more cultivation realms that none of the books in the sect''s library mentioned, there are two, technically three, that they are lacking. Above the Sovereign God realm is the Empyrean Ruler realm and above that is the Primeval Sovereign realm, the one most people consider to be the peak of cultivation. But there is actually a cultivation realm above even that, the one that the three people in the recording have reached, the Universal Heart realm. The information didn''t mention much about these three realms, it said that each person usually has their own unique way of reaching these realms."


    Liang Chen''s eyes gleamed somewhat as he spoke, Yan Ling''s gleaming when she heard the information. Previously unheard of cultivation realms, just how grand was this type of information? And the three people they had seen in the recording, just how grand were they, who had reached the true peak of cultivation? At the same time, they could also feel their hearts thumping faintly. Just the Transcended Immortal and the Sovereign God realm felt so incredibly distant and mighty, and yet there were three realms above even these.


    Now that they had learned this information, Liang Chen also found that the titles he had heard back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm made a bit more sense. Sealing God Empyrean and Sovereign Blacksmith, had the two of them truly reached these fabled realms? If they did, Liang Chen had to admit that his plan of smacking the Sealing God Empyrean at least once would have to be put on quite the hold. After seeing that Yan Ling had fully absorbed what he had told her so far, Liang Chen continued to talk, telling her about the main portion of the information he received.


    "I also received the full cultivation manual of the Ocean God Physique so I can continue to cultivate my body and soul using it in the future. Only, it turns out that I fucked up a teensy bit when I came up with my own way of altering my bones. Turns out that the cultivation technique is two-fold, the first part is you turning your body into the element while the second part consists of you turning your elemental body into a body constructed purely out of laws. Once you reach this stage, wherever your laws exist so too can you, you''ll practically be immortal and omnipresent in this vast multiverse, the only way to kill you would be to forever eradicate whichever law you have become. Of course, as we just saw in the recording, there are ways to get around this."


    The number of minor universes that existed in this multiverse was too many to count, and the major universes were so large that they could house thousands of minor universes, there would always be at least one location that held your law of choosing. Xiang Hong should truly have been immortal, but what a shame that Yin Long was capable of perfectly countering his strongest ability. Liang Chen realized that he had gone a bit off topic, quickly returning to what he was talking about.


    "But anyway, as the end goal is to turn your entire body into a singular law, you usually start accustoming your body to said law as quickly as you can. The normal path to changing your bones is to turn them into the same liquid as your bone marrow and then coating it in a thin layer of laws that will slowly merge with the liquid. I simply turned my bones into the crystallized form of the fused storm law so I might have to put in a bit of extra effort once I reach the stage where I have to turn my entire body into a singular law."


    He didn''t consider it too big of a problem, it only meant a bit more work when he finally reached the later stages of cultivation, there were far worse ways he could have messed up. After he finished explaining the full details of the Ocean God Physique, he noticed that Yan Ling was looking at him with exasperation, releasing a heavy sigh while stretching out her arms and pinching Liang Chen''s cheeks, stretching them.


    "Really, and here I thought the Chaos King technique was already beyond ridiculous. And just when I think that I''ve somewhat managed to close the gap between us, you pull out some dumb shit and use it to run right ahead again, can''t ya spare at least a single thought for me?!"


    Yan Ling continued to pull and stretch Liang Chen''s cheeks in exasperation and slight frustration, but Liang Chen simply grinned at her while letting out a somewhat cheeky chuckle. Someone seemed to protest their way of showing affection however, the white-haired and blue-eyed Lan Yun jumping out of Yan Ling''s dantian and clutching onto Yan Ling''s arms while doing her best to scold her.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "Maman, No! Maman, No! Maman bad!"


    The two of them stopped their playing around when Lan Yun scolded Yan Ling, looking at her with some surprise. Neither of them had gotten the chance to teach her any words yet, but here she was, uttering two words she shouldn''t know. Could she have been listening to them while they were out walking, picking up a word or two just from listening? If so, she was quite a bit smarter than either of them had first assumed. Yan Ling picked up Lan Yun and gently swung her around a little to ease her adorable anger.


    "No no, you''re getting it wrong, it''s not Maman, it''s Mama. Me, Mama. He, Little Freak. Say it with me, Mama, Little Freak."


    Liang Chen could only roll his eyes when he heard that the first thing Yan Ling was trying to teach Lan Yun was that nickname she had come up with back when they first met. But it seemed like at least one person here was on their side, Lan Yun digging her feet in and remaining adamant.


    "No! Maman, Papan!"


    Yumao popped out from Liang Chen''s shadow, slithering up his arm and coiling up on Liang Chen''s head, nodding his head in agreement to Lan Yun''s words, so Liang Chen had at least two supporters here. Liang Chen stretched out his arms and snatched Lan Yun from Yan Ling, embracing her with his left arm while pointing at Yan Ling.


    "Don''t listen to her, she''s a liar. Me Papa, she Mischievous Fox."


    Liang Chen had to admit that it felt strange, suddenly having a little girl treating him like her father. But it felt nice, it was calming. Yan Ling, Yumao, and now Lan Yun, having the three of them around made him feel like he had regained a little of that which he lost when his parents were executed. He felt that all he had to do now was reunite with his big sister, Qing Chun, and his little family would be almost complete.


    Yan Ling clicked her tongue when she heard what Liang Chen was trying to teach Lan Yun, scowling slightly as she reached out her arms and took back Lan Yun before Liang Chen could try to teach her more.


    "Don''t teach her strange things, what if she memorizes them? So, what do you think we should do about what Sun Cailin told us?"


    Liang Chen fell silent after hearing Yan Ling''s question, his expression turning a bit more serious as his fingers drummed his thigh for a few seconds before he responded.


    "Qian Liao, huh? She can''t lie to us because of the contract, so he should really be coming for us. And since we got our hands on the cultivation technique, there isn''t too much reason for us to stay in the towers either, other than resources. But well, with him coming for us we can''t really stay here safely, leaving is probably the better choice. And now that I can continue to cultivate my body and soul, there is a place I would like to check out."


    Qian Liao was definitely stronger than them, he couldn''t hurt them as long as they stayed within this house, but he could just set up camp outside their door and trap them here. After he finished talking, Liang Chen gave Yan Ling''s interspatial ring a light tap and took out the disk made from brown metal that contained the map of this planet. He put some Qi into it, the image of a faintly pear-shaped planet appearing in the air above it. Liang Chen pointed at a location close to the bottom of the planet, an area marked with the words ''Thunder Saint''s Final Breath''.


    --


    While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were planning on what to do next, the reinforcements of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance and the Moon Dragon Sect had finally arrived on the planet. The two people who had been sent to help the new disciple, Wu Huan, and were subsequently beaten by Qing Lan Yong, were standing in the air high above the planet. The golden-eyed and orange-haired Yu Jiang and the golden-eyed and bald Shen Cai were looking at the six people that were rapidly flying towards them, stopping a few feet away from them. The apparent leader of the six, a woman with blue eyes and brown hair hanging all the way down to her knees looked at the planet beneath them, her eyebrows rising slightly.


    "Do you not know what they say about this planet? You were unable to find the target amongst all these carps?"


    The planet''s name was Dragon''s Gate because of the fact that most of the cultivators that left the planet ended up becoming rather powerful, spawning the legend that one would either leave the planet and become a dragon or stay on the planet and remain a carp. Yu Jiang''s smile turned a bit bitter as he shook his head, revealing a hand imprint on his neck.


    "You can''t blame us, Senior Sister Xia, the target has some very strong people who are doing their best to keep him hidden. Did Venerable Master say anything when he handed you the arrays?"


    Yu Jiang''s expression was a bit awkward when he asked his question, the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint their Venerable Master. But he was able to let out a breath of relief when his Senior Sister, Ding Xia, shook her head. But what she proceeded to say sent a cold shiver down the spine of everyone present.


    "We didn''t meet Venerable Master, he has temporarily left this universe in an attempt to meet the Nine Star Demon God, he wishes to ask for some blood from the Dark God to aid him in his breakthrough. But don''t worry, Senior Teacher Song has lent us one of the array''s Master created after receiving some of the Divine Emperor''s teachings."


    Nine Star Demon God, everyone here knew the weight and terror of that name. Just once these people had gotten the lucky chance, and the unfortunate fate, of seeing the Nine Star Demon God in action, battling against some Parasites that were trying to corrode one of the minor universes. Even to this day, several of them still woke up at night, shivering and covered in cold sweat as they remembered the scene.


    Ding Xia raised her right hand and caused 999 flags made from orange jade to appear around her, the flags quickly flying over to Yu Jiang. He accepted the flags with slightly trembling arms, a burning desire to see the array in effect spreading through his body. Ding Xia gave a casual explanation of the array, seven apple-size crystal orbs filled with what seemed to be liquid fire appearing in front of her.


    "It''ll seal the Qi and bloodlines of everyone on the planet, unless someone here has the bloodline of an Origin Beast, they''ll be unable to break through the array and put up any resistance. I''ll also give you these, finish the job quickly and return to the sect."


    Neither Ding Xia or the five other people she brought along remained in the area after she finished her task, they had other missions that they had to complete, coming here was just a quick detour for them. Yu Jiang passed the crystal orbs over to Shen Cai, the two sharing a quick nod before splitting up to take care of their own separate jobs.


    Yu Jiang quickly moved around the entire planet, planting the 999 flags in different spots. Once the 999th flag was planted, all of them lit up with countless green runes that stretched out and connected with each other, forming a massive array that surrounded the entire planet. Once the array surrounded the entire planet it started to sink down, imprinting itself on every living being on the planet and sealing every single ounce of strength they had, leaving even the strongest cultivator little better than a normal mortal. And a mere three minutes after the array covered the entire planet, a rumbling explosion rocked the Soaring Cloud continent, the entire headquarters of the Storm Wolf sect being swallowed by deep violet flames.

 Calamity of the Storm Wolf sect.

    Yan Ling looked at the triangular spot that Liang Chen was pointing at, tilting her head slightly. Lan Yun saw Yan Ling''s actions, and although she didn''t understand the meaning behind them how could she possibly not copy something that her mother was doing? Liang Chen looked at the two people tilting their heads, one of his eyebrows rising slightly.


    "You don''t know about it? Didn''t you join me in reading through the books that we''ve managed to find so far?"


    With how many people they''d killed so far it was inevitable that they''d get their hands on quite a few books. They had made sure to read through all the books and scrolls they had found so far, it was how they had found out about Qian Liao''s law of death as well as his rank in the God Piercing Fang tower. Yan Ling put on an overly innocent smile and turned her head to the side, whistling obliviously, an act that caused Liang Chen to immediately understand. He raised his arm and rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a light breath.


    "Oh for pete''s sake... The Thunder Saint''s Final Breath is considered a special area on this planet, it is ravaged by strong winds, rain, and lightning at all times of the day. The storm there supposedly started about 29 000 years ago, a few years after a Fiendgod known as the Twin-Soul Thunder Saint went missing there. No one knows what really happened there but the most popular rumor is that the Thunder Saint died there and that the storm is his final breath, or his final curse."


    Liang Chen had actually read about quite a few interesting legends and rumors that swirled around the planet, some rather minor but others so large that it caused one to doubt their veracity. Yan Ling''s eyes finally lit up with understanding as she gave several rapid nods of her head, the small Lan Yun once again copying her actions.


    "I see I see. You want to go there to cultivate your body since the elements align with the laws you use for your body cultivation, correct?"


    Yan Ling quickly caught on to Liang Chen''s plans, the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath was the perfect place for them to cultivate his body. Liang Chen would only have to supply his law of time and fuse it with the lightning, wind, and rain as long as they were there, it would allow them to conserve quite a bit of energy. Liang Chen nodded his head, adding on his original plans.


    "That''s the plan now, at least. I originally wanted to head there to borrow the pressure produced by the storm, especially the lightning. My emerald lightning isn''t able to keep up with the enemies we are facing now, it''s about time I made it stronger by fusing it with the crimson lightning. There''s also the fact that the place is also well-suited to the current you, and the little one that''s just joined us."


    Liang Chen picked up Lan Yun as he spoke, rubbing her head and causing her to giggle cutely. Lan Yun was born with innate control over lightning, wind, metal, and earth, likely thanks to the bloodline she had gotten by being nurtured with Yan Ling''s blood. The lightning and wind Qi in that area should be rather beneficial to both of them, Yan Ling could even absorb the water Qi thanks to the fact that she was cultivating that law.


    Liang Chen sent Yumao a look that caused Yumao''s expression to turn a bit exasperated, but he still slithered down Liang Chen''s body and onto Lan Yun''s, coiling up on top of her head. This was the first time he had gotten close to Lan Yun, so she immediately grew excited and reached up with both her arms, patting Yumao all over. Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the two of them with fond smiles, Yan Ling glancing at Yumao.


    "True, heading there might be pretty good for her as well. But what about him, he might start to feel left out if we only focus on her."


    Yan Ling did care about Yumao, so she didn''t want him to get sad because they didn''t pay that much attention to him. Liang Chen put Lan Yun down on the couch next to him, patting both her and Yumao on the head while giving a light shrug of his shoulders.


    "He understands our positions, he also knows that it''s a bit harder to get our hands on resources with the element of darkness. But I''ve promised him that he''ll get to eat as many Demonic beasts as he wants after we leave the tower, I''ve also promised him some of the Demonic beast parts that Qian Liao has used to cultivate, they should be at least somewhat useful to him."


    Yumao may just look like a feathered serpent, but he was much smarter than he looked, he probably had the intelligence of a normal 17-year old. Were it not for the fact that he didn''t have the proper vocal cords nor had the ability to mimic human speech with his Qi, he would already be capable of talking just as well as anyone else.


    Just eating Demonic beasts wasn''t as good as eating Demonic beasts that shared an element with him, but it would still allow Yumao to increase his strength a little so it was a start. Just like they didn''t know what race Lan Yun was, they had no clue what sort of race Yumao was, but considering the fact that Liang Chen had received him after clearing a trial involving a Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, he guessed that the two had some connection.


    As Qian Liao cultivated using the body of a mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, the parts should indeed be somewhat useful to Yumao. And even if they ended up being useless, Yumao could still eat them to become a little stronger. Yan Ling nodded her head slowly, springing up from the couch while turning her head onto Liang Chen.


    "Alright! Knowing you I guess you''ll say that we should leave immediately, no?"


    Everything they owned was packed away in their interspatial rings so they didn''t even have to pack anything before leaving. Liang Chen picked up Yumao and Lan Yun, standing up from the couch while rolling his eyes at Yan Ling''s words, which were a poor lie at best.


    "Please, you''re just bored with the tower so you want to leave as quickly as you can so that you can run around and cause chaos again, don''t think you can fool me."


    Yan Ling was the type of person who couldn''t stay in one place for long, this was a fact that Liang Chen knew very well. Of course, what he failed to realize that he would more often than not cause just as much chaos as Yan Ling, so the words he directed at her could just as easily be directed at him. Yan Ling didn'' deny his words, a cheeky smile spreading on her face as she placed her hands behind her head and let out a light giggle.


    "Nihihi."


    --


    Yan Ying saw violet flames all around him, the crescendo of screams around him quickly turning into a gruesome symphony as the stench of scorched flesh entered his nose. His deep green hair stuck to his forehead as he ran through the burning sect, blood occasionally dripping into his black eyes and forcing him to use a bit of Qi to remove it. He saw dead disciples all around him, flames eating away at their bodies or rubble crushing their bodies.


    Just half a minute ago these disciples had been enjoying a peaceful day, he himself had just been in the midst of training his close combat technique. Just what had happened, what had attacked their sect to cause such damage? And what about the sect''s defensive formations, why had none of them activated to block the attack? Questions were swirling around in Yan Ying''s mind as he ran, doing his best to help any disciples that were still alive, running up to a blonde female disciple in her twenties that had some rubble covering her lower body.


    "Junior Sister Xinzi, grab my hand and grit your teeth, I''ll drag you out!"


    Yan Ying stretched out his arm to grab onto the girl''s, Gan Xinzi, right arm so that she could have something to squeeze on while he dragged her out. A strange seal had appeared on his body, preventing him from using any Qi, so he could only drag her out using his physical strength. But Gan Xinzi actually pushed away his arm, quickly shouting at Yan Ying.


    "No! Forget about me and keep going, there are others who need your help, others that you can actually save!"


    Some blood seeped out from the corners of her mouth as she shouted, her eyes almost completely red as blood started to pool in them. Only now was Yan Ying close enough to see that her body had been crushed against the ground in such a manner that a large piece of rubble underneath her had ended up crushing parts of her spine and several of her organs. Even if he managed to get the rubble away, the crushed organs and internal bleeding would end up pooling in her lungs and choking her. If that didn''t kill her, she would either bleed to death in a few minutes or she would die when her body became unable to handle its wounds.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Yan Ying knew this disciple, he was the one who had brought her to the sect after finding her in a small village while out traveling. He found her talent to be good so he convinced her parents to let him take her to the clan and let her take on the tests to enter the sect early. So seeing her like this, his expression couldn''t help but twist somewhat, but she quickly pushed him away, continuing to shout at him while her expression distorted from the pain.


    "Go! Save those that can be saved! Tell them that they need to flee the sect as fast as possible, we''re just sitting ducks without our defensive formations!"


    She was dead, Gan Xinzi knew this far clearer than anyone else. But there were disciples that could still be saved, so every second Yan Ying wasted on her might be the second that sealed the fate of a different disciple. Yan Ying''s expression continued to twist for two seconds before turning steely, his eyes growing somewhat red as he pulled out the sword hanging at his waist.


    "Goodbye, please rest well."


    Gan Xinzi sent Yan Ying a wide smile, her eyes turning blank as Yan Ying stabbed his sword into her chest and pierced her heart, granting her the only mercy he could right now, a quick and painless death to spare her from the pain she was feeling. He grit his teeth and stood up, turning around and continuing to run, heading for the center of the sect where he guessed most disciples would gather.


    He did his best to save any disciples he encountered along the way, but he only discovered a further six disciples that were still alive, and only two that could still be saved. He continued to run while supporting the two wounded disciples, the three of them quickly reaching the center of the sect, the peak of the split mountain. Yan Ying almost let out a sigh of relief when he saw the large number of disciples gathered there, but his heart clenched when he realized that these disciples might just be all that were left alive, less than 10% of the sect''s full number.


    The two highest ranked elders, the muscular and bald Guanyu as well as the delicate and rainbow-haired Guiying, were also present in the area, doing their best to calm down the disciples. Both looked rather disheveled but Yan Ying let out a sigh of relief when he saw that neither of them was wounded too badly. Shortly after Yan Ying arrived in the area, another person came running over while limping slightly, Sect Master Yan Wuhan.


    A fist-sized portion of his right thigh was torn out, the flesh around the wound black and festering, oozing a yellow puss that reeked horribly, his cyan-hair singed and burned. An arm-sized shard of shattered wood was piercing through his abdomen, just above his navel, blood slowly dripping down along it. But even so, his expression remained steely, his silver eyes flashing with a dignified light, befitting of a sect master. He shouted out the moment he arrived in the area, his gaze landing on Guanyu and Guiying.


    "Second Elder, Third Elder, disciples, hear my order! As you all have likely realized already, we seem to have been imprinted by an array that has sealed all our Qi and even the bloodlines that some of you carry! I won''t lie, this is a dire situation for our sect, one that threatens our very existence! You will split into two groups, one led by Second Elder and one led by Third Elder, the two groups will then flee in different directions to increase the chance that at least some of our disciples will survive! Flee as fast as you can, seek shelter wherever you can! And I pray that there comes a day where we all get to meet again, having been your Sect Master will always be my greatest pride!"


    The disciples straightened their backs and immediately nodded their heads at Yan Wuhan''s words, the sea of people splitting down the middle and joining up with either Guanyu or Guiying. Yan Ying, Guanyu, and Guiying met Yan Wuhan''s eyes, the four of them sharing a look before Guanyu and Guiying gave Yan Wuhan a salute, leading their groups away to different spatial arrays so that they could flee.


    They couldn''t use their Qi, but they could still use Spirit Stones to fuel the spatial arrays for fleeing, the only reason they hadn''t done so for the defensive formations was due to the fact that doing so would drain all their Spirit Stones within half a year. Yan Ying didn''t join up with any of the other groups, his father''s eyes had indicated that he had something he needed to tell him.


    Yan Ying quickly ran over to Yan Wuhan, whose face turned pale the moment the other disciples left the rea. Yan Wuhan looked at Yan Ying with a soft and loving gaze, stretching out his arm and softly caressing Yan Ying''s cheeks.


    "Ying''er, I need you to take these. I saved them for Ling''ers wedding, but I don''t think I''ll get to see that day. Give the green bottle to Ling''er and the blue bottle to Little Chen, I''m sure they''ll know what to do with them. Also, please thank Little Chen for me, thanks to him I got to see Ling''er smile the same way she did as a child."


    Yan Wuhan took out two bottles from the inside of his robe as he spoke, one made from green crystals and one made from blue jade. The bottle made from green crystals seemed to be filled with an emerald wind but Yan Ying was unable to see what was inside the blue bottle since it wasn''t transparent. He quickly accepted the bottles and hid them away in his clothing, his expression distorting even further when he looked at Yan Wuhan and his wounds.


    "Please don''t talk like that, Father. Your wounds are bad, but they''re not completely lethal. Come, let''s quickly flee before whoever attacked us launches another attack, we need to hide and figure out a plan before anything else."


    Yan Ying tried to grab onto Yan Wuhan''s arms but his hands were once again pushed away. Yan Wuhan shook his head and pulled down his robe slightly, revealing a mark in the shape of a triangular eye on his chest.


    "No. You will leave, but I cannot. I can feel it, I''ve already been marked, whoever attacked us will know wherever I go, I will only endanger you if I were to go with you. Thanks to this mark I can also tell that whoever attacked us is coming, they''ll likely try to finish us all off now."


    Yan Ying''s expression paled when he heard his father''s words, if that was true then there was almost no way for Yan Wuhan to escape here. Yan Wuhan looked at Yan Ying with serious eyes, his voice grave as he gave Yan Ying orders.


    "Ying''er, I''ll utilize the final defense mechanism of our sect to distract them, use that chance to flee, but make sure you flee in a different direction from the two other groups. It''ll be much easier for you to flee on your own, you''ll be even harder to discover like that."


    Yan Ying looked at Yan Wuhan with saddened eyes, he knew what the final defense mechanism of the sect was. But at the same time, he was a little confused why his father wanted him to flee on his own, he might be harder to discover, but there was a certain safety in numbers, especially when you couldn''t use Qi. Now it was time for Yan Wuhan''s expression to change, turning both bitter and self-loathing.


    "Ying''er, no matter what, you must survive until Ling''er and Little Chen return here. It might be cruel to say, but I only split the other disciples into two groups so that they would attract all the attention so that you have a greater chance at fleeing. The only way for the Storm Wolf sect to survive into the future and rise again lies within Ling''er and Little Chen. So you must survive, you must hand them those bottles, that is the last aid I can give them, the last salvation I can prepare for the Storm Wolf sect."


    For the sake of the sect''s future, he was prepared to use most of the remaining sect disciples as bait, what sort of sect master was he? He might be condemned and judged by others, but Yan Wuhan stood by his choice, all so that the Storm Wolf sect could rise again in the future. Yan Wuhan stretched out his arms, cupping both of Yan Ying''s cheeks and smiling at him.


    "Ying''er, I am so proud of you and your hard work, I have always been thankful that I picked you up that day. Now go."


    He removed his hands from Yan Ying''s cheeks and gave his chest a weak push, prodding him to quickly run away. Yan Ying''s eyes were now completely red, tears flowing down his face in what seemed like a neverending waterfall. He took a few steps back and kneeled down on the ground in front of Yan Wuhan, heavily knocking his forehead against the ground.


    "THANK YOU FOR RESCUING ME BACK THEN! THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FATHER!"


    Yan Ying stood up after he knocked his head against the ground, turning around and running away with all his might, heading for a spatial array that only he, Yan Wuhan, Yan Ling, Guanyu, and Guiying knew about. Yan Wuhan looked at the running Yan Ying, a warm smile spreading on his face.


    "Go, my dear son, please live."


    Yan Wuhan walked back a few steps after Yan Ying left his field of vision and he felt the familiar rippling of three different spatial arrays activating, collapsing to a sitting position and throwing up some blood on himself. He didn''t even bother to wipe the blood away from his face, he stuck his hand inside his robe and pulled out what appeared to be a finger-sized arrow made from a blood-red crystal, a small drop-shaved indent carved into the tip of the arrow. Yan Wuhan raised his head to the sky, just barely able to see countless figures swarming down towards the sect.


    "Ancestor Yan Yi, the plot of land you worked so hard to secure for us might be destroyed, but I assure you that there will be a day where the name of the Storm Wolf will spread further than ever before, they will spread it to the very ends of this universe and beyond."


    Yan Wuhan stabbed the arrow into his own chest after he spoke, the tip piercing into his heart. A crystalline drop of blood at the very center of his heart landed in the indent carved into the tip of the arrow, the small arrow suddenly emitting a light so bright it covered the entire mountain, and even the area several hundred kilometers around the mountain. There was no explosion, no earth-shaking trembling or commotion. The entire mountain and everything within several hundred kilometers around it simply vanished when it was swallowed by the light, disintegrating into nothing and marking the start of the gruesome war.

 Dirge of the Worldeater.

    Liang Chen handed Lan Yun to Yan Ling and then had Yumao return to his dantian. Both Yumao and Lan Yun had to remain hidden as long as they were in the tower, partly to protect them and partly to keep them as trump cards should they ever be needed. Liang Chen swept the room around them with one last glance before shrugging his shoulders, glancing at the door.


    "No real point in trying to hide while we''re trying to leave the tower, we''ll be discovered the moment we leave the house or when we enter or leave one of the houses that''ll bring us to the other floors."


    Everyone on this floor knew that the two of them lived in this house, so even if they put on a disguise, everyone would know it was them the moment they left this house. Yan Ling had also realized the same so she simply gave a short nod of her head and had a clearly unwilling and somewhat pouting Lan Yun enter her dantian again. The two then left the house and casually headed for the building that would take them down to the lower floor.


    Considering their status in the tower, especially their status as humans, their every move would quickly be noticed and spread around. Up to this point, the two of them had always caused quite a scene whenever they left their house so there were quite a few people wondering just what they would do now.


    But contrary to what the others on the floor were expecting, the two simply entered the iron house and quietly left the floor. Some were a bit curious what they were planning, but a few others had already received news that last time the two of them left they tower they had been gone for several months, and come back quite a bit stronger than when they left. Those that knew were either eager or worried, wondering if the same would happen this time.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling quickly reached the first floor and started heading for the exit, the people walking on the roads making sure to give them wide berth. Everyone knew about the massacre that had taken place on the third floor back then, and none of the people here were interested in becoming part of the ever-growing number of people that the two of them had killed. As such, the two managed to leave the tower without incidents, Yan Ling''s gaze turning towards the sky above them as a slightly surprised mutter escaped her lips.


    "Oh, it''s already that time of the year? Come to think of it, the end of the year celebration should be right around the corner back home as well. Do you think Big Brother and Father are okay? It has been quite a while since we left so I''m certain that they are quite worried."


    Delicate petals of snow were currently falling from the twilight sky, the city spreading out around them already covered by a layer that was a few centimeters thick, the orange glow of the setting sun reflecting off the white snow. A year here was quite a bit longer than on their own home planet, but Yan Ling had done her best to somewhat keep track of how much time had passed since they arrived here so she was fairly confident that the year would end in one or two weeks on their home planet, it would still take about four months for the year to end on this planet however.


    Liang Chen crouched down and picked up a handful of snow, giving it a quick inspection to make sure that it was in fact just normal snow. Once he was certain that the snow wasn''t harmful, he smashed the entire handful of snow onto the top of Yan Ling''s head, rubbing it in while responding.


    "Your brother''s smart and your father is ridiculously powerful, they''re probably off just as well, if not better, than we are right now. And yeah, they''re probably worried, but that''s normal for family. They worry and we prove to them that they had nothing to worry about, only to worry about them just the same when they leave."


    Yan Ling''s hair became wet and ruffled almost immediately thanks to the snow so she quickly did her best to shake off Liang Chen''s hand, but it only resulted in her hand getting even more ruffled. The scene was rather shocking to the people watching them, it made for quite the contrast when compared to how cold-blooded and sometimes downright vicious they had been in the tower. Liang Chen grinned at the now pouting and glaring Yan Ling, grabbing onto her hand and nodding towards the distance.


    "Let''s find a more secluded place."


    Liang Chen took a step forward before Yan Ling had the chance to say anything, the snow around them being blown away as the two were accompanied by a thunderous rumble and then vanished from the area. With Liang Chen taking the lead, the two of them ran through the streets, which were starting to become somewhat deserted thanks to the fact that night was approaching. They ran through several small back alleys and rather well-hidden gaps between houses, abruptly stopping in a narrow alley that formed a small maze between several stone houses.


    The two of them closely observed and scanned their surroundings, nodding at each other once they were certain that no one was around them. They quickly put on their Heaven Altering Masks and disguised themselves as people from the White Orchid Race. But when it came time to strip and put on new robes, Yan Ling used her chin to indicate that Liang Chen should turn around, prompting him to comment.


    "Come on, what haven''t I seen already?"


    With how intimate the two of them had been, there wasn''t a single centimeter on her body that he hadn''t explored in close detail, was there really a need for him to turn around? His comment earned him a quick chop on the head, Yan Ling pushing his shoulder and forcing him to turn around.


    "The last thing I need right now is for you to turn into an insatiable beast out in public, who knows what you''d do then!"


    Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulders after hearing her comment, she really had no faith in him, did she? He quickly stripped and put on a new robe that he hadn''t worn before in the tower, waiting for Yan Ling to tap him on the shoulder so that he knew that he could turn around. She had also switched into a new robe, a rather tightfitting pink one that ended just above her knees. Liang Chen stretched out his right arm and gave a slight nod upon seeing that Yan Ling had finished changing.


    "Alright, let''s complete the disguise."


    The shadow cast by Liang Chen''s sleeve started to wriggle slightly, Yumao crawling out of the darkness and slithering up Liang Chen''s arm, coiling himself around the entirety of Liang Chen''s arm. Yan Ling also allowed Lan Yun to come out from her dantian, wrapping a yellow scarf around her neck to hide the fact that she didn''t have the second mouth that was characteristic for people from the White Orchid race.


    With her throat covered up, there was no way to tell that Lan Yun wasn''t someone from the White Orchid race, as they were one of the races on this planet that most closely resembled humans. Liang Chen had never shown that they had anything close to Yumao or Lan Yun so they became the finishing touches on their disguises. After all, what sort of idiot would not use a strong Demonic beast companion in the tower if they had one? Yan Ling held Lan Yun close to her chest, pointing at one of the many side-paths of the alleyway they were currently in.


    "Alright, now we have to take this path and a few other detours so that we can head back to a shop we ran past on the way here, I need to pick up a few more things if I want to make sure that the clothing I make is proper, it should be cheaper here than in the tower."


    Liang Chen was just about to comment on what the point of that was when he quickly decided to remain silent, he had a feeling that Yan Ling would go off on a long tirade if he were to actually say it out loud. He simply gave a nod of his head and beckoned for Yan Ling to lead the way, the two walking side by side and taking the chance to teach Lan Yun a few new words.


    They reached the shop that Yan Ling had seen after a few minutes of walking, a one-story wooden building with a sign that was engraved with the words ''Ah Feng''s All-Purpose Fabric and Tailoring.'' It was already rather late so the shop seemed like it was in the process of closing up, Yan Ling swiftly pushing open the door and dragging Liang Chen after her.


    The inside of the shop was stuffed nearly to the brim with racks filled with clothing or samples of cloth, an open door behind a rectangular counter on the left of the room leading into what seemed to be a storage area. There was currently an old woman from the Fiendgod race walking along the racks, making sure that everything was in order as she inspected some of the cloth. Yan Ling handed Lan Yun to Liang Chen, using her chin to point at the woman.


    "You keep an eye on her, I''ll go have a quick talk with her."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and embraced Lan Yun, pointing at a few things in the room and teaching both her and Yumao what they were. Yan Ling walked over to the old woman, who seemed to be Ah Feng, and started chatting with her, the two walking along some of the racks while the old woman seemed to recommend Yan Ling some of the fabrics. Liang Chen thought that it would be a quick trip in and out, but Yan Ling showed no signs of stopping even after ten minutes had passed. She and Ah Feng would even turn towards him occasionally, Ah Feng leaning down to whisper a few things to Yan Ling.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Yan Ling simply ignored them and continued to talk with Lan Yun and Yumao, moving over to teaching them about some of the things he had read about when he ran out of things in the room to talk about. Only after a further 15 minutes passed did Yan Ling seem to have finished her talk with Ah Feng, carrying a rather large paper bag as she came over.


    "Alright, I''m done, we can leave."


    Liang Chen looked at the paper bag that Yan Ling was carrying, it was practically filled to the point of bursting. He couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow while they left the store, nodding at the bag.


    "We had enough funds left to buy all that?"


    They had been practically broke when they left the tower, mainly due to the fact that they had gone shopping mere hours before leaving it. Things might be cheaper here, but they shouldn''t be that much cheaper, right? Yan Ling smirked slightly, chuckling while winking at Liang Chen and storing the bag into her interspatial ring.


    "Not really, but I taught Old Lady Feng a few tricks about sewing that she didn''t know yet so she gave me a discount."


    Liang Chen could only believe her words and nod his head, allowing Yan Ling to take the lead as the two walked through the snow-covered streets. Yan Ling led them through several streets and back alleys, the two getting closer and closer to the exit of the town. But then Yan Ling stopped when they were a few kilometers away from the exit, stopping underneath a large tree that was currently blooming with rather beautiful purple blossoms.


    "You know, they have a legend on this planet that states that there was once a cultivator countless years ago who was supposedly married to the most beautiful woman on the planet. But the cultivator was a bit arrogant due to this status, and although he loved the woman dearly, he ended up neglecting her for a while in favor of his fame. The woman was obviously quite angry at this so she decided to play a prank on him and run away for a bit, just to make him realize how important she was too him. The prank sadly backfired when she ran too far away, she ended up getting kidnapped, taken away to a castle hiding in the clouds and locked away. The cultivator was furious when he learned this, he stormed the castle to retrieve his loved one, but it was already too late, the woman had been abused and killed."


    Liang Chen didn''t know where Yan Ling had heard this story, but considering the timing, he could guess that she had likely heard about it from Ah Feng while they were talking. He was curious just what sort of point this story had so he quietly listened as she continued to tell him about the ancient legend.


    "In his rage, the cultivator turned the entire castle to ash, ash which rained down on the planet in the form of snow. The cultivator supposedly killed himself shortly after, turning both his own body and the body of his wife to ash that then also rained down on the planet. Some people believe that the snow that falls every year is a reminder from that cultivator that one shouldn''t take what they have for granted, one should cherish those close to you and show it whenever you can. So the people on this planet turned the supposed day that the cultivator died into a holiday where couples give each other gifts and show their love. If you ask me, they narrowed the scope quite a bit, but hey."


    Such legends weren''t uncommon even on their home planet, even they had turned some of them into holidays. At this point, Liang Chen would have to be an idiot to not understand what Yan Ling was planning, but he still allowed her to continue talking.


    "The holiday is still about a month away, but I can''t really give up such a chance, can I?"


    Yan Ling took the back out of her interspatial ring and opened it, taking out a dark golden scarf that seemed to be made from a type of silk. She stepped closer to Liang Chen and wrapped the scarf around his neck, using it to pull him closer and give him a kiss, smiling brightly at him when she pulled back.


    "I love you, Little Freak."


    --


    A bright light flashed in front of Yan Ying''s eyes as the spatial array brought him away, a strong sense of nausea assaulting him. Using a spatial array without having access to one''s own Qi was like riding a carriage at full speed on a bumpy and twisty road, most people would find it very uncomfortable. Yan Ying found himself in a somewhat small and dark cave once the light faded from his vision, the strong smell of seawater present in the cave.


    There was a deep pit of water located at the end of the cave, the water so dark and murky that it was impossible to see how deep it went. Yan Ying quickly took several deep breaths before walking over to a stone spike that stuck up from the ground, giving the tip a soft push that caused the top half of the spike to bend back and reveal that the spike was hollow. Hidden away within the spike were several Spirit Stones, provisions, multiple robes and bags, as well as a simple silk mask, the fourth and final Heaven Altering Mask that the Storm Wolf sect owned. Liang Chen and Yan Ling had the first two, and Yan Ying guessed that the third one was destroyed when his father activated the final defensive measure of the sect.


    Yan Ying put on the mask and then removed some of the Spirit Stones from the rock, drawing out the Qi within them to activate the mask and change his appearance. Without being able to use his own Qi to activate it, he could only rely on these Spirit Stones. He switched into a new robe, a normal brown one, and then stuffed the provisions and Spirit Stones into a bag that he slung over his back.


    He then walked over to the pit of water and jumped into it, following the somewhat narrow stone tunnel a few meters down and then several meters to the side before it spread out and revealed that the cave was actually dug into a rather large underwater mountain. He swam directly up after leaving the tunnel, breaching the surface of the water after only half a minute. His gaze landed on an island that was a short distance away, the Floating Rose nation, one of the nations under the control of the Storm Wolf sect.


    Yan Ying swam over to the island, stepping ashore on a beach located directly beside the capital, and one of only two cities that the nation had, Rose King city. Yan Ying sensed that things weren''t quite right the moment he stepped onto the beach, the city was far too quiet, in fact, the entire island was far too quiet. The faint scent of smoke reached his nose, Yan Ying''s expression turning somewhat grim when he realized what might be happening.


    What if it wasn''t just the Storm Wolf sect that had been attacked? What if they attacked multiple places at once? Without access to their Qi, just who would be able to stop the attackers? Yan Ying''s guess was quickly proven correct, a youth clad in the golden robes embroidered with the emblem of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, a sword stabbed into a shining sun, came walking down the beach, seemingly on patrol.


    The youth stopped in his tracks when he saw Yan Ying, his head tilting slightly. He quickly took out an eye-shaped pendant from his interspatial ring, holding it towards Yan Ying. The pendant lit up with a cyan light when the eye fell on Yan Ying, the youth''s eyes lighting up as a smile spread on his face.


    "A survivor? Since you''re all the way out here you must have managed to escape using a spatial array. I don''t know your position in the Storm Wolf sect but they''ve promised rather handsome rewards for any disciples we bring in so I''ll have you follow me."


    Yan Ying could feel his entire body turning cold, they had a way of identifying them? In that case, hiding would become extremely difficult, not just for him but also for the other disciples that escaped. Yan Ying knew that he stood no chance of winning this fight so he quickly turned around and started running, heading for the docks that served as the entrance of the city, he could only hope that he would be able to reach the docks and jump onto a boat that he could use to escape. The youth had only reached the early stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, he would normally be far weaker than Yan Ying, but now he almost seemed like an insurmountable wall. The youth let out an exasperated sigh when he saw Yan Ying''s actions, scratching the back of his head.


    "Oh come on, running? Really? Do you not understand the difference in speed between someone who can use Qi and one who cannot?"


    The youth took a single step forward and then turned into a blur that almost immediately arrived behind Yan Ying, his fist already swinging out. The youth''s fist collided with Yan Ying''s back and caused him to fly forward for a bit. As he flew forward, he saw that the punch had hit the two bottles that his father had given him, the cork on both bottles coming undone.


    Yan Ying quickly stretched out his arms and grabbed onto the crystal bottle that seemed to be filled with emerald wind, corking it up again before anything could escape it. But he wasn''t able to stop the blue jade bottle from spilling two ocean-blue drops of its content before he managed to cork it up again, one hitting the youth and the other hitting the sand.


    The youth quickly wiped off the drop that had landed on his hand, his gaze remaining on Yan Ying. He took another step forward and once again arrived directly in front of Yan Ying, raising his hand high. But even after he raised his hand, nothing happened. The youth couldn''t help but look at his hand, tilting his head somewhat confusedly.


    "Huh, my Qi?"


    The youth lowered his arm and pointed at Yan Ying, as if he was trying to do something, but once again nothing happened. And then, the veins on the youth''s arm started to bulge and twist, a blue light coursing through them. The youth''s arm started to spasm. the bulging of his veins growing worse and worse. Yan Ying could actually feel the Qi within the youth vanish now, it was as if it was eaten away by an unseen force.


    The youth''s hand started to lose its color, turning a faded and lifeless gray. Small holes suddenly started to open in the youth''s hand, his now wrinkly and gray veins simply sliding out of the holes and falling to the ground. The youth looked at his arm in shock, tightly grasping his wrist as he looked at Yan Ying in horror.


    "Wha... What!? What have you done to me?!"


    The youth shouted for an answer, but Yan Ying was just as shocked as the youth was. The blue light in the youth''s veins continued to travel further up his arm and spread through his body, more and more of his skin losing its color. His hair turned white and his cheeks started to sink in, his eyes becoming flooded with a blue light. More and more holes opened up in the youth''s body, allowing more and more of his veins to simply slide out and fall to the ground. The first veins that had fallen out had become even wrinklier, becoming so dry that they almost fell apart and became a part of the sand.


    As more and more veins started to slide out of the holes, entire chunks of the youth''s flesh started to simply slide off his bones, which had now become dry and cracked. The youth stretched his arms towards Yan Ying, his eyes now completely dry and blue, his speech slurred as his body simply slid apart.


    "What...did... youphu...splsahjjff....meyyyggg...whitghghhh..."


    Yan Ying looked on in shock and horror as the body of the youth completely fell apart, the chunks of flesh and bone becoming dryer and dryer. He quickly cast his eyes onto the sand where the second drop had fallen, his eyes opening wide in horror when he saw the scene. The sand itself had started to lose its color, becoming gray and lifeless. And what''s worse, the gray area was slowly spreading, as if the lifeforce of the land itself was being eaten away at.


    It was at this moment that Yan Ying understood what the final gift his father had prepared for Liang Chen was. But even though he realized it, he couldn''t believe it, because this thing was not something that should still exist on this planet, it shouldn''t even exist within the entire solar system.


    "It can''t be, Dirge of the Worldeater?!"

 Thunder Saints Final Breath.

    Liang Chen and Yan Ling left the city with calm and casual steps, not arousing any suspicions from the guards, who simply gave them a quick glance before moving their gazes away. The two of them followed the wide road for a short distance, stepping off the road the moment there was no one else around them. They scurried into the small forest that was located a few kilometers away from the city, using the trees as cover while locking eyes, Liang Chen gesturing with his head towards her interspatial ring.


    "The chariot, can it still be used?"


    The Thunder Saint''s Final Breath was located quite a bit further away from this city than the place where the Rot Dragons lived had been. Even with the chariot at full speed, it would still take at least a month for them to reach the outskirts of the area, it would take quite a bit longer if they were forced to move at a slower pace. Yan Ling brought out the golden chariot, moving her head slightly while explaining the current status of it.


    "Yes it can still be used, but since we don''t have any Spirit Stones to fuel it we''ll have to use our own Qi to power it. It''ll drain our energy as we move and it''ll be quite a bit slower than its previous top speed. It''s still faster than walking though, we should be able to reach our goal in about two and a half months if we aren''t interrupted."


    Powering the chariot using one''s own Qi meant that you had to manually move your Qi through the array that controlled the chariot, it would inevitably lead to a loss in speed. But it was still better than walking so they had no reason to not use the chariot. But just as Liang Chen nodded his head in understanding, he felt something poke his right arm.


    He looked down and saw that Yumao was nibbling away at his arm, his fangs prodding at Liang Chen''s skin with just enough force to not penetrate it. He raised his head once he was certain that both Yan Ling and Liang Chen were looking at him, hissing at Liang Chen while doing his best to proudly raise his head. Liang Chen looked at the gesturing Yumao, his eyebrows raising slightly.


    "You want us to fly on you? You do know that we''ve got someone rather heavy in the party, you sure you can carry all that weight."


    Liang Chen glanced at Yan Ling as he spoke, smirking and quickly ducking down to evade the slap that followed the moment he finished his words. Yumao uncoiled himself from Liang Chen''s arm and grew to his full size, a little over four meters long, each of his feathered wings a little over one meter long. He coiled his tail around Yan Ling and had his shadow stretch out and coil around Liang Chen, flapping his wings and shooting into the sky like a blur.


    He reached a height of almost 200 meters in less than a second, rapidly flying a few circles in the air while carrying the two of them to show that he had no problem carrying their weight. Liang Chen glanced at Lan Yun and pat Yumao''s tail with a light chuckle when he saw that Lan Yun''s eyes were starting to tremble.


    "Alright alright, I''m sorry for doubting you. You''re gonna make your little sister cry so could you change our positions a little?"


    Yumao let out a rather loud hiss and moved his tail, as well as the shadow that was coiling around Yan Ling. He placed Liang Chen in between his wings and Yan Ling right behind him, Lan Yun safely tucked away between the two of them. Liang Chen found that it was actually rather comfortable to sit on Yumao like this, the feathers covering his back were far softer than he had originally anticipated.


    With all three of them safely seated on his back, Yumao raised his head and let out another loud hiss before flapping his wings and shooting into the distance, moving in a straight line towards the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath. Now that she was no longer being held aloft by nothing more than a simple shadow, Lan Yun could fully appreciate the experience of her first time flying, her eyes open wide and glittering as she moved her head all around to take in everything. Yan Ling tightened her grasp on Lan Yun when she started to squirm around, giving her nose a light tap.


    "Oh no you don''t. You just stay put for now, the last thing you want is to fall off while we''re flying."


    Lan Yun seemed to listen to Yan Ling''s warning but she continued to glance at her surroundings, her gaze occasionally falling on Yumao''s side. If she just managed to get a little closer, she would be able to lean over the edge and look at the scenery pass by beneath them. Of course, Yan Ling made certain that she didn''t get the chance to get too close to the edge, catching her if she were to fall might get a bit troublesome.


    The group didn''t make too many stops in their travels, only occasionally taking a break so that Yumao could hunt himself some food or so that they could play around a little with Lan Yun and Yumao. The longest break they took was only a week long, and they only took it because they found a somewhat small mountain with a waterfall cascading down the side. Yan Ling wanted to cultivate under the waterfall a little as it would let her experience both the law of water and the law of pressure, it was like killing two birds with one stone.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    But even with all their breaks and pauses, it only took them a month and a half before they could finally see the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath in the distance. The area had a rather peculiar look to it, it was an almost perfectly triangular forest where some of the trees were made out of a metallic material while others seemed to be made out of crystals flickering with light.


    Standing at the very center of the forest was an utterly massive wooden tree that was so tall that its crown and leaves were obscured by the dark clouds that covered the entire sky above the forest. A fierce wind and hail-like drops of rain pelted the entire area, countless bolts of lightning striking down at any given time. The lightning in the outskirts of the area were all a brilliant golden, slowly turning azure deeper into the area, the strong storm obscured vision deeper into the area so Liang Chen was unable to see if there was also crimson and violet lightning there.


    But nevertheless, he could feel the tremendous lightning, wind, and water energy gathered in the area even from their distant position, it truly lived up to its name. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes for a second, a faint smirk creeping up on Yan Ling''s face as she nodded her head. Liang Chen pat Yumao on the back and had him descend to the ground, walking the rest of the way would be the better choice. What they didn''t know was that at the time they arrived by the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, Qian Liao arrived at Ten Thousand Hearts City, starting his search for them.


    --


    Yan Ying carefully made his way towards the harbor of Rose King City, moving along the very edge of the beach and making sure to keep some distance from the city. There might be disciples from the Dawn''s Blade Alliance within the city, and since they could identify him using their strange pendants the last thing he wanted right now was to encounter them.


    But he didn''t even have to get close to the city to realize what fate it had met, he could see places where the city wall had shattered and crumbled, a few spread corpses visible around the outside of the wall. Considering how quiet the entire city was, he could only imagine what sort of hellish scene the streets of the city were, there might even be a chance that no one had been spared.


    It took him a bit of time before he managed to reach the harbor, stepping onto the wooden paths built directly on top of the water. There were several boats anchored there and bobbing in the waves, it didn''t seem like the Dawn''s Blade Alliance was worried about anyone escaping using the boats, none of them had been destroyed. But this thinking made sense, after all, would a mere boat be enough to let a normal person escape from a cultivator?


    He didn''t step onto one of the larger boats, following the pier until he found a smaller boat that he alone could steer, it was little more than a dingy with two oars. He made sure that no one was in the area and then jumped into the boat, quickly untying it from the dock and rowing away with all his might, heading for the mainland of the Fallen Cloud Continent. He couldn''t return to the Soaring Cloud Continent, that was definitely the place where the Dawn''s Blade Alliance would focus their assault.


    Floating Rose Nation wasn''t located too far away from the shore of the mainland so it only took Yan Ying three days of rowing to reach it. Luckily he had a rather strong body, so he was able to continue rowing for three days and only end up rather tired. He didn''t row to the second city of the Floating Rose nation, the Rose Reef city, he guessed that it might have met the same fate as Rose King city. He instead rowed to the left, following the outline of the continent for a bit until he reached a part he felt was safe enough, finally rowing to land and stepping off the boat. His feet sank slightly into the sand as he looked around, muttering quietly to himself.


    "This should be the Crimson Desert nation, they shouldn''t have too many people in the desert so it ought to be one of the safer places to hide."


    The crimson desert that had given this nation its name was practically completely empty, save for the few cities that existed in the nation. There weren''t even that many Demonic beasts living there so as long as one could handle the heat they would be relatively safe in the desert.


    Yan Ying did his best to remember the locations of the various cities in this nation, picking the direction he felt confident would lead him to a place where there weren''t any cities. After picking his direction he started to walk, the sand beneath his feet slowly getting darker before eventually turning a faint crimson that reflected and amplified the heat of the sun.


    The heat was scorching, but it was better than ending up dead so Yan Ying simply bore with it, using a knife to extract liquid from the various cacti that grew in the desert. He couldn''t help but chuckle at the absurdity of the scene, just how long had it been since he was in a position like this, scavenging for food and water? His childhood instincts had luckily not left him so he was able to find enough food and liquid to keep himself going as he traversed the desert, looking for a place suitable to set up a camp.


    Days quickly passed as he continued to move, doing his best to move during both the day and the night to cover as much distance as possible. He encountered a centipede-type Demonic beast on his sixth day of wandering and was forced to flee, running into a caravan that ended up dealing with the Demonic Beast. He didn''t know if he could trust these people so he didn''t even stop when he saw them, running past them and continuing off into the distance.


    His monotonous wandering continued for another eight days before something broke it. The shadow of a tree-sized cactus that Yan Ying was currently harvesting liquid from suddenly started to wriggle, a middle-aged man covered from head to toe in black robes rising up from it. Yan Ying quickly backed off but his own shadow coiled around his body so that he couldn''t escape. The middle-aged man gave a slight bow and spoke up, his voice rather soft and pleasant.


    "Greetings, Yan Ying. My master, Qing Lan Yong, wishes to meet you to discuss a future co-operation to ensure your survival."

 Tracks located.

    Yan Ling and Liang Chen quickly approached the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, Yan Ling carrying Lan Yun while Yumao coiled himself up on top of Liang Chen''s head, excitedly scouring their surroundings. As they got closer to the triangular forest, they noticed that they weren''t the only ones in the area, there were actually quite a few people from the other races present.


    The Thunder Saint''s Final Breath was very beneficial to people from all three races, those from the Fiendgod or the White Orchid races who cultivated either lightning, wind, or water could drastically increase their cultivation speed here, and those from the Undead race could use the incessant lightning here to temper their souls, provided they were able to resist it.


    Not only was this place beneficial to all three races, but it was also surprisingly safe, the only Demonic beasts living in this forest made their homes at the base of the massive tree that stood at the center. And as far as had been recorded in the history books, only four people had ever reached the base of the giant tree and managed to return, but none of them spoke of what they found there. While the small Lan Yun was busy looking at the forest, which shimmered with a faint light thanks to the metallic and crystalline trees, Yan Ling swept the surrounding people with a quick gaze.


    "Quite a few others here, do we need to establish ourselves before we start cultivating?"


    Getting attacked while cultivating could be dangerous, especially if you were in the process of a breakthrough, it could easily turn the surging Qi within your body violent and rampant. As such, Yan Ling thought that it might be appropriate for the two of them to show off some of their strength to make sure that none dared disturb them later. Liang Chen also gave the surrounding people a quick glance, but his gaze was calm as he returned it to the forest, gesturing towards the outskirts of the forest with his chin.


    "The vast majority of them don''t dare head into the deeper parts of the forest, they''ll stay in the outskirts where the lightning is milder. We''ll be heading a bit deeper than that so we''ll have plenty of space to ourselves, no need to draw too much attention to ourselves."


    Yan Ling gave a slight nod of her head and dropped the subject, accepting Liang Chen''s reasoning as solid. The two only received a few passing glances as they walked past the others gathered in front of the forest and stepped into it, the strangely crystalline yet flexible grass bending somewhat under their feet.


    The lightning, wind, and water Qi within the air inside the forest was so thick and potent that it almost felt like they walked into a wall of water as they stepped into the forest. The rain and wind felt like small needles that constantly hailed down on them, the constant rumbling of thunder almost deafening as countless bolts of golden lightning struck down all around them.


    Liang Chen took a deep breath, his body automatically starting to draw in the lightning and wind Qi in the surrounding area, the Dragon Lotuses in his chest greedily absorbing it as it entered his body. Not all the absorbed energy was drawn into his Dragon Lotuses, part of it was distributed to his bones and bone marrow, the parts of his body that had already been altered in his body cultivation.


    Yan Ling frowned slightly and moved the small Lan Yun over to her left arm, giving a light wave of her right hand that caused the rain and wind to move away just as they were about to hit Lan Yun. She and Liang Chen were fine, but Lan Yun was a bit too young to freely absorb the dense energy that not only filled the air but also each drop of rain and every gust of wind.


    Liang Chen raised his head, his one golden and one cyan eyes reflecting the dazzling lightning that constantly streaked the sky. His right arm started to reach out, but seemingly realizing their current position he quickly pulled it back and gave a few shakes of his head. He turned his head slightly to make sure that Yan Ling and Lan Yun were doing fine and then checked up on Yumao, who was having no trouble with the dense Qi. After they made sure that each of them was doing fine, they continued to head deeper into the forest.


    The storm only got stronger as they headed deeper into the forest, but that also meant that the density of Qi got even greater, making cultivating even easier. Most of Liang Chen''s focus was on the lightning around them, he was rather surprised to realize that despite the fact that the lightning had gotten quite a bit stronger since they entered the forest, it still remained in its golden form, they would have to walk for a few more kilometers for it to turn azure. The golden lightning around them right now was about as strong as the first azure lightning he had ever encountered so he was quite interested in seeing how strong the azure lightning would be.


    By the time they stood at the edge of the area where the azure lightning started, there were no more people from the other races around them, the never-ending storm was their only spectator. Now that they were alone, Liang Chen once again raised his head to the sky, his eyes aglow with the reflection of countless bolts of lightning.


    His right arm stretched out and started to reach for the sky, faint emerald arcs starting to crackle around his entire body. Yan Ling could guess at what he was trying so she picked up Yumao and placed him on her own head, taking a few steps back to give Liang Chen some space. The arcs of emerald lightning around Liang Chen grew more and more numerous, connecting with the other bolts of lightning that struck down all around them, swiftly rising higher as they stretched towards the dark sky.


    The lightning around them started to change as Liang Chen connected with them, their brilliant golden color was replaced by a dark emerald while their trajectory shifted so that they were all coming for Liang Chen. After just half a minute, all the golden lightning in a seven-kilometer area had turned a deep emerald, even the bolts coming down from the clouds in that area had turned emerald, all of them heading for Liang Chen.


    Just like he had done back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, he had connected with the lightning in the sky and called it down. Only, now he didn''t need to use a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus to call down the lightning, he could do it with just his own power. What''s more, any energy he lost from calling upon the lightning could be restored by drawing some of the lightning into himself, it even counted as a form of cultivation.


    Yan Ling stood a few steps away, a soft smile on her face as she looked at Liang Chen, even Lan Yun was looking at Liang Chen with eyes gleaming with excitement and wonder. He was surrounded by a raging wind, drops of water moving so fast they were practically razor-sharp, and countless arcs of terrifying emerald lightning. By all accounts, it should be a rather terrifying sight, but she could only see it as charming and breathtaking, it was this state which was the one best suited for Liang Chen, this was how he should be.


    Liang Chen pulled his arm back after another half minute, the lightning around him calming down as the area returned to normal. He felt like he could call upon the lightning when he first stepped into this forest so he wanted to see if it would actually work, now that he knew that it was indeed possible, he could use it when they decided to settle down to cultivate here, it would allow them to cultivate even more efficiently. Liang Chen lowered his gaze, locking eyes with Yan Ling and pointing a bit deeper into the forest.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "I found a place in that direction that should be suitable for our cultivation, it''s not terribly far away."


    With how much lightning there was in the area, Liang Chen''s tracking technique could reach a range far larger than ever before, if he focused fully on his senses he guessed that he might be able to observe everything in a 50-kilometer area. Yan Ling nodded her head and then suddenly seemed to think of something.


    "Here, hold them for a bit."


    She handed Lan Yun and Yumao to Liang Chen, who accepted both of them, carrying Lan Yun while Yumao slithered up his arm and onto his head again. Yan Ling walked over to one of the crystalline trees that littered the area, golden arcs of lightning skittering around within the tree. She chose one of the smaller trees she could find, one that was only about 20-meters tall, and gave the trunk a heavy punch. The trunk cracked and shattered under the force of her punch, collapsing inward as her law of crushing rendered its sturdy frame useless. She lifted the upper part of the tree before it could fall to the side, quickly storing it into her interspatial ring before turning back to Liang Chen.


    "Alright, that''s all I needed, let''s go."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and didn''t bother asking about the tree, she would certainly tell him what it was for when she was going to use it. He handed Lan Yun back to Yan Ling and the two entered the area dominated by azure lightning, the horrific rumbling of thunder growing even louder. Liang Chen stretched out his arm and attracted a bit of lightning, a thick arcing azure bolt crashing into his arm.


    His body and Dragon Lotus started to quickly devour the energy within the main body of the lightning, the entire bolt of lightning becoming unstable and falling apart now that the density and speed of the energy within the main body of the lightning became different from the countless smaller arcs that stretched out from it.


    Liang Chen''s eyes lit up when he was struck by the bolt of lightning, partly because he received a sliver of inspiration by how it fell apart and partly because of how strong it was. This azure bolt of lightning was about as strong as his own emerald lightning, which was a fusion of golden and azure lightning. If it was this strong just in the outskirts, then how strong would it be once he ventured even deeper? The corners of his lips pulled up slightly, it truly was the right decision to come here, it was not only perfect for his cultivation and for fusing his emerald and crimson lightning, but he might also find a way to make his own lightning as strong as the lightning here.


    --


    As Liang Chen and Yan Ling were heading deeper into the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, Qian Liao was walking through the streets of Ten Thousand Hearts city. Qian Liao was a surprisingly small and slim Fiendgod, standing at only two and a half meters tall, his physique more closely resembling a muscular man than the more commonly bulky Fiendgods. His black exoskeleton-like skin was covered in silver tattoos that formed several serpents coiling around each other and fusing into each other, becoming more and more draconic as they moved up his body, ending in a singular roaring dragon head carved into the top of his bald head. His eyes were a bit strange, his pupils were black but his sclera was rather light silver, similar to his tattoos.


    Qian Liao was quite a famous figure thanks to his achievements in the God Piercing Fang tower so he was recognized by countless people as he walked through the city, a large crowd surrounding him wherever he went. But Qian Liao ignored the crowd and headed for a small restaurant located close to the western exit of the city with resolute steps, quietly opening the sliding doors and making sure to close them behind him. The restaurant was very simple, only containing a single counter where one could sit and watch the lone chef, a man from the Undead race, do his job. Qian Liao locked the door by sliding a few metal rods into place, sitting down at the counter and placing his order.


    "I''ll have the final feast of the Godslost Emperor."


    The chef''s hand stopped and he glanced at Qian Liao. He gave a short nod of his head and then walked over to what appeared to be a large closet, opening it and moving some of the wares stocked inside it around. After he moved the sixth box, a light click came from the closet as the bottom slid away, revealing a set of stairs that led down into the earth. The chef walked down the stairs, a brown-haired woman from the White Orchid race coming up shortly after the chef left. The woman looked at Qian Liao, a light smile on her lips.


    "I didn''t expect Justice to come to us, what could we possibly help you with?"


    The woman walked over to the counter and sat down on a chair that rose up from the ground, placing her elbows on the counter and leaning her head on her hands. Qian Liao didn''t bother trying to waste any time, getting directly to the heart of the matter.


    "Please spare me the games, you know what I want. Tell me about anyone who has left the city since those two left the tower. If you have any leads on which ones they are and where they have gone then I''ll also take that."


    Qian Liao had quite a few followers who would be willing to tell him anything, but he knew for a fact that his information network paled in comparison to the information network of the organization that he was talking to now, it was like comparing a firefly to the moon. But that was to be expected, the people he was talking to now could be considered to be the dark side of the planet, they practically had a hand in every shady deal that took place here. The woman moved her right arm slightly, drawing circles on the counter with her index finger while smiling meaningfully at Qian Liao.


    "It''s not impossible for us to give you that, but will you be able to afford that?"


    The woman didn''t tell Qian Liao that Sun Cailin was paying special attention to Liang Chen and Yan Ling, she simply implied that the information would cost quite a bit more than normal. Qian Liao was not deterred, removing his fang-shaped earring and placing it on the counter, sucking on his teeth for a short moment before talking.


    "This''ll cover the fee for telling me who has left, as for the second fee... the Prince of Envy has been replaced by a previously unknown person, someone known as Lei Chao Ning, she''s the new Princess of Envy. The Lord of Faith has also died, but it didn''t say anything about who killed her."


    This was how things were done here, some things could be paid for with money while others had to be paid for with information that the organization didn''t already know. The woman''s eyes lit up slightly when she heard the information, picking up the earring and storing it away without even checking its contents.


    "That''s certainly enough, it seems you are quite set on getting those two."


    Qian Liao simply let out a huff without saying anything, the woman continuing to smile lightly. She swiped one of the six rings she was wearing, two metal discs appearing on the counter. She inserted some Qi into the discs, several images that seemed to have been taken in secret appearing in the air above each disc.


    "Here''s a list of everyone who left the city ever since they left the tower, the people on the second list are those whose strength aligns with the strength of those two. As for any leads on which one they might be and where they''ve gone, one of our birds brought us an interesting piece of information not long ago. These two people entered the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath not long ago, they should currently be heading deeper into it."


    The woman pointed at the image that featured the disguised Liang Chen and Yan Ling while she spoke, Qian Liao''s own eyes locked on the image. His brows furrowed slightly when he heard their current location, letting out a light breath through his nose.


    "Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, huh? Yeah, it really does suit them according to the reports. Better to be safe than to be sorry."


    His own followers had already told him about the various laws that the two of them cultivated, poison, water, wind, lightning, slicing, and crushing. There were indeed very few places on this planet that suited the two of them as well as the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath. Qian Liao wasted no more time after getting his answer, standing up from his seat and heading for the door, the voice of the woman stopping him as he was undoing the various locks.


    "Justice, tell me, have you become a Prince already?"


    Qian Liao''s hands only stopped for a short moment before he quickly continued to open the various locks. He turned his head back before opening the door, giving a simple response.


    "I''ve already paid my price, I owe you nothing more."

 Deaths soft footsteps.

    As Liang Chen and Yan Ling made their way deeper into the area dominated by azure lightning, the azure lightning dominion as it was known, they noticed that the trees and grass grew even sturdier, to the point where it would take a strong effort to break them. Liang Chen also discovered another thing, crouching down at the base of one of the trees and placing his hand on the ground.


    "The roots are made out of wood, there''s also a small sliver of wood still remaining in the very base of the tree. I might be wrong, but there is a chance that all these trees once used to be normal, but suddenly started to change when this area became like this."


    Liang Chen could follow the lightning energy inside the trees with his senses, which was what allowed him to discover that not only this tree, but all the trees in the surrounding area still had wood remnants in them, the remnants almost perfectly merged with the crystal and the lightning that the trees had become now.


    Lightning and wood were two opposing elements that should not be able to co-exist, much like fire and water. If these trees truly used to normal then they should just have been destroyed when the lightning touched, that or they should have crushed the lightning, a fusion like this should never have happened. Theoretically, it shouldn''t even be possible.


    Liang Chen stood up and straightened out his body so that they could continue heading for their target, his gaze drifting towards the gargantuan tree that stood at the center of the forest. This was the only tree that was still fully wooden, but it should also be the one enduring the strongest lightning so how come it managed to remain like that? He had only been in this strange forest for around half a day but he already found himself getting increasingly curious about the one who supposedly caused the storm that likely changed this place, the Twin-Soul Thunder Saint.


    But as this was an event that took place about 29 000 years ago, he didn''t really have a way to get an answer to his questions. As such, he could only toss them to the back of his mind and focus on the task ahead. He turned his head slightly, his gaze drifting towards Yan Ling, who was walking at his side while carrying Lan Yun and shielding her from the elements. The two exchanged a quick smile while walking, their gazes simultaneously moving towards their front as they reached their target.


    Standing in front of them was a somewhat crooked and bent crystal tree littered with small holes that allowed the wind and rain to move through it. Its branches and crown stretched up high, acting as lightning rods that greedily attracted any lightning that got close to them. The reason Liang Chen had singled this tree out was the simple fact that the thick trunk of the tree had a large tear in it that hollowed out almost the entire inside of the tree.


    The hollowed out trunk was a place very well suited to cultivating while gathering all the various elements in the area. Yan Ling looked at the crooked tree, walking around it a few times before stopping in front of Liang Chen and handing him Lan Yun once again.


    "Hold her for a bit, I''ll set something up for us."


    Liang Chen accepted Lan Yun and watched on as Yan Ling got to work, pulling the crystalline tree she had picked up earlier out of her interspatial ring. She tore the entire tree into smaller pieces and then proceeded to place them in a formation around the entire tree, cutting a wound in her hand and using her own blood to connect the pieces together into a small array.


    Liang Chen actually recognized this array, Yan Ling had set it up for him once before after they arrived on this planet, its only purpose was to draw in all the Qi in the surrounding area and focus it at the center of the array. Back then she had used Spirit Stones to set up the array, but now that they were flat out broke she could only use what they had on hand. Luckily, this entire forest was filled with trees that contained highly concentrated lightning energy, using them as a base for the array would somewhat increase the array''s ability to attract Qi with the lightning attribute. Yan Ling skipped over to Liang Chen again, pointing at the tree with her thumb.


    "Aight, Boss, got er'' done fer ya!"


    Liang Chen simply rolled his eyes with a faint smile at Yan Ling''s bizarre way of speaking, the two stepping into the hollowed-out trunk of the tree. The tree was a little over five-meters thick, so there was plenty of space for the two of them to sit down without having to squeeze in. Liang Chen took a deep breath, the wind and lightning Qi flooding into his body while the water Qi simply brushed past him and headed directly for Yan Ling.


    The two locked eyes for a short second after taking their first breaths, both nodding at the other, showing that they were ready. Yan Ling had Lan Yun return to her dantian for a bit so that she wouldn''t get caught up in the cultivating, she and Liang Chen both reaching out with their arms and holding hands so that she could more easily share her Qi with him.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and drew upon the energy gathered within his Time Dragon Lotus, time inside the hollowed out tree starting to speed up. Normally he would only be able to increase the flow of time by about four times the normal speed, but thanks to the dense energy in the area, as well as the small array feeding him plenty of energy, he could increase the flow of time to seven times the normal speed. Of course, it was only for himself that he could increase the flow of time by seven times, it was more difficult to use the law of time on someone else so he could only increase Yan Ling''s flow of time by four times the normal.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    He decreased the sped up time around him to the same as what he gave Yan Ling, making sure that they were on the same page to make the coming cultivating easier. Yan Ling also closed her eyes, drawing in all the surrounding water Qi and mixing it with her own before sending it into Liang Chen''s body, where it then fused with his lightning, wind, and time Qi in a very slow process.


    Once the fusion was finished, Liang Chen controlled the resulting energy and had it merge with his flesh and blood, finally resuming his proper body cultivation now that he had gotten his hands on the full Ocean God Physique. He had remained at the peak of the Body Ascension realm, the equivalent of the Heaven''s Gate realm, for quite a while already, so the strength of his body was starting to fall too far behind his current opponents.


    The fused energy slowly disintegrated his flesh and evaporated his blood, taking over their position and role. The only parts of his flesh and blood that weren''t evaporated were the countless roots that spread through his body, the roots that connected him to his Dragon Lotuses. Once the strange gray energy that was the fused energy took over the position and role of his flesh and blood, the roots simply dug into it and carried on as normal.


    After an unknown amount of time passed, Yan Ling noticed that a small vortex started to extend from Liang Chen''s flesh and blood, automatically devouring any wind, water, or lightning Qi that got close to it and funneling it all into his body so that they could fuse with his law of time. It seemed like his bloodline had recognized that it would be beneficial for him to strengthen his body using the Ocean God Physique and was lending him some of its devouring ability to more easily draw in even the water Qi in the surroundings.


    This allowed Yan Ling to let out a light breath and pull back her arms, with his bloodline aiding him in devouring the water Qi there was no need for her to continuously channel her own Qi into his body, she could focus on her own cultivation. She crossed her legs, Lan Yun appearing on her lap and obediently remaining quiet as Yan Ling wrapped her arms around her. Lan Yun did her best to copy Yan Ling, somewhat awkwardly crossing her legs and even stretching out her arms as if she was embracing someone, closing her eyes and breathing in a slow and rhythmic manner.


    The surrounding Qi started to flow towards the two of them as well, rapidly entering their body and flowing towards their nucleus of power. For Yan Ling, it was her Ascended Tower and for Lan Yun, it would be the Demon Crystal located somewhere within her body, the energy gathering within them and slowly strengthening them. Liang Chen was only a small step away from breaking through in his body and soul cultivation so he quickly entered a nearly mindless state where all his focus was put on breaking through, his body instinctually increasing the flow of time around him as much as it could to aid him.


    None of the elements in the area were suited to Yumao, so he remained curled up on top of Liang Chen''s head, keeping an eye on the situation and making sure that nothing happened. Time held no meaning when cultivating, so the days and weeks passed in the blink of an eye, Yan Ling suddenly opening her eyes after spending half a year cultivating. For her, it had been half a year, but for the outside world it had only been about a month and a half, it had been even longer for Liang Chen, this was the cultivation advantage that the law of time brought one.


    This half a year had actually brought Yan Ling quite the benefit, she finally entered the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm after having been stuck at the early stage for quite some time. But now she was forced to halt her cultivation, picking up Lan Yun, who responded by looking at her with a questioning and curious gaze, and placing her in Liang Chen''s lap, pinching her nose lightly and smiling at her.


    "You be good and wait right here, Maman''s going to be right back, okay?"


    Lan Yun quickly nodded her head, crossing her legs and grabbing onto Liang Chen''s thighs to show that she wouldn''t move. Liang Chen didn''t move despite the fact that Lan Yun was placed in his lap so he seemed to be in deep cultivation. Looking at how chaotic the energy in his currently was, Yan Ling guessed that he was likely on the verge, or in the middle of, a breakthrough.


    Yan Ling stood up and quietly stretched out her body, Yumao suddenly flapping his wings and taking off from Liang Chen''s head, flying over to Yan Ling and curling up on her left shoulder. Yan Ling looked at Yumao, who looked uncharacteristically solemn, giving his head a few pats.


    "You too, huh? Alright."


    Yan Ling looked at Lan Yun one last time and reminded her to stay here and cultivate quietly, making sure that Lan Yun nodded her head vigorously before she finally turned around and walked out of the hollow tree. She quickly walked further away from the tree, swiftly putting several kilometers between herself and the tree, stopping a short distance away from the edge of the area dominated by golden lightning.


    She could see a man from the Fiendgod race walking towards her, his body surprisingly short and slim for a Fiendgod. But even though he was smaller than a normal Fiendgod, Yan Ling''s expression was graver than it had ever been since they arrived on this planet, the silver tattoos covering his entire body as well as his silver and black eyes allowed her to know exactly who it was that was coming for them.


    And looking at his determined and quick, yet strangely soft, steps, it was clear that he had already discovered where they were cultivating, he had probably sensed their location thanks to how much Qi they were drawing in. Yan Ling let out a shallow breath when she saw the man, luckily she had made sure to connect her senses to the surrounding water and wind, allowing her to discover him before he got too close to their location. The man, Qian Liao, stopped a short distance away from Yan Ling, one of his eyebrows rising up before his expression returned to normal and he introduced himself with a courteous bow.


    "Oh? I didn''t expect you to willingly come to meet me, I expected you to at least attempt fleeing first. Well, whatever, it saves me time and trouble. Greetings, Wolf Queen, I am Qian Liao, Lord of Justice but more commonly referred to as the Embodiment of Death. I have come for you and the Scourge King to take revenge for my friend. I take it the Scourge King is currently hiding back there, no?"


    Yan Ling clenched her right hand, her somewhat cracked white sword appearing in her grasp. Yumao stretched out his body and flew down from her shoulder, taking up position next to her and returning to his normal size of a little over four meters. Yan Ling tightly grasped her sword, her eyes cold with determination as she looked at Qian Liao, the Qi within her body starting to seethe and surge.


    "I don''t care even if you''re death itself, I won''t let anyone lay a hand on him."

 This road is impassable.

    Yan Ling''s right hand trembled faintly as she looked at Qian Liao, a very primal fear of death creeping into her soul. Qian Lian had most definitely entered Primordial Immortal realm, but she was unable to tell if he had already reached the middle stage or if he was just at the very peak of the early stage. Looking at him she felt something similar to back when the Nethersky Wyrm Queen had charged directly at her, she felt like her legs would freeze up and refuse to move.


    But she could not, would not, allow fear to seize her this time, she was done with letting fear control her body. Back then Liang Chen had pushed her away and taken the charge of the Nethersky Wyrm Queen, being swallowed whole. He had surely been afraid back then, he''d probably also been afraid when they faced Huang Dong, there were probably plenty of other times he had also been afraid to the point of freezing.


    But he had never let that stop him, he always charged forward, tearing through every blockade like a rampaging bolt of lightning. Now it was her turn to conquer her fear, it was her turn to stand in front of him and protect him. If she couldn''t even do that, then what right did she possibly have to be by his side?


    She cast a sideways glance at Yumao, who was flying at her side. He was glaring at Qian Liao with resolute eyes, but she could tell that the feathers running down his back were bristling and moving slightly, he clearly wasn''t as calm as he tried to look. Qian Liao''s gaze also landed on Yumao, a casual smile surfacing on his face.


    "That one looks quite similar to my own, why don''t we let the two of them play?"


    Qian Liao''s shadow started to wriggle slightly as he finished his sentence, a serpentine creature slithering up from the darkness. The creature looked like a 20-meter long snake covered in black scales, two jagged horns growing out from the side of its head. But there were several places on the snake''s body where its scales had been torn away, revealing rotten flesh and bones. The snake''s three eyes were also completely blank and lifeless, it had clearly been dead for some time.


    Yan Ling''s eyes turned even graver when she saw this snake and sensed the law of death circulating within its body, it was likely the corpse of the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor that Qian Liao had used to cultivate. Just like that, the only advantage she and Yumao had over Qian Liao had been erased, the battle would become even harder.


    The dead snake suddenly vanished as a particularly bright bolt of lightning lit up the sky and created a shadow beneath it. The snake jumped out from Yumao''s shadow at a speed so fast it was barely a blur, smacking Yumao with its tail and sending him flying. But as Yumao was sent flying, one of Qian Liao''s eyebrows rose in surprise.


    "Oh, it''s capable of tearing through Lil Zizi''s scales with its teeth? It must be quite a special little snakey, should I take him off your hands for you?"


    Several scales on the snake''s, on Zizi''s tail, had been crushed and torn off by Yumao, who retaliated with a bite the moment Zizi''s tail smashed into him. Yan Ling glanced with worry at Yumao, but he simply responded by stretching out his body and wings, raising his head towards the dark sky and hissing so loudly it was practically a roar. He was telling her that he would handle it, that he could handle it so that she could focus on her own battle.


    Despite how he acted most of the time, Yumao had his own pride. He had never really gotten to help Liang Chen ever since he was born, he had never gotten to repay Liang Chen for handing over his blood and helping him being born, never repaid him for every time Liang Chen brought him food or helped him. This time he would fight, this time he would show that he was capable enough, that he was worthy of staying with Liang Chen and the others.


    Yan Ling gave a fractal nod of her head and returned her gaze to Qian Liao, who had yet to make his move, calmly smiling at her. Zizi shot after Yumao, who flapped his wings and soared high into the sky so that they wouldn''t distract Yan Ling by accident. Qian Liao followed the two with his gaze for a short moment before his eyes once again landed on Yan Ling, his four arms stretching out as he clenched his fists.


    "Well then, should we start as well?"


    A scarlet light flashed in Qian Liao''s hand as a single long halberd appeared in his grasp, all four hands tightly holding the handle. The head of the scarlet halberd had an axe on the left side, the head of a spear on the tip, and the head of a hammer on the right side, a faint light traveling down the sharp edge of the axe.


    Qian Liao''s eyes grew serious as he brought out his weapon, taking a step forward and turning into a blur as he shot forward. Yan Ling''s eyes shot open as her bloodline activated and she unleashed all the energy in her body, slashing down at her right side just as Qian Liao appeared there and swiped at her with the hammer part of his halberd.


    The edge of her blade collided with the hammer and unleashed all the energy she had gathered in it, wind and a heavy pressure pushing against the hammer in an attempt to slow it. But even when she put all her might into blocking it, the hammer was still able to push her sword back and smash into her waist, the taste of blood flooding her mouth as her entire body bent to the side.


    Yan Ling grit her teeth and stretched out her left arm as fast as she could, even using what little she could of the law of space to shorten the distance between her hand and her target. Speed clearly wasn''t Qian Liao''s forte, her hand coming into contact with the elbow of the lower one of his two left arms, her law of slicing bursting forth and cleanly cutting through the elbow.


    But as the elbow started to fall to the ground, chains of metal stretched out from the stump that remained, hooking onto the severed arm and pulling it back. The arm attached itself back to the stump, Qian Liao''s strong body quickly healing the cut. Qian Liao frowned slightly, his left leg kicking out and colliding with Yan Ling''s abdomen the moment she cut off one of his arms.


    Yan Ling involuntarily spat out some blood as her body curled itself around Qian Liao''s foot due to the force of the kick. Just as her body started to fly backward, she had her left hand slide along Qian Liao''s leg, leaving a deep gash in it thanks to her law of slicing. But just like the previous wound, it quickly healed itself, the specialty of the Fiendgod race.


    Yan Ling flew back and crashed through two of the crystalline trees before she managed to stop herself, standing in the air with blood leaking down the corners of her mouth. Qian Liao didn''t seem intent on giving her any chance to rest, chasing after her the moment she was sent flying, arriving in front of her a mere half second after she managed to stop herself.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    He stopped himself by stomping the ground and transferred all the force into his halberd, stabbing out with the spear tip attached to the tip of the weapon. Yan Ling looked at the incoming attack, but she didn''t step back or try to move out of the way, Liang Chen was behind her, and she refused to leave the path open for Qian Liao.


    She stepped forward to meet the attack, slashing at the spear tip with a sideways swipe. Her sword once again collided with the weapon, a cold feeling seeping into her fingers the moment the two weapons made contact. She managed to push the weapon slightly aside, but fully parrying it was clearly impossible, the difference in physical strength between the two of them was too great for that.


    The spear tip pierced through the side of her abdomen, the hammerhead that was facing towards her body smashing into her waist as the spear tip fully pierced through her. But once again, Yan Ling simply grit her teeth, letting go of her sword and stretching out both arms as fast as she could. She utilized that she was a bit faster than him, as well as the fact that he was so close to her thanks to stabbing through her waist, clenching both her fists and smashing them sideways into his temples.


    The law of pressure and the law of crushing both poured into his head as she utilized a somewhat strengthened version of her strongest skill, the Storm King''s Fist. Qian Liao''s head actually cracked under the force of the attack, collapsing in on itself and turning into a bloody pulp. Yan Ling took this chance to pull back her arms and punch Qian Liao in the chest, her law of wind pushing him back while the law of pressure and the law of crushing flooded into his chest, causing the chest to fully cave inwards as he flew backward and crashed into one of the metallic trees, sliding to the earth.


    His weapon was forcefully torn out of Yan Ling''s waist as he flew back, worsening the wound in her waist. Luckily she had a strong bloodline and had already started her body cultivation so the wound already showed faint signs of healing, her flesh wriggling slightly.


    She spat out a large glob of blood, something hot splashing on her head and causing her to raise her head. Yumao was currently locked in battle with Zizi, but he was clearly on the losing end. One of his wings had been bitten into and was thus missing half its base, he also had several other bite marks covering his body, as well as a few places where he seemed to have been pierced by something long and smooth, possibly tendrils of darkness.


    Zizi also had a few bite marks on its body, but due to the size difference between the two of them, none of the wounds could be called serious. Yan Ling''s attention was suddenly pulled back by a sound coming from the place where Qian Liao had landed, her gaze quickly rotating over. Qian Liao''s headless body suddenly sprung up into a standing position, a black mist rising up from the ground and entering his body. His caved in chest and collapsed skull rebuilt themselves in a single second, his gaze already locked on Yan Ling as one of his arms rubbed his neck.


    "I gotta say, I didn''t expect that, you actually killed me once. Pressure and crushing, no? There''s also that one strange law you used to shorten the distance, can''t say the reports mentioned anything about that. Water, wind, slicing, pressure, crushing, that strange law, you also seem to have slight control over metal, otherwise, my own law of metal would have ruined your insides the moment my weapon pierced you. Really, a myriad of strong laws, triple cultivation, a mighty bloodline, just what sort of monster are you?"


    Yan Ling''s pupils trembled slightly as she looked at Qian Liao, who didn''t seem affected in the slightest. She hadn''t expected that attack to kill him, but for him to look that unaffected by it? She knew that something like that was impossible for normal Fiendgods, even they would be greatly affected by having to regenerate their heads. Seeing the scene, she wanted to shout out and curse. His fucking head had been crushed goddamnit, couldn''t he at least look a little affected?


    Qian Liao stepped forward and turned into a blur once more, arriving in front of Yan Ling almost instantly and stabbing out with his halberd once more. Yan Ling slashed diagonally upwards with her sword, aiming to once again parry the attack just enough to not leave her with a mortal wound and take the chance to counter-attack. But just as her sword was about to touch Qian Liao''s halberd, the veins in his four arms bulged and he unleashed all his physical might.


    The head of the halberd was forcefully raised, the handle of the halberd rising up to take its place. The stab turned into an upwards smash with the handle of his halberd, Yan Ling''s sword colliding with it at full force. She did her best to resist the tremendous might behind the attack, but the fingers on her right hand suddenly grew weaker and stopped listening to her, the power supporting her sword weakening as a result.


    The weapon was already somewhat broken after having been used for so long and having to endure Yan Ling''s ever stronger laws, now it had even been forced to endure two of Qian Liao''s attacks. This third attack proved to be too much for it, especially after Yan Ling''s fingers weakened and she became unable to properly support it. The sword that was a gift from her father shattered, the handle of Qian Liao''s halberd smashing into her chest and sending her flying backward, a cold feeling invading her body.


    As she flew backward, she stretched out her right leg and had the tip of her foot brush past the lower of Qian Liao''s two right arms, her law of slicing severing the arm and causing it to fall to the ground. She crashed into a metallic tree and slid to the ground, quickly standing up with unsteady legs and making sure to keep her eyes locked on Qian Liao. She could feel that over half of her ribs had shattered under that attack, but now was not the time to bother about them, nor could she bother with the blood and small chunks of flesh pouring out from her mouth.


    She saw Qian Liao look at his severed right arm and frown slightly, but the arm was already starting to grow back from the stump, a new one rapidly growing to replace the cut off one. Yan Ling once again felt like cursing, gritting her teeth while moving her sword over to her left hand, tightly clenching the handle of her broken sword.


    And then she noticed that the cold feeling in her chest was starting to spread through her body, her vision starting to blur as her entire right arm was starting to lose power and weaken, hanging limply at her side before long. Her eyes shot open in alarm, her gaze drifting towards her arm for a quick second. Qian Liao seemed to have noticed the movement of her eyes, speaking up.


    "You know, most people think that the law of death is all about draining the lifeforce of everything, but it can be so much more than that. In my experience, death is when something ceases to function. Right now, your right arm has ''died'', and your eyes will be the next to ''die''."


    Qian Liao spoke without concern about his techniques being revealed to others, Yan Ling was clearly already dead in his eyes. Yan Ling continued to tightly grasp her sword, her eyes unyielding as she looked at Qian Liao. Looking at her gaze, Qian Liao actually let out a light sigh and made her an offer.


    "Tell me, can''t you let me pass? If you just let me pass and get to the Scourge King then I can swear to you that I will make it painless for the both of you, consider it a sign of my admiration for you and your resistance."


    They had killed his friend so he had to kill them, this was Justice. But he still respected and admired Yan Ling''s resistance and her strength, so he did not mind giving her an offer like this. But Yan Ling simply sneered at his offer, her eyes remaining unyielding and resolute as she brandished her broken sword, blocking the path behind her.


    "I already told you, I won''t let anyone lay their hand on him, this road is impassable."


    Qian Liao searched Yan Ling''s gaze, but found no signs of hesitation or regret, her words were true and came from the heart. He brandished his halberd once more and took up his position, letting out one last sigh.


    "Truly admirable. If you got your hand on the Bloodwind Code you would certainly become a Ruler of Fortitude or Charity before long, what a shame."

 Nether Gods Grasp.

    Yan Ling tightly grasped her broken sword with her left hand, doing her best to move her right arm and repair her vision. But just as Qian Liao had said, it felt like her right arm had completely died, it almost felt like it had been severed from her body. Her eyes also weren''t getting better, she could slow how quickly her vision turned blurry by channeling some Qi into her eyes, but she was unable to stop her vision from growing blurrier and blurrier. But even so, she remained steadfast and resolute. Defeat was not an option, surrender was not an option, death was not an option.


    Qian Liao took a step forward and became a blur that merged with Yan Ling''s already distorted vision, vanishing from her sight. But sight was not Yan Ling''s only sense, she was connected to the elements around her and could use them to somewhat track Qian Liao''s movements. She swiftly took a step back and slashed downward with her sword, the broken weapon colliding with the top of Qian Liao''s halberd just as he was swinging it in an attempt to decapitate Yan Ling using the axe-part.


    She was unable to properly utilize all her strength with her left arm so she was unable to push the weapon as far down as she wished, but she made up for this fact by having taken a step back the moment Qian Liao moved. The halberd was pushed down, the spear tip at the front cutting through Yan Ling''s robe and flesh, leaving a two-centimeter deep cut across her entire chest.


    Yan Ling counter-attacked immediately, shifting her body to the side the moment the halberd moved past her. She stepped forward with such force that she created a small blast of wind that pushed away all the surrounding rain, pushing out her left shoulder and slamming it into Qian Liao''s chest. But just as her shoulder made contact with his body and pushed him back, tiny barbs of metal grew out of the tattoos on his chest, stabbing into her shoulder and upper arm. The barbs had hook-like heads, so the moment he was thrown back due to the force of her attack, the barbs tore out chunks of her flesh.


    Even worse, he seemed to have used more of his law of death on her in those two attacks of his, the speed at which her eyesight deteriorated becoming even faster. She grit her teeth to resist yelping from the pain, doing her best to track Qian Liao as he flew backward. But just as he stopped himself by digging his feet into the ground, her vision finally failed her, the entire world becoming dark to her.


    It was a strange sensation, becoming blind like this. The sound of rumbling thunder, the howling wind, the hailing rain, the dripping of her own blood, the pounding of her heart, all the sounds became so much stronger, so vibrant and distracting. She quickly bit her tongue to retain her focus, directing it all towards the movement of the elements around her, the rain hitting Qian Liao''s body, the wind brushing past him, the electricity in his body, his contact with the earth, all of them entering her mind.


    She had gained the ability to use and sense the laws of lightning, earth, and metal ever since she merged her bloodline with the White Tiger and Azure Dragon bloodline, but since she had so little of those bloodlines, and was focusing on so many other laws at once, her control over them could only be called sub-par at best and abysmal at worst. Just using them to aid her in sensing Qian Liao right now was a challenge to her.


    Qian Liao suddenly moved while she was working on sensing him, tearing through the wind and rain as he rushed towards her at such a speed that she couldn''t help but wonder just how she had been able to follow him with her eyes earlier. A soft snapping sound suddenly entered her ear, Qian Liao vanishing from her senses, causing the hairs on her neck to stand up slightly. She couldn''t see it, but he had just erected a barrier of metal in the surrounding area and used a thick layer of his Qi, as well as his law of death, to block off the wind and rain, preventing Yan Ling from sensing the electricity in his body as a side-effect. He even hardened a vast amount of Qi beneath his feet so that he could temporarily run in the air, reducing the amount of sound he made.


    Yan Ling opened her eyes wide as a habit, her pupils perfectly white, and did her best to extend her senses, to get even the slightest bit of information about her surroundings. No wind, no rain, no lightning, no footsteps, the only sound she heard was her own drumming heart and dripping of blood. Her Qi seeped out of her body and into the surrounding area, diluting and thinning as it spread out for a bit before it was crushed by Qian Liao''s own heavy Qi.


    But just as he reached her back and took another step to continue running towards Liang Chen, Yan Ling caught the faintest trace of his outline. It was just a tiny sliver of his leg, and it only lasted for a fraction of a second, but she could clearly sense his leg as it moved, the movement of it reflected inside her head.


    She didn''t know why she had been able to sense him for that split second, but she would not allow him to do what he was planning. She spun around as fast as she could and lashed out with her left arm, throwing her broken sword so fast it tore through the sound barrier, the thundering shockwave drowning out all other sounds for Yan Ling.


    Her sword flew through the air faster than the eye could see, reaching Qian Liao''s back in less than a split second, the broken blade digging into his spine thanks to the law of piercing it was flooded with. And once the blade pierced his body, the weapon collapsed under the law of crushing and pressure, as well as the wind, that Yan Ling had charged it with, half of Qian Liao''s back shattering as a result.


    His spine was crushed and he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out from his ruined back. Yan Ling could sense him again now that he fell to the earth, his metal barrier and Qi barrier becoming undone because of his wounds. She quickly dashed towards him, not seeing a black mist rising up from the ground and seeping into Qian Liao''s body, his wounds healing almost immediately as he rose up and complained.


    "That''s twice you killed me now, you really are scary, aren''t you?"


    As he complained and stood up, he once again hid himself using his dual barriers, swinging out with both his left arms and aiming a backhanded punch at the incoming Yan Ling. Yan Ling didn''t stop her charge when Qian Liao vanished from her senses, she couldn''t let him get any closer to Liang Chen, she could only focus her senses as much as she could and aim for the spot where she remembered him laying.


    And as she focused her senses once more, spreading them into her surroundings as if she was trying to merge with them, she once again caught a trace of his outline, slightly larger this time. She saw both his arms as they came for her, even the veins bulging on them reflecting in her mind this time. She grit her teeth and made her choice, ignoring the attack and allowing his fists to crash into her abdomen, resulting in her body curling up, her forehead crashing into his elbow.


    But at the same time as his punch landed on her, she reached out with her left arm, her palm touching his chest. She focused on her Qi and her laws, doing her best to utilize as much of her law of space as she could, praying that it would be enough. And as she used her law of space, the outline of Qian Liao that she saw grew slightly, now also showing his shoulders and the part of his chest that she was touching. Qian Liao might have hidden himself from the elements, but there were some things he could never hide from, and space was just one such thing.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Yan Ling''s Qi and law of space merged into her hand, resulting in it sinking into Qian Liao''s chest without leaving a wound, as if it had turned ethereal. She couldn''t see anything inside of him, but she could feel it, the beating of his heart as it pushed blood through his body. She grasped onto his heart and pulled her arm back, doing her best to surround the heart with her law of space.


    And when her hand left his chest, once again without leaving a wound, it brought with it Qian Liao''s still beating heart. Her body was thrown backward at this point due to the force of Qian Liao''s punch, his heart following along with Yan Ling as she flew back and crashed into a metallic tree, shattering several of the branches and resulting in two of them piercing into her right shoulder.


    Qian Liao wore a dumbfounded expression as he looked at the heart that Yan Ling was holding, his expression freezing as he collapsed to the ground. Yan Ling let out several heavy breaths, tracking Qian Liao using the other elements now that he had collapsed once again. She quickly channeled a large amount of Qi into her eyes to combat the law of death that was causing them to remain useless, managing to dispel a sliver of it before she noticed Qian Liao moving again.


    She couldn''t see it, but black mist once again rose from the ground and surrounding trees, entering his chest and flooding into the now empty space where his heart used to be. His body twitched as he rose from the ground, looking at Yan Ling with a shocked gaze.


    "Space, you...you can use the law of space? Really, the more I see of you, the more shocked and fearful I get. It truly makes me wonder just what the Scourge King is hiding, for you to be willing to go this far for him. It might sound strange coming from me, but I pray that the two of you are reborn and find each other again, on a different more forgiving planet this time. For the two of you to find happiness together, that would be justice for you."


    Qian Liao picked up his halberd again, which he had just dropped when he died for the third time. He gave up on heading for Liang Chen, he realized that Yan Ling would never let him approach Liang Chen while she was alive, he could only kill her first. But just as he was about to take a step, he saw Yan Ling''s mouth curl into a sneer as she almost spat out her words.


    "Shut the fuck up, you whiny bastard. Justice this, justice that! Fuck off with it! As he would say, there is no such thing as justice, only what you believe to be justice. And even then, that justice is nothing but selfish, that''s just how all justice is. You say it is justice that you kill us for killing your friend? Fuck that! Your friend challenged us, he called us to a battle of life and death, both parties were aware of the risks when we entered that stage. He lost, we won, that''s how simple it is. It isn''t justice for you to kill us for it, it''s just you being selfish and wanting revenge. And there''s nothing wrong with that, just be fucking honest about it, stop spouting these whiny excuses so that you can feel better about yourself! We killed your friend, and we killed plenty of others as well, we''ll kill you too for that matter! But it won''t be for justice or any other shitty excuse, it''ll simply be because you attacked us, nothing more, nothing less!"


    Yan Ling had gotten enough of hearing Qian Liao drone on and on, it was simply grating to her ears. Qian Liao''s expression twitched slightly but he didn''t bother forming a counter-argument, he could tell that Yan Ling would just curse at him the moment he tried to do so, not giving him the chance to convince her. With that being the case, there was no point in trying to say anything, he simply grasped his halberd and put strength into his legs.


    Qian Liao shot forward as fast as he could, Yan Ling staggering to her legs so that she could face him. Qian Liao put everything into his attack, not even bothering to hide himself again. The head of his halberd started to vibrate slightly, a crimson light floating around inside it and settling around the spear tip and the axe blade.


    Yan Ling barely had the time to come up with a plan by the time he reached her front, stabbing out with his halberd with all his might. Yan Ling raised her bloody and practically ruined left arm, smashing it down on the head of Qian Liao''s halberd, the bones in her hand shattering the moment it came in contact with the weapon. A booming sound resounded when her hand clashed with his halberd, the weight of her attack forcing the halberd down so fast that the spear tip was a mere centimeter away from slicing open her abdomen.


    But just as the halberd was about to touch the ground, Qian Liao raised his right foot and kicked up, three of his toes breaking as he kicked the head of the halberd and forced it up. The halberd was too close to Yan Ling, there was no way for her to dodge as it pierced directly through her stomach, tearing a large hole in it and resulting in her throwing up a large amount of blood.


    But just as Qian Liao was about to finish the job and flood Yan Ling''s heart with his law of death, a furious hiss that was on the verge of a roar rocked the sky. The ground and sky grew dark as even the lightning and rain were blocked out by the darkness that started to extend from every single item in a two-kilometer area, forming a pitch black domain with Qian Liao and Yan Ling, as well as Yumao and Zizi as the center.


    As the domain rose, Yan Ling felt a strange energy enter her body, the energy felt cold and vile, it was like dead maggots crawling around inside her flesh. But the energy was so potent that it started to push back the law of death inside her body, allowing her to move her right arm again, as well as restoring her vision. Now that she could see again, she saw that there were several black tendrils of energy extending out from Qian Liao''s body and entering her own, the source of the potent energy.


    Qian Liao''s own gaze was locked on Yumao, who was hovering in the pitch black sky with his wings extended. The black domain vanished after a mere half second, Yumao looking much weaker and frailer as it vanished. But it had served its purpose, he had prevented Qian Liao from killing Yan Ling. Qian Liao''s gaze remained locked on Yumao, his voice involuntarily leaking out.


    "Impossible, the Nether God''s Grasp?"


    Qian Liao quickly shook his head to refocus, pulling his halberd out of Yan Ling''s stomach without even turning to look at her. He took his eyes off of Yumao and focused on the distant tree where he could sense Liang Chen, stepping forward to head towards it. Neither Yan Ling nor Yumao was in any state to fight, he just had to deal with Liang Chen and everything would be over.


    But just as he took a step forward, he felt something grab onto his legs and hold him back. He turned his head and saw that Yan Ling had grabbed onto his legs after she collapsed to the ground, her eyes remaining unyielding as she looked at Qian Liao. Qian Liao tilted his head slightly, casting a sideways glance at Yumao and then at the distant tree.


    "Please, just lie down and die. Can one person really be worth that much?"


    He cared deeply about his friend that had been killed, but he couldn''t even imagine going through all that these two had gone through, especially not if it was for a pointless attempt at staying alive. Yan Ling simply smiled at him, her voice somewhat mocking as she spoke, blood pouring out from her mouth and staining the ground.


    "The fact that you have to ask that means that you are worthy of pity."


    Qian Liao tilted his head and wanted to say something, but he noticed something just as he opened his mouth, it was too quiet. There was no rumbling of thunder, no howling of wind, and no rain hailing down. He felt a slight sense of foreboding assault him, the light laughter of Yan Ling alerting him that his feeling was correct.


    "Nihihi, you lose... Wrath incarnate is coming for you now."


    He quickly followed Yan Ling''s gaze, raising his head to the sky. The black clouds in the area were swirling, a ferocious wind forcing them to move along with it as they formed a pitch black tornado. Gathered within this tornado was all the rain that would hit the area, as well as countless bolts of azure lightning that were all quickly changing, some turning emerald, some crimson, and others a gleaming brown. Yan Ling looked at the glowing tornado, which was gathering above the tree where Liang Chen was cultivating, a soft breath escaping her lips.


    "How beautiful... Look out, Qian Liao, the storm has already arrived."

 Death is timeless.

    The tornado gathering in the air above the area started to quickly descend, dragging with it the clouds themselves as it touched the ground and brought with it devastation. The strong winds tore up the trees and ground them into powder, the lightning energy gathered within them swallowed up by the countless bolts of lightning that roared around inside the tornado. The tornado acted like a plague, growing larger and larger as it swallowed everything in the area, only stopping when it spanned a total of 20 kilometers.


    Qian Liao grit his teeth and did his best to resist the growing storm, countless hooks and chains of metal growing out of his body and digging into the ground, allowing him to resist until the area was covered by the eye of the storm, an eerie silence descending on the area. The roar of thunder suddenly broke the silence as the sole remaining tree in the area, the one where Liang Chen had been cultivating, shattered and unleashed a dull gray bolt of lightning that shot into the sky at a strangely slow speed.


    Qian Liao followed the lightning with his eyes for a bit before his eyes suddenly shot up and his gaze lowered, landing on the spot right behind him where Yan Ling should still be lying. She had vanished from her previous position, only a pool of blood affirming that she had once been there. He quickly turned his head again, spotting a man with gray hair as well as one golden and one cyan eye carrying Yan Ling and looking at her with a worried expression.


    There was a young girl with blue eyes and white hair sitting on the man''s shoulders, making him seem rather out of place. But Qian Liao had already seen his image several times so he knew that the man standing a few tens of meters away from him was Liang Chen, the second target of his revenge. Yan Ling opened her bloody mouth to talk, but Liang Chen quickly stopped her, stuffing a few pills into her mouth.


    "Don''t say anything, your wounds might get worse if you try to talk, so just be quiet and focus on healing."


    Yan Ling closed her mouth upon hearing his words, her lips curling into a smile. She stretched out her arms and hooked them around Liang Chen''s neck, raising herself up and planting a quick kiss on his lips. It wasn''t just a simple kiss, she was actually copying what he had done to her right after they arrived on this planet, transferring some of her memories to him by gathering them in her Qi and sending it to him. By the time she pulled back again, Liang Chen knew everything that had happened here while he was cultivating.


    His expression didn''t change much, but Yan Ling could feel his arms tensing up, his fingers twitching slightly. He put Yan Ling down against the shattered remains of the tree where he had been cultivating, removing some cloth from his interspatial ring and quickly wrapping it around her waist, inserting some poison into her body to numb her sense of pain. He picked up Lan Yun and placed her in Yan Ling''s lap, taking out several tens of bottles filled with pills and paste from his interspatial ring, handing them all to Yan Ling.


    "You take these, I''ll take care of everything here."


    Liang Chen turned around after handing over the medicines, his expression sinking and turning so cold it was practically freezing. As Liang Chen turned to face Qian Liao, the tornado wreaking havoc on the surrounding area suddenly moved, rapidly shrinking and vanishing into Liang Chen''s body.


    Qian Liao could feel an icy sensation run across his skin as Liang Chen looked at him, his bloodlust so strong it was almost corporeal. He could feel that Liang Chen was only at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm in both body and Qi cultivation, but remembering how strong Yan Ling had been, he didn''t dare be overconfident. Liang Chen raised his head slightly, his gaze landing on the wounded and weak Yumao, who spread his wings slightly and let out a low hiss in response.


    Liang Chen nodded his head and turned his gaze back onto Qian Liao, stretching out his right arm as his white bow appeared in his grasp. He had a few weak spears in his inventory right now, but the bow was better suited for what he was planning on doing. Liang Chen took a step forward, lightning arcing around the bow as a gleaming brown arrow of lightning condensed on it. Qian Liao''s body tensed up slightly as he prepared himself to face Liang Chen''s assault, but Liang Chen sank into his own shadow the moment Qian Liao prepared himself.


    Another sense of unease assaulted his body as he quickly raised his head, just in time to see Liang Chen appearing from the shadow that Yumao''s wings cast. Standing on Yumao''s back, Liang Chen drew the bowstring and took aim, firing the arrow while muttering coldly.


    "Third step shatters mortality."


    Fuelled by the final part of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps technique the arrow vanished from sight as it shot forward, the only sign of it''s passing being a thin black line in the air. Zizi, Qian Liao''s flying undead horned serpent, only had the time to turn its head slightly before the arrow pierced through its head, disintegrating a ten-centimeter wide hole in it as the arrow continued downwards and pierced into the ground a few kilometers away.


    The arrow finally produced a sound shortly after it pierced into the ground, an earth-shaking explosion rocking the area as a five-kilometer wide stretch of land was thrown into the air as debris, leaving behind a two-kilometer deep crater. Liang Chen''s soul cultivation hadn''t increased, but both his body and soul cultivation had reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, allowing his strength to leap forward greatly.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The body of Zizi started to fall from the sky, its insides ruined by the concentrated lightning concentrated in the arrow. But before the body could fall too far, its own shadow stretched out and enveloped it, Yumao snatching the body so that they could keep it for later. Li Yang let out a heavy breath after firing the arrow, the white bow he was holding crumbling away.


    This was the final part of the strongest technique created by the actual Heaven Devouring Dragon, even a bow whose only redeeming feature was its toughness was unable to handle it. Qian Liao''s expression was somewhat volatile as he looked at Liang Chen, who was already running low on energy after firing that one arrow.


    "One scarier than the other, you two truly suit each other. But now that you''ve wasted all your energy, how will you f..."


    Qian Liao''s mouth was closed shut in shock before he got to finish his sentence. He saw Liang Chen raise his right arm high, causing the clouds that had started to return after the tornado vanished to unleash thick bolts of azure lightning, all of them striking his outstretched arm. And as the bolts of lightning struck him, Qian Liao could tell that his drained energy was rapidly restoring itself.


    Liang Chen lowered his head after restoring his energy, giving Yumao a few pats on the head with a softened expression. Yumao let out a somewhat weak but content hiss, descending to the ground and allowing Liang Chen to step off before he flew over to Yan Ling to rest up alongside her. Liang Chen''s gaze landed on Qian Liao after he sent Yumao away, his mouth opening as he spoke up for the first time.


    "An eye for an eye, that''s the kind of ''justice'' you believed in, no?"


    Liang Chen took a step forward, a thunderous booming sound rocking the area as the ground beneath him shattered and he shot forward like a furious bolt of lightning. And for the first time since arriving here, Qian Liao raised his guard to block the attack. It wasn''t that Yan Ling had been too weak for him to try to block, it was that her strength had been so great that he was starting to get worried about just how strong Liang Chen was.


    Liang Chen arrived in front of Qian Liao in the blink of an eye, wreathed in brown lightning and pure white poison as his right fist smashed towards Qian Liao''s chest. Qian Liao managed to block the punch by crossing all four arms in front of his chest, but he could feel his tough skin sizzle and melt under the white poison, his flesh scorching and twitching thanks to the lightning.


    But before he even got to feel good about blocking the attack, he saw that Liang Chen''s left arm had been stretched out at the same time as his right arm. The hand easily moved past Qian Liao''s guard, which was fully focused on blocking Liang Chen''s right fist. The fingers on Liang Chen''s left arm stretched out, his index finger and middle finger piercing into Qian Liao''s right eye.


    Qian Liao grit his teeth and tried to pull back his head, but a burst of horrendous pain coming from his right eye suddenly assaulted him. And for the first time in the last 211 years, Qian Liao couldn''t hold it in and screamed in agony. His body acted on instinct, his lower left arm no longer bothering to block and lashing out, connecting with Liang Chen''s chest and sending him flying backward with four cracked ribs, Qian Liao''s sharp nails leaving cuts on his chest.


    Qian Liao quickly sucked up the lifeforce of the surrounding land to heal his arms and left eye, but he quickly noticed that something was wrong, his left eye wasn''t healing. No matter how much lifeforce he poured into it, his vision simply wouldn''t return. His lower left arm also felt strange, causing him to quickly look down at it with his still healthy right eye. The arm had been torn clean off at the base, only a few jagged strings of flesh remaining. Qian Liao grit his teeth when he saw the scene, he could regenerate the arm, but there was a reason he didn''t want to regenerate that specific arm.


    He raised his head and saw Liang Chen standing a few tens of meters away, his chest somewhat dented as blood leaked out from the wounds. But as he was looking at Liang Chen, a bolt of light once again descended from the sky and struck him, his wounds rapidly healing as the lightning sank into his body. Liang Chen was holding onto Qian Liao''s lower left arm, his fingers grasping it so tightly that they pierced into it. Liang Chen looked at Qian Liao, his gaze eventually landing on his left eye, a sneery creeping up on his lips.


    "Embodiment of death? Don''t make me laugh. Death is timeless, you are not."


    The moment Liang Chen''s finger pierced Qian Liao''s eyes, he had increased the flow of time within the eye as much as he could, not caring about how much Qi he wasted on it. As a result, Qian Liao''s eye had withered away, reaching the end of its lifespan and truly dying. It didn''t matter how much lifeforce he tried to pour into it, it didn''t matter what he did to heal it, unless someone managed to turn back time, that eye would never work again. Liang Chen''s gaze moved down to the spot where Qian Liao''s left arm used to be, his face still carrying the same sneer.


    "Why aren''t you regenerating your arm? You regenerated your right arm just fine when Ling''er cut it off earlier, didn''t you? Go on, regenerate that arm."


    Qian Liao''s expression distorted and twisted as he heard Liang Chen''s taunts. They were simply too specific, he guessed that Liang Chen had already guessed just what his lower left arm was by seeing the memories of Yan Ling. And just like he feared, Liang Chen''s lips curled up even further.


    "Heh, as I thought, you won''t regenerate it. You regenerated your head and severed arm just fine, but that lower left arm is different. When Ling''er cut it off, you re-attached it instead of regenerating it. This left arm, it contains the bones of that mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, no? You''re able to regenerate your flesh, but those bones will not be regenerated, losing the arm would make future cultivation a bit harder, no?"


    Qian Liao remained silent, his expression volatile. But Liang Chen didn''t need him to affirm his guess, he knew that he was correct. He put the arm into his interspatial ring, taking a step back and turning into a blur, arriving next to Yan Ling. He picked up all three of the ones resting there, carrying the two smaller ones on his shoulder while carrying Yan Ling in his arms. His gaze remained on Qian Liao, a cold voice escaping his lips before he dashed deeper into the Thunder Saint''s Last Breath.


    "I can''t kill you right now thanks to your law of death, but your head is already mine. It doesn''t matter whether you try to run or hide, I''ll find you no matter where you are, and I will kill you, no matter who tries to protect you."

 Yan Ying and Qing Lan Yong.

    Liang Chen ran deeper into the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, acting as a lightning rod that attracted the ever stronger lightning that would otherwise hit Yan Ling and the two smaller ones. The azure lightning slowly grew darker and darker as he got closer to the massive tree, faint wisps of crimson light starting to emerge within the bolts. By the time Liang Chen had reached the very edge of the azure lightning dominion, the azure lightning had become stronger than the crimson lightning that he was used to.


    It was here that he decided to stop, it was already getting rather painful to resist the lightning here, heading any deeper would be dangerous even for him who had a strong lightning resistance. But that was a plus for him in the current situation, it meant that Qian Liao couldn''t chase after them unless he was willing to suffer an injury for each second he decided to remain.


    Liang Chen raised his leg and stomped the ground with all his might, even using the second part of his Dragon Lord''s Three Steps to ensure that the ground caved in and formed a cave large enough for them to rest in. He placed Yan Ling and the two others on the ground inside the cave and quickly closed up the ceiling using the shattered chunks of earth and making sure that they stayed up by using some wind.


    He then quickly returned to Yan Ling and Yumao, who were both lying on the ground rather weakly, kneeling at their side and supporting Yan Ling''s upper body, inspecting the hole in her stomach. His mouth twisted slightly as he looked at the wound, quickly opening one of the bottles he had given Yan Ling and smearing some of its contents, a light blue paste, on the edges of the wound. While he was focusing on doing his best to take care of her wound, the voice of Yan Ling drifted into his ears.


    "Hehe...Did I ever tell you that you look rather charming when you''re wearing that serious and angry look? Knowing that you''re angry for me only makes it better."


    Liang Chen''s eyebrow twitched for a second as he almost shattered the bottle in his grasp. He slowly let out a deep breath and eased his grip on the bottle, stretching out his other arm and giving Yan Ling''s forehead a quick flick.


    "If you have the energy to crack jokes then you should use your law of water and your body cultivation to focus on healing these wounds."


    Yan Ling let out a light, if somewhat weak, giggle in response to his words, the Qi within her body starting to move towards her wounds. Liang Chen made sure that her wounds were slowly starting to heal before turning his gaze onto Yumao, giving his head a few pats.


    "You can just start eating the body we just got, it should greatly accelerate your healing. Really, you two are such idiots. You could have just woken me up and we could have fled, I could have just finished my breakthrough in some different place."


    Liang Chen didn''t even dare to think about what might have happened if his breakthrough had been a bit slower, what scene he might have arrived to if he had been just a bit slower. Just thinking about it made his heart clench and his breathing go shallow. Yan Ling stretched out her right arm, placing it on Yumao''s head and giving it a few rubs, directing a question at Liang Chen while not even looking at him.


    "Would you have woken me up if I were the one who was breaking through?"


    Liang Chen''s hand stopped when he heard Yan Ling''s question, Yumao taking this chance to bring out a part of Zizi''s corpse. He had several tendrils of his own shadow carve up the corpse of Qian Liao''s mutated pet, quickly cutting it in half and only taking the bottom half for himself, pushing the top half toward Liang Chen. Liang Chen looked at the part of the corpse for a short moment before his gaze drifted towards Yan Ling and Lan Yun, who was currently sitting next to Yan Ling and tightly holding onto her in worry, a sigh escaping his lips. Yan Ling''s hand moved from Yumao''s head and onto Liang Chen''s cheek, softly cupping it.


    "See? Little Freak, you are not our shadow nor our burden, but we don''t want to be yours either. We think just like you do, we will do everything we can to make you get stronger, do everything we can to protect you. So there are times where we will get hurt for you, just like you keep getting hurt for us, that''s just how life is. So, dumbo, stop looking at us like that and smile, you look much better with a smile. And don''t you dare waste this chance that we gave you, I''m fully expecting you to wipe the floor with that ass Qian Liao, you''d best make it a grand spectacle."


    Liang Chen''s lips involuntarily curled up slightly when Yan Ling finished her sentence, resulting in her sticking her fingers into the corners of his mouth to force it to stay in its smiling position. Liang Chen let out a light chuckle and placed his hand over Yan Ling''s, holding it close to his face while talking.


    "Heh, when have I ever not wiped the floor with someone who hurt you? Oh, Huang Dong doesn''t count, we''ll wipe the floor with him when we return."


    Liang Chen''s face wore a light smile as he spoke, but his eyes were smoldering with wrath. Liang Chen hadn''t forgotten about Huang Dong, he was the one who had forced them into such dire straits back during the Constellation King''s Competition. Had it not been for him, the two of them might never have ended up entering the spatial rift that brought them here. Yan Ling saw the wrath in his eyes, but she didn''t care about it. Wrath was a part of Liang Chen, it would always be, it had always been one of the main factors that drove him forward, it was already something necessary to him. She slipped her hand out of Liang Chen''s grasp, poking his forehead.


    "Don''t you ''we'' me, I promised that cunt that I would utterly smash him at some point so you best leave him to me, otherwise I''ll nag at you so much that your ears are gonna fall off. Now you better go and do a bit more cultivating with those treats you just got, not like there''s anything you can do to help Lil'' Yuma or my healing."


    Liang Chen wanted to retort, but he knew that she wasn''t wrong. He wasn''t suited for healing, he was someone who was only suited for destroying and killing. Some might find something like that to be a bit sad, but Liang Chen had come to accept it. Just like Yan Ling had once told him, he wasn''t alone, there were others around him who would help him do the things he himself could not do.


    Liang Chen sat down on the ground a mere step away from Yan Ling, taking Qian Liao''s arm out from his interspatial ring and placing it in front of him. He then took the top half of Zizi''s body and placed it around him, it was time to eat up the bloodline, as well as the law of death, within the corpse and the arm, fusing it with his soul to further increase his strength. And once that was done he would go and do what he was best at, he would go out to kill.


    --


    Yan Ying expected to be taken to the Nightshield sect after the black-robed man found him and told him that Qing Lan Yong wished to meet him, but to his surprise, he discovered that the black-robed man actually led him in the opposite direction of any nation controlled by the Nightshield sect. The man brought him back to the edge of the continent, physically carrying him so that they wouldn''t spend too long traveling.


    The man then removed a small boat from his interspatial ring and the two left the continent, rowing until they reached the midway point between the Fallen Cloud continent and the Soaring Cloud continent. There was no land for thousands of kilometers around them, there was only sea and clouds for as far as the eye could see. The black-robed man stopped rowing and stood up, pointing at the water beneath the boat.


    "Hold your breath, I''ll try to be as fast as possible."


    The man barely gave Yan Ying any time to react before his shadow rose up and coiled around his waist, forcing him to follow after the man as he jumped into the water. Yan Ying opened his eyes once they entered the water and saw that they were heading for one of the hundreds of small stone and sand mounds that littered the area. But something strange happened the moment they touched the mound, they went straight through it and suddenly arrived on dry land, appearing in a cave lit up by tens of small crystals that emitted a soft yellow light.


    The man didn''t say anything as he picked up Yan Ying and carried him to the left wall of the cave, placing his hand on it and tracing the wall as he walked along it. He stopped after a few seconds when his finger came in contact with a mostly rounded stone that cast a tiny shadow to the side. The man took two steps to the right and then stepped directly into the very tip of the tiny shadow, the two once again simply stepping directly through the wall, this time appearing on a meadow that seemed to be a few kilometers in each direction, the heel-height grass swaying in a soft breeze.


    There were a few small houses, as well as two large farms spread around the meadow, it looked like one could live here and be perfectly self-sufficient. Yan Ying knew that the two places they had moved through were likely arrays, but seeing as he didn''t feel any of the usual nausea, he guessed that they weren''t spatial arrays but rather illusion arrays or something similar. But what he didn''t know was whether or not the arrays had been placed there on purpose or if they had been created coincidentally by nature. The man carried Yan Ying over to the closest two-story house, placing him down and then kneeling in front of the door.


    "Young Master, I have brought over Yan Ying."


    The door to the house was pushed open shortly after the black-robed man spoke up, the black-haired and emerald-eyed Qing Lan Ying appearing in the doorway. He and Yan Ying exchanged looks, both immediately recognizing that they had been hit by the same array. Qing Lan Yong wore a friendly, if somewhat bitter, smile as he spoke up.


    "Seems like things really did go as expected, I''m sorry about your sect. I know that you won''t just trust me out of nowhere so I''ve prepared a blank Soul Oath, you can just state your terms and I''ll Shadow Five draw it up before we sign it."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The kneeling black-robed man swiped his interspatial ring, a blank scroll appearing in his grasp and unfurling on the doorstep. It was indeed just as Qing Lan Yong had said, there was really no way for Yan Ying to suddenly trust him unconditionally, so he glanced at the scroll for a short moment before stating his demands.


    "You or any of your men are not allowed to hurt me in any way, you cannot prevent me from leaving if I wish, you are not allowed to take any of the items I carry on me or own, and you are not to lie to me in any way."


    The black-robed man, Shadow Five, glanced at Qing Lan Yong for a quick moment, only starting to write on the scroll when he saw Qing Lan Yong nod his head. The scroll was filled before long, both Qing Lan Yong and Yan Ying signing it using a bit of their blood. Once they signed it, Yan Ying let out a stealthy sigh and then asked the questions he had been wondering for a while already.


    "Why did you send someone to pick me up, and why can some of your men still use their Qi?"


    Qing Lan Yong didn''t immediately respond, nodding his head at Shadow Five, who quickly sank into the shadow and vanished. Qing Lan Yong then stepped aside, gesturing towards the inside of the house as he spoke.


    "Come, join me. I sent people to save you because while it was impossible for me to save your entire sect, I should be able to save at least you. As for why I want to save you, I have a debt to Liang Chen that I need to repay, saving you is part of that repaying. As for that second question, no one knows that Shadow Five is one of my men, everyone else believes that he is a subordinate of Senior Brother Zhengya, who has already joined up with the people that set up the array around this entire planet. I already earlier refused to join up with those people, so I was forced to flee as quickly as I could, heading to this safe haven that only I should know about. I have a few more like him spread throughout the Nightshield sect and the other sects, they keep me informed about the current state of the planet."


    The most important thing about a spy network was that no one really knew just who was part of it, Qing Lan Yong was keenly aware of this fact and had made sure that not even his own wives knew who all his spies were. The two men stepped into the house, walking through a short hallway before entering a pleasant living room that was filled with the scent of tea.


    Sitting on a few couches surrounding an oval table were Qin Lan Yong''s three wives and four concubines, as well as his nine children. But Yan Ying''s gaze was immediately drawn to another person sitting somewhat awkwardly by the table, a young girl with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes whose entire right arm had been amputated at the shoulder. Seeing her, Yan Ying couldn''t help but take a step forward as his eyes opened wide.


    "Qing... no, Tian Chun?! Why are you here?"


    Yan Ying knew this girl well, he had been looking for her ever since Liang Chen and Yan Ling had been forced to leave the Constellation King''s competition. She was the one that Liang Chen considered to be his elder sister, Tian Chun. Tian Chun didn''t know who Yan Ying was so she could only smile somewhat awkwardly at him, Qing Lan Yong answering for her.


    "She is the elder sister of Liang Chen, there is no way I could leave her alone while she was in a pinch. I saved her when she was being chased by the Qing clan and the Tian clan, sadly I arrived a bit too late to save her right arm. And don''t worry, I haven''t done anything to alter her mind or the like, she hates me just as much as you''d expect."


    By the time Qing Lan Yong had reached her, Tian Chun''s entire right arm had already been crushed beyond recognition, it was better to amputate it before it turned gangrenous and infected. Yan Ying knew that Qing Lan Yong couldn''t lie to him right now, he was not in a state where he would dare break the Soul Oath, so he was more than likely telling the truth about it. He took a deep breath, sorting out his thoughts before asking another question.


    "What''s the state of the various clans and this planet right now?"


    It would be best to know more about the situation before he decided on what to do next, so he decided to take advantage of the fact that Qing Lan Yong had seemingly spread his information network rather far. Qing Lan Yong sucked his teeth for a bit before responding, clearly somewhat hesitant to answer.


    "The Storm Wolf sect has been destroyed, the Nightshield sect has joined up with the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, as has the Moon Dragon sect. The Ghost Soul sect has refused to join up so they are currently being hunted down, and the Fiendgod sect has... also been destroyed."


    Yan Ying''s entire body froze when he heard the answer, his fingers twitching slightly. He turned his head with stiff motions and grabbed onto Qing Lan Yong''s shoulders, all his calmness completely gone.


    "Xun Yahui... what about Xun Yahui? How is she?"


    Xun Yahui, one of the senior disciples of the Fiendgod sect and one of the few people that could rob Yan Ying of all his calmness. Qing Lan Yong was on the verge of not answering, but he could recognize himself in Yan Ying''s desperate expression so he couldn''t stop himself from answering.


    "... Last I heard was that she had been spotted hiding in the Blazing Clouds nation, but she should be found sooner rather than later."


    The information was already a day old, but there was no point in telling Yan Ying that and robbing him of the hope he had just received. Yan Ying let go of Qing Lan Yong''s shoulders, his expression turning resolute as he took a step back. Qing Lan Yong quickly spoke up, guessing at what Yan Ying was planning.


    "I know what you''re thinking, but there''s no point in heading out to save here, there is nothing you can do in your state."


    Yan Ying was only a little stronger than a normal mortal now that his Qi was sealed, there would be nothing he could do against the people chasing Xun Yahui, or him for that matter. Yan Ying ignored Qing Lan Yong, walking over to Tian Chun and removing two bottles from the inside of his robe.


    "Tian Chun, I need you to do something for me. There will come a day when Liang Chen returns here, and in case I''m not here then, I need you to hand these bottles to him, they must reach his hands!"


    The bottles would be safer here with Tian Chun than they would be with him once he headed out. The bottles were also still technically owned by him, so thanks to the Soul Oath they had signed, Qing Lan Yong could not take them. Tian Chun looked at the two bottles and then strongly nodded her head, her eyes resolute, so Yan Ying could let out a sigh of relief.


    He handed her the bottle made from green crystal that was meant for Yan Ling, but he opened the blue bottle and poured two drops of its content into a separate bottle before handing her the blue bottle. Seeing the drops that fell out of the blue bottle, and recognizing what it was, Qing Lan Yong''s expression immediately paled.


    "Dirge?!...That... where did you get that?!"


    He was very familiar with what the Dirge of the Worldeater was, he guessed that he might know more about it than most others on this planet. And that was why he became filled with fear the moment he saw that Yan Ying was carrying some on his person. Yan Ying knew very well why Qing Lan Yong was so afraid, giving a quick reply as he stored the bottle containing the two drops into his robe.


    "My father gave it to me, he told me that I had to give it to Liang Chen."


    Tian Chun''s ears perked up when she heard them talking about Liang Chen. She had been stuck here for a while now, surrounded by people she didn''t know and didn''t trust, so how could she not latch onto something she knew once it was mentioned?


    "To Little Chen? What is this thing?"


    Tian Chun moved the bottle slightly in front of her face as she spoke, the material it was made of too dark for her to see its contents. Qing Lan Yong once again sucked his teeth for a short moment, eventually speaking up and telling her what he knew about it.


    "That is something known as the Dirge of the Worldeater, probably one of the vilest items in existence. It is known to be a poison that will eat away at any energy that it comes into contact with, devouring it to continuously grow. If given enough energy and time, a single drop can kill an entire planet, and then spread to other planets. But while most consider it to be a simple poison, I once had the luck to read the journal of a cultivator who wrote that he came from a major universe, so I know what that thing really is, it''s blood. It''s the blood of some strange beast that was supposedly born from the void itself."


    Said journal was one of the reasons Qing Lan Yong had been able to reach his current position, he had found it while out traveling and it ended up containing a lot of tips about cultivation while also talking about the experiences of the cultivator. This was the first time Yan Ying heard anything about the Dirge of the Worldeater actually being blood, but he quickly shook his head, not caring too much about it.


    "It doesn''t matter what it is, all that matters is that it reaches Little Chen''s hands. Others might consider it vile and evil, but I''m certain he will consider it nothing more than useful."


    Even if it was blood, he was certain that Liang Chen could still use it to cultivate his law of poison so it would still end up being very useful to him. He cast one last look at Tian Chun, who tightly hugged the bottles and nodded her head, and then headed for the exit of the house, he had things he wanted to protect. Qing Lan Yong followed him to the exit, trying one last time to persuade him.


    "Even with that thing in your hand, I don''t think you should leave. Think about the Storm Wolf sect, what future will it have without you?"


    From what Qing Lan Yong had gathered, most of the Storm Wolf sect disciples and elders were already dead, they would need a good leader to take charge in the future should they survive this ordeal. Yan Ying turned his head slightly, the corners of his lips starting to curl up somewhat.


    "The sect will be fine even without me. As long as they come back, the sect will flourish more than it ever has before. Just you watch, they''ll spread the name of the Storm Wolf further than ever before."


    Qin Lan Yong raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, he didn''t think that Yan Ying was one to exaggerate his words, so he clearly believed what he was saying.


    "You have quite a lot of trust in your little sister, huh?"


    Qing Lan Yong didn''t have a lot of information about Yan Ling, she had always been overshadowed by her little brother while he was alive, and after his death, she hadn''t really left the sect much so there wasn''t a lot of information about her. Yan Ying gave a light shake of his head and let out a soft chuckle.


    "If it was just my little sister, I''m not so sure if I would have that much trust. But it is in the nature of souls to burn more brightly together than alone, as long as she is with him, there is nothing that is impossible for them."


    Qing Lan Yong once again raised an eyebrow in surprise, this time for a different reason. He knew that Liang Chen hadn''t been in the Storm Wolf sect for very long, and there were rarely any witnesses around when he ended up using his strength, so Qing Lan Yong didn''t quite know why Yan Ying was so confident in him.


    "So it''s Liang Chen that you''ve put your faith in, would you mind telling me why?"


    Yan Ying rolled his eyes slightly and sucked on his teeth, somewhat unsure how he should put it into words. He eventually settled on a vague answer that somewhat conveyed his emotions.


    "There''s something in his eyes and demeanor that instills trust, you''ll understand if you ever meet him."


    Yan Ying had felt this ever since he first saw Liang Chen in action inside the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, that this was a person you could put your trust in. Qing Lan Yong nodded his head at the vague reply, he had no other choice but to accept it.


    "Trust, huh? I don''t think something like that will ever be possible between the two of us, honestly."


    Qing Lan Yong was well aware of the fact that Liang Chen likely saw him as the person who had taken everything from him, he would be filled with nothing but burning hatred towards him. Trust between the two of them would likely never exist. Yan Ying looked at Qing Lan Yong, hesitating for a short moment before giving him a warning as he turned around to leave the house.


    "... Let me tell you this before I leave, as thanks for telling me about Xun Yahui. Whatever opinion you have about Little Chen, discard it. That boy... No, that man, is as unstoppable as the end of life and the passing of time, he is a force of nature, one that you''ve created. When he returns and sees what is going on, I can assure you that the clouds will drip with blood, so unless you want your blood to be part of the rain, you should do your best to take care of Tian Chun, and pray that she vouches for you."

 Liang Chens shadow.

    Liang Chen closed his eyes and placed his palms on the two items around him, his left on Qian Liao''s arm and his right on Zizi''s corpse. A sweet smelling green liquid seeped out from his left palm and covered Qian Liao''s severed arm, the flesh sizzling slightly before it began to melt and drip to the floor. Before long, all that remained of Qian Liao''s arm were the bones and veins inside it, the flesh no more than a peach-scented puddle that was starting to seep into the earth.


    Only the bones and veins in the arm came from the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, the flesh was Qian Liao''s own flesh, so it was useless to Liang Chen. For this reason, Liang Chen didn''t do anything to the corpse of Zizi, it was the corpse of the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, so there was no part of it that would be useless to him.


    Once Qian Liao''s arm finished melting, Liang Chen''s Qi slowly started to infiltrate both the remains of the arm as well as Zizi''s corpse, the blood within them slowly starting to seep out. Liang Chen started to tap into his law of time while doing this, the flow of time in the immediate area around him starting to speed up to cut down on the time it would take him to finish.


    The drops of blood that seeped out ended up floating into the air and forming a murky red orb filled with black dots in front of Liang Chen, a chilly and unpleasant energy radiating from the blood. After a few days, the arm and corpse had been completely drained of blood, the corpse turning into a dried husk that radiated the same unpleasant energy as the blood, albeit somewhat weaker.


    Once all the blood had been gathered up, the resulting orb moved forward and covered all of Liang Chen in a thick layer of blood that slowly started to seep into his body. Liang Chen''s own bloodline roared awake when the blood started to seep into him, unleashing a devouring force as it swept through his body and started to eat up the blood. But as he had no control over the devouring force that his bloodline was unleashing, the devouring could only be so effective, it couldn''t devour all the blood at once. This resulted in some of the blood being able to move through his body undisturbed for a bit, more and more blood spreading through his body as the rest of the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor blood seeped into him.


    Liang Chen felt what he imagined those who had fallen victim to his poison felt, a cold and empty sensation spreading through his body, eating away at both his body and his mind. It was like there were countless worms and maggots invading his body and nibbling away at his flesh, Qi, soul, even his Dragon Lotuses. It was cold and empty, yet strangely peaceful and calming, it was a strange sensation that wasn''t entirely foreign to him, the sensation of death.


    Liang Chen could feel his bloodline slowly grow stronger as it devoured the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor blood, some of the energy of the blood gathering in a spot beneath his four other Dragon Lotuses, slowly nourishing a new seed. His bloodline seemed a bit more proficient at the process now that it had fully awakened, it was moving quite a bit faster compared to when he devoured the blood of the Rot Dragon.


    But for the moment, Liang Chen ignored the strengthening of his bloodline and the slowly growing fifth Dragon Lotus, he was fully immersing himself in the sensation of death. Lightning and poison were the first laws that Liang Chen became able to use, but he had already been touched by death even before he acquired those two laws.


    His cultivation was spurred by the death of his parents, quickly leading him into Sky Piercer Forest where he ended up killing his first Demonic beast to acquire some of its blood. He then continued killing weak Demonic beasts to harvest their blood, eventually bathing in it and acquiring both the law of poison and the law of lightning by a stroke of luck.


    But it didn''t stop there, he nearly killed two people shortly after returning to the city and was then quickly chased out, nearly killing another person after he reached the next city. He then finally killed his first person while traveling towards the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, a bandit that was besieging the caravan he was hitching a ride with. He continued to kill as he traveled, mostly Demonic beasts at firsts, but the number of people he killed also slowly started to increase, reaching a drastic number while inside the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. He himself had several times been in a state where the line between life and death had been so blurred that he could barely tell the two apart.


    Death had always been there with him on his cultivation path, walking alongside him as his shadow, paving the path forward for him. There was no going around it, he had been marred and stained by death ever since the start, this was simply the first time he was trying to take control over the actual law of death.


    Liang Chen continued to immerse himself in the cold yet peaceful sensation that permeated his body and assaulted all his senses, dragging and gnawing at his mind, whispering to him that it was fine to sleep, that he had done enough. It was the voice of death, but it felt like the softest and most comforting whisper when it reached his ears, it reminded him of the times Yan Ling lulled him to sleep while brushing his hair. But no matter how comforting it was, he refused to listen. He wanted to live, he had things to accomplish and people he wanted to live for, so no matter how tempting the voice of death was, it was useless against him.


    And then, the comforting voice suddenly stopped, the empty feeling of death getting sucked into his chest and vanishing. Liang Chen had completely lost track of time as he immersed himself in the sensation of death so he had no idea how much time had actually passed, but all the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor blood had been completely devoured and merged with his bloodline. When he sank his vision into his own chest he saw the now five lotuses growing within his chest, each releasing a faint glow as their roots dug deep into his body.


    The poison one was pure white, his time one was completely gray, his lightning one was a splendid violet, his wind one was a vibrant cyan, and his death one was a serene black. Each of them had 24 leaves, the mark that he had entered the middle stage of the Soaring immortal realm in his Qi cultivation. His body and Qi had reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm during his previous cultivation session so all he had to do now was merge the law of death into his soul and increase his soul cultivation to the same stage as his two other cultivation systems.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes for a quick second and scanned his surroundings, making sure that the others were still okay. Yan Ling and Yumao were both still in the midst of recuperating from their wounds, Yumao slowly eating his way through the lower part of Zizi''s corpse. Yan Ling had raised herself into a sitting position and crossed her legs, faint streams of water circling around her body and occasionally connecting to the hole in her stomach, which had already grown somewhat smaller. Lan Yun was sitting on Yan Ling''s shoulders, wrapping both her arms around her head and resting her own head on top of Yan Ling''s head, currently sleeping with a somewhat uneasy expression. After making sure that they were all still okay, Liang Chen closed his eyes again and returned to his own cultivation.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    He took several deep breaths, the death energy radiating from the top part of Zizi''s corpse and the remains of Qian Liao''s arm drawn into his body with each breath. He led this energy, as well as the death energy created by his own Dragon Lotus, towards his own soul, which was currently sitting in the air above the lake of blood that was constantly present within him.


    The energy turned into several drill-like tendrils that dug into his soul, burrowing into his veins and bones. This wasn''t the first time Liang Chen merged a new law with one of his other ones so he simply followed his standard procedure, using his law of time as well as the strength of his bloodline to force the new law into submission and forcing it to merge with his other laws.


    The law of death slowly merged with the law of poison, the law of time, and the law of rot that made up parts of Liang Chen''s soul, the newly merged law slowly starting to encroach on the rest of Liang Chen''s soul. He followed the principle of the Ocean God Physique, the ''flesh'' and ''blood'' of his soul disintegrating and being replaced by the newly merged law.


    When Liang Chen finished replacing all the flesh and blood in the right arm of his soul with his newly merged law, a change took place within him. The bloody lake beneath his soul started to rumble and seethe, a faint gray mist rising from it and covering the entirety of the void that surrounded his soul and the lake. Liang Chen could feel the presence of each of the laws he had merged into his soul in this mist, as well as a soul-chilling might, so he knew what this was, it was his Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi. When he finished the work in his arm, he had officially entered the early stage of the Soul Rebirth realm, the equivalent of the Soaring Immortal realm, his Anima Essence strengthening as greatly as a result.


    Liang Chen''s soul opened its mouth and sucked in a vast quantity of the surrounding mist, more mist rising up from the bloody lake to replenish the drained mist. His soul used the Anima Essence to speed up how fast his newly merged law was encroaching on it, the flesh and blood in his left arm already starting to disintegrate. He had to take advantage of the fact that he had the corpse of Zizi here, as well as the momentum of his current breakthrough, to break through to the middle stage of the Soul Rebirth realm, otherwise, he would have to wait for the future when he had gathered more resources.


    The flesh and blood in his left arm were also slowly replaced, his soul starting to work on his right leg the moment his left arm was done. But sadly, by the time all the flesh and blood up to his right knee had been changed, the corpse of Zizi and Qian Liao''s arm both turned to dust, wrung dry of all their energy. It was enough for Liang Chen to reach the middle stage of the Soul Rebirth realm, but it was really just barely, he might drop down to the early stage if he was a bit careless.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes and let out a heavy breath once he finished his cultivation, checking how much time had passed by using his law of time. Once he realized how much time had actually passed, he couldn''t help but be rather surprised, he had spent an entire year cultivating just now. But thanks to the increase to his cultivation, as well as the extremely dense energy in the area, he had managed to increase the flow of time by a factor of 11, meaning that only a little over a single month had passed in the outside world.


    He somewhat wished that he could always cultivate in an environment like this, but he knew that actually finding an environment as rich in energy as this place was rather rare, he was better off returning to the sect and using their various arrays to gather energy for him. Liang Chen let out another deep breath and stood up, resisting the urge to stretch his body, afraid that the sound of his joints popping would disturb Yan Ling and the others.


    The wound in Yan Ling''s stomach had shrunk further, now only a bit over half as large as it used to be, it should be fully healed in another month or two. Yumao was a bit better off, all his wounds had already been healed and he had even grown larger, now almost six meters long. Tendrils of black energy were coiling around him, sinking into his body as he continued to eat away at Zizi''s corpse, greedily devouring the energy within it. Yumao noticed that Liang Chen had stood up and turned his head towards him, but Liang Chen hushed him before he could make a sound.


    "Sshh. I''ll leave things here to you, just cause a ruckus if you need me to return."


    Yumao nodded his head gravely in response to Liang Chen''s whisper, his eyes narrowing as the tendrils of dark energy slowed down slightly, almost as if they too grew vigilant. Liang Chen flashed him a smile and then pat him on the head a few times, giving Lan Yun a few pats as well so that she didn''t complain. He then quietly left the cave, Yumao taking over the responsibility of keeping the ceiling stable, using the shadows in the cave to form several thick and solid pillars to hold up the ceiling.


    Liang Chen took a deep breath once he left the cave, the wind and lightning in the area drawn towards him and pelting his body. Now that Liang Chen was focusing a bit more on his surroundings, his law of death allowed him to sense the other side of death, life. He could feel the vast lifeforce hidden within the ground and the trees in the surrounding area, even the crystalline grass had a bit of lifeforce in it, calling out to Liang Chen''s law of death.


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on the massive tree at the center of the area. The tree looked like a brilliant sun, filled with a vibrant lifeforce so strong that it felt crushing and suffocating. Liang Chen could even faintly feel that there was something at the very top of the tree that contained a lifeforce that was at least equal to the one that the tree contained, maybe even a bit greater.


    Liang Chen knew that it was this lifeforce spread throughout the area that had allowed Qian Liao to seemingly come back from the dead several times. He used the peculiarity of his race''s body cultivation, as well as the fact that he had merged the law of death with his body, to drain the lifeforce of the surrounding area and use it to rebuild his body whenever it was grievously wounded. So in theory, as long as there was lifeforce in the surrounding area, he had some Qi, and he wasn''t utterly obliterated in an instant, he could regenerate even from wounds that would be fatal to other Fiendgods.


    Liang Chen turned his gaze away from the massive tree, his gaze drifting towards the path he had run to get here after fleeing from Qian Liao. He traced his past path with calm steps, the lightning and wind in the area gathering around him and raging with each step, tearing at the ground and the surrounding trees.


    After walking for a little over two hours, he reached the spot where Yan Ling had previously fought with Qian Liao, the area that had been ravaged when Liang Chen finished his cultivation and arrived. Sitting at the center of the area was Qian Liao, his lost arm regrown and his entire body brimming with energy. He opened his eyes, his right eye completely white and lifeless, when he noticed Liang Chen approaching him, his expression sinking slightly when his gaze landed on Liang Chen.


    "I really wasn''t wrong when I said that one was scarier than the other. A mere month has passed and yet you''ve not only increased your soul cultivation but also integrated the law of death into yourself. I dread to imagine what would happen to this planet if just one or two more of your kind were born amongst the humans, just how fast would you dethrone and massacre us?"


    Qian Liao had yet to figure out that Liang Chen could use the law of time so he could only assume that Liang Chen had truly managed to do all those things in a single month. Liang Chen didn''t bother responding to Qian Liao''s statement, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a simple spear that he had found in one of the interspatial rings they had taken from those they had killed, pointing the tip at Qian Liao''s throat.


    "Like I said last time, your head is mine. And now I have come to collect."

 Dread King.

    Liang Chen tightly grasped the simple silver spear he was holding, the ground beneath him creaking as he put some force into his right leg. The wind and lightning in the area grew more violent as a result of Liang Chen preparing for battle, a few of the azure lightning bolts slowly growing darker and taking on a more brownish hue. Qian Liao looked at the changes with a somewhat twisted mouth, his gaze never once moving from Liang Chen''s body.


    "Really, even the elements themselves are distorted around you, you really resemble a walking taint that infects everything around you. To kill you here, before you can become any stronger, will be the greatest justice I can offer this world and my people. So come, let me e..."


    Liang Chen kicked off the ground before Qian Liao could finish his sentence, his bloodline seething as he shot forward like a furious bolt of lightning. Qian Liao had already been having trouble with Yan Ling''s speed, but Liang Chen was even faster than her, Qian Liao barely had the time to flinch before Liang Chen arrived behind him and swiped out with his spear. The side of the spear smashed into Qian Liao''s waist and sent him flying to the side with a metallic clanking sound, smashing him through two crystalline trees before he finally stopped.


    Liang Chen tossed aside the spear, which had shattered after colliding with Qian Liao''s body, which seemed to have already been hardened using metal in anticipation of this battle. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out another spear, he still had 11 left in storage so he wasn''t too worried about running out. While he was taking out the new spear, he looked in Qian Liao''s direction, a sneer suffusing his lips.


    "Sorry, but I''ve just about had it with hearing about what your version of justice is, I might just listen to you if you stop fucking trying to use your justice as an excuse for everything."


    Yan Ling had already shown Liang Chen everything that happened while she was fighting Qian Liao, so he had heard more than enough of his monologues. Qian Liao finished stabilizing his body after he managed to stop himself from flying further to the side, his scarlet halberd appearing in his grasp as he looked at Liang Chen with a serious expression. He didn''t bother with any more words, charging forward like a rampaging bull, the ground beneath him cracking and shattering with each step.


    Liang Chen didn''t move away from his position as Qian Liao approached, readying his spear for a stab. Qian Liao swiftly arrived in front of him and stabbed out with his halberd, the axe head part facing Liang Chen. He knew that his weapon was stronger and longer than Liang Chen''s, it would reach if Liang Chen decided to unleash a stab of his own, and it would shatter the weapon if he tried to block. And just to make sure that Liang Chen couldn''t even dodge properly, Qian Liao materialized sharp spears of metal all around Liang Chen, several of them even bursting through the ground as they all came for him.


    But just as the spears were about to touch him, Liang Chen started to move, a soft breeze blowing through the area. He dodged through the metallic spears with fluid and soft motions, using the wind they created as they moved to dodge around them, acting as a leaf in the wind. The halberd stabbed past him and Liang Chen stepped forward, his spear stabbing out and colliding with Qian Liao''s waist.


    A clanking sound rang throughout the area, the spear only managing to stab in half a centimeter before it was forced to halt due to Qian Liao''s strong defense. Qian Liao used the power of the stab to take two steps back and swing his halberd sideways, a black fog and a silver mist gathering around the head. A red light flashed within the head of the halberd, its speed suddenly increasing so much that it reached Liang Chen''s side before he had the chance to dodge.


    He was just barely able to pull his spear back slightly and put it in front of the halberd, but the spear was too weak to block the halberd. The spear was cut in half and the axe head of the halberd made contact with Liang Chen''s left arm, lifting him up off the ground and propelling him towards the side with a deep gash in his left arm.


    Liang Chen could feel the blood in his chest and head turn chaotic as he flew to the side, it was seemingly trying to flow towards the wound on his left arm. Strangely enough, neither the blood in his arms or legs was experiencing the same phenomenon. There was also some death energy invading his body from the wound, but Liang Chen quickly counteracted it with his own death energy, weakening it to a point where he could devour it for himself.


    He let go of the ruined spear and stretched out his right arm, grabbing onto the branch of the closest tree and stopping himself from flying further. He quickly stretched out his left arm, a bolt of lightning crashing down from the clouds and sinking into the wound, rapidly accelerating the healing process thanks to the uniqueness of Liang Chen''s body cultivation technique.


    The branches of two of the metallic trees around him suddenly started to twist and bend, stretching towards him like sharp pitchforks. Liang Chen clicked his tongue, it seemed like Qian Liao was able to manipulate the more metallic trees in the area despite the fact that they still contained traces of the wood element. Liang Chen let go of the branch and momentarily hardened the air beneath his feet, giving it a violent kick to launch himself forward and away from the trees, once again arriving in front of Qian Liao.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and brought out another spear, raising it into an upwards slash that aimed at Qian Liao''s chin. Qian Liao took a step forward and tried to move his right leg to the side to block the attack, but his vision turned blurry just as he tried to move his leg, a dizzying sensation overtaking his mind and slowing him down.


    He quickly detected a faint trace of poison inside the wound on his right waist, it had numbed his sense of pain and then dug itself further into his body without him noticing. By the time he managed to get rid of the poison using his law of death, Liang Chen''s spear reached his groin, colliding with it and unleashing another clanking sound.


    Qian Liao was lifted off the ground and let out a light groan, resisting the pain and slamming his halberd down onto Liang Chen. Liang Chen quickly let go of his spear and stepped to the side to dodge, but the halberd still managed to graze his left arm, tearing open the wound that was in the process of healing.


    Liang Chen glanced at the wound for a split second and then swung out with his left arm, the blood pouring out from the wound splashing onto Qian Liao''s face. Qian Liao let out a deep grunt after the blood hit him, the blood felt like tiny electrical knives that unleashed countless stabs as it covered his face, forcing him to close his eyes to prevent any blood from getting in his remaining good eye. Liang Chen had already replaced the blood in his arms and legs with the element he got when he fused wind, lightning, water, and time, it was a bit weak but an otherwise decent weapon.


    Qian Liao didn''t leave himself defenseless as he closed his eyes, the ground all around them bursting open as countless spears pierced upwards. Liang Chen didn''t even spare the spears a glance, clenching his fists and unleashing a barrage of punches against Qian Liao''s chest and abdomen, lightning flickering around his entire body. The spears pierced through Liang Chen''s feet, lifting him up from the ground as they continued to rise, but Qian Liao was also forced higher into the air thanks to Liang Chen''s barrage of punches, his strengthened exoskeleton starting to creak and crack.


    But while his exoskeleton was starting to crack, he knew that the law of death was invading Liang Chen''s body through the spears, as well as through each second that the two were in contact. Sadly, it didn''t work as well as he wanted to, the death energy that invaded Liang Chen would always vanish after only a few short moments.


    Qian Liao couldn''t see properly since his eyes were closed, but he knew where Liang Chen was thanks to the spears stabbing through his feet. Qian Liao flicked his lower right wrist, the spears piercing through Liang Chen''s feet abruptly moving in different directions and spreading his legs, opening the way for the other spears.


    Liang Chen raised his left leg and pulled his foot away from the spears that had pierced through it, kicking off a bit of hardened air and using the resulting force to dodge the spears that were about to pierce through him from below. The resulting movement pulled his right leg away from the spears that had been piercing through it, allowing him to harden a bit of air beneath him and letting him stand in the air, temporarily safe from the field of spears.


    Several bolts of lightning descended from the sky and struck Liang Chen, once again accelerating the regeneration process of his wounds. This was the perfect place for him to fight, he could drastically increase his healing speed as long as he had enough energy. Liang Chen raised his head to look at Qian Liao, who finally managed to wipe away the blood that had splashed around his eyes, allowing him to open them again.


    But just as he opened his eyes, he saw Liang Chen flick the index finger on his right hand, a heavy gust of wind smashing into Qian Liao''s abdomen and forcing him higher into the air while also knocking all the air out of his lungs. Liang Chen descended to the ground while Qian Liao flew higher, gleaming brown lightning dancing around him and lighting up his cold eyes.


    Liang Chen raised his right arm as he descended to the ground, his palm facing Qian Liao, and the moment his feet touched it, the ground in a six-kilometer area around him burst upward. The countless spears of lightning, chunks of ore, even the metallic trees in the area, everything was torn up from the ground and crashed directly into Qian Liao. Every single attack that landed, every single second they had been in contact, all of them had been used to charge Qian Liao''s body with lightning, turning him into the strongest magnet on the planet. Once Liang Chen activated it, everything containing iron in the area was drawn directly to Qian Liao.


    A misshapen orb of objects surrounded Qian Liao, burying him at the center, but Liang Chen still didn''t relent. He clenched his outstretched hand, once again increasing the strength of the current that was now running through Qian Liao. The magnet that he had become became even stronger, a shockwave running through the air as the misshapen orb of metal squeezed itself into a perfectly round orb, Qian Liao forced to suffer through the horrifying pressure at the center.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Liang Chen lowered his arm and let out a breath, multiple bolts of lightning once again striking him and then subsequently getting devoured by his bloodline, restoring some of his lost energy. Just as he was restoring his energy, the metallic orb exploded with a loud sound, sharp fragments pelting the ruined land and Liang Chen, several gashes spreading across his body.


    Qian Liao stood in the air where the orb had been, his body somewhat bent as blood poured out from several large cracks in his body. Two large black horns had grown out from the sides of his head, his eyes turning pitch black as a scale-like pattern had spread over his entire body. His scarlet halberd was radiating a scarlet light that was slowly fading so it seemed to have something to do with the explosion, it was clearly a rather excellent weapon. Some blood leaked out from the corners of Qian Liao''s mouth as he looked at Liang Chen, a few curses escaping his mouth.


    "You really are a fucking pain in the ass, aren''t you? I''d read about you doing this shit once before, but it sure as hell didn''t sound that strong back then. And that cursed blood of yours, did you steal a copy of our races'' sacred cultivation techniques? Even if you did, those should only work for people of our races so you shouldn''t be able to cultivate it, mind filling me in on what the fuck''s going on? Also, what the fuck is up with your law of death, huh? You just got it a month ago, there is no fucking way that it should be strong enough to perfectly neutralize my own law of death, what sort of tricks are you pulling?"


    What Qian Liao didn''t know was that Liang Chen didn''t have to perfectly neutralize his law of death, he just had to weaken it enough so that his bloodline could devour it. That was simply what Liang Chen and most other Sebettu of the same bloodline purity were, the natural enemy of every being that used any of the same elements as them.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out another spear, the previous one he had let go of had been sucked up along with everything else metal. Qian Liao descended to the ground with a heavy thud, dashing at Liang Chen while brandishing his halberd, the air around it vibrating as a faint scarlet light started to emerge inside the head of the halberd.


    A fine silver fog consisting of minuscule metal shards appeared around Liang Chen, obscuring his vision while also slicing up his skin and forcing him to hold his breath. He tried to blow it away with some wind, but each shard was quite a bit heavier than it looked so blowing away the entire fog wasn''t a plausible option. Qian Liao had also crushed the electric current that Liang Chen had set up in his body, so he couldn''t immediately turn him into a magnet again.


    Liang Chen tried to dash back, but a dense wall of spears sprouted from the fog and pushed at him, extending at least four kilometers into the air so that he couldn''t immediately vault over it. Liang Chen clicked his tongue and then charged forward, meeting Qian Liao with spear in hand.


    Qian Liao swept out with his halberd, the hammerhead part of it aiming directly for the side of Liang Chen''s chest. The head flashed with a red light and sped up drastically again, but now that Liang Chen had been somewhat prepared he was able to react, slamming the butt of his spear down onto the halberd.


    But just as the spear and halberd made contact, Liang Chen felt a trembling pain assault his arm, the halberd had contained far more power and weight than it had previously. The spear managed to push the halberd down somewhat, but the lower half of the spear fell apart as a result. The halberd crashed into the side of Liang Chen''s abdomen, blood and some minced pieces of meat rushing up Liang Chen''s throat and out of his mouth.


    Liang Chen let go of the ruined spear and reached out with both arms, his left one heading for Qian Liao''s remaining good eye while the other one headed for Qian Liao''s waist. Qian Liao quickly had two of his arms let go of the halberd and had both of them stretch towards the closest arm, the one heading for his eye, blocking it before it could reach his face.


    He grit his teeth slightly as a sizzling sound sounded from his two arms, his exoskeleton starting to painfully melt as Liang Chen''s hand unleashed a white, powder-like poison. But just as he started to counteract the poison by sucking up some of the lifeforce in the surrounding area, he saw an ever so faint smirk on Liang Chen''s lips.


    His gaze immediately lowered, landing on Liang Chen''s other hand, which had already reached the wound on his waist. The wound had only been a small stab wound earlier, yet it had now grown so large that Liang Chen should be able to squeeze his entire hand in there if he just used enough force. Even worse, it had been completely painless, so Qian Liao only now noticed that the wound had grown, he didn''t even know just how it happened.


    Liang Chen stuck his hand into the wound, which had grown larger and larger thanks to the law of rot that Liang Chen had applied to the first attack, the poison accompanying it had only existed to draw Qian Liao''s attention away from the fact that his wound was rotting. His hand pierced into Qian Liao''s abdomen and grabbed a hold of the first thing it came in contact with, his liver.


    Liang Chen''s law of time flooded into Qian Liao''s liver before he got the chance to protect it, causing it to rapidly wither and age, turning gray and wrinkly in less than a split second. Dizzying nausea assaulted Qian Liao as his liver reached the end of its lifespan and thus died, the nausea so bad that he could taste vomit making its way up his throat. He quickly swallowed the vomit and let go of his halberd with his two other arms, which then quickly formed fists that crashed into Liang Chen''s chest, a cracking sound resounding from his ribs.


    Liang Chen quickly stretched out the arm that had been poisoning Qian Liao''s two other arms as he flew backward, grabbing onto the dropped halberd and dragging it along with him as he soared backward and crashed through two crystalline trees. He quickly stopped himself from flying back further, stabilizing his and tightly grasping the halberd.


    But strangely enough, just as he raised his head to look at Qian Liao again, the halberd dissipated into blood, which then quickly flew back to Qian Liao and reshaped itself into the halberd in his grasp. Liang Chen couldn''t help but click his tongue, rubbing his chest lightly as a bolt of lightning struck his back.


    "Tch, figures that there had to be some bullshit about it."


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out another spear, clicking his tongue once more when he compared his weapon to Qian Liao''s. But he could only shake his head and focus on the fight ahead, there was also the fact that what weapon he was using wasn''t terribly important to him when he considered how he planned on ending this fight. He narrowed his eyes slightly while looking at Qian Liao, a silent mutter only he could hear escaping his lips.


    "Well, I guess it''s about time."


    Liang Chen''s legs tensed up, his veins bulging as he gathered more and more energy, bolt after bolt of lightning crashing into his body and making sure that his energy reserves didn''t run dry. The wind and lightning in the area started to gather around him again, forming a tornado at his back that was slowly getting stronger and stronger, a strange calm covering the area thanks to the fact that the tornado was sucking in everything.


    Qian Liao tightly grasped his halberd, a red light flowing up the handle and gathering in the head, the air around it starting to vibrate due to the force gathered in it, the earth below it even starting to sink down. He couldn''t tell what Liang Chen was planning, but his instincts screamed at him that this was the moment that would decide the battle, life or death.


    Liang Chen was the one to make the first move, the already ruined earth beneath his feet shattering even further as he shot forward at his second fastest speed. Qian Liao put all his focus on the incoming Liang Chen, sweeping out with his halberd as if he was trying to split the horizon.


    A minuscule black line was drawn as the halberd swung out, a screeching sound erupting as the gathered force in the halberd tore apart space itself for a split second. Liang Chen charged forward without fear, his speed suddenly increasing just as the head of the halberd was about to crash into his chest. Up until now, he had yet to use his law of time on himself to reach his greatest speed, all for this moment.


    The handle of the halberd still crashed into the side of his chest, leaving a fist deep indent in his chest and even causing his right lung to collapse, but he had already stepped into Qian Liao''s bosom. The spear in his grasp stabbed out, Liang Chen making it a point to speak out loudly as the tornado behind him sank into his body and was transferred to his spear.


    "Second step splits the waterfall."


    The tip of his spear touched Qian Liao''s chest and unleashed the tornado that had gathered within it, the spear disintegrating under the gathered force. Wind and lightning gathered together into a single brown bolt of lightning shot forward, tearing a watermelon-sized hole in Qian Liao''s chest before continuing forward for the next four kilometers, gouging a watermelon-wide tear in the land.


    Qian Liao''s eyes flickered as he forced himself to remain conscious, a black mist rising up from the ground and flooding into his body. But before the lifeforce he drained from the land could heal his wounds, Liang Chen interfered, using his own law of death as well as the law of rot to ruin not just the absorbed lifeforce, but even any trace of lifeforce in the surrounding three-kilometer area, turning it into a land of death.


    Since his wounds were so severe, and he didn''t have the time to run out of the land of death that had just been created, Qian Liao tapped into the energy that his body cultivation gave him, his wounds starting to rapidly heal, at the cost of a great deal of energy. But this was just the moment Liang Chen had been waiting for, the one he had been working to create, the moment where Qian Liao had nothing else but his own energy to rely on.


    Liang Chen stomped the ground and sucked in a deep breath, ignoring his collapsed lung, which ached so intensely that not even numbing his sense of pain could dull it. He stomped the ground and punched upward with his right arm, his fist crashing into Qian Liao''s currently healing chest. Qian Liao had endured the first attack, which had gotten far more time to charge up, so he thought he should be able to resist this attack as well. But as his fist collided with Qian Liao''s chest, a silent voice resounded within Liang Chen''s heart.


    "Third step shatters mortality."


    All the energy in Liang Chen''s body was drained in one go, his face turning as pale as a sheet of paper. But despite the extreme drain of energy, there was no great explosion or blinding light, Qian Liao''s chest didn''t even sink inward slightly. But in the instant Liang Chen''s attack was unleashed, Qian Liao felt the icy dread of death wash over him, seeping into his very soul and core.


    A gray and ethereal energy flooded into Qian Liao''s soul with unstoppable force, eating away at it at a pace so rapid that Qian Liao was able to watch his own soul die. He tried to use his law of death to stop the attack, but the ethereal energy simply ate up his law of death and used it to grow even stronger, resulting in his soul dying even faster. The gray energy was a fusion of poison, rot, death, and time, all amplified by the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps.


    The Fiendgod race had notoriously weak souls, and now that all his focus had been on using his energy to heal his body, even the strong Qian Liao had no response to the attack. Qian Liao could feel his life leave his body and knew that death was coming for him, he could feel its icy grip on his throat, dragging at him.


    As he rapidly got weaker and weaker, his gaze landed on the pale Liang Chen, whose eyes still remained as cold and calm as they had been at the start of the battle. Qian Liao''s hand moved up to his chest, where his heart should be, and dug into it. He pulled out a red bead covered in runes so small they almost looked like dust, a weak and almost delirious laughter escaping his lips as he held the orb towards Liang Chen.


    "Hehehe... Seems I didn''t deserve... To be called the...The Embodiment of death... It suits you much better... I wonder if... You''ll become a Ruler... Will it be of Sin, or of Virtue? Hehehe...fear it, universe... A dread king is hiding... amongst your cultivators..."


    Qian Liao''s body lost all remaining strength and collapsed to the ground, his soul reduced to nothing but a faint mist of lethal energy that was sucked into Liang Chen''s body, marking the end of the battle, and the death of the current Lord of Justice.

 Bloodwind Code.

    Liang Chen let out all the air from his lungs in a heavy exhale, a burning pain coming from his collapsed right lung. He suddenly kneeled to the ground and vomited out both blood and small chunks of flesh, staining the corpse of Qian Liao even further. He quickly stretched out his senses and had several bolts of lightning strike him, at the same time also absorbing all the dense wind energy in the surrounding, using all the energy to drastically increase the speed at which he was healing.


    As the aching from his collapsed lung and his other wounds started to recede, he stretched out his arm and stored Qian Liao''s corpse into his interspatial ring. Not only was this body incredibly tough, but the matching law of death made it a perfect cultivation material for the Chaos King technique. After putting away the body, all that remained of Qian Liao was his scarlet halberd and the red bead he had torn out from his own chest as he died.


    Liang Chen stretched out his arm to pick up the halberd, it would be a suitable replacement until he found a spear that he could use. But just as he touched it, the halberd dissolved into a puddle of blood that quickly seeped into the red bead. And as the halberd dissolved, the runes covering the bead lit up with a resplendent light, the bead levitating into the air for a short second before shooting at Liang Chen.


    The bead collided with his chest and sank into it, the metallic stench of blood overwhelming all his senses as a red light blanketed his vision. His vigilance immediately shot up, but he quickly noticed that his wounds were now actually healing so fast that he felt them tingle as his flesh squirmed to return his body to normal. But just as he was starting to focus on the squirming sensation, a voice rang out in his head.


    "So one of the Bloodwind Code''s in this universe has found a new owner, guess that means it''s finally my turn to take on the superior role for once. Hear me, I am Ye Zhong and I am the eighth disciple of Master, the creator of these Bloodwind Codes. Allow me to explain to you how to use the Code, as well as the purpose behind them."


    Liang Chen had never heard this voice before, but he remembered that Qian Liao had once mentioned something called a Bloodwind Code, he said that Yan Ling would certainly become a Ruler of Fortitude or Charity if she could get her hands on one. Liang Chen didn''t need a lot of experience with items like these to quickly realize that this Bloodwind Code was likely a very valuable item, so he remained silent as Ye Zhong continued to talk.


    "The purpose of the Bloodwind Codes is very simple, to encourage continued cultivation and to reward progress, all with the intent of raising strong cultivators to ensure that there will always be people able to protect others from the Parasites. You probably don''t know what a Parasite is, but don''t worry about it, you''ll learn more about them as you grow stronger. The rewards for progress are quite simple, one question for acquiring a Code, one for killing a Ruler, one question each time you increase your rank by 10 000 spots, one questions for acquiring a Ruler title in your universe, one question for increasing your Ruler rank, and five questions for acquiring a Ruler rank on the multiverse list, as well as five questions each time you increase your Ruler rank on the multiverse list. Master creates 100 new Bloodwind Codes every 100 000 years, so you have your work cut out for you if you want to reach the top."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Liang Chen''s eyes instantly narrowed when he heard Ye Zhong mention Parasites, he had heard about them before when he saw the recording of the standoff between the three ancient cultivators. Ye Zhong seemed very excited to take the role of superior, he barely gave Liang Chen any time to digest the information before he continued to talk.


    "Now these titles and ranks that I''m talking about are quite simple. You receive a rank the moment you pick up a Bloodwind Code, right now you are rank 105 727 in your universe, and rank 17 719 150 274 in the entire multiverse. You can increase your rank by increasing your cultivation or by fighting and winning against other people holding a Bloodwind Code. Receiving a title is different, the Bloodwind Code itself decides if you are worthy of receiving a title from the Sin or Virtue category. Receiving a title means that the Code has recognized you as one of those with the most potential or strength in that category, and you will get a different rank based on that strength or potential. The ranks are Lord, Prince, King, Emperor, God, and finally Empyrean. As you can probably guess, receiving a title in the multiverse list, the ranking list for all Bloodwind Codes in the multiverse, is far harder than receiving one for your own universe. Each rank has a few perks, but you only learn about those when you actually get the title."


    The numbers that Ye Zhong casually blurted out were so large that Liang Chen found them mindnumbing. There were already 17 billion Bloodwind Codes in existence, just how old did the master of this Ye Zhong have to be to create all these items? Ye Zhong swiftly moved on to the next topic, catching Liang Chen''s attention.


    "Now as for the use of the Bloodwind Codes, their main use is to become a weapon specially made for the cultivator carrying it. By feeding it some of your blood, as well as blood equivalent to about 20 000 people, the Code will form a weapon suited to you, one that you can strengthen by feeding it the blood of your strong enemies. Other than this, the Bloodwind Code can be used to check the ranking, as well as contact any other Code that you''ve registered in it. It can''t contact any of us, we''ll be the ones to contact you when we have something to tell you. Hmm, I think that about does it? You''ve acquired a Code and killed a Ruler, so you''ve got two questions you can ask, we''ll answer just about any question you might have."


    Liang Chen once again felt his mind boggle when he heard Ye Zhong''s casual talk. The blood of about 20 000 people? Just how long did he have to save up bodies to get that much blood? Large Demonic beasts would likely cut down on the number, but it would still require an insane amount. But that thought was quickly swept to the back of his mind when he heard that he could ask just about any question. There was one question that had always nagged at the back of his mind, a doubt that ate away at him when he was alone and down.


    "Is there any way to bring someone back from the dead? And if so, how do you go about bringing them back?"


    He and Yan Ling often spoke grandly about how they would bring back those they had lost, but they didn''t actually have any guarantee that this was possible. It was all empty words, just something to make sure that they didn''t lose that sliver of hope. He didn''t know if he could trust the words of this person, but it was better than nothing. Shortly after he asked his questions, he got a chuckle as a response.


    "Heh, of course, it''s possible! My Master is Ning Hao, Bloodwind Emperor and the Arbiter of Death, there is no one more qualified to talk about reviving the dead. As for how to revive them, there are two ways. Become strong enough to tear away the thread that ties them to reincarnation, or reach the King rank on the multiverse list and abandon your five questions to ask my Master for a favor. At that time, the number of people he can''t revive can be counted on one hand!"

 A way home.

    Liang Chen''s mind immediately exploded with excitement when he received the affirmative answer. It didn''t matter whether or not Ye Zhong was lying to him, what mattered was that he finally had hope, tangible and true, a goal he could see and reach for. Compared to the uncertain state where he was just blindly waving his hands and stumbling forward, it was countless times better.


    But he quickly reigned in his excitement before it could become excessive, it was in moments like this that it was most important to stay calm and composed. And it was because he quickly calmed down that his mind caught onto a specific part of Ye Zhong''s first sentence, the name of his master.


    Liang Chen had once before encountered the name, Ning Hao, it was the name of the black-haired and white-eyed youth he had seen in the recording that gave him the full Ocean God Physique. He was uncertain if they were the same person, but remembering how that Ning Hao had been able to raise an army of countless dead with just a single word, he guessed that they might, in fact, be the same person. While Liang Chen was making that connection in his mind, the voice of Ye Zhong once again rang out within his mind.


    "That was technically your two questions, but since this is my first time being anyone''s superior, I''ll pretend that they were one question and give you one more for free. Just don''t tell Big Brother Fen or Big Sister Xiuya, they''ll scold me until my ears fall off."


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly when he heard Ye Zhong''s jovial statement, rubbing his chin softly while thinking it over. He was considering whether or not he should ask about Ning Hao but quickly decided that doing so would be throwing away the free question. Once he discarded that question, he only needed another few seconds to come up with the question that he should ask.


    "I''m trying to get to a planet known as Dragon''s Gate, do you know how I can get there? From here preferably."


    Now that Liang Chen had gotten his hands on the full Ocean Gods Physique and increased his cultivation further, even become strong enough to kill someone at the Primordial Immortal realm, he figured that it was about time that they returned to their own home planet. Yan Ling was also missing her family, so the faster they returned the better it was. The only problem was that they didn''t really know how to return, they didn''t even know just where their home planet was located. Ye Zhong swiftly responded, his breathing changing slightly as he seemed to start working on something.


    "Dragon''s Gate huh? Give me a few minutes, I gotta go check up on the location of your Code before I can answer that."


    The voice of Ye Zhong vanished, the incessant sound of thunder and howling wind the only audible sound in the surroundings. Liang Chen didn''t mind, the sound of thunder had already become rather dear to him, it was almost like listening to his own heartbeat. After spending almost seven minutes in silence, calmly breathing and drawing in the surrounding elements just to make sure that there were no problems with his body, the voice of Ye Zhong once again resounded within his head.


    "You''re in some luck, you''re currently on a rather small planet known as Tripartite God so you only have to head to Blossoming Ocean planet, only about four planets to the west of your current location. That planet houses an Interstellar Array that can take you to Dragon''s Head planet, from there you only have to travel for a few hundred kilometers north into space to reach a Spatial Vortex that leads to Dragon''s Gate planet. The vortex has a tendency to be somewhat unstable, but at worst it''ll only put you in a spot a few kilometers away from your intended location."


    Ye Zhong made it sound easy, but Liang Chen didn''t even really know how to get to this Blossoming Ocean planet. He had an idea that might work, but he''d have to check with Yan Ling first to see what she thought. While Liang Chen was going over his plan, the still jovial voice of Ye Zhong once again rang out in his mind.


    "Alright, that''ll be your second question. I really can''t give you more, otherwise, I might lose the right to become a superior in the future, and that would suck something fierce. But don''t you worry, if you manage to survive for long enough to raise your rank or receive a ruler title, then I''ll be right here to answer any other questions you might have!"


    The voice of Ye Zhong vanished after he said his piece, Liang Chen waiting a few minutes before standing up and stretching his body. He had defeated a strong enemy, received a weapon forging technique that he might be able to use someday in the far off future, and even found a clear goal to strive towards, so he was in a pretty good mood right now.


    He made sure that he hadn''t forgotten anything or was leaving anything behind, and then once he was certain that he had remembered everything, he started making his way back to the cave where Yan Ling should still be recuperating. It didn''t take him long to reach the cave thanks to his quick gait, softly tapping the ground to notify Yumao that he had returned.


    The ground split up into several chunks, opening enough room for Liang Chen to jump down into the cave before the chunks moved back together, locking up the cave once more. Just as he guessed, Yan Ling was still recuperating, Lan Yun sitting quietly in her lap while Yumao was finishing up the last of the corpse that he was eating. Liang Chen walked over to them and sat down by them, patting Yumao and Lan Yung softly on the head.


    "Thanks for taking care of things for me here, you can return to your own cultivation, I''ll take care of the ceiling again."


    A slight breeze started to blow within the cave after Liang Chen finished his whisper, the wind holding up the pieces of the ceiling so that it didn''t collapse down on them. Yumao enjoyed getting pat a bit more before swallowing the last of the corpse and closing his eyes, the darkness around him forming threads that started to weave in and out of his body, especially his head.


    Once Yumao started to focus on his own cultivation, Liang Chen took a deep breath and gathered some energy onto himself. He held one palm towards Yan Ling and the other towards Yumao, the gathered energy flowing into his palms and then out, forming two small spheres wherein the flow of time was increased, one for Yan Ling and the other for Yumao. He could at best triple the flow of time now that he was focusing on two targets other than him, but it was better than nothing for them.


    Yan Ling and Yumao noticed the increased flow of time around them, but Yumao didn''t interrupt his cultivation because he had somewhat expected it. Yan Ling was caught a bit off guard and opened one of her eyes, glancing at Liang Chen out of the corner of her eye. She could guess at what he had done thanks to his tattered robes, but seeing his unharmed state caused her to click her tongue.


    "Tch, so you managed to kill him without even sustaining any injuries. And here I thought I had finally managed to somewhat close the distance between us."


    Liang Chen did his best to hold back a chuckle when he saw her expression, which was a strange mixture of worry, relief, and dissatisfaction. He placed his hand on her cheek and gave it a few soft strokes, speaking softly but vaguely.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "I''m unharmed due to some special circumstances, so don''t worry about it. Just focus on healing those wounds and then we''ll talk, I might have found a way for us to go home."


    Yan Ling''s eyes lit up with a glitter when she heard that he might have found a way for them to go home. She glanced at Lan Yun and Yumao, making sure that they were fine, and then closed her eyes to focus on her own recuperation again.


    --


    Tian Chun was currently sitting on an embroidered chair so soft that it felt like she was sitting on a cloud, drinking some cold water from a cup made from a transparent crystal that likely cost more than she would make even if she saved all her money for ten years. The various wives and concubines of Qing Lan Yong were sitting on couches around the same table as her, chattering while drinking their tea or wine.


    But their conversations didn''t even register in Tian Chun''s mind, she was still too caught up in the absurdity of the situation. She had already been here for over a month, but it still felt utterly strange to be here, to have been saved by the person who could be said to have single-handedly ruined the life of the person she considered her little brother. It felt as strange as when she heard about all the things Liang Chen had supposedly done after they split up. Hearing about some of them, she couldn''t help but laugh and shake her head. Even now she would occasionally mutter about it.


    "Scourge King? That really can''t be right, the Little Chen that I know is a kind person, there''s no way he''d do something that would get him a title like that, no way he would massacre people like that."


    Tian Chun didn''t want to believe it, didn''t want to believe that the one thing she wanted to protect, Liang Chen''s innocence and smile, had already died. She didn''t want Liang Chen to enter the cultivation world, she knew how cruel and vile it was, how adept it was at breaking a person and what they were. But the proof had all been laid out for her, all his deeds detailed one by one, so she had no choice but to believe, believe that the cultivation world had already sunk its bloody fangs into Liang Chen.


    As such, she could only hope, she could only place her hopes in the person called Yan Ling, hope that she was able to be someone who could serve as a harbor for Liang Chen, a stopgap that would prevent him from truly being broken. Tian Chun''s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud rumbling that was followed by the entire house quaking fiercely, some of the items along the wall being sent flying.


    Tian Chun and the other people in the room quickly stood up with unsteady legs, confusedly and vigilantly scanning their surroundings. The oldest of Qing Lan Yong''s wives, a blonde-haired and blue-eyed woman called Wen Nuan, quickly reacted and grabbed onto the two closest children, shouting out orders.


    "There''s an escape array in the basement of the neighboring house! Flee there and use the Spirit Stones stored there to escape!"


    They didn''t know what was going on, but they knew that the planet was currently in a state where it was better to be safe than sorry. The others quickly followed her orders, grabbing onto the younger children that couldn''t run and heading for the neighboring house, Tian Chun following after them. They ran into Qing Lan Yong the moment they pushed open the door to the house, and his state alone told them about the situation. His robe was tattered and torn, streaks of blood running down the right side of his body. He pointed them at the neighboring house, which was a mere four kilometers away.


    "Shadow Four has betrayed us, we''re under attack! Flee there, use the spatial array in the basement to escape. Shadow Two and Three, protect them and make sure that they get away safely! I''ll meet up with you at a later time, Ah Hua, you and the others know where we are to meet up, bring Tian Chun there with you!"


    The shadows cast by the house suddenly wriggled, a black-clad man and a black-clad woman jumping out from the shadows. Both had a few wounds visible on their bodies and their breathing was somewhat rushed so it seemed like they had just gotten out of combat. Qing Lan Yong cast one last loving look at his gathered wives and children before turning to the side and running to the house in the opposite direction of the one they were heading, throwing out a few crystal orbs that shattered and unleashed thunderous explosions, drawing all the attention to himself.


    Wen Nuan and the others grit their teeth for a few moments, eventually turning to look at Shadow Two and Three. They pushed Tian Chun and the children, as well as the youngest of the wives, at them, flashing them a quick apologetic smile.


    "Sorry, but we belong at his side. Little Sister Mei, you still have a long life ahead of you, so you should focus on fleeing. Should we never meet again, please take care of the children, let them be happy."


    The six other wives and concubines turned and ran right after speaking, rushing to catch up with Qing Lan Yong. The black-haired and brown-eyed one called Little Sister Mei grit her teeth, wanting to run to him alongside them, but she knew that someone had to flee, otherwise there wouldn''t be anyone to take care of the children. Shadow Two and Three looked in the direction of the running women, but they didn''t have the luxury of trying to stop them, they could only silently pray that everything would work out.


    They quickly pushed the children and the others, guarding them as they rushed toward the house containing the spatial array. But they were forced to stop before they even made it halfway, seven people wearing golden robes assaulting them from all sides. The man that was called Shadow Three stomped the ground, his shadow stretching out and turning into thin threads that flew at the incoming attackers.


    "Sister Two, I''ll hold them back!"


    The black-clad woman nodded her head and pushed the others to continue running, leaving behind the black-cloaked man to delay the seven attackers. They ignored the sounds of battle and screams coming from behind them, running with all their might, but were once again stopped after only a short while. Five more people wearing golden robes assaulted them, the black-clad woman gritting her teeth and gazing at the house, which was only a few hundreds of meters away from them now. She stretched out both her arms, her own shadow rising up and forming several smaller copies of her. She and the copies stepped towards the incoming attackers, calling out to the fleeing people at the same time.


    "Go! Reach the target!"


    The fleeing group continued to run, leaving behind the black-cloaked Shadow Two and continuing to ignore the screams and sounds of battle. But just as they were only 200 meters away from the house, six more golden-robed figures arrived by them. The one called Little Sister Mei grit her teeth so hard that blood started to seep out from her gums, her eyes so bloodshot that it looked like her veins were about to explode. They were close, so very close. Were they really going to be stopped here at the final step?


    And this was when Tian Chun noticed the eyes of the gold-robed figures, they were all focused on her, and only on her. She now also remembered that Tian Chun had told her that she was being chased because someone wanted to force Liang Chen out into the open. When these two facts were brought together, it wasn''t hard to realize the goal of these gold-robed figures, to capture her.


    She grit her teeth for a split second and then ran away from the group, heading away from the house as fast as she could. And just as she guessed, the six gold-robed figures all ran past Little Sister Mei and the children, heading straight for her. She couldn''t outrun them, she knew that very clearly. But she would at least be able to buy the others enough time to escape, and in a situation where their loss was inevitable, she considered it to be a pretty good outcome, probably the best someone like her could ever hope for.


    She looked back as she ran, just barely able to see Little Sister Mei bring the children into the house, the two sharing one last look before Little Sister Mei closed the door. Tian Chun''s gaze then landed on the six people, which were already right behind her, they would probably reach her in less than a second. Knowing that it was lost, Tian Chun couldn''t help but let out a weak laughter.


    "I really wish I could have seen you again, just so I''d know if that wonderful smile of yours had been saved. But it seems that won''t be the case, so let me at least do the one thing I can still do for you."


    Tian Chun mustered all her courage and bit down on her own tongue with all her might, the taste of blood and the burning pain flooding her every sense. This was the last she could do for Liang Chen, die so that she couldn''t be used to lure him out. But she was weak, so she didn''t even have the right to choose how and when she died. Her shadow wriggled slightly, a man hurriedly rising up from it and showing his hand into her mouth, stopping her before she could swallow her own tongue. An unknown liquid ran down her throat from the man''s hand, the last thing she heard before her consciousness falling dark being his voice.


    "Sorry, but can''t have you dying before he''s arrived here, orders from above."

 Sun Haixie.

    Time slowly passed within the cave where Yan Ling focused on her recuperation and Yumao focused on his cultivation, Liang Chen making sure to constantly keep his law of time active for them. Lan Yun jumped down from Yan Ling''s lap and quickly waddled over to Liang Chen, grabbing onto his back and unsteadily trying to climb up to his shoulders, occasionally letting out a cute gasp from exerting herself.


    Liang Chen quickly twisted his right arm behind him to support Lan Yun from below, pushing her up enough that he could grab her over his shoulder with his left arm. He raised her up and placed her on his shoulders, making a shushing gesture with one hand while placing her hands on top of his head using his other hand.


    "Sshh, try not to wake up Maman yet, she shouldn''t need too much longer."


    Lan Yun showed her understanding by softly patting Liang Chen on the head, swaying from side to side while patiently waiting for Yan Ling to finish. Liang Chen took this chance to teach Lan Yun a few things, using a mixture of poisonous powder and lightning to form different animals or images, teaching Lan Yun various things about them in a hushed tone, nine days quickly passing.


    "These two are known as cats and dogs, this small one is a cat and this large one is a dog. Cats prefer to be scratched on the cheeks, but dogs prefer to be scratched on the lower end of their back and just above their ears. I never had any of them when I was younger, but there were quite a few strays living in my old city, so I got to play with them quite a lot. I''ll try to show you them when we get back, I know a good place where lots of them used to gather at night."


    Lan Yun''s eyes sparkled as she stretched out her hands to play with the floating images, so Liang Chen flicked his finger and had the images spring around like living animals. This type of fine control wasn''t his forte so he considered this a good chance to practice it, at the same time also making sure that Lan Yun didn''t fall while reaching for the images. The poison and lightning he used to create them were of the weakest variety he had at his disposal, they wouldn''t be able to harm her even if she were to catch them.


    A low hissing sound caught their attention just as Liang Chen was about to let Lan Yun catch the images, both of them turning their heads to look at Yumao. The threads of black energy that were weaving in and out of his body were all starting to get sucked towards his head, gathering at the sides of his head. In less than half a minute, all the threads had gathered at the side of his head and formed two jagged horns that pointed forward, one at each side of his head.


    Coupled with the black feathers covering his back and his two black wings, along with his six and a half meter length, he made for quite an imposing sight now. Yumao opened his eyes once the horns formed, an intense energy momentarily welling up from inside his body. Sensing the energy, which held the faint scent of death, Liang Chen guessed that Yumao''s strength had settled somewhere around the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, actually jumping a sub-realm over him.


    Yumao quickly restrained the energy that was welling up when he saw that Yan Ling was still recuperating, peace quickly returning to the cave. Yumao''s gaze landed on Liang Chen, a happy light flashing in his eyes as he shrunk down to his normal size and curled up on top of Liang Chen''s head, letting out several subdued hisses. Liang Chen smiled and stretched out his arm to pat Yumao on the head, Lan Yun mimicking his actions.


    "Not bad, you''ve even gone and jumped right over me in one fell swoop. Looking at that burst of energy just now, did you end up snatching up the law of death from the corpse?"


    One of the main reasons they had to kill Qian Liao was the body parts of the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor he had in him, they would be perfect for Yumao to increase his strength. Of course, if Qian Liao never ended up coming after them, they wouldn''t have any reason to go after him, at that time they would just have to give up on the body parts.


    Yumao rapidly nodded his head several times, his lower jaw smacking into the top of Liang Chen''s head, a cold stream of energy flowing into him as Yumao proved his words. It was the expected result, but Liang Chen still couldn''t help but break out into a smile, his pats turning into a soft stroke running down Yumao''s spine.


    "One day we''ll find out just what sort of being you really are, just you wait."


    Liang Chen still remembered something Qian Liao had said while he was fighting Yan Ling, it was when he saw the pitch-black domain that Yumao had set up just as Qian Liao was about to kill Yan Ling. He called the domain the Nethergod''s Grasp, an exceedingly grand name that Liang Chen would not have associated with a Demonic beast he received as a reward for a single trial.


    Yumao let out a few low hisses, closing his eyes as he enjoyed Liang Chen''s soft and gentle strokes down his back. Lan Yun started to poke the side of Liang Chen''s head in complaint so he was forced to place her down on his lap and gently stroke the top of her head, the three of them quietly passing the days while waiting for Yan Ling to finish.


    Luckily, it was just as Liang Chen told Lan Yun earlier, Yan Ling wasn''t far away from fully healing her injuries. They only had to wait another six days before the last mark of her wounds vanished, the healing capabilities of her law of water not even allowing any scars to remain behind. When Yan Ling opened her eyes and turned to look at them, she said the exact sentence that Liang Chen had expected her to say.


    "Little Freak, I''m hungry~~"


    The corners of Liang Chen''s mouth curled up as a chuckle escaped him. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out some roasted meat and vegetables he had prepared ahead of time, handing them to Yan Ling alongside some cutlery. He also handed some larger pieces to Yumao and a few smaller cut pieces to Lan Yun, the four of them eating a quick meal together. Yan Ling at like she usually did, greedily devouring everything like a ravenous tornado, but she somehow still managed to speak while doing so.


    "Alright, you said that you might have found a way for us to go home? You also said something about special circumstances during the battle against Qian Liao, I don''t imagine you intend to keep it secret?"


    For Liang Chen to have returned unharmed after killing Qian Liao, it was clear that just calling the circumstances special wasn''t doing them justice, they were definitely incredibly grand. Liang Chen nodded his head, placing down his cutlery and telling Yan Ling about the conversation he had with Ye Zhong.


    "... And that''s about what happened after the battle. As for how we''ll go home, now that we know the path it should be rather easy. After all, isn''t there someone on this planet who will willingly hand over a way for us to leave this planet?"


    Yan Ling digested what she had just been told about the Bloodwind Code, finally understanding all the gibberish that Qian Liao had been spouting during their battle. She tilted her head slightly when she heard Liang Chen''s last sentence, but her lips curved up slightly as she connected the dots and understood who he was talking about.


    "Ah, true true. But how willingly he''ll hand over that way after knowing what we''ll do with it is uncertain. Well, I''m certain you weren''t planning on asking for it in the first place. Alright, let''s head back immediately, I want to go home as quickly as possible. Or do you want to stay here a bit longer, maybe see if you can check out that massive tree?"


    This had been the longest Yan Ling had ever been away from her family, she was incredibly homesick and just wanted to go home, telling her father and brother about all the things they had experienced here. Liang Chen raised his head, his gaze seemingly drifting through the ceiling of the cave and settling on the massive tree serving as the core of the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath. He retracted his gaze after a few seconds, lightly shaking his head.


    "No, even if we ignore the fact that we''ll probably die before reaching the tree, there''s something at the top of the tree that I''m guessing is going to be incredibly pissed if we were to get too close. I''ll return here one day in the future, once I''m stronger. At that time I should be able to check out the tree, maybe even do something for the humans of this planet. But as we are now, there''s nothing more we can do here."


    Liang Chen had already sensed something atop the tree the moment he acquired the law of death, a lifeforce so vast it seemed to drown out and crush everything else. Liang Chen also hadn''t forgotten about how humans were treated here on this planet, nothing more than livestock to be reared in secret. Even if he couldn''t save them all, he at least wanted to give those he deemed good a chance to choose how they wanted to live their lives. If ignorance was what they chose, then he would not interfere with them.


    Yan Ling nodded her head in understanding, the four of them quickly finishing their meal and putting away their cutlery. The four then left the cave, Liang Chen acting as a lightning rod so that they didn''t have to endure the strong lightning that was ever-present in the area. It didn''t take them long to reach the edge of the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, Yumao flying down from Liang Chen''s head and growing to his full size.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The chariot they normally used required Spirit Stones to function at full capacity, and Spirit Stones was something they didn''t really have right now. As such, they would leave the same way the had arrived, riding on Yumao''s back. Now that he had grown even stronger, and seemingly also evolved a little, he would certainly also be faster than he was back then.


    The three got on Yumao''s back, Liang Chen in front and Yan Ling in the back, Lan Yun safely secured between the two of them. Yumao then flapped his wings and shot to the overcast sky like a black blur, barely visible to those gathered around the outskirts of Thunder Saints Final Breath. He soared higher and higher without pause, swiftly breaching the clouds and hovering above them, the brilliant rays of the sun illuminating the never-ending sea of clouds beneath them. Lan Yun''s eyes and mouth opened wide as she leaned her entire body to the side to peer over Yumao''s side, even Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s lips curled up at the scene, it truly was a magnificent scenery.


    Yumao flapped his wings once more, shooting toward the horizon at full speed, heading directly for Ten Thousand Hearts city. Just like Liang Chen assumed, he had really gotten much faster after devouring the corpse and increasing his strength. It took them a month and a half to reach the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, but only a little over half a month to once again reach the outskirts of Ten Thousand Hearts city. Part of the reason was that they didn''t take as many breaks as last time, but the main reason was still Yumao''s great increase in strength.


    They landed a good distance away from the city, dismounting Yumao and moving the rest of the way on foot. They had Yumao and Lan Yun hide within their dantians, not using any disguises as they entered the city and rented a room in an inn using the funds of this planet that they had found on Qian Liao''s corpse.


    Their reason for not disguising themselves was very simple, they were purposefully showing themselves so that they could lure out their target and meet him in a place where they weren''t restricted like they had been in the tower that time. Their efforts bore fruit after five days, Liang Chen opening his eyes and standing up from the chair that he had been sitting on.


    "They''ve arrived. There''s two of them this time, but the second one isn''t that much stronger than him. She should be a superior he called down, but looking at how close their strengths are, the decline of the Sebettu must be more severe than he let on."


    Liang Chen had spread his poison around the inn and the area around it the moment they arrived, keeping a constant watch on his surroundings. And now their target, Ren Ooyung, had entered the inn and was talking to the young Fiendgod girl that served as the innkeeper. But even if he hadn''t detected them using his poison, the thumping of his bloodline would still alert him to their presence.


    Liang Chen moved over to the center of the room they had rented, sitting down on a two-seater couch they had prepared ahead of time. Right in front of the couch was a two-meter long wooden table and another couch, a decent enough negotiation area. Yan Ling sat at his side and the two waited for Ren Ooyung and the other person to arrive.


    The two arrived outside the room after only a single minute, not even bothering to knock before entering. The two people walked directly over to the other couch and sat down, the white-haired and crimson-eyed Ren Ooyung shrinking his neck slightly to diminish his presence. Liang Chen took this chance to inspect the woman that Ren Ooyung had brought along, looking her up and down.


    She wasn''t from the White Orchid race like Ren Ooyung, she was missing the characteristic second mouth. She had a slender yet muscular build, brown hair that was tied into a neat bun and eyes that were a strange grainy type of gray. The yellow robe she wore revealed her shoulders and nape, revealing six scars in the shape of x''s carved into her skin. The scars on her nape were somewhat uneven so it seemed like she herself might have carved them. Ren Ooyung opened his mouth to talk, but the woman waved her hand and cut him off before he could get out a word.


    "Don''t bother. Greetings Crown Prince, I am Sun Haixie and I am one of the generals in charge of dealing with the parts of the Sebettu army that are spread out in the less important parts of this universe. I trust that you haven''t just suddenly revealed yourself for nothing, what is it that you want?"


    As she spoke Sun Haixie placed a blank Soul Oath on the table between them, gesturing for Liang Chen to write on it. Liang Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw her actions and heard her words, he wasn''t actually expecting her to be this straightforward. He picked up the Soul Oath and wrote a few lines on it, sliding it back to Sun Haixie. She picked up the Soul Oath and read it over, placing it down again and sliding it back while speaking.


    "I can agree to not lie and to not harm you unless you attack us, but it is impossible for me to not say anything about you to my superiors. I can say that you escaped my grasp and fled, or something along those lines, but it is impossible for me to report nothing at all."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and picked up the Soul Oath again, changing the relevant line and then sliding it back. Sun Haixie picked it up and read it over again, nodding her head and then signing it. Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Ren Ooyung also signed it, all of them bound by the Soul Oath.


    The contents were very simple, neither of them were allowed to lie, neither of them were allowed to draw their weapons and attack the others unless attacked first, neither of them were allowed to track the others in any way in the future, neither of them were to tell others about what went down in the room, neither of them were to ask any questions about the others plans or goals, and Sun Haixie and any of her people were forbidden from telling anyone else about where Liang Chen went or what he did. Once the Soul Oath was signed, Sun Haixie gestured with her hand for Liang Chen to tell her what he wanted.


    "I want something that will let us leave this planet and move from planet to planet. Seeing as you want to bring me to a completely different universe, you should have something like that, no? Of course, I''ll want one that can''t be tracked."


    Originally Liang Chen had planned to poison the two of them and forcing them to tell him whether or not they had such an item, handing it over if they did. But since Sun Haixie was so straightforward, he decided to change his plans a little. Of course, if they did end up rejecting him, he did have a way of poisoning them that, thanks to the specific wording of it, wouldn''t breach the contract. Ren Ooyung opened his mouth to talk again, but Sun Haixie hit him on the head and cut him off once again, nodding her head while taking something out from her interspatial ring.


    "Alright. This is what we call an Interplanar Cruiser, it can travel freely from planet to planet and even protect people in environments without air. You just need to insert your energy into this mast-like thing, doing so will allow you to control it as you wish. You can also fuel it using Spirit Stones, I suggest doing so for longer journeys. This rune right here on the bottom allows us to track the location of the ship, it''s also the only such thing on the ship."


    Sun Haixie scratched out the rune on the bottom of the Interplanar Cruiser, which looked like a palm-sized galleon, as she spoke. She put a bit of Qi into it after scratching out the rune, the ship growing to be two-meters long before shrinking again, showing that the ship could grow larger to suit their needs. She then handed the ship to Liang Chen, not looking the slightest bothered about it. Liang Chen accepted the ship, but he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow while looking deeply at Sun Haixie.


    "You gave it to me quite easily, far more easily than I first expected. I can''t help but be a bit worried."


    He couldn''t really ask Sun Haixie if she was planning anything shady, doing so would go against the Soul Oath, so he could only word it like this and hope that she would take the hint. Luckily, she seemed rather sensible, looking at Liang Chen with a calm gaze while explaining herself.


    "I can assure you, there is no way for anyone to track that ship, nor is there any way for us to track you, I only wish to help you to the best of my ability. You must have guessed it already from seeing how close my strength is to his, you''ve probably also guessed it after hearing how highly we value your pure bloodline, but our race is declining, and fast. We''ll need strong allies if we wish to avoid extinction, and you can be exactly one such ally. You don''t want to come with us to the headquarters of the race because you feel that you have no connection to us so bringing you there by force would only produce adverse effects. But you said that you might head to us in the future, so you clearly haven''t abandoned us completely. As such, I have decided that it is better to help you with your matters so that we can form a friendly relationship and eventually form a bond between us."


    Sun Haixie was very practical about it. They needed allies, and allies were formed through good relations, not by forcing them to do as you wish. Of course, there was a chance that this wouldn''t work, but Sun Haixie felt that she had to risk it for the sake of her race. Sun Haixie swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a ring-shaped piece of jade and placing it in front of Liang Chen.


    "Here, consider it another sign of my desire to foster friendly relations with you. Don''t worry, as we state in the Soul Oath, there is no way for us to track the ring."


    Liang Chen cast a glance at the ring, stretching out his arm and touching it, inserting a bit of Qi while he was at it. The ring lit up with a dim light, a map gathering in the air above it, depicting the planet that they were currently on. Liang Chen controlled the map using his Qi, the map suddenly expanding and moving further away from the planet, revealing hundreds of other planets. While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were marveling at the map, which seemed to depict not only this but also the surrounding two galaxies, Sun Haixie took out another item from her interspatial ring, an apple-sized lump of gray crystal.


    "This is what our race uses to communicate with each other, this one only contains my sign so it can only contact me and only be contacted by me. The only way for that to be changed is for you to personally hold it against someone else''s crystal. And you need not worry, we also can''t track this one. Should you require anything else, you can contact me using this and I will do my best to help you."


    Sun Haixie stood up after placing the crystal on the table, pulling up Ren Ooyung and leaving the room. She knew their positions well, she did not have any grounds for making any demands of Liang Chen, doing so would likely only end up causing him to distance himself further from the Sebettu race. She had done her best, used all her preparations and sown all the seeds she could, now she could only hope that it would end up bearing fruit.


    With Ren Ooyung and Sun Haixie leaving the room, Liang Chen tracked their movements and made sure that they actually left the inn. Sun Haixie didn''t even turn to look back as she left the inn, her steps sure and steady as she moved towards the exit of the city. Looking at it, it seemed like she no longer had any reason to stay here after meeting Liang Chen. Liang Chen pulled back his senses, weighing the ship in his hands with a smile.


    "I''ll admit, I thought we would have to use a lot more force to get our hands on this. But well then, shall we head home?"


    *End of Book 3: Bloody Emperors. I look forward to seeing you all in Book 4: The Weeping King shatters Dragon''s Gate*

 Leaving the planet.

    The brown-haired and gray-eyed Sun Haixie walked away from the inn with quick steps, pulling the white-haired and crimson-eyed Ren Ooyung with her as she moved. Ren Ooyung was a bit antsy as they walked, quickly speaking up the moment he felt that they had gone far enough from the inn.


    "General, why did you simply accept all his demands? I know that he is important to our race, but we should still have some room to at least negotiate a little bit, especially thanks to the new Crown Princess. Especially that Interplanar Cruiser, we now only have two left..."


    Sun Haixie didn''t stop walking to chat with Ren Ooyung, glancing over her shoulder and checking how far away they were from the inn. She quickly pulled back her gaze, moving it onto Ren Ooyung while still continuing to walk.


    "You''re right, had he been as you described him then we would have some room to negotiate. But he is different from how you described him. I have confidence in my ability to kill even people at the Primordial Immortal realm, but him, I didn''t have the slightest confidence in being able to kill him. Instead, the moment we stepped within about two kilometers of that inn, we placed our lives in his hands."


    Ren Ooyung was too weak to notice it, but Sun Haixie had just barely been able to detect that sweet and tantalizing scent wafting around the inn, that terrible poison that invaded them before they even arrived at the inn. Ren Ooyung realized that he had underestimated Liang Chen''s current strength, but he still wasn''t quite agreeing with Sun Haixie''s actions.


    "But is that really a reason to comply with all his demands? The new Crown Princess is stronger than him, and unlike him, she is loyal to the race and wishes for nothing more than our revival. With her on our side, isn''t it best to just leave someone like Scourge King alone? I mean, I get it, it would be for the best if the two of them got several children together, but do you really think he''ll agree to that?"


    Xiao Ping, the new Crown Princess of the Sebettu, had only arrived in their headquarters about two months ago, arriving there through a rift in time itself. She was the same as Liang Chen, a time-shifted child that had been sent to the future for the sake of the race. From what Ren Ooyung had been told, she had the same third-generation bloodline as Liang Chen, but her cultivation had already reached the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. She also used some very strange laws and was able to use the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, so she possessed combat power far above her realm.


    Sun Haixie once again moved her gaze back onto the inn, her pupils quivering slightly. She placed her hand on her neck and gave it a quick wipe, drops of sweat glistening on her palm as she pulled it back, looking at Ren Ooyung with a serious gaze.


    "You''re right, the Crown Princess is strong. I''ve had the fortune of both meeting her and observing one of her battles right after she arrived, she truly is dominant and regal. But even when I stood directly in front of her, I did not feel what I felt when I approached the inn where that man was waiting. Fear, true fear, from the very bottom of my being. I felt like a frog gazing at a world-eating dragon, I could barely sit still. You said that this Qian Liao left the city to hunt them down, no? Well, they''ve returned, but there is no sign of Qian Liao, so take from that what you will. I will tell you this once, the Crown Princess is a great boon to our race, but that man is absolutely necessary to the rise of our race, every last inch of my instincts is telling me this."


    One of the 13 generals of the Sebettu race, above countless other people and only below a few tens of others, Sun Haixie had not felt anything like this in years. It had gone beyond a bloodline suppression and become something far more primal, the ancient fear of death embedded in every living being. Ren Ooyung wasn''t on the same level as Sun Haixie so he hadn''t been able to feel what she felt, but as she was his superior, he could only remain quiet and follow her as they left the city.


    --


    Yan Ling curiously looked at the palm-sized boat resting in Liang Chen''s palm, with Lan Yun copying her actions the two made for a rather adoring sight. Yan Ling stretched out her arm and gave the boat a few quick pokes, her eyes lighting up slightly as she fondled the three lightly pink sails that it had.


    "It''s silk! It feels just like silk at least, so soft and smooth! It must be incredibly strong, otherwise, they wouldn''t have put it on a ship like this. Think we can use it to make clothing once we''re done with the ship? Just imagine how pretty those dresses and robes would be!"


    Liang Chen moved his arm so that the ship was no longer within fondling distance for Yan Ling, using his other hand to tap the currently sneaking closer to the ship Yumao on the head to stop him. He then quickly put the ship into his interspatial ring, raising an eyebrow at the now somewhat disappointed Yan Ling.


    "We''ve had it for a total of 15 seconds, haven''t even started heading home yet, and you''re already planning on how to take it apart? Fine, but only when we find a better one we can use."


    Yan Ling gleefully nodded her head upon receiving, her eyes sparkling as she looked Liang Chen up and down, no doubt imagining him wearing the pink robes she was planning to make. The two then looked at each other in silence for a moment, the corners of their lips curling up into wide grins, Yan Ling eventually breaking the silence.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Let''s go! It''s time for an adventure on the way home! Dad''s not gonna believe all the stories I''m gonna tell him when we get back!"


    Yan Ling sprang up from the couch with a joyous bounce, launching Lan Yun a bit into the air in the process. She quickly caught her and spun around once, Lan Yun stretching out her arms and laughing gleefully. Liang Chen also stood up from the couch, Yumao slithering into the shadow cast by Liang Chen''s hair, vanishing into his dantian. They had already prepared everything they could, they were completely ready to head out.


    Yan Ling spun Lan Yun around a few more times before having her return into her dantian. Liang Chen and Yan Ling left the inn, heading for the exit that was in the opposite direction of the one that Sun Haixie was heading for. They attracted quite a few stares as they made their way through the streets, the people walking there moving around them so that they had plenty of space. They had built up a very bloody reputation in the tower and were known across the entire planet, they were already a symbol of fear to most other people on this planet.


    The two quickly left the city without incident, heading for the barren mountain region that was situated to the north of the city. They moved in-between the mountains until they found a small valley obscured by mountains on all sides, the trees growing there strangely bent and gnarly. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and brought out the ship, holding it out in front of them.


    "Alright then, let''s try this."


    He put some Qi into the ship, which rapidly expanded to a size of nearly 50 meters and then started hovering in front of them. The two jumped onto the ship and gave it a quick inspection to know what they had, it had three storage rooms, 25 rooms where people could live, five kitchens, three living rooms where people could gather to spend time, two rooms that seemed to be made for parties or dances, and one room where one could insert Spirit Stones into an array to power the ship.


    Liang Chen tested out if the currency that Qian Liao had on him could be used in the array, and while the lower value currency wasn''t good enough, those of the middle stages were luckily good enough. The boat-shaped array unleashed a light blue light, which quickly grew to surround the entire ship before vanishing, only the central mast remaining lit up.


    But as the blue light vanished, Liang Chen felt a sense of control emerge within him, allowing him to control the ship as he would a part of his body. He sat down at the deck of the ship, at the very front, and had the ship shoot into the sky. The ship accelerated to a speed Liang Chen had never experienced before, almost instantly soaring past the clouds and leaving the planet. Yan Ling stood at the side of the ship, Lan Yun and Yumao already by her side as they looked over the edge of the ship, Yan Ling cursing quietly.


    "Fuck me that was fast, barely saw a damn blur as we shot past the clouds. Would be nice to use this normally, but it looks to be a damn energy hog."


    Yan Ling turned to look at the central one of the three masts as she spoke. When Liang Chen filled the array with Spirit Stone replacements, the entire mast had been lit up with the blue light, but now about one-fourth of the light had vanished. She continued to look at the mast as the ship headed to the west, countless specks of light visible around them. But the light didn''t budge much even after flying for ten minutes so it seemed like the initial take-off took more energy than normal flying did.


    Yan Ling looked at the specks of light all around them, they were surrounded on all sides, even above and below, each speck of light a slightly different color. She knew that each speck of light was a different planet, each holding different people, beliefs, organizations, and morals, just thinking about it made it feel like her mind was about to be blown. While she was marveling at the sheer number of lights, the voice of Liang Chen reached her ears.


    "We''ll visit them someday. And if we can''t visit all of them, then we''ll just have to visit the most magnificent one, one so great that all others would pale in comparison."


    Yan Ling turned her head and saw that Liang Chen was still sitting at the front of the ship, his hands moving slightly as he seemed to be working on something. Yan Ling smiled at his statement, tilting her head slightly as she started to walk over.


    "Alright, I''ll hold you to those words, I''ll drag you to every last planet just to find the most magnificent one if I have to. But what is it that you''re working on there?"


    Yumao and Lan Yun moved in front of Yan Ling before she could move closer to Liang Chen and see what he was working on, allowing Yan Ling to guess that he had already enlisted a few helpers in whatever scheme he was working on. Liang Chen didn''t stop moving his hands, letting out a light chuckle as he guessed that Yan Ling might be pouting slightly at this moment.


    "Don''t worry about it, I''ll show it to you once we get back to the sect and meet up with your father and brother again, so just be a bit patient until then."


    Yan Ling clicked her tongue and picked up Lan Yun, stretching out her other arm so that Yumao could slither up it and curl up on top of her head. She returned to the side of the ship to gaze at the distant planets around them, shooting a few sharp words at Liang Chen.


    "Alright, but if it doesn''t blow me off my feet, you best be ready for me to take a few bites out of you."


    Liang Chen chuckled but didn''t give a response, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out another small chunk of what seemed to be silver ore. He held the ore in his palm and used lightning to melt it, gathering the purest parts of the molten metal and forming a small orb with it. He then quickly shaped the orb into a ring while it was hot and use some wind to cool it down so that it would retain its shape.


    Once the shape of the ring was complete, he used a bit of wind to keep the ring hovering in front of him, placing it between his palms. He then channeled his energy into his palms, creating six streams of energy that were unleashed from his palms and gathered on the ring, the six streams of energy slowly becoming so dense that they formed perfectly shaped crystals that embedded themselves in the ring.


    The six streams each corresponded to one of his laws and all six had different colors. His lightning one was golden, his poison one was white, his time one was gray, his wind one was cyan, his rot one was purple, and his death one was black. He could have changed the colors of his lightning and poison ones, but he felt that golden and white would look best.


    The ship quickly made its way westward, heading towards Blossoming Ocean planet, from which they could take an interstellar array to get closer to their own home planet. And as the ship was moving, Liang Chen continued on the ring he would give to Yan Ling once they met up with her father and he had gotten his permission.

 Home once again.

    The Interstellar cruiser continued to speed through space at a blinding speed, anything that got close to it being reduced to an indistinct blur. Thanks to the directions given by Ye Zhong, as well as the map they had received from Sun Haixie, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were able to head directly for Blossoming Ocean planet.


    They used their map to check up on their surroundings as they moved, making sure that they properly flew past the four planets that Ye Zhong had mentioned in his directions. On the ninth day, after flying past the fourth planet, Blossoming Ocean planet entered their vision. Even without the map and directions, they were certain that they would have been able to guess that this planet was Blossoming Ocean planet, and that it was certainly special.


    The planet itself was completely blue in color, a single ocean of unknown depth covering the entirety of it. The only land visible on the planet was a collection of nine islands, one large center island and eight smaller islands surrounding the larger one, forming the shape of a large flower. There seemed to be some light yellow grass covering each of the islands, as the resulting flower was practically completely yellow in color.


    But this strange island formation wasn''t even the most special part of the planet, the surrounding area was even more peculiar and eye-catching. Blossoming Ocean planet was surrounded by 17 other planets that were somewhat smaller, a metallic construction connecting all 17 planets in a circular formation around Blossoming Ocean planet. The construction then branched out to connect with the center planet, hundreds of metal poles gathering around the island formation.


    The two quickly got closer to the planet, expecting to see a few cities spread out on the various islands, but each of them actually ended up being empty. The eight surrounding islands were covered by the metal poles, each of them twining around each other and forming strange images, while the center island only contained a circle formed of the end-points of the metal poles and a single house standing right next to the circle. Yan Ling and Liang Chen stood at the front of the boat and looked down at the center island, locking eyes for a short moment before Yan Ling spoke up.


    "I can''t detect anything dangerous, only a massive amount of energy moving through the metal poles and gathering in that circle. You''ve got better instincts than me, and you''ve read an absolute fuckload more books than me, what do you think?"


    Liang Chen was quiet for a bit, sifting through his memories to check if any of the books he had read in the past contained anything helpful for the situation. After spending a few minutes with closed eyes, he opened them again and gave a slight nod of his head, pointing at the hundreds of metal poles.


    "It fits the description I found in one of the books within the sect archives. Those poles should be draining and concentrating the energy of those 17 planets, channeling it towards the circle where it should be changed into spatial energy using an array engraved on the inside of the poles. I''m guessing that the building holds the overseer or guardian of the array, someone has to make sure that it runs smoothly after all."


    Yan Ling nodded her head, she had perfect trust in Liang Chen''s words. But just to take some precautions, the two had Lan Yun and Yumao retreat back into their dantians to stay hidden. Yan Ling then put the Interstellar cruiser into her interspatial ring, the two descending to the surface of the planet by utilizing their control over the law of wind.


    When they were only a few hundred meters above the surface of the planet, they both felt a highly intrusive energy sweep over them for a quick second, their skins crawling as the energy scanned them for a short second before retreating. They then landed on the surface of the planet, just in front of the simple wooden log house that only seemed large enough to hold two or three rooms.


    The door to the house opened just as they landed, a somewhat withered and old man who had somewhat sunken in brown eyes stepping out. Strangely enough, despite clearly being very old, the man''s hair was a glimmering black and looked almost like silk that flowed down his back, only stopping behind his knees. The man looked at the two for a short moment, his eyes roaming over their bodies as he spoke.


    "Flying here on your own is foolhardy, you should get yourself a spatial shuttle or travel in larger groups in the future, otherwise you''ll just end up as bandit fodder."


    The old man''s voice was smooth and soft, surprisingly calming and pleasant to the ear. Liang Chen couldn''t feel any cultivation or Qi from the man, but he did not for one second doubt that the man was likely far more powerful than them, he and Yan Ling giving him a polite bow and thanking him for the advice.


    "Thank you for thinking about our safety, we will make sure to take better precautions in the future."


    This was the first Liang Chen had ever heard about there being bandits even in the void between planets, it seemed like there were bound to be bandits wherever there were living beings. The old man nodded his head slightly, gesturing towards the circle standing at the side of the house.


    "Good. But you haven''t come here to listen to me ramble, you''ve come to use this Interstellar Array here. Two humans and two Demonic beasts, the cost of activation will be five High-grade Spirit Stones or something equivalent, just tell me where you want to be sent."


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s eyebrows twitched slightly, it seemed like that intrusive energy earlier had even pierced all the way into their dantians and revealed what was hidden there. Their eyebrows also twitched slightly because of the price the man mentioned, it was rather steep. The division of Spirit Stones was very simple, it went low, mid, high, top, and peak-grade, with each 1 of a higher grade being worth about 1000 of the lower-ranked versions.


    The two of them had quite a lot of riches on them after killing Qian Liao, but losing five High-grade Spirit Stones would still take away about 70% of their current wealth. Even then, just being able to pay this sum was a testament to their strength, it would be difficult for most people with their cultivation to even produce one or two High-grade Spirit Stones. But as they needed to go home, they could only pay up. They moved the required funds over into a separate interspatial ring, handing it to the man as they stepped into the circle and stated their destination.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Please send us to Dragon''s Head planet."


    The old man checked the contents of the interspatial ring to make sure that the fee was paid, nodding his head after making sure that everything was in order. He walked over to one of the metal poles that formed the circle, placing his hand on it and pouring some energy into it. The entire circle started to light up, space around Liang Chen and Yan Ling turning thick and viscous. A bright white light flashed in front of their eyes, and once the light vanished, the scenery around them had changed.


    They now stood on an island made from solid rock, with not even a blade of grass in sight. Several craggy mountains spread out around them, metal poles winding around the mountains for a bit before stretching into the sky and connecting to 17 small planets that slowly moved around far above them. There was another small wooden house located right next to the circle they were standing in, but it seemed like the person inside it had no intention of coming out to greet them.


    They brought out their map and checked their position, making sure that they had actually reached Dragon''s Head planet. Once they saw that the glowing dot that represented the current position of the map was indeed on top of Dragon''s Head planet, they jumped into the air and used a bit of wind to quickly ascend high into the air.


    Only once they reached the very edge of the planet''s atmosphere did they bring out the Interstellar Cruiser and board it. They pointed the ship north and headed off at their fastest speed, heading directly for the Spatial Vortex that should take them back to their home planet.


    Unlike their journey to Blossoming Ocean planet, which had been so far away that they had to fly past other planets to reach it, the Spatial Vortex was only a few hundred kilometers away from Dragon''s Head planet, it was a much shorter trip. And thanks to that, they managed to reach the Spatial Vortex after only flying for half a day, stopping once to refill the Spirit Stones that powered the ship.


    The Spatial Vortex was a rather strange sight, it didn''t resemble a Spatial Rift, which was what they had expected at first. Spinning around in empty air in front of them was a two-kilometer wide spot of what seemed to be hazy and distorted air, oddly reminiscent of air that was heated up by an incredibly warm stone. Liang Chen turned his head slightly, glancing at Yan Ling, who carefully inspected the Spatial Vortex for a bit before speaking up.


    "It really is a Spatial Vortex. It looks like distorted air, but it''s actually space itself that has been folded and distorted, constantly sucking in energy from both the area here and from the place it''s connected to. It''s practically a perfectly self-sufficient spatial array, I can''t even begin to guess at how it was made, or who could possibly have done it. I can''t really feel too much from the vortex''s endpoint, but what little I can feel does feel very familiar, it probably does really lead home."


    Yan Ling, who actually had made contact with the law of space and was starting to learn how to control it, was far more suitable to judging the vortex in front of them. With her vouching for the Spatial Vortex, the two only shared one more glance before steering the ship forward, having it fly directly into the vortex of distorted space.


    The two felt like they had steered the ship in stormy seas once they entered the Spatial Vortex, the boat tossing and turning as the vortex tossed it around like a toy. Space around them also bent and twisted, various small items appearing and disappearing each time the vortex moved slightly. Both Yan Ling and Liang Chen grabbed onto the sides of the ship, one on each side of the ship, Liang Chen furrowing his brows while doing his best to keep the ship steady.


    "Tch, Ye Zhong said it had a tendency to be somewhat unstable, but he could''ve at least mentioned that it would be this bad!"


    Complaining like this was the only thing Liang Chen could do right now, the ship was refusing to listen to his orders as it tossed and turned, they were completely at the mercy of the vortex. They were slowly pulled towards the center of the vortex, the tossing and turning only getting worse as they got closer to the center. By the time they were only a few meters away from the center of the vortex, it had gotten so bad that they often had to let go of the boat so that they could dodge small folds in space that threatened to send them away prematurely, which would result in them ending up in separate locations.


    When their ship entered the center of the vortex, Liang Chen and Yan Ling''s eyes rapidly narrowed. What seemed to be countless translucent tentacles of folded space stretched out and latched onto the ship and started pulling on it, the parts of the ship touched by the tentacles vanishing as they were sent through space. Liang Chen and Yan Ling didn''t know, but the ship was actually too large for the vortex, which was the cause of the current turbulence. The vortex was planning on sending the ship over in several smaller pieces, rebuilding it once it arrived at the other side of the vortex.


    But as a result of being on the ship, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were caught up in the turbulence and subsequent dismantling. Realizing that the ship was being taken apart, Liang Chen and Yan Ling quickly locked gazes and decided on their course of action. They let go of their respective sides of the ship, turning their bodies and dashing towards each other. They figured that as long as they managed to grab a hold of each other, they should end up being sent to the same place.


    But just as they let go of the ship, more tentacles of folded space stretched out and grabbed onto the ship, going to fully dismantle it in one go. And as they were on the ship right now, Liang Chen and Yan Ling were both caught by the tentacles, a bright silver light flashing in front of their eyes as a nauseating sensation flooded their bodies and they were thrown through space.


    When the silver light vanished, Liang Chen found himself lying on his back inside a forest where there was at least a few meters between each tree. He didn''t know his exact position, but in the distance, he could barely see the peak of a very familiar mountain that had a deep-blue waterfall cascading down the side of it. He knew that the mountain he was seeing served as the centerpiece of Eternal Stream city, the home of his friend, Lei Qiang.


    Liang Chen let out a short breath of relief when he realized that he had arrived back on his home planet, but his brows immediately furrowed when he noticed that neither Yan Ling nor the Interstellar cruiser was next to him. The air was also filled with the thick scent of smoke and blood, causing Liang Chen''s eyes to narrow slightly. This amount of blood and smoke scent weren''t normal, something had to have happened.


    While Liang Chen was opening his eyes to the scent of smoke and blood close to Eternal Stream city, Yan Ling opened her eyes on the other side of the planet, in a small back-alley behind what seemed to be a restaurant, the smell of roasted meat and soup tickling her nose. She didn''t know it yet, but she had arrived in the heart of the territory controlled by the Dawn''s Blade Alliance.

 Now weep.

    Liang Chen stood up and brushed away the dirt on his robe, turning his head and sweeping his surroundings with a quick gaze. There were no signs that Yan Ling had arrived in the area, nor were there any other traces of life that he could sense. He stretched out his right arm, Yumao slithering out of the shadow cast by Liang Chen''s hair, sniffing the somewhat familiar air. Liang Chen pat Yumao on top the head with his finger a few times, pointing at the sky above them.


    "Sorry, but can I trouble you to head up there and check if you can see Ling''er anywhere nearby? There''s no telling what sort of trouble she''ll cause if I''m not there to keep an eye on her."


    Yumao nodded his head a few times and then flapped his wings, shooting past the trees and high into the sky. Liang Chen leaned against a tree and watched Yumao vanish into the distance, calmly waiting for him to return. A black blur landed on Liang Chen''s shoulder after about 10 minutes, Yumao curling up and using the tips of his wings to write a few things on Liang Chen''s neck. Liang Chen''s mouth curled slightly when he read Yumao''s message, cursing quietly.


    "Nothing at all within the surrounding 100 kilometers? A few kilometers my ass, Ye Zhong, you really explained it in a shitty way."


    Of course, what Liang Chen forgot to account for was the difference in strength between him and Ye Zhong. What was only a few kilometers for Ye Zhong would likely be quite a vast distance for people like Liang Chen. Liang Chen rubbed his temples in silence for a bit, digesting the information and trying to figure out what to do next. He opened his eyes again after half a minute, looking somewhat apologetically at Yumao.


    "Sorry, but would you mind flying around and looking for her? I''m really worried about what might happen to her and it should be faster to find her if we both head in different directions."


    Yumao could move through the air far easier than Liang Chen, if he flew one way and Liang Chen walked the other, he figured that it shouldn''t take too long for them to find Yan Ling. Yumao rapidly nodded his head, doing his best to hide the glint of worry that was present within his own eyes as well. He swept his head around a few times, eventually pointing it in the opposite direction of Eternal Stream city and letting out a hiss.


    After signaling which direction he was intending to head in, Yumao once again flapped his wings and shot to the sky, rapidly vanishing into the distance. With Yumao vanishing, Liang Chen turned towards the distant Eternal Stream city, muttering quietly.


    "Alright, let''s see if we can''t find the source of all that smoke and blood. Lei Qiang, you better be okay."


    Liang Chen didn''t have a lot of friends, he couldn''t really be said to have any more than two actually, so he made sure to treat the few that he had very dearly. He stepped away from the tree and started heading for Eternal Stream city, using the tall mountain peak as his guiding beacon.


    It didn''t take him long to leave the forest and step onto the large plain that surrounded most of the area around Eternal Stream city. A short distance ahead of him he could see the winding road he had once taken to first get to Eternal Stream city, back then he had been hitching a ride with a carriage for safety from any bandits, but now things were completely different.


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed dangerously the moment he stepped out of the forest, not only had the scent of blood gotten even thicker, but he could also see several corpses spread around the area. Some had marks that they were killed using weapons, while others had clearly been torn apart and ruined by attacks using a large amount of Qi. Liang Chen spread out his senses and quickly locked onto a small sliver of lifeforce, dashing over to what he at first thought was a face-down corpse, turning it around and supporting its head.


    The person was a middle-aged man clad in the black robes of the Ghost Soul sect, he currently had an axe embedded in his back, likely crushing his spine and flooding his lungs with blood. Liang Chen placed his hand on the man''s forehead and shot some lightning into him to shock him fully awake, quickly questioning him.


    "Tell me, what happened here? Did the sects start a battle?"


    The middle-aged man''s eyes opened somewhat slowly, one of his eyelids hanging limply after only opening halfway. The man''s strangely white eyes roamed over Liang Chen''s face, clarity slowly appearing in them as he struggled to stretch out his arm and grab onto Liang Chen''s collar.


    "...Liang Chen...? The Scourge King?! It''s you... They came for you... Why did we have to... Die for you...? Tell me...please... My husband... Our son...why?"


    The exertion proved too much for the man, and his wounds seemed to be worse than Liang Chen first expected, he spat out some brown and clotted blood, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as all signs of life vanished from his body.


    Liang Chen''s expression was far from pleasant as he looked at the dead man, gently letting him down to the ground again. It seemed like whoever had killed all these people had done so because of him for some reason. For a split second, Liang Chen thought that it might be Huang Dong, but he quickly discarded that idea, there was no way Huang Dong had enough worth that the sect would be willing to go to war like this for him.


    Liang Chen turned his gaze onto Eternal Stream city, which he could now see had flames blazing within it, the grand entrance gate shattered into tiny pieces. He stomped off from the ground and shot toward the city at full speed, his heart thumping with worry as the smell of blood and smoke got so thick and nauseous that it felt like it would choke him.


    He quickly passed through the shattered gate and entered the city, a scene pulled straight from hell greeting him. The heat of the fire crashed against his body, corpse of young and old scattered around amongst the ruins of the houses. What was once a lovely city filled with pride in their nation and army had been reduced to rubble and ash decorated by fire and blood.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Liang Chen quickly traced his memories and followed the path he had once taken in the past, swiftly passing by the military academy and then following the path that Lei Qiang had shown him. It didn''t take him long to reach the location of Lei Qiang''s house, but it was just as he feared, all he found was ruin and blood. The pleasant two-story house had been fully torn down, large chunks of debris covering the garden where he had once sat and drunk wine with his friend.


    A faint sliver of lifeforce seeped out from the rubble, Liang Chen quickly clinging on to this strand of hope and rushing over to it. He picked up the large chunks of debris and flung them away, digging out the still-living person beneath the rubble. But when he saw the person, his pupils couldn''t help but quake.


    Buried beneath the rubble wasn''t just Lei Qiang and his wife, Xue Wen, but even their daughter Lei Qiuxun, who had yet to even turn five. Lei Qiang''s head was completely crushed, his face a mangled mess that was practically impossible to recognize. He had shielded Lei Qiuxun and Xue Wen with his own body, but it wasn''t enough, a jagged stone had pierced directly through their chests, nailing them together. Lei Qiuxun likely died immediately, but Xue Wen was still alive, despite the fact that a piece of debris had also completely crushed her lower body.


    Liang Chen took several deep breaths, the scent of blood and death invading every inch of his body. He placed his hand on Xue Wen''s forehead, a bit of poison and lightning flooding into her body, the poison numbing any pain while the lightning shocked her awake as he pulled back his arm. Xue Wen''s eyes slowly opened, revealing that all the veins in them had exploded from pressure, rendering her blind. But even so, she was still able to guess who was above her.


    "Ah... Liang Chen, is that you...? Qiang''er did mention that... You used your poison...Like this before... You must flee... They are looking for...You... And they''ll stop at... Nothing to find you... Some of them are... Still here in the city... Wreaking havoc on any... Survivors... Run before they find...You..."


    Liang Chen''s heart thumped so loudly that it felt like thunder rumbling in his head. Even now, as she was at death''s door and had lost everything because of him, this Xue Wen still wanted him to escape and save himself. Liang Chen closed his eyes for a short moment, he had been lucky to meet someone like Lei Qiang and his family, they were perfect role models for people. And now they were dead, ruined and lost, all because of him. Liang Chen opened his eyes again, his voice was soft but so filled with determination that it seemed to even push away the surrounding flames.


    "Xue Wen, I know that I''m the cause of this, and I know that I can''t undo what has happened. But tell me, do you want revenge, vengeance against those who did this? The people of this city, would they want revenge?"


    Xue Wen did her best to stretch out her arm, but her strength failed her, the arm remaining lying on the ground. Unable to move her arm, she could only rest her head against Lei Qiuxun''s and her back against Lei Qiang, her voice choked up as she talked.


    "They would, all of them... Those who did this to... Qiang''er and Little Qiu... Can I ask you to... Please Kill them... Please...."


    Liang Chen''s eyes were steadfast and bloodshot and nodded his head, a gesture Xue Wen was unable to see but could guess that he was doing. He once again placed his hand on her forehead, his soft voice lulling her to sleep as poison and death seeped into her body.


    "I will, I swear. I will let you acquire your vengeance with your own body, so you just rest, I promise you that the journey to reincarnation won''t be a lonely one."


    Xue Wen flashed a weak smile, her eyes closing as the poison and law of death shut down her remaining organs and gave her a painless death. Liang Chen stood up, his expression steely as he swept his gaze across the ruined city and the countless corpses. He closed his eyes and sent out his senses, scanning everything around him to look for any trace of the ones that did this.


    He swiftly spotted a group of 11 people about 27 kilometers away who were different from the rest of the people in the city, they were clad in golden robes and were currently sifting through the rubble, making sure that anyone they found was truly dead. They even stabbed the skulls of the corpses to make sure that they weren''t just faking it. Some of the people in the group didn''t look too comfortable with the job, but they still performed their duties.


    Liang Chen locked onto the group, stretching out his right arm and holding out his palm. He started walking towards the group, channeling his energy into the Bloodwind Code that had merged with his chest after he killed Qian Liao. The blood of Lei Qiang and the others, as well as the blood from the countless corpses around him all started to rise up, flowing over to him and gathering above his palm.


    A cut appeared in his palm, some of his blood flowing out and merging with the blood that was gathering above his palm. The gathered blood started to seethe and boil once Liang Chen''s blood was introduced to it, the blood twisting and turning as it started to condense. More and more blood flew over and merged with the rest of the blood, condensing along with it as it slowly formed the shape of a spear. The Bloodwind Code only need about 20 000 people''s worth of blood, it never said anything about Liang Chen having to be the one who killed them.


    After draining the blood of every corpse within the surrounding 20 kilometers, the spear seemed to have reached a saturation point, no longer drawing in any more blood. But it didn''t seem to be quite complete yet, so Liang Chen made another cut in his palm and had more of his blood flow into the spear, a change quickly taking place.


    A thunderous draconic roar rang out as his blood flowed into the spear, the crimson color quickly fading and being replaced by a faded gray, five lightning-like bolts running down the shaft of the spear, one golden, one cyan, one white, one black, and one purple. As the five lines appeared, the simple head of the spear also morphed slightly, a line running down halfway through the speartip and splitting it apart, jagged spikes resembling teeth growing out from the split apart speartip. The speartip now resembled the open maw of a dragon, the spear fully hardening and landing in Liang Chen''s grasp, thrumming in excitement.


    The moment the spear landed in his grasp, Liang Chen shot forward at full speed, shattering the streets of the city beneath his feet. He arrived in front of the group of 11 with a thunderous rumble, the stone beneath him shattering from the momentum that remained as he stopped. The 11 people quickly raised their weapons in a defensive stance, the red-haired and brown-eyed girl who seemed to be the leader opening her eyes wide when she saw Liang Chen.


    "That''s him! He''s the target!"


    Liang Chen''s eyes roamed over the 11 people, his bloodshot and intent gaze causing shivers to run down their spines. They had all reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal, but faced with that gaze they almost felt their legs turn to jelly. Liang Chen tightly grasped his new spear, it fit so well that it felt like an extension of his body. The speartip thrummed slightly in tune with Liang Chen''s rage as he raised it, pointing it at the 11 people.


    "I heard you''ve been looking for me? Now weep, for you''ve found me."

 The state of Dragons Gate.

    The 11 people tensed up and did their best to chase away the bone-chilling fear that started to invade their bodies. The red-haired and brown-eyed girl that seemed to be the leader of the group took half a step forward, grasping her saber so tightly that her knuckles turned white.


    "I am Sh..."


    The girl, Shun Tengyi, didn''t even get to finish her sentence before she saw the spear in Liang Chen''s hand turn into a blur. One of the men behind her suddenly bent to the side so violently that the side of his head almost touched his foot, his body catapulted to the side and crashing into one of the broken buildings.


    Shun Tengyi''s words and breath caught in her throat as she threw a quick glance at the man, but it was already too late, he died the moment the spear made contact with his body, nearly all the bones in his body broken. That one attack was more than enough for Shun Tengyi to understand that they stood no chance of defeating the target, even if they were to all work together. With that being the case, she quickly put away her weapon and changed her strategy.


    "Stop, we surrender! I know we don''t exactly have the right to beg for mercy, but we''ll tell you everything you want to know if you spare our lives!"


    She was the captain of this group, each member here was hand-picked by her when they all first became part of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. She would probably be reprimanded and punished for acting this shameless and lowly, but she had to do everything in her power to protect the rest of her group.


    Liang Chen threw a sideways glance at his spear, the maw-shaped head releasing a faint white mist after he unleashed his attack. Upon creating the weapon, he had learned that it would acquire new special abilities upon growing stronger by feeding on blood. He remembered Qian Liao using at least two special abilities, but his own spear currently only had a single special ability, the ability to drastically increase its own speed for a few seconds. Each activation required quite a bit of Qi, but he was very pleased with the effect it had produced. Liang Chen raised his eyes up from the spear, his cold gaze falling on the leader of the group and dashing all her hopes.


    "Did you show mercy to these people when they surrendered? And don''t worry about that information, you''ll tell me everything whether you want to or not."


    Liang Chen didn''t care whether or not these people surrendered or not, they could be begging him on their knees and he would still kill them without mercy. They were exactly the kind of people he despised, the type of people he would kill no matter what. Shun Tengyi grit her teeth and pulled out her saber again, but her fingers suddenly stiffened as she tried to grasp it tightly.


    The saber dropped to the ground with a loud clank, several more following it as the people behind her also became unable to grasp their weapons. Shun Tengyi wanted to move, but a tingling pain started to spread through her body as her muscles tightened up and became unable to move. She and her remaining men collapsed to the ground, their bodies almost completely stiff, their eyes wide open. Liang Chen put away his spear and sat down in front of Shun Tengyi, his eyes devoid of emotion as he placed the tip of his finger against her forehead.


    "Works wonders, doesn''t it? In small doses, the poison will only cause some numbness, dulling all pain, but larger doses will cause full muscle paralysis and leave you unable to move. Depending on the strength of the dose, your lungs and heart will quickly follow, they will simply become unable to function and stop. It''s mostly painless, and that is the only mercy I will afford you. You, however, will have to wait a bit longer before dying."


    Liang Chen knew this poison well, he used it on himself during most battles, numbing his sense of pain so that he could fight without pause. Shun Tengyi wanted to believe that Liang Chen was lying, but she could hear the number of breaths coming from behind her decreasing, hers being the only one left after only a few seconds.


    Shun Tengyi didn''t even have the time to grieve, another poison seeping into her soul from Liang Chen''s finger. This poison was one of the few that Liang Chen had specifically made sure he had in his reservoir, the poison of the Fragile Heart Mushroom that he bought in the Storm Wolf sect. Its only effect was to take control of the minds of other living beings, it was something he had bought for moments just like this one.


    Shun Tengyi''s soul was too weak to resist the poison, and any minuscule resistance she might try to put up was quickly denied by the paralyzing poison that was nibbling at her heart and lungs, a constant threat and reminder. Her consciousness quickly drifted away, her eyes turning blurry and unfocused, Liang Chen starting to ask his questions.


    "Answer my questions. Why did you kill the people in this city, why are you looking for me, and who are you working for?"


    The man that Liang Chen had met before he entered the city, the one from the Ghost Soul sect, said that they had come for Liang Chen, but he wasn''t certain if that was also the reason they killed everyone in this city, he hoped that it wasn''t. But the somewhat slurred and slow response of Shun Tengyi shattered that hope, a knot forming in Liang Chen''s stomach.


    "We work for the Dawn''s Blade Alliance and killed the people in the city because we were ordered to, our elders told us to flush you out using any means necessary. As to why we are looking for you, Senior Brother Wu Huan''s new master, someone called the Sealing God Empyrean, ordered him to kill you no matter what before leaving the planet, he even sent over several other disciples to help him."


    Liang Chen''s eyes sharply narrowed, not only because it was confirmed that all of this had been because of him, but also because he heard a name he wasn''t expecting to hear here. Sealing God Empyrean, the creator of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm and an incredibly powerful cultivator. Liang Chen had an idea of why Sealing God might want him dead, but he wasn''t 100% certain so he continued asking.


    "Do you know why Sealing God Empyrean wants me dead, how were you able to kill so many without being stopped, and what other things have you and your people done to flush me out?"


    Sealing God Empyrean had fought in the Genesis War long ago, it made sense that he might want Liang Chen dead if he somehow found out that he was actually a Sebettu. But that thought was currently thrown somewhat to the back of Liang Chen''s mind, he was far more worried about what else these people had done to find him, especially considering how long he was gone. And once Shun Tengyi responded, his worst fears were confirmed.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "Senior Brother Wu Han might know, but we haven''t been told why you must die, only that it is imperative that you die. We ourselves have only killed the people in this city, being able to do so thanks to the energy sealing array that has been set up around this entire planet. But I''ve heard that the other groups, supported by the other disciples of the Sealing God Empyrean, have been able to wipe out the Ghost Soul sect, wipe out most of the Storm Wolf sect, with only about 100 disciples remaining alive in captivity, wipe out 16 other cities belonging to the Storm Wolf sect, and have already kidnapped your sister and are planning on executing her in one year''s time."


    Liang Chen''s heart and fists clenched at the same time, his emotions and energy roiling and seething out of control for a short instance. Shun Tengyi was right next to him so she was hit head-on by the seething energy, her soul disintegrating and her body crushed flat under the violent energy. Liang Chen quickly took several breaths, his eyes completely bloodshot as he did his best to calm himself, cursing quietly as he looked at the dead Shun Tengyi.


    "Fuck, killed her before I could learn more."


    Liang Chen''s fingers drummed incessantly against the ground as his mind raced to think clearly. It was far worse than his worst nightmares, not only had they kidnapped his one remaining family member, they had also wiped out his sect, and Yan Ling''s family in the process. Once Yan Ling learned that they had died because of him, how would he be able to face her, how would she look at him?


    Liang Chen closed his eyes, his fists clenching so hard that his fingers dug into the earth. He took several more deep breaths, the seething energy in his body slowly calming down and returning to a normal, almost dormant state. His eyes were no longer bloodshot as he stood up, his gaze so calm and cold, so devoid of emotion, that it could only be described as terrifying. He turned his head towards the west, thinking back to the few times he had checked over the maps of this continent as he muttered to himself.


    "Should be a city in that direction, there might be a group there, or someone who knows where they are. Someone''s bound to know where I can find the rest of the groups, someone will let me know who I must kill."


    --


    While Liang Chen was heading towards the city closest to Eternal Stream city, there was movement within Green Rivers city, Liang Chen''s old home. The golden-eyed and orange-haired Yu Jiang was sitting within the largest mansion of the city, resting in a chair draped with the silky fur of what was once a mighty Demonic beast living at the very peak of the mountain standing at the center of Sky Piercer forest. He was fiddling with a pure white orb made from a strange metal, his pupils moving around as his mind raced. He eventually let out a sigh and sent some of his Qi into the orb, which was supposed to only be used in emergencies, sending a message directly to his Venerable Master.


    "Venerable Master, this is Disciple Yu Jiang, a change has happened during our mission. Two people just arrived on the planet, but your great array was unable to place a seal on them so we can''t track them. I humbly request that you grace us with your wisdom in how to act."


    Yu Jiang knew what the array covering this planet did, it sealed the bloodline and Qi of any being that didn''t have an Origin Beast bloodline. Finding just one such person was hard, but now two such beings had arrived on the planet, there was no way that Yu Jiang could avoid being somewhat worried in a situation like this. He expected the response to come in a few days, but to his surprise, the deep and powerful voice of his Venerable Master appeared in his mind almost instantly.


    "Two people... One of them should be that Liang Chen, only by fleeing the planet should he have been able to hide for so long. The other one should be the missing woman from the Storm Wolf sect, that Yan Ling. But for her to have an Origin Beast bloodline... She must have somehow managed to awaken her ancestor''s bloodline, truly marvelous."


    Yu Jiang noticed that while the voice of his master was as deep as always, it actually contained faint notes of tiredness and weakness, something he had never heard before. He pressed his previous question a bit further, but also made sure to ask about what his master had just said.


    "Venerable Master, you didn''t have to respond so quickly if you are still tired after your meeting with the Nine Star Demon God, you could have finished absorbing the blood of the Dark God first. Also, how are you so certain that the two that arrived are Liang Chen and Yan Ling, do they really have Origin Beast blood in them?"


    Yu Jiang knew that his master had gone to visit the Nine Star Demon God to ask for some blood so that he could increase his chances of completing his breakthrough, so he assumed that it was the stress of the meeting that tired him out. But the Sealing God Empyrean shot down that thought with a drawn-out sigh.


    "Finish absorbing the blood? To do that, I first need to get my hand on some. Really, I heard that he''s somewhat unreasonable and protective, but for him to be so excessive as to just tear it straight off the moment I asked for a few liters of blood? Had it not been for the Nightmare Queen, I fear that he might have torn off both at once, maybe even my legs."


    The Sealing God Empyrean still shuddered slightly as he thought back to the scene. His arm was gone before he even had the time to blink, only a jagged stump remaining, it truly was an experience that drilled the difference between him and a Universal Heart into his mind. The Sealing God Empyrean didn''t give Yu Jiang any time to stay shocked, continuing to talk.


    "As for how I''m so certain, it''s because I know that Liang Chen carries the bloodline of an Origin Beast. He interacted with the corpse of Shuten Yimo, even rousing the remnants of his soul enough to awaken it. There are signs in the area that the remnants of Shuten Yimo''s soul helped awaken the bloodline within Liang Chen, something I only managed to notice when I peeked into the area to check up on my new honorary disciple. There is no doubt about it, Liang Chen is one of the detestable Sebettu, and one with an exceedingly pure bloodline, he''s probably a time-shifted one. I don''t know the exact purity of his bloodline, but the longer he lives, the greater the chances are of the Sebettu rising again, he must die."


    The Sealing God Empyrean''s voice dripped with such hatred that Yu Jiang felt his spine grow cold, his heartbeat turning so erratic that his chest started to hurt. The Sealing God Empyrean quickly reigned in his emotions and continued to talk, telling Yu Jiang what to do next.


    "As for that Yan Ling, her ancestor has a bit of the Star God''s bloodline. For her to reject the array, she must have skipped over the Sky Wolf part of the bloodline and directly awakened the Star God bloodline, I just don''t know exactly how. You can try to contact this Yan Ling to bring her over to our side, but if she is adamant about staying with Liang Chen, you can either kill her and harvest her bloodline, or capture her alive and bring her to me, her bloodline should be good enough to help me with my breakthrough, or I can trade it for some more suitable resources. Now then, I heard you''ve captured Liang Chen''s sister? Execute her. Make it public, declare it to any location where he might be, lure him out and make him watch as you kill her. They took everything from me, so I will take everything from them and then kill them, they should not exist within this multiverse."


    The Sealing God Empyrean cut off any further contact before his rage could influence Yu Jiang again, but Yu Jiang still felt cold sweat pour down his back, his chest so tight that breathing was hard. He took several breaths to loosen up his chest, standing up from the comfortable chair and placing away the white orb. His Venerable Master had given an order, now it was time to execute it.

 Meeting Tian Chun once again.

    Liang Chen swept through all of Eternal Stream city once, checking for anyone that might have survived the attack. But it was all for naught, he was the last living thing in the city, everything else belonged to the dead. He gave the bodies of Lei Qiang and his family a proper burial, closing his eyes and offering the departed a moment of silence before opening his eyes again and starting his journey towards what he remembered to be the closest city.


    He followed the ruined streets out of the city and stepped onto the path that would lead him to Wind''s Whisper city, which was not only the closest city, but also the first city Liang Chen had visited after he was forced to flee from his home.


    The path was quite familiar to him at this point, but this was the first time he ever took it and wasn''t attacked by bandits. If even the bandits were in hiding, one could only guess how bad the state of the rest of the planet was. Liang Chen was far faster than the caravans he took in the past, they required 13 days to travel from Wind''s Whisper to Eternal Stream, but he only required two days of running, a drastic cut in traveling time.


    When he first got a bit further away from Eternal Stream city, there were no more corpses scattered around on the ground, but there still weren''t any bandits in the area, they had probably seen what happened to Eternal Stream and then quickly fled. But thanks to this, Liang Chen managed to enter Wind''s Whisper city without having to make any stops or having to bother with any bandits.


    The city was just like he remembered it, sprawling and busy, the scent of dirt and food from various vendors mixing together. Liang Chen didn''t know if the people here knew what had happened on the rest of the planet, but looking at the slightly tense atmosphere in the city, it seemed like they at least knew that things weren''t like normal.


    Liang Chen put on the Heaven Altering Mask before entering the city, changing his appearance so that he wouldn''t be recognized if the people he was looking for truly were here. He spent a bit of time walking through the city, checking for any news that might contain some of the information that he was looking for. But as he gathered more and more pieces of news while eavesdropping and spreading out his senses, he quickly realized that the people in this city, at least the normal citizens, didn''t seem to know what happened on the rest of the planet.


    Some of the cultivators knew that cities had been attacked, and that some cities could no longer be contacted, but they didn''t seem to know the full extent of the damage. It was clear that someone was doing their best to hide the information from the normal populus, but Liang Chen had no idea why they would bother doing that, especially considering that they had already wiped out 17 entire cities.


    Liang Chen continued to move through the city in secrecy, spreading out his poison and his senses as far as he could to pick up any piece of information that he could. But even after spending an entire day searching, he hadn''t found anything that would be useful to him, only a few scattered rumors of cities or friends that could no longer be contacted.


    But then, in the afternoon of the second day, a change happened that drew Liang Chen''s attention. The sky lit up with a peach-colored light that formed a large screen that showed a golden-eyed and orange-haired man. The man stood on a scaffolding that was very familiar to Liang Chen, it was where his parents had been executed in the past. Two people clad in black executioner robes and hoods stood behind the man, each one holding an axe that was as long as them. The man, Yu Jiang looked directly at the screen, his voice booming out and reaching every living being in the area.


    "Liang Chen, I am Yu Jiang, hear me! Tomorrow at dusk, here in the center of Green Rivers city, we will execute your sister! Her life will set with the sun, so if you wish to say your farewell, I suggest you rush here as quickly as you can!"


    Yu Jiang stepped to the side, revealing a pale Tian Chun kneeling behind him. Metal chains wrapped around her body and secured her to the scaffolding in a kneeling position, her sole remaining arm allowed to hang somewhat loosely in front of her. Her skin was pale, her lips were cracked and split, her robes were tattered and torn, and her right arm was completely gone, she made for a pitiful sight.


    The peach-colored screen didn''t vanish after showing off Tian Chun, the image pulled slightly back so that the entire scaffolding could be seen, it seemed like Yu Jiang planned on showing the execution to the entire planet. Liang Chen stood completely still in the street, his eyes trembling and his fists clenching so hard that his nails dug into his palms as he looked at the floating screen.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    More and more people moved out onto the street, but none of them registered in Liang Chen''s mind, he didn''t even notice when a man brushed up against his body and tried to pick his pockets, only to end up disappointed as Liang Chen didn''t carry a pouch for his coins. Liang Chen''s attention was fully focused on that screen, his heart thumping so loudly that it drowned out all sound.


    A small part of him was overjoyed that Tian Chun was still alive and that he could see her again, but the rest of him was seething with anger. How could he not know all the torment she had gone through to end up like that? She had clearly suffered greatly, all because of him. Liang Chen took a deep breath, the dense sea of people around him feeling an unearthly chill and fear wash over their bodies.


    Liang Chen made his way through the crowd, his expression so dark that the people around him instinctively moved aside and made a path for him. How could he not know that this was a trap, nothing but a ploy to lure him out? But that was still his sister there, if he didn''t go to save her then he wouldn''t be Liang Chen any longer.


    He sped up the moment he left the city, his body turning into a blur as he raced towards Green Rivers city, the familiar mountain in the distance growing larger and larger as he got closer to what was once his home. A mere half a day later, he once again set foot in Green Rivers city, his steps slow and heavy as he walked through the streets, gray clouds covering the sky above the city.


    He walked past the scorched ruins that remained of his house, the wooden fence carved with ''Lest we forget the sin'' was still standing around the plot of land. He only cast a short glance at the remains, he had already moved past them, now they were nothing but more fuel to his determination, the tree growing within his interspatial ring the only remaining connection he had to this old home of his.


    He swiftly reached the center of the city, which was packed with people looking at the scaffolding, waiting eagerly for the execution. The scene reminded Liang Chen of when his parents were executed. Once again someone close to him was executed for no good reason, and once again the common populace was eagerly spectating. He couldn''t even really blame them for their actions, in a world like this, they had to grasp onto any straw of excitement that they could get. And few things were more exciting to them than watching the execution of someone wholly unrelated to them.


    Liang Chen''s gaze drifted to the scaffolding, Yu Jiang and Tian Chun were both present atop it, one standing and the other kneeling. Now that he saw Yu Jiang from this close, he could tell that he seemed to have reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, not a realm where Liang Chen was helpless against him. As for the two executioners standing behind Yu Jiang, they were only in the earlier stages of the Ascended Tower realm, practically only normal people. So no matter how much this reminded Liang Chen of his parents'' execution, he was not as helpless and weak as he was back then, this time he could change things.


    Yu Jiang swept his gaze over the crowd of people that had gathered, pulling out an eye-shaped pendant from his interspatial ring after doing so. One of his eyebrows ticked up after he checked the pendant, his gaze returning to the crowd and drifting over them, eventually settling on Liang Chen. He checked the pendant again, his gaze moving between Liang Chen and the pendant for a short second before he put the pendant away and flashed a smile.


    "Pendant''s not picking you up, that means you''re not marked by the array. You should be Liang Chen, no? You got here quite a bit faster than I thought, saves me the trouble of standing here for too long. You two, start the execution."


    The two executioners nodded and changed their positions slightly, taking a few steps away from the kneeling Tian Chun. They didn''t immediately raise their axes, they pulled whetstones out of their robes and started to sharpen their axes, their moves slow and deliberate. Liang Chen''s expression sank and he took off the Heaven Altering Mask, the crowd around him quickly pulling away from him. Tian Chun''s gaze landed on Liang Chen, her eyes trembling as she looked at him.


    "Little Chen... is it really you? Little Chen, please...run, just leave me here!"


    Tian Chun''s voice was shaky as she begged him, her eyes turning red. Liang Chen''s gaze was steely as he looked at her, he could see several scars on her tongue as she talked. She seemed to have tried biting off her tongue and choking on it, but they must have healed her before she could succeed. And looking at the number of scars, she must have tried it several times already. He took a deep breath, his expression softening as he flashed her a quick gentle smile, just like he did back when he still lived here.


    "Don''t worry, Big Sister Chun, I''ll rescue you in a jiffy and escape from here. There are some people that I want to introduce you to, so you just look forward to that. As for you, I hope you''re ready to die."


    Liang Chen''s gaze drifted over to Yu Jiang as he ended his sentence, his expression sinking and becoming cold again. Yu Jiang simply stepped forward to the edge of the scaffolding, placing his arms in front of his chest and using his chin to taunt Liang Chen.


    "I''m a cultivator, I''m always ready to die. But it won''t be here, and it won''t be by your hands."

 All that remained.

    Yu Jiang lowered his arms slightly, two curved daggers with light yellow blades appearing in his grasp. Liang Chen opened his hand, his gray spear appearing in his grasp, the tip glinting with a faint light, thrumming with rage. Yu Jiang looked at the spear and slightly raised an eyebrow, exclaiming quietly in surprise.


    "Oh, a Bloodwind weapon? There shouldn''t be any Codes on this planet, did you get one on the planet where you were hiding? Oh well, it doesn''t really matter, I guess I can gift the Code to one of my Junior Brothers."


    Liang Chen didn''t bother asking Yu Jiang any questions, he put power into his leg and steppe forward, the street beneath him shattering as he shot forward like a bolt of furious lightning. Yu Jiang took half a step to the side and stabbed out with the dagger in his right hand just as Liang Chen appeared there, forcing him to raise his spear and block the dagger with the handle of his weapon.


    Yu Jiang then immediately slashed out with the dagger in his left hand, aiming a sideways slash at Liang Chen''s throat. Liang Chen spun his spear in a counter-clockwise circle, the bottom part spinning upwards and blocking the blade of the dagger that came for his throat from the left. Yu Jiang angled his dagger downwards the moment the weapons came into contact, resulting in the dagger sliding down along the handle of the spear as it continued its circular spin.


    Liang Chen''s right hand let go of the spear, the dagger sliding over the place where he had just grasped the spear. His left hand stretched out at the same time, catching onto the bottom part of the spear just as it completed its spin. The veins on his wrist bulged as he exerted his physical strength and tilted the spear into a sideways sweep that tore through the air with a sharp whistling sound.


    Yu Jiang shifted the dagger in his right hand into a backward grasp and moved it into a blocking position, a colorless energy surrounding his hand as Liang Chen''s spear collided with the dagger. Yu Jiang''s arm trembled slightly as he blocked the attack, surprise and shock flashing across his eyes as he felt the power in the attack.


    But before he could mutter a few words of admiration, he noticed that Liang Chen''s left foot was already kicking out, mere centimeters away from his right knee. Yu Jiang quickly raised his right leg and blocked the kick with his foot, the muscles in his entire leg starting to feel stiffer and tighter. The leather shoe around his foot released a foul smell and started to rot away, revealing his somewhat tanned and scarred skin.


    Yu Jiang quickly pulled back his foot and flooded his leg with his Qi, crushing the law of death, poison, and rot that had invaded his leg during that short instance. But just as he pulled back his foot, the faint sound of rushing wind and rumbling thunder coming from behind him caught his attention.


    He quickly leaned forward, a blade of condensed wind cutting off a few strands of his hair, arcs of lightning arcing away from the blade and singing both his hair and skin. And just as he leaned forward to dodge the blade, Liang Chen pulled back his left leg and raised it in a curved position, aiming to knee Yu Jiang in the face.


    Yu Jiang''s lips curved up slightly, partly from admiration and partly from excitement. He forcibly halted his forward lean and tilted his entire body to the side, stretching out his right arm and stabbing one of his daggers into the scaffolding. He used the dagger as support and raised his entire body into a handstand, his left arm slashing out with the dagger he was holding, aiming for Liang Chen''s left leg, whose knee had just whizzed past where Yu Jiang''s head used to be. At the same time, Yu Jiang gathered his power into his right leg and aimed a downward kick at Liang Chen''s head, his body so flexible that it didn''t even seem to contain any bones.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Both attacks were filled with enough power that Liang Chen should have to block or dodge them, but as his spear was still mid-sweep and his left leg was raised high, it would be hard for him to do either of those, something that Yu Jiang knew. But then Liang Chen proceeded to take a course of action that Yu Jiang had not been expecting, he completely ignored the attacks.


    He let the dagger slice a deep gash into the shin of his left leg and allowed Yu Jiang''s kick to crash into his skull, the taste of blood flooding his mouth as he was forced to lower his head slightly. But while the attacks hit him, he lashed out with his own, his right fist swinging out sideways and smashing into Yu Jiang''s waist.


    Yu Jiang felt his mind grow dizzy as his entire body started to fold around Liang Chen''s fist, a searing pain spreading throughout his abdomen as a thick bolt of lightning, accompanied by lethal amounts of poison and death were shot into his body. His grasp on his dagger loosened as he was launched to the side, opening the path for Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen didn''t even bother glancing at Yu Jiang, he dashed forward at full speed and swatted away the two executioners, who had finished sharpening their axes and had raised them high. But as he didn''t even bother glancing at Yu Jiang, he didn''t notice the corners of Yu Jiang''s mouth curving up slightly as he whispered to himself.


    "That good enough for you, Venerable Master?"


    Liang Chen quickly kneeled down at Tian Chun''s side and shattered the chains binding her body, freeing her from her restraints. But wherever hope was at its brightest, despair would be at its darkest. As he reached out to embrace Tian Chun and lift her up so that they could escape, her body started to flicker and blur. The two executioners, Tian Chun, Yu Jiang, even the entire scaffolding suddenly vanished, Liang Chen finding himself kneeling in the center of the city.


    An overwhelming sense of fear and unease washed over his body as he raised his head and turned it slightly, seeing the scaffolding standing a few tens of meters to his side. Yu Jiang and the two executioners stood on the stage, the executioners unharmed while Yu Jiang looked a bit paler, a somewhat proud smile on his lips. And kneeling between the two executioners, looking as confused as Liang Chen, was Tian Chun.


    Small lights danced around Yu Jiang, forming faint images that constantly changed, and in less than an instant, Liang Chen realized what had happened. Illusion, it had all been nothing more than an illusion, a ploy for him to gain a sliver of hope that they could then rob. Yu Jiang had clearly reached a high level in the law of illusions, he had even been able to fool Liang Chen''s law of death, the illusions each so lifelike that they contained a bit of lifeforce.


    The two executioners had already raised their axes and were bringing them down by the time the illusion was undone, four other people appearing around the scaffolding and joining up with Yu Jiang. But none of these people even entered Liang Chen''s vision, his gaze was locked on Tian Chun, who had realized the same thing as him. She flashed him a bright smile that contained a tinge of grief, placing her hand against her abdomen.


    "I''m glad that I got to see that smile of yours once again, just before the end. Remember when we used to eat the apples from your garden when we were kids? They always gave me a horrible stomach ache since we ate too many, but I miss those peaceful and calm days."


    No matter how fast he could move, no matter how much he could speed up his own time or slow down theirs, it was all too late. Just like back then, he was a helpless child who could do nothing but watch, too weak to change anything, only able to lose that which he held dear.


    The axes hit the scaffolding with a sharp thud and cut a bit into it. And as the axes fell, so too did the last remnants of the time when Liang Chen was just Liang Chen. All that remained was the Scourge King, a soul-wrenching agony, a hatred that threatened to swallow even the heavens, and the silent wail of a child robbed of his family.

 One grieved, one wept.

    Liang Chen sat on his knees, his right arm stretching toward the scaffolding dripping with blood. His mouth was hanging open and his throat was moving, but no sound managed to leave his lips, his agonized wail only audible to him. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot, but no tears ran down his face, it was as if his body was refusing to cry even now.


    He stood up from his crouched position, none of the surrounding audience or the people around Yi Jiang entering his vision. His entire being was focused on the headless body of Tian Chun, slumped down on top of the scaffolding like a sack of potatoes. Liang Chen took a step forward, his body almost looking like it acted on pure instinct. Yu Jiang''s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Liang Chen, a nagging sense of unease nibbling at the back of his mind. He looked at his four Junior Disciples, gesturing towards Liang Chen with his chin.


    "Go, deal with him, I need to restore some energy."


    Maintaining such a large scale illusion was no easy feat, especially since Yu Jiang had to inject some life force into it to make sure that there was no chance that Liang Chen saw through it. The four people, three young women and one young man, nodded their heads and charged directly at Liang Chen, who still didn''t even seem to notice their existence.


    The four of them swiftly reached him and launched their attacks, two of them aiming for his head while the other two aimed for his abdomen. Two of the four were at the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm while the other two had already entered the Primordial Immortal realm, the combined might of their attacks was definitely something to be feared.


    Liang Chen''s body suddenly leaned forward, a gust of wind blowing his legs out from underneath him so that he was hanging horizontally in the air for a short second. And before the four of them had the chance to react, his feet kicked against the air, which hardened beneath them and gave him a platform to utilize his power.


    His body shot forward and through the small opening between the four people, flying past them so fast that their robes were rustled by a sonic boom. Yi Jiang''s eyebrows ticked up slightly and he quickly took a step back, cursing quietly.


    "Tch, fucking figures."


    He raised both daggers and crossed them in front of his chest just as Liang Chen set foot on the scaffolding, his spear already sweeping out. Liang Chen''s spear slammed into Yu Jiang''s raised defense and sent him flying back through two houses before he managed to dispel the remainder of the force and stop himself. But while he was flying back, there was no one on the scaffolding to stop Liang Chen.


    He took a step forward and arrived in front of Tian Chun almost instantly, once again dropping to his knees. The executioners, who were frozen in fear the moment Liang Chen started to move, were suddenly blasted back by a powerful gust of wind, their chests caving in somewhat as they flew back and fell down from the scaffolding, temporarily still breathing.


    Liang Chen stretched out his left arm and placed it on Tian Chun''s back, all the energy he could muster pouring forth like a violent flood. Time around Tian Chun''s corpse quickly started to slow down, the flow of wind becoming so slow that Liang Chen felt like he was kneeling in water. With more and more of Liang Chen''s energy draining, time around Tian Chun slowed down further and further, Liang Chen starting to grow as pale as a sheet of paper. And eventually, time around Tian Chun ground to a halt, the air becoming a thick and nearly impenetrable wall.


    But it wasn''t enough for Liang Chen, he wanted to go even further, to go beyond any limit he knew of, he wanted to turn back time itself to undo his loss. But when he tried to have time move in reverse, all the veins in his left arm exploded, tearing through his skin and splattering blood with such force that it spread out over several meters. His blood sizzled as it touched the scaffolding, most of his blood was practically concentrated lightning at this point.


    The frozen time started to move once more, blood gushing forth from Tian Chun''s neck to serve as a cruel reminder of reality. Time would not turn back for Liang Chen, the current him did not have that right. Liang Chen''s expression contorted in agony, the pain from his left arm not even registering in his mind as he looked at the corpse of Tian Chun, who was still covering a specific spot on her abdomen. Liang Chen pushed the slumped over corpse onto her back and moved her hands away, a sorrowful mutter escaping his lips as he took out an unripe plum from his interspatial ring.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "You dummy, we didn''t have apples in my garden, we had plums, the sweetest and softest of plums. The tree has yet to fully grow, so this is the best I can give you, but one day I''ll let you eat the proper once again, I promise."


    Liang Chen placed the plum on top of Tian Chun''s chest and then placed his right hand against her abdomen. It was strange how she got such a fact wrong, it was also strange how she covered her abdomen like that, even in death. It was so strange that Liang Chen could only guess that it was a message, one only he would understand. The nagging sense of unease at the back of Yu Jiang''s mind got even worse, hurriedly shouting out before he even stood up from the rubble of the last house he crashed into.


    "Kill him! Kill him right now!"


    Two of the four people that had attacked Liang Chen locked eyes and nodded their heads, dashing forward so fast that they were hard to see. They were the fastest amongst the four, it would be faster for the two of them to leave the others behind and finish it themselves. They appeared directly behind Liang Chen and launched their attacks, even accounting for any way that Liang Chen might dodge.


    But to their surprise, Liang Chen didn''t even twitch, much less attempt to dodge. The thick and wide saber of the green-haired and brown-eyed woman pierced directly through Liang Chen''s chest while the hook-tipped sword of the black-haired and brown-eyed man pierced directly through his abdomen.


    Blood poured out from the corner of Liang Chen''s mouth, but his eyes were still firmly locked on Tian Chun''s abdomen, a silent prayer for forgiveness flashing through his mind. His fingers dug into her flesh and tore through her abdomen, stopping when they came in contact with something that felt like crystal. He grabbed onto the item and tore it out of Tian Chun''s abdomen, revealing two crystal bottles that she seemed to have forced down her throat and hidden within her stomach.


    Liang Chen looked at the two bottles with eyes so bloodshot that they seemed to have turned entirely red, his pupils already having turned into slits so thin that they looked like the edge of a knife. One of the bottles was made from green crystal and seemed to contain an emerald wind, the other bottle was made from a strange blue jade that didn''t allow Liang Chen to see what was inside it.


    The green bottle had the words Yan Ying carved into it with crude and thick lines, they might actually have been carved into the bottle using either fingernails or a rock. The blue bottle had the words Little Chen carved into it, but it caught Liang Chen''s attention even without these words. He could tell what was inside the bottle even without opening it, his blood and soul were calling out to the liquid inside it, craving the poison and blood sealed away inside the bottle.


    Liang Chen didn''t even bother opening the bottle, he simply placed it in his mouth and bit down on it, crushing it into tiny little shards that mixed with the blood pouring out of his mouth. The drops of ocean-blue liquid within the bottle slid down Liang Chen''s throat, some of it spilling out of the corners of his mouth. But the liquid used the myriad of cuts littering the inside and outside of Liang Chen''s body to seep into him, spreading through his entire body and tainting him.


    The sweet whispers of death once again started tickling at Liang Chen''s mind, lulling him to sleep as they called him to her side. But before the whispers could drag away his mind, his bloodline unleashed a horrifying devouring force, gathering up all the ocean-blue blood.


    A strange scene took place once the blood was gathered up, it started to compete with Liang Chen''s bloodline, seemingly battling it for supremacy. Only once had Liang Chen ever encountered a bloodline that could evenly battle his, and that was Yan Ying''s Star God bloodline, all other bloodlines had been forced to falter and surrender.


    The strange scene felt like it went on for an eternity, pain wracking every inch of Liang Chen''s body. And then the strange scene simply stopped, the blue blood ceasing its battle with Liang Chen''s bloodline. The blue blood started to darken in color, turning almost pitch black and starting to willingly merge with Liang Chen''s bloodline, resembling countless worms that started to slither into his own blood, it was almost as if the blood was pleased with the performance up until now.


    And as the bloodlines started to merge, changes started happening in the outside world, where only a single second had passed. Liang Chen''s back suddenly exploded with two geysers of blood, the two people behind him quickly backing off to stay safe. But the blood stopped before it could fly too far, hardening into a metallic crystal, forming something that resembled two bloody and jagged wings.


    Liang Chen suddenly leaned back slightly and raised his head, the wounds on his body starting to close up in a strange fashion, as if they were stitching themselves back together. The gray clouds covering the sky started to darken, the loud roar of thunder audible to everyone in the city as bolts of various colors flashed within them.


    And then, a white and gray rain started to fall from the clouds, at first landing only on Liang Chen, running down his face like the tears he himself couldn''t shed right now. More and more rain started to fall and spread out, as if the sky itself was weeping for Liang Chen. The king grieved for his loss, but the world wept for its fate.

 The tainted dragon.

    Liang Chen suddenly leaned forward so rapidly that his forehead crashed into the scaffolding, clutching his chest as a flesh-rending pain ran through his body, it felt like his body was trying to tear itself apart and away from his chest. The white and gray rain got more intense when Liang Chen bent forward, starting to spread out across the rest of the scaffolding.


    Two strange scenes took place as Liang Chen clutched his chest, the first was that the strange rain started to transform everything it touched. At first, it was just a small change, the wood drying and withering, but the change got worse as more and more rain fell, the wood taking on a bone-like texture and appearance. This scene alone was enough to cause the remaining onlookers to start fleeing in panic, but the second scene almost stopped their breaths in their throats.


    A faint image started to appear around Liang Chen, quickly growing both larger and more corporeal, a massive dragon covered in gray scales and with two differently colored eyes stretching out around and above Liang Chen. The dragon raised its head and opened its maw, unleashing a silent roar towards the clouds above, which were starting to slowly turn blue in color, the sign that a heavenly tribulation was arriving.


    But even that grand dragon started to change in front of the panicked and terrified gazes of the surrounding onlookers. Black veins started to appear on the dragon, they first appeared on the base of its tail but slowly started to creep up the rest of the dragon. The veins seemed to grow in power as they traveled further up the dragon, growing thicker and larger, taking up more and more of the dragon''s body. By the time they reached the head of the dragon, its entire body had changed into countless black veins coiling and wriggling around each other.


    In less than two seconds, it had turned from a relatively normal dragon to one composed entirely of what appeared to be black tentacles, only held together in its current shape thanks to the will of its master. As the dragon was a representation of Liang Chen''s bloodline, now fully merged with the blood that had been in the bottle he dug out of Tian Chun''s body, a change had also happened inside his body.


    Black veins started to appear on the five lotuses that represented his elements, the veins growing all around the lotuses and even starting to stretch out. The veins connected with each other and pulled the lotuses closer to each other with a powerful yank, the source of the horrifying pain that Liang Chen was currently feeling.


    The veins pressed the lotuses against each other and fully surrounded them, slowly shrinking and forcing the lotuses closer and closer to each other. The five lotuses were eventually pressed against each other so much that they cracked and shattered, exploding into small fragments of pure energy.


    But before any of that energy could run rampant, the veins stretched out and gathered up every single fragment, pulling them back in again. The black veins gathered up all the fragments and pieced them all back together, turning what was once five differently-colored lotuses into a single gray lotus covered in black veins that wriggled slightly.


    Liang Chen noticed a strange scene as he grit his teeth and endured the now fading pain to observe the strange new lotus, it occasionally vanished. It would pulsate slightly and then fade, completely disappearing from his body for a short bit before fading back in. He could still use his Qi when the lotus faded away so he was clearly still connected to it, but he had no idea what actually happened to it while it was gone.


    Seeing the dragon phantom appear above Liang Chen, and seeing it get tainted by the strange vines, the nagging sense of unease that Yu Jiang was feeling turned into full-blown worry. He knew that only some of the purest bloodlines could project phantoms like this at times, but he had never heard about a scene like a phantom getting tainted and changed like this. He quickly turned to look at his junior disciples, waving and shouting at them.


    "Don''t just stand there and gawk! Kill him!"


    Yu Jiang wanted to join them, but the last attack he suffered from Liang Chen came at the worst possible time, while he was still weak from his previous expenditure of energy. He calculated that he would need at least another five seconds before he would be able to restore and gather up enough energy to join the fray.


    The four other junior disciples, which had been dumbstruck by the sudden strange scenes, quickly regained their senses and charged at Liang Chen. They put up shields of Qi around themselves to block the strange rain, but the rain simply started to eat away at the energy within the shields, slowly corroding holes into their defenses.


    But before the rain managed to corrode any holes into their defenses, they arrived by Liang Chen and launched their attacks, space creaking slightly from the gathered force of the four attacks. And then their attacks stopped, crashing into an invisible shield that seemed to entirely surround Liang Chen. Their eyes narrowed sharply at the unexpected scene, one of them noticing that not even the dust around Liang Chen was moving.


    "It''s time! He controls the law of time and has stopped the flow of time around him! Keep attacking, he likely can''t keep it going for long!"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The girl who noticed it wasn''t entirely wrong, but she didn''t know that it wasn''t Liang Chen who had used his law of time to stop time around him. It was his fused bloodline that did it for him, a gift to celebrate the birth of the world eater.


    The four people raised their weapons again, but an unearthly cold wind blew over the area before they could bring them down again. Liang Chen stopped clutching his chest, the pain all gone now that his bloodlines had finished fusing and created his new Dragon Lotus. He stood up and raised his head towards the clouds, which had now turned completely blue and were unleashing the cold wind. Yu Jiang and the others knew exactly what this meant, their expressions distorting slightly as they quickly moved back.


    "It''s a heavenly tribulation, wait for it to end before attacking again!"


    If they stayed around Liang Chen when the heavenly tribulation unleashed its first attack, they would be considered helpers of him and would also suffer the heavenly tribulation, it would also grow stronger to accommodate more people. As such, it was a smarter idea to wait until Liang Chen finished dealing with it and ended up weakened before they tried to get close again.


    Liang Chen lowered his head to look at the corpse of Tian Chun, the frozen time around him starting to move again. He kneeled down and put his hand on her body and head, storing both into his interspatial ring and placing them underneath the tree he had taken from his old home. He then raised his head to look at the blue clouds, his expression so calm that it was frightening, it was like the calm before the storm.


    "You''re angry, aren''t you? Yeah, that''s what you always are. You aren''t just or indifferent, you''re angry. You only ever lash out whenever someone tries to go against you or take a step closer to you, you''re nothing but a selfish cunt who wishes to rule all alone, aren''t you?"


    Liang Chen''s was low as he spoke up at the clouds, as if they could actually hear and understand him. The white and gray rain was sucked up by the blue clouds and started to gather beneath them, freezing and forming a nearly ten-meter long javelin of ice, the edges of the tip glimmering with a sharp light. Liang Chen didn''t raise his spear, he simply looked at the javelin with such a calm expression that it had already entered the realm of disdain.


    "Well come then, I''ve taken a step closer to you, moved my spear a bit closer to your throat. Aim your anger at me, and then let me show you that my wrath will swallow even you."


    He looked calm, but that was only because he had swallowed all his rage and sorrow, tucked it all away within his heart and turned it into unrelenting determination. A soft vibration appeared within Liang Chen''s chest as he stared down the blue clouds and awaited their attack, a somewhat familiar voice resounding within his mind.


    "Congratulations, you''ve been acknowledged by the Bloodwind Code and have been granted a Ruler rank and title on the Bloodwind List for your universe. From this day and until the day you are overtaken or rise higher in the ranks, you are the Lord of Heaven Incinerating Wrath."


    Liang Chen recognized the voice as the voice of Ning Hao, the creator of the Bloodwind Code and one of the men he had seen when he received the full Ocean God Physique, it seemed like he had placed his own voice into the Bloodwind Codes. Liang Chen knew that receiving this ruler rank meant that he gained the right to ask one more question, but he put it aside for now and focused on the task at hand.


    The frozen javelin shot down from the sky like a blue blur, freezing any moisture in the air around it as it headed directly for Liang Chen''s head. Liang Chen raised his right arm, his hand stretching toward the incoming javelin as he pointed at it with his index finger. The javelin and the finger made contact, Yu Jiang and his junior disciples raising their defenses just in case any remnant waves reached them.


    But there was no thunderous explosion, nor any splash of blood as Liang Chen''s defenses were pierced. The javelin touched Liang Chen''s finger and then started to dissipate, fragmenting and vanishing in a harmless manner. Liang Chen lowered his arm and looked at his finger, and despite seeing a two-centimeter deep bloody hole in his finger, he let out a somewhat hollow laugh.


    "Heh, so not even the grand heavens have perfect control over their energy. In that case, can you truly be hailed and revered like you are?"


    What Liang Chen had done just now was something he had thought about back in the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath, an idea that struck him when he saw how the bolts of lightning dissipated after touching him. The theory behind it was surprisingly simple, if the energy that was the core of something became unstable, that thing would fall apart and dissipate.


    The javelin of ice was just a bunch of energy gathered together by the heavens and then launched at him, he simply used his law of time to speed up about half of the energy within the javelin, resulting in it becoming unstable and collapsing. Of course, as long as someone had good control over their energy and was able to quickly notice the change in speed, then they could react appropriately and alter the speed of the energy that Liang Chen didn''t touch.


    But the attack launched by the heavenly tribulation hadn''t done that, meaning that the heavens either didn''t have good control over the energy it unleashed, that it hadn''t noticed, or that it simply didn''t care. Liang Chen didn''t care which of the three options it was, all he cared about right now was that it worked, meaning that he had another card to add to his arsenal, he just had to keep it as a trump card since it drained a fair bit of energy and required some concentration to control.


    Liang Chen stretched out his right arm again as more and more frozen javelins started to appear beneath the blue clouds. His gray spear appeared in his grasp, thrumming in tune with his buried emotions. He removed his gaze from the blue clouds and placed it on Yu Jiang and his four junior disciples, his eyes narrowing dangerously.


    The tip of his spear softly touched the bony scaffolding, a thunderous roar resounding over the city as a crimson bolt of lightning tore through one of the blue clouds that covered the sky. Roar after roar of thunder resounded from the sky, lightning bolts of various colors tearing through the blue clouds and revealing the black clouds behind them, the white and gray rain once again starting to fall.


    With his lightning bolts and deadly rain tearing apart half of the heavenly tribulation serving as his backdrop, Liang Chen pointed his spear at Yu Jiang. The world eater stood on his throne of bone and declared the fate of not only Yu Jiang and his men, but even the Sealing God Empyrean that ordered them around, and the decree was death.

 The sin of unleashing the monster.

    White and gray rain ran down the shaft of Liang Chen''s spear, dripping down the maw-shaped spearhead like drool, hungering for the blood of his enemies. For a short moment, the only sound to be heard within the city was the roar of countless bolts of lightning tearing apart the heavenly tribulation, Liang Chen and Yu Jiang silently staring at each other, measuring each other.


    The starting shot for the battle was not fired by Liang Chen or Yu Jiang, it was fired by the heavenly tribulation that tried to end Liang Chen. The earth beneath the bone scaffolding rapidly rose up into a thick pillar shaped like an arrow, piercing through the scaffolding directly beneath Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen lightly kicked off the scaffolding the moment the pillar of earth started to rise, his body shooting to the side like a blur. Contrary to what Yu Jiang and the others expected, Liang Chen didn''t go directly for Yu Jiang, his first targets were the two Soaring Immortal realm junior disciples that Yu Jiang had brought along.


    He arrived right in front of the black-haired and brown-eyed man that had pierced his sword through Liang Chen''s abdomen earlier. Liang Chen''s eyes were cold and emotionless as his spear swept out, the man hastily raising his right arm and creating a two-layered shield of metal and wood in front of the incoming attack.


    But as the spear made contact with the shield, the man''s eyes opened wide in shock, the shield simply started to dissipate, unable to even slow the spear. It was a hastily put together defense, Liang Chen had moved too fast for the man to put up anything more than that. As such, he didn''t have enough control over the energy in the shield, once the time of the Qi within it started to flow at different speeds, he was unable to adjust in time and the shield ended up falling apart.


    The tip of Liang Chen''s spear cut through the torso of the man, another strange scene taking place. The man''s lower body started to age at a rapid pace once it was cut, his clothes drying up and turning to dust as his skin started to wrinkle and sag. His upper body, however, was the exact opposite, it seemed to completely freeze after being severed from his lower body. The upper body hung in the air for half a second, not even bleeding, when time suddenly seemed to resume for it, blood pouring out of the cut as it fell to the ground with a dull thud.


    Liang Chen glanced at the tip of his spear, his cold eyes not allowing anyone to read his thoughts. His attack just now had produced a rather spectacular scene, but it was actually just a different application of what he used to pierce through the man''s shield, he had simply had time around the tip of his spear flow at different speeds, making it harder for the man to defend against the attack once the energy invaded him. It was just a stroke of inspiration he got when he blocked the first attack of the heavenly tribulation, but it proved quite effective.


    Liang Chen suddenly took a step back, an invisible arrow whizzing past his face and crashing into a building, causing it to twist and distort into a mangled mess. Liang Chen turned his head to the side, glancing at the woman that had fired the arrow, one of the two newly advanced Primordial Immortals that Yu Jiang had brought along.


    The woman quickly nocked another arrow, invisible energy gathering in her hand and transferring to the bow-string. Looking at how red and bloodshot her eyes were, it seemed like the man he had just killed had been very dear to her. The woman let the arrow fly, but Liang Chen didn''t make any moves to dodge it, he simpled raised his spear and slammed it down in an overhead smash.


    Yu Jiang and the three others frowned at Liang Chen''s move, he had unleashed it far too early for it to block the arrow. Yu Jiang suddenly hazarded a guess at what Liang Chen was planning, his eyes raising slightly and then shooting open wide as he shouted out and charged forward.


    "Change the path! Move the arrow!"


    Before anyone had time to react, the tip of Liang Chen''s spear clashed with a javelin of ice sent down by the heavenly tribulation. But the javelin didn''t shatter under the tip of the spear, Liang Chen had hit it on the tip with just enough force to change the angle and direction of the javelin, causing it to fly forward and collide with the arrow that was aimed at him.


    A thunderous roar erupted from the remaining blue clouds as the javelin hit the arrow and shattered, a drizzle of rain falling down from the clouds. The water felt like razor-sharp knives as it landed on Liang Chen, cutting through his robe and leaving long bloody scars on his body. But the rain didn''t just land on him, it also landed on the woman that had fired the arrow, cutting through her flesh far worse than when it hit Liang Chen''s strong body. By destroying a part of the tribulation, she was considered to have interfered and would now be targeted by the tribulation alongside Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen moved his spear slightly, ignoring the two other junior disciples that were coming at him, the tip of his spear pointing directly at Yu Jiang. A multitude of lightning bolts rained down from the black clouds that tore through half of the heavenly tribulation, raining down on Yu Jiang and forcing him to halt his charge to defend. Gray and white drops of rain were mixed in with the lightning, as were sharp blades of wind and drops of rain mixed with the law of poison and death.


    Yu Jiang could only grit his teeth and temporarily defend against the attack, he knew that it would only last for a few moments at best. Liang Chen continued to temporarily ignore the two incoming people, his gaze remaining on Yu Jiang as he spoke.


    "You wanted me to watch as you stole her from me, so you just sit there and watch as I steal them from you."


    Liang Chen finally moved his gaze away from Yu Jiang and turned his attention to the two attacking people, which were already right beside him and launched their attacks. The girl who fired the arrow was busy defending against the attacks from the tribulation, so she was unable to join in on the fray.


    Liang Chen took a step back just as the earth beneath him rose into another arrow-shaped pillar and then tilted his torso to the right just as several javelins of metal shot at him from behind, just barely missing him. With the addition of an extra person, the heavenly tribulation had increased its intensity a little.


    The two attackers were aiming for this exact moment with their attacks, one of them aiming her sword at Liang Chen''s legs while the other one angled her saber into an upward slash that aimed at Liang Chen''s tilted torso. Liang Chen let go of his spear and calmly tilted his torso further to the side, stretching out his arm and actually grabbing onto the wrist that was holding the incoming saber.


    He placed all his weight on the wrist and used it as a support to raise himself into a handstand, pushing down the incoming saber and dodging the sweeping sword that was coming for his legs at the same time. As his legs swung up and he moved into a handstand, he clamped his feet around one of the metal javelins that had soared past him half a second ago.


    Once his legs were pointing straight into the air, he slammed them down onto the head of the woman whose wrist he was grabbing onto. The woman quickly moved her head to the side to dodge the attack, but the metal javelin clamped between Liang Chen''s feet still ended up stabbing into her shoulder.


    She quickly exerted all her strength and flung out her hand, throwing off Liang Chen and punching out with her other arm. But as her shoulder had just been stabbed by a metal javelin, her strength didn''t have enough power to penetrate Liang Chen''s defenses. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and blocked the punch, the blood within his arms becoming restless for a short second before he forced it to quiet down. He allowed himself to be flung backward by the attack, stuffing a pill into his mouth and muttering quietly.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Descend."


    The black clouds released a deafening roar and unleashed countless bolts of lightning that pelted the area in front of Liang Chen. The most consuming part of summoning and attacking with lightning wasn''t the creation part, it was controlling the violent lightning and having it strike where you wanted it to. But with the metal javelin stuck in the shoulder of the girl, Liang Chen didn''t have to control and aim his lightning, he could just unleash it at full force, it would find its way to her on its own.


    He heard a shrill scream mix in with the roar of lightning, but several javelins of ice and metal descending from the sky, along with several pillars of earth rising up beneath him, forced him to focus on dodging rather than check the damage he did. He spun his body in the air and kicked off several platforms of hardened air to continuously change his position to dodge the attacks, eventually landing on the ground.


    He stretched out his right arm, the spear he dropped earlier turning into a puddle of blood before flying over to him and reforming in his grasp. The bolts of lightning were already dying down, allowing Liang Chen to check up on the state of the two women. The one who had suffered the brunt of everything was the green-haired woman who had the javelin stabbed into her shoulder, her entire left arm had been torn off by the shoulder thanks to the force of the lightning. Arcing burns spread across the rest of her body, her skin charred black and cracked as blood leaked out.


    The other woman was better off, but her robe and some of her skin was still scorched thanks to the fact that she had been so close to the lightning. The lightning had also torn their defenses open, allowing the gray and white rain to land on them, the touched skin slowly turning gray and lifeless, the affected area spreading on its own.


    Liang Chen didn''t even wait for the lightning to stop, he grabbed onto the shaft of his spear and pulled his arm back, gathering all his might into it and throwing the spear forward, a quiet mutter ringing out within his mind.


    "First step shatters the body."


    As he threw the spear, Liang Chen also tapped into his new Dragon Lotus, drawing out a sliver of the power that came with the new bloodline. He didn''t know exactly what law he got along with the bloodline, but thanks to the instincts within the bloodline, he knew a little on how to control it.


    The spear broke the speed of sound with a thunderous roar, a shockwave spreading out around it and cracking the earth. The spear reached the wounded woman, who was still reeling from the pain and was thus not able to react properly in time. The spear made contact with her abdomen, and then simply passed through her and continued flying into the distance for a bit.


    There was a hole in her chest where the spear had pierced her, but no blood poured forth from it. Even stranger, the areas touched by the gray and white rain started to vanish once his spear passed through her, more and more chunks of her body vanishing. It was like she was getting eaten by an invisible beast, her expression frozen in abject horror as she looked at her own body disappearing.


    In less than two seconds, her entire body had vanished, not even leaving behind a drop of blood or trace of Qi. Liang Chen wasn''t the only one surprised by the result, Yu Jiang and the other two were also completely shocked. Liang Chen quickly shook himself out of his surprise, his eyes drifting to the side for a short moment before he waved his hand.


    As he waved his hand, some of the air in the distance hardened and created a shield above a woman and her son that had been slower to flee from the scene, blocking a wayward bolt of lightning that was about to hit them. Liang Chen wasn''t the type to lose himself to his rage, it would only sharpen him further, concentrate his mind, he hadn''t forgotten who he was and what morals he had.


    The two people looked at the hardened air in surprise for a bit before glancing at Liang Chen, the mother quickly gave Liang Chen a terrified bow before continuing to flee, pulling her son away as quickly as she could. After finishing his side business, Liang Chen returned his gaze to the still shocked woman and took advantage of her shock.


    He dashed forward as fast as he could, dodging a few javelins of ice and metal as he ran. He quickly reached the front of the woman and aimed a punch at her chest, his fist almost moving faster than the eye could see thanks to the law of time. He also slowed down time around the woman''s head while punching out, slowing her reaction to a point where she could only cross her arms in front of her chest to block the attack.


    Liang Chen opened his fist just as he was about to reach her blocked arms, grabbing a hold of her arm and clenching it so hard that her wrist shattered. He cultivated not only his Qi, but also his body and his soul, this woman might have reached the Primordial Immortal realm in Qi, but her body was weaker than his.


    Liang Chen quickly raised his knee and slammed it into her stomach, lifting her into the air and knocking not only the wind out of her, but also the contents of her stomach. He flung his arm upwards to lift her higher into the air and then slammed her down into the ground with all his might, shattering the earth. He raised her up and slammed her down repeatedly, flinging her around like a sack of potatoes while occasionally kicking her in the head while she was down, making sure that she was too disoriented to muster up a counter attack.


    Liang Chen had been able to kill Qian Liao, who was at the peak of the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, he was also considered strong even among other early-stage Primordial Immortals. Compared to him, these people who had just entered the Primordial Immortal realm were nothing. Of course, Liang Chen knew that they would be dangerous if they ganged up on him, which was why he focused on taking them out one by one.


    Liang Chen slammed the woman down onto the ground once more, but she seemed to have become able to somewhat endure the pain by now. She slashed out with her sword, actually cutting off her own wrist so that Liang Chen was able to lift her up once more. She then quickly sprung up from the ground and jumped a few steps back to put some distance between herself and Liang Chen. She glared at him with bloodshot and bloody eyes, letting out a deep breath that was quickly caught in her throat.


    She turned her gaze downward with somewhat jerky movements, the maw-like tip of Liang Chen''s spear protruding from her chest. Liang Chen hadn''t called back his spear after throwing it out, but now that she had escaped his grasp he decided to use a strong wind to propel his spear through the air and back to him. And standing between him and the spear was the woman, who was promptly pierced by the merciless tip of the spear.


    "Yo..."


    The woman opened her mouth to utter a few words, but Liang Chen merely flicked his finger and had the spear unleash a torrent of poison into the woman, her soul rotting away without resistance and causing her to fall to the ground. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, the spear turning into a puddle of blood and flying back to him once more.


    With the spear in his grasp again, he turned to look at the woman who was still doing her best to defend against the heavenly tribulation. She wasn''t as freakish as Liang Chen, she couldn''t evade and defend against the tribulation as easily as he could, her body already riddled with injuries.


    She could feel Liang Chen''s cold gaze land on her, raising her head to look at him. She knew that asking for forgiveness here was pointless, begging was also pointless at this stage, she knew that their actions had already made them mortal enemies. As such, she chose her final words to be ones of defiance rather than pleading ones.


    "Someone like you will never be accepted by the universe, I''m sure we''ll have plenty of time to converse once we meet again in hell."


    Liang Chen didn''t bother responding to her words of defiance, hefting his spear and throwing it once more. The woman had to defend against the tribulation, so the spear was able to tear through her chest with a crackle of lightning, roasting her flesh and reaping her life. Liang Chen recalled the spear once more and finally turned his attention to Yu Jiang, who was just about to finish dealing with all the attacks that Liang Chen had sent his way to prevent him from moving. Yu Jiang grit his teeth as she surveyed the scene, his expression grim as he looked at Liang Chen.


    "I see why Venerable Master wanted you dead so badly, you truly are a monster in human form. Tell me, do you think saving those two people made you any less of a monster?"


    Liang Chen remained cold in the face of Yu Jiang''s taunts, his spear raising to once again point its tip at him. He glanced at the ruined city center around him, he had grown up here, and now he had been the one to destroy it. He took his eyes off the destruction and returned his gaze to Yu Jiang, the energy within his body starting to seethe and roar.


    "You''re right, I am a monster, I have always been a monster of wrath. But know this, you are the ones who unleashed me, and now you will suffer the punishment for that sin."

 Not here, not by you.

    Liang Chen and Yu Jiang silently gazed at each other, the heaven-sundering roar of thunder serving as the symphony of their imminent battle. Yu Jiang tightly grasped his twin daggers while Liang Chen held his spear at his side, the tip stabbing slightly into the ground as the two of them observed each other, neither in a rush to make the first move.


    It once again ended up being the ongoing heavenly tribulation that made the first move, the ground underneath Liang Chen bulging for a slight moment before exploding outwards. Liang Chen had already taken a few steps to the side by the time the bulging earth actually exploded, but he had guessed wrong when it came to what sort of attack the tribulation would launch.


    Rather than the earthen spike that he expected, the bulging earth unleashed several tens of metal needles that spread out over the area. Liang Chen dodged most of the needles thanks to the fact that he stepped to the side earlier, but before he could even begin to think that he was safe, all the needles started to multiply and spread out even further.


    Yu Jiang picked this moment to charge forward, nimbly dodging through the needles and making a beeline for Liang Chen, his daggers ready in a reverse grip. Liang Chen''s gaze had never left Yu Jiang from the start, and it didn''t move now despite the needles flying at him. He took a step forward to meet Yu Jiang, his robe fluttering as a strong wind blew around him and pushed all the needles upwards. They''d come down eventually, but he could bother with that when the time came.


    Yu Jiang bent his body slightly forward and slashed out with both his daggers, aiming an upward-angled cross-slash at Liang Chen''s throat the moment the two got within range of each other. Liang Chen dodged the daggers by dropping down on his right knee and then immediately launching a counter-attack by stabbing his spear into the ground and using it as a support to deliver a sideways sweep with his left leg.


    Yu Jiang shifted the positions of his hands while jumping up to avoid Liang Chen''s sweep, altering the cross-slash into two downwards stabs. Liang Chen retaliated in kind, angling his sweep upwards and leaning his body back while using the momentum of his sweep to spin himself into a handstand and kicking out with his now free right leg as well.


    The tip of his right foot made contact with the side of one of Yu Jiang''s daggers and kicked it aside while his other foot made contact with the wrist of Yu Jiang''s other hand. Yu Jiang''s dagger stabbed a bit into Liang Chen''s foot, but he in return managed to flood Yu Jiang''s left arm with a poison that would attack his nerves and disrupt the control he had over his arm.


    Yu Jiang quickly leaned his body backward after Liang Chen''s kick connected, shifting into a backflip and kicking Liang Chen''s legs away, putting some distance between the two of them again in the process. Liang Chen pushed off from the ground and used the force of Yu Jiang''s kick to spin himself back into an upright position, pulling his spear out from the ground in the process.


    He felt his heart lurch as he landed on the ground, a sense of dread and sorrow creeping up on his mind. He got a strange feeling that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn''t be able to win the current battle, he felt like he was doomed to lose everything dear to him. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Yu Jiang, the feeling slowly fading. Yu Jiang glanced at his wrist, giving it a few shakes with a faint smirk.


    "Quite a vicious poison you got there. But what a shame, this body was created to be immune to poison, so it''s naught but a futile effort. But I must say, I''m impressed by your mental fortitude, my law of despair should make it seem like the world is on fire and coming for you, yet you still stand there and glare at me like that. Seeing you so unaffected almost makes me feel bad."


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed a bit more at Yu Jiang''s confident remark. The body had been created to be immune to poison? Did that mean it was nothing more than a doll, or had he moved his soul over to a new body after his own one got destroyed? Liang Chen was somewhat curious, but he was pretty certain Yu Jiang wouldn''t answer his questions. But he had at least learned a bit more about Yu Jiang''s laws, he now knew that he used both the law of illusions and the law of despair, but there might be more. Liang Chen''s eyes flickered slightly, his hand softly touching his chest.


    "Sorry, but right now the fire inside burns brighter than any other, so I feel like I wouldn''t be hurt even if the whole world did end up burning."


    Yu Jiang''s lips curved into something that resembled a mixture between a smirk and a sneer when he heard how Liang Chen described his rage, it was really rather excessive. He glanced at the small wound on Liang Chen''s foot, which was already healing, raising his gaze again and opening his mouth.


    "Really, that healing speed is a bit che...!"


    Yu Jiang''s words were cut short by a piercing pain coming from his right shoulder, the corners of Liang Chen''s lips pulling up slightly. Yu Jiang quickly cast a glance at his shoulder and saw that three of the metal needles that Liang Chen had propelled into the air earlier were now stabbed into his shoulder. Even worse was the fact that the rest of the needles were also descending at a rapid pace, heading directly for Yu Jiang.


    Yu Jiang quickly jumped to the side and started to dodge the needles, but he was just barely able to catch a glimpse of Liang Chen moving his fingers, the needles changing direction each time he moved his fingers. Yu Jiang had lived for quite a while and seen a lot of things, he quickly figured out what was going on while dodging the needles, clicking his tongue when he realized the truth.


    "Tch, so that''s how it is. Keep me talking so that I don''t notice the needles coming for me. Let me guess, you used lightning to turn a small part of me into a magnet, probably some of the iron in my blood, no? But that magnet would be rather weak, so you''re using wind to supplement the movement and speed of the needles, no? Clever, I must admit."


    Liang Chen ignored Yu Jiang''s statement and dashed forward, brandishing his spear as he joined up with the metal needles surrounding Yu Jiang. He stabbed out with his spear the moment he got close to Yu Jiang, forcing him to dodge the spear and block some of the needles with his body.


    Liang Chen continued to stab and sweep at Yu Jiang, who was surprisingly nimble as he moved around and dodged the needles, using his daggers to swat away and shatter some that he couldn''t dodge. He also didn''t forget to launch counter-attacks as the battle dragged on, ducking beneath or sidestepping Liang Chen''s attacks and slashing at his body.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Each cut would bring with it the despairing feeling that Liang Chen felt earlier, a sense of hopelessness assaulting him for a short moment before being swallowed by his wrath. The battle slowly dragged on, both of them occasionally forced to put some distance between each other to dodge an attack launched by the heavenly tribulation. But even then, they would quickly clash again once they finished dodging the attacks, wounds slowly starting to appear on their bodies.


    Liang Chen wasn''t too bothered by the wounds, they quickly healed thanks to his strong bloodline and body cultivation, but he was rather surprised to see that Yu Jiang was capable of completely ignoring the wounds he suffered. He didn''t really look like the wounds affected him that much mentally, as if there was no pain accompanying them.


    But after fighting for almost a full minute, a change suddenly happened, Yu Jiang''s eyes grew a bit blurry for a second, his breathing rushed. Liang Chen quickly took advantage of this and swept his spear upwards, knocking away one of Yu Jiang''s dagger and slicing directly through his left arm from below, taking it off at the shoulder. Yu Jiang quickly pulled back, his face flushed and breathing rushed as he moved his gaze between his missing arm and Liang Chen.


    "Impossible! This body is immune to all but the most harrowing poisons, how did you manage to infect me with poison?"


    Yu Jiang knew the specs of this body very well, his laws weren''t very well suited for direct combat like this, so the poison immunity had saved him many times in the past while he worked on what he was more suited for, ambushes and assassinations.


    Liang Chen looked at the perplexed and slightly panicky Yu Jiang, who still didn''t seem to feel any pain from his missing arm. It seemed like that truly wasn''t his body, but it didn''t seem like a puppet either, so he guessed that it was a body he was inhabiting by transplanting his soul into it.


    If that really was the case, it meant that Yu Jiang likely specialized in soul cultivation rather than Qi cultivation, otherwise he wouldn''t have a soul strong enough to survive the transplant, unless he received outside help of course. The law of illusion and the law of despair were immaterial laws, so they would be rather suited for soul cultivation, which was known to be more ethereal than Qi cultivation. Liang Chen wore a thin smile, his gaze calmly sizing up Yu Jiang as he spoke up.


    "I didn''t poison you, I gave you some medicine. It speeds up the flow of your blood a little and refreshes the mind, don''t you like it?"


    Yu Jiang''s eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Liang Chen''s demeanor. He hadn''t actually expected Liang Chen to answer, mainly because he hadn''t said a word ever since the battle entered its most heated state. For him to suddenly voluntarily speak up, Yu Jiang couldn''t help but grow somewhat wary. But his vision once again grew a bit blurry, his body heating up slightly as his blood rushed through his body. And suddenly, he realized what Liang Chen had sent into his body to induce this state, and he couldn''t help but curse upon realizing what it was.


    "Fuck me, you gave me an aphrodisiac?"


    Yu Jiang''s body just got hotter and hotter, he almost felt as if a fire was brewing within his groin, it was to the point where it was getting somewhat painful. He knew that Liang Chen''s words weren''t wrong, an aphrodisiac wasn''t exactly considered a poison, so even this poison immune body was unlikely to have been created with immunity for aphrodisiacs.


    Liang Chen didn''t respond to Yu Jiang''s curse, all the energy within his body exploding forth the second Yu Jiang''s gaze turned blurry from lust once more. He arrived directly in front of Yu Jiang and stabbed out with his spear, once again tapping into his Dragon Lotus and drawing upon the new law he had acquired.


    Yu Jiang was half a second too slow to react, Liang Chen''s spear stabbing into his chest and unleashing the new law. The flesh around Liang Chen''s spear started to vanish once it was infiltrated by the new law, it didn''t disintegrate, it simply vanished, as if it had never existed to begin with. And for the first time since the proper start of this battle, Yu Jiang''s expression distorted in pain as he let out a shocked, and terrified exclamation that was slightly broken up.


    "It can''t...be...void?... You''re a...Void Born...? Venerable Master!"


    Yu Jiang quickly swiped his interspatial ring and took out a jade orb, clearly intending to send out a message about what he had just learned. But how could Liang Chen possibly let him do something like that? He pulled out one of the cards he had kept hidden up until now, pulling his spear out of Yu Jiang''s chest and smashing it down at the arm that pulled out the jade orb. His spear flashed with gray light and suddenly increased drastically in speed, the sole special ability that his Bloodwind weapon currently had.


    The handle of the spear crashed into Yu Jiang''s wrist and smashed it into paste, the mangled hand and jade orb falling to the ground. Liang Chen quickly stretched out his other arm and snatched up the jade orb, Yu Jiang taking this chance to escape. But it wasn''t his body that hurriedly escaped, it was his soul. His body collapsed to the ground, a faint outline that looked just like Yu Jiang rapidly flying through the air away from the body.


    The soul left behind small trails of energy as it moved, and judging from the pace at which the soul was weakening, and the speed at which it was moving, Yu Jiang seemed to have used some secret technique to temporarily increase the strength or speed of his soul. But just like when he smashed Yu Jiang''s arm, Liang Chen pulled out another one of the moves he had kept hidden for a situation like this.


    The law of time merged into every cell in his body, time seeming to slow down in front of his eyes as his speed increased by several levels. He took a step forward and turned into a blur, the earth where he had just been standing splintering and exploding outwards as Liang Chen vanished. He arrived directly in front of Yu Jiang''s soul, blocking his path of escape and forcing him to face him. Yu Jiang''s soul grit his teeth, charging directly at Liang Chen as his somewhat ethereal voice echoed throughout the area.


    "If that''s how you want it to be, then let''s see who of us has the stronger soul!"


    Yu Jiang''s soul flew directly into Liang Chen''s body and sank into his mind, where the bloody lake and his soul resided. Yu Jiang quickly located Liang Chen''s soul and immediately flew over to it, piercing his hands into the chest of Liang Chen''s soul.


    But Yu Jiang didn''t even get the chance to feel victorious before a horrendous pain assaulted his soul, gray, purple, white, and black streams flooding up his arms from the place where they pierced into Liang Chen''s soul. The streams spread through Yu Jiang''s soul like a plague, corroding it and eating away at it, causing it to fall apart and start to sink into the bloody lake.


    Liang Chen''s soul and body weren''t like other people''s, his cultivation technique literally changed them into something else. When Yu Jiang stabbed into Liang Chen''s chest, he had plunged his own soul into a cesspool of poison, rot, death, and time, he had delivered himself to his own death. Yu Jiang knew this too, he could feel his soul breaking down with excruciating pain, a burst of nearly mad laughter echoing out within Liang Chen''s head.


    "Hahahehe, so this is where I die after all. Monster, you really are a monster Liang Chen, a freak aberration, a horrific chimera and mutation, a blight that should never have existed. I''ll go ahead of you, but know this, you will die too. A thing like you will not be allowed to exist in the universe, you will die a horrible death, I hope you''re ready for that!"


    Yu Jiang''s voice became garbled and distorted as he continued to laugh and shout, his mental state breaking down along with his soul. The eyes of Liang Chen, as well as the eyes of his soul, remained as cold as they had since the battle started, the burning fire in his chest not fading even now. He looked on as Yu Jiang''s soul finished breaking apart, his low and icy voice the last thing Yu Jiang would hear in this world.


    "I''m always ready to die. But it won''t be here, and it won''t be by your hands."

 The furious queen.

    The sun hung high in the sky when Yan Ling''s eyes stopped spinning from the violent teleportation that they encountered when they entered the spatial vortex. She gave her cheeks a quick clap to focus her mind, the scent of roasted meat and fatty soup drifting into her nose and temporarily pulling on her attention.


    She swept her surroundings with a quick glance after she finished focusing her mind, finding herself lying amidst a few cardboard boxes tucked away in what seemed to be a back alley. The scent of food came from a door not far from her, and judging from the various bags filled with slightly rotten food around her, it seemed like the building right next to her might be a restaurant. Her brows couldn''t help but furrow when she didn''t see Liang Chen or Yumao in the area around her, nor could she sense them in the surrounding area, a soft curse escaping her lips.


    "Crap, Little Freak ended up somewhere else. Knowing how easy it is for him to cause trouble, he''ll probably end up knee-deep in bloody shit before the day''s over."


    Yan Ling knew no one better at creating havoc than Liang Chen, she was certain that he was even better than her at it. The fact that this made everyday fun and that she found it to be one of his charm points was something she wouldn''t say out loud, she couldn''t let Liang Chen get too cocky after all.


    The sounds of exclamation from the city around her quickly caused Yan Ling to raise her head, the interspatial cruiser they had ridden on starting to appear out of a spatial ripple above the city. Seeing the interspatial cruiser descending toward the city, Yan Ling couldn''t help but mutter another curse.


    "Ah fuck, of course it would appear like this."


    She quickly sprung up from her lying position and once again used her wind to scan the city around her, making sure that there were no powerful cultivators in the area. Once she was certain that the area was clear, she created a violent gust of wind around her, blowing a thick cloud of dust and trash high into the air.


    She then jumped into the air, launching herself even higher with several more gusts of wind, the cloud of dust obscuring her from the people in the city. Just to be on the safe side, she created a veil of rippling water around her body, further obscuring her appearance just in case anyone managed to see through the dust and trash. She quickly reached the side of the interspatial cruiser and swiftly stored it into her interspatial ring, pushing her hands apart to spread out the veil of water and the cloud of dust.


    As the water and trash fell to the ground as a dense rain, Yan Ling rapidly descended, still using the dust and water as a cover to hide her own appearance. She landed in another alley a bit away from the one she had jumped up from, making sure that no one was able to see her as she quickly changed and put on a new robe, a worn and dull brown one with a hood she could use to cover herself. Once she finished changing, she stepped out of the alley, muttering to herself while pretending to curiously glance at the dense rain and falling trash.


    "Alright then, let''s figure out where we are and how to meet up with the Little Freak before he goes overboard on something."


    Yan Ling walked through the streets, which were wide enough to fit at least three horse-carriage yet were still packed densely with people in some places. The houses and streets were built differently from what she was used to, the streets all curving slightly as they seemed to spiral around the entire city, connected by countless small alleys that caused the roads to resemble a spiderweb that spanned the entire city.


    The houses themselves were shaped like circles with multiple edges, the buildings closer to the city center were larger and had more edges than the other houses so Yan Ling guessed that the number of edges might be a way to differentiate between status. She spotted groups of people wearing armor and carrying weapons patrolling through the streets as she got closer to the center of the city, their armor emblazoned with the image of a shield featuring a porcupine. She didn''t know exactly who these people were, but she guessed that they might be guards so she stopped moving closer to the center of the city.


    She eventually reached a rather large square plaza, a tall fountain featuring a porcupine spewing water from each of its spines serving as the centerpiece of the plaza. She saw more people that seemed to be guards in the plaza, but all of them were standing around the statue, seemingly guarding it and preventing others from getting too close. Yan Ling swept the plaza with a swift gaze before walking over to a street vendor whose stall was currently empty, pretending to eye the vegetable skewers while concocting a quick lie.


    "Excuse me, Sir, but would you mind telling me the name of this city? I''m trying to write down as much as possible about the various places I wander, makes it easier to get back there in the future."


    The somewhat chubby and blonde shopkeep turned his gaze onto Yan Ling, his gaze momentarily sweeping over her dull and somewhat worn robe that seemed to have seen its fair share of bad weather. He put on a friendly smile and picked up one of the skewers, waving it around like a wand as he spoke.


    "Ain''t no problem missy! This ''ere''s called Shield''s Spine, un of da bigger cities we''v got ''ere, some even call it da heart of da country. This skewer ''ere can be considered da regional specialty, you ougtha try it."


    The man had a rather thick accent, forcing Yan Ling to take a second to piece together the meaning of some of his words. She then searched her memories for anything about a city called Shield''s Spine, but was forced to continue asking after her search came up blank.


    "Oh, the regional specialty you say? What is it made of? Oh, and which sect or clan controls this city, should I make sure to get friendly with them?"


    Yan Ling fished out some normal jewelry from her interspatial ring, pretending to be a somewhat naive wanderer as she handed it over instead of money. The shopkeeper happily accepted the gaudy golden necklace and handed Yan Ling three skewers, placing seven more on a warm metal plate placed on his stand, grilling them as he explained.


    "Ey''r made of fruits an root vegetable''s that we grow ere'' in the area, picked em from da farm just this mornin, farmer''s a buddy o'' mine ye see. Ey''r real healthy and good for ye, da vegetables used are specially known to give ye da kick you need in da bedroom, ey''ll get ye going all night. An'' yah, ye really oughta get in da good graces o'' the sect that runs this place, the Dawn''s Spine, dey control pretty much ever''thing within several hundreds o'' kilometers."Stolen novel; please report.


    Yan Ling ignored the man''s remark about the specialty of the vegetables while giving one of the skewers a light nibble, judging it not as good as Liang Chen''s homemade food. But when the man mentioned the name of the sect that controlled this city, her pupils shrank slightly, the man was luckily busy flipping the skewers, so he failed to notice the change in her pupils.


    Yan Ling actually knew about the Dawn''s Spine sect, her father had taught her about it in the past. Just like the name suggested, it was part of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, it was located fairly close to the center of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance territory even. Yan Ling couldn''t help but be somewhat troubled now, she now knew that she was at least on her own home planet, she even knew which direction to head to return home, but she was as deep in enemy territory as one came. Should anyone learn that she was the daughter of the Storm Wolf sect master, there was no telling how many people would try to hunt her down.


    Yan Ling furrowed her brows slightly, but she didn''t leave straight away, she waited for the vendor to finish grilling and handing over the seven skewers before she turned around and left. If she were to leave before he did so, there was a chance that he might call out to her, causing a scene and drawing the attention of others, something she wanted to avoid right now.


    Yan Ling made her way through the city, using the wind and moisture in the air to figure out the path to the southern exit. Dawn''s Spine was the sect controlling the southern part of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance territory, heading straight south and across the Sun Swallowing Ocean would be the fastest way to return to her own continent.


    Yan Ling excelled in grasping the outlay of her surroundings thanks to not only her law of wind and law of water, but also her infantile law of space, so she quickly found the exit to the city and stepped onto a flattened road that stretched into the distance. A plain filled with a few rolling hills and a few farms stretched out on the right side of the road while a small lake bordering a somewhat small pine forest stretched out on the other side of the road, both locations technically considered part of the city, one of the reasons it was known to be one of the larger ones in the country.


    Yan Ling started to walk down the road, not daring to take out the interspatial cruiser before she reached the Sun Swallowing Ocean. Part of the reason was that she was worried about it running out of fuel, but the main reason was that the cruiser would be easily spotted once she used it, and there was no telling what the sects might send out once they discovered something like the cruiser flying through their territory. As such, Yan Ling had no choice but to walk for the time being, not even daring to bring out Lan Yun while she was moving.


    Yan Ling ended up being relatively lucky, it seemed like there weren''t too many people moving between cities right now, the roads she ended up traveling on being mostly empty. She spotted four cities or villages while moving, but chose to circumvent them rather than risk moving through them. She still had some of the food that Liang Chen prepared, and she could hunt for food if there was a need to, so she had no reason to head into any city.


    But on the seventh day of walking, while she was making her way through a rather dense cedar forest filled with gnarled and somewhat bent trees, her luck finally reached its end. She discovered someone at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm flying into the range of her senses, a formless energy sweeping over the area she was currently traveling through. The energy stopped on her body, the man who had flown into her senses also stopping and then quickly flying over to her.


    Yan Ling quickly pulled back as the man pushed through the branches above and landed in front of her. The man that landed in front of her looked to be in his late twenties and had black hair that was tied into a bun despite obviously being too small for it, his skin was a healthy wheat-like color and his brown eyes swept over Yan Ling for a bit. He tugged on the eye-shaped pendant he wore around his neck, checking it for a second while inspecting Yan Ling, eventually speaking up.


    "It''s not reacting to you, but you don''t resemble anyone of the people we''re allied with. Your appearance is also a bit different, but close enough to the testimonies we''ve received, you''re Yan Ling, no?"


    Yan Ling''s pupils instantly shrank when the man accurately guessed her identity, but what she didn''t know was that he didn''t really have anything more than a strong guess when he saw her, it was her reaction that allowed him to realize that he was right. The man gave Yan Ling a courteous bow but made sure that his vigilance didn''t drop while doing so.


    "Greetings, Miss Yan Ling, I am Jin Chang, a disciple of the Sealing God Empyrean. I will be straight with you, our master greatly values your talent for being able to awaken your bloodline and is willing to accept you as a disciple if you are willing to abandon the person known as Liang Chen. I can assure you, we will provide you with the best resources you can find in not only this universe but even in some of the major ones."


    Jin Chang was thanking his luck right now, happy that he was the one of his fellow disciples who chose to head south after they received news of the disturbance taking place in Shield''s Spine city. Yan Ling didn''t even need to consider Jin Chang''s proposal, there was no way she would abandon Liang Chen.


    "Sorry, but I''d rather have him than your resources."


    While rejecting Jin Chang, the gears in Yan Ling''s mind were running wild, trying to figure out not only why the Sealing God Empyrean knew about her and her bloodline, but also why he had men on this planet and wanted her to abandon Liang Chen, it seemed like something big had happened while they were gone. Jin Chang wasn''t entirely caught off guard by Yan Ling''s immediate refusal, removing a flat metal plate from his interspatial ring.


    "You know, we had a feeling that might be the case, so we prepared this for you. Here, this is the scene of Senior Sister Dairong catching Liang Chen, she was brought here just to catch him, so he didn''t really have the chance to escape. If you choose to follow us and sign an oath, or hand over your bloodline, we can free him."


    The metal plate lit up with a bright light and projected the scene of a battle above it, showing Liang Chen losing a battle against a woman. Yan Ling''s gaze was intently locked on the scene, but Jin Chang was quietly praying on the inside. His words were half-truth and half-lie, it was true that they had summoned Senior Sister Dairong to deal with him, but she had yet to actually catch him, they had completely lost track of him after he killed Yu Jiang. The scene in the recording was nothing more than an illusion they had prepared to trick her.


    There was also no chance of them releasing Liang Chen if they caught him, no matter what Yan Ling offered them, it was all just a ploy to either get her on their side or get their hands on her bloodline, which their Venerable Master desired. Yan Ling would either follow them right away, or her feelings for Yan Ling were so deep that she refused to abandon him, in which case the illusion would hopefully use her deep emotions against her, forcing her to hand over her bloodline or her freedom.


    Sadly, the one they chose to use this plan against was Yan Ling, using it against her was just as dumb as it was using it against Liang Chen. Jin Chang suddenly felt the wind in the area getting restless, a breeze blowing past his head. The breeze was followed by a warm sensation flowing down the right side of his face, his eyes narrowing as he felt his right ear falling off, blood pouring out of the wound. He didn''t tend to the wound, his gaze locked on the steely face of Yan Ling, which resembled a volcano on the verge of exploding, her voice not doing anything to mask the fury raging within her.


    "He is mine, who the fuck do you think you are to take him? If you don''t hand him over to me unharmed, I can promise you that I will drown every last one of you bastards in your own blood."

 The silence that follows the storm.

    Jin Chang''s expression grew somewhat serious as he looked at Yan Ling and the tempest that was starting to form around her, it seemed like he had miscalculated slightly when it came to how Yan Ling would react. The wind in the area quickly grew in strength, deep gashes appearing in the trees in the area as a light drizzle started to fall from the sky.


    Rage came in many shapes and forms, and it was in this department that Yan Ling and Liang Chen had their greatest difference. Liang Chen''s rage was like a strike of his spear, fierce and violent, yet calculated and deliberate, his rage focused his mind and made it sharper than the edge of a blade. Yan Ling''s rage, on the other hand, was like a terrible storm, violent and ever-expanding, lashing out at everything around her in a wild and unfocused manner. Her rage focused her mind somewhat, but it was more tunnel vision than anything else.


    Jin Chang''s pupils suddenly shrank violently and he quickly took three steps to the side, the earth beneath his feet sliding in a strange manner that aided his movement. The place where he had just been standing suddenly sank inwards as he moved to the side, as if a massive hammer had slammed down on it.


    Yan Ling charged forward at the same time as Jin Chang moved to the side, the wind making her steps so light that not even the grass was pushed down as she dashed. Jin Chang''s eyes narrow faintly but he didn''t choose to dodge, stepping forward and facing Yan Ling head-on, his skin tensing as his veins started to bulge out. The cloth covering his right arm tore as he exerted all his strength and punched out, the air around his fist vibrating as his arm moved.


    Yan Ling''s eyes were blazing, but her pupils darted around as if she wasn''t even looking at Jin Chang. She suddenly lowered her body just as the fist was about to hit her, dodging beneath the fist and stepping into Jin Chang''s bosom. But despite the fact that she dodged the fist, the cloth on her left shoulder still tore apart as Jin Chang''s fist passed over it, small cracks appearing in her skin as the bones in her shoulder started trembling in resonance with the vibrations in the air.


    Seeing as he hadn''t redirected his attack or moved away after missing, she guessed that speed and flexibility wasn''t his forte, something she made sure to make a mental note of for later. Yan Ling ignored the trembling in her shoulder and pushed out her own right arm, her palm making contact with Jin Chang''s abdomen.


    She felt like her hand clashed with a thick rock, some of the bones in her fingers trembling fiercely, her little finger even breaking from the short moment of contact. But the short moment of contact was all she needed, it had been her goal from the start. The law of crushing, piercing, slicing, and wind all gushed forth in a fierce torrent that tore apart the robe covering his stomach, hair-thin cuts spreading on his abdomen as a few of the muscles in it were crushed.


    Yan Ling angled her palm slightly upward, the forceful gust of wind that followed her attack lifting Jin Chang off the ground and throwing him high into the air in a spiraling manner. Jin Chang curled up while in the air, his body suddenly growing tremendously heavy and causing him to descend down to the ground like a falling boulder, crashing into the ground with a heavy stomp that cracked the earth. He could have stabilized himself by using his thick Qi to fly in the air, but doing so was slower than the method he just used.


    But as Jin Chang straightened up his body again, he realized that something was wrong, his left hand was empty. He quickly located Yan Ling, and just like he guessed, she was holding the metal plate that contained the illusion of Liang Chen losing a fight. Her eyes stared intently at the images for a bit before she suddenly clicked her tongue and clenched her fist, shattering the metal plate while looking at Jin Chang.


    "Clever. It was a pretty good production, but you got his eyes and mannerism wrong, you''ve never actually seen what he looks like or how he fights, have you?"


    At first, she had only seen the images from a bit of a distance, so she was unable to notice the finer details. But now that she had managed to snag the plate from Jin Chang and see it properly, she noticed all the small details that didn''t fit with the Liang Chen that she knew. It didn''t require a genius to figure out the truth, he had been trying to trick her all along, they hadn''t gotten their hands on Liang Chen. The pieces of the plate fell to the ground as Yan Ling opened her hand, her knuckles producing slight cracking sounds.


    "Really, being played like that makes me pretty fucking angry, so I hope you''re ready for a pummeling before I make you spit out every little thing you know."


    --


    Liang Chen raised his head after the last echo of Yu Jiang''s dying laughter vanished, his calm gaze staring down the remains of the heavenly tribulation that still raged above and around him. He could see a massive spear of ice forming beneath the blue clouds, draining the last of their energy to grow almost 100 meters long, freezing even the smallest traces of moisture within the surrounding kilometer.


    The last trace of the blue clouds vanished into the frozen spear, causing the entire thing to light up with a brilliant light and then shoot down like a meteor, drawing a frozen trail behind it. Liang Chen''s eyes remained calm as he raised his own spear, the tip pointing directly at the incoming attack, directly at the heavens themselves.


    The tips of the two spears touched and Liang Chen immediately slashed his spear downward, the entire frozen spear splitting down the middle. One half of the spear slowed down so much that it ended up frozen in the air just above Liang Chen''s head while the other half of the spear suddenly seemed to experience several years in the span of a single second, gray splotches appearing on the ice as small holes filled with air opened in it, the ice itself rotting away and turning into nothing more than a puddle of foul-smelling water that drenched the ground beside Liang Chen. Liang Chen glanced at his spear, his gaze drifting towards the body of Yu Jiang, a sneer suffusing his lips.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "Some might say that I should be thanking you for this. After all, it''s battles like this that always help me grow stronger and come up with or perfect new techniques, just like now. But I''ll despise you. For the rest of time, until the multiverse itself rots and dies, I will despise you for robbing her from me."


    Liang Chen raised his left arm and placed his palm on the half of the frozen spear that hung above his head. He clenched his fist and shattered the tip of the spear, the rest of the spear disintegrating as a thigh-thick bolt of brown lightning surrounded by a spiraling tempest of wind flew out from his fist and shot into the sky. The lightning resembled an ascending dragon as it roared towards the sky, piercing through the black clouds and blowing them away, dispersing them and ending the gray and white rain, once again revealing the blue sky.


    Liang Chen swept his surroundings with a quick gaze, the entire center of the city had been completely ruined. The remains of the scaffolding, the ruined buildings, even the streets themselves had taken on a bone-like appearance after being eaten by the gray and white rain, by Liang Chen''s new law and bloodline.


    Liang Chen took his eyes off of the destruction and looked to the east, his gaze landing on the castle-like mansion that served as the home of the Qing clan branch located in this city. He didn''t put away his spear, he simply started to walk towards the mansion with calm steps, a gust of wind picking up the interspatial rings of Yu Jiang and his juniors, bringing them to Liang Chen. To his surprise, a blood-colored bead was dragged out of Yu Jiang''s chest and flew over to him, another Bloodwind Code. Liang Chen didn''t have a need for another one, but it could be given to Yan Ling or someone else, so he stored it away with the rest.


    The city was completely silent as Liang Chen walked, not even the cats or dogs daring to make a sound, it was as if the entire city was holding its breath and waiting for Liang Chen to pass. Liang Chen wasn''t the calm before the storm that usually alarmed people, he was the dreadful silence that descended when the storm passed and left nothing but ruin in its wake.


    Nothing stood in Liang Chen''s way, allowing him to quickly reach the wrought iron fence that surrounded the entire mansion, the ten-meter tall gate blocking anyone from entering. Liang Chen looked at the gate with a somewhat nostalgic expression, as a child he sometimes dreamed of what might be behind it and what he could do to get in there, how proud his parents would be if that were to happen. But now those dreams were dead, scattered to the winds with the ashes of his family and his past.


    Liang Chen''s right leg moved forward and gave the gate a seemingly soft kick that actually caused the two metal doors to bend and fly backward, completely torn off the hinges. Liang Chen only gave the magnificent fruit orchard placed behind the gate a cursory glance, calmly stepping onto the path and heading for the entrance of the mansion. Five people clad in armor stood by the door, but they trembled just from looking at Liang Chen, they didn''t even dare move their weapons an inch closer to stop him.


    While heading for the entrance, Liang Chen was somewhat curious when he would be contacted by Ye Zhong again. He had acquired a rank, corresponding title, and killed someone else holding a Bloodwind Code, there was a good chance his rank had gone up by a bit. Even if his rank didn''t go up enough, just acquiring a title was enough for him to earn the reward that he could ask another question. But he had no way of contacting them, so he could only wait for them to contact him so that he could ask his question.


    Liang Chen walked past the shivering guards, glancing at them out of the corner of his eye as he walked past them. This single glance was enough to turn their knees into jelly, three of the guards collapsing to the ground and quickly crawling away from Liang Chen. There was probably no one in the city who didn''t know what he had just done, how terrifying this reaper was.


    But Liang Chen simply stepped past them and pushed open the door to the mansion, stepping into a large rectangular hall filled with marble statues of previous Qing clan members who had made great contributions to the clan. A green silk carpet covered the floor, leading straight ahead to a large wooden door decorated with golden carvings featuring the history of the Qing clan founding. Liang Chen ignored the six other doors that lined the walls of the hall, walking straight up to the decadent door and giving it a push, the locks, and array, that were trying to keep it closed shattering as the door flew open.


    Liang Chen stepped into a much larger hall that was circular in form, plants and flowers that were somewhat rare placed in jade and crystal pots throughout the entire room. A few more statues decorated the room, but these statues featured Demonic beasts and other figures famous from heroic legends and tales spread throughout the continent.


    Placed at the very center of the room was a round table made from expensive wood, ornately carved chairs surrounding it. There were currently 15 people sitting around the table, 12 elders from the Qing clan and 3 people clad in the robes of the Nightshield sect, these were the people that Liang Chen had come here for, the ones he discovered after he finished killing Yu Jiang.


    The 15 people quickly rose to their feet when Liang Chen threw open the door, clearly shocked by how quickly he had found them. There was an array surrounding the mansion that should have blocked Liang Chen''s senses, so they figured he wouldn''t discover them and move on to find a place to rest after the battle with Yu Jiang.


    One of the men from the Qing clan looked at Liang Chen with a pale gaze, his lips trembling and his eyes red. The man stepped away from the table and walked towards Liang Chen with unsteady steps, reaching for him with trembling arms as he spoke with a somewhat choked voice.


    "Little Chen... Please forgive me... I was useless... I tried my..."


    Liang Chen recognized the man that was approaching him, he was the best friend of Liang Chen''s father, Qing Xiang. Liang Chen cut off Qing Xiang''s words by walking past him, his words stinging Qing Xiang''s heart.


    "I know, you tried your best to save her. I too tried my best, but sometimes our best just isn''t good enough."


    Liang Chen walked straight up to the round table after walking past Qiang Xing, his gaze landing on the 3 people of the Nightshield sect. The three stood close together, but the strongest among them had only reached the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, they were far from being a threat to him. The one who seemed to be the leader took a step forward, raising both arms as he tried to speak in a calming tone.


    "Alright, alright, let''s talk about this like civili...!"


    Liang Chen gave the round table a kick before the man could finish his words, the table crashing into the three men and causing them to fly backward along with the table, all of them crashing into the wall. Liang Chen walked past the Qing clan elders, who didn''t dare move when they smelled a faintly sweet scent in the air, stopping in front of the three people who had slid to the ground along with the rubble of the table.


    "You don''t get to decide how we talk or what we talk about. Since you''re here at this time, you must have had a hand in her execution as well as the presence of those people. I have only ever loved four people in my life, and you have already robbed me of three of them. I''ll have you spill everything you know, and depending on your answers, I might just drag your entire Nightshield sect down to the ground."

 To become someone else.

    The three people from the Nightshield sect, two men and one woman, trembled slightly under Liang Chen''s chilly gaze. But they had been trained by the Nightshield sect, so they knew what standard procedure was to do in a situation like this, make the enemy understand your connections so that you could establish more room for negotiation. So the sole woman among the three quickly followed the teachings of her master and spoke up.


    "We are from the Nightshield sect and our Master is Shen Young, you will not manage to survive for too long if you interrogate us in an excessively forc...!"


    The woman''s words were cut off by a sickening crunch as the sole of Liang Chen''s foot smashed into her face and crushed the back of her head into the wall behind her. The back of her skull cracked, but Liang Chen controlled his strength enough to not kill her, glaring at all three of them and giving them a single warning.


    "My patience ran out long ago, so just shut up. And I never said I was going to interrogate you."


    Liang Chen stretched out his arm and tapped the foreheads of the three people, a nearly invisible stream of poison entering their minds and souls. Liang Chen had already gotten quite proficient at using this mind-controlling poison, so it didn''t take long for the eyes of the three people to turn blurry and unfocused, their jaws sacking. Liang Chen pulled back his arm, casting a quick glance over his shoulder and making sure that none of the Qing clan elders were being stupid and moving as he asked his questions.


    "My questions are very simple, who had a hand in capturing my sister, what role did the people in this room play in it, who had a hand in the destruction of the Storm Wolf sect, where are the surviving disciples kept, are Yan Ying and Yan Wuhan among the captives, who else has allied with the Sealing God Empyrean, and do you know why they want to kill me?"


    Liang Chen knew that the Storm Wolf sect was reduced to only about 100 people remaining in captivity, but he didn''t actually know if Yan Ling''s family members were among the survivors. He hoped that they were, the last thing he wanted was for Yan Ling to feel the same pain that he was feeling right now. They were both the same, they had already lost enough in their lives, especially Liang Chen, Yan Ling and their two young companions were the last things he had left. Under the compulsion of Liang Chen''s poison, the three people were left with no other choice but to answer, all three of them talking at the same time.


    "Your sister was captured by the Nightshield sect and the Moon Dragon sect, they captured here in the hidden realm where Qing Lan Yong had tucked her away for safety. The ones to actually catch her were Li Song from the Nightshield sect and Yatya Meng from the Moon Dragon sect, the people in this room were only responsible for both keeping an eye on her and squeezing information out of her through any means necessary. The Storm Wolf sect was destroyed by the disciples of the Sealing God Empyrean, the Nightshield sect, and the Moon Dragon sect, but all the disciples are being held captive in the Nightshield sect dungeon. Yan Ying is among the surviving captives, but Yan Wuhan sacrificed his life to wound the attackers and buy the disciples enough time to escape. Other than the Moon Dragon sect and the Nightshield sect, the Dawn''s Blade Alliance has also allied with the Sealing God Empyrean, but we don''t know why they are trying so hard to kill you."


    The voices of the three people overlapped with each other, but Liang Chen was still able to understand what they were saying. They didn''t have the exact same answers, probably due to the difference in status the three of them had within the sect. Liang Chen was temporarily caught off-guard by the fact that Qing Lan Yong had apparently tried to keep his sister safe, but those thoughts were immediately blown away when he heard about Yan Wuhan''s fate, his expression distorting slightly.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    So it was as he feared, Yan Ling''s family weren''t able to escape harm, her father had actually died already. Liang Chen''s fingers drummed against his thigh for a bit, his expression somewhat grim as his mind raced to figure out what to do next. After spending nearly half a minute in silence, he decided on what he would do next. He had already lost practically everything that he could lose, he would not allow the same to happen to Yan Ling.


    "The Nightshield sect, how many elders and high-ranking disciples are currently present in it and which one of them is guarding the dungeon? Also, what''s the strength of the ones guarding the dungeon."


    His plan was to save Yan Ying, but he had to know about the strength of the Nightshield sect before he could make a more detailed plan of action. Luckily, even in these dark times, it seemed like there was still some luck that remained on his side, the leader of the three people answering his question.


    "The Dawn''s Blade Alliance wanted to make sure that the allied sects actually stayed true to their words so they made them send all the elders and most of the high-ranking disciples over to the Dawn''s Blade Alliance headquarters to serve as hostages. They are still able to stay in contact with us, but the ones currently ruling the Nightshield sect are Senior Sister Chinyu and Senior Brother Lim, who''ve both reached the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm."


    The corners of Liang Chen''s mouth curved upwards into the faintest of curves when he received the answer. If that was all the strength that the Nightshield sect currently had available, then it would be much easier to put together a plan. Liang Chen didn''t ask them another question right away, turning his head to look at the 12 elders from the Qing clan. From what he had just been told, these people were responsible for squeezing information out of Qing Chun, no matter what they had to do. Thus, their fates were already set in stone.


    The poison Liang Chen spread earlier received its order and performed its duty, invading the bodies of the elders. 11 of them quickly started to cough and retch, dropping to their knees and clawing at their throats as his poison caused their throats to swell up and block their breathing. Liang Chen looked on impassively as the 11 elders choked to death, his gaze never once leaving them before the 11th elder drew his final breath.


    Only when the last elder died did Liang Chen turn his head to look at the 12th elder, Qing Xiang, the best friend of his father. Qing Xiang hadn''t tried to flee when he saw the other elders choke to death, he knew that he didn''t stand a chance even if he were to be given a head-start of several minutes. Liang Chen moved his gaze away from Qing Xiang, dismissively pointing at the doorway to the room.


    "You were a good friend to my father, so I can''t kill you here, leave."


    Liang Chen had no idea what to do with Qing Xiang, but it didn''t feel right to kill him just because he was unable to save Liang Chen''s parents or sister, so for now he decided to let him go. But if he learned that Qing Xiang had, in fact, played a part in the death of Qing Chun, or even taken part in squeezing information out of her, then he would probably end up killing him.


    Qing Xiang wore a somewhat difficult expression as he looked at Liang Chen, observing what had become of the young child he once doted on as he would his own son, observing how the world had twisted and bent him. In the end, he could only let out a wistful sigh and leave, wondering about what Liang Chen might have become if it was someone else that was chosen as scapegoats.


    Liang Chen watched as Qing Xiang left, waving his hand and creating a gust of wind that picked up the fragments of the door, once again blocking the entrance to the room. Once he was certain that there was no one else in the room, Liang Chen turned his gaze back onto the three people that were still sitting on the ground against the wall. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out the Heaven Altering Mask, putting it on and changing his appearance so that it was a perfect match for the leader of the three.


    "Now then, how about you tell me everything I need to know to be you?"

 To the Nightshield sect.

    Yan Ling''s left shoulder ached slightly, droplets of blood seeping out from the cracks that had appeared in her skin as Jin Chang''s fist passed over her body. She luckily had a bloodline that could only be considered abnormally powerful, the small wounds rapidly healing and vanishing. Jin Chang''s eyebrows couldn''t help but twitch slightly when he saw the scene, he''d been told about her strong bloodline, but he didn''t expect it to let her heal her wounds this quickly. Yan Ling didn''t even glance at her wound, her somewhat narrowed eyes fully focused on Jin Chang.


    "Here I come, don''t you die on me."


    Yan Ling kicked off the ground and shot forward, bringing with her a wind so strong that it uprooted the surrounding trees. Yan Ling''s speed was often overshadowed by Liang Chen''s, but that didn''t mean that she was slow. Far from it, her law of piercing and her law of wind gave her excellent speed, coupled with the strength her bloodline gave her, she was so fast that it was hard for Jin Chang to properly respond before she reached his front.


    Yan Ling heavily stomped the ground, cracks spreading throughout the surrounding earth as all the momentum from her dash was transferred up her body and into her right arm, aiming a heavy punch at Jin Chang''s abdomen. Jin Chang looked at the incoming punch with a solemn expression, lowering his body slightly and placing both his arms in front of his stomach. He already knew that it would be highly unlikely for him to evade Yan Ling thanks to her speed, so he could only utilize his one advantage, his thick skin and strong defense.


    Sadly, he continued to underestimate Yan Ling. Even the previous Lord of Justice for this universe, Qian Liao, was killed a few times by her. Had he not been able to use his law of death to suck up any surrounding lifeforce and use it to bring himself back, he might have actually died fully in her hands. And thanks to their short exchange earlier, Yan Ling was completely certain on one fact, this Jin Chang was no Qian Liao, she could kill him.


    Just as her fist made contact with Jin Chang''s forearms, a silver shimmer covered and then sank into her own arm, her fist phasing through Jin Chang''s arms. But her fist had still made contact with him for a short second, something Jin Chang made sure to take advantage of by causing the bones in her fist to vibrate fiercely. Her middle and her index finger broke due to the vibrations, but her fist phased into Jin Chang''s abdomen and then opened.


    Jin Chang took half a step back on instinct when he saw her fist phase into his body, this simple act ensuring that her hand only managed to pull out one of his kidneys rather than his liver. He quickly took several more steps backward when he saw that she was now clutching one of his kidneys, a burning pain spreading in his abdomen as he looked at her arm in shock and realization.


    "Space, you''ve comprehended space!? Not good, gotta warn the others."


    The law of space was one of the supreme laws, only below the laws of creation and destruction, anyone who comprehended it would be easily accepted by any clan or sect. And with just a bit of care and time, anyone who comprehended this law would become an utter horror to deal with.


    Jin Chang quickly swiped his interspatial ring and took out a grape-shaped bead of metal covered in engravings, channeling his Qi into it. But how could Yan Ling possibly give him the time to send out any sort of message, especially a message about one of her secret trump cards? The moisture in the air around Jin Chang gathered together into a small drop of water that then rapidly descended, the law of slicing and the law of piercing merging into it and allowing it to pierce directly through Jin Chang''s wrist.


    His hand involuntarily opened and dropped the bead before the engravings could fully light up, his expression dimming somewhat. The sheer multitude of laws that Yan Ling had comprehended made her a pain to deal with, especially with how many of her laws were offensive. Jin Chang''s leg stretched out before the bead even touched the ground, he simply had to touch the bead and insert some Qi into it, he didn''t actually have to hold it with his hand to send the message.


    But once again, would Yan Ling really let him do as he pleased, especially now that her mind had calmed down somewhat after finding out that Liang Chen hadn''t actually been captured? She flicked one of her unbroken fingers, a heavy gust of wind surrounding the bead and delivering it to her hand.


    Yan Ling immediately put away the bead and decided to not give Jin Chang the slightest chance to mount any type of counter-attack. She stretched out both arms, her veins starting to bulge and writhe as she gathered all her energy in her arms. The wind in the area became uneasy as her veins writhed, moving in erratic ways and growing stronger each second.


    She heavily clapped her hands together, the erratic wind gathering together into a large tornado that tore up the trees in the surrounding four kilometers. Jin Chang stood within the tornado, the wind tearing at him and trying to drag him into the depths of the tornado. His feet dug into the ground to resist the strong wind, root-like stones extending from his feet and digging deep into the earth to further steady him.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He did his best to resist the wind, but all it did was make him the perfect target for Yan Ling. She looked straight at him with a ferocious expression, cracking her knuckles as she once again started to gather up all her energy.


    "If you only have this level of strength, you shouldn''t even joke about your people having captured Little Freak. You people wouldn''t even last two moves if he was actually in front of you."


    Yan Ling kicked off the ground and dashed forward the moment her words finished, the wind from the surrounding tornado supporting her speed. She reached Jin Chang almost immediately, clenching her right fist and smashing it into Jin Chang''s jaw from below. The uppercut not only shattered Yan Ling''s right hand, but also Jin Chang''s lower jaw as well as the roots of stone he had extended into the ground.


    He was sent flying into the air, the wind picking up his body and dragging him into the very depths of the tornado, where he was flung around and torn at by not only the wind, but also Yan Ling''s law of piercing, law of pressure, and her law of slicing. This tornado was the grandest move she had come up with, her counterpart to Liang Chen''s Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. Right now it was still a bit weak for her liking, but once she managed to merge in the rest of her laws into it, it would rise in power to an unprecedented level.


    But what she didn''t know was that the tornado was already plenty strong for her level, it gave Jin Chang no chance to escape, his body felt like it was being thrown around on the bottom of the ocean. The sharp and crushing winds cared not for how much he tried to raise his defense, they simple broke right through them and tore open his body, cutting him to ribbons and breaking his bones.


    The tornado suddenly vanished just as Jin Chang was certain he was going to die, his body crashing into the ground as a mangled mess. Yan Ling walked up to him and crouched down at his side, her face somewhat pale from the exertion as she placed her hand on her neck.


    "I''m not like Little Freak, who can just touch people and have them spill all their secrets. So you''d best be ready for even more pain if you don''t answer my questions."


    Yan Ling''s eyes showed no hint of mercy as she looked at the torn-up Jin Chang and put a bit more power into her hand, his neck creaking slightly. She would get the answers she was looking for, no matter how much more pain she had to inflict on Jin Chang.


    --


    A blonde-haired and green-eyed male youth walked out from the mansion that the Qing clan used in the Green Rivers city. The youth, Liang Chen in his disguise, was fiddling with the Nightshield sect robe that he was wearing, somewhat unused to wearing this type of robe that you had to wrap around your body. Liang Chen had gotten the youth, Zhong San, to not only tell him everything he needed to know, he even had him transfer all his memories over to Liang Chen, making certain that he would be able to perfectly impersonate him.


    Liang Chen calmly made his way through the city, his gaze sweeping around the area as he moved. There were no signs of life in the city anymore, no guards, no merchants, no citizens, all had fled to escape Liang Chen. When he reached the city center again, Liang Chen saw that the places that were touched by the gray rain and had become bone-like in appearance were spreading slowly, eating away at any scrap of energy they could find.


    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed slightly and walked over to the affected areas, crouching down beside them and placing his hand on them. He could feel a faint trace of energy within the affected areas, but the energy was growing slowly as the areas extended further. Even if he hadn''t seen what created these areas, just feeling how similar the energy within them was to the energy within the blood he had swallowed earlier would be enough for him to know that he was the cause of this.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and focused on the energy, emulating what he usually did when he extracted his poison from something. The energy within the corrupted areas was quickly drawn out and into his body, sinking into the pulsating Dragon Lotus within his chest. He inspected the corrupted areas for a bit longer, only leaving when he was certain that they weren''t growing any longer.


    Liang Chen walked through the gates of the city that he had killed, but he didn''t cast any looks back as he left. The him that used to live in that city had already died, everything he cherished within that city had already died. Just as the city had died, so too had his emotions for it, so he continued to move forward to fulfill his dreams, never looking back.


    Liang Chen didn''t stop moving after leaving the city, he followed the route he had seen in Zhong San''s memories and walked for four days before he reached his goal, a rather large city that was built into the side of a mountain and called Earthen Embrace.


    Liang Chen didn''t waste any time in the city, now that he was alone he was not in the mood to wander around and experience the city as he would usually do with Yan Ling. He headed directly to the castle at the center of the city and showed off the disciple token he had taken from Zhong San. He hadn''t killed Zhong San, he knew that Zhong San hadn''t done anything deserving of death after seeing his memories, so the token was still filled with Zhong San''s Qi and thus gave off a faint light.


    The five guards in front of the castle nodded their heads and made way for Liang Chen, allowing him to enter the castle and enter the sole room inside the castle, a massive empty hall covered in glittering runes. He nodded his head at the guard standing by in the room, stepping into the center of the room while the guard activated the massive array.


    A flash of light enveloped Liang Chen and drowned out everything else, space around him constricting around him as the array teleported him away. Once the bright light vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing on the outskirts of a large circular island, five smaller islands hovering in the air about 10 kilometers above him. This was his target, the headquarters of the Nightshield sect.

 Duskshield Hall.

    The part of the island that Liang Chen had arrived on was mostly empty, a simple plain housing only the spatial array that brought him here. He knew that if he wanted to reach the five hovering islands that housed the five halls of the Nightshield sect, he would have to head about 20 kilometers to the north until he reached a city known as Dusk''s Ascension.


    Liang Chen didn''t bother wasting any time on the empty plain and headed directly for Dusk''s Ascension. There were a few weak Demonic beasts roaming the plain, but they weren''t a problem for him even when he limited himself to the same cultivation level as Zhong San, the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    Liang Chen arrived by Dusk''s Ascension before long, a rather large city where all the buildings were the same size, shape, and made from a dim white stone. The buildings in Dusk''s Ascension were all the same because this was where the most common disciples lived, there was no distinction between them so there was no point in making any distinction between the buildings.


    The sect itself didn''t make the buildings different from each other, but they didn''t prevent the disciples living there from decorating or altering the buildings slightly so upon entering the city you would see more minor differences between the outside look of the buildings. Liang Chen only gave the surrounding city a few sweeping glances as he moved through it, heading for the star-shaped plaza while nodding his head at the disciples that greeted him or talked to him as he moved past them.


    "Good morning, Senior Brother San."


    "Greetings, Senior Brother San."


    "Respectful greetings, Senior Brother San, please greet mistress Ping when you see her."


    "Hello, Senior Brother San, please hand this letter to Little Ming when you see her."


    Liang Chen swiftly reached the plaza of the city, which was filled with small stands where disciples could sell items or resources that they got their hands on whenever they left their sect for any missions. At the very center of the yellow-cobblestone plaza stood another spatial array that was slightly different from the ones Liang Chen was used to, it was shaped like a star and had five places one could stand.


    The entire array was surrounded by guards clad in the robes of the Nightshield sect, but each of these guards had already reached the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm so they were not people that the disciples in this city could handle. Liang Chen walked up to one of the nine guards and brought out his disciple token, the guard respectfully saluting him upon seeing it.


    "Congratulations on your safe return, Senior Zhong. I heard that the Devil turned Green Rivers into a lifeless wasteland, escaping in time was the right decision. Please wait for a second while we prepare the Duskhsield section of the array. Oh, and I''d suggest not going against Senior Lim or Senior Chinyu, apparently somethings happened up there that''s caused them to be incredibly on edge, they snap at the smallest things nowadays."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and thanked the man for the advice, stepping onto one of the star''s points and waiting there while two of the guards placed Spirit Stones into some of the array''s grooves. The part he was standing lit up after not too long, space around Liang Chen distorting for a short second as he was teleported away from the city and up to the island housing the Duskshield Hall part of the Nightshield sect.


    Once the transportation finished, Liang Chen found himself standing in a small hut lit up by three torches burning with faint blue flames. He could feel the presence of two guards at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm outside the hut, but other than them he couldn''t feel anyone within the surrounding five kilometers. Liang Chen knew the procedure so he once again took out his disciple token and opened the door to the hut, showing the token to the two guards that held out their halberds and stopped him.


    "Halt, iden... Oh, it''s Junior Brother San. Welcome back, we''ve already received the news that Junior Sister Shishi and Junior Brother Dong perished when the Devil ruined Green Rivers city, good work on making it out alive. Junior Sister Ping has been worried sick for the last few days since there hasn''t been any news from you, you''d best head to her immediately to calm her down. Little Ming and Junior Sister Xue have also been worried sick, Junior Sister Xue even ended her mission early just to return to the sect to await any news."


    The somewhat hunched back guard visibly relaxed when he saw the disguised Liang Chen, putting away his weapon and leaning back into the chair he was sitting on. The other guard also nodded at Liang Chen, but he wasn''t as friendly with Zhong San so he didn''t speak up. Liang Chen put away the token again, gesturing towards the distant city that served as the Duskshield Hall.


    "Thanks, Senior Brother Ming, I''ll head to them right away. But tell me, what''s gotten Senior Brother Lim and Senior Sister Chinyu''s panties in a bunch? I''ve heard that they''re really irritable right now."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The expression of the guard, Tang Ming, became somewhat dark after Liang Chen asked his question. He turned his gaze towards the east of the distant city, using his cheek to gesture towards a hook-like mountain rising up not far from the city.


    "They haven''t made the specifics public, but something''s apparently happened in the dungeon, likely to the prisoners we took from the other sects. I don''t know what exactly happened, but it''s so bad that Senior Brother Lim and Senior Sister Chinyu have changed guard duty so that it rotates between them and their right-hand men."


    Now it was Liang Chen''s expression that dimmed slightly. His plan was to sneak into the dungeon to check up on Yin Yang and the others, but that would be next to impossible with Chang Lim and Rong Chinyu personally taking guard. Even getting past their right-hand men would be hard, as all of them had reached the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. But Liang Chen didn''t lose his cool, his mind quickly spinning as he came up with another plan he could try.


    "Yeah, I can see why that would cause them to get cranky as all hell, especially after we went through all that trouble to get those prisoners here. Don''t tell me their pissy moods have even caused them to cancel the tri-monthly competition?"


    The tri-monthly competition was something held by the Nightshield sect to check the progress of their disciples and to reward them for it. Disciples on the lower island could be promoted and accepted by one of the halls while the other hall-disciples could be accepted as disciples by the various elders or receive other resources depending on how well they did. Tang Ming snorted once, smirking slightly as he looked at Liang Chen.


    "Cancel it? Heh, as if the two of them have the guts to cancel a competition that has already been a tradition. From what I''ve heard, the elders have ordered them to not only run the competition as normal, they even have to oversee it personally so that they can hand out proper rewards. Elders probably want to avoid the sect from falling into disarray while they''re gone, following the traditions is a good way to do so."


    Liang Chen slowly nodded his head, the gears in his mind turning as the pieces of a plan started to fit together. This competition would be his best chance to either get closer to Chang Lim and Rong Chinyu or to take advantage of the fact that almost everyone would be at the competition, making it somewhat easier to sneak into the dungeon.


    But the competition was still a month and a half away, so Liang Chen would have to lie a bit low until then. Luckily, the Qi here was incredibly dense and concentrated, it would be an excellent place for him to cultivate and focus on merging his new law of the Void into his soul and body. He bid Tang Ming and the other guard farewell, heading for the large city that was about 10 kilometers away.


    The city was built in a manner that almost made it resemble a mountain, inclining as you got closer to the center of the city, which was occupied by three large mansions that were even larger than most castles. Zhong San didn''t have a terribly high status in the sect so his house wasn''t very deep into the city, meaning that Liang Chen only had to walk for about half an hour before reaching his house, a two-floor stone house decorated with green lanterns. Liang Chen took a quick breath and then pushed open the door with a smile.


    "Ping''er, I''ve returned!"


    Liang Chen entered a rather cozy living room that had a fireplace built into the left wall, was decorated using a few rather common yet colorful flowers, and had a rectangular table surrounded by two couches and two chairs and was covered in a hand-woven cloth serving as the centerpiece. The moment he pushed open the door and announced his presence, the sound of running footsteps came from behind a door at the other end of the room.


    The door was pushed open by a mature woman with frizzy orange hair and green eyes, a loose robe covering her somewhat short body. The woman was carrying a one-year-old young girl with brown hair and blue eyes in her arms and was currently looking at Liang Chen with eyes that were slowly reddening. The sound of more feet quickly came from behind the woman, a nine-year-old girl with blonde hair and brown eyes running up and hiding behind the woman''s legs, gazing at Liang Chen with wide eyes. Another woman, one who looked to be about 18 and had blonde hair and green eyes, came up from behind the woman and looked at Liang Chen, letting out a soft breath of relief.


    These four women were Zhong San''s family, his wife and his three daughters, they were also the main reason Zhong San managed to survive his encounter with Liang Chen. Since Zhong San had daughters of his own, especially one that was very close to Qing Chun in age, he couldn''t bring himself to torture her or watch her get tortured, so he would guard by her cell whenever he had the chance and make sure that no one got close to her.


    This put Zhong San in a somewhat awkward spot for Liang Chen. On the one hand, he was an enemy working for the sect that was trying to smoke out and kill Liang Chen, but on the other hand, he had done what he could to protect Liang Chen''s family, protecting her from harm on at least two occasions. After giving it some thought, Liang Chen eventually came to the conclusion that his good deeds outweighed his bad ones, resulting in Liang Chen deeming him innocent enough to be spared.


    The mature woman, Guan Ping, quickly rushed forward and embraced Liang Chen, burying her face in his neck and breathing deeply while making sure that their youngest daughter, Zhong Tang, didn''t get squished. Liang Chen''s eyebrow twitched slightly, but he still wrapped his left arm around Guan Ping''s waist and placed his right hand on her head, stroking it softly.


    "I''m back, Ping''er, sorry for worrying you."


    Liang Chen managed to sneak into the Nightshield sect and come up with another plan for checking up on Yan Ying, now he just had to do his best to fool Zhong San''s family, otherwise, he would have to figure something out.

 Doubt.

    Guan Ping, the wife of the man that Liang Chen was currently impersonating, buried her face in his neck and breathed deeply. Her breathing was somewhat erratic and Liang Chen could hear a few muted sobs, his shoulder slowly getting wet as the woman cried in his embrace.


    "Thank the heavens... Thank the heavens you''re fine. When I heard what the Devil of Green Rivers did, I feared that you met the same fate as the rest of the city."


    The young girl, Zhong Tang, she was holding was too young to know what was going on, but due to the influence of her mother, she also started to cry loudly. The last two of Zhong San''s daughters also came over, the nine-year-old one, Zhong Ming, quickly latching onto Liang Chen''s legs while the seemingly 18-year-old one, Zhong Xue, walked over a bit more calmly, but even her eyes were getting red. Liang Chen did his best to keep his expression from distorting and put on a soft smile while calming down the four women.


    "It''s fine, I''m here now, aren''t I? It might be shameful, but I escaped the moment the Devil started attacking and I saw that things were going bad. I''ve been heading here ever since, it''s the only reason I''m still alive."


    It felt a bit strange to refer to himself as a devil, but that feeling was quickly drowned out by the relieved expressions that the four teary-eyed women put on. Guan Ting removed her face from Liang Chen''s neck and used her free hand to wipe away her tears, prying the younger Zhong Ming away from Liang Chen''s legs.


    "Come on now, your Father is definitely tired after his ordeal, we have to let him get some rest. Come, dear, the bedroom is already made up so you can just go and lie down, I''ll prepare a quick meal."


    The two daughters that were old enough to understand the situation quickly piped up that they would help prepare the meal, causing Liang Chen to suck in a soft breath. He felt a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach but he quickly put the feeling aside and took the youngest Zhong Tang off of Guan Ping''s hands, responding like he knew Zong San would.


    "Don''t worry about it, this is the best way for me to recharge. It''s been a while since I''ve last been home, so why don''t we all go for a walk? I''ve also gained some new insights so I might seclude myself a bit before the tri-monthly competition."


    The seclusion was mostly an excuse to avoid interacting with the family, but part of the reason was also to merge his new law of the void into his body and soul cultivation. Guan Ping''s face bloomed with a smile, she and the two older daughters quickly nodding their heads and putting on some shoes for walking through the surrounding city.


    Before long, the family of five left the house and started a leisure stroll through the surrounding city that was the Duskshield hall of the Nightshield sect. The family was often stopped by some of the other disciples as they walked, all of them either calling out, hugging, or patting Liang Chen on the shoulder.


    "Junior Brother San, congratulations on escaping from that hellhole, I heard things really went to shit down there! It''s good that you''re back, would be a shame if Senior Sister Ping ended up bawling her eyes out."


    "Senior Brother San, I''m glad that you managed to escape from that calamity, I can''t even imagine how horrifying it must have been."


    "Senior Brother Zhong! I knew that a bastard like you wouldn''t die in a place like that! Haha, you''d better take good care of those brats now that you''re back, the sect shouldn''t be making you take on any new missions for a while."


    Just looking at the sheer number of people that came to greet him, Liang Chen realized that Zhong San was far more loved than his memories made it seem. Guan Ping and the others also smiled when they saw the scene, Guan Ping tightly wrapping her arm around Liang Chen''s left arm, an action that only increased the sour feeling in the pit of his stomach.


    Walking around the sect also caused Liang Chen to realize two things. The first was that despite the fact that the Nightshield sect and the Storm Wolf sect were sects of equal size, this Nightshield sect felt more homely and cozy than the Storm Wolf sect. Due to how it was set up, the Storm Wolf sect felt like it was more focused on solely cultivating, while this Nightshield sect felt like it focused a bit more on unity.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The other thing he realized was that the closer you got to your enemies, the harder it would be to see them as enemies. The Nightshield sect had taken part in basically eradicating his previous sect and thus killing Yan Ling''s father, Qing Lan Yong and Yan Ling''s mother were both part of this sect, and they had also taken part in the murdering of his sister. By all accounts he should hate this sect with all his might, he knew that he should detest it.


    But looking at the people walking around and just living their lives like normal, he just couldn''t bring himself to hate it, just like he couldn''t bring himself to hate everyone living on the Tripartite God planet while he was there. His hatred for Qing Lan Yong and Yan Ling''s mother still smoldered deep within him, but he just couldn''t bring himself to seeing the entire sect as an enemy, only furthering the sour feeling in his stomach. The disciples here were just normal people who hadn''t done anything to him, they were just trying to live their lives. Many of them might not even know about Liang Chen. If he hated and killed them, wouldn''t that make him just as bad as Qing Lan Yong?


    The family of five continued to walk all around the sect until the young Zhong Ming was on the verge of dozing off. They took this as a sign that it was time to return home, the oldest Zhong Xue picking up Zhong Ming and tapping her on the forehead, causing her to instantly fall asleep. Liang Chen felt a familiar sensation when Zhong Xue poked Zhong Min''s forehead, commenting on it since Zhong San didn''t have any memories of this law. Of course, he made sure to stay in character while commenting, giving her some fatherly advice based on Zhong San''s own thoughts.


    "Little Xue, you''ve managed to get insight into the law of poison? Are you sure that''s a good law to get insight into, wouldn''t it be better to try and get some insight into a different law like the law of fire or the law of shattering?"


    Zhong San himself was actually considered rather talented, having gained insight into both the law of stone and the law of spinning. His two youngest daughters had yet to start cultivating, but the oldest daughter had inherited some of his talents and was already rather skilled in the law of freezing. Zhong Xue smiled confidently while softly carrying her younger sister, doing her best to calm down her ''worrying father''


    "Don''t worry dad, I know that the law of poison has acquired a rather nasty reputation, but I still want to cultivate it. I met a nice old man while traveling who used his law of poison to heal some of my team members after we got into a nasty fight with a Bog Swallower, he thought us a bit about how to use some more common poisons as medicine and then sent us on our way. If he could use the law of poison to heal others, who''s to say I can''t do the same? Maybe I can even take it to such heights that I can wipe clean the reputation of poison, wouldn''t that be nice?"


    Liang Chen remained silent after receiving her response, only nodding his head in a somewhat worried and unconvinced manner as Zhong San would. Liang Chen actually found Zhong Xue''s motivations to be rather nice, using something known to be vile to do good. If he got the chance, he would have to look into it, but for now, he could only use his poison to ruin.


    The five returned to the house and Guan Ping took Zhong Tang off of Liang Chen''s hands. She looked at her daughters with a blooming smile before handing the youngest Zhong Tang to Zhong Xue and sending her off.


    "Could you put them both to bed and then start on dinner?"


    Zhong Xue nodded her head with a smile and went to put the two kids to bed, closing the door behind her and leaving only Liang Chen and Guan Ping in the room. Guan Ping smiled and gestured towards the two couches surrounding the table, moving to the fireplace and removing a kettle filled with lukewarm tea from it.


    When they both sat down on a couch each and Guan Ping poured them both a cup of the lukewarm tea, Liang Chen couldn''t help but inspect Guan Ping. She and her daughters hadn''t done anything wrong, they were just living here in peace and calm, and yet here Liang Chen was, impersonating the person most dear to them and making them live a false life.


    They were happy and smiling, but it was all fake, a bubble just waiting to burst so that it could wash over them with the despair of realizing that he wasn''t actually their Zhong San. Had Liang Chen actually killed Zhong San, the situation would be even worse and he far crueler.


    Liang Chen had never doubted his actions or kills before, but now, as he looked at the woman in front of him and thought about the three children who knew nothing, he for the first time doubted what he was doing. Was acting like this really the way to go about it or was he right now just as bad as those he deemed evil? Guan Ping took a sip of the tea while these thoughts were swirling around in Liang Chen''s head. She turned her head to glance at the closed door that her daughters had left through, turning to Liang Chen and lowering her head.


    "I can do whatever you want, but please, don''t harm my daughters."

 The offer.

    Liang Chen''s hand stopped just as he was about to reach for the cup of lukewarm tea, his pupils shrinking drastically as he looked at Guan Ping, who kept her head lowered. He expression sank slightly as he pulled back his arm, he wasn''t expecting to have been discovered already.


    "How did you figure me out?"


    Liang Chen had followed Zhong San''s memories perfectly, even mimicking his minor ticks and the like perfectly. But while he was somewhat confused as to why he was discovered so quickly, he was also slightly relieved, at least now he wouldn''t have to keep pretending, keep fooling these people. Guan Ping raised her head, her expression already having paled somewhat as she flashed a weak smile.


    "I don''t know how you managed to copy him so perfectly, but I knew San''er for 94 years and we''ve been married for 71 years, there''s no way I wouldn''t notice. I beg of you, please don''t harm my daughters, and would you mind telling me about San''er''s final moments? Please."


    Guan Ping and Zhong San had spent most of their lives together, something that Liang Chen obviously knew, but he hoped that having all of Zhong San''s memories would make his imitation good enough. But now it seemed like he had been wrong all along, he didn''t even last one day before he was found out, it seemed like he would have to change his methods once more.


    "He didn''t have any final moments, he still lives. And you should know that I won''t do anything to you, otherwise, I would have done so already. But I will need you to remain quiet, so please sleep for a bit."


    Liang Chen unleashed his poison before Guan Ping could feel relieved about Zhong San being alive. His mind-controlling poison flooded her mind and soul, her eyes turning blurry for a bit before regaining their clarity as she lost control of her mind. Liang Chen couldn''t kill her or her daughters, doing so would make him just as bad as those he despised, it would lead him down a path he could never return from.


    But letting them run free was out of the question, he had to deal with them one way or another. After taking control of Guan Ping, Liang Chen stood up and walked through the door that Zhong Xue and the two other daughters had left through, repeating the same process on them. They were younger and weaker, so he made sure to adjust the doses of poison he used on them, taking care to not leave behind any wounds or residue.


    Once all four women fell under Liang Chen''s control, he had them pack up a few things and change their clothes to something that could handle a journey. They then left the house and headed for the spatial array that brought people back and forth between this hovering island and the island below them. The guards hadn''t changed yet, so the friendly guard called out to Liang Chen with a smile, Liang Chen quickly making up an excuse.


    "Ohh, back already, Junior Brother San? And you''ve even brought the entire family this time, heading out for a bit?"


    "Yeah, Little Tang and Little Qing were relieved to see me when I first arrived, but now they''re crying for their granny and grampy, so I''m gonna bring em all over there. Might spend a day or two there myself before I return, still gotta prepare for the competition after all."


    The five quickly stepped onto the spatial array after Liang Chen gave the excuse, teleporting away from the Duskshield Hall. Liang Chen could easily have them remain here now that Guan Ping and the others were under his control, but looking at them in that state sickened him somewhat so he decided to bring them away.


    The five arrived on the island that housed the weaker disciples of the Nightshield sect and quickly made their way to the spatial array that would bring them back to the continent, fully teleporting away from the sect. They arrived in the city but didn''t waste any time there, quickly leaving it and finding a spot that was out of sight.


    Once they were out of sight, Liang Chen used his wind to lift up the four people and then started to run, heading directly for Green Rivers city. Their walking speed would be too slow, especially considering that they were bringing along two children, so Liang Chen decided on this course of action. It previously took him four days to walk from Green Rivers to the city they were leaving now, but now that he was running at full speed he managed to reach Green Rivers city after a single day.


    The city was still empty and abandoned, only a few wild animals daring to cautiously walk around in it. Liang Chen made his way to the mansion at the center of the city, walking through the ruined doors and making his way down to the dungeons of the basement. He quickly reached a somewhat isolated and well-fortified cell containing the person he was looking for, the unconscious Zhong San.


    Liang Chen placed Guan Ting and the others in the cell and woke up Zhong San, using his mind-controlling poison on him to immediately take control over him. He then put down all the food and the other items he made the women pack before they left, leaving the door to the cell open as he left, securely locking the dungeon behind him. Leaving them in one cell would be too tight, so he decided that it would just be better to lock up the entire dungeon.


    And even then it could be considered overboard, as they were currently controlled by his poison and would follow his orders to the dot. The last order he gave them was to quietly live here for two months so they wouldn''t even think about setting foot outside of the dungeon before then. But it was better to be safe than to be sorry, so he still locked up the dungeon.


    Liang Chen didn''t leave the city after he locked up Guan Ting and the rest, he found a room in the mansion and sat down with crossed legs. It would be suspicious if he came back too fast so he decided to stay here for about a week or so to start merging his law of the void with his body and soul.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and sank his vision inwards after he sat down, drawing upon a little bit of the energy gathered within the pulsating Dragon Lotus that was a result of all his other Dragon Lotuses merging together with the law of the void. He slowly led the small trace of energy down his right arm and to his finger, carefully introducing it into his bone marrow.


    The fusing process actually went so smoothly that it surprised Liang Chen but he quickly came up with a reasoning that sounded reasonable. The bloodline that gave him the law of the void willingly merged with his own bloodline so the law of the void was likely doing the same right now, not resisting but even aiding the fusion process. But even so, the fusion was still a slow process that required Liang Chen''s full concentration, only his right hand done with the fusion when he was forced to stop five days later. As for why he was forced to stop, it was because the Bloodwind Code in his chest released a soft buzz, a familiar voice echoing out in his head.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Yo, Ye Zhong here again! We''ve given you enough time to rest up and heal from any wounds, so it''s time for what you''ve been waiting for! You''re quite impressive kiddo, you''ve already snagged a title for yourself and even killed someone that was quite a few spots above you on the ranking list. You''ve jumped up 21 056 spots thanks to your previous kill, so you''re now sitting comfortably at rank 84 671 in your universe. I told you the rules earlier, each 10 000 ranks equals one question and getting a ruler rank equals one question. You''ve got three questions to ask, so let''s hear em."


    Liang Chen opened his eyes when the voice of Ye Zhong rang out in his head again, he had been waiting for them to contact him so that he could finally ask his promised questions. He had already planned out his questions, so he didn''t waste any time with stating them.


    "I want to know as much as possible about the Sealing God Empyrean, the Void Born race, and the law of the Void."


    The Sealing God Empyrean was the driving force behind everything that had happened on this planet while Liang Chen was gone. The death of Yan Ling''s father, the destruction of the Storm Wolf sect, the destruction of Eternal Stream city and thus the death of Lei Qiang and his family, even the death of Liang Chen''s sister, it was all because of the Sealing God Empyrean. Liang Chen didn''t care about his motivations or reasoning, all that mattered was that Liang Chen had lost so much because of him, he would kill him no matter what. A short awkward silence followed Liang Chen''s questions, Ye Zhong responding somewhat hesitantly, even trying somewhat to change the subject, after almost a minute.


    "Right... Those things...Oh right, now that you''ve received a Lord rank, your Bloodwind Code will allow you to see the battle records of those lower ranked than you and even let you contact the others that have received a Lord rank. As for your questions, information on the Sealing God Empyrean is easy enough to find, you can just head to your nearest Heaven''s Secrets Company and we''ll have them hand over a file once they''ve verified your identity. As for your other two questions, I''ll first have to talk with Master, it''s a bit of a sensitive subject you see. Give me a few minutes."


    Liang Chen sat in silence after the voice of Ye Zhong vanished, patiently waiting for him to talk to his master. It seemed like he somewhat underestimated the weight that the Law of the void and the name Void Born carried. The Bloodwind Code buzzed again after a few minutes, but the voice that rang out within his mind nearly caused Liang Chen''s blood to freeze.


    "Oh, the Void Born and the law of the void, huh? Little Child, you certainly ask some interesting questions."


    The voice didn''t belong to Ye Zhong, it belonged to one of the youths that Liang Chen had seen when he received the full Ocean God''s Physique. He recognized the voice so he knew that he was currently talking to Ning Hao, the Bloodwind Emperor and the Arbiter of Death, the man who created the Bloodwind Codes.


    --


    Yan Ling was currently crouching at the top of a large hill, using a few short trees as cover as she looked down at the distant city. The city in front of her was called Dawn''s End, and it was the last obstacle between her and reaching her own continent. Stretching out behind Dawn''s End was an ocean that went on for as far as the eye could see, the water such a dark shade of blue that it almost resembled black in some places. That was the Sun Swallowing Ocean, the ocean separating this continent from the two continents she was used to.


    The problem was that Dawn''s End stretched out along almost the entire coastline, moving around it would take at least two or three months if she was on foot. Yan Ling had squeezed Jin Chang for all the information he had, only allowing him to die once she felt that he didn''t have anything else to tell him. Thanks to this, she knew about the state of her sect and family, she couldn''t afford to waste two or three months walking around the city. But if possible, she didn''t want to bring out the interspatial cruiser here, it would most likely lead to the Dawn''s Blade Alliance chasing her as she made her way across the ocean.


    She had already used her Heaven Altering Mask to change her appearance, she didn''t want a repeat of what happened with Jin Chang. But her brows were furrowed as she looked at the distant city, there were currently several figures running around in front of the city, everyone seemingly in a state of panic and confusion.


    Yan Ling quietly watched the confusion for a few minutes before deciding on her plan. Her appearance and aura slowly warped until it was identical to the now-deceased Jin Chang, she then stood up and made her way down the large hill with a calm and confident stride. She quickly approached the city and the people running about in front of it, a few people recognizing her and shouting out.


    "It''s Senior Brother Chang, he''s come to help us!"


    "Brother Chang, someone not marked by the array has entered the city but we''re unable to find him, please help us!"


    "Senior Brother Chang has come to deal with the problem!"


    Yan Ling couldn''t help but raise her eyebrows when she heard the commotion. The array they were talking about covered the entire planet and marked every person, only those with an Origin Beast bloodline or sufficient strength were able to avoid it. She knew that Liang Chen shouldn''t be on this continent so there was little chance of it being him, then just who had entered the city. But she didn''t even get the chance to ponder the question for very long, a voice sounding out from the midst of all the people rushing about.


    "There you are, I''ve been waiting for a few minutes already."


    Not just Yan Ling, but even the people rushing around were completely caught off guard by this voice, temporarily freezing up as there was no one present in the area where the voice came from. Under their wary and shocked gazes, the empty spot where the voice came from started to ripple slightly, a youth stepping out from the ripple and slowly making his way towards Yan Ling.


    The youth had gleaming violet hair and ghastly gray eyes, a black robe covered in a fine scaly pattern draped around his body. The youth didn''t emit the least bit of aura or energy, seemingly no more than a mortal, but no one was able to move even an inch as he headed for Yan Ling. The youth stopped in front of Yan Ling, rubbing his chin while sweeping his gaze over her body.


    "Huh, he really wasn''t kidding with me, you''ve actually managed to not just awaken it, but even improve his bloodline. You should be proud of yourself, only three other people have managed to awaken his bloodline, but you''re the first one to actually improve it."


    Yan Ling was barely able to breathe as the youth stood in front of her, every inch of her body felt like it was being suppressed just from being in his presence, her blood barely managed to flow through her veins. Seeing her remain quiet, the youth seemed to remember something.


    "Right, you''ve probably got no clue who I am. But you should at least know who this guy is, no?"


    As he was talking, a simple black gate the size of a man''s head appeared at the man''s side, floating in the air. The gate looked small but there were actually nine small universes orbiting around the gate, like stars orbiting their sun. The gate opened slightly, a tall man with azure eyes and flowing silver hair appearing at the youth''s side, quickly taking a respectful step back.


    Yan Ling''s eyes trembled fiercely when she saw this man, her bloodline practically boiling in resonance as she realized who was standing in front of her. She had read the records and seen the paintings left behind by the clan founder, and there was no mistaking the resonating coming from her bloodline, the silver-haired man could only be the one known as Star God Sirius, the one whose bloodline was flowing in her body.


    Realizing who the silver-haired man was, Yan Ling''s gaze couldn''t help but flicker and land on the casual youth standing in front of her. Thanks to what the records stated, and what Liang Chen told her in the past, she could easily guess the identity of the youth. Star God Sirius would only follow one person, the Nine Star Demon God, a man who controls at least nine of the major universes in this multiverse. While Yan Ling was reeling from her shock, Star God Sirius turned towards the Nine Star Demon God, causing him to wave his hand.


    "Yeah yeah, I haven''t forgotten it, you impatient bugger. I will give you this offer only once. Become my disciple and follow me, I will show you exactly how strong the bloodline you carry is."

 When we meet again.

    Yan Ling felt her entire mind buzzing after receiving the offer, it felt like fireworks were exploding in front of her eyes. She realized what situation she was in, but she simply wasn''t able to believe it straight away. The Nine Star Demon God wasn''t just anybody, he was one of the most powerful people in the multiverse, above thousands and below no one. And he had just asked her... to be his disciple?


    She definitely only received this offer due to the Star God bloodline in her body, but it didn''t matter why she got the offer. The only thing that mattered was that accepting this offer was the same as ascending to the heavens with a single leap, she would basically be guaranteed to become more powerful than she could ever imagine if she followed him. But even though she knew just what sort of grand opportunity this was, she was unable to accept it straight away.


    "I''m incredibly grateful for your offer, Senior Demon God, but I can''t leave with a clear mind if I don''t first find my brother and my future husband."


    Her father had died and she had no idea about the state of Yan Ying or Liang Chen, she refused to believe before she managed to find them. There was also the fact that she had to tell Liang Chen about this, leaving without telling him would be far too cruel, especially after he had just lost his sister. The Nine star Demon God didn''t seem to be bothered by Yan Ling trying to push off joining him, shrugging his shoulders.


    "I can''t stand being called Senior, it makes my wife laugh every time, you can just call me Yao Jun or Teacher Jun. And I can understand your feelings, so let me help you with that."


    Yan Ling suddenly felt a strange sensation in her head, it felt like a breeze was blowing through her mind. The sensation only lasted for a short second before the Nine Star Demon God, Yao Jun, turned his head and peered out over the ocean stretching out beyond the city a short distance away from them.


    "First one''s over there, let''s go."


    The scenery around Yan Ling changed drastically right after Yao Jun finished his words, the three of them suddenly standing in a small room that only contained a bed, a two-meter tall dresser, and a few common flowers placed in pots. Yan Ling knew that they had moved through space just now, but she hadn''t felt any spatial ripples or the like, it was as if they had always been standing within this room.


    Any questions popping up in Yan Ling''s mind were quickly discarded when she saw the person sitting on the floor next to the bed. A blonde-haired and green-eyed youth sat next to the bed, his eyes gawking as he looked at the people that had just appeared in front of him. Even though his appearance was changed due to the Heaven Altering Mask, there was no way Yan Ling would mistake him for anyone else, the person sitting there could only be her Little Freak. But strangely enough, it was actually Yao Jun who spoke up first, opening his mouth before Yan Ling even got the chance to.


    "Hoh, you''re actually talking to him personally, Brother Hao? Is he that speci... I see, you''ve been touched by the Void, haven''t you? Hehe, what an interesting thing, a non-Void Born that can use the void. Alright, you can talk with him for a bit."


    Yao Jun stopped his words mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing for a short second before the corners of his lips curled up, as if he had seen something inside Liang Chen. Looking at him and seeing realization slowly appear in his eyes, Yan Ling also felt the same that Yao Jun had felt. Liang Chen''s bloodline had changed again, it had gotten even stronger than it was when she last saw him. She could also feel that his energy and aura had changed slightly, a new fluctuation appearing in it, one that instinctively caused her heart to palpitate.


    Her smile couldn''t help but turn a bit bitter when she realized this. She had looked away for only a short while, yet he had already gone ahead and gotten even stronger and more terrifying than before. It was always like this, if she took her eyes off him for just one second he would charge forth and almost leave her in the dust. She had to exert all her energy just to keep up with him, but even that was often not enough.


    Yan Ling''s eyes hardened as she looked at Liang Chen, she would not allow him to run too far ahead and leave her in the dust. She would stand shoulder to shoulder with him, even if it meant having to leave him for a while, otherwise, she feared that she would not be worthy of him. She walked forward and stopped in front of Liang Chen, who had already stood up upon being told by the Bloodwind Emperor who was standing in front of him. The two both stretched out their arms and embraced each other, burying their faces in each other''s necks while speaking up at the same time.


    "I''m sorry that I couldn''t be there when you lost your sister, I promise that I''ll help you eradicate the Sealing God Empyrean who caused it."


    "My condolences about your father, I swear to you that I will drag down every last one who had a hand in his death."


    The two didn''t say anything else after their first words, continuing to bury their faces in each other''s necks. Only now did Liang Chen allow his tears to spill, the same was true for Yan Ling, only when they were with each other would their tears allow themselves to fall. Yao Jun simply stood a few feet away, conversing with Sirius as he waited for the two to finish their meeting.


    The two ended their embrace a few minutes later when their tears dried up, looking at each other without saying anything. They didn''t need words to understand each other, the conviction and care in their eyes were enough to get everything across. Yan Ling held onto Liang Chen''s hand, smiling softly while pointing at Yao Jun.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "I''ve decided to accept his offer and become his disciple, I fear I''ll never be able to catch up to you otherwise. Just you wait, next time you see me I''ll have become a Big Freak worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with you. So you''d best not drag your feet or laze around, otherwise I''ll have to whip you into shape when we meet up again, otherwise, you''ll never be worthy of being the next sect master of the Storm Wolf sect!"


    Yan Ling swung her fist around after pointing at Yao Jun, emphasizing her point while puffing out her cheek. Liang Chen returned her smile, suppressing the sour feeling in his heart while he swiped his interspatial ring and took out a few items.


    "I got this from someone I killed earlier, it might be useful to you. This vial is the last gift your father prepared for you."


    Liang Chen handed Yan Ling the emerald green vial he dug out of Tian Chun''s stomach, as well as the Bloodwind Code he received after killing Yu Jiang. Yan Ling seriously accepted the two items and put them away, Liang Chen suddenly raising her left hand and holding out her ring finger.


    "And this, this one is from me. Next time we meet, I''ll add the last crystal that I have yet to add, at that time it''ll be complete."


    Liang Chen slid the silver ring embedded with six crystals that he had made onto her finger, it easily slid on and fit perfectly once it reached the base of her finger. Yan Ling raised her hand to look at the ring, her smile growing even softer and sweeter. A quiet promise about what was to come, a symbol of his determination and heart. After admiring the ring for a bit, Yan Ling couldn''t help but smile somewhat sheepishly before swiping her interspatial ring, a robe made from dark golden fabric embroidered with a few violet and emerald threads forming wind-like patterns appearing in her grasp.


    "Now you''re just making me feel bad about the quality of my gift. It might not be as good as the ring, but you''d better accept it with all your heart, it was a bitch to make."


    Liang Chen accepted the robe, a content smile on his lips, he could tell what she wanted to convey with the robe and its delicate craftsmanship. Gold, emerald, and violet, the colors of his first two laws, lightning and poison. The colors were him and the pattern was her, it was only perfect as long as the two of them were together. Liang Chen put away the robe for now, changing into it in front of Yao Jun would be too strange.


    The two softly held the hands of each other and locked eyes, remaining in silence for another minuter before letting go of each other. Yan Ling''s eyes grew steely and determined before she turned around and walked back to Yao Jun, nodding her head at him. Yao Jun returned the nod, giving a light wave of his hand.


    "A bit of absence makes the heart grow fonder, trust me, I know. On you go."


    Yan Ling vanished after Yao Jun waved his hand, Liang Chen having no clue where she ended up. But Yao Jun didn''t vanish alongside her, he remained behind, his gaze landing on Liang Chen.


    "I know how much it takes to do something like that, trust me, I really do. But aren''t you the least bit worried? The place I''m taking her is completely different from here, it''s filled with nothing but monsters and heaven-blessed talents, people you can''t even begin to imagine or fathom. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it can also chill even the fiercest passion."


    Yao Jun wore a faint smile as he looked at Liang Chen, it was a type of smile that Liang Chen had seen before a few times while he was still in the Storm Wolf sect, it was a testing smile. Liang Chen sat down on the ground again now that Yan Ling had vanished, his gaze returning to its usual calm, ferocity lurking deep within his eyes.


    "Didn''t expect that even someone like you would enjoy testing and playing with people. There''s no need for you to say so much, our feelings aren''t so shallow that a bit of time apart can chill them. And let me warn you, should you harm even the slightest hair on her head while we''re apart, then I will come for you, and not a damn soul in this multiverse will be able to save you."


    If news got out that someone like Liang Chen threatened someone as grand as the Nine Star Demon God, there was no telling how many people would keel over laughing. But Liang Chen fully meant his threat, he didn''t care how strong Yao Jun was or what connections he might have. If he harmed Yan Ling, then his life was forfeit. Yao Jun didn''t seem to mind Liang Chen''s threat, his faint smile growing a sliver wider.


    "Heh, gutsy, I like it. But I don''t think you understand just how grand the talents I''m bringing her to are, they can truly be classified as monsters, they''re not something that the people in this minor universe can compare to. Strength and talent can sway even the strongest heart, I''ve seen it countless of times already."


    Liang Chen''s gaze remained the same after hearing Yao Jun''s words, but the ferocity within his pupils swelled dramatically, to the point that it resembled a dragon swimming within his eyes. The air around him seemed to grow slightly stagnant as a thin and somewhat grim smile formed on his lips.


    "Like I said, our feelings aren''t that shallow. But fine, let me tell it to you clearly then, since that''s what you''re looking for. Should there even be the slightest chance of something like that happening, then I will trample all those talents and monsters. I will tear them down one by one and keep moving forward until the only monster that remains is me."


    Liang Chen didn''t like being tested and prodded like this, even if the person doing it was someone as grand as the Nine Star Demon God. Yao Jun''s faint smile grew into a full-blown grin as he looked at Liang Chen, his eyes gleaming brightly.


    "There you go, I knew you had it in you. I Like you kid, you remind me of me when I was younger. Use those burning emotions, that unyielding conviction, that''s the only way you''ll be able to climb up the mountain that is cultivation."


    Yao Jun suddenly stretched out his right arm, a massive amount of energy and compressed space gathering above his palm. The energy and compressed space quickly formed a grape-sized silver crystal that strangely enough didn''t radiate even an ounce of energy. Yao Jun tossed the crystal to Liang Chen, explaining how to use it.


    "Once you''ve finished what you have left to do here, crush that crystal, it''ll open a passageway to the major universe where I''m taking her. Show me what the law of the void can do in the hands of a man, I''m expecting fun things from you."


    Yao Jun and Sirius vanished into thin air after he explained how to use the crystal, only a faint laughter remaining of him. Liang Chen observed the crystal for a bit before putting it away, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Yan Ling was fine and had even managed to become the disciple of a supreme existence, easing one of his worries. But as they hadn''t said anything about her brother, Liang Chen still had to enter the Nightshield sect''s dungeon so that he could check up on Yan Ying''s state. But before he could do that, he still had to finish receiving an answer to his earlier questions from Ning Hao.

 The paradox of the void.

    Liang Chen took several deep breaths but failed to calm his mind, a somewhat irritable sensation spreading through him. He acted calm and composed in front of Yan Ling so that she wouldn''t worry about leaving him, but in the end, he still couldn''t prevent it from affecting his emotions. Luckily he had something to occupy his focus, namely the voice of Ning Hao echoing out in his head thanks to the Bloodwind Code.


    "Heh, that one''s a bit of a strange man, but you can consider his words a compliment, something not a lot of people in this multiverse have ever gotten. But he''s fucked off already so he can''t interrupt us anymore, so let me answer your questions about the Void Born and the law of the void."


    Liang Chen immediately focused all his attention on Ning Hao after he chuckled. Yu Jiang, who Liang Chen killed in Green Rivers city, became incomparably shocked and terrified when Liang Chen used his new law against him, uttering the words Void Born and void. From his reaction, it was clear that these two things were far more shocking than his identity as a Sebettu so Liang Chen couldn''t help but be extremely curious about them. There was a short silence from Ning Hao, who seemed to be ordering his thoughts before he started talking, teaching Liang Chen about things he was technically too weak to come into contact with.


    "Let''s start with the Void Born themselves, the race usually born from nothing. There are actually four different types of Void Born, Minor Void Born, Major Void Born, Merged Void Born, and Ruler Void Born. Minor Void Born are those born by the vast emptiness that separates planets, usually only in spots where Qi or matter is so sparse that it is basically gone. Major Void Born are those born in the void that separates the different universes in this multiverse, the space there is much closer to an actual void so they are stronger than minor Void Born."


    "Merged Void Born is the name given to the children between two Void Born, their strength can vary so greatly that some are weaker than Minor Void Born while others are stronger than Major Void Born. And the final ones, and the most terrifying ones, the Ruler Void born, they are the only ones that can actually be called real Void Born, birthed by the nonexistent nothingness that separates the various multiverses in our Sphere of Existence."


    Ning Hao stopped talking for a short moment after speaking up to here, seemingly to give Liang Chen the chance to absorb everything he had heard so far. Liang Chen was rather curious why Ning Hao called it a ''nonexistent nothingness'' quietly waiting for him to continue talking.


    "Young man, I was there when the first minor universe of this multiverse was born, I helped it grow and aided the various races living there, so you can imagine how long I''ve been around. But even after all these years, I have only ever encountered two Ruler Void Born. The first one entered this multiverse shortly after the birth of the 3rd Major Universe and killed the Boundless Heaven Universal Heart while the other one entered and completely destroyed the multiverse closest to ours. Make no mistake, Void Born are born of nothing and are nothing, their only purpose is to turn everything else back to nothing."


    This was the first time Liang Chen heard about the age of the Bloodwind Code creator, and the sheer magnitude nearly caused his head to spin. Just how old did he have to be to witness the birth of the first major universe, did that not mean that he had been born at the very dawn of this multiverse? Hearing about the Ruler Void Born, and digesting the rest of the information, also caused his head to buzz, there was more than one multiverse, and they could even be destroyed? And by just one being no less? Just what sort of bloodline had he drunk and merged with? Ning Hao didn''t give Liang Chen too much time to revel in his shock, continuing to talk.


    "Looking at the strength of your bloodline, what you swallowed should have originally been the concentrated blood of a Merged Void Born that had pretty decent strength. But thanks to the fact that your own bloodline is such a special mixture of bloodlines, even containing a mutated bloodline, it allowed the bloodline to evolve and reach its peak. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have gotten a hold of the Law of the Void, which only the Ruler Void Born can use."


    The more Ning Hao spoke, the more Liang Chen felt his head buzz, his fingers already massaging his temples. There was no telling where Ning Hao was right now, he probably wasn''t even in the same universe as him, yet he was still able to clearly see Liang Chen''s bloodline? Liang Chen had seen parts of a battle containing several Universal Hearts, but now it seemed like he had far underestimated their capabilities. Ning Hao gave Liang Chen several breaths of time to digest the information, opening his mind for the next batch of information.


    "Now then, the law of the Void. Young man, do you know what the Void, the true Void, is? It''s nothing. No matter, no space, no time, no Qi, no laws, it''s nothing at all. Now tell me, can such a place, a place that is nothing, exist? No, no it can''t, it shouldn''t possibly exist. And yet it does, hidden away between multiverses, it is one o the paradoxes of our Sphere of Existence. And just like the Void itself shouldn''t exist, neither should the law of the Void, and that is what makes it so terrifying."


    Liang Chen found Ning Hao''s words reasonable, if a void was characterized by a lack of everything, then it shouldn''t technically exist. But the rest of his words, Liang Chen failed to understand, why would the supposed impossibility of its existence make it terrifying? Ning Hao swiftly gave him his answer, his voice sounding a touch graver than previously.


    "The law of the Void encapsulates the nothingness of the Void, it does only one thing, and that is to turn everything else into nothing. Let''s take the law of destruction as an example, it has the ability to destroy everything, even the multiverse itself can fall to the law of destruction. But the laws belong to our Sphere of Existence, so should anything fall to the law of destruction, it will turn into energy that once again is fed back into the multiverse. The same is true should a multiverse fall, it will turn into energy that is either fed into a different multiverse or the Sphere of Existence so that it can birth a new multiverse. But the law of the Void shouldn''t exist, it cannot exist, so it isn''t a part of the Sphere of Existence. Anything ruined by the law of the Void will truly become nothing, it will not even become energy that is fed into the Sphere of Existence. As such, whenever a multiverse is ruined by the law of the Void, it vanishes forever, the Sphere of Existence shrinking. As such, it is theoretically possible for the law of the Void to swallow even the Sphere of Existence itself."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Ning Hao didn''t explain what this Sphere of Existence was, but Liang Chen was able to guess at it based on what context he used it in, it should be what he called the collection of all the multiverses. But Liang Chen didn''t spend much time lingering on this Sphere of Existence, he was much more occupied with the explanation of the law of the Void. It seemed like what he originally thought to be a rather strong new law was far more terrifying than he could have possibly imagined, the enemy of all existence.


    At the same time, he couldn''t help but wonder if the nonexistent state of the law of the Void was the reason it could merge so easily with his body and soul. Sadly he had already gotten an answer to the three questions he could ask, the voice of Ning Hao letting him know that this was the end.


    "Let me give you a few parting words, Young Man. Power itself isn''t evil, it will never be. The law of destruction and the law of death can be used for good, only the intent behind the power matters, nothing else. So you can feel free to use your law of the void as you please, just know that I will have to interfere should you become a threat to the multiverse. And don''t get complacent, you have plenty of strong laws, but getting negligent and lazy will still lead to your downfall, I''ve seen it far too many times. Work hard in your cultivation and walk forward on your own two feet, I will be keeping an eye on you and hope that there will be a day where you can stand in front of me as an equal."


    The voice of Ning Hao vanished after he left behind his words, leaving Liang Chen to sit alone in silence to think over everything he had just heard. Liang Chen spent a bit of time trying to calm the waves in his heart and organize his thought and feelings, but he ended up making no progress, eventually standing up.


    "Let''s go for a change of pace."


    Liang Chen left the room he had occupied for his cultivation and made his way out of the palace, his footsteps slowly taking him away from Green Rivers city. He didn''t plan his path, immersed in his own thoughts as he let his body move on its own.


    Before he knew it, he found himself entering Sky Piercer forest and ascending the mountain that served as the center. He walked up the mountain until he reached a small outcropping, his steps eventually halting at the edge of the outcropping, his gaze sweeping across the forest stretching out beneath the outcropping.


    This place was somewhat special to Liang Chen, it was here that the ashes of his parents had been scattered to the winds, it was here he acquired the only image he had of them. Liang Chen sat down and swiped his interspatial ring, taking out a yellow crystal and inserting some Qi into it, an image of him as a child and his parents projecting above the crystal.


    He placed the crystal at his side and let his gaze drift across his surroundings absentmindedly, removing the Heaven Altering Mask that was changing his appearance. When he was here, he wanted to at least be here with his own appearance. A few strands of hair fell over his eyes, his hand unconsciously moving to push them aside before his hand suddenly stopped. He lowered his hand and swiped his interspatial ring, taking out a small handheld mirror and holding it up in front of his face, a somewhat subdued chuckle escaping his lips.


    "Heh, you kill my entire past only to bring back a tiny sliver of it as a reminder? Too bad, I don''t play by your tune."


    The color of Liang Chen''s hair and eyes had once again changed, but this time it was in a direction he hadn''t expected. There were no more extravagant colors, his hair had turned completely black and his previously heterochromia eyes had turned emerald green. For the first time since he started cultivating, Liang Chen had regained the appearance he had as a child. But his past was dead, as was the Liang Chen of that time.


    The Qi within his body started to move, flooding his eyes and hair and permanently changing them. He mixed some of his poison with an increased flow of time and had it enter his hair, draining its color until it had all turned a silvery-gray, the poison within it causing it to shimmer slightly. His eyes were flooded with a mixture of poison and lightning, a thick coating of them surrounding his pupils and sinking into them. Liang Chen grit his teeth and ignored the pain, and using the principles of the Ocean God Physique, both his pupils quickly turned golden, lightning of various colors flickering around in them.


    Liang Chen let out a deep breath once the changes were done, he wanted to draw a line between him of the past and who he had become. Liang Chen observed himself in the mirror for a bit before putting it away again and sucking in a deep breath of fresh air, the simple act of drawing the line allowing his mind to clear up. He picked up the yellow crystal and looked at the image for a bit longer, a smile slowly suffusing his lips as he spoke to the picture.


    "It''s just like she said, I''m not a god. I can only decide what I want to do and then do just that, no matter whether it''s right or wrong. It doesn''t matter how many people deem me a monster or reject me because of my laws, I will keep walking forward until I can walk no more, until I''ve accomplished all I wish for. You two just wait, I''ll bring you back someday, I still hope to have you there at my wedding after all."


    It didn''t matter if his laws were considered the enemy of all existence, it didn''t matter if people rejected or hunted him because of his bloodlines, he was who he was and he would keep walking his path proudly. Liang Chen placed the crystal into his interspatial ring and brought out the Heaven Altering Mask again, putting it on and taking on the appearance of Zhong San again. It wouldn''t be too much longer until the tri-monthly competition started, that would be when he had the best chance of entering the Nightshield sect dungeon to look for Yan Ying.

 The spear that broke the night (1)

    Liang Chen descended Sky Piercer mountain and rapidly left the forest that surrounded it. He once again followed the path he previously took to the Nightshield sect, moving at a somewhat leisurely pace so that he wouldn''t arrive at the sect too quickly. His eyes were mostly closed as he walked, most of his mind focused on continuing to merge the law of the void into his body and soul cultivation. The more parts of him he could merge with that law before he attempted to sneak into the dungeon, the more confident he would be in his odds should things go awry.


    He reached the Earthen Embrace city that would take him to the Nightshield sect after three days, once again not wasting any time in the city and directly teleporting to the Nightshield sect. He made his way across the empty plain and entered Dusk''s Ascension city, once again getting bombarded by various greetings as he headed for the spatial formation that would take him to the Duskshield hall.


    "Respectful greetings, Senior Brother San. I see that Mistress Ping and the others are not with you this time, did you leave them with Mistress Ping''s mother so that you can focus on the competition?"


    "Wonderful day to you, Senior Brother San! Good luck in the competition, I know that you can secure a good spot this time!"


    "Good afternoon, Senior Brother San, please make sure that you get some rest before the tri-monthly competition, being too stressed about it won''t be good for you."


    The tri-monthly competition was a very important event to the Nightshield sect, especially now that most of the elders and senior disciples were basically hostages of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance. Liang Chen maintained his Zong San disguise, cheerfully greeting those that called out to him, even stopping and chatting with some of them.


    These people were considered lower disciples who were unable to become true cultivators by some of the other Nightshield sect disciples, but those that thought so were actually a minority, most others treating them as completely normal disciples. It was a rather pleasant cultivation environment, focusing on competition while also fostering friendly bonds between most disciples.


    Liang Chen spent almost three hours walking through the city and chatting before he got to the spatial array that brought him up to the Duskshield hall. The moment he stepped out of the small house containing the array, he could feel the lively and somewhat tense atmosphere surrounding the city in the distance. He didn''t recognize the two guards standing in front of the building this time, but one of them pointed at the city with his thumb after seeing Liang Chen''s expression.


    "Lively, isn''t she? All the disciples remaining in the sect have gathered there for the tri-monthly competition, just about every house is packed to the brim. The disciples from the lower island are also swarming here in vast numbers, won''t take long for a bunch of camps to surround the entire city I reckon. Everyone''s been a bit on edge ever since we''ve been forced to ally with the Dawn''s Blade Alliance so this is a good chance to unwind, they really needed it."


    Liang Chen gave a short nod of his head, he could already spot a few tents set up around the city, disciples clad in the robes of the sect eagerly cultivating to pass the time. Liang Chen said his farewells to the guards and headed to the city, greeting a few people as he made his way to his house, entering it and closing the doors behind him.


    The only thing that greeted him when he closed the doors was silence. The house was automatically heated due to an array that ran throughout the entire city, but Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel that it was slightly chilly. He was never good at being alone, no one liked to be lonely after all. But right now Liang Chen had no one around him, even Yumao was gone for the moment, so he was really all alone.


    Liang Chen slapped both of his cheeks and pushed away the negative emotions, his eyes growing determined again. He walked through the house until he reached the small cultivation room, a simple room containing only a single stone bed covered in runes and lines that spilled over onto the floor and stretched up the walls.


    Every house in this city had one such room, with the houses closer to the center having a better version of the room. The room served only one purpose, to draw upon the energy of the array that covered the entire hovering island and divert some of the energy it constantly gathered up, allowing the cultivator to use it for cultivation.


    Liang Chen sat down on the bed and crossed his legs, activating the array and causing all the runes and lines covering the room to emit a faint green glow. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, the amount of Qi in the room rapidly increasing thanks to the active array. He tapped into his law of time and utilized the dense Qi to support his increase of the flow of time, the speed of time within the room quickly becoming 12 times faster than on the outside.


    Liang Chen''s cultivation had reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm and his bloodline had been greatly strengthened after he fused with the Void Born blood. If he wanted to cultivate in some other place he could constantly increase the flow of time around him to eight times the normal speed, but the array here allowed him to nearly double that.


    There was still a month until the tri-monthly, meaning that Liang Chen had an entire year to focus on his cultivation and on increasing his strength. This was the terror of the laws of time, this was Yan Ling''s greatest fear and one of her main motivators to leaving with the Nine Star Demon God.


    Liang Chen split up his focus, one part focusing on continuing to fuse the law of void into his soul and body, one part focusing on cultivating his soul, and one part focusing on deepening his understanding of not just his own laws but also his own battle techniques. Yan Ling was doing her best to increase her own strength to chase after him, but Liang Chen was also doing everything in his power to increase his own strength to make sure that he could achieve his goals and not lag behind Yang Ling.


    Time quickly passed, the city growing more and more lively as the day of the competition came closer. The streets were packed at all hours of the day, some of the vendors keeping their stalls and shops open all throughout the night. But none of this had anything to do with Liang Chen, who was fully immersed in his own world, his strength and understanding slowly rising. And before anyone knew it, one month passed and Liang Chen opened his eyes. The tri-monthly competition had arrived.


    Liang Chen stood up and left the house, taking a deep breath and sensing the atmosphere that was so tense it was practically palpable. A sea of people was busily making its way out of the city, heading to the grand arena that was located about 50 kilometers to the west of the city. The sun had just barely risen, but none of the people present looked the least bit tired, their eyes blazing with determination and excitement.


    Liang Chen''s eyes were far colder and more subdued compared to the people around him, his feet locked in place as he quietly stood outside the house and watched the crowd move past him. He watched them for nearly two hours before the sea of people slowly shrank, almost everyone had already reached the arena by this point. It was at this time that Liang Chen started to move, following the last few people out of the city.


    But rather than head west with them, he hung behind a bit and then split off, heading east towards the hook-like mountain located not far from the city. The mountain was surrounded by a barren plain, a single metal door entrenched into the bottom of the side of the mountain that faced the city.


    Liang Chen didn''t head directly to the mountain, walking in a roundabout manner until he reached the back of the mountain. He then ascended the mountain up to the halfway point and then started to make his way around it, his body somewhat crouched as he moved quickly yet silently.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He stopped when he reached the side of the mountain and created a platform of hardened wind he could stand on, allowing him to take a few steps into empty air. From his new position, he could see the side of the entrance that led into the mountain, his gaze landing on a woman leaning against the mountain-wall next to the door. A silver halberd was leaning against the shoulder of the woman, her gaze occasionally drifting towards the west, as if she could picture the spectacle of the competition.


    Liang Chen already knew that both the strongest disciples remaining in the sect had to personally oversee the tri-monthly competition, and their underlings were guaranteed to want to take part in it for the rewards. As such, this was the time where the dungeon had the laxest guard, it was the best time for Liang Chen to infiltrate.


    Liang Chen narrowed his eyes and swiped his interspatial ring, a white bow appearing in his grasp. He acquired two of these bows, whose only redeeming features were their toughness, back on Tripartite God planet. One had shattered in his battle against Qian Liao, the previous Lord of Justice, so this was the last one he had on him.


    He slowly pulled back the bowstring, the wind around him gathering at his fingertips and forming a hollow arrow. The hollow arrow was quickly filled by a white mist that flowed out from Liang Chen''s fingertips, causing the arrow to take on a mist-like appearance. Liang Chen gathered a bit more power in the arrow before releasing it, quickly grabbing onto the bowstring again to prevent it from causing too much sound.


    The arrow silently whizzed through the air as it headed for the guard, the hollow shell evaporating when the arrow was about 10 meters away from her. The wind that formed the hollow shell blew the white gas forward, dispersing it so much that it turned practically invisible. The gas blew over the woman, who took in a few breaths with her nose as she seemed to detect the faint scent of peaches. But shortly after she took in the breaths, her eyes rolled back and her body collapsed to the ground, a few soft breaths escaping her as she fell asleep.


    The platform of air beneath Liang Chen vanished and he descended to the ground like a leaf, silently touching the ground and rushing forward. He propped the unconscious guard against the wall again, using a bit of lightning to affect her nerves so that they locked up her knees and torso so that she would remain standing even after he left.


    He removed her interspatial ring and wiped away the imprint she had placed on it, scouring through it until he found the key to the dungeon. He then placed the ring back on her finger, not too worried about the imprint he had removed. By the time she woke up and noticed it, he hoped to be far away from the Nightshield sect, or to have already hidden amongst the other disciples.


    He unlocked the dungeon and opened the door, a surprisingly soft and delicate scent of plum''s tickling his nose. He stepped into the dungeon, which was plainly shaped like a long hallway that went deep into the mountain. Both sides of the hallway were lined with metal bars at first, the bars slowly giving way to metal or stone doors as one got deeper into the dungeon.


    Liang Chen used the Heaven Altering Mask to take on the appearance of the sleeping guard, walking into the dungeon with his hands behind his back and a leisure gait. His head lazily moved around as he walked, peering into the various cells hidden behind metal bars. The people locked up in the cells at the very front of the dungeon were all disciples of the sect that had broken some minor rules and had been locked up for a short while to learn their lesson, the actual prisoners were all further back.


    Liang Chen''s steps slowly took him deeper into the dungeon, the metal bars giving way to metal doors with slits in them so that the guard could check up on the prisoners. Liang Chen used Zhong San''s memories to figure out where the Storm Wolf sect disciples were locked up, sliding aside the barrier that blocked the slit on the first door of their cells.


    The moment his eyes peered into the cell, his expression sank and turned grim. He could see the Storm Wolf sect disciples in the cell, but none of them were alive. They were chained to the walls using chains covered in faint golden runes that seemed to seal their cultivation, they were all so skinny that they were practically just bones, multiple scars crisscrossing across their bodies. There was one long cut on their throats so they seemed to have been executed, Liang Chen guessed that it might have something to do with the disturbance here that he heard about.


    Liang Chen closed the slit of the door and made his way to the next cell, they were all divided across 12 cells, with Yan Ying supposedly only sharing his cell with one other person. But the person that Yan Ying shared his cell with was the one person Liang Chen would not expect him to share a cell with, Qing Lan Yong.


    Liang Chen opened slit after slit, but the only thing that greeted him was more and more death, all the remaining disciples having their throat slit. But what Liang Chen didn''t know was that after he showed himself after returning to the planet, the Nightshield sect no longer had a need for these prisoners, they could use the array surrounding the planet to find him. So when they got the chance, they executed the prisoners that remained, reducing the Storm Wolf sect to a mere three people.


    Liang Chen quickly reached the last cell, the one that Yan Ying and Qing Lan Yong supposedly shared. He took a breath and slid away the barrier blocking the slit, preparing himself for the worst. But when he peered into the darkness, he couldn''t help but start slightly, the cell was almost completely empty.


    Liang Chen quickly unlocked the door and entered the cell, which only contained some broken shackles and splatters of blood that contained a few bone splinters. Liang Chen''s expression grew serious when he saw the blood splatters and the bone splinters, but his attention was suddenly drawn to the corner of the cell by a familiar energy.


    He quickly reached the corner and crouched down, a black feather that was half-submerged into a black spot appearing in his vision. He pulled out the feather, the black spot dissipating once the feather was removed, revealing a single word scratched into the floor of the cell.


    "Escaped."


    Liang Chen moved his gaze between the word and the feather, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upwards. The feather radiated a faint energy that he was exceedingly familiar with, it was the aura of Yumao. And looking at the word carved into the floor, Liang Chen quickly guessed at what might have happened here. It seemed like Yumao detected Yan Ying''s aura while he was searching for Yan Ling, and knowing that Liang Chen was close to Yan Ying he ended up deciding to save him. With his ability to move through the darkness and sneak around, it wouldn''t be hard for him to sneak into this dungeon.


    Liang Chen let out a soft breath of relief, at least Yan Ling''s brother was still alive, she hadn''t lost her entire family. Liang Chen stood up and left the cell, closing it behind him and heading to the other cells. He picked up the corpses of the other disciples and stored them into his interspatial ring, offering them a silent prayer. They had all died because of him, the least he could do was to give them a proper burial and pray for their souls to safely reach reincarnation. Perhaps they would have enough luck in their next lives to not get involved with a scourge like him.


    He quickly finished storing away all the corpses and closed the dungeon cells behind him. Now that he knew that Yan Ying wasn''t here, he could stop pretending to be Zhong San and leave the Nightshield sect. He headed for the exit of the dungeon, but his steps stopped just as he left the dungeon, his pupils shrinking.


    Sitting on the ground a bit to the side of the dungeon entrance, in such a position that he couldn''t see her before he actually left the dungeon, was a young woman. She was clad in a silver robe and had fiery crimson hair that was slightly curly and hung down to a bit below her shoulders. She had soft features that instilled a certain calmness in anyone that looked at her, but both her eyes were completely white, without any light in them. But the strangest thing about the woman was that Liang Chen could feel that time around her was somewhat strange, it felt chaotic and disorderly. The woman smiled sweetly at Liang Chen, her empty eyes momentarily drifting to the interspatial ring on his finger.


    "You''ve always been soft like that, darling. But then again, that''s what we like about you. You know how hard it is for me to see anything about the two of you, is Sister Ling''er in there as well?"


    The woman stood up from her seated position and stretched her curvy and enticing body, not an ounce of wariness in her. But Liang Chen still took a step back as she stood up, his body tensing up slightly. He could feel it, this woman was dangerous, very dangerous. The woman finished stretching her body, still smiling sweetly at Liang Chen. But as she continued to talk, a flash of realization appeared in her eyes and a very soft sigh escaped her, her expression shifting from sweet to forlorn and finally to dignified.


    "What''s the matter, are you worried that I''ll scold you since you disregarded orders and charged in head-first? Come on you kn... Oh, right, you''re not that him, I mixed you up again. That you has already dissipated, he will never come to pass. Ha~h. Greetings, Scourge King Liang Chen, I am Chen Dairong of the Sealing God sect. No matter what might have been or could have been, I''m afraid that I must kill you here."

 The spear that broke the night. (2)

    Liang Chen''s body bent slightly forward, like a panther getting ready to pounce. He ignored the nonsensical gibberish that Chen Dairong was spouting, none of it made any sense to him. He instead put his focus on gathering his power, his veins starting to bulge and flash with a dim black light before receding back into his body, a sign that he had fully activated his bloodline. This Chen Dairong in front of him had only reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, but the sense of danger she gave him was even higher than the one Qian Liao and Yu Jiang had given him.


    A gray light flashed in his grasp as his dragon-maw spear appeared in his grasp, the five lightning bolts running down the hilt now having increased to six after he gained the law of the void. Liang Chen lightly kicked off the ground, his spear flashing with a soft light as his entire body shot forward like a bolt of lightning. He immediately stabbed out with his spear, a screeching sound shrieking across the plain like an echo as the tip of his spear drew a thin line in space.


    Liang Chen hadn''t wasted the one year of cultivation he had just gone through, he had increased his soul cultivation to the same stage as his body and Qi cultivation, the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. He had also merged the law of the void into the rest of his body and soul, his strength had increased quite a bit since he fought against Yu Jiang.


    The earth all around Chen Dairong exploded as Liang Chen altered his position by stomping the ground, nearly instantly arriving behind her and to her left. His spear finished its stab, but Chen Dairong seemed perfectly capable of knowing his position despite being blind. She leaned forward into a bow so that the spear passed over her, but she actually bowed so deeply that the energy radiating off the speartip was just barely unable to reach her.


    She then spun her body around, her right hand accurately grabbing onto the hand that Liang Chen was using to grasp the spear. She tightly grasped his hand and continued spinning her body around, lifting her legs off the ground and trying to wrap them around Liang Chen''s neck.


    Liang Chen leaned his torso back, but Chen Dairong seemed to have anticipated his actions, using her grasp on his stable hand to push herself closer to him just as the thought to lean back struck him. As a result, her slender legs reached his neck and started to wrap around it. But Liang Chen had plenty of experience and was thus able to quickly counterattack, brown lightning accompanied by a fierce wind howling out from his body.


    Chen Dairong once again reacted quickly, her legs already retreating by the time the lightning and wind left Liang Chen''s body. But Liang Chen wouldn''t let her escape so easily, pulling his right arm back a little and taking advantage of the fact that she was still holding onto his hand to pull her closer.


    The lightning and wind blasted her legs away as a result, the scent of roasted flesh reaching Liang Chen''s nose. Chen Dairong quickly used the force of the attack to spin her lower body and lift herself up into a handstand on top of Liang Chen''s hand, which didn''t even budge under her weight.


    But just as Liang Chen was about to unleash a burst of poison from his hand, Chen Dairong let go of it by pushing herself up into the air. The air around her seemed to harden as she pushed herself upwards, giving her a platform she could handstand on for a short second before she lowered her legs and kicked off another vertical platform. She launched herself away from Liang Chen, somersaulting in the air and landing on her feet a few steps away.


    By the time she landed on her feet, the scorched flesh on her legs was almost fully healed, the wounds rapidly vanishing as if they had never been there to begin with. Chen Dairong gave her now fully healed shins a soft stroke, her face once again carrying a sweet smile as she looked at Liang Chen.


    "Just like always, darling, quick to react and not an ounce of hesitation in your moves. The title of Heaven''s Decimator is not wa... No, that''s not right, sorry I got you confused again."


    Chen Dairong''s eyes once again flashed with confusion and realization, but Liang Chen continued to ignore her gibberish, not having the slightest clue what she was talking about. She occasionally talked as if she was very familiar with him, but Liang Chen was certain that he had never met this Chen Dairong before.


    No, Liang Chen was much more focused on the two platforms Chen Dairong had created to escape, as well as how her energy moved whenever she seemed to predict his movements. It was a bit fuzzy when it came to how she predicted his moves, but he could feel a large amount of energy flood her left eye whenever she predicted his movements. It was much clearer with the platforms, he could clearly sense the law of time from them, she had frozen the time of the air in that area to create the platforms, something Liang Chen himself used to do.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    His expression couldn''t help but sink slightly when he realized it, she could use the law of time just like him. This was his first time fighting someone else using the law of time, it was a very elusive and rare law after all. Normally he might take the chance to observe her moves for a bit, but right now he didn''t feel like he had the chance to do so.


    His gaze moved slightly, drifting past the city and to the west. If he took too long here then they would definitely attract the attention of the people gathered there for the tri-monthly competition. At that point, Liang Chen would be surrounded on all sides and even be attacked by two people who had reached the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, it would be the worst possible situation.


    But just as his gaze drifted for half a second, Chen Dairong''s body flashed forward, her speed far faster than it was earlier. Two golden brass knuckles appeared on her hands as she almost instantly reached Liang Chen''s front and punched out with both hands. As her fists tore through the air and headed for Liang Chen''s abdomen and chest, he sensed a familiar energy fluctuation he would never have expected from her. He was almost 99% certain that he already knew what technique she was using, but hearing a soft mutter escaping her lips he became fully certain that his guess was right.


    "First step shatters the body."


    The power and speed behind Chen Dairong''s fists suddenly doubled in power, both her fists arriving mere centimeters away from their targets in less than a blink. Liang Chen quickly reacted and took a step back, spinning his spear and placing it in front of his body to block both the fists.


    The fists struck the handle of the spear and unleashed the energy gathered in them, Liang Chen''s wrists trembling from the power contained within the attacks. His body was flung backward through the air, his sharp instincts allowing him to quickly raise his feet and deliver a sharp kick to Chen Dairong''s left elbow. A cracking sound resounded from within her elbow as Liang Chen was flung backward, her left arm hanging limply, a deep cut in her elbow nearly severing everything beneath it.


    Liang Chen was flung back nearly half a kilometer before he touched the ground again, quickly rolling backward and stabbing the butt of his spear into the ground to launch himself a few meters into the air, dispersing the remaining momentum and force. He swiftly landed on the ground again, a few drops of blood leaking out from the corners of his mouth. He blocked the attack using his spear, but it contained a strange penetrating power that dug into his body like maggots and attacked his organs.


    His strong body cultivation extinguished this power almost instantly and healed his wounds, but some blood was still able to force its way up his throat. Liang Chen''s expression was solemn as he looked at Chen Dairong, whose broken and almost severed arm was already swiftly reverting to normal.


    "The Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, where did you learn them?"


    The Dragon Lord''s Three Steps was the supreme technique of the Heaven Devouring Dragon, it was something he left for his descendants, something only those of a pure bloodline could practice. He couldn''t sense even a faint trace of Sebettu blood within Chen Dairong''s body, so just how was she able to use it?


    Another fact that surprised him was that her attack seemed to have become stronger than it should have thanks to the technique. If he were to use it, it would double the power of his attack, a 100% increase so to speak. But when she used it, the increase seemed to be closer to 110-120%. Did it have something to do with her cultivation or was it perhaps a modified version?


    Liang Chen''s mind was racing with thoughts, some trying to figure out how she could use it while another part was trying to figure out if he too could modify it to increase its strength. Chen Dairong wasn''t in a hurry to chase after him, glancing at her healing arm and then at Liang Chen''s serious expression.


    "Would you believe me if I told you that it was you who taught it to me? It was a gift you gave me when you married Sister Ling''er, a promise that I would be the next one. Or at least, that''s how it should have been."


    Chen Dairong''s voice seemed a bit distant as she spoke, a forlorn sigh escaping her lips. Liang Chen''s racing thoughts came to a grinding halt as the pieces started to fall into place in his mind, his expression growing severe as he started to guess at just how Chen Dairong used her law of time.


    "I see, whenever your law of time floods your eyes, you''re actually using it to peer into the future, or at least a possible future, aren''t you?"


    This was the only explanation he could think of for why she would not only know what he was going to do just as the thought struck him, but also why she seemed to know him very well. But what Liang Chen didn''t understand was exactly how she did it, just how had she cultivated the law of time to become able to do this? Chen Dairong actually smiled sweetly after Liang Chen spoke, softly nodding her head.


    "I knew that I couldn''t hide it for long, you would have guessed it before long even if I hadn''t said a single word. Both guesses are right. I''ve sacrificed my eyes and half my brain to the law of time, giving my left eye the ability to peer into the most likely future about to unfold and my right eye the ability to see futures that may have been if we hadn''t made certain choices. I may have become blind and my mind muddled due to the various futures I see, but I can now see far more than I ever could. You for example, when I look at you with my right eye I see a future where you and Yan Ling were accepted as disciples by the Sealing God Empyrean, eventually becoming overlords on the same level as him. But that future will never come to pass now, you awakened your Sebettu blood too early, now the only future I see for you is death."

 The spear that broke the night. (3)

    Liang Chen''s eyes were cold as he swept them over Chen Dairong, the tip of his spear angled towards the ground. He didn''t let Chen Dairong''s grand words get to him, his mind staying calm as he quickly analyzed the situation, swiftly coming to a conclusion that raised the corners of his lips slightly.


    "Could you stop smiling at me like that, you''re giving me the creeps. And while you say all that, your powers aren''t that simple, or powerful, are they? I''ve managed to wound you twice, so even the future that your left eye sees, the most likely one, can easily be changed without you noticing. And as for that right eye of yours, just how much of those alternate timelines can you really see? If you and I were as close as you''ve said, a thought that sickens me, then how come you only used the First Step against me? Why didn''t you directly use the Third Step to truly catch me off-guard and heavily wound me?"


    As someone who could use the law of time, Liang Chen was rather familiar with it and knew that despite its great strength, it wasn''t that easy to manage such a grand feat with it. No law was omnipotent, there would always be a weakness that could be exploited. Chen Dairong didn''t deny Liang Chen''s words, maintaining her soft and intimate smile.


    "You really haven''t changed a bit, you were just as icy when we first met in that timeline. But time showed that even your frozen exterior can melt, there is room in your heart for more people. And just like I''d expect from you, darling, you accurately pinpointed the faults. You''re right, both visions have their own faults that can be exploited and used against me. But that''s why I''m not relying solely on my own power here. The key of the grand array that surrounds this entire planet has been hidden away in my body, using this key I can draw upon the power of the array to restore my own energy and wounds. Tell me, do you think you can outlast the energy of the grand array?"


    A vast amount of energy was drawn into Chen Dairong''s body the moment she finished her words, all the energy she had expended so far being refilled. Liang Chen didn''t show any strong reactions to the scene, he knew something was up the moment he saw her wounds heal so quickly. He raised his spear and pointed the tip at her chest, his mouth twisting slightly.


    "You''re really fucking creepy, do you know that? That way of talking where you think that you know everything about me is just like a stalker, it gives me the chills. And you''re not wrong, there''s definitely room in my heart for more people, everyone wants a friend or two after all, but there''ll never be room there for you, no matter what sort of twisted shit you''ve seen."


    Chen Dairong suddenly bent forward as Liang Chen finished his words, a few strands of her hair fluttering through the air as they were cut apart by a nearly invisible blade of wind that had been launched without warning. She then quickly threw herself to the side, rolling through the air as a puddle of sweet-smelling emerald liquid bubbled up from the ground and a thick crimson bolt of lightning struck down at her previous position.


    She froze time of the air beneath her and kicked off the platform it created, turning her sideways roll into a backflip that sent her several meters back. Black tendrils of mist and a light violet gas rose from the ground and lashed out at her previous position, just barely missing her thanks to her dodging. She landed gracefully on the ground after finishing her backflip, brushing off her robe while smiling.


    "You know that sneak attacks like that won''t work, so what is it that you''re really planning, darling?"


    Just like she said earlier, Liang Chen wasn''t wrong when he questioned how much of the alternate timelines she could really see. When she first gained this ability, she could at best see a few minutes of a random alternate timeline, unable to decide which alternate timeline she saw and what time period of it she saw. But after sacrificing half her brain to the law of time, she gained a bit more control over it.


    She could now just barely control what part of the alternate timeline she saw, and she could also somewhat control what alternate timeline she saw, narrowing it down to only timelines where she and her target shared some history together.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    But even though it was still this heavily limited, she could be considered one of the few people who knew quite a bit about Liang Chen thanks to the parts of the alternate timeline she saw. As such, she knew that he wasn''t the type of person to launch random attacks like that, he definitely had some sort of plan behind them. Liang Chen''s lips were still somewhat twisted due to the way Chen Dairong was talking, but even that expression couldn''t hide the faint smirk in his eyes.


    "As I said, stop talking like that, it''s disgusting. And won''t work? I think it worked just fine."


    Chen Dairong''s blind eyes narrowed slightly when she heard Liang Chen''s statement, her senses quickly scanning her entire body to look for any anomalies. And then she found it, a small cut on the back of her neck, a few drops of blood seeping out of the wound before releasing an inaudible hissing sound and turning into a gray mist that vanished into the air.


    Her expression sank for the first time, she had been able to see all of Liang Chen''s other attacks, but this one tiny wound showed that there was one attack that her future sight hadn''t picked up. She wasn''t certain if it was because the launching of the attack wasn''t part of the most likely future or if Liang Chen had done something to hide it from her future sight, but her instincts warned her that her second guess was correct.


    A powerful energy burst forth from within her body and enveloped the small wound, quickly closing it while forcing out a small amount of gray gas. The gas didn''t vanish after leaving her wound, it simply blew away with the gentle breeze, its shape never altering. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, the gray gas immediately flying over to him and sinking into his palm. Chen Dairong''s expression was somewhat solemn as she looked at him, but Liang Chen opened his mouth with a sigh before she got the chance to speak.


    "I ended up being too slow after all."


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on a small group of people that were currently rushing over. The group didn''t contain the two strongest remaining disciples, Senior Sister Chinyu and Senior Brother Lim, it seemed like they were just a scouting party sent out to discover who it was that was currently battling by the dungeon. The group quickly spotted the disguised Liang Chen and Chen Dairong, a burly man in the group quickly calling out.


    "Junior Sister Feng are yo... Who are you?!"


    The man cut off his own words when he saw the still sleeping guard leaning against the wall next to the dungeon entrance. Liang Chen had disguised himself as her when he entered the dungeon, but he didn''t have the time to move her or change his disguise after leaving the dungeon. As such, the arriving group of disciples immediately realized that something was wrong, two of them immediately grasping a paper talisman stuck to their chest. The talismans burst into flames and turned to dust and smoke that vanished to the west, likely sending a message to the two senior disciples that still remained.


    The talismans worked far faster than Liang Chen guessed, a loud commotion came from the west a mere second after the talismans vanished. Following the commotion, two figures cut through the air as they rapidly flew over, stopping in the air right above the scout group. One of the two people was a brown-skinned woman with peach-colored hair and black eyes while the other one was a slim man with rough skin, black hair, and brown eyes.


    The two people looked at Liang Chen and Chen Dairong with narrowed eyes, a large group of people quickly approaching them from behind. From the looks of it, the man and the woman, the two senior disciples, brought along all the other disciples after they learned about what was going on. Chen Dairong''s empty eyes landed on the two flying disciples, a peach-colored token engraved with three chains coiling around a three-headed and six-armed man appearing in her grasp.


    "I am Chen Dairong of the Sealing God sect, the person in front of me is Liang Chen in disguise. If you help me kill him you will be rewarded, if you try to stop me then I will activate the grand array and ensure that your sect suffers the same fate as the Storm Wolf sect."


    The expressions of Chinyu and Lim changed slightly when they heard Chen Dairong''s straightforward words, but both of them knew that they didn''t really have a choice in the matter. They both took deep breaths, the disciples arriving behind them also realizing how serious the situation was, all of them looking at the disguised Liang Chen with solemn expressions as they brought out their weapons.


    Liang Chen moved his head slightly, his gaze turning completely cold and calm as he looked at the people surrounding him. All paths of escape were blocked, it was uncertain whether or not his speed would be enough to let him flee. But he wasn''t completely without options, a plan had already started to form in his mind. He took off the Heaven Altering Mask and returned to his original appearance, his eyes piercing through the Nightshield sect disciples as he spoke plainly.


    "Don''t interfere. No matter what, I want to live, so if you try to kill me then I will fight back with the intent to kill, please don''t force me to show why I got the title of Scourge King."

 The spear that broke the night (4)

    The large group of disciples tensed up when Liang Chen''s gaze swept over them, all of them were more than familiar with the reputation of the Scourge King. Of all the people present, there were four people present within the group of disciples that were far more familiar with the terror of that name than anyone else. They had been there that day when he got his title within the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, they were some of the people who were lucky enough to survive the assault that killed even the land itself.


    So when his gaze swept over them, the four people couldn''t help but be drenched in cold sweat and take several steps back. Not even the fact that they were surrounded by so many fellow disciples was enough to wash away that fear, it was already bone-deep and instinctive. But their senior disciples had the responsibility to take care of the sect while the others were gone, so no matter what their thoughts were on the present situation, they had to give the order.


    "...Kill him."


    The disciples steeled their hearts and charged forward, the two senior disciples leading the charge to serve as an example. Liang Chen let out a sigh and stepped forward, his body turning into a blur as he charged directly at the incoming group of disciples. He cast a sideways glance at Liang Chen as he charged, but she didn''t follow him, her blind eyes somewhat narrowed as she looked in his general direction, seemingly trying to understand what he was planning.


    Just as Liang Chen reached the halfway point between him and the incoming disciples, he stomped the ground with all his force and increased his speed as much as he could, vanishing from sight. The air in his previous position tore apart as he vanished, it was like the air in that specific area was trying to tear itself apart in every direction, resulting in several black cracks in space appearing.


    Liang Chen appeared again directly in front of the incoming disciples, having used his fastest speed to dodge the attacks of the two senior disciples. But even his rapid reaction speed wasn''t enough to fully protect him, a large gash covered his entire back while a fist-sized chunk of flesh was missing from his stomach. His mind rapidly moved as he ignored his wounds, which were already showing signs of healing thanks to his strong body cultivation. From the looks of it, the two senior disciples cultivated some rather offensive laws, one of them using the law of tearing while the other one used the law of slicing. And those were just one of their laws, it would be foolish to assume that they only specialized in one law.


    Both of them had reached the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, they were by far the strongest people that Liang Chen had ever faced in combat. As such, Liang Chen didn''t plan on actually facing them in combat, he would drag things out, bind their hands while waiting for an opportunity.


    Liang Chen charged into the dense mass of disciples and lowered his body slightly, his narrowed eyes flickering around as he moved. He ducked under a sword slash that slowly moved closer, his left hand pushing out and sending the attacking disciple backward several meters, shattering two of his ribs. He stomped the ground to halt his steps and then quickly took half a step back, a hammer, a halberd, and four arrows crashing into the ground where he had just been.


    His spear flashed out, beheading the two disciples wielding the hammer and the halberd, his gaze landing on the four archers that shot at him. Three of them detected a sweet scent while the fourth one detected the scent of rotting fish, poison immediately invading their bodies. The one who noticed the scent of rotting fish found his body growing stiff, the muscles around his joints grew stiff and forced him to remain standing in place.


    But his end was far better than the end of the three archers, who started gasping for air, a pale pink sludge forcing its way up their throat and out of their seven orifices. They collapsed to the ground, their lungs, esophagus, and airpipe melting due to the poison, preventing them from even gasping as they died.


    Liang Chen was forced to start moving again the moment he dealt with the attackers, dodging 11 attacks by moving to the side and forward. His spear flashed again, three of the attackers starting to rot while still alive and four others pierced by bolts of crimson lightning. The last four attackers were struck by a strong gust of wind and were sent flying out of the group of disciples, their ribs fracturing due to the force of the wind.


    Liang Chen killed those who aimed to kill him but showed mercy to those that didn''t try to kill him, willingly weakening their own attacks. He knew that many people would call him naive and dumb if they saw this scene, but he didn''t care about that, this was who he wanted to be, this was how he wanted to act.


    Liang Chen continued to move through the sea of disciples, each flash of his spear dyeing the earth red as it reaped away lives. Each corpse was quickly snatched up and shoved into his interspatial ring, saved away for later. All the hairs on Liang Chen''s body suddenly stood on end, his body crouching down and immediately rolling to the side.


    A thin line flashed through the air where he had just been, blood spurting out from Liang Chen''s right shoulder as he was grazed by the line, which turned out to be a thread so thin that it was almost invisible. The wound on his right shoulder went all the way to the bone, even chipping the bone slightly.


    That also wasn''t the only attack that hit him, a pea-sized hole appearing in the left side of his waist, blood unceasingly leaking out. Even worse, the blood that leaked out from the wound turned into jagged crystals that pierced through his flesh and drew forth more blood. His gaze flickered over to the two senior disciples, who were still flying in the air above them, their eyes grim as they overlooked the battle beneath them.


    With Liang Chen hiding amongst the other disciples, the two of them couldn''t launch their attacks freely in fear that they might hit their own fellow disciples. They could only wait for an opening to reveal itself, just like it had a short second ago as Liang Chen was putting away five corpses around him.


    Liang Chen''s gaze quickly moved away from the two disciples and landed on Chen Dairong, but she had yet to make a move, her expression uncertain and even somewhat nervous. She felt a strange sense of unease as she looked at Liang Chen fighting within the sea of disciples. Each attack was strong enough to kill or wound those that he was fighting, but he never unleashed his full might, he seemed to be storing and gathering up power.


    But she couldn''t figure out what he was storing up power for, she couldn''t think of any abilities that he might have up his sleeve that might help here. She was confident that she could even handle the Third Step of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, she would end up badly wounded for sure, but the grand array could help her heal up right away. But even so, unease and nervousness wormed their way into her heart and mind as she looked at him.


    Liang Chen''s eyes remained cold and calm despite his wounds, he finished rolling to the side and pushed off of the ground with his left hand, launching himself half a meter into the air. The earth where he had just finished rolling rose up the moment he pushed off of it, turning into several sharp swords that vibrated and moved like a chainsaw, the attack just barely missing him since he dodged.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Liang Chen created a layer of hardened wind beneath him and stomped on it, launching himself through a small gap in the sea of people around him and instantly arriving in front of the girl who launched the attack just now. His left hand shot forward and clamped down on her face, a crunching sound ringing out as her skull was shattered like an overripe melon.


    Liang Chen immediately activated the Chaos King Technique, Liang Chen''s poisonous soul energy flooding her mind and wiping out any trace of consciousness that might remain in her. The Chaos King Technique then devoured 50 % of the girl''s Qi and poured it into Liang Chen''s body, replenishing some of the energy he had lost.


    Liang Chen let go of her drained corpse and dodged several more attacks that aimed at him, his gaze locking onto an attacker that seemed to have dabbled in body cultivation before. He dodged the man''s attack and drove his left hand directly through the man''s chest, repeating what he did to the girl but this time absorbing the bodily strength of the man. His body cultivation energy was somewhat replenished, his wounds healing a bit faster for a few moments as he poured more energy into them.


    He was forced to duck down before he finished absorbing the energy of the man, a thin string passing through the air where Liang Chen had just been. The string once again managed to graze him, a chunk of flesh from his upper left arm flying away as it was cleanly cut away. Before Liang Chen had the chance to react to the first wound, the body of the man he was still holding exploded, all his blood turning into sharp crystals that pierced through Liang Chen''s left hand and wrist.


    Liang Chen grit his teeth and threw himself to the side, dodging several attacks that aimed to take advantage of the opening created by the attacks from the senior disciples. Liang Chen dodged most of them, but three other attacks landed on his body, a gash opening up on his lower back and on his right thigh while two of his ribs shattered.


    Liang Chen couldn''t stop himself from throwing up some blood, quickly kicking off the ground to dodge more attacks. His spear flashed out several times and reaped tens of lives, his weak left hand grabbing onto the closest corpses and quickly absorbing them using the Chaos King Technique.


    And then, just as he finished absorbing the second corpse, a horrid sense of danger and death flooded his mind. His gaze quickly landed on Chen Dairong, who had pulled out a short crimson spear and was preparing to throw it, both her empty eyes fully focused on Liang Chen. Liang Chen''s eyes erupted with a brilliant light when he saw this, his left hand moving faster than ever before and absorbing the Qi of the surrounding corpses.


    But a strange scene took place, his Qi started to vanish just as quickly as it was replenished. And it wasn''t just his Qi, his soul energy and body energy was also being rapidly drained, it would all have vanished within two seconds if he didn''t have the Chaos King Technique to replenish them.


    Chen Dairong finished pulling back her arm and unleashed the short spear, a screeching sound piercing the ears of everyone present as the spear tore open a thick gash in the surrounding space. Chen Dairong didn''t care about the hundreds of disciples standing between her and Liang Chen, she simply felt that he had to die right away, before he could put his plan into action.


    But in doing so, she had already set Liang Chen''s plan into motion, giving him the opening he had been waiting for. Liang Chen completely ignored the spear and the attacks around him, his gaze fully focused on Chen Dairong. A strange scene appeared the moment the spear left Chen Dairong''s grasp, Liang Chen vanished from his previous position and arrived directly in front of her. He hadn''t taken a single step, nor was there a fluctuation in space, he simply appeared in front of her, as if he had always been there.


    Liang Chen had spent an entire year cultivating and deepening his understanding of his laws while he waited for the competition to start. And of course, his law of the void was one of the laws he focused the most on during this time. And right now he showed his deepened understanding of void, which was best described as the total absence of anything and everything.


    Thanks to all the corpses he had absorbed to replenish his energy at the end, the total energy he had right now was about double what he usually had. But even so, half of all that energy was spent in a single instant to fully activate his law of the void, turning the distance between him and Chen Dairong into nothingness, a form of teleportation relying on the law of the void. And the moment Liang Chen arrived in front of her, he stabbed out with his spear, angling it upwards.


    "Third step shatters mortality."


    Liang Chen instantly unleashed the final attack of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, Chen Dairong''s body tensing up immediately. She hadn''t seen anything like this with her left eye, was it possible that this scene wasn''t the most likely future? But there was one thing that she didn''t know, something Liang Chen had guessed his way to when he launched the earlier attacks that left a cut on her neck.


    The law of time that she used to see the future, how could it possibly see something that had no time, nor future? The law of the void was nothing, it was one of the grandest paradoxes of this Sphere of Existence, how could the law of time possibly see it?


    The tip of Liang Chen''s spear touched Chen Dairong''s chest, but just as she was preparing herself to resist the Third Step, shock overcame her. Both her eyes activated wildly, her law of time rampantly activating on its own as she looked at Liang Chen. She didn''t see any alternate timelines featuring the two of them, nor did she see any possible futures containing his actions.


    Just like she said earlier, all she saw for Liang Chen was death, but this time the death she saw was a vast and endless emptiness. It was no longer the death of Liang Chen she saw, no what she witnessed was the end of a universe, its quiet descent into nothingness, an unstoppable and unchangeable end. But before the horror of the sight even had the time to set in, she heard a quiet and soft whisper from Liang Chen, like a summoning from the god of death himself.


    "Third step shatters mortality."


    The Dragon Lord''s Three Steps were the supreme technique that the Heaven Devouring Dragon left behind for his descendants, each step would double the power of the previous attack, stacking it onto the next. The First Step doubled the power of your attack, the Second Step would quadruple the power of your attack, and the Third Step would increase the power eight-fold.


    But there was nothing in the technique that stated that it couldn''t be used to strengthen the other steps of the technique. So right now Liang Chen did just that, he used the Third Step to increase the strength of the Third Step he had just used. What was previously an attack containing his full might was first strengthened by eight times and was then once again strengthened by eight times. And once the energy of the attack was unleashed, the world fell silent.


    The first thing that happened once the attack was unleashed was that Liang Chen''s right arm disintegrated, even the molecules and atoms that made it up disappearing. The disintegration only stopped when it reached Liang Chen''s shoulder, leaving behind a bloody stump that was almost completely smooth.


    And then, a gargantuan bolt of gray lightning roared out from the spear and soared into the skies, blotting out even the sun itself and casting a dull gray light on the entire Nightshield sect. As the one who faced the full might of this bolt of lightning, merged with both the law of time and the law of the void, Chen Dairong simply vanished from existence, only leaving behind a peach-colored flag and a green interspatial ring.


    The lightning then spread out into thousands of other bolts that resembled cracks in the sky, it was as if the heavens themselves had broken due to the attack. The lightning bolts bombarded the other four hovering islands, tearing them apart and bringing them crashing down to be swallowed by the sea beneath them.


    The lightning didn''t vanish, the law of time merged into it made it so that it lingered within the air as an eternal scar, the law of the void occasionally making the lightning flicker in and out of existence. From a distance, it almost looked like the sky was repeatedly breaking and then repairing itself.


    The Nightshield sect had thousands of years of history, but all of them vanished under the might of the gray lightning, only a single hovering island remaining as a reminder of what once was.

 Dragon Kings Six Steps, finally meeting.

    Four of the five hovering islands that made up the five main halls of the Nightshield sect had been torn apart and crashed down into the dark ocean, swallowed by the waves. But even so, no one was able to hear a single sound during the entire process, the sky-shattering roar of the gray bolt of lightning had temporarily deafened everyone present.


    The people of the Nightshield sect were frozen in place, their gazes locked onto the flickering bolt of lightning that still scarred the sky, an eternal reminder of just what sort of power a scourge could carry. Even the two senior disciples were frozen in place, their feet unwilling to move as their gazes slowly swept their surroundings, taking in the emptiness that the grand Nightshield sect had become.


    Liang Chen was sprawled out on the ground only a short distance away from the peach-colored flag and the green interspatial ring that Chen Dairong had left behind after vanishing from existence. His right arm was completely gone all the way up to his shoulder, his spear lying on the ground while still crackling with a few arcs of lightning. He was spewing up vast amounts of blood, a man-sized pool of it already forming in front of and around him.


    He only had to bear the power of the attack as it moved through his body and entered the spear, but even then it was still too much for him to bear. His organs and veins were in a horrible state right now, his lungs and his torn open stomach flooding with his own blood. The final attack carried a risk he was well aware of, he knew that there was a chance that he couldn''t withstand the force of the attack and suffer horribly from it.


    But it was a risk he had to take, Chen Dairong had to die and she had to do so in one attack so that she couldn''t get the chance to heal. And his attack had done just that, erasing her from existence and also allowing Liang Chen to properly test out the power that was born when he stacked multiple versions of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps.


    Now that he was 100% certain that he could stack the steps onto each other, it was practically the same as adding three new steps to the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. The memories his birth parents planted into him didn''t mention anything about anyone stacking multiple steps together, the Sebettu revered the Heaven Devouring Dragon too much to think about altering the supreme technique he left for them.


    As such, Liang Chen momentarily guessed that he might be the first person to discover this ability of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps. As he thought about it, his thoughts wandering while he was vomiting up blood, it couldn''t really be called the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps now that he had basically added three new steps to it. As such, he decided that he might as well change the name a little, temporarily settling for calling it the Dragon King''s Six Steps. He also felt somewhat curious, could he continue to stack the steps onto each other? Was it possible to go all the way to nine steps, maybe even further?


    Liang Chen vomited up a particularly sour mouthful of blood, his wandering thoughts quickly snapping back to the situation around him. His eyes weakly raised to the sky, a bloody smile spreading on his face when he saw that flickering yet eternal bolt of lightning. The strongest attack he had ever launched, a proof of how far he had come, how long the road he had walked so far was. but it wasn''t enough, not yet. The Sealing God Empyrean would certainly be able to easily handle such an attack, the Nine Star Demon God would probably be able to deal with it even easier. He needed more strength, the road ahead of him was still long and thorny.


    He stretched out his left arm, his fingers digging into the blood-soaked earth and dragging him forward. He crawled forward using his left arm, his legs didn''t seem to be willing to listen to him right now so he could only rely on his remaining arm to carry him forward. The peach-colored flag was only three steps away from him but it still took him an entire minute to crawl to it. The people from the Nightshield sect were luckily still completely entranced and shocked by the flickering bolt of lightning so none of them stopped him before he reached the flag.


    He grabbed hold of the flag, which had already lost its owner when Chen Dairong died. He didn''t need to insert any Qi into it, he was drenched in so much blood that the flag almost became covered in it the moment he touched it. The blood sank into the flag and bound it to Liang Chen, personalizing it much like he had to personalize his interspatial ring after receiving it in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, it was a process all powerful items required.


    The flag flashed with light and then sank into Liang Chen''s body, a 3-d image of the planet suddenly appearing in his mind. He could see a further 999 flags made from orange jade scattered all around the planet, forming the array that sealed the bloodlines and Qi of almost all the living beings on this planet. He could also see every living being currently on the planet, they were all marked as small dots of light radiating very faint energy.


    He could even see a dot that radiated the same energy as Yumao, a person radiating an unknown energy currently seemingly riding on his back. Liang Chen checked his own position, but to his surprise, he was unable to see a dot for himself, it seemed like the array had been unable to mark him. He didn''t detect anyone with the same energy as Yan Ying so he guessed that he might have been taken away by Yan Ling and the Nine Star Demon God, if he too was dead he felt certain that Yan Ling would have rampaged across the entire planet right away.


    The flag he absorbed was the core of this grand array, the key used to control it all, absorbing it gave Liang Chen the ability to control the array as he pleased. This was the result he expected even before he grabbed the flag, he had expected it ever since Chen Dairong first spoke about it. Liang Chen was just about to fully activate the grand array when a familiar voice rang out in his mind from the flag.


    "Not even Little Rong was enough, even with the grand array supporting her? Ha~h, you are far more of a monster than I feared, Liang Chen. You know, I really want to admire you, I really do. You crawled your way up from nothing and forged your own path forward, growing stronger at a rate so startling that you even shocked me. But why did you have to have that cursed blood flowing in your veins, why did you have to be born from that vile race?"


    Liang Chen had heard this voice several times before during the trials of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm so he knew who he was talking to right now, the Sealing God Empyrean himself. Liang Chen couldn''t feel any energy coming from the flag, but giving it a closer inspection allowed him to feel a very faint trace of Anima Essence on it.


    From the looks of it, the Sealing God Empyrean left a very faint trace of his soul energy on the flag so that he could keep an eye on Chen Dairong, she was one of his disciples after all. But the Anima Essence was already very weak due to how little it was and the distance between it and the Sealing God Empyrean, the best it could do was project the Sealing God Empyrean''s voice into Liang Chen''s mind. The voice of the Sealing God Empyrean rang out in Liang Chen''s mind again but he cut it off, his voice practically dripping with blood.


    "Liang Chen, for the sake of the universe, would you be will..."


    "Shut up. Talk, talk, talk, that''s all you and your people ever do. Each and every one of you just keep going on and on about the universe won''t allow this, it won''t accept this, you are a monster, you won''t be accepted. You all keep talking as if you know me, know all my plans and my desires. Fuck you, fuck your beliefs, and if the universe really is as you say, then fuck the universe. You took my sister from me, you robbed my wife of practically her entire family, I am done with talking to you and I don''t care about your reasoning. Sealing God Empyrean, I will kill you, and not a damn soul in this Sphere of Existence can stop me. I will tear open your throat and watch you choke on your own blood, so you''d best prepare, for I am coming for you."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Liang Chen drew upon a bit of the power from the grand array and used it to crush the Anima Essence that the Sealing God Empyrean had left behind. His breathing was heavy and the blood vessels in his eyes had burst open, but his bloody gaze was so chilly and determined that it resembled the edge of a knife.


    Back when he first left the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, while he thought that it would be nice to punch the Sealing God Empyrean for carelessly dragging so many innocent people into his trials, he hadn''t really thought about killing him back then. But after everything that the Sealing God Empyrean had done here, killing his sister and Lei Qiang, one of Liang Chen''s few friends, as well as the entire Storm Wolf sect, Liang Chen had long decided that he was someone that had to die.


    After crushing the Anima Essence on the flag, Liang Chen activated the grand array, indiscriminately sealing the Qi and bloodlines of everyone on the planet, except for Yumao of course. The two senior disciples of the Nightshield sect came tumbling to the ground after their Qi was sealed, but Liang Chen didn''t bother with them and instead started drawing the energy of the grand array into his body to heal his wounds. But his wounds turned out to be far more severe and special than he first thought.


    Even with the support of the grand array, he still needed an entire three hours to heal the wounds on his organs and veins, but the problem was his right arm. The bloody stump had healed, but his arm didn''t regrow in the slightest even after three hours had passed. It was his right arm that had to endure the worst of the attack, as it was in his right arm that it started to fully bloom into splendor before entering the spear.


    A grim guess quickly formed in his mind, there was a good chance that the law of the void had run rampant in his arm and might have completely erased it. If that really was the case, then the number of ways that Liang Chen could heal his right arm was very limited, he could only think of two ways right now, and neither one could be accomplished quickly.


    He could only let out a deep breath and open his eyes, which had closed the moment the 3-d image of the planet appeared in his mind. His gaze landed on the Nightshield sect disciples, which had been too scared to flee after all their Qi and bloodlines became sealed, they simply stood there like stiff puppets as they fearfully looked at Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen stood up and walked over to his spear, picking it up with his left arm and returning it to his body. But as the spear dissolved into blood and entered his body, a somewhat strange scene took place. The dissolved spear made its way to his right shoulder and then started to extend and change shape, forming a new arm to replace his lost one. The new arm was even covered in a thin layer of skin, looking just like a normal arm.


    Liang Chen hadn''t heard anything about the Bloodwind weapons having a function like this, his eyes flashing with interest as he looked at the arm. He tried to call out his spear, the new arm vanishing as it immediately flashed to his left hand and formed his spear. He then called back the spear, which once again moved over to his right shoulder and formed a new arm.


    Liang Chen then tried moving this new arm, but it felt just like his normal one, if a bit stiff right now. He let out a short breath, this meant that as long as he didn''t bring out his spear he would still have two arms to use, which would help greatly in a fight. Of course, he also realized that this was far from perfect, the new arm was quite a bit worse than his actual arm.


    The first problem was that while he could channel his Qi into and through this new arm, it moved far slower than when he did so through his actual arm, it almost felt like the metallic-arm was clogged up. The other problem was that the new arm didn''t have any sensations, he couldn''t feel anything from it, making it hard to gauge how much strength he was using when grabbing something, it also made it hard to know if there was an attack that landed on it. But at least it was something, it would make do for now.


    He turned his attention back onto the fearful Nightshield sect disciples, his eyes narrowing slightly as he swept his gaze over them. He raised his left arm after a few seconds, a few arcs of gray lightning crackling around his hand as he pointed out with a finger.


    The gray lightning around his finger resonated with the flickering bolt of lightning in the sky, several new arcs crackling out from it and striking down on several of the people from the Nightshield sect. Including the two senior disciples, about 400 disciples were struck by the gray lightning and evaporated, unable to even put up a defense since their Qi was sealed.


    All the people he killed were those that had shown their killing intent against him or even participated in the capture of his sister, they were people he could not keep alive. He glanced at the rest of the disciples, several of which had already collapsed to the ground and even pissed their pants, but he didn''t act against them, simply turning away and heading for the spatial array that would take him away from the Nightshield sect. These people hadn''t shown killing intent against him so he was fine with keeping them alive.


    Liang Chen quickly left the Nightshield sect and started moving, running at his fastest speed. He managed to use the grand array to send a very short message to Yumao, telling him to meet him at the site where the Storm Wolf sect used to be. But there was one location that Liang Chen wanted to check out on the way there, so he ran to get there as fast as possible.


    With his speed, as well as utilizing the spatial arrays that still remained from the other sects, he quickly reached his target, the Floating Rose nation. Liang Chen had been to this idyllic island a few times in the past, mostly when he went to or left the Storm Wolf sect. But the island had changed greatly since then, almost completely unrecognizable.


    practically everything had turned bone-like in both color and texture, two large black-gray tentacles rising up from the shore and wiggling slightly as they stretched across the island. Liang Chen felt a very familiar sensation coming from these tentacles, it was the same sensation as the one that the Void Born blood gave him when he first saw it. Liang Chen couldn''t even begin to guess how some of the Void Born blood had ended up on this island, but he was thankful that he noticed it thanks to the grand array, it could easily have become a disaster if he didn''t discover it.


    He walked over to the two tentacles, which were actually rather close to each other, and placed his left hand on one of them. He closed his eyes and interacted with his bloodline, prodding it awake and fully activating it. Just like he did back in Green Rivers city, Liang Chen sucked in the energy of the tentacle, causing it to rapidly wither and shrink, turning into a drop of blood that entered his palm and became part of his bloodline.


    He moved on to the second tentacle after he finished with the first one and repeated the process, placing his left palm on the ground once he was done. He extended his senses into the ground to check for any other traces of the corruptive energy but let out a breath of relief when he didn''t detect any more of it. With this, the corruption would stop spreading, he could only hope that the island would one day return to its former splendor.


    He entered the destroyed and decayed city after he finished this task, heading over to the spatial arrays that were luckily still mostly intact. He tried to activate a few of them, but the ones closest to the Storm Wolf sect headquarters didn''t work so he had to settle for one that would bring him to a spot rather far away from the sect.


    When the array teleported him away and he finally got to see the state of the sect with his own two eyes, rather than on the 3-d map of the planet, he couldn''t help but let out a soft breath. The split mountain and everything within several hundred kilometers around it was simply gone, all that remained of the Storm Wolf sect was a massive basin that had a completely smooth surface.


    Liang Chen sat down at the edge of the basin, letting his gaze drift across the vast emptiness while he waited for Yumao to arrive here. Yumao''s speed was just as fast as Liang Chen, but he could fly freely so he could move around much easier, allowing him to reach the ruins of the Storm Wolf sect after only three days.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes when the sound of flapping wings entered his ears, standing up and turning around. He raised his head and looked at the incoming Yumao, finally seeing the unknown person that was standing on his back. And the moment Liang Chen saw that black-haired and emerald-eyed figure, he felt the entire world turn red in front of him.


    Before he even realized it, he had already stepped forward and charged into the air at his fastest speed, arriving on top of Yumao like a bolt of lightning. His right arm moved on its own, smashing a heavy punch into the side of the person''s, Qing Lan Yong''s, head and knocking him down from Yumao, sending him crashing into the ground. Liang Chen stood on top of Yumao, his expression grim as some blood dripped down his clenched right fist.


    "YOU! IT WAS YOU, YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!"

 Similar men, different paths.

    Liang Chen stepped forward and dropped down from Yumao''s back, descending to the ground with arcs of brown lightning trailing behind him. He bent his knees slightly as he landed on the ground, the earth shattering all around him due to the force of his fall. His gaze was locked onto Qing Lan Yong, who had crashed into the earth not far away and was lying in a small crater. His Qi and bloodline were sealed, but he seemed to have cultivated his body a little bit in the past, his jaw was still intact after taking on Liang Chen''s furious punch.


    But the sheer force of the punch and his subsequent crash had left him in a dazed state, his vision spinning viciously and leaving him unable to properly control his limbs. Liang Chen''s gaze was steely and practically dripping with blood as he walked over while gripping his own right arm, transforming it into his spear.


    It was him, it was Qing Lan Yong who started everything, it was he who pushed Liang Chen onto his path, it was he who first sowed the seeds of wrath in this monster. All those nights he couldn''t sleep, all those times he was quietly waiting for time to pass, all those times pain wracked his body due to his painful training, it was always this face that flashed in his mind. This was the source of his first hatred, and he would put an end to it right here and now.


    He stopped his steps in front of Qing Lan Yong, whose somewhat unfocused gaze was already locked onto him. Liang Chen didn''t see any hatred or anger on Qing Lan Yong''s face, all he saw was sorrow, loneliness, and a tinge of relief. Liang Chen raised his spear slightly and placed the tip against Qing Lan Yong''s chest, right where his heart was, a final declaration. He then drew back his arm and stabbed forward with all his might.


    But just as he started to move his arm, his own shadow wriggled slightly and stretched up, coiling around his left arm and constricting his stab. Yumao flashed out of the shadow and appeared between Liang Chen and Qing Lan Yong, pushing Liang Chen back a bit. He stretched out to his full length of almost seven meters and coiled up in front of Qing Lan Yong, stretching out his feathery black wings and using them as a shield. The two jagged horns on the side of his head were pulsating with a soft black light, increasing the force of the shadows that were restraining Liang Chen. Liang Chen''s eyes temporarily moved to the shadows coiling around him but then quickly landed on Yumao.


    "Yumao, move. Now."


    He didn''t know why Yumao would bring Qing Lan Yong along, much less why he would be protecting him right now. But right now his mind was so clouded by rage that he didn''t even bother thinking about it, the sheer shock of unexpectedly seeing Qing Lan Yong had completely ruined Liang Chen''s usual flow, where his rage would only cause his mind to grow sharper. But even when faced with Liang Chen''s wrath, Yumao didn''t move, letting out several loud hissing noises. The two were connected so Liang Chen could understand what Yumao was trying to say, his expression distorting somewhat as he bellowed loudly.


    "PROTECTED HER!? I watched her lose her head on the same scaffolding as my parents! I TORE OPEN HER STILL WARM STOMACH AND YOU WANT TO TELL ME HE PROTECTED HER!?"


    Just remembering the scene back then caused Liang Chen''s emotions to nearly run rampant, lightning flickering around him and tearing away at Yumao''s darkness, nearly freeing Liang Chen. But Yumao didn''t falter even in the face of Liang Chen''s roar, continuing to hiss and communicate with Liang Chen, practically pleading with him while flapping his wings.


    Under Yumao''s incessant hissing, Liang Chen''s bloodshot eyes slowly returned to normal, his dyed red world regaining its normal colors. His expression remained as cold as ice, and lightning still flickered around him while poison seeped into the earth beneath him, but he was already returning to his usual sharp anger.


    The shadows around his arm dissipated, allowing Liang Chen to lower his spear somewhat. The tip pierced into the earth, dragging a line behind Liang Chen as he walked forward and stepped past Yumao, who had lowered his wings. Qing Lan Yong''s gaze had regained their normal clarity after he recovered from the attack, but he still hadn''t made any move to escape from Liang Chen, dark bags clearly visible under his eyes. The gaze of the two interlocked, Liang Chen speaking plainly.


    "Your memories, hand them over."


    Qing Lan Yong''s eyes flashed with a sliver of surprise after hearing Liang Chen''s demand, it seemed like Yumao had told him quite a bit and now he wanted to see for himself. Liang Chen used the core of the grand array to slightly loosen the seal on Qing Lan Yong, just so that he had enough Qi to transfer his memories to Liang Chen in the same way that he had Zhong San do earlier.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Liang Chen stepped on Qing Lan Yong''s left shin, who then quickly used a bit of his Qi and transferred all his memories to Liang Chen. The countless memories all flashed through Liang Chen''s mind, every second of Qing Lan Yong''s life playing out in front of his eyes, every word spoken or heard resounding within his ears.


    Once all the memories finished flashing through his mind, Liang Chen''s expression sank and turned extremely gloomy. His spear liquefied and sank into his body, taking on the shape of his lost right arm again. Liang Chen grabbed onto Qing Lan Yong''s leg and exerted some force, lifting him up and then slamming him into the ground again while cursing.


    "FUCK!"


    He raised Qing Lan Yong''s body into the air again after slamming him down, once again bringing him crashing down into the ground. He took advantage of Qing Lan Yong''s strong body and repeatedly raised him into the air and slammed him down, roaring and cursing all the while as complex emotions swirled within him.


    "FUCK!"


    "WHY!"


    "COULDN''T!"


    "YOU!"


    "BE!"


    "EVIL!?"


    "WHY WAS IT ONLY THEM?!"


    "WHY THE FUCK WERE YOU ONLY EVIL TO THEM!?"


    "YOU STOPPED EVERYTHING ELSE! FUCKING EVERYTHING ELSE!"


    "SO WHY WAS IT THEM?! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO BE THE ONES TO DIE?!"


    Liang Chen had seen every second of Qing Lan Yong''s life, every deed he had done, every thought he had ever had. And he could only come to one conclusion after seeing it all, Qing Lan Yong was a good person. He was good to almost everyone who wasn''t his enemy, he had used his position in the Nightshield sect to help several villages that needed protection.


    He married three wives and four concubines and fathered nine children, never once did he raise his hand against them, never once did he raise his voice at them, he treated them as the most important treasures in the world. And when the time came that his wife was killed and Liang Chen''s parents were executed, the disgust he felt with himself made him cut all ties with the Qing clan and retreat to the sect, locking himself up in his courtyard.


    He''d even been keeping tabs on Liang Chen ever since word of him spread after the incident in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. Three times he had prevented the Nightshield sect from taking action, three times he had personally moved against his master to save Liang Chen''s life. And then he moved to protect Liang Chen''s sect and his sister, personally taking action to save her from the hands of his uncle, even slaying him as revenge. He had even briefly protected and helped Yan Ying.


    But with the forces of the Sealing God Empyrean swarming the planet, not even Qing Lan Yong could hide forever. He was captured and taken prisoner for acting against the Sealing God Empyrean, he was then forced to watch a recording they had made. His wives were beheaded and burnt to ashes, and even the children that he thought managed to flee were executed and incinerated, his entire family had been reduced to nothing.


    That was why Qing Lan Yong''s eyes were filled with sorrow and relief when he saw Liang Chen, he had already lost everything and was hoping that Liang Chen would end his loneliness. In that regard, the two were actually rather similar, they had both lost everything, but they chose different paths afterward. Liang Chen walked the road of wrath and tore himself a path forward while Qing Lan Yong wallowed in loneliness and misery. And this similarity only further added to Liang Chen''s complex emotions, only further muddled his mind.


    He hated Qing Lan Yong''s cowardice that didn''t speak up to save his parents, he hated the fact that he didn''t find his courage earlier on, he hated the furious anger and resentment that mixed with his gratitude right now. But what he hated above all else was that he couldn''t bring himself to kill Qing Lan Yong right here. It was only temporary, but he had saved and protected Liang Chen''s sister and Yan Ying.


    He was even together with Yan Ying in the Nighstield sect dungeon until Yumao caught a whiff of their scent and saved them by moving through the darkness. And when Yan Ling appeared in front of them to take Yan Ying with her to follow the Nine Star Demon God, Yan Ying had stepped forward to protect Qing Lan Yong when Yan Ling wanted to bring Qing Lan Yong to Liang Chen.


    It was a strange state, he couldn''t bring himself to spare Qing Lan Yong but he also couldn''t bring himself to kill him, the conflicting emotions tearing at his mind and soul. After smashing Qing Lan Yong into the ground over 20 times, Liang Chen''s arm moved and threw him away like a sack of potatoes, sending him flying into the distance for a bit before he crashed into the ground and rolled forward for a bit.


    Liang Chen took several deep breaths, the veins on his neck and on his left arm bulging and writhing as he looked at the distant Qing Lan Yong. He clenched both his trembling fists so hard that the knuckles on his left hand turned white, just barely forcing out a few words while looking at Qing Lan Yong.


    "Leave, right now. I don''t ever want to see you again, if I do I will probably kill you."


    Right now Liang Chen had to choose, the gratitude and life of his sister, as well as the will of a friend, or his own burning hatred. And right now, the gratitude won out and stopped him from killing a good man, but he wouldn''t guarantee that the same happened in the future.

 Forgiveness.

    Liang Chen turned away from Qing Lan Yong and walked over to the edge of the basin that was all that remained of the Storm Wolf sect. He sat down and pulled his right knee up to his chest, resting his chin on it while gazing out across the massive basin, his eyes flickering with his complex emotions.


    Yumao slithered over to him and loosely curled around him, positioning himself so that he could rest his head on Liang Chen''s shoulder from behind. He unfurled both his wings and enveloped Liang Chen in them as if he was trying to shield him from the world and give him a safe place for himself, a place just for him where he didn''t have to worry about anything.


    Yumao acted in a very simple and obedient manner most of the time, but that didn''t mean that he wasn''t clever enough to think for himself. He too wanted to kill Qing Lan Yong when he first saw him, but he changed his mind after hearing the full story from Yan Ying. Upon hearing the full story he also knew that he would have to stop this wrathful master of his from going blind with rage when he saw Qing Lan Yong again.


    He knew that if Liang Chen really did end up killing Qing Lan Yong in a fit of merciless rage when they met again, learning the truth of what Qing Lan Yong had done would fill him with such complex and conflicting emotions that it would tear at his soul and mind. The strange mixture of anger, gratitude, and guilt of killing his sister''s savior might even tear his mind completely apart. This would especially be the case if his sister was still alive to learn about it, but sadly she had already died, one of the Scourge King''s shackles evaporating.


    But even so, Yumao believed that he was doing the right thing, at least for now. Qing Lan Yong had to live for the good he had done and he had to live to atone for the bad he had done, his murder would leave a hole in Liang Chen''s soul, one that would never be filled by anything other than an endless cycle of more revenge without redemption. While Yumao was enveloping him, Liang Chen''s eyes suddenly grew sharper as he growled out a few words in response to the sound of footsteps from behind them.


    "I said I don''t ever want to see you again."


    The sound of footsteps that was coming from behind him didn''t stop despite Liang Chen''s growling, they slowly and steadily came closer. Yumao pulled back his wings and shrank down to his usual tiny size, resting on top of Liang Chen''s head and allowing him to turn his head. Qing Lan Yong was walking over with slow steps, blood staining his body and robe after Liang Chen slammed him into the ground several times.


    But thanks to Liang Chen loosening the seal on him, his bloodline had already started to rapidly heal all his minor wounds, they were all practically gone already. Liang Chen had no idea what sort of bloodline Qing Lan Yong had, mainly because Qing Lan Yong himself had no idea what bloodline he had. There was no mention of a bloodline like his in the clan records, which meant that it was either a recessive bloodline that dated back further than the clan records did, or it was a mutated one that he had accidentally acquired over the years.


    Qing Lan Yong didn''t heed Liang Chen''s words, nor did he seem to be afraid that Liang Chen might actually kill him. He continued walking over until he was only a single step away from Liang Chen and then sat down on the ground while facing him.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "I want to leave, I truly do. I want nothing more than to go to where my family is, but I cannot. I have hurt you more than anyone has ever hurt you, I have left a scar in you that can probably never be healed. They won''t accept me over there until I''ve gotten your forgiveness, so I cannot leave yet."


    Qing Lan Yong lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his voice lowering alongside his head. He had lost everything and was now all alone, the last thing he had to do before he embarked on his journey to the yellow springs was to somehow acquire Liang Chen''s forgiveness for the great sin he had committed against him. Liang Chen''s expression froze for a short second when he heard Qing Lan Yong''s words, his eyelids twitching for a second before he snapped at him.


    "Forgiveness? You want my forgiveness? Tell me, do you think I can forgive you for what you did to me, for what you took from me?! Go fuck yourself!"


    Liang Chen stood up and kicked out before he could even think about his actions, his foot connecting with Qing Lan Yong''s face and launching him backward again with a bloody face. He crashed into the ground and slid along it for a bit before standing up and wiping the blood off his face, walking over to Liang Chen again and sitting down, his eyes still as sorrowful and lonely as they were when Liang Chen first saw him again.


    "Please, I will do whatever it takes to acquire your forgiveness, please allow me to reunite with them."


    Qing Lan Yong lowered his head so much that his forehead touched the ground, practically pleading with Liang Chen. Liang Chen clenched his fists, the veins on his left arm bulging and writhing to the point of almost exploding, his teeth gnashing to the point where he felt like they would shatter as he spoke.


    "You want to reunite with your family? Did you stop to think that I might feel that very same feeling when you robbed me of mine? Well, can you reunite me with my family? If you can''t even do that, then forget about me forgiving you."


    Qing Lan Yong kept his head lowered while remaining silent, each second of silence from him causing the flames within Liang Chen''s chest to burn brighter. After what felt like an eternity, Qing Lan Yong shook his head weakly.


    "I''m sorry, but I cannot bring them back, please find another way to forgive me."


    Liang Chen''s leg flashed forward again the moment Qing Lan Yong finished speaking, his foot once again smashing into his face and sending him flying backward. Qing Lan Yong once again stood up and walked over, sitting down in front of Liang Chen and lowering his head.


    "I know that it is nearly impossible, but I must acquire your forgiveness before I go to them, otherwise they will never accept me, they were always like that."


    Qing Lan Yong lowered his head again, a few drops of blood dripping down his face and landing on the ground. But once again, his words only served to further enrage Liang Chen. He grabbed onto Qing Lan Yong''s collar and raised him into the air, furiously shaking him while roaring at him, his voice evnetuall ending up so low that it was barely a whisper.


    "DON''T FUCKING GIVE ME THAT! YOU WERE THE GOAL I HAD ALL ALONG, THE GREAT AND MIGHTY HEAD THAT WAS SO DISTANT THAT I HAD TO GIVE IT MY ALL JUST TO GET STRONG ENOUGH TO REAP IT, STRONG ENOUGH TO GET MY PEACE! THEY TOOK YOUR FAMILY, STOP BEING SO PATHETIC ABOUT IT AND TALKING ABOUT RETURNING TO THEM! NOT ONCE HAVE I THOUGHT ABOUT RETURNING TO THEM, IT''S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT MURDERING YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED, IT''S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT BRINGING THEM BACK! SO RAGE, SCREAM AND ROAR AT THE HEAVENS, TURN YOUR ANGER AND SORROW INTO A SPEAR TO PIERCE YOUR ENEMIES! If you don''t do that, then how will I ever know if the path I chose was the right one?"

 Hope of life, promise of death.

    Qing Lan Yong''s expression finally altered slightly when he heard Liang Chen''s roaring, a tinge of guilt and pity appearing in his eyes. But those emotions vanished as quickly as they appeared, replaced by his earlier lethargic sorrow and loneliness. Liang Chen''s own expression changed when Qing Lan Yong''s expression turned lethargic, the fire blazing in his eyes died down and practically froze.


    His hands let go of Qing Lan Yong''s collar and allowed him to fall to the ground, landing somewhat unsteadily on his feet. But just as he was about to sit down on the ground again, Liang Chen''s fist crashed into his face and sent him soaring backward again. He crashed into the ground and slid for a bit, but to his surprise, he also found that the seal on his Qi and bloodline had been fully removed. He didn''t even have the time to think about why the seal was suddenly removed, the sound of Liang Chen cracking his knuckles coming from a few steps away.


    "Get up and fight."


    Qing Lan Yong couldn''t help but raise his head in surprise, his gaze landing on Liang Chen''s chilly expression. Yumao flapped his wings once, taking off from Liang Chen''s head and flying in the air above them while keeping an eye on them. Qing Lan Yong couldn''t help but tilt his head in confusion at Liang Chen''s sudden shift in volume, but a blur flashed in front of his eyes before he could even open his mouth. Liang Chen''s foot arrived right in front of his face, Qing Lan Yong''s body acting on instinct and raising his arm to cover his face.


    A dull thud echoed through the area as Liang Chen''s foot collided with Qing Lan Yong''s arm, which had taken on the texture of aged wood and fully negated all the lightning gathered up in his kick. But the force behind the attack was still there and caused Qing Lan Yong''s arm to crash into his face and shatter his nose as his body was once again launched backward.


    But his bloodline was now fully unsealed, the broken nose repairing before he had even touched the ground again. Liang Chen glanced down at his right foot, which was aching slightly due to the collision. Qing Lan Yong was known to cultivate in at least three laws, earth, fire, and wood. The earth didn''t conduct lightning and was too sturdy to be properly affected by wind, making it a good counter for those two laws.


    The same was true for wood, it didn''t conduct lightning and contained so much pure lifeforce that it negated most poisons, was hard to rot, and heavily reduced the effectiveness of the law of death. When faced with Qing Lan Yong, Liang Chen actually only had two laws that could show their full effectiveness, the law of the void and the law of time.


    Qing Lan Yong rolled along the ground for a bit before giving it a soft push and launching himself half a meter into the air, performing a flip and landing in a crouched position. He raised his head to look at Liang Chen, calling out to him at the same time.


    "Please wait, I want to be..."


    Qing Lan Yong''s were cut off before he could finish them, Liang Chen arriving in front of him and bringing down his leg in a heavy stomp aimed at Qing Lan Yong''s head. Most of Liang Chen''s laws didn''t work properly against Liang Chen, but there was one advantage that Qing Lan Yong could not take from him, his terrifying speed. Qing Lan Yong had yet to fully wrap his head around the situation so he failed to evade the attack, his head forcefully stomped down into the ground. Liang Chen stood on top of Qing Lan Yong''s head, looking down at him with a cold and sharp gaze.


    "No. I''m done listening to your pathetic groveling, I''m done talking. Get up and fight, I''m going to beat you down and vent."


    Liang Chen removed his foot from Qing Lan Yong''s head and kicked him away, another dull pain momentarily running through his foot. Qing Lan Yong was much quicker to react this time, pushing himself up from the ground the moment Liang Chen kicked him away, this time landing in a standing position with his knees slightly bent so that he could react to Liang Chen''s next move.


    Liang Chen had already arrived in front of him by the time he had prepared, his right fist already heading straight for Qing Lan Yong''s face. Qing Lan Yong immediately responded, allowing the fist to hit his face and using the momentum of the attack to bend his torso back, giving it a slight spin to the right while also raising his left leg.


    He kicked out with his leg the moment it reached the height of Liang Chen''s chest. Due to the bending and spinning of his body, his body was nearly fully horizontal as he balanced on his right leg, all the force in his body gathering in his left leg as it crashed into Liang Chen''s chest and sent him flying backward while spurting blood. Qing Lan Yong couldn''t allow himself to die here, not before he got Liang Chen''s forgiveness, so his body acted on instinct to defend himself.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, that was the cultivation that Qing Lan Yong revealed when the seal on his body was fully removed. He was the opponent with the highest cultivation that Liang Chen had ever fought, the strongest one too. And after receiving that one kick head-on, Liang Chen also knew that the current him couldn''t bead Qing Lan Yong if they were to engage in a life and death battle.


    There might be a chance if he used the final attack of the Dragon King''s Six Steps, the attack that killed Chen Dairong, but he didn''t have any guarantee that Qing Lan Yong didn''t have any other cards up his sleeve. But as Liang Chen crashed into the ground and slid backward, all his ribs broken and blood pouring out from his mouth and nose, the corners of his mouth actually rose up slightly, revealing his bloody canine teeth. He raised his legs and rolled back into a crouching position, quickly springing up into a standing position while keeping his gaze locked onto Qing Lan Yong, the fire in his eyes starting to burn again.


    "This is how you should have been from the start. The more pathetic you are, the more pathetic my hatred for you will be. Strong and fearsome, only if you are like this will you be a goal I have to give it my all to chase after to tear apart and kill."


    Liang Chen stomped the ground before he even finished his words, shooting forward like a furious bolt of lightning, the grand array had already fully healed his shattered ribs. Qing Lan Yong launched a retaliatory attack the instant Liang Chen reached his front, a thick pillar of green lava bursting out from the ground right beneath Liang Chen. As someone who had reached the Primordial Immortal realm, Qing Lan Yong had already fused all his laws and created a law unique to him, the law of the living volcano.


    He restrained the power of the lava so that it couldn''t kill Liang Chen, the two were after all currently in the same situation, unable to actually kill the other due to their own circumstances. But thanks to the fact that he didn''t know the full extent of Liang Chen''s current strength, he lowered the power of the lava by too much.


    Liang Chen slowed the time of the lava to a crawl and then gave it a kick, splattering several thick globs of it toward Qing Lan Yong while also spreading out a dense web of lightning. He then drastically sped up the time of these globs of lava, causing them to turn into bright stars that blocked Qing Lan Yong''s vision and splashed his body.


    As the one who created it, the lava couldn''t really hurt him, it was the blocking of his vision that became a problem. He couldn''t detect Liang Chen through the earth so he was unlikely to be standing on the ground, and he couldn''t sense him through the heat he naturally radiated thanks to the lightning that Liang Chen spread around the area. Thanks to this, he was somewhat slow to react and was unable to respond as Liang Chen grabbed onto his right arm from behind and spoke up.


    "Never forget, Qing Lan Yong, the only person who can plunge you into despair and leave you like this much of a pathetic mess is me. No one else, only me. If anyone else tries to, you have to fight on and move forward until the day that I kill you."


    The sheer vindictiveness and viciousness contained within that voice caused a terrible chill to run down Qing Lan Yong''s spine. He could feel Liang Chen starting to exert force on his right arm, the bones in his shoulder snapping as his flesh and muscles tore. His body immediately reacted, jagged spears of earth extending from his back and piercing into Liang Chen''s body, each spear infused with the power of fire and wood to increase both their toughness and their power.


    He could feel his attack pierce into Liang Chen''s body, but Liang Chen simply responded by kicking off of Qing Lan Yong''s back with all his might. Qing Lan Yong''s body was launched forward but his right arm remained behind in Liang Chen''s grasp. Qing Lan Yong''s right shoulder spurt blood and Liang Chen was leaking blood from the several holes stabbed into his body.


    But Qing Lan Yong had his strange bloodline and Liang Chen had the powerful support of the grand array, both their wounds healing almost immediately. Qing Lan Yong quickly corrected his position and took up his stance, warily awaiting Liang Chen''s next move.


    But Liang Chen simply looked at the torn-off arm that he was holding, his chilly expression receding and changing into his normal calm emotions, his emotions impossible to read as it seemed like he had released all the pent up frustration and anger. He raised his head and waved his hand at Yumao, who let out a loud hiss before charging down and curling up on Liang Chen''s head, rubbing against his hair in joy. Liang Chen threw aside the arm, his inscrutable gaze landing on Qing Lan Yong.


    "Find a Bloodwind Code, increase your strength and get your ranking, make your wish and bring back your family, don''t ever let me see you in such a pathetic state again. On the day that the dead have returned, then you will have my forgiveness, and then I will take your life."


    Liang Chen turned to the side after leaving behind his words, heading for the empty basin that used to be the Storm Wolf sect. Qing Lan Yong remained frozen for a few seconds before he understood the implications of Liang Chen''s words, his eyes lighting up with hope and power again. He turned his head and followed Liang Chen''s back with his eyes, speaking up after a few seconds, leaving behind a few quick words before leaving.


    "Golden Dawn city, the capital of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, that''s where I''ll gather everyone who I know worked with the Sealing God Empyrean."

 Nine names.

    Liang Chen ignored Qing Lan Yong''s words and stepped over the edge of the basin, sliding down the side of it until he reached the seemingly endless bottom. He couldn''t turn around to look at Qing Lan Yong, he feared that he might once again lose control over his emotions and attack him. He also couldn''t guarantee that he wouldn''t lose himself so much that he ended up sealing Qing Lan Yong''s Qi and simply killed him right there and then. Now that he had finally gotten his blazing emotions under control again, there was no way that he could allow that to happen.


    Liang Chen''s gaze roamed across the vast emptiness that used to be the Storm Wolf sect, a tinge of sadness flashing past his eyes. This was once a beautiful place filled with energetic and ambitious disciples, but now it had all vanished and been reduced to less than rubble. Liang Chen drew in a deep breath of dusty air, his gaze focusing again as he started to walk, Yumao nestling against his hair.


    Liang Chen hadn''t come here for nothing, he could feel that there was still something within this large basin that was resonating with him, something had survived the destruction of the Storm Wolf sect. Liang Chen walked with slow steps and allowed his body to instinctively follow the resonating feeling, his steps bringing him towards the western side of the basin.


    He followed the resonating feeling for almost five hours until his feet stopped, his gaze sweeping his surroundings. The spot where he was standing right now was where the resonating feeling was at its strongest, and if his memories were correct this should be about where the Wolf Hall headquarters were located.


    Liang Chen crouched down and smashed his right fist into the ground, a cloud of dust and debris shooting into the sky as the earth was torn apart. Through the dust, Liang Chen could see that there was a small cave dug out beneath the basin, approximately five meters long and wide. And standing at the very center of the small cave was a familiar three-meter tall black stone with a rugged surface. Once Liang Chen smashed the ceiling of the cave and exposed it to the light, a familiar voice came from the stone as a figure started to take form in front of it.


    "You have quite the guts to actually return here. Did you see my rules as a cheap joke?"


    The figure of a rainbow-haired elder with a drooping white mustache appeared in front of the stone, his closed eyes focused on Liang Chen. Quite some time had passed since he last saw him, but Liang Chen had never forgotten this Elder Chaotic, the spirit and materialization of the stone that carried the Chaos King technique.


    The two looked at each other in silence for a short few seconds, neither of their expressions showing their emotions. Liang Chen had nothing to say, the moment he transferred the Chaos King technique to Yan Ling he had broken one of the two rules that Elder Chaotic had set.


    Liang Chen knew that transferring the technique meant that Elder Chaotic would definitely leave the Storm Wolf sect, but if he once again found himself in those circumstances then he was confident that he would make the same choice. The first one to break the silence between the two people was actually Elder Chaotic, his voice carrying a soft sigh.


    "You''re lucky. Had it not been for the strange fusion of your and that girl''s bloodline then I would have left this planet the moment you transferred the technique to her. I would have headed directly to you and torn any information about the technique out of your minds. But I decided to wait because of the fusion of those two incredibly strong bloodlines, I wanted to wait until you returned to see if you were worthy of me deciding to wait. And I must admit, you have grown far more than I anticipated, you''ve even incorporated that horrifying thing into your body and soul, not even my Creator could do that. But there are still countless people more powerful than you in this multiverse, countless more people with higher potential, so my decision wasn''t quite settled even after you drank that tainted thing. Do you know why I ended up deciding to not tear that technique out of your and her mind?"This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Elder Chaotic actually spoke quite a bit when he finally opened his mouth, somewhat surprising Liang Chen. He wasn''t as surprised to hear that there were countless people that were stronger or had more potential than him, Sphere of Existence where they lived was unimaginably vast after all. Seeing how high Elder Chaotic''s standards seemed to be, it didn''t require a lot of thought from Liang Chen to guess just what finally changed his mind.


    "It was the appearance of the Nine Star Demon God, wasn''t it?"


    If not even the law of the void could cause this Elder Chaotic to decide to not take back the Chaos King Technique, then Liang Chen could only attribute it to the terrifying existence that had shortly visited this planet when he took away Yan Ling. And just as he expected, Elder Chaotic nodded his head in confirmation, giving a light wave of his hand.


    "Indeed, Senior Demon God is the reason, he is one of the very few people in this multiverse to have reached the same height as my Creator. With him taking that girl away, the only way for me to make a move against you and her is if my Creator first has a chat with Senior Demon God and somehow convinces him. But all the people of that realm are rather peculiar and pointlessly stubborn, so even I''m not so fanatical that I believe my Creator would be capable of that."


    A segment of the large stone that stood behind Elder Chaotic started to shimmer when he waved his hand, revealing names that had been carved directly into the stone, forming a list. The list only contained nine names and was thus rather short, but Liang Chen felt his breathing nearly stop when he saw the list, he recognized several of those names, recognized their weight.


    2.Ning Hao.


    4.Xiang Hong.


    5. Huang Ying.


    6.Li Yang.


    8.Yin Long.


    He had heard three of these names before in the recording he saw when he got the full Ocean God''s Physique, Xiang Hong was the Universal Heart that had created the technique and Ning Hao and Yin Long were the two that killed him. Liang Chen also knew that Ning Hao had a more famous title, the Bloodwind Emperor and creator of the Bloodwind Codes.


    Liang Chen had never heard the names Huang Ying and Li Yang, but he remembered Xiang Hong mentioning two people he referred to as Brother Ying and Brother Yang. The people on this list were definitely those that had reached the same level as Ning Hao and Xiang Hong, so he guessed that it was these two people that Xiang Hong spoke about back then.


    A list of nine names, did that mean that there were a total of nine Universal Hearts in the multiverse? But if that was the case then why didn''t it align with what Liang Chen had been told by the spirit of the dead Sebettu that he spoke to when he awakened his bloodline? There was also the fact that Xiang Hong was already dead. He was also curious if the list was actually a ranking that determined their strength, his gaze drifting to the top spot of the list as a mutter unconsciously escaped his lips.


    "Number 1, Chang Yun..."


    Elder Chaotic''s expression changed the moment Liang Chen opened his mouth and spoke, his body flashing forward and covering Liang Chen''s mouth before he could continue to read the names. He actually wore a somewhat panicked expression as he looked at Liang Chen and scolded him.


    "You fool! Hasn''t anyone told you that you mustn''t carelessly speak names like theirs? What if you annoy someone who decides that it''s worth the trouble of killing you?!"


    Elder Chaotic had forgotten a very simple fact thanks to Liang Chen''s abnormal strength and laws, he didn''t have any strong organization or teacher behind him. Basically everything he had was acquired through his own effort, clawing his way forward along the path he had chosen, there wasn''t ever really anyone around that could teach him certain facts about the universe. Before Liang Chen got the chance to question Elder Chaotic''s words, a finger landed on his spine, a curious voice ringing out from behind him.


    "So you''re the little voidling that Oldy and the Little Zookeeper told me about?"

 Purgatory.

    The finger felt as soft as silk, but Liang Chen''s entire body froze up the moment it landed on his spine. Part of the reason he froze up was the surprise of being caught unaware like that, but the main reason was that every inch of his being was screaming at him, his instincts themselves were going haywire in the presence of whoever it was that had arrived behind him.


    Liang Chen bit down on his tongue and used the momentary pain to override his instincts and shock, quickly throwing himself forward and past Elder Chaotic. He spun around at the same time, his right arm vanishing and turning into his spear, already crackling with energy and ready for a fight.


    Standing where Liang Chen had just been was a white-robed youth who looked to be in the middle of his twenties. The youth had ocean-blue hair that hung loosely down to his neck and verdant green eyes, his skin was somewhat pale and his frame seemed somewhat frail, not a shred of Qi or even lifeforce radiating from his body. The youth was currently inspecting his outstretched finger, a somewhat curious light flashing through his pupils before he turned his gaze onto Liang Chen.


    "Why run like that, aren''t you the one who called for me?"


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, his eyes somewhat narrowed as they swept over the youth in front of him. His thoughts were quickly racing, his haywire instincts and thumping heartbeat quickly restrained and returning to normal. He quickly tried to figure out just who this youth was, and how he supposedly called for him. But he couldn''t find anything about him even after searching all his memories, so he could only come to one conclusion.


    "You''re Chang Yun?"


    This was the only explanation that Liang Chen could come up with in such a short amount of time, but even he found that it didn''t make much sense. He had just unconsciously muttered the name, was it really so coincidental that Chang Yun was actually nearby to hear it? And if it really was the truth, then Liang Chen felt like cursing his luck, why was it that he kept getting involved with these Universal Heart realm people? The youth clapped his hands after Liang Chen responded, seemingly somewhat pleased by the swift response.


    "Correct! You''re much faster than the last guy I spoke to, had to give him a beating to understand. But looking at your reaction, could it be that this old thing here didn''t tell you anything?"


    The youth, Chang Yun, pointed at Elder Chaotic, who had no choice but to somewhat awkwardly stand at the side, he was not qualified to speak up in front of a person like this. Chang Yun guessed at the truth by seeing Elder Chaotic''s reaction, slapping his forehead.


    "Oh for Pete''s sake. Old thing, if you''re going to take on the role of a teacher then you''ve gotta at least make sure to teach others properly. This is the exact reason that Little Ying hasn''t come to pick you up yet, you gotta grow a bit more, otherwise, you''ll just be wandering forever. Little Voidling, let me warn you right now, you should never speak out any of the names on that list. Those nine names, well, seven at the moment only, and anyone who has Empyrean or Sovereign in their title will immediately notice whenever someone speaks their actual name. They can then immediately detect who spoke their name, and in cases like with me, travel there in less than an instant. I''m pretty laid back, but I know some really cranky fellas, if you annoy them then they''ll just kill you with a slap."


    Liang Chen''s pupils shrank when he heard Chang Yun''s casual words, this was the first he ever heard about anything like this. He also quickly realized that this meant that if he ever spoke the Sealing God Empyrean''s real name, then he would instantly become aware of Liang Chen''s location. He couldn''t help but let out a quick sigh of relief, at least he hadn''t learned the Sealing God Empyrean''s name yet, otherwise he would probably be dead by now. But just as Liang Chen let out the sigh, Chang Yun appeared in front of him, a curious grin on his face as he placed his finger against Liang Chen''s forehead.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "But really, you''ve even managed to fuse that terrifying thing into your body and soul, I actually have to touch you to see your memories."


    Liang Chen felt a vigorous energy pierce deep into his mind the moment Chang Yun''s finger touched his forehead, it felt as if all his secrets were laid bare. To just blatantly go through someone''s memories like this was considered an extremely rude thing, but this Chang Yun had clearly reached a stage where he didn''t care about something like that. He pulled his finger back after only a short second, letting out a chuckle that slowly grew into laughter as he mimicked Liang Chen''s way of talking.


    "''If the heavens aren''t just, it simply means that someone else will have to take over their role?'' ''I will become the wrath that the heavens have always been too lazy to deliver?'' Hehehe, Little Voidling, you''ve got big balls and big ambitions, I gotta give you that. But as your senior, let me tell you something. Just like you said, the heavens aren''t just, there is no justice to be found within them, it''s just a selfish desire of the universe. But in that very same vein, that justice isn''t found within you, it''s nothing but a delusion created by a different selfish desire, I should know, I walked the same path once. Even if you step onto that grand peak and take on that duty, you won''t ever find that justice, all because you have emotions. As long as living beings and emotions exist, true and proper justice won''t exist, killing someone will just make someone else sad in turn, that is just how life works."


    Chang Yun was still chuckling as he finished his words but Liang Chen could tell that he wasn''t trying to be cruel, he was honestly trying to teach Liang Chen a lesson. But Liang Chen simply nodded his head, his expression not changing in the slightest.


    "I know, there is no perfect justice. Killing one evildoer will only create another evildoer in the eyes of another person, perhaps only an emotionless and mechanical god would be able to deliver justice in a manner that won''t result in him getting hated. But just as I was told once, I''m not a god, I don''t have to save and please everyone, just saving those I can see and reach is more than enough. I''m just a normal person, there''s nothing wrong with me choosing to be selfish. I don''t want to step onto that grand peak to deliver perfect justice, I just think that if I ever do step onto that grand peak, I''ll be able to see further than ever before, my hands will be able to stretch out further than ever before. If I do that, I will be able to save more people, I can prevent more people like me from ever being created."


    A soft smile couldn''t help but appear on Liang Chen''s smile as he spoke. It was Yan Ling herself who had smacked some sense into him, it was she who shattered his delusions of grandeur and perfect justice, she was the anchor that prevented him from getting lost. Chang Yun had skimmed through all of Liang Chen''s memories, but even he hadn''t expected Liang Chen''s answer, his laughter once again growing in intensity as he gave Liang Chen''s shoulders a few pats.


    "Hehehe, you are an interesting little kiddo, you really are. I wanted justice for all mankind in those dark ages, but only mankind, guess that''s the difference between us."


    Chang Yun restrained his laughter and pulled back his arms, taking a few steps back and moving away from Liang Chen, a slight grin still visible on his face. His body started to shimmer and fade, he had already spent a bit too long here, he would get more than just an earful if he stayed here for much longer for no good reason. But just before he completely vanished, he left behind a few words for Liang Chen.


    "You''re heading to that Zookeepers main universe soon, aren''t you? Let me tell you something as a sign of respect for managing to merge with that horrifying little thing. If you want to walk that path of yours to the very end then you should enter the Heaven and Hell Dominion once you enter that universe. Who knows, maybe you''ll be the first person who''ll manage to tame purgatory? As that Little Black Snake would say, I''ll be watching you, show me your determination."

 The scar on the multiverse.

    Liang Chen''s gaze remained trained on the spot where Chang Yun had just been standing, his senses straining slightly. It looked like Chang Yun had just vanished but Liang Chen was actually able to feel a very faint trace of the law of water from Chang Yun just as he vanished, had he really used the law of water to do something so strange? He quickly managed to push down his shock and confusion, turning to look at Elder Chaotic.


    "Elder, just who was that?"


    Liang Chen knew his name and that he was the first person on the list of nine names, but other than that he didn''t really know anything about the existence that now ended up taking an interest in him. Elder Chaotic moved his gaze between Liang Chen and the spot where Chang Yun had just stood, a somewhat complex emotion in his gaze as he responded.


    "The Ever-Changing King, the Human Emperor, these are his most common titles but he has countless others due to his fondness of wandering incognito. He''s different from my Creator and Senior Demon God, who are both incredibly famous in the major universes. Only those close to the very peak, or those he chooses to reveal himself to, know about his actual existence. He''s the same as the Bloodwind Emperor, a man born only a few thousand years after this multiverse itself was created, in a time where cultivation and civilization were still in a state of infancy."


    The multiverse was far more ancient than Liang Chen could possibly imagine, so how could he not be shocked upon hearing that this Chang Yun was almost as old as the entire multiverse? But Elder Chaotic wasn''t done talking, continuing to shock Liang Chen.


    "I don''t know anything about what he cultivates or how strong he is, but my Creator once told me that there are three reasons as to why this multiverse has multiple rulers, rather than one single Multiverse Heart like most other multiverses. One reason is that other than one abnormality, none of the people that rose to power in this multiverse had much interest in taking the supreme ruler spot, the second reason is due to the fact that it would be a troublesome thing to do after the consciousness of the multiverse was killed, and the third reason is that man you just met. He didn''t say anything else about it, only stating that it would be far too difficult and troublesome to take over this entire multiverse as long as that man was around."


    The information that Elder Chaotic spouted whizzed through Liang Chen''s mind as he did his best to absorb and understand it. He could guess that a Multiverse Heart was the upgraded version of a Universal Heart, a cultivation realm that Liang Chen had yet to understand much about. He understood the first reason, and while the third reason shocked him, asking more about it clearly wouldn''t bring him anything, so he focused on three points that raised new questions in his mind.


    "There was one among those nine names that wanted to take over the entire multiverse at one point? Which one attempted that and how did it end? And this multiverse used to have a consciousness at some point? Can something like that really happen? Also, who is Purgatory?"


    Liang Chen already knew that even the elements themselves could acquire a consciousness, they just had to gather up enough Qi and then they would become elementals. But for an entire multiverse to acquire consciousness, was there even that much energy in it to begin with? Elder Chaotic seemed to have become a bit more patient as he nodded his head, his voice losing a bit of the sullen tone he had when he spoke to Liang Chen earlier.


    "Yes, every multiverse is born with consciousness, it is what controls the various aspects such as the heavenly punishments and who gets to take over the various universes. As for the abnormality, it''s her. The third name on the list, Qiao Xingmei, the first and last female Universal Heart Ruler to appear in this universe, she is also the reason there are no other female names on that list, which list all the Universal Heart Rulers. There are multiple female Universal Hearts, but due to Qiao Xingmei''s actions, no other female has ever been able to take over a pillar universe."


    Liang Chen noticed that Elder Chaotic directly spoke Qiao Xingmei''s name even after telling him to never say them out loud. Chang Yun said earlier that there were actually only seven of the names on that list that he shouldn''t read, could it be that this Qiao Xingmei had died just like Xiang Hong had? He didn''t bother asking about it right away, quietly listening to Elder Chaotic and expanding his understanding of the multiverse.


    "She wanted to become the Multiverse Ruler of this multiverse, she even managed to take over five of the nine pillar universes, which is the name given to the nine first Major Universes to be born. Other than her, none of the other people on that list have bothered to take over more than one pillar universe, saving them for others while they took over other major universes instead. Back when she did this, there were only three Universal Hearts present, the Ever-Changing King, the Bloodwind Emperor, and her."


    "Her actions inevitably caused a terrible battle to break out between her and the Bloodwind Emperor, whose pillar universe she had set her eyes on. In the end, the Bloodwind Emperor won and she was forced to flee, but she tore out three of the pillar universes from this multiverse and brought them with her as she fled. As if that loss wasn''t bad enough, the law of death that the Bloodwind Emperor had used ended up achieving something previously thought impossible, it imposed the concept of death upon the consciousness of the multiverse and the pillar universes. Suddenly, that which could previously only be destroyed by the law of destruction could be killed using ordinary laws as long as there was enough power behind them."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    If Liang Chen could be said to end up somewhat shocked to what he learned earlier, then now he was so shocked that he almost forgot to breathe. Imposing death on the multiverse, tearing out pillar universes and taking them with you, were these actions that could be achieved by humans? If just the Bloodwind Emperor and Qiao Xingmei were this powerful, then he couldn''t even begin to imagine the other people on the list. Just how freakish was the strength of those who managed to reach the peak of the multiverse?


    Elder Chaotic gave Liang Chen a bit of time to digest the information but then quickly continued to talk, the answers to the questions he had asked earlier required quite a bit of talking.


    "Two more pillar universes fell to the law of death that was already infesting them and even the consciousness of the multiverse fell to it. Before this time, the multiverse was actually a bit different. Heavenly tribulations didn''t exist, there were only heavenly punishments. A heavenly punishment was an attack that the multiverse unleashed when a being was starting to grow strong enough to take it over, or when a being committed foul deeds, in that regards the multiverse was actually somewhat close to what you desire of the heavens."


    Liang Chen had countless times cursed at the heavens for being unfair and unjust, but it was only now that he learned that the heavens were neither unfair or unjust, they were dead.


    "But the ruination of five pillar universes and the death of the multiverse''s consciousness has scarred the multiverse. The ruined pillar universes have been born anew, but the consciousness of the multiverse remains dead, only its two most basic instincts just barely remaining. One instinct has become the weakened heavenly tribulation, that now attacks any cultivator or being as they grow stronger, and the second instinct is a result of the hatred the consciousness felt towards Qiao Xingmei before it died, permanently scarring all the pillar universes, even the reborn ones, and making it so that no female can ever take them over ever again."


    Just how great must the hatred that the multiverse felt back then be, for it to permanently reject females from taking over pillar universes? And for that hatred to become an instinct that even persisted to this day? Liang Chen''s head was already buzzing with new information at this point, luckily it seemed like Elder Chaotic was finishing up his explanations.


    "As for Purgatory, it''s not a who but a where. The Heaven and Hell Dominion that you were told about is actually a pocket dimension, it''s the remains of the two pillar universes that were killed by the Bloodwind Emperor. And buried within those remains, within the very center of the sect that has taken up residence there, lies the now ownerless power of the heavenly punishments, the flame of purgatory. It''s called a flame, but it''s actually just a form of power that deals damage to all who touch it based on how many sins they have committed. It is the judge, jury, and executioner of the universe that has yet to find an owner even after all these years."


    Elder Chaotic stopped talking after answering all of Liang Chen''s questions, allowing him to close his eyes to organize both the new information and his own thoughts. In truth, there wasn''t much he had to organize, he knew that the current him was far too weak to really bother with much of the information.


    The only things that he had to care about were that this multiverse would likely never have a single ruler so there was no point in thinking about it, the truth about Purgatory, and maybe the fact that no females could take over a pillar universe. This last one especially gave him a slight headache, he could already imagine what sort of temper tantrum Yan Ling would throw upon learning this. After spending a bit of time going through everything, Liang Chen opened his eyes again and looked at Elder Chaotic.


    "Where are you planning on going now, will you find a new planet to take up the role of Elder Chaotic again?"


    The things he learned about just now were too far above him so Liang Chen put them all aside for now, it was better for him to focus on the present, especially now that he remebered something important. Elder Chaotic shook his head after hearing the question, his gaze momentarily sweeping the surroundings.


    "No, I''ll be staying here to take up the role. The land will one day grow verdant again and people will settle here, a new sect will settle around me and I will take up the role of Elder Chaotic again. It might take a while, but no stretch of time is too long for my Creator, he''ll still be around when I have become worthy of returning to him."


    His thinking was too rigid and uncompromising, only when he managed to fix this bad habit of his would he be worthy of returning to his Creator. Liang Chen nodded his head, not saying anything else to convince Elder Chaotic.


    "Alright, I''ll drop by when Ling''er decides to start up the Storm Wolf sect again, if you want to you can join us then."


    Yan Ling wanted the name of the Storm Wolf to resound over the entire universe so he knew that she would inevitably start it anew, having Elder Chaotic on their side at that time would be a good thing for them. Elder Chaotic nodded his head but neither accepted nor rejected it, simply letting his gaze roam over Liang Chen for a bit before his body flickered and sank back into the black stone.


    Liang Chen glanced at the quiet stone for a second before turning around and giving Yumao a pat on the head. Yumao understood his meaning and uncurled his body, flapping his wings and flying down from Liang Chen''s head. He stretched his body to his full length of almost seven meters and allowed Liang Chen to sit down on his back, flapping his wings and shooting to the sky at full speed. Liang Chen looked into the distance, his gaze narrowing slightly as it turned colder.


    "To Golden Dawn city, we have a treacherous mother that needs to lose her head."

 Dark star of calamity.

    Liang Chen surveyed their surroundings as Yumao flew at his full speed, his gaze frequently drifting down to the seemingly endless ocean beneath them. The water was so black that it resembled tar, it could even be mistaken for solid lava if it wasn''t for the violent waves that whipped up some foam. The waves themselves were also strange, mainly due to the fact that there wasn''t any wind or land anywhere nearby that could cause such waves.


    This was Liang Chen''s first time seeing the Sun Swallowing Ocean, and he could easily see why it got its name. Surveying the ocean and stretching out his senses he discovered that he couldn''t actually extend his senses particularly deep into the ocean. The first 100 meters went fine, but his senses would be violently shut out the moment he tried to go any deeper.


    He guessed that it was highly likely that a tremendously powerful Demonic beast lived within the ocean, the beast might even be the reason behind the appearance of the ocean. Of course, this was no more than a guess of Liang Chen''s, not even the oldest book he had read in the Storm Wolf sect knew just how this Sun Swallowing Ocean had come about.


    Liang Chen stopped prying into the Sun Swallowing Ocean and returned his focus to the task he was currently focusing on, perfecting the Dragon King''s Six Steps. The theory behind them was actually very simple, the fourth step would be the third step magnified by the first step, the fifth step would be the third step magnified by the second step, and the sixth step would be the third step magnified by the third step, the move he used to kill Chen Dairong.


    But no matter how simple the theory behind them was, actually pulling off the steps was a bit harder. The first problem was the time it currently took him to pull them off, he needed at least two seconds, which would be far too long in a life and death battle. The second problem was that he had to figure out the best way to control the rampant energy that was born with each step, he couldn''t afford to have it evaporate parts of his body each time he wanted to use it.


    And the final problem was accustomization, he had to get used to the energy born when he used the three new steps. The strengthened energy that was a result of the three new steps should still be his own, but the energy born by those three new steps for some reason felt different from his own. It didn''t feel hostile or evil, just foreign, he had to get accustomed to this strange energy if he wanted to properly utilize the new steps he had created.


    So he closed his eyes and focused on this technique of his, it was one of his greatest trump cards so he couldn''t afford to be lax about it. Of course, he never once put all his focus on it, he always kept a small part of his mind within the grand array surrounding the entire planet. Seeing Qing Lan Yong''s memories allowed him to know about the appearance and aura of the woman who gave birth to Yan Ling, so right now he could use the array to keep track of her movements.


    She was currently residing in the same place she had been the last time Qing Lan Yong heard anything from her, Golden Dawn city. Yumao was far faster than most Demonic beasts that had the darkness and the death elements, his rapid speed allowed them to cut right through all of the territories of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance and arrive above Golden Dawn city after only six days.


    Golden Dawn city was the capital and headquarters of the Dawn''s Blade Alliance, a collection of sects and clans that were strong enough to control the entire western part of the planet. As such, it was by far the largest city that Liang Chen had ever seen, even from his spot in the air above it, the city still ended up stretching out further than he could see. There were hundreds of palaces of varying shapes spread throughout the city, even the smallest one was over ten kilometers in width and length, adding to the grandeur of the city.


    Golden towers shaped like swords rose up from the city in various locations, each one serving as a guard tower that would usually be manned by at least 500 archers. Tracing the roads and alleys that spread like a web through the city, Liang Chen actually discovered that they connected together to form the image of a blazing sun, the crimson-golden stone used to pave the roads further adding to this image.


    Liang Chen looked like little more than a small black star as he stood atop Yumao high above the city and overlooked the countless lives scurrying through the streets. But to those in the know, this tiny black star brought with it nothing but calamity, a walking apocalypse waiting to be unleashed.


    Liang Chen turned his head to the eastern part of the city, his connection with the grand array allowed him to notice that Qing Lan Yong was currently doing just as he said he would, he was bringing over those he knew had worked together with the Sealing God Empyrean. But Liang Chen''s gaze moved away as quickly as it had turned towards the eastern part, his gaze landing on a palace located a bit west of him.


    The palace was built using light blue stones that seemed to comfort and calm down anyone who looked at it, a verdant garden spreading out in a circle around the palace. The palace itself looked somewhat strange, four rectangular buildings gathered in a large square that was open in the middle. Each of the rectangular buildings were topped with a dome that ended in a sharp spire, a flower-shaped building rising up from within the empty center of the square. If the garden was included, the palace took up about fifty kilometers of space, it could be considered a needlessly grand place.


    Liang Chen''s gaze swept over the strange palace, a few arcs of lightning flashing through his pupils as they moved. He didn''t pull back his gaze after sweeping it across the entire palace, stretching out his right arm and pointing at the buildings, his voice cold as he spoke.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Bring it down."


    Yumao raised his head high and hissed loudly in response to the simple statement, a nearly undetectable roaring sound mixed into the hissing. Black orbs of condensed darkness started to appear around Liang Chen and Yumao, each about 200 meters in diameter, they almost resembled dark stars surrounding a tiny sun.


    The appearance of Liang Chen and Yumao might not be noticed by people due to how small they looked because of their altitude, but there was no way for people to miss these tens of black orbs. At first, the people in the city just looked on with some curiosity and a hint of fear, but then Yumao truly unleashed his attack.


    Large tentacles stretched out from every black orb and shot towards the palace, easily piercing through it and tearing it apart. But the scene of destruction was somewhat strange, some of the tentacles caused the buildings to shatter and collapse, but some of the tentacles didn''t break the buildings, they seemed to simply pass through them without causing damage. But once those tentacles were pulled back, smooth holes were all that remained where they had just been, it was as if they had completely disintegrated the buildings as they passed through them.


    More and more black orbs appeared around Liang Chen and Yumao, hundreds of them appearing less than two seconds after Liang Chen gave the order. Yumao had yet to be able to join Liang Chen in his battles so now that he got a chance to show off he didn''t hold back in the slightest. Five seconds after Liang Chen had given the order, the entire palace had been reduced to nothing more than rubble, the only thing that remained whole was a single one of the petals that belonged to the flower-shaped building.


    The building itself had already crumbled and collapsed, but the petal remained floating in the sky, a translucent barrier of energy surrounding it like a shield. Liang Chen took a step forward and walked off of Yumao, stepping into empty air and walking towards the floating petal. Each step either gathered wind beneath his feet or froze the time of the air beneath his foot, his steps unhurried as he headed for the petal. Yumao shrank down again and curled up on top of Liang Chen''s head, pestering him for praise.


    "Yes yes, you did very well. You''re great and powerful, far stronger than any other, you''re the best."


    Liang Chen tapped Yumao on the head with his finger while heaping on as much praise as he could, Yumao raising his head with a prideful expression in a content manner. Liang Chen stopped the praising when he arrived in front of the pillar, ignoring the utter chaos that was spreading through the city as his gaze fell upon the open door that was present on the petal, which was about 70 meters long.


    Behind the door was a simple room containing only a bed and a bookshelf, green runes covering every inch of the room''s inside. Sitting at the center of the room, her hands still on some Spirit Stones that she had hurriedly placed into the array, was the woman that Liang Chen was looking for.


    The woman had sapphire blue eyes and cyan hair that she kept tied into a single long braid that hung down behind her. Her eyes were a bit deeper and her figure a bit fuller, but other than this the woman was almost the spitting image of Yan Ling, it was as if she existed as no more than a mockery of the one that Liang Chen loved. The woman cast a quick glance at the Spirit Stones that she had inserted into the array, her gaze then shifting towards Liang Chen as a soft smirk appeared on her face.


    "Surprised? I knew you''d come for me, I knew it the moment I discovered that you were still alive. You didn''t bring that little harlot with you? Peh, she should have just done as she was told and marry Huang Dong, she should have just been a good daughter. But no, she''s gotta go and drag home a worthless cur like you."


    Liang Chen''s gaze remained as cold as ice as he looked at the woman, Yan Qingye, who hadn''t changed her name back to what it was before she reincarnated to enter the Storm Wolf sect as a spy. Liang Chen cocked his head slightly, his gaze roaming over the translucent shield that surrounded the petal as he spoke.


    "Don''t call her that, you''ve lost all right to call her that. If you ask me, just like you are no longer her mother, she is no longer your daughter. She stopped being your daughter on that day, so of course those idiotic marriage plains of yours failed."


    No one who could inflict such pain upon the child they themselves had birthed deserved to be called their parent, they could at best be called a birthgiver. And Yan Qingye had not only grievously wounded Yan Ling''s father, she had caused the death of Yan Ling''s two siblings, she had lost all right to ever consider Yan Ling anything but her enemy. Yan Qingye actually laughed slightly after hearing Liang Chen''s statement, the light in her eyes seeming somewhat unhinged.


    "No longer my daughter? Hehe, that''s where you''re wrong. She''ll always be my daughter, just like I''ll always be her mother, that''s a connection that can never be severed. No matter how high or how low she goes, she''ll always be my daughter, it''s her duty to listen to me."


    Yan Qingye continued to let out somewhat erratic laughter while speaking, seemingly fully convinced that what she was saying was correct. Liang Chen stopped inspecting the shield once she finished talking, his gaze landing on her again.


    "You know, she wants to kill you, she really does. She''d probably be pretty pissed if anyone other than she kills you. But I won''t spare you, I won''t let you live to die by her hands. Do you want to know why? because she called you mother while telling me about you. No matter how fucked up and vile you are, even if she herself doesn''t know it, a tiny piece deep within her still considers you to be one of her parents. I''d rather have her be angry at me for killing you than have her kill you herself and end up feeling even worse without knowing why."


    Yan Qingye didn''t respond to Liang Chen''s statement, her erratic laughter calming down somewhat as she continued to glance at the Spirit Stones that powered the defensive array around her. This was her trump card, she had enough Spirit Stones here to last her several years. But even this hope Liang Chen would take from her.


    He stretched out his left arm and placed his hand on the translucent shield, exerting a bit of force and unleashing his law of the void. Cracks started to spread throughout the shield, Yan Qingye''s expression starting to sink as she looked at the now cracked visage of Liang Chen as he spoke.


    "And no, it is you that are wrong. Me and her, we will soar far higher than you could ever imagine, we''ll carve our names and legacy into the very foundation of the multiverse. But there will be no mention of you, not a single trace or mark. Your actions, your name, your very existence, just like anything else that would ever hurt her, I will erase them all from history. None will ever even know of your petty and pathetic existence."

 The merciless king.

    The law of the void, the nemesis of all creation, it was something that shouldn''t be able to exist. Under the might of this law, the defensive array that Yan Qingye was hiding within cracked like glass and fell apart, each shard erased from existence. If she powered the array herself then it would be a different story, but right now it could only be powered by Spirit Stones and was unable to show its full might, it was doomed to shatter in front of Liang Chen. With her final bastion crushed so easily, Yan Qingye couldn''t help but use her feet to push herself away from Liang Chen, waving her hands in front of her.


    "Wait, wait! We can talk, I can exp...!"


    Her words were cut off by Liang Chen, who had stepped into the room and appeared directly in front of her. His left hand clamped down on her throat and blocked both her breathing and her words. He raised her up from the ground and into the air, her feet dangling as his grip grew tighter and tighter, his gaze piercing straight through her.


    "I''m so tired of talking. I swear that''s all you bastards do, you talk and talk in an attempt to justify yourselves or to shift the blame, and I''m so fucking tired of it."


    He clenched his left hand and crushed Yan Qinqye''s throat, his fingers actually digging into her skin and dragging out her crushed throat when he pulled back his arm. Yan Qingye fell to the ground and clutched at her torn open throat, but she couldn''t even gasp for air, much less whimper in pain or panic. Liang Chen stood over her and looked down at her with merciless eyes while raising his right foot.


    "You have no right to bear that appearance, and you can take your words and explanations with you as you vanish."


    He brought down his foot in a heavy stomp, Yan Qingye''s skull shattering and collapsing under the force contained within his foot. Her head was crushed like an over-ripe melon and splattered the walls of the room, but Liang Chen would not even spare these bloodstains. Yan Qingye''s corpse, as well as the bloodstains splattered around the room, started to vanish under Liang Chen''s merciless gaze.


    Before long, every single part of Yan Qingye''s body had been completely erased from existence. It was removed from existence itself, it couldn''t even return to the Sphere of Existence and become energy that could be used for something else in the future. Liang Chen didn''t even give the room around him a single glance after he finished off Yan Qingye, his law of the void extended and started to swallow even the room itself.


    Liang Chen turned around and left the room as it started to vanish behind him, stepping into empty air and plummeting to the ground, where he landed with a rumbling cracking sound as the earth beneath him shattered. He raised his head and looked at Yumao, who was already descending to the ground, stopping him with a soft shake of his head.


    "I''m gonna spend a bit of time here, can I ask you to keep an eye on out for those people that are being gathered by Qing Lan Yong? Don''t let a single one of them escape the city."


    Yumao flapped his wings and let out a hiss in acknowledgment, flapping his wings once more and turning into a black blur that vanished into the distance. Liang Chen heard even more panicked screams coming from the city when Yumao departed, he had probably become a symbol of fear to quite a few people after his domineering display earlier.


    But Liang Chen didn''t bother with the panicked screams, starting to systematically move around the ruins of the palace and using his law of the void to erase it from existence. He slowly made his way across the ruins, stopping to rest when he drained all his Qi, four days passing in a flash. Once the sun set on the fourth day, what was once a sprawling palace that took up about 50 kilometers of space had been reduced to a stretch of flat and barren land with no trace of its former grandeur or the person who lived there for a period of time.


    Liang Chen let out a long breath after the task was finished, calmly leaving the area and making his way through the streets as he headed for the area where Qing Lan Yong had been leaving the people he knew worked with the Sealing God Empyrean. He already finished delivering everyone on the second day, by the time the third day ended he had already left the planet to start his hunt for a Bloodwind Code.


    Liang Chen''s gaze moved across the empty streets as he walked, his pupils drifting over the barred windows and tightly locked doors. There weren''t even any animals wandering the streets, every living being had either fled or locked themselves up while hoping for the best.


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but let out a sigh upon seeing the scene, feeling somewhat complex. It wasn''t too long since he was just a normal youth, he would have probably done just like these people if faced with such a situation. But he wasn''t a normal youth any longer, now he was the one that instilled this fear and dread into people, a calamity that they all prayed would just leave them alone. He had changed, just like everyone else, he had been twisted and changed by the reality of the world.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    He shook his head and threw away the thoughts. There was no point in thinking about how he had changed, he didn''t regret his choices or who he had become. This was the path he had chosen for himself, he would walk it as far as he could and he would walk it with pride.


    He rounded a corner and reached the plaza where Qing Lan Yong had left the people he gathered up, a star-shaped plaza that was paved with vibrant violet stones. Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the group of 192 people that had been gathered up, each of them cowering in fear while glancing at Yumao, who was coiled up and watching them with cold eyes.


    Liang Chen''s arrival immediately attracted the attention of the people, Yumao letting out a hissing sound and slithering over. He shrank when he reached Liang Chen''s feet, crawling up while still shrinking, reaching his normal tiny size just as he curled up on top of Liang Chen''s head. He tapped Liang Chen with the bottom of his jaw, pestering him for praise and a reward. A soft smile spread on Liang Chen''s face as he took out some scraps of dried meat from his interspatial ring, feeding Yumao while walking towards the group of people.


    One of the men at the front of the group stood up and opened his mouth, but Liang Chen''s hand grasped his throat before he managed to even start his sentence. His soft smile vanished and was replaced by his usual cold expression, his left arm raising as he placed a finger in front of his mouth.


    "No more words."


    Liang Chen unleashed his poison after he finished his simple statement, breaking down any defensive walls that the man might have around his mind and soul, thoroughly blanking his mind. He then had the man transfer over all his memories so that Liang Chen could see everything for himself. He let go of the man once he was done seeing everything, immediately moving on to the next person, spreading out a cloud of poison to immobilize the entire group of people so that no one could flee.


    He spent three hours moving through the entire group, forcing each and every one of them to hand over all their memories, giving Liang Chen a much clearer image of their actions as well as the people involved. He closed his eyes after seeing the memories of the last person, connecting with the grand array and tracking down a further 147 people. He had sensed their energies after seeing all the memories so it was easy to find them with the array, allowing him to quickly point out their locations to Yumao.


    They were all still located within or close to the city so Yumao only needed to spend four hours collecting all of them, tossing them to the ground within the plaza. He repeated the process of searching their memories, eventually sending Yumao out once more to pick up more people and then repeating the process again.


    Only two days after he actually stepped into the plaza did he finish this, a grand total of 6183 people having been brought together, all of them cowering in fear after having regained their minds. Among the 6183 people was also Wyrm King Huang Dong, who was once promised by Yan Qingye that he could marry Yan Ling. But even this enemy, who once wounded Liang Chen so badly that Yan Ling had to give him some of her Storm God blood, did not get a second glance from Liang Chen, they were too far apart now. Liang Chen''s cold eyes swept all the people present, his gaze piercing through each and every one of them and filling them with dread. He finished his sweeping glance and then pointed out with his left arm.


    "Despicable, every last one of you. The world is better off without you."


    All of the people gathered before him suddenly clutched at their throats, pink foam starting to froth out of their mouths as they fell to their knees, their windpipes swelling and closing up. Liang Chen remained cold as he overlooked the scene, an eerie calm in his eyes as he watched everyone present choke to death.


    In truth, not all of the people here had worked with the Sealing God Empyrean, only about 80% of them had. The remaining 20% were people who Liang Chen had seen commit horrible deeds as he went through the memories of other people, the sheer extent of their vileness made him sick to his stomach, they had ruined and torn apart countless families, ravaged or even sold far too many young children. They were a blight upon life itself, a cancerous growth that had to be cut out.


    The sky above the city lit up with shimmering bolts of lightning once the last person choked to death, thousands of brown bolts descending from the sky and turning the corpses to ash with their tremendous heat. Liang Chen picked up the interspatial rings that they were wearing and then left the area, stepping onto Yumao''s back and starting a quick journey around the planet.


    He spent an entire two weeks erasing every trace of information he could find about Yan Qingyu, destroying every book, jade slip, painting, or legend about her. In the end, her name was only remembered by a handful of people, and with time they would wither and die, Yan Qingye''s name withering along with them.


    Liang Chen stood on the back of Yumao, gazing down at the planet beneath him. The Storm Wolf sect, Ghost Soul sect, and the Fiendgod sect had all been destroyed. The upper echelons of the Moon Dragon sect and the Dawn''s Blade Alliance had all been killed by Liang Chen, resulting in the sects quietly disbanding as they tried to flee Liang Chen''s wrath. Thousands of years of cultivation and gathering of power had all been undone just like that, the structure of power on the planet had been utterly shattered and left in an irreparable state.


    Liang Chen could already see that chaos would likely soon envelop the planet, minor sects and clans vying for supremacy to fill up the void left behind by the major powers. But what he didn''t know was that the people vying for supremacy all knew one thing, Dragon''s Gate only had a single true ruler, the Scourge King that broke it down and left it in a state that it would likely never recover from.

 Deflated

    Liang Chen''s gaze remained on the planet beneath him for a bit, his gaze not revealing any of his emotions. This was once his home, it was where he had grown up and where he had taken his first steps on the path of cultivation. Even now that there was nothing left for him on the planet did he find himself a tad bit emotional as he was about to leave it, especially since it was uncertain if he would ever return here.


    But Liang Chen had been through a lot and was thus able to quickly reign in his emotions. He gave the planet one last look and then crouched down to give Yumao''s head a few pats.


    "Let''s go, the nearest branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company isn''t too fa..."


    Liang Chen stopped his words before he could finish his sentence, one of his eyebrows rising in surprise. He could feel the Bloodwind Code in his chest vibrating slightly as it released a soft buzz, a sign that someone was trying to contact him through it. He was a bit confused by this as his rank or title hadn''t increased lately so Ye Zhong shouldn''t really have a reason to contact him. But when the buzzing stopped and a voice rang out in his mind, it was from the person that he least expected.


    "It seems like you''ve finished your business here, but don''t leave just yet."


    It wasn''t the voice of Ye Zhong that came from the Bloodwind Code, no, it was the voice of Bloodwind Emperor Ning Hao, the creator of the Bloodwind Codes. Liang Chen couldn''t even think of a reason why Ye Zhong would contact him so he was even less capable of coming up with a reason as to why Ning Hao would bother contacting him.


    And looking at the timing at which he contacted him and how he started his sentence, it even seemed like Ning Hao had been keeping half an eye on Liang Chen and waiting for him to finish up what he was doing. Liang Chen didn''t say anything, waiting with bated breath for Ning Hao to tell him why he was contacting him.


    "I''ll say it straight, you''re an anomaly that shouldn''t really exist. The law of the void shouldn''t, and technically doesn''t, exist, and this fact is messing with the system of the Bloodwind Codes. It''s a law that stands at the very zenith of all existence so your title should have increased drastically the moment you acquired it, that''s how great its potential is. But as the law doesn''t really exist, the Bloodwind Code can''t pick it up and thus refuses to increase your title. I could manually increase your title, but I imagine you don''t want all the added attention, and infamy, that would come with that, especially since you''re heading for one of the major universes soon. So I''ll make it simple for you. Ye Zhong said that you had some people that you wanted to bring back, give me two names and I will bring them back for you, consider it me trying to uphold the fairness of my Bloodwind Codes."


    Liang Chen''s breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped several beats when he heard Ning Hao''s straightforward statement. Normally he would have to acquire the King title on the multiverse list within the Bloodwind Code to receive this opportunity but now Ning Hao was offering it to him on a silver platter.


    From the looks of it, Liang Chen had somehow still underestimated how big of a deal his new law of the void actually was, even Ning Hao was giving him some special consideration after he acquired it. His heart swiftly started hammering in his chest, his voice trembling and stuttering slightly from excitement as he responded.


    "My parents, Qing Fa... Feng and Qing Lan! I know you only said two names, but please, include my sister Qing Chun!"


    Bringing back his parents had been one of Liang Chen''s dearest wishes ever since they were executed, hardly a day went by where he didn''t think about it. He couldn''t help but become a bit giddy upon thinking that the wish was about to be fulfilled. A faint stream of energy entered Liang Chen''s body from the Bloodwind Code, Ning Hao''s voice sounding out shortly after.


    "I said two but you ask for three, you''re a bit greedy, aren''t you? Well, then again, most of the bastards up here are usu..."


    Ning Hao''s voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence, it was as if he suddenly became somewhat hesitant. The thumping of Liang Chen''s heart couldn''t help but turn even more violent due to this silence, but the now slightly low voice of Ning Hao sounded out again before Liang Chen could say anything.


    "Your foster parents and your non-blood related sister weren''t cultivators but rather normal people? They didn''t even have any strong or rare bloodlines?"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Ning Hao phrased his words like questions, if somewhat oddly when it came to Qing Chun, but it was clear that he had already gotten an answer to them, it was likely that the faint stream of energy from earlier allowed Ning Hao to give Liang Chen''s memories a quick read. Ning Hao''s voice once again sounded out in his head before Liang Chen could produce a response, this time starting with a soft sigh.


    "Come, let me take you to them."


    Space around Liang Chen suddenly cracked open and swallowed both him and Yumao, dragging them into a pitch-black space. They only remained within this pitch-black space for a short second before the darkness cracked open and spat them out. The two appeared in the air above a neat little village surrounded by farmlands separated into a few different sections based on what sort of animals lived there or what sort of crops were being grown. Ning Hao''s voice sounded out again, directing Liang Chen.


    "Farm to the northwest, the one with the light brown cows and the dark yellow wheat."


    Liang Chen turned his head in the mentioned direction and swiftly found the farm that Ning Hao pointed him towards. When his gaze focused on the farm he could see three people walking around on the path that separated the wheat field and the plain where the cows grazed, his heart jumping up into his throat.


    A man with a rugged figure and strong features that looked like they had been carved from stone, deeply tanned skin, black eyes, and brown hair that hung down to his shoulders. A tall and mature woman with clear blue eyes, smooth skin, a delicate figure, and black hair that hung all the way down to her waist. A young girl who looked no older than five or six years old with chestnut brown hair, clear blue eyes, somewhat strong features, and a joyful smile on her face.


    Their appearances were slightly different, almost as if they had been marked by prolonged time spent out in the fields. But even so, he could easily recognize them, his chest ached and longed just from looking at them. They were without a doubt his parents, Qing Feng and Qing Lan, and the one he considered his sister, Qing Chun.


    But even though his chest ached upon seeing them happily walking along the earthen path, the strangeness of the scene, especially their ages, didn''t escape his notice. Luckily it seemed like Ning Hao had been expecting his confusion, swiftly offering an explanation.


    "The weaker one is the faster they reincarnate, Qing Chun reincarnated a mere three days after her death. This is a Major Universe in an infant multiverse located on the other side of the Sphere of Existence, it needs more souls to grow properly so most of the people that have died in the last ten thousand or so years have ended up reincarnating here. The Sphere of Existence sensed the ties between these three people and brought them all together here, a sort of consolation for reincarnating them so far away from their original home. Time in the Sphere of Existence doesn''t move at the same speed everywhere, it''s easier for the Sphere of Existence to control the birth and death of some multiverses if it temporarily alters the flow of time in some places. This infant multiverse is one such place. For you it might not have been very long, but your parents have already lived here for 35 years, and five years ago they gave birth to their healthy little daughter. I''m sorry, but I cannot revive those that aren''t dead. But if you want me to, then I can awaken the memories of their past life for you."


    Liang Chen''s gaze remained locked on the three people as Ning Hao spoke. The two parents walked at the edge of the earthen path, the young child walking between them and holding onto one hand from each parent. Her hands were swinging happily and her mouth was opening and closing incessantly, she seemed to be talking rapidly about something, her lips curved into a smile.


    Liang Chen studied the faces of the three people, his gaze lingering on all of the small differences between their current appearances and the appearances they once had. The most notable difference he noticed was the light in their eyes, it was a bit calmer and more carefree than he could remember it.


    The throbbing in his chest slowly subsided, but the aching remained, only now it was for a different reason. He took his eyes off of the three people and raised his head to look at the vast blue sky above him, his voice so low that it was nearly a whisper when he finally spoke.


    "...No need, they finally have peace, I would just bring ruin if I arrived. Can I change my wish? You don''t have to revive anyone for me, but please make sure that the three of them can continue to live in peace, make sure that they never get hurt. They all suffered and died because of me, they deserve to be happy at least in this life."


    Liang Chen''s voice had lost nearly all power, his shoulders drooping as he looked at the sky, not daring to look at the happy family. He could ask Ning Hao to bring back Yan Ling''s father and two siblings, but other than the fact that they might also have reincarnated already he also knew that Yan Ling wanted to be the one to bring them back, she didn''t want to have to constantly rely on Liang Chen. Yumao raised his own head and rubbed it against Liang Chen''s stomach to comfort him, the voice of Ning Hao echoing out within his mind again.


    "Aye, I can promise you that on my title as the Bloodwind Emperor. Do you want to stay here a bit longer?"


    The voice of Ning Hao contained traces of sympathy and pity as he spoke, Liang Chen guessed that even someone as mighty as him had suffered a bit in his lifetime. Liang Chen didn''t lower his head as he shook it, turning away from the village beneath him.


    "No... please take me back."


    There was nothing for him here, the thing he had dreamed of and desired to get back was already gone, it would never be his again, they would never return to him. Space around Liang Chen cracked open into the pitch-black space again, swallowing his powerless and deflated frame.

 To the future.

    Liang Chen and Yumao were brought to the pitch-black space and then quickly appeared in the air above their own planet again, it was as if they hadn''t moved a single step. But Liang Chen''s shoulders were slumped and his face somewhat pale, never before had he looked this weak and defeated, this aimless. His gaze drifted across the planet beneath them for a bit, a whisper-like voice escaping his lips.


    "Take me there... please..."


    Yumao nodded his head without making a sound, flapping his wings and shooting down to the planet at full speed. It didn''t take them long to reach the abandoned Green Rivers city with Yumao''s speed, the two descending to the ground in front of a very familiar set of ruins. A plot of scorched lands that just barely held the remains of a few trees and two small buildings, a wooden fence surrounding the entire thing, these were the ruins of Liang Chen''s childhood home. Liang Chen stepped down from Yumao''s back and walked up to the fence, his gaze wandering around the ruins for a bit before a weak laughter slipped out from his throat.


    "Heh... It really feels hollow all of a sudden."


    Liang Chen had multiple times thought to himself that there was nothing left for him on this planet, but only now did he truly realize what it meant to have nothing left here. His parents and sister had died and already reincarnated, his sole friend had died and likely also reincarnated, his lover had left and the sect he used to belong to had already been erased from the planet. The only thing left for him here now were ghosts of a past that would never return to him no matter how hard he fought.


    His gaze continued to roam around the ruins, his hands gripping the wooden fence and slowly applying more force. A thought flashed past his mind, the fence suddenly splintering under his grasp as a burst of disdainful laughter rang out.


    "Haha, the title of scourge really does fit me, so selfish and vile."


    It was just for an instance, but the thought that he could just wait until his parents and sister died again so that he could have the Bloodwind Emperor snatch up their souls and implant them in bodies of his choosing while also awakening their memories of the life with him flashed past his mind. The three of them had finally gotten some measure of peace and happiness in their lives, and yet the thought that flashed past Liang Chen''s mind was a sliver of desire for their deaths.


    They had gotten the happiness that he desired for them, but since their happiness wasn''t with him it seemed like a part of him was displeased, maybe even jealous. Liang Chen''s left hand let go of the broken fence, wooden shards dropping to the ground as he raised his hand and touched his face, tracing the area just beneath his eyes before letting out a third burst of hollow laughter.


    "Really, I lost more than half of my reason for fighting and yet I can''t even bring myself to shed a single tear on my own. What a broken and pointless existence I am, only able to cry when I''m surrounded by my loved ones, only able to cry when they can give me their attention."


    Liang Chen couldn''t stop himself from talking, reviving his parents had been one of his main driving factors, he had wanted so desperately to erase the pain of their deaths by reuniting with them. But now that he knew that it was impossible to do just that, he was utterly lost and shattered, his thoughts in complete disarray.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Something heavy suddenly hit his back and sent Liang Chen flying forward for a bit before he landed face first in the center of the charred ruins, ash and dust staining his face. He felt Yumao''s scaly and feathery tail flip him onto his back, Yumao shrinking slightly and then coiling up on top of Liang Chen''s chest.


    Yumao placed his head right in front of Liang Chen''s face, opening his jaws and letting out an ear-piercing hissing sound. He continued to hiss at Liang Chen without pause, the faint undertones of a roar within the hiss causing Liang Chen''s bones to vibrate slightly. He continued to hiss for almost five minutes, speaking words that only Liang Chen would be able to understand, occasionally stopping to catch his breath. When Yumao finished his hissing, Liang Chen rested his head against the ground and looked up at the vast blue sky.


    "Heh, weak, so very weak. A single setback and I break like this, I really haven''t changed at all from how I was as a child. No, actually, I might have gotten worse, back then I could at least muster up the will to fight."


    A glimmer of clarity and determined had returned to Liang Chen''s gaze, slowly getting brighter as he gazed at the sky. Yumao let out a short hiss from joy and slithered down from Liang Chen''s body, allowing him to twist into a kneeling position. He lowered his head and knocked his forehead against the dirt ground three times, his voice already having regained a bit of the power it usually had.


    "Thank you for raising me and teaching me how to love, I promise that I won''t forget you, and I pray that your next lives end up peaceful and loving."


    Liang Chen stood up once he finished, the wind in the area suddenly increasing in strength and gathering around him. The charred remains, as well as the wooden fence, the dust, and the ash, were all picked up by the wind that only grew stronger and stronger. Before long, everything on the plot of land that used to be his home was reduced to nothing but a fine powder that spun around Liang Chen like a tornado, slowly ascending towards the sky.


    The past was in the past, his parents and sister had already been reborn and thus moved on with their lives, it was only he who remained living in the past, reveling in the sorrow of it. It was time to move on, time to do as he had already done once before, right after his parents died. At that time he didn''t believe that they could be brought back so he took all his pain, his sorrow, his weakness, and he turned it into a rage that pushed him forward, pushed him to become strong enough to kill Qing Lan Yong. The powder quickly blew into the sky and was dispersed by the wind, spreading to all the corners of the world.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes as he stood on the empty plot of land, the memories he shared with his parents and sister flashing past his eyes. He would do as he always did, he would engrave the pain, the sorrow, and the helplessness into his heart and then he would drop it all into the fires of rage that smoldered within him, burying it all deep within for now. In time, it would all burn and become another part of the motivation that drove him forward, he would forever remember the past and have it push him forward, no matter how painful it was.


    It was just like Yumao said, there were still people that needed to be killed, there were still people that he wanted to protect, and there were still countless people he wanted to prevent from turning out like him. He couldn''t afford to stay down, he couldn''t afford to demean himself. He could only afford to do what he always did, look ahead and move forward, no matter how painful it was at times, no matter how shattered he felt.


    And if it ever became too much, then he could sit down and rest. He wasn''t alone, there were others he could rely on, people whose shoulders he could rest his head on when he needed a break, there was someone he could openly and freely cry in front of. Liang Chen stretched out his left arm, the last few particles of dust and ash blowing through his fingers before he turned his gaze away.


    "Thank you, Little Yuma. Come, let''s go, the future awaits."

 Heading out.

    Liang Chen didn''t immediately crush the crystal that he had been given by the Nine Star Demon God, it wasn''t quite time for him to head to that major universe just yet. There was still one last thing left for him to do in this universe, he had to head to the nearest branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company so that he could pick up the information about the Sealing God Empyrean that the disciple of the Bloodwind Emperor had prepared for him.


    He stepped onto Yumao''s back and sat down as Yumao flapped his wings and shot to the sky at a blistering speed, quickly arriving far above the surface of the planet. He stood up again when Yumao reached the very edge of the planet''s atmosphere and was just a few inches away from the vast void that separated the various planets and other items floating around within it.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out a metallic eagle statue that was about 60 meters long. The statue floated in front of them, a section of its chest sliding to the side and revealing a set of stairs they could use to enter it. Liang Chen had single-handedly killed most of the remaining leaders of the strong sects and clans, it was inevitable that he would find quite a few good resources and treasures.


    This particular eagle statue was actually an interspatial ship, and although it was inferior to the one he was given by Sun Haixie, the Sebettu general, it was better than riding on Yumao. It wasn''t impossible to make the trip while riding on Yumao, but they would have to make several stops so that Yumao could rest and so that they could catch their breath, they hadn''t yet reached a state where they could freely travel through the void separating planets. Yumao shrank down to his usual palm-sized state and curled up on Liang Chen''s head, the two walking up the stairs and entering the eagle.


    The inside of the eagle was actually bigger than the outside, it used upgraded versions of the arrays used to craft most interspatial rings. It was between two and three times as large on the inside, housing three large bedrooms, a small kitchen area, two gathering areas, and three bathrooms. For all intents and purposes, it was a mobile home as well as the emergency escape vessel that the leaders of the Moon Dragon sect had saved for when their very existence was threatened.


    Sadly for them, doom had come all too quickly for them to escape so now their final escape plan became Liang Chen''s ship. He made a quick trip to the core of the ship, a pure white space housing a 3-d heart-shaped array filled with indents. He put several Spirit Stones into the various indents and allowed the ship to drain their energy while he sent a bit of his Qi into the array to inform it of where to go. The floor beneath him started to vibrate slightly as the ship whirred to life and set off, the eagle-statue actually flapping its wings as it moved.


    Liang Chen then moved to one of the gathering areas, which was filled with couches, chairs, tables, empty bookshelves, half-withered plants, and windows one could use to observe their surroundings. Liang Chen sat down on one of the couches situated right next to a window and placed his elbow on the armrest of the couch, resting his chin on his hand as he peered out through the window.


    "Twelve days, huh? Well, guess it''ll be 108 for me if I really try. Wonder if we''ll run into any bandits."


    At his current cultivation level and as long as he wasn''t spending Qi on anything else then Liang Chen could increase the speed of time around him by nine. He didn''t consider himself particularly high up in the cultivation ranks but could already turn one day of cultivation into nine, giving himself a huge advantage over other cultivators.


    But he didn''t let that go to his head, he knew that he probably couldn''t even imagine how monstrous some of the talents in the major universes were. There was also the fact that they likely had access to time-altering arrays or areas where time naturally flowed faster, allowing them to cultivate in the same sort of environment as Liang Chen. And the final factor he made sure to keep in mind was age, the people Liang Chen was likely to face in the future weren''t people his age, they were likely far older than him even if he accounted for his sped-up time.


    Arrogance was not something he could afford, conceit was not something he could afford, a moment of carelessness and everything could slip through his fingers. That was especially true now that his gaze was firmly locked on the future and the path he had chosen to walk, the path he chose all those years ago. If the heavens have no wrath, then he would become that wrath, he would be the evil to kill all evil.


    "Heh, alright, let''s rein it in a little, no point in burning my eyes by trying to see too much all at once."


    Liang Chen pulled back his eyes and gave a slight shake of his head. There was no point in thinking about things so far ahead, for now he could only focus on the immediate future that he could see, everything else could be saved for later. Liang Chen reached up with his arm and gave Yumao a few soft strokes on the head, his lips curling up slightly when he heard the relaxed hiss coming from Yumao.


    "I''ll leave looking over me to you, Little Yuma."


    He closed his eyes and crossed his legs after giving Yumao''s head a few more strokes, taking a deep breath and then exhaling, time around him speeding up with each exhale. His breathing started slowing down, eventually reaching a point where he only exhaled once every half hour, Qi from the surroundings steadily flowing into his body from all around.


    As he cultivated like this and lost track of time, Liang Chen actually discovered something interesting, cultivating here was easier than it was down on the planet. There was energy coming towards him from all around, it was as if the vast void of space around the eagle-statue was a massive ocean sending all the energy it contained to Liang Chen.


    The empty space between planets was considered an inferior form of void, now that a being using the law of the void entered its fold it immediately started to send over all the energy it could. The empty space was bowing down in worship towards the newborn ruler of the void, sending over what energy it could as a tribute, that was the duty and joy of all things belonging to the void.


    Liang Chen only understood the gist of the situation, his law of the void drew in the energy of the surrounding inferior void, but that understanding was good enough for him. He wasn''t one to waste a chance like this so he quietly focused all his mind on cultivating, leaving it to Yumao to protect him or warn him should anything happen. In this state, time blurred for Liang Chen to the point where he couldn''t even tell if it was a second or a day that had passed, it was the perfect cultivation state.


    But all things had to end at some point, and the end to Liang Chen''s cultivation state came after 10 days of real-time passed. Yumao used his tail to give Liang Chen''s nose a few whacks, quickly shaking him out of his cultivation and returning him to his senses. He held the law of time so he quickly figured out how much time had passed once he returned to his senses.


    "10 days, we''re pretty close to Scale Gathering planet. What''s up?"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Liang Chen stood up and stretched his body as he was talking, giving his body a quick check. Other than his body cultivation, his two other cultivation systems had increased somewhat, making him rather pleased. As for why his body cultivation hadn''t increased, it was because he was missing the vital component that was Yan Ling. Her water element had been fused into his body cultivation, he needed the water element to further his body cultivation.


    He had quite a few water element resources on his hand after his actions on Dragon''s Gate planet, but he didn''t want to tap into them just yet, he wanted to wait for a proper chance to truly focus on his body. But even though he hadn''t increased his body cultivation, he still felt a slight change in his body. His missing right arm felt like it was itching, and not just the stump that remained of his shoulder, the place where his actual arm would be was itching, almost as if his limb was still there.


    "Phantom pain, was that what they called it?"


    Liang Chen had read quite a few books so he knew that this particular state wasn''t uncommon amongst people who had lost limbs. But he had never read about anyone feeling itching in their missing limb, it was always either pain or a soft sensation of touch. But Liang Chen didn''t get the chance to think too much about it, Yumao using his tail to poke Liang Chen''s cheek and then hissing while gesturing towards the window.


    Liang Chen turned his attention towards the window and saw that they were currently surrounded by floating rocks of various sizes and shape, they seemed to be currently passing through an asteroid belt. Mixed in with the rocks was rubble and debris that seemed to have come from a ship, he could even see the torn mast and sail drift around. There were some corpses floating around along with the debris as well, a small group of surviving people, mainly old men and women, gathered together on one of the larger pieces of debris.


    The large fragment, a large piece of wood that probably belonged to the deck of the ship, released a faint light that surrounded all the survivors, protecting them from their surroundings. The people in the group were all waving at Liang Chen''s ship with all their might, their mouths opening and closing as they seemed to be shouting something. Their expressions were pleading, to the point that many of them were already despairing, so it seemed like they had encountered a terrible misfortune.


    Liang Chen sent a bit of Qi into the ship and had it steer towards the group of people, the door on the stomach opening as he got close to them. Liang Chen stepped out of the ship and walked through the empty space until he was close enough to the group that he could hear them. Seeing Liang Chen choose to get closer rather than leaving, the group quickly burst with joy. The oldest one among them, a white-haired old woman that was so hunched over she almost formed a perfect angle, took an unsteady step forward to plead with Liang Chen.


    "Please, Master, you don''t have to help us, but we plead with you, please save the younglings! Our ship was attacked while we were heading to Yellow Winds planet to deliver some of the younglings to the Wind''s Embrace academy. We were so unlucky that the marauder group residing in this stone belt just so happened to be close to the area as we were passing through, they kidnapped all the younglings and the able, they also stole all the provisions and funds we had gathered up for them. We encountered another youngling who quickly rushed to their aid, but we fear that she alone isn''t enough to take on the bandits. Please, we are willing to do anything if you would be so kind as to grace us with your aid, please save the younglings and the girl who went to save them! They are too young to suffer like this, suffering like that is best reserved for old and decrepit fools like us."


    The old woman pointed into the distance and then dropped to her knees as she spoke, knocking her head against the wood below her so hard that blood started to seep out from her forehead. The other old people in the group also got down to their knees and mimicked her, the wooden surface beneath them quickly ending up stained in blood.


    Liang Chen''s gaze swept over the group of people, his thoughts swiftly moving, but he knew that his answer was already decided from the very start. If Liang Chen chose to leave right here and let the kidnapped people suffer their fates, then he would be just as vile as the heavens that he despised, he would become even more of a monster than he already was.


    There was a chance that these people were just lying to him, but he felt that if he wanted to walk his path to the end then this was a risk that he had to take, and he would likely have to take it again and again. He gave Yumao a few pats on the head, causing him to let out a loud hiss and expand into his actual size of nearly seven meters in length. Dark tendrils spawned around him and snatched up the group of old people, stuffing them into the eagle statue while Liang Chen spoke.


    "You just wait right there, I''ll go take a look."


    Liang Chen stepped onto Yumao''s back once he finished his words, Yumao flapping his wings and cutting through the empty space as he shot forward. The eagle statue was connected to Liang Chen since he injected some Qi into it while putting in the Spirit Stones so it followed behind them as they maneuvered around the floating rocks.


    They quickly encountered more debris and corpses floating around them as they moved, showing that they were getting closer to the scene of the attack. They quickly passed the torn-apart carcass of what used to be the ship of the group, a rather large galleon-like ship that seemed to once have carried three sails. After passing the site of the attack, it only took them another five minutes of flying before they reached the headquarters of the bandits, which was actually built on top of one of the floating stones.


    Like this, their headquarters would constantly change position, it would actually be rather hard to find it for those that didn''t know what to look for. Luckily the signs of battle in the area were still fresh, as was the spilled blood that floated around, and Liang Chen was well-suited to tracking living things so they managed to find the hideout without much trouble.


    The headquarters themselves were built much like a stone castle, gradually rising higher towards the center and ending in a large and imposing spire. The earth all around the gray castle had been flattened, the front half remaining barren while the part behind the castle seemed to have been turned into a farming area, a few vegetables and wheat species just barely poking forth.


    Liang Chen''s gaze drifted towards the front part of the castle the moment he arrived, he could see someone currently engaging in battle there. One one side there were the marauders, a mixture of men and women clad in whatever armor or clothing they could get their hands on. And on the other side was the girl that the group of old people had mentioned, she looked to be in her early twenties and had a rather tall but slim and shapely stature. Her buttocks-length deep blue hair hung down freely and her emerald green eyes were focused firmly on the enemies in front of her, an unyielding and furious light flashing in them.


    She was currently surrounded by about 20 marauders, and although she seemed to have just recently set foot into the Soaring Immortal realm, she was unable to properly deal with the onslaught, several wounds visible on her body. She swiped out with her two daggers just as Liang Chen arrived, just barely blocking an arrow that was aimed directly at her throat. But by blocking the life-threatening arrow, her side was left wide open and a larger hammer landed directly on her right elbow, twisting her arm into a highly unnatural state.


    But as Liang Chen was looking on due to having just arrived, the girl grit her teeth and glanced at her arm. The arm actually started twisting when she glanced at it, twisting back into a normal shape with unnatural movements, it resembled the movements of a puppet whose strings were being pulled. Her arm then stabbed out with the somewhat forward-curved silver dagger that she was holding, quickly delivering four successive stabs to the left arm of the burly woman who shattered her elbow.


    Another strange scene took place when the fourth stab hit the woman''s left arm, black and yellow marks that resembled butterflies and spiders started to appear on the arm of the woman. The marks quickly moved up the woman''s body, spreading out and completely covering her, resulting in the woman clutching her chest for a quick moment before falling over without a single sign of life.


    The strange death opened a window of opportunity for the blue-haired woman, who actually turned around to look at Liang Chen. She pointed her left dagger at the imposing castle, shouting with all her might in hopes that her voice would reach Liang Chen.


    "I don''t know who you are, but please save the children and young adults that were kidnapped! They were already taken to the castle to experience horrors we can''t even imagine! I''ll hold back these people so please hurry! If you save them, then I, Yi Xue, swear that I will do almost anything that you ask!"

 Incarnate.

    Liang Chen raised his head slightly after receiving the nearly desperate plea of the blue-haired and green-eyed woman, Yi Xue. His gaze locked on to the stone castle that served as the headquarters for these bandits, a colorless and weak poisonous gas rapidly extending from his body. The gas entered the castle through the smallest openings and quickly started to spread throughout the entirety of it, Liang Chen closing his eyes and using the poison to get a quick look at what was going on within the castle.


    His eyes snapped open again after only two short seconds, his expression not revealing the slightest trace of emotion. He crouched down slightly and gave Yumao a few pats on the head, gesturing towards the castle with his chin. Yumao understood his meaning and let out a loud hiss, flapping his wings and shooting towards the stone castle as a black blur.


    As Yumao crashed through the walls and entered the castle, Liang Chen descended to the ground like a shooting star, having been left behind when Yumao accelerated to his full speed. He didn''t slow his descent in the slightest, resulting in him smashing into the flattened earth with a thunderous crashing sound.


    He kicked up a cloud of dust and chunks of earth and stone but his strong body cultivation made it so that he didn''t even have a scratch on him when he walked out of the cloud of dust. The place he landed was almost in the very middle of the group of 19 marauders, only a few steps away from the wounded Yi Xue. Seeing him choose to come down here instead of heading to the castle with his pet, she quickly called out to him.


    "What on earth are you doing?! You should rescue the children first, they are too weak to be able to hold on for too long in the face of these no-good fellows! I don''t know how strong your snakey is, but the leader of these bandits is really scarily strong, you know? He''s already managed to step into the Primordial Immortal realm, the hecking grand Primordial Immortal realm! The little Snakey''ll be murdered and neatly dissected if you let it stay in there alone!"


    Yi Xue grabbed onto Liang Chen''s right hand and gave it a strong pull, hoping to pull him forward and then push his back so that she could properly help him understand just what he should do. But to her surprise, his body didn''t even budge in the slightest when she exerted her force, it was as if she was trying to pull an entire mountain.


    Liang Chen''s gaze swept over the girl for a quick second, giving her a closer inspection from up close. Now that he was closer to her he managed to realize that she exuded an aura somewhat similar to Chen Dairong from the Sealing God sect, the time around her was somewhat chaotic and disorderly. Of course, this didn''t mean that she also cultivated the laws of time, it simply meant that she had spent quite a bit of time within an array that sped up time within it.


    He didn''t know how long she had spent inside such an array, but he found her manner of speaking odd, a bit too childish for someone that should be around 20. But no matter how long she had spent in one such array, just the fact that she could spend so much time in such an array meant that she should have a rather high status somewhere. But if she really did have such a high status that she could utilize a time-acceleration array, why would she consider the Primordial Immortal realm so grand and scary?


    Liang Chen had a few questions about this girl, but he only let his gaze roam over her for a second before it turned towards the marauders around them. His golden pupils swept over them, the multi-colored lightning flickering within them causing the hearts of a few of the marauders to nearly stop on instinct. The corners of Liang Chen''s mouth curved up very faintly, his left arm rising as his finger pointed out.


    "Glad. Yes, I''m glad. I''m glad that you people are as you are. I feel like the people I''ve faced lately have all been so gray and strange, with only a select few of them being truly evil. But you guys? You are scum, nicely vile and simple, a true blight upon life itself. It won''t leave behind even the slightest aftertaste if I murder the whole lot of you. So come, the heavens have stayed silent for too long, let me deliver unto you what they should have long ago."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The veins in and around Liang Chen''s eyes bulged slightly as he spoke, his eyes turning a bit bloodshot as a result. When he used his poison to inspect the situation within the castle, the things he saw left him filled with disgust and wrath. Young and old, men and women, abused and violated, tortured and terrorized. He even saw a young boy who looked no older than eight or nine, he was in the middle of being ravaged by four marauders of perverse taste, one of the marauders had even taken a large bite out of his back, swallowing the flesh, blood, and skin with glee.


    Liang Chen had seen evil people and vile monsters before, but seeing something like this brought him right back to the first time he acted on his impulses back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. It was when he used his poison to infiltrate the Second Cloud Palace that Liu Daning was living in. Back then he had seen similarly vile scenes, although they were a bit tamer back then, and just like back then, he was filled with boundless rage when he saw it. These weren''t people, they were a plague upon existence, living proof that the heavens were either dead or evil, they were part of the reason behind Liang Chen''s existence.


    Liang Chen was quite a bit weaker back then, yet he was still able to make the Second Cloud Palace flood with a tide of blood. But there would be no tide of blood today, today there would just be death and lightning, the wrath of the heavens incarnate.


    Liang Chen''s body pulsated with power for a quick second, a glimmering brown bolt of lightning shooting out from the tip of his outstretched finger. The lightning shot right past Yi Xue and straight through all the marauders in front of Liang Chen, it continued on unabated and tore a hole straight through the grand spire serving as the centerpiece of the stone castle. The bolt of lightning suddenly expanded when it pierced through the spire, arcing out into several hundred other lightning bolts and decimating the entire tower. The tower collapsed and turned into rubble, tearing down a section of the castle as it fell.


    Of the 19 marauders surrounding him and Yi Xue, four were killed immediately by the lightning, their skin sizzling and crackling, almost turning into charcoal due to the intense heat of Liang Chen''s fused lightning. But the remaining 15 marauders also fell over strangely after the lightning bolt that was Liang Chen''s wrath shot out. Some of them turned as pale as paper as all life left them and they collapsed like lifeless dolls, the law of death silently taking what they had wasted.


    But the last four that died were a bit different, their eyes were filled with unspeakable horror for a few seconds before they fell over and died. They had just reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm or the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, they were unable to block Liang Chen''s Qi and he was thus able to infiltrate their brains with it. The law of time ate away at small portions of their brain so that Liang Chen could conserve some Qi, but it still resulted in them feeling like they had experienced several decades in the span of a few seconds, their brains and heart eventually simply shutting down.


    In the span of a mere three seconds, all the marauders present had lost their lives. And throughout the entire process, the only action Liang Chen had taken was to raise his left hand and point out. And only half a second after the marauders lost their lives, the castle that used to be their headquarters exploded. A loud hissing sound carrying the faint undertones of a roar rocked the asteroid that the castle stood on, massive black fangs rising out from the castle and tearing it apart from the inside.


    Yumao shot out from the minuscule rubble that remained of the castle, almost 100 people of varying ages tied to his body through strings of materialized darkness. And stuck between his teeth was the ragged body of the man who used to be the leader of these marauders, the silvery-brown metal armor covering his body torn apart like paper by Yumao''s sharp teeth. Yumao and Liang Chen were freaks of nature, only the strongest early stage Primordial Immortals would be able to fight against them at their current level.


    Yi Xue was utterly dumbfounded when she saw the scene, her still shattered right elbow already having dropped to hanging limply at her side, she had seemingly undone whatever she did to move it earlier. Her gaze moved between Liang Chen and the winged serpent that was Yumao, her eyes quickly starting to burn with the light of hope, as well as hidden undertones of fiery anger. She immediately dropped to her knees and lowered her head, her forehead smashing against the earth as she kowtowed to Liang Chen.


    "I am Yi Xue, Please please please accept me as your disciple! Please please, I beg of you!"

 Where it started.

    Liang Chen was momentarily unable to respond to Yi Xue, utterly dumbfounded by her sudden plea and kowtow. Did she just say that she wanted to be his disciple? Liang Chen was more than aware that his strength was abnormal, Yan Ling wouldn''t go around calling him Little Freak for nothing, but most people would look for more than just great strength in their teacher.


    They would usually check their temperament, ambitions, compatibility of the laws, morals, weapons they specialized in. Only when most of these criteria fit would they plead someone to be their master, that was how things should usually be. After all, asking someone to be your master usually meant that you would take their teachings to heart and use them to improve. If you chose your master poorly then your entire cultivation could end up ruined or stunted, cultivation was a rather personal thing after all.


    This was also one of the reasons that clans and sects, while they provided their disciples with cultivation resources and manuals, didn''t interfere too much with their disciples, only giving general advice most of the time. Yumao flapped his wings and slowly flew over with the nearly 100 people in tow, Liang Chen shaking off his dumbfounded state with a shake of his head.


    "A young girl like you shouldn''t be spouting things like that, you''ll just end up getting taken advantage of. You know nothing about me, our laws don''t seem to be compatible, and our actual cultivation isn''t that far off from each other, there is no point in taking me on as your master."


    Liang Chen stated it very plainly so that Yi Xue could understand him, his gaze drifting towards the incoming Yumao and the dying person stuck in his teeth. Yumao swiftly reached the empty area in front of the castle and set down the people he had carried out of the ruins of the castle, dropping the man who used to rule these marauders in front of Liang Chen.


    The man''s armor and body had been cleanly pierced through by Yumao''s teeth and blood covered nearly his entire body, but he was actually still alive, clinging to life with a few breaths. Liang Chen grabbed onto the man''s throat with his left hand and raised him up from the ground, his eyes remaining completely expressionless.


    "You are a blight upon this universe, your blood isn''t even fit to feed my weapon or my companion. You have stained this universe for long enough, let your name and existence vanish."


    The law of the void burst forth and invaded the man''s body, pulling him apart and causing his body to vanish in a manner similar to snow entering water. It didn''t take long for the man''s body to completely vanish, Yi Xue and the others looking on with wide-open eyes and mouths, gaping dumbfoundedly. That was supposed to be the terrifying existence that had just stepped into the Primordial Immortal Realm? His body and life vanished just like that, like ice meeting magma.


    Yumao let out a soft hissing sound after the man vanished, his body shrinking and speeding up onto Liang Chen''s head. He curled up and raised his head, continuing to let out several hissing sounds until Liang Chen pat his head and praised him for a job well done. The sudden change in atmosphere caused the people around them to return to their senses, Yi Xue''s eyes blazing as she once again smashed her forehead against the ground.


    "You''re wrong, there is a point, there is, there is, there is! You are strong, so hecking strong that I can''t even understand or believe it! That strength, teach it to me, please! I need to find and kill those who murdered my family, so I need strength like yours! Don''t worry about me being useless, my aunty used to say that I''m extremely talented! Look, I''ve even got a bloodline! I promise that I can be helpful if you accept me!"


    Yi Xue wasn''t shy about talking about herself, even directly stating her current situation as well as the fact that she had a bloodline. As for her bloodline, mottled scales that were a deep green color appeared on the back of her hand as she spoke about it, receding again once she finished speaking.


    The scales looked somewhat familiar to him, but after his visit to Tripartite God and seeing so many different bloodlines and bodily changes, Liang Chen found it hard to pin down just where he had seen similar scales before so he tossed the thought to the back of his mind. Liang Chen was about to speak up again when a few of the others that Yumao had brought over also dropped to their knees and lowered their foreheads to the ground.


    "Me too! Please accept me as your disciple! I want to get revenge for my wife!"


    "Please help me grow stronger, I want to make sure that no more people have to go through what we have!"


    "I beg of you, make me strong! I want to send as many monsters like these people to hell so that my brothers and sister can rest in peace!"


    "Me too, I need to be your disciple! Please help me, I must make certain that the dead of my village can rest in peace knowing that such deeds won''t repeat themselves!"


    More and more people among the nearly 100 gathered there dropped to their knees, a total of 17 people, 18 with Yi Xue, smashing their foreheads to the ground and pleading to Liang Chen. Among the 18 people was the young boy that Liang Chen had seen get ravaged, the large bite wound on his back was still bleeding profusely. All of them had lost everything dear to them, they had nothing left but their resentment and a desire for change.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Facing all these people, Liang Chen was honestly a bit troubled on how to respond. The reason was simple, he saw himself in each and everyone one of these people, he had lost just as they had. But unlike them, he wasn''t completely alone, he still had Yumao and Yan Ling that he could rest on, anchors to tie him down and make sure that he didn''t break any further.


    In truth, Liang Chen wasn''t actually against at least training these people. After all, one of his reasons for stepping onto the path he did was to prevent people from ending up like him, and training these people could somewhat help that, it would at least prevent them from becoming worse. But no matter what his thoughts were, there was one fact he couldn''t ignore. He gave a slight shake of his head and started speaking, Yi Xue''s eyes lighting up as she cut him off.


    "It doesn''t matter if you all get on your knees and beg, I am a homeless wanderer and as such simply don''t have a place where I can ke..."


    "I do, I do! If the problem is having a place to keep us then I have a solution! Look, look, aunty said that this is the final gift my father prepared for me before he was betrayed and ambushed! She said that it can change shape, contain living beings, and even get placed into an interspatial ring without any piddly problem!"


    Yi Xue dug her hands into the right sleeve of her blue robe and pulled out a pink orb that was made from a strange transparent crystal. She pointed the orb at one of the other people that was kneeling, a soft light exuding from it and surrounding the woman. The woman was sucked into the orb and then vanished, Yi Xue then pulled back the sleeve of her robe to reveal an interspatial treasure shaped like a green bracelet that resembled a river winding around her wrist.


    The orb was sucked into the interspatial treasure and entered it without a problem, Yi Xue bringing it out again shortly after and releasing the woman that had been sucked into the orb. Once she finished proving the validity of it, she threw the orb to Liang Chen without hesitation, showing how determined she was about this. Liang Chen caught the orb and gave it a quick inspection by sinking his mind into it.


    The inside of the orb actually looked like a city large enough to house at least a few hundred thousand people, the city was even surrounded by farmlands to the east and north and a massive forest and mountain range to the south and west. Yumao slithered down from Liang Chen''s head and entered the orb so that he could test it for Liang Chen. He quickly appeared on the streets of the city, curiously looking around while his tongue tasted the air. He then left the orb and appeared on Liang Chen''s arm again, slithering back up to his head and letting out a hissing sound.


    From the looks of it, the orb was exactly as Yi Xue had said, but that also meant that it was an extraordinary treasure. Liang Chen was once again struck by the thought that Yi Xue had a rather extraordinary background, or at least used to have back when her family was alive. He didn''t think that her words were a lie, he could see the hatred and grief in her eyes, it was the same emotions that once festered within his own eyes. Liang Chen looked at the pink orb for a bit before gaze moved towards the 18 people that remained on their knees. His thoughts moved for a bit more before he opened his mouth again.


    "I''m not staying here, I am going to head to a much larger universe once I''ve finished my business here. I''ll face people far stronger than you can imagine, far crueler and viler than you can imagine. I''ll make far more enemies than you can count, even now I have an enemy that is so strong that it is suffocating just to think about it. I''m also not a very good person, nor do I think I''m a good teacher, the best I would be able to do is train you as I would train myself. If you choose to follow me, you are more likely to die than you are to live."


    Plainly and simply, that''s how Liang Chen stated it all to them. People around him seemed to have a bad tendency to die, so far only two people had survived actually getting close to him, Yan Ling and Yan Ying. But even with Liang Chen stating it so simply for them, the 18 people still remained on their knees, their eyes blazing with flames.


    "That''s fine, please help us get stronger!"


    They all responded as one, none of them fearing death. They had already lost everything, death would be a form of release for them at this point. But just as Liang Chen couldn''t get any rest, they couldn''t get their relief, there were still people to kill. Liang Chen let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head upon hearing their strong response, it seems like he had somehow ended up with a bunch of people like him in tow.


    "Alright, then so be it. I''m Liang Chen, one of the last three people of the Storm Wolf sect. And from now on, you too are members of the Storm Wolf sect."


    Yan Ling''s dream was to have the name of the Storm Wolf sect echo across the entire universe and even beyond it. As long as she or Liang Chen were alive, the Storm Wolf would never truly die, it would always rise again. And from the looks of it, this was where it would start. Yi Xue and the 17 other people raised their heads again and looked at Liang Chen with brilliant eyes, a thought quickly flashing past Yi Xue''s pupils before she lowered her head slightly again.


    "Disciple Yi Xue greets Wolf Lord Liang Chen!"


    He said that he was one of only three remaining members of the sect, and looking at how strong he was Yi Xue naturally assumed that he was the leader. As such, it was only natural to refer to him by a proper title. The remaining people also quickly caught on, lowering their heads and shouting out with renewed vigor.


    "Disciple Kong Youyan greets Wolf Lord Liang Chen!"


    "Disciple San Tongye greets Storm Lord Liang Chen!"


    "Disciple Liu San greets Storm Lord Liang Chen!"


    "Disciple Ah Xingliu greets Storm Lord Liang Chen!"


    "Disciple Fang Rong greets Wolf Lord Liang Chen!"

 The next step of the journey.

    Liang Chen couldn''t help but cringe somewhat when the 18 people knelt and called out his name and the titles they had picked for him. It was the same back on his home planet, even the Bloodwind Code was the same, why were people so damn eager to attach titles to others? Yumao wore a proud expression and raised his head high, accepting the reverence of these people as if it was targeted at him. Liang Chen gave Yumao''s head a soft flick, shaking his head at the kneeling people before turning his gaze onto the remaining people that Yumao had rescued from the castle.


    "Stop that, just call me Liang Chen or something, titles like that are just pointless. As for you guys, I''ve got a bunch of people hidden away in that eagle-shaped ship over there, they said they were bringing a bunch of younglings to the Wind''s Embrace Academy on the Yellow Winds planet. Those of you who are with them can join up with them, and those of you who aren''t are free to do as you please. I''m heading to Scale Gathering planet to pick up something, those who wish can follow me there."


    The expressions of over half of the remaining people instantly brightened upon hearing Liang Chen''s words, they had been worried about their friends and family ever since they were taken away. The rest of the people, who didn''t seem affiliated with the group of people that pointed Liang Chen in this direction, quietly exchanged a few words before turning to Liang Chen and bowing gratefully.


    Liang Chen responded to the bows with a nod of his head, raising the pink orb that Yi Xue had thrown at him. All the people around him, and even those who were hidden away within the eagle-shaped ship, were sucked into the city within the orb, which was then promptly tossed into Liang Chen''s interspatial ring. Liang Chen''s interspatial ring was the one he had received from a trial in the Mystic''s Hidden realm, it was forged by someone known as Sovereign Blacksmith and was thus far better than a normal interspatial ring.


    Ignoring the fact that the interior was utterly massive and could even carry minor living beings like plants and some special herbs, just the fact that Liang Chen could speed up and slow down the passage of time within the ring was astonishing enough. And right now he tried out just that, he slowed down the passage of time within the ring as much as he could, turning what would normally be 500 minutes into one minute.


    This was an interspatial ring forged by a supreme existence, and it was different from other items in that it didn''t need any Spirit Stones or the like to be utilized, it barely cost Liang Chen anything to slow down time within the ring. He sent in a sliver of his consciousness and was immediately assaulted by a nauseating feeling that caused him to vomit, the sensation of having his mind move at such vastly different paces was simply too much,


    He wiped away the vomit around his mouth and made sure that none had gotten on his robe, a slight smile forming on his lips. The reason time could be sped up or slowed down so much within the interspatial ring was due to the fact that it shouldn''t be able to hold major living beings like animals or cultivators, but now he had found a loophole in it. He felt a slight interference within the interspatial ring, the orb was hampering the process of slowing down time by at least half, but even then he was still able to slow it down by five hundred times, there were more than just a few applications for something like this.


    But for the moment, Liang Chen had no plans of entering the orb himself, he walked through the air and entered the eagle-shaped ship. He sat down in one of the two gathering areas within the ship and sat down on the same couch he used earlier, turning his head to look out the window. The reason he didn''t enter the orb right away, and also why he slowed down time within it, was simply that he had something he wanted to do in peace before he started actually interacting with the other people.


    He had to get to Scale Gathering planet so that he could pick up the information on the Sealing God Empyrean, he would then break the crystal given to him by the Nine Star Demon God and move on to the major universe, after that he could start interacting with them. Slowing down time within the orb was out of consideration for those within it, they would probably get fairly antsy and nervous if he were to just leave them there without any news for over a week.


    When Liang Chen was stopped to deal with the bandits, they had already been traveling for 10 days so he was only two days away from Scale Gathering planet, these two days passing in a flash. Liang Chen gazed through the window of the ship and looked at the planet, which was verging on being almost 1.5 times as large as his own home planet. This planet had gotten the name Scale Gathering for a simple reason, it was the largest planet within several million kilometers and thus all the hopeful cultivating talents that left their planet would find their way here. Some would end up spending the rest of their days here, each one becoming another scale that gathered together to form the grand dragon that was the history of the planet.


    But none of that history or grandness registered in Liang Chen''s eyes, he was fully focused on the largest building on the entire planet, the branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company. The building stood out from all the others, it was nearly 400 meters tall and looked like two vines that were coiling around each other, it would be hard not to notice it. When the ship got closer and was forced to descend, Liang Chen barely noticed that there seemed to be a myriad of carvings covering the two vines.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    But their concrete shape didn''t register in his eyes, he was so tunnel-visioned on getting the information that nothing else really registered right now. He released the people from within the orb and bade them farewell, only keeping Yi Xue and the other 17 people, his new disciples, within the interspatial ring as he split away from the other people. He had entered the building and made his way up to a counter before he knew it, stating his name and what he had come here for, as well as who was supposed to have sent it. And less than 15 seconds later, he held in his hands a stack of papers containing nearly the entire life''s story of the Sealing God Empyrean.


    Liang Chen was barely able to wait until he entered his ship again before he started reading, but the more he read the further his heart dropped. Qing Lan Yong entered the Primordial Immortal realm at 68 years of age and could easily be considered an extravagant talent, but the Sealing God Empyrean, Lin Sangye, entered the Primordial Immortal realm at a mere 13 years of age. If there truly existed people blessed by the heavens, then Lin Sangye was exactly one such person. The laws he cultivated were sealing, gravity, defense, and speed, each one a truly top-class law. His most recent display of power put his cultivation in the middle stages of the Primeval Sovereign realm, the realm directly beneath a Universal Heart.


    If Liang Chen thought that having Lin Sangye as an enemy was suffocating before then now it felt like the weight of the entire multiverse was bearing down on him. Liang Chen carefully stored away the papers, taking several slow and deep breaths, his eyes growing sharper and sharper. It didn''t matter how strong Lin Sangye was, he had robbed Liang Chen of his sister and a friend, he had caused so much bloodshed that Liang Chen could not spare him. No blade was forged without getting hammered intensely, this terrifying pressure would just be another part of the forging process, no more and no less.


    Liang Chen gave Yumao a few pats on the head, partly to please Yumao and partly to help himself calm down again. He was already planning on leaving this universe, but reading the report only affirmed his determination. Lin Sangye was the closest person to becoming this minor universes'' Universal Heart, even now his Sealing God sect had spread to cover over 80% of this universe. There was no home or safe place for Liang Chen here, he had to leave if he wanted to live.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out the grape-sized silver crystal that the Nine Star Demon God had given him. Crushing this would open a path to the major universe where both he and Yan Ling were currently present, it would also take him to the universe where he could find Purgatory. He knew the risks, he knew the dangers ahead, he knew that this journey would be longer than any he had done before. But even so, he crushed the crystal without hesitation, a silver ripple running through space and swallowing both Liang Chen and his ship.


    --


    The crushing of the silver crystal resonated with the one who had created it, the purple-haired and gray-eyed Nine Star Demon God, Yao Jun. He was currently sitting in the air amongst the clouds, his impossible to read eyes looking at the young girl sitting with crossed legs in front of him, struggling to keep herself in the air. Her emerald hair danced in the strong winds that brushed against them like waves, gathering around Yan Ling as if she was the center of the ocean.


    The veins on her forehead and neck were starting to bulge out somewhat under the strain and pressure of trying to control the wind through the principles that Yao Jun was trying to teach her, it was different from anything she had ever seen before. But then Yao Jun opened his mouth, all the wind around them simply vanishing as if it had never been there to begin with.


    "Your boyfriend has entered this universe, even brought a few people with him it seems. He''s your goal, isn''t he? Then you''d better focus more on your cultivation, otherwise, you''ll lag further and further behind. And trust me, that''s a rather unpleasant feeling."


    Yao Jun''s voice was similar to his eyes, it was impossible to detect his emotions from them, a sensation that made Yan Ling somewhat uncomfortable as it made it hard to figure out what he was thinking and what the best response would be. But upon hearing him speaking, her eyes couldn''t help but shoot open, her two differently colored pupils sparkling with light.


    "Really? He''s already arrived here? You won''t go back on your words, right, I can go see him whenever I want? And oh, thank you for giving him that gift...Master?"


    Yan Ling ended her sentence somewhat uncertainly. In truth, she hadn''t interacted much with Yao Jun, he seemed somewhat indifferent to things not close to him, so she had no idea what she should actually call him. She didn''t expect too much of an answer, at best a nod as acknowledgment. But to her surprise, Yao Jun''s eyes actually flashed with a tinge of emotion as he spoke.


    "Don''t call it a gift. To people from a minor universe, getting a ticket to a major universe is more of a curse than a gift. They come here without knowing much and bring with them arrogance that they themselves didn''t even know that they had, arrogance they thought they had squashed long ago. And that arrogance causes them to lose things, it gives them scars that might never heal. He could hide within his minor universe, but he won''t be able to do so here, he''ll step onto the grand stage and have his name spread further than ever before if he survives. So you''d best be prepared, that boy might lose more than he gains after coming here."


    (End of book 4, The Weeping King shatters Dragon''s Gate.)

 Hymn of the monarch.

    (start of book 5, Crownless King.)


    Yan Ling could tell that there was certainly a story hidden away behind the tinge of emotion that flashed through Yao Jun''s eyes, but she was unable to ask about it as his eyes regained their usual calm almost instantly. With that being the case, she decided to instead ask about the question at the forefront of her mind.


    "The crystal you gave him, where will it transport him? Is it gonna be far from here?"


    Yan Ling couldn''t help but be a bit antsy right now, she was the one who knew Liang Chen best after all. And if there was one thing she knew about him then it was that he was a highly dangerous person, far more dangerous than others could possibly hope to fathom. It was especially so right now where he had lost almost everything, there was no telling what he might do if something pushed him over the edge. As such, she wanted to meet up with him as quickly as possible, at least then she could act as a sort of anchor that stopped him from drifting away. But the response she got from Yao Jun was so far from any of her guesses that the idea had never even crossed her mind.


    "No clue. I set it up so that it would bring him relatively close to his parents, his biological ones, oh and his sister I guess I gotta add from now on. But as to where those buggers are right now, I have no idea. I spend most of my time focusing on my own little multiverse so if I want to find out where he ends up I gotta spend a day or so checking."


    Yao Jun spoke extremely casually, even shrugging his shoulders lightly, but his words left Yan Ling completely dumbfounded for a short moment. But she quickly collected herself again, somewhat disbelievingly pursuing what she had just been told.


    "But Little Freak said that his parents knew that they were going to die, that''s why they sent him through time and space, so that he didn''t have to share their fate. Have they reincarnated and regained their memories? Or did someone revive them after they died?"


    There were very few things that Yan Ling and Liang Chen hadn''t shared with each other over the time they had spent together. As such, Yan Ling had long ago already heard about the memories that had been sealed within Liang Chen by his parents as they sent him through time. They realized that the Genesis War was lost and that they would die there, this was the entire reason they had sent their only son away, so that at least he could survive. But once again, Yao Jun shrugged his shoulders and provided an answer that she hadn''t been expecting.


    "They were indeed set to die back then during that little skirmish. But I''ve got a surprisingly decent relationship with those fellas so I rescued them before they were killed. But this Sphere of Existence is a bit of a bitch when it comes to people fucking around with time like that so they had to pay a bit of a price that set them back a fair bit. They''ve been living in relative peace ever since then, but due to their involvement with me, they ended up having to send their second child, their daughter, through time as well, paying the same price once more. I only recently managed to pick up their daughter, she arrived in the Rahu universe about a year or two ago and had taken up the name Xiao Ping. She thought her parents were dead so she was hellbent on reviving their race to make their spirits proud, funny little girl, a bit stiff though."


    Yan Ling was surprised to see another tinge of emotion, guilt this time, flash through Yao Jun''s pupils as he spoke about Xiao Ping. From the looks of it, there was probably more to the story than what he was telling her. But that was to be expected, they barely knew each other so neither of them had any reason to tell the other much about themselves. But those weren''t the thoughts occupying Yan Ling''s mind right now, she was fully focused on just the one simple fact.


    "So Little Freak... Still has a family?"


    Learning this fact, Yan Ling couldn''t help but grow a bit worried and relieved. She was relieved because this meant that there were still others that cared about Liang Chen, but she was worried about what reaction he would have. He had a very simple view of his biological parents, he respected them and was thankful for what they had done for him, but his actual parents would always be the two people who raised him and were executed that day in Green Rivers city. If he met with his biological parents, just how would things unfold?


    --


    A terrible quaking overtook the ship as the silver ripple swallowed Liang Chen and his ship, the furniture ending up flying all over the place. Liang Chen was just barely able to stabilize himself, his toes curling and actually digging into the floor so that he didn''t end up joining the furniture as it flew around, a strange sensation coursing throughout his entire body. The quaking only lasted for a few seconds before subsiding, an almost eerie calm replacing it as Liang Chen felt the eagle-shaped ship drift forward, the strange sensation only growing stronger.


    But to his surprise, Liang Chen realized that he probably hadn''t arrived in the major universe yet, the sensations he had felt so far were nothing like the spatial teleportations he had felt so far. Liang Chen''s gaze unconsciously drifted to the windows on the ship, but they had all been barred by automatic metal covers to protect them once the ship started quaking, leaving Liang Chen unable to see his current surroundings.


    His head felt strangely light so he reached up to touch it, but Yumao wasn''t curled up there any longer, causing Liang Chen to start a little. He quickly swept the entire ship, but Yumao was nowhere to be found, it was as if he had vanished. It was only when Liang Chen check on the orb inside his interspatial ring that he could let out a sigh of relief, Yumao had somehow ended up inside it.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    But as Liang Chen checked up on the orb and the people inside it, he discovered something strange, they were all frozen. Even the plants within the orb, and within his interspatial ring, were all still and unmoving, it was as if they had been frozen in time. Liang Chen tried to send part of his mind into the two items to nudge the people there, but he found himself unable to even get close to them, it was as if they were rejecting Liang Chen, or rather as if he was rejecting them and refusing to get close to them.


    He extracted his mind from the orb in his interspatial ring, his gaze drifting towards the exit of the ship. The strange feeling coursing within his body was ceaselessly growing stronger, almost becoming unbearable. He uncurled his toes and started walking towards the exit of the ship, the feeling growing stronger and stronger with each step, his veins feeling like they were on the verge of bursting as the blood within them released an intense desire. His right arm was especially bad, it was itching more than it ever had before. Liang Chen quickly reached the door of the ship and opened it, his gaze finally landing on his surroundings as the strange feeling within him reached a crescendo.


    It was a wasteland, no matter where he looked there was nothing but wastelands. His ship was currently gliding through the air above a vast barren continent, heading for a silver vortex that he guessed would take him to the major universe. The continent beneath him was covered in light gray, almost white, sand and there wasn''t a single plant to be seen anywhere. A few solid and strangely craggy mountains rose up on the continent, each one made of black stone covered in small pores that made the mountains seem very brittle.


    As Liang Chen looked at the wasteland that unfurled around him, he could feel the blood within his body resonate with his surroundings, a tremendous stream of energy constantly flooding towards him from all around him. As he was taking in the sight, the continent started to tremble fiercely, the sand and earth bursting open in countless locations as beings burst forth from the earth.


    The beings resembled the shape that the dragon formed from his bloodline had taken after he absorbed the Void Born bloodline, they looked like wurms formed from black tentacles writhing around each other. The heads of the wurms were all a bit different and unique, but they all had large jagged maws filled with rows of sharp teeth, some of them even resembled lampreys.


    Thousands upon thousands of these large wurms rose up from the ground and faced Liang Chen, a few much smaller humanoid-beings mixing in with them. Liang Chen didn''t have to be told where he was or what sort of beings these were. He could feel it in his blood, in the vast energy flooding his body, in the intense joy released by ever inch of his being. This was the void, and these beings were the most primal forms of most Void Born.


    The void was a place that existed although it shouldn''t, and as Liang Chen was about to be transported through the void that separated universes, his bloodline reacted and brought him to this place that shouldn''t exist, this place that no other non-void being had the right to enter. This was an utterly unexpected event, even Yao Jun wouldn''t have been able to guess that his might happen, his calculations were that it would only take Liang Chen about a second to reach the major universe after crushing the crystal.


    Liang Chen gazed at the thousands of Void Born that had risen from the barren earth, and they too were looking at him as if they were inspecting him. And then, one by one they lowered their bodies as if they were kneeling down and lowering their heads. As the Void Born lowered their heads, a soft chanting started to echo out from the barren continent, rising in volume until it had become an all-encompassing hymn.


    The words were foreign and indecipherable, Liang Chen wasn''t able to understand a single one of them. But he could understand the intent within the hymn, the purpose of it. The Void Born were singing for him, praising him and hailing the return of the ruler. It had been far too long since the void last birthed a new ruler so the Void Born were celebrating in joy.


    The ship continued to glide towards the silver vortex while the hymn echoed throughout the void, spreading out as far as it could and causing more and more Void Born to join in on it. Liang Chen gazed at the kneeling Void Born beneath him, closing his eyes after a few seconds and putting his focus on his itching right arm. He felt that he could do it right now, he could use the influx of energy that the void was sending him to herald his birth.


    The speed at which the energy entered his body suddenly drastically increased when he took control over it and started to voluntarily draw upon the energy of the void. The hymn only grew louder and louder as the energy flew into his body and flooded his right arm, the itching feeling turning into a searing pain.


    His right arm suddenly vanished, it turned into his spear and vanished into his body, leaving behind the stump that remained of his shoulder. But the stump was wriggling and twisting unnaturally, small black tendrils starting to extend from it. The tendrils flickered with lightning, wind, water, and a strange gray mist, constantly changing color as they grew longer and longer.


    The tendrils writhed and coiled around each other as they extended, growing thicker and thicker as they started to form the outline of an arm. Liang Chen''s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the outline, his left hand swiping his interspatial ring and taking out several of the resources he had gathered up after leaving his home planet. The resources were sucked into his body along with the energy of the void, invigorating the black tendrils and causing them to grow even thicker.


    Flesh formed around the tendrils, veins, muscles, and bones quickly following. Skin covered everything up just as Liang Chen''s ship approached the silver vortex, his lost right arm returning to normal. It had been erased by the void when he unleashed his strongest attack, and now the void had helped him rebuild it by giving him a nearly limitless supply of energy, even helping him slightly advance his body cultivation.


    The hymn had reached its crescendo at his point, so loud that it was like thunder rumbling in the sky. Liang Chen''s ship entered the silver vortex and vanished, the hymn abruptly stopping and the thousands of Void Born burrowing back down into the earth. They had hailed their monarch, now they just had to wait for him to return to them.

 Charred wasteland.

    Liang Chen''s ship passed through the silver vortex as if it was moving through a screen of water, a wave of blisteringly hot air and ash crashing against him the moment his body passed through the vortex. Liang Chen raised his right arm to his head and wiped away the ash that had landed on his face, lowering his arm and gazing at his hand after wiping away the ash.


    He clenched his hand a few times while looking at it, his knuckles producing a few popping sounds that were swiftly overshadowed by the explosive sound of the air being compressed and pushed aside within his palm. He had gotten his right arm back thanks to the void so now he no longer had to rely on his spear to form his arm. And not only had he gotten his arm back, but it had also grown quite a bit stronger than before, reaching the verge of the Primordial Immortal realm.


    Of course, it was just his right arm that had reached this realm, the rest of his body was still only at the equivalent of the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. Liang Chen knew that it wasn''t a coincidence that his arm stopped at the verge of the Primordial Immortal realm, actually breaking through to the Primordial Immortal realm with any of his cultivation systems wasn''t as easy as his previous breakthroughs.


    The Primordial Immortal realm was a great divide in the cultivation world, it was where one stopped just blindly utilizing the laws and instead had to fuse their laws together to form a single law unique to them. Liang Chen would have a bit of an easier time due to the uniqueness of his three cultivation systems, but he could not get around the fact that he had to fuse all of his laws together. His soul and body were one thing, the laws for those were already fused together and would just need a final tiny touch, like the cherry on top.


    His Qi cultivation, however, was a different question. He would have to merge all of his laws into one and use the fusion to fully replace the Dragon Lotus in his chest, as well as the roots that were spread throughout his entire body. A gust blew past Liang Chen''s body and caused more hot ash to land on his face, cutting his thought process short and forcing him to wipe his face again. He threw the thoughts to the back of his mind, it was better to take a look at his present situation and leave the thinking about his cultivation for later.


    Giving his surroundings a sweeping inspection, Liang Chen saw that his ship was currently hovering above the inverted dome of a dormant volcano. The volcano beneath him was only one of the many that dotted the scorched landscape around him, the earth carrying a strange tint that was a mixture of red and black. Azure cracks spread out from the bases of all the volcanoes, running through the scorched wasteland like gleaming rivers as they connected with each other, forming a strangely enchanting sight beneath the night sky.


    Mixed in along with the azure cracks was something that Liang Chen would not have expected to see in such a charred landscape, verdant and sprawling trees. There were thousands of trees spread throughout the landscape, each one at least 100 meters tall and tipped with crowns of violet leaves. The leaves would occasionally fall down and drift along with the wind, dispersing into flickering violet flames and sparks that danced through the night. The few leaves that didn''t turn into sparks were swallowed by the azure cracks and turned into warm white ash that covered the ground, occasionally getting picked up by the wind and carried along.


    The thing Liang Chen noticed right after observing his surroundings was that there was a somewhat heavy pressure squeezing his body. The pressure didn''t feel like it came from anywhere in specific, it seemingly came from all around at once and even somewhat restricted the flow of Liang Chen''s Qi. It didn''t take too much thought for him to guess at just what was going on. This was a major universe, one of the nine pillar universes no less, it was far mightier and more ancient than his own minor universe.


    It wouldn''t be strange for such an existence to be far stronger in terms of spatial stability and density of Qi, it was after all basically a higher rank of existence. Liang Chen didn''t mind the pressure too much, it didn''t impede him too much and it even reminded him of the first time he stepped into the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. Back then he was almost unable to move normally due to the immense pressure, what he was feeling now was nothing in comparison.


    Liang Chen finished observing his surroundings, he didn''t spot any settlements or signs of living beings in the area so it seemed like he had landed in a rather remote place. He stepped out of his ship and used some wind to slow his descent to the ground, landing on the edge of the volcano and putting the ship back into his interspatial ring.


    Yumao crawled out from his interspatial ring, looking somewhat confusedly at his surroundings. His consciousness turned dark the moment they entered the spatial vortex and arrived in the void, so he needed to spend a few seconds to understand the situation. Liang Chen slid off his interspatial ring and placed it on one of Yumao''s horns, ruffling the feathers on his back for a bit while speaking.


    "Sorry, but can you hide around here for a bit so that I can check up on the others?"


    Yumao nodded his head repeatedly while hissing, his body descending into the mouth of the volcano as Liang Chen entered the orb within the interspatial ring. Liang Chen could enter the orb even while wearing the interspatial ring, but doing so would mean that the ring would fall to the ground unsupervised, it couldn''t enter itself after all.


    When Liang Chen arrived in front of the city within the orb, Yi Xue and the 17 other people were still gathered in front of the entrance, working on a large metal board. It had been two and a half days since he picked these people up, but since he had made time flow 500 times slower within the interspatial ring, it had only been about 12 minutes for these people. Noticing his arrival, the 18 people quickly turned around to face him, the black-haired and bronze-eyed man who had introduced himself as Liu San proudly showing Liang Chen the board.


    "Greetings, Storm Lord! Reporting in, we have decided to take the liberty of taking this city as the headquarters of the sect, we''ve also gathered together and agreed on a name for it! Please give us a minute to hang it up, once that''s done then we''ll be ready to head to the other universe."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Engraved on the nearly 15-meter wide metal plate were the words ''Storm Wolf''s Howl'', Liu San and the other newly minted disciples working together to hang the sign up between two of the nine marble pillars that stood in front of the city. Liang Chen gazed up at the sign for a bit, tilting his head at the chosen name but eventually deciding to not comment on it, lowering his head to look at the disciples in front of him.


    "We''ve already reached the other universe, but the place we''re at right now isn''t suitable for the lot of you, taking you out there is more likely to kill some of you. As such, I''ll be doing the initial testing right here. Come at me all at once, let me see your skills so that I can see if I can figure out what you need to work on."


    Liu San and the other disciples looked somewhat dumbfounded after Liang Chen made his statement, not really sure what to make of it. For a few seconds, they weren''t even sure if he was joking or if he was actually planning on having this be their first lesson. But after four seconds had passed, Liang Chen showed just how serious he was with his words.


    He took a step forward and turned into a blur as he charged, arriving in front of a shocked Yi Xue almost instantly. She hurriedly rushed to bring out her weapons and raise them to block, but Liang Chen''s right palm was already in front of her face by the time her daggers appeared in her grasp. His palm smashed into her face so hard that her nose shattered under the impact and even sank in somewhat, her entire body flying backward like a broken kite before crashing into one of the pillars.


    Liang Chen didn''t give the remaining people any chance to take in what they had just seen, turning into a blur again as he charged at them one by one. He viciously beat them one by one, hitting them with strength based on their own cultivation and sending them all flying backward with blood leaking out from their mouths. When the last person collapsed to the ground with a groan of pain, Liang Chen lowered his arms, a sharp light in his eyes as he spoke to the moaning disciples.


    "Four seconds, I gave you four seconds to prepare and yet you all failed to put up even a sliver of defense. There''s no need to mention someone like me, even someone at your own realm would be able to easily kill you in that time with how you''re acting. If you want to survive and grow stronger then you have to view every battle as if it was one to the death, always be prepared and always look for an opening. Who among you can still stand up?"


    Liang Chen''s eyes swept over the crumpled disciples like the eyes of a beast observing its prey, the disciples faltering slightly under his sharp gaze. But even as they faltered, their eyes burned with fire and they did their best to stand up, ignoring the blood leaking from their mouths. Liang Chen had already warned them that it would be painful and dangerous, but they were the ones who had chosen the path of revenge and judgment so they refused to buckle here. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head when he saw their resolute actions, only speaking a single word.


    "Good."


    His body blurred again right after he spoke and he once again arrived at Yi Xue''s side, his foot kicking out and smashing into her abdomen. She was kicked into the air while vomiting, quickly falling to the ground again with a loud thud. But Liang Chen had already moved on by the time she was launched into the air, beating up the other disciples again. Once they were all beaten down again, he swept his gaze over them once more.


    "Who can still stand up?"


    The disciples once again grit their teeth and struggled to stand up, resulting in Liang Chen once again beating them down before asking the same question. He beat them down and they forced themselves to stand so that they could be beaten down again, Liang Chen beating an unyielding attitude into them. They had chosen to step onto the same path that he was walking on, and only by having an unbreakable will and attitude could they walk this path and have any hope of survival.


    But he wasn''t looking to cripple or terribly harm anyone of them so he stopped after beating them all down a bit over 10 times. He contacted Yumao and had him take out some of the medicinal herbs that were stored in Liang Chen''s interspatial ring, transferring them into the orb and into Liang Chen''s hands. These particular shrubbery-like herbs were nothing special, but by boiling them in some water and bathing in it one could ease pain and increase the speed at which their body healed. Liang Chen was just about to hand out the herbs when one of the disciples, a burly and tanned middle-aged man with needle-like brown hair and dark yellow eyes, spoke up somewhat hesitantly.


    "Um... Wolf Lord, by any chance, did you plant these herbs yourself?"


    The disciple speaking was Tien Cui, one of the oldest of Liang Chen''s new disciples. Liang Chen''s gaze landed on Tien Cui, one of his eyebrows rising in surprise at the fact that Tien Cui had been able to guess that Liang Chen had planted the herbs themselves. They were mixed in with the items he had taken from the people he killed on Dragon''s Gate planet before he left so he had placed them into his interspatial ring and planted them in the earth there. Liang Chen nodded his head, Tien Cui somewhat nervously pointing at the roots of the herbs.


    "I thought as much. Please forgive me for saying this, but you should take greater care next time you plant them and take them out of the earth. The roots have been torn somewhat and the leaves haven''t been cared for properly, resulting in some discoloration and withering. If my guess is correct, the herbs have already lost about 15% of their medicinal energy."


    Tien Cui lowered his head slightly after speaking, clearly not yet certain just what sort of actions from him were considered appropriate by his new sect master. Liang Chen looked down at the herbs and saw that Tien Cui was indeed speaking the truth, the roots of the shrubbery-like plants were somewhat torn and leaking juices while some of the leaves had turned a faint yellow. It wasn''t much to not take proper care of these low-level herbs, but it would be close to a disaster if he did the same in the future with more high-level herbs. As such, Liang Chen quickly came to a decision and then continued to hand out the herbs.


    "I see, thank you for telling me. You guys can pick any house in the city where you want to live, then you can boil these herbs in some water and bathe in it, it''ll ease your pain and help you heal. Tien Cui, later on, please teach me what you know about farming and taking care of plants, we''ve got a large plot of farmland we can use on the other side of the city. The same goes for the rest of you, please teach me about your fields of expertise."


    Liang Chen vanished from the area after he finished his words, leaving the orb and appearing on the back of Yumao, sliding the interspatial ring on his finger again. Yumao had descended into the mouth of the volcano, so Liang Chen pointed upwards, not bothering to sit down.


    "Can you head on up? We should check out our surroundings, but I''d prefer to do so on foot so that we don''t draw too much attention if someone sees us flying through the air."


    Yumao nodded his head with a hiss, his body shooting into the sky and out of the volcano before quickly descending down to the ground at the base of the volcano. Liang Chen hopped down from Yumao''s back, the charred earth so hot that it actually stung his soles a bit as he stepped on it. Yumao shrunk in size and curled up on top of Liang Chen''s head, the man and beast starting their trek across the scorched wasteland to check out this major universe they had just arrived in.

 Dark Dawn.

    The ash fluttering through the air around the charred wasteland was much denser close to the ground, it almost resembled a blizzard as Liang Chen made his way around the area. His shoes had turned to ash mere seconds after he set foot on the scorching land, the soles of his bare feet stinging slightly thanks to the intense heat. The smell of sulfur was so thick that it was almost suffocating, it was especially bad around the violet-leaved trees that dotted the area, their strange leaves seemed to radiate the stench from every inch.


    Compared to the trees, the azure cracks bubbling with magma seemed far less vicious and were instead quite a bit stranger. Liang Chen could see the magma bubbling within the cracks, he had seen some of the leaves falling into the magma and turning into white ash, so by all rights the magma should be terrifyingly hot. But as he got close to the cracks, it wasn''t an intense heat that he felt but rather a dreadful chill, it was as if the thing flowing within the cracks was liquid ice.


    Liang Chen even tore out a piece of the earth and tossed it into a nearby crack to make sure, but sure enough, the earth turned to ash that joined the rest of the surrounding blizzard. Liang Chen curiously peered over the edge of the closest crack, observing the deep blue magma for a bit longer. But he was forced to retreat after one minute, the horrific chill that the magma unleashed was freezing his hair and even starting to seep into his soul so he couldn''t keep staying by the crack. The chill started to fade again once Liang Chen retreated a certain distance from the crack, one of his fingers rubbing Yumao''s chin as he muttered to himself.


    "What a curious place...Eh? People?"


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows ticked up in surprise just as he finished his mutter, his gaze turning southward. A group of about six people just entered his range of detection, the electricity flowing through their nerves resonating with his own law of lightning. His brows furrowed slightly when the people entered his range, his senses were a tad bit repressed since he had only just entered this major universe so he didn''t notice the group until they got within seven kilometers of him.


    It wasn''t that they got so close to him that caused his brows to furrow, it was the fact that they were walking around in a dangerous place like this. This wasn''t exactly the best place for someone to go around and sightsee, they had likely come here with a goal in mind, whether it be training or resource gathering. For all he knew, this place might even be under the control of whatever organization they were a part of, his appearance here would definitely arouse heavy suspicion if that were the case. Of course, all of these were just what-if''s that flashed through Liang Chen''s mind as he planned his next step, but even so, his instincts told him to avoid encountering the group of people for now.


    His instincts, after he got them under control at least, had never steered him wrong before so he didn''t choose to go against them in this instance. He turned away from the group and stopped moving at his previously leisure pace, increasing his speed as much as he could and leaving the area like a bolt of lightning.


    He had to alter his direction multiple times as he ran so as to avoid the cracks covering the wasteland, he also had to divert a bit of his focus to control some wind that could blow away the surrounding blizzard of ash. But moving at a faster pace, of course, meant that he could traverse the wasteland quicker to find an exit, as well as civilization.


    Speed was one of Liang Chen''s fortes, and although his long-distance dash was worse than his short-term speed, he was still able to reach speeds that others at his cultivation level would find mind-boggling, crossing nearly 50 meters every second. But even so, he still had to run for 12 hours before he finally spotted signs of civilization, heaving a deep sigh of relief and exhaustion when he spotted the first road and noticed that the reddish-black earth was starting to turn normal again.


    Liang Chen stopped running once the earth had taken on a brown hue and he spotted a small hut standing in the distance. He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward, greedily gulping in air and starting to massage his thighs and shins. This was the first time Liang Chen had run for so long, and the end-result left his mind utterly boggled. He knew how fast he could run, and he knew for how long he had just been running, so he knew just how vast a distance he had covered.


    A bit over 2000 kilometers, that was how far he had to run before he finally spotted an exit to the scorched wasteland. And for all he knew, the place where he arrived hadn''t even been the center of the wasteland, he might have actually arrived rather close to the edge. If just a single wasteland was this large, he failed to even guess at how large the entire planet might be, much less how large the entire universe was. From the looks of it, getting to the Heaven and Hell Dominion might take him an unexpected amount of time.


    He spent a bit of time catching his breath and tossed Yumao some food, he had been stuck on top of Liang Chen''s head for the full 12 hours of running, forced to bite onto Liang Chen''s hair to stabilize himself. Liang Chen took out some water and food from his interspatial ring and took care of his own needs, finally heading for the small hut after resting for almost half an hour.


    He had already sensed that the hut only contained a single person, the sole living being within the surrounding seven kilometers. Liang Chen walked up to the hut, which was actually missing the entire side of the hut that should be facing the road and thus looked more like a shack upon closer inspection.


    The inside of the hut was separated into two parts, a left and a right. The left part contained a three-meter wide array built atop a crystal plate split into several smaller circles that one could freely spin, and the right side contained a round table and two chairs. There was currently a somewhat aged man sitting on one of the chairs, his slightly drooping eyebrows and his ear-length brown hair starting to lose their color. A simple ceramic pot releasing the faint fragrance of rose tea was placed on the table in front of him, an empty bowl placed next to it.


    The man was holding another one of the light blue bowls, slowly sipping tea from it, his dark brown robe slightly stained from the various drops he had spilled over time. The man noticed Liang Chen the moment he walked around the side of the hut and arrived in front of the open part of it, his hand slowly lowering and placing the bowl back on the table. He turned his head slightly, his neck producing a slight clacking and clicking sound that was more reminiscent of metal grinding against metal than it was of a neck turning.


    His eyes were both completely white without the slightest trace of any color, he didn''t even have any pupils. But even so, when those empty eyes landed on him, Liang Chen could feel a gaze roam over his entire body. The man stood up from his seated position and started walking towards the array plate, each step sounding strangely heavy while also looking somewhat stiff and stilted.


    His movements caused Liang Chen''s eyes to narrow slightly, they were simply too strange to look natural. He focused his senses on the old man, who didn''t bother with Liang Chen and simply started to spin the parts of the array plate. His other laws weren''t too suited for it, but his law of death and his law of lightning allowed him to somewhat peer into the man, one tracing the man''s signs of life while the other traced the electricity running through his body.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    And it was thanks to these two laws that he made a rather startling discovery, the man in front of him wasn''t alive at all, he didn''t even have a normal body. He had no signs of life coming from his body, nor did he have a body made of flesh and blood. The electricity running through him didn''t pass through veins and flesh, it passed through metal and crystal, powering hundreds of tiny arrays that all connected themselves to a crystal filled with electricity and Qi where his heart should be. The man had been a puppet all along, but he was so well-made that Liang Chen only discovered it after inspecting the man closer.


    Liang Chen''s gaze turned to the pot of tea on the table, giving what remained in one of the bowls a quick inspection. It smelled like normal tea, but looking at it closer it was actually filled with a surprising amount of energy. It could be used as a type of cultivation resource, but in this case, it seemed to be used to power the electrical crystal that served as the core of this puppet.


    The puppet finished fiddling with the array while Liang Chen was inspecting the tea, the runes covering the plate lighting up with a soft white light. The puppet stepped away from the array once it finished the task, sitting down in its seat and picking up the cup of tea again without even looking at Liang Chen.


    "Sand''s Journey city, that''s as far as the Dark Dawn will send you, the rest of the way you must traverse yourself, show your personality and carve your own path."


    Liang Chen''s thoughts started spinning for a bit as he tried to figure out just who this puppet was talking about. And when it clicked, his pupils couldn''t help but contract a little. He had yet to meet anyone calling themselves Dark Dawn, but he had once heard about a person who carried the Dark Dawn moniker. The Dark Dawn Lord, one of the people who could stand shoulder to shoulder even with the Bloodwind Emperor and the Human Emperor. Liang Chen had never met this Dark Dawn Lord before, but looking at how Chang Yun had learned of him through the Bloodwind Emperor and the Nine Star Demon God, Liang Chen could easily guess that this was how the Dark Dawn Lord had heard about him.


    Liang Chen wasn''t quite sure what he should make of his luck, it could be considered both great and terrible. He had contacted or had some brushes with quite a few great rulers, the Nine Star Demon God, the Human Emperor, the Bloodwind Emperor, he''d even inherited the technique of the Ocean God Xiang Hong. Of the rulers he knew about, it was only the Void King and the Heaven Splitting King that he had yet to brush into. Encountering so many great beings could be both a blessing and a curse, it was a walk in the park for any one of them to kill him after all, there was no telling what might set them off.


    Liang Chen''s gaze wandered between the puppet and the active array for a bit, his hand unconsciously raising and giving Yumao''s head a few rubs. Yumao affectionately rubbed against Liang Chen''s hand, letting out a soft hissing sound in response.


    "Yeah, forward''s the only path we can take."


    Liang Chen stepped into the array once he finished his mutter, space around him starting to twist slightly, covering his vision. The twisting only lasted for a few seconds before it vanished, the cover in front of his vision disappearing to reveal that he had appeared in a hut identical to the one he had just been in. He could see a large city constructed out of what appeared to be light yellow rock standing a few tens of kilometers in the distance so he knew that this wasn''t the same hut he had just been in. The puppet sitting at the table didn''t raise its head when Liang Chen arrived, simply stretching out its arm to point at the square city as it spoke.


    "All grains of sand leave the ocean and journey to become great mountains, take your first step and show how far away you can get from the ocean."


    The puppet returned to drinking its tea after speaking, Liang Chen stepping down from the plate and starting his trek towards the city. There was a road connecting the hut and the city, a vast plain covered in green grass and yellow sunflowers stretching out on both sides of the road. But strangely enough, the plain was rolling slightly, as if the earth beneath the grass was actually water that was blown around by the wind.


    Liang Chen touched the earth at the side of the road, but while it did indeed feel a bit soft, it was from as watery as he originally expected. Using a finger to scoop out some of the earth also showed that it looked just like normal earth, it was just that it carried with it a slight trace of the law of water. Liang Chen placed down the small bit of earth and continued heading for the city, he was already starting to see quite a few people entering and leaving the city from all around.


    As he got closer to the city he saw that the buildings weren''t made from light yellow stone, they were actually all constructed with sand. The grains of sand stuck to each other and were packed so densely that Liang Chen only managed to notice the peculiarity with the buildings when he was a few hundred meters away from the city. He easily blended in with another group of people that were heading for the city, they all seemed to be farmers judging from their clothing and the sacks of wheat and vegetables that they were either carrying in their hands or on the wagons they brought along.


    There were no guards or the like around the city, there wasn''t even a wall or fence to keep people out, you could enter from all sides. But there seemed to be some unwritten rules that the people here were following, the group he was blending in with split up right in front of the city. Those carrying somewhat finer items and wearing better clothing headed to the left of the city, where the buildings were a bit bigger and had more space between each other. The rest, on the other hand, those carrying the grain and wearing somewhat muddy clothing after their long hours of work, headed for the right of the city, where the houses were much smaller and built more closely together. From the looks of it, not even a major universe could escape the divide between the rich and the poor.


    Liang Chen followed the group that went to the right, it didn''t matter which side he entered the city from so he figured he might as well follow this group all the way to the market where they would sell their wares. After all, he had more people to care for now so he would need to buy things like grains and vegetables to plant, maybe even cows and chickens that he could keep within the orb in his interspatial ring.


    The others around him picked up their pace a little once they entered the somewhat narrow earthen streets of the city, lowering their heads slightly as they tried to pass through the area as quickly as possible. Liang Chen allowed his gaze to drift around the area as he walked, confirming his thoughts that this was likely the poor district of the city. The people he saw were all clad in patched robes, most of them thin and pale with slightly sunken in eyes.


    Some of them were clearly non-cultivators who didn''t have the aptitude or opportunity to cultivate, but he also saw the occasional cripple who was missing a limb or two or even had a deep indent where their dantian should be. They had likely been crippled in a battle at some point, he could still feel a very faint presence of Qi within them.


    Yumao also swept the surroundings with his gaze, albeit he only did it with a slight trace of curiosity about his surroundings. Liang Chen had only spent a total of five minutes within the city when the faint sound of something violently knocking on wood reached his ears. He focused his senses on the knocking sound, just barely able to pick up a few words mixed in with the sound.


    "...Ay? We''ve already been patient and waited for so long, do you really think we''ll continue to wait without results? The five-month period you begged for is over, hand him over and we''ll scratch the debt, he should be able to just barely cover it."


    Liang Chen stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly towards the direction of the sound. He saw that the people closest to the sound were all hurrying away from the area, lowering their heads slightly, a trace of pity flashing past their pupils. Liang Chen raised his hand again and stroked Yumao''s head, a mutter escaping his lips.


    "No rest for the wicked, huh? Alright, let''s go."


    Yumao let out a hiss of excitement, his eyes lighting up as Liang Chen broke away from the group he was following and headed for the sound of the violent knocking.

 Sky-Piercing Sparrow.

    Stepping away from the main road and the group that he was originally following, Liang Chen navigated through the somewhat narrower back alleys while following the sound of violent knocking. More and more shouting started to intermingle with the sound of knocking, parts of it angry and parts of it filled with a pleading intent.


    As Liang Chen headed towards the source of the knocking, he felt like a fish swimming against the current. The other people in the area, the poor citizens that looked like they could only barely afford the patched robes they were wearing, were all rushing away from the area, not a single one of them showing the slightest interest in helping. A sigh escaped Liang Chen''s lips, the sudden halting, and subsequent increase in pleading shouts, capturing his attention.


    Liang Chen''s eyes sharpened somewhat as his speed increased, cutting through what felt like a sea of departing people without a problem. It only took him a handful of seconds to reach the source of the knocking, an incredibly small house that only seemed large enough to house a single room. Despite being so small, the house was built using the same sand-like material as the rest of the building, leading Liang Chen to wonder if the original builders of this city divided it into wealthy and poor districts right from the start.


    The sounds were all coming from the entrance of the house, where there were currently standing eight people. Six of the people were men and women dressed in the same light blue robes embroidered with the insignia of a sparrow piercing through a cloud, the last two people seemed to be a somewhat older brown-haired mother and her nine-year-old child. The mother and son pair were clad in patched brown robes that were a few centimeters too short for them, they could be called clothing well-suited for where they were living.


    The six people in blue robes were scowling at the small family with irritated expressions, the mother doing her best to hold her son behind her trembling body. The boy did his best to slip out of his mother''s grasp and head for the group of six people, but she clamped down on his upper arm like a vice, her knuckles pale from the force she exerted. One of the men in the group of six, a green-haired and orange-eyed man with a large stature, rubbed his temples in exasperation and annoyance as he looked at the woman in front of him.


    "Why can''t you just hand him over already? Look, even the kid himself has agreed to voluntarily follow us to erase the debt, so right now it is your own actions that are causing you to retain that debt. Hand him over and I can swear on my honor that I''ll find a good buyer for h...?"


    The man suddenly sensed something and closed his mouth, his brows furrowing slightly as he turned his head. The other people present also followed his gaze, their eyes landing on Liang Chen, who was in the process of walking over. The man was the leader of this small dispatch force and thus had the highest cultivation among them, the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. He could tell that his cultivation was a small realm higher than Liang Chen''s, but he felt a strange sense of unease as he looked at Liang Chen, prompting him to usher him away straight away.


    "You shouldn''t be here, kiddo, this isn''t a good place to be right now, we''re conducting business in the name of the Tranquil Lake. If it''s the marketplace you''re looking for, then you gotta turn around and return to the main road, it''ll take you straight there if you follow it."


    The man even threw out the name of their organization in an attempt to push Liang Chen away. The name would usually spark quite the reaction in just about everyone living in the city, not due to the strength of the organization but due to the person who founded it, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. This person hadn''t shown themselves for several decades, but the strength they had shown last time they appeared was still fresh in the minds of most people. But the only response the man got after throwing out the name of his organization was a slight tilt of Liang Chen''s head.


    "Yeah, I''ll probably check out the marketplace later, but right now I''d like to hear about the situation here."


    Liang Chen came from a minor universe so there was no way for him to have heard the name of the Tranquil Lake or its founder, but his trip through the void, as well as his law of the void, made it so that he didn''t showcase any of the symptoms that were common in people who had just ascended from a minor universe, making it so that the green-haired man failed to notice Liang Chen''s origins. The man''s expression sank slightly, taking Liang Chen''s nonchalance as ridicule against his organization, but just as he was starting to speak up again, the young boy interrupted him, venting all his grievances.


    "It''s business of the Tra..."


    "They''re liars! Liars and cheats, bad men! They forced Father to take up an unfair loan with interests he couldn''t possibly hope to pay back! Father was forced to sell himself as a slave, but they still didn''t erase the debt, citing interests that had been added on just as Father sold himself! Mother did her best and bought us another five months in hopes that we could receive help from the governor, but he''s remained silent and now these scoundrels have come to collect their nonsensical interest!"


    The boy stopped trying to rush forth from behind his mother as he shouted, clutching her robe with all his might. The boy could feel something from Liang Chen, a strange sense of calm and safety that prompted him to halt his earlier attempts at surrendering, it was as if he stood within the eye of a storm. One of the women in the group of six frowned in response to the words, but she was stopped by the leader just as she was starting to raise her hands.


    "Kid, don''t talk about things you don''t understand. There was nothing unfair about the loan, everything was written properly and clearly in the contract and it was your father himself who chose to sign it. We only made him the offer to provide the money, we even gave him a two month period with no interest to make it easier for him."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The man''s expression was slightly gloomy as he spoke, his pupils flickering between Liang Chen and the young boy, keeping a close eye on both of them. The boy faltered slightly under the man''s forceful presence, but his trembling mother grit her teeth and forced out her words, the man responding shortly after.


    "You may have made him the offer, but you knew that Jung''er couldn''t refuse, he needed that money for Little Gao''s medicine. You took advantage of his desperation and forced him into a corner just so that you could eventually add another three people to your roster of slaves!"


    "AND HOW IS THAT OUR FAULT?! Should we not extend a helping hand when a man needs money for his sick son? Should we have let him run around and beg in desperation? If you want to blame someone, blame your son for deciding to run out and play on such a rainy day, blame him for getting sick!"


    "Are you out of your mind?! How could I possibly blame a child for wanting to play and have fun as children should? You took advantage of his desperation, you stalked him for days on end until he had no other option but to bend! Is it not you that I should blame here!?"


    The loud back and forth seemed to become too much for the woman who had just been stopped while raising her arms. She flicked one of her fingers, a nearly two-meter long blade of white bone materializing in front of her and shooting directly at the shouting mother. The leader''s expression immediately distorted somewhat, his gaze flickering towards Liang Chen.


    But by the time his pupils flickered toward Liang Chen''s direction, the area there was already empty, the leader''s fears affirming themselves. His head quickly turned towards the mother again, and just as he thought, Liang Chen was standing in front of her and had grabbed onto the bone blade, effortlessly shattering it.


    With his law of time and his law of lightning, just how fast was Liang Chen? In short bursts like just now, he could unleash such speeds that only those who specialized in speed or had already reached the Primordial Immortal realm would be able to follow him. The bone blade shattered and fell to the ground, Liang Chen turning around and crouching down in front of the boy.


    "Looking at your actions earlier, were you trying to surrender yourself so that they wouldn''t hurt your mother?"


    Liang Chen put on the softest expression he could as he spoke, the boy timidly nodding his head. The men in front of him were so strong that they could easily rule over this entire district of the city, yet none of them had been able to react to the movements of the youth that was talking to him right now, this fact alone was more than enough to show just how terrifying the soft-faced person in front of him was. Liang Chen gave a fractal nod of his head in response to the boy''s words, giving his forehead a soft flick.


    "You''ve got guts, but how do you think your mother would feel if you actually did that? First, she loses her husband and then her son, suddenly she''s all alone and things will probably only get worse. It sounds nice and grand to sacrifice yourself for others, but you should always spare a thought for those left behind. Sometimes they would prefer to stay together and perish together rather than be left behind all alone."


    The boy continued to timidly nod his head, not quite certain what other actions he could take right now. But Liang Chen stood up again after flicking the kid''s forehead, turning around and facing the group of six, who were all currently experiencing a strange phenomenon. The insignia on their robes were releasing a bright light that gathered together in front of them, the blue light forming a humanoid shape.


    The shape reminded Liang Chen of the ones he had seen in the final trials of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, when the prizes were handed out. But compared to back then, the shape in front of him released quite a bit more pressure, it seemed to hold at least a bit of combat power. The humanoid light turned its head a bit, taking in the surroundings before its gaze landed on Liang Chen, a somewhat youthful voice sounding out.


    "Oh, so you''re the title-holder who triggered the mechanism I left behind in the robes. Looking at the amount of energy this avatar has, you should be a Lord class, no? Sorry, but would you mind leaving this place? I know that my Tranquil Lake might do things a bit below the table, even a bit despicable at times, but such is the way of the universe. If you wish to reach the apex of power, you must dive down under the table without hesitation, such is the truth of cultivation in this fucked up universe of ours."


    Liang Chen''s gaze roamed across the body of the humanoid figure, his gaze far calmer than the eyes of the eight people around him. Liang Chen didn''t know who this avatar was, but listening to him talk, the others around him could easily understand that the avatar belonged to the Sky-Piercing Sparrow himself. But since Liang Chen didn''t know, he didn''t care, nor would he care if he knew. He simply raised his chin slightly, gesturing towards the men gathered behind the avatar.


    "First they blame the father, then they blame the kid, and now you blame the universe itself, is giving dumb excuses the only thing that you and your people are good for?"


    Liang Chen wouldn''t deny that the multiverse they lived in was fucked up, but if the avatar in front of him wanted to use that as an excuse for the actions he had just heard about then it would be a bit too pathetic. You would never be able to fix something fucked up by adding more fucked up things to it, doing so would only add to the misery. The avatar didn''t show any great change in expression, it only barely had facial traits to begin with after all, simply giving a very minor tilt of its head.


    "Excuses, you say? Do you know what excuses are? They''re just reasonings you don''t agree with, those you don''t want to accept because they go against your own reasoning. So if you don''t mind, I would be pleased if you''d be so kind as to take back your earlier curse, cursing someone''s reasoning just because you don''t like it has already transcended the realm of rude."


    The avatar spoke softly and politely, the voice flowing forth containing a great deal of charm that seemed like it wanted to drill its way into Liang Chen''s head. But in the face of the penetrating charm, Liang Chen simply showed his standard calm smile, the same calm smile that was usually followed by a storm so violent it was beyond imagination.


    "Really, I haven''t even been here for long yet I''ve already run into things like you. But don''t get me wrong, I''m not cursing you or your reasoning, not at all, I am rejecting it. You, your reasoning, the reasoning of your Tranquil Lake, this fucked up state of the universe, I reject all of them. From what I''ve seen, they''re all worthless and need to be fixed."

 Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow.

    The atmosphere in the area immediately grew tense following Liang Chen''s words, the six people behind the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow flaring up due to the provocation. But the light blue avatar gave a soft wave of his hand and held them back, his nearly non-existent facial features seemingly shifting slightly as his voice turned a bit lower.


    "You reject my reasonings but also state that you wish to fix the state of the universe, but tell me, which one do you think is worse? I won''t deny it, following along with the state of the universe hurts more than a few people, there is no denying that fact. But how many people would be hurt, utterly ruined, by trying to change the universe? How many people will you have to kill to change the universe as a whole? How many people would lose their livelihood? At that point, just how are you any different from every other evil in existence? Your words are nice and grand, but they disregard nearly every cultivator in the universe, they are the epitome of selfishness and hypocrisy. Of course, that is only if you don''t plan on changing the universe and saving everyone at the same time, at that point, they become the height of foolishness."


    The avatar''s words weren''t incorrect, changing the universe was impossible while it was in its current state, nearly all cultivators had become too accustomed to how it was. So if one actually wanted to change the universe, the most realistic way of doing so was by killing all those cultivators and people who had become used to the usual state of the universe, preparing a clean slate whose direction of growth you could control. The avatar only spoke to poke at Liang Chen''s heart and mind, testing to see if he couldn''t poke a little hole in them, but little did he expect Liang Chen to actually agree with him.


    "You''re right, I''m selfish and a hypocrite, continuing down my desired path will surely cause countless people to label me as a grand evil. But so what? My friend once told me that there is no shame in following one''s heart and acting as you pleased, so I''ll do just that. My wife once laid it out quite simply for me, I am not a god. I can''t save everyone, nor should I attempt to do so. I will live as myself, for myself. I will walk down the path I have chosen even if I am deemed evil, even if it turns out to be wrong, for it is the path I have chosen for myself."


    Not once, not for a single moment, had Liang Chen forgotten the words told to him by Yan Ling or the now deceased Lei Qiang. They had always stuck with him and resonated around within him. It didn''t matter if he was selfish, it didn''t matter if he failed or stumbled, they would be there to support him through it all. The avatar didn''t seem too bothered by Liang Chen''s statement, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.


    "As expected, didn''t work. Then again, I doubt you would have received a lord title if your determination was that weak. I''d ask you to move aside, but seeing as you seem determined to save these weaker beings, you aren''t likely to comply. This avatar only has the energy of someone at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm so I hope you won''t mind me using numbers to make sure that there don''t end up being any unexpected results."


    The avatar had clearly given up on talking with Liang Chen, it was already rather surprising that it had bothered to chat with him for so long. The six people behind the avatar understood his intentions, preparing their weapons and stepping forwards so that they could assist the avatar in taking down Liang Chen.


    But Liang Chen remained perfectly calm and gave his interspatial ring a slight swipe, nine people appearing at his side. The nine people were the blue-haired and green-eyed Yi Xue, the black-haired and bronze-eyed Liu San, the brown-haired and yellow-eyed Tien Cui, and six of the other people that had become his disciples. Yi Xue had just entered the Soaring Immortal realm while Tien Cui and Liu San were at the late stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm, the last six people were all between the early and middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm.


    These nine people were the strongest amongst the new members of his Storm Wolf sect and this would be the first time that they got to fight after joining Liang Chen. But they were quite a bit weaker than their opponents so Liang Chen gave Yumao a slight tap on the head, gesturing towards the nine people with his chin.


    "Keep an eye on them. Don''t help them too much, but make sure that none of them die. As for you guys, look at the two people behind you, you are fighting to protect them so that they don''t get sold into slavery. The enemy is stronger than you so you''ll have to fight smartly if you want to defeat them, don''t get careless."


    Liang Chen''s gaze swept over the group as he reminded them, his gaze momentarily stopping on Yi Xue''s right elbow. It had been shattered when he first met her, it was a wound that he guessed should take at least three or so weeks to heal properly. But as he looked at it right now, there wasn''t the slightest trace of its previous state left, it was in pristine condition. From the looks of it, whatever bloodline she had was geared rather heavily towards self-healing.


    The expressions of the nine people hardened when they realized what sort of situation they were in, some of them feeling like cursing at Liang Chen for just dropping them into a situation like this without warning. But there was no time for words, Liang Chen''s body vanished from sight as he shot forward, Yumao staying behind to keep an eye on the weaker disciples.


    Liang Chen shot past the group of six people and arrived directly behind the light blue avatar, his gray dragon-mawed spear appearing in his grasp and stabbing out. But despite his tremendous speed, the avatar actually managed to seemingly leisurely turn his head to look at Liang Chen, glancing at his spear without making a move.


    Liang Chen''s spear stabbed forward like a bolt of lightning, but it actually started curving strangely just as it got close to the avatar. The entire spear ended up bending to the left away from the avatar, had it not been for his solid grasp on it, both Liang Chen and the spear would have spun to the left so hard that they might have turned in a full circle. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he exerted his strength, forcing the spear to turn back towards the avatar in a sideways sweep.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    But once again, just as the spear was about to reach the avatar, the entire thing changed direction and ended up smashing into the ground next to the avatar. The earth was shattered and thrown into the air, but all the fragments changed direction unnaturally and headed directly for Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen breathed out a white mist that gathered in front of him, the shards of fragmented earth melting upon coming into contact with the mist. He then took a quick step back, his eyes remaining narrowed as he looked at the light blue avatar. The avatar didn''t move to pursue him, looking at the small crater in the earth next to him before giving a soft clap of his hands.


    "You actually managed to get your spear that close to me, I''m impressed, you deserve a bit of applause. Don''t take it the wrong way, I really do mean it when I say that. This avatar might only have the strength of someone at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but it can use at least 50% of the full strength of my laws. Most people having a lord title wouldn''t even be able to get close to me, they would simply be twisted to pieces once they got within 10 meters. But here you are, your spear only a few centimeters away from me, you are worthy of admiration. Of course, that also means that you are worthy of a touch of fear. You can get so close while only at your current level, I actually slightly dread what you might become capable of if you can get a bit stronger. What sort of realm would you reach if I gave you another 100 years to grow, perhaps your fangs might already be able to reach me then? Luckily, there is still a vast disparity between us now, so let me finish you off before we end up becoming proper enemies."


    The avatar''s words were spoken from the heart. Only he knew what sort of realm he had really reached, it was nothing short of a miracle for Liang Chen''s spear to nearly reach him. The avatar fully turned his body and faced Liang Chen, sliding his left leg back slightly as he raised both fists into a boxing position.


    Liang Chen''s eyes remained narrowed as they roamed over the avatar, a slight glimmer flashing through his eyes. The avatar spoke highly of him, but he could still feel that it had yet to bring out all the energy that it contained, it still seemed to underestimate him slightly. With that being the case, Liang Chen knew that there was still a way for him to win, he had to kill the avatar in a single attack that it wouldn''t expect. A thought flashed past his mind, the corners of his lips curving up slightly as he bent his body while grasping his spear, resembling a cheetah just before it sprung forth.


    "Proper enemies? I have an enemy that''s so far above me that it''s suffocating just thinking about it, so I''m sorry, but I can''t afford to think of you as an enemy, only a stepping stone. As such, I guess it''s about time I gave this one a name. Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow."


    The earth beneath Liang Chen''s feet ruptured the moment his voice dropped, his body vanishing from sight as he shot directly at the avatar. The avatar responded by punching out with its right fist, the air, earth, and even Qi directly in front of it starting to twist and contort into a maelstrom that swallowed everything.


    Liang Chen charged directly into the maelstrom and stomped the ground with all his might to prevent himself from getting swept off his feet. The earth beneath his foot sank downwards as if it had been hit by a small meteor, the earth pulverizing as arcs of brown lightning containing faint tinges of violet shot skyward, tearing through the maelstrom while his law of time slowed down what remained of the maelstrom. His spear stabbed forwards like a violent dragon, Liang Chen wantonly unleashing the law of the void and his lightning, a dim gray bolt of lightning shooting forward while flickering in and out of existence.


    Liang Chen had activated the improved version of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps just now, unleashing the previously unnamed fourth step. As such, the strength of his attack was greatly improved, to the point that the maelstrom prepared by the avatar was unable to halt it in the slightest.


    The avatar couldn''t help but stop in slight surprise when he saw the power that Liang Chen unleashed, his head tilting slightly as he wracked his mind in an attempt to figure out what caused the strength to increase by so much. Even with the attack directly in front of him, he didn''t think that it would reach him, his defense only grew stronger the closer you got to his body. It was this train of thought that had supported him through the years, and now it would be this train of thought that would cost the Sky-Piercing Sparrow this avatar.


    The dim gray bolt of lightning veered slightly off course in front of the avatar, but it only changed direction so much that it pierced through the avatar''s left lung rather than his heart. And the moment the lightning pierced through the avatar, the laws within the lightning burst out like ravenous beasts. The law of time invaded the avatar and slowed down its perception while the law of death, poison, and rot, all assaulted the small piece of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s soul that was used to control the avatar.


    The law of lightning and wind weren''t able to produce too great of an effect against the avatar, it was just a body made up of energy after all, but the law of the void was more than just effective. The entire left side of the avatar''s chest vanished the moment the lightning pierced it, the law of the void rapidly corroding the rest of the avatar''s body. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow had never encountered the law of the void before so he didn''t even know how he should go about defending himself from it, resulting in the body of the avatar rapidly vanishing in front of Liang Chen''s eyes. The avatar had clearly lost and was going to vanish, but since it was just an avatar it didn''t even panic, only calmly looking at Liang Chen.


    "Hoh? Time, poison, death, lightning, wind, and even another law that I can''t make heads or tails of? So many laws in one little body, what a strange sight? Oh well, seems like I''ll have to accept this loss right here, I guess that''s what I get for being careless and underestimating my enemy. But don''t celebrate too quickly, I am a rather vengeful person who will avenge even the smallest grievances. I will come looking for you, and I will find you, mark my words."


    The avatar dissipated once it finished its words, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow likely abandoned it after realizing that there was no longer a point in sticking around. With the avatar vanishing, Liang Chen spat out a deep breath, his face growing pale from having to exert nearly 80% of his energy for that one attack. But just as he was about to turn his head to check how Yi Xue and the others were doing, a slightly stiff and mechanical voice he hadn''t expected to hear again resounded in his head.


    "Congratulations, you''ve been acknowledged by the Bloodwind Code and have been granted a Ruler rank and title on the Multiverse Bloodwind List. You will replace the Lord of the Wrathful Abyss, please choose a title."

 Wrathful Scourge Lord.

    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but rise slightly when he heard the announcement echo throughout his head. In truth, ever since he received the news that his law of the void couldn''t be picked up by the Bloodwind Codes, he expected his rank to never rise again. But that fact didn''t matter much to him, the entire reason he wanted to raise his rank was to obtain the right to request a favor from the Bloodwind Emperor, to revive his parents and sister.


    He didn''t want to interfere with his parents and sister again now that they had been reborn, they had earned their peace and didn''t deserve to be dragged into his messes again so he had already lost his reason for increasing his rank. But he quickly figured that these thoughts were pointless to have, his rank had increased so he could just accept it and wait for the future with deciding if he had any wish he wanted to be fulfilled.


    At the same time, he was a bit curious exactly what it was that sparked the sudden increase in rank. His law of the void could easily be ruled out, which meant that there were only three possible reasons that he could think of. The first was the increase in strength he got from the slight increase in body cultivation after passing through the void, the second was the might unleashed by the completed version of the Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow, and the third was him defeating the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow.


    He didn''t think that his body cultivation increased his strength so much that it could rank him on the Multiverse Bloodwind List so he quickly ruled out that possibility. The completed version of the Dragon King''s Six Steps sounded reasonable, but after giving it a bit more thought, and going over what the avatar had said, he eventually attributed the rise to him defeating the avatar. This Sky-Piercing Sparrow seemed to be a rather powerful and famous person, but considering the fact that just defeating the avatar placed Liang Chen on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, he was probably quite a bit stronger than Liang Chen first guessed.


    Liang Chen didn''t get the chance to continue mulling over the question, the Bloodwind Code nagged at him again to choose his title. But even if he did think it over longer, it wouldn''t change much. Liang Chen didn''t regret what he did, given the chance he would certainly do it again even if he knew it would make him a powerful enemy. He would save those he could and punish those he could, and he would base all of it on his own selfish ideals, that was the path he had chosen long ago. And that simple conviction was all it took him to come up with his title.


    "Scourge King."


    This was his first title, the one given to him within the Mystic''s Hidden Realm after he engaged in his first wide-spread massacre. It carried with it the people''s fear of getting struck by his wrath, and the title had followed him ever since. Using it as his title would also serve as a message to Yan Ling, he had arrived, and he was coming for her.


    "King rank has not been achieved so your chosen title will be altered to fit. Congratulations, your title has been set to Wrathful Scourge Lord and your Bloodwind Code can now be used to contact other people of the same Ruler rank."


    The Bloodwind Code fell silent after announcing everything, Liang Chen quietly waiting for a bit of time. But he hadn''t received any word from Ye Zhong even after nearly two minutes passed so he guessed that things would probably proceed like last time, he would have to wait for a bit of time before Ye Zhong contacted him and let him cash in the five or more questions he was now owed. Liang Chen didn''t mind this too much, he wasn''t even certain what he should ask about right now so he wasn''t in a rush to get contacted.


    With his own things cleared up, Liang Chen turned his attention towards the fight taking place a short distance away from him. Yi Xue and the others were not done fighting against the six people from Tranquil Lake, they had only just barely managed to incapacitate one of them in the time it took Liang Chen to finish his own business. But that was only to be expected, the strongest person in Liang Chen''s group had just barely entered the Soaring Immortal realm while the strongest person in the enemy group was already at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm.


    Yi Xue and the others weren''t like Liang Chen who could butcher even people with higher cultivation than him, if it hadn''t been for Yumao keeping an eye on them they would likely have been wiped out already. Liang Chen didn''t go over to help out despite finishing his business, he simply leaned against the side of the closest building and quietly observed their fight, glancing sideways at one of the larger alleys that led to this area.


    He could sense several people rushing over, emulating Yan Ling''s own wind-based tracking technique allowed him to discover that they were all clad in somewhat thin metal armor covered in needle-thin engravings. The thunderous sounds of ongoing battle had clearly attracted the guards of this city, bringing quite a few of them rushing over to see what was going on. Liang Chen stopped leaning against the wall and took a step towards the alley, his body blurring as he shot forward and reached the group of 30 guards nearly instantly.


    "We''re fighting against people of the Tranquil Lake so unless you''ve come to arrest them then I would like it if you just stayed out of things."


    Liang Chen''s eyes swept over the faces of the guards in front of him, studying their reactions as he spoke. He had come to the conclusion that the Tranquil Lake was most definitely not a good organization, at least the people they were fighting right now were far from good. But getting a bit more information was always good, so he wanted to see how these guards reacted to hearing about the Tranquil Lake. And somewhat following along with his expectations, a bit over half of the guards recoiled slightly upon hearing the name. Those that didn''t recoil from the name seemed to grow angry instead, one of the guards that seemed a bit younger taking half a step forward.


    "The Tranquil Lake is a part of our city and thus they fall under our jurisdiction, it is we that decide how they are tr..."


    A hand shout out and covered the young soldier''s mouth before he could finish his words, the older and heavily scarred man who silenced him forcing the solider to stand down with a stern glare. The man then turned his eyes, one of which was completely dim thanks to a five-pronged scar that ran down over it, onto Liang Chen. He studied Liang Chen''s expression for a bit, focusing mostly on his eyes, eventually giving a slow nod of his head.Stolen story; please report.


    "I see, just a bunch of rascals playing around with some firecrackers they stole from the nearby market. I''ll make the report to the governor, guard captain, and market chief so that they don''t misunderstand."


    The scarred man then called out an order and had the entire group of guards turn around and leave, Liang Chen quietly commending the man. His parting words seemed pointless at first glance, but giving them a bit of more thought made it easy to realize what he meant with them. The governor, guard captain, and market chief were probably in cahoots with the Tranquil Lake, the scarred guard was clearly trying to warn him just who he would be facing by going against the Tranquil Lake.


    Liang Chen returned to his previous position once the guards left, continuing to observe the battle that Yi Xue and the others were taking part in. Their strength was inferior to their opponents and not even the advantage in numbers could make up for it, most cultivators could easily murder people of lower cultivation.


    Yi Xue and the others knew this and thus immediately realized that they had to make up for their weakness in some other way if they wanted to win. And the crux of their path to victory became Yi Xue herself. She placed herself upfront and took on the role of the shield, drawing as many attacks as she could towards herself. She suffered more wounds than the others combined, but her familiar bloodline increased her regeneration enough that things had yet to reach an unbearable degree.


    She also didn''t serve as just the shield, she also diligently used her laws to weaken and inconvenience the enemies. Her law of strings could hamper her opponents'' movements and twist their bodies in unexpected ways when they were caught off guard, producing more opportunities for her comrades to land attacks. But even with all this, it was still her final law that proved to be the most useful one in the battle, and it was also the one that Liang Chen was the most interested in, the law of curses.


    Using this law could be considered a bit troublesome, it not only required the user to decide on conditions ahead of time, imposing these conditions into their own Qi, but if the enemy was too strong or the conditions too lax or too tight, there was a chance that they wouldn''t activate. Yi Xue was acutely aware of this weakness, so rather than trying anything large with a dangerous curse, or utilizing multiple curses at once, she settled on a single simple curse.


    Every four hits she landed on an enemy would place a small curse on them, slowing down the movements of one of their limbs, starting with the smaller ones before moving onto the larger ones. It didn''t show much effect at first when it only affected their toes and the like, but when their fingers started to slow down the enemies were forced to use a bit of their Qi to push back the curses. Each curse from then on forced them to expend more Qi, Yi Xue and her group slowly but surely whittling the enemies down.


    Yi Xue''s body was stained with blood and even the others in the group were wounded more than just a bit, but it was their enemies that were despairing the most. They knew from the very start that this wasn''t a fight they could win, their hearts and hope were shattered along with the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. They wanted nothing more than to flee, but they couldn''t even do that, not with Yumao and Liang Chen keeping an eye on them. They couldn''t go forward nor could they retreat, they had reached an utter dead-end from which they couldn''t even surrender, otherwise their deaths were guaranteed.


    And just like that, they were forced to keep fighting for another 15 minutes before they were all taken down, only their leader managing to last beyond 10 minutes. Yi Xue and the others didn''t kill the six people, only incapacitating them so that they could no longer move, so the six people were still alive when Liang Chen walked over and nodded his head at Yi Xue and the others.


    "Good work, but there are still flaws you need to work out. You need to either learn or come up with at least one attack that condenses every single drop of your strength. Not having such an attack means that you will have to drag out every fight, which in turn only gives the opponent more time to unleash his own attack to finish you off. Once we''re done here I''ll help you with figuring out ideas for such an attack, but for now, you should heal your wounds."


    The nine people wearily nodded their heads, their eyes blazing as they moved between the six people from Tranquil Lake and the mother and son pair. They had protected these people, they had prevented others from suffering as they did, and that simple fact filled them with a fervent elation. Liang Chen handed each of the nine people a pill as well as some special water from his interspatial ring, the nine exhausted people sitting down on the ground to focus on recuperating.


    While his own men focused on healing, Liang Chen turned to the six people that were collapsed on the ground. Yumao had already landed on his head and was looking at the six people with a hungry gaze, had it not been for Liang Chen''s presence then he might have tried to eat them already. As he looked at the collapsed people, an invisible mist of poison mixed with Liang Chen''s Anima Essence seeped out of his body and flooded the souls of the six people, their eyes glazing over as they fell under his control.


    Looking at their glazed over eyes, Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head. The more he used it, the happier he was that he bought the Fragile Heart Mushroom while being in the Storm Wolf sect, it had been a great help ever since. With the men falling under his control, he simply asked them to tell him everything.


    "Tell me about the Tranquil Lake, where you are located, how you operate, how you treat people, everything you know and everything you''ve done."


    Liang Chen didn''t consider himself an indiscriminate killer, this Tranquil Lake seemed like a cruel organization but that didn''t mean that every member was evil. Should there be people in their ranks that had done nothing, then he would simply leave them alone, the same held true for the six people in front of him, which is why he also asked about what they had done. The men had fallen under his control so they had no choice but to open their mouths, their voices somewhat stilted as they responded.


    "The headquarters of the Tranquil Lake is located at the center of the 9th District, it is from there that we run the slavery and prostitution rings. We operate by...!"


    The six voices were simultaneously cut off by a violent cough, blood gushing out from the seven orifices of all six people. Liang Chen saw a light pierce through the robes of the six people, gathering on their chests and forming the same emblem like the one they wore on their robes. The light caused their bodies to ring out with crunching noises, their chests actually starting to twist and distort as their bodies slowly seemed to turn into fleshy vortexes.


    The five weaker members of the group died nearly instantly, only the leader was strong enough to survive for a few seconds. But as to whether or not surviving something like this was a blessing or a curse, only one who experienced it would know. The eyes of the leader gazed directly at Liang Chen, immense despair and sorrow welling up within his pupils as he forced out a few words from his twisted throat.


    "Ha...Ha...Ha. In the end, it doesn''t matter what you do... Men are born as slaves...and slaves we will remain until death...only then will we be free of the strong...only then wi..."


    His last words were drowned out by his own blood as his throat distorted beyond recognition, his entire body twisting around the center of his chest as Liang Chen looked on with grim eyes, immediately understanding exactly who had caused this.

 Sorrow of the weak.

    Liang Chen''s gaze was cold as he looked at the six fleshy puddles that now stained the earth in front of him. The six people in front of him most likely deserved death, that was a fact that Liang Chen was almost certain of. But if they were to die, it should not have been like this, it should not have been at the hands of a man they trusted and whole-heartedly believed in, a man they fought for and were ready to die for.


    The image of the immense despair and sorrow that emerged within the pupils of the last surviving man was still fresh in Liang Chen''s mind, his heart and world had collapsed mere seconds before his life ended. Liang Chen flicked one of his fingers slightly, the laws of death and rot flooding the puddles of flesh and eroding them until they turned into pale dust that flew away with another wave of Liang Chen''s hand.


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on the nine people, who could be considered his disciples, who should be focusing on healing their wounds. The nine of them had temporarily halted their recuperation when Liang Chen started questioning the six people, their expressions now somewhat warped due to the final fate of the six people.


    The death of these six people was the most probable final goal of their battle, all of them were keenly aware of this. But to meet such an end? Liang Chen turned his body and walked past the nine people so that he could reach the mother and son pair, his calm voice echoing in the ears of the nine people.


    "Focus on healing. The day has barely begun, you can''t afford to run out of energy yet."


    Liang Chen''s voice contained a slight yet dreadful chill that seemed to seep into the very souls of Yi Xue and the others. The lord of wrath might have only been in this major universe for a short while, but it had already managed to pique his wrath by showing that no matter how grand something might seem at first, there would always be something vile hidden away within it. Liang Chen stopped in front of the brown-haired mother and son, crouching down in front of the boy and smiling gently at him while starting a short conversation.


    "I''m Liang Chen, can you tell me your name?"


    "My name is Dong Qiu, Mother is Dong Lingjo and Father is Dong Jun."


    "Okay, Dong Qiu, do you know where your father is right now? Can you take me to him so that I can reunite him with you?"


    "I can, I  can! I know where they took Father, they made him work there as a butler for their horses!"


    The boy was incomparably excited at the prospects of getting his father back, but his mother wore a slightly complicated expression. Liang Chen raised his gaze to look at her, calmly watching as her expression changed while her thoughts were racing. In the end, she realized exactly how bad their situation was and could only steel herself while nodding her head. Receiving the confirmation from Dong Lingjo as well, Liang Chen stood up and pat Yumao on the head.


    "Alright, let''s go rescue your father and some other people then. This little bugger is Yumao, his name might be a bit silly but I can guarantee that he''ll be able to protect you from most things so just make sure you stick close to him."


    Dong Qiu gave a strong nod of his head, Yumao flapping his wings and once again extending to his full size of nearly seven meters. Liang Chen then stood up again and gave a wave of his hand, the nine recuperating people getting sucked into the orb within his interspatial ring, allowing him to increase the flow of time within it so that they could finish their healing faster.


    The mother and son were brought onto Yumao''s back by tendrils of materialized darkness, the tendrils remaining around them and serving as safety belts that tied them to his back. With the two passengers safely position, Liang Chen kicked off the ground and jumped onto Yumao''s head, sitting down and resting his elbows on the two jagged horns that sprung up from each side of Yumao''s head.


    Yumao flapped his wings and shot into the sky, almost instantly soaring past even the tallest buildings. Yumao stretched out his body and spread his wings when they broke past the last building, letting out a long hiss that contained faint traces of a roar. He knew that Liang Chen was angry, and whenever Liang Chen was angry, carnage was sure to follow, a feast was sure to follow. The city slowly expanded beneath them as Yumao soared higher, Dong Qiu quickly spotting the building that he was looking for.


    "That one! They took Father to that building there in the 8th District, that triangle-like one!"


    Liang Chen and Yumao''s gazes moved and landed on the building that the youth spoke of, a pyramid built out of white marble covered in golden engravings. The land in front of and to the left of the pyramid was covered by an exotic forest that stretched out for about five or so kilometers, the other sides of the pyramid were empty land filled with smaller buildings. A tall metal fence consisting of several linked poles surrounded the entire plot of land, a single ten meters tall and twenty-meter wide metal gate serving as the sole entrance and exit.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Liang Chen didn''t have to say anything, Yumao flapped his wings straight away and shot towards the pyramid like a black blur, crossing the vast distance in only a few seconds. He descended to the ground at full speed, blowing away all the surrounding dust and even parts of the paved road when he made a full stop a mere half-meter above the ground.


    The ten guards in front of the metal gate were sent stumbling back by the strong wind, their steps only stopping when their backs collided with the metal gate. This area looked like a rather wealthy district, but the guards were only at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, a fact that caused Liang Chen to guess that the guards were here either as no more than a formality or that the overall strength of the city wasn''t all that terribly high, if one didn''t count the Sky-Piercing Sparrow that is.


    The ten guards stabilized their bodies and stepped forward with somewhat grim expressions, pointing the tips of their lances at Liang Chen. Liang Chen stood up from Yumao''s head and hopped down to the ground, bringing out Yi Xue and the others from his interspatial ring. He had sped up time as much as possible within his ring so their wounds were mostly healed and their energy practically completely restored. They knew the situation they were facing and were raring to go, but a single word from Liang Chen simmered down their excitement a little.


    "Watch."


    Liang Chen stepped towards the ten guards, the tips of their lances starting to tremble a bit more with each step he took closer. He didn''t make a move to attack them, he didn''t even raise his arms, but by the time the lances touched his chest, the ten guards loosened their grips and let go of the weapons. Their arms hung loosely at their sides, their eyes already glazed over as they fell under the control of Liang Chen''s poison. These men were simply too weak, they didn''t have the slightest chance to resist in the face of Liang Chen. And with all of them having fallen under his control, Liang Chen started his questioning right away, ignoring the people in the surrounding area that had noticed what was going on.


    "I''m looking for a man named Dong Jun, tell me where he is. At the same time, tell me about everything else that you and the people in this place have done."


    The ten guards had no choice but to spill everything they knew, everything they had seen and experienced while working for the master of this mansion. The more they heard, the more the expressions of Liang Chen and the others dropped, slowly turning frostier and frostier. There was only one way to describe what happened to the people brought into this mansion, men like cattle. They were bought like cattle, fed like cattle, raised like cattle, bred like cattle, and eventually killed and sold like cattle. The guards themselves had never taken part in these actions, but they had been forced to go out and buy some more slaves on more than one occasion when an experiment went wrong.


    Liang Chen raised his head slightly to look at the pyramid in front of him. It was pristine and white, the golden engravings forming the image of a splendid sun rising above the crown of a large birch, it was a gorgeous sight. Yet this beauty, which was apparently a subsidiary division of some sect known as the Golden Branch sect, was filled with nothing but darkness, darkness that was soon to be filled with death.


    Liang Chen stepped past the ten guards, who all collapsed to the ground with foam bubbling out of their mouths. He placed his hand on the gate in front of him, all the air in the surrounding area gathering between his palm and the gate. The wind was unleashed as a terrifying tornado, tearing out not just the gate but also a portion of the surrounding fence and launching it directly into the pyramid, shattering the image of the splendid sun. This was the Scourge King''s declaration of war, and the sheer force of the impact made sure that it resounded out across the entire area.


    Liang Chen stepped through the ruined entrance and turned his gaze towards the building-covered plot of land that was to the right and behind the pyramid. The smaller buildings there was where the slaves lived, it was also where most of them had to work, as it was where the stables and the like were placed.


    Yi Xue and the others quickly followed Liang Chen, the black-haired and bronze-eyed Liu San raising one of his feet in disgust and kicking out towards one of the downed guards. The things happening to the people brought to the mansion were just as bad as the things that happened to the people of his village when they were captured by bandits, just hearing about it was enough to tear open all his wounds and enrage him.


    But his foot was stopped by a small wall of wind before it managed to smash into the face of the unconscious guard. Liu San felt a gaze on him, all the hairs on his body standing up as he raised his head and ended up locking eyes with Liang Chen. Liang Chen shook his head lightly, retracting the wall of wind that blocked Liu San''s feet.


    "No, these people have not done anything worthy of that. Yes, they are vile for just watching and not doing anything, but in this case, it is less of a crime and more akin to the sorrow of the weak who just want to provide for their families in peace, without getting killed for trying to stop something far stronger than them."


    Liu San could only lower his head slightly in the face of Liang Chen''s words, slightly apologetic while also maintaining a belly full of anger against the deeds that had, and were still, taking place within the mansion. Liang Chen turned around once he saw Liu San halt his actions, his still calm voice echoing within Liu San''s ears.


    "Come. They have suffered the sorrow of the weak, but we are the sorrow of the strong, the sorrow of the vile and evil."

 Where does the spear point?

    Liang Chen stepped through the hole that was left in the fence after he launched the gate into the pyramid, his steps slow and sure. His expression was calm and frosty, each of his steps leaving behind a footprint sizzling with corrosive poison that melted the earth around it. He hadn''t lowered his vigilance in the slightest ever since he dealt with the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Swallow, his energy surging through his body so that he was ready to strike at a moments notice.


    Yi Xue and the others hurriedly followed after Liang Chen, making sure that they didn''t accidentally step into his footprints, the poison would likely just eat through their shoes and enter their bodies. Liang Chen didn''t head directly for the white pyramid, his first target was the building-covered plot of land to the right of the pyramid, the place where they kept their slaves. Yumao was also following right behind Liang Chen, the mother and son pair riding on his back while doing their best to swallow their excitement and worry.


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows rose slightly after they walked a few tens of steps closer to the plot of land that was their target, his left hand stretching out and pushing down Yi Xue''s head. A translucent sword sliced through the air just where Yi Xue''s head had just been, passing through Liang Chen''s elbow before turning around and flying away.


    The sword flew a few hundred meters to their left and sank into the body of a somewhat older man who was holding a triangular jade that distorted space around him. It seemed to be an item designed to hide the user, Liang Chen had only managed to detect him when he launched his attack. Liang Chen glanced at his elbow, which didn''t have the slightest wound after the sword passed through it. The older man seemed to guess his thoughts, a somewhat dark and humorless chuckle slipping out.


    "It won''t hurt, don''t worry. My Anima Essence Sword strikes directly at the soul and deposits a small bit of energy into it to destroy it from within. You''ll simply lose consciousness and then it''ll all be over."


    Liang Chen gave a faint nod of his head upon hearing the old man''s words, he had indeed felt that the sword was composed entirely of Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi. But he wasn''t worried about getting cut by it, his gaze interlocking with the old man''s.


    "You shouldn''t have absorbed it back into your body."


    Liang Chen only left behind those words and then continued walking, Yi Xue and the others dumbfounded by his actions, wondering if they should tell him that the old man was still right there. Even the old man was dumbfounded at first, thinking that he was being completely ignored.


    But then he felt it, a slight prickling within the very depths of his body, from within his soul. The prickling rapidly intensified, his chest convulsing as a thundering headache assaulted him. He sank his vision into his own body to look at his own soul, a miniature replica of himself. Right now, that miniature version of him was convulsing within his soulsea, its right arm rotting right before his eyes.


    The rotting spread up the rest of the arm and through the rest of the soul like a vicious poison, the skin of the old man''s soul bubbling up before turning a pale green and sliding off. He tried his best to suppress the rotting, but it simply ate through all the energy he sent at it, swiftly swallowing his entire soul. The old man''s eyes turned dim and he collapsed to the ground, a dumbfounded and confused expression on his face.


    Liang Chen''s soul cultivation technique was rather peculiar, it focused on turning his entire soul into the purest fusion of the laws of time, rotting, poison, void, and death. He didn''t even have to attack with it, just coming into contact with his soul would be enough to kill some people. The old man had sent a bit of his Anima Essence into Liang Chen''s soul and then drawn it back into himself, doing so was the same as swallowing poison, he had brought about his own death because he didn''t understand his enemy.


    There were no more sneak attacks after the old man failed, if there were more people hiding in the surrounding area then it seemed like they were intending on waiting a bit longer, probably trying to learn a bit more about Liang Chen before they attacked. Thanks to this, Liang Chen and his group easily reached the five-kilometer wide plot of land that was covered in smaller buildings.


    There were no people moving around outside the buildings but Liang Chen could feel the electricity running through their bodies, there were about 300 people hiding within the buildings spreading out in front of him. Liang Chen stopped and swept his gaze across the buildings, waving his hand and unleashing a gust of wind that blew over the buildings and tore open all the doors, his voice reaching into each and every house.


    "There''s no more need to hide, there''s no more need to endure, you are free now. Flee by yourself, fight those who enslaved you, follow me, you are free to do whatever you want."


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly after he delivered the declaration, glancing at the young boy, Dong Qiu, that was riding on Yumao''s back, gesturing towards the opened doors with a sweep of his hand.


    "Find your father."


    Dong Qiu quickly jumped down from Yumao''s back and rushed to the buildings, calling out for his father while checking any house close to him. While the boy was rushing around the buildings, several of the people who had been hiding within the other buildings ran out at full speed, fleeing towards the white pyramid while calling for help from people who undoubtedly worked in the pyramid. Yi Xue quickly rushed forward to call those people back, but Liang Chen''s hand landed on her shoulder and stopped her.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "There''s no point, they won''t listen, their minds have already been ruined."


    Looking at how desperately they were pleading for help from their own captors, it seemed like they had long since already become accustomed to their lives as slaves, perhaps even finding comfort in the position they had amongst the slaves. Yi Xue and the others looked at Liang Chen, bitter and complex expressions on their faces as they looked at the 50 fleeing people. Liang Chen''s gaze also followed the fleeing people, but only for a short moment before he retracted his eyes and shook his head.


    "We aren''t gods, we can''t save everyone, nor should we. We can only save those we can hold in our grasp. And people like them, they are too far gone for our grasps to ever reach them, they probably consider us saving them as no more than a curse."


    Liang Chen stepped forward after he finished his words, heading for the people who hadn''t fled after his declaration. He was still weak, his reach far too small to save enough people. But he could only take things one step at a time, if he didn''t then he was sure to get an earful from Yan Ling once they reunited.


    The group quickly arrived amongst the buildings, people warily stepping out of the opened doors and nervously surveying their surroundings. Dong Qiu hurriedly rushed over to Liang Chen, holding the hand of a middle-aged man with light-brown hair and black eyes. Rather than Dong Qiu saying anything in his excitement, it was actually the middle-aged man who spoke up first, bowing deeply to Liang Chen.


    "Thank you, thank you for saving my son and wife, I owe you my life. I can''t do much, but I can cook and clean decently well, I would be honored if you would allow me to work for you in the future."


    Repaying Liang Chen was part of the reason the man so willingly offered to work for Liang Chen, but another part of the reason was that the man could feel a certain aura from Liang Chen. He was certain that the calm youth in front of him would go far in the future, following this man would allow his wife and son to be safer than ever before so there was nothing shameful about offering himself up as a butler. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head while looking at the man, his gaze turning onto the other people that were starting to surround him.


    "I didn''t save you because I wanted followers or people to work for me, but if you want to follow me then you are more than welcome to do so. What about the rest of you?"


    The remaining people in the area exchanged quick looks, those more familiar with each other quietly talking. The soft silence only lasted for about half a minute before the 150 people who hadn''t fled seemed to come to a decision, performing an act that caused Liang Chen''s eyebrow to twitch, they kneeled on the ground.


    "Thank you for freeing us, we would be honored if you would take us in and make good use of us!"


    Liang Chen felt like shaking his head while looking at their actions, why was it that people kept kneeling to him when he was helping them like this. But for now he could only shake his head and ignore it, addressing the people around him.


    "Alright, I am Liang Chen, and from this day forward you can all be considered people of my Storm Wolf sect. Let me first get all of you away from here, if you have any family you want me to pick up then you can just tell me whenever."


    Liang Chen waved his hand once he finished speaking, all the people around him getting sucked into the orb within his interspatial ring. The only ones that remained were Yi Xue and the others, whose eyes gleamed with the light of pride and exhilaration. With the slaves on this plot of land taken care of, Liang Chen turned around and started walking towards the white pyramid.


    "Come, they have already gathered for us."


    Yi Xue and the others weren''t quite certain just who Liang Chen was talking about but hurriedly followed after him, none of them willing to miss even a single second. This was what they aimed to become, capable of saving people without caring for what others might think, without caring what sort of enemies they made, saving others purely for the sake of saving.


    Liang Chen''s calm steps quickly brought him to the front of the pyramid, Yumao following right at his side now that he no longer had to protect the mother and son pair. The large ornate wooden doors of the pyramid were thrown wide open and nearly 500 people clad in armor engraved with faint runes had swarmed out and taken up positions in front of the gates.


    Some of the people that had fled from the slave quarters were mingling with some of the armored people, one of the women fearfully wrapping one of her arms around the arms of a rather graceful and handsome man standing at the front of the 500 people. She received a few frowns from the armored warriors around her, but the woman ignored their glares and stuck close to the man, whispering while pointing at Liang Chens'' group, her eyes flashing with nothing but fear as she looked at them.


    Liang Chen noticed something and glanced sideways at Yi Xue, who was looking at the woman with a rather complex expression, a mixture of expressions flashing past her eyes. She quickly noticed Liang Chen''s glance, giving a light shake of her head while responding.


    "It''s nothing, it''s just that the woman over there reminded me a bit of what my aunty told me about my own mother. She said that Mom was a maid who ended up getting killed because she loved someone too far removed from her own world. Looking at that woman I just couldn''t help but wonder if my mom was the same as her in the eyes of other people."


    Liang Chen gave a nod of his head but didn''t actually know what to say, he wasn''t exactly the most suited when it came to comforting others about their parents. As such, he simply did what Yan Ling, or his own parents, had occasionally done to comfort him, he placed his hand on Yi Xue''s head and gave it a few strong rubs, giving off the air of a protective elder brother.


    The enemies were directly in front of them so he only gave her head three rubs before taking back his hand, his gaze intersecting with the gaze of the handsome man standing at the front of the armored warriors. The man''s golden hair was tied into a neat bun at the back of his head, his black eyes slightly narrowed as they swept over Liang Chen.


    "From what I''ve heard, you''ve come here because you aren''t content with how we treat our people, correct? We are a subsidiary division of the Golden Branch sect and we also have close ties with the Tranquil Lake and the governor, all of our experiments are done for them. As a sign of respect, let me just ask you this, are you sure it''s wise to act against us? You can still turn around and leave."


    The man was clearly trying to scare Liang Chen by using the big names of the governor, Tranquil Lake, and the Golden Branch sect. But what a shame, he didn''t understand Liang Chen''s personality and drive, his words were nothing but pointless and only served to add more targets. Liang Chen flicked his wrist slightly, his gray spear appearing in his grasp and pointing at the handsome man.


    "It''s got nothing to do with acting wise. I don''t like what you''re doing, I think it''s vile and evil so I will move to stop it. And if you''re Golden Branch sect, Tranquil Lake, and governor want to stop me so that you can keep doing what you are, then I will have them all follow you to the grave."

 Bao Shan.

    The expression of the golden-haired and black-eyed handsome man sank somewhat when Liang Chen pointed his gray spear directly at him. He had hoped to use the strong connections and allies that they had to scare him away just like he had done so many times before, but it seemed like the one attacking them this time was a bit more arrogant than the others, or just too dumb to understand just how great those connections were.


    But while his expression sank, his eyebrows also furrowed slightly as his thoughts moved. He could tell that Liang Chen was only at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm while he himself had already reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. He had used some pills and other special treasures to force his own cultivation to rise by a bit, but it wasn''t to a stage where others should notice it, so why exactly was Liang Chen still so confident?


    Liang Chen ignored the slightly pondering expression of the handsome man and let his gaze sweep over the 500 soldiers gathered up behind the handsome man. The guards in front of the gate of the estate had been forced to spill everything they knew so Liang Chen knew that these 500 people should be close to 90% of the total strength available to this location.


    These soldiers were different from the guards outside, who had been hired to make the estate at least seem like they were contributing to the city, they had been born and raised in the estate, bred to be the perfect defense and an eternally loyal force. Liang Chen glanced sideways at Yi Xue and the others, gesturing for them to take a step back before turning his gaze onto the soldiers again.


    "Watch closely. Observe and learn, maybe you''ll gain some insight for your own attacks or techniques."


    Yi Xue and the others hurriedly stepped back while keeping their eyes locked on Liang Chen, they were all far too weak to get involved in his battles. The handsome man''s eyes narrowed dangerously when he heard Liang Chen''s calm statement, quickly giving a wave of his hand.


    "Prepare the 50-segmented format...!"


    The man''s pupils shrank rapidly before he could finish his words, he saw Liang Chen''s body vanish as a blur shot past his vision. By the time the first bead of sweat had managed to seep out of his forehead, Liang Chen had already arrived in the midst of all the soldiers, his low mutter the only sound that could be heard.


    "I hope that your next lives will be better and luckier."


    These soldiers were born and bred here, all they knew was to protect the estate while aiding them in their deeds, they probably weren''t even be aware of just how vile those deeds were. But that didn''t change the fact that they had done what they did, it didn''t change the fact that their minds had already been twisted and geared towards these actions. So he would kill them without remorse, at most hoping that their next lives would at least give them a chance to go down a different path, because he himself did not have the mercy to give them that chance in this life.


    Liang Chen swept out his spear the moment he finished muttering what could be called the last rite of these soldiers, the tip of the spear tracing a translucent purple line in the air. The line shot forward and passed through the soldiers as if they were air, each soldier who was touched by the line falling to the ground with dull eyes. The translucent purple line was a fusion of Liang Chen''s law of death, poison, rot, and his Anima Essence, the soul equivalent of Qi.


    With one sweep of his spear, nearly 200 soldiers and some of the mentally twisted slaves that had run to them to seek shelter from Liang Chen''s group fell lifelessly to the ground. The Wrathful Scourge Lord had proclaimed his name earlier, now he was proving it to all who looked upon him.


    His spear swept out a second time the moment he finished his first sweep, drawing an even larger arc through the air than before. Another translucent line swept out and passed through the remaining people, reducing what was once 500 soldiers and about 50 slaves to only Liang Chen and the handsome young man. Liang Chen was someone who could only be described as a freak of nature, especially after the Void Born blood merged with his own bloodline. If one wanted to be able to stand against him they would either have to be several realms above him or be similarly freaky thanks to either a bloodline, technique, or the law they cultivated.


    With the fall of the soldiers, Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the handsome man, the leader of this entire estate. By now, the handsome man would have to be a fool to not understand that Liang Chen was stronger than he seemed, just the blinding speed he showed earlier meant that he was more than capable of taking on the handsome man.


    The man''s expression turned solemn as his finger twitched so that he could swipe his interspatial ring to draw forth his weapon. But Liang Chen moved at the same time and appeared right at the side of the man, his leg sweeping out in a sideways kick. Lightning and time were amongst the fastest laws, the fusion of the two gave Liang Chen such speed that he arrived at the man''s side before he even managed to swipe his ring.


    The man could only burst forth with all his Qi to form a shield in front of his abdomen, he knew that he would never have the time to move his arms into position to block. Liang Chen''s leg collided with the shield of Qi, a bit of the law of the void seeping out and erasing the hastily constructed shield.


    Liang Chen''s leg then smashed directly into the handsome man''s abdomen and caused him to spew forth blood as his body bent and shot backward, arcs of lightning trailing from his charred abdomen. Liang Chen mainly used his Qi to fight, but his body had also reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, and thanks to the uniqueness of his laws and the technique he used for his body, his body cultivation was quite a bit stronger than others of the same realm.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The handsome man flew back and crashed into the white pyramid so hard that large cracks started to extend out from the place he crashed into it, the entire pyramid ending up covered in a spiderweb-like pattern of cracks. The man didn''t cultivate his body properly, he had even needed to use pills and the like to reach the Primordial Immortal realm, so his back practically exploded open upon crashing into the pyramid, even surprising Liang Chen somewhat.


    The man slid down the side of the pyramid and fell to the ground while gushing forth blood from his entire body, he had been even weaker than Liang Chen originally expected him to be. Liang Chen put away his spear and started walking towards the man, swiftly arriving in front of the sprawled out body, which tenaciously clung to life. The man struggled to raise his head to glare at Liang Chen, sputtering out a few words through his bloodstained death.


    "You...You may have won now... but you have doomed yourself and all around you.... You will be hunted and... framed... you will have all the... sins of the world thrown on your shoulders... you will be hunted by all as revenge..."


    No one who went against the Tranquil Lake or the Golden Branch sect ever met a good end, they were hunted and exterminated even by unaffiliated parties. Liang Chen might destroy this estate here, but the Golden Branch sect or the Tranquil Lake would just start hunting him and pin other crimes on him. If he turned out to be too strong they would even abandon one of their own estates and pin all the vile deeds it had done on him to create outrage, they would do everything in their power to ensure that their enemies never had a single day of rest. But faced with his threat of certain doom, Liang Chen didn''t even raise an eyebrow, he simply pointed a finger at the head of the man.


    "And? Go ahead if you can, gather all the sinful acts of the world for me to bear. And shoulder them I will, it changes nothing. I will still walk down my path with my head held high, even if that brands me with the title of Prime Sinner."


    This was Liang Chen''s determination and arrogance, one that didn''t even care if all the hate of the world was gathered on him. A translucent poison shot out from Liang Chen''s finger and entered the soul of the handsome man, rendering his gaze blurry and unfocused as he fell under Liang Chen''s control. He only had a bit of life in him and his speech was slurred and staggering, but Liang Chen still forced him to spit out as much as he knew, forcing him to keep talking until the last trace of life vanished from him and he was freed from Liang Chen.


    With the death of the handsome man, the estate was utterly finished. The only people left in it were the remaining 50 soldiers as well as the slaves and the various people undergoing experiments. Liang Chen and his group entered the pyramid and swept through the entire thing, freeing the last of the slaves and those that were being experimented on. These people made the same choice as the previous ones he had picked up, they had nowhere to go so they all chose to join up with Liang Chen, once again causing his Storm Wolf sect to grow in numbers.


    They also swept through the treasury of the estate, everything of worth ending up in Liang Chen''s interspatial ring. The slaves had no one else and the soldiers had all been born and raised here, none of them had any family within the city that could use some of the wealth, leaving it all to him. When they finished checking the last room in the pyramid, Liang Chen turned his head slightly, as if he could peer through the walls. He let out a light breath and then waved his hand, drawing Yi Xue and the others into the orb in his interspatial ring.


    "Let''s go, Yumao, I''ll probably need your help with this one."


    Yumao let out a short hiss in response, expanding to his full size of nearly seven meters and flapping his wings as he flew at Liang Chen''s side. The two left the pyramid and once again arrived in the now flattened area that used to be an exotic forest. A sea of people had gathered outside the metal fence that surrounded the entire estate, but none of them dared to set foot through the gate that Liang Chen had torn out, none of them dared to get closer to the sole man that was standing in the open area and waiting for Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen''s gaze locked onto the man, who looked to be in his 80''s or 90''s, yet had shimmering black hair and a brown beard that hung all the way down to his chest. The man suited the description that Liang Chen had received of the city governor, the sole person in the city who had reached the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. Liang Chen''s spear appeared in his grasp, his gaze sweeping through the surroundings for a bit.


    "You didn''t bother bringing any of your guards or anyone from the Tranquil Lake?"


    There were no living beings in the surroundings other than the sea of people outside the fence, but none of the people that fell into the range of Liang Chen''s senses had strength greater than the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm so it was unlikely that they were soldiers or assassins. The governor, Bao Shan, allowed his blue eyes to roam over Liang Chen and Yumao for a bit before he gave a light shake of his head.


    "I had no one I could bring, they''ve all been killed. I don''t know what you did, but Senior Sparrow seems to have completely abandoned this city and the branch of the Tranquil Lake, he''s even gotten rid of everyone who worked for him so that no information ends up spreading."


    Liang Chen''s expression sank and his eyebrows furrowed slightly when he heard Bao Shan''s response. He had previously seen how the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had gotten rid of the six men to avoid them spilling any information about him. They had been twisted and distorted into fleshy vortexes, it was an exceedingly grim way to go.


    It could be said that this saved Liang Chen from the trouble of heading to the Tranquil Lake in the 9th district to deal with them, but at the same time this meant that he lost the chance to gather a lot of information. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow was also definitely far more ruthless than Liang Chen, who wasn''t above sparing those he felt hadn''t sinned too much, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow might have simply killed everyone working for the Tranquil Lake no matter how low their position.


    Bao Shan ignored Liang Chen''s furrowed brows and stretched out his arms, red light flashing out from his palms and turning into two larger crimson greataxes. The weapons gave him a similar feeling to his own spear so he guessed that they were created by a Bloodwind Code, Bao Shan nodding his head in a curt greeting.


    "I am Bao Shan, I hope that I will be the one remaining alive after this fight."

 Stone Forest Domain.

    Liang Chen and the black-haired and brown-bearded Bao Shan stared each other down, one wielding a grey dragon-maw spear while the other wielded two large crimson greataxes, each one so large that it looked like it would need two hands to hold properly. The two men didn''t bother squandering time with pointless words like the young leader of this estate had, they knew exactly how things would go down.


    One was the governor of this city who had taken part in an untold amount of atrocious actions and the other was a stranger who had just waltzed into the city and mercilessly massacred a third of the governor''s men, his presence even resulting in the remaining two thirds to get preemptively killed to conceal any information. There would be only one end to today''s events, the death of one of them. And the one who decided to take the initiative in the battle was Liang Chen, his body leaning forward as his knees bent slightly and he let out an exceedingly short mumble to direct Yumao.


    "Follow me."


    The earth beneath Liang Chen''s feet exploded into a cloud of dust as he kicked off and shot forward, the blue pupils of Bao Shan shrinking slightly.  He knew that Liang Chen was a dangerous opponent, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow wouldn''t have preemptively killed his own men if he wasn''t. But the speed that Liang Chen achieved by infusing his nerves, muscles, and brain with the law of lightning and time, made Bao Shan realize that he would still have to raise his opinion of the youth in front of him if he wished to come out on top.


    All trace of emotion vanished from Bao Shan''s face, the only thing that remained was the dignity of a mighty cultivator who ruled an entire city. He didn''t try to dodge Liang Chen''s attack, that speed was not something he could contend with using normal means, especially in this situation where Liang Chen had already started moving, even already reaching his back while the thoughts flashed through Bao Shan''s mind.


    He simply tensed his muscles, his golden robe bursting and revealing that Bao Shan''s aged body was so muscular and rigid that it seemed to be chiselled from stone. Liang Chen''s spear crashed into the side of Bao Shan''s neck and unleashed a brilliant burst of brown lightning that crackled out from the point of impact and produced a thunderous rumble as it tore through the air.


    But Liang Chen''s expression didn''t ease up in the slightest after he delivered his attack, practically all the lightning bounced off of Bao Shan without actually harming him. And the hand grasping the handle of the spear felt as if it had smashed into a boulder, a faint ache spreading through his fingers. And sure enough, as his gaze pierced through the light of the lightning he saw that Bao Shan''s neck only had a small bloody mark on it, a mark that immediately healed itself.


    Bao Shan let out a breath so heavy that the grass at his feet was torn out of the ground and blown away. After Bao Shan let out the breath, Liang Chen felt as if a transparent bubbled extended from Bao Shan''s body and quickly covered the surrounding 500 meters. When the bubble stopped growing, a strange scene took place within it, grey trees covered in small cracks started to grow from the ground. Liang Chen immediately felt his body grow heavy as a tree started to grow up behind him, his leg instinctively kicking out to shatter the tree.


    But to his surprise, his leg grew heavier as it got closer to the tree, the bones within his leg nearly creaking by the time he managed to kick it. And even when he did manage to kick it, he once again felt like he had attacked a boulder, the tree only cracking a bit more from the attack. He narrowed his eyes and kicked forward with his leg, placing his foot against Bao Shan''s back and kicking off to launch himself away to create some distance.


    Several small spots of darkness appeared in the air above Bao Shan as Liang Chen created some distance between them, each spot unleashing a rain of small black needles that pierced into the earth. Bao Shan stood within the rain of black needles and placed his greataxes above his head to block them, the needles were far from as fast as Liang Chen so it wasn''t impossible for him to block them.


    Liang Chen had to navigate around the sprouting trees, each one seemed to radiate a small field of intense gravity that made it harder to move properly. But he managed to land a short distance away from Bao Shan, who swept out with both his axes and sent a ripple through the air that caused the black spots produced by Yumao to collapse. Bao Shan turned his body to face Liang Chen, whose eyes were still somewhat narrowed.


    "Stone, wood, and gravity, those should be the laws you fused to enter the Primordial Immortal realm, no?"


    Liang Chen clenched his left hand slightly as he spoke, a few arcs of lightning crackling around his finger. But compared to how smoothly it usually went, he actually had to expend a bit of energy to create and control this lightning, likely a product of the transparent bubble that formed a dome around them. Bao Shan held both his axes at the ready and nodded his head, this was one of the things that was too open to bother hiding in a battle of this level, the enemy had already figured out half and would easily figure out the rest before it could matter.


    "Indeed, I call it the law of the Stonecore Forest. And looking at that lightning you''re playing with there, it seems like you''ve never actually properly fought someone who has spent a bit of time within the Primordial Immortal realm. This is my Stone Forest Domain, an area forcibly taken over by my fused law, every respectable cultivator in the Primordial Immortal realm has one, it''s one of the main reasons they are known to be easily able to kill weaker cultivators. Trapped within here, you will find it much harder to use your own laws."


    The answer he received was mostly in line with what he had guessed, but Liang Chen''s expression didn''t betray any of his emotions. Just fighting someone at the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm was troublesome, but this Bao Shan was especially troublesome for Liang Chen. He clearly dual cultivated body and Qi and thus had exceedingly strong defence, his laws just so happened to counter all but Liang Chen''s laws of time and void, and this domain all around him would force him to use more energy and thus hastening the speed at which his energy reserves, which were already lower than his enemy, would deplete.


    Liang Chen''s golden pupils flickered slightly as a thought passed through his mind, his feet kicking off the ground once more as he shot back and left the domain. Bao Shan didn''t chase him as Liang Chen hopped back and left the bubble, revealing that the area was indeed surrounded by a faintly grey translucent dome, the stone trees only growing within it. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out an item he had stored away for quite some time already, a white bone bow.


    This was one of the three bows he had picked up on Tripartite God planet that had the ability to grow harder and tougher as he inserted more Qi. Using a bow became less and less useful to him as the strength of his opponents increased, he simply wasn''t good enough with it to make it useful in the type of combat that he engaged in so he ended up putting them away and rarely ever using them. But now, when his opponent was clearly unwilling to leave his domain, was a perfect chance to use this bow again.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Liang Chen straightened his back and tensed his muscles while drawing back the string, creating a hollow arrow composed of a mixture of wind and his soul energy. He filled the arrow with his laws of poison, death, and rot, each one filled to the brim with the energy of his soul. Since his opponent had such a strong bodily defence then he simply wouldn''t bother going for the body, he would just exterminate the soul straight away.


    Liang Chen drew the bowstring back with all his might, the bone that the bow was made of bending and creaking as small cracks appeared on it. The bow could grow harder and tougher, yes, but there was a limit to how hard it could become, it was doomed to break if Liang Chen unleashed all his might. And that was just what he did, he poured as much strength as he could into the arrow and bow, even going as far as to use the second step of the Dragon King''s Six Steps. And then he let go of the bowstring, the bow simply falling apart as a deep purple light cut through the air and headed directly for Bao Shan, whose entire body was suddenly restrained by thick tendrils that rose up from his own shadow. But faced with the incoming attack, Bao Shan simply rolled his eyes and spoke to Liang Chen.


    "A terrifyingly strong attack, but what a shame that no ranged attacks work against me in here. You underestimate the power of gravity, naive."


    The branches of the stone trees moved slightly, the verdant leaves fluttering in a non-existent wind as the air around them rippled and distorted. The arrow flew into these ripples and turned slightly, deviating a tiny fraction off course. It might just be a tiny fraction, but each tree it passed by caused it to deviate a bit more as it was again affected by the gravity, even trying to control the arrow was nigh impossible due to the sheer number of gravitational fields that ended up working on the arrow.


    The arrowed veered around Bao Shan and shot toward the crowd of spectators gathered in front of the estate, Liang Chen''s expression sinking drastically. There was no telling how many people would simply fall over if that arrow hit the spectators and exploded, there was no way their souls would be able to resist that attack. But the domain stopped right in front of the spectators so Liang Chen had no way of controlling the arrow to stop it before it hit them, unless he was willing to risk being able to stop it the instant it left the domain of course.


    Liang Chen didn''t even let his gaze drift over the now terrified spectators, he simply clicked his tongue and then shot forward at full speed, diving headfirst back into the domain. The gravity around the stone trees immediately impacted him and either punished him down or tried to suck his body in, each tree having a different level of gravity to make things even harder for him. Liang Chen maintained his solemn expression and headed straight for the arrow, which moved fast, but not faster than Liang Chen''s law of time supported speed.


    Bao Shan didn''t change his expression as Liang Chen approached, he made sure to divert the arrow in such a manner that Liang Chen would have to move past him if he wanted to stop it. And Liang Chen didn''t disappoint, he had charged in straight away without a second of thought. Bao Shan ignored the tendrils coiling all around him, which had started growing small drills that were boring into his defence, his gaze looking directly at Liang Chen as the trees all around him suddenly grew and extended, the branches turning into spears and the blades acting as knives.


    Liang Chen would be able to move past him, but he would cut himself to ribbons in the process and grievously wound himself, this was one of the plans that Bao Shan had set. But just as Liang Chen dove headfirst into the web of extended trees, a rumbling hissing sound rang out from every single shadow within the domain. The shadows melted and extended, covering the entire domain in complete darkness. And within this darkness, several black wisps of energy started to flow out from Bao Shan''s body and into Liang Chen''s, the gravity affecting him suddenly lessening drastically in intensity while his own body felt like it grew harder.


    Liang Chen knew what this dark domain was, he had already heard Yan Ling describe it to him once in the past. Back then Yumao had used it against Qian Liao on Tripartite God planet to save Yan Ling''s life and heal the law of death that had invaded her body, in his shock Qian Liao had called it the Nether God''s Grasp. Back then just activating the domain for half a second had robbed Yumao of nearly all his energy, but now he was able to keep it active for an entire second before it vanished.


    And by the time it vanished, Liang Chen had already shot past Bao Shan and arrived by the arrow, grabbing onto it from the side and forcibly sucking it back into his body. His body was covered in several cuts and holes from having dashed directly through the grove of deadly stone trees, but not a single one of the wounds even reached his bones thanks to Yumao''s supportive domain. And if the wounds didn''t even reach his bones or contained some terrifyingly strong energy, then they wouldn''t even be considered wounds to Liang Chen.


    And that thought was immediately proven correct as all the wounds healed, leaving Liang Chen''s body bloody but without a scratch. Bao Shan''s pupils flickered around the surroundings for a short moment as he tried to locate Yumao, who was hiding somewhere within the darkness. But after he failed to find him, he turned his gaze onto Liang Chen and the blood that covered his body.


    "You shouldn''t have bothered saving them, the only thing you''ve done is create another weak point for yourself. As a ruler, you need to be aware of when it is best to protect something, and when it is best to abandon something to win. That is what a ruler is, someone who can easily abandon things for the sake of looking at the greater picture. If you still manage to end up as the winner, you''d do well to learn that."


    Things had ended well this time, but could that strange pet of Liang Chen raise that domain once more? If it couldn''t, then if he was forced to dash through such a web of trees again he would end up with more than just flesh wounds. But faced with what he considered respectable advice from one strong cultivator to another, Liang Chen simply spat out a small glob of blood and sneered.


    "Fuck you, and fuck that definition of a ruler. I once knew a sect master who happily sacrificed himself just to give the weaker disciples beneath him a chance to flee, I knew a pair of parents who happily kneeled and presented their necks just so that one child could get the chance to grow up, I knew a young girl who endured all sorts of torture in silence just so that a single boy could be left alone. They are what you can call rulers, and they weren''t rulers because they abandoned things, they were rulers because they chose to protect and people gravitated towards them as a result. Compared to them, you are nothing but a bottom-feeding worm who isn''t even worthy of looking up at the sky. Fuck you and fuck your abandoning, I will protect that which I choose to protect."


    The vicious cursing actually caught Bao Shan completely off-guard, he hadn''t expected such a simple piece of advice to produce such a strong reaction. But listening to the words and thinking about Liang Chen''s actions, a light lit up within Bao Shan''s head.


    "Ah, so that''s what all this is about. People keep sacrificing themselves for you so you''ve decided to save others and bring evildoers to justice for the sake of those who died to protect you. That explains why you ignored everything and simply massacred everyone here, even going against the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake. What a strong sense of justice, truly worthy of respect."


    Bao Shan actually gave a light clap of his hands as he spoke, not to mock Liang Chen but out of heartfelt respect for his sense of justice and determination. But then, just as he did when Bao Shan gave him the previous piece of advice, Liang Chen proved that Bao Shan had no idea what he was talking about.


    "Justice? Nothing I have ever done has been for justice, justice has never been on my side or in my mind. It has always been wrath, hatred and wrath that burns so fierce that it wants to swallow the sky. So don''t you go around spouting shit about justice and respectable determination, I''m just an angry child, one that is going to kill you."


    Liang Chen sucked in a deep breath of air and then exhaled a light grey mist that actually caused the leaves of the stone tree closest to him to disintegrate as if they were being erased. He tightly grasped his spear, his knuckles practically turning white as his gaze pierced into Bao Shan.


    "But one thing you said was somewhat right, sometimes we have to abandon things to win. But I won''t abandon people, I''ll just abandon my care and worry about what sort of state I''ll end up in after I kill you."

 Bloody conclusion.

    The enemy he was currently facing almost perfectly countered all of Liang Chen''s laws, his lightning, wind, poison, rot, death, all of them were practically useless in this fight. So he discarded them, tossed them aside without hesitation and focusing fully on his two remaining laws, the strongest and most energy-consuming ones, time and void. They were the strongest but also the hardest to use, the sheer amount of energy they drained also made it difficult to use them in longer battles. This was especially so for the law of the void, any mistake with it could lead to catastrophic consequences.


    But Liang Chen didn''t care, he knew himself well. Ever since the start, his path could only have been called suicidal and foolish. Even the very first step of his cultivation journey, diving in Demonic beast blood as a weak child with no cultivation, was nothing short of suicidal and insane, practically all of his cultivation choices had been like that. The same held true for his battles, the number of battles he engaged in where he didn''t engage in something self-destructive was far lower than the ones where he did do something self-destructive. Had it not been for his great luck with bloodlines and cultivation technique, he would have become crippled or outright died long ago, maybe even as far back as when he took that first step.


    But he hadn''t died and he hadn''t become crippled. Time and time again he emerged victorious, time and time again he emerged stronger than he was before. And it all stacked up over time, added up to shape him into what he was now, a monster that could afford to fight in a self-destructive manner, a monster that could freely trade injuries and attacks with people who had higher cultivation.


    And because he knew this, Liang Chen kicked off the ground and shot through the domain, whizzing past the stone trees as he headed directly for the blue-eyed and black-haired Bao Shan. The pressure that the domain exerted on him instantly shrank as Liang Chen unleashed his law of the void in a very thin layer around his own body, giving his speed a decent increase.


    But every area within the domain was under Bao Shan''s control, it was like an extension of his body, so he could still determine Liang Chen''s location no matter how fast he moved. His eyes focused closely on Liang Chen, countless stone trees rising up and stretching their sharp branches at Liang Chen while also radiating different levels of increased gravity to throw him off.


    But Liang Chen paid no attention to the trees piercing straight at him, his steps landing on one of the shadows that stretched out from one of the trees. His figure immediately vanished into the shadow and dodged the branches, Bao Shan''s pupils shrinking drastically. The muscles on his arms tensed as he spun around with all his might, a faint crimson light flashing within both of his greataxes as their speed suddenly increased drastically. This was an ability that all Bloodwind Weapons had, it was one of their basest functions and it was great for catching enemies off-guard.


    His axes and body spun around at such speed that they nearly instantly reached a black orb that had appeared behind him, the tip of a spear poking out from it. His axes crashed into the orb and caused the speartip to shatter, his pupils shrinking even further, a Bloodwind Weapon would not shatter that easily. And he was immediately proved correct, his axes effortlessly slicing through the black orb and dissipating it.


    But as the orb dissipated, he sensed Liang Chen appear within the domain once more. His figure rose up from Bao Shan''s own shadow, just behind his still spun around body, his spear already stabbing out with a faint grey light flashing within it. The grey light coated the speartip and caused it to vibrate faintly, a few cracks extending through the surrounding air wherever the speartip moved. These cracks didn''t form in space but rather within the domain itself, a sign that it was taking damage greater than what it could sustain.


    Bao Shan sensed the greater danger coming from behind him and gave a heavy stomp of his foot, a wave of immense gravity unfurling from his body. But this wave of gravity didn''t actually push down on Liang Chen like the one unleashed by the trees did, it was reversed and thus pushed him upward.


    The veins on his arm bulged as he forced his spear to remain steady, his feet almost immediately losing touch with the ground as a result of him focusing on keeping his attack straight. And the reason he could focus on his attack was quite simply that he wasn''t alone. His own shadow rose up and coiled around his legs, quickly dragging him down and resisting the reversed gravity so that his attack could continue on with minimal disturbance.


    Bao Shan grit his teeth upon seeing his first strategy fail, the muscles on his shoulders and back tensing as a crimson light once again flashed within his two greataxes. He spun around like a gyroscope with his axes placed against each other, the sharp edges clashing with the handle of Liang Chen''s spear while the speartip was only a few centimetres from his chest.


    But a strange sensation assaulted him when his axes touched Liang Chen''s spear, his arms suddenly seemed to move far slower than the rest of his body, the dissonance actually causing him to feel nauseous. And this short second where his arms moved slower than the rest of his body was enough for Liang Chen''s spear to reach him, its course only diverted slightly thanks to the axes.


    His speartip reached Bao Shan''s right shoulder and cut a deep gash into it, actually completely tearing out and pulverizing the bones within the shoulder, causing his right arm to fall to the ground. Liang Chen then sank back into the darkness that coiled around his legs, Bao Shan''s arms, or arm now, finally returning to moving at its proper speed, something that caused him to stumble slightly as he had shifted his strength around to accommodate for the slowness of his arms.


    Liang Chen appeared outside of the domain again, his face almost as pale as paper, his breathing somewhat ragged while beads of sweat ran down his forehead and some blood ran down his left arm from two burst blood vessels. Bao Shan grit his teeth so strongly that some of them cracked, quickly picking up his lost arm and placing it against the stump of his shoulder, holding it in place with a small field of gravity while he popped several pills into his mouth.


    He was a body cultivator, so while losing an arm was a bit of trouble he should be able to quickly reattach it right now by using his Fiendgod Essence and some pills. But after swallowing all the pills, his expression actually only sank further, his pupils glancing at the still bloody stump that remained of his shoulder. The wound wasn''t healing. No matter how much energy he poured into it, it seemed to be completely blocked up and unmoveable, he couldn''t even stem the bleeding. His guess, and fear, was quickly proven correct by Liang Chen, whose face had regained a bit of colour.


    "There''s no point, that wound is one that will never heal, it has been eternally locked in its current state of time."


    His words were a bit of an exaggeration, a stronger cultivator or a stronger pill would definitely be able to break through the layer of time coating the wound. Even Bao Shan would be able to do it after spending a bit of time, which was why Liang Chen spoke up, to stop him from testing it too much. Bao shan''s eyes turned even more solemn upon hearing Liang Chen''s statement, his dark gaze moving between his bloody shoulder and Liang Chen''s weapon.


    "The law of wounds, or is it the law of sealing? No, looking at what you did to my arm, is it the law of speed? And that attack just now, that should be the second ability of the Bloodwind Weapons, the one only available to those of the Lord rank or higher. I haven''t heard of anyone with a grey Bloodwind Weapon before, especially not amongst the known Lord ranks... Are you the newly ascended Wrathful Scourge Lord?"


    Liang Chen didn''t know it, but whenever a new Lord rank was achieved on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, a notification would be sent out to all the other Bloodwind Codes, notifying them of the birth of the new ruler. It had been quite some time since the Multiverse Bloodwind List received a new Lord so the newly ascended Lord was a rather hot topic of conversation.


    Bao Shan didn''t have concrete proof that Liang Chen was this newly ascended Lord, but he felt that it was the most reasonable guess after going over everything that he did know. Liang Chen didn''t give Bao Shan any response, his breathing already back to normal while his face had lost nearly all signs of paleness. Bao Shan''s pupils finally shrunk until they were the size of pins when she saw this and felt the once again vigorous energy rushing through Liang Chen''s body. He hadn''t popped a single pill or the like, so there was no way his expended energy should restore this quickly. As such, Bao Shan couldn''t help but question in a somewhat unbelieving manner, receiving a short and simple reply from Liang Chen.


    "This recovery speed... Just what sort of monster are you?"


    "I''m not a monster, I am the storm."


    Liang Chen cultivated in a modified version of a previous Universal Hearts body cultivation method, practically every inch of his body had become a fusion of some of his elements. As such, he could restore his lost energy and wounds by absorbing the elements that now composed his body, an act he had already done once before when he was fighting Qian Liao back on Tripartite God planet. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    There wasn''t any water or lightning around for him to absorb, and absorbing time to restore himself was far more time-consuming than he would like, but there was plenty of wind all around him. Of course, this type of restoration wasn''t perfect, Liang Chen''s achievements in the technique were still too shallow. There were also other factors that impeded his healing, like the two burst blood vessels in his left arm. They were a result of his blood vessels being unable to contain the law of void that flooded through them, and wounds created by the law of the void were far harder to heal than normal wounds, they would need quite a bit more time.


    This was the reason he had left Bao Shan''s domain and had remained standing in place for a bit while Bao Shan tried to heal his wound and questioned Liang Chen, it was all to restore some of his lost energy. And now he had restored a good bit of energy so he no longer saw a need to let Bao Shan continue restoring his own energy, his feet kicking off the earth as he shot back into the domain.


    His speed had decreased slightly since his energy wasn''t fully restored, but it was more than enough for what he was planning. Bao Shan looked directly at the charging Liang Chen, dropping his right arm to the ground and tightly grabbing onto his remaining axe. He raised the axe as high as he could, pouring every last drop of his energy into it as even the domain around him shrank and sank into the axe.


    "Come, Nameless Lord, face my strongest technique and let''s see who will survive! Descend, Core of the World Tree!"


    The head of Bao Shan''s axe warped as he uttered the name of the technique he had created in his youth. The axehead morphed into a one-meter wide orb that looked like it was made entirely out of bark, a few small sprouts sticking out from it and wriggling as if they were trying to break free from the orb.


    Liang Chen glanced at the attack, which was on track to hit him the moment his own attack hit Bao Shan, but he didn''t make any moves against it. And just as he and Bao Shan were right in front of each other and Liang Chen stabbed his spear forward, a pitch-black domain rose up all around the two men, Bao Shan''s expression sinking drastically.


    This domain had shown up earlier and heavily weakened him for a short second so that Liang Chen could stop his own attack before it hit the onlookers so he knew that the domain was very dangerous. But it hadn''t shown up again after that so he assumed that it required too much energy to be used again in quick succession, he truly hadn''t been expecting it to show up now.


    A quick move of his pupils revealed the truth to him, some of the corpses that had been scattered throughout the area earlier had vanished. From the looks of it, the beast creating this domain had gorged on the corpses to rapidly restore its energy so that it could launch this domain again to catch him off guard.


    And that was exactly what happened, he had poured his everything into the attack and wasn''t ready for the domain, resulting in tendrils of black energy extending from his body and sinking into Liang Chen. His own strength started waning while Liang Chen''s rose somewhat, now carrying the faint flavour of Bao Shan''s own energy. Liang Chen took half a step to the side, Bao Shan''s attack landing on his left shoulder while his own attack landed on the centre of Bao Shan''s chest, just beneath his heart. Liang Chen ignored the pain coming from his entire left arm, a soft and slightly guttural voice leaking out from his throat.


    "Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow."


    A soft light was instantly unleashed by Liang Chen''s spear, piercing through Bao Shan''s chest and continuing on into the distance while tearing a thin grey line through the air. A few grey, nearly white grains of sand fell out from the line and landed on the ground, the earth around them immediately starting to lose colour and taking on a bone-like texture. The attack was filled with the law of the void and then augmented by the Dragon King''s Six Steps, the end result was that it actually tore open a very small gate directly to the void, even allowing some of the sand present within the void to arrive here.


    But neither the gate nor the sand remained for long, the gate was unable to maintain itself and collapsed after half a second, the grains of sand evaporating a short second later. But that second and a half the grains of sand had remained here was enough to permanently alter the plain in front of the white pyramid, a few spots of bone-like earth that were nearly 40-metre wide remaining where the sand had been.


    As the one who had been forced to suffer the brunt of the attack, Bao Shan was in a terrible state. A fist-wide hole had appeared in his solar plexus and was expanding at a visible pace, corroding and evaporating his entire body. Liang Chen was in a better state thanks to Yumao''s domain, but his entire left arm and shoulder, as well as a bit of his back, were all pierced through by small branches and leaves that were actually growing out from within his own body.


    Bao Shan''s attack had left microscopic seeds within the arm that was hit by the attack, the seeds feeding on Liang Chen''s energy to grow freely. Liang Chen was as white as paper as he looked at the disintegrating Bao Shan, doing his best to restore his energy while also halting the growth of the seeds in his arm. Bao Shan stood still and had already let go of his axe, touching the hole in his torso with his remaining arm, an act that resulted in his fingers starting to disintegrate. Looking at his own approaching death, a weak and defeated laughter escaped him.


    "Haha, no wonder Senior Sparrow so resolutely decided to abandon everything here, what a monster you are. But you shouldn''t be too happy, you Nameless Lord, the universe will never accept an existence like you, this law of yours is far too scary for it to allow your existence."


    Bao Shan couldn''t help but look at Liang Chen with some interest after he finished talking, he had never before even heard of a law like this. It had torn open what seemed to be a gate to some unknown place and brought forth those corruptive grains of sand, it was a law that seemed far too sinister and evil. Liang Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, a few branches growing out of the blood as he continued to force the seeds out of his body, not denying Bao Shan''s statement.


    "I don''t need the universe to accept me or allow my existence, all I need is for it to fear me so that it will listen."


    Bao Shan grimaced in the face of Liang Chen''s arrogance, but the disintegration had already reached his lungs and heart so he was unable to utter any more words since life left his body. His disintegrating body collapsed to the ground, vanishing completely before his head could touch the earth.


    Liang Chen let out a heavy breath and spat out some more blood after Bao Shan vanished, Yumao slithering out from his shadow and flying up to the top of Liang Chen''s head. He curled up on his head like usual, his entire body so weak that he couldn''t even keep himself balanced on top of Liang Chen''s head.


    Liang Chen remained standing in place for a bit to force out the last seeds lurking within his body, finally getting rid of the last branches and leaves that had broken out from his arm and back. He swallowed a few pills and then slowly walked over to the corpses that remained untouched after the grains of sand from the void fell into this world. He picked up as many corpses as he could, immediately using the Chaos King Technique on some of them to further increase the speed at which his wounds healed.


    He had underestimated how useful Yumao would be in the fight so his current state was far better than what he expected it to be, he was expecting to end up unable to move or even unconscious after the fight. He would have been forced to rely on Yi Xue in that situation, but it luckily hadn''t come to that so he could let out a soft breath of relief.


    He restored his wounds and energy to an acceptable level and put away some of the corpses so that Yumao could feast on them when he had restored enough of his own energy to eat properly. He then helped Yumao remain balanced on top of his head using some wind and left the estate, the crowd of spectators silently moving aside to create a path for him. They had just seen him murder the governor of the city in what was basically single combat, their fear and awe prevented them from even speaking as he walked past them.


    But as he started to vanish into the distance as he headed for the 9th District, a few of the people were no longer able to help themself. Some burst into tears, some dropped to their knees and others dipped into deep bows, loudly thanking Liang Chen for what he had done. The ones that thanked him were those who had suffered or lost people in the hands of the Tranquil Lake, the Golden Branch, or to the governor themselves. Liang Chen had personally torn out all three from the city and granted them revenge they could previously only dream of. To them, it was as if the tales they heard as a child had finally come true, sinners would be punished by the wrath of the heavens.


    Liang Chen stopped momentarily upon hearing the words of gratitude but then quickly continued on his way, reaching the 9th District and the headquarters of the Tranquil Lake after three hours. Finding the headquarters of the Tranquil Lake wasn''t hard, he just had to ask one of the people fleeing from the 9th District.


    And when he finally reached the headquarters of the Tranquil Lake, a surprisingly normal-looking, if excessively large, square stone building, his fears were confirmed. Blood was pouring out from underneath the large wooden doors before he even opened them, opening them only resulted in a small tidal wave of blood pouring out. There was nothing but blood within the entire building, which was about 11 kilometres wide and 6 kilometres long.


    The place where they should be keeping their slaves, the place where the workers should be resting, the training area for new recruits, everything was stained with blood and scraps of cloth. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow hadn''t left a single person behind, no matter how low their rank within the organization might be. Not even the archives and other items within the building had been left intact, all trace of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow or the former acts of the Tranquil Lake had been erased. Liang Chen stood in the midst of the blood, which had yet to dry as most of the people working here had some attainments in cultivation, his gaze calm yet dark as his gaze swept the surroundings.


    "Hide all you want, I will find you eventually. And then we''ll see if the Sky-Piercing Sparrow can handle getting pierced."


    Liang Chen turned around and left the building after he finished checking the last room, there was nothing left here so now all that remained was checking out the residence of the governor. Once he was done with that he could move on, he felt that he had already spent more than enough time in this city, despite only having been here for an exceedingly short amount of time.

 Nine Gods Dominion.

    The city was buzzing with life and sound as Liang Chen left the bloody building that used to be the branch of the Tranquil Lake located within this city. The death of the governor, the Golden Branch division, and the Tranquil Lake had thrown a large rock into the quiet sea that this city used to be. Some people were just celebrating the deaths of these three groups but others were trying to immediately take advantage of their absence, some wanted to insert themselves into power, some just wanted to take advantage of the chaos to do some evil deeds they couldn''t do earlier, while others just aimed to earn a quick sum of money by attacking the places previously protected by any of these three groups.


    Liang Chen''s gaze slowly roamed across his surroundings, only the area around him was quiet, no one dared to get close to him or even breathe too loudly when he passed them by. He was the man who murdered the governor and brought about the destruction of the three groups, a status that brought both awe and fear. Liang Chen stopped sweeping his gaze across the surroundings after a few moments, his hand reaching up and giving Yumao''s head a few strokes.


    "Sorry, but can I leave it to you?"


    Yumao stretched his body and flapped his wings while giving a short hiss, shooting into the sky and returning to his actual size. He had feasted on quite a few corpses in the last three hours so about half of his energy was restored, it was quite enough for his current task. He flew into the air above the buildings and spread his wings, letting out a hiss so loud that it caused some of the nearer buildings to tremble slightly. His hiss spawned a dark orb above him, black lines shooting out from it and descending upon the city, each one accurately targetting one of the people trying to take advantage of the situation to fulfil some of their more wicked fantasies.


    The buzzing of the city immediately quieted down as the black rays descended upon it, several terrified gazes landing on Yumao. Several people had seen him as Liang Chen moved through the city, they knew that he was the feathered serpent of the nameless slayer. And since the feathered serpent had made a move, the message was clear, the nameless slayer would not accept anyone taking advantage of this chaotic situation to fulfil their wickeder and more carnal desires.


    Of course, with how large the city was there was no way that Liang Chen and Yumao could scare everyone into ceasing their activities. But they did what they could, they saved those that their grasp could reach, and for now, that would have to be good enough. Yumao swept his sharp grey eyes across the surrounding area in a threatening manner before descending again, shrinking and landing on Liang Chen''s head, the spot reserved just for him.


    Liang Chen gave his head a few soft strokes as they continued on their way, following the wide streets for a further four hours until they reached the building that belonged to the governor. The building was located at the very centre of the city and was shaped like a large dome that was only slightly larger than the Tranquil Lake headquarters, windows of various sizes dotting the entire building and making it look like a beehive.


    A large crowd had already gathered outside the building, some of the people present clearly rather antsy with expectation and desire. But none had dared to enter the building, all of them turning to look at Liang Chen when he arrived. Everything within this building was part of his loot, his spoils of war, if they tried to take anything they might just be killed on the spot. They could only hope that he would have such a high vision that he would leave some things behind, what he considered beneath him might just be a great treasure to them.


    The crowd automatically parted to open a path to the grand wooden doors that were engraved with the image of a sun rising over a small mountain range. Liang Chen pushed open the doors, the stench of blood immediately hitting him as the foul air within the building was unleashed. He could already see bloodstains cover the walls and parts of the floor, Bao Shan had clearly not been lying when he said that he didn''t have anyone to bring along.


    Liang Chen guessed that Bao Shan had only been allowed to live due to his strength, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow might have killed him too if he ended up surviving the battle and got the chance to tell Liang Chen anything. Then again, Liang Chen doubted that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was actually able to monitor everything going on here so there was a chance that he had just given Bao Shan a deadline. If he failed to report his success before the appointed time, he would be killed just like the rest.


    Liang Chen walked through the winding halls of the building, the blood sticking to his shoes and producing a slightly nauseating squelching sound with each step he took. He made his way from room to room and picked up just about everything of worth, even the pantry and the potted plants that could only be considered flowers or herbs that had absorbed some Qi were taken by him. He now had a sect filled with people that he had to feed and train, he would need every little resource he could get his hands on.


    The governor proved to be far richer than Liang Chen had expected, the treasury of the building was filled to the brim with weapons, armours, pills, medicine, Spirit Stones, and various cultivation techniques for the three cultivation systems. Liang Chen took everything and tossed it into the orb within his interspatial ring, he could spend some time later going over everything and organizing the items he just picked up. He also had to figure out how to deal with Yi Xue''s group and the other people that had just joined the sect, he had to at least separate them into groups of even strength to make it a bit easier to figure out how he should train each group.


    As he tossed everything into his interspatial ring he came upon an item that caused his eyes to light up, the item in front of him was probably the most valuable one to him. It was a pineapple-size jade slip that contained a map of not just this planet but also the entire dominion he was currently in, the Nine Gods Dominion.


    The map contained a bit of information about the countless planets and some of the larger factions, but more importantly, it listed the millions of spatial arrays that could be used. It was only upon checking through this map that he saw that his city alone contained a few thousand spatial arrays that could be used to drastically shorten the time needed to move around within the city. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    With this map, it would be far easier for him to figure out where and how to move to get to the Heaven and Hell Dominion to find Purgatory. If he was lucky, he might even be able to find out where the Nine Star Demon God''s influence resided so that he could learn where Yan Ling was. He put away the map after giving it a quick check, mentally noting down which spatial array he could use to get to the closest city that contained a Heaven''s Secret Company, which he only now learned actually existed not just within his own universe.


    After emptying the treasury, there were only a few more rooms for Liang Chen to check, the last of the valuables within the large dome quickly vanishing into his interspatial ring. With everything of value taken, Liang Chen had no more need to remain within the dome and headed for the exit, the soft buzzing of the crowd outside the building already starting to reach his ears. But as he made his way through one of the longer hallways in the building, his steps abruptly halted while his gaze narrowed. His body stepped back and his spear appeared in his grasp, Yumao expanding to his actual size and staying at Liang Chen''s side in a vigilant manner.


    And shortly after Liang Chen entered his wary stance, a girl who seemed to be a bit younger than him walked around the corner a few hundred meters ahead of him. The girl had silver hair that hung down to her ears and rather dark grey eyes that were bordering on black, a dignified and regal aura seemingly radiating from within her very bones, she was clearly someone who wasn''t unaccustomed to the position of ruler.


    The reason Liang Chen had immediately entered a wary stance was that he had actually failed to discover this girl before she managed to get within several hundred meters of him. The electricity within her, the signs of life flowing through her blood, even the movement of the wind around her, all of them were suppressed to a point where Liang Chen hadn''t been able to detect them earlier. It was only now that she was so close that he could feel them, or rather, he could feel that she was suppressing them, seemingly instinctually.


    The girl''s cultivation was also a point of concern to him, she had reached the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, a cultivation realm that should only have been reached by Bao Shan within this city. The girl''s eyes landed on Liang Chen when she turned the corner, her steps halting in surprise as she too seemed to have failed to detect Liang Chen''s existence before now. Her eyes roamed over him for a bit before she snapped her fingers as the light of realization flashed through his eyes.


    "Ah, you are the one who killed the governor, correct? I haven''t encountered anyone else here who tastes so strongly of danger as you do so it feels like the most reasonable choice. You don''t need to worry, we have no interest in stealing your spoils of war, we just came here to see if we could find some traces of my brother. My brother is supposed to be rather strong so we decided to check here, but you sadly don''t resonate with me, so we seem to have made the trip in vain. You can continue with your business, we won''t stop you."


    The girl spoke in a composed and somewhat polite manner, even trying to ease Liang Chen''s vigilance by stating why she was here. But hearing her mention that she wasn''t alone only made Liang Chen''s vigilance rise further, his foot sliding back slightly when he heard another voice coming from around the corner.


    "Xiao Ping, did you find someone?"


    Two more people walked around the corner a bit after the voice sounded out, a man and a woman who looked to be approaching their late thirties. The man had smooth features, somewhat short brown hair and strangely vibrant grey eyes, a few faint wrinkles visible at the corners of his eyes. The woman had rather delicate and soft features, long silver hair that reached just below her shoulders and deep-black eyes.


    The appearance of the two people caused Liang Chen''s vigilance to go into complete overdrive, he couldn''t even sense their presence or cultivation while they stood right there in front of him. There was a chance that they had no cultivation, but they wouldn''t be able to hide their presence that well if they had no cultivation, meaning that they were likely far stronger than him. His feet continued to cautiously slide back as he put some distance between them, the girl, Xiao Ping, waving her hand dismissively towards Liang Chen.


    "Someone, yes, but not the person we are looking for. You really should scold that old fogey, the least he could do was tell us a bit more about brother to make it easier to find him. If I have to hear him say, ''You''ll know him when you see him'', then I''ll have to formally request a duel with him to at least slap him once."


    Xiao Ping seemed to drop a little of her regality while in the presence of these two people, but Liang Chen couldn''t be bothered to pay attention to this fact. The two newcomers turned their gaze onto Liang Chen, letting their eyes sweep over his body while frowning for a short moment. Liang Chen''s heart skipped a slight beat as the Qi within his body started to seethe, but the two newcomers didn''t end up doing anything, nodding their heads casually.


    "A shame. Forgive us for frightening you, we''re looking for someone so we couldn''t help but check out this place considering how lively it was. We won''t do anything to you so feel free to continue searching the place or leaving if you want to."


    The two adults and the girl started walking forward once they finished apologizing to Liang Chen, their bodies actually vanishing when their feet touched the floor again. A cold shiver ran down Liang Chen''s back, he sensed that the group, or rather that Xiao Ping, appeared a few hundred meters behind him after they vanished. They had been able to teleport without him being able to even sense anything, it would probably be beyond easy for them to ambush him if they wanted to.


    He couldn''t help but spit out a heavy breath and then quickly made his way out of the building, the crowd of people once again automatically splitting for him. Liang Chen ignored them as he had done up until now, using the map he had just acquired to locate the nearest spatial array. He put some Spirit Stones into the array and activated it, teleporting to another one within the city and repeating the process nearly 20 times before he reached the spatial array he was looking for.


    The spatial array he arrived at was quite a bit larger than the other ones, this one was nearly 100 metres wide and twice as long. This was the array that led to the nearest city that had a branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company, Quartz Lord city. He put Spirit Stones into the appropriate slots within the array and activated it, letting out a light breath as the runes lit up and covered him in light.


    He had only been within this city for an exceedingly short time, but due to how much had gone down it felt like far longer. If Yan Ling had been here with him now he was certain that she would comment on how he should just get used to it, he was a massive magnet for trouble after all. The thought couldn''t help but bring a soft smile to his face, the array fully activating and teleporting Liang Chen away from the city.

 Kuan Niu.

    While the large array teleported him to Quartz Lord city, Liang Chen was surrounded by white light and a sensation that made him feel as if he was floating within a deep pool of water. It was quite a bit different compared to the spatial array he used to reach Sand''s Journey city so he guessed that it might have something to do with the distance he was travelling. The sensation and light also lasted for quite a while, surrounding Liang Chen for nearly five minutes before they started to fade as he reached his destination.


    When the light fully faded, Liang Chen found himself standing within an octagon-shaped plaza paved with faintly crimson stones, stone or wooden buildings spreading out around the plaza. The immediate area around the spatial array was empty, but once you got about 100 metres away from the array the plaza became completely filled with various stands or blankets people had thrown on the ground to display whatever wares they were trying to sell.


    The plaza was also filled with a myriad of scents coming from the various stands selling food or from the Demonic beast parts that some people were trying to sell. Coupled with the voices that mixed together as everyone chattered, the plaza was the perfect image of chaos, there wasn''t the slightest semblance of order.


    Liang Chen swept his gaze across the plaza and the people that filled it, stepping off of the spatial array and slowly making his way through the plaza. He didn''t immediately head for the branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company, items that might be useful to him could easily show up in a chaotic bazaar like this. But little did he expect that the Bloodwind Code within his chest would actually buzz slightly after he started wandering through the bazaar, an unfamiliar soft and calm voice sounding out within his head.


    "Greetings, I believe you should have gotten some time to recuperate after going through the battle that granted you your rank so now it shouldn''t be considered inappropriate of me to contact you. I am the King of Heaven Embracing Justice, Kuan De Niu, but you can just call me Kuan Niu for simplicity''s sake. Would now be a good time for you to talk?"


    Liang Chen''s pupils violently contracted after the voice quieted down, but not solely due to the title used by the one who contacted him. The other reason behind his pupils contracting was that he had detected someone at the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm quietly and surprisingly stealthily rushing through the crowd and dashing directly at him. The woman running at him held both her hands against each other, a violent and fiery fluctuation seeping out from the gap between her hands.


    Her eyes were locked on Liang Chen and were filled with determination, murderous intent, as well as a slight twinge of desperation. Liang Chen temporarily ignored Kuan Niu and sprung into action the moment the woman got close to him, accelerating to full speed and sidestepping her.


    His left hand reached out and grabbed onto her right wrist as he sidestepped her and then took a step back, separating her hands and twisting her right arm behind her back. He didn''t stop there, taking another step to the side so that he was right behind her, his right hand also grabbing onto her right wrist so that his left hand could let go and grab hold of her left arm.


    He twisted both her arms behind her back and kicked her legs out from underneath her, causing her to fall to the ground face-first. He placed his foot on the spot between her shoulders and pressed her body into the ground while holding her arms into the air by grabbing onto her wrists. The sudden twist in positions had happened so fast that the woman didn''t even realize it at first, sorrow creeping into her eyes when she realized that her sneak attack had failed.


    The other people around them noticed the strange situation, stopping what they were doing while looking over with interest. Some of the onlookers seemed to actually recognize the woman, whispering to each other while pointing at her with somewhat curious expressions. But Liang Chen disregarded the onlookers and focused on the woman, his gaze narrowing slightly as he spoke.


    "I don''t believe I''ve even had the chance to form any enmity with you, are you from the Tranquil Lake or the Golden Bran...!"


    He cut off his own words when he noticed that a large amount of energy was gathering within the chest of the woman. She had drawn back the energy she had gathered up for her attack and focused it in her chest, agitating the rest of her Qi at the same time so that it rampaged and turned violent. Liang Chen didn''t even need to see the sorrow and resignation within the woman''s eyes to realize what she was planning, she was going to detonate herself so that she could hopefully drag Liang Chen down with her.


    She had reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm so Liang Chen had no doubt that her self-detonation could hurt him pretty badly while also levelling about half of the plaza around them, it was a rather vicious tactic. And since she was intent on being vicious then Liang Chen would respond in kind, acting nearly on instinct as he decided to dispatch her as quickly as possible.


    He didn''t use any Qi, he simply exerted his physical might with his arms and the foot that was pressed against her back, pulling his arms back while pushing his foot down. Cracking sounds instantly resounded throughout the plaza, his foot crushing every bone between her two shoulders while his own hands forcefully tore off her arms. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Part of her spine and her cervical spine were pulverized under the strength of Liang Chen''s body, instantly reaping her life and causing the rampaging Qi to lose the factor that was agitating it. The Qi settled down and dissipated into the surroundings now that the woman had died, even her own self-detonation failing.


    But Liang Chen''s expression didn''t ease up after he killed her, it remained somewhat gloomy. The man from the division of the Golden Branch sect said that Liang Chen would be hunted, but he hadn''t expected for it to happen this quickly, mere minutes after he entered a new city.


    From the looks of it, he had heavily underestimated exactly what sort of information network the Golden Branch sect, or the Tranquil Lake had. The words of Bao Shan might even have been no more than a lie, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow might have actually kept some people alive in Sand''s Journey city to spy on Liang Chen so that they would know what city he went to next.


    Liang Chen let go of the woman''s torn off arms, he had only planned on shattering her spine to kill her but her body was a bit weaker than he expected, resulting in the added gruesomeness that was her torn-off arms. Liang Chen swept his gaze across the surrounding onlookers, some of who were looking at him in shock and others that looked at him with some relief.


    Some of the people present had noticed that the woman was planning on self-detonating, but those that hadn''t simply assumed that he killed her like that just because she dared to attack him. This time Liang Chen didn''t disregard them, perking his ears up slightly to catch some of the whispers that they were sharing amongst each other.


    From what he gathered, the woman he just killed was called Jue Po Bia and belonged to some sect known as the Golden Dawn. She had a fairly good reputation within the city and was liked by quite a few people, the number of suitors vying for her hand in marriage couldn''t be counted by the fingers on both hands. As such, Liang Chen''s brutal murder of her caused some of the onlookers to look at him with displeasure, mainly from those who didn''t realize that she was about to self-detonate.


    Liang Chen once again thought back to the words of the man from the Golde Branch division, he said that Liang Chen would be framed and have all the sins of the world thrown onto his shoulders. Looking at the scene around him, they had clearly put that plan into motion straight away, not intent on giving him a single moment of rest or peace.


    But just as Liang Chen had said back then, he completely disregarded it and simply ignored the displeased looks. They were free to hate him if they wished, it made no difference to him, he would walk his path and he would do so with his head held high. They were free to come at him to vent their displeasure, but they would have to be ready to pay the price if they did so, Liang Chen wasn''t exactly filled with mercy towards his enemies.


    He stepped away from the body of Jue Po Bia, her corpse sinking into the darkness as Yumao snatched it to eat later. She was the first one to attack him so the surrounding people couldn''t officially say much about him killing her, even the guards entering the plaza now couldn''t say anything as he had just acted in self-defence. Most people returned to their own business but there were some that kept their eyes on Liang Chen, who proceeded to ignore them all as the voice of Kuan Niu once again sounded in his mind.


    "Hello? Is now perhaps a bad time for you?"


    Liang Chen had no idea what Kuan Niu wanted, but he was filled with vigilance towards him. Liang Chen swept through the Bloodwind Code and saw that Kuan Niu was indeed the one who had the king rank for the justice virtue on the multiverse list, meaning that he was two entire ranks above Liang Chen.


    He didn''t know how Kuan Niu could contact him but guessed it was a function of the Bloodwind Code, after all, Liang Chen himself could now contact people of the Lord rank after receiving his rank on the multiverse list. As for why he was vigilant towards Kuan Niu, part of it had something to do with the previous justice title holder Liang Chen had met and the other part was Kuan Niu''s strength, or at least the strength he likely had.


    Since he held a king title he was definitely terrifyingly strong, and being contacted by such a person wasn''t necessarily a good thing. As such, Liang Chen only gave a short reply to end the conversation as quickly as he could.


    "What do you want?"


    Liang Chen didn''t think that Kuan Niu simply contacted him to congratulate him on receiving his rank and title, Liang Chen sincerely doubted that any of the titleholders had that kind of personality. And Kuan Niu proved him correct straight away by stating his reason for contacting him, Liang Chen not for one second doubting that he was likely wearing a rather pleased and somewhat conceited smile while talking.


    "Ah, good, I was worried that you might be pre-occupied with something. I won''t take too much of your time, it''s just that I''m friends with the girl who used to hold the title you now carry. I told her that these things happen and that she should just focus on her own cultivation, but she remains unconvinced and wants to duel you for the title. so I''m just contacting you to know what time would be fitting for you to have that duel with her. I can see which universe you reside in thanks to my king rank so you just have to name a time and place and I''ll make sure that she''ll be there. So what do you say, when is good for you?"


    Liang Chen felt like heavily rolling his eyes while Kuan Niu spoke. The way he talked reminded him of Qian Liao, the previous justice titleholder that Liang Chen had interacted with. Could it be that all justice titleholders were like this, self-absorbed and conceited to a twisted degree? If this was what Kuan Niu wanted then Liang Chen simply didn''t have the patience to bother with him, something he stated very clearly.


    "I don''t care much about titles or the like so you can tell that girl that she can have the title and rank if she wants, not like I was the one who decided that I should get them. But don''t contact me just to state that I''m going to take part in a duel, especially not if you''re going to do it in such a conceited and self-pleased manner. You don''t decide on what I''ll be doing so let me tell you right here, I can''t be bothered to take part in any duel, and I don''t think I can be bothered with you if your personality is what you''ve shown here. Goodbye, and don''t contact me again."


    Liang Chen poured some Qi into the Bloodwind Code and cut off Kuan Niu before he could respond to Liang Chen''s blunt statement. From the looks of things, it might be suitable to ask Ye Zhong about ways to shut out certain people from contacting him the next time Ye Zhong contacted him for the questions Liang Chen had earned from increasing his rank and receiving a title.

 Once again, Chaos King.

    Liang Chen''s Bloodwind Code continued to vibrate as he made his way away from the crowded bazaar, the voice of Kuan Niu sounding out within his head with each buzz. But Liang Chen simply cut off Kuan Niu each and every time so that he wouldn''t have to listen to him as he headed for the branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company located within this city. He was slightly tempted to continue searching the bazaar, but knowing that the allies of the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake were already on his tail, he wasn''t certain that it was a good idea to remain in such a densely crowded place.


    Jue Po Bia had charged straight at him, which allowed him to discover her, but what if someone came at him in a much more normal fashion? What if they snuck up to him and then self-detonated or activated some small array to attack him? He didn''t feel like risking his own life, or the lives of the innocent people within the bazaar like that, so he decided to leave it. The streets of Quartz Lord city were large enough to give everyone walking on them ample space from the others around them, it would be much harder to get close to Liang Chen without him noticing it.


    But as walked through the streets and followed the map he had found within the home of the governor of Sand''s Journey city, he quickly discovered that his enemies didn''t have to get close to him to attack him. A few small items cutting through the air at a rapid pace entered his senses as he walked, his gaze narrowing sharply. Two would hit his head if he took a step forward, five would hit him all over if he remained standing still, and two would hit his head if he stepped back.


    Liang Chen''s pupils flicked to the left, Yumao understanding his intentions and flying away at full speed. Liang Chen turned his gaze towards the right after sending away Yumao, his energy bursting forth and blanketing the surrounding area. The nine small objects slowed down drastically when they entered the range of his energy, freezing mid-air a few metres away from him as time around them ground to a halt.


    Liang Chen''s gaze drifted past the items, small wooden arrows coated in a liquid that seemed to be closely attuned to the law of wind, making it much easier for the arrows to fly for longer distances. But since the arrows were coated in a material attuned to the law of wind, they left behind very faint traces of that liquid as they flew, Liang Chen could use these traces and his own law of wind to track down the attackers.


    But just as Liang Chen raised his foot to track down the attackers, the sounds of five loud explosions reached his ears, two from the left and three from the right. He felt a faint sense of foreboding and changed his direction, heading down the same path that Yumao had flown earlier. He picked up the arrows at the same time, they might prove useful at some point.


    With his speed, he quickly reached Yumao, who had reached the spot where the arrows that came from the left had been launched. Yumao hadn''t received a single scratch, but the surrounding 11 kilometres of the city was completely devastated. The houses, the roads, the people, everything had been reduced to a single bloody crater, the familiar and disgusting smell of burnt flesh and hair stinging Liang Chen''s nose.


    A gloomy silenced loomed over the area right as Liang Chen arrived, but that silence quickly gave way to wails of sorrow and howls of pain. Some of the people closer to the outskirts of the blast had survived and were screaming now that the pain registered in their adrenaline-fueled brains. And others again were howling to vent their grief, howling because they realized who or what they had lost.


    Liang Chen''s heart sank to his stomach, his feet quickly moving as he dashed to the other place where the attacks were launched from, the place where he had heard three explosions. And just as he feared, that area had also been reduced to nothing more than a crater, but this one was nearly 20-kilometres long.


    Liang Chen stood amidst the destruction that was undoubtedly caused by the self-detonation of those that attacked him, his gaze gloomy and icy. With how large the city was, these two destroyed areas could barely register as dots on the map, but Liang Chen didn''t even want to think about just how many people had died here. How many children, how many parents, how many good people had lost their lives here?


    This was the vengeance of the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake, swift, violent, indiscriminate. They didn''t care how many others died, all that mattered to them was that Liang Chen died for going against them. Sure, one or two of their locations might get discovered like this, but they were all just sacrificial lambs anyway, the multiverse was so large that there would always be replacements.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes, taking in the wails of sorrow and the howls of pain. Some might say that he was part of the reason behind the carnage and loss here, it never would have happened if he hadn''t gone against the Golden Branch sect. But Liang Chen didn''t think like that, everything was on the hands of the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake, trying to blame him for this would be like blaming a sword for killing someone rather than the person who swung the sword.


    He opened his eyes again after a short moment, an eerie calmness surfacing within his golden pupils as the carnage around him was reflected in them. He turned his gaze sideways just as Yumao landed on his shoulders, his feet moving as he started dashing at full speed. Now that he was moving at full speed, he reached the Heaven''s Secrets Company branch, a large and gothic church, in only a scant three minutes.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The double-doors of the building were already open, revealing a short hallway that split into three smaller hallways that were marked ''Items'' ''Information'' and ''God Hunter''.  Liang Chen went directly down the hallway marked ''Information'' and quickly arrived within a large circular hall that had wooden counters line the walls. Each counter was separated by thin wooden walls, a door standing directly behind the people working behind the counters.


    There weren''t any more signs or the like within the room so Liang Chen did the same he had done within the Heaven''s Secrets Company branch he visited before he left his own universe, he simply picked one without thought. He walked up to the counter and didn''t even wait for the man with light orange skin to open his mouth before he spoke up.


    "I want information on how to reach the Heaven and Hell Dominion, how to get to Purgatory more specifically. I also want everything you have on the Golden Branch sect and the Tranquil Lake, their every ally and branch, everything."


    The man behind the counter smiled politely and then placed his finger on a rather large ruby embedded into the ring he wore on his left hand. He maintained his silence for a little over a minute before he removed his finger from the gem, stating the price to Liang Chen with a smile.


    "The price for the directions is rather cheap, but the information on the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake cost quite a bit, and it will not contain too much detailed information about their higher-ranked members. If this is fine with you, the total will come to 220 High-grade Spirit Stones."


    Liang Chen didn''t actually buy things with Spirit Stones often, but he still knew about their divisions and grades so he was aware that the price was actually rather steep. Each high-grade Spirit Stone was worth about 1000 mid-grade, who in turn was worth about 1000 low-grade ones. But he luckily had a decent bit of funds on him after raiding the governor''s home, so he handed over all his high-grade Spirit Stones and several of his mid-grade ones, instantly losing nearly 70% of his Spirit Stones.


    The man happily accepted the interspatial ring filled with the payment, giving it a quick check before placing it against the ruby on his ring. The interspatial ring vanished, a new one appearing to take its place. The man handed the ring to Liang Chen, who gave it a quick check to make sure that everything was there. He then nodded at the man and gave him a short thanks before leaving the building, part of his mind sifting through the jade slips stored within the interspatial ring.


    Getting to the Heaven and Hell dominion would be rather simple, each of the five largest cities within the various dominions had spatial arrays that could be used to travel to the other dominions. For Liang Chen, this simply meant heading to Sky''s Descent planet, which only required him to take a single spatial array since the planet was fairly close.


    After that, he would have to head to the very centre of the dominion to reach Purgatory''s Cradle, which was the name given to the area where Purgatory resided. Entering the depths of it to reach Purgatory would be a bit harder, however, the entire place was a massive land of death filled with people trying to either reach Purgatory, people trying to nurse Purgatory back to health, or those trying to prevent anyone from ever getting close to Purgatory so that things would remain as they were.


    Liang Chen put the information aside for now and focused on the information about the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake, his gaze narrowing further the more he read. The first was the Tranquil Lake, they actually had branches of various names spread through not just this dominion but also the surrounding five dominions.


    The information listed quite a few of their members but did keep their personal information to the minimum. When it came to their leader, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, it didn''t even state his name, it just stated that he had most likely entered the Empyrean Ruler realm. This meant that he was only a single realm below the Sealing God Empyrean and only two realms below a Universal Heart.


    Compared to him, the Golden Branch sect was quite a bit smaller, focused entirely on the surrounding 400 planets. Their overall strength was also much lower, their leader, a man who went by the moniker of Golden Worldtree, had only reached the peak of the Transcended Immortal realm, possibly having entered the Sovereign God realm recently.


    They were both much stronger than him, but Liang Chen never once felt a sliver of fear towards them. His greater enemy, Sealing God Empyrean, was even stronger than both of them, and not even he could make Liang Chen feel fear. All Liang Chen felt was wrath and determination, the same things he had always felt ever since he stepped onto his road of cultivation. After he finished scouring through the information, Liang Chen slid off his interspatial ring and handed it to Yumao, giving his heads a few strokes.


    "Into the darkness."


    Liang Chen vanished into the orb within his interspatial ring after he finished speaking, Yumao sinking into the darkness and vanishing just as Liang Chen had asked. Liang Chen arrived within the house he had chosen for himself inside the city located within the orb, just barely able to hear the sounds of Yi Xue and the others training. Listening to how many people seemed to be training, it looked like Yi Xue and the others had already integrated the people that Liang Chen picked up in Sand''s Journey city.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and shut out the sounds of their training, the strength of his current enemies made him acutely aware of the fact that he was too weak right now. He had to increase his strength, and luckily he had plenty of resources and various cultivation manuals and skills that he could go through. But before he went through any of those, he wanted to do one thing first, his vision sinking into the bloody sea upon which his soul floated. And hovering above both his soul and the bloody sea was an ancient black book radiating power. It had been long enough, it was time for Liang Chen to once again open the book and learn the final parts of the Chaos King technique.

 Four skills.

    Liang Chen had opened the black book within his mind, his soulsea, twice before so he was already prepared for the soul-rending pain that would follow when he opened the book. But even when he was prepared for its arrival, the sheer intensity of the pain still left him reeling, his body lurching forward with his hands grasping his chest so hard that his fingers started to sink into his flesh.


    This would be the final time that the book could be opened, it was now that he would learn the full extent of the Chaos King technique and become able to devour 75% of a living beings Qi, soul, or flesh. This was the apex of the technique, the best that the King-rank technique had to offer. As such, the pain following the final opening was on an entirely new level compared to the previous two times.


    If Liang Chen had to compare the pain to anything then it would have to be the first time he bathed in the blood of Demonic beasts. Back then he was just a normal child with no cultivation to speak of and had jumped into a pool filled with blood from the weakest Demonic beasts. But the pain had still washed over his mind and drowned out everything else, it was a physical pain unlike any other, one where the mere act of existing felt like cruel torture. And right now he felt like had gone back to that day, he felt like he was that young and vengeful child once more.


    But Liang Chen had resisted the pain back then, he had grit his teeth and resisted, and he had risen above the pain. His mind was stronger than back then, his determination firmer and wholly unshakeable, there was no pain in existence that could break him. He remained hunched over with bloodshot eyes, blood seeping out from where he grasped his chest, but not once did his expression waver, not once did he falter.


    And after spending five days hunched over, the waves of pain washing over his body finally pulled back. The black book fully opened as golden words started to fill the pages, a seemingly endless sea of information flooding into Liang Chen''s mind. Most of the information was about the three channels he had to carve to absorb his enemies soul, Qi, or flesh, but the information also contained the three skills that came with each opening of the book.


    Each step of the technique brought with it three skills that the user could train in and use in battle, a defensive one, an offensive one, and one auxiliary one. He knew the six skills for the previous steps of the techniques, but each of them was less useful than just his own skills so he rarely if ever actually bothered to use them. But the three skills entering his mind were different, much simpler yet much stronger.


    Chaos King''s Armory, utilizing the devoured energy to craft a weapon for yourself, one that could grow as it continued to devour power in the future. Liang Chen already had a Bloodwind Weapon, but he felt that he could help improve that weapon even further if he managed to impart the principles of this technique into his spear.


    Chaos King''s Punch, instantly utilize a large amount of devoured energy to unleash a single devastating attack. The skill was similar to Liang Chen''s Dragon King''s Six Steps, but the fact that it relied on the law of devouring meant that Liang Chen couldn''t use it normally. He had some fleeting thoughts and ideas about how he might be able to make it useable, but he would need to experiment with it to see if he was right.


    Chaos King''s Step, instantly utilize a large amount of devoured energy to tear open a small tunnel in space, allowing for short-range teleportation. It was another skill that relied on devouring force, which was expected since the very basis of the Chaos King technique was devouring. Liang Chen was once again not quite certain if he could make use of this skill, but he felt that if his experiments were successful that there was a chance that this skill too would work for him.


    Liang Chen let out a long breath after he finished sifting through the sea of information, his body drenched in sweat after the ordeal. He got up and took a quick shower to clean himself, changing into a clean golden robe before he returned to his room and sat down on the bed again. He sucked in a deep breath and started to draw in the surrounding Qi, starting the process of carving the three new channels.


    He already had experience with it so he finished that task after 10 days, opening his eyes again and letting out a breath. He swept his gaze around the dark and empty room, a flash of longing passing through his pupils before he shook his head and dispelled it. A thought passed through his mind and into his connection with the interspatial ring that he was currently inside of, the various skills and cultivation manuals that he had found within the governor''s mansion arriving in front of him.


    He took his time and went over the various manuals and skills, sorting out not just those of higher quality but also those that looked like they might fit Yi Xue and the others. He only knew the laws of the original 18 that chose to follow him before he arrived in this universe, he didn''t know what sort of laws or skills the newest members had so he had no way of picking out anything for them and could only do his best to memorize the elements of as many manuals as possible.


    And as he went through manual after manual, he also found a skill that caught his interest. The skill was one that didn''t have the slightest attacking power, it was actually considered a skill designed for agricultural purposes, it was meant to help farmers during times of drought.


    The name of the skill was Rain-caller''s Dance and it worked by sending the user''s own Qi high into the atmosphere and altering the Qi floating around there to moisture, much like someone using the law of water would. The moisture then quickly gathers together into a cloud that will turn into rain to prevent the farmer''s crops from dying.


    The reason this skill caught Liang Chen''s attention was the small warning that followed it, pouring too much Qi into the skill, especially in an area where there isn''t a drought, can create so much pressure that skill will run rampant and form a storm. Creating a storm wasn''t the most useful thing to most people, but if Liang Chen could use this skill to form storms at will, then it would be a great boost to him.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    With this skill, he could make the process of calling forth lightning much easier. And not only that, but he would also be surrounded by wind and water at the same time, it would be the perfect conditions for his physique, he could freely absorb as much wind, water, and lightning as he pleased to heal his wounds and restore his physical energy. Of course, all of this was under the condition that the skill worked as it was written.


    Liang Chen put away the skill and got up from the bed, stretching his body as he listened to the distant sounds of the training that had started up again. He had spent quite a bit of time, at least within the orb, and had acquired four new skills he had to experiment with, he had also carved the three new channels so he would be ready whenever he acquired more corpses. His strength hadn''t increased, but his room for growth had increased, which was good enough for him.


    He took another shower and switched into another robe, leaving his house and heading over to the plaza that Yi Xue and the others had transformed into a martial field where they could train. When he reached the improvised martial field, the blue-haired and green-eyed Yi Xue was busy running around and doing her best to teach not just the 17 other people that had joined at the same time as her but also the 150 new arrivals that they picked up in Sand''s Journey City.


    The training came to an abrupt halt when the people saw Liang Chen walking over, all of them quickly dropping to their knees while respectfully greeting Liang Chen.


    "Welcome, Wolf Lord!"


    "Welcome, Storm Lord!"


    Yi Xue and the others had clearly spread out the name they had chosen for Liang Chen, but it didn''t seem like they were able to settle on which of the two that they should use. Liang Chen waved his hand in an annoyed manner at their kneeling, tossing the manuals and skills he had picked out.


    "Stop that, it''s just annoying. Here, you should have better progress if you use these, but don''t rely on them too much, you''ll never be able to go beyond them if you just rely on them. Yi Xue, your laws are a bit peculiar so I have none for you, but I found one that uses the law of death and one that uses the law of wind, they are used quite uniquely in the manuals so you might learn a thing or two."


    Yi Xue and the 17 others hastily accepted the things that Liang Chen casually threw at them, quickly sinking their minds into the jade slips and jade scrolls. None of them had any great background that could provide them with skills or manuals so they were very emotional when they finished going through what they had been given. These were all definitely very valuable, but Liang Chen hadn''t asked for anything from them in return, he simply handed it to them without any care.


    It had been the same ever since the start, he had never asked anything from them, he just brought them along, protected them, and helped them get stronger without asking for anything in return. Others might consider him cruel and monstrous, but they felt that only they knew the truth about Liang Chen, only they saw his justice. Liang Chen would definitely laugh if he knew that they thought of him as justice, but he didn''t know their thoughts so he simply turned to look at the 150 other people.


    "Those of you who have no interest in cultivation or training don''t have to bother taking part in it, you also won''t have to fight, you can just stay here and live your lives as you please. If you want me to drop you off at any point in time then you can just tell me, I''m not going to hold you here if you don''t want to be here. But those who want to get stronger, those who want to fight for something they believe in or hold dear, line up and show me your abilities, I''ll give you a manual or skill that should suit you."


    The bodies of the 150 people tensed up when Liang Chen''s gaze landed on them, his golden pupils seemingly bringing with them an intense weight that pushed down on them. But none of them backed down and an orderly line was quickly formed in front of Liang Chen, even the young child and his parents that Liang Chen had saved were lined up.


    They had all been slaves before, they had all been mistreated. But now they were done being slaves, they were done with being forced to follow someone else''s order. The people started to show off everything they knew one by one, even the 17 others who had just received manuals and skills lined up. Yi Xue was the strongest one present, other than Liang Chen, so she didn''t line up and instead chose to stand next to Liang Chen, looking at him somewhat curiously.


    "You know, I don''t think I ever asked you why you''re doing this, did I? Don''t get me wrong, I think what you''re doing is great, these people really needed someone to save them. But I''m just curious, why are you saving them?"


    People didn''t do good or evil for nothing, every action had a cause behind it. But despite being among the first to follow Liang Chen, Yi Xue had no idea what cause fueled Liang Chen''s actions. Of course, she hadn''t followed him for long, she''d probably learn if she just stayed with him a bit longer. But she was impatient, so she didn''t want to wait and decided to simply ask straight away. Liang Chen glanced at Yi Xue, most of his attention still focused on the person displaying his laws in front of him.


    "Because I wasn''t saved. I cried and I begged, but no one saved my parents, they watched and they cheered. Innocent people died for a dumb reason, yet the heavens remained quiet and indifferent. I learned that day that the heavens don''t care about people like us, they don''t have the wrath to punish evildoers. So I''ll do it, I''ll kill anyone who I consider evil, even if that is just a very selfish form of justice no different from evil. You should also think for yourself, once you''ve taken revenge on those who killed your family, what is there left for you to do, what will push you forward?"


    Yi Xue fell into a short silence as Liang Chen moved his gaze back onto the person showing off his laws. Yi Xue''s eyes looked Liang Chen up and down for a bit before a simple and child-like smile appeared on her face.


    "You know, you remind me a lot of my dad! I don''t have too many memories of him since I was just a child when I was forced to flee and ended up in an area where the flow of time was drastically increased, but I do remember that he was a very just person. Aunty also couldn''t stay quiet about how good of a person he was and how he would constantly do his best to help people. She also said that he was a very humble person, just like you. She said that he was so humble that he even managed to ignore his own grand status to fall in love with the maid of a small Bai clan."


    Yi Xue pat Liang Chen on the back as she spoke, but her words turned Liang Chen completely rigid. His attention immediately shift from the person in front of him and onto Yi Xue, his eyes wide open as the veins inside them resembled tiny snakes. His voice faltered a little as he spoke, leaving Yi Xue somewhat confused as she responded.


    "You... What is your mother''s name?"


    "My mom? She was killed shortly after I was born since the man she fell in love with was from an enemy clan, but aunty told me that her name was Yi Xinyi. Her death is the reason I got the Yi last name rather than dad''s Qing last name."

 Chapter 231: The title of the scourge.

    When Yi Xue somewhat confusedly uttered her mother''s name, all the pieces fell into place for Liang Chen. Why her name sounded so familiar, why he felt that she looked so familiar, why her bloodline looked so familiar to him, he immediately understood everything he had occasionally wondered in the past.


    And as Liang Chen understood the truth, Yi Xue felt an immense dread wash over her, the sensation so intense that it felt like her soul was going to simply dissolve. But the sensation luckily vanished as quickly as it arrived, Yi Xue noticing that Liang Chen''s left hand was tightly grasping his right wrist, his fingers twitching slightly.


    Liang Chen had gone through Qing Lan Yong''s memories in the past, and although he hadn''t bothered memorizing each and every one of them, there were still some that stuck with him. And one of the memories that stuck with him was the name of the Bai clan maidservant that Qing Lan Yong had gotten a child with, the act that resulted in his parents having to act as scapegoats.


    The maidservant''s name was Yi Xinyi, and the moment Liang Chen heard that name he scoured through his memories to dig up everything he learned from Qing Lan Yong. And it was this rapid search that allowed him to learn the truth, Yi Xue was the daughter of Qing Lan Yong and Yi Xinyi, she was the child that was the reason his parents had to die.


    She was still just a young child when Qing Lan Yong had last seen her so Liang Chen hadn''t made the connection the moment he met her and saw her bloodline. But she had ended up in a place where the flow of time was drastically increased, so while Liang Chen expected Qing Lan Yong''s daughter to be no more than a child, she had already grown up to a young lady.


    In the instant where realization hit him, his right arm had shot forward instinctively in an attempt to eradicate the source of Liang Chen''s wrath. But he managed to stop himself just in time and force his arm back, grasping his wrist so hard that he could feel his bones creaking beneath his grasp. No matter how angry he was, no matter how sad he was at the loss, he knew that Yi Xue couldn''t be held responsible.


    A child bore no sins, especially when the only thing they had done was get born. No, the sin that was the unjust death of Liang Chen''s parents still fell on the Qing clan, on Qing Lan Yong. And no matter how much it pained him, part of the sin fell onto him as well. Were it not for their desire to protect him from the Qing clan''s fury, his parents could have easily fled the execution and lived.


    But they didn''t. They laid down their lives so he could live, so that he could see the bright dawn that he was named after. And in the end, he found his own dawn, smiling at him so cheekily that it was blinding, and he finally understood why his parents had acted as they did. But even that bright dawn couldn''t extinguish the flames burning in him, his hatred and wrath had already become part of him.


    So he moved forward, he pointed his wrath at the heights of the heavens, and he swore to burn until there was no longer anything left to point his wrath at, no matter how naive others might find those thoughts. Liang Chen closed his eyes and stopped gripping his wrist, clear marks visible where he had been clenching his hand. Calmness had returned to Liang Chen''s eyes when he opened them again, Yi Xue stuck with a confused feeling due to the sense of dread that had washed over her.


    "Your father, his name is Qing Lan Yong, isn''t it?"


    Liang Chen already knew the answer but he still wanted to hear it from her, he wanted to be completely certain that his own thoughts were correct. And Yi Xue didn''t fail him, all confusion vanishing from her as her entire being lit up when Liang Chen spoke her father''s name. She couldn''t help but lean closer, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.


    "It was, it was! Did you know him? What was he like? Was he really as just as Aunty said, was he really that good of a person? Was he humble? Was he handsome? .... Do you know who killed him?"


    Yi Xue bombarded Liang Chen with questions, unaware that he was the worst possible person she could ask when it came to her father. A soft gust of wind pushed Yi Xue back so she wasn''t right in Liang Chen''s face any longer, Liang Chen giving a slight shake of his head.


    "I am not suited to answer those questions, you can find the answer yourself in the future. Your father was indeed ambushed right before you were forced to leave, but he didn''t die. I last saw him not too long before I met you, he left the planet to search for a way to bring back those that died in the ambush. As for who ambushed him, it would be people from the Sealing God Empyrean''s sect, a sect that covers almost the entirety of the universe we came from."


    Liang Chen avoided talking too much about Qing Lan Yong and instead moved Yi Xue''s focus onto the fact that her father was still alive, or at least had been when Liang Chen last saw him. And as he expected, her eyes started practically shining with the light of ecstasy and hope, the flames of hatred burning deep within her pupils, a look that Liang Chen was all too familiar with. Yi Xue hurriedly sucked in a few breaths to restrain her shining expression, giving Liang Chen a grateful bow with a surprisingly serious expression.


    "Thank you for telling me about my father''s well-being and about those who attacked him. When I have the strength to take on that sect, I hope that Sect Master will allow me to leave to deal with them."


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows ticked up when he was referred to as Sect Master, the title feeling exceedingly unfamiliar to him. But he never planned on restraining Yi Xue''s actions, nor did he plan on telling her what her father had done to him, he simply gave a casual nod of his head.


    "Go for it, but I''ve got a grudge with the ruler of that sect, so I might have already taken care of them by the time you have the strength to do so."


    The Sealing God Empyrean had not only tried to kill Liang Chen but he had also caused Liang Chen''s one and only sister to die, he fell into the category of people that Liang Chen could not forgive. Yi Xue nodded her head seriously and looked as if she wanted to say more but Liang Chen directed her attention towards the people that had temporarily stopped showing off their laws.


    She understood Liang Chen''s intention and quieted down so that the other new members of the sect could finish displaying their laws. Liang Chen quietly watched as the people started showing off again, his eyes not showing a hint of his emotions. Saying that children were without sin was all fine and good, but Liang Chen would be lying if he said that he didn''t feel a sliver of resentment towards Yi Xue, a very small part of him wondering what might have happened if she was never born.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But he crushed those thoughts the moment they were born in his mind, and he most certainly wouldn''t take his wrath out on Yi Xue. The moment he took his anger out on her, he would be no better than the people he was slaying in the name of his wrath.


    He finished observing the laws of the people that had just joined his sect, doing his best to learn their names and faces while he was at it. When the last person finished showing off their laws, Liang Chen started to hand out cultivation manuals, splitting some people with the same laws into groups to make sure that he had cultivation manuals and techniques for everyone.


    He ordered everyone to focus on their manuals and told them to go to Yi Xue if they had any questions, if she couldn''t answer the questions then they could call for him. Everyone eagerly split off to check out the manuals that they had been given, Liang Chen leaving the orb while sending a quick message to Yumao through the ring. Liang Chen appeared within a rather large alley covered in shadows, Yumao happily flapping his wings as he grew to his full size of nearly seven metres. Liang Chen hopped onto Yumao''s head and sat down, softly stroking the feathers that ran down Yumao''s entire back.


    "Let''s go, I''ve waited long enough."


    Liang Chen couldn''t take out his wrath on Yi Xue, but there was someone in this city he could take his wrath out on, the Golden Dawn sect. The sect was a division of the Golden Branch sect and it was they that had sent Jue Po Bia after Liang Chen, it was also they who sent the other assassins that self-destructed after him. They were already on his kill-list, venting his wrath was just a little added benefit.


    Yumao raised his head and let out a loud hiss, flapping his wings and shooting into the sky like a black streak. Information about the Golden Dawn sect was included in the information about the Golden Branch sect that he had bought so Liang Chen already knew where it was located, pointing Yumao in the right direction.


    He detected four more attacks shooting through the air and heading for him as they flew towards the sect, but Yumao easily dealt with the attacks by flapping his wings and unleashing a viscous wave of darkness that swallowed up the attacks. The attacks didn''t matter much to Liang Chen, but the four loud explosions that sounded out after the attacks failed echoed through his chest. He didn''t even have to head to the explosions to see the destruction, to smell the scent of burnt flesh as people howled and grieved. He clenched his hand tightly while narrowing his eyes, pointing at a building that just entered his view.


    "Go."


    Yumao didn''t let out another sound and simply soared straight at the building, a large star-shaped mansion that was coloured a dim yellow, a neat forest as well as some smaller stone stages surrounding the entire mansion. The area around the mansion was bustling with activity, thousands of people already standing ready while wearing either armour or robes that were certainly enhanced with arrays.


    Five people flew up from the mansion as Liang Chen approached, transparent wings growing from their backs. Liang Chen stood up from his seated position, his grey spear appearing in his grasp as the distance between them and the sect rapidly shrank. The five people stopped moving up and hovered in the air next to each other, the graceful woman standing at the centre crossing his arms and snorting coldly at Liang Chen.


    "Humph, did you really think you could sneak attack us by coming from the air? We knew you were coming the moment you left Sand''s Journey city and have long prepared thanks to the timely orders from above. Activate the arra...!"


    The woman''s words were cut off by something shooting past here, a thunderous rumbling coming from behind her as the entire star-shaped mansion crumbled. The thing that crushed the mansion moved so fast that the impact unleashed a shockwave that blew away the forest surrounding the mansion, the people that had lined up so neatly getting tossed in all directions.


    The five people flying in the air turned around with somewhat stilted movements, their gazes landing on Liang Chen, who was now standing in the midst of the ruins of the mansion. He held his spear in a somewhat loose grip, the maw-shaped tip piercing into the ground as he turned his head to glance at the people in the air, not an ounce of mercy visible in his gaze.


    "And? So what if you know that I''m coming?"


    The hearts of the five people skipped a beat when Liang Chen spoke, their breaths freezing in their throats as they sensed the dreadful aura he was unleashing by just standing there. He was right, it didn''t matter if they knew he was coming. If you knew that a meteor was coming but you were unable to do anything to stop it, what did it matter if you knew it was coming? At that time, all you could do was wait for death. The graceful woman instantly realized this fact, sweeping out her arm while calling out a final desperate order.


    "Self-de...gh!"


    Her words were once again cut off, the shadows cast by her own wings stretching out and burrowing through her body, filling her throat with so much blood that the words couldn''t leave her lips. The four people next to her didn''t fare better, their own shadows turning on them as Yumao easily dealt with all of them.


    This was a very small division of the Golden Branch sect, the graceful woman at the centre was the sect master, and she had only reached the very peak of the Soaring Immortal realm, maybe half a step into the Primordial Immortal realm. Faced with Liang Chen and Yumao, she was no more than a lamb facing the butcher. Liang Chen swept the surrounding people with a sharp gaze, none of them daring to move as he kicked off the ground and shot into the air, stopping in front of the woman.


    "I''m so tired of your sacrifice plays, have some respect for the people that chose to follow you, that ended up believing in you."


    Liang Chen''s hand shot forward when he finished his words, grasping onto the woman''s face and flooding her mind and soul with his poison and law of time to speed up the effect of the poison. The woman immediately lost control of herself and became no more than a doll, obediently telling Liang Chen every little thing about the Golden Dawn sect and whatever she knew about the Golden Branch sect.


    Liang Chen repeated the process on the four other people that Yumao had taken care of, learning about every little thing the Golden Dawn sect had done in the last several hundred years. And to his surprise, of the thousands of disciples below him, the number of people who actually knew about the Golden Branch sect and the other things that the sect had done was surprisingly low.


    He expected all of them to be a part of it and had prepared to kill every last person below him. But in truth, only a little less than half were actually in on everything, the rest were just citizens who had joined the sect over time and had no idea what they were doing in the darkness.


    Liang Chen descended to the ground again and mercilessly killed those who had been working for the Golden Branch sect, sparing those who had simply joined the sect. Of course, he received quite a number of hateful glares, he was, after all, ruining their sect and killing people they considered their friends. Liang Chen took in all the hateful glares with a sweeping glance, throwing out a few metallic scrolls he had fished out from the sect master''s interspatial ring.


    "Read these if you want to know the truth about your sect. Of course, you are free to hate me nonetheless, it doesn''t really matter to me. But if you want revenge, then come directly for me, if you drag others into it then you cannot blame me for my actions."


    His words were cold and emotionless, sending icy shivers down the spines of all who heard him. He quickly swept through the treasury of the sect and took about half of it for himself, Liang Chen then proceeded to gesture towards what remained of the treasury and then jumped back onto Yumao''s head, who then flapped his wings and flew away. He didn''t take the entire treasury because those that were spared had relied on the sect to secure their livelihood, the remaining parts of the treasury were left for them.


    Liang Chen didn''t think much about his actions, nor did he care what people would think about them, he already knew that the Tranquil Lake and the Golden Branch sect would distort any information about him into something vile. And he was right, news quickly spread of the Wrathful Scourge Lords massacre of an innocent sect, news spread of the terrorist attacks he organized around the city. And before long, the title of the Wrathful Scourge Lord spread further and further through the universe.

 Chapter 232: Final Curse Island.

    Liang Chen sat on Yumao''s head as he flew away from the ruins of the Golden Dawn sect, he could already hear the sounds of chaos spread out beneath him as more and more people rushed to find out what had happened to the Golden Dawn sect. He didn''t pay attention to what was going on beneath him, his right hand raised in front of his face so that he could quietly inspect it. He eventually lowered it again, stroking the smooth feathers on Yumao''s head.


    "I really should have kept that tree, shouldn''t I? Can you take us back to the Heaven''s Secrets Company, I''ve gotta pick up some more information."


    Yumao let out a loud hiss and flapped his wings, shooting through the air like a black blur at full speed and reaching the gothic church that was the Heaven''s Secrets Company in only a few minutes. The people in front of the open double-doors automatically stepped aside when Yumao descended to the ground in front of the church. Some of the people looked at Liang Chen with traces of fear while others sent him faint glares, he didn''t even have to ask them to know that news had likely already started to spread.


    Liang Chen hopped down from Yumao''s head, who then quickly shrunk down and parked himself on top of Liang Chen''s head. Liang Chen ignored the surrounding looks and entered the building, Yumao licking his lips in anticipation of all the corpses he could indulge in after their recent raid. Liang Chen headed down the hallway marked with ''Information'' and arrived within the circular hall, heading over to the same counter he had used earlier.


    "I need to buy more information. I need information about the location of resources that contain a dense amount of water-element energy and items that contain a dense amount of darkness or death-type energy."


    Liang Chen had easily dealt with the people from the Golden Dawn sect, but the truth was that he was starting to feel that his strength wasn''t up to snuff anymore. His battle against the governor of Sand''s Journey city, Bao Shan, had been a hard-fought victory, not to mention his victory against the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. But his enemies were only going to grow stronger and stronger, their numbers increasing without end, he had to increase his strength if he wanted to survive.


    And after giving it some thought, he settled on two paths to start with right now, his own body and Yumao. Yumao went without saying, he was one of Liang Chen''s closest companions and Liang Chen had raised him from no more than an egg. As a Demonic beast with a dual death and darkness attribute, he would need resources of those elements to quickly raise his strength. And looking at how strong Yumao was for his age, it was clear that not just any such resources would do the trick.


    Liang Chen''s body was a bit harder to do as he had merged the law of water into his body cultivation technique, a law he did not actually have. He relied on Yan Ling to supply the law of water, but as she wasn''t present there was no way he could rely on her. He did have quite a few resources containing the water-element, but he wanted at least one that was extremely strong as he wanted to give his body a thorough strengthening right now.


    If he had the strange tree they acquired from the Flood Dragon in the Myriad Convergence then he would be set, but that tree was taken by Yan Ling as Liang Chene had no need for it at the time, leaving him no choice but to buy more information. The man with light orange skin behind the counter flashed Liang Chen the same smile as last time, speaking somewhat hesitantly.


    "I''ve got something, we always do, but while this one is located fairly close I''m not sure if I should recommend it as the location is a bit... troublesome. What do you think?"


    The man placed a finger against his chin and cocked his head questioningly as he spoke. His attitude made it clear that he didn''t want to just send Liang Chen to a place where he might die without at least telling Liang Chen that he might die there. After all, if he didn''t say anything and Liang Chen died he would feel somewhat bad, but if Liang Chen himself pressed on then he would only have himself to blame. Of course, he didn''t expect Liang Chen to reject, and his guess proved correct, Liang Chen gesturing with his hand for the man to continue.


    "Quite direct, wonderful. This is public information you could find in any tavern or by just asking around a bit so there''s no need to pay anything. The southern hemisphere of this planet is covered in a vast ocean dotted with islands, and one of these islands was once used as both an execution site and a body dumping site for the dynasty that once governed this planet, Final Curse Island. The dynasty exiled all their criminals there in the last years before their downfall in a desperate attempt to maintain the peace and it still stands as a completely lawless area filled with less than savoury types."


    Liang Chen thought back to the map he acquired from the governor''s mansion, he had indeed seen that a little less than half of the planet was covered in water. But he hadn''t bothered to actually check the names of all the islands that dotted the ocean so he didn''t know if there was an island with that name there. But since it was news from the Heaven''s Secrets Company, he felt that it was unlikely to be false, the man getting to the main point.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "But at the centre of the island, where the executions took place and a mass grave so deep it nearly penetrated the island was dug, the item you are looking for exists. A small Elemental Lotus has budded there, one carrying three petals, one water, one earth, and one death. But I should warn you, quite a few people have tried to acquire the lotus, but the inhabitants of the island have stopped everyone, all of them patiently  waiting for the Elemental Lotus to grow more petals before they start their own little war over who gets to acquire it."


    Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly when he heard about just what type of resource the man was pointing him towards. Liang Chen had encountered an Elemental Lotus once, a two-petaled one, but it wasn''t an encounter he remembered fondly. But there was no denying that this resource was just what he needed, and he wasn''t one to refuse a resource just because his previous encounter with it was less than favourable.


    He got the man behind the counter to tell him how to get to Final Curse Island, checking the information by inspecting his map just to make sure. He bought some information about the known inhabitants of Final Curse Island, that way he at least wouldn''t go in completely unprepared. He then left the Heaven''s Secrets Company and made his way towards the spatial array that would take him to the island that was closest to Final Curse Island. From there he would have to fly the rest of the way as there was no proper spatial array on Final Curse Island, but that wouldn''t be a problem for Yumao.


    Most of the other citizens gave Liang Chen wide berth as he moved through the streets, a few muttering quietly under their breath while wondering why the guards weren''t moving against Liang Chen despite the fact that he wrecked the Golden Dawn sect. They might not know, but Liang Chen was certain that the guards didn''t move against him because they had read the metal scrolls he had tossed out, they knew what the sect had really done. And since they had actually attacked him first, there was nothing the guards could do to Liang Chen even if they wanted to, he had simply defended himself.


    Liang Chen reached a flower-shaped plaza after a bit over two hours of walking, choosing to walk rather than fly so that he could check if there were any members of the Tranquil Lake or the Golden Branch sect left in the city that might plan to attack him. But no one had launched any attacks against him so he reached the plaza without incident, heading for the spatial array when a somewhat childish voice called out from behind him.


    "Stop, you monster, you''ll pay!"


    Liang Chen stopped in his tracks and turned his head, his gaze landing on a young girl who didn''t look older than 9. The young girl was running straight at him, her black hair fluttering behind her while her tear-stained brown eyes glared death at him. She carried a small dagger that she held high, preparing to stab him in the stomach with it.


    He could see a man rushing after the girl from behind, his description matching that of the husband of one of the women he killed in the Golden Dawn sect. The man''s eyes were filled with boundless terror as he chased after the girl, his daughter, it was clear that he knew very well what Liang Chen was capable of.


    The little girl reached Liang Chen and stabbed at him with the dagger, but the blade couldn''t even pierce his skin and simply bounced off, the girl falling on her butt as a result. The girl quickly sprung up again, her eyes bloodshot as tears poured forth without pause, her knife trying to stab into Liang Chen''s abdomen again and again.


    "GIVER HER BACK! GIVE MAMA BACK! Mama was good, Mama didn''t deserve it! Give Mama back, you monster!"


    The only sound in the entire plaza was the girl''s screams and sobs as well as the sound of her father''s rapidly approaching footsteps. But before the man could reach her, Liang Chen crouched down in front of the girl, her father''s heart nearly stopping in his chest. Liang Chen grabbed the girl''s wrist and led the dagger she was holding to his own chest, infusing it with a bit of his Qi so that it could become sharp enough to pierce his skin. He stabbed the dagger into his chest so that a few drops of blood spilt out, lowering his head slightly while the surrounding people looked on in confusion.


    "I''m sorry, I truly am sorry that you lost someone close to you. I didn''t wish for more people like me to come about, it''s one of the things I wished to avoid. But you are wrong, your mother did deserve it, and while I will apologize for you losing a parent, I will not apologize for killing her. If I were given the choice now, I would still do it again without hesitation."


    Liang Chen pulled out the knife, the small wound closing immediately as he stood up. He wanted to avoid creating more people like him, the world didn''t need more broken children running around. But as long as there were death and loss, there would be broken people running around, and more than a few of those would be children. The best Liang Chen could do was try to keep the number as low as possible, to save all his hands could reach.


    Liang Chen stepped into the array and activated it, the runes starting to emit a dull light as power started to course through them. The girl''s father finally reached her and picked her up, his own eyes bloodshot and teary from the loss of his wife. Liang Chen''s gaze lingered on the girl as the array activated, she was grinding her teeth and staring at him with eyes so bloodshot and teary that they had turned nearly completely crimson, uttering a few curses through grit teeth.


    "You''re a monster, Mama didn''t deserve it. I hate you, hate hate hate you, I promise you that my anger will one day burn you."


    Liang Chen was more than just familiar with the look in the girl''s eyes, it was practically a perfect replica of the look in his own eyes. Liang Chen''s gaze remained steadfast in the face of the girl''s curses, leaving behind a few words of his own just as the array fully activated.


    "You''re angry, huh? So am I, always have been and always will be. Feel free to come after me, let''s see if your anger towards me burns brighter than my wrath towards the heavens."

 Arriving at Final Curse.

    The spatial array sent Liang Chen away with a faint light, allowing some of the inhabitants of Quartz Lord city to heave a breath of relief. He hadn''t been there for long, but the end result of his quick visit had been several thousand deaths, thousands of families forcibly torn apart and irreparably scarred. A good number of these deaths weren''t Liang Chen''s fault, but thanks to the propaganda from the Tranquil Lake and the Golden Branch, this simple fact was easily twisted into one that suited them better.


    Liang Chen didn''t know about the thoughts and propaganda already spreading, he only had an idea that it might happen. But even so, their thoughts and actions weren''t of any concern to him, he didn''t even spare them a single thought as he was being teleported away from Quartz Lord city. And before long, the light around him started to dim as he reached his next destination.


    Liang Chen arrived within a circular plaza where stands and moveable wooden counters were placed in a circular manner around the entire plaza. Just like in Quartz Lord city, the plaza was stacked with people moving around between the shops, the air thick with scents and noise. Liang Chen''s arrival didn''t raise any large waves, his spatial array was just one of the several tens that were scattered throughout the plaza. He didn''t leave immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly as he swept the surrounding with a sharp gaze.


    "If anyone here is from the Tranquil Lake or the Golden Branch then you can just step forward right away, I really can''t be bothered to play your little games of hide and seek. And I detest snakes hiding in the darkness while spying on me."


    His arrival didn''t draw much attention but his announcement certainly drew some, quite a few people looking over to see what exactly he was going on about. No one stepped forward, but that was within Liang Chen''s expectations, he didn''t need them to step forward. His gaze sharpened slightly as his eyes riveted to the right and landed on a young who was looking over with a somewhat curious gaze.


    Liang Chen''s body blurred as he shot to the side, the young man''s expression turning gloomy as he pulled a metal orb out of his sleeve. But his hand was severed from his body just as he was about to put some Qi into the orb, Liang Chen catching the orb and severed hand, his right hand already holding his spear.


    Liang Chen looked at the metal orb and the runes engraved directly into it, he couldn''t quite make out just what sort of array it was but he could feel a tremendous amount of fiery energy within it. The young man knew that things had taken a very bad turn so he activated his final resort, self-destruction. Liang Chen''s expression immediately sank when he detected the young man''s actions. Just why was it that there were so many people willing to lay down their lives for the Tranquil Lake and the Golden Branch, just what was so great about them?


    Liang Chen''s spear flashed forth once more and ended the man''s fanatical loyalty, decapitating him before he could self-destruct. When Liang Chen made his announcement, this man''s eyebrows twitched slightly and his expression turned uneasy for a split-second, which was how Liang Chen could determine that he likely had something to do with his enemies. Of course, him bringing out the metal orb and then trying to self-destruct confirmed Liang Chen''s thoughts and made it far easier for him.


    Liang Chen threw the body and metal orb into his interspatial ring, sweeping the now rather chaotic plaza with another glance. Everyone was busy getting away from Liang Chen, he had just seemingly assaulted and murdered someone in an unprovoked manner. He couldn''t detect anyone else that showed any strangeness that might connect them to his enemies so he considered himself done here, at least for now. If they wanted to come after him then they were free to do so, he would guide them to their tombs at any moment.


    Yumao grew to his actual size and Liang Chen hopped onto his head, sitting down between his two jagged horns. Yumao flapped his feathered wings and shot into the sky, vanishing from the city and heading directly for Final Curse Island. As they shot into the sky, a vast and seemingly endless ocean spread out beneath Liang Chen and Yumao, thousands of islands dotting the deep-blue water.


    Liang Chen pointed Yumao in the right direction and then laid down, enjoying the soft sensation of the warm feathers that ran down Yumao''s back. He rested peacefully on Yumao''s back for a few hours before he sat up again and swiped his interspatial ring, taking out one of the corpses he acquired in the Golden Dawn sect. It would take them about four or five more days to reach Final Curse Island so this was a good chance for him to test out the idea he had when it came to the new techniques he got when he opened the third layer of the Chaos King technique.


    He placed his hand upon the corpse and touched upon the black book in his mind with his thoughts, a stream of devouring energy flooding into the corpse and turning it into a dried husk. A black orb of energy floated up from the corpse and sank into Liang Chen''s hand, wriggling slightly as it still contained faint traces of the body''s soul and laws. But that wriggling was quickly ended by a few arcs of lightning, the energy obediently sinking deeper into Liang Chen''s body.


    The orb of energy would normally start to dissipate and merge with Liang Chen''s body, strengthening the weaker parts and slightly boosting his body cultivation. But Liang Chen forced the energy to stay together, dragging it into the very depths of his body and bringing it all the way to the grey lotus covered in wriggling black veins, the Dragon Lotus he acquired when the Voidborn bloodline merged with his own.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    He forced the orb of energy to move all the way up to his lotus, which was still constantly flickering in and out of existence. The orb got close to his Dragon Lotus and entered the small area filled with the energy that his lotus radiated, Liang Chen relinquishing his control over it. He was hoping that the field of energy around the lotus would keep the orb together and prevent it from dissipating into his body.


    And his hopes were quickly fulfilled, the orb trembling slightly before quieting down again and starting to silently orbit around the lotus. Liang Chen stood up from his seated position once the orb started to orbit around his lotus, tossing the dried corpse forward and allowing Yumao to snatch it up. He then stretched out his right arm and sent a punch to the side, drawing upon the orbiting energy as he tried to unleash the Chaos King''s Punch.


    The orb of energy instantly rushed through Liang Chen''s body and left through his fist, a loud booming sound resounding through the sky as a small shockwave was unleashed by his fist. Yumao''s scales shimmered with a faint black light that blocked the shockwave so his flight wasn''t disrupted, Liang Chen pulling back his arm and sitting down again.


    His thoughts had proven themselves correct, he could utilize the final skills of the Chaos King technique by using a bit of a roundabout way to ignore the fact that he didn''t actually have any devouring force of his own. Now that he knew this, he immediately started working on gathering up several more orbs of energy that he could use as an emergency fund to power the two Chaos King techniques, tossing the dried up corpses to Yumao, who complained a bit about how dry they were.


    The days quickly passed in a monotonous manner, Liang Chen finally spotting Final Curse Island after four days of flight. The island was shaped like an irregular circle, the edges jagged and sharp in a way that made it look like the island was once part of a greater whole that had been broken up.


    The island actually reminded Liang Chen of the Green Rivers city where he grew up. A third of the island was taken up by a large city and another third was taken up by a large mountain, hundreds of small waterfalls and rivers cascading down from the top of the mountain and spreading through the rest of the island, providing it with what was likely freshwater. The rest of the island was covered in either forests or blooming plains, but a sombre atmosphere hung over the entire island, the earth even carried a faint red tint.


    Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the city that occupied the centre of the island, his eyes drawn to the crescent moon-shaped plaza at the centre of the city. A large guillotine stood there, its blade covered in rust while the wood had turned dark from all the bloodstains. The earth in front of the guillotine was covered by a light yellow mosaic that formed a blazing sun, but that was far from enough to cover up the dense feeling of death that seeped out from beneath it. The thing hiding beneath that mosaic was his target, that mass-grave contained the Three-Petaled Elemental Lotus he came here for.


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows rose up slightly as they approached the island, they hadn''t even landed yet but there were already attacks flying at them. Liang Chen didn''t even have to stand up, Yumao flapped his wings and let out a loud hiss that caused several orbs of pure darkness to appear in front of them. The attacks fell into the orbs and weren''t strong enough to break through them, the spears and arrows getting swallowed up before the orbs vanished.


    But a new wave of attacks was launched the moment they were dealing with the first wave, Yumao flapping his wings once more to deal with the attacks. They continued to approach the island, more and more attacks coming at them from within the city, it was clear that they were less than receptible to new arrivals that might try to snatch the Elemental Lotus.


    In the end, Liang Chen had to help Yumao resist the attacks, using wind to either redirect the attacks or simply destroying them with several bolts of lightning. Looking at the attacks that were dripping with killing intent and not an ounce of mercy, Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly, his gaze landing on the large mountain.


    "I originally wanted to at least take a walk through the city to check it first, but if that''s how they want to do things. Yumao, just take us directly to the top of that mountain."


    Yumao flapped his wings and changed course so that they headed directly for the mountain, the two dealing with any attacks that were launched at them. Most of the attacks weren''t terribly threatening, they were so high up in the air that most of the power within the attacks had dissipated by the time they got close to Liang Chen. As such, they didn''t face any real danger and managed to land safely on the top of the mountain.


    The top of the mountain was actually surprisingly flat, most of the area taken up by a large body of water that seemed to dig directly into the depth of the mountain. It was this body of water that created the cascading waterfalls and rivers that ran down the mountain and provided the island with drinkable water.


    The faint scent of salt hung in the air and looking at how the body of water didn''t seem to shrink, Liang Chen guessed that it was actually connected with the ocean. It probably dug all the way through the mountain and the island and sucked up the ocean water through a stream beneath the surface. The inside of the body of water, the walls of it specifically, was filled with watermelon-sized clams packed so tightly that it was impossible to see the actual walls of the mountain.


    Liang Chen fished out one of these clams and pried it open, spotting several pure white pearls that were coarse to the touch. The pearls smelled strongly of salt so Liang Chen was fairly certain that these clams filtered out the salt in the water, it was they who made it so that the water that ran down the mountain was actually drinkable. Liang Chen dropped the clam back into the water and then sat down next to the body of water, Yumao shrinking down to his smallest size and allowing Liang Chen to stroke his head.


    "You''re better at sneaking around than me so can I leave checking out the city to you? I''ll start working here so that we can just jump into the action the moment you return and deliver your verdict."


    Yumao enjoyed Liang Chen''s petting while letting out a few soft content hisses, eventually stretching his body and flapping his wings in a gesture that seemed to be him saying that Liang Chen could trust him. Yumao then sank into Liang Chen''s shadow, vanishing from sight as he left to fulfil the duty that Liang Chen had entrusted him with, the duty of the judge.

 The beautiful bringer of death.

    Liang Chen sat at the side of the body of water, his legs crossed as he regulated his breathing while gazing down upon the parts of the island he could see from the top of the mountain. A sombre atmosphere covered the entire island, the earth was tinted slightly red, the scent of salt and blood hung faintly in the air, and Liang Chen could feel a deathly energy course through the ground all around him.


    But even so, he had to admit that the island was surprisingly beautiful, the sprawling forests and blooming plains that were split open by coursing rivers were a peaceful and calming sight. Had it not been for the atmosphere and the scent he would find it hard to believe that this was once a location where countless mass-executions had taken place.


    He allowed his gaze to roam across the surroundings for a few moments before he closed his eyes and connected his senses to the surrounding Qi. It would take Yumao a few days to finish the task he had been given so Liang Chen had some time to focus on his own cultivation while also starting to set up for what was most likely to be his next move.


    His plan was to use the Elemental Lotus to cultivate his body, an act that would simultaneously affect his Qi cultivation slightly due to the shared elements. As such, he decided to spend a bit of time now to focus on his soul, especially since the earth here was ripe with deathly energy he could use. He had a bit of poison-element resources at his disposal but he had to use his own Qi to convert the surrounding Qi into time and rot Qi as it was far harder to find resources containing those two elements.


    Time and rot were lucky naturally occurring things so there would always be a bit of those laws within the Qi floating around, but using his own Qi rather than proper resources still meant that the efficiency was lowered quite drastically. The law of the Void was different, it wasn''t naturally occurring but rather something that existed outside of logic and reason, there was no way traces of that law would float around within the Qi of the world. But as it existed outside of logic and reason, he could draw everything he needed of that law from himself without losing any efficiency.


    His soul cultivation was at the equivalent of the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm which meant that he had turned about 50% of his soul''s ''flesh'' and ''blood'' into a concentrated version of the elements he had merged into it. Once he finished altering all the ''blood'' and flesh'' and started working on the ''veins'' and ''skin'' of his soul he would enter the Primordial Immortal realm. After that, he had to start altering the ''organs'' to enter the Transcended Immortal realm, and beyond that, he would have to return to the very start again and work on changing everything into the purest form of laws for the final cultivation realms.


    Of course, all those steps were far off in the future for him so he put all his focus on just changing the ''flesh'' and ''blood'' of his soul, he had to take it step by step to ensure the best result. The ''flesh'' and ''blood'' of his soul disintegrated under his merged elements and was slowly replaced, Liang Chen gritting his teeth to bear the agonizing process.


    But Liang Chen was forced to halt his cultivation after just a single day, his eyes opening as his gaze drift towards the edge of the mountain to his left. 11 people made their way to the top of the mountain five minutes after Liang Chen opened his eyes, a mark resembling two claws either engraved onto their clothing or tattooed onto their skin. The group glared grimly at him, but Liang Chen''s gaze simply moved away from them and landed on the mountain-edge that was to his front.


    Nine more people made their way over the edge and onto the flat mountain top, but these nine people didn''t wear the dual-claw mark. Their skin or robes were marked with a symbol that resembled a feathery wing ending in a five-pronged claw. The two groups exchanged a few glares, noticeably tensing up as their hands moved towards the weapons strapped to their waists. Liang Chen''s gaze swept over the 20 people, but his expression didn''t change and he remained seated.


    "You guys should be from Laoshen''s faction and you guys should be from Hiu Ming''s faction, no? I''ll take it you haven''t just come here for a quick peek before leaving peacefully?"


    Factions would pop up wherever people gathered, the weak would gather around the strong to survive and gain any benefits they could. Even here, on this island that was supposedly filled with nothing but scoundrel, this held true, five factions occupying the city. Each faction was lead by a person in the Primordial Immortal realm, they should all be somewhere between the early stage and the middle stage according to the report Liang Chen had bought.


    The two groups didn''t exchange any words with each other or Liang Chen, they exploded forth with all their Qi while he was still talking and launched their attacks. Most of the attacks were launched directly at Liang Chen, all of them first launching ranged attacks to stall him while they charged him. But only most of the attacks were launched at him, two or three in each group launched attacks at the other groups, not a single person present showing an ounce of mercy.


    "Yeah, I thought things would turn out like this."


    Since they didn''t show mercy, neither would Liang Chen. His Anima Essence burst forth and blanketed the entire top of the mountain, washing over the 20 people like a violent tsunami as it hammered directly into their souls. Due to the special elements merged into his Anima Essence and the ethereal property of Anima Essence, even the attacks the people had launched were assaulted and crushed.


    The sounds of the attacks faded and silence returned to the mountaintop, the eyes of the 20 people turning blank and lifeless. Liang Chen''s poison had overwhelmed their souls and eaten away at their minds, turning them into obedient puppets that would follow every order. Liang Chen had yet to stand up, calmly waving the 20 people over.


    "Come here one by one, tell me about everything going on in the city, I want to know about every single person that you know about."


    The people did as he ordered, stepping forward one by one and telling Liang Chen everything they knew about everyone they knew. They had lived in the city for quite a few years already so the number of people they knew wasn''t low, it was to the point that it took a full four days before the last one finished talking. Liang Chen listened to them without his expression changing, killing them one by one as they finished their stories.


    He closed his eyes again after killing the last one, returning to his soul cultivation while also using the Chaos King technique to suck up the souls of the 20 bodies. Liang Chen''s body cultivation and Qi cultivation were strong, but what few realized was that it was actually his soul that was the strongest aspect about him.


    The Chaos King technique reinforced all three of his cultivation systems and allowed him to increase his cultivation through devouring corpses, but he actually had one other technique working at all times, one that only strengthened his soul. The Bloody Soul Sea technique, the innate technique that all Sebettu were born with, automatically devouring a portion of the soul of any living being that they killed.


    Thanks to this innate technique constantly working on his soul, the strength of his Anima Essence was actually already on par with that of a soul cultivator who was approaching the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. Thanks to this, his Anima Essence was one of his greatest trump cards, especially when he coupled it with his Dragon King''s Six Steps. Of course, as it was his trump card, he couldn''t use it willy nilly, the moment the enemy realized how strong it was then it would be easier for them to set up a defence to lessen the damage they took.


    The souls of the 20 people were quickly used to strengthen Liang Chen''s soul, coupling together with his own efforts to push the conversion rate of his soul''s ''flesh'' and ''blood'' to a bit over 60%. He had quite a bit of experience with the technique, and the strength of his Anima Essence made the conversion both fast and smooth, he guessed that it would probably be a bit slower if he had been working on converting his body.


    But that conversion was all he had time for, Yumao returning to his side four days after Liang Chen killed the last of the 20 people. He rose up from Liang Chen''s shadow, tendrils of darkness stretching out from his body and dragging along several tens of brown crystalline plates engraved with dense runes. He dropped the plates on the ground in front of Liang Chen and flew up onto his head, hissing in a demand for praise. Liang Chen assented, plucking Yumao down from his head and rubbing both the top of his head and his chin while looking at the crystalline plates.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "Heh, you''ve actually gone and snatched so many of these things to make your own job easier? So, are things down there as bad as they made it sound?"


    Yumao released several drawn-out hissing sounds of contentment from Liang Chen''s petting, pointing at the plates with his tail as a form of response. Liang Chen continued to pet Yumao for a few minutes before placing him back on top of his head and turning his attention to the plates. He knew what these plates were, they were portable arrays that could be used to draw in the surrounding Qi and convert it to light, replicating the scenery around them.


    The weakest versions would only catch a still image while stronger versions would catch it as a moving recording, stronger versions still would even include sound by drawing in the surrounding vibrations along with the Qi. Liang Chen activated the first one he got his hands on, an image of a back-alley gathering above it and remaining still for a second before it started to move.


    The back-alley was filled with corpses and the recording showed three people lugging more corpses to the back-alley unceremoniously tossing them onto the rest. A few of the ones they were tossing onto the pile were actually still moving, feebly grasping for the throats of the ones that tossed them away.


    Liang Chen quietly looked at the recording from start to finish, watching it once more before silently moving on to the next plate. He slowly and carefully made his way through the plates, all of which contained recordings that Yumao had gathered up from all around the city. Liang Chen remained silent as he went through the recordings, one of his hands unconsciously reaching up and stroking the soft feathers running down Yumaos back. He only opened his mouth when he finished the last recording, but even then he didn''t say much.


    "Sad, it really is just sad."


    Liang Chen closed his eyes after he finished talking, returning to his agonizing soul cultivation. The recordings of the city reminded Liang Chen of his time in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, when he had spied on the happenings in Liu Daning''s mansion. This was a place where mercy or kindness held no home, all that mattered here was the eradication of everyone else to further your own standing. It was a sad showcasing of how deep into the abyss human nature could go.


    Liang Chen had feared that things might be like this when they were attacked the moment they got close to the island, and that fear was almost fully solidified when he made the 20 people spill everything they knew. And now, with Yumao''s task and verdict completed, his fear had fully solidified and his next step had become clear.


    Liang Chen remained seated next to the body of water while focusing on his soul cultivation, using his law of time to increase the flow of time around him. Using his law of time like this further decreased the efficiency of his soul cultivation, but that didn''t really matter to him right now since he was going to spend a bit of time in this location.


    He sped up the flow of time by eight and remained in his seated position until he turned 99% of his soul''s ''flesh'' and ''blood'' in the concentrated version of his merged elements. The last step would take him to the Primordial Immortal realm, a process that still required one final touch that he had to complete in his merged elements. Of course, increasing his soul cultivation by that much took a fair bit of time, even with how easy it was thanks to the strength of his Anima Essence.


    He had been sitting by the edge of the body of water for a little over a month, his law of time turning it into nearly nine months for him. It took a fair bit longer than he expected, but that was due to the fact that cultivation got harder and harder the further along you got, the last 5% alone had taken a little over a month.


    But now his preparations were complete, it was time to head down to the city to pick up the Elemental Lotus he had come here for. He opened his eyes, a faint greyish-purple light flashing through his golden pupils as he stood up. He took a quick bath in the body of water right next to him and changed into a fresh robe before he descended the mountain and headed for the city.


    Liang Chen walked past several dead animals and a few dead Demonic beasts as he headed for the city, Yumao greedily snatching them all up. But he didn''t eat them right away, he first handed them to Liang Chen and allowed him to store them into his interspatial ring, Yumao knew that it wasn''t safe to eat the beasts in their current state.


    There were no guards standing by the large metal gates that led into the city but there were five corpses sprawled on the ground a few steps away from the gate. The corpses were tossed into his interspatial ring as Liang Chen stepped past them and entered the city, slowly making his way through it. The streets were littered with corpses wherever he walked, some clutching at their throats, some bleeding from all their orifices, others gushing forth a viscous foam from their open mouths.


    Tens, hundreds, and finally thousands of corpses were all dragged into Liang Chen''s interspatial ring, his cold gaze not once wavering. He reached the crescent-moon shaped plaza after a few hours of walking, the mosaic of the blazing sun now stained with blood and countless corpses. The leaders of the five factions were also here, they were lying at the centre of the plaza and all the corpses, their expressions forever frozen in hatred, confusion, and despair.


    The body of water he had sat next to provided all the drinkable water for this island, if the living beings on this island wanted to drink then it would have to be from one of the rivers originating from that body of water. And Liang Chen had sit next to it for over a month, allowing his poison to seep into it and spread out over the entire island, reaching the mouths of every living being.


    It was weak at first and contained a bit of his Anima Essence, influencing the minds of those who drank it to lessen their suspicion. But then they drank more and more, the poison seeping deeper and deeper into their souls, continuously affecting them so that they didn''t even think about the person that had just arrived on the island.


    And then people started dying, one by one they fell after drinking the water, and one by one the factions started to blame each other. It all culminated in a large battle at the centre of the city, but by then it was already too late, the battle couldn''t even rage for more than a few minutes before the last person fell to the poison. Liang Chen wasn''t a stranger to using his poison like this, and he didn''t feel a shred of remorse for turning this city into a lifeless zone, he had seen what these people were doing to each other for their own fun.


    All the corpses were sucked into his interspatial ring so that he could later remove the poison, the plaza becoming empty once more. Liang Chen stood a bit away from the yellow mosaic, looking down at it and sensing the deathly energy seeping out from the ground. He stretched out his arm and pushed down, a violent gust of wind crackling with lightning smashing into the mosaic and crushing it, tearing up the earth and revealing a large crater.


    The walls of the crater were lined with skeletons, some so dried that they looked like they were about to turn into dust while others carried a faint sheen and glimmer that showed they belonged to somewhat strong body cultivators. And located at the very bottom of the nearly 3-kilometre deep crate was the beautiful bringer of death.


    The lotus looked just like Liang Chen had expected, it had a lower layer of brown leaves, a middle layer of blue leaves, and an upper layer of blackish-grey leaves that all rotated around the lotus, the Qi around it so dense that it formed a fine multicoloured mist. There was actually a few buds on the top of the Elemental Lotus, a fourth layer of leaves in the process of growing. Given enough time, this Elemental Lotus would become a Four-Petaled Elemental Lotus, and that would be the time this island saw a grand massacre as the five factions started to fight over it.


    Liang Chen took a step forward, but the skeletons within the crater started to rattle just as he moved his foot. They burst out of the earth and congregated around the Elemental Lotus, all of the bones connecting and merging as they morphed into a large monstrosity that looked like a skeletal bull with six legs and a head that was split into eight sections like a flower, all eight sections peeling back to reveal bones that had been crushed into the shape of sharp fangs.


    "H..Hat...Hate...Kill...Kill...Execute...Protect...Mother..."


    The monstrosity gargled forth words in a dry and raspy voice that constantly changed, a nearly transparent black mist seeping out from the skeletons and swirling around the monstrosity. This was a beast formed entirely out of hatred, fragmented souls filled with resentment stitched together by the overpowering death-element Qi seeping out from both the Elemental Lotus and the land itself.


    This was not a turn of event that Liang Chen had planned for, he hadn''t expected that those executed here would hold such resentment that parts of their souls would still linger on even so long after their death. The deathly energy emanating from the lotus and their own resentment had kept them alive for so long, and now that they sensed a threat to the lotus they had congregated, using the lotus as a centre to form a monstrous body.


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel a sliver of sentimentality as he looked at the malformed monster in front of him. Would this be his end-result if he died before he accomplished everything he wanted? Would his hatred and resentment gather together what remained of his soul and form a being like this? He shook his head and discarded the thought, his spear appearing in his grasp as Yumao grew to his full size.


    "You''ve stuck around for long enough already. Sleep, I will put your resentment to rest."

 Chapter 235: Beast of resentment.

    The body of the skeletal monstrosity rose out from the crater, the plaza around Liang Chen trembling as the skeletons that were buried a bit deeper all burrowed upwards and merged into the beast. The abomination quickly reached a stature where it was towering above Liang Chen and the city, its six skeletal hooves crushing the surrounding houses as well as the rusted guillotine.


    The beast actually grew at a mind-boggling speed, reaching its full size after just a second. The eight sections that the bull-like head was split into peeled back like a blooming flower, a grating screech sounding out from its hollow throat. The screech sent shockwaves rippling through the air and seemed to cut straight into Liang Chen''s soul, bringing with it the faint taste of the law of death.


    Yumao soared into the air and Liang Chen jumped back, the shockwaves rupturing the earth where they had just been standing and aiding his jump to launch him several kilometres back. The earth within the entire plaza also exploded forth at the same time, a nearly 7-kilometre stretch of land bursting up as countless chunks of earth and ruined buildings shot into the sky after Liang Chen and Yumao.


    Liang Chen landed on one of the ruined buildings that shot into the sky, his knees bending as he crouched and placed his free hand on the building. He used a bit of wind to keep himself stable on the soaring building, his gaze slightly narrowed as he looked at the monstrosity in front of him. This was by far the largest monster he had ever had to fight, its skeletal body was definitely over two kilometres tall and twice as long, it could only be described as gargantuan. This was how large the resentment of the dead was, this was how many corpses and souls failed to find their final rest underneath this city. And now, Liang Chen was going to put it all to rest.


    He gathered up his strength and kicked off of the ruined building, the granite material pulverizing beneath his feet as he shot forward like a blur. He shot from ruined building to ruined building, flashing through the air so fast that the naked eye was barely able to keep up with him. But just as his foot landed on a section of earth that had been thrown into the air, something slithered forth and coiled around his leg.


    Liang Chen''s pupils riveted downwards and allowed him to see that the piece of earth he was standing on had suddenly become completely dry, all the moisture in it turning into a water tentacle that had wrapped around his leg to keep him in place. The area around him turned dark the moment his pupils moved down, the other earthen fragments and ruined buildings in the area having been gathered together into a single massive meteor that was descending upon him and blotting out the sun. Liang Chen looked up at the meteor crashing down towards him, but there wasn''t the slightest ripple in his pupils.


    "Yumao, rear."


    Liang Chen sank into the shadow cast by the meteor the moment he finished his words, the water tentacle dispersing as it had lost its target. An orb of darkness appeared behind the massive abomination, the orb fading away and revealing Liang Chen, who was now standing on a platform of hardened air. The muscles on his legs tensed and he shot forward, running through the air until he was so close that he could touch the rear of the skeletal monstrosity.


    And as he was right behind the towering beast, his left leg tensed so much that veins started to bulge and writhe, all of his physical power gathering within his leg. And then he kicked forward, he smashed his leg into the rear of the beast and unleashed every ounce of his tremendous physical power. The skeletal rear of the massive bull caved in under the kick, cracks extending all the way to the middle pair of the bull''s three pairs of legs.


    The gargantuan body was pushed forward, the beast stumbling several steps before it collapsed to the ground. Liang Chen was a body cultivator, his small frame hid a terrifying physical force, even if he didn''t always show it off. He didn''t just kick the beast without thought, the direction he kicked it in was the one where the massive meteor was crashing down. So the bull collapsed to the ground due to the rampant force within the kick, and then the meteor fell onto it.


    Another dark orb appeared around Liang Chen just as the shockwaves of the descending meteor were about to reach him, his body re-appearing on top of Yumao''s head, who was flying safely above the danger-zone. The shockwaves tore through the city and pulverized any buildings in its path, the earth rippling as if it was water thanks to the horrendous might contained within the meteor.


    The 7-kilometre large of destruction that the beast originally created instantly quadrupled in size thanks to the meteor, not a single building remaining standing. But Liang Chen''s expression didn''t relax as he gazed down at the dust cloud that rose up from the destruction, he could still sense the rampant energy and resentment swirling around in the beast.


    The massive cloud of dust suddenly shrank as Liang Chen was looking down, a shrill and ear-piercing screech echoing across the entire island as the beast raised its head out from the shrinking cloud of dust. But the beast looked different now, the dust from the cloud and the earth in the meteor was sticking to the skeletons that formed its body, streams of water coursing along the surface and inside of its body. The now much bulkier beast looked at Liang Chen with all eight of its hollow eyes, its gargled and ever-changing voice once again bubbling forth.


    "Mother...Protect...Mother..."


    Wispy tendrils of black energy rose up from the earth all around the beast and sank into its body as it screeched at Liang Chen, its caved in rear already fully restored as it sucked in all the deathly energy coursing within the island. Liang Chen looked down at the beast, the violent energy wafting off of it rustling his hair and robe.


    "So that''s how things are going to be. But I''m sorry to say, I don''t dance, I howl."


    Liang Chen''s Qi exploded forth when he finished his words, shooting directly into the sky and quickly forming a cloud. The cloud quickly feasted upon the surrounding moisture and Liang Chen''s Qi to grow larger and larger, turning darker and darker as it did. More and more clouds appeared and grew, the entire sky turning dark as pitch-black clouds spread out to cover it. And then the rain fell.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    At first, it was just a few drops from each cloud, but the number of droplets quickly grew as the clouds gorged themselves upon more and more Qi. Tens grew into hundreds which then grew into thousands, an endless amount of droplets pouring down from the clouds in such a dense manner that it was as if the clouds were hiding a waterfall. And what followed the rain was a fierce wind and the rumbling of furious thunder, brilliant crimson arcs splitting open the sky and dyeing the entire world beneath the clouds an ominous red.


    This was the skill Liang Chen had found within the governor''s mansion, the Rain-Caller''s Dance. But in his hands it didn''t call forth rain like it was supposed to, it didn''t feed the crops of despairing farmers. No, in his, in the hands of the man who purposefully overloaded the skill, it brought forth a howling storm to decimate everything. A normal storm would only crackle with golden lightning, but this storm was influenced by Liang Chen''s own Qi and thus howled with crimson lightning, if he became able to put in more strength he guessed that he could probably make it roar with his own brown lightning.


    Liang Chen raised his grey spear and pointed it at the clouds, several bolts of lightning rumbling downwards as if they were attracted to his spear. The spear sucked in the lightning and channelled it all into Liang Chen''s body, restoring the energy he had spent to activate the skill and causing his entire body to crackle with crimson arcs while the surrounding wind and rain also gathered around him. Liang Chen lowered his spear again, pointing it at the split open head of the massive six-legged earthen bull.


    "Yumao, let''s go."


    Liang Chen stepped forward and walked off of Yumao''s head, descending towards the bull with arcs of water and lightning trailing off his body. The bull screeched at Liang Chen with its segmented and blooming head, the crushed skeletons that served as its teeth dripping with water as they gleamed slightly. The beast welcomed Liang Chen with its open maw, his body appearing hopelessly small compared to the gargantuan abomination.


    But just as the beast was about to close its maw and crush him, the darkness shrouding its body thanks to the black clouds wriggled and moved. The darkness tore itself off of the beast''s body and stabbed into it, weaving through the large body as if it was a living snake. Eight portions split away from the seemingly living darkness and shot at the head of the beast, each portion coiling around one of the eight segments of the monster''s split-open head, tugging at them so that the bull couldn''t immediately close its mouth.


    And it was at this moment that Liang Chen attacked. His spear smashed downwards, drawing an arc through the air as it sucked in all the rain, lightning, and wind in the area and concentrated it at the tip. The spear smashed into the open maw of the beast and unleashed all the force contained within it, a thunderous rumbling rocking the city as crimson arcs of lightning rose high into the sky, illuminating the dark world.


    The beast was violently smashed into the ground, two of the segments that its head consisted off disintegrating under the force of Liang Chen''s attack. Liang Chen landed on top of the beast''s head, brown arcs of lightning stretching out from his feet and coursing along the water that ran along the beast''s body. The deafening silence following the rumbling thunder, that was the sign that the king of the storm had descended.


    The storm raging around him once again gathered around Liang Chen and sank into his body, restoring the energy he expended just now. Nearly every inch of his being was composed of a concentrated storm, there was almost no limit to how much physical energy and Qi he could restore in an environment like this. And with the deathly energy coursing through the earth, he could even slightly restore any Anima Essence he expended, so right here and now, he could unleash as many violent attacks as he wanted.


    The massive body beneath him rumbled and trembled, a horrid screeching tearing through the air as the bull tore up the dark tendrils that restrained the remaining six segments of its head. The screeching sound reverberated through the air, the raindrops within the entire area halting for a short second before they changed direction and headed for Liang Chen. Each one carried a bit of the law of death and moved so fast that they turned sharp, they''d probably cut him up pretty badly if they managed to hit him.


    The body of the beast trembled once more, the earth that covered its skeleton splitting open to trap Liang Chen''s feet so that he couldn''t escape the raindrops. But speed wasn''t the forte of this beast, so it would need to rely on something else if it wanted to rely on a speed demon like Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen shot down from the beast''s body just as it split open and dashed underneath the beast, taking advantage of the two segments of its head that had disintegrated to easily reach the bull''s stomach. His left knee bent slightly as he gathered all his might once more, drawing in even more energy from the surrounding storm as large cracks started to extend across the earth beneath his foot.


    "Fourth Step Pierces The Sparrow."


    The soft mutter rang through Liang Chen''s heart before his leg flashed upwards, his foot connecting with the abomination''s stomach and unleashing all the stored up energy. The entire stomach of the beast caved in as massive cracks spread out to cover the entire earthen body, the gargantuan body actually lifting off the ground and soaring into the sky.


    Liang Chen raised his head to look at the massive body that flew into the sky, his body greedily sucking in the surrounding energy to restore what he just expended. He flipped his spear into a throwing position and started to lead all his energy into his right arm, his veins bulging and writhing as the spear started to release a faint thrumming noise thanks to all the energy seething within it.


    But Liang Chen didn''t launch his attack straight away, he simply looked at the massive body in silence as he gathered more energy. And then, an ear-piercing hissing sound reached Liang Chen''s ears, all the darkness and every single shadow in the surrounding area contorting violently. The darkness rose up from the earth like four massive jagged maws, each one biting into the monstrosity and tearing at it.


    The four maws tore open the abomination''s earthen hide and revealed its skeletal inside, the skeletons shattering and tearing apart under the force of Yumao''s attack. And revealed at the very centre of the beast was a 200-metre wide orb of wispy black energy that seemed to be swimming with indistinct faces. This was the thing controlling the beast, the fragmented souls filled with resentment that had been stitched together by the Elemental Lotus. The faces in the orb screeched in the gargling voice of the beast, Liang Chen taking aim at it as he gathered the last of his energy.


    "Protect...Mother...Mother...Protect...!"


    "Rest now, I''ll take over your resentment and show you true wrath. Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow."


    His arm jerked forward and unleashed the spear, a terrifyingly loud tearing sound ripping through the air as the spear left behind a dull grey streak in its wake. The spear pierced through the wispy black orb and continued on into the clouds, the tearing sound vanishing as the spear disappeared into the clouds. But the silence was quickly swallowed by a thunderous rumbling and crackling that seemed to rock the entire city, the dull grey streak propagating and arcing out.


    Countless streaks of energy spread out from the grey streak and covered the entire sky, disintegrating, rotting, melting, or tearing apart anything they came in contact with, even the dark clouds were torn up to reveal the blue sky. The massive abomination wasn''t spared from this, the wispy black orb releasing one final screech before it dissipated and the gargantuan body disintegrated. A delicate lotus with three different colours appeared where the head of the beast had been, slowly drifting towards the ground in a silent manner.

 The void storm and the abyss.

    Liang Chen stood within the ruins of the city, the light of the sun that snuck through the openings in the torn-up clouds shining down on him as he stretched out his right hand. The lotus that was quietly descending alongside the last few drops of rain landed in his palm, the law of death contained within it no longer acting as violent as it had earlier. Liang Chen let out a drawn out breath as he looked at the three-coloured lotus, weighing it in his hand.


    "I wish I could find a water element bloodline, it would suck if I have to fight like this every time I want to cultivate my body without Ling''er around."


    Liang Chen didn''t regret his choice of incorporating water into his body cultivation, it was a way for him to show the depths of his emotions and also a way for him to feel like Yan Ling was always there, even when they were apart. Even if he did end up finding a water-element bloodline, given the option and chance he would still choose to use Yan Ling''s water Qi over his own.


    Of course, actually finding a water-element bloodline was far easier said than done, especially in Liang Chen''s case. He couldn''t just pick any water-element Demonic beast and absorb its blood, his body would just use it as a cultivation resource as it always did when he used blood from Demonic beasts. If he could absorb just any bloodline then he would have long acquired a lightning bloodline and a poison bloodline.


    But he didn''t have those bloodlines despite the veritable sea of blood he had bathed in up to this point in his cultivation. The only bloodlines he had was the Heaven Devouring Dragon, the Star God, the Void Born, the Rot Dragon, and the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor. Other than the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor bloodline, the rest of the bloodlines contained blood that was either of the Divine Beast realm or higher, they were bloodlines that could stand somewhat equal with the bloodline Liang Chen had at the time of absorbing them.


    Thanks to this, Liang Chen guessed that if he tried to absorb a bloodline that was weaker than his own then it would just end up getting devoured and turned into energy rather than properly merged. The Nethersky Wyrm Emperor bloodline was probably an exception as it was a mutated bloodline and thus belonged to a more unique rank than a normal Nethersky Wyrm Emperor.


    And it was in this guess that Liang Chen found his problem, his current bloodline could be said to be at the peak of all bloodlines. His bloodline had merged with the Voidborn bloodline and now stood at the same rank as a Ruler Voidborn, a peak being born of true nothingness. His bloodline embodied nothingness and non-existence, where was he supposed to find a water-element bloodline that could merge with something like that? What sort of bloodline had reached such a level that even the rulers of the Void itself accepted it as an equal?


    A slightly subdued hissing sound reached Liang Chen''s ears and brought him out of his silent musings, his gaze landing on the descending Yumao. His scales had lost their lustre and his feathers were so wet with sweat that they stuck to his body, the final attack that tore open the massive abomination and laid bare its core had clearly taken a large toll on him. Yumao was still young after all so he wasn''t used to controlling such a large amount of shadows and darkness, much less when he also had to use them to launch a powerful attack. Yumao landed on Liang Chen''s head, Liang Chen giving his head a few soft strokes.


    "You did really good, your help really made things easier. How about you rest up and get some food for now and then we''ll take care of you first?"


    Yumao hissed weakly in response, rolling onto his back and hanging his head in front of Liang Chen''s face while keeping his mouth open. Liang Chen gave Yumao''s nose a light flick and brought out some of the corpses from his interspatial ring, quickly siphoning out the poison that he had used to kill them. He tossed the corpses to the side, ignoring Yumao''s hissing complaints and forcing him to leave Liang Chen''s head to feed.


    Liang Chen stretched out his left arm as Yumao flew to the side, a grey light rushing down from the sky. His spear crashed into the earth next to him, his hand wrapping around the handle and absorbing the weapon back into his body. He glanced at the blue sky and the dissipating clouds, drawing in a short breath as he once again activated the Rain-Caller''s Dance.


    The vanishing storm picked up again, rain and lightning once again pelting the ruined city and drowning out most other sounds. The lightning, rain, and fierce winds of the storm would be very helpful when he started his body cultivation, which was why he started the storm up again. It cost a bit of energy, but most of that energy could be recovered by just absorbing some of the elements within the storm.


    Yumao finished eating the corpses and got a few hours of rest, Liang Chen taking this time to quietly regulate his own condition back to its peak. He divided the Elemental Lotus into three, keeping the water portion for himself, chucking the earth portion into a jade box for safekeeping, and the death portion was kept for Yumao. The budding leaves that were growing at the top of the lotus showed faint black traces now that he looked at them from up close, they also radiated a very faint aura of the law of darkness so Liang Chen kept them alongside the death portion.


    Yumao finished resting and restored himself to his peak condition, his scales and feathers gleaming with a beautiful lustre that radiated a faint sense of power. Liang Chen stopped his silent meditation and locked eyes with Yumao, a pair of golden pupils locking with a pair of grey pupils. Liang Chen swept his interspatial ring and tossed Yumao his portion of the Elemental Lotus while nodding at him.


    "Here. I''ll guard you so don''t worry about getting interrupted."


    Yumao snatched the upper layer of the lotus, but rather than swallow the leaves one by one as Liang Chen expected, he swallowed the entire thing whole in one gulp, a task that was easy since he had stretched to his actual size. Liang Chen''s eyebrow twitched slightly at the scene, momentarily worried that Yumao wouldn''t be able to handle the immense amount of energy contained in the lotus. But seeing as Yumao had decided to do it, Liang Chen felt that he could only trust Yumao and believe that he knew his own limits.


    Yumao closed his eyes and coiled up after swallowing his part of the lotus, his flesh wriggling slightly as wispy tendrils of black energy started to seep out from between his scales. The energy moved around his body for a bit before it was sucked back into his body, Yumao not willing to waste an ounce of the energy.


    The sound of creaking started to sound out from within Yumao''s body, his bones twisting and bending, cracking as his body slowly grew larger and sturdier. His wings received the same treatment, the bones in them jutting through the skin as they started to slowly grow larger. His scales and feathers however, received a more gruesome treatment, falling out in droves and revealing his tender red flesh.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    His flesh wriggled and seemingly boiled, the energy of the Elemental Lotus tearing through Yumao''s body. Black tendrils of energy started to rise up from the ground and into Yumao''s body, the remaining deathly energy coursing through the ground resonating with the Elemental Lotus and instinctively heading for it. And Liang Chen didn''t know if it was because of Yumao''s law of darkness or the budding leaves that had been on the Elemental Lotus, but the shadows and darkness around them started to exude fog-like energy that also sank into Yumao''s body.


    And this sudden influx of extra energy seemed to be what pushed the already struggling Yumao over the breaking point. A portion of the boiling flesh on his tail exploded, splashing Liang Chen and the surrounding area with blood and minced flesh as Yumao let out a subdued and pained hiss. The creaking of his bones got even more intense, another section of his flesh exploding as bone fragments shot out.


    Liang Chen''s pupils instantly shrank until they were barely visible, his entire body tensing as he sprung up and shot over to Yumao. He placed his hand on Yumao''s boiling flesh and forced his own Qi into Yumao''s body, but the massive amount of energy had already turned completely rampant. Normally it wouldn''t turn this rampant just because there was so much of it, only a single possibility popping up in Liang Chen''s mind.


    Whatever sort of race Yumao belonged to, it was of a level that wasn''t strong enough to contain such vast energy. So rather than him controlling and absorbing the energy, the energy was trying to absorb and control his own energy, forcing him to struggle to resist, resulting in the current situation. Liang Chen quickly surrounded Yumao''s organs with his Qi to protect them as best he could, urging him on with a faint sliver of panic in his voice.


    "Spit it out! Spit it out and focus on forcing the remaining energy out of your body!"


    The Elemental Lotus had already been ruined by him swallowing it so spitting it out would cause the remaining energy in it to leak out, but a bit of waste was far better than the other option, death. But Yumao did not listen to Liang Chen''s urging, all his muscles tensing up as his body twisted, jagged red lines extending across his grey pupils. He didn''t relent even as his flesh was exploding, his gaze remained unyielding as he refused to abandon this energy, only furthering Liang Chen''s slight panic.


    "I said spit it out! We can find a different one, it''ll just be another detour, there''s no point in risking things like this!"


    Liang Chen tried to convince him, but it didn''t help. Yumao had been at Liang Chen''s side for quite a while now, he had seen almost all of Liang Chen''s struggles and fights. Yan Ling had seen things he would never see, but so too had he seen things that Yan Ling would never see. He had seen the things Liang Chen had risked, the way he put his own body and life on the line time and time again.


    His master, his father, was willing to go through such things for what he believed in, for those he wanted to protect. So how could he not do the same for the chance to acquire the strength to be of help to his father? So he did his best to reign in the rampant energy, he did his best to emulate the actions of the person closest to him.


    But some things simply couldn''t be achieved with mere bravado and determination. His body and bloodline were too weak to contain the vast energy, his attempts at reigning it in only increased the pain he felt, only hastened his death. But his blood-filled eyes remained unyielding even as more of his flesh and bones exploded, some of his organs already laid bare. But even so, he refused to abandon this energy, this chance.


    Liang Chen grit his teeth, the desire to shout and curse at Yumao practically boiling over in his chest. But he couldn''t do it, he knew that Yumao was only emulating what he had seen Liang Chen do time and time again, he was doing his best to be like Liang Chen. But the two of them were fundamentally different, they were beings of different rank, they were never meant to be able to achieve the same things. Liang Chen''s teeth started to crack from how hard he grit them, his expression suddenly sinking as he made up his mind.


    "No, I forbid it. You are not allowed to die, you are still going to fly with me to a sky higher than high, to an abyss darker than black."


    Liang Chen flipped Yumao onto his back and revealed his stomach, his gaze landing directly on Yumao''s frantically beating heart. He then held out his left arm with his palm facing the sky, placing the fingers of his right hand on his exposed wrist. His fingers pierced into his arm and pulled out his veins, his own blood splattering everywhere and hissing violently as it touched the ground.


    He split off part of his mind to subdue the worst of the lightning and the other violent energy in his blood, stabbing the veins directly into Yumao''s heart and pumping his own blood into him. If Yumao''s race wasn''t strong enough to handle the amount of energy then the answer was simple, Liang Chen just had to drag him up to his own level by force.


    Yumao immediately started to toss and turn, thrashing violently as Liang Chen''s blood flowed into his heart and started to spread through his body. Liang Chen had purposefully inserted his blood directly into Yumao''s heart to make it easier to spread through the rest of his body, hopefully increasing the speed at which he adapted to the blood.


    Yumao thrashed around due to the pain, but he didn''t allow any pained hisses to escape him, focusing entirely on resisting the pain while absorbing the blood. His father was doing his best to give him this chance, he could not allow himself to show any weakness at this point.


    But Liang Chen quickly discovered a problem as he poured more blood into Yumao, he himself was getting weaker too quickly, he was losing too much energy and blood. If things kept going like this, he would collapse before Yumao stabilized, and that would be catastrophic for both of them. His gaze sharpened further, since things had reached this point then there was no reason to not take it farther.


    "Fine, I''ll join you in your madness. But once you survive this you''d best be ready for me to smack you around."


    Liang Chen moved his right hand away from his veins and swept his interspatial ring, taking out his section of the Elemental Lotus and swallowing it whole. He then started to wantonly draw in the surrounding lightning, wind, and rain, his spear appearing in his grasp. He gathered all his energy as well as his law of the void at the tip and instantly unleashed his strongest technique, Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow.


    A grey hole as thick as a thumb was opened in the air next to Liang Chen, an immense amount of the law of the void spilling forth as a few grains of light grey sand fell out of the hole. He had once again torn open a small portal to the void, greedily sucking in the energy that burst forth and using it to temper his own body. He wanted to wait with his own body cultivation until Yumao was safely done with his own cultivation, but with things having reached this point he would just have to give it all.


    Since his energy and blood were vanishing too quickly then he just had to restore them faster than they vanished. Just drawing in the surrounding elements was possible, but it would be far more effective and far faster to use the massive energy that came about when he cultivated his body, it would also restore his lost blood far faster.


    So he started to cultivate his own body while pouring more and more of his own blood into Yumao''s heart, seemingly all-encompassing darkness welling forth from beneath Yumao and spreading out to blot out the entire area. Hidden away at the centre of the darkness was the small gate to the void, continuously pouring forth sand and energy, the land all around Liang Chen and Yumao turning white and bone-like in appearance as the void corrupted it. And at the centre of the spreading corruption was Liang Chen and Yumao, one birthing the void storm while the other strove towards his own abyss.

 Chapter 237: King of the Void Storm.

    A small boat cut through the strangely still water around Final Curse island, using the darkness of night as a cover. The boat was only barely large enough to hold the people sitting in it, all three of them clad in dark robes that almost made them merge with the darkness around them. The three people were huddled close together, looking over the small 3-d projection that showed the map of the island.


    "We''ll land on the northwestern shore soon so check over your equipment. The night is hiding it, but don''t forget the dark dome covering the entire island, you will not be able to see a damn thing if you don''t activate your bracelets. And if you end up lagging behind, we will leave you behind, time is of the essence. It''s already been four months since we lost contact with our guy on the island so it''s safe to assume that the Elemental Lotus has evolved and the battle for it has taken place."


    "Whoever acquired it is definitely wounded after the battle, and taking into account the time needed to heal, they shouldn''t have started absorbing the lotus just yet. We might be the first to arrive, but that doesn''t mean we can get careless, we rush in and crush anyone still left alive, then we take the lotus and make a break for it. And if the lotus has been absorbed, we bring with us the guy who absorbed it and refine him into medicine, at least that way we won''t lose too much."


    The voice of the male leader was low and solemn as he once again went over the plan with his associates. A Four-Petaled Elemental Lotus was definitely something that countless people were willing to fight and kill over so his group had rushed here the moment they lost contact with the friend they had living on the island.


    There luckily hadn''t been anyone here yet, the lotus and barrier of darkness would definitely have vanished if that had been the case. But there was no telling when anyone else would arrive, there were probably hundreds of other groups rushing across the ocean as they were speaking. If they were too slow, another great battle would break out and their odds of getting the lotus would plummet.


    The two other men nodded their head seriously, the group of three going over the plan several more times in hushed murmurs, partly to ease their nervousness and partly to make sure that there were no mistakes. Their boat stopped when it touched the shore of the island, all three men hopping out from the boat and plunging into the dark dome that surrounded the island.


    Their feet touched the earth within the darkness, a dry crackling sound breaking the previous silence. All three men traced the moon-decorated bracelets that they were wearing, a thin stream of Qi seeping out and congregating within their eyes. The Qi allowed their vision to pierce through the all-encompassing darkness all around them, their brows furrowing slightly as they looked at the ground.


    "What the blazes...? This doesn''t look like something brought about by the law of death, have you ever seen anything like it?"


    The earth beneath their feet was a sickly ashen grey in colour and had a texture similar to dried bones, even their faintest movements caused the earth to fall apart into ashen sand. The strangeness wasn''t just present on the earth, even the trees, stones, plants, everything around them looked the same as the earth. The only sound audible was the slight cracking as the things they touched fell apart, causing an eerie sensation to fester within the three people.


    "The lotus must have evolved more than expected, the number of deaths in the great battle might have actually pushed it a step further. Stay vigilant and move fast."


    The three men hurried away from the shore, following the route they had decided on beforehand as they rushed towards the distant city. They quickly managed to spot the city in the distance, increasing their speed even further when they saw that even the walls of the city had suffered the same fate as the land. But their steps halted abruptly when they got within a handful of kilometres of the city, their expressions twisting slightly.


    There were hundreds of corpses scattered across the earth in front of the city, some of them already taking on the properties of the land around them. Others, however, were so fresh that they hadn''t even started to rot yet, the Qi within them still in the process of dissipating.


    There was a girl sitting on a crude metal throne amongst all the corpses, a large portion of the throne already looking the same as the land around it. The elegant girl turned her head to look at the group, her sapphire blue eyes drilling straight into their souls. She stood up from her seated position with a light sigh, brushing away a few strands of the cyan hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.


    "He''s resting right now and I don''t want anyone to interrupt him so I would really appreciate it if you could just leave. Of course, you can just stay here and join the other corpses, that''s fine too."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The three men tensed up once the girl finished talking, the quiet and nonchalant way she was looking at them made them certain that her words weren''t just an empty threat. The three men glanced at each other and locked eyes, simultaneously coming to the same decision. There were three of them and just one of her, if they acted quickly enough then there was a chance that they could do it. Their bodies exploded forth with all their power, the girl simply waving her finger through the air.


    "Suit yourselves."


    The movements of the three men halted abruptly, their bodies twitching slightly. A red line appeared on their throats, quickly stretching out and covering their entire neck, blood spurting forth as their heads slid off and fell to the ground with a dry thud. The girl remained nonchalant after killing the three men, turning back to look at the city with a slight trace of worry in her pupils.


    "So this is your Void Storm... You really are as freakish as always."


    --


    Liang Chen''s entire consciousness was flooded by visions of a howling storm and the desolate wasteland that was the void. He could sense his own body and the energy rampaging through it, but the all-encompassing storm roaring within his consciousness prevented him from even being conscious of the thing his hand was resting on.


    He could only put all his focus on the energy rampaging through his body,  forcing it to move according to his wishes. He hadn''t forgotten what he was doing, he knew that there was a good chance that Yumao might die if he made a mistake with his cultivation and became unable to provide Yumao with the necessary blood.


    So he wrestled the energy into submission, a daunting task thanks to the never-ending flow of energy that sank into his body. His veins fell apart as the energy rushed through them, boiling, roasting, and disintegrating while his skin slid off in bloody patches. But this was what he wanted, this was what he needed to do right now. Once all his veins and skin had been replaced with a concentrated version of the elements he used for his body cultivation, that was when he would formally enter the Mortal God realm, the body-equivalent of the Primordial Immortal realm.


    So he fought, he grit his teeth and endured the pain, he persevered for the one who he couldn''t even sense right now despite actually touching him. And bit by bit, his veins, his skin, and the few remaining parts of his flesh and blood that had yet to be replaced changed. They were replaced by a dull grey mass that occasionally blinked in and out of existence, a tremendous amount if exceedingly heavy energy wriggling around within the mass.


    And then, before he realized it, the grey mass started to change. Some parts took on a red colour, some became a bit more colourless and transparent, taking on the role of his flesh and veins. And the final part of the grey mass stretched out to cover his flesh, pulsating and hardening before peeling off and revealing fresh skin, the storm in his mind and violent energy in his body vanishing.


    Liang Chen''s senses fully returned to him, his eyes sliding open and revealing the surroundings to him. The first thing he noticed was that the hand that was supposed to be on Yumao''s heart was now touching a black cocoon pulsating with energy. Darkness surrounded him, but his gaze managed to easily pierce through it, he could even faintly peer into the cocoon and see that Yumao was coiled up in it. He didn''t seem to be hurt, allowing Liang Chen to let out a sigh of relief, it seemed like things had gone well.


    The next thing he noticed after he became unable to drop his worry about Yumao was the change to his surroundings. The land all around him had turned bone-like in texture and taken on an ashen grey colour, some places had fallen apart and disintegrated into ashen sand, making it a nearly spitting image of the wasteland that was the void. Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the tiny portal he had opened to the void,  his hand stretching out and covering it, closing the portal so that it stopped encroaching on the world.


    The storm he had conjured up earlier seemed to have dissipated at some point so the influx of nearly endless energy vanished as he closed the gate to the void. Having finished checking the surroundings, he sank his senses into his body to check up on his own state, checking how much his own cultivation had grown.


    His soul cultivation hadn''t increased at all, but that was only to be expected as he had focused practically all the energy on his body. His Qi cultivation had increased slightly to his surprise, pushing him into the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. But even so, it was still his body cultivation that had seen the greatest growth. He had perfectly merged the elements he used to cultivate his body and successfully altered everything but his organs, officially entering the Mortal God realm.


    He extracted his sense from his own body and clenched his hand, relishing in the tremendous amount of power he could sense coursing throughout him. This wasn''t a small leap in power, this was a qualitative change that increased everything but the power of his soul and the three laws he used in his soul cultivation. As he was sensing the power coursing through his flesh, a voice came from behind him, his entire body stiffening as a shock ran through him.


    "You really know how to sleep, don''t you? You haven''t even bothered opening your eyes once in half a year, I almost thought you got lost in some sweet dream. But why is it that every time I see you, your strength leaps forward? I can just be blinking and suddenly you''ll have left me in the dust, barely able to look at your back.


    That voice was far too familiar to Liang Chen, it was one that resonated with every cell in his body. His head riveted around, his movements slightly stilted due to the shock he was feeling. And then his gaze landed on that familiar face, those sapphire blue eyes and cyan hair tied into a neat braid. The colours were different from the last time he had seen her, having returned to what they originally were, but even if they had changed more drastically, he would still be able to recognize her. That smile she flashed him was one he had seen countless times, one that had branded itself into his mind.


    "I''ve missed you, Little Freak."

 Chapter 238: Meeting of the lords.

    Liang Chen couldn''t help but stand there somewhat dumbly as he looked at Yan Ling''s smile, she was the last person he had expected to see upon finishing his cultivation. But while his mind was a bit slow to react, his body was far from it. His knees bent slightly, his figure blurring for a fraction of a second before he arrived directly in front of Yan Ling. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a powerful embrace as he buried his face in her hair.


    "I''ve missed you."


    It was a very simple and unadorned statement, one that was perfectly suitable to Liang Chen and his style. But it was this simple statement that caused Yan Ling''s expression to shift into infinitely gentle one, filled with warmth and comfort. She leaned her head against his rugged chest and greedily took in his warmth and scent, wrapping her arms around his waist in silence.


    She knew him better than anyone, a fact that was painfully true after he had lost everyone else close to him. So she knew that he was harsher on himself than anyone else, more unforgiving towards himself than his enemies. She had been whisked away and gotten to study under a supremely powerful existence, but he continued to fight on his own, carving a path forward with one bloody step after another. The pain and suffering he had to experience to reach his current level after they split up was not something she dared to even guess at.


    The two maintained their silent embrace for several minutes, making sure to properly get their fill of the other now that they had the chance. But they couldn''t spend all their time embracing like this, Yan Ling pulling back until Liang Chen''s hands were on her shoulders rather than around them.


    "How long has it been, 9 or so months? Back then you called it rather tasteless, but you seem to have come around to it, eh, Mister Wrathful Scourge Lord? Really pissed me off when you ran and got that rank before me, but seeing how much trouble you''ve attracted in the process it seems like I can safely assume that you''re still a magnet for trouble."


    Yan Ling kept her arms around Liang Chen''s waist as she spoke, pinching his lower back when she mentioned him getting his rank on the Multiverse Bloodwind List. But that pinching didn''t bother Liang Chen in the slightest, his hands moving up until they cradled Yan Ling''s face. He then leaned in without a word and gave her a kiss, allowing it to linger for a few moments before he pulled back from her lips, leaning his forehead against hers.


    "How are you here, did your training go well, are you back now, where is Lan Yun?"


    Liang Chen had a multitude of questions, spilling forth the ones that popped to the forefront of his mind. Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen with slightly upturned eyes, silently relishing in the unstable emotions that he only ever showed to her. But she still responded to his questions, using her pupils to gesture at their surroundings.


    "I''m back for now, I''m glad that you at least had the courage to admit that you missed me. It was Senior Nine Star that sent me here, he said you''d probably need someone to keep an eye on you while you cultivated. As for how he knew where you were, he said finding you was easy as you had just torn open a hole in one of his universes. My training is going well, Senior Nine Star helped me harmonize all my bloodlines and I''ve successfully entered the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm in both soul and Qi cultivation about two months ago. Lan Yun is currently with my brother, but I can bring her over at a moment''s notice thanks to a treasure Senior Nine Star gave us."


    Yan Ling gave a very short explanation of what sort of training she had undergone, and while Liang Chen had expected her cultivation to increase, he hadn''t expected her to reach the Primordial Immortal realm in both Qi and soul cultivation. There was also the matter of stabilizing her bloodlines, which came from the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and the illustrious Star God, none of which were simple bloodlines.


    To harmonize those, Liang Chen had no clue how the Nine Star Demon God even went about it. Yan Ling grinned proudly in the face of Liang Chen''s confusion, but her expression dimmed slightly as she used her hands to knead Liang Chen''s back. The dimmed expression only lasted for a split second before it returned to normal, Yan Ling showing her usual bubbling and somewhat cheeky smile while making a request that Liang Chen hadn''t expected.


    "Little Freak, let''s spar! It''s been too long, I need to see what you can do and if you''re still worthy of being the one to wear the pants in this relationship!"


    --


    While Liang Chen and Yan Ling were enjoying their reunion, the Nine Star Demon God was sitting on a wooden chair inside a pitch-black space, small silver dots scattered throughout the surrounding like stars. He was leaning back in a casual manner his right elbow resting on empty space while he rested his head on his fist. The silence reigning over the darkness was broken by a casual and carefree voice, a circular table with a hollowed-out centre appearing in front of the Nine Star Demon God, Yao Jun.


    "Oh? Quite rare for you to be the first one to arrive, Zoo. Did something good happen to put you in a nice mood?"


    The person who arrived and brought out the table was someone that Liang Chen would actually recognize, it was the ocean blue-haired and green-eyed Chang Yun. He casually took a seat at the table, a wooden chair appearing underneath him. Yao Jun ignored the nickname Chang Yun used for him, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.


    "No, I just need to request something from Brother Hao so I figured that I might as well come a bit early to get it out of the way."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    One of Chang Yun''s eyebrows rose in surprise after he heard Yao Jun''s statement, but another playful voice sounded out before he got to say anything.


    "Heh, The great Demon God making a request? Is the sky about to fall down on our head? You''ve reared more flying pigs for this joke, right?"


    The source of the voice was another youth that stepped into the pitch-black area, a crimson-eyed and icy blue-haired youth this time. Another wooden chair appeared at the table, the youth leisurely sitting down and resting his hands behind his head while placing his feet on the table. Yao Jun glanced at the newcomer, his expression shifting into a very faint smirk as he retaliated.


    "Brother Yang, you talk a lot of game for someone who had to come to me for lightning-element blood. Are you saying that your memories so bad you''ve already forgotten that? Are you getting old maybe?"


    The youth that was referred to as Brother Yang stiffened for a split second after Yao Jun retaliated. But he quickly clicked his tongue again, his gaze roaming down Yao Jun''s body.


    "Tch, of course, you''d bring that up. You know, I''ve heard that being excessively boring can lead to impotence down below, you sure that the missus is satisfied?"


    The entire area suddenly seemed to solidify, a low and droning creaking sound coming from all around the three youths. But the creaking sound was overshadowed by a large cracking sound, a rift appearing in the dark space as another you stepped in and interrupted Yao Jun and the other youth.


    "Quit it, we''re not here to play around. Yao Jun, what did you want to request from me?"


    The youth that arrived and sat down at the table was another one that Liang Chen would recognize, he had pitch-black hair and eyes as white as snow, he was the spitting image of the Ning Hao that Liang Chen had seen once before in a recording. Yao Jun turned away from the other youth as if nothing had happened, his gaze landing on Ning Hao as he stated his request.


    "I want to borrow the infant multiverse you''ve picked up, the one located right across the Sphere. There''s a girl I want to send there, the elements of the multiverse suit her excellently."


    Ning Hao rolled his eyes as if he was going through his memories, nodding his head after a short while and giving Yao Jun a stern reminder.


    "Alright, but you have to stay away from the Hearth Howl universe that''s located within it, I promised the voidling that I''d protect some of the people there so I don''t want you messing about there."


    Everyone around the table knew who the voidling was, he was even connected to the reason they were all meeting today. Yao Jun nodded his head in agreement, mentally noting the name for later as another voice rang out through the darkness.


    "So we''re among the last huh? Guess that only leaves the delivery boy."


    It wasn''t just one youth that arrived this time but two, one that Liang Chen would recognize and one that he would not. The first youth was the one he had seen alongside Ning Hao in the recording, the silver-haired and black-eyed Yin Long. As for the other youth, he had a golden right eye and a pitch-black left eye, his hair a strange mixture of the two colours that made it seem as if they danced around on his head. The two youths sat down at the table while looking slightly dishevelled, the crimson-eyed youth smirking at the both of them.


    "Oh, he''ll hit you if he hears that you called him that. And of course you''re among the last, just look at you. Let me guess, you were beating each other up again? Maybe getting a bit friskier than just beatings? Maybe doing something the misuses wouldn''t appreciate?"


    The youth was wiggling his eyebrows while smirking, the youth with differently coloured eyes returning a faint smile while gesturing towards the crimson-eyed youth''s nose by tapping his own.


    "It''s called sparring, and it''s good practice. You should join us again one of these days, you could stand to have your nose smashed a few times."


    The crimson-eyed youth didn''t seem to want to be outdone, his smirk growing into a somewhat arrogant grin as he started to crack his fingers one by one.


    "I''ll take you up on that offer, but are you sure you can handle getting beaten that summarily?"


    The three youths either grinned or smirked at each other, looking as if they were about to start their sparring right there and then. But once again, another voice interrupted them, another youth entering the area.


    "Alright, pipe down, he won''t last long so we don''t have the most time."


    The youth that arrived this time had long white hair tied into a neat ponytail and pitch-black eyes, a few strands of hair hanging down over them to form a slight contrast. He was dragging another person by holding them by the neck, but the person looked a bit strange. His skin was an ashen grey colour and his black veins were faintly visible through his skin, wriggling like worms.


    If Liang Chen were here, while he wouldn''t recognize this person, he would recognize that he looked extremely similar to the humanoid beings he had seen as he passed through the void. The white-haired youth threw the ashen man into the hollowed-out centre of the table, marks that resembled tiny maws and eyes starting to spread out from the man''s neck. As for the man, he swept his blue eyes across the people seated at the table around him, cackling in a strange manner.


    "Asmodai, Hades, Jormungandr, Lucifer, Azatoth, Nergal, Erebus, gehehehe, you''ve all actually gathered just to interrogate a tiny me. What good fun!"


    The Void Born had clearly given up on surviving, he knew that his escape had failed the moment the dreaded Jormungandr appeared in front of him and clutched his throat. As such, he could only take joy in whatever he could, such as forcing out all these big players. His cackling was brought to an abrupt halt when Yin Long flicked his finger, the Void Born''s ears suddenly falling down from his head.


    "Yeah yeah, just spare us the cackling and tell us what we want to know, you already know that you don''t have a choice."


    There was a very simple piece of information they wanted from this Void Born, they wanted to know why so few Void Born escaped out of the gate to the void that Liang Chen had opened. The number of escaping Void borns would normally number in the tens to hundreds of thousands for a gate that stayed open so long, but this time a mere 85 had escaped.


    The veins on the Void Born''s head started to wriggle and bulge fiercely after Yin Long severed his ears, an immense amount of pain clearly washing over his body. But the Void Born started cackling again while writhing in pain, turning nearly maniacal as the markings on his neck started to take over his entire body.


    "Gah...Gahaha. Do you think you''ve got a good handle on this Sphere, do you think you''re safe here? A true ruler has been born to us, one that will eat up even that uncaring newborn ruler, and then he''ll come for you, we''ll all come for you. There are kings and races even in your Sphere that are displeased with you, they''ve already started to show their support. Even the two other Sphere''s are starting to shift with the tide, soon there will be no place left for you that''s safe! Gahahahahahah"

 Chapter 239: The scourge and the apocalypse.

    Liang Chen''s eyebrows couldn''t help but rise as he looked at Yan Ling, who flashed him a brilliant and excited grin. She looked the same as always, but he couldn''t help but tilt his head somewhat suspiciously as he looked at her smile.


    "What exactly are you hiding? Or rather, what is it that you haven''t told me yet?"


    Yan Ling was the person closest to him, the one person in the multiverse that he knew better than any other. So looking at that brilliant smile he could feel it, she was hiding something from him, something she seemed somewhat reluctant to say. Yan Ling stiffened slightly at Liang Chen''s question, her lips twisting slightly as she grumbled at him, resembling an aggrieved child.


    "Would it kill you to be a little less perceptive? Or at least be a bit more delicate if you''re going to be that perceptive, give a girl some time to prepare herself rather than just put her on the spot like that."


    Yan Ling pouted and grumbled, but it wasn''t enough to distract Liang Chen, who continued to look at her with his head slightly tilted and his eyebrows raised. Yan Ling tried to shrink away from his gaze, but when she failed to do so, her eyes lit up as she got an idea.


    "I wasn''t going to tell you right away to save the suspense, but since you''re so adamant, I''ll relent. If you win our sparring match, then I''ll tell you straight away rather than wait until later, how about it?"


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly for a split second before returning to normal, his head and eyebrows also swiftly returning to a neutral position. It was clear to him that she wasn''t hiding anything harmful, in which case it didn''t matter if he played along with her. Of course, since he wanted to know what she was so reluctant to tell him, he had every intention of winning the sparring match, stretching out his arm and bending his fingers in a challenging gesture.


    Yan Ling''s grin returned when she saw Liang Chen''s gesture, her feet kicking off the ground as she immediately shot forward and left behind a trail of golden lightning in her wake. Liang Chen wasn''t surprised by the lightning, she had already shown her ability to control earth, metal, and lightning back when they merged the Azure Dragon and White Tiger bloodline into her already existing Star God bloodline.


    Back then she could only use those three laws for minor parlour tricks, but from the looks of things, her time with the Nine Star Demon God had allowed her to greatly increase her control over those three laws. Liang Chen didn''t move until Yan Ling was directly in front of him, his right hand raising and catching her fist, directly absorbing the lightning contained within her fist.


    The lightning she used was weaker than his, and she didn''t support it with a lot of Qi, and as a result, it was possible for Liang Chen to easily absorb it into his body. She didn''t seem surprised to be caught by him so easily, she was well aware that there was no way she would ever be able to compete with Liang Chen when it came to speed. If he wanted to then he could just dodge around and she would never be able to lay a hand on him.


    But right now he was grasping her fist so tightly that she didn''t have to worry about him dodging. Her Anima Essence burst forth and invaded his soul, a rotating gust of wind appearing at the tip of her fist and sucking in Liang Chen''s hand so that he couldn''t let go even if he wanted to. She swung out with her other fist at the same time, several sharp metallic blades spawning both on and around her fist as it headed directly for Liang Chen''s abdomen.


    But faced with her invading Anima Essence, Liang Chen didn''t even flinch, the invading energy quickly swallowed and eradicated. His soul cultivation was at the lowest stage of his three cultivation techniques, but his Anima Essence was stronger than his other energies thanks to the innate ability of the Sebettu.


    As for the physical aspect of her attack, he dealt with it in a similarly simple manner. He threw his right arm up, lifting Yan Ling up off the ground as he flung her over him, her sharp attack sliding over his head harmlessly. But while she was slightly caught off guard by the sheer ease at which he flung her around while also resisting her Anima Essence, she didn''t let go of this chance that revealed itself when he showed his back to her.


    She spun her body around so that she would land on her feet, the arm that Liang Chen was stuck to by her rotating wind twisting nimbly so that it didn''t break thanks to her movements. Yan Ling didn''t even wait for her feet to touch the ground, placing her free hand on Liang Chen''s back and unleashing a violent gust of wind that was filled with sharp blades, a razor-sharp tornado bombarding Liang Chen''s back and launching him away.


    She reversed the direction of the rotating wind that stuck her fist to Liang Chem''s at the same time, loosening his grip on her so that she wasn''t dragged along as he flew away. She could see the tornado tear open his back while her feet touched the bone-like earth again, but just as she expected, the wounds actually healed while they were being inflicted.


    Liang Chen''s body cultivation technique was extremely peculiar, having been created by an exceedingly powerful Universal Heart Ruler. And now that he had reached the Mortal God realm, the strength and sheer resilience of his body was not something that others at his realm could easily compare to. But this was something that Yan Ling had already expected, so she wasn''t done with her attack just yet.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The bone-like earth around Liang Chen burst open, the still normal earth that had been hiding deep beneath the upper bone-like layer rising up like a ferocious serpent. The fangs of the serpent were made from water and metal, space around them creaking from the sheer pressure that they radiated and forced the surroundings to endure.


    Liang Chen looked down at the incoming attack and then stretched out his arm, time in front of his hand halting so that he could stop himself from flying further. He then straightened his body into a standing position with his feet pointing at the incoming snake. And with a strong gust of wind, he launched himself downward like a descending meteor.


    His feet touched the fangs of the serpent, his shoes and pantlegs tearing as his veins bulged. And after a short second passed, the fangs shattered and he tore through the rest of the snake, crashing into the ground so fiercely that a shockwave rippled through the air around him. The torn-up earth around him was completely flattened and pushed down, forming a small crater around him.


    But Liang Chen didn''t even turn to look at where Yan Ling had been, a burst of energy rippling out from his body and halting the flow of time within a five-metre area around him. An act like this would previously have cost him an immense amount of energy, but now he felt like he could do it at least three more times, maintaining it for around three seconds each time even if there was someone with strength equal to his within the area. And it was thanks to this frozen time that he could leisurely turn his head to look behind him.


    "Space and time are equals, so when it comes to a clash between them it all boils down to who has the higher strength and the finer control. What is it you said back then when we fought together in Snow Mirror nation? Nihihi, what happened to all that boasting you did earlier?"


    Liang Chen smirked at Yan Ling, who was stuck behind him thanks to the frozen time. She had hoped to land a sneak attack by using her law of space while he was occupied, but that had clearly failed as he had been waiting for her all along. His words were sent directly to her ears, she was stuck in a frozen flow of space so she wouldn''t be able to hear them otherwise. Liang Chen continued to smirk at her as he turned around, grabbing onto the outstretched fist that had aimed at his back.


    "Now, I think I''ll cash in my winner''s privilege straight away."


    He undid the frozen flow of time and used his grasp on her fist to pull her closer, wrapping his other arm around her waist and planting a kiss on her lips. Yan Ling knew that she had lost, since he had the time to explain things as well as turn around and grab hold of her then he also had the time to kill her.


    She returned the kiss and wrapped her free arm around his waist, but there was an unmistakable trace of disappointment present between her brows. She had pulled out almost everything she had, but he had still beaten her with ease, exactly what she had worried about. The two ended the kiss after a short while, Liang Chen looking at Yan Ling with a gaze that made it clear what he wanted, leaving her with no recourse but to let out a sigh.


    "Ha~ah, I know I know, you don''t need to say it. I wanted to spend some more time with you before telling you, but since you''re so adamant then I have no choice. I... I won''t stay with you for long. Senior Nine Star told me about an infant multiverse whose elements are extremely closely attuned to my own, training there will give me three times the result for half the effort. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about it at first, not quite sure if I should go."


    Liang Chen''s slight smirk receded as Yan Ling started talking, fully understanding exactly what it was she was about to tell him. But he still listened, hoping beyond hope that she would prove him wrong. But she didn''t, grabbing onto the collar of his clothing while smiling nostalgically at him.


    "But now, now I''m certain that I have to go. I did everything I could, fought and trained with everything I had just to catch up with you. Yet here you stand, so far ahead of me that even your back is turning blurry. You''ve gotten stronger, and not just physically, but also mentally. You''re no longer the young child standing outside the Second Cloud Palace, hesitating about whether or not you should kill Liu Daning since you were worried about dragging us into things. Now you are able to stand tall with your head raised high and move forward with unflinching conviction, your every step shaking the surroundings."


    Back then, their strengths weren''t as far apart as it was now so she had been able to help him both physically and mentally. It was no lie to say that the time they spent together within the hidden realm had played a large part in shaping the current Liang Chen. It was part of the reason he could now stand with his head held high, his name already starting to spread some fear thanks to the actions he had performed with unbending determination. And comparing herself to that, Yan Ling felt so small and worthless.


    "And then there''s me, so weak that you could beat me with just your body and a bit of your law of time, you didn''t even have to move too much to beat me. If I follow you, what will I be but a burden? A damsel you have to protect and worry about. I refuse to be that damsel. If you are to be a scourge then I want to be an apocalypse, I want people to think of me as a monster worthy of standing beside you. So I''ll go with Senior Nine Star, I''ll go to that infant universe as weak little me, but I''ll return as an apocalypse worthy of you."


    The things she spoke about could be considered rather grim, after all, very few people actually dreamt about becoming someone who was so ruinous that they could be considered an apocalypse. Yet, as Yan Ling spoke of it, she smiled so purely and sweetly that it stabbed right into Liang Chen''s heart. He had chosen his path and walked it without regret, even if he was branded a sinner and a monster for it.


    And standing in front of him was a girl who was willing to become a monster just to follow him along his path, smiling so enchantingly and proudly at him that she once again stole his heart. His arms were somewhat stiff as he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her close, his voice soft as he practically muttered into her hair.


    "You know I can''t say no to you, so that''s just cruel of you."

 Chapter 240: Followers of the storm.

    Yan Ling didn''t say anything as Liang Chen embraced her, she just quietly leaned her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Powerful and regal yet slightly erratic, the only sign that his emotions weren''t as calm as he looked. She knew that his words weren''t entirely wrong, what she was doing was cruel, cruel to both of them.


    They had only just gotten somewhat used to being apart and alone, a drastic change compared to how they were earlier. So for her to visit and spark the hope that they would reunite, only for her to then state that they would split up again, this time ending up so far apart that the distance was impossible to calculate, was indeed cruel. She created hope only to then crush it mercilessly, a necessary but nonetheless painful act. With her choosing to not say anything, it was Liang Chen who ended up breaking the silence, ending the embrace.


    "There''s something I want to show you."


    Liang Chen pulled away from Yan Ling and walked over to the black cocoon that covered Yumao, sliding off his interspatial ring and placing it on top of the cocoon. Like this, the energy radiating off of the cocoon would somewhat protect the ring, and if it fluctuated violently then Liang Chen would be able to sense it even inside the ring. Having placed the ring on top of the cocoon, Liang Chen stretched out his left arm and presented his hand.


    "I''m terrible at these sorts of things, it was always meant for you, so I''m sure you''ll like it."


    Yan Ling couldn''t help but tilt her head somewhat confusedly at Liang Chen''s cryptic words, glancing curiously at his interspatial ring, which it seemed like he intended for them to enter. They had the same interspatial ring, they had received it during one of the trials of the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, so she knew everything his ring was capable of, and it shouldn''t be capable of holding living humans.


    But she still stepped forward and grabbed hold of his hand, her curiosity piqued. And when she grabbed hold of his hand, his other hand touched upon the interspatial ring, a slight twisting sensation running through space around them as they were sucked into the interspatial ring. And before Yan Ling could wrap her head around how they could get sucked into the interspatial ring, she found herself standing inside a large and mostly empty city.


    If her curiosity was piqued before then now it was completely aroused, her eyes practically sparkling as she swept them across the surroundings. The scene caused Liang Chen''s lips to curve up softly, his grip on her hand tightening slightly as he started to pull her along.


    "Come, this is just a small part."


    Thanks to his connection with the ring, Liang Chen could sense the presence of everyone within the city even while inside it. So it was easy for him to guide Yan Ling to the plaza that had been transformed into a martial field by Yi Xue and the others, who were all currently training there. But Liang Chen noticed something strange before they even reached the martial field, the number of presences inside the city was greater than it was when he was here last.


    And when they reached the martial field, the scene that he saw was also quite different from how he remembered it. The almost 200 disciples were split up into three orderly groups, the blue-haired and green-eyed Yi Xue keeping an eye on one group, the black-haired and bronze-eyed Liu San keeping an eye on the second group, and the brown-haired and yellow-eyed Tien Cui keeping an eye on the final group. The three people called out the occasional command, their respective groups following it and altering the moves they were performing.


    It wasn''t just the orderly manner of their training that surprised Liang Chen, the appearances of the disciples also caught him off guard. Several of them were clearly older than they had been last he saw them, and some of them had brought along young infants that hadn''t been here earlier.


    Liang Chen had a guess at what might be going on, but he and Yan Ling were spotted before he got a chance to voice his guess. The training was immediately halted, the people moving in such an orderly manner that Liang Chen couldn''t help but find it slightly unsettling. The gazes of the people lingered on the confused Yan Ling for a second, drifting down to their enclosed hands as they seemingly understood something. And as they understood it, they moved as one and did the one thing Liang Chen had told them time and time to not do, they dropped into a kneeling position.


    "We welcome your return, Storm Lord, Wolf Mistress!"


    Liang Chen''s lips twitched slightly at their respectful, and strangely excited, kneeling. But Yan Ling seemed to have guessed something from the titles, the sparkles in her eyes practically turning into tiny stars as she looked at Liang Chen. Liang Chen''s twitching stopped when faced with that childlike and excited expression, a smile creeping up on his face as he nodded his head and gestured towards the kneeling people.


    "It''s just as you guessed, they''re new members of the Storm Wolf sect, 168 people to be exact. Well, it was exact last time I was here at least, but it seems like there have been some changes since I was last here."


    Liang Chen allowed his gaze to roam over the kneeling people, his eyes lingering slightly on the new infants that were looking at him with pure curiosity. He waved his hand at the kneeling people with some annoyance, a strong gust of wind forcing them up as he spoke to Yi Xue.


    "Get up already, you know that I dislike all this kneeling, it''s uncomfortable. As you guys guessed, this is my future wife, Yan Ling. She''s the one who dragged me into the Storm Wolf sect in the past, and she''s also one of the two other disciples I told you about when you first latched onto me. Yi Xue, I''ve been in... Unplanned cultivation for half a year, but how long has it been for you guys, and what changes have there been?"Stolen story; please report.


    For him, it had only been half a year, but the ring might have maintained a flow of time that was at least slightly sped up, that was the only explanation that Liang Chen could come up with for the strange situation he was facing. Yi Xue and the others were somewhat unsteady due to Liang Chen''s wind so they needed a few seconds to balance themselves before they gave Yan Ling a bow, Yi Xue responding to the questions.


    "We greet you, Sect Mistress, we are new disciples who Storm Lord saved and picked up, giving us the grace of techniques and resources so that we can achieve our desires. As for your questions, Storm Lord, we last saw you five years ago. There wasn''t any word from you for so long that we assumed you had either gotten into a dangerous situation or had sped up time in here as much as you could to give us more time to train, but it seems like it was neither. As for any changes, it is as you can see. We''ve got some new pairings, some new members, and thanks to the techniques and resources you left us, we''ve managed to cultivate our strengths quite adequately."


    Liang Chen listened to the explanation in silence, it was about what he had expected. The ring had probably reacted to the influx of Qi all around him and uncontrollably activated the time-altering array engraved in it. But since it was an uncontrolled activation it didn''t seem like it sped it up by too much, Liang Chen didn''t even want to think about what might have greeted them if the ring had activated to its full potential.


    He also noticed that the way Yi Xue spoke was fairly different from how it was previously, it seemed to have lost that slightly childish naivety and general bubbliness that it once had. Clearly, having spent five years helping the other disciples train had altered her at least somewhat, something that was to be expected, time changed most people.


    Liang Chen listened quite calmly, but each word spoken caused Yan Ling''s eyes to just shine even more, the exact result that Liang Chen had desired. He still remembered what she had told him when she said that they were perfect for the Storm Wolf sect, how it would be perfect if they were called Sect Mistress Ling and Sect Master Freak. She spoke about it in a silly manner, but he could still tell that she truly wanted to take over the Storm Wolf sect, how she desired the title of sect Mistress.


    Liang Chen let go of Yan Ling''s hand, unleashing her so that she could spring forward like an excited child. She practically jumped on Yi Xue, chatting with her and introducing herself to the other disciples, doing her best to quickly learn about all of them. And while she was excitedly running about to get familiar with the new members of her sect, Liang Chen stood a short distance away and smiled softly at the scene.


    It was just like he said earlier, he was terrible at these sorts of things. He wasn''t someone who belonged in a sect, he wasn''t a leader, he had never been suited to those things. He was a solitary butcher, moving from battlefield to battlefield and simply racking up more corpses along his path. And yet, whenever he turned to look behind him, there would just be more people gathering there, following right behind or beside him.


    Liang Chen continued to look on as Yan Ling went up to each of the new disciples and introduced herself, spending a few minutes to learn a little about them. She would occasionally turn to look at Liang Chen with either a surprised expression or a smirk so he could guess that they were telling her about things he had either done or said.


    These people were practically blinded by when he had rescued them so he was certain that they were highly exaggerating whatever they were telling him, he was far from as good or great as most of them believed. Yi Xue moved closer to Liang Chen while Yan Ling continued introducing herself, her gaze following Yan Ling for a bit as she smiled.


    "So that''s the one who''s snatched your heart, no wonder you never really looked at anyone else, she''s certainly charismatic, far more charming than you."


    Liang Chen glanced sideways at Yi Xue, the girl who still didn''t know exactly how bad the relationship between her father and him was. He also had no intention of ever telling her, it wasn''t something she needed to hear, and knowing would certainly not bring her any benefits. Yi Xue wasn''t bothered by Liang Chen''s silence, her gaze drifting over some of the other disciples as she continued to talk.


    "It''s only been half a year for you, but five years for us. For some cultivators, five years might be nothing, but to us, it is a fairly long time. As such, we''ve had plenty of time to talk, and we''ve come to a decision. It is time that we leave. There is a limit to how much we can learn here, a limit to how much we can hone ourselves. So now that you''ve returned, we want to leave, we want to travel through the greater world to continue honing our skills. Of course, some of the newer people you picked up want to head out to get their revenge, but for us older members we can''t really do that, being in a different universe and all. Is that fine with you?"


    It was a conversation that Liang Chen had expected to take place sooner or later, what he had to offer these people was extremely limited. Of course, he hadn''t expected it to happen this early, but the unexpected events taking place had ended up leading up to it. But he wasn''t bothered by it, casually nodding his head.


    "I already told you didn''t I? Flee by yourself, fight those who enslaved you, follow me, you are free to do whatever you want. I never planned on putting limitations on what you can and can''t do, you are free to leave and do whatever you want. Of course, depending on what you do then there is a chance that I might appear before you again someday, but at that time our meeting probably won''t be as joyous for you as it was last time."


    Those were the exact words he had told them when he rescued the 150 newest members of the sect, and he had truly meant them. They now had the freedom to do whatever they wanted, they just had to live with the consequences of their choices. Yi Xue smiled slightly at Liang Chen''s words, which some might consider somewhat cold and callous.


    "Don''t worry, none of us will do anything that might make you come for us, there''s no way we''d survive an encounter like that."


    She chuckled for a short moment at the thought before she started to walk back to the others, casting a glance back at Liang Chen as she walked.


    "You know, you should value yourself more, you''re greater than you think, your hands can hold more than you think. She''s seen it, we''ve seen it, and we''re sure that there will be countless others in the future that will see it. You''ve saved all of us, so even if we leave, we''ll always be members of the Storm Wolf sect, we''ll always be spreading that name. And above all, we''ll always follow the Storm Lord."

 Chapter 241: A ring and a promise.

    It didn''t matter how much Liang Chen wished for his time with Yan Ling to continue forever, both of them knew that their time together drew shorter with each passing minute. Neither of them spoke up about it, Liang Chen accompanying Yan Ling as she interacted with the new sect members and helped those who cultivated laws she knew a bit about.


    She was certainly a better teacher than Liang Chen, who beat up all the disciples on their first day, tormenting them until they were barely able to remain standing. Yan Ling was far more patient, focusing more on pointing out ways for them to utilize their laws and the occasional mistake they made in how they controlled or utilized their laws. She was especially helpful to those who cultivated the law of wind, as it was the first law she herself ever cultivated.


    "You''re focusing a bit too much on the toughness of wind that moves at high speed. Don''t forget that the wind remains flexible and soft no matter how fast it moves, it can pass through even the smallest crack even while moving so fast that it practically turns into a solid wall."


    "You, however, are the opposite. Yes, the wind is flexible and soft, but if you focus too much on that then you won''t have many ways of actually attacking your enemies. It wouldn''t be a problem if you had a secondary law you could use for attacking, at that point you could use your soft wind to enhance your movements and defence, but right now you only have the law of wind so you need to focus more on how to use it for attacks."


    Yan Ling''s law of wind was something she had gained thanks to her bloodline, which had slightly influenced her even while still dormant in her body. The law had always been around her and was something she had used almost every day, it was a law that her family had used even for normal everyday tasks.


    As such, she was quite different from Liang Chen, who had picked up all his laws rather late compared to other cultivators. They were also different in the manner that Liang Chen basically only used his laws for combat or attacking, he couldn''t even remember the last time he had used one of his laws for anything that didn''t involve enemies of his.


    So while he might be suitable for teaching others how to kill their enemies, Yan Ling was more suited for teaching others a more comprehensive way of using their laws. But Yan Ling had spent a fair bit of time with the Nine Star Demon God and had very clearly learned a few more tricks that she could teach to others.


    "This might be useful to all of you so listen up. The most common way to attack with the law of wind is to compress it into thin blades or needles and them making the wind rotate or oscillate to increase the sharpness. Another common method of attack is to compress the wind into a small shape while packing it full of constantly moving force, basically creating a bludgeon you can swing around freely."


    "But that is not the full extent of the law of wind. Most living beings need to breathe, and the law of wind is perfectly capable of robbing them of their needed air, either by pulling it straight out of their lungs if they''re too weak or by pushing away all the air in the area around them. There is one other method that my master has told me about, but I''ve yet to replicate it so don''t expect a demonstration. If you can manage to invade an enemy''s body with your wind, even just a small amount, you can create bubbles of air in their veins and then send those bubbles directly to either their brain or heart, or you can just block up that vein to rob certain limbs of blood. This particular method is quite insidious and good for sneak attacks, but it''s hard to pull off and harder to train, I really wouldn''t recommend testing it on yourself."


    Liang Chen stood a short distance away and quietly watched as Yan Ling demonstrated the various utilizations that she mentioned. It wasn''t just the law of wind cultivators that were listening to her descriptions, the other disciples also made sure to listen in case they picked up something they could use for themselves.


    The last two utilizations she mentioned were particularly vicious, one suffocated your opponent while the other induced strokes or simply stopped their hearts. If these were the things that the Nine Star Demon God taught to his disciples, then it was quite clear that the Nine Star Demon God wasn''t exactly some old ascetic that touted the virtues of nature and existence.


    Yan Ling clearly noticed Liang Chen''s gaze, turning and smiling at him, the two communicating without a single word spoken. It felt like an instant, but she had already been here for a week, doing her best to live out her dream of being the Storm Wolf Sect Mistress while also spending as much time as she could with Liang Chen. She gave the law of wind cultivators a few more quick tips to keep in mind and then walked over to Liang Chen, the disciples of the sect understanding what was about to happen.


    "Let''s go, there''s something I want to give you."


    Yan Ling smiled softly at Liang Chen as she spoke, stretching out her arm so that he could take her hand in his. Liang Chen squeezed her soft and warm hand, the mere act of holding it almost enough to blow away any memory of how cold he found loneliness. He connected his mind with the interspatial ring and the two of them vanished from the city, once again arriving in front of the dark cocoon that surrounded Yumao.


    Yan Ling swept her gaze across the surrounding scenery, which hadn''t changed at all while they were inside the interspatial ring, everything was still that same corrupted bone-like appearance and texture. The two held hands in silence for a bit, Yan Ling gazing at their intertwined fingers for a while before she broke the silence.


    "Last time, you said that when we met again you would give me the last crystal for this ring, you''d complete it upon our reunion. But now isn''t the time to complete it, is it? So this time, I''ll be the one to leave you with a ring and a promise."


    Yan Ling smiled fondly at the ring she wore, the silver ring embedded with six crystals, the ring that had never once left her finger after Liang Chen gave it to her. Six crystals representing six laws, it only lacked Liang Chen''s law of the void and then it would be complete. He gave her a ring and she had given him a robe, one he still kept tucked away safely in his interspatial ring until the day to wear it came.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Yan Ling held out her other hand after she finished speaking, a ring appearing in the centre of her palm. The ring was split into two colours, a wavy blue pattern and a wavy silver pattern, both dancing around the ring while an emerald carved to look like a sun served as the centrepiece of the ring. She changed her grip on his hand and slid the ring onto his left hand''s ring finger, smiling charmingly while giving her promise.


    "The bright dawn that rose from the Green Rivers, isn''t it fitting? We''re splitting up now, but the next time we meet will be the final, and it''ll be our grandest reunion, one for all to see. No more separations, no more distance. Always and forever, I''ll be by your side, until we see the end of time, that is my promise."


    The smile she flashed him was so dazzlingly bright that Liang Chen was nearly blinded, Yan Ling once again stealing his heart. She had gone to great lengths to forge this ring, making sure that its appearance was just right to symbolize the man who was to wear it, Green River''s bright dawn.


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but feel slightly choked up as he looked at the ring, a stuffy feeling pervading his chest. He had lost so many things in his life, but there were certain things he had gained as well. He no longer had a home or any family, but he still had Yan Ling, he still had Yumao, he still had Lan Yun, he still had people close to him. He placed his left hand on Yan Ling''s cheek and leaned in, the two sharing a drawn-out kiss, the last one they would share for who knew how long.


    But no matter how much both of them wanted it to continue for just a bit longer, it had to come to an end sooner or later, the two separating from each other. Yan Ling smiled at Liang Chen, pointing towards the distance as she spoke, trying to hide the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes.


    "Over there is something I made earlier. I originally made it for me while I waited, but now it should suit you more, you should really check it out."


    She took a step back as she finished speaking, Liang Chen quickly handing her the final portion of the Elemental Lotus that he had picked up here. The final portion had the earth element, and while he originally planned on handing it to one of the sect''s disciples, he decided to hand it over to Yan Ling now that he saw that she had greatly increased her control over the law of earth.


    She sent him another sweet smile that stabbed directly into his heart and then pulled out a wooden plaque from her interspatial ring, stroking it once and vanishing like a mirage fading from existence. There were no words of goodbye or farewell, this was not an eternal separation, and neither of them had the heart to utter those words. They would meet again, and then Liang Chen would finish the ring he had given her, and he would proudly proclaim her as his to the entire universe.


    But for now, Liang Chen was left alone with the aching in his heart, the cold sting of loneliness once again prodding at his heart. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath before picking up his interspatial ring again, swiping it once and bringing out all the disciples of the Storm Wolf sect. They had already prepared everything they needed long ago, they were just waiting for Liang Chen to show up again.


    Liang Chen swept his gaze over all the people, who were currently greedily drawing in the outside air. The air within the orb wasn''t too different from the air here, but there was something psychological about it, just knowing that you were currently stuck inside an orb simply made the air feel a bit worse.


    Liang Chen had handed the disciples several chariots and other constructs that could be used for flight and rapid movement after learning about their plans, he had quite a few such items after snagging all the interspatial rings from his dead enemies. His gaze continued to sweep over the group of people for a bit longer, all the people he had picked up were leaving to accomplish their own goals or to work towards accomplishing their goals.


    He hadn''t spent much time with them, but he couldn''t avoid becoming a little sentimental. But just as he said, they were free to do as they please, and he wouldn''t do anything to stop them. He pulled back his sweeping eyes and looked at them with a strong gaze while giving them a nod.


    "Go, I hope that you accomplish what you aim for, I hope that you''ll find what you''re looking for. And I pray that I''ll never have to go hunting for you."


    Short and straight to the point, he didn''t leave them with too many words, only his heartfelt hope. The group of people didn''t falter under his strong and somewhat stern gaze, once again causing him to cringe by dropping to their knees.


    "Thank you for saving our lives, and thank you for picking us up when we were at our lowest! We swear that we won''t tarnish the name of the Storm Wolf, we swear that we will return to you one day! Thank you for everything, Storm Lord!"


    They ignored Liang Chen''s slightly distorted expressions and remained on their knees while loudly thanking him. They stood up after they finished showing their gratitude and then left, splitting up into pre-organized groups and leaving Liang Chen as one of only two living beings still remaining on the island.


    Liang Chen spat out a somewhat drawn out breath as he looked at the people vanishing into the distance, turning towards the direction that Yan Ling had pointed down earlier. He didn''t have to walk far to reach the thing she had spoken about, his lips curling slightly as he looked at the item she had left behind.


    "Really, you always did have such terrible and cringe-inducing taste, didn''t you?"


    The thing standing in front of Liang Chen was a crude but grandiose throne where the top of the backrest was shaped to resemble a five-pronged crown. The throne was probably made of different material in the past, but its presence on this corrupted land resulted in the entire throne turning bone-like in appearance and texture, just like the land around it.


    Liang Chen swept his gaze across the corpses that surrounded the throne, each one a sign of the time Yan Ling spent here protecting him while he cultivated. He blew some air out of his nose and sat down on the corrupted throne, leaning into it while muttering to himself.


    "Heh, return as someone worthy of me? If you ask me, I''m probably the one who has to grow up so I can be a bit more worthy of you."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but chuckle self-deprecatingly at himself, the sharp pang of loneliness and hopelessness he felt as Yan Ling left made him feel like he was a child again. He remembered how hopeless he felt when his parents were executed, when he was forced to leave behind Tian Chun and leave the city on his own, when Yan Ling and the others first left the Mystic''s Hidden Realm without him.


    It was so easy to make him feel lonely and hopeless, to the point that it almost made him laugh at himself. She wanted to become strong enough to be worthy of him, but he wanted to become mature enough to be worthy of her. Both of them still had to grow some more, it was just that they had to grow in different areas.


    Liang Chen remained seated on the throne after laughing at himself, quietly watching over the area as the days passed. He waited patiently and quietly, all the way until the dark cocoon resting a short distance behind him cracked open, sucking in the dark dome that covered the entire island.

 Chapter 242: Yumaos growth.

    The darkness that covered the entire island cracked open in front of Liang Chen''s eyes, rays of light piercing through the cracks and finally illuminating the island again. The cracks spread further and further across the darkness, the entire dome eventually shattering like an egg and sending shards of solidified darkness dancing through the air.


    But the solidified darkness didn''t get to dance around for long, the cracked cocoon resting a short distance behind Liang Chen unleashing a fierce suction force that drew in all the shards. The cocoon greedily swallowed up all the darkness, the cracks on its surface growing with each dark shard that was absorbed. Liang Chen hopped down from the throne, patting off his robe as he turned and headed for the cocoon with a low mutter.


    "Nearly a month... You actually keep people waiting longer than I do."


    The cocoon wasn''t far away, and with Liang Chen''s speed reaching it was only a matter of a blink. The suction force unleashed by the cocoon tore at his robe and body but was unable to make him budge, his hands clasped behind his back as he waited for the cocoon to fully open. And open it did, in a grandiose and magnificent manner that Liang Chen could only describe using the word exaggerated.


    The cocoon finished swallowing up all the darkness and then exploded, a nearly half a kilometre wide and several kilometres tall pillar of black light shooting into the sky. The pillar unleashed a droning and screeching sound that shook the entire island, resulting in all the bone-like earth and structures to fall apart into ashen sand.


    Liang Chen''s gaze was locked on the pillar of black light, his sight piercing into it and locking on to something that seemed to be swimming around within it. The thing within the pillar ascended to the top of it, two pitch-black feathery wings bursting out from it as an ear-piercing and slightly hiss-like roar overshadowed the droning screech of the pillar. Liang Chen scratched his ear with his little finger, looking at the two feathery wings with an exasperated expression.


    "Alright, now you''re just overdoing it."


    His words seemed to reach the being at the top of the pillar, the deafening roar immediately silencing. The two feathery wings flapped once, the pillar of black light shattering and dissipating as the being at the top shot down to the ground. And as the being, Yumao, reached the ground and revealed itself, Liang Chen got his first look at Yumao''s changes.


    Appearance-wise he hadn''t changed much, a serpentine body covered in black scales, black feathers running down his back and hiding razor-sharp spikes, two feathery wings extending from his side, grey eyes that flashed with a sharp light, and a forward-pointed jagged horn sticking out from each side of his head. But there were two noticeable changes to him, he now had grey lines that resembled veins running down his body, and he had grown from being only seven metres to a staggering 90 or so metres, growing to more than ten times his previous size.


    Of course, the change to his size was actually a sign of not just his strength but also his bloodline. The aura radiating from his body had shot to the Primordial Immortal realm, stabilizing at a stage where it would be just about equal to Liang Chen''s. As for Yumao''s bloodline, just the fact that Liang Chen''s bloodline resonated with it was enough to show that it had become at least partly Void Born so there was no need to mention the level of his bloodline anymore.


    And so, the bloodline that could be considered the antithesis of all creation had been passed on to another being, the Scourge King securing the evolution of his companion. And Yumao was well aware that the success of his evolution was due to Liang Chen, so he respectfully lowered his head the moment he landed on the ground and shrank to a more reasonable size.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Thank you, Mas...Gh!"


    Yumao and Liang Chen had been able to communicate before, but that was mostly through Yumao sending some words directly to Liang Chen''s mind to make his intentions understood. It was only now, after his completed evolution that he could properly speak the words, his voice somewhat low and slightly hoarse. But the first thing Liang Chen had done when Yumao finally spoke up was to hit him over the head, grabbing onto one of his horns and pulling him closer.


    "Oh no you don''t. Try to call me that one more time and I''ll smack you, got it?"


    Kneeling and the like was already awkward enough for Liang Chen, and he could just barely stomach it when it was Yi Xue and the others that did it. But if Yumao, a partner who he had raised from an egg and personally named, were to bow like that and refer to him as master, it would be enough to drive Liang Chen insane. Yumao''s eyes flashed with a bit of awkwardness after Liang Chen pulled him closer, but he knew when to relent.


    "Alright then. Thank you, Father."


    Liang Chen''s body stiffened slightly at Yumao''s words, his empty hand raising as he stretched out his finger as if he was trying to make a point. His mouth hung open for a short moment as he tried to come up with a counterpoint, but eventually, he was forced to settle on the simplest argument.


    "Oh come on, that''s just going to make things incredibly awkward. If I''m the father, shouldn''t I be the one letting you ride on my shoulders rather than the other way around?"


    Liang Chen rode around on Yumao''s head a fair bit, wouldn''t it end up incredibly awkward if Yumao went around calling him father while Liang Chen did so? Of course, whether or not Yumao would actually care too much about Liang Chen''s awkwardness was a different story entirely. And in this particular case, he had already relented enough.


    "It can''t be helped, you''re the one who named me Liang Yumao and popped me out of the egg so you''ll just have to live with that title, Father."


    It was a bit hard to discern since Yumao was a snake, but Liang Chen could swear that his mouth had curved up somewhat cheekily. He let go of Yumao''s horn, spitting out a long and drawn-out sigh.


    "You were cuter when you couldn''t speak properly, at least you weren''t this cheeky then. I blame Ling''er, there''s no way someone like me could raise you to be cheeky, you''ve been tainted by her."


    Liang Chen knew his own personality well enough, calling him gruff wouldn''t be an exaggeration. As such, for him to raise someone to be cheeky was something he considered impossible, meaning that Yumao had stuck too close to Yan Ling and drawn upon her personality rather than Liang Chen''s. As Liang Chen spoke of Yan Ling, Yumao seemed to remember something, shrinking down to his usual small size and nestling on Liang Chen''s head while pointing at the new ring that had been added to Liang Chen''s finger.


    "Speaking of...Mother? Why does that ring smell like her?"


    Yumao tilted his head slightly, somewhat uncertain what he should call Yan Ling. She wasn''t really connected to his birth, but she was the future wife of his father, did that mean that she should be called Mother? Or should he call her step-mother? It was a question he couldn''t find an answer to, Liang Chen helping him escape the thought-process by raising his hand and showing off the ring.


    "It smells like her because she gave it to me. She was here for a bit while you were still stuck inside your little cocoon. But she''s left now, as have the others we picked up along the way. They''ve all gone to accomplish their own goals, so now it''s just you and me again. Well, looking at our track record we''ll probably end up picking up more people along the way, we seem to have a knack for finding people like that."


    A small smile crept up on Liang Chen''s face as he tapped Yumao on the head, getting his intention across. Yumao flapped his wings and flew down from Liang Chen''s head, not even having gotten to settle in properly before he was forced away.


    He grew to his full size, Liang Chen neglecting to comment on how it was unnecessary for him to grow that large just to fly around. Liang Chen sat down on top of Yumao''s head, leaning against one of the jagged horns as Yumao flapped his wings and shot into the sky, the voices of the two drifting through the air as they shot into the distance.


    "...We? Now I''m not entirely sure, but I''m pretty sure that you''re the one who picked up all those people, snatching them up and stuffing them into your bag. I don''t think I had any hand in those kidnappings."


    "Yup, you''re going to give me a headache. Seems like I gotta spank Ling''er for tainting you when we next meet."

 Chapter 243: The past void.

    Liang Chen didn''t have Yumao carry them back the same direction from which they had approached Final Curse Island. Now that their cultivation had increased somewhat, it was time to head for the Heaven and Hell Dominion so that he could enter Purgatory''s Cradle. But before they embarked on that journey, there was a division of the Golden Branch sect located on an island that was about a month''s flight away from Final Curse Island.


    He could deal with that division and then use the spatial array inside the city to head for one of the larger cities that had a spatial array that would take him to one of the planets that carried a spatial array leading all the way to the Heaven and Hell Dominion. Of course, when Liang Chen calculated that the trip would take about a month, he had done so before Yumao finished his evolution. As a result, it was only about 11 days after leaving Final Curse Island that Yumao''s voice brought him out from his silent cultivation.


    "Father, I think that''s the villain''s nest over there? It certainly gives off that evil lair vibe, perfect for baddies who like to skulk around while doing shady shit."


    Liang Chen opened his eyes and gazed upon the distant island, which was only about 200 or so kilometres across, a fairly small island that was about to be shrouded by the darkness of night. Maybe as a result of the size of the island, practically every inch of it was covered by a single vast city, only a small sliver of the island disconnected from the city. This small sliver was occupied by a harbour, but seeing that there was another harbour that was actually connected to the city, Liang Chen guessed that the two harbours served different purposes. But rather than think about the purposes of the harbours, he was a bit more preoccupied with Yumao.


    "Where did you even learn half of those words?? Not even Ling''er talks like that, so who could possibly talk like that??"


    Liang Chen was damn sure that he hadn''t said words like that around Yumao before so there was no way he could have picked them up from him. But Yumao refused to answer, choosing to instead snicker sneakily as if he was part of some grand conspiracy. And with Yumao refusing to confess, Liang Chen was forced to shove the blame onto the one person who might have a hand in it, Yan Ling. Thinking about her personality, he wouldn''t consider it beyond her to teach Yumao a bucketload of strange words just to mess with Liang Chen once Yumao became able to talk.


    Liang Chen let out a long sigh and returned his gaze to the island-wide city, which seemed to be built using a type of pale blue stones or corals that had been dragged up from the sea. The entire city was actually surrounded by a large metal wall covered in arrays, even the part by the harbour was defended by a wall, forcing arrivals to use a sluiceway to actually reach the city from the harbour.


    He could just barely see people moving about atop the wall, probably guards, so he guessed that not even covering most of the island was enough to prevent the city from being attacked by Demonic beasts. Although looking at their location, it seemed like they had to contend with sea-borne and air-borne Demonic beasts more than land-borne Demonic beasts.


    Yumao flapped his wings and flew over the harbour that wasn''t connected to the city, descending in front of the metal gate that served as the entrance to the city. Liang Chen jumped down from Yumao, his gaze landing on the group of armoured soldiers standing ready just beyond the open gate. His attention landed on the man leading them, a bronze-eyed middle-aged man with swept-back black hair that had a few grey strands in it.


    "I didn''t expect a welcoming procession. Let me guess, the Golden Branch sect?"


    Looking at how they stood there fully armoured as if they were going to face a great enemy, it wasn''t hard for Liang Chen to guess the affiliation of these people. The man leading them had even reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but if the Golden Branch sect still thought that something like that was enough to stop him then he felt that they were a bit too naive. But contrary to his expectations, the bronze-eyed man leading the group shook his head and gave a polite bow.


    "No, we''re not from the Ocean''s Willow sect, I''m Zeng Lao, the city governor, and these are guards employed in the city."


    The man, Zeng Lao, might only have introduced himself, but the quick introduction also told Liang Chen that Zeng Lao knew that the Ocean''s Willow sect, his target here, was tied to the Golden Branch sect. And if he knew that, then there was a chance that he also knew a bit more about them, and about why Liang Chen was here. Liang Chen pat Yumao on the head, signalling him to shrink as he started to walk forward.


    "The last city governor I met tried to kill me, but I take it you aren''t planning on following in his footsteps so to what do I owe this pleasure?"


    The armoured soldiers around and behind Zeng Lao shrank back slightly as Liang Chen started to walk forward, his reputation had clearly preceded him. Zeng Lao didn''t shrink back like the guards, but a somewhat bitter expression appeared on his face as he laid out the simple facts.


    "It''s quite simple, the citizens are scared. Of the last four cities you''ve been in, three have experienced great massacres. From what we''ve heard, Final Curse Island has even been reduced to nothing more than a land where not even the dead can roam. And now you''ve arrived here, so how can our citizens not be terrified out of their minds?"


    This was a fact that was already well-known since Liang Chen didn''t really bother to hide his actions, the murderous nature of the Wrathful Scourge Lord was already extremely well-known. Zeng Lao didn''t state it outright, but Liang Chen could guess what he was trying to hint at.


    "So you wish for me to turn away and not enter the city, correct?"


    As the city governor, Zeng Lao had to make sure that his citizens were safe and comfortable, and doing so became a whole lot harder if there was someone like Liang Chen roaming openly around the city. It wouldn''t be a problem if he had been more low-key and stealthy in his actions previously, even the slandering of the Tranquil Lake and Golden Branch sect wouldn''t have worked nearly as well if Liang Chen had just acted more under the table. But he didn''t, he charged straight ahead and didn''t bother to conceal himself in the slightest, making it even easier to slander him. But once again, Zeng Lao defied Liang Chen''s expectations and didn''t actually try to chase him away from the city.


    "Not quite, we just hope that you''ll allow us to follow you around while you are in the city, it''ll give the citizens at least a bit of peace of mind so that they can relax."


    Most of the citizens were just normal people, they didn''t have a proper grasp of how strong Liang Chen was supposed to be. So even though he was dangerous, if they saw that the governor and his men were following him around, they would feel much safer. Liang Chen pondered over it for a bit, Yumao resting on top of his head and sweeping the soldiers with his gaze, remaining quiet as Liang Chen nodded his head.


    Zeng Lao let out a stealthy sigh of relief and then had the soldiers open a path for Liang Chen, personally following right at Liang Chen''s side in a very open manner to ease the fears of his citizens. The soldiers around them were extremely tense, a stark contrast to Liang Chen and Yumao''s nonchalance. But while they were walking, the soldiers guiding them to a hotel, the voice of Zeng Lao reached Liang Chen''s ears, a bubble of Qi around the voice sending it directly into his ears so that the others around them couldn''t hear it.


    "I know what you want to do, it''s fairly easy to guess at by looking at what you''ve done previously. But... I can''t let you do it openly, I''ll have to stand against you if you try to do so. Some of us might know the truth, but that truth is shrouded to most others, so while you can be considered to be doing a good thing, that''s not how others will see it. And thus, if I let you openly attack the Ocean''s Willow sect, the resulting backlash from the citizens will lead to chaos, something we cannot afford due to our precarious location. So even if I have to act to defend people who can be considered evil, I must stand against you if you try to go against them."


    The Golden Branch sect might do its best to act lowkey so that they would look good to the populace, but as a city governor, it was only a little more than troublesome for Zeng Lao to learn parts of the truth. But the fact that the Golden Branch sect was so lowkey made it hard to actually do anything against them, he couldn''t act like Liang Chen and just attack them without any clear purpose.


    If he acted against the division of the Golden Branch sect without being able to produce sufficient evidence that they were who they were, then the citizens would lose all faith in him. And that would be the perfect opportunity for the Golden Branch sect or the Tranquil Lake to sow chaos, eventually disposing of Zeng Lao and implanting a governor who was on their side.


    Liang Chen glanced at Zeng Lao, whose expression contained a mixture of bitterness at not being able to apprehend the Ocean''s Willow sect and a bit of worry at the thought that he might have to send his men to die against Liang Chen. Liang Chen pulled back his gaze, maintaining his nonchalance while assuring Zeng Lao.


    "You don''t have to worry, I don''t have a habit of massacring innocents."


    Zeng Lao let out another stealthy breath, but his brows still carried a bit of worry, it was clear that he wasn''t quite sure just how much he could trust Liang Chen''s words. The group reached the city''s finest inn just as the sun finished setting, the governor taking care of all the expenses as he brought Liang Chen to his room.


    It was called a room but it actually occupied half of the third floor of this inn, consisting of five different rooms filled with any luxury that someone staying there might need. The governor and his men joined Liang Chen into the room, the guards not even giving him any privacy while he walked around in what seemed to be a living room filled with an excessive amount of couches and fragrant plants.


    Liang Chen was just casually walking around the room, seemingly inspecting the plants and the like. He sent a sweeping glance across the six guards that had joined him in the room, they were currently sitting at a table and chatting while sharing a simple meal. He pulled back his gaze, but his pupils narrowed sharply just as he was about to start walking again.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    His head snapped to the side, his gaze landing on the couch that his pupils had just slid over. There was now an unknown white-haired youth sitting in the couch, leaning back into it while looking at Liang Chen, whose muscles instinctually tensed up. The youth rested his cheek on his fist, his pitch-black eyes roaming over Liang Chen''s body with a tinge of interest.


    "You don''t need to look so tense, I haven''t come to harm you."


    The youth spoke casually, but just his words weren''t enough to undo the instinctual reaction that Liang Chen was experiencing. He felt like a prey facing a predator, it almost felt as if the gaze of the youth contained a very well hidden hunger that pricked his skin. But his mind was still clear, his pupils flickering towards the seemingly unaware guards.


    "That''s pretty clear. Looking at how you got in here without anyone noticing, and at how those guys don''t even seem to notice anything strange, you could have killed me without me knowing anything. So, I take it that you want something from me?"


    He was looking straight at the youth but it was as if he simply wasn''t there, Liang Chen didn''t even know how long he had been sitting there. If this youth wanted him dead it was probably incredibly easy, Liang Chen wouldn''t be surprised if he ended up being a Universal Heart, probably a very powerful one. The youth smirked at Liang Chen''s straightforward statement, not mincing his words.


    "Heh, clever. I want to borrow your law of the void to open a gate to the void, it needs to be a pretty large one so I''ll supplement some of my own power to help you. I need to deposit a few things into the void and take out something else, but opening such a large gate on my own is too tiring for me to risk it."


    Liang Chen''s pupils shrank even further when the youth stated his purpose. He not only knew about Liang Chen''s law of the void, but he also wanted to borrow it. For him to know about the law, could it be that he was an associate of the Bloodwind Emperor or the Nine Star Demon God? The youth said it like a request, but Liang Chen knew his own position in this exchange.


    "I''m not exactly in a position to say no, so fine. But I don''t want to open the gate here, I don''t want it to ruin this city and the people here."


    Just a small gate had been enough to ruin Final Curse Island, it had been over a six month period but how quickly could it do the same if the gate was larger? If such a gate opened here in the middle of the city, there was no telling what sort of chaos it would cause. But the youth didn''t seem too worried, waving his hand in a dismissive manner as he stood up.


    "No need to worry about that, I''ll contain it so that nothing will spill. I''ll also give you a reward, or rather payment for borrowing your law."


    The youth reached Liang Chen before he could say anything, his hand landing on Liang Chen''s shoulder and bringing with it an immense torrent of violent and vicious energy. The energy felt somewhat strange, it felt as if the energy itself was gleeful, bouncing around like an energetic child. But it also brought with it such a chill that it almost felt as if Liang Chen''s soul was going to simply scatter and drift away.


    With the torrent of energy rushing into him, Liang Chen could only focus his own energy and draw out the law of the void. The gleeful energy latched onto his own as he drew out the law of the void, drastically strengthening it as it left his body and formed a nearly 30-metre tall gate to the void in front of him, the gate even phasing through the ceiling above him.


    And yet, even with such a commotion taking place, the six guards were chatting and eating as if nothing happened. One of them even glanced at Liang Chen for a bit before looking away again, his eyebrows not even twitching. The youth looked at the gate, his expression turning somewhat mournful as he looked at the barren landscape beyond the gate.


    He then stretched out his hand and pushed it through the gate, a strange curly tree topped with extremely dark green leaves appearing in his grasp. He dropped the tree into the void, tossing out several more trees of varying shapes and sizes, even tossing out what looked like grass and bushes. Liang Chen couldn''t help but tilt his head slightly at the youth''s actions, something that the youth clearly noticed.


    "You''re curious as to why I''m dropping in these things, aren''t you?"


    Liang Chen straightforwardly nodded his head, from what he had seen of the void it didn''t seem like a place that was capable of holding lifeforms like trees. But the youth glanced sideways at Liang Chen, a reminiscing smile forming on his face as he spoke.


    "Would you believe me if I told you that the Void wasn''t always like this? Once upon a time, the Void was a single untamed wilderness, other than the scorched or frozen wastelands, or the occasional ocean, there were trees as far as the eye could see. Of course, the trees are quite special, otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to exist in the Void."


    That was a scene that Liang Chen couldn''t picture, the only thing he could associate with the void was the ashen sand and the strange stones. After all, what sort of lava and ice could possibly exist within the void? Hearing about such an unfamiliar void, a question couldn''t help but pop up into Liang Chen''s mind.


    "What happened to change it?"


    What sort of cataclysmic event could possibly change the void from an untamed wilderness into its current barren state? And the youth gave him a very simple question, his gaze turning back onto the void.


    "I happened."


    He didn''t clarify any further, abandoning the subject altogether as he continued to toss in trees and plants, some so large that he actually had to fold them together violently before tossing them through the gate. He tossed out over 300 different plants and trees before he stopped bringing out things. Having thrown out the last plant, he actually stepped forward and entered the gate, vanishing into the void.


    But he returned shortly after, brushing off his shoulders as he pulled back the energy he had inserted into Liang Chen. Without the support of that energy, the gate rapidly shrank, Liang Chen taking the chance to dissipate it as the youth started to talk to him.


    "Alright, that''s the last of them. As for your reward, there are two, a piece of information and a bit of help. The information is quite simple, a Void Born Ruler has been born somewhere, and they''ll come for you sooner or later. To a Void Born Ruler, the three tastiest meals in existence are Multiverses, Spheres of Existence, and other Void Born Rulers, these three things can greatly increase their strength. So that Ruler will come for you eventually, you''d best increase your strength as much as you can until then. As for the help, you can check that book in your soulsea to see it for yourself."


    The youth spoke rapidly, Liang Chen''s expression hardening slightly when he heard about the Void Born Ruler. He wasn''t worried about a new strong Void Born being birthed, he was worried about the fact that this Void Born was going to come after him to eat him.


    But at the same time, as the youth mentioned the Chaos King technique that floated around in his soulsea, Liang Chen formed a slight idea of just who this youth might be. The youth clearly wasn''t one to linger around after having finished his task, a maw-like crack in space forming behind him. But Liang Chen stopped the youth just as he was going to step into the crack, remembering something the youth had said earlier.


    "Before you leave, mind if I ask a question? You said that you could open a gate to the void on your own, but I thought doing so required the law of the void."


    The void was a place that existed despite the fact that it shouldn''t, it wasn''t a place you could enter just because you wanted to. And even if you could enter it, actually moving or existing there was difficult. When Liang Chen had last moved through the void, everyone in his interspatial ring and even Yumao had frozen completely, seeming like no more than statues. The youth halted his steps for a short second, shrugging his shoulders in a casual manner.


    "Usually, but not always. If we count just this Sphere then we''ve got four people other than you who can do it, but if we count the two other Sphere''s then we should have about nine or more, its too hard to get concrete information from those spheres."


    The number was quite a bit higher than Liang Chen expected, a total of five people just in this Sphere of Existence. But looking at how many beings actually lived in this Sphere of Existence, the fact that only five could create a gate to the void meant that the ability was extremely rare.


    The youth stepped into the crack and vanished, but it was then that Liang Chen latched onto something he had just said. He had definitely said ''two other spheres'' at the end, could it be that there wasn''t just one Sphere of Existence but actually three? If that was the case, just how where these Spheres of Existence created?


    Liang Chen tried to wrap his head around it, but a question like that was so far above him that thinking about it only made him nurture a headache. As such, he abandoned the idea of thinking about it and instead sank his mind into his soulsea, checking out the Chaos King technique. And upon inspecting the floating book, he quickly learned what sort of reward the youth had given him, involuntarily sucking in a sharp breath.


    A fourth chapter had appeared in the book, one simply tilted Chaos Sovereign. And the chapter was exceedingly simple, it carved a further three channels and enabled the cultivator to devour 100% of his targets Qi, soul, or body for his own cultivation. It sounded like a minor increase from 75, but it was a massive upgrade, resulting in no wasted resources.


    And with the fourth chapter being added to the book, Liang Chen finally became practically 100% certain of the youth''s identity. He was the creator of the Chaos King technique, and according to Elder Chaotic, he was someone standing at the same height as the Nine Star Demon God.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes and let out a long breath, the six guards looking at him somewhat strangely now that the youth had vanished and undid whatever he had done to them. Liang Chen didn''t bother with them, giving his thundering heart a bit of time to calm down. He acted calm and composed, but standing in front of such a powerhouse was nerve-wracking, it was the same as always being one step away from death.


    He continued to breathe in a steady rhythm for a bit, his heart finally calming down after nearly half a minute. He then turned his gaze onto the six guards, who were looking at him somewhat curiously.


    "You guys should go to bed."


    It was a very simple, yet somewhat confusing, statement that caused five of the guards to tilt their heads. But just as one of them was about to speak up, the sixth member of their group, probably Zeng Lao''s right-hand man, stretched out his hand to silence them. He looked deeply at Liang Chen before standing up from his seat, nodding his head understandingly.


    "Yeah, it''s getting pretty late so it''s about time we get some nice and deep sleep."


    The man''s actions made it clear to Liang Chen that he probably knew a bit about what the Golden Branch sect did. So he knew what Liang Chen was going out to do, and he was fine with it, he wanted these people gone from his city. The five other guards moved their gazes between Liang Chen and their leader, but they chose to remain silent and follow his orders, none of them stopping Liang Chen as he walked past them and left the room.


    When he stepped into the other room, a smaller room that seemed to be designed to greet guests, a somewhat strange addition to an inn room, he came face to face with Zeng Lao. The city governor wanted to say something, but a heavy pressure unfurled from Liang Chen''s body and practically forced the man down into a soft recliner. Liang Chen stepped past him and pushed open the window, leaving behind a simple assurance.


    "You don''t need to worry. There won''t be a trace, nor any chaos. Dawn will come quietly like always, there''ll just be something missing this time."


    Liang Chen hopped out of the window, vanishing without a sound and leaving behind the governor, whose entire back was now drenched in sweat. But the silence of the night wasn''t broken by the clamouring of battle, nor were there any thunderous explosions or rumblings.


    When dawn came, the Ocean''s Willow sect had simply vanished, some of the buildings razed while others remained untouched. And while about 6000 of the 15 000 disciples and elders woke up in the rubble with confused expressions, the others were nowhere to be found, nor were about half of the treasures stocked within the sect''s treasury.


    As for the governor, he found several new jade slips and scrolls in the room, some containing admissions of guilt by elders from the sect while others showed records of deeds they had tried to keep hidden. Looking at the records and the result, the governor was only able to squeeze out a few stilted words.


    "...What a monster..."

 Chapter 244: Fall Mirror city

    Liang Chen moved through the streets in a casual manner, moving further and further away from the ruins of the Ocean''s Willow sect while taking advantage of the dark night to remain hidden. The number of corpses and treasures in his interspatial ring had increased once again, nowadays it almost felt like those two collections were growing faster than he could use them up.


    He didn''t give the new treasures an in-depth examination straight away, heading for one of the plazas that carried some of the city''s spatial arrays. He had taken care of the division belonging to the Golden Branch sect and left the governor with enough information that he could produce an explanation that would appease the citizens, easing their fears at least a little bit.


    And since that had been accomplished, it was time to move on to a city that housed a spatial array that would take him to one of the planets that carried a spatial array which could bring him to the Heaven and Hell Dominion. His journey through the city proceeded without any problem and he quickly managed to reach the triangular plaza, which was mostly deserted due to how late it was.


    But, as long as there were spatial arrays here, so too would there be guards to keep an eye on them. And as Liang Chen stepped into the plaza, the guards immediately stiffened and tensed up, beads of sweat starting to seep out from their foreheads and backs. But none of the guards made a move to stop or apprehend Liang Chen, his identity was clearly more than apparent to them. This saved him the trouble of having to knock them out so he simply swept a questioning glance at the various arrays scattered around the plaza.


    "Three-peaks?"


    The guards moved practically in unison as they turned towards one of the spatial arrays located at the top of the triangular plaza, one that was a slight bit larger and darker in colour than the rest. Liang Chen nodded his head and crossed the plaza, the guards present barely breathing as he stepped past them and onto the spatial array. It was only as he started activating the array that some of the guards further away from him could let out their held breaths, two of them massaging their waists while glancing at Liang Chen, almost as if they were implying that his mere presence had caused their bodies to ache.


    Liang Chen noticed their actions but didn''t care, he hadn''t done anything that could cause their bodies to ache. So if their bodies were in fact aching then it would be solely due to their own nervousness, it wouldn''t have anything to do with him, it certainly wasn''t something they could blame him for.


    The array quickly activated and surrounded Liang Chen with a bright white light, space around him twisting as he was sent away. Three-Peaks city was a fair distance away from the city he was in right now so the teleportation actually took him a little over two minutes.


    But he reached his destination without a problem, arriving within a sturdy stone city that actually had three large mountains within the city walls, their peaks piercing through the clouds above them. The city moved a bit up along the sides of the mountains but stopped at about the halfway point, allowing nature to claim the remaining parts of the mountains.


    It was a rather grand and somewhat strange sight, but Liang Chen only gazed upon the three mountains for a bit over a minute before he moved on. He was already standing in a plaza filled with spatial arrays, the sun hanging high above him since this city was located on the other side of the planet. He didn''t waste too much time and simply addressed one of the guards stationed within the plaza.


    "Which one of these arrays can take me to Sky''s Descent planet? More specifically, to Cloud''s Song city."


    The guard turned her head when she noticed that Liang Chen was talking to her, her gaze sweeping over his body for a short instant before she casually waved towards one of the spatial arrays to her left.


    "That dark green one over there, the price should come to ab...?!"


    The woman''s casual manner froze as she gave Liang Chen another look-over, her gaze settling on his face for a bit as she gave a curious tilt of her head. And then the pieces fell together in her head, the light of realization flashing through her eyes, panic quickly swallowing that light.


    "Tha... It''s that spatial array over there, Senior, the dark green one depicting an eagle spreading its wings. Please allow me to guide you there, I''ll personally make sure that the other guards don''t trouble you, the fee for using the array is of course also waived."


    The woman was practically sweating bullets as she started to lead Liang Chen over to the spatial array, but she managed to get out her words surprisingly well and strongly, maintaining a somewhat professional image. Liang Chen could only shake his head somewhat at her actions, Yumao snickering in delight at seeing Liang Chen unable to handle how people acted in front of him now that his information was starting to spread.


    The guard quickly took care of the price for using the spatial array, causing Liang Chen to remember that he hadn''t actually once paid for any of the spatial arrays he used. The three other guards around the array started to activate it for Liang Chen, the female guard nervously shifting her body around.


    It was only when Liang Chen stepped onto the activating array and was surrounded by a white light that she could let out a long breath, massaging her waist as she returned to her post. As for Liang Chen, he was flung through the twisting and winding spatial tunnel for almost ten entire minutes before the light around him started to recede.


    This was the longest spatial teleportation that Liang Chen had engaged in so far, and while the spatial tunnel around him showed some signs of strain, it managed to maintain its form. As such, he managed to reach his destination without any unforeseen accidents, arriving in a city so white that it almost hurt eyes to look around.


    Cloud''s Song city followed its name to a degree that could only be called overly extreme, the buildings there constructed using a material that resembled clouds but maintained the hardness of stone. Liang Chen didn''t explore the garish city and headed directly for the closest guard to ask about the spatial array to the Heaven and Hell Dominion, but the answer he got wasn''t exactly what he hoped for.


    "Sorry, but the spatial arrays are undergoing maintenance right now, their spatial tunnels have started getting so unstable that they''re a tad dangerous. Please have some patience, we should have them up and ready again within three or so months."


    Long-distance arrays were far more delicate than normal spatial arrays, they had to endure much more Qi to power their spatial tunnels. Being stuck within one such array when the spatial tunnel broke down would not be something pleasant, you''d have to endure the full power of the shattered space.


    As for why the other spatial arrays were undergoing maintenance, it was mostly just to make sure that they were in proper shape. Since they were already working on some of the arrays they might as well just do them all, there were other cities on this planet with long-distance arrays so there was no problem if this city shut down its arrays for a bit.


    Liang Chen nodded his head to the guard and checked out the other plazas in the city, but the answer he got was the same everywhere, the long-distance spatial arrays were undergoing maintenance. They weren''t the spatial arrays that saw the most use, so normally it wasn''t a problem to perform maintenance on all of them at once.


    With this being the case, Liang Chen could only curse his own bad luck when it came to timing and check out the map he had acquired back in Sand''s Journey city. He located the closest other cities that had long-distance arrays, this planet served as a sort of crossroads for long-distance travels so it had more than just this one city with long-distance spatial arrays.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    He picked out the closest city and calculated the time it would take to get there if he flew on Yumao''s back. It would take about three weeks to get there, but that was much better than waiting for three months so he decided that it was the better choice. And so, Yumao grew to his actual size and took off from the city, the citizens finally able to breathe a bit easier now that Liang Chen had left.


    Liang Chen sat on Yumao''s head and took this time to go through his interspatial ring, organizing all the treasures he had acquired as well as the contents of the other interspatial rings he had coincidentally gotten. At the same time, he used a bit of his mind to devour some of the corpses, storing up the energy to fuel the techniques he got when he opened the Chaos King technique for the third time.


    He tossed a few corpses to Yumao to appease him as he started to whine, the aura radiating from Yumao scaring off any other airborne Demonic beasts that might try to disturb them. Thanks to that, they were able to reach Fall Mirror city without being disturbed, the mountain and cascading waterfall serving as the centrepiece of the city falling into their sight during the morning of their 20th day of flight.


    Liang Chen gazed upon the perfectly circular city from Yumao''s head, his gaze drifting towards the southern gate that was embedded into the array-covered walls that surrounded the city. Liang Chen let out a short sigh upon seeing the scene by the gate, patting Yumao on the head and indicating for him to land there.


    Yumao landed heavily in front of the nearly 1000 people gathered up in front of the open entrance, knocking down those closest to him as he touched the ground and shrank. Liang Chen hopped down from Yumao''s head just before he shrank, his gaze landing on the brown-eyed man leading the armoured soldiers.


    "Another welcoming parade, huh? And you''ve prepared quite a bit as well, haven''t you?"


    His gaze slid past the emerald-haired man who looked to be in his late twenties and fell upon the city that laid beyond the open gates. The streets were completely empty, guards lining them so that no citizens accidentally got close to the entrance. The brown-eyed man leading them could only smile somewhat bitterly while shaking his head, giving the expected explanation.


    "We can''t help it, your achievements inspire more than just a little fear in people. So when the citizens heard that you were coming this way, the already ongoing fear was almost turned into a full-blown panic, we were only barely able to contain it. I am Juye Gong, and please do not worry, we will not make things difficult for you, we only ask that you''ll allow us to follow you while you are within the city."


    It was the same request that had been made by governor Zeng Lao, and it probably would have been made by the governors of the other cities he had visited after leaving Final Curse island if he hadn''t arrived there by using a spatial array. Liang Chen wasn''t planning on staying within the city for long so he casually nodded his head, Juye Gong guiding him into the city with a smile.


    The streets were completely deserted wherever he went, if it wasn''t for the fact that he could sense people hiding within the houses then he might have thought that the city was already abandoned. Liang Chen swept his gaze around the city, which seemed to have been constructed by cultivators using the law of earth, his glancing gaze eventually landing on Juye Gong, who wore a light green robe whose only decoration was a pin shaped like a blue whirlpool.


    "You should be the governor, no? No offence, but you seem a bit weaker than the other governors I''ve met so far."


    From the respect he commanded of the soldiers, he was clearly the leader around here, but his cultivation had only reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm so he seemed a bit too weak to rule a city. Juye Gong wasn''t too bothered by Liang Chen''s frank question, chuckling lightly as he explained the truth of the matter.


    "Haha, none taken, I get that quite a lot. But that''s only to be expected, I got my position more through connections than through actual skill. You see, my father is an elder of the Earthen King sect, I got the position mostly to flatter him."


    Liang Chen had a few recollections of the Earthen King sect, the name popped up once or twice within the map he held, it was one of the larger sects on the planet, ranked somewhere around the 10th spot. If his father was an elder in that sect then it certainly made sense for him to have some connections so Liang Chen didn''t bother with the question any further. And before long, after only three hours of walking, Juye Gong stopped the group and gestured towards a castle-like building made from wood that radiated a faint comforting warmth.


    "Here we are, the finest inn you can find in this city, their rooms are worthy of kings and emperors."


    Juye Gong spoke of it grandly, his back tensing slightly when he sensed Liang Chen''s gaze slide onto him. Liang Chen had no interest in staying in this city, a stance he made exceedingly clear with the look in his eyes. Juye Gong didn''t say anything, giving his surroundings a sweeping glance before looking at Liang Chen with a sliver of pleading intent in his eyes.


    Liang Chen''s own eyes narrowed slightly at the sight, but he eventually nodded his head and entered the inn, at least willing to hear out Juye Gong before he decided on a course of action. Juye Gong lit up with a bright smile and followed Liang Chen into the building, taking him directly to the sole room that took up the entire sixth floor of the building. He ushered out all the guards so that it was only him and Liang Chen, getting straight to the point.


    "I''m not going to waste your time, I don''t think you''d appreciate it. Did you hear how I spoke about an ongoing fear earlier? Well, in truth, several tens of citizens have already gone missing lately, mostly children who had some aptitude for cultivation but had yet to join any sects or the like. Quite a few Demonic beasts serving as companions to various cultivators have also gone missing, but when it comes to them we aren''t talking about numbers as low as just tens. We believe it is connected to the Sword Dancer''s sect that has taken up residence at the southeastern edge of the city, but we don''t have enough conclusive proof to make a move on them."


    Juye Gong removed a jade slip from his interspatial ring as he spoke and handed it to Liang Chen, allowing him to go through it. The jade slip contained various testimonies they had gathered from some citizens as well as some tracks they had found, but just as he said, it wasn''t enough to actually prove that the Sword Dancer''s sect had done anything. Liang Chen went through the entire jade slip but didn''t comment on the contents straight away, raising an eyebrow at Juye Gong while handing the jade slip to Yumao so that he could go through it too.


    "You seem quite prepared, no?"


    Preparing a jade slip like this wasn''t something that was done in just a single day, especially since it was highly unlikely for all this information to have been gathered in a single jade slip. It had probably been gathered on several slips over time as the testimonies came in. And for him to just carry it as Liang Chen came, it seemed unlikely to be an accident, something that Juye Gong didn''t deny.


    "It''s no coincidence. In truth, I knew you would come here the moment you left Cloud''s Song city. The reports about you said that you left the moment you learned that the arrays, most likely the long-distance arrays since they are the main attraction of the city, were undergoing maintenance so it was clear that you came there to use those arrays. And since you weren''t willing to wait for them to finish their maintenance, it was easy to guess that you would come here, the closest city that has long-distance spatial arrays. I knew you would come here so I prepared everything I could, hoping that you could help us bring an end to the fear that has seized the citizens."


    Juye Gong didn''t hide anything as he spoke, his gaze practically burning with sincerity and concern. Liang Chen wasn''t too pleased that reports of his movements were getting around this quickly, but such a thing was only to be expected with an entity like the Heaven''s Secrets Company running around. Yumao dropped the jade slip after going through it, Liang Chen catching it and holding it up in front of his face.


    "You''re quite convinced that I''ll help you despite you having this little evidence."


    There was no conclusive evidence in this jade slip, otherwise, Juye Gong would have definitely made a move against the Sword Dancer''s sect already. As such, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be slightly curious as to why Juye Gong was so confident that he would help them, Juye Gong once again not shying away from answering earnestly.


    "You are a special person, one of the last of what can be considered a dying breed, a good person willing to help. You have seen that the universe is wrong, and you have decided that it needs to change. But unlike others, you also have the ability to cause change, to save people and set things right. Right now it might only be a soul here or there, but I shiver at the thought of how many there can be in the future. So I wouldn''t say that I''m confident that you''ll help us, I''d say I''m more confident in the fact that you''ll at least keep us in your minds, maybe take a look for us and give us more leads."


    Juye Gong looked directly at Liang Chen as he spoke, his brown eyes practically shooting out sparks. Even if Liang Chen didn''t deal with the Sword Dancer''s sect, he could find new leads so that they could get a step closer to the actual culprit, and that alone would also be enough. Liang Chen didn''t respond to Juye Gong''s statement, his gaze running up and down the white jade slip for a few moments.


    "..."

 Chapter 245: Pit of monsters.

    Liang Chen put away the jade slip after spending a few quiet moments looking at it, walking past Juye Gong without saying a word. He opened the window and jumped out of it, an orb of darkness surrounding him before receding, his and Yumao''s form already gone. He didn''t say what he was going to do, nor did he make any promises, but Juye Gong still felt confident that Liang Chen would help them.


    Yumao brought Liang Chen through the darkness until they were a good distance away from the inn, bringing Liang Chen out in an area where there was no one else. He could sense that the surrounding streets were still deserted, people electing to stay in their homes so that they didn''t risk running into Liang Chen or whoever was kidnapping the children and Demonic beasts. Since the streets were still deserted, Liang Chen found himself left with no other choice, patting Yumao on the head.


    "Guess we''ll have to give a few surprise visits."


    Yumao snickered at Liang Chen''s attempt to reword what they were going to do, another orb of darkness swallowing the two and bringing them away. And the place they appeared again was directly inside one of the houses, right in front of the residents living there. And the moment they appeared, Liang Chen produced a hushing gesture and invaded the three people with his poison.


    He wasn''t going to just trust the words of the governor and the jade slip, first he wanted to gather more information from other people. But to his surprise, most of the people in the city had a pretty uniform opinion of the Sword Dancer''s sect.


    "The Sword Dancer''s? I don''t trust them, they settle down and suddenly people start disappearing? No thank you, I''m staying far away from their territory."


    "I''ve got a daughter who''s a member of the Sword Dancer''s, she used to be such a sweet kid, but now she rarely ever comes home. And when she does come home for the rare occasion, she looks so drained and sickly that I fear she is on the verge of death."


    "I don''t trust the Sword Dancer''s one bit, my uncle''s hawk companion squawked at one of their members one day, and three days later Little Green vanished without a trace. It must have been them, it has to have been them!"


    "I saw some members of the Sword Dancer''s one late evening, they entered an alley with two young men, but only the three Sword Dancer''s ever left that alley. I didn''t even dare to enter the alley to see the result, I just ran for my life and hid for the next month."


    "The governor ought to just chase out to bastards! He''s always made sure that things are as they should be so I don''t see why he ain''t doing so now!"


    Liang Chen moved from house to house and asked person after person, questioning both normal citizens and guards or members of the governor''s office while the hours passed. But not a single one of them trusted the Sword Dancer''s sect, few of them were even willing to enter the area around the sect''s main headquarters. And with so many people distrusting them for various reasons, it became suspicious enough that Liang Chen decided to take a closer look at the sect itself.


    Evening had already arrived while he was questioning so the twin suns circling the planet were starting to set, Liang Chen approaching the area around the sect while Yumao covered him using the darkness. He stretched out his senses as far as he could, scanning the surrounding area for any living beings or any movements as he moved, eventually picking up something.


    He headed for what he had discovered, quickly coming upon four people clad in silver robes decorated with an emblem featuring a woman who seemed to be dancing while wielding two swords. But Liang Chen was more occupied by what the four people were carrying, two other youthful people who were beaten and bloodied, their legs and arms were broken so that they couldn''t struggle too much while their mouths were stuffed with a large wooden orb so that they couldn''t make loud sounds.


    Liang Chen would interfere in this even if it wasn''t done by people he was currently investigating, his body flashing forward as he invaded the four silver-robed people with his poison. He knocked out the two beaten youths so that they wouldn''t suffer, putting them aside for a moment after stuffing some pills with regenerative effects into their mouths and helping them swallow them.


    He then turned his attention to the four other youths, who were standing still with blank expressions that resembled those of dolls. They were from the Sword Dancer''s sect so he simply asked them directly about what they had been planning on doing with these youths and what exactly their sect was doing. And the more the four youths spoke, the lower Liang Chen''s expression sank. He eventually raised his head to the sky and let out a long sigh.


    "Ha~ah, I guess hoping that the only nasty corporations in this universe were the Golden Branch and the Tranquil Lake was too much to ask for, it''s really saddening."


    Liang Chen waved his hand once he finished lamenting, the poison that had invaded the four silver-robed youths melting away their souls. The Sword Dancer''s sect was just as bad as the Golden Branch, it was just that they operated on a smaller scale, staying within this city. But they still did the same, killing and kidnapping to experiment on people and beasts alike, all to further the strength of their own sword skills by discovering every single weak point on a living being''s body.


    Liang Chen stored the four corpses into his interspatial ring and dropped off the two still bloody youths at the closest hospital that wasn''t within the Sword Dancer''s territory. Once that was taken care of, he jumped onto Yumao''s head and headed straight for the headquarters of the Sword Dancer''s sect.


    The sect itself looked like a spiralling starfish, a grass-covered plain filling up the area around the sect as well as the open space between the six squiggling buildings that served as the ''limbs'' of the starfish. The moment Yumao approached the sect, a blaring alarm was raised within the sect, calling all the disciples to arms. The approach of Yumao brought with it a fate that was exceedingly clear to people, it was not something they would just sit back and accept.


    Seven people rose into the sky from the sect as Yumao got close, four women and three men standing in the air in front of Liang Chen, each one wielding a sword of some variety as they nervously faced him. But while this sect was doing the same as the Golden Branch sect, their strength was far lower, with their sect leader only being at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm.


    As such, when Liang Chen took a step forward and vanished from Yumao''s head, no one was able to react and stop him before his hand landed on the throat of the sect''s Third elder. His poison immediately invaded the woman''s soul, Yumao letting out a thunderous roar and forcing back the six others so that Liang Chen could question the elder. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    And the answers he got from the elder were the same as the ones he had gotten from the earlier youths, causing Liang Chen''s expression to harden mercilessly. He had the elder point out all the innocent people in the sect, the number so low that it further served to disappoint Liang Chen. He got everything he could from the woman and then clenched his fist, crushing her throat and chucking the corpse into his interspatial ring. He then descended upon the sect itself, crashing into the ground like a meteor.


    He crashed right through one of the six squiggling buildings, his body cultivation bringing with it such force that the metallic material shattered beneath him. A nearly six-kilometre section of the 10-kilometre long building was shattered just by his descent, metallic scrap launched through the air like debris.


    His spear appeared in his hand and swept out, torrential arcs of brown lightning tearing through the air and eviscerating all the lifeforms they touched. His poison would occasionally sweep out and invade the souls of those close to him, forcing them to spit out all of their secrets. And the more he heard, the angrier he got. How could it be that a sect was this evil, how could they corrupt the souls of such a large portion of their disciples?


    "Wait..."


    The moment that thought struck Liang Chen, his body nearly froze in place. That''s right, how did the sect corrupt the souls of such a large portion of their disciples? Even in the earlier sects he had wiped out, it had only been around 50 or 60% of the disciples that had actually been in on it, the rest were normal disciples that had served to make the sect seem normal. Yet, about 90% or so of this sect seemed to be in on everything they were doing, an almost nonsensically large number.


    Granted, this sect wasn''t part of the Golden Branch or the Tranquil Lake, but they should follow a somewhat similar pattern at the very least. After all, if they were too evil, at least blatantly, they would just get wiped out immediately by everyone else. If he added that along with the things he had heard from the citizens, who didn''t have anything good to say about the sect, then it seemed like the sect was wholly evil, meaning that it should have been wiped out long ago even if the governor didn''t have enough evidence.


    Liang Chen felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he didn''t get the chance to think much further as an incredible sense of danger struck him from behind. He spun around and saw that the sect leader, a man with flowing ashen hair, was charging straight at him after having escaped from Yumao by sacrificing one of his arms.


    Energy started to gather in his dantian, swelling forth in a rhythm that was far too familiar to Liang Chen at this point. He was planning on self-destructing, the desperation and pain in his eyes making it clear that he had least hoped to drag Liang Chen down with him. The energy within his body started to rampage and turn violent, Liang Chen gritting his teeth and stabbing out with his spear.


    "Third step shatters mortality."


    He sent out one of his strongest attacks to prevent the self-destruction, he could think further about the oddness of the situation after he ensured his own survival. A thick brown lightning bolt swirling with ferocious wind was launched straight at the sect leader, but just as it touched his body and tore through his dantian, a strange scene took place.


    The man''s back exploded and splattered blood through the air, the blood gathering together to form an array that surrounded the lightning bolt. The lightning bounced around within the array, gathering more energy with each bounce as more and more of the runes within the array sank into it. And then, when the attack had nearly tripled in power and the entire array had sunk into the lightning bolt, the attack turned on Liang Chen and rushed straight at him, the body of the sect leader turning to ash under the heat of the lightning.


    Liang Chen''s expression turned grim at the sight, he thought about just absorbing the lightning and wind into his body, but there was so much foreign energy mixed into the attack that he wasn''t confident that he could absorb it properly. Even worse, the foreign energy that had gathered inside his lightning felt familiar to him, further increasing the sinking feeling he felt in his stomach.


    He spat out a long breath and brandished his spear, the incoming attack was one he had to deal with seriously, otherwise, it might harm him grievously. Yumao was still caught up with the five remaining leaders of the sect, who had gathered together into some type of formation along with some of the older disciples to withstand him and tie him down. As such, Liang Chen could only rely on himself, all his energy bursting forth.


    But just as his energy burst forth and gathered in his spear, he sensed a person appearing right next to him. It was as if the person was stepping into existence, his existence appearing in Liang Chen''s senses in a manner that resembled film being pulled away. And the person was already launching an attack by the time he started to appear, forcing Liang Chen to deal with him as the weapon he was holding felt dangerous.


    His left arm swung out and slammed into the person''s abdomen, the sensation of flesh giving way clear on Liang Chen''s hand. But as his hand tore through the man''s abdomen, the man''s weapon, a strange three-bladed sword, reached him. The upper blade cut into his shoulder, the middle one the back of his chest, and the lower one his waist, seemingly ignoring his bodily defences as it gouged through his flesh and caused blood to gush forth.


    But this attack wasn''t the only one Liang Chen had to deal with, there was still the matter of the one coming straight at him. He removed his own sense of pain with his poison and pushed his spear forward, drawing upon his law of the void, the devoured energy he had stored up, and then unleashed his strongest attack.


    "Fourth step pierces the sparrow."


    The fourth step of his Dragon King''s Six steps was further augmented by the skill he got from the Chaos King technique, Chaos King''s Punch, his law of the void roaring forth to fully erase the incoming attack. The moment he unleashed the attack was the same moment he suffered the slash from the strange sword, throwing his energy into disarray for a slight second. And that disarray in his energy, which left him unable to properly control even his own attack, would prove to have terrible consequences.


    His lightning bolt-shaped from the law of the void rushed forward, but just as it was about to block the incoming attack, the situation changed again. Crimson runes appeared all over the incoming attack, the brown lightning bolt dissipating as if it had run out of energy. And without a target in front of it to block it, the law of the void continued to shoot forward in a rampant manner.


    It was fueled by all of Liang Chen''s power so it tore through everything in its path, gouging a nearly 20 kilometre-long and four kilometre-wide gash in the city beyond the sect. And the alarm of the sect had drawn more than just a little bit of attention, swathes of citizens vanishing as the dull grey lightning bolt washed over them. Whole families, in some cases multiple generations of them, vanished without a trace, erased from existence without even a chance to resist.


    Liang Chen stared blankly at the destruction in front of him, at the sheer and utter horror that his attack had unleashed upon the city. Blood poured out from the three gashes in his left side, sizzling with lightning as they splattered on the ground. But not even that sizzling was enough to drown out the howling that now came from the city, the screams of those left behind as they searched for the departed, the departed that weren''t even going to be able to be reborn and lead new lives.


    Liang Chen''s head snapped to the side, his gaze landing on the person he had sent flying as they attacked him. And standing a short distance away from him with staggering steps was the brown-eyed and emerald-haired Juye Gong. His abdomen had a large gash torn it, almost severing his torso from his lower body. But even so, Juye Gong was laughing victoriously, the sobbing screams from the city seeming like no more than music to his ears as the disgustingly familiar voice of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow came out from a blue whirlpool pin on his chest.


    "You wanted to play at being a hero didn''t you? I wonder how that''s going to work out now? Come, join us here in the pit of monsters, we''ve got plenty of people who are the same breed as you!"

 Chapter 246: Facing the Sky-Piercing Sparrow once again.

    The voice coming from the pin on Juye Gong''s chest made it abundantly clear to Liang Chen that he had walked into a trap set by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. But he wasn''t able to tell how large the trap was, was this Sword Dancer''s sect actually evil or had the Tranquil Lake done something to the people of this city? And could it be that they even had a hand in the maintenance of the spatial arrays in Cloud''s Song city to lead him here?


    Liang Chen didn''t know, and that uncertainty only made things worse in the current situation, making it so that he didn''t know if there was a single person around that he could trust. And if that uncertainty wasn''t bad enough, his left arm suddenly lost all strength and hung limply at his side, a sensation of pain assaulting Liang Chen despite the fact that he had already disabled his sense of pain.


    As he sensed the pain flooding his body, a change also occurred to Juye Gong in front of him. Li Yang had torn open his abdomen and practically scooped out his organs, even his spine laid bare. He wasn''t a body cultivator, so a wound like this was fatal, his vision turning blank as he succumbed to his injuries.


    But the pin he wore on his chest unleashed a bright light just as he died, his collapsing body stopping itself with a twitch before it straightened itself, the faint blue aura carrying the scent of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow now surrounding the entire body. The look in his eyes had changed completely, turning arrogant and disdainful as he ran a finger along the light-green three-bladed sword that had cut up Liang Chen.


    "It''s painful, isn''t it? This weapon was forged using a small piece of a fang that came from an Origin Beast, and not just one from a minor universe but one that was born alongside a major universe. Even the Origin Hearts of minor universes and some weaker major universes can collapse under such weapons, so I imagine that you aren''t feeling too well right now. Ignore it for too long and you''ll even end up as a cripple. Then again, I''m not planning on letting you live for long enough for that to become a possibility."


    The voice that leaked out of Juye Gong''s corpse belonged to the Sky-Piercing Sparrow so Liang Chen didn''t have to think for long to realize that he had likely taken over the body to use as a make-shift avatar. Liang Chen didn''t question the strength of the weapon after hearing what was used to forge it, there was no way something that was tied to an Origin Beast was simple.


    Even to day''s date, Liang Chen had only heard about a single beast that he knew was an Origin Beast, so just calling them rare would be an understatement, they were practically mythical. He gave his limp left arm a swift glance before shifting his gaze onto the slightly distant Yumao as well as the incoming disciples, his gaze sliding back onto the Sky-Piercing Sparrow.


    "A weapon made using an Origin Beast huh, you''ve really taken out the capital this time to hunt me down."


    With how rare Origin Beasts were, there was no way it would be cheap to acquire a weapon forged using a piece coming from such a beast. Clearly, the Tranquil Lake, or just the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, had a tremendous amount of wealth and connections, quite likely at least a little more than just the amount Liang Chen had read about in the reports he bought. The lips of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow curved up somewhat mockingly when he heard Liang Chen''s words, his voice remaining calm as he shot forward.


    "Taken out the capital? You have no idea, I''ve sacrificed several tens of thousands of soul cultivators just to set up this entire city for your arrival, just to pull you into this situation. But I don''t regret it in the slightest, I would sacrifice many thousands more if it gave me the chance to kill you."


    The body he was using was unable to keep up with the energy he unleashed, its feet falling apart as he moved forward. His words also cleared up something for Liang Chen, it seemed like he had worked highly specialized soul cultivators to the death to alter the memories of the people in this city.


    This wasn''t an endeavour that could be done in a day so it also confirmed to Liang Chen that the Tranquil Lake knew that he would come here, meaning that they definitely had a hand in the maintenance of the spatial arrays in Cloud''s Song city.


    Liang Chen quickly kicked off the ground and shot to the side, dodging both the incoming Sky-Piercing Sparrow and the Sword Dancer''s sect disciples that were attacking him from behind. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow swiftly shifted his body and slashed out with the weapon, three thin lines cutting through space and slicing up the attacking disciples while continuing on to chase after Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen raised his spear and slammed it down on the three lines, the law of the void gushing forth and surrounding them. The process was several seconds slower than usual, but the attack was still fully erased, telling Liang Chen that the law of void would still be very useful against this Origin Beast weapon. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow caught up while Liang Chen was dealing with the previous attack, forcing him to change his direction and dodge once more.


    "And? Should I be flattered that you find me so scary that you''re willing to sacrifice so many of your people just to get a hold of me?"


    He didn''t like the way the Sky-Piercing Sparrow spoke about the sacrifices he made to set up this trap, he spoke far too casually about sacrificing his own men. But the Sky-Piercing Sparrow wasn''t bothered by Liang Chen''s slight sneer, space around Liang Chen suddenly starting to twist like a maelstrom where he was trapped in the centre.


    "I wouldn''t really call them my people, more like pawns, or stepping stones if you will. Tell me, how many lives do you have to sift through to find one that is worthwhile, a life worth nurturing? The answer is in the thousands of trillions, sometimes there are just one or two people per minor universe. Only lives like that can actually be considered my people, the rest are just pawns to be thrown away once they''ve outlived their usefulness. As for that snarky remark of yours, you should, there are very few people who scare me. I didn''t think too much of you last time we met, but each step you''ve taken afterwards has shown me that I should fear you, for you are the same as me. And such a person needs to be feared."


    The Sky-Piercing Sparrow showed nothing but disregard bordering in disdain as he spoke, causing one of Li Yang''s eyebrows to tick up. These people were more than willing to throw away their reputation, their dignity, even their lives for him. And yet all he showed for them was this disregard, making it even harder for Liang Chen to understand why there would be a single person willing to follow him.


    Liang Chen swept out with his spear, a thick arc of brown lightning erupting from the tip of his weapon as he unleashed the third step of the Dragon King''s Six Steps to break out of the maelstrom. He slammed his spear down and blocked the incoming sweep of the three-bladed sword, taking advantage of the force from the collision to push himself backwards.


    He was blasted through several more disciples from the Sword Dancer''s sect, the residual energy from the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s attack tearing through them as if they were paper. Liang Chen didn''t even have time to stabilize his body, he was forced to kick off of the ground and jump away as the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had caught up to him almost immediately. but Liang Chen still sneered at him as he jumped away, ignoring the aching pain coursing through his body.


    "That''s a spiel I didn''t expect to hear today. Sorry, but you and I are nothing alike."


    The Sky-Piercing Sparrow he faced today was far stronger than the avatar he had faced last time, especially with the weapon he was wielding. He seemed to be able to draw out more strength from his laws now that he had an actual body to use as a medium, and Liang Chen didn''t feel like he could afford to take another hit from the sword. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    He was already starting to feel the effects of the previous ambush, it felt as if his veins were falling apart within his body, the sensation slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He jumped away once again as space around him started to show signs of twisting, a bit of the law of twisting hitting his right foot and causing the bones within it to break themselves. But just this was far from the result that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow wanted, so he continued to relentlessly chase Liang Chen, a slight crease unknowingly starting to appear between his brows


    "Oh, are we not? We both move towards our goal and will gladly kill countless people to achieve it. We deem some people worthy of living and others unworthy of living, handing out our judgment with abandon and without care. The only differences between the two of us are our understanding of the universe and the criteria we use for judging others, you use deeds and I use their usefulness."


    This was an undeniable fact, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had clear reports showing how Liang Chen had practically mercilessly slain the people working in the divisions of the Golden Branch sect. He had deemed them not fit for life and then taken it from them without regard for anyone else, he was undeniably cruel.


    But his words were only met with another sneer from Liang Chen, who blocked the three-bladed sword once more, one of the blades slipping past his spear and slicing open his left thigh.


    "And that''s exactly why we are nothing alike. You use that pretty excuse of how the universe is to excuse your actions, as if that makes them any less vile and you more understanding. I am not content with how things are, and I will change them, and countless people will deem me evil beyond measure for it. And I understand that, I have accepted that fact, I don''t make excuses for why I walk on this path that will make others brand me as evil."


    Liang Chen knew that he was hypocritical, he was wantonly murdering people despite judging others for doing the exact same thing. He was evil despite judging and killing others for being evil, that was a fact he had come to terms with. It was just as Yan Ling had told him, he wasn''t a god, he could only save those he could reach. And so he did just that, he saved those that he could reach and forsook those that he couldn''t or those he deemed evil.


    Some of Liang Chen''s blood splashed onto the face of the body that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was using, the arcs of lightning crackling in it roasting the body''s eyes until they almost melted. But it didn''t seem to really affect the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, he simply sent Liang Chen a grimacing smile and pushed out his empty left hand.


    "As I thought, you really sicken me."


    A fierce force assaulted Liang Chen''s body as the Sky-Piercing Sparrow pushed out his hand, Liang Chen''s chest caving in somewhat as he was launched back uncontrollably. He tore through the buildings of the Sword Dancer''s sect, the continuous force that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow applied to him tearing through any disciple that got close to him.


    He practically turned Liang Chen into a weapon as he sent him across and beyond the territory of the Sword Dancer''s sect. His body drew a clear line into the city, crashing through houses and people alike and leaving torn up bodies in his wake. Liang Chen managed to crush the continuous force after a short moment, slamming down with the third step of the Dragon King''s Six Steps once more. But the damage was already done, his chest had caved in until his ribs were practically poking his lungs and thousands of more people had died.


    But Liang Chen was still alive, so the Sky-Piercing Sparrow continued to pursue him, the crease between his brows having grown even larger as Liang Chen continued to survive his attacks. The body he was using was also falling apart rapidly, unable to withstand the power he was putting out. At this point, almost the entire lower body and parts of the torso had fallen apart, the body only remaining upright thanks to the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s Qi.


    Liang Chen didn''t dodge back this time, his gaze narrowing as he shot forward the moment the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was about to reach him. He just barely dashed past the incoming enemy, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow immediately turning around and slashing at Liang Chen, who blocked the attack with his spear and used the resulting force to launch himself back to the Sword Dancer''s sect. He let out a long breath once he reached the territory of the sect again, spitting out some blood while looking at the pursuing enemy.


    "I really have no idea how you''ve managed to survive for so long. With how willing you are to throw away a countless number of lives, I''m amazed that no Universal Heart is willing to strike you down."


    The number of people the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had killed to get his hands on Liang Chen was far from low, and he felt that it probably wasn''t the first time he had done something like this. As such, he wasn''t quite sure what to feel about the high and mighty Universal Hearts, who allowed a person like this to stick around. But the Sky-Piercing Sparrow merely smiled proudly, almost arrogantly, at Liang Chen.


    "Heh, it has nothing to do with whether or not they are willing to strike me down, it simply comes down to the fact that they aren''t able to. That is the greatest advantage of connections and positioning, perfect safety."


    He slashed up at Liang Chen while bragging, Liang Chen''s gaze narrowing somewhat. Exactly what sort of connections and positioning were enough to keep him safe from Universal Hearts? He found it unlikely for there to be such a place in this multiverse, so could it be that he was hiding in a different multiverse to stay safe?


    The attack reached him and prevented him from thinking too long about it, Liang Chen blocking the ascending attack with the handle of his spear. He knew where he was right now, so he called out the moment the force of the collision sent him flying into the sky.


    "Yumao!"


    Right now he was almost directly beneath the place where Yumao was still stuck in combat with the remaining leaders of the Sword Dancer''s sect, and the attack he had just blocked was sending him straight towards him. Yumao let out a rumbling roar the moment Liang Chen called out, a dome of darkness appearing out of nowhere and stealing away the energy of everyone but Liang Chen and Yumao, the Nether God''s Grasp transferring that energy to the two of them.


    The sudden change caused the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s expression to sink somewhat, but he also wasn''t quite sure what Liang Chen was hoping to accomplish with this. But he quickly learned exactly what Liang Chen''s plan was.


    Yumao used the Nether God''s Grasp to separate himself from the people he was fighting, flapping his wings and immediately reaching Liang Chen. He shrunk and wrapped himself around Liang Chen''s arm, his body tensing as he braced himself. And once Yumao had returned to him, Liang Chen drew upon all the remaining devoured energy he had been storing inside his body.


    He used the energy to launch one of the skills he learned in the third part of the Chaos King technique, Chaos King''s step. But that wasn''t enough for him, he also utilized all the energy to fuel his law of the void, locking onto the spatial array that was his target and erasing the distance between separated him and the spatial array, vanishing without a trace and leaving behind a bewildered Sky-Piercing Sparrow.


    "Wh...!"


    The bewildered expression of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow immediately morphed violently when he detected Liang Chen again, his gaze riveting towards the spatial array that was located in a plaza a short distance away from the sect. Liang Chen had a map that showed him all the spatial arrays in quite a large area, which was how he knew that he could come to this city to find a long-distance spatial array he could take to the Heaven and Hell Dominion.


    And it was exactly this spatial array that he reached now, it was the one he was planning on using to leave after he finished the business that came up while he was in this city. He instantly arrived directly in front of the array, hurriedly stepping forward and inserting Spirit Stones into the correct slots while vomiting up some blood. Using the law of the void to erase something like distance like he had done just now drained an immense amount of energy, to the point where it was a technique he had only used twice now, saving it for the perfect moment both times.


    The array started to glow and come to life as Liang Chen insert the Spirit Stones, space around him starting to distort. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s expression turned so grim that he was practically spewing flames, everything but the shoulders, arms, and head of the body he was using falling apart as he rushed straight at the spatial array.


    "Not again!"


    Abandoning this make-shift avatar to unleash enough force allowed him to reach the spatial array before it fully awoke, giving him the chance to slash out with his three-bladed sword. The blades tore through the spatial array but were unable to prevent it from activating, the pale Liang Chen sending the Sky-Piercing Sparrow one last determined and fierce look.


    "Perfect safety, you say? I''ll put that to the test, just you wait for me."


    Liang Chen vanished while his words still hung in the air, a few cracks spreading through the surrounding space thanks to the disruption caused in the spatial array by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s attack.

 Chapter 247: Moon-Graced Desert.

    The spatial tunnel that Liang Chen rocketed through was an absolute mess, it fragmented around him and sent razor-sharp shards of shattered space all throughout the tunnel. And if just the shards weren''t dangerous enough, Liang Chen also had to make sure that he didn''t fall into the open spots that appeared in the spatial tunnel as it fell apart. There was no telling where he might end up if he fell into one of those openings, he could end up in the right dominion or he could end up in a completely different universe, it all depended on which flow of space he ended up falling into.


    The Sky-Piercing Sparrow hadn''t been able to shatter the array before it activated, but his attack still managed to disrupt its activation, resulting in the current scene around Liang Chen. As for Liang Chen himself, he wasn''t feeling too good right now. Not only had he expended most of his Qi for that final teleportation, but the wounds he suffered from the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s weapon were getting worse for each second he wasn''t taking care of them.


    Luckily enough, he wasn''t alone in his rocky trip through the spatial tunnel. Yumao was wrapped tightly around his arm and was able to offer more than just a little assistance. Breaking the spatial shards that broke off from a spatial tunnel as sturdy as this one wasn''t something he could do, but if it was just redirecting them then he was more than capable of it by just attacking them accurately.


    Of course, with how much power was actually packed into each spatial shard, just taking care of Liang Chen''s left side took all of Yumao''s concentration and effort, forcing Liang Chen to guard his right side on his own. He was luckily fairly accomplished in his body cultivation so he could use his physical body to redirect the spatial shards that got too close. His right arm suffered more than a few injuries because of this, but it was far better than letting the spatial shards actually hit his torso.


    But there was a problem he faced, and that was the sheer length of the spatial tunnel. This wasn''t a normal spatial tunnel, he was taking a long-distance array from the Nine Gods Dominion all the way to the Heaven and Hell Dominion, the sheer distance between these two dominions was larger than some minor universes. So normally, if he wanted to take this spatial array all the way to Heaven''s Ascent city at the northeastern area of the dominion, it would take him about 30 or so minutes.


    It was boring enough normally but now he also had to resist the spatial shards that were flung at him from all directions, not even able to relax his mind for a second. The minutes felt agonizingly slow, his right arm slowly starting to look as if it had been stuck into a meatgrinder, chunks of flesh barely hanging onto his revealed bones. And then, after enduring the endless stream of attacks for a little over 20 minutes, Liang Chen''s eyebrows shot up sharply as massive cracks started to spread throughout the area around him.


    "Defensive shield!"


    He curled himself into a ball while calling out, placing the arm that Yumao was coiled around against his stomach and shielding it with his entire body. Darkness swelled forth from Yumao as Liang Chen curled up, quickly surrounding the two of them like a layer of fine mist. Any spatial shard that sank into the mist mysteriously appeared on the other side of the mist, harmlessly moving around Liang Chen.


    It was a technique that drained a tremendous amount of Yumao''s energy every second, draining even more energy for each item that passed through it. But he could tell from Liang Chen''s tone that he probably didn''t need to maintain the shield for long so he decided that now was the time to give it his all. And shortly after Yumao raised the defensive shield, the massive cracks that had spread throughout the tunnel all erupted at once, the entire spatial tunnel collapsing and ejecting its contents into the chaotic space outside it.


    The time between them being in the spatial tunnel and them entering the chaotic space was merely around two seconds, but they were assaulted by near 100 spatial shards in those two seconds. Trying to deflect them as they had up to now would have been impossible, at least a third or so of them would have been able to slip through and reach them. But they luckily had Yumao''s defensive shield now, so although it cost Yumao about 90% of his energy, they managed to weather the barrage unscathed.


    Liang Chen sharpened his senses as much as he could, locking onto a flow of space that felt like it belonged to the universe he was currently in, the Qi within it felt similar enough. He pushed himself towards the flow just as they entered the chaotic space, falling into the flow and immediately vanishing.


    A rather warm gust of wind hit Liang Chen the moment after he was swallowed by the flow of space, a vast blue sky extending around him. The sky above him was a beautiful blue, but the earth beneath him was tinted a golden yellow, sand and oases of various sizes spreading out as far as the eye could see. It was clearly a desert, but the air was surprisingly moist and there was an unnatural amount of trees and oases scattered around, it was unlike any desert Liang Chen had ever seen.


    But he didn''t have the time to ponder about this strangeness for long, his body starting its rapid descent towards the earth. He fell down like a shooting star, quickly spinning his body so that he crashed into the sand with his back first rather than face-first. The sand shot into the sky as a result of his landing, a nearly 100-metre wide and 20-metre deep crater forming around him.


    Liang Chen laid at the centre of the crater, his blood staining the sand all around him as he drew in a few breaths of the hot air. The sand got into his injuries, but he had already removed his sense of pain so the only pain he actually felt came from the wounds caused by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s weapon. He let out a long breath after a few seconds, raising his head to look down at Yumao, who was still coiled around his limp left arm.


    "You good? No injuries or the like?"


    He had covered Yumao with his own body, but they had still spent a considerable amount of time within the spatial tunnel so it wouldn''t be impossible for Yumao to be hurt. But that luckily didn''t seem to be the case, Yumao uncoiling himself from Liang Chen''s arm and slithering up onto his chest while shaking his head.


    "Not a one, Father, I''m a bit low on energy but otherwise as fit as a fiddle, well, fitter than a fiddle that got thrown into a blender at least."


    Liang Chen felt like rolling his eyes at Yumao''s explanation, lowering his head again and resting it against the sand that was now moist with his blood.


    "If you can joke around then you''ll survive."


    Yumao was fine, but Liang Chen''s state could only be described as a sorry sight. His left side had been cut up by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, his chest had caved in, and now his right arm was practically torn to shreds, it was enough to kill or cripple most cultivators. But Liang Chen wasn''t most cultivators, he had a terrifyingly strong bloodline and he had reached the Primordial Immortal realm with his body.


    Speaking of his bloodline, it greatly aided him in resisting the encroaching power from the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s weapon. The encroaching power came from the Origin Beast part used to forge the weapon, but Liang Chen had a bloodline that matched or even surpassed that of an Origin Beast. As such, the rate at which the power tore apart his veins and the like was far slower than it normally was, a fact that not even the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was able to know.


    But resisting it was different from removing it, Liang Chen still had to use his own energy to push out all the encroaching energy and then start working on restoring his body. His exterior wounds were already starting to show signs of healing now that he wasn''t suffering constant attacks any longer, but healing the internal damage would take a bit more time and effort. Liang Chen also had to figure out exactly where they had ended up, addressing Yumao without raising his head.


    "Can you check if there are any people or settlements in the surrounding area? Maybe we''re lucky and can hitch a ride with some people who can share a bit of information with us."


    Liang Chen would need time to recuperate, and just running around blindly was not the optimal strategy when it came to finding a place to recuperate. Yumao understood this fact as well, his head bobbing up and down as he flapped his wings, remaining in his miniature form for once.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "Will do, will do! Don''t you worry, Father, I''ll find someone who can nurse you back to health, just don''t end up falling for them and cheating on Mother, otherwise, I fear that she may beat you silly."


    Yumao shot into the sky after leaving behind his words, turning into a black blur that vanished from sight, Liang Chen only able to let out an exasperated mutter.


    "Oh, just fuck off."


    Liang Chen closed his eyes after Yumao vanished, gathering his Anima Essence and Fiendgod Essence to further slow down the pace of the encroaching energy. The energy nearly ground to a halt, but it wasn''t pushed back or out of his body so it seemed like he would also need to add his Qi onto it, but as he was fully drained right now that would have to wait for a little.


    He slowed his breathing and started to absorb the Qi meandering through the surrounding area, leading it to the Dragon Lotus in his body to reinvigorate it. With his speed, it didn''t take Yumao long to return, descending back onto Liang Chen''s chest while updating him on what he had seen.


    "Three groups of people currently in the area, two that contain between 5-10 people and one that contains almost 60 or so people. The larger group is heading in this direction and it''s the one I suggest you hop onto, the strongest person in the group is only at the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm while the two other groups have at least one person at the Primordial Immortal realm."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and decided to follow along with Yumao''s suggestion, it was definitely the most reasonable one. Of course, now that he had discovered just how widespread the network of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was, he needed to take some precautions, especially in his weakened state.


    He sank his mind into his interspatial ring and took out an item he hadn''t used in a while, his Heaven Altering Mask. He slid on the mask and completely changed his appearance, not leaving a trace of his former appearance to make sure that he wouldn''t be recognized. Yumao understood that Liang Chen didn''t want to be recognized so he willingly dove into Liang Chen''s dantian, it was the place where he had been born and it could be considered his home.


    With everything set up, Liang Chen closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, continuing to absorb the surrounding Qi while his exterior wounds continued to heal up. Liang Chen didn''t know how far away the approaching group was, but they didn''t enter his senses until two hours after Yumao informed him of them. The group stopped as they got closer to his crater, seemingly only noticing it just as they were about to pass it.


    "Halt! I sense someone, there should be a person in that crater over there. Jue Ling, San Gou, their energy signature is rather weak, check it out!"


    The voice that cried out some quick orders belonged to a youthful male who seemed to be the leader of the group, two burly middle-aged men quickly assenting to his order and making their way over to the crater. They peeked over the edge and spotted Liang Chen, whose chest and right arm had already healed, but his left arm, waist, and thigh still carried their wounds.


    The position of the cuts was rather peculiar due to the unique shape of the weapon used to wound him so it looked as if he had been swatted aside by the paw of a large clawed-beast. The two men inspected Liang Chen for a bit before one of them returned to the youthful man, the other remaining to keep an eye on Liang Chen.


    "Young Master, there is a youth at the bottom of the crater, he seems to have lost in a battle with a Demonic beast. He''s still alive, but he''s got some bleeding wounds so he''ll likely bleed out if he''s left there."


    There was a bit of distance between the crater and the group of people, but none of their words were able to escape Liang Chen''s ears. The man keeping an eye on Liang Chen tensed up slightly as Liang Chen opened his eyes, his golden pupils causing a cold shiver to run down the man''s back.


    A hand landed on the man''s shoulder, his tensed muscles easing up slightly. The youthful man looked down into the crater, his blue pupils locking with Liang Chen''s golden. The man could be considered very handsome, his features somewhat feminine, even his shoulder-length black hair was silky and smooth. The man looked Liang Chen up and down for a second, inspecting his wounds before flashing him a sympathizing smile.


    "You look like you''ve encountered a pretty rough situation, do you need any help?"


    In this world of cultivators, it was far too common for people to lose a battle out in the wilderness and die without a proper burial, those closest to them not even realizing that they had died before quite a while later. The youth was inspecting him, but so too was Liang Chen inspecting him. This youth was the one who had reached the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm so he wasn''t a real threat to Liang Chen.


    He might be wounded and had to use all his energy to fight back the encroaching energy, but just the strength of his body would allow him to crush this man. As such, he gave an earnest nod of his head.


    "I''m Cui Song Chen, and if you could help me away from here and to a city where I can recuperate, then I''ll certainly be very grateful. I got ambushed by a damn lizard but luckily managed to shatter a spatial talisman I found in the tomb of an old cultivator, so I''m not even certain where I am right now. Please, tell me that I''m still in the Heaven and Hell Dominion."


    He made up a quick excuse to dig out some information, the youth raising an eyebrow in slight surprise before hopping down to the bottom of the crater. He had determined that Liang Chen wasn''t a threat, he could barely feel an ounce of energy radiating from his body, so it was safe to approach him. He nodded his head in response to the question, placing a hand on Liang Chen''s right wrist as he spoke, his words quickly changing as he sensed the state of Liang Chen''s body.


    "Yeah, you''re still in the Heaven and Hell Dominion, the Moon-Graced Desert to be exact, you''re lucky you weren''t thrown all the way to a different dominion, that would suck terribly. Gods, your veins are... You really shouldn''t try to mess with things above your paygrade, best to just avoid such things."


    He saw that Liang Chen''s veins had been utterly torn apart, they were so ruined that they were basically beyond repair. And with his veins in such a state, it was synonymous to being crippled, he would probably need some almost heaven-defying medicine if he wanted to become able to cultivate again in the future. There was even a chance that just moving would be extremely hard for him. Liang Chen smiled somewhat bitterly at the youth''s statement, giving a somewhat weak shrug of his shoulders.


    "They''ll still mess with me even if I try to avoid them."


    He didn''t go into any detail, mentally letting out a sigh of relief that he hadn''t ended up getting dumped in a different universe. As long as he was in the Heaven and Hell Dominion, it wouldn''t be too hard for him to reach Purgatory''s cradle. He also didn''t say anything about the youth''s reaction to the state of his veins, to him and his strong body and bloodline, it was only a matter of time before they were healed. The youth didn''t pursue the topic further, grabbing onto Liang Chen''s hand and helping him stand up while introducing himself.


    "Alright, you might have gotten beat up, but you''ve clearly got great luck since you survived and met us. I''m Tien Huang of the Tien family, we''ll bring you along, we''re heading to a certain place for a bit and then we''ll return to Moonset city. I''ll lend you a few pills to help you heal your wounds, at least your exteriors ones, but I''ll be expecting you to work to pay them back once you''ve healed enough."


    There was always work to be done, even by cripples, so even if Liang Chen ended up in a state where movement was hard, Tien Huang was confident that he could find work he could do. Tien Huang helped Liang Chen out of the crater, pleasantly surprised when Liang Chen showed that he was still able to at least move properly despite his injuries.


    They left the crater, Tien Huang letting go of Liang Chen since he had already proven that movement was possible for him. Standing a bit of a distance away from the crater was a caravan of nearly 30 wagons covered by an arched tarp to provide shelter from the sun.


    The wagon at the centre of the caravan was the only one that was different, looking more like a one-room house on wheels. This wagon was also the only one not drawn by horse-like Demonic beasts with hooves far flatter than normal, it was drawn by a pair of lizards that were a faded gold in colour.


    The two middle-aged men walked at Liang Chen''s side as they headed for the caravan, whose members were currently looking curiously at Liang Chen. Tien Huang opened his mouth as they approached the caravan, calling out another quick order.


    "Zun Zhao, Zun Zhi, you two take care of him while we travel! Bandage his wounds and cover up the smell of blood, wouldn''t want to attract any Demonic beasts as we travel."


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    Two people quickly responded to his call, two young children who looked like they were only eight or nine years old making their way past the other members of the caravan. The children looked to be twins, one a young boy with ear-length curly blonde hair and green eyes while the other was a young girl with shoulder-length curly blonde hair and green eyes.


    The two children quickly rushed up to Liang Chen, the young boy, Zun Zhao, pulling out a small roll of bandages from his simple white linen robe. He started to wrap the bandages around Liang Chen''s arm, the young girl, Zun Zhi, scattering a white powder that Liang Chen recognized as dried Demonic beast faeces onto the bandages.


    The two brought Liang Chen over to one of the wagons that seemed to have been emptied to carry something, moving onto his waist and thigh while the two middle-aged men moved over to their own wagon. Their Young Master himself had already made it clear that Liang Chen was crippled, there was no need to worry about him trying to pull anything.


    The other people also moved over to their own wagons, Tien Huang sitting down on a seat that had been prepared at the front of his wagon, the one that looked like a one-room house on wheels. He raised his arm and spun it in the air, calling out a loud order to everyone as the caravan started to move again.


    "Alright, we move out again! We should be able to reach the herd within two or so days so I want everyone to remain vigilant in case they have already started to migrate!"

 Chapter 248: Stone-Soul Scorpion.

    The wagons moved across the sand with surprising ease, Liang Chen not able to feel the slightest vibrations or even tilting whenever the wagon moved over some dunes. His back was resting against the cloth that formed an arching ceiling over the wagon, the young Zun twins diligently bandaging his wounds and spreading dried Demonic beast faeces on the bandages to cover up the scent of blood.


    They would occasionally cast glances at his face to judge his expression, the young girl finally unable to restrain herself as she held her finger only a few centimetres away from the gash in his waist.


    "Does... Does it hurt? Whenever some of the other warriors get hurt by beasts, they usually twitch and curse with very foul mouths."


    Zun Zhi''s finger seemed to tremble somewhat nervously, seemingly uncertain if she could move if closer or if she was already too close. She was helping her brother bandage the wound on his waist, but he wasn''t sure if she was worried about him being in pain or worried about him yelling at her for making it hurt more. He simply shrugged his shoulder, using his right hand to poke directly at one of the unbandaged parts of the gash to drive his point home.


    "It hurts quite a bit actually, but I''ve dealt with a lot of pain over the years so I have managed to build up a very strong resistance to it. So don''t worry, you can keep bandaging as you are, it won''t make it worse for me."


    Liang Chen had experienced a lot of pain over the years, both physical and mental. So while the wounds created by the weapon of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow pierced even him disabling his sense of pain, it was far from being unbearable to him. His act of poking at his own wound seemed to catch the two twins off-guard, Zun Zhao, the brother, quickly pulling Liang Chen''s hand away from his wound.


    "Why would you want to deal with pain for several years? It hurts and is unpleasant, you should just avoid it and live a happy life!"


    Zun Zhao quickly let go of Liang Chen''s hand, seemingly realizing that he just acted very rudely towards someone he didn''t know, meaning that his actions could cause Liang Chen to become furious with them. But such small actions were far from enough to arouse Liang Chen''s anger, not to mention that Zun Zhao was just a small child, not even 10 yet.


    "I said I''ve dealt with a lot of pain, not that I wanted to deal with a lot of pain. Avoiding it and living a happy life does indeed sound nice, but there just so happen to be times where you cannot avoid pain. For example, what if your sister was attacked by someone else? Would you defend her even if it resulted in you feeling pain?"


    Liang Chen nodded towards Zun Zhi as he stated his question, Zun Zhao not even needing a second to think it over before he responded as strongly as he could.


    "Of course!"


    Zun Zhao gazed directly into Liang Chen''s eyes, doing his best to show how determined he was to protect his sister. It was an expected response, they were siblings after all, but a small smile still appeared on Liang Chen''s face.


    "See? So in a situation where you need to protect your sister from someone else, you just aren''t likely to be able to avoid pain. And the number of such situations increases exponentially depending on which path in life you choose for yourself. Then again, most pain is worth bearing if you bear it while living the life you chose for yourself."


    Those thoughts came from the very bottom of Liang Chen''s heart, he was fine with bearing any hatred and pain he accumulated as he walked his path, because it was a path he had chosen for himself. The two young siblings could evidently detect that Liang Chen''s words came from a place of understanding, Zun Zhi moving her pointing finger across the three gashes that covered the left side of his body.


    "...Did you choose a life where you would deal with a lot of pain? Did you choose...this?"


    She could only describe the wounds as ghastly, the ones on his arms and leg going all the way to the bone while the one on his waist just barely revealed a trace of his organs. Just what sort of life would someone have to live where they came to accept wounds like this? Liang Chen nodded his head to the girl''s quiet question, not a single trace of regret visible in his eyes.


    "I did indeed choose a life where my path is covered in its fair share of thorns, I can''t deny that. But thanks to that, the good times shine all the more resplendent."


    All the pain and loss he had experienced was contrasted by the joy he had experienced and would experience in the future, each memory as brilliant as a sun. The two children sank into silence after Liang Chen made his statement, spending another hour on bandaging his wounds, making sure that it was properly done since wounds in the waist and thigh could easily cause people to bleed out. With their job finished, and the caravan showing no signs of halting, Liang Chen decided to learn a bit more.


    "So how did the two of you end up joining the Tien family? And what sort of place is that family?"


    They didn''t look remotely similar to Tien Huang, and their names were completely different so it was easy to see that they weren''t actual members of the Tien family. It wasn''t out of the question that they came from some vassal faction, but a conversation like this was a nice way to pass the time while he focused on pushing back the encroaching energy and restoring his ruined veins. The one who responded was Zun Zhao, rolling his eyes and counting on his fingers while he thought over his answer.


    "It is a family filled with very kind people, some of the bigger warriors can be a bit scary at times, but no one has been mean to us yet. We''ve been in the Tien family our whole lives, we and about 15 other children were apparently gifted to them after we were born, gifts to increase the Tien family''s opinion of the village where our parents live. We were assigned to be servants for the Young Master and the other kids work for the Young Master''s siblings."


    Subservience, such was the curse of the weak, doing whatever they could to ensure their own survival. Giving away almost 20 of their own children was definitely not an easy task for the village, but it was probably the only way they could think of to increase their own standing. Of course, it could also be that they were hoping that this would lead to the children leading a better life than what they could offer, but without meeting the people in question there was no way for Liang Chen to learn the truth. With his first questions answered, he used his eyebrows to gesture out of the wagon and towards the one where Tien Huang resided.


    "This Young Master, what sort of person is he?"


    His first impression of Tien Huang wasn''t a bad one, he had after all been willing to pick up and bring along Liang Chen, despite Liang Chen looking like no more than a cripple at the moment. But Liang Chen had seen his fair share of people who hid a vile persona beneath their sweet exterior so he wouldn''t base everything on just the first impression. But Tien Huang seemed to be a topic that the two children enjoyed talking about, both of them bubbling with an almost bragging excitement.


    "He''s a good man! He taught us how to read and write and was also the one who gave us our names! He even gives us a bit of money every month so that we can go out and buy things that we want! He is very strict and a little scary when he wants to teach us new things, but he always makes sure to not scare us too much and apologizes straight away if he sees that we are getting really scared!"


    Zun Zhao was the first one to get his words out, pulling a small leather bag out from inside his robe and revealing that it hid a small piece of charcoal. As if to prove his point, he used the charcoal to write on the boards that made up the wagon, writing both his own name, his sister''s name, and the fake name that Liang Chen had given. The next one to speak up was Zun Zhi, who spoke so excitedly that her face was turning red.


    "He''s also allowed me to work with some of the other maids to learn how to cook, he always praises my food and keeps saying that he looks forward to me learning more recipes! Once, he even protected me from his Elder Sister after she came back from a failed mission and was in a terrible mood!"


    The two siblings made it crystal clear that Tien Huang held an extremely high position in their heart, which wasn''t too strange since he seemed to have basically served as their parent. Liang Chen also latched onto the final part of Zun Zhi''s statement, its contents poking at his interest.


    "Oh, his Elder Sister tried to be mean to you because she was in a bad mood? What sort of mission did she fail to be in such a poor mood?"


    If she was in such a terrible mood that Tien Huang had to protect Zun Zhi then it was clear that this Elder Sister was planning on doing more than just some berating or yelling. Exactly what could cause such a foul mood that she would be willing to harm mere children? Or could it be that she was just an innately violent person? Zun Zhao was actually the one to respond this time, grumbling quietly while giving a light shake of his head.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "We don''t know, the Young Master hasn''t told us anything about what sort of mission she took on, but he said that it was very important work so we shouldn''t be too angry with her. But she''s always nasty when she comes home, so even if he said that we should forgive her, I don''t like her."


    Zun Zhao and Zun Zhi seemed to be completely unable to lie, this straightforward honestly was probably one of the traits that Liang Chen liked the most in young children. They didn''t play around with lies or philosophies, they just said things as they saw them, it was refreshing compared to other cultivators.


    Liang Chen continued to talk with the two children, using conversation to both pass the time and learn whatever they knew about the Tien family. The two also changed his bandages whenever they got a bit too bloody, the hours passing quickly as night arrived. And as night arrived and the caravan stopped, Tien Huang stepped onto the wagon handing the three people in it a simple and thick stew while nodding at Liang Chen''s bandages.


    "How are you holding up? Are the bandages set properly or do they get in your way?"


    Tien Huang sat down somewhat heavily as he inquired, a slightly drawn-out breath escaping him. Liang Chen accepted the stew and began eating it right away, poison wasn''t exactly useful against him so he didn''t worry about it in the slightest. At the same time, he gave a casual shrug of his shoulder and used his right arm to point at his still limp left arm.


    "Everything''s fine. I''ve got a hardy life so there''s no need to worry too much, a little thing like this isn''t enough to end me."


    A good portion of his veins were torn up, but he was still able to manoeuvre a bit of his Qi through his body and send it to aid in the process of beating back the encroaching energy. If things continued at the current pace then he guessed that it would probably only take two or so months until he finished restoring his veins, it was a laughably short time compared to the seriousness of his injuries.


    Tien Huang clearly remembered the horrid state of Liang Chen''s body, hesitating for a short moment before he started talking about what he had come here for.


    "... We''re going to reach our target tomorrow at noon, we''ve encountered far fewer Demonic beasts than we expected so we''ve managed to move faster than originally planned. Our target is a herd of Stone-soul Scorpions, and other than these two and you, the rest of us are going to go out and force them away from the caravan while fighting them. But they are wild beasts after all, there is a chance that one or two of them tries to escape, so please make sure that you hide well. We''ll return to Moonset city once we''ve secured all the Stone-soul Scorpions, I''ll then arrange for a physician to take a look at you before I give you a job. If you do it well, I can assure you that we''ll keep employing you for as long as you want."


    Originally it should have taken them two or so days to reach the herd of scorpions, but they hadn''t encountered a single Demonic beast after picking up Liang Chen so they hadn''t been forced to make a single stop yet. Liang Chen didn''t give too much of a comment on Tien Huang''s statement, nodding his head and giving him a grateful smile.


    "Alright, I''ll definitely take you up on that offer."


    Tien Huang responded by nodding his own head and then tilting it somewhat curiously at Liang Chen. This was the Moon-Graced Desert, they had already been attacked by Demonic beasts tens of times before they picked up Liang Chen. Yet now, right after he joined them, not a single beast had even shown its tail, was he really that much of a lucky star or was there something more behind it?


    He didn''t pursue the thought, at least not verbally, retracting his gaze and checking up on Zun Zhi and Zun Zhao to make sure that they were okay and that they had been doing their job properly. But he didn''t linger around for too long, bidding them farewell when they were halfway through their meal.


    The night quickly grew darker after Tien Huang left, the Zun twins going to sleep while Liang Chen remained awake and gazed out upon the chilly night sky of the desert. The moon that hung in the sky was so large that the entire desert was dyed silver in its light, truly living up to its name as the Moon-Graced Desert.


    Dawn arrived as quickly as the night, the caravan moving out once more, the atmosphere around it far tenser now than it was the day before. They stopped once more after only a few hours, gathering up the wagons into a circular formation where Liang Chen''s served as the hidden centre. Tien Huang gave them one final stern warning that they had to remain hidden and then strode off, bringing with him the other members of the caravan.


    With everyone else heading off to take down their targets, the two Zun twins tried to make themselves as small as possible while hiding within the wagon, only barely building up the courage to peek out through the opening in the cloth. Zun Zhao couldn''t help but speak with a light stutter after an hour passed, glancing in the direction that Tien Huang and the others had left.


    "Do... Do you think that any of them are going to make their way over here? They won''t right? They''ll stay over there?"


    They were all alone right now so it was only reasonable that he was scared. After all, if a Demonic beast truly did come here then they would have no way of defending themself, neither of the Zun twins had started cultivating. Liang Chen was far more laidback than them, shrugging his shoulder casually while leaning against the cloth that served as the wagon''s walls and ceiling.


    "Depends, do the scorpions have any intelligence?"


    If the scorpions had no intelligence and acted on instincts alone, then there wouldn''t be a single one of them daring to get closer, the mere pressure of Liang Chen''s bloodline would terrify them so much that they wouldn''t dare to get close.


    It would normally be the same even if they had intelligence and strength inferior to his, but if they had some intelligence and detected that he was injured like this, then they would probably risk it for the chance to devour his bloodline. Liang Chen had only just asked the question when he got his confirmation, a Demonic beast entering his senses.


    "Oh, one of them''s coming, seems like they''ve got a little intelligence and aren''t working on just instincts alone."


    The beast barreled directly towards them, tearing through three wagons before it was finally revealed in front of them. The beast looked like an eight-legged scorpion that was nearly nine metres long, its entire body covered in a thick grey carapace dotted with golden spots that blended in with the sand. It had two pincers that were nearly three metres long and another set of smaller pincers that were only one metre long, a curved tail ending in a simple sharp tip growing out from its rear.


    The five black and beady eyes of the beast looked at Liang Chen with a gaze that could only be described as ravenous, drool practically dripping from its maw. The beast had only reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, but its mere presence was enough to terrify the Zun twins. Zun Zhao glanced sideways at his sister and thought back to Liang Chen''s words, standing up with trembling legs.


    "I.. I... I''ll bring it away!"


    It took him a second to force his legs forward, but Liang Chen''s hand landed on his shoulder before he could leave the wagon. He pushed Zun Zhao down again and forced him to sit down, placing his hand on the kid''s head and ruffling his curly hair with a smile.


    "You''ve got guts and a good heart, but your strength is too low to make a difference. He''ll just gobble you up and then saunter over here to finish the job. Remember, just having a good heart and the will to do right isn''t enough, you also need the strength to see it through."


    He spoke kindly, but he was also terribly blunt, you wouldn''t be able to achieve a single damn thing even if you went out to sacrifice yourself. Zun Zhao also knew this, he had since the start, but looking at his pale-faced and shivering sister, he couldn''t help himself.


    "Then... But... What do...?"


    His words were an incoherent mess, it was as if he wasn''t quite sure what he could possibly even say in this situation. But Liang Chen simply smiled at him, reaching out with his arm and tapping Zun Zhi on the head a few times to draw her attention.


    "Look at me."


    The Zun twins both looked at him, Zun Zhi still shivering and trembling like a leaf in the wind. They could hear the Demonic beast behind them, the scorpion slowly approaching, still sensing a great fear towards Liang Chen. But Liang Chen didn''t even acknowledge the beast, nodding at the two kids with a smile.


    "Yeah, just look here, I''ll show you a magic trick."


    He raised his right arm pushed out his chest, waving his arm around in the air as if he was trying to make himself look bigger. And as he was drawing the attention of the Zun twins in this manner, he stopped using his Fiendgod Essence to fight back the encroaching energy and sent it at the scorpion.


    The beast''s carapace collapsed without resistance under Liang Chen''s Fiendgod Essence, the scorpion dying and ending up forced down beneath the sand without even being able to utter a single sound. Liang Chen scorched away the blood using the lightning he had merged into his body cultivation, lowering his hand again once the process was complete.


    "And whoosh, all gone!"


    He gestured towards the spot where the beast had been with his arm, the Zun twins hurriedly turning around and ending up dumbfounded at the sight. There were traces that the sand had been pushed aside, but not a single trace of the scorpion that had just been there, neither of them able to understand what had just happened as they turned back to Liang Chen.


    "Wha... How... Where?"


    Liang Chen sat down again and once again casually shrugged his shoulder, making up a quick excuse while also remembering to warn the kids, who quickly and obediently nodded their heads at his words.


    "It ran off, buried itself into the sand and scurried away. It may have some intelligence, but it''s just a little. Making myself look big and threatening is sometimes enough, it''s especially useful due to how tall I am. Of course, the Demonic beast faeces also helped, all the small things coupling together, so you shouldn''t try to do what I just did, got it?


    "Got it!"


    "Understood!"


    The two felt a little safer now that Liang Chen had proven that he could scare the scorpions away, raising their heads a little more as they peeked out through the opening of the wagon. And nearly ten minutes after the scorpion arrived, Tien Huang also arrived, rushing through the crushed wagons and up to the Zun twins.


    "Did one of the beasts make it over here!?"


    He framed it as a question, but the state of the crushed wagons made the answer evident so what he was asking about was more along the lines of what had happened. The Zun twins both hopped up into standing positions and nodded their heads repeatedly while pointing at Liang Chen.


    "It did, but Big Brother Chen managed to scare it away so that it dug right back into the sand!"


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows ticked up when he heard the title the two kids had given him. He had travelled a fair bit and met a great number of people, but this was the first time anyone had ever actually called him Big Brother. Tien Huang''s gaze slid over to Liang Chen, whose only response was a wriggle of his fingers.


    "Magic fingers."


    Tien Huang looked deeply at Liang Chen for a moment, studying his nonchalant expression as if he was trying to see right through him. But in the end, he simply lowered his head and conveyed his gratitude, Liang Chen once more shrugging his shoulder.


    "Right, then it seems like it has become my turn to thank you. I fear that both Zun Zhao and Zun Zhi would have died here if you hadn''t been around to scare it away, thank you for helping them."


    "No need to thank me, I like to help people."

 Chapter 249: Moonset city.

    Tien Huang didn''t return to the rest of his group after learning that Liang Chen had apparently scared away the Stone-Soul Scorpion, remaining with him and the two young Zun twins. Just the fact that he had rushed over after the scorpion meant one of two things, the first being that the mission had failed and that it was best to escape, but if that was the case then the scorpion wouldn''t have escaped. The other option was that the mission was going so well that his presence was no longer the case, and his current actions made it quite clear to Liang Chen that it was the latter that was the case.


    And sure enough, the rest of the group started to return mere minutes after Tien Huang had rushed back. There were some wounded among the group, the worst looking one being a man whose entire right hand seemed to have been turned to stone. But all of them were still alive and carrying back their spoils of victory, nearly 60 Stone-Soul Scorpions of various sizes. Tien Huang noticed that Liang Chen''s gaze had drifted over to the corpses, as well as the man''s petrified hand, so he gave a light shake of his head.


    "A grim fate, isn''t it? The antidote isn''t exactly cheap to buy or easy to make, but we''ve luckily got a lot of corpses this time so our top alchemist should be able to synthesize at least a handful of antidotes after we buy the remaining ingredients."


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows rose faintly as Tien Huang spoke. That petrification was caused by the poison coming from the Stone-Soul Scorpion? Liang Chen wasn''t unfamiliar with poisons that affected a living being''s organic structure, his strongest poison, the white one he acquired back in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm was exactly one such poison. But that poison simply liquified the bonds that kept a person''s cells together, it didn''t seemingly turn the cells into something else entirely.


    It was a rather interesting poison, Liang Chen making a mental note that he should try to get his hands on some of the poison later to add it to his collection. But that would have to wait until he had finished his recuperation, for now he had another question that slightly piqued his interest.


    "I''m a bit surprised that you managed to take down all these scorpions without any casualties. They''re what, twice your number?"


    The scorpion that had attacked Liang Chen and the Zun twins had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, only a small realm below Tien Huang himself. It probably wasn''t the only one of that strength in the herd, and there should be an even stronger leader present in the group, so for there to be no casualties, Tien Huang''s group should have prepared some rather decent trump cards. But rather than Tien Huang responding, it was actually the young boy, Zun Zhao, that took the chance to answer.


    "Oh, oh, I know this one, Big Brother Chen! Young Master said that the scorpions are strong, but they were thrown away by the king so they wouldn''t be able to work together! He said that if they can''t work together then they are easily lured into each other and often end up entangled, making them easy pickings!"


    Zun Zhao craned his neck slightly after he called out, angling his head towards Tien Huang like a puppy asking for praise. Tien Huang shook his head with a light smile and appeased the puppy, ruffling Zun Zhao''s head while giving information that was a bit more detailed.


    "It''s as he said, the scorpions don''t have too much intelligence on their own and are pretty helpless without their king''s leadership. Encircling them and forcing them into each other will force them to trip over each other and even cause them to attack each other, we only had to kill about 20 or so of those scorpions."


    Zun Zhi looked a bit enviously at her brother, so Tien Huang stretched out his other hand and ruffled her hair so that she wouldn''t mope, clearly far more relaxed now that their mission had been completed. The members of the caravan quickly split into small groups that got to work, some taking care of the wounded while others brought the corpses over to the empty wagons and loaded them on.


    The wagons had crystals embedded in the side that seemed to work like interspatial rings, some of the corpses getting thrown in there. But they clearly didn''t have enough of these crystals, especially with the one scorpion tearing apart three wagons as it barreled towards Liang Chen. As a result, eight of the corpses were taken apart, only the stinger, the pincers, and the grey poison sac saved and stored while the rest had to be discarded. But Liang Chen only used a small part of his mind to pay attention to these things, he was a touch more interested in what Tien Huang and Zun Zhao had said.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "Their king? The scorpions live in established hierarchies?"


    Any Demonic beast race that had evolved versions where they became known as kings or emperors were troublesome things, especially if these kings could form entire herds of their weaker versions. A grave light flashed through Tien Huang''s eyes as he slowly nodded his head, using his chin to gesture towards the path they had come from.


    "Some do, but it''s fairly rare. The reason behind this is because a Stone-Soul King isn''t just any normal evolution like, say a Nethersky Wyrm King or a Skycloud Panther Lord. The distant ancestor of the Stone-Soul Scorpion is the Ash-lake Empyrean who serves as the mount of the king ruling the Ash Lands, it is a Demonic beast of unfathomable power. As such, the Stone-Soul Scorpions have a pretty strong bloodline, so when they strengthen their bloodline and evolve into Stone-Soul Kings or Queens, they evolve into true Divine Beasts. At that point, even if it were just a Stone-Soul King at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, it would be able to duke it out with a cultivator at the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. We''re gonna move past an area where the Stone-Soul King used to reign before, you can see the aftermath of its presence there."


    Tien Huang was clearly very fearful about the evolved form of the Stone-Soul Scorpions, which was only to be expected if they were actually true Divine Beasts. Despite all his battles, Liang Chen had never actually fought against a Divine Beast, so even he didn''t know exactly how strong a true Divine Beast would be. And if he could help it, then he wasn''t in a rush to find out.


    It didn''t take long for the members of the caravan to finish storing away the corpses and the salvageable parts of the corpses that they had to leave behind, they didn''t even need two hours. Tien Huang gave the order and the caravan turned around, returning using the same path they had taken to get there.


    The members of the caravan felt like praising the graves of their ancestors as they travelled, not a single Demonic beast even got close to approaching their wagons. As such, thanks to their rotating shifts and the Demonic beasts serving as horses, they didn''t have to stop once. Of course, while Tien Huang would occasionally move to the other wagons, Zun Zhi and Zun Zhao were forced to remain with Liang Chen in their wagon. They made sure that his bandages never got too wet with blood or the like, bright smiles adorning their faces when they saw that Liang Chen''s gruesome wounds were finally showing signs of healing.


    They also took the chance to poke their heads out of the wagon and excitedly point at some of the more notable places they passed, informing Liang Chen of everything they had been taught. And thanks to their unimpeded travels, it only took them three days to reach the spot that Tien Huang had told Liang Chen about. He hopped into the wagon as they got close, gesturing to the opening in the tarp with his chin as he spoke in a grave voice.


    "Take a look, that''s the effect that a peak Primordial Immortal realm Divine Beast has on the surroundings if it gets into a fight."


    Liang Chen poked his head out of the wagon and gazed upon the scenery that had been almost immortalized a short distance away from the caravan. It looked like it had once been a sprawling oasis, palm trees surrounding a large lake, he could even see some fruits growing on the trees. But everything there had already turned to stone, even the water wasn''t spared, a nearly 40-kilometre wide stretch of land turning into solid stone.


    Looking at the petrified landscape, Liang Chen couldn''t help but wonder if the ability to even petrify water and trees was unique to the Stone-Soul Kings or if even Stone-Soul Scorpions could do so. Tien Huang luckily had the answer to that, his own gaze drifting across the uninhabitable landscape.


    "No, that ability is unique to the stronger Stone-Soul Kings, its something they gain as they strengthen their bloodline and trace it closer to their ancestor. But it makes you think, doesn''t it? If a mere Stone-Soul King can do this, what exactly can the Ash-lake Empyrean do?"


    Liang Chen was also a bit curious about this Ash-lake Empyrean, but Tien Huang only knew that it was a beast serving as the mount of the Ash Lands King, he didn''t know if it was a Demonic, Divine, or Origin Beast. The petrified landscape was quickly passed, that particular Stone-Soul King was already dead, but Tien Huang''s group still didn''t dare get too close, much less enter the area.


    Tien Huang visited Liang Chen''s wagon frequently on the return trip, joining the young Zun twins in telling him various tidbits about both the area and the city they were heading to. And thanks to the fact that they didn''t have to stop once, they managed to reach their target, Moonset city, a mere eight days after dealing with the scorpions.


    Looking at the sprawling city in front of him, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be slightly surprised at how it looked. The city was completely circular and surrounded by a tall wall, but a massive silver lake actually occupied the centre of the city, meaning that it was actually shaped like a large doughnut. And even stranger still, from their position that was approaching one of the city''s large gates, he could see that even the silver lake was surrounded by a wall, separating the city from the lake.


    But there were gates built into that wall as well so the citizens of the city clearly wanted to at least have the chance to enter the lake for some reason. And looking at the shimmering water of the lake, he could see how the city got its name, it truly looked as if the moon had descended from the sky and turned into a lake. Tien Huang saw Liang Chen''s expression, the corners of his lips curving up slightly as he spread out his arms.


    "Welcome to Moonset city, the city where the sky itself descended to bless the land."

 Chapter 250: Tien family.

    There were a few guards positioned in front of the gates that were scattered along the wall that surrounded the doughnut-shaped Moonset city, but none of them made a move to stop Tien Huang''s caravan. The streets of the city were rather lively, musicians and vendors spreading out throughout what appeared to be the main street and the smaller side streets that split off from it.


    Sitting in the wagon and observing the citizens, Liang Chen realized that he looked rather out of place thanks to his current attire. The people he saw wore rather sparse clothing, mostly only covering their chests and nether regions while allowing the rest to remain uncovered so that they didn''t succumb to the heat of the desert.


    Of course, Liang Chen wasn''t the only one wearing a robe, the young Zun twins at his side were also dressed in robes. But their robes were far lighter than his, clearly designed for the sweltering heat. Looking at how tanned most of the other citizens were, Liang Chen guessed that these robes were part of the reason the Zun twins, and possibly even the entirety of Tien Huang''s caravan, were so light-skinned compared to the other citizens.


    But Liang Chen was a fairly accomplished body cultivator so heat like this barely registered in his mind, it wouldn''t make a difference whether or not he changed what he wore. He also didn''t care too much about standing out, ignoring the few curious gazes he received from those that managed to spot him through the opening in the tarp that covered the wagon.


    "What''s the history behind that lake?"


    Ignoring the fact that the lake was walled off despite being the centre of the city, its somewhat strange appearance had caught Liang Chen''s curiosity. The way Tien Huang had grandly spoken before they entered the city also aroused his curiosity, but he guessed that the lake more than likely had some ties with his statement. And sure enough, Tien Huang swiftly proved his guess correct.


    "Caught your interest, has it? Well, seeing as it serves as the centre of the city, that is only to be expected. That lake is Moonset Lake, and it is indeed both the foundation of the city and the reason it got its name. In ages past, that lake was the spot where a strand of moonlight gained sentience. It formed an elemental consisting of the dual laws of cold and light, and when that elemental ascended to the Sovereign realm, the energy it unleashed created that lake. The lake absorbs the moonlight and turns it into energy, providing a nearly endless amount of Qi to the surrounding land. But that dense Qi will occasionally spawn new elementals that consist of the law of cold or law of light, so we need to be careful that none of them enter the city and start a massacre."


    This was a tale as old as the city, the founder of the city had apparently been personally present when that elemental ascended here. It wasn''t every day that someone reached the Sovereign God realm, and each place that saw such an event occur would be blessed for countless years to come so it was a source of pride to all living in the area. But while Tien Huang spoke of it grandly and proudly, Liang Chen''s response left a lot to be desired.


    "Huh, a dual-lawed elemental, I didn''t even know that those existed."


    He had heard of elementals multiple times, masses of elemental Qi that had gained sentience, they were fairly common after all. But he had never heard anything about dual-lawed elementals, as fused laws weren''t common in the natural world, and trying to maintain such a law in an artificial manner was far from worth it just to create an elemental.


    Of course, a Sovereign God was an exalted being so Liang Chen''s casual response wasn''t trying to diminish the achievement of reaching that realm. The problem was simply that his own sight was set far too high. He had met Universal Hearts several times, and one of his enemies was an ancient cultivator at the Primeval Sovereign realm, he had long lost the innocent amazement that most youths had when faced with illustrious cultivators.


    The reaction was disappointing to Tien Huang, but he had least had the Zun twins there with him. They were still just children and were filled to the brim with innocent excitement so even though they had heard it before, the tale still caused their eyes to light up.


    The caravan followed the wide main road for several minutes before it turned down one of the branching streets, following it for several more minutes until they reached their endpoint. They arrived in front of a large estate surrounded by a solid earthen wall, but Liang Chen could still see the tops of some tall trees reach above the top of the wall so there was probably a bit of vegetation between the wall and the circular mansion serving as the central point of the estate.


    The caravan didn''t enter the estate through the wrought iron gate that split the nearly 50-metre tall wall in half, Tien Huang stopping the caravan. He hopped out of the wagon but left the Zun twins inside it with Liang Chen, turning to the three and cupping his hands in a slightly apologetic manner.


    "I''m sorry, but I have to report our haul and return to grandfather. I''ll be gone for at most two hours and then I''ll meet up with you again, can''t be a bad host, you know? But I''ll arrange for Physician Dou to take a look at you while I''m gone, he should be able to at the very least remove any discomfort that your wounds might cause you. Zun Zhao, Zun Zhi, please keep accompanying your new Big Brother and show him to the living quarters, he can get the house right next to yours."


    The report wasn''t something Tien Huang could just leave to someone else, especially since he had some unusual news to report this time around. The Zun twins immediately put their hands to their foreheads in a salute, straightening their bodies so fast that their curly blonde hair bounced slightly.


    "Leave it to us, Young Master!"


    "We''ll make sure that no one bothers Big Brother Chen!"


    Tien Huang smiled softly at the two children, but Liang Chen saw him exchange a few words with another one of the caravan''s members as he walked away. He pointed at Liang Chen and the Zun twins so he probably asked him to keep an eye on them to make sure that nothing happened, he couldn''t really leave everything to two children.


    With those things settled, most of the caravan was allowed to pass through the large gate and enter the estate. But a few of the wagons, mainly those that were carrying caravan members, didn''t enter through the front and instead circled around along the wall until they reached a gate that was a bit out of sight.


    As they passed through the gate and stepped onto a verdant plain covered with a few trees, Liang Chen felt a sensation similar to as if he was passing through a water curtain. The land in front of him stretched out the instant the sensation washed over him, growing to nearly ten times its original size as hundreds of houses in varying sizes appeared on the now vast plain. It was an exceedingly strange sensation that he had yet to encounter before, the young Zun Zhao proudly providing an explanation when he saw Liang Chen''s eyebrow rise.


    "It''s super cool, right?! Young Master said that the entire place is surrounded by an enchantment that makes it bigger on the inside!"


    Liang Chen wasn''t an inexperienced youth any longer so he guessed that the enchantment that Zun Zhao spoke of was actually a spatial array, probably one that expanded the space within it. But such spatial arrays weren''t used all that commonly, since if there was one thing that a major universe wasn''t lacking then it was open space that could be used for construction.


    But this was still the first time he had seen something like this so it still tugged at his interest. After all, spatial arrays were mostly only used for transportation, the other applications weren''t seen nearly as frequently. The other members of the caravan all split up as they approached the scattered houses, which were all filled with windows to provide plenty of airflows to counteract the heat of the area.


    The man that Tien Huang had spoken to before leaving them walked over and didn''t bother with any tales or the like, straightforwardly stating that Tien Huang had asked him to keep an eye on them so that nothing happened. The excitement of the Zun twins died down slightly, but Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders and pat the two children on the head.


    "I''m really not familiar with the area, so I''ll be trusting you two to show me around and teach me where everything is."


    The two lit up again the moment Liang Chen spoke about trusting them, both confidently patting their chest. Looking at the two children, Liang Chen couldn''t help but smile softly. They reminded him of the little girl who had popped out of the egg he and Yan Ling picked up, the one they had named Lan Yun.


    The Zun twins started excitedly guiding Liang Chen through the houses scattered throughout the area, bringing him to some of the areas they had discovered while living here. They truly acted like children, showing off their favourite spots to Liang Chen.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "This lake looks cold, but if you can get past the first few steps then it actually becomes warm and cosy! It''s so nice that you can fall asleep and waste away the entire night here!"


    "This tree looks like all the others, but there''s a hole in it close to the top where a family of birds have started to live. They got a few baby birds a few weeks ago so it''s very lively if you climb up there!"


    "Old Man Viyu lives in this house, he''s one of the oldest servants and has an endless supply of funny stories to tell you! But you have to bring him a pretty rock, otherwise, he won''t say a single word."


    "This looks like the smallest house, but Aunty Shisa has actually managed to dig beneath the house and created a large basement. She brews her smelly drinks there and shares them with the other servants every month, turning them all rowdy for a night."


    Liang Chen allowed the two children to drag him around and show off every little area they could think of, maintaining a soft smile all the while. He was used to constant battle and bloodshed, his particular choices made it so that he had enemies practically wherever he went. As such, being in the company of such delightfully innocent children was refreshing. There was no scheming or plotting, just children being children.


    But while the two of them were just children enjoying themselves, they weren''t the only people in the area. As such, when they entered the area holding the houses reserved for newer servants, their own included, they bumped into someone since they were bouncing around in their excitement.


    "Would it kill the two of you to pay a bit more attention to your surroundings while walking?!"


    The shout of the girl they had bumped into while bouncing around caused the twins to wince and shrink back, Liang Chen taking a look at the girl. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and had short black hair that just barely reached her ears, small bags gathering under her blue eyes and giving her a tired appearance.


    Her skin was different from the people Liang Chen had seen so far, it was actually fairly pale despite the sun that battered the land. Her body was rather slim and delicate, further enhanced by her feminine features, which made her look rather similar to Tien Huang.


    With the likeness and what the Zun twins had told him earlier, he guessed that this was probably the feared Elder Sister. The girl looked at the wincing children, her shoulders sagging somewhat as a faintly annoyed light flashed through her pupils.


    "Well? Don''t just shrink back and hide, speak up! Say someth...?"


    Liang Chen took a step forward while the girl was shouting in a voice that had gone somewhat hoarse. He placed a hand on the shoulders of the two children to calm their nerves, maintaining a calm smile.


    "Come on now, I''m sure there isn''t a need to take out all your stress on two children."


    The girl''s gaze landed on Liang Chen, her eyes sliding over him for a second. The Zun twins said that Tien Huang''s elder sister was constantly nasty when she came home, and if she looked like this whenever she came home then he could somewhat understand it. The girl in front of him radiated only a single thing, tiredness.


    She looked as if this immense weight was bearing down on her shoulders and seemed to not have slept for weeks or months. Of course, if she wanted to use stress or tiredness as an excuse to be vile then it would be no more than excuses, excuses that Liang Chen wouldn''t accept. The girl finished inspecting Liang Chen with her slightly sunken in eyes, rubbing her face while letting out a sigh.


    "Ha~ah, so little Huang brought another one home. At least you seem to be harml...peaceful. You''re right, I shouldn''t take my stress out on children, but they should still be mindful enough to pay attention to their surroundings."


    The girl swept the two kids with her gaze as she spoke, her pupils settling on Liang Chen again as she slightly altered her sentence. It was faint, but it still caught Liang Chen''s attention, after all, the difference between harmless and peaceful was small but important. She left the Zun twins with a reminder before walking past the group, not even introducing herself.


    The encounter with Tien Huang''s sister deflated the two children, who quickly scurried to their living quarters just in case she might actually come back. Their living quarters were fairly simple, a three-room house that they shared since they were so young. Just like Tien Huang said, they brought him to the three-room house located right next to theirs, the place that would serve as his home.


    When they pushed open the door and brought him into the living room, which contained a very standard set of furniture and floral decorations, there was already someone waiting for them there. The man waiting was a blue-haired middle-aged man who had reached the peak of the Soaring Immortal realm, a very thin white robe draped over his body. The man''s gaze landed on Liang Chen, his black pupils sweeping over Liang Chen''s body as he stood up from his seat.


    "So you''re the patient? Let''s take a look then."


    The man immediately stepped forward and grabbed onto Liang Chen''s wrist in a brusque manner, pouring his Qi into Liang Chen''s body to observe his innards. Only a small bit of the eroding power remained in his body after the caravan finished the return trip, but while there was only a small bit of energy left, its presence meant that he had yet to start repairing his veins. As a result, the middle-aged man''s expression immediately hardened, a trace of pity flashing through his pupils as he muttered.


    "...Even your Ascended Tower..."


    There was no trace of an Ascended Tower in Liang Chen''s body, meaning that even if they could heal his ruined veins through some miracle, he would have to cultivate from the very start. Of course, he had no idea that Liang Chen had long ago detonated his own Ascended Tower and hadn''t used that cultivation style ever since, he was using the Sebettu''s style of cultivation.


    The man removed his hand from Liang Chen''s wrist, clearly acting in a far more delicate manner after seeing just how bad Liang Chen''s wounds should be. He swiped his green interspatial ring, a box filled with acupuncture needles appearing in his grasp as he explained his intent.


    "I am Yau Dou, the head physician employed by the Tien family. The Young Master asked me to come here to help you in any way I could. There seems to be some foreign energy in your body so I''ll use my needles to block it off, we''ll then work on slowly expelling it. As for your veins and Ascended Tower... We''ll see what we can do about them later, one step at a time."


    Having finished his explanation, Yau Dou picked out one of the needles and brought it towards Liang Chen''s arm. But as he approached with the needle, Liang Chen let out a light sigh, his poisoned Anima Essence halting the process of fighting back the eroding force and pouring out from his soul.


    The Anima Essence invaded the souls of Yau Dou, the Zun twins, and the man that Tien Huang had brought along to keep an eye on them. Their gazes turned blurry as Liang Chen hijacked their souls, giving them a very simple order.


    "Yau Dou, you can just leave. You finished your examination and found that there is nothing you can do with your skills, tell Tien Huang that only time will tell. As for the rest of you, if anyone asks, Yau Dou finished his investigation and came to the conclusion I just gave him."


    Liang Chen had no choice but to take this course of action. There were two possible outcomes that he could think of if Yau Dou got to touch him with that needle. The first was that he simply wouldn''t be able to pierce Liang Chen''s body, seeing as he had reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm in body cultivation.


    The second outcome was that he would be able to pierce Liang Chen''s body with the needle and would then suffer a counterattack by the elements Liang Chen had used to construct his body. The lightning would probably have travelled up into Yau Dou''s body through the needle, either harming or immediately killing him.


    Neither outcomes were ideal so he could only do this,m Yau Dou nodding his head mechanically as he stepped past Liang Chen and walked away. Liang Chen waved his hand and removed his Anima Essence from the three others, which after a short second of confusion believed everything he had told them while they were under his control, allowing him to heave a stealthy sigh of relief. He didn''t want to get too involved in anything yet, he wanted to remain hidden while he finished healing his wounds and then he would take things from there.


    --


    While Liang Chen was being guided around by the Zun twins, Tien Huang reached the core area of the circular mansion that was the centre of the estate. He stepped into a large dining hall, a rectangular table made from blue crystal serving as the centrepiece of the room.


    There was a single man sitting at the table, a white-haired old man with sharp blue eyes, the pressure of someone at the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm radiating from him. The man glanced at Tien Huang and then waved away the maids and other servants, his voice reverberating through the room when everyone else had left.


    "What''s the matter, Little Huang? Seeing as you''ve decided to come straight to me, I take it that something rather peculiar happened during your expedition?"


    The old man knew his grandson well, he had been the one to raise both him and his siblings ever since their parents passed. As such, he was confident that Tien Huang wouldn''t come straight to him just for something as simple as an expedition report. And just as he expected, Tien Huang nodded his head while taking a seat at the table.


    "You are correct, grandfather. We found a wounded youth and brought him back with us, and I have come to ask that you please leave him alone."


    The old man''s eyebrow rose in amused surprise as Tien Huang made his request. He put down his utensils and shoved aside his plate of food, resting an elbow on the table while resting his chin on his fist.


    "Leave him alone? Am I that scary of a person?"


    Tien Huang had made a few requests of him in the past, but never once had he actually told him to stay away from another person. It was a rather peculiar request, something Tien Huang was completely aware of while shaking his head.


    "I wouldn''t say that, it''s just that you are rather blunt and I''m worried that  you''ll anger him."


    Tien Huang''s clarification only served to further raise the old man''s eyebrow, it also served to further arouse his curiosity. Knowing that he was only arousing his grandfather''s interest, Tien Huang supplemented his request with all the small details he had noticed over the last few days he had been with Liang Chen.


    "It''s like this. At first, I thought that he was just an unfortunate youth who got grievously wounded in a battle, but time has shown that I was probably wrong in that assessment. His wounds should leave him unable to even move, but he has no problem doing so. He had a strange and powerful energy in his body, but that has gradually started to recede as we travelled. He managed to make a Stone-Soul Scorpion at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm vanish without a sound, and his mere presence stopped any Demonic beasts from attacking us as we moved through the desert. I don''t know who he is, but he clearly doesn''t want to reveal his status and just focus on his wounds. So please, grandfather, don''t provoke him with your bluntness, there is no harm in letting him recuperate here, he might even decide that he owes us a favour for it."

 Chapter 251: The un-changed meridians.

    With Liang Chen''s poison taking care of Yau Dou, the Zun twins, and the man who Tien Huang had sent along to keep an eye on them, Liang Chen was afforded the chance to let out a breath. The two adults returned to their own business and Liang Chen had the two children head over to their own house, the poison would naturally dispel over the next few hours.


    Liang Chen sat down on the couch that was placed in the living room, leaning into the soft backrest and letting out another short breath. It was a strange sensation, being so grievously wounded that he couldn''t even channel his Qi properly, only barely able to manoeuvre it through his body. His Anima Essence and Fiendgod Essence weren''t as restricted, he just had to pull them away from repelling the eroding force to use them, but as doing that slowed his healing speed he didn''t want to do it unless he had to.


    But it was also a new experience so he couldn''t consider it all bad, it helped him focus a bit more on his two other types of energy, which he often didn''t use as much as he should. There was also another slight bonus to his current situation, the way he was being treated.


    Due to his nature, especially how it evolved over time, there had basically been only four different ways he had been treated ever since he first started cultivating. The first was disregard, people considering him beneath their notice, the second was hatred, people disliking what he did or how he treated them. The third was awe at either his strength or abilities, and the final one was fear, people scared of what he had done or what he might do to them.


    As a result, the number of times he had actually been treated like this, like a mostly normal person, had grown so few that he could probably count them on one hand. It would end sooner or later, it was destined to, which was why he enjoyed it for a bit now while he could. But of course, enjoying the rare sensation didn''t mean that he was going to get too lax.


    "When you do your little scouting, make sure you stay away from the central area of the mansion. You can most likely escape unharmed, but if you can avoid getting detected at all then that would be for the best."


    There was no response as he just spoke out into an empty room, but he was certain that Yumao had gotten his message. With his law of darkness and ability to swim around within said darkness, there would be few places he couldn''t sneak around and investigate. As for the central areas of the mansion, the person there wasn''t bothering to hide his aura in the slightest so anyone with even the smallest bit of sensitivity would be able to detect them straight away.


    Liang Chen felt a faint seeping sensation from his dantian so he closed his eyes and crossed his legs. He had full trust in Yumao so with him running out and about he could spend this private time to fully focus on his own wounds and body. And since that was the decision he had come to, he immediately sank his own sight into his body and observed the inside.


    And as he inspected the inside of his own body in a much deeper fashion than he previously had, he could once again truly empathize with why Tien Huang and Yau Dou looked at him with so much pity. Most of his veins, especially the aspect that carried his Qi, the meridians, had been practically completely erased. Some of the veins on the right side of his body still remained, but they were left with nothing to connect to and were thus mostly useless.


    It was a state that would leave most people dead within the hour, but Liang Chen was able to maintain his life thanks to the fact that he had reached the Mortal God realm in body cultivation. And thanks to his powerful bloodline and exalted law of the void, he managed to fight back against the eroding energy and even had a chance to fully heal from what should be certain death or crippling.


    His situation would be completely different if he was lacking any one of these things, but all the small coincidences had stacked up over time to help him out now. It was definitely something to be thankful about, although he was a bit dissatisfied with the fact that he had basically been saved by coincidences. But as there was nothing he could do about it, he could only disregard the thought and focus on the scattered veins that remained on his right side.


    "Now then... how do you buggers look?"


    He still had a bit of the eroding force from the Origin Beast weapon inside his body, but he would be able to fully expel it in five or so days if he maintained his current speed. After that, all that remained was reconstructing his veins, especially the meridian aspect of them so that there wouldn''t be a problem with how his Qi flowed. He was confident he could do it practically blindfolded, but since he had a bisected vein right in front of him, there was no harm in taking a closer look to learn a bit more.


    Inspecting the inside of his veins in this manner was completely different from the way he usually looked at his veins, which was a far more superficial manner. And now that he was actually looking at them in their bisected state and studied their intricacies with his full attention, he noticed an odd fact.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "That... doesn''t seem quite right, no?"


    He had already finished altering his veins to the merged element he had settled on for his body, his Void Storm. It was altering them and his skin that pushed him into the Mortal God realm and he had done so when he helped Yumao upgrade his own bloodline. He had, of course, expected that his body cultivation technique, which had been created by a true and very powerful Universal Heart, would fully alter every last bit of his veins.


    But to his surprise, there was a part, or rather an aspect, of his veins that hadn''t been altered. The aspect of his veins in charge of moving his Qi around, the meridians, which were actually mostly conceptual, actually hadn''t been altered. Of course, as they were more conceptual than physical in nature, they were just set paths that the Qi flowed along, he couldn''t actually see that they weren''t changed.


    He couldn''t see it, but he could feel it as he fully drove his mind into his bisected veins. While the veins themselves were fully entrenched with the sensation of his Void Storm law, he could detect a very faint path which wasn''t entrenched by the sensation and instead felt more like what normal Qi felt like.


    It wasn''t a very big thing, he wouldn''t even have noticed it if it wasn''t for the current horrid state of his veins, and he had never encountered any problems in the past due to it. But now that he had first detected it, how could it not nag at his mind?


    Xiang Hong had reached such a realm that Liang Chen refused to believe that he didn''t know about this aspect, he must definitely have noticed that his meridians weren''t altered along with his veins. This, of course, raised a very simple question, why didn''t the cultivation technique mention the meridians even once?


    It was hard to believe that it was because altering the meridians was impossible, laws themselves were conceptual yet here they were being used to alter the body. So it stood to reason that even the meridians could be altered as one pleased, hence, Xiang Hong must have had a reason behind not including them in the cultivation technique.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out a vial containing a dark blue liquid, pouring out a single drop onto his right hand. He absorbed the water-element liquid into his body and brought it up to his bisected vein, diverting some of his Fiendgod Essence away from the eroding force and bringing it over to the same vein.


    He merged the Fiendgod Essence and the drop of liquid, pushing them up against the meridian that he could just barely sense. And the moment the two came into contact, Liang Chen felt such pain that he almost thought that his soul had collapsed. If he had to rank the pain, it would only be beneath the pain he felt when he first bathed in Demonic beast blood and inadvertently activated the first ability of his Sebettu bloodline.


    But he endured that pain so he would endure this one, his soul quivering uncontrollably as that single drop of merged energy fused with the meridian. And after just a few seconds, which felt like several years, a very small section of his meridian had taken on the same property as the rest of his body.


    Liang Chen let out a long breath, his face unknowingly having become damp with sweat from the horrible pain. The merger was a success, now he just had to check what sort of result it brought about. And the result could be summed up with one word, incongruous. The Fiendgod Essence he tried to push through the meridian flowed as it normally would until it touched upon the small altered section, where it suddenly sped up drastically, nearly leaving Liang Chen''s control.


    It was like a tranquil river''s water was suddenly forced to speed up until it became a raging rapid, the riverbed remained the same as usual so it wasn''t able to contain the now ferocious water. The speed certainly increased, Liang Chen even felt that the Fiendgod Essence had gotten slightly stronger while flowing through that small section of the meridian that was the same as it. But if he couldn''t control it then it wouldn''t be worth a damn thing and would just be a liability.


    Of course, that alone was far from enough to make Liang Chen completely disregard it, and he also refused to believe that Xiang Hong had left the meridians out of his technique because of such a small reason. But in the end, whatever reasons Xiang Hong had, his life had long since been ended so the odds of Liang Chen ever finding out the truth were slim at best. And as such, it was up to him to decide his next steps.


    "...I''ll take it, the path I''ve stepped onto is already filled with thorns anyway."


    He had chosen a thorny and hate-filled path for himself, one fraught with countless difficulties. And since there were already so many difficulties, it really didn''t matter if he tacked on another one, it just meant that he would have to spend a bit of time altering his meridians and training his control. The end result should be satisfactory enough to make it worth it, that was something he felt confident in.


    But he had no intentions of starting the altering of his meridians straight away, he first had to expel the remaining eroding force and learn a bit more about his surroundings. Should he learn that this city was safe enough, he was considering taking the chance to alter his meridians straight away, he had to reconstruct his veins anyway.


    But that was a thought to think about in the future, for now he decided to just focus on getting rid of the remnant energy that still tried to erode him. If he was on his own, he would just spend the next five days doing this so that he could finish the task. But he wasn''t alone right now, the young Zun twins barging into his house one and a half hours after he made them return to their own house.


    "Big Brother Chen, the Yuong Master has returned!"


    "Come, Big Brother Chen! The Young Master has said that we can go around the city so that he can show you the sights!"

 Chapter 252: Tien Shih.

    The Zun twins ran into the house without a care, but Tien Huang clearly had a bit more reservations than them. He remained inside the doorway without actually setting foot into the room, maintaining his friendly smile as he waved over the two children.


    "Please don''t mind them, I haven''t had the heart to make them grow up just yet."


    The Zun twins were only around eight or nine, but that was actually a perfectly acceptable age to start losing your childishness. The main reason behind this was the cruelty that was ever-present in the cultivation world. The actual age at which you had to grow up differed based on how brutal the area you lived in was, but a person generally had to have an adult mindset by the time they turned 15. Tien Huang was slightly worried about it, but Liang Chen ruffled the curly hair of the kids without much care.


    "Don''t worry about it, I don''t mind. They''re just kids, and they should be allowed to remain like that as long as they can, nothing good will come out from being forced to grow up early."


    He could see the necessity in it, when battle and rivalry was a constant state of life for some groups, their children were forced to grow up early. But understanding it was not the same as accepting it, children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood. Of course, his own childhood played a large part in this train of thought.


    He was 12 when his parents were taken from him, and then he had been forced to grow up practically overnight. And it was only when they were taken from him that he realized how important some small childhood experiences could be, just running around the city with some friends now felt so distant and nostalgic. Tien Huang refrained from commenting on Liang Chen''s statement, changing the subject and moving on to his true reason for coming.


    "I got the report from Physician Dou...It doesn''t look too good. If he can''t help you, then we can only let time run on and hope for a miracle. Of course, I gave you my word and I intend to keep it, I can give you a job as a librarian starting as early as tomorrow if you want to. Of course, I would personally recommend that you spend a week or three resting first, your wounds may have healed favourably thanks to the medicines, but it wouldn''t be good to start working straight away."


    A librarian was one of the more highly sought after jobs, and for good reason, you could basically just sit around all day and just go through book after book. It was relaxed, fairly easy, and you could increase your own wealth of knowledge by just having a slight bit of motivation to read. Liang Chen didn''t dwell too long on the job he was offered, tapping the two kids on the head and ushering them towards Tien Huang.


    "I''ll just go along with what you''ve said, resting for a bit sounds like a good idea. But a bit of walking is hardly going to mess with my wounds, so how about we do as this one so eagerly shouted out and look at the sights? Should be quite a few in the city, no? And oh, I should probably know about the larger organizations here if I am to work here in the future, so do you think you can tell me about them too?"


    An elemental had ascended to the Sovereign God realm right in this city, so if there were any sights to behold here then they would most likely be attached to that elemental or its ascension. And as long as they were connected to something like that, the odds of them being shabby were extremely low, some of them might even provide opportunities to grow stronger.


    Liang Chen''s willingness to tag along with them brought a smile to Tien Huang''s face, it was a clear indication that he wasn''t entirely against growing closer with them. As such, he nodded his head and stepped aside so that Liang Chen could leave the room, patting the excited children on the head.


    "We''ve got more sights than you can imagine so I promise that you won''t be disappointed. Zun Zhao, Zun Zhi, I''ll leave him to you, make sure he doesn''t wander off and get lost."


    Tien Huang spoke with a light chuckle to joke around, but the Zun twins took it exceedingly serious. They immediately hopped over to Liang Chen and took up positions next to him, each one grabbing onto one of his hands and not showing the slightest intentions of letting go.


    Tien Huang''s lips curved up somewhat bitterly, but Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders and allowed the kids to act as they did. Tien Huang mentally let out a breath of relief, the person they had picked up on the way luckily seemed to have a rather kind and calm personality. A more murderous or arrogant person might have already flipped out at being approached so aggressively and nonchalantly by two kids.


    Tien Huang walked over to Liang Chen''s side and started leading the group away from the area, allowing the Zun twins to excitedly show off all the small places they had already told Liang Chen about. When the children finally finished detailing all the spots they had told Liang Chen about, Tien Huang took the chance to offer him a small apology.


    "I heard you encountered Elder Sister Shih as you were brought to your home. Please don''t take her words to heart, she inherited some of Grandfather''s nature so she''s a bit...brusquer than others. She also has to endure a large amount of stress so she is on edge more often than not, she really can''t help the words that just slip out."


    Tien Huang knew about the duty that had been forced onto his elder sister, it was a line of work where the stress and pressure could easily warp your personality at times. It was fine normally, but if it caused Liang Chen to become furious then they might have a problem on their hands.


    After all, he still had no idea how strong Liang Chen was, all he had was small clues that showed nothing conclusive. Luckily, Liang Chen only shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly once more. He hadn''t really bothered much with the girl''s, who he now guessed was probably named Tien Shih, actions. She had stopped quickly and admitted her own fault, moving on without much fuss or arguing.


    Of course, whether or not that was due to her nature or due to her having sensed something from him, Liang Chen didn''t know. He didn''t continue that conversation so neither did Tien Huang, his expression not faltering despite Liang Chen remaining quiet and not making his own thoughts known.


    The group quickly reached the exit of the estate owned by the Tien family, Tien Huang offering Liang Chen a very thin white robe to help him with the heat. He didn''t need it, but he didn''t reject it and draped the cloth over his body, storing the other robe he was wearing into his ring. And as the group of four stepped onto the roads covered in hardened and flattened sand, Tien Huang took the chance to talk about one of the topics Liang Chen had brought up earlier.


    "The division of power here is actually pretty simple, we''ve only really got four organizations of power in the city, everyone else has been repressed. But of the four organizations, only two actually occupy territory, the two others are scattered throughout the entire city and their only territory is their buildings."


    It wasn''t entirely uncommon for organizations to hold power but not territory, the Heaven''s Secrets Company was one such example. No one dared to resist if they wanted to build a branch in a city, and no one dared to even think about touching them, history had shown that such an act would not end well. Liang Chen didn''t speak up, allowing Tien Huang to continue his explanation as they moved through the winding streets to reach the main street.


    "The first is, of course, the estate we just left, the Tien family. We control about half the city and constantly squabble with the Enlai family who controls the other half. Neither of us is really willing to engage in a large war so we keep our squabbles fairly small, it really isn''t worth taking over the entire city if it means that we''ll just lose it all to an outsider force that decides to take advantage of our weakened state."


    There was no force that didn''t desire to increase their territory and wealth, but you always had to keep in mind what the worst result might be if you chased that goal too greedily. This made it somewhat hard to break through if a stalemate ever formed, but that was just how life was.


    Tien Huang didn''t move on to explain the two other powers after he spoke about his own family and the Enlai family, his attention shifting slightly. He stopped the group from walking further and pointed at a large spiralling silver tower that stretched above the buildings a few kilometres to their left.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Oh, that there is the Moon-reaching Tower, a drop of blood from the elemental is enshrined there and it''s a pretty popular place to cultivate if you have spare money. It''s best for those who share an element with the elemental, but just resisting the pressure unleashed by the blood is good practice."


    Pressure made for a rather good catalyst when you cultivated, Liang Chen himself had used pressure to cultivate in the past, mainly when he fused some of his different types of lightning together. Thinking about it now, he realized that he might finally have the strength to merge his brown lightning with the ferocious violet lightning.


    And if that proved impossible, he could see if he could find a way to make his various types of lightning as strong as the types of lightning he had encountered back on Tripartite God planet, inside the area known as Thunder Saint''s Final Breath. Of course, he didn''t voice these thoughts, allowing Tien Huang to lead the group away once more as he continued to explain the various organizations in the city, occasionally pointing out a few places of interest.


    "As for the two other powers, one is, of course, the Heaven''s Secrets Company, and the other is the Nine Claws Dojo. The Nine Claws Dojo has three training halls in the city and they accept everyone who wants to drop by, giving them free lessons in how to use various weapons or fighting styles. They don''t really hand out resources or the like, but just the fact that they freely train anyone has made them immensely popular. Their founder left the city long ago, but just the words he carved into the three buildings radiate such a pressure that no one really dares to take over the dojos."


    The city was fairly large so Liang Chen wasn''t surprised that there was at least one branch of the Heaven''s Secrets Company here, but the Nine Claws Dojo caught his interest. It wasn''t just due to the carved words that Tien Huang mentioned, it was also due to the fact that he had never heard of this dojo before.


    Liang Chen had already bought a report containing the branches of the Golden Branch sect and the Tranquil Lake, and while he had left the area where the Golden Branch sect operated, the Tranquil Lake still operated in this dominion. But this Nine Claws Dojo wasn''t mentioned anywhere in the report, neither was the Enlai family or the Tien family, so it seemed like they didn''t have any operators in this city.


    Of course, Liang Chen wasn''t completely certain of this, so he didn''t have any intention of revealing himself just based on this guess. And once more, Tien Huang had no clue what Liang Chen was thinking, once again halting his steps as he pointed at an exceedingly normal-looking five-room earthen house.


    "Ah, this is The Moon''s Nest, the old home of the elemental. The elemental left long ago, but its aura still remains on the house, preventing anyone from entering. As a result, no one actually knows if there''s actually anything inside the house, but just like with the blood, just resisting the pressure is a good form of training."


    Despite being the home that housed the elemental that could be said to have formed this city, the simple earthen house didn''t actually seem to be given that much attention. It felt like only a short while, but they had actually already walked for a few hours, but that was still far from enough to bring them close to the centre of the city.


    The house actually seemed to be hidden away somewhat, the only thing that made it clear that the building was special was the fact that a 10-kilometre wide stretch of land all around the house had been left barren. Of course, the fact that no one was actually able to enter the house probably played a large part in it.


    In fact, Liang Chen could feel the chilly pressure emitted by the house even in their current position, a bit over 10-kilometres away. And since Liang Chen could feel it, so too could Tien Huang and the Zun twins. and it was far worse for the three of them, especially the Zun twins, who were already shivering thanks to the pressure.


    The group swiftly left the area and continued walking for a few more hours, the Zun twins proving that their feet were rather resilient as they managed to walk for this long without any problems. Of course, Tien Huang continued talking for almost the full duration of their walk, pointing out every single point of interest he could think of.


    It was morning, close to noon when they left the Tien family and started moving. They had been on the move for nearly nine hours already so it should already be dark, but the sun was only barely starting to set, making it look as if it was just evening. And after walking for so long, they ended up in a star-shaped plaza filled with stationary booths that carried various wares, Tien Huang''s gaze landing on a blue-clad youth.


    "Hoh, you actually dare skulk around here, Enlai Kwan? Aren''t you worried about getting lost after leaving your own territory?"


    A faint and slightly mocking smirk formed on Tien Huang''s face as he spoke, forming a soft contrast to the friendly and calm smile that Liang Chen had seen him with. The blue-clad youth he spoke to halted his steps somewhat abruptly, spinning around and looking at Tien Huang with narrowed black eyes, the six other men around him mimicking his actions.


    "Tch, this is our territory, Tien Huang, so just stay quiet."


    The youth was entirely bald, and just like the people from the Tien family, he was much paler than one would expect from a family who lived in such a sun-battered city. Tien Huang maintained his expression when faced with Enlai Kwan, his smirk actually growing a bit wider.


    "Used, it used to be your territory. Now it''s ours, after you so graciously handed it to us last year."


    Liang Chen listened from the side without interfering, guessing at just how bad the relationship between the two families was by looking at how Tien Huang changed while interacting with Enlai Kwan. He also noted the fact that the market had just recently changed owner, it was probably one of the squabbles Tien Huang had mentioned earlier.


    Enlai Kwan''s expression turned rather gloomy thanks to Tien Huang''s smug statement, his body unconsciously stepping forward. The Zun twins immediately scurried behind Liang Chen to hide, still refusing to let go of his hands. Enlai Kwan stepped forward once more, practically growling forth the words, which were only met with a snarky remark from Tien Huang.


    "We didn''t hand it to you, you cheated to get your hands on it."


    "It''s easy to blame it on cheating, is it really that hard to admit that you were the weaker side in the exchange? Would it hurt your little pride that much?"


    Tien Huang seemed quite eager to prod at Enlai Kwan, almost looking like he relished in insulting him now that they had met. Enlai Kwan also seemed to have a rather short fuse, a furious light flashing through his pupils as he stepped forward once again.


    "You!"


    He swiped his interspatial ring as he spoke and drew out a large saber, the six men behind him quickly pulling out their own weapons with somewhat bitter expressions. But before any of them got the chance to brandish their weapons, Liang Chen stepped forward.


    "Now now, let''s not start getting violent, that really won''t end well."


    Liang Chen wore a calming and casual smile as he spoke, his words practically drilling into the minds of the people from the Enlai family and calming them. The furious light in Enlai Kwan''s eyes receded as Liang Chen spoke, he took in a deep breath to calm himself properly before sweeping over Liang Chen with a quick gaze.


    "I don''t recognize him, is he a new member of your family or did you pick up a new straggler while out wandering? Well, whatever it is, you ought to learn a thing or two from him, at least he has the calmness to not incite arguments wherever he goes."


    Enlai Kwan chalked it up to Liang Chen''s calmness, but the truth was that Liang Chen had seen Enlai Kwan''s shadow wriggle faintly when he drew out his weapon. Yumao had obviously left the Tien family when Liang Chen did, following them to make sure that nothing happened. and now that Enlai Kwan had drawn his weapon and stepped towards Liang Chen, Yumao was preparing to deal with the nuisance.


    He wouldn''t kill them, he knew that Liang Chen would never accept that. But just hurting them until they couldn''t move? That was something he was perfectly capable of doing without arousing too much anger from Liang Chen.


    Enlai Kwan shot one last scathing look at Tien Huang before he turned around and walked away, bringing his men over to the other end of the market so that he didn''t have to see Tien Huang anymore. As for Tien Huang, his smirk vanished when Enlai Kwan did, an apologetic expression replacing it.


    "Sorry about that, the Tien family and the Enlai family really don''t get along, especially me and Enlai Kwan, we always end up arguing when we meet."


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything about it, he himself understood what it was like to change so abruptly upon meeting certain people. He was the same with Qing Lan Yong, there was no way he could remain normal when faced with him. Tien Huang was slightly relieved when he saw that Liang Chen didn''t seem to mind, but a sliver of worry flashed through his eyes as he gazed after Enlai Kwan.


    "But since they''re here then they are probably scouting the area to prepare for the next challenge, meaning that they intend to bring it forward rather quickly. Sorry, but I''ll have to return to the family to report this, it means that Elder Sister Shih will have to prepare."


    Liang Chen could guess what this challenge was, it was probably how the Tien family had acquired this market previously. But he didn''t have too much interest in it, he honestly didn''t want to get too involved in the squabbles between the two families. It didn''t matter much if he got a bit involved in some small sparring matches after he restored his power, but he didn''t know enough about either family to fight for or against them in any larger and more murderous battles.


    As such, he didn''t say much when Tien Huang rushed them back to the Tien family, taking a slightly different route this time so that he could show off a few more locations of interest along the way. He brought the Zun twins with him this time after they returned to the Tien estate, he seemed to have a job for the two of them, they were his servants after all.


    Liang Chen returned to the house he had been given on his own, closing the door behind him before he sat down on the couch with crossed legs and closed his eyes. He had learned about a few places that did interest him, but the thing that mattered the most was still recuperating from his wounds and reforming his veins.


    But it seemed like the people from the Tien family shared a fondness for interrupting him while he was focusing on his recuperation. Someone knocked on his door after only a few more hours, when the night should be at its deepest, the tired and slightly familiar voice of Tien Shih coming from outside his house.


    "You''re still up, aren''t you? May I enter?"

 Chapter 253: A request for the endless ocean.

    The sudden voice obviously caught Liang Chen''s attention and made him halt his cultivation, a sliver of interest and exasperation flashing through his pupils. He was interested because his senses had been spread out to cover the surrounding area, yet he had failed to catch even a single trace of Tien Shih as she approached.


    As for why he also felt exasperated, it was because the current situation was eerily familiar to him. But luckily, when he spoke up and allowed her to enter, Tien Shih was clad in an exceedingly normal black robe, her short hair somewhat disarrayed. Her blue eyes barely showed any emotion, allowing Liang Chen to heave a short sigh of relief.


    "Great, you''re actually wearing proper clothing."


    Tien Shih, who had been in the process of opening her mouth as she entered, couldn''t help but stop completely in the face of Liang Chen''s words. They had caught her so off guard that she only managed to utter a confused sound.


    "Heh?"


    Her confusion was well-founded, but Liang Chen had no interest in discussing past events so he only waved his hand with a calm and casual smile.


    "It''s nothing, just forget about it. So, what can I help Young Miss Shih with? I don''t imagine you''ve come here so late just because you want to have a nice chat."


    Liang Chen stood up from his cross-legged position while speaking and stretched his body, swiping his interspatial ring and pulling out a jug of spicy wine once he was finished. He filled two cups and placed one on the other side of the table situated in front of his couch, Tien Shih taking a seat on the opposite couch and grasping the cup while she moved directly onto the main subject.


    "I want your help. There''ll be a meeting between the Tien and the Enlai family in four days, well, more of a grand banquet. It''ll serve as an opening to a few sparring matches we''ll use to decide on who gets temporary ownership of some of the more contested territories we keep fighting over. I want you to stay close to Younger Huang during this banquet, please protect him when the Enlai family decides to try something against him."


    These sparring matches should be the challenge that Tien Huang had spoken about earlier, and since he also commented on how they were bringing it forward rather quickly, Liang Chen also guessed that it was rather uncommon to do so. But the frequency at which they fought over territory didn''t really matter much to Liang Chen, he was a touch more interested in Tien Shih''s confidence.


    "You seem quite confident that they''ll try to do something to him."


    Her words didn''t leave any room for doubt, the Enlai family was definitely going to try something against Tien Huang during the banquet. As for why they were going to try something against him, Liang Chen wasn''t quite sure, as Tien Huang''s earlier words suggested that Tien Shih was going to be the fighter. But Tien Shih quickly clarified the misunderstanding with a shake of her head.


    "That''s because he is going to be one of our fighters, and I am planning on sabotaging their fighters so it only makes sense that they do the same, that''s how it always plays out. And it''s better to have an extra eye out than to have one less eye out."


    She didn''t hide the fact that she intended to secretly act against the Enlai family, nor was Liang Chen surprised by it. The Tien and the Enlai families were rather large, so it was only natural that they would secretly act against each other to further their own position, Liang Chen had already seen these things back on his home planet. He didn''t immediately answer her question, posing one of his own instead.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, why come to me?"


    He had a hunch that she had likely noticed something about him, but it shouldn''t have gone any further than just a hunch or the like. With that being the case, it was rather strange for her to come to him with her request, especially when there should be others in the family that could do it. Tien Shih had clearly expected his question, already having her answer ready the moment he closed his mouth.


    "When we first met, I almost called you harmless but changed it to peaceful. The two sound similar, but there is a very fine difference between them. One can do no harm, while the other is capable of causing great harm but chooses not to. And when I saw you, I knew that you belonged to the latter category, you are far from harmless."


    It wasn''t exactly the most direct answer to a question he had ever heard, but he remained silent as she didn''t seem like she was done answering. And sure enough, although she halted a bit at the start, she elaborated further on her answer.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I... I have the best senses in the family, not even Father could beat me in that area. Danger, treasure, hidden places, I can spot them all with impeccable accuracy, it''s exactly these senses that have given me the duty that I''m forced to carry out. And when I look at you, these senses flare up higher than they ever have before. You are an ocean, endless in size and depth, the waters so dark that you can barely see into them, the horrors lurking beneath remaining out of sight until they surface."


    This was the problem with trying to remain low-key when you started to interact with stronger people, they were rarely as stupid or blind as you would hope. Such people often had senses sharper than others, and if the person you interacted with had an ancestor who used to be a strong cultivator, especially a body cultivator, their senses might be enhanced even further thanks to said cultivator''s bloodline.


    Her senses had flared up more than he expected, he had never been called a dark ocean hiding multiple horrors, but he had already expected her to have noticed something so he didn''t show too much surprise at her statement. Instead, he showed a bit of curiosity as he raised his eyebrow.


    "So you admit that you find me scary, yet you ask me to protect your younger sibling?"


    She had no concrete proof of his strength and even less evidence pointing at his goals, yet she wanted him to protect her little brother. Then again, Liang Chen himself put a lot of faith in his own senses, they had saved him quite a few times in the past. As for Tien Shih, she wasn''t bothered much by Liang Chen''s suspicions, such unfathomable people would always have their own stories to tell so it wasn''t strange for them to find other people suspicious.


    "You''ve had plenty of chances to attack Younger Huang, yet you haven''t done a single thing. In fact, you''ve even prevented a fight from breaking out. So while I don''t know what your exact purpose here is or why you are trying to pretend like you are wounded, I believe that you are at the very least a good person who isn''t out to harm us. And as such, I ask of you again, please keep an eye on Younger Huang and the rest of my siblings during the banquet, I swear that I will reward you with whatever you want afterwards."


    Tien Shih lowered her head slightly as she once again made her request. In truth, this was one of the main reasons she had asked him, because she felt that he was a good person. He felt like an infinite ocean hiding an endless number of horrors, and she had undeniably felt the sensation of unfathomable danger from him.


    But even so, she hadn''t felt any animosity or cruelty from him, and danger was different from animosity. So she trusted her senses and placed her bet, believing that Liang Chen was the type of person that her senses told her. Liang Chen studied Tien Shih''s face once she raised her head again, letting out a soft sigh after observing her eyes for a few seconds.


    "... I really seem to have quite poor luck when it comes to what sort of people I run into. Tien Huang stretched out a helping hand to me despite being a stranger, so it''s only fair that I repay it. I''ll protect him, but only as long as he himself doesn''t step out of line, I don''t need to carve a fourth regret into my soul."


    Liang Chen had hoped to remain hidden for as long as possible, but he seemed to have the sad fate of meeting people with sharp senses wherever he went. But since Tien Huang had decided to help him despite not knowing him or his circumstances, it was only fair that Liang Chen help him should he need it.


    Of course, Liang Chen still had his boundaries, if Tien Huang overstepped them too much then it might just be Liang Chen who attacked him. Tien Shih''s tired face bloomed into a faint smile when Liang Chen agreed to her request, not bothered by him adding something on to the request. She downed the remaining wine in the cup and stood up, cupping her hands and giving a slight bow.


    "That''s fine, we all have our boundaries and ideologies, but Younger Huang is a good child, he shouldn''t overstep any sort of boundaries. So I''ll thank you in advance for protecting at least him. I''ll also tell you this, I don''t know how much Younger Huang knows, but I''m certain he''s also discovered a few oddities about you. And if he has discovered them, then Grandfather has definitely been told about them, so he might try to bother you during the banquet, please ignore his blunt nature should he do so."


    She had the sharpest senses in the family, but that didn''t mean that the others in the family were completely inept. That was especially the case with Tien Huang, who had been with Liang Chen the longest and was thus the one with the highest odds of discovering something. She thanked him for his time and then moved to leave the house, stopping by the door and giving him a final piece of advice.


    "And oh, that wine was pretty good, but if it''s spicy wines you like then the Enlai family is quite famous for them, I recommend checking out some of the stuff they bring along for the banquet."


    Her words weren''t meant to serve as a warning or the like, it was a simple piece of advice that she gave based on what she guessed his preferences were. She left after leaving behind her words and closed the door behind her, Liang Chen lowering his head with another sigh while patting the head of Yumao, who had popped up from his shadow.


    "Ha~ah, let''s just hope that the banquet and the sparring matches pass nice and peacefully, that would be for the best. And if they ask us to participate in the sparring matches then we''ll just have to decline, not like they can force us."


    Protecting Tien Huang and his siblings if necessary was one thing, but actively taking part in the sparring matches was something else entirely. Should they try to push him into that then he would just have to use his injuries as an excuse. And if that wasn''t enough for them, then he would just have to leave, something he hoped to avoid for now.

 Chapter 254: Banquet on the lake.

    Liang Chen agreed to Tien Shih''s request, but it seemed like she didn''t say anything about it to Tien Huang or the others. Once the sun broke through the night and reached its zenith, both the two Zun twins and Tien Huang himself arrived on his doorstep, the Zun twins once again throwing open the door and bursting in.


    "Big Brother Chen, we''ve come to bring you to lunch!"


    "Young Master said that we shouldn''t disturb you, but you didn''t join us for breakfast so we have to make sure that you eat properly!"


    The children ran up to Liang Chen and pulled him up from the couch, dragging him over to the door where Tien Huang was standing somewhat exasperatedly. The Zun twins seemed rather excited and energetic, but they didn''t forget that Liang Chen was an injured person that not even the best doctor could help so they made sure to not use a lot of force when they pulled on his arms. Tien Huang stopped them when they reached him, placing a hand on their heads and ruffling their curly hair while apologizing to Liang Chen.


    "Sorry, they kept bugging me despite my assurance that you would be fine. Would you like to join us for lunch? We''ve got some excellent vegetables right now, the dry environment isn''t too good for them, but the waters from Moonset Lake more than evens things out on that front."


    Liang Chen would indeed have been fine even without lunch, he could easily go for weeks or months without food thanks to his cultivation. But eating was a joy in and of itself so he accepted the offer with a smile and a nod of his head, the twins quickly dragging him out of the house, practically hopping about.


    The Zun twins were the ones who took the lead this time, carefully pulling on his hands and urging him towards the circular mansion that was the central point of the estate. Tien Huang followed alongside them, engaging in a casual conversation with Liang Chen since the twins were more occupied with discussing what they should order.


    It didn''t take long for the group to reach the circular mansion and enter it through a wooden door, stepping into a hallway that was cooler than the outside. Liang Chen even felt a faint breeze blow through it so he guessed that there was likely an array carved directly into the building to cool the entire thing down.


    The group moved through a myriad of hallways and rooms until they reached their target, a massive dining hall filled with tables of various sizes. There was a counter at the end of the room that was manned by a handful of people, several doors leading into what was likely a kitchen standing behind them. It was quite similar to a restaurant, there were even signs hung up above the counter that showed what today''s dishes were, allowing the people to order from a surprisingly large variety of dishes.


    The room, which was almost filled with people eating, instantly quieted down when Liang Chen and his group entered it. But the people in the room weren''t looking at Liang Chen, nor was he the reason they quieted down. No, the reason was Tien Huang, the other people in the room quite shocked that someone of such peerage would come here to dine alongside them.


    Tien Huang didn''t bother with their silence and stares, sweeping his gaze through the dining hall once before turning to Liang Chen and the Zun twins with a smile. He gestured towards the counter at the other end of the room, the four people making their way around the scattered tables until the reached the counter. The Zun siblings'' planning paid off at this moment, both of them calling out their order the moment a man greeted them.


    "I''ll have the fish and gratinated vegetables!"


    "I want the snake meat with the roasted eggplant!"


    Tien Huang and Liang Chen didn''t put as much thought into their order as the young twins, casually picking a random dish that was quickly prepared and brought out from one of the doors behind the counter. They brought their food over to a circular table and sat down, the Zun twins somewhat impatiently waiting for Liang Chen and Tien Huang to start eating before they themselves also threw themselves at the food. Tien Huang smiled at the two kids for a moment before turning towards Liang Chen, moving onto the main topic that he had actually come to Liang Chen for.


    "In truth, I didn''t just come to you because of their pestering. I have to prepare for some sparring matches against the Enlai clan so I''ll be busy for the next few days. I''ll require the aid of these two in the evening, but I''m sure that they''ll get restless in the morning and afternoon, so if possible, please look after them. I''m sure they''ll come to bug you, but I still feel that I should ask, or at least notify you so that you''ll be prepared for them."


    The sparring matches were quite important to the family, the market in question was an excellent source of income that they weren''t willing to lose. As such, Tien Huang couldn''t afford to take it easy now that the Enlai family had brought for the challenge again. But he also couldn''t just neglect Liang Chen, he had to at the very least give him a warning that he wouldn''t be around to completely rein in the children. But Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, not really bothered by it.


    "No problem, I don''t usually interact with kids, but I''ll do my best."


    Liang Chen couldn''t even remember the last time he had interacted properly with a normal child, the thought of just playing with someone so filled with innocence was heartwarming, a drastic change compared to what he was used to. Tien Huang smiled thankfully when Liang Chen didn''t seem to mind it, the group continuing their meal while engaging in casual conversation.


    And the moment they finished their meal, Tien Huang bid them farewell so that he could start his preparations. Liang Chen was left alone with the kids, who made sure to properly bring their empty plates back to the counter so that they could be cleaned and used again. And once that was done, they brought Liang Chen along so that he could watch them perform their chores, which mostly consisted of smaller tasks such as cleaning certain rooms or sweeping some hallways.


    He helped the two with their chores, an act he was certain would make Yan Ling laugh until she cried if she saw it. The terrifying Scourge Lord, the man who has struck fear into thousands upon thousands of people, sweeping a hallway using a hay broom. The chores were finished faster than normal thanks to Liang Chen''s aid, and that could only mean one thing, it was play time.


    "Big Brother Chen, come, we have to show you the place where all the dogs gather!"


    "No, Big Brother Chen, come, we first have to go play in the lake on the other side of the house!"


    The two tugged and pulled on him as gently as they could, only stopping when Liang Chen promised to do both things with them. They drew lots to decide which one they would do first, ending up in the lake that the young girl, Zun Zhi, so eagerly wanted to visit straight away. They played a bit in the lake and then went to the somewhat narrow street that Zun Zhao wanted to visit, playing with the stray dogs that gathered there.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The children went to Tien Huang''s room once evening arrived to help him with his preparations, giving Liang Chen the chance to return to his own room to continue his own recuperation. And the next few days passed in a very similar manner, the twins pestering Liang Chen until he joined them for breakfast and lunch, the three then quickly doing the chores before the twins dragged Liang Chen out to play.


    Thanks to that, the day of the banquet arrived in a flash, Liang Chen only a small step away from fully pushing away the energy that was trying to corrode him. Tien Huang came to his house early in the morning, clad in an exquisite white robe decorated with silver strands that formed several clouds across the cloth. He politely greeted Liang Chen, not bothering to beat around the bush.


    "Good morning, Brother Chen. The banquet will start in a few hours so we are heading out, both Grandfather and Elder Sister Shih has asked that I bring you along so that you can experience the sights, do you mind?"


    Liang Chen obviously nodded his head and stepped out of the building, following Tien Huang as he headed over to the main entrance of the circular mansion. There was already a rather large group gathered there, including the Zun twins, Tien Shih, and Yau Dou, the physician. Standing at the forefront of the group was a man that Liang Chen hadn''t met before, but he could recognize the energy seeping out of him, it was the same energy that had radiated from the centre of the mansion ever since he arrived.


    The man was a white-haired old man with sharp blue eyes, his skin somewhat pale and wrinkled, probably due to the age at which he reached some of his cultivation realms. The old man swept his curious gaze over Liang Chen, Tien Huang introducing them to each other.


    "Brother Chen, this is my grandfather and the current leader of the family, Tien Bao. Grandfather, this is the friend that I''ve told you about, Cui Song Chen."


    Tien Bao allowed his gaze to sweep over Liang Chen for a few seconds before he nodded his head without changing his expression. He turned his head to the front and waved his arm, signalling the gathered people that it was time to head out, all of them setting out and leaving the Tien family estate.


    Liang Chen was a touch curious where they were going to hold the banquet and the sparring matches, would it just be in one of the plaza''s located in the city? But he quickly got an answer to his question, and the answer surprised him a fair bit. The banquet and sparring matches would be held on a small island situated on top of Moonset lake, a neutral territory where neither family should have to worry about any traps being prepared ahead of time.


    Liang Chen was a touch curious if they weren''t worried about any elementals rising up from the lake, but he quickly discarded the thought. Since Tien Bao, a late-stage Primordial Immortal, was coming along, the Enlai family was definitely going to send out someone with equal strength. With two such cultivators there to stand guard, why would they fear any elementals that might be born in that lake while they engaged in their business?


    They quickly reached the small island, it was only about 50 kilometres wide, crossing the lake by using a bridge that Tien Bao made using crystals. The island itself was rather barren, only a few silver-tinted trees scattering throughout the island. The houses situated at the centre of the island were the only things of interest, they were scattered about in a circular manner with a large open area in the middle of them.


    The open area was split into two separate areas, one section was filled with tables and chairs for the banquet and the other section had been turned into an arena. A stone stage served as the centre of the arena, several thousand seats surrounding it in an elevated manner so that the matches could be easily observed.


    The people from the Enlai family also arrived as the Tien family arrived, seemingly having agreed ahead of time when they should meet up. The only person from the Enlai family that Liang Chen recognized was the black-eyed and bald Enlai Kwan, the rest he had never met. But just like with the Tien family, he instantly recognized their leader.


    The leader of the Enlai family was the opposite of Tien Bao, it was a youthful and graceful woman with waist-length crimson hair that hung down freely. She had a pair of lively yet dignified green eyes, an elegant blue robe draped over her body. The other people from the Enlai family wore similar robes, just varying in how delicate and decorated they were, so the blue robes were likely their family robes. The two family leaders locked eyes, the Enlai family leader taking the lead.


    "Same rules as always, a banquet for half a day and sparring once the sun sets. The family with the most wins gets the market. Deal?"


    She asked whether or not Tien Bao agreed, but this was how they always did things so it was a superfluous question only asked to be polite. Tien Bao nodded his head just like she had expected, both families bringing out the food and drinks they had brought along and spreading it across the various tables. They allowed the members of their families to spread out and mingle as they pleased, some of the people from the two families meeting up with those from the other families.


    The families were indeed rivals, but that didn''t mean that everyone had to be enemies with everyone. Some of the people present had friends and even lovers in the other family, leaving the squabbling and rivalry to the upper echelons of their respective families. The families themselves also didn''t restrict these relationships, such a thing would only push people away from them. After all, you couldn''t help who you ended up liking and getting close to.


    Looking at the scene, Liang Chen couldn''t help but be slightly surprised, it was far more reasonable than he had come to expect from larger families in this cultivation focused world. It was a pleasant change of pace so he didn''t mind it, casually following Tien Huang and the Zun twins around the various tables. He stretched out his hand just as Zun Zhi was about to grab a goblet of fruit juice, snatching the goblet and downing it in one go.


    "That one is a bit sour so you shouldn''t drink it, I would recommend this one, it smells much fresher."


    He quickly pointed her towards a different goblet of juice after he finished drinking the first one, which had been filled with a weak poison that would leave you needing a restroom for a day or two. Zun Zhi was somewhat taken aback at Liang Chen''s swift action but quickly went along with what her Big Brother Chen had recommended, smiling in a satisfied manner after she drank the juice.


    Liang Chen put down the empty goblet, his pupils sweeping over the food and drinks that had been prepared. He was extremely closely attuned to poison so he could sense exactly which items present had been poisoned, and the sheer number was rather surprising. A good 80% of everything edible present had been poisoned by the two families, both using a poison that would leave you needing a restroom for days on end.


    They used the exact same poison, probably to make it even harder to detect just who had poisoned what. After all, even if the poisoned food came from the Tien family, they could just say that this particular poison was used by the Enlai family and probably planted by a spy of theirs.


    The people from both families were clearly quite attuned to this particular poison, the poisoned food going mostly untouched, only a few unfortunate fellows actually eating or drinking something that contained this poison. Liang Chen was one such fellow, but he only ate and drank the poisoned food when one of the Zun twins or Tien Huang were about to get their hands on them.


    Tien Huang was quite attuned to the poison after having been in close contact with it for several years, but there were some foods where the poison was so well hidden that he didn''t notice it. Liang Chen also noticed that Tien Shih was staying back during the banquet, occasionally giving the excuse that she had to use the restroom and taking the chance to vanish for a few minutes.


    Luckily enough, the banquet passed without any incident, the sun vanishing over the edge of the city as it started to set. This meant that the sparring matches were about to start, and Liang Chen guessed that it was now that Tien Shih needed him to keep an eye on Tien Huang to make sure that he wasn''t attacked before his fights. Liang Chen swept his gaze across the other people as they all headed over to the arena, quietly hoping that things would just pass peacefully to make things easy for him.

 Chapter 255: Minor interference.

    The sun had already vanished beyond the edge of the city when the people from the two families started to approach the arena, but the small island didn''t end up turning dark as a result. A faint light started to rise up from the lake around the island, strands of the light gathering above the island to form a bright silver moon that illuminated the area. Tien Huang moved closer to Liang Chen as the approached the arena, handing him a leather pouch filled with pink powder.


    "You should take this. Just mix it with some water and then drink it, it''ll neutralize the poison that was hidden in some of the food. The poison is changed slightly each year so I couldn''t give you an antidote earlier, having you swallow that and then the poison would probably be worse than just having you digest the poison."


    Tien Huang''s voice was a little hushed, but not to the point that he was whispering to make sure that no one else heard him. Clearly, the act of poisoning the food and drinks was something that both families tacitly accepted. Liang Chen accepted the pouch and unfastened the wine gourd he had fastened to his belt during the banquet, pouring the powder into it and giving the gourd a few shakes.


    Once the powder had properly dissolved, he placed the gourd against his lips and took a big swig to put Tien Huang at ease. The wine inside the gourd was made by the Enlai clan, and Tien Shih had indeed been right, they made excellent spicy wine. Tien Huang nodded his head after seeing that Liang Chen took the antidote, unaware that the wine Liang Chen was drinking was in fact poisoned.


    Tien Huang also handed the Zun twins the same antidote, but Liang Chen had stopped them from getting their hands on anything poisoned so it wasn''t really necessary. Liang Chen spotted a few similar scenes playing out around him, everyone making sure that the poison wouldn''t end up being too much of a problem. Liang Chen was a bit curious why they would still use the poison if it was dealt with this easily, but he didn''t bother voicing the question out loud.


    The group quickly reached the arena-section of the open area, the expressions of Tien Huang and some of the other youths immediately turning solemn. The seating areas surrounding the single stone stage were large enough that those who would partake in the duels could enter separate rooms beneath the seats to prepare anything they needed, the place looked more like a coliseum than it did a normal sparring stage.


    Tien Huang was one of the fighters so he bade Liang Chen farewell and vanished into one of the doors situated on the base of the stone seating areas. Liang Chen didn''t have to say anything, his shadow wriggling faintly for a second before quieting down, Yumao leaving his side to keep an eye on Tien Huang.


    The rest of the people present ascended the seating areas and picked a chair from which they could spectate the following duels. The eastern side of the seating area was occupied by the Tien family and the western was occupied by the Enlai family, only those closer to certain people from the other family stepping past the invisible boundary the two families had decided on. But just as Liang Chen was planning on following the Zun twins to the top of the seats, a slightly aged voice called out to him.


    "You, come sit here with me. You can bring the two servants as well."


    Liang Chen didn''t have to turn his head to see that the person calling out to him was Tien Bao, the current ruler of the Tien family. He spat out a breath of air and then brought the Zun twins with him to the seating area located closest to the stage.


    The seats there were much better than the other seats, covered in a thick layer of soft cloth while also having a small table in front of them. Tien Bao was leaning back in his seat, pointing at the three open seats to his left. Liang Chen received a few curious stares since he was called out like this, but he could just ignore them as he took the seat next to Tien Bao.


    "Alright, I''ll just take this seat then, since you''re offering and all."


    The Zun twins took the seats next to Liang Chen, but they were a far cry from as casual as he was, their movements so stilted that they almost resembled puppets. This was Tien Bao, the great leader of the Tien family, it would be rare for them to just see him, much less get to sit next to him like this. Tien Bao rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the stage that already held two people, not bothering to beat around the bush as he spoke.


    "I don''t know who you are or why you''ve decided to rest here for a while, but those children have already lost enough. If you try to harm them or move against the Tien family, I will eradicate you without mercy."


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows rose in the face of Tien Bao''s direct threat, he could certainly see why Tien Shih had warned him about Tien Bao''s blunt nature. But if you asked him, blunt people like this were far better to deal with than smiling schemers and the like, it was a refreshing change of pace. Tien Bao clearly didn''t know anything concrete about Liang Chen, which was one of the main reasons behind his threat, but Liang Chen had no interest in telling him anything either, shrugging his shoulders.


    "I''m just passing through, as long as you don''t give me a reason to, I won''t do anything bad."


    Tien Bao nodded his head in response to Liang Chen''s statement, accepting it for the moment. He descended into silence after he finished saying his piece, returning his focus to the sparring match already taking place on the stage. Liang Chen also didn''t really have anything to say so he put his focus on the ongoing match, splitting off part of it to keep an eye on the surroundings.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    And while nothing happened during the first match, he received some news from Yumao while the fighters for the second match entered the stage. Someone had apparently snuck into the area where one of the Tien family fighters was preparing and had tried to wound him so that he couldn''t fight, he might have succeeded if hadn''t been for Tien Shih, who had shown up out of nowhere.


    At the same time as he received these news, he also managed to spot a member of the Enlai family make his way out from the rooms underneath the seating area. The youth had a few wounds on his body, the most notable one being his left arm, which had been bent in an unnatural manner.


    The youth made his way over to an elder from the family and whispered to him, the news quickly reaching the female leader of the family, who frowned in annoyance when she was informed. She glared sharply at Tien Bao but didn''t say anything, quietly giving the order to tend to the youth''s wounds. It was obviously done by the Tien family, but as long as she couldn''t bring out any concrete proof then there was no point in mentioning it.


    Without any proof, the Tien family could just say that they had wounded their own fighter to pin the blame on them, it wouldn''t be the first time either family had used that excuse. So they could only swallow it and blame themselves for being the weaker ones in this first hidden exchange. But she wasn''t disheartened, there would be many more exchanges to come, and they had yet to pull out their own trump cards.


    Both families were already very familiar with these sparring matches so one after another passed without incident. There was a slight tenseness over the Enlai family side during the fifth match, they received the news that one of their attacks on Tien Huang had failed. If it was a normal failure, they wouldn''t care much, but the problem was that the attacker wasn''t even certain who had moved to protect Tien Huang.


    He said that the room suddenly flooded with darkness, his body halting where it was before he was battered by something he couldn''t see. With how familiar the two families were with each other, they, of course, knew about the various laws that their strongest cultivators practised. And as such, they knew that there were only three people in the Tien family that cultivated the law of darkness, but they were looking at two of them on the other side of the stage, and the third person was a young child that they knew still remained within the family estate.


    They glanced suspiciously at Liang Chen, who they had no proper information on, but with no leads to latch on to they had no choice but to temporarily put the matter aside. The fights thus continued in a fluid manner, even Tien Huang stepping onto the stage once to take part in a fight.


    The fluidness continued all the way up until the 15th match, at which point the Tien family had won eight matches and the Enlai family had won seven matches. The ones currently fighting were a muscular girl from the Tien family and a muscular man from the Enlai family, one wielding a large axe while the other wielded a surprisingly thin and flexible sword.


    The two were evenly matched in strength so the battle was a fair bit fiercer than the previous ones, both fighters slowly accumulating wounds. But the end of the battle came while the two fighters were on a part of the stage that was closer to Tien Bao than it was the Enlai family. The girl from the Tien family smashed up the sword of the man from the Enlai family and stepped in, smashing her shoulder into his solar plexus and knocking him down.


    But the woman didn''t halt her attack there despite clearly being the victor, a violent light flashing through her eyes as the pain from her wounds got to her. She gathered her strength in her arms and smashed the axe down, angling it towards the man''s chest. The leader of the Enlai family frowned darkly at the sight, but neither she nor Tien Bao moved to stop the woman.


    The families were rivals, and while they generally had a non-verbal rule to not kill during these competitions, a non-verbal rule was far from binding. If the woman chose to kill the man here, in an official duel accepted by both families, there was nothing that either side could say. But while they had their rules, there was one person present that wasn''t exactly known for caring too much about something like rules.


    "Alright, that should be about enough, there really isn''t a need to take things further."


    The voice interrupted the woman''s attack, a hand grasping onto her axe''s handle and halting it in place before it could hit the downed man. Liang Chen had appeared at her side without her realizing it, his casual grip on her axe rendering her unable to even budge it. He wore a somewhat exasperated expression, he would have preferred it if he didn''t have to step out like this.


    But no matter what, he still had his morals and his limits, and he would abide by those even if it meant having to step forward. He didn''t know a damn thing about the man lying on the ground next to him, knew nothing of his sins and virtues. He could be someone worthy of death, or he could be someone worthy of life, Liang Chen didn''t know. And since he didn''t know, he would rather save a life than take it and end up regretting it after learning the truth.


    "You should go now, I''m sure you know that this is your loss."


    Liang Chen spoke to the man who was frozen on the ground, the shadow of death that just loomed over him had practically paralyzed him. Liang Chen''s words helped him snap out of it, quickly uttering a few thanks before he got up and left the stage, admitting his defeat. Liang Chen let go of the axe after the man left, returning to his seat while shrugging his shoulders.


    "It''s just a few sparring matches, no need to take things too far."


    The expected scene occurred when he returned to his seat, he felt a large number of gazes land on him, vigilantly inspecting the youth they had mostly disregarded since he was just a wounded person that Tien Huang brought back. Luckily, he had the sparkling gazes of the Zun twins to break up the monotonous vigilance and inspection that the others showed, the two children were filled with nothing more than simple admiration and awe.


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything in response to the two gazes, maintaining the expression of a casual observer. But his actions had already caught the attention of everyone present, and also caused a bit of worry to sprout within the hearts of the Enlai family. As such, the leader of the Enlai family leaned closer to the elder sitting at her side, quietly giving him an order. Since such an unknown variable had entered the fray, it was about time that they themselves brought out one of their own variables.

 Chapter 256: A prince and a king.

    There was a myriad of gazes on Liang Chen, practically prickling his skin as the various pairs of eyes swept over him. But he managed to detect one that felt a bit off, so ethereal and faint that it was hard to pick out from amongst the others. His pupils moved slightly, just barely able to spot Tien Shih''s blue eyes within one of the doorways located on the Enlai family''s side of the arena.


    He doubted that she had seen the entire battle, she had probably just come forward because she noticed the commotion. And since she definitely noticed all the gazes focused on him, he also guessed that she was now fully convinced that she had done the right thing in requesting his help. She didn''t reveal herself further than she already had, not even daring to glance at the leader of the Enlai family for fear that she would be discovered, she simply vanished from sight after checking out the commotion.


    The strangely silent commotion luckily died down rather quickly when no one saw that Liang Chen had any interest in speaking, the fact that Tien Bao didn''t say anything about the situation also helped. The Zun twins kept sneaking glances at him, feeling nothing but astonishment at the might that their newly found big brother had so casually shown. And of course, as the commotion died down, the sparring matches resumed.


    The contestant from the Tien family stepped out from one of the doorways built into the seating area, but his appearance made it clear that he was in no condition to fight. He had a large bruise on his face that made the left side of his face swell up so much that it forced his eye shut, he was also limping so much that he was practically dragging his right foot.


    He didn''t even bother stepping onto the stone stage, heading directly for the seating area while Tien Bao''s brows furrowed slightly. The fighter from the Enlai family was perfectly healthy as he left the doorway, and seeing that his opponent was too wounded to fight he knew that there was no point in stepping onto the stage. But as he was about to step away, the Enlai family matriarch called him over.


    The crimson-haired woman spoke to the startled youth in a hushed tone before throwing him an interspatial ring and sending him away. The youth stepped onto the stage and walked straight across it before hopping down again, stopping right in front of the Tien family seating area. His gaze landed on Liang Chen as he flung out his arm, tossing him the interspatial ring.


    "You have protected the life of one of ours, please accept our gratitude."


    Liang Chen caught the interspatial ring and sank his mind into it, taking stock of the various items that had been packed into it. The Enlai family knew nothing about him or his laws so they had kept the more specialized resources at a minimum, only including a single fire-element resource and one metal-element resource. There were however quite a few Spirit Stones and non-elemental resources in the interspatial ring, most of the resources belonging to the type that was filled with a vast and pure Qi that could be freely absorbed.


    Liang Chen was a tad surprised that the Enlai family was actually willing to reward him, but he had no reason to refuse them so he stored away the ring with a nod of his head. The youth from the Enlai family walked away after finishing his task, the match getting written up as a win for the Enlai family.


    The atmosphere around the Enlai family''s section of the arena became much more relaxed as the youth once again vanished into the doorway he had just left, a faint smile appearing on the matriarch''s mother. She turned around and beckoned forth a cloak-covered youth that had been sitting amidst the other Enlai family members, quietly exchanging a few words before allowing him to enter the stage.


    The youth hopped onto the stage in a casual manner and then removed his cloak, allowing his energy to burst forth at the same time. The energy surging forth from his body belonged to a cultivator at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, and thanks to his own cultivation, Liang Chen could also sense that there was an equally powerful Anima Essence mixed in with the energy.


    And as if to match his powerful energy, the youth had an equally striking appearance. His frame was surprisingly delicate and his features sharp and handsome, his dark pink hair hanging loosely down to his shoulders. The strands of hair that would fall in front of his face and cover his gleaming yellow eyes had been swept to the side and fastened using two pins, one shaped like a tiger and one like a dragon.


    The youth''s gaze was sharp as he swept the people from the Tien family, an excited light glinting in his eyes as his fingers fiddled with the handle of a sword he had fastened at his waist. As they looked at the youth, the gazes of some of the people from the Tien family sharply narrowed in shock, Tien Bao turning to the Enlai matriarch.


    "The Prince of Dreamy Lust, is this your trump card, Enlai Yuan-Hah?"


    Liang Chen made a mental note of the Enlai matriarch''s name, but he was more interested in the title that Tien Bao had used for the youth. He checked his Bloodwind Code just to make sure, and just as he suspected, there was someone on the Multiverse Bloodwind list with that title. Shen Fei, Prince of Dreamy Lust, it was a rank that was one step above Liang Chen''s Lord rank.


    Of course, Liang Chen''s law of the void made it hard for the Bloodwind Code to classify him, so he had no idea whether or not his rank was currently set correctly. Shen Fei finished letting his gaze sweep over the members of the Tien family, giving a fractal bow and introducing himself.


    "Shen Fei, early-stage Primordial Immortal Qi cultivator and early-stage Soul Lord Soul cultivator. Please send out your strongest fighters so that I can have at least one good fight."


    Shen Fei didn''t beat around the bush in the slightest and made his desires very clear, he wanted a good fight. As to whether or not that was the only reason he helped the Enlai family, no one but him would know. Shen Fei''s words were directed at the Tien family, but his gaze was locked squarely on Liang Chen, so it was exceedingly clear exactly who it was that he wanted to fight. But if that was what he hoped for, then Liang Chen could only leave him disappointed.


    "Don''t look at me, I''m not here to fight, I''m just an observer by coincidence."


    Shen Fei seemed to practically deflate when Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders, his disappointment palpable. But he luckily didn''t seem intent on pushing Liang Chen, spitting out a puff of air and waiting for the contestant that the Tien family would send out.


    But with Shen Fei taking the stage, the sparring contest had lost any suspense that it might have had in the past. The Tien family had more than one member that had reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but they were far from good enough. Shen Fei was someone granted the Prince title on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, this alone was enough to prove that his strength and potential were far above others.Stolen novel; please report.


    As such, each person who stepped onto the stage was swiftly beaten back down, not even the early stage Primordial Immortal disciples capable of lasting more than six or seven exchanges. Shen Fei easily had the strength to kill his opponents, but he would halt his attacks each time to make sure that they weren''t killed.


    His movements as he did this looked a bit stilted, as if he wasn''t too familiar with having to hold back like this. He would also cast a quick glance at Enlai Yuan-Hah each time, looking somewhat aggrieved. But the only response he got was her shrugging her shoulders and gesturing towards Liang Chen, who maintained his stance as an observer.


    Her own stance was made clear through these actions, it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. They had the victory in the pocket if they kept going like this, there was no point in needlessly antagonizing an unknown variable, thus forcing it to move.


    The victor was as clear as day, but Tien Bao didn''t halt the sparring match. It wasn''t to save his pride or the like, it was more so for the fact that it wasn''t every day that you could spar against someone holding a Ruler title on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, this was a good chance for the Tien family disciples.


    Shen Fei himself seemed to start getting bored of things after winning the 15th match in a row, once again beating Tien Huang down. But it was at this time that another unexpected change occurred. A ferocious pressure suddenly covered the entire arena, crushing down on everyone present while a voice descended from above.


    "So this is where you''ve skulked off to, This King has had to spend a fair bit of time looking for you."


    The gazes of everyone present immediately shot to the sky, landing on a middle-aged man with faintly ashen skin and dark grey hair. The man was standing in the air, Qi gathering and hardening beneath his feet to create a platform for him. The man had dark black eyes flashing with a poisonous light as he looked down at the people present, his pupils sweeping over the leaders of the two families.


    "Tien Bao, Enlai Yuan-Hah, I may have kicked them out of my herd, but that does not mean that you are free to hunt my clansmen. I might be fine with it if it was the two of you that did it, but the energy lingering in the place was so pathetically weak that it can''t have been the two of you, but just some random kids. I''m not going to make things difficult for you, none of us want an all-out fight, just hand over those that dared hunt my clansmen."


    The man''s voice was a bit raspy and dark, but the arrogance within it couldn''t be hidden, his eyes continuously sweeping over the people present, as if searching for something. Liang Chen was rather quick-witted, and the middle-aged man didn''t do much in an attempt to hide it, so he managed to quickly guess at his identity. If it came to hunting, then Liang Chen could only think of one hunt that had taken place recently, the one where Tien Huang killed the Stone-Soul Scorpions.


    Tien Huang and his group had mentioned that the scorpions were thrown away by their king, so it stood to reason that the man standing in the air above them was exactly that king. Liang Chen allowed his gaze to roam over the body of the Stone-Soul King, his pupils shrinking somewhat. The Stone-Soul King had reached the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but the horrid pressure it was radiating made its status as a true Divine Beast more than clear, so its strength should be a fair bit above its realm.


    The pressure of a Divine Beast was not an easy thing to bear, it was much easier for Liang Chen, who had a bloodline that transcended a Divine Beast. But for the rest of the people present, especially those who didn''t have any bloodlines, it was far harder, some were unable to even move at all.


    Enlai Yuan-Hah heaved a stealthy sigh of relief when the Stone-Soul King finished talking, they hadn''t hunted any Stone-Soul Scorpions lately so he wasn''t talking about them. Tien Bao, on the other hand, his expression distorted violently. Tien Huang had just hunted some Stone-Soul Scorpions, they had been abandoned by this very king so it should have been fine.


    But now it seemed like this king was far more unreasonable than he had ever acted in the past, even caring about members he had abandoned. Normally, he might be able to be convinced to hand over a few people, the Stone-Soul King would just have to add over enough resources to pay him off so that he didn''t lose too much face. But the problem was that one of the people that had taken part in the hunt was his own grandchild, and he couldn''t exactly send him out to be killed.


    "You abandoned them, so you can''t just go around seeking justice against us for killing them, that''s not how it works when you abandon something. I''ll not hand over a single person."


    This was the only course of action left to him, standing his ground. The Stone-Soul King had definitely memorized all the energy that still lingered in the area after the hunt, he would be able to detect all those who had taken part in it the moment they showed themselves. As such, just handing over the others and hiding his grandchild wasn''t really an option, the Stone-Soul King would realize that someone was missing.


    There was also Liang Chen, Tien Bao''s instincts told him that handing over Liang Chen would be a terrible mistake, one of the greatest he could ever make. The atmosphere in the area immediately froze as Tien Bao made his declaration, the expression of the Stone-Soul King not changing in the slightest, he just gave a simple nod of his head.


    "I thought as much, one of the energies present was fairly similar to the one that jabbering fool had, so I already guessed that one of the hunters had familial ties with you. But when I want to kill someone, you are not capable of stopping me."


    The Stone-Soul King pushed down his hand as he spoke, the air rippling as a tremendous amount of energy was pushed downward. Tien Bao shot into the sky and intercepted the mass of energy, but the scattered pieces that slipped past him were still enough to make the coliseum fall apart.


    Chaos immediately broke out as the elders of the various families did their best to maintain order, the expression of Enlai Yuan-Hah morphing a few times before she stood up and shot into the sky to aid Tien Bao. They were rivals, but if either family was destroyed in such an abrupt manner like this, the void left behind by them could not be filled fast enough for the city to resist the beasts lurking in the desert. If Tien Bao fell here, the Stone-Soul King might even take the chance to launch a full-blown attack on the city straight away.


    Everything instantly became even more chaotic when Enlai Yuan-Hah joined the fray, just the remnant waves of her energy were enough to crack open the earth and launch shrapnel everywhere. Even with the elders doing everything they could, panic was inevitable in a situation like this, especially when the first injuries due to the shrapnel and collapsing coliseum appeared.


    The Zun twins flocked to Liang Chen, trembling like leaves in a storm, their faces so pale that they looked bloodless. Liang Chen himself raised his head and looked at the chaos going on around him, his gaze eventually landing on a large chunk of the coliseum that was crashing down upon some of the people from the two families. The chunk was several tens of metres wide and descended upon the fleeing group, already so close that they had no chance of escaping.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as the sound of panic and chaos echoed throughout the surroundings, so much for hoping that things would pass peacefully. But since things had already gone this awry, there was no way he was going to just sit by idly, a simple word slipping out from his lips.


    "Yumao."


    The shadows of the fleeing youths immediately exploded as the word sounded out, thick tendrils of darkness rising into the air and tearing up the chunk. Several more such tendrils appeared all around the coliseum, shattering any chunks that were about to hit people who couldn''t defend themselves.


    All the tendrils then shot over to Liang Chen, spinning around each other until they formed a single tendril that coiled around him. And as the tendril coiled around Liang Chen, it solidified and turned into Yumao, his black feathery wings extending from behind Liang Chen while Yumao himself raised his horned head and let loose a loud roar to proclaim his and Liang Chen''s presence.

 Chapter 257: A quick deal.

    The thunderous roar rumbling throughout the area seemed to drown out everything else, even the sounds coming from the collapsing coliseum becoming faint. And having made such a grand entrance, how could Yumao and Liang Chen not immediately become the centre of attention?


    Yumao had even purposefully set his length to around a mere two metres so that he could perfectly coil around Liang Chen to truly perfect the image. The others might not notice it, but Liang Chen had spent enough time with Yumao to realize that he currently looked more than just a little satisfied. He might enjoy this grand scene and the dumbfounded attention of everyone else, but Liang Chen was different, rubbing Yumao''s head for a short moment.


    "Don''t be so overdramatic, you could have just razed the entire coliseum in one fell swoop so that there wasn''t any longer any risk of rubble falling on people. You could also have done it much quieter, without roaring like an angry kitty."


    The grandiose display that had just caught everyone''s attention was a stark contrast to Liang Chen''s more subdued reaction, but to the onlookers, it only served to further shroud Liang Chen in mystery. After all, if you had the ability to show off and be grandiose, why would you want to just finish things quickly and neatly? Yumao had much the same opinion, spitting out a puff of air.


    "Bah, why would you want to do things in your quiet manner? It feels good to show off from time to time, Mother will be the one who has to do it all the time if you don''t learn that lesson."


    Yumao''s words only further dumbfounded the onlookers, the beast could actually communicate using human words? But if it could do that, why hadn''t it taken human form at the same time? Liang Chen rapped Yumao on the head and then crouched down in front of the stiff Zun twins, smiling while he introduced Yumao.


    "This little fellow is Liang Yumao, I''d refer to him as my brother, but he''ll start sulking if I don''t refer to him as my son. He''ll stick right by you and keep you safe, there are few places safer than under his wings."


    Yumao slithered down from Liang Chen''s body and grew a little, coiling up next to the two children to keep them safe. Of course, he also knew that Liang Chen fully intended for him to also keep an eye on the surroundings to prevent any deaths, Liang Chen was definitely well aware that this was something that Yumao was perfectly capable of.


    The two Zun twins wanted to say something, but their pupils shrank abruptly just as they opened their mouths, their gazes drifting past Liang Chen. Liang Chen had already noticed what stunned the two of them, the calming smile remaining on his face as he straightened his body and spun around.


    He clenched his left hand as he spun around, throwing out a punch so heavy that it distorted the air around his fist. And just as his fist reached peak power, it collided with the outstretched hand of the Stone-Soul King, who had rushed past Tien Bao and Enlai Yuan-Hah.


    The robe covering Liang Chen''s left arm was instantly disintegrated, what remained of the seating area around him getting flattened and pushed down into a small crater. But even with all this rampant energy tearing up the area around him, not a shred of the energy got close to the Zun twins, Liang Chen perfectly controlling his energy to split up any remnant energy that might reach them.


    His legs tensed while his elbow bent slightly, but he still managed to match and resist the attack of the Stone-Soul King, who was currently looking at him with unbridled desire. A dense grey mist burst forth from the Stone-Soul King the moment Liang Chen blocked his charge, rushing over to Liang Chen to swallow him and everything around him.


    But Liang Chen had already anticipated a counterattack from the Stone-Soul King, it was the entire reason he had punched out with his left hand. His grey spear appeared in his right hand and swung out, his immense physical might practically causing the maw-shaped head of the spear to roar as it cut through the mist and smashed into the waist of the Stone-Soul King.


    It was only in this first exchange that Liang Chen actually started to radiate even the faintest amount of energy so the strength he revealed succeeded in catching the Stone-Soul King off guard. The enemy was launched to the side, but his expression was still flush with a glint of victory, because he saw part of his poison cloud wash over Liang Chen.


    He was originally a highly poisonous Demonic beast, and that property had only grown stronger after he evolved to become a Divine Beast. The number of enemies his poison hadn''t been able to handle over the years could be counted on a single hand, so he was right to be arrogant with it. But sadly for him, he was doomed to have to use his second hand to count the number of survivors in the future.


    While stabilizing his body a few tens of metres to Liang Chen''s side, he could only watch on in a dumbfounded manner as Liang Chen waved his hand and dispersed the poison with a gust of wind. The poison of the Stone-Soul King was definitely terrifying, but Liang Chen''s affinity with poison had already reached a ludicrous degree. If it wasn''t for the Stone-Soul King''s energy within the poison, then Liang Chen could freely absorb it to restore his energy.


    And even if he completely ignored that, then there was still the matter of Liang Chen''s strongest poison, the white one he had acquired from the spider corpse within the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. He had no idea what sort of level that beast had reached, but it was definitely not low for it to have a spot in a graveyard set up by the Sealing God Empyrean. When faced with that white poison, this grey poison had no choice but to fade and vanish. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Liang Chen could be considered the nemesis of the Stone-Soul King thanks to his poison resistance, but it was only he that had this poison resistance. The same couldn''t be said for other people, or say, the items that Liang Chen wore on his person. As such, when he dispersed the poisonous cloud, he felt something on his face grow heavy, a cracking sound reaching his ears.


    And then, without warning, the Heaven Altering Mask he had been wearing fell from his face, having turned to stone thanks to the intense poison. Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly, but contrary to what he expected, there were no exclamations from the surrounding people.


    He swiftly used his senses to check the area, and to his surprise, his appearance hadn''t actually changed despite the destruction of the Heaven Altering Mask. He didn''t have to spend any time pondering over what the cause might be, the culprit made himself known straight away, the excited voice of Shen Fei resounding inside Liang Chen''s head.


    "Hahaha, so that''s who you are! The Wrathful Lord hunting the Sparrow! I''m amazed that you actually managed to get away, I heard that the Sparrow even went to the trouble of preparing a trap for you!"


    Liang Chen''s pupils moved slightly and landed on the pink-haired youth, who was still standing on the now ruined stone stage. He was practically shivering from excitement as he looked at Liang Chen, the prey he had picked out turned out to be a fish larger than he had anticipated.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, smashing his spear down upon the incoming Stone-Soul King. The Stone-Soul King raised his arm and deflected the spear in a surprisingly smooth and deft manner, crossing the small distance between the two in a short instance. He smashed his fist towards Liang Chen''s abdomen, but was blocked by Liang Chen''s left hand at the last second.


    But even though he blocked the attack, the power gathered in it was far above what the Stone-Soul King had used in the previous attack. His feet lost contact with the ground as he was sent flying backwards, the Stone-Soul King immediately chasing after him. But speed had never been one of Liang Chen''s weaknesses, that was also true when one spoke about the speed at which he reacted.


    He spun his spear so that the tip faced down, digging it into the earth to abruptly halt his backwards momentum. He placed one foot against the spear for support and stretched out the other one, the Stone-Soul King forced to cross his arms in front of his face to block the kick. But a violent gust of wind was unleashed by Liang Chen''s foot the moment it touched the Stone-Soul King, once again launching him away and giving Liang Chen time to look at Shen Fei again.


    "I''m assuming my current appearance is your doing?"


    It really wasn''t hard to guess at the culprit, the timing was just too good. Shen Fei didn''t sound like he was affiliated with the Tranquil Lake, so he was a bit curious when it came to how he knew about the fact that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had laid a trap for him.


    But thinking about the massive entity that was the Heaven''s Secrets Company, he could somewhat guess at the truth of the matter. As for Shen Fei, he directly admitted to it, a faint and sly smile slowly creeping up on his face.


    "Correct, I''m using illusions to cover up your appearance, you wouldn''t hide your appearance if you were willing to let others see how you really looked. And I can see why, the Sparrow has people in god knows how many places, and you''ve really pissed him off. Hell, I am even willing to hand you my own Heaven Altering Mask, not like I need it with my illusions."


    Shen Fei hadn''t used illusions once during the sparring matches, he had only used his sword and the law of the sword, so Liang Chen had no idea that he was also proficient in illusions. Shen Fei was someone who could get a Prince title on the Multiverse Bloodwind List so it wasn''t strange for him to have a Heaven Altering Mask, but Liang Chen doubted that he would just hand it over.


    "I''d like to get it for free, but you don''t really strike me as that generous."


    He indirectly asked a question, but looking at Shen Fei''s earlier behaviour, he could form a guess as to exactly what he would want as payment. And his guess was immediately proven correct, a grin appearing on Shen Fei''s face.


    "You''re not wrong, you''ve gotta pay a price if you want the mask. But the price ain''t anything too dramatic, you just gotta fight me once this is all over. A 1 on 1, far from prying eyes so that you can really give it your all, I want to see what sort of thing can make even the Sparrow feel fear. Promise me that, and then I''ll give you the mask."


    Just like he said when he stepped onto the stage, he wanted a good fight. And of all the people present, who could give him a better fight than Liang Chen. Not only was he a newly ascended title holder, he was also capable of causing the Sky-Piercing Sparrow trouble.


    And looking at how he dealt with the Stone-Soul King during those two exchanges, although he hadn''t gotten an advantage, he was able to stay even with him. This was a big fish, one far bigger than any that Shen Fei had managed to hook before, and he refused to let him go. Liang Chen didn''t need to think about it for too long, this was an exceptionally good deal for him since he wanted to remain hidden for now.


    "Deal."


    Shen Fei nodded his head, signalling the end of the stealthy conversation that the two had engaged in using their Anima Essence. Tien Bao and Enlai Yuan-Hah quickly landed at Liang Chen''s side, shock smeared all over their expressions. They knew how strong the Stone-Soul King was, and even though it hadn''t used all its strength yet, Liang Chen had still managed to stay even with it for two exchanges, signifying that the strength he was hiding was not negligible.


    The Stone-Soul King stood a few tens of metres away from Liang Chen, staring at him with a poisonous gaze. But Tien Bao and Enlai Yuan-Hah were right beside him, and he could also see that Shen Fei was fiddling with his sword, excitement flashing around within his eyes. The odds weren''t exactly in his favour, so getting his hands on what he wanted right this instant would not be easy. He was evidently rather decisive, acting the moment he made his decision.


    "Tricky, tricky. I''ll retreat for now since things didn''t go quite as I expected. But don''t thank your lucky stars too early, I''ll be back, and then I''ll bring along my entire herd and anyone else I can find. When it comes to my desires, I''ll raze this entire city if I have to, so you just wash your neck."


    He spoke as if he was including everyone present, but Liang Chen had seen the unbridled desire in his eyes when the two clashed, that last part was definitely meant for him and him alone. The Stone-Soul King kicked off of the ground and shot into the sky the moment he finished his warning, hardening the Qi beneath his feet so that he could run through the air and quickly dash away.


    No one present moved to stop him, mainly because of how extraordinarily hard it was to actually force someone strong to remain behind against their will, especially a Divine Beast. And with the stone-Soul King''s departure, peace could be said to have returned to the area, but his final threat left a heavy gloom on everyone''s mood.

 Chapter 258: Voids Wrath.

    Liang Chen''s gaze followed the back of the swiftly departing Stone-Soul King, a rare grave light flashing through his pupils. This was his first encounter, and subsequent first battle, with a true Divine Beast. And while he was utterly confident in his chances to deal with a normal beast or cultivator at the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, that confidence shrank slightly in front of the Stone-Soul King.


    He restrained the Stone-Soul King when it came to his poison, but he could still feel his body tingle due to the hits he and the beast had exchanged. He had cultivated his body to the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm using a truly supreme technique, but the Stone-Soul King was able to match that using just the natural strength of his body.


    And the worst part was that he didn''t seem to go all out during the quick exchange, wary of the other parties present in the area that might interfere. As such, Liang Chen was fairly confident that he would have to at the very least fully restore his veins if he wanted to stand a chance at killing the Stone-Soul King.


    And kill him he would have to, especially after he had seen the untamed desire the Stone-Soul King showed. He didn''t know quite why, it probably had something to do with his bloodline, but the Stone-Soul King''s target was clearly him. And just like he said, he would raze the entire city if he had to.


    Was Liang Chen so heartless that he could just leave these people to this calamity he had brought upon them? The answer to that was clearly no, doing so would go against everything he believed in and fought for. So he would have to fight, and he would have to kill the enemy to ensure that he wouldn''t have to carve more innocent lives into his soul, those he racked up in the Sword Dancer''s sect were more than enough for him.


    But before he could deal with any of that, he had to deal with the current situation, the voice of Shen Fei coming from his side.


    "When?"


    Liang Chen spat out an exasperated breath that was somewhat turbid thanks to a fine bloody mist, the reverberations of the Stone-Soul King''s last attack had pushed through his blocking hand and rushed into his organs for a second. He turned his head to look at the eager Shen Fei, stretching out his hand to point in the direction that the Stone-Soul King had left.


    "Just as promised, when it''s all over. He just said that he''ll be back, so this can''t be considered over. After all, I''m certain that you don''t want the battle to be interrupted by him. So it won''t be now, but I swear an oath that I''ll fight you properly once he''s been dealt with."


    Shen Fei seemed to deflate somewhat when Liang Chen postponed their duel to an unknown time, but the fact that he swore an oath to fight at least assured him that Liang Chen wasn''t going to run away. As such, Shen Fei felt confident enough to swipe his belt, which was an interspatial treasure, and toss a transparent mask to Liang Chen.


    "My side of the deal."


    Liang Chen caught the Heaven Altering Mask, which was a little bit different from the one he had gotten in the past. He put it on and changed his appearance again, Shen Fei dispelling his illusion. The onlookers had obviously seen the exchange and knew that Liang Chen was hiding something, most likely related to his appearance since he received a mask, but no one present could really ask about it.


    The two family leaders definitely wanted to ask about it, especially Tien Bao, but seeing as they were facing the threat of city-wide destruction, this clearly wasn''t the time. The two family leaders exchanged a quick glance, already sharing the same idea.


    "Little Brother, I''m sure you''re aware of how dire the situation is so I won''t beat around the bush. We''re going to immediately discuss things with the Head Instructor of the Nine Claws Dojo, we''ll need his strength if we want to resist the Stone-Soul King and his horde. Please, Little Brother Chen, Little Brother Fei, join us there."


    Enlai Yuan-Hah left the talking to Tien Bao, who could be considered to be marginally closer to Liang Chen, neither of them were really close to Shen Fei so it didn''t matter who talked to him. The Nine Claws Dojo was one of the four powers in the city, and even though it was one of the two that held no power, the leader of the dojo was still someone with significant might.


    There was no point in going to the Heaven''s Secrets Company, not even the Stone-Soul King should be foolish enough to try anything against them even while he razed the city. It would be a good place to hide the weaker civilians, but it was not realistic to hide every single citizen there until the Stone-Soul King grew bored and left. Liang Chen could guess that they wanted to use his and Shen Fei''s strength to bolster their defences, but he had other plans so he shook his head.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "Sorry, but I won''t be joining you. There''s no telling when he''ll be back so I can''t afford to waste my time any further than I already have."


    Liang Chen didn''t bother waiting for any counter-argument from the two family leaders and directly stepped past them, kicking off the ground and shooting away like a bolt of lightning. Yumao remained behind at the side of the Zun twins and Tien Huang, who had joined up with everyone else during this brief moment of peace.


    The people from the Enlai family thought that Liang Chen might be running off to hide, curious as to why he left his companion behind if that was the case. But a faint guess emerged in the minds of those Tien family members that had mingled a little with Liang Chen, a guess that sent a slight shiver down their spines.


    With the strength he had just revealed, they had been mostly confident that his injuries were faked by him and that he had actually been at full strength all along. But what if that wasn''t the case? What if he was actually injured and his strength hampered as a result? If that was the strength he showed while wounded, what would he bring out when he wasn''t wounded?


    Their guess was indeed correct, Liang Chen''s injuries had never been faked, and now he was going to heal them as quickly as he could. He hadn''t done so in the past for a single reason, the way he had in mind was certain to draw a lot of attention, which he was trying to avoid. But with the Stone-Soul King throwing out such a threat, he couldn''t really afford to worry about drawing any attention.


    But even so, he still used the Heaven Altering Mask to change his appearance once more as he travelled, choosing to turn himself into an orange-haired female to make it even harder to recognize him. Some people would probably be able to realize the truth once he actually started, but that was inevitable so there wasn''t much point in worrying about it.


    The place he arrived at after leaving the island floating on Moonset Lake was an exceedingly normal-looking five-room earthen house. The surrounding 10-kilometres of land were barren and without a single other structure, making the house appear somewhat lonely as it stood there alone. But this was The Moon''s Nest, the place where the elemental that practically birthed this city had once lived.


    The elemental was gone, but the house still exuded such a pressure that none had been able to enter it since, rendering its contents unknown. And it was exactly this pressure that was Liang Chen''s target today. The pressure was the same as one that would be unleashed by a strong cultivator, it was a result of the surrounding Qi getting denser and more agitated by their mere presence. This was why Tien Huang said that just resisting the pressure was a good way to cultivate, because the pressure would inevitably seep a bit of its dense Qi into the person resisting it.


    Liang Chen stood still at the very edge of the pressure for a few minutes, regulating his condition so that the minuscule wounds he suffered in the short exchange wouldn''t hinder him. And once he felt that he reached his peak condition, at least peak for the current him, he stepped forward into the pressure.


    The pressure was very weak at the start, but each step practically doubled the intensity of the pressure. By the time he was still 100 steps away from the house, it felt like a mountain of pure steel was bearing down on his shoulders, his feet sinking slightly into the earth. And it was only here that he felt the pressure was good enough for him to set his actual plan into motion.


    He used his Fiendgod Essence to fight back against the remaining corroding energy, but his stronger Anima Essence surged out from his body and into the surroundings. There were only two laws that Liang Chen had infused into all three of his cultivation systems, and those laws were his newer law of the void and his original law of time. As such, he could use both of those laws with all three of his energies.


    Thanks to that, the flow of time around him was quickly affected by his Anima Essence, speeding up dramatically and rapidly draining his Anima Essence. Normally he would only be able to keep up this increased flow of time, 24 times the normal speed, for about six hours. But here he was surrounded by energy so dense it formed a pressure, there was no shortage of energy he could absorb to replenish his drained Anima Essence.


    And under this increased flow of time, the last of the corroding energy was quickly pushed out so that Liang Chen could finally start restoring his veins. But a resolute light flashed through his eyes before he actually started to restore his veins, a rampant Fiendgod Essence rushing through his body and tearing apart the last few veins that remained intact in his body.


    The battle with the Stone-Soul King made it very clear that he still had a long way to go, he still had a lot of strength to gain to achieve his goal. So it was a bit risky, but he still decided to be ruthless to himself and made up his mind, he would use the chance right now to reform all his meridians using his body cultivation technique.


    He started to reconstruct his meridians and veins, slowly walking forward to increase the pressure and density of energy whenever he felt that he needed more. This, of course, resulted in him bearing more pressure, to the point that his bones started to creak and tremble under the intense energy that bore down on him.


    But Liang Chen acted as if he didn''t even notice it, using the immense pressure to also work on another aspect he could improve on, his laws. His bodily laws had perfectly fused to form his unique body law, the law of the Void Storm. His soul-focused laws were also only a small step away from perfectly fusing into his unique soul law, the law of the Void Abyss.


    But he was still a bit away from perfectly fusing all of his laws into a single seamless whole for his Qi cultivation, and now was a good chance to do that. The pressure would help a little by forcing his Fiendgod Essence and Anima Essence together when he brought them both out, allowing him to somewhat visualize the perfect fusion.


    So he continued to step forward, rebuilding his veins and meridians while constantly bringing out his Fiendgod Essence and his Anima Essence. He had already set his mind on it, he was going to complete the fusion here, this would be the place where the law of the Void''s Wrath was born.

 Chapter 259: Leaving the city.

    Hours swiftly turned to days, a tense and oppressive silence descending over everyone in Moonset City. Those who weren''t involved with the two families fled as quickly as they could, not willing to get caught up in a battle that had nothing to do with them. But not everyone could flee, some people had nowhere else to go, everything they owned was right here, they wouldn''t be able to survive for more than a week or so even if they fled from the city.


    The Enlai family and the Tien family brought out every ounce of strength they had and started fortifying the city, making sure that every array scattered throughout it was maintained and in peak condition. As for the Nine Claws Dojo, only the Head Instructor and his four direct subordinates stayed behind, everyone else was only there to learn some martial arts and had thus left the moment they got the chance.


    No one knew when the Stone-Soul King would bring his entire herd and return so no one could rest peacefully, few people even daring to leave their houses. And beneath this heart-sinking atmosphere, 15 days passed by, each day feeling like it dragged on for an entire month. Tien Huang knocked on the door of his grandfather''s dwelling on the afternoon of the 15th day, giving him a quick update on the areas he had checked out.


    "Markets 1 through 12 have all finished the maintenance and strengthening of their arrays, 13 to 25 have finished their maintenance but miss the strengthening, and 26 to 31 have yet to finish either. The Heaven''s Secrets Company have stated that they are going to remain open as always so we at least have a shelter for some of the non-combatants, but we can only fit about 21% of the non-combatants. Finally, the eastern and northern parts of the great wall have been reinforced fully while the two other parts are half-done."


    No one of the two great families had the time to sit around idly, everyone beneath the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm had to run around and prepare as best they could. As for everyone at or above the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, they received the simple order to maintain their peak state, they had to be able to burst forth at a moments notice. Tien Bao nodded his head, his gaze drifting through the window and turning towards the direction of the Moon''s Nest.


    "They''re still there? No movements yet?"


    Tien Bao didn''t mention any names, but it was probably only the non-combatants that wouldn''t know exactly who he was talking about. Tien Huang turned his head and followed Tien Bao''s gaze, an admiring light flashing through his eyes as he nodded his head.


    "Yes, they''re still keeping guard. Only Brother Chen has moved, reaching the 55th step."


    He had disguised himself, but practically everyone else in the city was already accounted for. And with that large winged serpent keeping guard by the Moon''s Nest, even Shen Fei moving over there, who other than Liang Chen could it be that was currently approaching the Moon''s Nest?


    And more than just approach it, he had already reached the 55th step after 15 days, leaving only 45 more steps before he reached the house. It sounded like quite a lot, but the closest anyone had ever gotten to the house was only the 70th step, and that person had been at the very peak of the Primordial Immortal realm.


    A change happened outside the window just as Tien Huang finished his sentence, a horrid pressure appearing in the sky above the city. The previously bright day suddenly darkened as dense clouds gathered above the city, a bit of rain falling from the clouds.


    But the clouds weren''t pitch black as they should be, they were a brilliant blue, the rain falling from them actually freezing everything it came into contact with. This wasn''t a storm or the like, it was a Heavenly Tribulation, and just looking at the sheer scope of it, Tien Bao was certain that it was an exceedingly violent tribulation.


    "What exactly did you bring back to our city?"


    --


    As he felt that first drop of liquid ice land on him, Liang Chen opened his eyes, arcs of brown lightning dancing within his golden pupils. His gaze swept past the distant Shen Fei and Yumao, the latter was currently shielding the scared Zun twins using his wings. The range of the rain was quite large, but the main focus of it was Liang Chen so the power of the rain that wasn''t directly around him was rather weak. Having finished taking stock of his surroundings, he raised his head and looked at the deep blue clouds covering the sky.


    "Once again, you show yourself."


    Liang Chen''s expression held not a single ounce of the calmness or warmth it usually did, right now it overflowed with a boundless amount of disdain. He didn''t pull out his spear or readied himself, he just looked at the clouds as they gathered up energy, the rain of liquid ice growing heavier and heavier.


    For everyone else, it had only been 15 days, but Liang Chen had spent every second of those 15 days inside a flow of time sped up by 24 times. An entire year had already passed for him, and he had already succeeded in reforming both his veins and meridians on the 275th day, all of them growing back stronger than before. The remaining time had been spent drawing in the surrounding energy, getting used to the rampant speed at which his energy now flowed through his meridians, as well as working on the fusion of his laws.


    A thick pillar of bloody crimson flames shot down from the sky and enveloped Liang Chen, the earth around him melting due to the sheer heat. But Liang Chen simply stretched out his arm and swept it out, tearing apart the pillar of fire with a violent burst of Fiendgod Essence.


    The Heavenly Tribulation had already sent out its next attacks, wind, ice, and violet lightning raining down upon the area. Liang Chen ignored the other attacks, his gaze focusing on the thick bolts of violet lightning that descended from the sky. His Fiendgod Essence burst forth once more, crushing the ice and scattering the wind while the lightning landed on his raised right arm.


    But a thick bolt of brown lightning appeared around his entire body just as the lightning struck him, thunderous rumbling rocking the area as the two types of lightning collided. The brown lightning rose up and surrounded the violet lightning, Liang Chen pulling out the violet lightning that was stored within his Dragon Lotus ever since he last absorbed some.


    The violet lightning he drew out joined up with the other violet lightning, which was struggling fiercely to break out of the prison created by the brown lightning. Liang Chen''s own lightning faltered somewhat under the stronger violet lightning, but Liang Chen hadn''t planned on relying on just his own strength to fuse these two types of lightning.


    He quickly took five more steps closer to the Moon''s Nest, the pressure drastically increasing to the point that even the violet lightning turned sluggish. And as Liang Chen drew out some of his law of the void, the violet lightning faltered even further, practically turning into a tame kitty.


    Liang Chen had already fused different types of lightning in the past, and with the aid of his law of the void and the pressure, there was no suspense in this fusion. The brown lightning sank into the bright violet lightning, the thick bolt of lightning that was born flickering for a short second before it turned a deep and dull violet, a dreadful pressure emanating from it.


    A satisfied smile crept up on Liang Chen''s face as he looked at the dull violet lightning. It had been a long time since he fused his green lightning with crimson lightning to form his brown lightning, and now he had finally taken a step further. Only now, he had no idea what the next step was, he had yet to see any lightning beyond the violet rank.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Of course, the lightning in the Thunder Saint''s Final Breath was different, even the azure lightning there had been stronger than the crimson lightning he was used to. He was still working on making his own lightning as strong as that lightning, but he encountered some problems when it came to exactly how he should go about it.


    One idea he had was the density of the lightning itself, the other idea he had was to increase how much Qi he forced into the lightning. Both had a chance of working, but he wasn''t quite sure how to test them out, as the lightning itself would always change whenever he increased the density or Qi too much.


    But he was already satisfied with his current progress, his meridians and veins had been reformed, he had fused his lightning once more, and he had perfectly fused his laws so his Qi cultivation would step forward once this tribulation ended. With that thought in mind, Liang Chen brought out his spear and grasped it tightly, looking disdainfully at the clouds above.


    "You''re already unable to harm me, so you should just disappear. Vanish and wait for me to make good on my promise, my wrath will swallow even you."


    All his energy burst out as he slashed his spear upwards, unleashing Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow. A dull violet line was drawn through the air, cutting directly through the large metal meteor that had started to descend from the clouds. The line erupted after cutting through the meteor, thousands of dull violet arcs spreading through the sky and tearing apart both the clouds and the meteor.


    The tribulation was dispersed, Liang Chen''s disdainful words not wrong. A Void Born bloodline and the exalted law of the void, Heavenly Tribulations posed practically no threat to him any longer, not as long as they were just automated responses triggered by an increase in cultivation.


    Liang Chen put away his spear and spat out a breath, an overwhelming sensation of power rushing through his body. His Qi cultivation had officially reached the early-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, and his body cultivation had also reached the same stage.


    His soul cultivation was at the late-stage of the soaring Immortal realm, but thanks to the innate ability of the Sebettu, it was the strongest of his energies. It was almost on par with a soul cultivator at the late-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. Liang Chen walked away from the Moon''s Nest after he finished his cultivation, Shen Fei''s gaze sweeping over him.


    "You know, I''m starting to see why you scared the Sparrow enough to throw away so many lives in an attempt to end you."


    Shen Fei had seen many people take on a Heavenly Tribulation before, but he had never seen anyone dispel it so easily. That final attack unleashed by Liang Chen caused even him to feel an overpowering sense of dread, and he could even sense a strange law he had never felt before hidden within the attack.


    He didn''t know why he hadn''t been acknowledged, but he was confident that Liang Chen was not someone who should hold just a Lord rank. Liang Chen''s gaze naturally landed on Shen Fei, whose fingers were tapping the handle of his sword in an almost impatient manner, causing Liang Chen to give him a quick reminder.


    "It''s not over yet."


    He had already sworn an oath, but seeing Shen Fei''s impatient manner he felt it best that he gave him a reminder. Only when the Stone-Soul King was dealt with would they engage in their own duel, no sooner. Shen Fei, of course, knew this, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly while continuing his impatient tapping.


    "I know, I''m just excited is all. Eager and itching if you will. But don''t worry, you''ve already sworn an oath, so I''ll wait patiently."


    Since Shen Fei understood the situation, Liang Chen turned his gaze onto the Zun twins, whose somewhat scared expressions had been replaced by awestruck ones. The didn''t know much about cultivation or division of strength, all they knew was that Liang Chen had used a single swipe of his spear to clear up the sky, a practically transcendental skill in their eyes.


    He ruffled the hair of the two, Yumao shrinking down to his preferred size and curling up on top of Liang Chen''s head, nestling into his silvery-grey hair. Yumao had brought the Zun twins here since he knew that Liang Chen wanted him to protect them, but he also wanted to stay close to Liang Chen in case anything happened, so the logical conclusion to him was to drag the twins over here.


    But with him being the target of the Stone-Soul King, by his side was hardly the safest place for these twins so Liang Chen brought them back to the Tien family estate. Shen Fei followed along with them, splitting off from the group when they reached the Tien family estate.


    As for Liang Chen, he took this chance to inspect the changes in the city. He silently gazed upon the barred up houses and the terrified people that hid within them, none of them able to hide from him if he wanted to see them.


    He returned to the Tien family estate and handed the Zun twins over to Tien Huang, who looked at him with a complex expression but chose to remain silent. He wanted to ask for Liang Chen''s help, but the crisis that was going to descend on them was one they couldn''t confidently say they would pass through, asking Liang Chen to remain here was like asking him to risk his life for practically nothing.


    So he didn''t say anything, Liang Chen turning around and walking away after nodding at Tien Huang. He left the Tien family estate and made his way through the streets of the city, the sun already vanishing beyond the horizon by the time he reached the gates of the city, two guards with faces covered in grim resolve opening a small side door for him to leave.


    He left the city and stepped onto the sand surrounding it, the warm air having already turned chilly as the night deepened around him. But contrary to his expectations, he had only managed to move a few hundred metres away from the city before he encountered a lone youth sitting on a stray stone.


    "I''m amazed that you''re actually planning on going out on your own, most people would join up with the rest and hope that their help would make the battle easier. Or just pray for good fortune, there''s a lot of people in there doing just that, might not be a terrible idea to join them for a spell."


    Shen Fei sat on the stone with a relaxed expression, his sword no longer hanging at his waist but rather leaning against his shoulder. He had clearly been sitting here for a while, he had probably rushed out of the city the moment they split up just in case Liang Chen also rushed to leave.


    And looking at where he was sitting, in the middle of the direction that the Stone-Soul King had left earlier, it was clear that he knew what Liang Chen planned. Liang Chen hadn''t told anyone about his plans, but he hadn''t really been trying to hide them either, so he just shrugged his shoulders and stepped past Shen Fei.


    "I''m already done hoping and praying, no one answered the previous two times I did so. Anything I desire, I will grasp with my own two hands, with my own effort."


    The Stone-Soul King was after him, that was a fact he was completely confident in. And while it would indeed be smarter to fight it inside the city while relying on the two large families, there was no telling just how many people would die in such a chaotic battle. Those were lives that Liang Chen was not willing to carve into his soul, so he settled on the harder option of doing it on his own.


    Now that he had increased his cultivation and even fused his lightning, he was extremely confident in his chances. And even if he couldn''t kill the Stone-Soul King, there were very few people who could stop him if he truly wanted to flee. Shen Fei stood up from his seated position, following Liang Chen with a casual gait while chuckling and fastening his sword to his waist again.


    "Hehehe, I''m starting to like you more and more, you''re a bit too kindhearted, but you''ve got some of the demeanour of a true warrior. I''ll give you a hand this time around, you''re my prey so I ain''t gonna let you get hurt so badly that you won''t be able to fight me."


    Liang Chen didn''t stop Shen Fei from following him, but he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow at the word Shen Fei used to describe him.


    "Kindhearted? If you know about the Sparrow hunting me, then you should know that I''m far from kindhearted."


    That was probably one of the last words Liang Chen would use to describe himself, he was vengeful and monstrous, and the number of people he had massacred had long since left the range of mere hundreds. Liang Chen questioned him as he walked, but Shen Fei simply chuckled once more, using his thumb to point at the city behind them.


    "You say that, yet you''re going out now to deal with the Stone-Soul King on your own, aren''t you? Worried that he''ll raze the city and kill people while you fight him?"


    This was the only explanation that Shen Fei could come up with, especially since he had seen Liang Chen interfere in the duels earlier when a life was on the line. And since Shen Fei had realized this aspect of Liang Chen''s personality, he gave him a warning to help him in the future, but all that he received in response was a simple remark from Liang Chen.


    "But let me tell you, while that is kindhearted, it also makes you easy to exploit, like right now. So you''d best learn quickly when to act for your own interest and when to act for other people''s interest, otherwise, you''ll be seen as nothing more than a beast of burden."


    "That''s where you''re wrong, Shen Fei. Everything I do is out of my own interest, it is by my choice, for better or for worse."

 Chapter 260: I wont forgive them.

    Liang Chen moved through the desert with quick and sure steps, even his casual stride already so rapid that weaker cultivators would lag behind even if they ran after him. Shen Fei had reached the Primordial Immortal realm in both Qi and soul cultivation, but even he was forced to increase his pace to a jog just to keep up with Liang Chen. And as he followed him and time continued to pass without any traces of the Stone-Soul King, he couldn''t help but turn to Liang Chen.


    "You''re not just moving around at random, right?"


    They had already been on the move for a little over two hours, the darkest hour of the night swiftly approaching. And with Liang Chen''s speed, the distance they had covered wasn''t negligible, yet there hadn''t been a single trace of the Stone-Soul King or any Stone-Soul Scorpions.


    Even with Liang Chen''s show of casual confidence, Shen Fei was starting to wonder if he was really just walking around while hoping to spot the enemy. But Liang Chen was not the kind of person to just hope that his luck was good, he just wasn''t planning on telling Shen Fei the finer details.


    "Of course not. I''m following the tracks, it''s just that you can''t see them."


    He had exchanged multiple moves with the Stone-Soul King, and those exchanges were more than enough to leave behind a bit of the law of the void on him. The amount was so small that it was negligible, it didn''t even contain enough energy to launch even the weakest of attacks.


    And as such, the Stone-Soul King wasn''t able to sense it, he would have to give his own body a very thorough scan to do so. But while he might not be able to sense it, Liang Chen was a different story. As long as that strand of energy was on the Stone-Soul King, Liang Chen could use his connection with it to at least determine his general direction, getting more accurate as he got closer to it.


    Shen Fei saw that Liang Chen had no intention of explaining himself, continuing his quiet observation of Liang Chen as they kept on moving. And before long, they reached a plot of land that was slightly familiar to Liang Chen, a 40-kilometre wide oasis that had been completely petrified. Even the water and the trees had turned a dull grey, the fruits still hanging from the branches like exquisitely carved statues.


    The Stone-Soul King that had turned this landscape into solid stone was a Stone-Soul King at the very peak of the Primordial Immortal realm, a bit above the Stone-Soul King that Liang Chen was planning on facing. But even so, it was a good showing of how terrifying Divine Beasts could be, even the air in the area felt heavy as it entered Liang Chen''s lungs.


    There was no sign of the Stone-Soul King here, but Liang Chen still sat down on a branch that had fallen from one of the petrified trees. He brought out his spear and leaned it against his shoulder, his gaze remaining completely calm as he quietly peered to the west, away from the distant Moonset City.


    Shen Fei found a seat for himself, curiously looking at the calmly waiting Liang Chen. He stood by his earlier statement that Liang Chen was too kindhearted for a true warrior, but the sheer calmness he showed right now was undoubtedly the mark of a warrior forged in blood. He was also a bit curious as to why they stopped here, but he could easily guess that it was because Liang Chen was confident that the Stone-Soul King would come here sooner or later.


    And an hour and a half later, as the night entered its darkest hour, that guess was proven correct. The rumbling and trembling of the earth decreed the arrival of the Stone-soul King''s herd before they even became visible. The sand was thrown into the air by the horde of beasts, a sandstorm shrouding the thousands of scorpions and beasts as they rushed forward without pause.


    Liang Chen couldn''t accurately determine their numbers, but a conservative guess put them at around 30 000. The Stone-Soul King had probably been gone for so long to gather up every last dredge of his forces, bringing along every single scorpion, and even some lizard and other bug-type beasts, he could find without caring what level their strength had reached. But he hadn''t just brought along the 30 000 beasts, which were all basically cannon fodder, he had also brought along his right and left-hand men, leaving behind not a single soul of his herd.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    They stood at the forefront of the horde with him, both taking the appearance of graceful yet somewhat short women. Their ashen grey hair was braided and hung down to their hips, the tip of the braid curving upwards and actually ending in a sharp stinger. They had reached the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but they didn''t give Liang Chen the same feeling as the Stone-Soul King so they seemed to be normal Stone-Soul Scorpions rather than the evolved version.


    Since he could see them, then they too could, of course, see him, the Stone-Soul King''s eyes flashing with a fierce glint. He raised his hand and gave a stern shout, the horde of beasts halting a little over a kilometre away from Liang Chen''s group of three. Shen Fei''s eyes glittered dangerously as he looked at the horde, especially the three human-form beasts leading the front. But Liang Chen still didn''t reveal any emotion other than complete calm, his gaze landing on the Stone-Soul King.


    "I''d ask if you can''t be convinced to just leave and swear an oath that you won''t attack Moonset City or its inhabitants, but I get the feeling you''d just reject."


    Liang Chen had seen how the Stone-Soul King had looked at him, it had probably sensed the level of his bloodline. It was already a Divine Beast, yet it had discovered a bloodline that could cause even it to feel fear. In a situation like that, how could it not start feeling greed and desire? But the Stone-Soul King didn''t seem to be willing to admit this, especially in front of all his subordinates, otherwise, they might try to fight him after his and Liang Chen''s battle ended.


    "Reject? Of course I''d reject! Let me tell you this, Junior. The sins of heaven can be forgiven, but the sins of oneself cannot. You and the people in that city murdered my kin, it is within my right to kill you."


    The Stone-Soul King''s expression flickered for a second as he spoke, the two women at his side understanding his intent and charging forward. The Stone-Soul King had exchanged blows with Liang Chen before and understood that he was far from as weak as he appeared. But the Liang Chen sitting in front of him gave him a completely different feeling that made him feel uneasy, so he wanted to wear him down a little before he himself stepped forward.


    But Liang Chen''s expression didn''t even change as those two women charged at him, their arms turning into glinting pincers that carried a suffocating killing intent. A grin surfaced on Shen Fei''s face as he drew his sword and stepped forward, but a wave of Liang Chen''s hand stopped him. He raised an eyebrow to look at Liang Chen, but still stepped back. Since the main dish wanted to feast on the appetizers, then he could just sit back and watch his meal fatten itself up.


    Liang Chen finally stood up from his seated position as the two women charged at him, flipping his spear so that the tip just barely touched the ground. And then, while still maintaining an expression so calm that it could only be considered dreadful, he took a step forward.


    All his energy burst out at once as he took that one step, flooding out of his body like a tidal wave that washed over the surroundings. And as the energy swept over the two women, they halted mid-air, not even their eyelashes or hair moving as they hung there. The law of time had always been of great assistance to Liang Chen, both in and out of battle, and its assistance only grew greater as he grew stronger and brought out more of the glory of this exalted law.


    And now, when he put together all of his energy and strength after his most recent breakthroughs, he had become able to even freeze the time of early-stage Primordial Immortals. The two women weren''t even conscious as they hung there, their frozen minds not registering Liang Chen as he stepped between them and swept his spear out, beheading both of them with a single swift motion.


    There was a big difference between someone at the Soaring Immortal realm and someone at the Primordial Immortal realm, the same was true for each separate cultivation realm. Every time you rose to a new cultivation realm, the increase in strength and energy was best described using a single sentence, everyone beneath you was no more than an ant. And now, for the first time since he actually increased his cultivation realm, both his body and his Qi, he unleashed that energy upon an enemy of a similar level.


    A dull violet bolt of lightning split the sky as his spear swept out, lighting up the dark night to reveal that the sky was already covered in pitch-black clouds. More and more bolts of lightning split the sky, drops of rain starting to pour out from the clouds as the storm truly arrived, bringing with it such pressure and terror that the 30 000 beasts trembled in utter horror. And standing at the centre of the storm, Liang Chen raised his spear and pointed it at the grim-faced Stone-Soul King?


    "The sins of heaven can be forgiven? What utter bullshit, it is their sins that are the least forgivable. I for one, have no intention of ever forgiving them, and in due time, my spear will grant them their deserved punishment."

 Chapter 261: God of the Pit.

    The ashen-skinned and grey-haired Stone-Soul King''s expression was heavy and gloomy as he looked down at Liang Chen, his pupils flickering slightly as he glanced at the two corpses that fell to the ground next to Liang Chen. His gloomy expression wasn''t due to the fact that these weren''t just his closest aides and also his concubines, it was due to the strength that Liang Chen had revealed.


    He hadn''t used the law of time in their previous exchange, and he certainly hadn''t seemed so strong that he could even use that law to freeze normal early-stage Primordial Immortals. The horde of beasts he brought along also didn''t look like it would be of any help, at least not the type of help he originally planned for them, they were practically petrified in the face of the storm that now surrounded them.


    With the situation having taken such a turn, the Stone-Soul King had no choice but to properly face what he previously thought would be a quick meal to strengthen his bloodline. He straightened his back and exuded the most regal aura he could, his gaze chilly as he continued to gaze down at Liang Chen.


    "This Divine Demon King has taken the name Chengong, you may identify yourself before we fight."


    Liang Chen couldn''t resist raising an eyebrow in the face of Chengong''s introduction, he was certainly more than just a little proud about the fact that he had a Divine Beast bloodline. Liang Chen didn''t really plan on responding, but the little kid pretending to be a feathered tiara seemed to have a different idea.


    "Hehe, you''re standing in front of the God of the Pit, so you''d best get on your knees and present your neck, just make it easy and save us some time."


    The chuckling voice caused Liang Chen''s eyebrows to twitch repeatedly, the slightly distant Shen Fei cracking a small smile. Chengong''s expression sunk a bit further, he was clearly being made fun of. But he couldn''t just charge forward as he would normally, he wanted to first finish up his hidden preparations. As a result, Liang Chen had the time to grab onto Yumao''s neck and pull him down from his head, shooting him a light glare that only made him chuckle once more.


    "What? Didn''t that little fruity sparrow welcome you to the pit of monsters in that grand manner? Since you''re already down there, it''s obvious that you''ll trample them all and stand above them, not much different from a god. And don''t look at me like that, Mother would agree. Hey, she might have actually made up an even better title for you!"


    Yumao wasn''t bothered in the slightest by Liang Chen''s slight glare, or by the tense atmosphere pushing down on the entire area. Liang Chen might not be the kind of person to show off or the like, that had always been more Yan Ling''s thing. But Yumao had already told Liang Chen that it felt good to show off from time to time, so he obviously wasn''t going to waste an opportunity like this.


    Looking at the completely unconcerned Yumao, Liang Chen could only spit out a heavy sigh. All notions of peace and quiet had been thrown out when Yumao got the ability to speak, he had already been tainted completely by Yan Ling''s mannerism. Thinking about Yan Ling, Liang Chen felt a slight pang in his chest, but he quickly subdued the loneliness and let go of Yumao''s neck.


    "You just do you. You can leave those guys alone, but if they try to attack then you can finish them off."


    Yumao flapped his wings so that he didn''t fall to the ground, turning his gaze onto the seemingly endless horde of beasts standing a bit away. Liang Chen swept his own gaze across the horde, his voice calm as it boomed out along with the thunder coming from the storm.


    "As long as you don''t try to attack, I won''t kill you either. You can flee if you want, but I''ll come for you if I hear that you''ve tried to attack the city or its inhabitants."


    There were plenty of beasts in the horde that were intelligent enough to understand his words, they would convey his message to those who didn''t have enough intelligence to understand the human tongue. But while some beasts tried to scurry away, Chengong quickly shot a fierce glare at them and halted them in their steps, the beasts finding themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    But Liang Chen had given them enough warning so he stopped bothering with them and once again turned his gaze onto Chengong. The Stone-Soul King locked eyes with Liang Chen, quickly suppressing the tremor that ran through his heart when he gazed into the seemingly empty depths of those golden pupils.


    His expression stilled into an eerie calm as he shot down to the ground, some of the stone splintering beneath his feet due to the force of his descent. He bent his knees and then kicked off of the ground, shooting straight at Liang Chen while forming a claw with his right hand.


    "Very well, Pit God, let me show you how a proper Monarch fights."


    Chengong''s bent fingers took on an even greyer hue as he charged at Liang Chen, his nails extending slightly and gaining a sharp glint. As a human-form Divine Beast, he could use almost every part of his body to unleash the characteristics of his true form.


    Liang Chen immediately responded to the charge by smashing his spear down onto Chnegong''s head, forcing him to angle his claw-shaped hand upwards to catch the spear. But before either of them could move along with their next move, a carefree voice reached them from the side.


    "Oh, Monarch, I like that one! Father, what do you think about Monarch of the Pit? Or maybe Monarch of the Scourge just to keep a bit of consistency?"


    Hearing Yumao''s cheerful comment from the side, Liang Chen almost felt the urge to apologize to Chengong. The two were currently fighting for their lives, yet there was someone just sitting on the sidelines and commenting as he pleased. But as this was a battle to the death, both of them made the same choice and decided to pretend like Yumao wasn''t just flying there and chattering at them.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The veins on Chengong''s right arm bulged for a quick second, three of the Stone-Soul Scorpions in the vast horde suddenly falling down without any sign of life. And as they died, the force contained within Chengong''s arm instantly grew, allowing him to push Liang Chen''s spear into the air and clear a path for him.


    He immediately took advantage of this path to step forward and close the distance between them, pointing his claw-shaped hand at Liang Chen''s chest and stabbing it forward. Aiming for the head would mean that he was more likely to kill the target if he hit, but the downside was that it would also be easier to dodge since the head had more room for movement when it came to dodging in moments like this.


    But even with Chengong''s sudden burst in power, it wasn''t enough to trap Liang Chen. He shook his arm and transmitted the force currently gathered in his spear down into his own body, borrowing it to twist his body so that Chengong''s hand slid past him and only grazed his robe. His empty hand shot forward at the same time, Chengong''s robe taking on a carapace-like appearance as Liang Chen''s fist slammed into it.


    A thin bolt of lightning shot out from Liang Chen''s fist the moment he hit his target, but the lightning just moved around on the carapace-like robe until it expelled all its energy and dissipated. The lightning may have failed, but Liang Chen''s punch still contained enough physical force to push Chengong back several steps.


    Chengong hurriedly stomped the ground, four more scorpions dying behind him as his legs swelled somewhat, forcefully halting his backwards movement. His pupils suddenly narrowed sharply when a part of his own shadow rose up and pierced through his waist, spilling fresh blood that made the stone it hit sizzle faintly.


    Chengong quickly stepped away and burst forth with energy to suppress his own shadow, over ten more scorpions dying behind him as his wound started to heal rapidly. Liang Chen looked at the wound, which had already vanished, he would have to be an idiot if he still didn''t understand what was going on.


    "I didn''t think that you''d be able to absorb the lifeforce of other Stone-Soul Scorpions to temporarily strengthen yourself. Or, since I''m not seeing any energy moving from them to you, are you absorbing their bloodline instead? Is this what you meant when you said you''d show me how a monarch fights?"


    Liang Chen didn''t use it all that often, but he still had the law of death, he had even merged it into his soul along with his poison and rot. If Chengong was just absorbing the lifeforce of the other scorpions then Liang Chen should at least be able to see or sense something, but there was nothing, not even the smallest sign. Chengong wasn''t surprised by Liang Chen figuring out his trick, only snorting coldly once.


    "To be a monarch is to think about what''s best for your subjects. As the ruler of this herd, as long as I live and grow stronger, the herd will thrive and live a better life. To give their life for that future, is that not the duty of the herd?"


    Chengong stomped the ground and shot forward when he finished talking, several tens more scorpions dying as his energy swelled. The lizards and the other beasts in the herd were already panicking, but the scorpions were strangely still, their eyes somewhat hollow while their bodies didn''t move an inch. His herd might not be able to be used as he intended, but this was still a good way to make use of them, he would just have to spend some time breeding more scorpions in the future.


    And with how many scorpions he had brought along this time, he had a practically endless supply of energy that he could throw around as he pleased. One had a finite supply of energy and strength while the other had an endless supply, it was clear who this battle of attrition favoured. But sadly for Chengong, just as Liang Chen hadn''t known about his skill, he didn''t know about Liang Chen''s skills.


    Chengong''s charge was far faster this time than previously, but speed was always one of Liang Chen''s strongest points. The wind, rain, and dull violet lightning in the immediate area suddenly gathered around Liang Chen and sank into him as he raised his spear, his aura sky-rocketing as he smashed his spear down upon the incoming Chengong.


    Chengong''s pupils immediately shrank sharply, both his fists quickly pushing up to block the descending spear. But he immediately felt his fingers shatter as he touched the spear, his arms sinking down as even his knees bent. He immediately grit his teeth, hundreds of scorpions dying to heal his wounds and further bolster his own energy, allowing him to push Liang Chen''s spear aside.


    But Liang Chen had already stepped forward by the time Chengong pushed his spear aside, his fist smashing towards Chengong''s chest. Chengong felt an invasive stream of energy enter his body, his thoughts slowing down so that he couldn''t position his arms in a defensive position. Liang Chen''s fist collided with his chest, a creaking sound coming from the carapace-like robe as Chengong took advantage of the attack to jump back, allowing himself to be flung away.


    The slowing of his thoughts ceased as he was flung back, giving him the chance to swipe the bronze ring he wore on his left hand. A glass orb the size of a grape appeared in his hand and was quickly flung at Liang Chen, the orb shattering and unleashing a thick stream of Anima Essence that washed over Liang Chen.


    As a Divine Beast, his body and abilities were Chengong''s strongest point, but that didn''t mean that he couldn''t take advantage of humanity''s ingenuity and use some of their weapons too. He quickly stabilized his body as he white Anima Essence swept over Liang Chen, rubbing the spot on his chest that Liang Chen had just hit.


    "That actually hurt quite a bit, but you''ll need much more than that if you want to actually pierce my defence. My poison may not work on you, and you may have a body strong enough to actually fight me head-on, but I''d like to see how you''ll fight me when all that Anima Essence has finished ravaging your soul."


    Chengong sneered as he spoke, and Liang Chen could understand why, the Anima Essence that had been contained in that orb was indeed attacking his soul rather heavily. But Liang Chen did have an exceedingly strong soul after all, so the best that this Anima Essence could do was eat away at his own Anima Essence to leave a hole in his soul- defences that Chengong could take advantage of.


    But sadly for him, he still didn''t understand the depths of Liang Chen''s abilities, nor did he understand how perfect this battlefield was for him. Liang Chen raised his gaze from his own chest and turned it back onto Chengong, his gaze not even the slightest bit bothered. And before the seed of unease could even be sown, Chengong understood why Liang Chen didn''t look bothered.


    A faint mist of energy suddenly rose up from the scorpions that Chengong had killed to bolster himself, the mist brimming with poison and death energy. And all that energy sank directly into Liang Chen''s body, replacing all the Anima Essence that was drained by Chengong''s glass orb.


    His body could absorb the surrounding storm to grow stronger, and with Chengong willingly sacrificing so many poison-type Demonic beasts, how could there not be plenty of death and poison energy in the area that Liang Chen''s soul could absorb. All his energy was instantly restored, Liang Chen once again pointing his spear at Chengong, who had just jumped to the side to dodge another sneak attack launched by Yumao.


    "I''ll need much more? Alright, let me see just what it''ll take to pierce that shell of yours."

 Chapter 262: A dead end of his own making.

    The Stone-Soul King''s expression, Chengong''s expression, sank drastically when he saw Liang Chen suck up the poison and death energy that lingered after he sacrificed his own scorpions to empower himself. The more he saw of Liang Chen, the more shocked he became.


    Was this the result of having the bloodline of an upper-ranked Divine Beast, or had he already stepped into the realm of Primeval Divine Beasts? Chengong didn''t know the answer, but he knew what his next step had to be, the finger on his right hand turning into a sharp talon as he spoke.


    "You have convinced me, God of the Pit is certainly a fitting name for a being such as you. I don''t know if you have the bloodline of an Upper Divine Beast or a Primeval Divine Beast, but whatever you have, it is enough to force my hands to the utmost limit."


    Liang Chen didn''t know about the different rankings of Divine Beasts, but that was a fairly common matter, the spreading of cultivation had made it so that even Divine Beasts could cultivate to close up the gap between the various ranks. Of course, the difference in bloodline would still be there, signifying a difference in natural abilities and starting point, so most Divine Beasts would not give up an opportunity to strengthen their bloodline.


    But even if he had his questions, now most certainly wasn''t the time to state them, Chengong was springing into action. But contrary to Liang Chen''s expectations, Chengong didn''t point the sharp talon at him, he pointed it at his own chest. He plunged the talon deep into his own heart, a ripple spreading out with Chengong as the centre.


    The ripple moved harmlessly over Liang Chen, Yumao, and Shen Fei, but every Stone-Soul Scorpion touched by it immediately died. In less than a second, the last of the scorpions that had been brought along died under the ripple, all the power contained within the nearly 29 000 scorpions descending on and sinking into Chengong.


    Chengong''s body immediately swelled as he changed into his true form, turning into an ashen scorpion that was 300 metres long and about 100 metres wide, three sharp stingers extending behind him, nine sturdy legs growing from his side, and three pairs of pincers extending in front of him. Unlike the Stone-Soul Scorpions that Liang Chen had seen previously, the true form of Chengong only had three eyes, but they constantly moved around on his head, seemingly not having a set position where they resided.


    Faint bloody lines appeared all over Chengong''s true form, a stuffy scent seeping out from his body as the sheer pressure he radiated increased further. It really was as he said, his hands had been forced to the utmost limit and he had to pull out everything he had. He entered his true form, he absorbed the strength of his entire herd in one go, and he even aggravated his bloodline, burning it for another boost to his strength.


    Should he still be alive by the end of his battle, his bloodline would be so crippled that he would even stop being a Divine Beast. That was how serious Liang Chen had forced him to become after their quick exchange, there would be no escape or pleading, he would either win and transcend his past, or he would fall and become a stepping stone for another monster.


    Looking at the large frame of Chengong''s true body, Liang Chen''s expression didn''t change all that much. He had viewed this battle seriously from the start, the change in Chengong only meant that he would have to put in even more effort and endure a bit more pain. He grasped his spear tightly and drew in a deep breath, the world around him moving in response to his silent call.


    The storm that covered the area immediately condensed and gathered around him, the night sky revealing the bright stars once more as all the clouds were sucked directly into Liang Chen''s body. The poison and death energy emanating from the thousands of corpses did the same, rushing over and entering his body through his nose, his soul greedily eating it all up.


    Chengong had abandoned any thoughts about a battle of attrition upon seeing that Liang Chen could just follow him step for step, so his only choice was to end the battle in the swiftest manner possible. Like this, it wouldn''t matter how many times Liang Chen could heal or restore his energy, he would be dead before he got the chance to do so. And since that was the case, Liang Chen could only follow suit, not quite confident in his chances of outlasting Chengong should he actually try to maintain his previous style.


    Liang Chen immediately felt his veins swell as he took in all the energy, the stone beneath his feet melting at a rapid pace. The petrified lake vanished, but Liang Chen remained standing in the air, dull violet lightning with a few tints of grey crackling violently around him. The different types of energy he just took in constituted almost all of his laws, missing only his most supreme laws, so all three of his energies shot up.


    But he was already used to handling rampant energy, and even his meridians had been altered to suit his body cultivation laws. So while he felt a painful bloating and rupturing feeling pervade his entire body, the influx of energy didn''t cause any actual harm.


    Liang Chen cast a sideways glance at Shen Fei, who had yet to move from his spot despite the rampant waves of energy. Shen Fei only flashed him an excited grin and waved his hand, beckoning for him to quickly finish the fight so that they could engage in their own battle. He didn''t seem the slightest worried about getting caught up in the battle, so Liang Chen decided to ignore him.


    And the moment he decided to ignore the gleeful onlooker, Liang Chen made the first move. He raised his spear and brought it down in a simple arc, an exceedingly strange scene taking place. His attack should have hit empty air, but the spear ended up on top of Chengong, crashing into one of his three eyes without giving him time to resist.


    Chengong had been standing in the air since the lake vanished, the attack immediately sending him smashing down until he hit the earth that was hidden beneath the lake. Cracks immediately spread out as a small crater formed around him, Liang Chen stabbing his spear downwards in a simple manner. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    And the same scene repeated itself once more, the spear simply appeared right on top of Chengong without warning, stabbing directly into his eye as if it had always been there. And as far as the universe could be bothered, the spearhead had indeed always been inside Chengong''s eyes, or at least, there had never been any distance between them. After all, Liang Chen had just used the law of the void twice in quick succession to completely remove the distance separating his spear and Chengong''s head.


    His law of time was finally starting to reveal its splendour as he got stronger, but how could the same not be true about his law of the void? A peak law residing above all else, only in the hands of someone of supreme power could it reveal its true and terrible brilliance. And when Liang Chen added in all the power from the summoned storm and the death around him, he just barely managed to cross that threshold.


    Liang Chen pulled back his arm again, Chengong immediately reacting and releasing a shrill screech. A translucent ripple erupted from his body, his eyes repairing themselves while thee ripple turned everything it touched into stone. Even the hundreds of dark spears that Yumao sneakily formed using Chengong''s own shadow turned to stone and fell apart.


    Under the gathered strength of his own subordinates and the aggravation his bloodline, Chengong''s poison had even grown strong enough to affect the air it touched. Stone formed out of nowhere as the air was petrified, Liang Chen feeling the air around him get thinner as parts of it rushed down to replace what had just been petrified. But looking at that ripple, he only pulled back his spear and let out a soft sigh.


    "I guess a quick end really is more my style, I''ll just have to cultivate a bit harder to reach this stage in the future so that I can feel it again."


    As he stood there and felt the vast power coursing through him, he understood why people feared those who had one of the few exalted laws. He also understood why the battles between strong cultivators always seemed to end faster than battles between weak cultivators. Chengong chose to go all out in such a manner because he felt that it was the best choice, but all he did was hasten his own death.


    Chengong heard but didn''t understand Liang Chen''s words, so when he saw Liang Chen put away his spear, confusion and worry seeped into his heart. And that fear was immediately proven correct as Liang Chen pushed his hand down, every drop of energy in his body erupting forth and turning into an invisible shockwave that washed over Chengong.


    Liang Chen had no energy left to even keep himself afloat after pushing his hand down, but Yumao appeared out of his shadow and expanded beneath him so that he didn''t fall. As for Chengong, his body stiffened and trembled faintly, a violent cough escaping from his bestial maw. No blood or saliva came out along with that cough, only a thick cloud of dust spread out.


    Chengong lost control over all his energy, the ripple of poison dissipating as he continued to cough out thick clouds of dust. His large frame shrivelled up at a visible pace, turning wrinkly and soft as he became smaller and smaller. There was no determination, no resignation, no anger, none of these emotions were present within his three eyes. The only thing they held were sheer and unbridled terror as he gazed up at his still calm enemy, at the God of the Pit.


    "Stepping...Stone...Monster..."


    Chengong wasn''t even able to get out his final words properly before Liang Chen''s law of time aged his organs to a point where only dust remained within him. Forget about Divine Beasts, perhaps even Origin Beasts would die if all their organs turned to dust within them. Since he was unable to handle the full assault of Liang Chen''s law of time, the only end left for Chengong was death. And the only thing he left behind was a 50 metre long and 10-metre wide body that looked like it was covered in old and cracked rubber.


    Looking down at the shrivelled up corpse, Liang Chen let out another sigh. He had thought about many ways that this battle could go and different ways that it could end, but this almost disappointingly quick end had never been one of the possibilities.


    Just absorbing the storm he summoned was not enough to make this end a possibility, it relied on the massive number of dead poison-type Demonic beasts that Chengong created. From the moment Chengong decided to bring his entire herd with him to the fight, he had pushed himself into a dead-end of his own creation.


    Liang Chen pat Yumao on the head and had him descend down to the corpse. The corpse was much weaker now, but it was still the body of a dead Divine Beast, so the energy-deficient Liang Chen had no way of piercing it. But Yumao wasn''t the same, he was still full of energy and raring to go.


    He easily tore off the shrivelled head, allowing Liang Chen to gather up all the blood before picking up the body. The body and head could be used to show the people of Moonset city that they didn''t have to worry about being attacked any more, but the blood would be slightly useful to Liang Chen. It was of too low of a grade to improve his own bloodline, but the poison within it was what interested him, the petrifying aspect of it intrigued him.


    He stored the blood in a separate container to prevent it from getting contaminated or end up altered in some way, patting Yumao on the head once more to make him leave the crater left behind by Liang Chen''s poison and Chengong''s body. The end could be considered disappointingly quick, Shen Fei most certainly thought of it like that at least.


    But that was just how some battles ended as the participants grew stronger. Some laws would only grow stronger and stronger with their user, some were so excessive that even Sovereign Gods could kill other Sovereign Gods with a single attack. But while Shen Feit was a bit disappointed at the quick end, he was exceedingly interested in the two attacks Liang Chen had launched after absorbing all that energy.


    He had no idea what sort of law or technique they used, they simply appeared on Chengong as if they had always been there. How were you supposed to guard against an attack like that, how were you supposed to counter it? Shen Fei had no idea, but he was looking forward to finding it out for himself, grinning widely when his gaze landed on Liang Chen, who spoke casually as he put on the Heaven Altering Mask again.


    "Don''t worry, I haven''t forgotten my oath. I''ll deliver the corpse and rest for a bit to restore my energy, I''ll fight you aft...?"


    Liang Chen''s voice trailed off towards the end, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Shen Fei couldn''t detect it, but Liang Chen''s Bloodwind Code vibrated for a short second while he was talking. He thought that it might be Kuan De Niu, the King of Heaven Embracing Justice that contacted him once in the past, but the Bloodwind Code didn''t wait for him to touch upon it before the voice of the Bloodwind Emperor resounded in his head.


    "Voidling, when you''ve finished your business, speak out the name Yao Jun, Nine Star says that he has someone who''s trying to meet you."


    Liang Chen''s brows only furrowed further when the Bloodwind Emperor cut the contact. Nine Star was obviously the Nine Star Demon God, but who exactly would try to go through the Nine Star Demon God just to meet with him? And for that matter, who was actually qualified to make the Nine Star Demon God help them with something like that?

 Chapter 263: Ren Jue Li.

    Shen Fei had no way of detecting that the Bloodwind Emperor had just contacted Liang Chen, but he just had to look at Liang Chen''s expression to realize that he had discovered something, or that he had just been contacted by someone. Liang Chen didn''t say anything about who contacted him, he just removed the dried-up corpse from his interspatial ring and tossed it to Shen Fei.


    "Here, take it back to the city for me, will you? I''ve got to do something for a moment, I''ll return to the city in a day or two, maybe even less."


    Shen Fei caught the corpse and directly stored it into his interspatial ring, his eyes narrowing faintly as he looked at Liang Chen. He gave Liang Chen a short reminder, but Liang Chen cut him off with a casual wave of his hand before he could finish speaking.


    "Don''t forget that you s..."


    "Yeah, I swore an oath to fight you once this was all settled. I already swore the oath, so there''s no point in being so suspicious, I can''t really weasel my way out of it."


    His statement was logical, but anyone who had travelled around a bit would still be rather suspicious when dealing with others. After all, the multiverse was extremely vast, there was no telling when you might come across someone who could do something you previously thought was impossible.


    Shen Fei''s eyes remained narrowed for a second before they loosened up, a casual smile surfacing on his face as his body started to fade away like bubbles. The way he vanished was exceedingly strange, but the words he left behind caused Liang Chen''s eyes to narrow sharply.


    "Oh well, it doesn''t matter even if you try to weasel out of it. If you haven''t returned within three days then I''ll just head over to the entrance of Purgatory''s Cradle. With me blocking that, you won''t have a choice but to fight me."


    Liang Chen hadn''t told anyone that he was heading to Purgatory, or he had at least not told it to someone who would spread the news. This Shen Fei had only learned of Liang Chen''s arrival a short while ago, so how was it that he knew exactly where he was planning on going? In the end, he could only click his tongue in annoyance.


    His knowledge couldn''t even be considered a drop in the ocean, compared to his enemies and others at his realm, he was far too young. He also didn''t have the slightest smidgen of backing, no great organization that would feed him information to make sure that he didn''t make a mistake somewhere along the way.


    On the contrary, he was technically the leader of the Storm Wolf sect, it was just that the few disciples he had picked up all scattered to fulfil their own goals. So in reality, the duty of handing out information and creating rules should actually fall on him, it was just that he knew that leading wasn''t a role for him so he never did much with it.


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately call out to the Nine Star Demon God after Shen Fei left, sitting down on Yumao''s head and checking his condition for a bit. He went over all his veins to make sure that there was no problem with them, keeping an especially close eye on his meridians to make sure that nothing strange had happened to them.


    After all, while he might be confident in the job he did of altering them, this was the first time he actually used his altered meridians in combat. But luckily, they had managed to hold the rampant energy just fine and showed no signs of strangeness, allowing Liang Chen to let out a breath of relief. There wasn''t much point in making any preparations, so he spoke out the moment he finished checking up on his own body.


    "Yao Jun, I''ve got some questions I''d like to ask you as well."


    It wasn''t often that he got to call out to someone as powerful as the Nine Star Demon God, but now that he actually had an excuse to call down such a peak existence, he had some questions he wanted an answer to. And he didn''t have to wait long at all, a casual voice reaching his ears a few seconds after he spoke out.


    "Alright, seeing as I can somewhat sympathize with your loneliness, I''ll answer some of your questions."


    A ripple ran through the air in front of Liang Chen, the violet-haired and grey-eyed Nine Star Demon God stepping out of the ripple. He hadn''t brought anyone else with him, so it seemed like he was serious about at least answering a question or two. Liang Chen didn''t want to spend too much time in front of a stifling existence such as Yao Jun, so he moved straight onto his questions.


    "You''re in control of this universe, no? You can see what goes on in it if you want to?"


    He already knew that this was the main universe of the Nine Star Demon God, so he should most definitely be the Universal Heart of it. But when it came to being a Universal Heart, Liang Chen didn''t actually know what it entailed or enabled you to do. Yao Jun nodded his head in a casual manner, Liang Chen moving on to his next question straight away.


    "I don''t spend too much time here, but I am technically in control of this universe, so I can indeed see what''s going on in it if I want to."


    "So there''s no way you don''t know about the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, correct? You know about him, yet you let him run free to cause mayhem? I want to know why."


    The Sky-Piercing Sparrow had killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent people just to harm Liang Chen and his reputation. Women, children, and men of all ages had died undeserving deaths. If it was just the heavens being indifferent then he could accept it, but this universe had a different heaven, one known as the Nine Star Demon God. He should have been able to stop the sparrow long ago, so why hadn''t he? Yao Jun wasn''t bothered by Liang Chen''s almost accusatory gaze, shrugging his shoulders without much care.


    "Easy, killing him is too hard. Killing the incarnation he''s sent here is easy, but he''ll just send a new one the moment I look away. And if you''re about to ask me to keep a constant eye on this universe to expel him every time he shows up, then I''ll just end this conversation right here, I''ve got my own things to do as well."


    Liang Chen could understand from Yao Jun''s words that you would have to actually use your concentration to observe the entire universe, which made sense. But what he didn''t understand was the first part of Yao Jun''s sentence. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow should not have reached a realm where even the Nine Star Demon God couldn''t kill him. But he quickly caught on to something, putting it together with what the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had told him last time.


    "Even someone like you can''t kill him? Is he hiding in a different multiverse?"


    If the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was hiding in a different multiverse and only sent down avatars all the time then it would make sense that not even the Nine Star Demon God would be able to kill him. But contrary to what he expected, Yao Jun let out a somewhat disdainful scoff in response.


    "If that was it, then he would have long since ceased to exist. No, he''s hiding in a different Sphere of Existence, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow that runs around here is nothing more than an incarnation, an avatar he made using his law of duplication."


    Others at his cultivation realm might not know, but Liang Chen already knew what a Sphere of Existence was. The entire mass of multiverses surrounding the multiverse he lived in was considered one Sphere of Existence, it was so vast that he couldn''t even begin to imagine its actual scope. And it was because he couldn''t even begin to imagine its scope that he couldn''t help but unconsciously question, Yao Jun raising three fingers in response.


    "A different Sphere of Existence? There''s multiple?"


    "Three in total, one massive natural one and two smaller man-made ones."


    If just the information that there was more than one Sphere of Existence made Liang Chen''s head swell somewhat, then the piece of information that Yao Jun just casually dropped on him right now almost made his eyes swim.


    "You... you can just make Spheres of Existence?"


    If he was told that the law of creation allowed one to create a universe, then that alone would be enough to impress him. Telling him that you could make a multiverse would make him doubt a little, but he could still accept it. But to make a Sphere of Existence, a conglomeration of multiple multiverses? What sort of existence would be capable of doing something like that? Yao Jun could understand the shock running through Liang Chen, shaking his head and explaining a bit more. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "If it was as easy as you made it sound, then there wouldn''t just be three of them. In all three Spheres of Existence, there is currently only one person who can maybe make a new Sphere of Existence, and that''s the Existential Lord who rules over the original and sole natural Sphere of Existence. Other than him, no other being has grasped the Ascended Law of Existence, which can be considered the rival of your own Ascended Law of the Void."


    Yao Jun may have tried to ease his confusion, but Liang Chen still felt his head almost hurt from the information. It wasn''t even that long since he learned that he lived in a Sphere of Existence, basically a large bubble holding several smaller bubbles filled with bubbles. Yet now he learned that there were two more such bubbles, and there even seemed to exist a person who managed to rule an entire one of those bubbles.


    He also understood another thing from Yao Jun''s words, the Sphere of Existence they resided in was likely one of the man-made ones, otherwise, he wouldn''t have spoken about the Existential Ruler in such an indifferent manner. He didn''t want to keep talking about the topic of Spheres of Existence, he was already starting to feel an oncoming headache, so he moved on to a topic that was a bit more relevant to him.


    "You called it an Ascended Law, are there more Ascended Laws?"


    He had the law of the Void, which even someone like the Nine Star Demon God referred to as something ascended, so how could he not be curious about other laws that might exist on the same level? And once again, Yao Jun shrugged his shoulders and raised three fingers, not saying too much on the topic.


    "Only three, Existence, Balance, and Void. But they aren''t worth thinking about, the number of people who can grasp one such law is so low that meeting one is extremely hard. The law of the Void is somewhat easier to encounter thanks to the Void Born, but the Sphere Born and the Stasis Born don''t bother showing themselves unless it concerns the fate of their Sphere, so you''d have to look for a cultivator using those Ascended Laws. And don''t think that getting a hold of such an Ascended Law is as easy as it was to get a hold of yours, you just got lucky thanks to all the involving factors."


    Liang Chen knew what the Void Born were so he could guess at what the Sphere Born and Stasis Born were, beings born directly from something that was intricately tied to the Ascended Laws. But he felt like asking about them would open a whole new can of worms to give him a headache, and if they were really as rare as Yao Jun said, then he was unlikely to ever even encounter one. And since that was the case, he decided to switch subject entirely to move onto one that was much closer to his heart.


    "I have a different question, when you take over a universe, can you set down rules for that universe, rules that will be automatically enforced?"


    Yao Jun raised an eyebrow after Liang Chen asked his question, but he had already heard a little about Liang Chen and his desires. As a result, he could guess at what exactly Liang Chen was thinking, a soft sigh escaping his lips.


    "You have a good heart, but such hearts can easily kill people. Come, let me show you something."


    Liang Chen suddenly felt space around him fold up like sheets of cloth, the scenery around him transforming until he stood amidst what looked to be a ruined city. The buildings had fallen apart so long ago that some parts had started to turn to dust, but a wooden epitaph untouched by the passage of time stood right in front of Liang Chen. Yao Jun was still standing at his side, lightly shaking his head as he looked at the man-sized wooden slip.


    "I don''t have many things that I care about and hold truly dear, but that does not mean that my heart is so cold that I will just ignore atrocities. When I first killed the previous ruler of this universe and took it over, my first act was to set down some rules to help the universe get some peace, I didn''t want it to become chaotic due to me killing the previous ruler. The rules were quite simple, you were forbidden from stealing, you were forbidden from murdering, you were forbidden from raping, various rules along those lines."


    Yao Jun didn''t state it outright, but the context was enough for Liang Chen to realize that the answer to his previous question was positive, you could set down automatically enforced rules. But he didn''t say anything about it and remained quiet, allowing Yao Jun to continue speaking, pointing at the wooden slip carrying a very simple epitaph.


    *Here lie Jio Xing, Jio Shu, Jio Huo, and Jio Zang. A mistake never forgotten.*


    "This grave right here is one I set up with my own hands a mere minute after I set down those rules. The man it represents was a father of two, a poor farmer who hadn''t been lucky with his crops for the last year. He and his family were starving due to the bad harvest, and despite hearing the proclamation that was announced through the entire universe, he decided to steal a bit of food to feed his family. He was instantly struck down by lightning and killed. His wife and children died three days later, starving while they waited for a man who would never return. It was only five days later that I learned this, when I was coincidentally taking my own wife for a walk through the area."


    Liang Chen''s expression shivered for a second after Yao Jun gave him the entire story, but this wasn''t the only stop on their journey. Space around Liang Chen folded again the moment Yao Jun finished talking, the two of them arriving in front of another wooden slip, one located inside a sprawling oak forest.


    "This grave houses the ashes of a woman who had gotten together with a man she met at an inn. But the man actually had a wife, they had just gotten into a small argument so he was angry at her and was out to have some fun while calming down. Halfway through the act, he regretted his actions and wanted to stop. But the moment he changed his mind and uttered the words no, what the woman was doing was considered rape by the universe, so she was struck dead by a bolt of lightning."


    Space around the duo folded again when Yao Jun explained the circumstances of the third grave, the two of them arriving inside a cave where a third grave marker stood.


    "And this third grave houses the remains of a man who was struck dead when he killed an attacker that wanted to kidnap his family to force him to pay a ransom. Kidnapping wasn''t forbidden so they got around the stealing and killing rule, but the man did not and was struck dead by lightning."


    Space around them folded for a final time when Yao Jun finished his explanation, the scenery around them returning to that of the desert where they had originally been. Yao Jun glanced over at Liang Chen, who wore a slightly complicated expression.


    "This multiverse can always use more people with good hearts like you, but you yourself must also come to terms with the fact that there will always be different circumstances and the like. You can''t just set down some rules and expect everything to solve itself like that, that will harm just as many as it helps."


    Yao Jun''s tour had directly shattered one of Liang Chen''s plans. He had been thinking that since the heavens refused to punish sinners, he could do it in their stead. And maybe, when he reached a certain level of power, he could just set down some rules to automatically punish sinners. But that just became a whole lot harder, precisely because Liang Chen knew that Yao Jun was right.


    There would always be circumstances around everything, how could you possibly set up the rules in such a manner that they took every possible circumstance into consideration? It was a rather deflating and even humbling moment, one that left Liang Chen with a bit of a bitter smile. But he couldn''t remain stuck in his own thoughts for long, the voice of Yao Jun drawing his attention.


    "I''ve answered your questions so it''s about time I do what I came here for."


    Liang Chen turned his gaze onto Yao Jun, who waved his hand and caused space at his side to ripple for a short moment. And out of the ripple stepped three people that he hadn''t expected to see. One was a girl who looked a bit younger than him, short silver hair and eyes so grey that they were almost black. But while she looked younger than him, she had already reached the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal, a regal aura radiating from her body.


    He remembered that she had been called Xiao Ping when he last saw her, his gaze landing on the two other people that appeared alongside her. One was a middle-aged man with short brown hair and vibrant grey eyes while the other was a woman with long silver hair and dark black eyes.


    Just like when he last saw them in the residence of the governor of Sand''s Journey city, Liang Chen still couldn''t sense their presence or cultivation. The young girl recognized him at the same time as he recognized them, turning to Yao Jun with a slightly suspicious gaze.


    "It''s him? You''re not messing with us, right? He doesn''t feel even remotely close to us."


    Yao Jun didn''t care about Xiao Ping''s tone or suspicion, shrugging his shoulder and dismissing her with a casual wave of his hand.


    "Of course he doesn''t, his bloodline has already transcended your Sebettu bloodline. At this point, the only person who can be his equal in terms of bloodline is probably that arrogant prick. But you have my word, that is your Ren Jue Li."


    Xiao Ping turned her gaze back onto Liang Chen after Yao jun gave his assurance, the two middle-aged people at her side walking a bit closer as they inspected his face. Yao Jun vanished while the three people were inspecting Liang Chen, having finished what he came here to do.


    Looking at the three people in front of him, Liang Chen could feel his heartbeat speed up slightly, especially when he properly looked at the middle-aged couple. Neither side had really looked closely at each other when they last met, but now that they truly inspected each other, the eyes of the middle-aged woman started to turn misty.


    "It really is...Please... Please forgive us..."


    The woman stretched out her arm as if she wanted to touch his cheek, Liang Chen instinctively taking a step back, Yumao quickly flying in front of him and spreading his wings to shield him. The woman hastily drew her arm back, but her misty eyes filled with care lingered on Liang Chen. The brown-haired man took hold of the woman''s other hand, squeezing it softly while giving Liang Chen a small bow in greeting.


    "Ren Jue Li, I know you are confused, so allow me to clear up your confusion. I am Ren Shuren and this is my wife, Ren Yazhu, this is our daughter Xiao Ping. You should have already seen the memories we sealed inside you, but please, give me the pleasure of saying this. I am your father, this is your mother, and this is your younger sister. We''ve been looking for you for quite some time already, but our family is finally fully back together."

 Chapter 264: Rejected.

    If it had been anyone else who tried to tell him this then Liang Chen might have just thought that they were messing with him, but he couldn''t think that when faced with these people. Part of the reason was the names they used, Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu. Liang Chen had only ever told two other people that those were the names of his birth parents, and that was Yan Ling and Yumao. It could, of course, be a coincidence or just a guess, but the odds of that were so slim that they were practically impossible.


    But the main reason he couldn''t dismiss them or their words was the person who had brought them over. Just who was Yao Jun? He was the grand Nine Star Demon God, a man who ruled over multiple major universes and had reached an unfathomable level of strength. He had no need to lie to Liang Chen, he could probably just plant an idea in his head if he really wanted Liang Chen to believe something.


    So in all likelihood, the three people standing in front of him were his flesh and blood family. His opinions or thoughts on that subject mattered little, facts couldn''t be changed just by emotions or the like. Liang Chen stretched out his arm and placed his hand on Yumao''s head, ruffling some of his feathers and signalling him to stand down.


    Yumao hesitated for a few moments, Liang Chen didn''t have the strength to fight right now after all. But in the end, he still shrank down to his preferred size and returned to his nest on top of Liang Chen''s head, his body coiled and ready to spring forth at a moments notice.


    Ren Yazhu was still looking at Liang Chen with apologetic moist eyes filled with care, Xiao Ping looking somewhat more pondering as she looked Liang Chen up and down. Ren Shuren also looked quite emotional as he studied Liang Chen, his voice soft and slightly distant.


    "Ren Jue Li... I really didn''t think that I would ever get to say that name to you in person, I never even thought we''d get to see you again after that day... Tell me, Jue L..."


    Liang Chen cut off Ren Shuren with a light wave of his hand, not allowing him to finish his sentence as he drew a proverbial line in the sand.


    "My name is Liang Chen, not Ren Jue Li."


    He said it in a calm manner, his voice not containing much emotion, as if the topic had nothing to do with him. But him stating his own name, and the calmness he spoke it with, entailed a message that Ren Shuren and the others couldn''t miss. Xiao Ping''s brows furrowed slightly, but a soft shiver ran through the bodies of Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren, the latter of which immediately smiled somewhat bitterly and brought out a table and some chairs.


    "Liang Chen... Liang Chen... It''s a good name you''ve chosen for yourself. Come, please take a seat and tell us about what you''ve experienced over the years, Mother and Fa..."


    Ren Shuren couldn''t be blamed for his actions, the implication brought forth by Liang Chen was one that was quite hurtful to a parent. But Liang Chen had thought this over many times after learning the truth, so he cut off Ren Shuren once more and repeated his implication, stating it more clearly this time.


    "My Mother and Father died almost five years ago, losing their heads so that I could keep mine. They are also the ones who gave me my name."


    No matter how he thought about it or looked at it, there was no way he could accept Ren Shuren or Ren Yazhu as his parents. They had given birth to him, their blood flowed in his veins, that was undeniably true. But his heart, his soul, all of it had been fostered and created by Qing Feng and Qing Lan, he could never see anyone else as his parents.


    At the same time, the mere act of mentioning how long it had been since his parents died caused a rush of emotions to swell over him. His time acceleration made sure that his body had aged more, but in the real world, it still hadn''t even been five years since his parents were executed. Liang Chen hadn''t even celebrated his 17th birthday yet and was barely considered an adult, but how much blood had he waded through over the last few years, how many battles had he pushed through in such a short amount of time?


    His parents had sheltered and cared for him with all their heart, but the moment they passed, his life took a complete turn as the deep crimson colour of blood tainted his entire world. In truth, he had already guessed that his parents would actually be somewhat disappointed in the path he chose, it was a very gruesome one after all. But it was his path, one he chose for himself, so he would walk it until he could walk no more. Stolen novel; please report.


    The expressions of Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren twisted slightly when Liang Chen gave them his stance, after all, their own son had just rejected them. But they were already far older than most people, they had even died twice before, so their hearts and minds were as firm as steel when they needed to be. Xiao Ping wasn''t quite the same, her pondering expression sinking and turning somewhat dark.


    "What''s the matter with you?! They not only gave birth to you but also used 99% of their bloodline to send you into the future just to give you a chance at life! They''ve been that good to you, but you won''t even accept them?! I can understand it if you don''t want to help our declining race, but not even accepting your own parents?!"


    Xiao Ping stepped forward sharply while chiding Liang Chen, her Qi surging slightly thanks to her emotion. And with her Qi surging somewhat threateningly, Yumao instantly sprung into action to protect his father. His own energy surged forward in an unreserved manner, his enlarged tail erupting out from Xiao Ping''s shadow and swatting her away before she had the chance to react. Yumao didn''t have the slightest intent to risk anything right now, not with Liang Chen in his currently drained state.


    Xiao Ping was still someone at the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, and even had a very pure Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, so she was only pushed a few steps to the side before she regained herself. She glared sharply at Yumao, but Ren Yazhu stepped forward to stop her from attacking. Liang Chen took this chance to let his gaze roam over his birth parents, bending his waist slightly as he bowed.


    "I am aware that you paid a massive price to send me into the future, and I am extremely thankful that you did everything you could just so that I could live. But I was raised and loved not by you, but by Qing Feng and Qing Lan of the small Qing clan on Dragon''s Gate planet. They gave me my heart and soul, and even though they may have passed, they will forever remain my parents in my mind. So I am thankful and I respect you, but I cannot accept you as my parents."


    This was the third time Liang Chen drew a line in the sand, but this time there was nothing subtle about it. He stated everything outright, his gratitude, his respect, his reservations, and his boundaries. When he first learned the truth, he had just disregarded both his birth parents. After all, how could he feel much for people he had never met or even knew the face of?


    But he had grown over the years and had gotten plenty of time to think, and he came to the realization that he couldn''t just disregard them. They were still the people who had birthed him and given their all to make sure that he could get a shot at life, even if that was a life without them. For that single act alone, they deserved his respect and gratitude, but that was also the extent of the emotions he could give them.


    Xiao Ping simmered slightly, not just from getting swatted away like that, but also due to Liang Chen''s continued rejection of their family. But Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren could only share a sigh as Liang Chen bowed, both of them taking a seat at the table while Ren Yazhu waved for the two others to join them.


    "It''s a pity, truly a terrible pity. But you cannot be blamed for that, we just got our hopes up too much. After all, you''ve never even met us or interacted with us so there is no way any type of bond can have been formed between us. From what I heard, you also haven''t interacted much with our race, just a very short encounter on Tripartite God, no? We haven''t been around to help you, nor has your own race even given you any support, only asked for yours, so it isn''t strange that you cannot accept us. Would you mind telling us about Qing Feng and Qing Lan, I would like to hear about the people who were so kind as to raise our son into a fine man."


    Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren had experienced a lot in their lives, countless ups and downs as they constantly did their best for the sake of their race and their three children. Having experienced so much, they had long prepared for the sad fact that their second son might not accept them when they met.


    There was a chance that they were lucky and found him while he was still a child, but sadly for them, they met him at a time where he had already become a hardened man. But relationships weren''t built in a day, so while he may not accept them as his parents, they could still get close with him in hopes that he would one day at least see them as close aides.


    Xiao Ping listened dutifully to her mother, practically the complete opposite of Liang Chen. But Liang Chen too took a seat at the table, Yumao slithering down from his head and coiling up on the table, right in front of Liang Chen. He couldn''t accept them as his parents, but that didn''t mean that he would completely reject the notion of at least forming a small relationship with them.


    Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren immediately took out some drinks and food, but Liang Chen simply took a swig of the spicy poisoned wine he got in Moonset city. His gaze turned a bit distant as he drank the wine and recollected about a past he had long since buried deep within the fondest parts of his heart.


    "Father and mother weren''t able to get children, so when they found me lying in the wild, alone and crying, they took me in and called me their bright dawn..."

 Chapter 265: Seven treasures.

    Liang Chen spoke about all 12 years he had spent with Qing Feng and Qing Lan, detailing the lessons they had taught him and morals they had tried to instil in him. It was the first time since their death that he had spoken so much about them in one go, not even Yan Ling had gotten to hear everything in one go, Liang Chen had spread the tale out over their many encounters.


    But he kept his story focused entirely on his parents, he didn''t say anything about his experiences after their passing. And of course, he didn''t tell them anything about Yan Ling or the Storm Wolf disciples he had ended up picking up after he left his planet. These people might be his birth parents, but Liang Chen still wished to reduce the number of people who knew about those closest to him. The fewer people knew, the smaller the odds that someone unwanted learned of it.


    There was no point in worrying about Yan Ling, her relationship with the Nine Star Demon God ensured her safety even if she had gone to a different multiverse for training. But Yi Xue and the other Storm Wolf disciples didn''t have that luxury, and it would be a terrible shame if they were to die because of Liang Chen.


    Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu could only let out sighs when Liang Chen finished his story, quietly thanking the departed souls of Qing Feng and Qing Lan. They hadn''t been able to be with their son, resulting in the current rift between them, but at least their son had grown up in a home where he was loved dearly.


    They were his birth parents, and since they couldn''t be at his side, that was already the best outcome that they could wish for. But since he had finished his story, they also had an inkling as to what might follow, Ren Yazhu speaking up in hopes of prolonging their meeting.


    "Re... Liang Chen, are you willing to return to the Rahu universe with us? Our race may not have been of help to you before, but I can promise you that we''ll support you with everything we have."


    The Rahu universe was the original universe of the Sebettu, it was where the Heaven Devouring Dragon himself was born. It was also the last bastion of the Sebettu, the only other territory they controlled being a small galaxy in Liang Chen''s original universe. Liang Chen had already expected this question, but his answer here would be the same as the answer he gave when he first met someone from the Sebettu race.


    "No, I currently don''t have any interest in travelling to the Sebettu. Maybe someday in the future, but for now I am still busy walking my own path. And even if I do end up going to the Sebettu at some point, the end result might not be what you want, so you must be prepared for that."


    His current goal was to enter Purgatory''s Cradle and work towards getting his hands on Purgatory, his instincts told him that he would be missing out on something tremendous if he didn''t do so. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu accepted his words with somewhat dim expressions, but Xiao Ping was clearly quite far from having a mind as calm as theirs.


    "The end result won''t be what we want? It''s already bad enough that you aren''t trying to help our declining race return to its peak, you''re even thinking about maybe hindering us?"


    Xiao Ping had been lucky when she was time-shifted, she had been much older than Liang Chen when she was sent through time, and she had arrived directly in the Rahu universe. Her parents weren''t around at the time since they were out travelling so they couldn''t determine her true lineage immediately, but they could easily determine that she had a very pure bloodline, immediately giving her the title of the crown princess.


    And another part of her that was completely unlike Liang Chen was that she was fiercely loyal to the Sebettu race. She was certain that her parents were dead when she first arrived, so she did everything in her power to work towards the revival of the race. But Liang Chen had a different way of viewing it, one of his eyebrows rising.


    "When you speak of the Sebettu''s peak, do you mean when Rahu was still around and the race had the strength to conquer and devour multiple universes? Is that the peak you want to return the race to?"


    The Sebettu were a race that wasn''t exactly well-liked, especially when they were at their peak, the number of minor universes that had fallen to them wasn''t something that could be counted on one hand. These achievements were a terror to other cultivators, but to Xiao Ping and the older Sebettu, they were a mark of pride.


    "Of course! Do you have any idea how much the race has suffered since it started declining, any idea how much respect and power we''ve lost? We used to be respected across the entire multiverse and could move around unhindered, why would we not want to return to that peak?"


    How many people dared to stand against the Sebettu back when Rahu was still around to lead them? If they wanted to enter a minor universe, they did so without a problem, they had even been able to fight against some major universes without a problem. These stories were passed down through the Sebettu for countless years, invigorating the ambitions of each new descendant. But it was exactly these ambitions that Liang Chen opposed.


    "If that is your end goal then we are truly fated to stand against each other. No, I don''t really know how much the race has suffered since its decline, but do you know how much countless other races suffered when the Sebettu attacked their universes and devoured them? How many civilizations were brought to ruin, how many innocent and unknowing people were killed so that the Sebettu could expand as they pleased? That peak is one I won''t allow the Sebettu to return to, nor any other race for that matter."


    Liang Chen had chosen his path, and he would walk it no matter what sort of light it painted him in. And if the Sebettu were planning on returning to their old peak to resume their ancient wars, then they would cross paths with Liang Chen. Xiao Ping was far from pleased with the arrogance Liang Chen so casually displayed, sneering slightly.


    "And what gives you the right to decide such a thing? What sort of pedestal do you stand on to decide what a race can and can''t do?"


    Liang Chen was different from her parents, he had already been sent through time by the time she was born so she had never met or interacted with him. As a result, she had the same feelings towards him as Liang Chen had towards his birth parents after he first learned of them, disregard. But while she disregarded Liang Chen, didn''t he do practically the same to her?


    "Nothing right now, but in the future, it''ll be my power and wrath that give me that right."


    Liang Chen was well aware of his own weakness, there were countless existences that could squash him like a bug. But the current him was able to squash past him like a bug too, so he was confident that in time, he would become strong enough to follow through on his own ambition. The heavens didn''t have any wrath, so he would become that wrath in all its terror-inducing glory. Xiao Ping opened her mouth to continue arguing, but Ren Shuren waved his hand and silenced her.


    "That''s enough. We all have our own paths in life, we may not understand or agree with them, but we must still respect them."


    Liang Chen had grown up and made his choice, and it was one that Ren Shuren and the others would have to respect. A person''s path could only be decided by that person, but that meant that the person would also have to live with the consequences of the path he chose. Ren Shuren moved his gaze away from Xiao Ping when he saw that she remained silent despite her grumpiness, sighing as he turned to Liang Chen.


    "You''ve already made your choice, so I don''t think that there is any point in trying to change your mind. But I hope that we won''t stand against each other in the future, I pray that we can find a compromise should things reach such a situation."


    He didn''t know what he was to do if Liang Chen and the Sebettu ever truly stood against each other. One was the race he had been born and raised in, but the other was his firstborn child, no matter how little they had interacted with each other.


    Liang Chen nodded his head in response to Ren Shuren''s words, tapping Yumao on the head and standing up from his seat. Liang Chen didn''t really have too much to say to this birth family of his, so dragging the meeting out any longer was pointless. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu also understood this, exchanging glances for a short moment before Ren Yazhu spoke up. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "We originally wanted to slowly instruct you if you were to return with us to the Rahu universe, but we can only do things differently since you are intent on following your own path. We haven''t gotten the chance to give you anything before, so please accept these."


    Ren Yazhu flipped her hand, seven items appearing in the air above her palm, silently hovering there. She pushed the seven items towards Liang Chen, Ren Shuren explaining the usage of them as they hovered in front of Liang Chen.


    "Those four paper talismans can be considered relatively more common, your mother and I have both refined a pair. The two golden ones are defensive in nature and the two crimson ones are offensive in nature. The defensive ones can resist a person at the middle-stage of the Sovereign God realm for half a minute while the offensive ones can unleash a single attack equal to the full strength of someone at the early-stage of the Sovereign God realm. We spent a little over a million years to refine them, so make sure you use them wisely."


    Liang Chen''s gaze landed on the four paper talismans, which looked rather withered due to the passage of time. The sheer might contained in them shocked him, but it also allowed him to guess at exactly what cultivation realm these birth parents of his had reached after what was undoubtedly a very long life. But if these four talismans were considered more common, then he was quite interested in what the three remaining items would be, Ren Shuren quickly moving on to them.


    "Of the last three items, the blue orb is a communication treasure that you can use to contact any of us as long as we remain in this universe. Your elder brother isn''t in this multiverse currently, but you can contact him too when he returns here. The green orb contains everything our race has gathered about domains, it should be of great help to you in forming your own domain."


    The two orbs didn''t look like they were made from jade, they had a smooth wood-like texture and exuded a faint warmth. Liang Chen had already reached the Primordial Immortal realm so it was indeed possible for him to create a domain of his own, he just didn''t know how he was supposed to go about doing so. As such, the green orb would undoubtedly be of help to him. Even the blue orb was extremely useful, as there weren''t many communication treasures that could be used across universes.


    He was also surprised that there was apparently another sibling, an elder brother who was currently visiting another multiverse. But what he didn''t know was that this elder brother of his would actually be his younger brother, he was actually born after Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu were forced to send Xiao Ping through time so if they went by date of birth, he would be the youngest sibling. Six of the items had been described, Liang Chen''s gaze landing on the final item, a palm-sized grey scale.


    "And this final item is a scale that comes from Rahu himself. The scale has been refined by the Sebettu and been turned into an extremely valuable information treasure, it contains our gathered knowledge about the various laws used by Rahu himself. I don''t know which laws you use, but the scale even contains everything we have gathered about the law of space and the law of time, it is one of the four great treasures of our race."


    If the previous items could be said to have shocked him slightly, then the description of this scale blew his mind. The Heaven Devouring Dragon had the innate law of devouring and could thus use countless laws, passing them on to his descendants. And with how long the Sebettu had been around, just how much information had they been able to gather about the various laws, how many techniques and utilizations?


    This was the difference that a proper backing made. In the past, Liang Chen had studied a bandit that attacked his caravan to learn how she used her law of lightning, picking up some tricks from her. If he had this scale back then, he wouldn''t have needed to do that, he could have just drawn directly upon the knowledge of his ancestors to learn much stronger ways to use his laws.


    Even if this scale didn''t contain anything about his other laws, just the information it had on the law of time would be invaluable to him. The law of time was an exalted law, and the way he had been utilizing it so far, without any guidance from others, could only be called wasting a great treasure.


    Liang Chen looked at the seven treasures floating in front of him, his gaze drifting past them and landing on Ren Shuren. For them to be able to hand this scale to him, they definitely had an extremely high status among the Sebettu. He thought about it for a second, but eventually still stretched out his hand and accepted the various items, Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu smiling in response to his words.


    "...I won''t be polite about it."


    "Good, it would be quite saddening if you were too polite towards us."


    Liang Chen stuffed the items into his interspatial ring, he could take his time later on and go through them, there was far too much he could learn from them. The treasures alone showed that Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu truly cared for him, so Liang Chen gave them a small bow, the two adults waving his gratitude aside somewhat embarrassedly.


    "Thank you."


    "Don''t thank us, we really haven''t done anything to deserve your gratitude."


    They hadn''t given him any help whatsoever, neither had the Sebettu ever done so. And yet, he had been able to cultivate himself to his current realm, even upgrading his bloodline to a realm beyond that of the Sebettu. For him to manage that at such a young age, even hardening his mind to such a state, how many gruelling experiences must he have gone through?


    Liang Chen storing away the seven treasures marked the unspoken end to their meeting, Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren''s gazes lingering on Liang Chen as they memorized his every feature. He didn''t want to return with them, and just his expression alone also made it clear that he didn''t want them to follow him around, a somewhat downcast light surfacing in their eyes.


    "Goodbye, please don''t hesitate to contact us if you ever need anything."


    Liang Chen nodded at them and then turned around, directly walking away. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu weren''t completely pleased with the outcome, but at least they had managed to form a small tie between them and their son, they had even been able to give him some items that should be of help to him. There would be plenty of time in the future to deepen these bonds, that was all they could place their hope in right now.


    Liang Chen didn''t look back as he walked, Yumao curled up on top of his head as the two returned to Moonset city. Liang Chen could feel a joyous atmosphere envelop the entire city from the moment he saw it in the distance, they were most likely celebrating thanks to the news that Shen Fei had brought along. But there was one person not celebrating, the pink-haired and yellow-eyed Shen Fei, who was waiting for Liang Chen in front of the city''s entrance.


    "You returned faster than expected. I actually expected your ''one or two days'' to mean a week."


    Shen Fei grinned in excitement as he looked at Liang Chen, his return meant that their duel was that much closer. Liang Chen also looked at Shen Fei, but he wasn''t grinning, his eyes somewhat narrowed.


    "How do you know where I am planning on going after this?"


    Shen Fei had accurately spoken out Liang Chen''s next target, Purgatory''s Cradle. But that was information that he shouldn''t have, only Yan Ling or the grander existences like Chang Yun should know where Liang Chen was going. He viewed this leak of information rather seriously, but Shen Fei only chuckled casually.


    "That? Easy, because you''re here."


    One of Liang Chen''s eyebrows rose after Shen Fei responded, not quite understanding the correlation. Shen Fei evidently saw his confusion, the corners of his lips curving up in an amused manner as he let out another chuckle.


    "You really don''t know? Heh, you must have just recently arrived from a minor universe, no? It''s quite simple, there is nothing in this Heaven and Hell Dominion. When the One-Eyed Saint and the King of the Ash Lands fought here aeons ago, they destroyed practically everything else, not even a single tract of inhabitable land was left behind. Thanks to the aid of the other dominions, life can flourish here again, but the mystic lands and resource-filled areas won''t just grow back like that. Only Purgatory''s Cradle remains, so anyone who arrives here from the outside is inevitably doing so to enter Purgatory''s Cradle. You aren''t from here, yet you suddenly appeared here. Hence, you must be heading for Purgatory''s Cradle, it''s elementary."


    Liang Chen had never heard about this One-Eyed Saint before, but he had some faint recollections about the King of the Ash Lands. Tien Huang had once mentioned that the ancestor of the Stone-Soul Scorpions was the Ash-lake Empyrean, a beast of unfathomable power that served as the mount of the King of the Ash Lands.


    Just a Stone-Soul King was already a Divine Beast, so their ancestor would definitely be a tremendously strong being. Clearly, the King of the Ash Lands was a being of great power. But since it resided in a major universe ruled by someone else, Liang Chen guessed that it hadn''t reached the level of a Universal Heart. Shen Fei finished his explanation, his eyes roaming over Liang Chen''s body for a second before he moved straight onto the subject at the forefront of his mind.


    "How long do you need to rest before we can fight?"


    He could tell that Liang Chen was still drained after his battle with the Stone-Soul King, fighting him in this state would be far from as fun as fighting him at his peak. As such, rest was definitely needed. Liang Chen also didn''t beat around the bush, stating it frankly.


    "Three or so weeks, maybe longer, I''ve got a few things I''m gonna study. The battle should be even more fun for you if I manage to learn a thing or two from what I want to study so you won''t reject me, right?"


    He wanted to study the information about domains and laws, they would be able to further increase his strength and allow him to have more confidence when he headed to Purgatory''s Cradle. Shen Fei''s personality had been on full display since he first saw him, so his words were more than enough to increase the width of Shen Fei''s grin.


    "Heh, pushing my buttons, are you? Alright, study all you want, I''ll be waiting right here and keeping an eye on you."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and stepped past Shen Fei without another word, entering Moonset city once more. His plan was quite simple, he would head to the same place he cultivated previously, using the great pressure to further fuel his own law of time so that he could greatly increase the amount of time he actually had to study.


    And once he was finished studying, he could use his fight with Shen Fei to properly put everything he had read into practice so that he could incorporate it into his strengths. He could study and then test it straight away, so while he didn''t show it too strongly, he was rather excited at what the end result would be.

 Chapter 266: Core of a world.

    Moonset city was shrouded by a festive atmosphere that formed a stark contrast to the gloomy, almost despairing air that had descended upon it before he left. People were already taking down the barricades they had put up around their houses, the streets flooded with people rushing for the market plaza closest to the city entrance.


    Liang Chen was a fair bit away from the plaza but he could still see a large pike erected in it, the head and body of the Stone-Soul King placed at the top so that everyone could see that there was nothing more to fear. The outside force that was the Stone-Soul King was constant pressure on the minds of the people living there, every trip outside of the city could result in their deaths at the hands of someone from this Divine Beast''s horde.


    Of course, while most were happy that the Stone-Soul King had been dealt with, not everyone was looking at it in the same optimistic light. Outside pressure was sometimes the only thing keeping a structure stable, its disappearance might cause everything to crumble on its own. There was no telling if the Tien and Enlai families would take this chance to duke it out for supremacy of the city, something that might kill just as many people as the Stone-Soul King had.


    But that was just a possibility, not a certainty, so Liang Chen didn''t think too much about it. He didn''t regret his decision to kill the Stone-Soul King, innocent people were about to die, so he intervened, that was all there was to it. And should the Tien and Enlai families actually start a war that cost as many innocent lives as the Stone-Soul King had taken, then it just meant that Liang Chen would have to appear here again. He was the Scourge King, and the fewer people that had to experience why he had that name, the better.


    Liang Chen had no interest in heading for the festive plaza, turning away from the main road and heading for the simple five-room house that stood all on its lonesome. Shen Fei was following him closely in a nonchalant manner, the people who recognized either of them making sure to give them wide berth. After all, both of them vanished for a bit, only for one of them to return with the shrivelled up corpse of a powerful Divine Beast shortly after, they were clearly exceedingly terrifying.


    He wasn''t moving at someone else''s pace this time so it didn''t take long for Liang Chen to reach the barren stretch of land that surrounded the lonesome house. Liang Chen tapped Yumao on the head a few times to make him fly down from his head, the Qi needed to increase the flow of time would rise drastically if Yumao was within range of the sped up time.


    Yumao was clear on this fact, and even though he could enter to resist the pressure while keeping a slight distance from Liang Chen, the safest option was still for him to remain just outside the range of the pressure. After all, he would need to use a bit of his focus and energy to resist the pressure, something that would inevitably slow him should they get ambushed.


    Shen Fei also didn''t enter the pressure, pulling a table and chair out from his interspatial ring so that he could sit down and drink something from a gourd. Liang Chen didn''t pay any mind to their actions and removed a Spirit Stone from his interspatial ring, placing it in his mouth and crushing it between his teeth. The fragments were hard and sharp as they slid down his throat, but this was the best way to absorb the energy from a Spirit Stone, it ensured that there was no waste of energy.


    With his energy rapidly replenishing thanks to the Spirit Stone, Liang Chen stepped into the pressure and walked up to the 55th step where he cultivated previously. He drew upon the surrounding pressure, which was best described as extremely dense Qi, and used it to fuel his law of time. Before his breakthrough, he had been able to use the pressure here to push the speed of time to 24 times faster, but now he could push it directly to 30 times faster than normal.


    And now that he had an abundance of time, he took out the green orb that Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu had given him, the one that contained the Sebettu''s gathered knowledge about domains. The reason he took out this item before the scale containing a treasure trove of information about the Heaven Devouring Dragon''s various laws was quite simple, it contained less information.


    It should be much faster for him to go through the information gathered within this orb, allowing him to later put all his focus on the information about the laws. And if he learned how to form his own domain thanks to this orb then he could keep that information in mind while looking through the laws later, using it to form a theoretical outline for his domain, or domains as it would be for him.


    He sank his mind into the wood-like orb, a rush of information flooding his mind for nearly three hours before it subsided. A domain was something you could only form after entering the Primordial Immortal realm, but with how long the Sebettu had been around, they hadn''t lacked for Primordial Immortals in their ranks. Thanks to that, they had a vast sea of information about domains and how they worked.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    When it came to domains, the most important factor was understanding exactly what they were. They weren''t just a small boost to a cultivators power, they were a gorge separating lower-ranked cultivators from those above them. It was no exaggeration to say that you would be unable to advance past the Primordial Immortal realm if you failed to create a domain.


    A domain was you imposing your laws on the surroundings, forcing the world around you to alter based on your laws. As you got stronger, this alteration would also grow stronger and stronger, and this was a strengthening that would continue all the way until your domain became a  real world.


    The later stages of cultivation all required you to form your own heaven inside you, even forming your own universe at the final stages. And the domain was the core of all this, it would be the Origin Heart from which your universe grew and drew strength from. So a domain was not only important in combat but also in cultivation, infusing it with your understanding of your laws was how you made it grow ever closer to a real world.


    When he finished organizing all the information about domains, Liang Chen ended up letting out a long breath. This was the difference between having a strong backing and not having one. He had gone through the entire library of the Storm Wolf sect, but the information they had about domains was a far cry from what the Sebettu had. For example, the Storm Wolf sect''s library hadn''t mentioned a single thing about the domain being the core used to create your own heaven and universe in the later stages of cultivation.


    He put away the green orb and gave a light wave of his hand, lightning and misty poison starting to fill the air around him, fully shrouding his figure. Only when he was fully concealed did he bring out the palm-sized scale he had been given, an item like this was a bit too precious to just be taken out in plain sight. Even if it weren''t for the information stored within it, just the fact that it was a scale from an Origin Beast was enough to make many people go mad with greed.


    He sank his mind into the scale, and his mind instantly went blank. If the gathered knowledge about domains could be called a sea of information, then the knowledge about the laws that the Heaven Devouring Dragon had passed down could only be called a bottomless abyss.


    The speed at which an item like this could transfer information was exceedingly fast, growing faster based on how strong the recipient''s soul was. Liang Chen''s soul was one of his strongest aspects so the speed at which the information embedded itself in his brain was quite fast, that was why it had only taken a few hours for the information about domains to sink into his mind.


    But even so, it took a full week before the rush of information about the laws ended. Liang Chen had underestimated exactly how much information the Sebettu had gathered over their existence, practically every descendant born to the Heaven Devouring Dragon adding on a small bit of information.


    And Rahu, the Heaven Devouring Dragon, truly lived up to his name. He had devoured, acquired, and passed down so many laws that Liang Chen failed to count them all, he didn''t even recognize or know about several hundreds of them. But with so much new information swimming around in his mind, Liang Chen was experiencing a splitting headache, a bloating and nauseating sensation assaulting him and causing his vision to spin.


    "Let''s... Let''s sit down for a moment."


    He muttered the words practically in a haze, his spear appearing in his grasp. He raised the weapon high and gathered all his might in it, the speartip vibrating faintly and causing the surroundings to release a soft droning sound that resembled two metal plates grinding against each other.


    He then brought the spear down and unleashed the law of time, utilizing a technique he had used once in the past. The speartip created two different flows of time, one that was sped up and one that was slowed down. The two differing flows acted on the pressure and air directly in front of him, the unharmonious flows of time splitting the pressure in half as the Qi that made it up became unable to maintain its stability.


    Liang Chen staggered through the path he had created, waving his hand behind him so that Yumao didn''t follow him. Yumao could only flap his wings somewhat worriedly, but Shen Fei''s pupils contracted violently. He was quite familiar with this pressure around the building, even someone at the very peak of the Primordial Immortal realm had only been able to walk up to the 70th step.


    And the law of time that Liang Chen had unleashed in this attack was far sharper and more peculiar than the attack he used against the Stone-Soul King. Clearly, he wasn''t as inexperienced with the law as he first appeared, he had trained at least a bit with this exalted law. But this only made him all the more excited for their future battle, Liang Chen was practically a treasure trove just waiting to be unpacked in a good fight.


    Liang Chen didn''t care about Shen Fei''s thoughts, the headache made his temples thump as if hammers were being smashed against them. He quickly reached the door of the lone house, pushing it open and entering a faintly warm room shrouded in darkness. He closed the door behind him and quickly sat down with his legs crossed, focusing 100% of his consciousness on organizing and going through the seemingly endless information.


    He allowed his instincts to control his Qi, his body automatically increases the flow of time around him to the highest level it could steadily maintain. He shut out the entire surrounding world and dove into an endless world of information, only one man and one beast aware that someone had just casually broken one of Moonset city''s oldest legends and stepped into hallowed ground.

 Chapter 267: The fox in the room.

    Liang Chen wasn''t conscious about the passage of time, his mind feeling as if it was wading through a sticky ocean while he did his best to organize the information. He had expected the information in the scale to be organized and segmented, he would just have to sink his mind into it and could then freely pick out the pieces of information relevant to him.


    But that guess was clearly wrong, all the information stored in the scale flooded his mind at once when he sank his mind into it. And even worse was the fact that there wasn''t any trace of organization whatsoever, the information was just piled into one big mess based on when it was added- One second he could be learning about the law of fire while the next second was filled with information about the law of the holy. It was such an utter mess that he had no idea how one was supposed to go through it.


    But what he didn''t know was the scale of people who were usually allowed to see this scale. Normal members of the Sebettu couldn''t see it as they pleased, it was reserved for those with great contributions or great strength, and most if not all of those people had souls stronger than Liang Chen so it was easier for them to sift through the information.


    But Liang Chen''s soul was luckily one of his strongest aspects, it was the only reason Ren Shuren and the others didn''t seal the scale so that he couldn''t see its contents yet. After all, if he tried to absorb such a vast amount of information with a weak soul, there was a chance that his soul would just collapse and dissipate.


    But his soul didn''t dissipate, it continued to wade through the sea of information while organizing it. The information pertaining to the laws he didn''t cultivate was tossed to the back of his mind for the future while the knowledge about his own laws was kept at the forefront of his mind, more and more bits of knowledge piling on top of each other.


    And then, after an unknown amount of time passed, he finished wading through the information and sorting it. But that didn''t mean that his studying was over, he also had to actually properly look over the information about his own laws, he had to understand it and figure out how to use it.


    The studying process also felt like it dragged on for an exceedingly long time, but if there was one thing that Liang Chen had, then it was time. His talent had started out lower than average, but his law of time and relentless effort allowed him to cross that chasm. Now, if you were to pit him against others that were at his own age, he would be able to sweep most of them aside with a wave of his hand, only a few were still able to stand against him.


    After all, the higher your cultivation was the higher your lifespan was, you''d also retain your youth for longer. An example would be the Shen Fei present outside, he looked like a handsome youth but was actually already in his 60''s, and he would still be considered extremely young for a cultivator. Of course, his ability to increase his own flow of time was one of the biggest factors in this, without it he would be far weaker at this point in time.


    Liang Chen finished going over all the knowledge about his own law, memorizing it and coming up with a few hypothetical ways to use them. But theories would always just be theories, he wouldn''t know if his ideas worked unless he actually got to try them out. But he was going to spar with Shen Fei fairly soon so he would have a good target to try his ideas out on, the testing could wait until then.


    Since he had finished what he wanted, he finally opened his eyes again, his golden pupils as deep as the abyss. He exhaled a deep breath and interacted with the law of time around him, checking just how long he had actually been sitting there. And when he realized how long it took him to properly go through all the information, his eyebrows couldn''t help but jump up somewhat.


    "Two years? Ha~ah, the Sebettu really have a terrifying foundation."


    Of course, those two years were only the time that had passed for him, for those outside it had only been about 15 days. The energy inside this small house was so incredibly dense that Liang Chen''s instincts could push the flow of time up to 50 times its usual speed, giving him ample time to sort through every last bit of information.


    Liang Chen stopped utilizing the law of time and stood up from his seated position, allowing his gaze to sweep across the surrounding room for the first time. The room was shrouded in darkness, but that alone was far from enough to hinder Liang Chen''s sight, he could see everything as if it was broad daylight.


    And if he had to use a single word to describe the slightly warm room then it would be, simple. It didn''t look like the previous home of a grand Sovereign God, it looked like a common living room where you''d expect to find your grandmother to sit while she knit a scarf.


    The only thing that was slightly peculiar about the room was that the potted plants had grown so much that they moved along the walls and ceiling of the room, flowers hanging from the ceiling in a delicate display. They were once normal flowers, but the dense amount of Qi in the building had already mutated them into Demonic beasts, they would probably be able to take on a human form if they stayed here for a million or more years.


    Liang Chen walked through the room with slow steps, inspecting even the most common-looking ornament. But everything was truly ordinary, so Liang Chen moved on to the four other rooms in the house. He slowly made his way through the kitchen, the bathroom, and the storage room, arriving in front of the final door in the house. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He pushed it open and stepped into a nearly empty room that was a few metres wide and long. The ceiling of the room was covered in an array that turned it transparent, allowing Liang Chen to gaze upon the vast sky that spread out above him. The only pieces of furniture in the room was a single chair placed next to a half-metre wide round table, a porcelain cup and kettle standing there without a speck of dust covering them. And just as Liang Chen was sweeping the room with his gaze, a soft voice echoed out.


    "Oh, so someone''s actually managed to make their way in here?"


    Liang Chen''s vigilance instantly rose, the room turning darker as the sky that could be seen through the ceiling turned pitch black. Even the sun was shrouded and replaced by a resplendent moon, the light coming from the moon gathering together and materializing on the chair next to the table.


    The being that appeared on the seat didn''t look like it belonged there, it was a small silver fox with two tails swaying behind it. But while it looked rather cute, the horrifying energy radiating off of it was far from cute, it was to the point where it felt suffocating just to stand in front of the fox. The fox observed Liang Chen with its pair of sharp golden eyes, a satisfied light emerging in them after a short moment.


    "The flow of time around you is a bit messed up, so you''re either a cultivator using the law of time or you''ve spent a great deal of time cultivating in a place with a heightened flow of time. Mah, either is fine, your age is still so low that your talent is sufficient. and since you managed to enter this place, you''re strength has also passed the proper threshold. Good, it was about time we got another disciple."


    The eyes of the fox released a bright light as it spoke, the light shooting forward and sinking into Liang Chen''s body. The light entered the city flooded by blood that was his soulsea, forming a silver and gold token engraved with a six-tailed fox biting down on the moon. The figure of the fox started to dissipate after it placed this token inside Liang Chen''s soulsea, but its voice echoed through the room once more.


    "Kid, that''s the token of my Moon God''s Sect, it''ll identify you as an inner disciple to the others, they''ll help you should they see that you''re in trouble. You ought to come over as quickly as you can, I wanna get the boring entrance ceremony out of the way."


    The fox fully vanished after its last words sounded out in the room, vanishing as abruptly as it came and leaving Liang Chen somewhat dumbfounded. He guessed that the fox was actually the elemental that had once lived here, the one that had ascended to become a Sovereign God. He hadn''t expected it to seemingly leave a bit of its consciousness here so that it would know the moment someone entered the house, nor had he expected for it to just up and make him a member of its sect without even hearing him out.


    Liang Chen could only let out a sigh and rub his neck while looking at the empty chair, this Sovereign God seemed to have a rather peculiar personality. But he had at least not dragged Liang Chen directly back to the sect, so there wasn''t really anything stopping him from going about his own business.


    He tossed the strange scenario to the back of his head and walked up to the table, inspecting the porcelain kettle and teacup standing there. The teacup was empty and was made from seemingly normal porcelain, but the kettle was filled with a little over a litre of some strange transparent silvery liquid. The liquid released a soft chill and a delicate fragrance, the scent of it alone filling Liang Chen''s soul with a sensation of freedom and power.


    "Should be a pretty good soul-based cultivation resource. I''ll have to check if I can get some information on it later."


    Liang Chen stored the kettle into his interspatial ring, drinking it without knowing exactly what it was would be rather foolish. He swept the room with one more glance after he took the kettle, but there was nothing else there. He then moved through the entire house once more, making sure that he hadn''t missed anything in his previous sweep. But there truly wasn''t anything else, so Liang Chen decided to move along with another one of his plans.


    "Oh well, might as well finish it here since I''ve got the time."


    He sat down cross-legged in the room where the fox had appeared, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out the blood from the Stone-Soul King. The petrifying poison it contained was somewhat he was a bit interested in, and he could also use the vast energy contained in the blood to bring his soul cultivation forward to a stage where it matched his body and Qi cultivation.


    He surrounded the blood with his Qi so that it formed an orb in front of him, opening his mouth and slowly sucking in the blood in a steady stream as he closed his eyes. His own bloodline was far stronger than this Stone-Soul King bloodline, so the integration process was exceedingly easy. The strength of Liang Chen''s soul had also already reached the Primordial Immortal realm, and he had already fused all his soul-based laws into the law of the Void Abyss so the process of increasing his soul cultivation was even easier than the process of integrating the bloodline.


    But they were both still processes that required time, Liang Chen had to spend nearly two weeks to finish both processes. He obviously used his law of time while doing this, but he had to spend a good portion of his consciousness and energy on the integration and cultivation process so he couldn''t push the flow of time up to 50 again. But even so, those two weeks still turned into four months for him.


    Liang Chen exhaled a breath after he finished the process, the increase in his soul cultivation boosted his strength by the least when compared to his two other cultivation systems. But it was still a qualitative change so it wasn''t something that could be neglected, after all, having strength at the Primordial Immortal realm and actually being at the Primordial Immortal realm were still two different things.


    Liang Chen stood up from his seated position and stretched his body, bringing out some water from his interspatial ring and giving his body a quick clean. He still remembered when Yan Ling tossed him into a small lake because he approached her after an extended cultivation session where he hadn''t showered. Just thinking about the scene was enough to spread a soft smile on his face as he moved through and left the house.


    The sky grew dark once again when he left the house, the deep blue clouds of a heavenly tribulation filling the sky. They hadn''t appeared when he actually broke through, only when he left the house, so he guessed that there might be something in the house that actually blocked his presence.


    But even if the heavenly tribulation arrived, Liang Chen''s previous statement still rang true, there was nothing it could do to him. He directly tore it apart with an attack containing the law of the void, his gaze landing on a Shen Fei that was so excited that he looked like he was about to jump around.


    "Alright, let''s get our duel finished so that we can get it out of the way. But we''ll do it outside the city."

 Chapter 268: Authority of Dreams.

    Shen Fei''s entire body was brimming with giddy excitement as he looked at Liang Chen. It hadn''t been that long since he last saw him, but his eyes had turned a fair bit deeper, just gazing into them made it feel like there was an abyss tugging at his soul. He didn''t know just how much time Liang Chen had actually spent inside the house with his law of time, nor did he know exactly what he found or did, all he knew was that Liang Chen had become an even more exhilarating opponent.


    And he had already been waiting for this duel with bated breath so he wasn''t planning on dragging things out even further, hurriedly ushering Liang Chen to follow him as he left the city. They moved through the streets of the city without a problem, none of the people around them even turning to look at them.


    It had already been 15 days since they returned to the city so the citizens, or at least the two great families, should definitely have already noticed that he entered the house that had previously been unattainable. For them to not even acknowledge their existence like this, something was clearly amiss. His gaze slid over to Shen Fei, who only waved his hand without waiting for Liang Chen to ask his question.


    "I don''t want them to bother and interrupt us, I''ve already waited long enough. I''ve covered both of us in an illusion that renders us transparent, they won''t be able to see us unless I want them to."


    He spoke casually, but Liang Chen picked up on the strange way he spoke about it. Illusions were something you sent directly into someone''s mind, you tricked them into seeing and feeling what you wanted them to, they were not something you could really cover yourself with. But there was no way Shen Fei would answer him even if he asked about his strange way of putting it, why would he bother to reveal some of his abilities right before they were going to fight?


    Shen Fei''s illusion allowed them to easily leave the city and set foot in the desert once more, quickly travelling a few tens of kilometres away from the city so that they wouldn''t be interrupted. The place they stopped was a swathe of empty land, not even a blade of grass in sight as the sand stretched out for as far as the eye could see, only Moonset city barely visible in the distance.


    Shen Fei walked a few steps forward before turning around, his yellow eyes calming down as he took control of his excitement. He swept his shoulder-length dark pink hair back and tied it up with a crimson cloth, he even removed his dragon-shaped and tiger-shaped hairpins. He hadn''t done any of this during the duels between the Enlai and Tien family so it seemed like he viewed this sparring match with much greater importance.


    Liang Chen didn''t have any such preparations, he simply brought out his spear and made sure that Yumao moved a bit away to avoid getting caught up in any attacks. His gaze was focused on Shen Fei, but his mind was swimming with the various utilizations of the laws that he had just digested, all of them eagerly waiting to be brought forth. But Shen Fei didn''t actually draw his sword right away, he instead raised his hand and started to talk.


    "I''ve already seen your laws and a portion of your abilities, so I''ll tell you some of mine to even it out a little."


    Liang Chen''s eyebrows ticked up in surprise as Shen Fei spoke, he was actually going to speak about his own abilities? He hadn''t bothered asking him earlier since the odds of him actually divulging his own strengths was minuscule, but it seemed like that train of thought was just him not understanding Shen Fei''s personality. Shen Fei flipped his hand so that his palm was facing the sky, a miniature version of himself appearing on top of his palm as he spoke.


    "I have been granted the Authority of Dreams by my own universe so my law of illusions comes directly from the very core of my own universe. Thanks to this, my illusions are different from others. They don''t affect the mind like normal illusions but instead appear in the real world, like this little me in my palm. They start out weak, but the stronger I get, the stronger my illusions get. At this point, I can already change place with all my illusions and even turn several of them real. Other than my Authority, I also use the law of swords, but you''ve already seen that."


    Shen Fei clenched his hand and caused the miniature version of him to dissipate, his arm lowering as his hand landed on the hilt of his sword. Liang Chen had never heard about something like an Authority before, but if it really was a law granted by the core of the universe itself then it would definitely be something out of the ordinary.


    The two didn''t exchange any further words, one holding his spear at a tilted angle while the other grasped the hilt of his sword. The starting signal of the match was a simple nod of Liang Chen''s head, Shen Fei bursting forth with his strength the moment Liang Chen''s head moved.


    The barren desert around them suddenly changed and turned into a verdant plain, grass, flowers, and a few trees suddenly covering the surrounding five kilometres. Every blade of grass felt lifelike, but if Shen Fei''s words were to be believed then this should be nothing more than an illusion.


    And he immediately proved that his words hadn''t been a lie, disappearing from his previous position and instantly appearing behind Liang Chen''s side. When he appeared again, he was still in the same position with his hand grasping his blade, not even a strand of his hair had moved, so he clearly hadn''t just moved at an insane speed. He drew out his blade and slashed at Liang Chen''s side, Liang Chen turning his gaze slightly with a mutter.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Guess we''ll try lightning first."


    A deep rumbling sound immediately echoed throughout the surroundings as dull violet lightning flashed to life, tearing through the air and sand all around Liang Chen. Since he had three different main laws, one for his body cultivation, one for his soul cultivation, and one for his Qi cultivation, Liang Chen should, in theory, have three great domains. But as each of his main laws were made up of several fused laws, there was nothing stopping him from deconstructing his domains until they only contained one of his un-fused laws.


    He had no true experiencing in creating a domain, which was why he decided to start with a small domain based on just his law of lightning rather than one of his fused laws. His law of lightning had been with him since the start, it was one of the two laws he was the most experienced in so it should make the process quite a bit smoother.


    And sure enough, the dull violet lighting that appeared on its own was proof that the domain had been set up properly. Of course, he was just a Primordial Immortal so his domain was more akin to him forcing the surroundings to take on his attributes. As he got stronger and deepened his understanding of each of his laws, his domain would stop forcing the surroundings and gradually shift into merging into and absorbing the surrounding energy in a more harmonious process.


    But its current state was still strong enough, Shen Fei''s body halting with a soft tremble before his sword could reach Liang Chen. His eyes brightened from the scene, his body vanishing just as a bolt of lightning tore through where he had just been. He appeared again a short distance away, a sharp aura erupting from his body and forming a small bubble around him.


    Any lightning that entered this bubble was weakened drastically, reaching a stage where Shen Fei could cut them up relatively easily. But even his own domain weakening the lightning wasn''t enough to cover up the tyranny of the lightning, resulting in Shen Fei''s eyes glowing even brighter. His domain was exceptionally sharp and fearsome, especially when limited to such a small area, it could even automatically cut apart crimson lightning and make normal violet lightning dissipate after a few seconds.


    But to get rid of Liang Chen''s dull violet lightning he still had to use his own sword, it was clearly lightning that had reached a whole new level of tyranny. And looking at how his body had stopped earlier, it was clear that Liang Chen''s control over lightning wasn''t limited to sheer tyrannical power.


    "You influenced the electrical signals moving through my nerves? If you had reached a slightly higher realm then the fight might just have ended there, that''s a pretty scary thought."


    Shen Fei only had a guess, but he was quite confident in it. There weren''t many ways for lightning to just freeze a person''s body like that, only by interacting with the electrical signals that the brain sent to the nerves should it be possible. And he was proven correct when Liang Chen nodded his head, uttering a short warning.


    "Correct. But I''ve got one more thing I want to try out, so be careful."


    Using his lightning to interact with the electrical signal running through the nerves was something Liang Chen had a fair bit of experience with, doing so within his domain only strengthened his ability to do so. Shen Fei''s gaze narrowed in response to the warning, his body suddenly vanishing and appearing in place of a blade of grass a few metres away.


    The sand where he had just been standing rose up just as Shen Fei vanished, several fist-sized lumps of dark sand tearing through the air as they shot straight at him. He continued to vanish and appear a few times, but the fist-sized lumps of sand continued to chase after him wherever he went. In fact, more and more such lumps were appearing as he moved around.


    But Shen Fei didn''t bother playing with the lumps of sand for too long, eventually just waving his hand and causing several large metal rods to appear all around on the plain. The lumps of sand immediately veered away from him and slammed into the metal rods, even the surrounding bolts of lightning getting drawn over to them. Shen Fei gave a small nod of his head when he looked at the lumps of sand that had battered the metal rods, the corners of his lips tugging up.


    "With a desert as large as this, there is inevitably going to be some iron sand hidden beneath the surface, all you had to do was use your lightning to turn my sword into a magnet to draw it out. Good, no, marvellous! You haven''t let your exalted law blind you and even studied your law of lightning so much that you can use such minute techniques. Liang Chen, you''re really making me admire you. Come, let me have even more fun so that I can do what I was born for!"


    Shen Fei had more than just a bit of experience when it came to combat so he was quickly able to figure out what Liang Chen had done. And the moment he understood what his enemy did, he only had to use an appropriate materialized illusion to handle it, such as these magnetized lightning rods.


    Shen Fei expanded his own domain after he spoke out, every blade of grass and flower on the illusory plain suddenly releasing a sharp splendour. Just standing on the grass cut apart Liang Chen''s shoes and left behind several cuts on his feet, Shen Fei had clearly also formed a domain based on a fusion of his law of swords and his authority.


    Shen Fei vanished once more as the grass and flowers all around Liang Chen rose up into a furious tornado that spun around him. The eye of the tornado was where the sharpest energy was gathered, there were even some illusory shackles that spawned into existence and started to coil around Liang Chen.


    Shen Fei would occasionally take the place of a strand of grass or a flower and launch an attack at Liang Chen, shredding his robe and lacerating his body. But none of the cuts were particularly deep, this was just a sparring match and Shen Fei was more interested in seeing what else Liang Chen was going to bring out, victory was secondary.


    And standing in the midst of the flurry of attacks, Liang Chen''s gaze remained as calm as always. A ripple spread out from his body and passed through the area, the tornado slowing down as the sound of the wind howling grew in intensity. The soft sound of drops of rain splashing against the tornado emerged from within the howling wind, dull arcs of grey lightning crackling forth from Liang Chen''s spear and spreading through the surrounding area.


    Shen Fei wanted to see what else he could bring out, and Liang Chen wanted to test his own domains. And facing this fused domain of Shen Fei, it was a good chance for Liang Chen to see what a domain of his fused Void Storm law could do.

 Chapter 269: Sky-covering red.

    Liang Chen''s law of the Void Storm consisted of the law of lightning, time, wind, and void. Water played a large part in his body cultivation, which was the basis of this law, but he didn''t have that law so while a bit of water would inevitably show up in the domain, he wouldn''t have any control over it.


    The howling wind proved that his law of wind successfully became a part of the domain, the transparent ripple that kept slowing down Shen Fei''s illusory tornado also showed that the law of time had properly emerged in the domain. Lightning was already present so it was already part of the domain, the only law missing being the grand law of the void. Liang Chen poured his law of the void into the domain, which immediately moved to do what it was made for, it altered the surrounding world into one that would better suit its creator.


    The earth beneath Liang Chen''s feet was the first to change, all colour draining from it as the sand morphed into strangely white earth, the air turning heavy and dry. Soft strands of grey grass started to sprout from the earth, small black worms wriggling to the surface, dancing with joy amongst the grass. Liang Chen had never seen earth or grass like this before, but the taste of the air was familiar, as were the black worms. The taste belonged to the void, and the worms were almost identical to some of the Void Born he had seen when he first entered the void.


    His domain was forcibly altering the world to a state that suited him, but the void part that it tried to create was unfamiliar to him. And the reason was simple, this was different from when he opened gates to the void in the past, this was his domain trying to form an entirely new void, one that hadn''t suffered under the Void King.


    But the void was the antithesis of all creation, how could its presence ever be tolerated? Opening a temporary gate was one thing, but Liang Chen was currently in the process of turning a portion of the world into a new void, an act that may never be reversible. And that was an act that crossed the line.


    A heavy pressure instantly bore down on Liang Chen, crushing down on him with such might that he was forced to his knees, he''d end up flat on his stomach if he didn''t catch himself with his hands. Both his and Shen Fei''s domains were instantly shattered, every illusion present ground to dust so that only Liang Chen and Shen Fei remained, both doing their best to not fall flat thanks to the unexpected situation. And then the clouds started to gather.


    Brilliant crimson clouds appeared out of nowhere and grouped together, covering the entire sky in a sinister display. And from within those crimson clouds, Liang Chen heard the familiar rumble of thunder, incandescent arcs of pure white lightning occasionally flashing out. Each arc was so thick and long that it resembled a dragon, and each one brought with it an aura that instilled instinctual fear into every living being that felt it. Even Liang Chen and Shen Fei felt their hearts pounding as this lightning flashed over them, but it took everything they had to not fall down flat, there was no way they could move out of the way.


    This was unlike any heavenly tribulation Liang Chen had ever experienced before, nor had he ever read or heard about anything like this before. Especially that white lightning, it was so awe-inspiring and beautifully pure that Liang Chen nearly found himself transfixed. Never before had he seen such perfect lightning, it felt as if it had absorbed all creation yet still maintained its unblemished purity.


    But the strange scene took an even stranger turn while Liang Chen and Shen Fei were gazing at the crimson sky. The air just beneath the clouds started to twist and turn in front of their eyes, a somewhat aged transparent face that stretched out for several tens of kilometres appearing there. The face eased the pressure that Liang Chen was feeling, its deep eyes turning to the clouds as it spoke with some anger.


    "You may be a dragon, but even a dragon shouldn''t just step on the snake that''s resting in its own burrow. This is my place, and the rules here are to be enforced by me. You don''t need to scurry about and worry that I won''t follow your rules, scram!"


    The crimson clouds rumbled and trembled for a few seconds, the eyebrows of the transparent face shifting around a bit as it seemed to quietly communicate with the clouds. A final flash of white lightning split the entire sky, the bolt so thick that its arcs covered the entire sky like a spiderweb. Liang Chen could sense it instinctually, that was a warning to him, a threat.


    But the clouds dissipated without taking further action, the previous pressure vanishing completely so that Liang Chen and Shen Fei could stand up. And with the clouds vanishing, the transparent face turned its gaze downward, scowling slightly at Shen Fei and Liang Chen.


    "Little brat, why are you out here sticking your nose into such troublesome things? That old fogey under Erebus is still expecting a lot from your clowning so don''t forget your purpose. And you, little shit, don''t go around flaunting that abysmal thing. Using it here and there, even opening a few gates, all of that''s fine within a certain limit. But if you try to use it to change the structure of the world, there is no way the Sphere Consciousness will accept that. Even I will only accept it this once since I''m magnanimous, try to do it again and I will strike you down before these crimson clouds even have a chance to show up again."


    Shen Fei looked a bit awkward thanks to the scolding and could only nod his head. Liang Chen didn''t know what the face meant with the things it told Shen Fei, but the same was true for Shen Fei, he had no idea what it meant when it talked to Liang Chen. But there was one thing both of them could figure out relatively quickly, the Sphere Consciousness.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Liang Chen had already heard previously that even multiverses were born with a consciousness, it was this consciousness that determined the rules of that multiverse, it also determined who could take control of what universe. This multiverse''s consciousness had already been killed by the Bloodwind emperor, but since even a multiverse could have a consciousness, who was to say that a Sphere of Existence couldn''t?


    And from the looks of it, Liang Chen trying to form a domain with the law of the void went against the bottom line of this Sphere of Existence, resulting in swift retaliation. It was a bit of a disappointment that his domains seemed to be forbidden from incorporating his law of the void, but he would have no way of resisting the earlier retaliation so it was a fact he could only accept for now. He quickly put those thoughts to the back of his mind after accepting them, cupping his fists as he looked at the transparent face.


    "Many thanks for saving us, Senior, I promise that I''m not foolish enough to try it again after knowing what it''ll bring about. But if you don''t mind me asking, would you mind telling me who you are? Are you perhaps someone working for Senior Nine Star?"


    In truth, Liang Chen already had a guess as to what exactly this transparent face was, especially since he knew that this universe was ruled by the Nine Star Demon God. But he still wanted to hear it from the face itself, he wanted confirmation so that he knew that he was right. And his guess was quickly proven correct, the face scoffing at him.


    "You don''t need to drag in Azatoth''s name into this, I''m not going to smite you just because you ask about me. I am indeed what you''re guessing, I''m the consciousness born in this universe to take over after the will of the multiverse was killed. I may not have the splendour of the multiverse will, but other than Azatoth, I''m still the boss here."


    The consciousness of the multiverse had been killed, but since a multiverse could form a consciousness then so too could definitely the various universe located within. After all, they still needed to set down certain rules and decide on who got to take them over. Of course, from what Liang Chen had seen over time, it seemed like these new consciousnesses didn''t really bother with the whole setting down rules part. And with his guess confirmed, Liang Chen couldn''t help but gaze somewhat intently at the transparent face.


    "Since you''re the consciousness of this universe, can I assume that this means that you''re able to see everything going on inside this universe? Maybe you''re even capable of appearing wherever you want whenever you want? With that sort of ability, I''m guessing that you can help others just like you helped us here, no?"


    This was a question Liang Chen most definitely wanted an answer to. He originally thought that the heavens were indifferent, which was why they allowed so many atrocious things to happen all the time. He then learned about the death of the multiverse''s will and chalked everything up to the heavens being dead rather than just indifferent.


    But since this universe had birthed a new consciousness, one that even called itself the boss just beneath Azatoth, who should be the Nine Star Demon God, then the other universes should most definitely also have the chance to birth consciousnesses. And if that was the case, why did they just allow all atrocious acts to go almost unpunished?


    This consciousness should most definitely have the ability to save those that died in the suicide attacks that the Tranquil Lake launched on Liang Chen, but it hadn''t. Men, women, children, it had allowed them all to die without even showing itself. Only when its dignity as a ruler was being poked and prodded did it bother to show itself. The transparent face looked at Liang Chen with a neutral expression for a few seconds, eventually shaking slightly as it made a sound similar to a clicking tongue.


    "You''re exactly as Old Suns said, so ferociously determined that you won''t hesitate to question anyone. But that''s the thing about you, the reason you won''t ever work or be accepted. You were born from death and pain, moulded by them, they shaped your path ever since you stepped on it. So in turn, the only solution you know is pain and death, it''s all you know. You try to do what you think is right, but all you spread is exactly what you sought to destroy, you sad sad child. But sometimes, the best solution is to simply do nothing and allow things to take its course. We won''t make a move against you, we''ve already learned why its bad to become overly involved with others. But normal people won''t be the same, continue as you are and you will be killed for it before long."hat counted as an answer, its gaze landing on Shen Fei again as it gave him another reminder.


    "Little Brat, don''t forget your role as a clown, the old fogey is expecting a lot of entertainment from you."


    The face dissipated after leaving behind the reminder, leaving only Liang Chen, Shen Fei, and Yumao in the area. They could guess that Moonset city was probably experiencing a fair bit of chaos right now, but there wasn''t really anything either of them could do about it so they tossed the thoughts to the back of their mind. Liang Chen''s expression was a bit dark as he kept his gaze on the sky, the heavens being indifferent were much worse than them being dead.


    One involved being unable to make a choice, the other involved consciously choosing to not make a choice. And of the two, one of them was a lot easier to accept than the other. But no matter how angry it might make him, he knew that the current him wasn''t worth mentioning in the face of something as grand as a universe''s consciousness. As such, he turned his gaze onto Shen Fei.


    "Your role as a clown?"


    From the way the universe will spoke, the old fogey it mentioned was probably another universe''s consciousness. And more likely than not, it was the will of the universe where Shen Fei came from. And with Shen Fei having received his authority directly from the core of the universe, it seemed like he had some ties with it. Shen Fei simply shrugged his shoulders, it wasn''t a topic he was unwilling to talk about.


    "A universe only gives birth to things it needs. Most beings are only born so that the universe has souls to fill it, but others are born because the universe desires something. In my case, I was born and granted my Authority because the will of my universe wanted some entertainment, it wanted a toy that could make it laugh. But looking at what that will said, you seem to be born because your universe needed a weapon? What''s the personality of your universe''s will like, are you a weapon born out of necessity or one out of twisted enjoyment?"


    Shen Fei spoke about it very casually, but it just sounded sad when it reached Liang Chen''s ears. To be born just because someone higher wanted a bit of entertainment? Didn''t that mean that you would just be tossed aside the moment you stopped being fun? Liang Chen picked up the spear he dropped when he was forced to his knees, shaking his head as he readied himself.


    "My life is my own. Everything I do is by my own choice, not by some higher will that tried to decide my life for me. Come, let''s finish our duel, I want to move on."

 Chapter 270: The right to arrogance.

    Shen Fei was momentarily caught off-guard by Liang Chen''s soft affirmation of individuality. He spoke so softly, yet his voice carried an unshakeable assuredness and a bone-deep sense of defiance. Couple with his earlier conversation with the will of this universe, it wasn''t hard for Shen Fei to guess that Liang Chen probably had quite a feud with the will of his own universe.


    But none of that mattered to him right now. The enemy in front of him was capable of invoking the ire of this Sphere of Existence''s Consciousness, such an opponent would be able to teach him an untold number of things. So he picked up his sword and drew in a deep breath, a myriad of colours dancing in his yellow eyes.


    "It seems like you''ve been forbidden from using your proper domain, but I''ll still give it my all, so please forgive me. The things I''m about to show you were taught to me by the daughter of the Nightmare Queen herself, beware."


    Shen Fei expelled the breath he had sucked in, a soft tremor running through his body as a rainbow-coloured light began swimming underneath his skin. The light gave him a rather otherworldly and somewhat saintly appearance, but the energy that burst out from his body was the complete opposite, it brought with it a dreadful sense of suppression and sharpness.


    Shen Fei then moved his feet and vanished, his body shimmering in a manner that made it impossible to see him as he moved. Even Liang Chen''s law of wind and law of lightning weren''t able to properly locate him, it was as if he phased in and out of existence as he moved.


    But even with this strange movement and enhancement to his strength, Liang Chen was still able to sweep his spear upwards just as Shen Fei''s sword appeared in front of him. The edge of the blade touched the handle of the spear in a quiet manner, passing right through it without the slightest resistance.


    Liang Chen''s pupils shrank to pinpoints when he saw the strange scene, his body flashing to the side so that the sword only barely grazed his left upper arm. The cut that was left behind couldn''t even be called a scratch, it only cut through a single layer of skin and didn''t even draw a drop of blood. But as Liang Chen stopped his dodge, the wound started to grow at a rapid pace.


    Layer after layer of skin was eviscerated as the wound grew deeper and longer, flesh tearing apart as blood gushed forth and stained his sleeve. Liang Chen pushed his Fiendgod Essence to cover the wound, but it didn''t close up in the slightest and just continued to grow without pause. But he didn''t have time to focus too much on this strange wound, smashing his spear downwards directly in front of him.


    Shen Fei appeared in front of him again, his sword already rising towards Liang Chen''s other arm. The weapon once again just passed through Liang Chen''s spear, but a thin layer of stone-like material had already covered the blade by the time it reached his body. Liang Chen exerted all his might with his wrist, the spear that was in the process of slamming down suddenly shifting into a sideways sweep.


    Shen Fei hurriedly stepped back, but the increased weight of his sword, as well as the fact that he didn''t seem quite familiar with this enhanced state of his, slowed him by a beat. Liang Chen''s spear reached his abdomen but passed through it in much the same manner as Shen Fei''s sword had passed through his spear.


    Shen Fei let out a stealthy breath of relief when he saw that the spear passed through his body like that, quickly stepping forward and stabbing out with his sword. The layer of stone-like material around his sword suddenly passed through the blade and fell to the ground, the tip of the weapon quickly reaching Liang Chen''s chest.


    But a tremble ran through Shen Fei''s body just as the sword was about to hit Liang Chen, the surging energy erupting from his body waning as his face paled. He hurriedly pulled back, barely able to dodge a dull violet bolt of lightning that tore through the air where he had just been. He clutched his stomach as he stepped back, a strangely amused smile surfacing on his face when he saw that a yellow mark in the shape of a small spider had appeared where Liang Chen''s spear had passed through him.


    "Poison from a Yellow-veined Birdeater? You''re even able to use poison from such a weak and unnoticeable Demonic beast? And to make it work so fast, you''ve fused it with your law of time?"


    The only thing remarkable about the small Yellow-veined Birdeater was its highly corrosive poison, which could eat away at both flesh, blood, and Qi. But it was so slow-working that it might sometimes take months or even weeks before you noticed any corroding taking place, even normal mortals weren''t too afraid of this poison.


    But just like it had done with the assassin he faced once in the past, Shen Fei was utterly caught off-guard by the sudden eruption of the poison. But he was much stronger than the assassin from back then, his law was also much more peculiar so he only had to wipe his hand over his stomach to get rid of the poison.


    But his aura had been weakened quite a bit, flickering unstably, so it was clear that whatever he was doing was taking quite a toll on him. He was clearer on this than anyone else, so he took another step back and vanished entirely, leaving behind not a single trace for Liang Chen''s laws of wind and lightning.


    But even with no trace left of him, Liang Chen''s energy surged out as he raised the spear with his right arm. His left arm was already hanging limply at his side, the originally tiny scratch already morphed into a gash so large it had gone halfway through his bone. Liang Chen closed his eyes and drew in a long breath, the air around him fluctuating violently for a short instance.


    When he opened his eyes again, the fluctuating air turned into a transparent ripple that swept over the entire area, Liang Chen stepping forward and slamming his spear down at the same time. A loud clang echoed throughout the area just as Liang Chen''s spear passed through empty air, Shen Fei''s sword appearing just beneath the spearhead.


    The sword was sent crashing to the ground, Liang Chen stepping forward once more and lashing out with a kick. Shen Fei was revealed at the end of Liang Chen''s foot, his abdomen not even sinking in slightly despite Liang Chen lodging his foot there. Liang Chen didn''t mind and swept out with his spear, slamming the handle into Shen Fei''s body and then lowering his foot again. He spun his body once and delivered a roundhouse kick to Shen Fei''s other waist, none of the three attacks able to move Shen Fei''s body in the slightest.


    But after he delivered his second kick and lowered his foot, a transparent ripple left Shen Fei''s body and dissipated into the surroundings. And as the ripple dissipated, Shen Fei''s abdomen and both sides of his waist were pushed in by a violent force, blood spurting out from his mouth as he was launched back several tens of metres.


    He rolled across the sand for a bit before he finally stopped, his body sprawled on the ground in a weak manner. His chest was heaving violently as he looked up at the sky, the surging aura from his body fully vanishing as he laid there. The wound on Liang Chen''s arm also vanished as Shen Fei''s aura receded, he was no longer able to manifest that illusion into reality. But he couldn''t be bothered about something so small, his eyes shining brilliantly as he laughed, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Amazing, how scarily amazing. You froze not only the time of my body, but also the time of your attacks. The moment you stopped freezing time, all three attacks hit me at once, you didn''t even leave the slightest room for defence. But tell me, how did you manage to locate me in my illusion?"


    His mind hadn''t been frozen, only the time of his body, so he could somewhat figure out exactly what he had just been hit by. But he couldn''t figure out exactly how Liang Chen had found his position. He had cloaked himself entirely in his illusion, he was half a step from just turning himself unreal so there shouldn''t have been a way to find him so easily. Liang Chen let out a heavy breath, a slightly empty feeling welling up in him after using his law of time on such a strong entity.


    "Your illusions aren''t real unless you make them real. And if they''re not real, then they don''t rot."


    It was actually quite simple to locate Shen Fei, Liang Chen just had to spread out a domain based on his least-used law, his law of rot. Even the sand couldn''t escape rot, there would always be particles in it that would eventually rot and were thus affected by the law. And with how much they were moving about, even the air was filled with minuscule particles that would eventually rot. All he had to do to find Shen Fei was to find the one place where the law of rot wasn''t affecting anything, his illusion. Shen Fei''s mouth hung agape for a second when he got the answer, boisterous laughter soon escaping his lips.


    "Rot...rot? Hahaha, you even have the law of rot tucked away within you? Really, what a creature you are, what a beautiful weapon of destruction, I couldn''t even force you to bring out your full strength. Lord of Wrath, what a joke, what a hilarious joke. You should be a king, maybe even an emperor, why haven''t you been crowned yet?"


    He had seen Liang Chen''s strong physical body, his strong laws, and even gotten to taste his poison, which seemed to be focused mostly on the soul and the immaterial. But he hadn''t gotten to experience the storm that Liang Chen summoned against the Stone-Soul King, he hadn''t gotten to see how strong Liang Chen would get after absorbing it.


    But even so, he, a Prince on the Bloodwind Multiverse List, was beaten down savagely. Such a feat did not belong to a mere Lord, it belonged to an entity of higher standing. Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders, not planning on divulging too much about how his law of the void affected the Bloodwind Code.


    "Who knows. It''s probably because I''m not suited to wear a crown, it seems stifling."


    He said it half-heartedly, but Liang Chen knew that he wasn''t suited to be a leader, he was much more suited to just being an unchained wanderer. But Shen Fei simply chuckled at his statement, turning his head to spit out some of the blood that was pooling in his mouth.


    "Hah, as if it matters whether or not you think you''re suited or the like. Gods and kings are much the same, they aren''t the ones who decide their position, their positions are granted by the belief of others. You can think yourself unsuitable all you like, if others decide that you''re a king, then you''ll be a damn king."


    You might be able to take over a country with your strength and crown yourself king, but you''d never be a true king until the populace accepted it and deemed you as such, Shen Fei was firmly convinced of that. Liang Chen didn''t have any comment on Shen Fei''s views of kingship and the like, nor did Shen Fei seem intent on lingering on the topic, moving onto a different one entirely.


    "Oy, mind answering a question for me? I called you kindhearted earlier because you chose to fight the Stone-Soul King on your own, hell, you even gave him a chance to retreat unharmed. Why would you bother with all that? With your strength, you could have fled whenever you wanted and not bothered involving yourself in this? Yeah, the city may have been razed, but it''s so small that it''s not even a drop in the ocean. What could you possibly gain out of risking your life for people who don''t even know you?"


    Now that he had gotten the duel out of the way and seen some points where he stood to improve, he was a bit more relaxed and chatty. As such, he pulled up a question that had been tucked to the back of his mind for a bit. Liang Chen was strong, he was so strong that a city like Moonset city was too small to be of notice for him, it shouldn''t have mattered much if it was razed. After all, what did it matter to a man if a group of ants got together and killed each other? Shen Fei felt that his question was more than reasonable, but Liang Chen simply hit him with a different question.


    "Shen Fei, how many people do you think remained in Moonset city by the time I moved to take care of the Stone-Soul King?"


    Shen Fei was caught slightly off guard by the question, tilting his head somewhat. He had been given the Prince title on the Multiverse Bloodwind List so he didn''t usually stay in smaller cities like Moonset city, meaning that he had to give it a bit of thought before he uttered his guess.


    "Hm? Not too many, couldn''t have been more than 12 million."


    Shen Fei was much more familiar with the size-differences that some cities had, so his guess of 12 million people was quite accurate when it came to how many people still remained in the city. But the number still sounded so large that Liang Chen almost felt that it was unreal.


    "12 million, not even a drop in the ocean when you consider the grand scale of this dominion, much less the entire universe or multiverse. But those 12 million, do you think they consider their own lives nothing more than a drop in the ocean? They want to live, they want to love, they want to spend every second possible next to those they care about."


    Truly, with how vast just a single dominion in this universe was, 12 million people were nothing. More people than that were born every single minute in just this dominion alone, Moonset city would quickly be replaced even if it was razed, most people wouldn''t even bat an eyebrow. But Liang Chen was different, he would bat an eyebrow and object, because he had made up his mind.


    "I just wanted to protect those desires before it became too late for them to follow them through. There''s been enough pointless massacres, too many innocent desires torched before they could bear fruit. There''s already enough monsters in existence, more of them don''t need to be born. As for those who are oh so willing to create more monsters, to ruin innocent desires on a whim, the heavens may not be willing to punish them, but I am."


    Liang Chen had already lost almost everything, after the death of his sister, he only had Yan Ling, Yumao, Lan Yun, and Yan Ying left that he could consider close. He knew what it was like to lose even the chance to fulfil your desires, and it was not a fate he wanted others to experience, there was no need for more people like him to appear. Shen Fei looked somewhat dumbfounded at Liang Chen''s steely statement, but he quickly threw his head back and laughed uproariously.


    "Haha, now that''s a good arrogance, I didn''t know you had it in you! So you''ll replace our heavenly wrath and bring down death to the sinners, saving the innocent in the process? What lofty goals, what arrogance to stick your nose into the lives of all other living beings!"


    These were his true emotions, it was truly arrogant to think that you had the right to stick your nose into the lives of every other living being. It was even more so arrogant to think that you could judge who had committed deeds worthy of punishment, a punishment that not even the heavens chose to dole out. But Shen Fei''s laughter didn''t contain derision, nor did Liang Chen think much of it, raising an eyebrow while passing Shen Fei another question.


    "True, it''s probably arrogant beyond belief. Arrogant and hypocritical when you think about the way I go about it. But tell me, Shen Fei, do you think I have the capital for that arrogance?"


    In the past, Liang Chen might have been a bit more low-key about his actions. But there was no denying that he acted more and more as he grew stronger, slowly stretching out his hands to cover more people. Shen Fei didn''t halt his laughter after Liang Chen hit him with the question, his bloody lips curving into a wide grin.


    "Hahaha, you do, you absolutely do. An uncrowned king like you most certainly has the right to be so arrogant that you''ll even think about supplanting the heaven''s wrath!"


    Once more he spoke his true feelings. The strong feasted on the weak and stood above everything else. And Liang Chen was strong, so he had the right to exude as much arrogance as he wanted, he had the right to shine his terrible light and judgment on all he deemed evil.

 Chapter 271: Dominon-sized ritual.

    Liang Chen didn¡¯t immediately leave the area after winning the duel, he put away his spear and let out a somewhat drawn out breath. A slightly empty feeling pervaded his entire body, but it was far from as bad as when he fought against the Stone-Soul King, less than an hour would be enough for him to restore all the drained energy. And he did just that, he sat down on the ground and leaned against Yumao, who had flown over the moment he saw that the battle ended.


    Yumao had a thick and muscular body, despite having shrunken himself down to an appropriate size, but the feathers Liang Chen leaned against felt as soft as silk. There wasn¡¯t a doubt in his mind that Yumao¡¯s wings would make for both an excellent bed and an excellent cover, mentally noting down the fact that he should try it with Yan Ling when they reunited.


    He swept his interspatial ring and took out two azure pills, throwing one into his own mouth while tossing the other to the battered Shen Fei, who only had to open his mouth to catch the pill. The pill quickly dissolved into a cool liquid inside their mouths, running down their throats and evaporating into lifeforce filled energy that started healing their wounds while also restoring some of their energy.


    Shen Fei allowed the medicine to restore a bit of his energy before he sat up, swiping his own interspatial ring and tossing a crimson pill to Liang Chen. He also untied his hair and brought out his two hairpins, fastening them on opposite ends of his head as he started up the conversation again.


    "Are you heading directly for Purgatory¡¯s Cradle now?"


    Shen Fei had already figured out where Liang Chen was heading thanks to the simple fact that Purgatory¡¯s Cradle was the only place worthwhile in this entire dominion. And even if Liang Chen hadn¡¯t confirmed it earlier, his belief that Purgatory¡¯s Cradle was his final goal here would have only solidified further after seeing how strong Liang Chen actually was. Liang Chen thought about it for a second before shaking his head, using his thumb to point at the distant Moonset city while storing the gifted medicinal pill into his interspatial ring.


    "I¡¯ll be stopping there for a moment first. There¡¯s at least three people there who had the heart to worry about me, the least I can do is bid them farewell."


    Whether or not it was because Tien Huang sensed something off about him or not, the fact of the matter was that Tien Huang had picked him up when he was wounded and helped him. There were also the young Zun twins, Zun Zhi and Zun Zhao, both had been kind to him and showed a precious innocence he had long since not seen. Leaving without at least bidding them farewell would feel a bit wrong. Shen Fei didn¡¯t seem terribly surprised by Liang Chen¡¯s decision, rubbing his sore waist while shrugging casually.


    "Suit yourself, just make sure you don¡¯t get caught up in any petty squabbles while you¡¯re there, it would suck if I have to wait for you for too long."


    Liang Chen almost just nodded to his words and returned to recuperating, but he quickly caught on to how Shen Fei ended his sentence. One of his eyebrows rose in suspicion, Shen Fei snickering with great interest.


    "Hehe, I¡¯ve suddenly become quite interested in what sort of state Purgatory¡¯s Cradle will end up in with someone like you entering it. That place really won¡¯t mesh with you, so I¡¯m greatly looking forward to what sort of chaos you¡¯ll bring."


    Shen Fei¡¯s eyes flashed with delight as he spoke, seemingly already envisioning the bloodbath that Liang Chen¡¯s existence would spark there. Liang Chen didn¡¯t quite understand what Shen Fei meant, but this was a good chance to learn more so he didn¡¯t hesitate to ask.


    "Oh, can you tell me what you know about it?"


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t actually know much about Purgatory¡¯s Cradle, Chang Yun had never told him too much and most of the information he found in the past was about how to get to Purgatory¡¯s Cradle. He really only knew that it was located at the centre of this dominion and that it was a land of death. Shen Fei¡¯s snickering stopped abruptly, his gaze shifting until it seemed as if he was looking at a great big fool.


    "You trying to say that you came for it but don¡¯t even know much about it? If you were weaker, I¡¯d probably call you an idiot, but now I¡¯m worried that you¡¯ll just kick my ass again if I do so."


    Liang Chen might have beaten him, but Shen Fei wasn¡¯t the type of person to show much respect just because of something like that, only truly transcendental existences could force him to show respect. He scratched his head a few times while looking at Liang Chen, organizing his thoughts for a few moments before he decided to just start from the top.


    "Hmmm, where to start¡­? For starters, do you know that this dominion is different from the seven others? It¡¯s technically man-made, it¡¯s a pocket dimension that came about after two major universes fell from some battle, the bits and pieces that remained merging together. From what I¡¯ve heard, the lingering hatred and anger that these two universes felt also merged, creating another pocket dimension at the centre of this dominion. This secondary pocket dimension is Purgatory¡¯s Cradle."


    This was the most basic of information, and it was also something that Liang Chen already knew some of. Of course, Chang Yun had already told him that it wasn¡¯t just any two major universes that fell but rather two of the pillar universes, two of the first universes born in this multiverse. He didn¡¯t know anything about Purgatory¡¯s Cradle being formed by lingering resentment, but he didn¡¯t have a way of easily confirming this, unless he wanted to just randomly call upon a Universal Heart, so he tossed the fact to the back of his mind and continued to listen.


    "Now, the resentment of two major universes is no laughing matter, so that hatred has infected the entire pocket dimension. No one knows if its because the strong lingering resentment has birthed a new type of consciousness or if its because of some special natural law, but you¡¯ll be actively rewarded for killing other living beings inside Purgatory¡¯s Cradle. The stronger the being, the more of them you kill, the greater the reward. Some people have lept entire sub-realms in their cultivation after some grand massacres, others were granted special techniques or even guided to weapons and resources."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Liang Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed sharply when Shen Fei revealed this particular piece of information, it was one that Chang Yun had never mentioned to him. The rewards themselves didn¡¯t matter much to him, but the fact that the place seemingly pushed people to perform massacres was one that didn¡¯t sit well with hit. It also made it more plausible that the place had birthed a new consciousness, a rather warped one at that. Shen Fei noticed the sharpness of Liang Chen¡¯s narrowed eyes, the corners of his lips curling up as he got to the main allure of Purgatory¡¯s Cradle.


    "But of course, so far there is no one that has been gifted the greatest reward, the flame of purgatory. The flame is said to be able to burn all creation, even capable of incinerating concepts should the wielder desire it. The flame is currently kept within the Nine Wrath¡¯s Sect at the centre of Purgatory¡¯s Cradle, but there are plenty of scattered information fragments that point towards one being able to acquire the flame as a reward. So all of Purgatory¡¯s cradle is split into three groups, those killing to acquire the flames, those killing to stop others from getting the flames, and those from Nine Wrath¡¯s who kill and feed the corpses to the flames in hopes of nurturing them until they acquire a consciousness that can be controlled or reasoned with."


    The actual nature of the flames of purgatory wasn¡¯t the same as what Chang Yun had told him, but the division of the three groups was quite similar to what he had read in the past. Shen Fei chuckled softly while continuing to observe the sharpness in Liang Chen¡¯s gaze, a very faint light blazing in his eyes.


    "Now, with a place actively rewarding murder like this, what sort of people do you think gather in Purgatory¡¯s Cradle? The place is one big bloodbath where your odds of being able to trust someone are as big as your odds of meeting the Abyssal Demon Saint. In there, innocence doesn¡¯t exist, it is the capital of sin, a dominion-sized ritual of Gu."


    Gu, the ancient ritual of sealing thousands upon thousands of poisonous insects in a jar. The insects would kill and eat each other until only a single one remained, the king of the jar, the most cursed and poisonous insect of them all. And sitting in front of him was a being that might just be qualified to gobble up a large portion of those insects. He might not become the jar king, but he could definitely carve out a place for himself amongst those countless monsters.


    He would likely become a fair bit stronger at that time, and Shen Fei himself also reckoned that he would become a bit stronger after staying in Purgatory¡¯s Cradle for a bit. If they were to duel again at that time, what would the outcome be, what would he be able to learn then?


    Liang Chen couldn¡¯t be bothered to pay attention to Shen Fei¡¯s thoughts about their future duel, his brows furrowing slightly. He hadn¡¯t expected his trip to Purgatory¡¯s Cradle to be easy, the flames of purgatory wouldn¡¯t have been ownerless for so long if that was the case. But he hadn¡¯t expected Purgatory¡¯s Cradle to be brutal to this extent, it was worse than even the training ground on Tripartite God that he visited in the past.


    At least there you could surrender and leave the stage, nor did you have to kill your opponent to win. But with surroundings that seemed to actively reward you for murdering, why would you bother sparing your opponent even if they surrendered? It was exactly the type of place that Liang Chen disliked the most, it smothered all innocence in favour of birthing monster after monster.


    If the heavens being indifferent was enough to make him angry, the the heavens being actively evil was enough to truly make him furious. Of course, he was also aware of the fact that being angry about it or not didn¡¯t matter, the current him didn¡¯t have the capital to do anything about it, not yet at least. But if he got even stronger, which was the original goal of this trip, then it wasn¡¯t out of the realm of belief.


    The Bloodwind Emperor was able to use his law of death to kill the will of the multiverse and two pillar universes so it stood to reason that Liang Chen too would be able to do such things. But that was a thing for the future, so for now he could only close his eyes and continue his recuperation so that he could quickly be on his way again.


    Liang Chen sensed Shen Fei stand up after nearly half an hour, but he didn¡¯t open his eyes to bid him farewell. They had already said what needed to be said and they would likely meet again in Purgatory¡¯s Cradle, they also weren¡¯t such close friends that there was a need for any proper farewell. But even so, Shen Fei still left Liang Chen with one final warning.


    "You should take care when you go to enter Purgatory¡¯s Cradle. You¡¯ve already been here for a while and that winged snake of yours has seen by plenty of people, some of those with greater information networks likely already know about your arrival. And if I can guess where you¡¯re going, then you can be damn sure that they can. If my guess is correct, if the Sky-Piercing Sparrow hasn¡¯t sent people to wait for you by the entrance, then the King of Heaven Embracing Justice, or the previous Lord of the Wrathful Abyss most certainly will, and they¡¯ll be there in person."


    Liang Chen knew who Shen Fei was talking about, he had talked with the King of Heaven Embracing Justice, Kuan De Niu, once before. He contacted Liang Chen shortly after he got his title and wanted him to have a duel with the previous holder of the Lord of Wrath title so that she could have a chance to win it back.


    He didn¡¯t think that he had done anything worth of either of them obstructing him like that, but he couldn¡¯t completely disregard it after thinking back to the personality Kuan Niu showed. The previous justice title holder he met was much the same, neither of them had personalities that sat well with Liang Chen. Of course, the main problem would still be the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, whatever he set up would definitely be extremely troublesome.


    He luckily had a Heaven Altering Mask so it should be possible for him to first get a look at the situation before he decided on what to do, he just had to make sure that Yumao hid in the meanwhile. He nodded his head to thank Shen Fei for the information, but Shen Fei merely waved his hand and pulled a wooden board out of his interspatial ring. He swiped the board with his hand, space around him folding and warping for a short second before he vanished.


    Liang Chen simply continued recuperating his energy after Shen Fei left, he had three different types of energy to restore so it took him a bit longer than it did Shen Fei. But just as he had calculated, he was fully restored an hour after the battle ended, allowing him to stand up and stretch his body while looking towards the distant city.


    "Alright, how about we return?"


    He put on the Heaven Altering Mask and changed his appearance until it fit the Cui Song Chen persona he used when Tien Huang picked him up. Yumao flapped his wings and expanded his body a little so that Liang Chen could sit down between his horns as Yumao took to the sky. He quickly shot towards Moonset city, snickering somewhat carefreely.


    "Don¡¯t worry too much about what he said, Father. If any of those troglodytes try to stop us then we¡¯ll just kill em¡¯ all! And if that Cradle place really is as brutal as he said then we¡¯ll just have to run around and spank a whole lot of asses to make them understand who the real boss is, they¡¯ll fall in line quickly enough."


    Liang Chen¡¯s hand automatically reached for his forehead when he heard Yumao¡¯s snicker, but it wasn¡¯t because of his carefreeness. No, the reason he rubbed his forehead in exasperation was far simpler.


    "Oh come on, we¡¯ve never even used that word in a conversation before! What exactly did Ling¡¯er teach you?!"


    Liang Chen was absolutely certain that he had never used the word troglodyte in the past, it was a word that he wouldn¡¯t even have thought about uttering. So for Yumao to know this word, there was only one culprit he could think of. And Yumao didn¡¯t deny it, laughing proudly as he tore through the air.


    "Only the finest of words, Father, only the finest!"

 Chapter 272: A final warning.

    Liang Chen spat out a long and heavy sigh and decided on the same course of action that he oftentimes chose with Yan Ling, silence was king. But it wasn¡¯t like they would have gotten the time to say much more anyway, Yumao¡¯s speed allowed them to reach Moonset city in less than a minute so it was already time for them to descend again.


    Liang Chen hopped off of Yumao¡¯s head and Yumao shrank himself to his usual size, curling up on top of Liang Chen¡¯s head. The two entered the city, which had luckily quieted down somewhat thanks to the fact that night had arrived while Liang Chen and Shen Fei were making their way to the location of their duel.


    The streets were mostly deserted, but a faintly festive aura still lingered within the city, they clearly hadn¡¯t yet finished celebrating the death of the Stone-Soul King. Liang Chen didn¡¯t plan on making any detours and headed directly for the estate of the Tien family, but his steps halted not too long after he entered the city. He turned his head to the side, his gaze seemingly piercing through the buildings in front of him as he sighed.


    "Ha~ah, I really hoped it wouldn¡¯t be the case."


    Liang Chen stepped to the side when he finished talking, his body blurring as he shot through the alleys and around the houses. He quickly reached his target, a dimly-lit alley where two men were currently doing their best to stealthily carry three unconscious people that Liang Chen recognized as belonging to the Enlai family.


    A bit further inside the alley were four corpses whose robes identified them as belonging to the Enlai family. The faint energy that still radiated from them showed that they were a fair bit weaker than the three unconscious people, who had only reached the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm.


    As for the three people, they had some wounds that showed that they had struggled before being caught, but none of them were too deep so it was clear that the goal had been to catch them alive. Liang Chen stopped in front of the two men without a sound, pointing at the three unconscious people and the four corpses as he spoke in a quiet voice.


    "It hasn¡¯t even been that long yet you¡¯re already starting like this? Is the notion of peace really that foreign to you? Is it really that hard for your two families to just share this city?"


    He couldn¡¯t actually tell whether or not these two men belonged to the Tien family, they were acting in the dark so they obviously wouldn¡¯t wear the family robes. But other than the Tien family, there really weren¡¯t too many others who would be willing to sneakily attack the Enlai family like this.


    The Stone-Soul King was already dead, meaning that the main reason the two families had maintained their peace was gone. Liang Chen had expected that this might lead to some fighting between the two families, but he hadn¡¯t expected them to already start this early. The Enlai family could easily blame the Tien family for the four corpses and the three missing people, it was a good excuse to start a battle with them, which might be exactly what they desired right now.


    The two men froze dead in their tracks when Liang Chen arrived in front of them, a tremor running through their bodies. They knew what he had accomplished, so they knew that trying to run away was out of the question, he¡¯d just catch up with them and make them spill everything. They both breathed a sigh of relief that they weren¡¯t wearing anything belonging to the family right now, sharing a quick look as they made up their minds.


    They dropped the people they were carrying and drew out a short dagger each, plunging it towards the neck of the other as quickly as they could. He might have stayed with them shortly, but Liang Chen wasn¡¯t on the side of their family, there was no telling what he might do if he learned that they were from the Tien family. If they died here before he could interrogate them then he at least wouldn¡¯t have any proper evidence that could link them with the Tien family, at that point his personality shouldn¡¯t allow him to make a move against the family.


    But their actions only caused Liang Chen¡¯s gaze to darken, he really had seen more than enough when it came to suicide. It was a tactic employed frequently by the people belonging to the Tranquil Lake, and it always ended up dragging in innocent onlookers. Liang Chen didn¡¯t even have to move, he just unleashed a concentrated gust of wind that knocked the daggers out of the two men¡¯s hands, breaking a few of their fingers in the process.


    He chucked the four corpses and three unconscious people into his interspatial ring and grabbed hold of the two men¡¯s necks. He flooded them with a paralyzing poison so that they couldn¡¯t move and then left the area, swiftly dashing to the closest property owned by the Enlai family. He dropped off the four corpses and three unconscious people, he didn¡¯t know if the three people had done anything wrong so he had no intention of just killing them.


    With the Enlai people taken care of, he moved towards the Tien family estate at his fastest speed. He quickly reached the 50-metre tall earthen wall, hopping over it in a quick leap and landing amidst the tall trees that stood beyond it. His gaze immediately landed on the circular mansion that served as the centre of the estate, quickly locating the family¡¯s leader, Tien Bao. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He crossed the distance between the wall and the mansion in the blink of an eye, opening the grand doors with a forceful gust of wind. He didn¡¯t care about the guards that quickly reacted with shock, moving through the hallways and smaller rooms until he reached the ornate metal doors that locked off the room that Tien Bao was in.


    Liang Chen kicked open the doors and revealed the circular meeting room beyond them, a large table covered with a map of the city taking up almost the entire room. Tien Bao was currently standing at the side of this table along with several other people from the family, including Tien Huang and his sister, Tien Shih. Liang Chen walked forward and dropped the two people onto the table, looking directly at Tien Bao.


    "Is peace really that hard of a concept for you to grasp?"


    They had lived in relative peace for many years already, their competitions were a good enough way to fight over their territory. So why did they have to start doing things like this the moment the pressure keeping them together was removed? In truth, Liang Chen already knew why, it was just that he didn¡¯t want to accept the reason.


    Tien Bao looked at the two people, waving his hand so that the others around the table didn¡¯t try to act on instinct. His gaze was calm as he turned his eyes onto Liang Chen, he knew that the youth was stronger than him, definitely a terrifying existence. But he was the leader of this family, and for those who had fallen for it, he had to give his answer steadfastly.


    "It¡¯s all for the family. Generation after generation has done everything in their power to expand the family, the dream has always been to rule all of Moonset city and expand further. For my son, his wife, and the countless others that have given their life in that pursuit, it is my duty to do everything I can towards that end, even if others deem me evil for it. Even if it kills me."


    This was exactly what Liang Chen had expected. Family was a great treasure, but the fatal flaw of all treasures was that you would quickly end up being willing to do everything for them. Even Liang Chen wasn¡¯t an exception to this, he had no idea what sort of limit he had when it came to things he would do for Yan Ling or Yumao, and he hoped that there would never be a day where he had to find out. After all, just the death of his parents and sister had put him onto a path as bloody as this, so what sort of domain would lay beyond even that?


    But even if he expected it and understood it, he couldn¡¯t condone it. A war between these two families would involve far too many people and there was no way it could be contained to just the two families. Sooner or later, the innocent people in the city would get involved, whether they wanted to or not. Tien Bao looked deep into Liang Chen¡¯s golden pupils, his gaze momentarily flickering towards Tien Huang, a short breath eventually escaping his lips.


    "I cannot promise that we won¡¯t fight the Enlai family, I cannot betray countless generations of my family like that. But I can swear an oath here and now that we will stave off the battle for as long as possible. As long as the Enlai family doesn¡¯t attack us either, we can continue this peace for at least another 10 000 years, take it as a sign of gratitude for saving my grandchild and protecting this city in our time of need."


    The others in the room were a bit shocked that Tien Bao would swear an oath like that, but they quickly realized that it was only to be expected. Liang Chen could probably kill all of them if he wanted to, pushing his boundaries was not a wise decision. Liang Chen narrowed his eyes somewhat but ended up accepting the compromise. How strong had he gotten in a mere five years? Another 10 000? He couldn¡¯t even begin to guess at what level he would have reached at that point, starting a careless war at that point would probably not be that simple any longer.


    He nodded his head to show his acceptance, turning his gaze onto Tien Huang and giving him another nod, a silent farewell. He then turned and walked out of the room, stopping just as he reached the doors and looking over his shoulder, delivering one final warning.


    "I¡¯ll accept that compromise for now, but I¡¯ll still give you a warning. If I learn that you have embroiled this city in war, or if I learn that you¡¯ve harmed the Zun twins, then I¡¯ll return. And at that time it won¡¯t be the Stone-Soul King who¡¯ll feel it, it¡¯ll be you personally that gets to feel the wrath of a scourge."


    His voice was a bit soft and completely calm, but everyone in the room could feel a tingling sensation run down their spines, every single warning bell in their heads going off at once. They didn¡¯t doubt it, if he returned and became angry, there wouldn¡¯t be a damn thing that could stop him from reaping their lives, he could turn the city into a lifeless wasteland if he wanted to.


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t exchange any more words with them and left the mansion, heading to the small house where the Zun twins lived. They were already asleep, but he woke them up and bade them farewell, not going into specifics about where he was going or if he would ever be back. In truth, there was a part of him that wanted to bring them along so that they would be safe in case Tien Bao broke his oath.


    But the place he was going was extremely dangerous, he couldn¡¯t guarantee that they would be safe even if he kept them inside the orb in his interspatial ring at all times. So he could only leave them here for now, leaving a few protective items that he had accumulated over time with them. Most of these items weren¡¯t useful to him, otherwise his enemies would have used them against him before he killed them and got a hold of their interspatial rings. But they were quite useful to these kids, but he made sure to warn them sternly that they couldn¡¯t use them freely against anyone.


    After he bade the Zun twins farewell, he made a final trip to the Enlai mansion, barging in on the meeting room where Enlai Yuan-Hah was discussing something with the elders of her family. Liang Chen didn¡¯t beat around the bush with her either, he made sure that she swore the same oath as Tien Bao and then left her with the same warning.


    The chance of a war happening shortly wasn¡¯t entirely eliminated, but with both family leaders swearing an oath it had at least greatly reduced the chances. And with that taken care of, Liang Chen didn¡¯t have anything left to do in this city, it wasn¡¯t like he could stay here constantly just to make sure that the family leaders stayed true to their words.


    So as the morning sun started to rise above the wall surrounding the city, Liang Chen stepped onto one of the spatial arrays located in the city. The array sprung to life with a bright light, space around Liang Chen twisting and churning as he vanished from Moonset city, heading for the city closest to the entrance of Purgatory¡¯s Cradle.

 Chapter 273: Heaven Incinerating, Heaven Embracing.

    There was quite a distance between Moonset city and Liang Chen''s target, Wasteland''s Heart, meaning that the trip wasn''t instantaneous even with him using a spatial array. He took advantage of this time to adjust his Heaven Altering Mask, his appearance altering into that of a teenage girl. He wanted to add on as many layers of security as he could, it would be for the best if he could just enter Purgatory''s Cradle without any interruptions.


    Yumao snuck back into Liang Chen''s dantian to hide, his appearance was so distinct that Liang Chen couldn''t really allow him to stick around. It didn''t take too long for Liang Chen to reach the spatial tunnel after Yumao hid, the faint scent of death tickling his nose as the pure white surroundings were washed over by the city he arrived in.


    Wasteland''s Heart was located only a few tens of kilometres away from the entrance of Purgatory''s Cradle and thus had a steady influx of unruly and vicious characters. As a result, the city wasn''t too decadent in its decorations, favouring a hardy and simple approach that left the city filled with square stone buildings that could easily be replaced when broken.


    As for the faint scent of death, it wasn''t because of any large-scale massacres or the like, it was simply due to the location. The entire Heaven and Hell Dominion was a pocket dimension formed from two pillar universes that had fallen to the Bloodwind Emperor''s law of death. And this was the centre of the entire dominion, it was where the remnants of that ancient battle were at their strongest, the law of death from all those years in the past still lingered faintly in the land and the air.


    It was mostly harmless, assuming that you were at least a somewhat accomplished cultivator. If you weren''t, then you wouldn''t be able to stay here for prolonged periods of time without risking your own life. All of this was public information that had been released long ago so it had already become common knowledge that only those that were slightly mad or suicidal would make the journey over here.


    Liang Chen felt a fair amount of gazes land on him when he arrived in the somewhat small rectangular plaza, more than a few eyebrows rising in surprise when the onlookers saw a seemingly inquisitive young girl rather than a battle-hardened cultivator. Of course, appearances was one of the most deceptive things in the cultivation world so the onlookers only allowed themselves to experience a short moment of surprise. No one came here just for the fun of it, and no one naive and innocent came here, no one that set foot into this city could be underestimated.


    Liang Chen didn''t care much about the eyes that landed on him as he stepped down from the spatial array, he swept his gaze across the surroundings in a curious manner. He acted like a curious child as he walked through the city, seemingly taking in his surroundings with great interest so that he would remember them as he left the city.


    He couldn''t guarantee that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow didn''t have any men here so he had decided to at least put on a small act that was quite contrasting to his usual actions, it would make it seem at least a little less likely that this newcomer was just him in disguise. As for whether or not his little act worked, only time would be able to tell, but his scouting of the surrounding few kilometres had at least not picked up anything.


    The area around the city was exactly what gave it its name, it was a dead wasteland where even the earth was devoid of the smallest trace of lifeforce. But strangely enough, even without a single trace of lifeforce to serve as nourishment, the surface of the earth was covered in a thick layer of porous yet stone-hard mold. There were even strange brown mushrooms sprouting up here and there, some growing so large that they resembled trees. Once this place had probably been a sprawling plain, but the battle between two Universal Hearts had irreparably scarred it, just like it had scarred the multiverse itself.


    It wasn''t hard for Liang Chen to spot the entrance to Purgatory''s Cradle before he even reached it, the large group of people gathered in one place made it exceptionally easy for him. The group consisted of a few hundred people with various cultivation realms, more than a few of them covered in scars they hadn''t managed to heal over the years.


    Most of the people present radiated a slightly bloody aura that showed that they had engaged in their fair share of battles before, but there wasn''t a single one among them that dared to make a sound right now. Standing a few steps ahead of them was a man-sized black crack that just hung in the air, a lightly crimson light occasionally swimming across the crack.


    And Liang Chen saw the reason behind their silence the moment he reached the area, it was the man standing in front of that crack, preventing anyone from entering it. The man had a surprisingly soft appearance when you considered the surroundings, a somewhat rounded face with a few strands of brown hair running down from his temples to his cheeks. His black hair was kept so short and stiff it almost resembled needles, his blue eyes calmly sweeping over the people gathered in front of the crack.


    The man only radiated the aura of someone at the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but Liang Chen could sense an almost instinctual feeling of danger. He didn''t need anyone to introduce this man to him, the King of Heaven Embracing Justice, Kuan De Niu. Liang Chen felt like sighing when he saw the scene, it was a shame that Shen Fei had been correct, Kuan Niu was here to block his path.


    But he was currently in his disguise so he swallowed his sigh and walked forward innocently, acting as if he was going to step past Kuan Niu to enter the crack. But if it was really that easy to enter Purgatory''s Cradle with Kuan Niu guarding the entrance, why would there be so many people gathering in front of it? Liang Chen''s steps were halted by a push of Kuan Niu''s wave, the air in front of him seemingly hardening.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Please forgive me for blocking you, but I am waiting for two people to arrive so that they can engage in a small duel. One of them seems to be a little tricky so I''m forced to act like this to ensure that he''ll actually engage in the duel. Please understand my plight and wait patiently, I would prefer it if I didn''t have to act too much."


    He spoke in the same calm and soft voice he used when he first contacted Liang Chen, but he didn''t try too hard to hide the underlying threat in his words. He was after all a powerful cultivator who could receive a King rank on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, such people weren''t just infinitely kind and merciful.


    Liang Chen clicked his tongue but still stepped back, blending in with the crowd so that he could observe the situation. If he could avoid fighting Kuan Niu then it would be for the best, but that didn''t mean that he would hesitate to do so if he felt the need to. After all, there was no telling if the Sky-Piercing Sparrow would send people here at some point, and whoever he sent was unlikely to be anyone easy to handle.


    Liang Chen had left Moonset city at night, so it was still night when he arrived in front of Purgatory''s Cradle. It didn''t take too many hours before the light of the sun crested the horizon, Kuan Niu glancing at the rising sun for a moment before he placed his hand on his chest. A faint light flashed out from his chest, a small red bead that Liang Chen recognized as a Bloodwind Code appearing in his palm.


    Liang Chen felt a creeping sense of foreboding as Kuan Niu held out the bead, and that sensation was immediately proven correct. Kuan Niu poured some of his Qi into the bead and caused the inscriptions covering it to light up with a crimson sheen. As if they were responding to the glowing inscriptions, seven people among the several hundred present suddenly released a small ray of light.


    Six of the rays of light were faint white and only rose a metre into the sky, but the ray of light released by the seventh person was crimson and stretched an entire ten metres into the sky. And the person at the bottom of this ray of light was exactly Liang Chen, whose expression had darkened somewhat. Kuan Niu''s own gaze was thrown over, the crimson ray of light reflecting in his eyes as a small smile formed on his lips.


    "Ten metres high and crimson in colour, a lord title belonging to the wrath category. I know for a fact that the only other wrath title holder located in this universe is in the pocket dimension behind me, so you should be Junior Cultivator Liang Chen, no? I almost feel embarrassed for calling you tricky to your face like that."


    Liang Chen maintained his darkened expression, but he already saw people fishing out communication jades and transmitting the news. It didn''t matter if Kuan Niu didn''t have any hard proof yet, his word alone was worth enough. Some of the people who sent out the news looked at Liang Chen with particularly vicious gazes so it wasn''t hard for him to guess where they came from. He removed his Heaven Altering Mask, stepping forward while pointing at the crack.


    "I take it you won''t just let me enter the crack?"


    Kuan Niu placed his Bloodwind Code against his chest again and re-absorbed it, his Bloodwind Code had recognized him as a king so he had access to several more features than Liang Chen. He maintained a calm smile and fished out a palm-sized plate of polished jade, sweeping his eyes over it for a second before he shook his head.


    "I''m afraid not. But don''t worry, Junior Sister Qisui should arrive here within a week, I will not stop you from entering the cradle after you''ve finished the duel with her."


    Liang Chen hadn''t heard the name before, but he could rather easily guess that this Qisui should be the previous Lord of the Wrathful Abyss. She was apparently rather angry at him for taking her title, but he couldn''t really be bothered with her thoughts, his eyes narrowing slightly as he swept the surrounding people with a glance.


    "Do you really think that I can stick around here for a week?"


    Liang Chen''s battles with the Tranquil Lake weren''t exactly hidden information, it was easy to learn about them if you wanted to. As such, this Kuan Niu should definitely know about the feud, he should know that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow would send people over as quickly as he could. Kuan Niu did indeed know about this feud, but he still remained confident.


    "Worry not, I will protect you from those that the Tranquil Lake send after you, they''ll at least show me some face."


    He had met the Tranquil Lake a few times in the past, and while they were indeed quite rampant, they would still show a proper King-ranked cultivator some face. Protecting Liang Chen up until the duel wouldn''t be a problem at all. But his assurance was something that Liang Chen didn''t really care about, his gaze once again sweeping over the already retreating crowd.


    "And after the duel?"


    Kuan Niu was only interacting with Liang Chen because of Qisui and the duel she wanted to have with him. Once that duel was done and they went their separate ways, why would either of them bother with the other again? And sure enough, Kuan Niu took the stance that Liang Chen had expected him to.


    "The strong feast on the weak and keep the circle of life going, such is the justice of nature and life. I''m already interfering by protecting you for a week, going any further would be going directly against my own ideals."


    Liang Chen''s lips twisted slightly as he listened to Kuan Niu, his spear appearing in his grasp while Yumao slithered out from Liang Chen''s shadow.


    "Yeah, as I thought, you people really do make me sick."


    The previous justice title-holder that Liang Chen had met was exactly the same, their sense of justice had also been so strange that Liang Chen found it rather revolting. But just finding his sense of justice revolting wasn''t enough for Liang Chen to start a battle.


    No, the reason he had to fight was that he really couldn''t afford to wait a week, he really couldn''t give the Sky-Piercing Sparrow that much time to gather people here. If he did, he would likely just die the moment the duel ended.


    Kuan Niu''s expression changed slightly, almost turning into one of cold indifference as the air around him started to distort faintly due to his energy. Yumao expanded his size somewhat, flapping his wings and soaring into the sky while laughing mockingly.


    "Hehe, Father, didn''t you previously get the title of Lord of Heaven Incinerating Wrath? I''d say that''s a pretty stark contrast to the Heaven Embracing trashcan here, you think it''s always been your destiny to trash him and send him crying home to mommy?"


    They were words that didn''t have any home in a serious battle like this, both Liang Chen and Kuan Niu''s eyebrows twitching for a short second after Yumao spoke out. Liang Chen slowly let out a long breath as he tightened the grasp on his weapon, muttering in a low voice as he focused his mind on the battle.


    "...I''ll spank her... I swear that I''m going to spank her, first thing I''ll do when I see her again."

 Chapter 274: Crownless King.

    The surrounding onlookers only pulled further away as Yumao expanded his size somewhat, none of them were too willing to get involved in a battle between a recognized Lord and King. Liang Chen''s foot slid forward, his heel rising as he took the initiative, every second he wasted here was one that would increase the danger.


    His figure blurred as he shot forward, but he vanished after only two steps. Kuan Niu''s eyebrows furrowed slightly at the scene, one of his fingers twitching and causing the air in front of the crack to stiffen. A small piece of his own shadow moved just as the air stiffened, crashing against the hardened air and bouncing back.


    Kuan Niu raised his leg and stomped down on that particular part of his shadow, which didn''t move despite him changing his position. But Yumao had already pulled Liang Chen out of the shadow by the time Kuan Niu stomped on it, launching him out of the shadow cast by Yumao''s wings. The shadow that Kuan Niu stepped on also reacted violently as the foot hit it, rising up into flexible tendrils that slithered around Kuan Niu''s leg and stabbed at his body.


    The rest of his shadow also rose up in revolt at the same time, engulfing his body in black tendrils that aimed to skewer him from all sides. But how could it possibly be that easy to dispatch of a recognized King? A cracking sound quickly came from the myriad of tendrils, all of them stiffening and collapsing to reveal an unharmed Kuan Niu.


    A thin layer of Qi covered his robes, so the tendrils hadn''t even been capable of piercing through his clothing. After all, if he allowed his robes to be torn so thoroughly then he would end up in a rather sorry-looking state. Liang Chen looked at the unharmed opponent, his eyes narrowing slightly as he inspected the thin layer of Qi.


    He couldn''t immediately discern what laws Kuan Niu cultivated, it was definitely a fused law since it was practically a prerequisite at their level. But looking at how he had managed to not only block the hidden shadow that Yumao had tried to sneak past him but also protect himself with such a thin layer of Qi, he was definitely cultivating at least one law that was heavily geared towards defence. Kuan Niu dusted off his sleeves after blocking the attack, quickly understanding what Liang Chen was thinking after observing his eyes.


    "Do you know why I chose the title of Heaven Embracing? It''s not only because I have chosen to embrace the justice that heaven has chosen as the guideline for life, but it''s also because I''m the only one who can truly embrace the heavens and resist their transcendent power. My defences stand at the very peak, even many early-stage Transcended Immortals can''t breach my fused law. Come, Scourge Lord, let me show you my Law of the Unbreakable."


    Kuan Niu was someone recognized by the Bloodwind Code to be a King, there was no way he wouldn''t have his own pride and ambition. And he wasn''t shy when it came to speaking about either, it wouldn''t be his pride if he didn''t even dare to speak of it after all. But Liang Chen quickly poured cold water on his mood, not showing even the slightest reaction to his grand ambitions.


    Liang Chen spat out another long breath, the light of the morning sun vanishing as dark clouds gathered above the area. The wind picked up speed and rain started to fall from the sky, glimmering arcs of lightning splitting the sky as thunder roared. But the sudden storm only lasted for a short second before it turned into a large tornado that sucked up even the clouds, the endpoint of the tornado being Liang Chen''s body.


    The entire storm was sucked directly into his body like when he fought the Stone-Soul King, the abundance of energy flowing through his body at a speed that was nearly instantaneous thanks to his altered meridians. Ha cast a quick glance behind him and saw that some of the people that had sent out messages were already starting to spread out, taking up positions at even intervals to block off any escape paths. Liang Chen knew that time was of the essence so he unleashed his Void Storm domain, minus the void part, while also addressing Yumao.


    "Yumao, six seconds."


    None of the onlookers understood the meaning of his words, but Yumao most certainly could. And his wings shook slightly, his eyes gleaming with a brilliant light when he understood what his father wanted. He wanted to pierce through this recognized king and create a path within six seconds, a notion that most would consider the embodiment of insanity. But he gave the order, and Yumao obliged.


    Yumao expanded to his full size of nearly 100 metres, unfurling both his wings as intense darkness poured out from his entire body. The darkness washed over Liang Chen and everyone else in the area, forming a dome that covered all of them. And everyone trapped in the dome immediately noticed the same thing, a strand of black light that connected their body with Liang Chen, siphoning a bit of their energy every second.


    Liang Chen had his domain, and Yumao had his own. And this was exactly his domain, the Nether God''s Grasp that he had already utilized a few times in the past. The first time he had only been able to use it for half a second, when they first reached this universe he had been able to use it for an entire second, and after his most recent evolution, keeping it active for about six seconds should be pushing his limits a little.


    But the effects were certainly worth pushing the limits a little, small bits of energy from several hundred people surging into Liang Chen''s body. Coupled with the storm he had just swallowed, his state was only a little bit below what it had been when he fought against the Stone-Soul King and got to gorge himself on not just a storm but copious amounts of death and poison energy as well.


    Kuan Niu frowned darkly at the scene that unfolded in front of him, clenching both his fists and actually causing the ray of black light connecting him and Liang Chen to stiffen and shatter. The darkness around him also started to fluctuate and crack, but there was no way that Liang Chen would give him the chance to fully break Yumao''s domain.


    He tensed his muscles, a cloud of poisonous green gas erupting from his body and spreading the dust-like particles throughout the entire area. He kicked off the ground and shot forward at the same time, spreading his poison all around him as he instantly reached Kuan Niu''s side. He smashed his spear sideways into Kuan Niu''s waist, his law of time affecting the area around Kuan Niu''s head to slow his reaction speed.


    The side of his spear collided with Kuan Niu''s waist, the rebound force so strong that Liang Chen felt his hand go numb. Kuan Niu didn''t disgrace his fused law by calling it the law of the Unbreakable, Liang Chen felt as if had smashed his spear into the side of a metal mountain. Kuan Niu''s waist only sank in a small bit before Liang Chen became able to push it further, Kuan Niu only taking a single step to the side. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    But that single step alone was enough to make Kuan Niu''s eyes bulge in shock. He could just stand still and let even newly ascended Transcended Immortals attack him as they pleased, none of them would be able to move his body in the slightest. Yet Liang Chen had done just that, causing a sliver of unease to appear in his mind.


    Liang Chen didn''t relent, fully intent on ending this as quickly as possible. He stomped the ground, shattering the thick layer of hardened mold and causing even more small particles to shoot into the air, mixing with his dust-like poison. The wind around him started to howl as it picked up speed, gathering around his spear like a miniature tornado.


    And with the spear still pressed against his waist, Kuan Niu got to have first-hand experience with the rotational force of the tornado. The wind tugged at his body like countless hands, his feet losing contact with the ground as he was actually spun around Liang Chen''s spear, suddenly ending up on a collision course with the ground, his head set to suffer the impact.


    But Liang Chen raised his foot before Kuan Niu''s head could smash into the ground, a seemingly never-ending stream of poisonous gas still flooding out from even his feet. But even with the law of time affecting his head, Kuan Niu was no slouch. He managed to stretch out both his arms and cross them in front of his head, blocking the kick with his forearms rather than his skull.


    But he was once again shocked by the force contained within Liang Chen''s attacks, this time he was even unable to block it fully. His defensive Qi was broken through, Liang Chen''s foot making proper contact with his forearms. But so much force had been expended breaking through the defensive layer of Qi that the kick only retained enough power to tear up Kuan Niu''s robe.


    He tore Kuan Niu''s robe, but Liang Chen himself suffered a broken foot and two broken toes. He cultivated his body, but it seemed like Kuan Niu did the same, producing an even greater effect with his defensive law. A strange energy also entered Liang Chen''s veins after the quick contact, his veins starting to clog up one by one as the blood in them hardened.


    The energy luckily wasn''t too hard to get rid of, he just had to eradicate it with his law of the void, unclogging his veins. But in the second he took to eradicate the energy, Kuan Niu took advantage of the remaining force in Liang Chen''s kick to launch himself away. He spun through the air twice before he landed, staggering back a few steps before he glanced at his forearms.


    "Amazing, truly amazing. You broke through my defences and even tore my robes. Had that been your spear, or if you had used one of your laws there, I imagine that it wouldn''t have ended at just my robe tearing, you would definitely have wounded me moderately. I thought it would be fine for Junior Sister Qisui to duel with you to see if she could get her title back, but there''s no way she''d be able to last more than five or so exchanges. Why are you still just a Lord, you should have long since been crowned a King? Did you perhaps anger one of the Bloodwind Emperor''s pe...gh?!"


    Kuan Niu didn''t get to finish his sentence, a gust of wind sweeping over his head and taking advantage of his open mouth and nostrils to pull all the air out of his lungs. Kuan Niu instinctively drew in a deep breath to replace the lost air, sucking in more than just a lungful of the poisonous gas around him. But he wasn''t too worried about breathing in the poison, he wouldn''t give his law a name as grand as Unbreakable if a bit of poison could bring him down.


    And he quickly proved his pride well-founded, the poison wasn''t even able to enter the rest of his body after he breathed it in, it couldn''t penetrate through his throat to reach his blood. It simply gathered in his lungs and throat, meandering around aimlessly without being able to harm him.


    And as he breathed in the poison, the dark domain covering them started to falter and fade, six seconds had passed while he was talking. The light of the sun reached the area once more, the onlookers observing the fight in shocked silence. The reputation of Kuan Niu preceded him, it was just that Liang Chen had never really bothered to gather such information so he never heard it. But even with his grand reputation, Liang Chen had been able to pierce his defences, it was a feat worthy of admiration.


    But little did they know that Liang Chen was far from done with just this. Kuan Niu opened his mouth to explain his resistance to airborne poisons like this gas, but a tiny arc of lightning flashed through the air and entered his throat just as he parted his lips. And as that lightning reached his throat, everyone got to learn exactly what Liang Chen had been planning all along.


    A muffled rumble came from Kuan Niu''s chest, his face turning ashen as blood spurted from his mouth and nose. Smoke erupted from his mouth and ears, a few tongues of fire escaping from his mouth as he knelt down to spew out more blood.


    Liang Chen''s poison was indeed geared more towards the immaterial, but that didn''t mean that he had to use his poison like that. He was still perfectly capable of manifesting his poison in a perfectly corporeal state. And if you stuck a bunch of dust-like poison into an enclosed area like a person''s throat and lungs and then introduced a small spark, like say a bit of lightning, then a dust explosion would certainly occur.


    Kuan Niu had indeed trained his body and used a defensive law, but the insides would always be a person''s weak point, especially when they didn''t focus too much on guarding them. Just the fact that Kuan Niu was able to remain alive and conscious after such an explosion occurred inside his throat and lungs showed how tough his body and law were.


    But while he didn''t die, it was more than enough to send his mind into high-gear to focus on survival, meaning that he couldn''t really focus on maintaining the hardened air that blocked off the entrance to Purgatory''s Cradle. Liang Chen glanced behind him and saw that the people that had spread out seemed to have formed a small array with their own bodies, space above the area distorting slightly as a small spatial tunnel formed.


    Liang Chen ignored them, but the onlookers were shocked beyond belief. Just him breaking through Kuan Niu''s defences was a shocking matter, but actually wounding him like that? That was beyond shocking and approached terrifying. Even worse was the fact that he hadn''t been crowned a King yet, he was still just a Lord.


    Of course, they also quickly realized that there was definitely some deeper meaning behind him still being a lord, there might be a problem with his Bloodwind Code for instance. After all, if that was no more than a Lord, then there would never be Princes or Kings, or even those of higher status.


    Liang Chen ignored the onlookers and stretched out his hand, allowing a weary Yumao to shrink down and slither along his arm until he reached his usual spot on top of Liang Chen''s head. Liang Chen himself headed for the black crack, his gaze remaining on the forming spatial tunnel as he uttered a few words.


    "You came much much faster than I expected. But you''re still too slow. Don''t you worry, I intend to keep my promise. I''ll put your perfect safety to the test, just you wait for me."


    Only the one travelling through the forming spatial tunnel was able to understand the meaning of those words, but Liang Chen stepped through the crack before the tunnel could fully form so there was no one that could respond to him. As for the onlookers, the path was open, but none of them dared to enter Purgatory''s Cradle straight away.


    A truly vicious poisonous insect had just been tossed into the jar with the rest, things in there would certainly be far more chaotic than they were normally. No one was foolish enough to throw themselves into that guaranteed bloodbath. Normally? Definitely. Now? No way.


    At the same time, people couldn''t help but wonder curiously. A freakish monster had just jumped into a place where monsters were rewarded for their deeds, what sort of existence would he be once he left the jar of poisonous insects?

 Chapter 275: Purgatorys Cradle.

    Stepping through the black crack felt quite different compared to any of the spatial arrays Liang Chen had used in the past. There was no twisting of space nor was there any constricting sensation, he simply felt as if he stepped through a curtain of water, the world around him changing as he passed through it. But while it felt smooth and quick, Liang Chen guessed that the process actually took at least 30 seconds.


    The reason he guessed this was the dangerous feeling coming for his back the moment his feet touched the soil in Purgatory''s Cradle. The sensation carried with it the all too familiar scent of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow so he was likely on his way through the crack to chase after Liang Chen. But when Liang Chen stepped into the crack, there should still have been several seconds left before the spatial tunnel outside could fully form. As such, the only explanation for him to be able to chase after Liang Chen this quickly was that the perception of time inside the crack was erratic.


    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed as he looked back, Yumao was extremely weary and he himself was running a bit low on energy while having a broken foot. The foot would heal in less than a minute, but the lost energy would take a bit longer to restore even if he ate some pills, he wasn''t in the best condition to fight someone.


    And with how dense the sensation of danger coming from the black crack was, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had definitely arrived with an avatar that held enough power to kill Liang Chen. After all, Liang Chen had slipped from his grasp twice already, he probably didn''t want there to be a third one.


    A completely blue hand was already stretching out from the crack, but unlike the appearance of the first avatar Liang Chen had seen, this hand looked far more corporeal and even had a few small feathers growing on the back. From the looks of it, the more power he put into the avatar, the closer it got to looking like his real body. The hand was stretching out quite slowly, the rest of the body that followed it looking as if it was slowly surfacing from a thick mire, further solidifying Liang Chen''s guess that passing through the crack wasn''t as quick as it felt.


    But Liang Chen had no intention of waiting for the Sky-Piercing Sparrow to fully emerge from the crack, that would be far too risky. But he wasn''t confident in his ability to immediately kill this avatar before he fully emerged, so he could only rely on some external means that he had recently acquired.


    He swiped his interspatial ring and took out a withered crimson paper talisman covered in tiny scribbles. This was one of the four talismans his birth parents had given him, and it was one of the two offensive ones that could match a single attack from an early-stage Sovereign God. It might be a bit of a waste to use it now, but he didn''t know how much strength this avatar had so it was better to be safe than to be sorry.


    He sent his Qi into the talisman just as the head of the avatar stretched out from the black crack, the paper igniting and vanishing into a cloud of dust. And erupting from that dust was an oppressively piercing energy that pushed away even the sound of Liang Chen''s own heartbeat, creating an area of complete silence.


    A sound so faint that it might as well have been a gentle breeze broke the silence, a hole appearing in the head that had just poked out from the black crack. And the moment the hole appeared, it expanded violently with a thunderous screeching sound. The black crack momentarily vanished as the surrounding area was torn to shreds, a several tens of kilometres deep and long indent appearing on the ground, as if a massive pillar had fallen and pushed down the earth.


    The screeching sound vanished as quickly as it appeared, only an echoing ringing sound remaining in Liang Chen''s ears. The black crack was still gone, but Liang Chen saw a small dot appear in the space above the ruined patch of land. The dot expanded and stretched at a slow pace so Liang Chen guessed that a new entrance would form before too long, allowing new people to enter this meatgrinder.


    Liang Chen let out a soft breath and cracked his neck, now he would at least have a little bit of time to leave this place before anyone else could enter. Wanting to find him at that point would be much harder so he would be able to be a bit more at ease when it came to the pursuit of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow.


    He was just about to turn and leave when a thick stream of energy appeared around him, gathering in front of his chest. The energy merged together into a transparent droplet, a crimson colour quickly filling the droplet until it resembled blood. The droplet flashed forward and sank into Liang Chen''s chest, a new one quickly starting to form in front of his chest.


    But as the first drop of what seemed to be blood merged with his chest, a strange feeling welled up in Liang Chen''s mind. It resembled a faint calling, drawing him towards the distance as if there was something there attracting him. The same strange sensation appeared as the second and third drops formed and merged with his chest, the fourth drop only half-filling before it faded. Liang Chen couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow in slight surprise at the three new resonating feelings he sensed, glancing up at the slowly forming crack in space.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "So even avatars count as a kill? Does that mean I should thank him for chasing me?"


    Liang Chen already knew the rules of Purgatory''s Cradle, you were actively rewarded for killing, your reward based entirely on the strength of your victims and how many you killed. For these three drops to form and guide him to three different locations, it was clear that Purgatory''s Cradle counted him destroying this avatar as him killing it, granting him suitable rewards to encourage him further.


    As for exactly what awaited him at the other side of the resonating feeling, that was something he could figure out in the future. For now, it was best for him to focus on getting out of the area so that he wasn''t targeted by any hopeful robbers. He still remembered the moment he stepped into the Mystic''s Hidden Realm and was robbed, the difference here would be that things wouldn''t end with people trying to rob him.


    He quickly moved away, using a bit of wind to support his broken foot while it quickly finished repairing itself. He expanded his senses as he moved, scouting for other living beings in the area while also taking his first good look at the surroundings.


    The place he had arrived in looked like it used to be a large clearing, dense rows of trees spreading out all around him. Of course, the talisman he had just used ruined a good chunk of this clearing and even carved a path into the forest, not even leaving behind a tiny piece of bark. The sky was still blue and the sun was still yellow, the only things that revealed clues about the true nature of this place were the faint crimson mist that meandered through the grass and the scent of blood that lingered in the air.


    Other than the mostly normal surroundings, he also discovered quite a few living beings scattered throughout his immediate surroundings. But discovering all these living beings actually made him halt his steps, his brows furrowing slightly as he turned in the direction of one of the people he had discovered.


    "Is... is that all?"


    He couldn''t help but mutter somewhat disbelievingly, kicking off the ground and shooting towards the person he had discovered. It barely took him a second before he reached the person, a voluptuous blue-haired woman clad in a dark brown robe that helped her blend in with the trees surrounding her.


    The woman trembled as Liang Chen stopped in front of her, dropping to her knees and letting go of the strangely small halberd she had been grasping. Her lips were shivering uncontrollably as she looked at Liang Chen, who flooded her soul with a trace amount of his poison as he asked her a quick question.


    "Shouldn''t there be multiple strong cultivators here, why are there only people like you in the area?"


    The woman was the strongest of the people hiding in the forest, but she was merely at the middle stage of the Heaven''s Gate realm. That realm might have sounded very high to Liang Chen when he first entered the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but it meant nothing to him at this point. And it was so low that he could only consider it strange to find people this weak in a place as cruel as this. But the woman quickly spoke up thanks to the coercion of his poison, alleviating some of his confusion.


    "The rewards suitable for stronger cultivators are all situated closer to the depths of Purgatory''s Cradle, where the density of Qi and blood is much greater. They also can''t gain any good rewards even if they kill all of us weak cultivators so the stronger people all head for the depths of this area, allowing us weaker cultivators to linger around here until we get strong enough to slowly move deeper."


    It was quite similar to the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, or most hidden realms for that matter. The Qi got denser as you got closer to the core, the dense Qi producing greater resources that were more attractive to stronger cultivators. In the end, things naturally became divided into different sections, one where stronger cultivators felt no need to linger and thus allowed weaker cultivators to murder each other and one where the strong people murdered each other.


    Her words also matched the resonating feeling that Liang Chen was experiencing thanks to those three drops, they place they were calling him to felt quite distant. He heaved a short breath of relief but didn''t lower his guard, there could still be strong people mixed in along with everyone else. After all, the current him was one such example, there was no telling if there were others like him. And whether it was about this or the finer details of this Purgatory''s Cradle, acquiring information was paramount.


    "Where is the closest settlement and what is it? And are there any locations here in the outskirts that I should know about?"


    "The closest settlement lies beyond the northwestern edge of this forest, it''s ruled by three cultivators at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. It mostly serves as a hub where people can trade items, but you have to be careful that you aren''t just killed or robbed when you bring out your items. As for places that you should know about, one has been titled the Ascetic''s Venturing Abode, a hidden realm that appeared a year ago, and the second is the Blood Ocean, the site of a massive battle a few hundred years ago. Both contain a fair bit of resources, but they''re also more dangerous than normal places here in the outskirts."


    Liang Chen made a mental note of the two places, he wasn''t in a rush to head directly for Purgatory, he didn''t think that the current him would be able to subdue it. As such, checking out some of the places here to look for ways to increase his strength was his current plan, a place as ancient as this definitely held more than its fair share of heaven-defying resources.


    But his first stop would have to be the trading hub, he could get more information and possibly even some resources there. He removed his poison from the woman and vanished from the area, following the directions that the woman had given as he headed for the trading hub.

 Chapter 276: Nine Wraths Sect.

    The forest surrounding the area where Liang Chen had arrived was filled with Demonic beasts and various cultivators, so much blood had been shed here that even a fair bit of the trees had been mutated into Demonic beasts. But even so, there wasn''t a single interruption as Liang Chen made his way through the forest and headed for the trading hub he had been pointed towards.


    The main reason was the sheer speed at which he travelled, it simply made it impossible for them to catch him, or even notice him for that matter. Another reason was purely instinctual, the cultivators automatically tied him to the horrific attack that had just rocked the forest and the Demonic beasts were so low level that the mere presence of his bloodline caused them to shrink back in terror.


    Thanks to this, it really didn''t take long for him to spot the distant settlement, reaching it not long after the tops of the highest buildings fell into his eyes. The woman who told him about it said it was a settlement that served as a trading hub, but if he went just by size then Liang Chen would have to say that it was much closer to a city than a mere settlement.


    It was triangular in shape, a mansion surrounded by four tall towers standing on each of the city''s corners. A myriad of houses was scattered about in a haphazard manner within the boundary set by the three mansions, but unlike any city he had seen before, this one wasn''t surrounded by any walls. It didn''t even have any defensive battlements or guard posts, it was completely open to outside attacks.


    But Liang Chen didn''t have to think too much about it to realize why the city was built like this. Purgatory''s Cradle seemingly sole purpose was for all living beings to kill each other in droves, why would any structure in such a place have defensive measures?


    Cities were usually the safe havens of humans, but that fact was completely turned on its head here in Purgatory''s Cradle. They were among the most dangerous areas as you would constantly be surrounded by possible enemies, a bloody battle could break out at any moment, even if the only reason to fight was to kill one or two more people.


    Liang Chen slowed his pace when he left the forest and started to approach the city, making sure that his senses remained spread out at all times. The city could be entered from any location thanks to the lack of walls, and unlike most cities in cruel training grounds like this, there wasn''t a single person loitering outside the city to attack incoming travellers. After all, with murder encouraged even within the city, why would you bother waiting outside for travellers when you could attack them just as easily inside the city?


    The stench of blood only grew thicker when Liang Chen entered the city. He only had to take a few steps before he saw the first bone fragments haphazardly tossed into an alley, dried blood staining some buildings and parts of the street. And he only got to take a few more steps before a soft sigh escaped his lips.


    The earthen road two steps to his side suddenly rose up as a man wielding two strangely small cleavers sprung forth. He brandished both cleavers as he chopped at Liang Chen''s legs, but a thin arc of lightning shot out from Liang Chen''s body and passed through the man''s head. He fell to the ground without life, the previously half-filled drop of blood appearing in front of Liang Chen''s chest once more as a minuscule part of it was filled up.


    It was just as the woman had said, there really was no point for stronger cultivators like him to kill these weaker people. Looking at the truly tiny part that had just filled up, he guessed that he would need to kill at the very least 100 000 men just like the one he had killed now to fill up the remaining half of the transparent blood drop.


    The interspatial ring worn by the man left his finger and flew into Liang Chen''s grasp, Yumao swiftly disposing of the corpse by letting it sink into its own shadow. Yumao was already looking forward to their time here, there would definitely be countless opportunities for him to refill his nearly depleted stockpile of food.


    Liang Chen continued to make his way through the city, but only one other person dared to attack him without first testing the waters, the others were clearly far more cautious. The closest trading hub had already entered his senses, the tension in that particular plaza so thick he could practically feel it despite the distance.


    But he stopped when he was a few kilometres away from the plaza, his gaze turning sideways and landing on the mansion that stood a bit to his side. It was one of the three great mansions in this city and his lightning-based senses were only able to observe about a third of the mansion from the current distance. He moved his gaze between the distant plaza and the circular mansion, eventually letting out a deep sigh.


    "It''s to be expected for a place like this, but it''s still a shame to see. Come, Yumao, there''s no rest for the wicked."


    Liang Chen moved his feet and changed his direction, heading to the mansion rather than the plaza. Yumao perked up rather excitedly, his tongue constantly flashing out and licking the air as he looked forward to the chaos that he knew only his dear father could cause.


    The circular, nearly dome-like mansion, was the same as the city, not a single wall or fence surrounding it to prevent others from getting close. There weren''t any walls, but there were, in fact, a few people scattered throughout the surrounding garden to serve as guards. There weren''t any allies in a place like this, but a deal could still be made and enforced by an oath, ensuring that the stronger people who liked having some form of servants around them could still have followers to wait on them.


    "Another challenger? Get rid of him so he doesn''t spoil Mistress'' mood!"


    Liang Chen was spotted and attacked the moment he set foot in the garden around the mansion, the nearest guards charging at him without even bothering to ask him anything. But there wasn''t really a single person in this city that could threaten Liang Chen so he only needed to give a casual wave of his hand to bring the attackers to their knees, his poison invading their minds.


    "Why don''t you guys tell me about the various things that you get up to here?"


    He had the six men spill everything they knew, not just about Purgatory''s Cradle but also about everything they and the other people currently living in this mansion had done. He had already formed some expectations after what he had seen inside the mansion, but hearing it still left him sighing at the depravity people could show when given the chance. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "Haah, what''s the saying again, birds of a feather flock together?"


    He could only sigh to himself once more as he stepped past the six men, their blank gazes stiffening as their bodies petrified and became blank-faced statues. Even their souls had turned to stone under Liang Chen''s newest poison, the one coming from the Stone-Soul King, reaping their lives and turning them into constant reminders for any who saw them.


    Liang Chen quickly reached the entrance of the mansion and stepped inside, moving through the hallways and rooms with quick steps. 12 more people were turned into statues while he headed for the room he had already spotted earlier. It didn''t take long for him to reach the room on the fifth floor, pushing open the door to a luxurious bedroom as he spoke.


    "You know, cultivators already have it hard enough even without people like you staining the place."


    The bedroom he stepped into was quite large and filled with various potted flowers, a bed large enough for five people serving as the centrepiece of the room. There was currently a middle-aged man strapped to the bed, a woman who looked to be in her late twenties standing at the side of the bed.


    She was currently holding a long metal rod whose tip had been heated until it glowed. She was using the scorching metal to prod and brand the man, who was covered in a myriad of wounds, the worst being the still bleeding hole left where his genitals should be.


    The woman''s body stiffened somewhat as Liang Chen''s voice sounded out, but she made sure that her blue eyes didn''t reveal a trace of nervousness when she turned to face him. She brushed aside a strand of her curly brown hair, putting on an expression of surprise as she swept Liang Chen''s body with her gaze.


    "Hee, you actually got past the guards? Guess you''ve come here to fight then, been a while since last."


    The woman''s finger moved slightly as she spoke, a spike of ice suddenly jutting out of the bound man''s throat, silencing his moans as his eyes turned blank. Liang Chen''s eyebrows twitched momentarily, it was exactly this scene that made him change his direction earlier. It was quite similar to some of the things he had seen in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, and it was exactly one of the things he disliked the most.


    "I wouldn''t say that I''ve come here to fight, it''s more like gathering some information before I get rid of you."


    Indeed, the woman was only at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, an entire realm below Liang Chen, there was no way it would be a fight. The woman had yet to detect Liang Chen''s cultivation, he wasn''t the type who wantonly released his aura for others, so she still didn''t know the actual difference between her and Liang Chen.


    "Quite confident, I like that in men. But the look in your eyes is a bit different from most, your desire for killing me, could it be because of of...this?"


    She prodded the now dead man strapped to the bed with the scorching metal, embedding the tip in his somewhat chubby waist. Liang Chen didn''t need to say anything, the woman only needed to see the look in his eyes to know that she was right, bursting into laughter.


    "Haha, now that''s rich! Do you think you''re some sort of avenger or saviour, the hero of the innocent? That sort of beautiful story might fly in the outside world, but this isn''t the outside world. There are no oppressed here, there is no innocence here, just a bunch of bastards murdering each other. There''s nothing worth saving or getting angry for."


    The woman laughed so hard that tears almost started to well up in her eyes. Liang Chen''s actions were indeed laughable, especially in a place like this filled with 99% murderers and monsters, only the remaining 1% being people like him. It would already be a good deed to not just kill people wantonly, who would be so dumb as to actually think about moving for the sake of others? And yet Liang Chen was doing just that, merely shrugging his shoulders in the face of the woman''s laughter.


    "Maybe you''re right, but so what? I''d rather save someone and then take care of them myself later than not save someone and then wish I had later."


    Liang Chen stepped forward after he shrugged his shoulders, the woman''s eyebrows moving as she instantly gathered her Qi. Several sharp spears of ice formed around her and shot forward, tearing through the air before crashing into Liang Chen''s body. But they only exploded helplessly when they touched Liang Chen''s body, not even tearing his robe as he continued to walk forward.


    And with her attacks failing to even scratch his clothing, the woman realized that she was facing something she had no chance of resisting. But she still had one more card she could play, the greatest trump card saved for the direst situations.


    "Wait wait wait! I assume you''re new so you don''t know this, but I and my two sisters aren''t just random people who wanted to take over this city! We''re outer disciples of the Nine Wraths Sect sent here to keep an eye on things in case anything about Purgatory props up! We were sent by the Nine Wraths sect!"


    The Nine Wraths sect stood at the centre of Purgatory''s Cradle and were the ones currently in possession of Purgatory, they could be considered the overlords of this entire place. They were also the ones working hardest to nurture Purgatory while doing their best to prevent others from getting their hands on it, they were just as murderous as everyone else here. The woman thought that mentioning her background would alleviate the situation, but Liang Chen didn''t even raise an eyebrow.


    "And? Your background doesn''t absolve you of or excuse the things you''ve done."


    Liang Chen continued to move forwards with slow steps, each one feeling like a bolt of thunder in the woman''s mind. In truth, Liang Chen could have used his poison on her without even entering the mansion, he could easily have infected her from outside. But after hearing everything that the guards had learned or even taken part in, he chose a different option.


    The woman and her two sisters, the two other rulers of this city, were indeed vile people. They were on the level of Liu Daning, who Liang Chen had killed in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm back when he was still so weak that he had to spend two days flooding the palace they lived in with poison.


    She was the type of woman who left a bad taste in his mouth, fully content with immersing herself in all the depravity and debauchery that you could find. And she was among the type of people who made him the angriest, so he moved slowly. He wanted her to feel fear, wanted her to truly feel the price he deemed worthy for her deeds. And feel fear she did, stumbling backwards until her back hit the wall.


    "But we''re members of the Nine Wraths sect, we''re worth much more alive than we are dead! And if you kill us, you''ll instantly become the enemy of the Nine Wraths sect!"


    Liang Chen''s expression didn''t move as she made her offer, even throwing in a threat to discourage him. It had already been several years since he decided on his path to kill those he deemed evil, and how many times in those years had he stayed his hands just because of something like fear of making more enemies?


    "Sorry, but my heart isn''t big enough to keep people I dislike alive, even if they might be more useful that way. I prefer getting rid of them so that my small heart can feel a bit better. As for becoming an enemy of your sect, I''ve already killed disciples from a sect with a Primeval Sovereign, I really don''t care about things like backgrounds."


    Liang Chen had never forgotten his feud with the Sealing God Empyrean, there would eventually come a day where he would pay for the things he did on Liang Chen''s home planet. And if Liang Chen didn''t even fear him, there was no need to even talk about a sect like the Nine Wraths sect, which was a fair bit smaller in comparison.


    He stretched out his hand and grabbed onto the woman''s face, poison seeping into her head from his fingertips. The last thing she saw before her vision went dark was the snickering face of a small black snake barely visible through the gap between Liang Chen''s fingers.

 Chapter 277: First contact.

    By the time Liang Chen pulled back his hand, the woman''s eyes had turned blank and lifeless, dark pink foam bubbling out from her mouth. She collapsed to the floor like a sack of potatoes while Liang Chen lowered his arm, a bit of foam still clinging to his palm. He had forced her to spit out everything she knew and gotten hold of a bit more information, including several places that had a few decent resources that might be useful to either him or Yumao.


    But even so, his expression was darker than it had been when he entered the mansion. He looked down at the corpse of the woman and the dead man strapped to the bed, eventually turning his gaze sideways so that he could look out from the window and oversee the city that spread out in front of him. As he overlooked the eerily quiet city, his dark expression eventually gave way to one that made him look a bit more tired.


    "Beasts by nature or by circumstance, which is worse and which is better? And which one of them applies here?"


    He didn''t talk to anyone in particular, he was simply voicing his thoughts out so that they wouldn''t fester inside his mind. The dead couldn''t and wouldn''t answer his aimless questions, but there was one being coiled up on his head that was more than happy to answer him.


    "Hehe, does it matter? Will the answer save the little mongoloids when it''s time to take out the trash?"


    Yumao was a perfect representation of a beast by nature. He was born at Liang Chen''s side and had followed him all along, so it stood to reason that he would be quite similar to him. But Yumao didn''t have the same view on life as Liang Chen, innocent or sinner, kind or cruel, none of that really mattered to him.


    He was as powerful Demonic beast, other than the close ties he had to some people, most other lives weren''t all that important to him, he certainly wouldn''t go out of his way to save someone unrelated to him for no good reason. Liang Chen remained silent for a moment as Yumao snickered, his gaze sweeping over the quiet city once more before he nodded his head and forced the slightly tired expression away from his face.


    "You''re right, it really doesn''t matter. In the end, whether or not it made the choice or if it was born like that, a beast is a beast. The same is true whether it is a living being or not."


    Liang Chen flicked his finger after he finished talking, the interspatial ring of the woman flying into his grasp. She and her two sisters had ruled this city for close to 30 years already, they had all accrued a fair bit of wealth so it would be foolish to leave behind a part of it. He didn''t bother going through the mansion to look for any hidden vaults filled with treasure, the woman hadn''t planned on staying here for more than 100 years so she hadn''t bothered to prepare any such rooms.


    Liang Chen left the room and slowly walked through the halls of the mansion, the Qi in his moving faintly as a fine white mist seeped out of his body. The mist spread out and covered the entire mansion as well as a small area around it, forming a poisonous domain that none in this city would be able to resist.


    And all at once, all but two of the people residing in the mansion and the area around it melted, the bonds keeping their cells together liquefying under Liang Chen''s poison. The woman was one of this city''s three rulers, she had people scattered all around it gathering information for her. With Liang Chen taking hold of her knowledge, it was tantamount to him learning about everything that had happened in this city over the last 30 years.


    So he knew, he knew exactly what sort of depths the people here were willing to fall to, how deep they were willing to go thanks to the coercion of Purgatory''s Cradle. And that depth sickened him, no matter how many times he had come into contact with it. So he did what he had set out to do from the very start of his path, he murdered those that the heavens should have disposed of many years ago. While walking, he didn''t forget to speak out, sending his voice to the remaining two people.


    "The two of you haven''t done anything yet so you can leave, Purgatory''s Cradle isn''t a good place to be so I''d suggest leaving. You are free to disregard my advice if you want to, I just hope that I won''t stumble upon you in the future and learn that you have sunk to the same depths as the rest."


    He reached another door in the mansion before long and entered it, stepping into a large hall that seemed to have been built to host parties. He walked over to his target, a massive window that stood several metres tall and wide, a window from which he could see the second of the three mansions that formed the edges of the city. He placed his hand on the glass, raising his gaze slightly and tapping Yumao on the head with his other hand.


    "Ey, you should hop in and hide for a while, no way that you can handle the speed."


    Yumao puffed slightly but still assented, sinking into Liang Chen''s dantian in a flash of light. Yumao had been nourished by Liang Chen''s own blood while he was still in his egg, he could easily hide within Liang Chen''s body and saving them the usual trouble of buying a pouch that could hold Demonic beasts.


    Once Yumao hid, the glass around Liang Chen''s palm melted as a thin bolt of dull lightning shot out and connected the two mansions. The rest of the glass exploded when the resulting thunder rumbled out, but none of the dust-like fragments managed to reach Liang Chen before they fell to the ground.


    He lowered his hand but the bolt of lightning remained, crackling through the air in quiet majesty. And then, he performed an action that most cultivators would equate to suicide, he raised his foot and stepped onto the lightning, instantly vanishing from the room.


    Liang Chen was fast, extremely fast even. When he first reached this major universe, his fastest speed had been around 50 metres a second, a speed that had only increased as his cultivation did. But how could that speed possibly compare to the speed of lightning, which sat at around 100 kilometres per second? And how was a person''s body supposed to resist the forces that acted on his body under such an extreme speed? Their organs and veins would rupture, their bones would pulverize and they would end up as nothing more than scattered paste.


    But Liang Chen wasn''t a normal person, nor was his body normal. Forget about his bloodlines, even the body cultivation technique he cultivated was immensely peculiar. Most of his body had already been turned into pure lightning, as well as a few other elements. And thanks to this, it was theoretically possible for him to fuse with lightning, he was basically doing that every time he absorbed lightning to heal his wounds. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    And in such a state, the only thing he really had to protect was the few parts of his body that had yet to be altered, and that was much easier than trying to protect his entire body. And it was thanks to this that he was able to instantly appear on the roof of the other mansion, right at the end of the lightning bolt he had sent out.


    His face had gotten a bit paler and his stomach turned thanks to the sheer speed he had just experienced, but he remained unharmed. He exhaled a long breath and waved his hand, the dull violet lightning returning to his body now that he had finished his experiment. It was a useable technique, but for the moment he felt like he could only use it for long-distance travel, he would have to experiment a bit more to come up with other uses that fit him.


    He lowered his gaze to the roof beneath his feet, the wood withering and dying, collapsing under his weight so that he fell into the mansion. He spread out his poison once more and located the second of the three rulers, his poison already flooding her soul. She fell under his control and quickly made her way over to him, willingly spewing out every little act she had done or heard about in her life.


    And once she finished talking, her body solidified and turned to stone, all but a single person in the entire mansion sharing her fate. Liang Chen sent out his voice once more, giving the sole survivor the same advice he had given the first two before he picked up the interspatial ring of the woman. He made his way over to a different room with a large window, once more sending out a bolt of lightning that connected this mansion with the final mansion in this city.


    He stepped onto the lightning and instantly reached the other mansion, but he had miscalculated the trajectory of the lightning a little so he smashed directly through the entire mansion rather than land on top of it. He luckily had a strong body, and the reaction speed to break apart any obstacle before he crashed into it, so he managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.


    But he still looked a bit awkward as he rose from the ground, dust and scattered patches of earth covering him. He spat out a breath and got rid of the dirt, accidents were only to be expected when you were trying out something new. He spread out his poison domain once more as he entered the mansion, his eyebrow rising in surprise when he discovered the location of the final sister that ruled this city.


    He slowly walked through the halls of the mansion, the final sister also moving in his direction. The two met before long, facing each other in one of the more narrow hallways where the floor was covered by a blue carpet. The woman in front of him could only be considered petite, almost half his height and with nearly child-like features. But just like her other sisters, she was already approaching 200 years of age, she only had this appearance due to the fact that she, unfortunately, ate a certain flower when she was young.


    But it wasn''t her appearance that had surprised Liang Chen, it was her soul. To be more specific, it was the fact that the soul residing within her body didn''t actually belong to her, it was just a tiny fragment of someone else''s soul. There were faint traces left in her soulsea that showed that her soul had indeed been there as usually not long ago, it had probably been extinguished just before Liang Chen arrived. And as for who could do such a thing, Liang Chen already had a guess.


    "The Nine Wraths sect, no?"


    The three sisters were members of the Nine Wraths sect, outer disciples sent here in case any news about Purgatory popped up in the area. So if anyone could extinguish their soul and take over their bodies in such a strange manner then it would definitely be the Nine Wraths sect. And his assumption was quickly proven correct, a dim black light flashing in the woman''s blue pupils as a slightly aged voice slipped out from between her lips.


    "So you already know, good. I was wondering who it was that was killing our disciples so quickly, but I hadn''t expected it to be a Primordial Immortal cultivator. Tell me, isn''t it a bit below you to linger around here and deal with kids like these? Where is your pride as a powerful cultivator?"


    The three sisters were only at the Soaring Immortal realm, Liang Chen could kill thousands of them without even shedding a drop of sweat. For a powerful Primordial Immortal cultivator to personally slay some small Soaring Immortal people was indeed a manner that some would consider shameless, especially when there was no deep grudge between them. But Liang Chen wasn''t bothered, he simply waved his hand in a gesture towards a dried up heap of bones scattered by the other end of the hallway.


    "My pride? You can find that in all the corpses I''ve scattered here and will scatter in the future."


    Liang Chen had chosen a path that could be considered evil, he was a hypocrite that was just as bad as the people he killed. But he still took pride in the path he had chosen, and each innocent person that got to live because of a life he took was one that added to his pride. The light in the woman''s pupils flashed for a few instances as she glanced at the bones, her eyes narrowing sharply as she delivered the ultimatum.


    "...We''ll ignore what you''ve done here, but in the future, please don''t go around killing people from our sect. They all serve a purpose and each one killed makes our work a little bit harder, even if its weaklings like these three. We don''t want to be enemies with you, but that doesn''t mean that we are afraid of you. On the contrary, you are the one who should be afraid, you should already know that we aren''t limited to Primordial Immortals in our sect. You pretend like we don''t exist, and we''ll pretend like you don''t exist, that should be what''s best for both of us."


    The Nine Wraths sect was indeed not scared of a Primordial Immortal cultivator, they weren''t even scared of most Transcended Immortal cultivators. But that didn''t mean that they were willing to become enemies with just everyone, at least not on the surface and in the open. If they could have Liang Chen leave them alone until they felt that they had a need for his life, that would be for the best. But Liang Chen didn''t even give the prospect any thought and turned it down straight away.


    "I don''t need you to ignore what I''ve done here. I''ve already heard a lot about how you act and how you train your disciples, what you teach them. So let me tell you this, I don''t accept it."


    The Nine Wraths sect was located at the centre of Purgatory''s Cradle and had existed there for many years already, the natural laws of this place were also the natural laws that they adhered to with all their hearts. All lives existed to be used, even the closest of relationships could be ended at a moment''s notice if you stood to gain one of this realm''s benefits from doing so. They were undoubtedly the type of people that Liang Chen despised the most. His refusal and statement were simple, the woman in front of him sneering in response.


    "Are you sure you want to become enemies with us just because of something so small? If you''ve gone through their memories then you should also know about or Nine Wraths Lamentation, don''t think that all our disciples are like these little ones."


    The soul that had taken over her body for this meeting knew what Liang Chen was talking about, he wasn''t fond of the way they killed people so easily and indiscriminately and was willing to become their enemy just because of it. But if he thought that a mere Primordial Immortal could really become a proper enemy just because he killed two outer disciples, then a disdainful sneer was the only answer she could come up with. It was a bare-faced threat, but Liang Chen simply didn''t care about it.


    "I know, and I don''t care. You can bring out all nine of your wraths, I only need my one."


    The dim black light flashing in the woman''s eyes faded after Liang Chen finished his statement, the small soul fragment that had taken over her body dissipating under Liang Chen''s law of death. The woman''s body fell to the floor, Liang Chen snatching her interspatial ring and storing it alongside the rest.


    The woman had been the last living person in this mansion, the rest had already fallen to Liang Chen''s law of rot and become withered bones. So with her death, all three mansions had been cleared out, Liang Chen spitting out another breath as he turned around and left the mansion.


    "Phew, I really seem to be making enemies wherever I go. Let''s go, Yumao, we''ll finish up in this city and then move."

 Chapter 278: The advent of silence.

    Liang Chen''s footsteps were slow and calm as he moved through the city, his face showing neither joy nor sadness. His short silvery-grey hair fluttered lightly thanks to the oncoming breeze, his golden pupils filled with what looked like a faint white mist. The city around him was completely silent, it was to the point that the only thing audible was the echo of his footsteps.


    This was perhaps the first time in several million years that Purgatory''s Cradle had ever seen one of its cities descend into such a silence. But peace was not the reason behind this silence. No, this was the silence of the grave, a silence that could only be achieved when all life met its end.


    And indeed, scattered throughout the streets around Liang Chen were humanoid statues frozen mid-motion. Some pointed weapons at him, some were turned away as if they were trying to flee, but all had turned to stone without distinction. A few piles of dried and withered bones were also scattered about, strewn around as if the person they once formed had just fallen apart in an instant.


    Liang Chen''s expression wasn''t swayed despite the carnage around him, this was far from the first time he had caused such carnage. Yumao wasn''t nestling on his head at the moment, he was scurrying around the city and snatching up the various statues. They had been turned to stone, but the energy contained within their bodies hadn''t vanished, they could still be eaten or used for cultivation if you were just interested in the gathered energy.


    "Still didn''t leave, huh?"


    Liang Chen''s steps halted in front of a somewhat small and unremarkable building, a soft mutter escaping his lips. The wooden building had a large tankard embedded into the wall, just above the entrance, a slightly sweet scent wafting out from it. The door to the tavern was closed, but there was no array or lock keeping it closed so anyone could enter it at any time.


    Liang Chen pushed open the door, a blast of sweet-smelling air rushing out and washing over him. His left hand shot up and brushed aside a metal arrow that shot out from the tavern, the weapon crossing the street and burying itself in the building opposite of the tavern. No other attacks followed the arrow, just a weary voice that rang out with a sigh.


    "Yeah, figures that you couldn''t be bothered to catch it. Now I''ll have to go and pick it up so that I can reload it."


    Liang Chen entered the tavern, which consisted of a single room with six separate tables and a long counter that shielded a wide and fully stocked cabinet filled to the brim with alcohol. The tavern was fairly brightly lit thanks to the luminescent crystals hanging from the ceiling, but the overwhelmingly heavy scent that filled it could easily make it uncomfortable over longer periods.


    A man was sitting at the other side of the counter, a mottled green bottle and two glasses standing ready in front of him. The man had shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes, but while he looked to be just in his thirties, he had a weary air about him that made his few wrinkles all the more pronounced.


    "Do you want a glass? Or are you planning on just going right for it? If so, I''d appreciate it if you could let me down one last glass first."


    The man, Siu Bairong, poured himself a drink from the bottle in front of him, tapping the bottom of the bottle against the second glass while looking at Liang Chen. He was facing what was his likely death, but the only emotion his expression was able to convey was a general disinterest. Liang Chen merely shook his head, grabbing a nearby chair and dragging it over to the counter.


    "I don''t really like sweet drinks so just keep it to yourself. And I''m not here to kill you, I just came to talk."


    Sweet drinks had always been more Yan Ling''s style, the problem was that she liked them so sweet that they were practically sickening. Liang Chen personally preferred spicier drinks, but he hadn''t exactly come here to drink so he didn''t see a need to mention his preference. Siu Bairong''s eyebrows couldn''t help but rise slightly as Liang Chen sat down, his gaze drifting towards the empty street revealed by the open door.


    "To talk? You massacred the entire city, but me you spare so that you can have a nice chat?"


    He hadn''t left his tavern, but the sounds had carried so far that he didn''t need to. Shrieks of fear, roars of anger, wails of sorrow, and perhaps most gruesome, the gurgling of the dying. The city had died, he knew that with perfect clarity. And the one who had done just that was the youth that had just casually sitten down in front of him.


    "I didn''t kill everyone. Counting you, there are still 14 survivors."


    Three people in the three mansions and a further 11 in the city, Liang Chen had carefully picked out his targets even during what looked like an indiscriminate massacre. Two of the three city leaders had been forced to spill even the smallest piece of information that they knew, Liang Chen practically knew all their memories. When you also counted in the people who he had forced to spill the beans during the massacre, he knew just about every deed that had been performed in this city over the last 40 or so years.


    "14 survivors, huh? So that''s it, 15 000 people, gone with the wind, only 14 left to tell the tale. That''s grim, even for a place like this."


    Siu Bairong rarely left this tavern of his, there was no longer anything out there that he had to pay attention to. But even so, he was still decently informed about the state of his surroundings thanks to the few people who visited the tavern. But his numbers were a bit off, so Liang Chen corrected him.


    "The number of citizens has increased since your last counting it seems, the total was 17 862."


    Liang Chen wasn''t someone who indulged in the habit of counting his kills or finding excessive joy in them, he only knew the exact number due to the fact that a bit of his poison remained in every single corpse he had left in his wake. Siu Bairon muttered slightly to himself with a soft nod, pouring himself another cup.


    "17 862... Almost 18 000 dead and you decided to keep me alive. So, what''s the reason?"


    He didn''t bother asking about Liang Chen''s reason for killing the people of this city, there really wasn''t a need for it. This was Purgatory''s Cradle, the birthplace of death and cruelty, it would be stranger to find someone willing to spare others in a hellhole like this. But the answer he got pointed towards the fact that Liang Chen may in fact just be one of those strange individuals.


    "You didn''t deserve death."


    That was the conclusion that Liang Chen had come to after digging up just about every deed that had transpired in this city over the last few decades. Siu Bairong may have committed foul-deeds prior to those decades, but no one present had known anything about that so Liang Chen would have no idea.


    And he would rather temporarily spare 1000 sinners than wrongfully kill one innocent man, he already had enough innocent souls haunting him after the trick that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow pulled on him. Siu Bairong was surprised by the answer, but he simply downed another cup instead of bothering to ask anything.


    "Why did you not do anything?"


    It was instead Liang Chen who decided to be the one asking questions, this was why he had come here after all. Siu Bairong had just finished emptying his cup, the rim of it lingering on his lips as his eyebrows raised once more.


    "That''s your question? You sniffed me out just for that?"


    Siu Bairong had heard many questions across the 563 years he had lived here in Purgatory''s Cradle, many were stranger or more profound than this one. But this was perhaps the most memorable question, solely due to the actions that the one asking it had taken just moments prior. Liang Chen wasn''t bothered by Siu Bairong''s surprise, he simply pressed on.


    "You were stronger than them, you could have acted. But you didn''t. Neither to help nor to condemn, you just watched, whether it be when people brutalized or when people escaped, or even when others helped others. I''m just a bit curious as to why."


    The three leaders of this city were only at the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, an entire realm below Liang Chen. They were also supposed to be the strongest people in the city, sent here by the Nine Wraths sect to keep an eye on things.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    But Siu Bairong, this man owning an unremarkable tavern, had reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. And looking at the Qi that coiled up in his dantian, he was pretty close to the late stage. Liang Chen''s senses had already picked up the fact that Siu Bairong had one wooden leg, he''d probably lost his actual right leg long ago.


    But even so, he should still be strong enough to either head deeper into Purgatory''s Cradle. But he didn''t, he remained here in his tavern and just watched everything that unfolded. He didn''t extend a helping hand when an unfortunate person fled past his tavern, nor did he point in the direction someone had run when he was questioned by others. He just remained quiet in this little tavern and sold some wine or beer to the occasional visitor.


    "Because honestly, what''s the point? Whether a few more people survive, whether a few more people die, what difference does it make? This godforsaken place is as timeless as the universe, it cannot, it will not, change, no matter what happens or how much time passes."


    The answer that Siu Bairong gave after sucking on his teeth for a few seconds was filled with the same weariness as his aura. Purgatory''s Cradle had existed long before he was born, and it would exist for countless aeons after he had died, it was a timeless and unchanging behemoth that would outlast most living beings.


    "You cleared out the city now, but do you really think that''s the end of it, do you really think it has changed things for the better? In time, new people will gather here, new groups will form their own unsteady little alliances. And eventually, the Nine Wraths sect will send over new overseers. Even a massacre like yours won''t change anything, everything will just fall back into its normal rhythm before sooner or later."


    True, Siu Bairong had never even heard of a massacre that was close to this scale, certainly not here at the very edge of Purgatory''s Cradle. But people were constantly dying here, droves of people fell and were replaced by fresh meat hoping to score big. Nothing ever changed, no matter how many people were replaced, because the new ones that came were always just as bad as those that left. Siu Bairong had seen it all, and all he could do was shake his head at the futility.


    "Making it worse, making it better, it''s all just a losing battle, it''s all just meaningless. The best way to fight this is to just not fight at all. One day I''ll become another part of the numbers that are racked up in this cradle every day, so I''ll just wait for that time here in this little slice of land we once carved out for ourselves."


    Siu Bairong''s weary visage gave way to a tinge of sorrow as he spoke, but even his sorrow was quickly drowned out by all-encompassing tiredness. Liang Chen sat quietly and listened to Siu Bairong''s soft voice, but he simply shook his head when he had heard everything.


    "The best way... You''re wrong. By choosing to not fight, you''ve already lost."


    Only he who fought would get the chance to win, only he who fell could ever stand up again. By forfeiting even that, you were just resigning yourself to losing at every turn. Liang Chen had heard what he came for so he stood up from his seat, Siu Bairong''s eyebrows once more rising, carrying a very faint glimmer of hopefulness this time.


    "You''re still planning on leaving? I for sure thought that you would see the act of turning a blind eye with the same weight as actually performing the deeds."


    Liang Chen had massacred an entire city because he felt like they deserved death, because he had judged their actions as sinful. If you asked Siu Bairong, his act of not doing anything and just accepting the state of things could in some ways be considered just as bad. But Liang Chen simply shook his head.


    "The act of turning a blind eye isn''t a sin, it''s just sad."


    The people that had just watched as his parents were falsely executed, did they deserve to die? The answer Liang Chen had come to regarding that was no. He may hate them, but they did not deserve death just for that. Liang Chen turned to walk away, but Siu Bairong''s voice once again sounded out after a bit of hesitation.


    "...Are you hoping to change this godforsaken place?"


    That was the only reason Siu Bairong could see to be the driving force behind Liang Chen''s actions, a desire to change this place forsaken by even the gods. But Liang Chen once again shook his head, not even hesitating as he answered.


    "No. My only goal has always been, and will always be, to kill those who the heavens should have erased long ago."


    The change would be a side-effect, just a byproduct that came about because of the methods Liang Chen used to achieve his goal, it was never his actual goal. But of course, it was exactly these methods that made the truth quite apparent.


    "That''s quite hypocritical."


    To erase those that the heavens should have erased long ago? He had just robbed almost 18 000 people of their lives, was such a person not deserving of this very same erasing? But if Siu Bairong could notice this fact, how could Liang Chen not?


    "It''s extremely hypocritical, but who''s going to stop me?"


    Liang Chen turned his head slightly as he responded, the corners of his lips turning up to reveal his sharp canine teeth. Liang Chen had never, not for even a single moment, deluded himself into thinking that he was a good person. He was cruel and evil, he was as much a monster as those he killed. It was just as Yumao had put it once, he was the God of the pit, all monsters were beneath him.


    "The Nine Wraths sect probably will."


    The response slipped out from Siu Bairong''s lips without him really intending it, there was just something about Liang Chen''s gaze and aura that drove him to talk. At the back of his mind, buried beneath years of tiredness, was a tinge of curiosity, just a small seed of it, what exactly would he answer when faced with the threat of the Nine Wraths?


    "They''re welcome to try, they''re on the list too after all."


    Liang Chen hadn''t forgotten about the sect situated at the very centre of Purgatory''s Cradle, the people who most fervently desired to nurture Purgatory through all this bloodshed. They were on the list, they just had to wait for their time to come.


    Liang Chen didn''t bother saying anything else and left the tavern, leaving behind the sad man who had abandoned even the desire to fight. He closed the door behind him, the sweet smell from the tavern quickly getting overtaken by the bloody scent that lingered on every inch of land within Purgatory''s Cradle.


    "They''re all gathered up, Bossy Boy!"


    A cheery and upbeat voice reached Liang Chen''s ears shortly after he left the tavern, a black blur flashing through the streets and arriving in front of him. Yumao stopped in front of Liang Chen''s face, he hadn''t bothered going beyond his usual tiny size since the city was completely dead. He flapped his black feathery wings to stay afloat, his grey eyes gleaming as if he had completed some grand task.


    "Bossy boy? Don''t act as if I gave you an order to gather them up just because you want me to hand you a portion of them."


    Liang Chen stretched out a hand and tapped Yumao on the head a few times as he spoke, his finger passing through the opening between the jagged horns that grew out from each side of Yumao''s head. Yumao didn''t let this stop him, his serpentine tail shooting upwards and coiling around Liang Chen''s finger. He then coiled himself around Liang Chen''s arm so that he could slither up his arm and coil up on Liang Chen''s head, snorting in a dissatisfied manner.


    "Bleh, calling me out like that is distasteful, you should just roll with it and act nice."


    He wasn''t even embarrassed about the fact that Liang Chen had hit the nail on the head, forcing Liang Chen to respond with a roll of his eyes, Yumao had really become unbridled after he became able to speak. Liang Chen started walking, there was nothing left in the city so their current target would obviously be one of the many exits.


    "Did the mongoloid manage to give you a good answer?"


    Yumao didn''t linger on the previous topic since he had already been called out, and also partly because he knew that Liang Chen would definitely allow him to eat most of the statues he had gathered up. Liang Chen didn''t hide anything from Yumao, shrugging his shoulders casually


    "No, but I wasn''t expecting to get one to begin with."


    It was hard to expect a good answer when there weren''t really any good answers to begin with. The closest thing to a good answer would be if Siu Bairong said that he didn''t act because he was afraid of dying, but that in itself couldn''t really be considered a good answer. Yumao understood Liang Chen''s personality better than most others so the answer was well within his expectations, another cold snort escaping him.


    "Should have just beaten him up then, smacked his ass from one end of the city to the other so that he''ll learn his lesson."


    He flapped his wings as he spoke, rustling Liang Chen''s hair while he seemingly tried to demonstrate how he would have treated Siu Bairong. But Liang Chen simply raised his arm and tapped Yumao on the head multiple times, he was too small for Liang Chen to properly use his knuckles to rap him on the head.


    "The only ass I''m going to smack is Ling''ers, and only because she corrupted you without me knowing. If you ended up like this, I don''t even want to imagine what poor little Lan Yun is going to end up as."


    Liang Chen really had no idea what sort of magic trick Yan Ling had used to shape Yumao''s personality and way of speaking into something so close to hers. And that was with Yumao spending most of his time with Liang Chen, it would be much worse for Lan Yun, who had been with Yan Ling ever since she had hatched from the egg that they found what felt like several lifetimes ago. Yumao didn''t dodge Liang Chen''s finger despite being more than capable of doing so, simply laughing in a cocky and proud manner.


    "Shishishi, she definitely won''t get worse than me, I have to be the big brother after all, so it''s my job to always have the upper hand."


    It wasn''t enough for Yumao to laugh so cockily, he even leaned back his head and puffed out his chest, using one of his wings like an arm and placing it on his chest. Looking at the playful manner of this feathered and winged snake, it was really hard to relate it to the vicious companion of someone that could massacre an entire city.


    "Yan Ling, you''d better watch your rear when we finally meet again... Haah, forget about it. Let''s leave, there''s nothing left here so it''s about time to move on. May as well head towards the closest of the three marked locations."


    Liang Chen felt like he was shaking his head or rolling his eyes more than ever before ever since Yumao learned how to talk, but he could only assure himself that it was just a trick of his mind. They had only come to this city to gather some information, everything else had just happened because of what Liang Chen saw after arriving.


    But now that they were done here, it was time to move on. And since Purgatory''s Cradle had already given him three awards, constantly pointing him towards their location, they might as well set one of those locations as their next goal. Yumao wasn''t the type to go against Liang Chen''s suggestions, he simply snickered expectantly.


    "I hope it''s something tasty, preferably something so large that you can''t be stingy and hog it all to yourself."

 Chapter 279: The tale of Azatoth.

    Liang Chen had his journey through Purgatory''s Cradle, but him delving deeper into that visage of hell did not mean that time in the outside world came to a halt. And few places was this simple fact as apparent as in Violet Dawn city of the Nine Star Universe, which was the Major Universe that housed Purgatory''s Cradle.


    Violet Dawn was a sprawling city, mainly due to its illustrious history, it was easily counted among the three largest cities in the entire universe, there were planets smaller than it. The sun had just barely risen above the horizon, but the streets were already filled with people, some heading to work while others were already setting up their shops to sell what remained of yesterday''s haul.


    But while they were busy going about their day, a very soft sizzling sound rang throughout every corner of the city. And while the citizens were curiously checking their surroundings for the source of the sound, a green light bloomed at the centre of the city. It was as if a green sun appeared inside the city, casting its light on every nook and cranny.


    But just like the sun was deadly if you got too close, so too was this green light. The buildings directly around the source of the green light simply vanished, first turning into ash and then vanishing entirely. The people didn''t fare much better, those closest to it instantly evaporated, only leaving behind faint shadows on the ground where they had once stood.


    As for those further away, a bright green light surfaced inside their eyes, faintly green smoke pouring out from their seven orifices as they clutched at their chests and fell over. But them falling over dead was only the start, the smoke that welled out from their bodies gathered together and became part of the green light, extending its range so that it could reach more people, growing almost ceaselessly.


    But the green light didn''t wash over the entire city, it receded after it had cleared out a section of land that was a few hundred kilometres in diameter. And what appeared at the source of the light was a massive army, countless rows of soldiers clad in light and flexible armour.


    The commander stood at the back of the army along with two others, a human-sized crack in space right behind them. But the crack led to a landscape that Liang Chen was very familiar with, greyish-white sand and black stone mountains covered in small pores, the desolate wasteland of the void. The man dressed like the commander, golden armour with wing-like pauldrons, raised his hand and gave out the simple order.


    "Go."


    The army in front of him sprung into action like a well-oiled machine, rushing out in different directions. They spread through the city like weeds, checking every building, every hidden back-alley, even digging into the earth. Every living being they came across was slaughtered, they were like locusts tearing through a crop of wheat as they acted with ruthless efficiency.


    While the army spread out, the commander and the two others remained behind. The golden-armoured commander removed his eagle-shaped helmet, revealing a man that looked like he was in his late fifties, a few small scars crisscrossing over the wrinkles that had started to cover his weary expression.


    "With this, it can be considered done. Now I would suggest that you hurry away, this place is about to become hell."


    Of the two people that the golden commander was talking to, one was a youth with orange hair and emerald green eyes, the same green light that had wiped out the centre of the city danced within his eyes. The other was a youth who looked a bit younger, as if he had just entered his teens, and he had faded grey eyes and verdant green hair that just barely reached his shoulders. The orange-haired youth wore a calm and wary expression, but the green-haired teen was bubbling with excitement as he looked around, as if he couldn''t resist the urge to run around.


    "Yeah yeah, just a bit longer, it won''t hurt to stay here a bit longer. How quickly do you think Azatoth is going to come? I''d love to see if I can exchange a few moves with him."


    The green-haired youth''s feet were tapping the ground ceaselessly, his knees were even bent slightly while his head continuously swept the area. But the orange-haired youth prevented him from moving, frowning disapprovingly at him and nearly spitting out his words.


    "Don''t even think about it, the only reason the Sky-Covering Eagle was fine with letting you come here was that you promised that you''d listen. If you are intent on disobeying then we will call off the alliance right away, you can go at it on your own."


    Their two sides had entered an alliance for mutual benefit, but the orange-haired man knew that this alliance could be called off at just a moment''s notice. After all, the thing they were trying to deal with wasn''t anything common, any error could end up being a fatal flaw. The green-haired youth turned his head slightly, and although he looked dissatisfied, he didn''t immediately run off.


    "Booh, is there really a point in being so serious about it? I could understand it if it was Hades, Asmodai, or even Jormungandr, but this is just Azatoth. I''ve studied the records and the ancient archives so I''m confident that we can at least duke it out for a bit."


    The youth''s grey eyes flashed with a subdued light as he spoke, his demeanour radiating an almost overpowering air of confidence and regality. But the orange-haired man simply sneered at him and his confidence.


    "The ancient records? Alright, then tell me, how much did they have about Azatoth, exactly how much did you get to read about him? And how much was there about Hades?"


    The orange-haired man had read those very same records so he already knew the answer to the question, and it was exactly because he knew the truth that he could sneer this disdainfully. The other youth was clearly a bit taken aback at the sudden question, fondling his chin for a second as he scoured his memories.


    "Hmm? There were about two scrolls, they went into quite a fair amount of detail about the battle during his coronation. As for Hades, he had about four sections dedicated to him so... 600 or so scrolls?"


    There really was an immense difference between the two, his race had entire libraries filled with information about Hades. And he truly deserved to have entire libraries to himself, the things he had done during the previous grand war were still considered nightmares to those that remembered them. The green-haired youth had casually spoken the answer, but the fact that he didn''t realize the important point about that answer only made the other youth sneer once again.


    "So you''ve read two scrolls and suddenly feel like you''re an expert, feel like you can take on the world?"


    The golden-armoured commander didn''t interrupt the two youths as they argued, he only glanced up at the sky, his expression a bit desolate. The orange-haired youth didn''t give the other youth a chance to respond to his previous sneer, hammering the point home.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Don''t delude yourself, you''re still far beneath Azatoth. The only reason we have so few scrolls about him is the simple fact that he wasn''t around for the Second Sphere War. But make no mistake, he got to claim a seat amongst those monsters, so he''s not simple."


    One was a nightmare that had haunted them during the previous Sphere War and the other was someone who had risen to prominence after the end of the war, did it really have to be stated who they would have more information on? But the orange-haired youth saw that the teenager still didn''t look satisfied, so he tossed him a bone.


    "Do you know how he got the title of Azatoth?"


    The green-haired youth''s eyes instantly lit up, this was indeed a bit of information that hadn''t been included in the records. And the reason was simple, it was a bit of information that his race didn''t have, only the orange-haired man''s side had access to it.


    "Azatoth was the name of a demon living in the Sky-Covering Eagle''s Sphere, it was a sleeping monster whose dreams spawned innumerable demons, a true scourge on existence. Twice, we''ve tried to infiltrate or even invade Azatoth''s home, do you know how either of those attempts ended?"


    The orange-haired youth was far older than he looked, he had served the Sky-Covering Eagle since he took his first strides towards supremacy all those innumerable years ago. So he had personally seen Azatoth, that sleeping demon that drowned several hundreds of universes in demons. And since he had seen that sleeping demon all those years ago, he was perfectly fine with that particular name being used as a title for this lord that had risen to prominence after the second Sphere War.


    "A sea of beasts, that was the small glimpse we just barely managed to see before we lost all contact. Demonic beasts as far as the eye could see, they covered every inch of land and the sky, they swarmed our men like a tidal wave and wiped away all traces of life. He didn''t even have to move on his own, he just sent out his army of monsters. So he''s Azatoth, the sleeping god of demons."


    He remembered it so vividly that he could close his eyes now and see the scene with perfect clarity. His men didn''t even have the chance to scream or wail, the snarling of beasts and the tearing of claws drowned out everything else and silenced their voices in their throats. It was a nightmare that silenced all who saw it. Without any of them knowing it, a new Azatoth had risen in the third Sphere of Existence, this one taking human shape.


    The green-haired youth''s throat rolled slightly as the other youth regaled the tale, just how many beasts would it take to blot out both the land and the sky? It was as if cold water had been poured onto his excitement, the orange-haired man waving his hand towards the spatial crack behind him.


    "Go, if you want to put your focus on anything then direct it towards the fake ruler that visited your void in the past, the last thing you want is for him to split your forces in half."


    This was a fear that both sides shared, if the green-haired youth''s forces were split in half, or even worse, then his worth would drop considerably. Of course, if he could quickly increase his strength and control over his Ascended Law then that would be a different question, but that would depend on him alone.


    "...Understood. But I will duke it out with Azatoth eventually, I''m only leaving because it''s the best option right now, not because I''m afraid."


    The green-haired youth slowly nodded his head, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits as he defended himself. The two other people present didn''t even bother responding to his defence, just watching as the youth stepped into the void and closed the spatial crack behind him. The orange-haired man sighed heavily once the other youth went, shaking his head.


    "Haah, what a pitiful void, they''ve ended up having such an immature child as their ruler."


    First, they had been utterly ravaged and ruined, practically cursed by Jormungandr, and then they had the misfortune of birthing a ruler with such an immature mind. But that wasn''t something that he needed to concern himself with, his gaze drifting over to the golden-armoured commander.


    "I can''t convince you?"


    His gaze sank heavily as he spoke, regret etched into practically every inch of his face. But the golden-armoured man didn''t budge, casting a glance at the few soldiers he could still see before shaking his head determinedly.


    "They are my men, and I am their commander. If this is where they are to rest, then it is only right that I rest here with them. Their families, I will entrust them to you."


    His men didn''t know, but he was perfectly clear on what type of mission this was. But even so, he had accepted it and brought along his men. He brought them to their deaths, the least he could do was share their fate and tomb. The orange-haired man looked deeply at the general, but in the end, he could only suck in a deep breath and wipe away his regret.


    "Understood, they will be taken care of for the next three generations."


    The two men looked at each other, the orange-haired man swiping his interspatial ring and pulling out an apple-sized orb that looked like it was made from blood. He poured his Qi into it, the orb lighting up with a bright green light and forming a vortex in front of him. He cast one last look at the golden-armoured general, nodding his head resolutely.


    "I promise you, we will win this war."


    He stepped into the vortex after he gave his word, vanishing from the area. The golden general simply turned away as the vortex closed behind him, folding his hands behind his back as he slowly swept the now-ruined city with a somewhat dim gaze.


    "...Haah, so another Sphere War begins... Win or lose, perhaps it won''t matter to the dead."


    He spoke wistfully, but he also knew that while it wouldn''t matter to the dead, it would matter to those they left behind. If they could secure a better future for their loved ones through this, then each and every one of them would gladly accept it.


    The general continued standing there with his hands behind his back, one of the soldiers returning to him before long. He stopped in front of the commander and straightened his back, saluting respectfully as he reported the situation.


    "General, we''ve finished sweeping the area! There were no traces of any hidden training grounds or separate spaces stocked with disposable arrays, do you wish for us to expand the range of our search?"


    The soldiers still didn''t know exactly what sort of mission this was, it was probably the cruellest act the golden general had ever committed. But at this point it was already too late even if they knew the truth, so he simply shook his head.


    "There''s no need, you won''t find anything. There was never anything like that here. No, this isn''t some city hiding preparations for war, it''s the city where an ancient demon got married and had his first son, a city he specifically brought over before the Demon''s Dawn universe met its end."


    The soldier couldn''t help but falter slightly as the general spoke. They had acted with such ruthless precision and efficiency because they had been told that this was one of the enemy''s hidden bases, destroying it would greatly enhance their odds of winning this war.


    "Excuse me, sir?"


    He had properly heard his commander, but he still had to ask for clarification, he simply wasn''t sure if he could believe what he heard. But the commander didn''t respond by saying that it was a joke, he only confirmed the grim truth.


    "We were bait, solider, plain and simple. Our job was to prod a sleeping demon and drag him out, you can consider it the same as serving as a signal flare for war."


    How did you deal with an enemy you weren''t even quite sure what was capable of? Simple, you first dragged him into the light so that you could properly see what he was and how he worked. It was just that some enemies required great sacrifices when you finally dragged them into the light.


    The city suddenly started to turn dark after the general spoke, it was as if all light was being sucked out. And following all the light was the sound, the entire city turning as silent as the grave. But the commander had his gaze pointed at the sky, so he could see that not a single cloud had appeared to blot out the sun. No, this darkness was an omen of something much worse.


    "And look, we''ve performed our duty splendidly. Now, all that remains is for us to helplessly meet our end."


    The soldier also raised his head to the sky, perhaps every soldier in the city did the same at the moment. Several million people turned their gazes skyward at the same time, and all of them were greeted with the same terrifying sight.


    The sky had simply turned completely black, not a trace of blue sky or white clouds as far as the eye could see. And then, that black sky split open at the middle, a jagged edge appearing as the two sides moved apart. But the soldiers quickly saw the truth, the sky hadn''t split apart, it had become a maw, the jagged edges were teeth, so massive that they birthed despair in all who had the misfortune of seeing them.


    The commander was a bit stronger than his soldiers so he could see the sky-covering maw with much greater clarity, he could even see into the gullet of the massive beast. But even he could only sigh in the face of such a sight, the last he would ever see in this life.


    "Azatoth... what a beautiful horror."

 Chapter 280: Familiar land.

    Liang Chen had no idea about the turmoil and chaos that was slowly starting to spread in the outside world. Contrary to the level of power he had reached, he actually had very few connections, there was basically no one out there that could contact him. Yan Ling was an obvious one, but she was currently in a different multiverse so there was no way for her to contact him.


    The newly initiated Storm Wolf sect disciples he had picked up also weren''t prone to contact him, how many sect disciples would just call up their sect master on a whim? Yan Ling''s brother, Yan Ying, was actually the person who would be most likely to contact him, but he was currently in the territory of the Nine Star Demon God so he was probably more informed on Liang Chen''s current whereabouts than most others.


    As such, Liang Chen was able to move at his own pace as he made his way through Purgatory''s Cradle. His final target was obviously Purgatory itself, but it was currently being kept by the Nine Wraths sect, and he wasn''t able to deal with them so heading straight there would just be him signing his own death warrant.


    But luckily, Purgatory''s Cradle was a twisted land, it craved death and ruination more than anything else. It was to the point that the land itself would reward you for your viciousness, each person you killed would bring you one step closer to the world pointing you towards a reward that would be suitable to you.


    But from what Liang Chen had experienced so far it became easy for him to discern that Purgatory''s Cradle cared more about quality than quantity. The avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow that he had killed filled up three drops of blood, producing three resonating feelings as Purgatory''s Cradle pointed him towards his reward.


    But calculating how much progress he had received towards the next reward after killing almost everyone in the previous city he visited, he reached the conclusion that it would take about 100 000 people at the Soaring Immortal realm like them to fill up half a drop. Of course, these rewards and all the killing weren''t Liang Chen''s goal here, they were merely a by-product brought about by his own morals.


    As was to be expected by a brutal place like Purgatory''s Cradle, it wasn''t exactly sprawling with roads and small villages or towns that could be used during travels. It would be better to compare it to the Myriad Convergence that Liang Chen had entered in the past, an abomination of land that seemed like it consisted of unrelated patches of land that had been stitched together in a haphazard manner.


    The place he first arrived in was a rather dense forest, with the city right at the edge of it. But after he left the city and had travelled for a short few hours, the forest gave way to a foul-smelling swamp. Even the earth that wasn''t touched by the swamp was murky and soft, more akin to viscous water than it was to actual earth. Liang Chen had just started to traverse this swamp when his steps halted, his head turning as he cast a somewhat curious glance towards the distance.


    "Spotted something? Is there a tasty treat we can chew up over there? Or are you just going to burrow your head into a bunch of trouble again? Then again, that generally leads to some tasty results as well."


    Yumao poked his head out from a cluster of Liang Chen''s hair, his own gaze drifting down the same direction as Liang Chen''s. Liang Chen''s gaze narrowed slightly as he gazed into the distance, the light in his eyes somewhat uncertain.


    "I''ve got no idea. I just detected a slight surge of energy in that direction and it caught my attention since it felt familiar, I''m just not sure why it felt familiar."


    It was quite a strange sensation, to feel that something was familiar but not be sure of why it did. It was a bit like Deja Vu, he just couldn''t quite place his finger on it. Yumao understood what a surge of energy generally meant, so his grey eyes started to gleam excitedly.


    "So we''re checking it out, yeah? Can I call dibs on any mongrels that have lost enough screws to make a move on us?"


    He had just snatched up nearly 18 000 people in the last city they had visited, but it seemed like he wasn''t fond of the way Liang Chen petrified or withered them away. And who would be, really? They could still be eaten or used for cultivation because they contained energy, but would you really prefer to eat stone or bones when you could eat a proper meal?


    "We''ll check it out, yeah, but don''t go doing anything before we''ve discerned the situation, I don''t need more innocent lives carved into my soul."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Innocent or guilty, cruel or kind, those kinds of things may not matter to Yumao, but they certainly mattered to Liang Chen. And he had already carved enough innocent lives into his soul back when the Sky-Piercing Sparrow tricked him into attacking and practically eradicating the Sword Dancer''s sect.


    He twisted his body slightly and shot towards the surge of energy he had discovered, he was still considered to be in the outskirts of Purgatory''s Cradle so the beasts hiding within the swamp could only be considered extremely weak to him. Over half of them couldn''t even detect him as he shot past them, and the few that did detect him didn''t even dare to breathe too heavily in front of the sheer terror that his bloodline induced in them.


    Speed had always been Liang Chen''s forte, so it really didn''t take him long to reach the thing that had unleashed the surge of energy. But rather than call it a surge of energy, it would be better to say that it just constantly radiated denser energy than its surroundings, Liang Chen had only spotted it when he did because he finally entered the range of said energy.


    As for the source of this energy, it was a circular gate of energy that was about as tall as a tree. It could be described as a gate, but in reality, it was just a mass of energy that released a faint light and traces of suction force, as if it was trying to attract anyone close to it.


    The gate was a bit strange in its colour, it had a faint tinge of blue at the centre, but the rest seemed to have been invaded by the crimson of the blood that lingered in this land, turning it a bright shade of purple. Looking at the gate, it didn''t take too much thought for Liang Chen to realize what he was looking at.


    "You should be the Ascetic''s Venturing Abode, correct?"


    He posed it as a question, but it wasn''t as if there was anyone there that could answer him. He had already learned about the two special areas in the outskirts from the first person he interrogated when he arrived in Purgatory''s Cradle. One was the Blood Ocean that had formed after a massive battle several hundred years ago, and the other was the Ascetic''s Venturing Abode, a travelling hidden realm that had appeared here about a year ago.


    Both were marginally more dangerous than the other areas in the outskirts, but similarly, the rewards they contained were also marginally better. He had mentally noted down the information about them back then, they would both be good places to visit if he got the time. It was just that it had completely slipped his mind after he saw the state of the city he visited, only now that he was in front of it did he remember about it.


    And since he had already acquired the information about them beforehand, just temporarily let it slip his mind, it somewhat explained why he felt that it felt familiar. After all, most information mentioning rare occurrences and areas like this travelling hidden realm would include at least a description of their energy signature to make them easier to find.


    "Oooh, that''s that special little place the first snack spoke of, isn''t it? Can we enter? If it''s dangerous to the people residing here in the outskirts then it will definitely contain plenty of tasty things, morsels that the mongrels out here can''t obtain. It''ll be a smorgasbord all to ourselves."


    Yumao couldn''t help but eagerly prod Liang Chen on, he knew that Liang Chen was looking to raise his strength before heading to the Nine Wraths sect so he felt that there was a good chance that he would accept. And indeed, after rubbing his chin for a bit, Liang Chen agreed to it.


    "Yeah, I was intending to check out both places anyway to see what could be found. But be careful, the fact that some people here have managed to leave with information about the hidden realm doesn''t mean that there''s no danger in there."


    Liang Chen was confident in his own strength, and in the strength of Yumao for that matter, but that didn''t mean that he would let his confidence get to his head. There were still plenty of places and people that could kill him, and while he wouldn''t shy away from entering such places, it didn''t mean that he was just going to foolishly throw away his life.


    Yumao nodded his head to show his understanding, showing a sufficiently serious and solemn expression. He wasn''t someone who didn''t understand when you had to be serious, it was just that most situations really didn''t need him to be as serious as Liang Chen. Liang Chen was pleased with Yumao''s understanding of the situation, his spear appearing in his grasp as he stepped forward into the gate.


    The familiar sensation of space twisting and spinning around washed over his body the moment he stepped into the gate, it was as if space was pressing down on every inch of his body as it churned around him. But he was already so used to this sensation that it couldn''t even make his eyebrow twitch, a bright light flashing in front of his eyes as space around him returned to normal.


    When the light faded, Liang Chen found himself standing inside a forest, the trees so tall that they seemed to touch the clouds. A fine layer of snow covered both the ground and the trees around him, a constant drizzle of fresh snow pouring down from above. But strangely enough, there were no clouds in the sky, and a golden sun hung in the blue sky and showered the land with its gentle warmth.


    There was a faint pressure exuded by seemingly every inch of space around him, the pressure even seemed like it tried to pierce into his body and slow down his Qi. But to Liang Chen, the pressure only felt like an extremely gentle touch resting on his shoulder, forget about slowing down his Qi, it couldn''t even slow down his normal movements.


    Liang Chen once again felt the sensation that things were quite familiar, but this time it was the environment that felt somewhat familiar rather than the energy signature. Yumao curiously and eagerly swept the surroundings with his gaze, Liang Chen rubbing his chin softly.


    "Once again, familiar... Well then, shall we go see exactly what sort of place this is?"

 Chapter 281: Mutually Assured Destruction.

    Liang Chen stood amidst the snow-covered trees, his head slowly moving from side to side. He was pondering which direction he should head in first, the forest looked the same no matter where he turned his head so he couldn''t see anything that may point him towards what may be considered the correct path.


    Stretching out his senses also yielded poor results, there wasn''t even a single living being within the surrounding kilometres. There were plenty of bloody splotches and other signs of battle, but not a single living being. No matter what sort of place this once was, once it entered Purgatory''s Cradle it just became another slaughterhouse, every living being in it becoming cattle to someone else.


    "Well, since no way seems to be the correct one, all paths can be considered the correct one."


    Liang Chen turned his head a few more times as he muttered, eventually settling on the direction that showed the most numerous signs of battle. He still held his spear at the ready, the maw-shaped spearhead leaving a line in the snow as he moved. He had no idea what they might encounter here so he didn''t rush about at full speed, Yumao also remaining vigilant.


    But even so, it didn''t take him too long to reach the first area that contained traces of a battle. But rather than calling it signs of a battle, it would perhaps be better to describe it as signs of a decimation. The thing covering the ground a bit to his side was a splotch of blood, spreading out to cover several metres of earth.


    "...That''s not something you see every day, was the opponent really that weak?"


    There were no marks on the surroundings, no cuts in the snow or in the surrounding trees, just that single bloodstain. And looking at the shape that the blood had spread out into, it was clear that it hadn''t been formed from any continuous bleeding. Whatever had formed this stain had been exploded in a single instant, its entire body practically liquefying as it spread about.


    And just as Liang Chen''s mutter suggested, this wasn''t something that would appear between opponents who had even somewhat similar strengths. Whatever had died here was so much weaker than its opponent that it was like an ant facing a human, completely beneath its notice.


    "Now the question is, did someone stronger come here, or was the being here just too weak?"


    Liang Chen had experienced what level of strength the people in the area outside this hidden realm had, the early-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm was the highest he had encountered here in the outskirts. So, was the splattered being here just so weak that even a Soaring Immortal realm cultivator could utterly crush it, or had a stronger cultivator come through in the past?


    The stain had already dried, the blood turning dark brown and making it hard to tell exactly how old it was, so the second option wasn''t exactly one that could be disregarded. After all, everyone who entered Purgatory''s Cradle ended up in the same place, it wasn''t out of the question that other people like Liang Chen had arrived after this travelling hidden realm had appeared here.


    Liang Chen had no way of getting an answer to the question at the moment so he didn''t bother lingering on it, moving past the bloodstain and continuing his travels. His senses were constantly spread out to make sure that he wasn''t ambushed, but he had yet to spot a single sign of life even after moving about for an entire day.


    The same continued to be true for the second, third, and fourth day, it was as if life simply didn''t exist within this hidden realm. But of course, the scattered bloodstains proved that life most certainly did exist here at one point, it had just been eradicated due to the unfortunate fact that the hidden realm ended up appearing here.


    But as the dawn of the fifth day rolled around, the monotony of the forest was finally broken up. The distance between each tree grew larger and larger at a rapid pace, allowing Liang Chen''s gaze to spot the eventual end of the forest, as well as the city that rose up past the wide-open plain covered in tall grass that spread out beyond the forest.


    The city was constructed somewhat strangely, it was situated in a valley that cut straight through a large plateau. The edges of said valley were adorned with a large palace-like structure, one towering above each side of the city. Walls made from a silver coloured metal stretched out from these palaces, surrounding the city and connecting to form the large gate that served as the entrance.


    He was just barely able to spot some moving figures by peering through the open gate so it seemed like this city at the very least had managed to avoid sharing the same fate as the beings that used to live in this forest. Of course, there was a good chance that they avoided this fate simply because they were the ones who orchestrated said fate. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Alright, Yumao, we''re about to encounter living beings again, now''s not the time to sleep."


    He tapped Yumao on the head with his finger as he spoke, the little winged serpent flapping his feathery wings and puffing out his chest in protest against Liang Chen''s statement. Liang Chen didn''t take his fluttery protest to heart, a soft smile crossing his lips, having a good companion at his side made it much easier to maintain a normal state in a place as bloody as this.


    He didn''t increase his speed just because something akin to a goal was within sight, it was generally during moments like this that people were prone to lower their guards. And it was precisely because of this that it was the opportune moment to ambush someone, and he had no intention of letting himself get ambushed.


    But despite his worries, not a single living being roamed the plain in front of the city. He reached the entrance without even a hint of disturbance, the streets of the city spreading out in front of him as he peered through the open gate.


    The city could be considered to be quite beautiful, the buildings made out of white stone that looked strangely soft, as if someone had simply carved a cloud into a house. It was quite a familiar look, but Liang Chen couldn''t quite place where he had seen it before. And as if the architect wanted to follow up on this theme, there were hardly and sharp corners to be seen on the buildings, just about all of them circular and soft in shape.


    But Liang Chen only gave the buildings themselves a passing glance, most of his attention focused on the people moving through the streets, most of which gave him a wide berth while eyeing him worriedly. As for the reason his focus was on them, it was due to the sheer variety in their strength.


    The strongest people he detected were at the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, but there were so few of them within the surrounding few kilometres that they could be counted on one hand. But unlike the first city he had visited in Purgatory''s Cradle, the weakest person he saw here was just a normal mortal.


    These people didn''t have an ounce of cultivation, they were as normal as you could be. And perhaps as was to be expected, it was exactly these people that looked the wariest at their surroundings, fearful of every single cultivator around them. It was like an infant facing an adult, if the adult wanted to do something then there was no way for the infant to resist, it would be forced to go along with their every whim.


    "It''s strangely... peaceful, isn''t it? I was expecting all these mongrels to constantly be tearing into each other, there should have been at least a handful of garbage cans constantly picking a fight with each other."


    Yumao couldn''t help but comment as he poked his head out from Liang Chen''s hair, and he wasn''t wrong. There wasn''t a single fight taking place in the streets, there were barely even any signs of battle that they could see or sense. There were shops scattered about and people were interacting without an excessive amount of hostility, even those who had non-negligible differences in cultivation were interacting somewhat normally.


    Battles had not been uncommon in the previous city Liang Chen had visited, death was after all the main driving factor in Purgatory''s Cradle. So even though this city was inside a hidden realm that had just popped up recently, it really was strange for it to be this peaceful. But as Liang Chen spread out his senses a bit further, he understood why things were like this.


    "Have you ever heard about the concept of MAD?"


    Liang Chen stepped into the city as he spoke, the people who happened to be closest hurriedly stepping away. They knew how things worked here, but there was no telling if this newcomer knew, and they did not want to be the ones who had to suffer for him to learn about the state of things. Liang Chen ignored them, continuing his explanation as Yumao tilted his head curiously.


    "Mutually Assured Destruction, it''s the idea that two forces won''t dare to fight each other because both sides know that the winner will not be able to survive after winning. They''ll either collapse due to the damage suffered in retaliation, or become so weakened that someone else will just swoop in and swallow them up. That''s what''s going on here, everyone is afraid to make a move because they know that making a move will result in their own destruction, it just isn''t worth it."


    This was a concept present even in normal society, albeit in a minor form, namely in the form of laws and punishment. You broke the laws and were thus punished accordingly, and most of the time, the punishment simply made it so that whatever you acquired from breaking the law wasn''t worth it. But seeing how wary the people in this city were, it seemed like the punishment you would receive wasn''t something as light as some prison time, it was likely just death no matter what.


    Liang Chen''s steps were unwavering as he moved through the city, his spear still held in his grasp. He had spread out his senses to come to his conclusion, and the reason he reached that conclusion was the fact that his senses had encompassed the two palaces standing at opposite sides of the city. Thanks to this, he had seen its inhabitants, seen who it was that upheld the laws in this city.


    And it was precisely two cultivators at the Primordial Immortal realm, both of them at the early-stage just like Liang Chen. They didn''t seem to be on friendly terms, both palaces had a person that was constantly on guard, keeping a close eye on the other side. But just like the city was held together by the concept of mutually assured destruction, so were the two palaces.


    Neither of the rulers was confident in their ability to destroy the other and still remain strong enough to survive, so a fragile peace was born. But what a shame for these two rulers, a true scourge had just descended upon their city. And wherever this scourge went, peace would be nothing but a dream.

 Chapter 282: The pieces fall into place.

    Yumao also realized this, he could sense it from the light in Liang Chen''s eyes. He had seen something, detected something that he did not accept. And if he didn''t accept it then it was bound to vanish, for Yumao knew that his father was a true force of nature, something as mundane as the opinions of other beings was of no consequence to him.


    Liang Chen stopped in front of the closest palace, the one occupying the western side of the city. It followed a similar architecture as the city itself, resembling a wave surrounded by clouds, the highest part of the wave carved into a single large terrace from which you could overlook the city beneath you. A simple metal fence surrounded the small garden in front of the mansion, but it looked entirely normal so it was unlikely that it had been constructed to actually keep cultivators out.


    Six guards clad in light blue armour were stationed in front of the metal gate connected to the fence, their spears held at the ready. Their bodies tensed up slightly when they spotted Liang Chen''s approach, but that was the only movement they got to take before they completely froze up. They had just met his gaze, his golden pupils sinking their souls into an ocean of fear that almost froze their breathing.


    "Why don''t you follow me? I''d like to hear about what you like to engage in."


    Liang Chen''s soft and cool voice sank into their ears, his words tinged with poison that forced its way into their souls and placed them all under his control. They had no way to resist so they started to mindlessly follow him, uncontrollably spilling out everything that happened within this palace.


    Liang Chen listened quietly as he kept walking, nary a change in his expression as he pushed open the pure white entrance. A decadent hall spread out in front of him, a crimson carpet forming a stark contrast with the white floor as it led deeper into the mansion. Liang Chen paid no mind to the artworks or statues that dotted the hall, his gaze landing on a door to the right of the room.


    He headed for the door and stepped through it, following the descending stone staircase behind it. The staircase brought him down to what seemed to be the dungeon, a foul stench hanging in the air as stone cells sealed up by metal bars lined the walls of the dungeon, which continued downwards in a spiralling manner.


    Liang Chen moved through the dungeon with quiet steps, the sound of his speartip scraping against the floor echoing against the wall, mixing with the few unsavoury sounds that came from deeper in the dungeon. The cells he walked past were occupied by corpses, some of them men but most of them female, all of them malnourished to the point of being skin and bones. There was one more point that all these corpses had in common, none of them had reached the Soaring Immortal realm, it was all people who were either normal mortals or people who had just reached the lowest cultivation realm.


    Liang Chen''s steps suddenly halted in front of one of the cells, his calm and nearly emotionless face shifting to the side and peering through the bars. What appeared to be a male corpse was sprawled on the wooden bed in the cell, so thin that he was practically just a skeleton.


    Liang Chen had been just about to walk past it when he noticed something, it wasn''t a corpse yet, the person inside was still alive, albeit barely. Liang Chen stretched out his hand, the metal bars melting as lightning crackled between his fingers. He walked up and stopped in front of the man, lowering his gaze until he could lock eyes with him.


    Despair and pain, those were the main emotions he could see in the man''s eyes. The six guards following him didn''t know too much about what transpired here in this dungeon, but what little they did know was enough to make Liang Chen sick. To have experienced such torture, all because the people of the palace were growing tense and tired of the fragile peace, it really was a fate that could induce despair.


    But while pain and despair were the main emotions in the man''s eyes, they weren''t the only emotions present within them. Deep within his murky brown eyes, Liang Chen spotted an emotion he was more than familiar with, anger. Anger at the man who tortured him, anger at his misfortune that made him get chosen, anger at the world that allowed it to happen.


    "Do you want to live? Or is peace all that is left for your soul?"


    The man''s skinny body trembled slightly when Liang Chen''s words snuck their way into his ears, his eyes practically exploding with light. He could barely move, even the trembling of his eyelids seemed to drain most of his energy. But even so, he did his best to nod his head, the rage hidden within his pupils slowly surfacing and turning his eyes bloodshot.


    "Good, then I was able to at least save one."


    Liang Chen placed his hand on the man''s head and drew him into his interspatial ring, into the orb that could house living beings. But the man''s state was incredibly bad, and the newly-found disciples of the Storm Wolf sect had all left so the city within the orb was empty. As such, Liang Chen had to turn to someone else to aid the man.


    "Sorry, Yumao, but can I leave it to you? I want to save those that I can, so please help him survive."


    "Pfft, you really are too good for all of them, you really don''t need to care so much about all these mongoloids."


    Yumao muttered a few complaints at Liang Chen''s way of doing things, but this was a sincere request from his father so there was no way he would go against it. His father wanted that man to live, so live he would. He flapped his wings and flew down from Liang Chen''s head, sinking into his interspatial ring to head into the orb.


    Liang Chen turned around after he finished his business, his right arm sweeping out and slashing his spear across the six guards. Five heads left their necks and tumbled to the ground, the remaining guard regaining his senses and trembling uncontrollably.


    "Do I call you lucky for being unaware of what''s going on here, or a good person for not being willing to get closer to a place that made you feel uncomfortable?"


    Liang Chen still had his morals, and they were the only thing keeping this sixth guard alive. He hadn''t known what was going on here, and he felt uncomfortable with the air of the workplace so he hadn''t tried to raise his position. He had just shown up, stood guard in front of the gate for five hours every day and then gone home, he''d never even accepted an offer to go out for a drink or a side job.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Go, this place is not for someone like you."


    Liang Chen didn''t tell the man that he shouldn''t work in a place where the air made him uncomfortable, nor did he tell him that he should have tried to dig deeper in case he could help others. People were different, they had different beliefs and morals, expecting others to act as you did would just lead to disappointment and sorrow.


    Liang Chen continued to head deeper into the dungeon, no longer bothering to pay attention to the guard that remained. Most of the cells he passed by still contained nothing but corpses, but as he got deeper, he would occasionally come across someone who was alive but on the verge of death.


    "Do you want to live? Or is peace all that is left for your soul?"


    He asked the same questions to everyone he met, some of them exploding forth with vitality and a desire to life, a desire for revenge. All of these people were sent into the orb, where Yumao would take care of them. As for those whose eyes were murky and lifeless, filled with nothing but pain and a desire for release, Liang Chen only had a single thing to say to them.


    "Then find your peace in life and the pursuit of a goal."


    He did not grant them the final peace that they desired, just like the others, they were sent into the orb to be taken care of. They wished to die, but Liang Chen did not wish to kill innocent people, he wanted them to live. And if possible, he thought that it would be nice if they could find a goal for themselves, a pursuit that could give them a desire to live.


    He slowly made his way deeper into the dungeon, the unsavoury sounds growing louder with each step. He had already seen what laid at the end of this dungeon, and the sheer familiarity of this inhumanity chilled his heart. He eventually reached the end of the dungeon, arriving in front of a cell that contained the person who would be the 12th person he saved from this torment.


    But the person in the cell wasn''t alone, there was another man in the cell with her, his suit of armour haphazardly tossed to the side. The prisoner, a young girl with dirty black hair, was pressed beneath the man, the few scraps of clothing on her body only covering a bit of her feet and her stomach.


    With so little of her body covered, the horrid state she was in was plain to see. Eyes that had been sewn shut, two broken legs, and two broken arms, it was a state that most mortals would not be able to survive. But she was still alive, the flame of life within her chest flickering weakly as it approached its end.


    This cell was the source of the unsavoury sounds that echoed through the dungeon, bestial grunts, the wet slapping of sweaty flesh, and an occasional pained groan. Familiar, it was so disgustingly familiar, prodding at one of Liang Chen''s deep memories. He had been in a travelling hidden realm back then too, when he encountered a girl who had suffered a fate very similar to this one.


    Back then he had just started to embrace the goodness of man, the fact that no matter how cruel the world was, there were still good people in it. But meeting that girl had been a cruel reminder. Yes, there were plenty of good people in it, but they would always be overshadowed by the monsters wearing human skin, they would always suffer at the hands of those that the heavens should have killed long ago.


    The bare back of the man who was pressing down and enjoying the prisoner suddenly shivered, all the hairs on it standing on end. A primordial fear washed over his very soul, his survival instincts simply shutting down and freezing him in place.


    The metal bars melted as Liang Chen stepped towards them, an errant crack of lightning arcing out from the puddle of molten metal and sizzling across the back of the man. A scar was instantly burned into his back, the smell of burnt flesh spreading out. But even so, the man couldn''t move, he was like a newborn calf frozen in fear in front of a tiger.


    Liang Chen reached his side with quiet steps, his gaze lowering to meet the sewn up eyes of the girl. She couldn''t see him, but she could sense him, it was as if his mere presence had changed the air. She unconsciously turned to look towards where she thought he was, his soft and gentle voice reaching her ears.


    "Tell me, do you want to live? Or like that girl back then, is death really all that you can see in your future?"


    Years had passed, but he could still vividly remember the pain in that girl''s ruined eyes, the despair and anguish that drenched her voice. The soft touch of her bloody hand and the gentle relief in her voice as she dubbed him her angel of death, it was all so ingrained in his mind that he didn''t think he could ever forget it. The girl moved her head slightly to match the position from where she had heard the voice, her dry lips opening as she croaked out with what little remained of her strength.


    "Kill...I want... Kill..."


    Pain and anguish, her voice was so heavily tinged by them that it had become distorted. But she managed to convey her desire, managed to pour out her heart. In some ways, perhaps she was somewhat similar to Liang Chen, in the past, he too was no more than a mortal who had suffered injustice and dreamed of nothing more than to kill the source. He had managed to move past that, at least somewhat, perhaps now it was time for her to do the same.


    "Then that''s how it''ll be. It''ll be a bit painful, but please bear with it."


    Liang Chen stretched out his hand and brought out a dagger from his interspatial ring, placing it in the hand of the girl. He helped her close her fingers around the handle, her arms were broken so there was no way she could gather up enough power to hold it properly. And then, he helped her raise her broken arm, a subdued groan of pain escaping from her lips.


    He helped her placed the dagger against the throat of the man that was pressing her down, his entire body still frozen by such a fear that it even shut down his survival instincts. He helped her draw a slow line across his throat, the sharp tip of the dagger easily penetrating his flesh and leaving behind a deep gash.


    Blood poured out from the laceration and drenched the practically naked body of the girl, the man gasping in pain. Liang Chen supported him so that he didn''t fall on top of the girl and harm her further, simply holding him in place as he died. And then, when the final traces of life left him, Liang Chen simply tossed the corpse aside.


    "That''s the first one, but there are many more like him out there. You should rest now, I''ll let you free when I reach a place where it''s safer for you."


    He placed his hand on her head and drew her into his interspatial ring so that Yumao could take care of her. He gazed down at the wooden bed where she had just laid, a soft sigh eventually escaping his lips.


    "One goal, and I still can''t even achieve it, I''m really far too weak."


    Liang Chen had a simple goal, he wanted to punish all those that should have been killed by the heavens long ago, he wanted to avoid the birth of more people like him. It was enough that the world had a single monster like him, it really didn''t need more. But moving through this dungeon and seeing the state of the people here he had to come to terms with the fact that he was still far from his goal. There were still plenty of people like him out there, new ones being born every day probably.


    "It all started here, perhaps it is fitting that I am reminded of the truth here."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter to himself as he turned around and started to leave the cell. This scene had simply been far too familiar, dug up far too many memories. Thanks to it, everything fell into place. Why the environment he arrived in felt familiar, why the gate to the hidden realm had looked so familiar, even why the architecture of the city had looked so familiar.


    A travelling hidden realm, a land covered in snow and omnipresent pressure, a pure white city where Liang Chen was reminded of the wanton cruelty people could show towards those they deemed beneath them. He had grown much stronger, reached a height so much higher that he couldn''t even compare it to the past him. But even so, this second visit to the Mystic''s Hidden realm was playing out much like the first one. But whether or not it would end like the first one, that was something left up to Liang Chen to decide.

 Chapter 283: Just men.

    Liang Chen''s pace as he backtracked through the dungeon was quite slow, his brows slightly furrowed as his thoughts ran about. He had never really expected to end up back in the Mystic''s Hidden realm, nor had he planned to enter it again if he ever did stumble upon it. After all, this hidden realm was owned by one of his enemies, the Sealing God Empyrean.


    At one point, the Sealing God Empyrean had attacked Liang Chen''s home planet just to end Liang Chen, he had even gone through the trouble of setting up a massive array around the entire planet. He hated Liang Chen for being born as a Sebettu, and he was obviously willing to do whatever it took to kill all those who carried that blood.


    "So why hasn''t he made a move yet?"


    This was the question that caused Liang Chen''s brows to furrow, why his thoughts were racing about. He had already been inside this hidden realm for five days, it should be plenty of time for the Sealing God Empyrean to make his preparations and deal with him. But forget about being attacked, he hadn''t even encountered a single thing that could threaten him.


    In truth, Liang Chen actually had a guess as to what might be the reason, and it was based on where the hidden realm had ended up. It was a bet that was a bit risky to confirm, but after giving it a bit of thought he ended up coming to the conclusion that he would have to take that risk if he wanted to have at least a little peace of mind.


    "Yao Jun... Chang Yun... Ning Hao... Yin Long... Lin Sangye."


    He said each name slowly, waiting around half a minute between each one. The first four names belonged to the Universal Hearts he had knowledge of, but there was no reaction even when he uttered the names loudly. There was no change in the air, no sensation that someone was looking at him, and only when the first four names showed no reaction did he utter the fifth one.


    The fifth name didn''t belong to a Universal Heart, it was the true name of the Sealing God Empyrean. He wasn''t a Universal Heart, but he had still reached such a realm that just uttering his name would alert him, he''d be able to find you in practically a single second. But not even that name showed any reaction, allowing Liang Chen to feel a touch more confident in his guess.


    "Seems like they''ve really been cut off, makes sense, really."


    The place that this hidden realm had appeared this time was no normal area, it was Purgatory''s Cradle. It was the remains of two Pillar Universes smashed together, housing the ownerless power of heavenly punishment, it was not a place that you could expect to follow the normal rules. And when Liang Chen thought back to the entrance of this hidden realm, how it had been practically invaded by the bloody aura of the land, it became clear that not even something as marvellous as this hidden realm could exist here as it pleased.


    But that brought about another question that Liang Chen had to ponder. If the Mystic''s Hidden realm couldn''t resist the corroding of this land''s bloody aura, why would it appear here? Why would the Sealing God Empyrean willingly send a training ground he had created to a place where it could very well end up being ruined? There was a chance that it wasn''t actually the Sealing God Empyrean that made the hidden realm appear here, but Liang Chen didn''t have a way to learn the truth at the moment.


    "At the very least, for now, he doesn''t seem to be able to see what''s going on here."


    Liang Chen threw the newfound question to the side for the moment and focused on what he had just learned. If the Sealing God Empyrean couldn''t see what was going on in here then things were currently in Liang Chen''s favour.


    This was a hidden realm filled with treasures and valuable items, and if Liang Chen could shut it down then that would be for the best. He hadn''t forgotten how it was in the past, how the automatic function of the hidden realm had been to force every cultivator to take part in the final trials, which were little more than a glorified slaughter to dig out the strongest. It didn''t care about their desires, strengths, or opinions, it simply drew them in and forced them to fight to their death, even if they had zero chance of success.


    His brows smoothened out after he reached his conclusions, his gaze hardening coldly as he raised his head slightly. His senses had already spread out to cover the entire mansion so there was no way for the people within it to hide from his gaze, or from his judgment for that matter.


    He picked up the pace a little, the empty cells shooting past him as he reached the entrance of the dungeon again. A sword came slashing down at him from the side the moment he stepped through the door separating the dungeon from the entrance hall, a spear also shot at him from the opposite side, catching him in a pincer attack.


    But Liang Chen barely even acknowledge the attacks, his pupils simply sliding over the two men that had launched the attacks. His left hand rose slightly and caught hold of the descending blade, lightning dancing around his palm and rendering the sword as little more than molten metal. One of the small lightning bolts shot away from his palm, piercing directly through the skull of the man that had wielded the sword.


    Liang Chen''s spear rose slightly at the same time, hitting the incoming spear from below and knocking it out of the other man''s hands, launching the weapon so high that it embedded itself in the ceiling. But he didn''t launch a second attack on the other man, he simply cast him a sideways glance before walking away.


    "Leave, this is not a place for someone like you to die."


    Liang Chen could observe every inch of the mansion, and he had also heard from the guards exactly what took place here, so he had already made his decision on who got to live and who would die. It might not be entirely accurate since he couldn''t possibly hear the life stories of everyone in the mansion, but he would rather spare someone and then kill them later than accidentally kill someone innocent.


    An argument could be made that the man had attacked him, but Liang Chen couldn''t sense any true killing intent from him so he decided to let him live. It was a strange moral to have in a world as brutal as this one, but it was the moral Liang Chen had settled on so it was the moral he would live by, no matter what others said about it.


    The man that had been holding the spear trembled uncontrollably, Liang Chen had swatted it aside as easily as one would a fly. And seeing how his hand had melted the other man''s sword and then even killed him without resistance, it was clear to him that this was a being that they couldn''t resist. Judgment day had come, but he had been spared, so he wasted no time before turning around and fleeing. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Liang Chen made his way deeper into the mansion after he finished dealing with the ambush, his Qi surging slightly as a faint white mist diffused out from his body. And only a few seconds after the mist left his body, a squelching and dripping sound echoed throughout the mansion, a few horrified screams quickly following suit.


    When Liang Chen first entered this hidden realm in the past, he needed two entire days of perfect concentration to spread his poison throughout one of these palaces. But now, now it only took him a short second to cover the entire area with his poison, the cells of those he deemed sinful drifting apart and reducing their bodies to bloody puddles.


    The sound of rushed footsteps quickly echoed throughout the palace as those he chose to spare ran for their lives, a few of them accidentally running directly towards Liang Chen. They almost fell over the moment they saw him, mentally saying their final prayer. But Liang Chen simply walked past them, leaving them utterly dumbfounded.


    Liang Chen only had a single target as he moved, there was only one person left in this mansion that had been spared for a reason other than innocence. He quickly reached the highest floor of the palace, a single decadent room that had a delicate glass door that led out onto the terrace that served as the top of the wave that the building was shaped like.


    Liang Chen pushed open the door and stepped onto the terrace, his gaze landing on the long silk-covered bed that had been placed right at the edge of the terrace, giving you a perfect view of the entire city. A man was currently sitting on the bed, his green shirt stained by the blood that he was coughing up. His entire face was pale, and his golden hair had clumped together and was practically glued to his face thanks to the extreme amount of sweat that was oozing out from his skin.


    "I''d ask if you''re the one responsible for this, but that would be a bit of a dumb action, wouldn''t it? You could poison me without my knowledge, so you''re definitely stronger than me, even more so now that I''m weakened like this. So speak, what is it that you want from me?"


    The man had a somewhat vicious glint in his brown pupils, his back leaning against the railing that marked the edge of the terrace. He couldn''t even tell when he had been poisoned, whether or not it had been in a single instant or over a longer period of time. But that alone told him that Liang Chen was stronger than him, and the fact that he was still alive told him that Liang Chen definitely had something he wanted from him.


    "An answer, I suppose. I want to know why, I want to know what sort of point there possibly is to this? You''ve reached the Primordial Immortal realm, so what can you possibly gain from torturing mortals and people who''ve just barely started cultivating?"


    This was the question at the forefront of Liang Chen''s mind at the moment. He had seen it so many times already, strong people abusing those weaker for seemingly no reason, it wasn''t for cultivation or for resources, they simply did it. The golden-haired man''s eyes bulged slightly as he looked at Liang Chen, the corners of his mouth eventually turning up slightly.


    "Why? For the same reason you''re standing here now, obviously. It feels good, doesn''t it? To hold someone else''s life in your hands, to have their entire existence depend entirely on you? There are countless other people stronger than us, but right there, at that moment, we are gods, reigning over life and death. We are above them, blessed, better than them, and they''re stuck being boring mortals, so what''s wrong with acting like gods? Is that not our right?"


    The man coughed out some more blood as he spoke, his chest heaving violently. But his eyes were filled with fervour and grandeur, a blazing light that bordered between desire fulfilment. Liang Chen''s expression didn''t change much when he heard the man''s reason, it was just that a tinge of sorrow and disappointment flashed through his pupils.


    He swiped his interspatial ring and brought out a small crystalline dagger, weighing the weapon in his hand for a second. His Qi started to slowly roil, seeping out from his body and sinking into the golden-haired man''s body. He didn''t try to resist the Qi, maintaining his fervent expression as Liang Chen''s gaze drifted towards him again.


    "Boring, is there something wrong with being boring? I once fought against a woman who used her law of time in a truly amazing manner, one eye saw the most likely future while the other eye peered down the endless river of time and followed its countless offshoots, gazing upon futures that may have come to pass if different choices had been made. We had never met, but she knew so many of my moves that it was eerie."


    Liang Chen still remembered that woman vividly, Chen Dairong, one of the Sealing God''s Empyrean''s disciples. To date, she was easily one of the hardest fights he had ever had to go through. Liang Chen walked forward as he spoke, stopping right in front of the golden-haired man, his gaze lowered to look down at him.


    "And I''ve read about a man who merged his law of time into not just his own body twice, but also into a certain location. Do you know what the result of that was? Whenever he died, his body and soul would be pulled back to that location and that time when he first merged the law of time into himself. He had perfectly tethered himself in time, he could only be killed by severing that connection first."


    The man in question was actually one of the Sebettu, he was mentioned in the records that Liang Chen''s parents had handed him. He was one of the few people that the record mentioned using the law of time, but it had preciously little about how he used that law. The law of time was a truly supreme law, even the Sebettu would have extremely few people who could use it, so the record contained very little about different usages for that law.


    "Compared to those two, I''m so much more boring. All I do is speed up or slow down the passage of time, I can barely be considered to be using the law. But is that so wrong? It gets the job done, it''s effective and it serves its purpose, so what''s wrong with boring?"


    Liang Chen raised the dagger as he spoke, placing the tip against the golden-haired man''s forehead. His law of time was one of his greatest weapons, it had helped him through most of his cultivation journey. But the way he used it was so simple it really could be considered boring, it had no flair or extraordinariness.


    "I''m quite angry right now, so I hope you don''t mind suffering under that boringness for a bit."


    Liang Chen stabbed the dagger forward as he spoke, plunging the blade into the man''s skull all the way into the hilt. The blade pierced directly into his brain so this would normally kill him instantly, but Liang Chen did not offer him this mercy, not with how poor his reason for being atrocious was.


    His law of time had already invaded the man, and seeing as Liang Chen was already able to completely freeze the time of an early-stage Primordial Deity, slowing it down was even easier. Using the law of time on others was a bit taxing so Liang Chen had only focused it on his senses and perception, allowing him to increase the effectiveness while conserving his own energy.


    So while it only took Liang Chen a handful of seconds to stab the dagger into the man''s skull, to him it would feel like much longer. Each second would feel like several minutes, possibly even hours, Liang Chen hadn''t bothered checking the effectiveness too thoroughly. And he would feel the dagger slowly sink into his flesh, piercing through his skull and into his brain, for every single one of those seconds, unable to do a single thing about it.


    Liang Chen let go of the dagger after stabbing it into the man''s skull, raising his gaze. He swept the city beneath him with a slow gaze, taking in the dark corners and the bright market, he was so high up that he could stretch out his hand and seemingly cover the entire city. But he didn''t, he simply shook his head.


    "I don''t feel like a god, gods don''t struggle. We''re just men, we''ll always be just men, the only difference between us will be what we''re struggling for."

 Chapter 284: Fue Sangye.

    Liang Chen''s gaze continued to drift across the city as he watched over it from his vantage point, the mortals and weaker cultivators living in it hadn''t even noticed what had happened in this palace. Perhaps, by the time they noticed it, Liang Chen would already have left. Some might be grateful, some might be angry that he created a power vacuum that could lead to fighting as new people battled to see who would be the new leader.


    But truthfully, it didn''t matter to him. If he cared for other people''s opinions then he wouldn''t have set down a path as bloody and evil as this one. He simply moved as his heart desired, struck as his consciousness dictated, strode forward until he was the only evil that remained. His gaze lowered slightly, locking onto a youthful girl that was making her way through the streets, heading directly for the palace where he was currently standing.


    "Let''s go Yu... Ah, right, not here at the moment."


    Liang Chen shook his head lightly, he was used to always being in contact with, or at least someone else. But since Yumao was taking care of the people he had rescued from the dungeon, Liang Chen was for the first time in quite a while, somewhat alone.


    Liang Chen stepped forward after he finished shaking his head, stepping over the railing that surrounded the terrace. He plummeted towards the ground, his spear sinking back into his body just before his feet touched the ground again. He used a bit of wind to slow his descent at the last second, preventing the stone road beneath him from shattering. He had landed almost directly in front of the girl that had been heading for the palace, her slim body quickly dipping into a respectful bow.


    "Greetings to you, Great Senior. My Lord would like to extend an invitation to you, he hopes that you''ll grace him with a visit. At your leisure, of course."


    The mortals and weaker cultivators of this city may have yet to notice what happened in the palace, but how could that possibly be true for the people residing in the opposite palace? Liang Chen had noticed that both sides had people keeping a close eye on the other palace, they would notice the moment something happened.


    "Yeah, I was planning on heading there next anyway, so lead the way."


    The girl felt a light shudder run down her back as Liang Chen''s words sank into her ears. He had just paid a visit to the first palace, and the end result was that only a handful of people or so managed to leave alive. His visit to them, would it end in that very same tragedy? But how could she know what she was dealing with? Liang Chen was the Scourge King, a title he embodied perfectly. He was like a swarm of locusts, he''d find a crop and devour it whole, and then he would move on to the next one without pause.


    But the girl feared that a moment of hesitation would end up sealing her fate, so she didn''t allow herself to show any of her fear or worry, smiling softly as she turned to guide Liang Chen. As for Liang Chen, he already had his plans, they were practically set in stone by the time he set foot into the city and spread out his senses. He didn''t say anything and followed after the girl, receiving a few curious looks as she brought him through the streets and towards the palace situated at the other end of the city.


    But whether or not it was because of the girl''s status or the unintentional aura of power that Liang Chen radiated, the people that filled the streets moved aside so that the two had ample space to themselves. The palace they were heading towards was located on the other side of the city, but both of them were somewhat accomplished cultivators so that distance was something they could cover without the sun moving too much further across the sky.


    The girl didn''t notice anything, but Liang Chen''s poison quietly snuck into her soul as they were moving. And before she knew it, she was unconsciously spilling everything she knew about the people in the second palace, even the lord that she respected. By the time they reached the second palace, she had emptied out her heart and Liang Chen drew back the poison, the girl not even realizing what had happened since the difference in strength was too great.


    The second palace was identical to the other one, Liang Chen craning his neck slightly to gaze upon the top of the wave-shaped building. The girl cast a sideways glance at him, but his expression didn''t give away any of his thoughts so she had no idea what to expect and could only proceed as calmly as possible.


    "This way please, my Lord is eagerly awaiting your arrival."


    The guards posted in front of the gate embedded in the fence had already stepped aside in a respectful manner, the beads of sweat running down their cheeks obscured by the helmets they were wearing. Liang Chen stepped past the guards and through the gate, the girl hurriedly leading him through the small garden and into the palace itself.


    A golden carpet had been placed inside the doors of the palace, the soft fur-like material shrouding the footsteps of Liang Chen and the girl. The carpet continued deeper into the palace, only cutting off when they reached the largest reception hall in the palace. As one would expect from a palace, a golden cloud-like throne rose up from the floor at the very end of the room, a seat worthy for a king receiving his subjects.


    But the throne was currently empty, the one that had invited Liang Chen had chosen to set up two small couches opposite of each other a bit away from the base of the throne. He, a middle-aged looking man with faded brown hair and strong blue eyes sat on one of the couches, an entourage of what was likely his closest aides standing respectfully behind him. The man rose from his seated position when Liang Chen stepped into the room, gesturing towards the other couch with a thin smile.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "I must admit, I wasn''t quite expecting you to arrive straight away so forgive me if our preparations aren''t quite up to snuff. I am Fue Sangye, please take a seat. Little Yingyu, you can come here."


    The girl that had brought him here, bowed respectfully at Liang Chen once more and then returned to the side of her lord, her steps a bit rushed. Liang Chen also stepped forward, taking a seat on the empty couch, his gaze landing on Fue Sangye, who also sat down.


    "I was expecting there to at least be some arrays, maybe an ambush, not often I get invited to a place with neither."


    Liang Chen''s pupils drifted about slightly as he spoke, his senses had covered the entire palace long before he set foot into it so he could easily see what they were doing. And just like he had said, there wasn''t a single array set up, nor did Fue Sangye have any men hiding in the area. Fue Sangye didn''t look surprised by the fact that Liang Chen had apparently scouted out the area already, maintaining his thin smile.


    "What point would there be in setting up either? Qing Rue definitely had several defensive and offensive arrays set up around his palace, but did they do anything to stop you? Based on what I''ve heard, none of the arrays even had the chance to activate. And I must admit that I''m inferior to Qing Rue when it comes to arrays and the like, so if his couldn''t stop you then there is no way that mine can."


    It was quite an honest answer, but it also avoided making his own stance clear, so whether or not he would have set up any arrays if he felt they would be successful was unknown. Liang Chen had no intentions of prying into it, and Fue Sangye also didn''t linger on the topic, clearly already determined to not waste too much time.


    "I''ll keep it simple, I want you to join us. Or perhaps more specifically, I want to form an alliance with you. We can''t fight you so there''s no way we can stop you from conquering this city. But seeing how strong you are, I take it that you are quite diligent with your cultivation, no? If you were to try to rule over this city, it will inevitably cut into your cultivation time, it will drastically hamper your growth. And that''s where we come in, we are already very familiar with this city, so we can help you take care of it and give you information, we''ll be like your arms and ears. Getting rid of us would require you to spend a fair bit of time setting up a new information network, so it''s not a terrible proposition, don''t you think?"


    Fue Sangye had started making plans the moment he received the news that someone forced their way into the other palace. If the intruder died but weakened Qing Rue''s forces then they would initiate an attack, if he died without damaging them then they would make no move, and if he won then they would try to form an alliance.


    Fue Sangye had only become all the more convinced of his third plan when he saw Liang Chen for himself. Cultivators were a peculiar breed, the younger they looked the warier you had to be of them. With how long their lifespans were, it was only obvious that their ageing also slowed appropriately, they would be able to maintain their appearance for an untold number of years.


    But even so, they didn''t magically get younger when their cultivation increased. If they were old when they finally increased their cultivation to a realm where their ageing slowed, then that would be how they appeared in the future, given that they didn''t use any special means to force their features to look younger. But these special means were generally seen through with relative ease so those who used them did so for vanity above all else.


    And Liang Chen looked extremely young, he didn''t even seem to have hit his twenties yet. This could only mean one thing, he had reached a somewhat high realm at a young age, which in tune meant that he had exceedingly good potential and talent. And people like that were always dangerous, especially as they grew stronger. So Fue Sangye decided that fighting was pointless, they may as well just latch onto the juicy thigh that now presented itself. But what a shame, they had misunderstood Liang Chen''s goal from the very start.


    "I have no interest in conquering or ruling this city, me arriving here is little more than a coincidence. I likely won''t even be here when dawn arrives again."


    This city had simply been the one that happened to be located at the end of the path he had randomly chosen earlier, and he had only entered it to get some more information about this hidden realm. And now that he knew the truth, he had no plans of staying here much longer, he already knew quite a lot about the Mystic''s Hidden Realm thanks to his last visit. Fue Sangye''s thin smile changed slightly when Liang Chen shook his head, traces of confusion emerging in his eyes.


    "You''re not intending on taking over the city? Then why did you kill Qing Rue and his men, did you have a prior grudge?"


    Fue Sangye had even personally gone up to the terrace to observe the other palace, he had seen how few people made it out of there alive. Liang Chen had basically massacred them down to the last men, yet he had no intention of taking over that palace, and the city at the same time?


    "No, I didn''t even know his name until you said it earlier. I killed him and his men because I did not like what they were doing, that was all there is to it."


    Liang Chen gave a light shake of his head, he truly hadn''t known a single thing about Qing Rue before reaching this city. Qing Rue simply had poor luck, that this city would be the one that Liang Chen reached first. Of course, if Qing Rue and his men hadn''t engaged in acts like that from the start then they wouldn''t have to rely on good luck to get through the calamity that was Liang Chen''s arrival.


    Liang Chen hadn''t put much meaning into his words, but Fue Sangye''s expression dropped slightly. He knew what sort of things Qing Rue got up to, he had been stuck in his realm for too long so he had allowed himself to sink a bit more into depravity. And since he knew what Qing Rue got up to, he could form a guess as to why Liang Chen had accepted his invitation.


    "...So the reason you accepted the invitation so quickly was?"


    Fue Sangye didn''t properly finish his sentence, the insinuation of his question was enough. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, the sound reverberating in his ears as he mentally gave a short prayer. But as Liang Chen was quite familiar with already, there was no exalted god that would listen to your prayers.


    "Him, him, those two twins, and about 49 others that are currently scattered about in this palace."


    Liang Chen''s hand stretched out and pointed at four of the people standing behind Fue Sangye, causing his expression to sink even further. It was exactly as he feared, Liang Chen''s vision had managed to pierce deep enough.

 Chapter 285: Ill accept your wrath.

    "...I''m surprised you didn''t put me on the list."


    Fue Sangye spoke up with a soft sigh after a short moment of silence, he didn''t know if he would be spared or not, but since Liang Chen hadn''t mentioned him it at least showed that he wasn''t a priority target. Liang Chen simply shook his head somewhat sadly, he hadn''t seen Fue Sangye do anything, and the dungeon beneath the palace was practically empty, so he knew what Fue Sangye actually meant.


    "Turning a blind eye isn''t a sin, it''s just sad. If I were to kill people for turning a blind eye then I would have to end every single life in existence."


    Indeed, even Liang Chen himself had turned a blind eye to thing in the past, when he was too weak to make a change. Most noticeably would be his time on Tripartite God planet, while there he had turned his gaze away from many a people because he was not yet strong enough to do anything. Fue Sangye let out another heavy breath, locking eyes with Liang Chen.


    "I can''t say much for the others, but I would like for you to hear me out in regards to the four behind me at least. I imagine that the thing drawing your attention is the five men in the dungeon, correct?"


    Liang Chen wasn''t surprised that Fue Sangye had dug out the truth straight away, he probably knew Qing Rue well enough to guess exactly which of his actions had displeased Liang Chen. And indeed, the thing that drew Liang Chen''s attention, at least most of it, was a group of five men that were chained up at the very bottom of the dungeon.


    The men were in the Soaring Immortal realm and were in a haggard state, traces of torture painfully evident on their bodies. In fact, the four people Liang Chen had pointed out had been beating up the five men as he stepped into the city, their faces distorted by a mixture of anger and sorrow. And of course, the reason behind their imprisonment was already told to him by the girl earlier, but he didn''t say anything about that and simply nodded his head, giving Fue Sangye the chance to speak.


    "I will admit, it''s not a pretty sight, but there is a reason to everything. The four people behind me are practically family, they''ve been together for nigh 3000 years already. But in truth, there used to be two more people in this little family of theirs. But 150 or so years ago, these two people were killed and robbed by the younger brother of those five men, and to this day they still refuse to say where their younger brother fled. Tell me, are they not entitled to their rage, having lost two of their family members?"


    Liang Chen was still young, extremely young even when you considered the lifespan of cultivators. So he couldn''t fully understand the depth of emotions that would form after being together for 3000 years, but he guessed that it was quite similar to his feelings for Yan Ling. But even so, Fue Sangye''s heartfelt speech was met with a very simple, practically disinterested question.


    "Those five men, did they have anything to do with the death of the two people you mentioned? Other than not saying where their younger brother went."


    Fue Sangye felt his chest thud once as Liang Chen''s golden pupils pierced into him, cold dread washing over his back and leaving him chilly. It was as if Liang Chen''s words contained an unviolable coerciveness, Fue Sangye could only respond with the truth, shaking his head. And sure enough, Liang Chen''s calm and cold voice sounded out practically the moment Fue Sangye shook his head.


    "So they couldn''t find the target of their revenge and thus decided to take it out on five innocent people instead, keeping their agony going for 150 years."


    Liang Chen couldn''t understand the depth of emotions formed after 3000 years, nor could he understand the suffering experienced during 150 years of constant torture. But he did understand one thing, and that was that the five men were at the very least innocent of the crime they were being tortured for. Fue Sangye''s clasped hands moved about a bit uneasily, his lips curving somewhat bitterly as he chewed on his words for a few seconds.


    "...Surely you have a family of your own, right? Can you not understand their anger and anguish, can you really not accept it? I understand that they may have crossed the line slightly, but you have to at least admit that they had a good reason for doing so."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Did he have a family? Once, Liang Chen had a very happy family, as did Yan Ling. But now, all that he had left was Yan Ling and Yumao, and Yan Ling only had Yan Ying and Lan Yun left, they had lost everyone else. So indeed, Liang Chen understood that anger and anguish, perfectly so even since it was what pushed him onto this path to begin with. But accepting it?


    "The thing about lines is that they don''t cross themselves, a choice is always made when you reach it. And once you''ve crossed that line, I stop caring about how you got there, all I care about is the choice that was made."


    Could you provide a convincing reason, a justification that allowed you to harm unrelated people? Liang Chen did not think so, no reason would be great enough. Once you made that choice, no matter the reason, you became just as bad as those you hated. That was a fact you had to accept and come to terms with, and you also had to accept the consequences that may arise from crossing that line.


    "I''ll have to fight you, you know that right? I can''t just stand by and watch as you kill my men, I really can''t."


    Fue Sangye''s expression was still bitter as he looked at Liang Chen, at this point he could only hope that Liang Chen was at least a little tired and exhausted after killing Qing Rue. The people behind him had put their trust in him, given him their loyalty, he could not just stand by and watch them die, even if he had to fight a losing battle for them. But what a shame, Liang Chen was a despairing existence that would not even give him a chance.


    "But you will."


    Liang Chen stood up from his seated position as he spoke, Fue Sangye''s heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. He put strength into his leg to stand up, but to his horror, his body refused to listen to him. He tried to order his limbs around, but it was as if they weren''t his any longer, they were simply frozen in place.


    "It''s a paralyzing poison, it''s mixed with a bit of lightning to override your nervous signals rather than shut it down entirely, you should be able to move again in a few hours."


    Liang Chen''s voice sank into his ears, Fue Sangye''s last bit of hope shattering into smithereens. He couldn''t even tell when he had been poisoned, it was as if the poison had always been present in his body and was just waiting for the order to activate. He tried to muster up his Qi, but even that wasn''t allowed, every ounce of energy he mustered up vanishing before it could gather together.


    Liang Chen raised his gaze slightly, moving it away from Fue Sangye and onto the 15 people that had gathered behind him. They had obviously heard their conversation so they knew what was about to happen. But would they really resign themselves to their fate without at least struggling a little?


    The twins were the first to react, their hands shooting forward the moment Liang Chen started to stand up. Their veins bulged, one of them bursting and ejecting a bit of blood that had turned a dark green thanks to the poison. Their arms also extended unnaturally so it seemed like they cultivated laws relating to blood and their body, they had probably relied on those laws to gather up the poison in their body so that they could expel it.


    A small dagger appeared in their grasps, Liang Chen taking two steps forward and one to the side so that the daggers stabbed into his shoulder rather than his chest. He could have dodged if he so desired, but this was an opportune moment to test something he had been a bit curious about in the past.


    The daggers sank into his shoulder after a bit of resistance, but the expressions of the female twins didn''t turn joyful due to this. A light wooshing sound reached their ears as their daggers stabbed into Liang Chen, and both of them saw a bit of dull violet lightning crackle across their daggers.


    The lightning travelled up the daggers and into their hands, racing through their body and wreaking havoc on their insides. Their heart was unable to handle the overload, it shut down along with the rest of their organs, both of them collapsing to the ground like deflated balloons.


    Liang Chen''s body and soul cultivation were special, they focused on first turning his body into the purest form of his elements and then eventually into laws. So in truth, his flesh and blood was actually a mixture of wind, water, lightning, time, and the void. And the twins had stabbed their metal dagger directly into that merged element, the lightning that resided in it conducting up through their weapons and bodies.


    "Huh, so it does work like that."


    Liang Chen had the theory that his body worked like this, it didn''t strive for an extraordinary toughness and instead aimed for an extraordinary strangeness. His body wouldn''t be as defensively strong as other body cultivators, but he could easily regenerate by taking in one of the elements he had used for his body cultivation.


    He had specifically avoided having a doctor use acupuncture on him in the past since he didn''t know if the man would even be able to pierce his skin, or if he would be shocked by lightning if he did succeed. And now he had gotten a proper answer to that question, he had already formed a guess in the past, but getting confirmation was always nice.


    Liang Chen drew in some of the surrounding air, the small stab wounds in his shoulder closing themselves. A faint mist seeped out of his body, invading the souls of the two other men he had pointed out as well as the other people he had targeted within the palace. The dull thuds of corpses collapsing echoed throughout the silent castle, Liang Chen lowering his gaze slightly to look at the pale-faced Fue Sangye.


    "You can hate me all you want, but direct that hatred at me, not at anyone else. I am Liang Chen, and if you want to have your revenge, you can always come looking for me, I''ll always be ready to accept your wrath."

 Chapter 286: Chaos is a wave.

    Fue Sangye''s entire body trembled violently under Liang Chen''s gaze, but it wasn''t due to fear, it was indignation that he hadn''t even been able to resist a bit of poison to protect his men. He didn''t shy away from Liang Chen''s gaze, meeting it without fear. But because he was daring enough to match Liang Chen''s gaze, he could notice his expression.


    "I want to know something, I should at least have that right, no? You said you killed Qing Rue and his men, and even my men, because you didn''t like what they were doing, but what do you gain from it? The treasures don''t seem worth it, and it certainly doesn''t look like it''s for personal joy or pleasure. So what do you gain? Why do you go so out of your way?"


    They said that the eyes were a window into the soul, so Fue Sangye could be said to have a front-row seat to Liang Chen''s seat. And because of that, he saw that Liang Chen''s eyes didn''t contain even the slightest trace of joy. He didn''t look happy to have removed the source of displeasure, he didn''t look like he found it fun to kill them, there was simply nothing.


    Liang Chen''s head tilted slightly, his hand unconsciously tracing his face. It was a question he hadn''t expected to hear, nor was it one that he had ever expected that he would answer so he was temporarily caught off guard. He closed his eyes for a bit and gathered his thoughts, now that it had come to his attention he felt like he should find an answer, at least for himself.


    Did he find joy in the killing, did he achieve a modicum of happiness whenever he removed a vile person from the face of the earth? ...Perhaps at first, at the very start when he first chose to head down this path, back then he perhaps found some joy in the deed. Each kill felt like a step closer to the goal, another bucket of water thrown into the pond.


    But now? He honestly couldn''t say that he found joy in it, he didn''t find any happiness when he killed someone. He had travelled too far and seen too much, realized that every kill wasn''t a bucket of water into a pond, it was just a drop of water added to the endless ocean. If he had to describe it, perhaps sorrow was a better emotion, a lamentation over the fact that people would be willing to sink so low in a world like this.


    It was an answer that could easily lead into another question, did he regret his choice? But that was a question he wouldn''t need any thought to answer. No, there had never been a time he regretted choosing his path. If he had the chance to return to the past, he would choose to make the same choices and follow the same path.


    The act itself may not give him any joy, but there was something in it that gave him joy. Every time his gaze deviated from the path, every time he saw the happy people roaming at the side of the road, the thankful people he had saved, it was seeing them that gave him joy, that made it feel worth it.


    The path itself didn''t give him any joy, but the people beside the road provided all the joy he needed. That was the answer Liang Chen had come to after thinking it over, so he opened his eyes again and looked down at Fue Sangye.


    "I go out of my way because I chose it, because I decided on this path. If I see evil, then I will kill it, again and again, all the way until the only evil left is me."


    Drops in the ocean were still drops, they still made a difference, it was just that he had to accumulate more of them if he wanted to see a noticeable change. He had already racked up several tens of thousands of bones beneath him, but he would rack up millions, even trillions more if that was what it took. And what better place to do just that than here in Purgatory''s Cradle, the bloodiest place in the entire universe? It wasn''t exactly a newfound determination, it was just an affirmation of his determination, of what he had chosen to do and what he still had to do.


    Fue Sangye trembled slightly once more under Liang Chen''s gaze, but this time was because he couldn''t quite decipher what he was seeing in his eyes. Was it bloodlust, anger, determination, or was it acknowledgement of the price he would have to pay? He couldn''t reach a conclusion, and Liang Chen felt like he had said and heard enough so he turned around and started to walk away. This was only the first city, there was still a lot more for him to explore and do in this hidden realm before he returned to Purgatory''s Cradle.


    --


    Chaos and war weren''t kind or patient things, nor were they things that could be controlled. Once unleashed, they would become a tidal wave that rushed forward uncontrollably, swallowing up everything in their path and dragging it along. But unlike a normal tidal wave, chaos was not something that diminished the further it travelled, it would only grow larger, until it was either crushed or had swallowed everything.


    Moonset city was currently experiencing a time of peace, albeit a somewhat fragile one. The Stone-Soul King had been killed so they didn''t need to worry about being attacked by any beast hordes, something both the Tien and Enlai clan were very happy about. The citizens were also happy that they didn''t have to worry about whether or not they would end up being eaten the next day, but everyone was also aware of just how fragile their current peace was.


    The threat of the Stone-Soul King was one of the main driving forces that prevented the Enlai and Tien family from waging a proper war over the city. After all, what organization would be fine with having to share their territory with another clan? Now they didn''t have to worry about outside attacks, so it was the perfect time to try to seize full control over the city.


    But they hadn''t shown any signs of starting a war yet, and the reason was quite simple. Liang Chen had given them a very stern warning before he left, if they embroiled the city in war and ended up killing innocents, then their heads would be his. But the peace they had agreed to would only last for 10 000 years, and that was only under the assumption that the other clan didn''t attack them first.


    Currently rushing about in the halls of the Tien clan mansion were two young twins, barely nine years old, their curly blonde hair bouncing slightly while their green eyes darted about. The boy, Zun Zhao, ran a bit ahead of his sister, Zun Zhi, both of them carrying boxes they could barely hold properly. They had the interspatial rings that their Big Brother Chen had given them before he left, but he warned them that they shouldn''t show them off to others so neither of them elected to just store the boxes in them.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "You''re falling behind, you''re falling behind~! I''ll be the first one there, I''ll be the first one there~!"


    Zun Zhao hummed the makeshift tune while slightly turning his head, egging on the slightly red-faced Zun Zhi to run faster. She puffed her cheeks out and forced her legs to move faster, but a mountain-like pressure suddenly bore down on them just as she was about to catch up.


    Their legs gave out underneath them and they both tumbled to the ground, the boxes rolling away and spilling out the plates that had been neatly stacked in them. The inhuman pressure crushed down upon them, a droning creaking sound reverberating in their ears, but they couldn''t tell if it was from their own bones or from the hallway around them.


    Zun Zhao felt his chest burn, it was as if his lungs were going to collapse if he tried to so much as breathe. But in this situation more than ever, he remembered what his Big Brother Chen had told him. All pain was worth bearing if you bore it living the life you chose for yourself. And the choice Zun Zhao had made was that he would be as strong as his Big Brother Chen and protect his sister.


    He exerted all the strength he could, his hand barely able to push against the floor. But even as he gave it his all, he found himself unable to move, he couldn''t even push his body closer to his sister so that he could shield her. But just as he was tensing up so much that it felt like his veins were about to burst, a gentle force wrapped around them and blocked the pressure.


    "You two, quickly, we need to get out of here!"


    Tien Huang had crossed the corner closest to them at an unknown time, his blue eyes slightly bloodshot while his usually smooth black hair had clumped together due to sweat. He shielded the two of them with his Qi and helped them up, dragging them along as he started to run through the hallway.


    "Young Master, what''s going on?"


    "Young Master, did one of the elders have a training accident?"


    The twins had no idea what was going on, everything had simply happened too quickly. This clearly wasn''t the best time to give an in-depth explanation, Tien Huang was perfectly aware of that, so he only gave the simplest possible one.


    "It''s the Enlai family, they''re attacking. There''s no telling what might happen so I''m bringing you two away, otherwise I won''t be able to face your Big Brother Chen should he return."


    Liang Chen had specifically included the Zun twins in the warning he had given both clans, if they were harmed then he would come for their heads. So the moment the attack started, Tien Huang knew that he would have to get them both away from the mansion. There was also the fact that Liang Chen had taken care of the great threat that loomed over them, the least he could do was protect these two twins while he was gone.


    He quickly dragged them to one of the many secret passages in the mansion, rushing through the underground tunnels and escaping through a small hatch that opened up to one of the areas that was a few hundred metres away from the mansion. As for the mansion, over a third of it had already collapsed, the men of the Tien clan rushing to the front of it to oppose the other side.


    The Enlai family''s men stood by the broken gate that led into the Tien clan''s headquarters, the aura of the two opposing armies shooting into the sky. But floating in the sky were the leaders of the two families, and in truth, it was they who would decide the flow of the battle.


    Standing at the front of the Enlai clan''s elders was their matriarch, Enlai Yuan-Hah, her crimson hair flowing freely while her green eyes had hardened with determination. Tien Bao stood against her, his white hair and sharp blue eyes forming a contrast to the youthful woman facing him.


    "Is this the choice you''ve decided to make, Enlai Matriarch? Do you really think that they''ll leave you be just because you''ve accepted their offer? Tearing an opposing force apart from the inside to weaken them is the standard strategy above all others so don''t tell me you don''t know what the next step in that strategy is!"


    Tien Bao''s roar resounded across a good portion of the city, his wrinkly face distorting slightly. The Zun twins had no idea what he meant with his shout, but Tien Huang knew. Someone had approached their clan not long after the destruction of Violet Dawn city, they promised them the means to win over the Enlai clan, the chance to rule the city. All they had to do was swear loyalty to them and they would be able to acquire what their ancestors had dreamt of for years.


    But in the end, they rejected the offer. The other side was simply too suspicious, there was a good chance that they had given the same offer to the opposing Enlai clan. There was also another fact, Tien Bao didn''t think that things would end well even if they accepted the offer. They would either be killed by the Nine Heavens Demon God if he won, or they would be killed by the party that had made the offer, they were a loose end after all.


    They wouldn''t be able to survive if they accepted the offer, so it was better to reject it and ensure their survival. Tien Bao knew that Enlai Yuan-Hah wasn''t a fool so she had definitely also thought of this, but she didn''t show any intention of backing down.


    "Of course I know it! Of course, I know what end awaits us no matter what side wins! But did you see what they did to Violet Dawn city? Did you see how effortlessly they eradicated it? If both of us rejected, what do you think they would have done? Would they have just left? No, we would become another Violet Dawn city!"


    The news of Violet Dawn city''s destruction could not be hidden, the other party had even gone out of their way to show them images of its destruction, showing a taste of the power they offered. Enlai Yuan-Hah had given it a lot of thought, and she had made her decision.


    "What choices did we have? Either we reject and you accept, resulting in the eradication of my clan. Or we both reject and both our clans are erased on this very day, just another paragraph in the history books. I am the matriarch of the Enlai clan, I am their mother and their leader, it is my duty to give them the best possible life. So hate me all you want, but I will do everything I can so that they survive and thrive, even if it''s only for a short while."


    Enlai Yuan-Hah held her head high as she spoke, but the only thing she radiated was an anguished pride. No matter what path she chose, she was doomed to never be able to fulfil her duty as the Enlai Matriarch, not truly. So she chose the path that would at least let her children live for a while longer, the path that would let them be happy for at least a few more years.


    She raised her hand slowly after she finished her statement, a watermelon-sized heart covered in intricate runes appearing above her palm. Each pulse of the heart would send out waves of power, some of the weaker Tien clan disciples exploding into a bloody mist from just the waves alone.


    Tien Huang was luckily quite far from where Enlai Yuan-Hah hovered so he and the Zun twins weren''t really affected by the pulsating waves. But his face paled horribly at the sight he saw. Those were his brothers and sisters, people he had grown up with and trained with. Would this really be the end of his family, was this the decree that the heavens had set down?


    "I''m going to protect you as best I can and get you to the nearest spatial array, but if worst comes to worst then you need to rely on the treasures that Big Brother Chen gave you."


    Tien Huang swallowed down his tears and spoke to the twins in a trembling voice. He didn''t know exactly what Liang Chen had given the twins before he left, but since he even went as far as to give them interspatial rings it shouldn''t be anything weak. But he would only bring them to the closest spatial array to send them away, that would at least be enough to get them away from this calamity. After that, it would be time for him to return so that he could perform his duty as the young master and share the fate of his clan.

 Chapter 287: What do you say?

    Tien Huang held onto the hands of the twins as he started to run with all his might, the subdued popping sounds coming from behind him jolting his heart. This was it, the end of the road for the Tien clan, several thousand years of history were about to be wiped clean and brought to an end. It wasn''t exactly uncommon, clans and sects were wiped out nearly every day, that was just a fact you had to accept in a universe as big as this one. But never had Tien Huang thought that it would be their turn to become another footnote in history, at least not during his lifetime.


    He dragged the Zun siblings towards one of the side entrances into the compound, one used only by the servants. But the twins were only children, they hadn''t even turned 10 yet, so how were they supposed to be able to keep up with his speed? It was inevitable that they would stumble and fall, Tien Huang''s grasp on their hands the only thing preventing them from landing face first.


    He made the snap decision that dragging them along was no longer an option, exerting a bit of force and lifting them both into the air. He held them close like he would an infant, his steps never once slowing down. He was still a cultivator at the middle-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm so his speed was nothing to scoff at, he crossed the ten or so kilometres in only a handful of minutes.


    Not long after he passed through the side entrance, a roar that sounded like it came from a bear rocked the entire city. A gargantuan shadow rose up from behind Tien Huang, blotting out every trace of sunlight as a wave of power washed out from the compound he had just fled. His feet lost contact with the earth as he was launched forward, the wave of energy so powerful that it didn''t even seem to care about the distance between him and its epicentre.


    He rolled across the stone streets, his ears ringing with the roar from earlier. He quickly corrected his position, glancing down at the twins in his hands. Both of them had been battered somewhat from the tumble, Zun Zhi seemed to have lost a few teeth and Zun Zhao had a bleeding scrape on his forehead as well as a broken nose. But that was the extent of their injuries so Tien Huang didn''t see a need to stop and administer emergency treatment.


    As such, he continued to run, his face already entirely devoid of colour. The only thing he could hear right now was the echo of that horrible roar, as well as the anxious mutters of the twins he was carrying. But that was it, other than these two things, it was all silence. He had felt where the roar and wave of energy came from, and for everything to turn silent after it, there was only one explanation he could think of.


    But he didn''t dare to turn around to confirm it, he feared that he would collapse once he saw the truth. And he couldn''t afford to collapse yet, he first had to get the children away so that he could at least say he had returned a bit of the favour that Liang Chen had given them. Only then, only then could he finally allow himself to collapse and join the rest of his family.


    But what a shame, blessings come one at a time, but misfortune always comes in multiples. Only a handful of minutes had passed since the roar sounded out when the heavens decided that Tien Huang''s efforts should be for nought. He crossed a bend in the street, his heart sinking to the pits of his stomach when he spotted the group of five that was currently making their way down that very same street he had just stepped onto.


    One of the people in the group wore the light robes of the Enlai clan, but the other four wore different robes so he couldn''t tell exactly where they came from. And as if to make matter worse, one of the people in the group had reached the early-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, he was not an opponent that Tien Huang could fight.


    The approaching group spotted Tien Huang at the same time as he spotted them, the gazes of the two groups interlocking as time seemed to crawl to a halt. The man that had reached the Primordial Immortal realm had his expression distort for a split-second, his lips twisting uncomfortably before the light in his eyes hardened.


    "I''m sorry, I really am."


    Tien Huang barely heard the man''s mutter before he raised his hand. A metal pole materialized in front of Tien Huang, accelerating and smashing into the base of his throat just as he pushed the Zun twins aside so that they weren''t also in its path. The force of the attack launched him backwards, his back shattering as he smashed into what he remembered used to be a pottery store.


    The pole continued to move forward, piercing through his throat and nailing him to the building, the Zun twins flung to the side. Things had simply happened far too quickly for them, they had barely registered that they had crossed a corner when they were suddenly flung aside, their Young Master ending up with a pole through his throat.


    "G...Go..."


    Tien Huang''s croaks rang in the ears of the twins, the hole in his throat and the resulting pooling of blood making his words practically ineligible. It took them a second, but the severity of the situation finally fully sank into the minds of the twins, Zun Zhi springing up with tears in her eyes.


    "No, Young Master, we can''t leave without you! Big Brother Chen will be sad if we go alone!"


    The group of five that stood a distance away looked at the spectacle, the Primordial Immortal cultivator''s still outstretched hand trembling. He had received strict orders, he knew what he was supposed to do. But looking at the group in front of him, at the two crying children, he wavered. His hand continued to tremble, his Qi constantly surging and receding.


    But in the end, it was too much for him, he couldn''t bring himself to do it. They were just children, what harm could they possibly cause, would it really be that wrong to just let them go? He started to lower his hand, but that action caught the eye of Zun Zhao, who had just barely struggled up to his feet after getting flung away.


    He saw the man''s arm move, and remembering how a single move of his had harmed their Young Master, he felt a terrible sense of unease wash over him. Would it be his sister next? Would she be the one to end up nailed to the wall like that? He had told his Big Brother Chen that he would protect his sister even if he had to endure pain, so fearing for her life, he acted on what could best be described as instinct.


    "Leave her alone!"


    His hand rubbed the interspatial ring that he had been gifted, the items inside had been neatly organized by function so that even the mostly clueless kids could find what they needed. He pulled out another ring, one that looked like it had been carved out of ruby, chain-like carvings etched into the entire thing.


    The life-saving treasure that his Big Brother Chen gifted him only needed the smallest amount of energy to be activated, it was so little that even Zun Zhao could activate it. The ring crumbled as it activated, the chain-like carvings coming to life as countless crimson chains spawned in the air between Zun Zhao and the group of five.


    The chains were only faintly connected to Zun Zhao''s mind, just enough to differentiate between enemies and allies. The group of five didn''t even get the chance to react, the chains acted like snakes and launched themselves at them, coiling around their bodies and limbs. They moved with a single purpose, to eradicate the determined threat, and they wouldn''t care about how gruesome an act it was to accomplish that.


    Three of the five men were the luckiest, the chains attacking them managed to coil around their bodies and then constricted, crushing them and turning their organs to paste. The last two men were the strongest, which could be considered their bad luck in this case, as they manage to dodge the first charge by the chains.


    The chains failed to simply coil around them, so they settled for just coiling around the closest limb, their wrists, their shins, their necks if they could. And then they moved in different directions with full force, the two men getting pulled limb from limb in a macabre display.


    This was the strongest offensive life-saving treasure that Liang Chen had left Zun Zhao, he had nabbed it from a middle-stage Primordial Immortal cultivator after killing him. Weaker cultivators would be crushed or torn apart by it, while stronger cultivators would at least be obstructed by it, calling it useful would be an understatement. What a shame that its previous owner died before they even got the chance to use it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Zun Zhao felt his stomach turn at the sight, the realization that he had caused it only made things worse. He couldn''t help but lean forward, emptying his stomach as he retched again and again. He kept vomiting until it felt like he was throwing up pure stomach acid, but he finally managed to regain a semblance of control by mentally chanting the words that Big Brother Chen had told him.


    In a situation where you need to protect your sister, you aren''t likely to be able to avoid pain. But most pain is worth bearing if you bear it while living the life you chose for yourself.


    He repeated the words again and again, using them to gather his strength and force his stomach to become quiet. He had killed them, but he had protected his sister in doing so, he had even gotten to punish the men who hurt his Young Master, he would just have to find solace in that fact.


    "Young Master! Please get up, we need to move!"


    He didn''t even bother, or remember, to wipe his mouth as he rushed over to Tien Huang, his eyes practically radiating desperation. Tien Huang had taken care of them for most of their lives, he had been good to them and protected them from the scary people in the Tien clan. So whether it was because of unwillingness or cluelessness, he didn''t want to accept that this was the end of the road for Tien Huang.


    "I can''t...Get up...Leave...Leave..."


    Tien Huang could only croak out the words, his lungs filling with his own blood, it was a borderline miracle that he was still alive. But he knew that it wouldn''t last much longer, a minute or so would be the best he could manage, not even a miracle doctor would be able to save him in this situation. All this commotion would definitely attract any other groups that were nearby, the Zun twins had to leave now if they wished to have any semblance of a chance. But neither of them showed any signs that they were going to leave, bawling their eyes out as they tried to move the pole that nailed Tien Huang to the wall.


    --


    While the Zun twins were doing their best to free their doomed Young Master, there were actually two people overseeing the state of the city. Within the vast grey expanse of the void, the green-haired and grey-eyed teenager that had been present during the destruction of Violet Dawn city sat upon a throne made from black stone, a somewhat bored expression hanging on his face as he leaned against the throne''s armrest.


    The orange-haired and green-eyed youth that had also been present during the destruction was also there, a translucent bubble surrounding him and protecting him from the void around them. There was a third person there with them, a somewhat older looking brown-haired and blue-eyed man clad in a sky-blue robe decorated with brown feather-like markings. This man didn''t have a bubble around him but rather a layer of shimmering rainbow-coloured energy.


    Several hundred square screen-like holes had been torn into the void in front of them, each one depicting a different city, each one filled with varying degrees of chaos. Their gazes were constantly sweeping across the screens, until finally, the grey-eyed teen, the exalted ruler of the Void, was no longer able to bear it.


    "Isn''t it about damn time you tell me exactly what sort of point there is to this? I can somewhat understand the first attack since we managed to draw out Azatoth, but is there any point in baiting these cities like this? They''ll all just get destroyed so what point is there in stringing them along?"


    They were acting against several hundred cities at once, but he knew that these cities didn''t really amount to much, not in the grand scheme of a Sphere War. That was especially the case when they weren''t destroying them straight away and instead just pitting them against themselves like this. The one who responded was the somewhat older man, his seemingly bottomless eyes not showing any trace of agitation or irritation at the impatience of the other party.


    "It''s good to be confident, but the moment you become cocky, you lose. You''re very young, so I don''t blame you for not knowing the terror that this particular multiverse is capable of instilling, you''ll have plenty of time to learn it. It''s quite simple really, we need to do everything we can to increase our chances of victory, because if we lose then an untold number of our own children and friends will perish forever."


    He knew, probably better than anyone else, how freakish this particular multiverse was. The rest of the Sphere of Existence wasn''t that incredible, it was average for a man-made Sphere of Existence, it was just this one multiverse that was terrifying. It alone was the dangerous point in this Sphere of Existence, the one point that could turn the entire war on its head.


    And because he knew this, he knew that he had to do whatever they could to increase their chances. He still remembered the time they lost the Second Sphere War, he was still counting the number of dead to this very day. He did not want to lose any more of his children, even if it meant having to discard all the children of this Sphere.


    "And one of the better ways to increase our chances of victory is to divide the forces of our enemies, to split them apart from the inside. Now, granted, having these cities turn against each other isn''t enough, they can at best be considered inconsequential. But look at how many people live in these cities, look how angry and sad some of them are, look at all the wrath that is gathering."


    The man swept out his arm as he spoke, gesturing towards the screens ahead of them. The cities were filled with scenes of people losing friends and family, of people being too weak to protect anyone. Wrath and anguish were gathering in droves, minds were dropped into the crimson ocean of revenge and hatred.


    "That wrath is our target this time around, people filled with such intense emotion tend to be willing to bear anything to achieve their goal. And those willing to bear any sort of pain tend to have a greater chance of surviving the Shadowchaser surgery. What do you think people will think when a whole bunch of Shadowchasers are running about unleashing all that pent up wrath?"


    The Shadowchaser surgery, the man couldn''t even remember how much time it had taken to decipher that thing. And that was with him having plenty of specimens he and his aides could study, it followed a path he had never imagined, a way of creation that went against the sanctity of that law.


    The grey-eyed ruler swept his still bored pupils across the screens in tune with the man''s gesture, not showing the slightest interest in any of the sorrow and pain that was unfolding.


    "...I get it a bit, but are Azatoth and the others really so stupid that they''ll think Lucifer is going around conspiring with the enemy?"


    The ruler had made sure to read up on all the records he could get his hands on so he was aware of the fact that the Shadowchaser surgery was something only Lucifer had access to. But to use that simple fact and try to turn the rulers of this multiverse against each other? That sounded far too naive and simple, even for him. And indeed, the brown-haired man shook his head softly.


    "Not at all, they won''t believe it for a single second. But the Shadowchaser surgery is something created by Lucifer, the entire multiverse knows that the technique belongs to him, only he and Lilith are able to perform it. Or so it should be at least. And as long as they believe that Lucifer may not be on their side, then we''ll have achieved our goal, that suspicion will fester, it will nag at them and push them away from him."


    He had already come to terms with that it was extremely unlikely that he would ever be able to turn the rulers of this particular multiverse against each other so he had abandoned that avenue long ago. But while a war relied heavily on its strongest fighters, they weren''t the only ones who could change the outcome. If they lost all their allies, even they could fall, especially if enough belief was moved away from them and onto his side instead, that would only make things even easier.


    "Oh, there''s another pair, I''ll go greet them."


    The brown-haired man''s gaze coincidentally landed on the screen showing Moonset city, spotting the crying Zun twins. Sorrow and hatred, both of them were showing ample signs of both. They were also very young, and children like this would always have greater purity in their emotions, they would be more true to them. And if worst came to worst, they would be a bit easier to prod in the right direction.


    The man''s body split open, an identical clone appearing at his side. The clone waved his hand, a bit of rainbow-coloured energy tearing a hole in the void and allowing him to leave. The other side of the tear brought him directly to Moonset city, right next to the Zun twins. The twins jolted when they noticed him, but he didn''t take any action, simply shaking his head somewhat sadly while looking at Tien Huang.


    "Gods forgive me, I was too late. I''m sorry, little ones, there is nothing that can be done for this young man any longer. If you have any last words you would like him to take to the next life, please say them now while he can still hear."


    The twins trembled fiercely at the man''s words, but Tien Huang also shook fiercely. He of course knew that he was going to die, the reason he shook was because he found himself unable to say a single thing. He wanted to warn the twins to not trust this man who could come from nowhere, but his throat refused to form the words. The Zun twins didn''t know this, their tears only growing stronger as they clutched onto the metal pole.


    "No! The Young Master is going to be fine!"


    "You''re lying, the Young Master is going to be fine!"


    Perhaps, deep within, they had already understood this fact, it was just that their young minds hesitated with accepting it. Tien Huang and the Tien clan were everything they had, what would they do without them? Tien Huang wanted to say something, but to his horror, he felt his body go against his wishes, his hands rising and stroking their heads as he croaked out words he didn''t mean.


    "G...Go...With him...He...Help...Avenge...Avenge...Avenge"


    The twins trembling grew worse as Tien Huang stroked their hair, those three bloodstained Avenge''s ending up being the last things he ever got to say to them before life left his body. His hands fell limply to the side and his eyes grew dim, his entire body slacking. The man stood at the side and shook his head sadly, stretching out a hand in an inviting gesture to the kids.


    "What a shame, another good man moves on to the next life. What an unjust death he received, multiple clans ganging up to ruin his family, no wonder he would beg to be avenged. As he said, if you come with me, I can help you. I can give you strength so that you won''t have to suffer helplessly like this ever again, strength to avenge those that shouldn''t have died, strength to protect your family with your own hands. What do you say?"

 Chapter 288: The irony of heavenly wrath.

    Liang Chen''s footsteps echoed through the empty halls of the palace, splatters of blood leaking out from beneath the doors of nearly every room he passed by. He had already left the palace that Fue Sangye was in control of, this was the palace of the deceased Qing Rue, the pools of blood a grim reminder of Liang Chen''s earlier visit.


    Those that had been spared had already fled the palace, and unbeknownst to Liang Chen, they would be the source of a legend that the palace was cursed by a vengeful spirit. But that was a tale that had nothing to do with the current Liang Chen, his gaze calm to the point of indifference as he continued to walk.


    He retraced his earlier steps and headed for the terrace that served as the crown of the palace, the glass doors still wide open to invite him. Qing Rue''s body was still propped against the fence surrounding the terrace, his pupils dilating and expanding as if his mind was buried in the nightmare that Liang Chen had bestowed upon him.


    Liang Chen walked up to the body and placed his hand on its head, his law of rot gushing out. The clothing disintegrated, the flesh became a foul-smelling liquid that dripped onto the bed beneath him, and finally, his bones turned to pale dust that blew away, the corpse returning to nature. Liang Chen''s eyes rose slightly after he disposed of the corpse, a bit of wind picking up the loose interspatial ring while his gaze swept over the city beneath him.


    His eyes slowly closed as he observed the almost uncountable number of people that were roving through the streets as they went about their daily lives. His senses slowly spread out, poison particles smaller than a speck of dust rising from his body and spreading out with the wind. The poison in them was so weak that it wouldn''t even harm a mouse, but that weakness meant that he could create and maintain a seemingly endless number of particles.


    The poison took over for his senses when it spread beyond the range of his senses, latching onto the skin and clothing of the living beings that it touched. The wind helped spread it further, the entire city blanketed by his poison before long, allowing him to simultaneously observe the entire city at once.


    The people went about their lives as normal, some took care of their shops, some risked going out to hunt, others tended to their small farms. They met up with friends and shared moments with their family, and Liang Chen observed it all as he stood at the highest point of the palace. Every life was in sight, everyone held in the palm of his hand without them even knowing it. Perhaps this was what Universe consciousnesses felt when they oversaw the worlds they controlled, perhaps this is what they, as gods, felt at all times.


    But the feelings of gods was not something that Liang Chen bothered wasting any time on, he was not an existence that could co-exist with gods if they acted like he had seen them act up until now. He only had a single goal, that one simple yet bloody goal.


    He stood still, as if frozen, for over five days, observing every nook and cranny of the city while watching how the people here lived their lives. But once he felt like he had observed for long enough, his eyes slowly opened again, a slight tinge of relief surfacing in his golden pupils.


    "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, was it? Perhaps there is a bit of truth in it."


    Liang Chen had been to many places and seen a lot of things, he was already all too used to people using each other or killing each other for the smallest of reasons. As such, he expected that even though the people in this city were mostly mortals and low-levelled cultivators, there would be a great number of them that would cross the line.


    But to his surprise, the number was surprisingly low, only a few thousand at best. So he couldn''t help but think about that quote, perhaps cultivators were just more prone to crossing the line because they had the power to do so. Unlike these powerless mortals, who were so oppressed by the mere existence of cultivators, they simply didn''t have as many chances to cross the line, it was simply too risky for them.


    But whether or not it was by nature or by circumstance, there would always be someone to cross the line, someone who would take things too far. And Liang Chen was the bane of people like this, a bit of dull violet lightning crackling through his pupils as he looked down upon the city.


    The lightning was sent out through the connection he had with the poison particles, slowly accumulating until it formed a proper bolt. And then, without any of the people in the city understanding how, the lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck down the people that Liang Chen had marked.


    In only a few seconds, a few thousand people were silenced forever, Liang Chen drawing back the poison particles he used earlier. There was one fact he himself hadn''t noticed yet. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, was that very same saying not true for him? After all, he had just felt relieved that it was ''only'' a few thousand people in this city who deserved death. To the past, weaker him, this would be an insane number, a number of deaths that could chill his blood. But to the current him, it was a source of relief.


    And perhaps, as an added layer of irony, the man who despised the heavens more than anyone had just created a phenomenon that would be spoken about for ages to come. None of those who had witnessed it would be able to forget about the day where the heavens awoke and sent down their wrath on the sinners. For the first time in countless years, the heavens finally did what the bedtime stories always said they would.


    "It''s about time I head out, Yumao is probably about to reach that stage of annoyance where he''s liable to eat someone."


    Liang Chen did not know about the two different legends he had created in this city upon his first visit, his gaze sliding down to his interspatial ring as he muttered to himself. Yumao had been put in charge of taking care of the people that he had saved, but Yumao was far from suited for work like that so leaving him alone with it for too long wouldn''t be a good idea.


    He sent his consciousness into the ring and called Yumao back, the winged serpent happily leaving the orb within the ring and flapping his wings in front of Liang Chen''s face. Liang Chen gave his head a few rubs, the line of feathers running down his spine tickling the tips of his fingers.


    "I''ll leave it to you, I hope you haven''t eaten any of them. And oh, if you don''t mind, take us to that lightning place I told you about."


    He slid off the interspatial ring he was wearing as he spoke, placing it on Yumao''s head so that he could keep it safe. The orb that could hold living beings was stored in his interspatial ring, so if he wanted to enter it he would either have to pull it out from his interspatial ring or enter the ring himself.


    Removing it wasn''t a terribly enticing idea, the time-altering capabilities of his interspatial ring simply worked too good when matched with the orb, so it was better for him to entrust the ring to someone else whenever he entered the orb. After all, entering the ring while simultaneously wearing it wasn''t exactly something that could be considered possible.


    He vanished into the ring after he finished speaking, arriving within the plaza that served as the centre of the city located within the orb. Liang Chen swept his gaze across the plaza, Yumao had simply gathered up all the people there and brought out beds that they could sleep on. After all, what point was there in spreading them out through the city when he could just gather them up here to save himself some trouble?


    "Come on man, at least let them have a smidgen of privacy..."


    Liang Chen muttered a soft complaint, but seeing that all the people were still alive, and that their wounds were mostly healed, he couldn''t really say too much. He hadn''t counted earlier, but sweeping his gaze across them now he realized that he had actually picked up a bit over 50 people, it probably wasn''t too comfortable for all of them to be stuck here in the plaza.


    "Excuse me, could you be Benefactor?"


    A soft and rather weary voice interrupted Liang Chen''s sweeping gaze, his eyes turning towards the bed that the voice came from. The person sitting on the bed was a young girl with shoulder-length black hair, the covers pulled up to her neck to cover her body. This was the final person that Liang Chen had saved, the unfortunate girl that had gotten her eyes sewn shut.


    Yumao had at least removed the stitches, but the eyes of the girl were already completely ruined. The needle had gone through her eyes multiple time as they were getting stitched, it was as if a multitude of claws had cut through her pupils so it was a rather macabre sight. But even so, she had been the first one to notice his arrival, alerting the others.


    "The name is Liang Chen, not Benefactor. I''ve already killed everyone who deserves to die outside, so I''ve come to check on you, please don''t mind Yumao if he was a bit rough, that''s just how he is."


    Liang Chen shook his head slightly, he hadn''t really gotten the chance to introduce himself earlier due to the circumstances of how he picked these people up. He gave them the news that those that had tormented them were now dead, but there was very little joy present on the faces of the people that had turned to face him.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Dead...They''re all dead..."


    "Then...What now...?"


    The people that had tormented and tortured them were all dead, just like that, as if it was all just a dream. But then, what about all the pain they suffered, all the scars on their bodies, what were they to do about them? They had already lost everything, but now they had even lost the targets of their anger.


    "My intention is to keep you safe here until I reach a safe place where I can set you free. But that may take a while, as I''m not currently in a place that can be considered very safe."


    Liang Chen knew that there was no way he could free these people inside Purgatory''s Cradle, there were no safe places there. But leaving Purgatory''s Cradle just to free them also wasn''t too safe, there was no telling if the Sky-Piercing Sparrow still had something set up outside. Liang Chen''s gaze swept across the people gathered in the plaza, and just as he feared, his words didn''t have the desired effect.


    "Free? But... What are we even supposed to do?"


    "No home, no family, is there even any place where we can be free?"


    "We can''t even take revenge for ourselves..."


    When you lost everything and were plunged into the depths of despair, how were you supposed to react when you finally managed to leave it? Was it fine to just be happy that you were alive, or were you supposed to feel sad about everything you had lost?


    And what about when you were so weak that even leaving the pit of despair couldn''t really be called salvation, the moment your saviour took his eyes off of you, you were liable to just be dropped right back into them. Liang Chen let out a somewhat heavy breath at the sight, it would be a bit painful if the people he had just saved lost all their will to live and ended it all. But just as he finished his sigh, that soft voice rang out once more.


    "Excuse me, but could you tell me if someone sent you to save us, or to kill the lord of the palace? Is that why you were there?"


    Liang Chen''s gaze turned towards the girl with ruined eyes once more, she was the only one present that had gotten to kill one of her tormentors with her own hands. There was also the fact that she had endured pain and torment that should have killed a normal mortal, she clearly had a stronger mind than most. And now she had already been given several days to gather her thoughts so she had probably already formed a few conclusions and decisions.


    "No, me going there was nothing but a coincidence. I just so happened to reach that particular city first, and then I just so happened to see what the people in the palace were doing. I disliked it, so I acted, that was all there was to it."


    Coincidence. In the end, it all boiled down to that ephemeral thing known as luck. Would Liang Chen be here or there at this specific time, would he hear about this or that, would something stop him as he was on the way? Countless factors played into it, to the point where each person he saved had such a small chance of being the one saved that it was borderline a miracle.


    "I see. Then, Benefactor, have you done similar things in the past?"


    The girl simply nodded her head surprisingly calmly, the quiet tone of her voice somewhat calming the minds of the slowly despairing people around her. She asked the question, but she seemed to have already formed a guess, she had probably pieced things together based on the question Liang Chen asked her back in the prison cell.


    "I have, many times already, and I''ll do it many more times in the future. The number of lives I''ve taken to this day is not something you should try to guess at, it will only dishearten you."


    These people were just mortals, the strongest among them hadn''t even reached the Soaring Immortal realm yet. For them to comprehend the sheer number of people he had killed? Something like that would drain all of a mortal''s hope, because that was a number that could fill up a city.


    "...Could you tell me why, Benefactor? Is it a desire to kill?"


    As was to be expected, even the seemingly calm girl faltered slightly when Liang Chen spoke so calmly and confidently. She could still remember that eerie calmness he radiated when she first met him, the man pressing her down hadn''t even been able to move thanks to the fear-inducing aura he radiated. But even so, she wanted to know, why go out of his way to kill people he disliked, and to save people that had nothing to do with him. Once she knew the answer to that, perhaps she would be able to find an answer for herself.


    "As a child, I was told that the heavens are just, they will punish evildoers who hurt innocent people. But the heavens aren''t just, they are either dead or indifferent. So I will replace them, I will strike down those that the heavens should have erased long ago."


    Liang Chen didn''t hide it, it was the path he had chosen, even if the actual choice felt like it happened several hundred years ago already. It was a terribly strange sensation, the execution of his parents and the death of his sister felt like they had happened ages ago, yet he remembered them like it was yesterday.


    "I see, it must have been a very painful experience that led you to think like that."


    The girl could only give a very simple response, there really wasn''t much she could say to the story. But she knew, no grand ambition was born in a place of comfort, they all came from pain. The greater the ambition, the greater the pain. And to supplant the heavens, how grand of an ambition was that?


    But he had given his answer, his reasoning for tearing a bloody path through the palace dungeon and saving her. And in turn, she came to her own conclusion. She pushed away the blanket covering her while getting down from the bed, revealing that she was still wearing nothing but the rags that she had worn inside the dungeon. She was practically naked, but she simply ignored that as she got on her knees, lowering her head until her forehead touched the ground.


    "Please, Benefactor, I realize that I have no right to request this, but please help me grow stronger. Please, give me a chance to fight on my own."


    Liang Chen''s expression cramped slightly as the girl got on her knees, only turning more bitter as she spoke. But that bitter expression was only the start, as the girl''s words seemed to invigorate the more despondent people around her, giving them a certain idea.


    "...Please, extend a hand to me as well, I do not wish to rest amidst the mud any longer."


    "Please, give me a chance to take back my own freedom."


    "Please, give me the strength to avenge my arm on my own."


    They had lost everything, and even if they were given freedom, they would just lose it in the end. So why not fight? Why not claw their way out of the mud and up into the light, why not fight against the injustice they had to suffer? Liang Chen understood this thought process, he really did. But even so, with his lips twisted into a bitter smile, he couldn''t help but try to persuade them.


    "...The people who have hurt you are already dead, they''ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again. You can live in peace now, I can promise you that. And even if you gain strength, the targets of your revenge are already dead."


    He really didn''t want to train them to fight and kill, doing so to Yi Xue and the other people he had picked up before coming to this major universe was already enough. He wanted to prevent more people like him from being born, that was his goal, it certainly wasn''t to nurture more people like him.


    "You are right, I can live in peace. With all my heart, I believe that you have the strength to give us that assurance. But Benefactor, if I live in peace, what am I to do with all this festering anger, this blazing fury that won''t leave my chest? The targets of my revenge are already dead, but the scars of the past never leave, nor does the pain that caused them."


    But no matter what Liang Chen''s thoughts were, would it matter to others? He was constantly burning with anger, wrath that threatened to burn the skies themselves. But wasn''t the same true for others? Those who suffered from injustice were almost always the same, broken people burning with pain that just wanted something to direct their anger at.


    "And, Benefactor, is there still not one other target that we can direct our anger towards? You said that the heavens are indifferent or dead and that you seek to supplant them, so would it not be fine for us to seek the same goal? Would it not be fine for us to rage against the indifferent heavens that allow pain to spread without end?"


    The girl didn''t raise her head even once as she spoke, but the soft voice that came from her lowered head tunnelled into the hearts of the despondent people around her. If one person could rage against the heavens with unfathomable wrath, couldn''t they just do the same? They had lost everything and were wallowing in pain, but couldn''t they take that pain and turn it into motivation? They were mortals now, but one day they might be titans that could challenge the heavens. And even if they failed, the worst that would happen would be that they died and got reunited with their families.


    "There is also another way you can see it. You have saved us here today, dragged us out of the darkness and pointed us towards the light, we would not be here if not for you. But while you saved us, how many innocent fell in a different place? How many innocents were condemned to torment because you were here, and not there? If there were more people fighting for the same cause, would we not be able to reach more places at once, save more people? And as we save more, won''t they be like us, another burning soul that can help others?"


    The girl continued to talk, as if she was trying to corner Liang Chen and drive the last nail into the coffin. Liang Chen''s expression only grew all the more bitter as the girl kept talking. When he first saved her, he had felt that she was somewhat similar to him, he too had once just been a mortal filled with a burning desire to kill the source of his anger. And from the soft yet resolute words she spoke, it seemed like she ended up making the same choice as him, albeit a choice that ended up being influenced by his words and actions.


    "...I didn''t want there to be more people like me, one really was enough. But I''m still weak, so it seems like that goal is still far out of my reach, huh?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter to himself, he kept trying so hard to prevent the birth of more people like him, the world didn''t need more angry and broken children. But the more he worked towards that goal, the more people like him he seemed to create, first it was Yi Xue and the others from his home universe, and now it was this girl and the others.


    "Very well, then let me take responsibility all the way. I am Liang Chen, I can be considered one of the leaders of the Storm Wolf sect. And if you wish to save the innocent, then our doors will always be open, those who just want to live in peace can just continue living here until I find a safe place for you. But I will warn you this once, if you engage in the same acts as those I target, then my spear will come for you just like it came for them. Please, don''t make me kill people I''ve already saved."


    Liang Chen wiped away the bitter expression as he spoke, he had brought the people close to this path so he would take responsibility and see it through. And of course, he didn''t forget to give them the same warning he gave everyone else, his spear made no distinction, it pierced through all sinners the same, no matter who they were.


    His words were like lightning running through the bodies of the people around him, that sharp determination and underlying threat causing tingles to run up their spines. The girl with the ruined eyes raised her head from the ground slightly before knocking her forehead against it, the others around her joining her in a kowtow as an all-too-familiar scene repeated itself.


    "Thank you, Benefactor. Then please, allow Disciple Jiao Hui Xin to be the first to greet Wolf Sovereign Liang Chen."


    "Please, Storm Ruler Liang Chen, guide this Zi Tin onto your path of heavenly wrath."


    "Please, Wolf Lord, help this Chang Toh become strong enough to save so many that my lost family can smile down at me from the World Tree Realm."


    "Storm Monarch, please, please, give me a target that I can vent all this burning anger on, Cao Zen Shu begs of you!"

 Chapter 289: The fear of the void.

    While Liang Chen was finishing up his business inside the city, the business taking place within Moonset city was also starting to finish up. The Zun twins were looking at the brown-haired and blue-eyed man''s outstretched hand, the slightly bleak smile on his face instilling a strange sense of closeness in them. But even with that sense of closeness, Zun Zhao, his face messy with tears and snot, didn''t forget to hold his crying sister close and question the man in front of them.


    "Strength...What strength is it? And how will we get it?"


    What a shame it was that the Zun twins were simply too young, they had experienced too little and were thus too naive. They didn''t even question if this man was friendly or not, the dying words of their Young Master and the sense of closeness was enough to lure them in, not once did they think that something was strange.


    "It is the strength to save whoever you want, to kill whoever you want. It can be any element you desire, you just have to decide what form you want your wrath to take. But sadly enough, it is a very painful process, you may even die, that is why the Young Master didn''t tell you two about it before. But it is the ONLY way for normal kids like you to gain the strength you desire."


    The man spoke softly and caringly, but he viciously emphasized his words, driving the already despairing right into the corner. And just like previously his words seeped into their hearts and soul like a beautiful dream, neither of them doubting or questioning them, doubting him and his goals. Zun Zhao felt a soft tremble run through his chest as the man spoke, but looking down at the crying sister in his arms and remembering the words of his Big Brother Chen, he made his decision.


    "I...I want you to give me power, I can bear anything if you promise me that I can protect Zhi and hurt those who hurt the Young Master! But you can''t give Zhi the power, she isn''t allowed to get hurt!"


    He was the brother, and just like Big Brother Chen had been capable of protecting them, now it was his time to take up the role of protector. But what sort of protector would he be if he allowed his sister to get hurt, to experience pain that might kill her? Zun Zhi raised her face after Zun Zhao finished speaking, she had never seen her brother with such a rigid, almost chilly, expression in his eyes. But the man simply smiled, taking hold of Zun Zhao''s hand.


    "What a good brother, protecting your family is the greatest of goals. Don''t worry, I promise you that as long as you withstand the surgery, you will gain such power that no one from this Sphere will get to kill your sister."


    A soft and gratified smile, filled with such warmth that the Zun twins felt like they were looking at their parents. But whether or not it was because they were too naive to think deeper about it, or because of the strange charm in the man''s words, neither of the children noticed the almost sinister undertones in his words. The man closed his hand around Zun Zhao''s hand, space around them closing in a similar manner, all three vanishing from the city so that they could move from one tragedy to another.


    The brown-haired man was taking away the Zun twins, but they weren''t the only ones he interacted with. He had several tens of other bodies moving about within the other cities that they were acting against right now. And all the while, he also had one body sitting within the void, observing the hundreds of screen that floated in front of him and the two others. The orange-haired youth surrounded by the translucent bubble slid his gaze away from the screen that had featured the Zun twins, nodding his head slightly.


    "He had good eyes, he would have made a good soldier. If we win, I''d like to request that you recreate him, there should be enough space for that if we get to add this Sphere onto ours."


    No matter where you came from, talent would always be something that would be appreciated. But in the same vein, determination and a willingness to endure were equally appreciated, even if it manifested within an enemy. The brown-haired man acknowledged the request with a nod of his head, but the grey-eyed teen stood up from his seat before the older man could say anything.


    "Something''s not right."


    The teen''s eyebrows were furrowed slightly, his gaze sweeping the surroundings in a vigilant manner. The two other men immediately grew a bit more vigilant as well, the teen may be immature and arrogant, but he was still the ruler of the void, if he said something was wrong while within the void then something was definitely awry.


    A handful of seconds after the teen spoke up, the sand-covered wasteland around them started to quiver faintly, something that sounded like a subdued whimper ringing out through the air. All three of them had stood up now, their senses spreading out as far as they could within this unhabitable land. But the one that had his expression change first wasn''t the brown-haired man who seemed to be the leader, nor was it the teen that had the exalted role of ruler of the void. No, it was the green-eyed youth, a long green spear flickering with green flames appearing in his grasp.


    "It''s him."


    As if his words were a signal, the quivering of the land around them reached a violent crescendo before abruptly stopping, even the subdued whimpering fading away. At the same time as the disturbance came to an end, a crack appeared in the sky above them, sliding apart as it formed a grinning maw. And as if the sky itself was speaking to them, a voice reminiscent of a beast finding its prey came out from the crack.


    "Long Yao and Tian Shen, no wonder I smelled something tasty. Well well, aren''t you two far from home, far from safety? But hiding in the void huh, it seems like you''ve learned a few new tricks since last time."


    The echo of footsteps followed the voice, a youthful man walking out from the crack in the sky. The youth had snow-white hair that hung down to his waist, all of it tied up into a neat ponytail, but a few strands of hair still hung down over his pitch-black eyes, the contrast only making them stand out more. He was clad in a tight-fitting sky-blue robe, and the corners of his lips were curved up with unmistakable excitement.


    "...Huang Ying... You shouldn''t have found us this quickly, were you keeping an eye on something in one of the affected cities?"


    The orange-haired and green-eyed youth holding the spear, Long Yao, had his expression sink a bit further when he saw the youth step out from the crack. The energy within his body started to roil and surge, but the opposing youth, Huang Ying, only looked down upon him.


    "You''ve actually found the guts to use my name, even when you''ve only bothered to send a piddly little avatar? I hope that means you''ve increased your skills sufficiently, it really would be too boring otherwise. What about you, Tian Shen? This''ll be the first time I get to hunt you, so I hope that the avatar you brought over is strong enough, don''t disappoint me."


    The brown-haired man, Tian Shen, stood next to Long Yao and looked at Huang Ying with a raised head, studying him with a somewhat curious gaze. His Sphere had a bit of information about all the rulers within this Sphere of Existence, but that didn''t mean that he had personally met every single one of them. And this Huang Ying was one of those he hadn''t met, despite the fact that he participated in the previous Sphere War. He wanted to say something, but the teen that had been ignored so far was the one that flared up first.


    "Jormungandr! I was hoping that I could get to exchange a few moves with one of the leaders sooner rather than later, you''ve come at the perfect time! I am Kongxu Zhuren, and I will take back what you took from us!"


    The green-haired and grey-eyed teen''s lips cracked apart to reveal his sharp teeth as he roared, Zhuren''s entire body bursting with power and an intense desire to fight. He was the ruler of the void, born to control it and oversee it, and the man in front of him was the person responsible for ruining the beauty of said void.


    His legs tensed up slightly, all the land within the surrounding few hundred kilometres sending out a surge of power that rushed into his body to support him. He kicked off and shot into the air, arriving in front of Jormungandr almost instantly and lashing out with his fist, the energy around it so condensed that it had turned into a subdued pale-grey light.


    The clenched fist smashed into Jormungandr''s left chest, the unleashed energy smashing him into the ground and distorting the crack that he had stepped out from. A thick cloud of dust and sand was thrown into the air, Zhuren''s entire face distorted by his desire to beat down Jormungandr. But Long Yao didn''t look as confident as Zhuren, exchanging a few quick sentences with Tian Shen.


    "What a fool, going ahead and firing him up... My Lord, it is best that we prepare ourselves to fight. We''ll lose these avatars so I''m afraid I''ll have to trouble you to create new ones, but we should be able to at least weaken him somewhat."


    "We''re guaranteed to lose them? It seems like you think quite highly of him, to the point that he''ll even hamper our escape?"


    "Yes. I was the one who had to fight him the last time, so I can guarantee you that these avatars will not be enough to fight him. If I had my true body and weapons here then I would be able to fight him, but with just this, I''m afraid that it won''t be enough, even if we include everyone."


    Long Yao didn''t have a single positive thought about the situation, and Tian Shen trusted his general. The two had fought side by side for countless years so he knew how experienced his general was, if he said that these avatars would be lost then that was practically guaranteed to happen.


    The two turned their gaze towards the plume of dust that rose up from where Jormungandr had landed, but neither of them charged at it. Tian Shen trusted his general so he waited, and Long Yao knew that it was exactly this moment where things would be the most dangerous, because now Jormungandr had not only been fired up, but also disappointed. And sure enough, his displeased voice rang out from within the plume of dust.


    "That''s it? I let you get in a free hit but this is the best that you could muster? You''ve got the law of the void and were supported by it, but even that was barely enough for you to break through the concept? And as for taking back what I took, I''m pretty sure I planted a good amount of new trees and plants."


    The dust slowly started to settle, revealing Jormungandr standing in a crater with his neck craned slightly. The entire left side of his chest was bare after the attack, his skin and flesh flaking away to reveal his bones and organs. But a strange scene occurred whenever the flaking was about to go beyond his chest, the flesh around the wound would wriggle like it was filled with maggots, thousands of tiny crimson eyes and maws seeping out and covering the wound, forming new flesh and skin.


    Zhuren''s distorted expression sank slightly when he saw the scene, Jormungandr didn''t even seem like he was feeling any pain, he just looked disappointed and bored. He also reacted quite strongly to the end of his sentence, sneering in disgust.


    "I''ve torn them all out, we don''t need your pity or charity, I spit on them. We are the Void, we will take what is ours with our own hands. If we can''t even do that then we don''t deserve a single thing."


    Zhuren had already lived for a bit by the time that Jormungandr sought out Liang Chen and got his help in opening a sufficiently large portal to the void. As a result, he knew how horrid of a state the void he had been born into was, and the scattered records left behind by his ancestors made it very clear who the source of that horrid state was.


    There was no way he could accept the plants that had been brought in by Jormungandr, they were a blemish. He sneered in violent disgust, seemingly only a second away from spitting on him, but Jormungandr didn''t even seem like he cared about Zhuren''s actions.


    "Hee~, no wonder you haven''t been accepted by the void, you''re just a brat with his head showed up his own arse."


    Jormungandr''s chest continued to flake away and then reform, the pace of the disintegration quickly growing slower as the law of the void that had been pushed into his body disappeared. He still hadn''t moved from his position, the only emotion visible on his face was boredom, a stark contrast to the flaring up Zhuren.


    "Accepted? I am the soul of the Void! I am its ruler and lord, I was born accepted by it!"


    He was a Voidborn Ruler, he could practically be called the crystalization of the void. He was born to command it and control it, he was born to treat the void as just an extension of his body. To say that he wasn''t accepted by it was the same as saying that his very birth had been a mistake. The void around Zhuren started to thrum with power in tune with his emotions, but Jormungandr still didn''t budge, shaking his head disappointedly.


    "You say that, but you were only able to borrow power from a tiny little piece of the void. Chen Daoge was much stronger than you, he had perfectly merged with the entire void, it was his body and power. And he understood his role as the ruler of the void, he certainly didn''t have a vision as narrow as yours. You taking over his role is just a joke, he''d be ashamed to know that you were the one born to follow in his footsteps."


    Chen Daoge, it wasJormungandr''s battle with him that caused the current state of the void, he was a true monster that could proudly bear the title of a void ruler. Zhuren knew who Chen Daoge was, the records spoke extensively about him since he was the previous Voidborn Ruler. And as the inheriting Voidborn Ruler, Zhuren had nothing but respect for his predecessor.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "You... You don''t get to talk about the Ancestor! You have no right to do so!"


    Zhuren had gathered up so much power from the surrounding void that it spilt out from his mouth as he roared, it was as if he was lighting up from within. It was an amount of energy that could cause even Sovereign Gods to tremble like mice, but Jormungandr simply shook his head disinterestedly.


    "Whatever you say. You got in one free hit, so I''m sure you''ll be fine with taking one from me, right? Don''t go dying now."


    Jormungandr finally moved after he spoke, raising his right arm and holding his hand towards Zhuren as if he wanted to grasp him. And then, just as Zhuren was starting to feel a sense of foreboding, Jormungandr clenched his hand.


    Metal spikes appeared around Zhuren without warning, stabbing into him and branching out, propagating without pause as they tore through him. Zhuren''s Qi immediately burst forth and ate away at the metal, the spikes flaking away like they were getting peeled. But the flakes ignited before they could vanish, turning into a resplendent crimson blaze that engulfed him from within.


    His energy gushed out again, but the fire was being put out so slowly that it was hardly worth mentioning. Even worse, it didn''t even seem like the fire was latching onto him or raging around within him, it simply seemed as if he himself had become the fire. He drew in even more power from the surrounding void to quench the flames, but the fire morphed strangely just as they were about to be overwhelmed.


    The luminous blaze darkened and hardened, turning into earth that was covered in small plants. The roots of the plants embedded themselves into Zhuren''s body, eating away at the energy and lifeforce in his body and facilitating their own growth. The plants grew larger while Zhuren felt his own power wane, traces of panic flashing in his pupils.


    One of the roots that was burrowing through his body suddenly grew greatly, growing so large that it pierced through his body and dug into the wasteland beneath him. It tensed slightly, Zhuren''s body getting pulled down so fiercely that he smashed into the sand-covered earth.


    The layer of plant-covered earth that was growing on and inside him only started to grow larger, it wouldn''t take long before he would become one with the earth. But just as he was about to detonate every last ounce of power within him to repel it, Jormungandr waved his hand and caused the earth to disappear.


    "What, you couldn''t even handle that? Have you not even conceptualized the void into yourself yet? Are you even trying to understand the law and how to use it?"


    Disappointment and boredom were the only emotions in Jormungandr''s voice, there wasn''t the slightest hint of interest directed towards Zhuren. Just one move of his hand was all it took to bring him down, the shame of this realization hung so heavy in Zhuren''s head that he could feel it pound against his skull.


    "Don''t you lecture me! If you''re here to fight, then fight, don''t spout so much dribble!"


    This was the greatest shame he had ever experienced, the resistance he had offered could barely even be considered that. Even worse was that the opponent hadn''t even finished his attack, he had cancelled it prematurely, as if Zhuren simply wasn''t worthy of mustering up his final resistance. And as if to make it worse, Jormungandr shook his head and dismissively waved his hand, not even bothering to spare Zhuren another glance.


    "I am here to fight, but not you. Come on, just look at you, there wouldn''t be an ounce of fun in fighting you, you wouldn''t even be able to make a mouse feel alive. Just fuck off, come back when you''ve gotten closer to Chen Daoge''s level, then you may actually be a fun fight."


    Jormungandr''s gaze turned towards Long Yao and Tian Shen, both of who had yet to move. Long Yao had already tensed his entire body, he was familiar with Jormungandr so he knew that this little side squabble wasn''t enough to make his attention waver, he had definitely been focused on them from the very start. But while he wanted to just shoo Zhuren away, how could the ruler of the void just allow himself to suffer such shame?


    "...I''ll admit it, I''m not your match yet. But unlike you, I''m not alone here. Did you really think that we hadn''t prepared for any unforeseen circumstances? Come!"


    Zhuren''s energy burst out and merged with the surrounding void as he roared, three circular gates appearing a good distance away from him. One person appeared within each gate, the gate turning into a bubble that surrounded them and protected them from the Void. This was the privilege of a void ruler, he could allow even normal people to visit the void.


    But these three people clearly weren''t normal, not even the void energy surrounding them was able to entirely isolate the energy radiating from their bodies. All three people also had a thick layer of energy circulating around them, galaxies and planets visible within the energy. Zhuren swept back his hair wildly, his face once again distorting with an intense desire to break down the man in front of him.


    "I''ve read your records, Jormungandr! You are definitely a freakishly strong Universal Heart, you''ve even made that sinful mockery of an Ascended Law, your disgusting Prime Law of Gluttony. But like you probably forced out of the comrade of mine you caught earlier, even the kings in this Sphere are fed up with you, we''ve got plenty of Universal Hearts to fight against you!"


    Jormungandr was probably the man he had studied the closest within the records, he was the personal enemy of every Voidborn so he wanted to know as much as possible. He was strong, despairingly so, but he primarily fought alone so Zhuren had already prepared several other Universal Hearts as assurance. Even better was the fact that they came from the same Sphere as Jormungandr, their death wouldn''t bring much harm to his own or Tian Shen''s side.


    Jormungandr looked at the three people that had arrived, his gaze sweeping over them and causing their spines to tingle slightly. He didn''t recognize any of them so he guessed that they became Universal Hearts rather recently, that or they had hidden for far too long in anticipation of this day. But what a shame, he had a keen eye for people. A single glance was enough to tell him that these people were boring, there was no fun to be found in fighting them.


    His eyes flashed slightly, something that looked like a multitude of minuscule crimson eyes surfacing within his pupils. The land around them started to quiver again, the subdued whimpering surfacing in the wind again as Jormungandr raised his right arm.


    And as he raised his arm, what looked like sticky black mud rose up from the wasteland around him, it seeped out from between the sand as if gravity didn''t exist. And before anyone had the chance to react, the black mud shot into the sky, forming a gargantuan black serpent whose entire body was covered in crimson eyes and crooked maws that looked like they were giggling maniacally.


    The semi-solid serpent formed around where the three Universal Hearts had been standing, continuing to rise into the sky until it practically turned into a pillar that connected the earth with the dome of the sky. Its tail then finally left the earth, the creature''s body stretching across the sky before it fell apart, turning into black drops that rained down upon the earth.


    The mud-like serpent had fallen apart into rain, but the three Universal Hearts were nowhere to be seen, even the faintest trace of their energy had vanished. Zhuren couldn''t help but look on dumbly, raising his head to see Jormungandr licking his lips once.


    "...Wh..."


    "Well? Anything else?"


    Zhuren''s mind had never raced like this before, he had been born as a flawless ruler, the void itself fawned upon him. Even Tian Shen and his men had to treat him well since he was the ruler of the void. So this, this was the first time he had ever experienced anything like this, something so demoralizing and soul-crushing. Jormungandr saw that Zhuren was so dumbfounded that he could barely speak, sneering in disdain while glancing at the spot where the three Universal Hearts once stood.


    "What, you think that they can fight just because they''re Universal Hearts? We fought for our titles and land, do you really think you can compare us to those weaklings that had it handed to them because they were liked enough?"


    Universal Hearts, truthfully, they were the peak of existence. There would occasionally be someone who could take over entire multiverses or entire Sphere''s of Existence, but they were as rare as Voidborn Rulers so they couldn''t be counted. And yet, Jormungandr didn''t even pay them any mind, he seemed to treat them and the universes they had brought along as just another snack.


    Zhuren felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach as Jormungandr looked at him, now he was finally starting to understand why Long Yao had previously told him that he was far from ready to duke it out with Azatoth. He was strong already, true, but that strength was nothing in front of someone like Jormungandr, he would have to work much harder if he wanted to match up to them.


    His legs trembled slightly as he looked at Jormungandr, but he already knew what he had to do, what sort of humiliating act he had to engage in. And so, he turned around and he fled, he tore through the void and vanished, taking with him enough indignation and anger to fuel several aeons of determination. But Jormungandr didn''t pay him any mind, his head tilting as he directed his gaze towards Long Yao and Tian Shen.


    "What a boring man, couldn''t even serve as an appetizer. Now then, I do hope that the main course will be tastier, I''m getting oh-so hungry."


    Long Yao took half a step forward the moment Jormungandr''s gaze was directed towards them, both his hands grasping his spear as the strange green flame flickered on the spearhead. Tian Shen stood half a step behind him, but he had yet to bring out any weapon, he simply allowed his gaze to roam across Jormungandr''s body.


    "You were quite vicious there. They even went out of their way to bring along their universes, you could have at least hesitated before you ate them all. Do you perhaps not feel anything when you think about the untold number of people that died there?"


    The layer of energy surrounding the three Universal Hearts hadn''t been something common, it was the universes they ruled. By bringing them along they could truly exert all their might, all the power of their universe would be at their fingertips at every moment, the faith of all the beings living in them just waiting to be used. But all of that had been extinguished in a single moment that didn''t even give them the chance to react, and the only response Jormungandr could muster was a disinterested, almost carefree shake of his head.


    "What point is there in feeling anything towards people who couldn''t even muster up the determination to resist a bit of control? If they''re gonna resign themselves to their fate then they may as well just be sent on their way to the next life, maybe they can become something worthwhile then."


    Tian Shen''s eyebrow couldn''t help but rise slightly when Jormungandr dismissed it so easily. He personally didn''t care much about the lives in this Sphere of Existence since they weren''t his children yet, and caring about them now meant having to abandon the children he was already in charge of. But this man was Jormungandr, and the three universes that had just ceased to exist belonged to his own Sphere, it was tantamount to weakening his own Sphere.


    "But that''s enough talking, my teeth are starting to itch."


    Jormungandr spoke up again before Tian Shen or Long Yao could say anything, his lips curving up to reveal his sharp canines. His aura started to rise uncontrollably, like a wild beast that had finally found some prey it could gorge itself on.


    His hand opened slightly, a weapon appearing in his grasp. The weapon was a two-headed spear, one head on each end of the spear. Both ends were almost half a metre long, far too large to be called a spearhead. The weapon could only be described as sinister, a pitch-black body and two crimson blades. Its mere presence seemed to distort the world, as if the weapon itself was trying to be the only thing remaining in existence.


    "That...!"


    Long Yao reacted the moment he saw the weapon, his words catching in his throat as one of the sinister red blades was pointed directly at his throat.


    "Longinus, the God Devouring Spear. It took your head last time if I recall, have you managed to cultivate a new main body since?"


    If Liang Chen had been here, while he may not have recognized the weapon, he would at least recognize the name. Back when he first became a member of the Storm Wolf sect and acquired the Chaos King technique, it had been given to him by someone only known as Elder Chaotic. And Elder Chaotic was the spirit residing within something that looked like a rock, which he had been told came from something known as Longinus, the God Devourer.


    "That thing should have already broken, it fell apart right here in the void so you shouldn''t have been able to reforge it."


    Long Yao''s expression had darkened considerably as he looked at the weapon. His earlier thoughts had all been based around the fact that Jormungandr didn''t have a proper weapon, it had been shattered during the battle against Chen Daoge. A Jormungandr without his weapon and one with his weapon, he didn''t even need to think about which one was more dangerous.


    "It didn''t fall apart, I just left one of the parts here to show sufficient respect towards Chen Daoge. As for the small bits and pieces that separated from the weapon, they don''t matter much, they can come back when they''ve grown a bit."


    Jormungandr really didn''t mind telling the opposing party this information, it wasn''t like they could do anything with it even if they had it. Long Yao wiped away his darkened expression and tightened his grasp on his weapon, it would pain him if they had to lose two avatars without even weakening the opponent. But Tian Shen was still exceedingly calm, nodding his head in apparent understanding.


    "I see, I have learned quite a bit now that I''ve got the chance to meet you personally. Thank you for teaching me that you can''t form a proper understanding if you only have written reports and images of someone. I will update the risk-rating I had for you, and it would appear that it would be wise to pre-emptively do so for the others as well so that I can err on the side of caution."


    He thought that he had already rated them highly, they had after all beaten them in the previous Sphere War. But now that he had personally gotten to meet someone other than Asmodai or Hades, he had to admit that he had unconsciously viewed them too lowly. After all, this Sphere already had someone like Asmodai and Hades, it wouldn''t really spit out more people like them, right? But from the looks of it, against all odds and logic, it had done just that.


    "No, don''t you dare speak such boring words, I''ve just barely gotten started."


    Jormungandr''s expression sank slightly as he spoke, already guessing at what Tian Shen was planning. He slid his hand a bit forward, the two-headed spear suddenly splitting in two, the two parts turning into small blades thanks to the unusually large spearheads. His hand swept out like a flash, launching one of the blades directly at Tian Shen.


    Long Yao reacted the moment Jormungandr acted, stepping to the side and swiping his spear upwards. The spear smashed into the underside of the blade and launched it into the sky, the wasteland beneath Long Yao''s feet coming alive with verdant green flames that caused the bubble around him to tremble faintly.


    But by the time the flames washed forward like a tidal wave, Jormungandr had already vanished. Long Yao''s pupils shrank fiercely, his instincts causing him to raise his head in a sharp motion. And indeed, Jormungandr had somehow appeared above him, right where the blade that had been launched into the sky was.


    Long Yao gathered all his might and stabbed his spear towards the sky, the tidal wave of verdant flames turning into lush plants and vines that rose up with his spear. But once again, Jormungandr grabbed one of the two blades and flung it out, the weapon easily piercing through the ascending plants.


    It missed Tian Shen by a bit and pierced into the earth behind him, Jormungandr once again vanishing and appearing directly by the blade. He was already in a crouching position as he appeared, his body mid-spin as the other blade he was holding headed directly for Tian Shen''s neck. But even so, Tian Shen simply stood there, a somewhat pretentious smile present on his face.


    "It can''t be helped, you can''t please everyone after all. But you are welcome to visit my Sphere, I''ll accept your challenge anytime at that point. But what a shame, your Sphere''s Balance-holder isn''t suited for that sort of tracking, so do you even have a way of dropping by?"


    Jormungandr''s blade passed through Tian Shen''s neck without resistance, severing his head from the rest of his body. But both parts dispersed, disintegrating into a spectacle of dancing lights that soon faded. Jormungandr''s expression sank somewhat angrily as he looked at the lights, his pupils sliding sideways just in time to see Long Yao end the life of his own avatar, dispersing into a similar gathering of dancing lights.


    "Son of a fucking... Just you wait, you can run all you want now, but don''t think that we''ll forever be unable to reach your Sphere, we''ve already got our own little voidling walking in the proper direction. I''ll get a good taste of the lot of you before long."

 Chapter 290: Settling the disciples.

    Liang Chen had already experienced it once before with Yi Xue and the others, but that didn''t mean that he found it any easier to bear this second time around. The kowtows of the newly anointed disciples were one thing, but the titles they shouted out while lowering their heads was another matter entirely.


    But quite frankly, the reason he had all these titles showered upon him was mainly his own fault. He said that he was one of the leaders of the Storm Wolf sect, not THE leader, just one of them. As such, they couldn''t exactly call him patriarch or sect master, but because of how youthful he looked they also couldn''t call him elder since it might offend him. Calling him senior brother or the like would also be awkward since their standings would be too far apart, so it was inevitable that they resorted to whatever title they could think of.


    "Alright, that''s enough of all that, get up already. I''m not gonna lie, I called it a sect, but the Storm Wolf sect really doesn''t have a lot of members. The leaders are me, my wife, and her brother, and other than us there''s only a further 174 members. Well, at least that was the number when I last saw the disciples, I''m not sure how many remain now."


    Liang Chen could only wave his hand somewhat exasperatedly to beckon the kneeling people up. He perfectly remembered the previous people he had picked up, who had somehow ended up joining the sect. They had all left this place after his last meeting with Yan Ling, going their own way to hone themselves out in the real world. Including the people here, they finally broke the 200 barrier, but that number was still extremely small for a sect, to the point that it was questionable to even call it a sect.


    "I don''t have many rules, I''m not a terribly good leader or teacher so that''s just how it is. Don''t kill your comrades, don''t kill innocents, don''t take advantage of innocents, and don''t act like the people who hurt you. I won''t ask you to save innocents or kill evildoers when you see them, your path is yours and yours alone to choose."


    Liang Chen didn''t know how to lead a sect or how to guide people, it had been nothing but battles since the first time he stepped onto the path of cultivation. So he was skewed, everything he had was geared towards combat and killing, that single-mindedness was one of the reasons he was so strong. Of course, him seeing things like this didn''t entirely mean that was how it was in reality.


    "There is no need to belittle yourself, Benefactor, anyone who can reach a realm like yours is bound to be an excellent teacher for weaklings like us. I can''t speak for the others, but I am personally fine with starting the training whenever... No, truthfully, I would like it if we can start as quickly as possible."


    Liang Chen turned his eyes sideways to look at the black-haired girl with the ruined eyes, Jiao Hui Xin. She was one of those that had suffered the most, Liang Chen guessed that she would have to reach a pretty high body-cultivation realm if she ever wanted to regain her lost vision. But perhaps because she had suffered so much and for so long, the way she carried herself was incredibly subdued and polite, it was probably something she picked up out of fear that the smallest thing could set off her tormentors.


    Liang Chen also felt that she was one of those most similar to him here, filled with such anger and hatred that it threatened to consume her from within. The faster she started training, the faster she could fight and release all the anger that was bottling up. He knew this, but he didn''t decide to start training them straight away.


    "I can understand wanting to start straight away, but no. First, you all need to fill your stomachs."


    The people around him were all malnourished, some of them were in such a poor state that it looked like a simple breeze could bring them down. As such, Liang Chen brought out several large pots from his interspatial ring and set up several fires. The pots were filled with water and some of the vegetables that grew on the farms outside the city, he luckily had some normal meat so he could also toss that into the pots as they started cooking.


    He also brought out a Demonic beast corpse from his interspatial ring, but he only added a few drops of its blood to each pot. These people were far too weak to handle the meat or blood of the Demonic beast corpses that Liang Chen had on him, the sudden surge of Qi would make them explode. It wouldn''t be a terribly good soup, even with the handful of spices he could throw in, but it would be enough to get them some nourishment.


    With his speed, each pot was set up extremely quickly, he even used his law of time on them to hasten the process at which they cooked. The smell of food quickly started to spread throughout the area, but Hui Xin, and the others, appeared a bit dumbfounded as they directed their gazes towards Liang Chen.


    "Benefactor...You want us to eat our fill before we start training? Forgive me for saying this, but the help provided by your companion has already left us in a state good enough to start the training."


    They didn''t know Yumao''s name or position so she went with the safest possible way of calling him. And indeed, he hadn''t given them privacy, but he had done as Liang Chen asked and taken care of their wounds by using the plethora of medicines they had on hand. But that wasn''t enough for Liang Chen, wounds weren''t the only thing that could hurt a person.


    "Again, it''s Liang Chen, not Benefactor. And the help Yumao provided only healed your wounds, it can''t be considered leaving you in a good state. One meal won''t help all that much, but it''s still an important first step. There''s also another reason to eat first, you all need to unwind and empty your hearts."


    Even the longest journey started with a single step, they were so malnourished that it would take a bit of time, but that was all the more reason to start straight away. The people around him could understand this thought process, but his final statement evidently confused them somewhat, one of them questioning while tilting his head, receiving a swift reply from Liang Chen.


    "Empty our hearts?"


    "Cry, scream, curse, punch the earth, you need to organize and vent out your emotions. You were pulled out from your circumstances and then brought right here, there''s no way any of you have had enough peace of mind to properly digest your emotions yet. So you need to digest and vent them, because anger and sorrow are emotions that will fester and harden like a tumour if they aren''t given a voice periodically."


    In truth, most emotions were like that, they had to be voiced periodically or they would fester in one way or the other. And once they did, they would inevitably start to affect your mind in various ways. Liang Chen was an extreme case thanks to the bestial instincts that had plagued him at the start, but that was indeed one example, albeit a mixed one.


    It didn''t take long for the food to finish, it was just some simple soup after all. Liang Chen handed out bowls and spoons to everyone and let them serve themselves, pouring himself a bowl before sitting down on the ground. He also took this chance to hand out new clothes to everyone, he couldn''t really let wear the rags they were dressed in. It was quiet at first, but the sound of crying slowly started to come from a few people, subdued curses quickly following and growing louder.


    "See? Not noticing it doesn''t mean that it isn''t there. Cry and curse all you want, there is no shame in showing weakness, it''s the first step towards strength."


    Liang Chen simply sat there and slowly at the soup as he looked at the people around him, a soft and gentle smile on his face. They had bottled things up for far too long, even being brought in here couldn''t stop them from worrying. Only now did things finally started to truly settle so only now did they get to work through their own emotions.


    Liang Chen didn''t interrupt them and simply allowed them to cry and scream as they pleased, he didn''t even interfere when some of them hit the ground with such force that the skin on their knuckles split open. Just like he said, they needed to vent, to expel at least a part of that anger and sorrow. Things slowly started to calm down as the minutes ticked away, Hui Xin wiping away a bit of snot from her face as she lowered her head to Liang Chen.


    "Thank you, Benefactor, forgive me for doubting you earlier."


    The other people also lowered their heads slightly to show their gratitude. They hadn''t interacted much with Liang Chen, but it seemed like they had already formed a small hierarchy, they had at the very least taken Hui Xin as their mouthpiece when it came to him. But whether that was because they also noticed traces of similarity between them or simply because she had been the first to speak up was uncertain.


    "It''s still Liang Chen. Don''t think too much about it, doubt is natural, it''s also a highly valuable thing, never forget that doubt. But now you''ve filled your stomachs and emptied your hearts so now it''s time to follow me, we can start the first steps now."


    Liang Chen shook his head as he stood up and put away his bowl, leaving the pots around so that they could use them to cook in the future. The people immediately tensed up somewhat when Liang Chen revealed that he would start their training straight away, a few uncertain gazes directed towards Hui Xin as they stood up to follow Liang Chen.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Excuse me, Benefactor, but could you tell us what the first steps are? Just so that we may mentally prepare ourselves."


    Hui Xin couldn''t see the people around her so there was no way she could see their gazes, but Liang Chen guessed that her senses were surprisingly sharp. She had been the first one to notice his arrival after all. Of course, this could mean that she had lost her sight so long ago that she has already gotten enough time to adapt and sharpen her other senses, and that was hardly a thing to celebrate. Liang Chen of course didn''t have anything against explaining things to them, it could be considered his duty even.


    "Again, Liang Chen. It''s simple, we need to check your affinities. You can cultivate elements and laws you don''t have an affinity for, but the efficiency is reduced by a fair bit. And you guys are already lagging behind, so you cannot afford to lose efficiency."


    People would inevitably have affinities, laws or elements they were better suited for. Taking himself as an example, his only inborn affinity was the law of time. But the Sebettu were quite special in how they worked, at first they only had the affinity that carried over from their ancestor, but the moment they first came into contact with another law or element their bodies would alter to become perfectly suited to those elements.


    Liang Chen had bathed in the blood of extremely weak Demonic beasts that just so happened to be poisonous, and as he was drawing in a bit of Qi he had also touched upon a strand of lightning. Ever since then, his path had been set, Lightning, Poison, and Time, his three main affinities and elements. Of course, now things were a bit different since he used his body cultivation technique to completely alter his body, but at first, it had only been those three affinities.


    The people listened intently as they followed Liang Chen, even the strongest among them had just barely reached the Heaven''s Gate realm so they truly knew preciously little when it came to cultivation. Granted, Liang Chen followed a different cultivation path since he focused on his Dragon Lotus rather than an Ascended Tower, but he had read enough books to at least be able to point them in the right direction.


    Liang Chen guided them through the city with calm and slow steps, he had inspected every inch of the city already so he knew where everything was located. He helped Hui Xin a bit since she clearly had some trouble accurately locating him when there were so many other people moving about, but it was really only him letting her hold his sleeve as they walked. They eventually reached a small square house that was a bit secluded from the rest of the city, Liang Chen pushing open the door and gesturing towards the centre of the room.


    "Here we are. You can place your hands on that orb and I''ll have it send a bit of energy into you, it''ll dig deep into you and reveal your affinities."


    The square house only contained this one room, and the only thing inside the room was the two-metre tall crystal that Liang Chen was beckoning towards. Intricate runes that Liang Chen couldn''t understand filled the entire room, the walls and ceiling were completely filled with them.


    He couldn''t understand the array, but he had already read about the usage of this item so he could explain it rather confidently. He had seen many things in his travels so an item like this wasn''t anything special to him, but to mostly normal mortals like Hui Xin and the others, it was undoubtedly something special, something that could measure something as ethereal as affinities.


    "So even something like this exists...Benefactor must be more amazing than we thought to set up something like this."


    Hui Xin and the others had no idea what it took to set up this crystal, but they were confident that measuring ethereal things was incredibly difficult. But that was just their misconception, it really didn''t take too much to set up a crystal like this, it was quite common in clans who wanted to save their descendants a bit of trouble by discovering their affinities right off the bat.


    "I didn''t set it up, I was just given it. I didn''t set up anything here for that matter, everything in this city was prepared by someone else, even the city itself was prepared by them."


    Liang Chen contemplated the idea of correcting Hui Xin again, but he had already done so several times so it seemed like she had no idea of actually calling him by his name so he gave up on it. And indeed, this treasure of a city wasn''t prepared by Liang Chen, he didn''t have the connections to prepare something like this.


    "I see, they must be a good friend to prepare a treasure like this for you."


    This time it was someone other than Hui Xin who spoke up, the man seemingly mustering up his courage to speak up. But what a shame, the words he managed to squeeze out with all his courage made Liang Chen''s eyes grow a few degrees sharper.


    "A good friend... quite the opposite actually, I''m still not sure if I''m going to take his head."


    No matter what he did, no matter how many times he convinced himself that he had gotten over the past, Liang Chen still wasn''t able to forget Qing Lan Yong. His actions had caused the execution of Liang Chen''s parents, but it was also his actions that had saved Liang Chen''s sister, at least until Liang Chen returned and failed to save her. Everything here had been prepared by Qing Lan Yong, a parting gift he gave to his daughter, Yi Xue, probably so that she could set up a clan or sect of her own if she so desired.


    He didn''t know what to do with Qing Lan Yong yet, he had a personal hatred for him, but he had to admit that he had been a good man. That was why he had let him live when they last met, he still wasn''t sure if he would actually go through with the final threat he left him with. He closed his eyes and stopped thinking about it, drawing in a deep breath before opening his eyes again, his gaze returning to normal.


    He walked up to the crystal and placed both his hands on one end, using his chin to beckon one of the others over. They placed their hands on the crystal somewhat nervously, Liang Chen pushing his Qi into it to activate the array that drove it. A bit of energy was pushed into the man who stood on the other side of the crystal, the energy helping him draw in a bit of the surrounding Qi.


    The crystal then measured the speed at which the Qi was drawn in, or more specifically, it measured the speed at which the various laws inherent within the Qi were drawn in. It then displayed an image representing the laws that the man''s body had drawn in at a quicker pace, signifying that these were the elements he had an affinity for.


    Once the affinities were displayed, Liang Chen memorized them and then made the other party memorize them before sending them aside and calling up the next person. He went through them one by one, Hui Xin coming up last. Liang Chen repeated the process, two images floating up within the crystal before long, one of the images allowing Liang Chen to let out a light breath.


    "One of them is wind, huh, it''ll be a good replacement for your lacking eyesight."


    The two affinities she showed were wind and what should be the visual representation of the law of strength. The second one couldn''t be used to discern her surroundings, but the law of wind excelled at this aspect so she wouldn''t have to cultivate until she unlocked her perception before she could observe her surroundings properly.


    She couldn''t see the images so he explained them to her, simultaneously bringing out several small jade slips. All the jade slips were empty, but he used his Qi to fill them up with the information he had acquired from the scale that his birth parents had gifted him. He himself didn''t know too much about other laws, but the scale contained the collective information gathered by the Sebettu race so it held a tremendous amount of information.


    "I''ve transcribed several different usages of your elements here, they are good for forming an idea about how you want to use your elements. But first, you need to start cultivating properly, some of you have already reached the Ascended Tower realm or the Heaven''s Gate realm so I expect you to give a bit of guidance to those who haven''t reached that realm yet. These are the easiest of the realms so using the manuals I''ve left you is plenty to guide you through it. But of course, if you have any questions or when you''re about to break into the next realm, you can contact me. I can easily check the inside of this city even from the outside, so you just need to call out to me."


    Liang Chen handed out the jade slips he had just filled up as he spoke, passing out the various cultivation manuals he had acquired over the years at the same time. There were also quite a few cultivation manuals prepared within the city itself so he also handed out them, there truly was something for just about every law, with the more exalted ones being an exception of course. He handed out the items, but he didn''t give the people time to read through them yet.


    "With that being said, follow me, there are several places prepared for the more common elements, cultivating there will save you a fair bit of time. You can just pick out whatever house you want here when you need to rest, the farms outside the city should be fully stocked and there''s plenty of water. I''ll get my hands on some meat and animals shortly and send them in here so you won''t be missing that either."


    He had plenty of Demonic beast meat on hand in case he got hungry, which was extremely rare to begin with, but that meat was no good for these people. Luckily, the Mystic''s Hidden Realm he was in held plenty of normal animals he could catch and send in here, it wouldn''t take too much for them to set up some proper rearing areas by the already existing farms.


    He headed for the exit of the room as he spoke, but the others behind him stopped walking just after they left the house. They exchanged a few looks, a minority of them in disbelief that Liang Chen was actually treating them this well. But they all seemed to come to a quiet mutual agreement, bending their waists until their torso was nearly perfectly horizontal.


    "Thank you, Benefactor. Truly, we owe you our lives."


    Liang Chen may have said he would take responsibility and care for them, but saying something and doing something were two different things, these people were keenly aware of that. But Liang Chen hadn''t lied, he had even fed and clothed them, given them time to cry and curse, he had given them the chance to become humans again. But Liang Chen waved his hand in the face of their bowing, straightforwardly rejecting them.


    "You don''t owe me a damn thing, not a single one of you. I chose to help you, I didn''t do it for any reward, I did it because I chose it. If you really want to repay me, live long and happy lives, have children and give them a happy life. It is enough that we''ve had to suffer, it is not our duty to push that suffering onto future generations."


    For better and for worse, Liang Chen was someone who moved by choice, what he chose, he would do, no matter what others said. Hui Xin and the others looked like they wished to speak up again, but Liang Chen stopped them before they could and simply repeated himself. They had no choice but to silently engrave their gratitude on their hearts and follow him as he guided them to the various training grounds.


    There was luckily a reason that some laws were considered more common than others, it was just easier to have an affinity for the elemental laws that you constantly interacted with daily. As such, all of the newly acquired disciples could be brought to a training ground that suited at least one of their affinities, Liang Chen letting out a light breath when he finished sending them all away.


    "Alright, that should keep them busy for a bit. Yumao''s probably already waited a bit, let''s hope he hasn''t caused too much of a ruckus..."

 Chapter 291: Once again, the thunder king.

    The first thing Liang Chen saw when he left the city within the orb was dark clouds that were occasionally lit up by bright azure bolts of lightning. Yumao had increased his size a bit in preparation so Liang Chen could stand on his head with plenty of space to spare, picking up his interspatial ring and sliding it on again. He could hear the sound of a torrential downpour mixed with the roar of lightning and the howling wind, but Yumao had already surrounded himself with a layer of dark Qi that sucked in the incoming rain and spat it out somewhere else before it could hit him.


    "Already arrived, huh. Guess that was to be expected, you haven''t caused any trouble while I was gone, right?"


    Liang Chen sat down as he spoke, rapping Yumao''s head a few times while also lowering his gaze. The dark clouds continued on beneath them so he guessed that Yumao had stopped at quite a high altitude, he could send out his senses if he wanted to, but there was no need to rush it so he figured he could first listen to Yumao.


    "It''s not causing trouble, it''s mongrels not knowing their place at the bottom of the food chain. You can''t blame me if they were born so suicidal that they''d throw themselves headfirst into a pile of shit."


    Yumao snorted somewhat indignantly at what he could only consider Liang Chen''s unjust questioning, but just the fact that he reacted like this told Liang Chen that he hadn''t done anything. Liang Chen was slowly getting used to the crass language that Yan Ling had poured into Yumao''s mind so he was mostly able to ignore it as he pointed downwards.


    "So, any reason we''re this high up? Has a new guardian beast appeared there and given you trouble?"


    The guardian beast that had been present in this location in the past really was pathetically weak to the current Liang Chen. But considering the fact that this hidden realm had moved to a place with stronger cultivators, he couldn''t rule out the possibility that a stronger beast had been born here. But Yumao quickly shot down that possibility, spitting disdainfully while complaining.


    "Trouble? The things down there? Peh, as if, they''d be lucky if they were able to dislodge the remnants stuck between my teeth. I''m up here because I couldn''t bear to look at their idiotic acts, but I can''t get rid of them because you''d scold me the moment you find out. I''m screwed no matter what so I may as well hide up here so that I can pretend they don''t exist."


    Yumao was a beast, if it was up to him he would just swoop down and eat up every single being down there to clear the path. But he knew that Liang Chen had stricter morals when it came to killing so he''d be in for a long lecture if he acted as he wanted to, he also didn''t want to have Liang Chen look at him with disappointed eyes so the only thing he could do was hold himself back.


    "Hoh, so there are actually people down there. Has something interesting started to grow there again?"


    Liang Chen still remembered the last time he was here, he had really made a mess of things and ruined the very thing everyone fought over. He had almost killed himself doing so, but it was also the event that allowed him to meet Yan Ling and Yan Ying so he had to admit that he was a bit thankful that it all happened. Since people were gathering in this desolate land again it was clear that something new had started growing, but the answer he got from Yumao surprised him slightly.


    "It''s budding again, but this time it seems to only have a single row of petals."


    Yumao hadn''t been here when Liang Chen first came here, he hadn''t even been born when Liang Chen drew down the wrath of lightning upon this land. But he had been told all about it so he was more than familiar with the event, as well as the item that had sparked it.


    "...Huh, didn''t expect that, seems like life can have some pretty funny coincidences at times."


    Liang Chen hadn''t expected a new lotus to grow so quickly after he used up the last one, but perhaps that was only to be expected in a place filled with so much lightning energy. He originally had Yumao head here because he was interested in all the lightning here, but hearing that a new one had sprouted, his thoughts slowly headed in a different direction.


    "Well, how about we go down for now? It''d be nice if things didn''t go the same direction as last time."


    Yumao flapped his wings the moment Liang Chen''s voice sounded out, descending through the clouds like a falling star. He broke through the lowest layer in only an instant, the stone forest beneath them revealing itself, lightning crackling across every part of it. And right beneath them was a familiar stretch of land, a basin surrounded by a circle of mountains.


    Most of the land within this basin had been flattened, but Liang Chen saw a few familiar droplet-shaped boulders so it seemed like the constant downpour and lightning had started to form new ones after his last visit. He could sense a particularly dense amount of lightning energy emanating from a small crater at the centre of the basin, and just as Yumao had implied, there were currently several groups of people present in the area.


    The various groups seemed like they were temporarily working together to take down a handful of crab-like beasts that had surrounded the small crater, their metal-like shells crackling with azure lightning. The strongest person present was only at the Soaring Immortal realm, but Liang Chen didn''t know if this was due to there not being anyone stronger in the area or due to the lack of any commotion when the lotus bloomed.


    "Yeah, some things don''t change, do they?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but sigh softly as he gazed down at the people beneath him. It was just like it had been back then when his group came here for the Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus, people were willing to stab each other in the back even while they were working together to break through the guardians.


    Liang Chen still remembered the betrayal he and Lei Qiang suffered at the hands of their two other teammates, they may both have died there if Liang Chen hadn''t been prepared. It had been a while since Liang Chen reminisced about the path, and when his thoughts hit Lei Qiang his chest couldn''t help but sting a bit.


    The two had gone their separate ways in life after leaving this area, but he still considered Lei Qiang a friend, they even met up a few times and just talked while drinking. And in the end, Liang Chen''s existence led to the death of Lei Qiang, his wife, and their daughter. Lei Qiang and his daughter had died instantly, despite Lei Qiang doing his best to shield them. As for his wife Xue Wen, Liang Chen had personally killed her to end the suffering her fatal wounds caused her.


    Liang Chen closed his eyes and drew in several deep breaths, he could feel the fire in his chest flaring up as he remembered the past. He quickly got his emotions under control, his gaze icy cold for a second as he opened his eyes again. The Sealing God Empyrean had caused far too much death on Liang Chen''s home planet, even the entire Storm Wolf sect met its end due to him. That was a pain Liang Chen could not forget, a vengeance he could not leave unfulfilled.


    "Let''s stop them. I want that one."


    Liang Chen chased away the cold emotions that had seeped into his gaze, Yumao spreading his wings wide in response to his words. The moment he spread out his wings, the bright light from the bolts of lightning vanished and darkness overtook the land beneath them, it was as if Yumao''s mere presence blotted out all light.


    And with that darkness came the pressure of a supreme beast, a monster that had already entered an unknown level of existence thanks to Liang Chen''s blood. The weaker cultivators fell to the ground from just the pressure alone, their legs giving out beneath them out of pure terror. A few managed to remain standing, but their faces were as pale as paper, thick beads of sweat rolling down their cheeks. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Everyone''s gazes were focused on Yumao as he descended, not a single living being present even daring to entertain the thought that they could fight. And then, to their horror, they saw that this abhorrent monstrosity had a human standing on its head. It was the most terrifying beast they had ever seen, yet it was no more than a mount, it was a realization that could shatter hearts.


    But if the cultivators thought they had it bad then they should be glad that they weren''t the crab-like Demonic beasts. As beasts, they were much more attuned to sensing bloodlines and the like, and the thing they felt from Liang Chen and Yumao were enough to make them despair from the depths of their blood. Their survival instincts completely shut down, to the point that they wouldn''t be able to move even if Yumao placed them in his jaw.


    Yumao flapped his wings strongly once before he descended, blowing away the crab-like beasts and the closest cultivators to make more space. He then curled his body around the small crater, folding his wings while sweeping the surroundings with a sharp gaze, baring his fangs as if he was going to eat them at a moment''s notice.


    "My Father desires this lotus so you troglodytes best scram if you know what''s best for you. Taking even a single step forward will be seen as you donating your life to give me a snack."


    He was just speaking, but the difference in strength made it so that even his words felt like a hammer against the chests of the surrounding people. But his words weren''t really necessary, just his presence alone was enough to scare the groups to the point where they didn''t dare to move, whether it be to get closer or to get away.


    Liang Chen didn''t really pay attention to the crowd, his gaze was directed towards the small crater. He was actually quite familiar with this crater, it was where he had collapsed the last time he was here. He had been struck by a single bolt of violet lightning, the Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus he had used to call it down instantly turning to ash.


    But now, at the centre of the crater he had caused, a new lotus was blooming. It was a bit smaller than the Two-Petaled Lotus from back then, and it was a fair bit smaller than the Three-Petaled Lotus he picked up on Final Curse Island. But it was definitely an Elemental Lotus, a single row of gleaming azure petals with a faint tinge of crimson revolving around its core.


    It only had a single row of petals so it was the lowest form of Elemental Lotus, but it had grown by using a bit of the blood that Liang Chen had spilt here, as well as some of the heavenly lightning he had called down back then. Perhaps, if given enough time, it would become quite a spectacular thing. But as long as it remained here, it would never get the chance to become that, it was doomed to get plucked and used, if not now then later.


    "So you sprouted from the blood I left behind, huh? A beautiful thing blooming from bloody carnage, I feel like that''s a thing Ling''er would say if she was given the chance, she always did have a thing for saying things more eloquently when she felt like it. It''d be neat to pluck you, but it was thanks to your predecessor that I could have a very nice encounter, so it feels like it would be a bit of a waste."


    Liang Chen''s voice couldn''t help but soften slightly as he hopped down from Yumao and crouched down in front of the lotus. He never would have met Yan Ling if Yan Ying hadn''t been drawn to this place by the commotion Liang Chen caused when he used the lotus. Had he not dared to use the lotus so recklessly, what would have become of him then?


    Would he have walked the same path, or would he have chosen a different one? Would he have been twisted by life or would he have found someone else that could serve as a form of anchor? He didn''t know, and he probably never would. And in truth, it didn''t really matter, all that mattered was that he ended up in this timeline, on this path, with this one brightly smiling girl at his side, and that alone was enough for him.


    He scooped up the lotus with a careful touch, crimson lightning crackling around his hands to take care of the roots. He could use his actual fused lightning, but he was a bit worried that it would be too much for the lotus to bear so he played it safe. Once the lotus was safely secured in his hands, he closed his eyes and started to stretch out his senses, connecting with the ever-present lightning in the land around him.


    What followed was a scene that the onlookers didn''t think that they would ever be able to forget, it had burned itself into their minds and refused to leave. Thousands of gleaming bolts of azure lightning rained down from the sky, all of them landing on Liang Chen and the lotus. But that was only the start, the lightning that had already sunken into the earth, the lightning that had been absorbed by the stone forest and the various crystals scattered throughout it, all came rushing towards this one area.


    More and more lightning was drawn in, practically forming an ocean as it rushed in from all sides. And as more and more of it gathered, it slowly grew denser and stronger, turning from gleaming azure to a stark crimson, shades of brilliant violet dancing within the sea of lightning that now covered the entire sky.


    Liang Chen''s body was almost fully altered into one of his three unique laws, his Void Storm, and one of the main components of said law was lightning. He could absorb it to strengthen and heal himself, something he frequently did. As such, it was obvious that he could easily attract large amounts of lightning, especially in a land as saturated with it as this one.


    Here, he was the sole ruler, all the lightning bowed to him and obeyed him. He had called for it, and it came to respond, to worship. His original intention was to absorb all this lightning for himself, but now he channelled it into the lotus. A gift because of its predecessor, a moment of softness since it reminded him of the past and the girl at his side, or perhaps a mix of both. The reason didn''t matter, only the fact that he did it.


    He slowly added more and more of his own lightning, first the weaker green lightning, then normal crimson, then the fused brown, then the normal purple, and finally the dull violet that he was using now. All of it mixed with the ocean of lightning, a twister of lightning forming around him as it sank into the lotus, that greedily accepted the gift.


    And then, after a few minutes, the stone forest around him experienced something it had never before. For the first time since it was made, there was no storm pelting it with lightning, nor was there any lightning coursing around within it. For once, it was at peace, it was quiet.


    As for the Elemental Lotus, its previous azure gleam had turned into a mixture of colours, each leaf resembling a rainbow as it danced with the various colours of lightning. The aura it radiated was many magnitudes greater than before, it was to the point that even the crab-like beasts felt their bodies sting from being in its presence.


    This change was to be expected with how much energy had been gently guided into it, but what was strange was that each leaf was fluttering about slightly. Different from their earlier constant revolving, they were now practically dancing about, stretching towards Liang Chen as if they wanted to embrace him. He couldn''t tell if it was due to him mixing his own lightning into it or if the petal had gained a sliver of sentience due to its increase in strength, but he felt like he could understand what it was trying to convey.


    "You want to tag along with me? I don''t mind, but I can''t carry you on me at all times so I''ll be planting you in an appropriate area. If you ever get bored or want to find a better place, just let me know, I don''t think I can bring myself to absorb you."


    The pace at which the petals danced picked up a bit after Liang Chen spoke, they acted like children that had been given permission by their parents. Yumao had turned his gaze away from the terrified crowd around them, snorting in a superior manner while he looked at the lotus.


    "Humph, I''m still the eldest so you''d best know your place."


    The corners of Liang Chen''s lips couldn''t help but quiver somewhat as he looked at Yumao''s almost defensive attitude. He almost looked like he was about to start a fight so Liang Chen stretched out one hand and placed it on Yumao''s head, ruffling the feathers that grew out at the back of his head.


    "Come on now, don''t compete with a flower. I''ve finished what I''ve come for, so let''s go, we can take a look at the place where I got you."


    He placed the lotus on his shoulder as he spoke, a layer of lightning covering his shoulder so that the flower had a place to spread its roots. Later he would have to plant it inside the city in his interspatial ring, it would create an area with dense lightning energy so it would become a good place to cultivate.


    Yumao flapped his wings and shot into the sky after Liang Chen hopped onto his head, the people beneath them finally getting a chance to breathe again. Some of them followed the departing figures with their gazes, some demoralized by the sheer difference in power, others motivated by the height that could be reached by human hands.


    Liang Chen did not think or care about the impact he had on the minds of those that had seen him, his mind had already sunk into the orb in his interspatial ring to look for a place where he could plant the lotus. Just planting it inside the interspatial ring itself was also an option, but he had no reason to give up this chance to create a good place to cultivate.


    But as his mind was going through the orb, the Bloodwind Code that had merged with his chest vibrated slightly to draw his attention. And once it drew his attention, the voice of Ye Zhong, the disciple in charge of this batch of Bloodwind Codes, rang in Liang Chen''s ear.


    "Heyo, Liang Chen, right? I''ve contacted you to deliver a message from my Master. He wants you to fill the Bloodwind Code with a good deal of energy so that it can release a bit of a beacon, he said that someone''s looking for you since they have to hand someone over to you."

 Chapter 292: The delivered package.

    Liang Chen''s brows furrowed slightly as Ye Zhong''s voice reached him from the Bloodwind Code. There were preciously few people who knew him well enough to want to deliver something to him, and when he counted in the people capable of contacting the Bloodwind Emperor to have him use a disciple to deliver this message, the exact number of people that fit this bill dropped to 0.


    If he were to guess then there would only be about three people capable of this, Chang Yun, The Nine Star Demon God, and the youth that was likely the Void King. But none of them would have any reason to contact him through the Bloodwind Code, they should just be able to locate him on their own.


    "...Unless my earlier guess was correct..."


    That was the most logical conclusion that Liang Chen could reach at the moment. He had tried to call out to Chang Yun and some others earlier when he first realized where he was, but none of them had answered him. Not even the Sealing God Empyrean had reacted when Liang Chen called out his actual name, prompting him to guess that they may not be able to sense him calling out to them while he was in this Mystic''s Hidden realm, or at least while he was inside a hidden realm located within another hidden realm.


    "Whatever the case is...Someone, not something, huh?"


    Liang Chen hadn''t missed this particular wording used by Ye Zhong. They weren''t going to deliver him something, they were going to send a person to him. He wasn''t so cocky that he thought Chang Yun and the others would pay any attention to Yi Xue and the others, meaning that it was more likely that the person they wanted to send over was tied to Yan Ling. After all, she was the only one he knew who had any sort of ties to people on the level of Chang Yun and the Bloodwind Emperor.


    "Well, won''t know until we see it for ourselves, eh."


    Liang Chen muttered to himself once more and brought out his Bloodwind Code, holding the red bead in the centre of his palm as he poured his energy into it. It quickly lit up brightly, a brilliant beam of light shooting into the sky and vanishing from sight.


    It didn''t take long for the beacon to show its effect, a groaning sound reverberating throughout the surroundings as the air around Liang Chen started to quiver. A tear appeared in the air a short distance away from Liang Chen, invisible fingers digging into it and tearing it open like you would a wound, a voice leaking out as the tear was torn open.


    "So this is where you were hiding. It''s a good place, a hidden realm within a hidden realm, multiple layers of space stacking on top of each other to block even the keenest senses. Even Milord would need to spend a fair amount of effort to penetrate all the layers, and he''d still have to find it first. This cradle seems to continuously birth interesting things."


    Following the voice was a young man, both his eyes and hair a strikingly bright silver in colour. Liang Chen was sure that he hadn''t seen this man before so his vigilance quietly rose, his Qi already starting to seethe. But the man simply swept his gaze around without much interest before settling it on Liang Chen.


    "Being vigilant like that is good, it saved Milord a lot when he was weaker. I''m only here to deliver something since Sirius asked me for a favour. You, come out now so I can leave."


    The man turned his head as he spoke, Liang Chen''s pupils shrinking slightly. He didn''t know who this man was, but he had heard the name Sirius before. Star God Sirius, the progenitor of the Sky Wolves from which Yan Ling''s family got their bloodline, he was also a follower of the Nine Star Demon God.


    The sound of quick steps came from the spatial tear after the man turned his head, the sound rapidly growing louder as someone approached. And before long, someone bounced out of the spatial tear as if they were playing around, an energetic voice arriving alongside her.


    "Paparan, I have arrived!"


    The girl that bounced out from the spatial tear stood in the air with her hands on her waist and her chest puffed out, the very image of adorable pride as she held her head high. The girl looked like she had barely turned 10, her eyes as blue as the sky and her hair as white as snow. The hair hung down to her waist and was tied into a single neat braid, the exact same type of braid that Yan Ling used.


    "You... Little Lan? You''re the one that''s being delivered? Is Ling''er with you?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but be a bit dumbfounded as he looked at the girl, needing a second to recognize her. Lan Yun, the girl that had appeared in the egg that he and Yan Ling had picked up on Tripartite Planet. The last time he had seen her she was only as big as a girl in her first or second year so it really couldn''t be helped that he didn''t recognize her right away.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    She should have been with either Yan Ling or Yan Ying, but Yan Ying was likely in the domain of the Nine Star Demon God and Yan Ling was in a different multiverse so Lan Yun should by no means be here right now. Lan Yun lowered her head to look at Liang Chen, but unlike her, the passage of time had barely left any marks on him. In truth, she had already recognized him before she had even left the spatial tear, there was no way she would mistake his scent.


    "Paparan, Mamaran, sent me here!"


    Lan Yun dove down as she decreed, practically launching herself at Liang Chen. But she was still easily caught by him, his hands resting under her armpits as he held her high, smiling softly. In the past, she had called him Papan, but now it seemed like she had upgraded even that strange title all the way to Paparan. And of course, he was more than just a bit certain that Yan Ling had more than just a hand in this evolution of his title.


    "The package has been delivered, my job here is done."


    While Liang Chen was holding Lan Yun, the voice of the young man that had brought her here sounded out. He didn''t even cast a second glance at Liang Chen''s group before he turned around and stepped into the spatial tear, disappearing from the area. Liang Chen still remembered his first meeting with the Nine Star Demon God so he could only say that this young man was far less sociable than the Nine Star Demon God had been. But that didn''t really matter much to Liang Chen, different people had different strokes, so he returned his attention to the little girl that was kicking her legs while he held her up.


    "So Mamaran sent you all the way over here, did she give you a message to bring along to old Paparan?"


    Liang Chen knew Yan Ling well, if she sent Lan Yun to him rather than to Yan Ying then there was definitely some reason behind it. It may end up being a dumb reason but it would be a reason nonetheless, and she would definitely include a message to explain that reason. Especially if it was a dumb reason, she''d include the message just to exasperate him if that was the case.


    "Yeah yeah! Mamaran gave me this and said I should give it to Paparan!"


    Lan Yun nodded her head rapidly a few times before swiping her interspatial ring, a dark orange bead appearing in her hand. She dropped the bead onto Liang Chen''s face, a bit of wind appearing around him as he prevented it from landing on him. He sank his mind into the bead to check the message left in it, Lan Yun bringing out a ceramic plate covered in runes and pointing it at his face.


    "Heyo, Little Freak! Did it surprise you, shock you? Are you flabbergasted by how much she''s grown? She''s adorable isn''t she, got perfectly pinchable cheeks, doesn''t she? Turns out that the flow of time in this multiverse isn''t the same as in the one we came from so you must definitely be shocked by how much she grew despite not much time passing for you."


    Liang Chen felt the corners of his mouth curve up and twitch slightly as the somewhat teasing voice resounded in his mind. Of course, Yan Ling would start the message like this, why would she bother saying something normal when she could mess with him like this? He could tell that the ceramic plate Lan Yun was holding was likely recording his expression right now, definitely a plot that Yan Ling had driven into her.


    "But you can''t mistreat her just because she''s grown bigger, alright? I''m heading into an area that''s somewhat special and a bit dangerous so I can''t bring her along, and while I thought about sending her to Big Brother, I felt that it''s been too long since she last saw her dear Paparan so I sent her over to you. You''re a little ball of chaos so you''re definitely knee-deep in shit right now, but you''ll be able to protect her, won''t you? No matter what evil or danger comes her way, you''ll deflect it without problem, right? After all, she''s our dear little daughter, isn''t she?"


    That was the end of the message that Yan Ling had recorded in the bead, her tone at the end so soft and loving that Liang Chen felt his heart melt. At the same time, he also felt more than a bit of guilt. Back when she had first left with the Nine Star Demon God, she had just lost most of her family, only her brother left alive.


    As such, how could she not place all the more importance on Lan Yun, how could she not pour all her heart into this little girl? And while she was in that state, she and Liang Chen had split up and gone their separate ways. It was by her choice, but Liang Chen should still have done everything he could to establish a way to contact her, to help her with the pain she was undoubtedly experiencing, to show her that she hadn''t lost everything.


    But how funny was it that while Liang Chen was thinking this, Yan Ling was thinking the exact same thing? Liang Chen had lost his parents at an early age, and when he finally managed to return to his home planet he had lost his only sister and his only friend. He had lost practically everything, and then she had left so that she could stand with him in the future, leaving him with nothing but the fire in his chest.


    And while Liang Chen didn''t know it, this was one of the reasons she had sent Lan Yun over to him instead of over to Yan Ying. To remind him that he hadn''t lost everything, he still had Yumao, her, Lan Yun, even Yan Ying, he had yet to end up alone. And in that same vein, she had sent over Lan Yun to prevent his heart from falling too deeply, to stop his nature from being polluted by the evil he waded in on a daily basis.


    Both of them knew the other extremely well, but at this moment neither of them realized how focused their thoughts were on the other person. Both of them were so focused on making sure that the other didn''t feel alone that they didn''t even pay attention to themselves, they truly were idiots growing from the same branch.


    "Well, seems like our little group has grown once again. Yumao, you still aren''t allowed to bully your little sister, be nice to her. And Little Lan, don''t torment Yumao too much. And oh, you also can''t be mean to this little flower, she may end up being your little sister in the future, understood?"


    Liang Chen sat down as he spoke, placing Lan Yun down in front of him while gesturing towards the lotus resting on his shoulder. The leaves of the flower fluttered towards Lan Yun as Liang Chen spoke, his earlier help had already allowed the plant to gain enough sentience to understand him. Lan Yun also responded energetically, saluting in an exaggerated manner.


    "Understood, Paparan! I''ll be good, I promise!"

 Chapter 293: The first step.

    There had been a slight intermission, but the end goal of Liang Chen''s group didn''t change so Yumao kept flying in the same direction, only decreasing his speed slightly due to the new passenger. As for Liang Chen, he lowered his gaze to look at the little girl that had hopped into his lap with crossed legs, her torso swaying from side to side as she seemed to struggle with containing her excitement and desire to bounce around. Her pristine white hair had grown a bit untidy thanks to the spirited way in which she had jumped down to him earlier, his hands reaching up and stroking the hair to tidy it.


    "You and Mamaran, what did you experience in the place you were? Were there any hurtful or exciting things?"


    Liang Chen hadn''t seen Yan Ling for quite some time already, and the time distortion both of them experienced only made it feel even longer. But now she had sent Lan Yun to him, so while he couldn''t actually contact her, he could at least hear a little about what she had experienced after she left. Lan Yun''s torso still kept swaying so Liang Chen''s tidying of her hair didn''t have much effect, but she seemed to enjoy the sensation, a wide smile on her face as she spoke.


    "There were so many exciting things! An entire ocean came to life when Mamaran asked it to hand over a bit of its core, its waters rose all the way into the clouds! But hehe, Mamaran still beat that meanie black and blue until it had no choice but to comply, it couldn''t do a single thing to her! Oh Oh, there was also a planet that was made from just wind! It was a big ball of wind moving so fast that it looked like land, but the moment Mamaran tried to land we were swept away and tumbled around for several weeks!"


    Lan Yun''s eyes were sparkling like gems as she spoke about the events, her hands moving about as if she was trying to paint a vivid picture of the scenes. And while she didn''t go into details, what she said was enough to leave Yin Long rather shocked. Wind strong enough to mimic a planet, and a water elemental so large that it could reach the clouds?


    Neither of these were things you could just find anywhere, the sheer amount of wind and water-type Qi that you would need to birth them was something he didn''t feel like guessing at. But if things like that could be born there then Liang Chen felt like he was starting to understand why the Nine Star Demon God had sent Yan Long to that multiverse, it certainly seemed like a place that was geared towards her two main laws.


    "But there was one big meanie Mamaran met there, a stinky old uncle who wouldn''t leave her alone. He kept throwing around some dumb name as if it was supposed to impress Mamaran, and he got so angry his face turned red when she rejected him and flipped him off. But Mamaran said that the stinky old man was stronger than her so she took me and ran, but that baldie kept coming after her. He hadn''t found us for a bit when Mamaran sent me here, but Paparan, you have to beat up that stinky man for Mamaran!"


    Lan Yun tilted her head backwards to look up at Liang Chen, her little cheeks puffing out as she complained and tried to force the job onto Liang Chen. But there was no need to force any job like that onto Liang Chen, his eyes narrowing dangerously for a split second.


    "Don''t worry, Paparan will have a good talk with that man if Mamaran hasn''t already dealt with him."


    Liang Chen wasn''t exactly used to love rivals, but that didn''t mean he was unaccustomed to them, Yan Ling was a very outstanding woman after all. Of course, if that man had just pursued Yan Ling then there wasn''t really much Liang Chen had to do, he would only have to draw a clear line. But if the man had tried to go further than that, or gotten violent, then it would become an entirely different story.


    But the narrowing of his eyes only lasted for a short second, Yan Ling hadn''t mentioned it in her message so she clearly wanted to deal with it on her own, it wouldn''t be too late for him to swoop in if she asked for help. Of course, he would first have to get over to that multiverse if it was a sudden request, but he felt that the Nine Star Demon God would at least indulge him that much. As such, he returned his attention to Lan Yun, gathering up her hair as he slowly started to braid it like he had braided Yan Ling''s hair in the past.


    "So, what other exciting places did you see? Paparan wants to hear all about them."


    "Okay!"


    Lan Yun''s bubbly voice continued to sound out from Yumao''s back as they flew, Liang Chen, Yumao, and the lotus that was still placed on Liang Chen''s shoulder all listening closely. She told them about all the places she and Yan Ling had gone, the people they had fought, the battles they had lost, the treasures that had slipped from their grasp, as well as the things they had gained.


    If there was one thing that surprised Liang Chen in Lan Yun''s stories then it would be the actual time difference between this multiverse and that multiverse. He already knew that time flowed differently depending on where you were in this Sphere of Existence, infant multiverses would have a greatly increased flow of time to quicken their growth. And from the looks of it, this multiverse she was was quite the infant.


    From Yan Ling''s perspective, it had already been several years since she and Liang Chen separated, Lan Yun didn''t properly count so it may actually have been more than ten years already. Liang Chen had used his own law of time to distort time around him as well, but it wasn''t anywhere close to this extent, Yan Ling had been ''alone'' for far longer than him.


    But perhaps as was to be expected, the quickened pace of time allowed her to reap great harvests in terms of cultivation. According to Lan Yun, Yan Ling had said that she was already at the peak of the Primordial Immortal realm when she was sent back, she would need just a tiny bit more to reach the Transcended Immortal realm.


    Hearing this, Liang Chen couldn''t help but smile. He was still only at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, but Yan Ling was already stepping into the next realm, he would have to be careful that she wasn''t the one to pick him up by the neck the next time they met. At the same time, he couldn''t help but be curious as to what stage the two of them would have reached when they met again. Yan Ling had her own journey into a different multiverse and he had his meeting with Purgatory, both of them would probably be fundamentally different when they met again.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Ey, Father, there''s a city not too far away from here. It''s not exactly in our way, but do you want me to head over there?"


    The voice of Yumao eventually interrupted Lan Yun''s storytelling, one of his feathery wings flapping as he gestured towards the distance. You could just barely see the spires of a city rise in the distant horizon, so small that they looked like toothpicks. It looked like it was still far away, but Liang Chen knew Yumao''s speed so he knew that the city really was within what he''d consider not too far away.


    Liang Chen''s gaze turned to the side and inspected the distant spires, his expression unknowingly turning somewhat murky. He knew what sort of place this was, and that knowledge was what made his expression change. But at the same time, that knowledge, that murky and gloomy expression, was what drove him.


    "Yeah, please head on over. It''ll be a good lesson for Hui Xin and the others on exactly what path they''re trying to step on."


    The new disciples that Liang Chen had picked up recently ranged from mortals to those who had reached the Heaven''s Gate realm, even the strongest was so pitifully weak that Liang Chen didn''t think that any of them had that much experience. That was especially the case when it came to taking a life, saying it was easy, but actually having to do it was a different matter. As such, the faster he could show them how grim the path they wanted to follow was, the better.


    Yumao obliged and turned his serpentine body, shooting towards the distant city. His father had decided to pay it a visit and that could only mean one thing, sin was about to be met with wrath and judgment.


    It really didn''t take Yumao too long to reach the city, soaring over its defensive walls and hovering above the city. He was so high up that only stronger cultivators like Primordial Immortal cultivators would be able to see him, but if they wanted to interfere then he wouldn''t mind eating them up.


    "Thanks. Alright, Little Lan, Paparan is going to do something for a bit so please be a bit patient and don''t run around, you might fall off."


    Liang Chen stroked Lan Yun''s now braided hair as he smiled at her, the little girl vigorously nodding her head. He didn''t know if she would be able to actually stay patient for as long as he would like, but Liang Chen had no intentions of not trusting Lan Yun, she was basically his daughter after all.


    He closed his eyes and slowly spread out his Qi, dust-like particles of poison seeping out from his body and slowly spreading throughout the city beneath him, transforming into eyes and ears for him. They latched onto every single person moving about in the city, the three rulers in their grand towers, the lowly beggars scurrying about to remain out of sight, the farmers tending to their crops, not a single one could escape his sight.


    And then he just sat there, he didn''t infect anyone with the poison and simply allowed it to linger in the air or on their clothes, observing them as they went about their lives. Minutes turned to hours and then to days, sin piling upon sin as the days passed and the people acted within the dark spots of society where they thought they wouldn''t be seen. But Liang Chen was there with them, even in the darkest pits, and he tallied up all their deeds, all the stains on their hands.


    And so, nine days after Yumao stopped above the city, Liang Chen opened his eyes again. Lan Yun was still sitting in his lap, but he could see that she was practically hyperventilating, ready to burst at any second after having to sit around for so long. He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, smiling softly.


    "Sorry that it took so long, I''m done now. The next little bit won''t take long, after that you can run around a bit, okay?"


    "You promised! I''ll hold you to it!"


    He couldn''t even say that Lan Yun''s eyes were sparkling as she spoke, they practically burned with light, she had been far too bored while she waited for him. But she was a good girl, her mother had said that many times, so she had to wait patiently so that papa would also know that she was a good girl.


    "Let''s go, I''ve already selected a few."


    Yumao flapped his wings in response to Liang Chen''s words, following the slight flaring of Qi that Liang Chen had used to mark the targets he wanted to visit. He could deal with them all from this range with exceptional ease, but he was going to teach his new disciples a little so that approach wasn''t entirely suitable.


    Yumao shot to the ground like a black blur, shrinking slightly and landing outside a cabbage farm located at the very edge of the city. There was a weathered man with skin so tanned it had become leathery currently working the fields, Yumao had landed directly in front of him and blown his crops aside.


    "Hey, what giv...?!"


    The man cut his words short when he saw the creature that had landed, a feathered serpent with wings and horns was far from normal so his voice got stuck in his throat. Liang Chen hopped down from Yumao''s back, Lan Yun bouncing down to hurry after him. He stopped a few steps away from the man, who covered his brown hair using a somewhat tattered straw hat that cast a shadow on his black eyes. Liang Chen quietly looked at his face for a bit before swiping his interspatial ring and bringing out Jiao Hui Xin and the others, a total of 52 people appearing from within the orb in his interspatial ring.


    "The Disciples greet you, Wolf Lord! How can we be of assistance?"


    The disciples had received a bit of notice ahead of time so they weren''t too shocked by suddenly being pulled out of their cultivation, quickly kneeling respectfully as they addressed Liang Chen. But before Liang Chen could say anything, Lan Yun tugged on his robe and spoke up first.


    "Paparan, Mamaran said that she was the wolf and that you were the storm, so why are they calling you wolf?"


    Liang Chen could almost feel his expression cramping, if it wasn''t for her looking so innocent he would have been convinced that Lan Yun was just messing with him. But she clearly wasn''t, so he couldn''t help but be at a bit of a loss, mentally cursing a certain someone as he responded.


    "Whenever Mamaran says things like that, you don''t have to listen to her. Your Mamaran is a bit special in the head so she has many funny ideas, you don''t need to take after all of them."


    Yan Ling had already messed with Yumao, skewing his vocabulary and personality into something that Liang Chen had never expected from him. And now it seemed like she had been doing the same to Lan Yun, it really seemed like Liang Chen would have to take great care that she didn''t mess up everyone around him like that, just she alone was already more than enough.


    Lan Yun nodded her head seriously, as if she was trying to engrave the words in her heart. But she had spent so long with Yan Ling that Liang Chen wasn''t sure if it would have any effect, turning his attention towards the people he had brought out.


    "You said that you wanted to become strong, that you wanted me to guide you onto the same path as me, that you wanted to save others while venting your burning anger. This, this will be the first step. This man, he deserves death, one of you kill him with your own hands. The path to eradicating evil is marred in sin, whether you want to or not, you will become as bad as those you hunt. So, if you have the determination to damn yourself, take the first step."

 Chapter 294: The fading voices.

    It wasn''t just Jiao Hui Xin and the other disciples that were caught off guard by Liang Chen''s cold voice and statement, the slightly chubby man who had just been tending to his crops was just as shocked and surprised at them. The little Lan Yun was a bit better off, she may be childish but that didn''t mean that she was so naive that she didn''t understand certain things. She had after all spent a fair amount of time with Yan Ling in a different multiverse, she had definitely been forced to see her fair share of bloodshed.


    "Wait wait wait, what are you talking about?! Death, killing, evil, you can''t be serious, right?!"


    The man spoke up before the disciples could, trembling in his boots as the colour drained from his face. Liang Chen''s expression didn''t show the slightest hint of joking, the shadow of death flitting about within his golden pupils. The man could tell that he wasn''t playing around or messing with him, but that was all the more reason he had to speak up like this, it helped prevent his mind from crumbling under the weight of the truth.


    Liang Chen had addressed the disciples and presented their quarry to them, but they couldn''t help but hesitate. The man in front of them was just a farmer shaking in his boots, he looked so terrified and harmless that some of them couldn''t help but be reminded of their own father. They wanted to follow Liang Chen''s path, but this, was this really part of that path?


    Liang Chen took in all their expressions, his gaze sweeping over them as he sighed internally. This was along the lines of what he had expected, it was also why he had chosen this man as one of the people to present to the new disciples. Evil wasn''t some grand demon so drenched in blood you could see it from beyond the horizon.


    Sometimes evil came in the form of a vengeful child, a selfish merchant, or in this case, a wounded farmer. But even if the face changed, did evil cease being evil? Liang Chen didn''t think so, it was because it had so many different faces that it was important to deal with evil properly, otherwise, it would fester and spread, much like hatred and wrath did.


    "I have been watching, Jungdi, watching and listening. So I can assure you, I''m as serious as you were against Kong Ya."


    For nine days Liang Chen had kept watch, his senses spread throughout the entire city thanks to his poison. The life and death, the pleasure and pain, the grief and joy, he had seen it all unfold. As such, every sin, from minor to major, he had seen them all, judged them all with his selfish ideals. The farmer, Jungdi, instantly realized what was going on, but that understanding only made him grind his teeth with a dark expression.


    "Kong Ya? You''ve come to speak up for Kong Ya and seek justice for him? Then what about me? Why didn''t you speak up for me when Kong Ya killed my son? Why didn''t you seek justice for me?"


    It was as if his earlier trembling had all been a lie, rage taking over his body and twisting the veins in his eyes. The rage of a father that had lost his son, of a man whose family had fallen to ruins and left him with nothing but his land. It was the motivation that could be easily understood and sympathized with, as evidenced by the softening expressions of the other disciples. Only Hui Xin looked like she was contemplating, it was just that her ruined eyes made it impossible to see what she was thinking. Liang Chen didn''t say anything in response to the man''s outburst, allowing him to empty his chest.


    "No one else spoke up for me, for Little Huo, no one! So I did it myself, I spoke up, I sought justice! Yes, I killed Kong Ya, I slit open his stomach and watched him die. But don''t you dare come here and act like you''re righteous when you didn''t speak up for my son, you have no right to speak up for Kong Ya! No right!"


    The man heaved slightly after he finished saying his piece, he was actually surprised by how much lighter he felt after getting it all out like that. He had bottled it up ever since his son died, and it wasn''t like he could go around telling people he had killed Kong Ya, so getting it out like this was the first release he got, other than muttering to himself time and time again. But Liang Chen''s gaze remained the same, unmoved by Jungdi''s strong emotions.


    "Then what about Kong Zhu Sei? Kong Yin? Kong Lie Qing? Kong Tie? Kong Duo Hyung?"


    His sentence was an exceedingly simple question, if a bit perplexing, but Jungdi''s raging expression cooled down instantly. There was plenty he could say against Liang Chen seeking justice for his murder of Kong Ya. But this? There was nothing that came to mind that he could say about this. Liang Chen slowly started to walk forward, his steps quiet thanks to the moist earth, but to Jungdi each one felt like an earthquake and rumbled like thunder. And his voice? It snuck into his ears like the cold whisper of death, different from all the other types of deaths he had encountered and seen throughout his long life.


    "I understand, Jungdi, I actually do. He killed your son and you wanted revenge, you wanted him to suffer as you did. So you took out his oldest daughter, you wanted him to know the pain of losing a child. But the rage, the rage remains all the same, it festers in your stomach like a lump of rotten flesh. So you need to kill him too, need to kill the source of that rage. After all, he killed your son, it should surely be fine to kill him, right? But still it festers, hardens in your stomach and throat, blocks your breath and darkens your vision."


    Liang Chen stopped only half a step away from the man, lowering his head slightly so that he could lock eyes with him. He understood rage, he really did, it had driven him for so long, pushed him and prodded him, birthed him from death. So he understood what had driven Jungdi, but understanding did not mean acceptance.


    "I didn''t get to see it since you were already finishing up when I arrived, but I can guess the rest. You were afraid, weren''t you? You had killed their father, their husband, their brother, just like he had killed your son. And you came to get revenge on him, so surely they would do the same, right? They''d slice open your stomach and watch as you bled out, your blood pooling in your lungs. Death is scary, even when it feels like you''ve lost everything. So you took care of it, you took them all down as quickly as you could. Were they working in the fields? Just barely waking up? Or were they all like Kong Yin, still sleeping in her little bed as you plunged the knife into her chest?"


    Liang Chen hadn''t just watched impassionately as Jungdi murdered an entire family, by the time his senses reached that particular area the last stroke of the blade was being delivered. Everything he knew he cobbled together from what Jungdi had muttered to himself at day, or screamed to himself at night while he thrashed around due to his nightmares. He also got a few bits and pieces from other people in the city, but that mostly concerned the death of Jungdi''s son. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "Your world crumbled, so you took their world from them. There''s no one left, the family is gone and they were secluded enough that almost no one interacts with them. No one will speak up for them, no one will seek justice for them. Their final cries, their screams of injustice, it''ll all just fade into the wind and be forgotten, just another tragedy in the annals of history, a minor footnote at best."


    Just a secluded family who made their living off of hunting the few normal animals that adapted to living in this gravity-enhanced environment, most of the city wouldn''t even have heard about them if not for the death of Jungdi''s son. The family was gone and there were no friends so who would remember them, who would seek justice for them? Jungdi''s body stiffened as Liang Chen''s gaze pierced into him, lightning entering his body and seizing up his muscles.


    "But I heard them, Jungdi. Their cries and screams. Even if no one else hears them or remembers them, I''ll hear them, I''ll remember them. And I''ll speak up for them, I''ll add another line to the footnote that they became, I''ll draw in a bit more evil for them."


    A child that couldn''t defend herself, a crippled man that had lost his leg, an ageing wife picking out some vegetables from the garden, twins setting the table for breakfast. They had lost their voice and there would be no justice for them. But there would be vengeance for them, and sometimes that was all you could ask for. After all, Liang Chen wasn''t a god, he couldn''t be everywhere at once, lives would slip between his fingers like sand.


    "Now. Will one of you do it? Will one of you speak up for the fading voices?"


    Liang Chen''s gaze turned away from the man and landed on the group of disciples he had brought out. Now they knew the truth, and Hui Xin felt like she had an inkling of what Liang Chen was trying to tell them. Their expressions hardened one by one as they gathered their determination. He looked just like any old farmer you could find wherever, but that didn''t mean that sin couldn''t lurk within him, that he didn''t have the capability for great evil.


    Hui Xin was the first one to step up, her black hair trailing behind her while her ruined eyes roamed over the area where Liang Chen stood. She couldn''t see the farmer, but she could sense Liang Chen, as if his mere presence altered the air around him in a way that even she could sense. Her expression was solemn and dignified, she would accept those cries of injustice, she would add that extra line to the footnote of their lives.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and brought out a dagger, holding it out so that Hui Xin could grasp it after a few awkward misses. She held the weapon tightly as she used Liang Chen''s outstretched arm to reach the man, the scent of his body helped guide her for the last half step so that she could properly face him. But as she raised her dagger, Liang Chen''s hand pushed her arm a tiny bit to the side, his voice reaching her.


    "The heart is closer to here. Death comes much quicker if you stab the heart, that is one mercy even most sinners deserver. You have affinity for the law of wind so focus your senses, feel the soft touch of the breeze, the way the small hairs on your body move as the wind pushes them. Trace that wind, follow it out into the world, send your heart and soul out with it, let it show you the outline of the world around you. And when it does, inspect those outlines, they will show you where to swing your weapon, where to place your feet. The world has taken your sight, so allow the world to become your eyes."


    As he spoke, Liang Chen used his law of wind to slightly strengthen and slow the wind around them so that Hui Xin could sense it properly, where it flowed and where it stopped, and what that stopping signified. Liang Chen was glad that Yan Ling wasn''t here at the moment, she would definitely have laughed at him trying to act like a teacher, it was a role that really didn''t suit him.


    But thanks to him amplifying the sensation with his own law of wind, Hui Xin felt like she could grasp onto something. It was far from being able to utilize it, but it was the first step of a long journey. She moved her knife slightly, bringing it closer to the extremely faint outline that Liang Chen was helping her see. And with the man completely frozen in place due to the lightning, he could do nothing about it as the dagger sank into his chest and pierced through his heart.


    His life came to a swift end, his taut muscles going limp as he fell to the ground. Hui Xin could feel the life fade thanks to the dagger she held, it was as if the man''s last breath rumbled through the weapon, transmitting into her body to shake her heart. Her hands shook slightly, but she didn''t allow her expression to falter. This was the path she had chosen, she would just have to become accustomed to the sensation of stealing lives.


    But at the same time, she couldn''t help but wonder. Just how many lives had Liang Chen, their Wolf Lord, taken? His hand was still on her arm thanks to the time he pushed her arm slightly so she could feel that his pulse hadn''t changed in the slightest, it was so calm and slow that he may as well be sleeping. How much death had he reaped to become this accustomed to it, how many cries had he accepted?


    "Good. Do you understand now? Evil isn''t as dark and vicious as we want it to be, sometimes it looks just like the neighbour or a random man walking down the street. So it''s important to listen, to watch and learn, to understand the truth. If you don''t then you will end up carving regret after regret into your soul."


    She could tell that Liang Chen wasn''t just talking to her, he was addressing the other disciples at the same time, the other people that had made the same choice as her. He spoke simply and plainly, but Hui Xin couldn''t help but feel that it was a bit lonely, a bit hurtful. Did he suspect evil everywhere he looked? Did he scrutinize every person he saw out of paranoia? If so, how many regrets had he carved into his soul to become like that? Was it equal to the death he had reaped, or was it perhaps greater?


    There was no answer to her internal question, she didn''t understand him well enough to even toy with the idea of a guess. She simply followed as he brought them to another person, a merchant running a small group of stores. And just like with the farmer, he had someone else stand up and steal the life, had someone else bear the cries of those who no one else would speak up for.


    And so he continued, bringing them around the city until each and every one of them had gotten their hands dirty, until all of them had hardened their determination. They had seen the many faces of evil and taken them in, they had stained their hands in sin so that they could eradicate sin, they had accepted the path they chose and the consequences it would bring.


    And once the last disciple finished dirtying his hands, their duty in this city was over. The horrible rumbling of thunder shook the city as lightning bolts appeared out of empty air, striking down into the city as they broke through any wall in their path. They couldn''t see it, but Hui Xin and the others were convinced that there were people at the end of each of those lightning bolts, sinners that they hadn''t gotten to see. And they had all met their end at once, the thousands of fading voices had all been heard and accepted.


    With one simple move, intended or not, the disciples had realized the difference between them and Liang Chen. They hardened their determination for a single one, and even needed him to seal them down as they acted. But he? He didn''t even seem like he had to move, a thought was all it took for thousands to vanish. And they were convinced, beyond any doubt. Lightning fell from a blue sky and punished those who deserved it, reaped the life of those who deserved death. If there was anyone in the universe who could be said to rule and embody heavenly wrath, then surely it was the man who had picked them all up.

 Chapter 295: Nethersky Wyrm Emperor.

    Liang Chen''s stop in the city was nothing but an interlude to him and his group, thousands had died, but it had already become such a common thing to them that they barely registered it. It was eye-opening for Jiao Hui Xin and the other disciples that had gotten their first taste of blood, but whether it was a blessing or a curse, it was be something they would become intimately familiar with as long as they kept following Liang Chen.


    "Is it much further, Paparan?"


    Lan Yun had definitely seen her fair share of gruesome battles while she followed Yan Ling on her journey so she wasn''t really affected by what Liang Chen had just done. No, she was more interested in the place they were heading, occasionally prodding at the lotus that rested on Liang Chen''s shoulder.


    "No, it shouldn''t take too much longer. Look, you can just barely see it from here."


    Liang Chen pointed forward, and Lan Yun, who had been perched in his lap craned her neck to see what he was pointing at. But her sight wasn''t as good as his, the difference in strength meant that she couldn''t see what he was seeing. But luckily, she only had to wait a handful of minutes before they reached the air above the land that Liang Chen had pointed towards.


    A withered forest stretched out beneath them, the earth carrying a sickly ashen colour while the trees had dried up and contorted into unnatural shapes. The omnipresent snow in this hidden realm failed to touch the ground here, dissolving as it got close thanks to the aura of death that radiated from within the depths of the earth.


    The Land of Death, it was one of the greatest danger zones within this hidden realm and it also served as the third trial you had to finish before you could enter the hidden pagoda of the Sealing God Empyrean. But that aura of death that once threatened to eat up his life now felt so comforting and welcoming, reaching up to him as if it wanted to invite him back home.


    This was another one of the lands that held a soft spot in Liang Chen''s heart, not only was this where he abandoned his Ascended Tower and moved onto the cultivation path of the Sebettu, it was also where he got Yumao and managed to get much closer with Yan Ling. He had nearly died here as well, but that memory was just a drop in the ocean when he compared it to what he gained.


    "Let''s go down. This is where I got you so we may find something from your parents here."


    Liang Chen pat Yumao on the head as he spoke, the feathered serpent flapping his wings and descending. When Liang Chen first got Yumao he was nothing more than an egg, neither of them had ever heard anything about Yumao''s parents, who they were or where they came from. Yumao personally didn''t care, Liang Chen was his father, he wouldn''t consider anyone else his parents. But since Liang Chen wanted to check, he decided to follow.


    But as they descended and approached the decayed land, a great tremor shook the earth. The trees shook and crumbled, the dried earth cracking open as the entire land of death seemed to be shaking and falling apart. A shadow rose up from within the cracks that scattered throughout the land, a body covered in black scales bursting out from beneath the earth.


    The being that revealed itself looked like a massive serpent with a triangular head, its pitch-black scales drawing in the surrounding light. It had the body of a snake, but it also had four limbs, two front legs and two hind legs, it was just that they looked quite small compared to the rest of the beings body.


    The several hundred-metre long beast raised its head to glare at Liang Chen, but bright silver chains rose up from the cracks around it and burrowed into its body practically the moment it arrived. The chains were pulled so taut that it looked like just moving would be hard for the beast, they were like hands trying to drag it back down beneath the earth.


    "Monarch, this place is not a land that someone like you has any need to enter. Leave, please do not force me to fight against you."


    The voice of the beast was heavy and rough, like bones grinding against each other. But the tone of it was quite pleading, despite the beast having reached the Primordial Immortal realm. It could sense the disparity between it and Liang Chen''s group, it wasn''t just one of strength but also one of bloodline.


    Liang Chen placed his hand on Yumao''s head and had him stop, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the beast beneath him. It bore an extreme likeness to the Nethersky Wyrm Queen they had encountered back when they first entered the trial inside this land, but both its body and four limbs were quite a bit bigger.


    The energy it radiated was also leagues above the Queen from back then, if they had been forced to face this one then they would have died ten out of ten times. Liang Chen was quite familiar with this particular race of Demonic beasts so he knew what this black serpent was, a Nethersky Wyrm Emperor.


    It was the end goal of all Nethersky Wyrms, the last chain in their evolution. If they ever wanted to reach a higher stage then they would have to either acquire a stronger bloodline or have the luck of mutating, like the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor of Qian Liao from Tripartite Planet had. But this Nethersky Wyrm Emperor didn''t seem like it had the good fortune of achieving either, it would be perpetually stuck at the Primordial Immortal realm. Looking at the chains that held it down, Liang Chen also came up with a guess about its situation and the truth about this land.


    "All the Nethersky Wyrms that live in this land, as well as the eggs that seem to be handed out as rewards, they come from you, don''t they?"This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Liang Chen and the others had seen several skeletons that belonged to Nethersky Wyrms when they had to survive in this land for a week. As such, it was clear that the beasts could certainly be killed, even if they were part of a trial. But was the Sealing God Empyrean supposed to pick up new Nethersky Wyrms every time a trial took place or some of the wyrms died?


    "It is as you guessed, but not all of them are from me. Some are born naturally between my own offspring, and only the eggs that have inherited a denser bloodline are picked away to be given out as rewards."


    The sound of gnashing teeth came from the beast as it spoke, it bore the name of Emperor but was locked up here, using as nothing more than breeding stock meant to pop out children that could be used to test challengers. And the children that showed real promise were even taken away to be used as prizes, she wouldn''t even get to see them hatch and grow.


    The beast''s words confirmed Liang Chen''s gaze, it was the core of this land, she was also its final test should any strong cultivators arrive here. But there was one other point that he was a bit curious about. The Nethersky Wyrm Emperor beneath him did indeed radiate a faint aura of death, but it wasn''t the source of the deathly aura that permeated this land. No, Liang Chen could sense that the source of this aura was still locked away within the depths of the land, so deep that not even the cracks that the beast came from reached it.


    "Tell me, are you interested in leaving this place? I can''t free you here since there are too many normal people in this hidden realm, but I can bring you out to a different place and free you there."


    Liang Chen had glanced down at Yumao before he spoke, but he hadn''t shown any reaction even when faced with the Nethersky Wyrm Emperor. He had been given away as a prize so it was clear that he was one of the hatchlings born with a denser bloodline, meaning that he was the direct descendant of the beast in front of them.


    But it seemed like he took after Liang Chen, who could respect his biological parents but could not see them as his actual parents, that role would forever go to Qing Feng and Qing Lan. But even if Yumao didn''t see the beast as his parent, she was still the reason Liang Chen and Yumao could meet so he wouldn''t mind extending her a hand.


    "Monarch... You would be willing to aid me? What are you hoping to gain from it?"


    She could not understand it, his willingness to help. She could sense his dreadful bloodline, it placed him so far above her that it would be beneath him to even look down at her. So why would he be willing to help her? Not killing her was already good enough in her eyes.


    "I''m not hoping to gain anything, I''m just acting on a whim. Since you seem intent on calling me monarch then you can just see it as a wandering king throwing a bone to a roadside beggar, there''s no need to put too much thought into it."


    Liang Chen didn''t see a real need to tell her the truth about Yumao, his bloodline had changed so much that she may not even believe him. It was much easier to believe that he was just acting on a whim, a flight of fancy that struck him as he moved about. The beast''s almost white eyes flickered slightly as it seemed to be thinking, eventually lowering its head.


    "Please, Monarch. If you can grant me my freedom then I would even be willing to serve as your lowly mount."


    She had been trapped here for far too long, popping out doomed child after doomed child, she had already forgotten the taste of freedom. She could not let go of the chance now that it presented itself, even if she may end up suffering some humiliation afterwards. After all, what sort of humiliation was worse than eternal imprisonment as a breeding sow?


    "Alright. Little Lan, be nice and stay here."


    Liang Chen stood up and pat Lan Yun on the head, the little girl pouting since Paparan was going to run off and make her stay still again. Liang Chen flipped his hand and brought out his spear, the maw-shaped spearhead glinting dully under the light of the sun. He removed the small lotus from his shoulder and placed it on Yumao''s back, leaving a thin layer of lightning beneath its roots so that it could rest peacefully.


    He then stepped forward and dropped down from Yumao''s back, plummeting down towards the serpent. The chains loosed up as he got closer, parts of them turning into marks that embedded themselves onto the scales of the beast. A growl escaped the beast as the marks forced her to act, her Qi surging as she opened her maw.


    But her world froze before she could unleash a single attack, the law of time completely invading and freezing even her consciousness. She was just at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, her life was something that rested comfortably in his hands the moment she appeared in front of Liang Chen.


    He fell past her and slammed his spear downwards onto the chains that shackled her frozen body, the rumbling of thunder drowning out the creaking of the still cracking land. Earth shattered and stones melted as dull violet lightning arced out, piercing deep into the earth and roaring towards the sky.


    What remained of the ground caved in, a crater that was a handful of kilometres wide forming around Liang Chen and the serpent. Liang Chen was just in the early stage of the Primordial Immortal, but the power he could produce had already eclipsed that realm, even if he didn''t use his law of void.


    The chain crumbled under his spear as the lightning travelled along it and entered the hidden array that had birthed it, breaking that particular section of the array. He smashed out his spear again and again, the land of death becoming a land of ruin as his attacks tore it open to get at the array hidden within the earth.


    And by the time his spear had smashed down for the 18th time, the last of the chains dissolved and faded away, the sealing array falling apart from the repeated assaults. The marks on the scales of the beast faded away, Liang Chen pulling back his law of time so that the serpent could regain consciousness.


    Its pale white eyes were filled with horror as she looked at Liang Chen, the insurmountable difference in strength was far greater than what she had assumed, she hadn''t even been able to maintain her consciousness in front of him. Liang Chen didn''t care about her shocked gaze, placing a hand on her smooth body while giving her a stern warning.


    "I''m going to send you to a place where I can keep you until I leave this hidden realm, but you are forbidden from touching the people living there, you will die the moment you do so."


    Jiao Hui Xin and the other disciples inside the orb in his interspatial ring were far too weak to even hold a candle to this Nethersky Wyrm, she could decimate them with ease. But the moment she even tried to do so he would kill her, it was his worry that she would kill so indiscriminately that prevented him from just granting her freedom right here and now.


    The serpent quickly nodded her head so he pulled her into his interspatial ring and tossed her into the orb, simultaneously telling Hui Xin and the others to just stay away from her. With her taken care of, Liang Chen raised his head to Yumao.


    "Well then, shall we take care of the final thing here before we move on?"

 chapter 296: King Sealing Pagoda.

    Yumao descended as Liang Chen spoke, Lan Yun hopping down from his back while carrying the small lotus as if it was an infant. She held it up towards Liang Chen''s face, who took it with a slight smile and placed it back on his shoulder, ruffling Lan Yun''s hair to appease her desire for praise.


    "Alright, stick close to me, I''ll protect you."


    Liang Chen raised his arm as he spoke, his spear already gone from his hands. His Anima Essence surged out from his hand and scattered throughout the area, sucking up the deathly aura that pervaded this land. He rarely used the law of death, but it was still one of the laws he had merged into his soul, it would also be good nourishment for Yumao, who had gained the law of death after eating the mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor corpse that Qian Liao had dragged around.


    The law of death quickly gathered above his raised hand, quickly growing so dense that a dark black mist filled with ashen dots appeared above him. The mist grew larger and larger as he drew in more of the law, draining the land of death of its signature energy. First, he had removed all the lightning from the land where he plucked the lotus and now he was draining another land of all its death, he took everything and left nothing behind, a true scourge.


    "Come up now, let''s get a good look at you."


    While drawing in the surrounding law of death, Liang Chen was also tugging at the core, the source of all this lingering death. He could feel it rising up from within the earth, burrowing towards him as he used his Anima Essence to form chains that forced it to come to him. And as he gathered up the last bits of deathly energy from the land, the item in question burst from the ground and revealed itself, hovering in front of him.


    The item, the source of all this corroding death, was a simple skull. Bleached bones that formed a triangular head that was a few tens of metres long, seven curved and jagged horns running along each side of the skull. Each of the beast''s fangs was longer than Liang Chen''s body, he could almost fit in the space between the teeth.


    Whatever beast had produced this skull was already long dead, but its almost revolting aura of death remained even to this day, corrupting the land around it. But from this aura of death, Liang Chen could feel a sliver of similarity to Yumao''s own aura, as if they both shared the same core.


    "Hmm, did you maybe absorb a bit of the aura from this skull while you were still an egg? It feels a bit stronger than the aura of the emperor so it may be one of the reasons it was so easy for you to evolve your law of darkness into the law of death using that mutated corpse."


    Liang Chen was musing softly as he looked at the skull. Yumao had been different from other Nethersky Wyrms from the moment he hatched, normal Nethersky Wyrms didn''t have feathers or wings after all. Back then he had just assumed that it was because Yumao was nurtured by his blood, but feeling the similarity between the two auras he couldn''t leave out the possibility that he had absorbed something from this skull.


    "Ah, yes, the egg knows what it absorbed as it was being made."


    Yumao only snickered somewhat teasingly in response to Liang Chen''s question, how would he know what he absorbed as an egg? Liang Chen rolled his eyes somewhat exasperatedly at Yumao''s response, the poor little fellow had really been ruined by Yan Ling.


    "Yeah yeah, whatever, just take it, it''ll be good for you."


    He tossed the bleached skull to Yumao, who increased his size somewhat so that he could crush the skull into smaller pieces before swallowing them one by one. Liang Chen turned his own attention onto the mist above him, this concentrated deathly energy wasn''t as good as the skull but it would still be good for his soul cultivation. But as he turned his attention to the mist, the lotus resting on his shoulder started to flutter, its rainbow-coloured leaves reaching for the mist above them.


    "You want it? I can get desiring to become more than a One-Petaled Elemental Lotus, but are you sure that you want to settle on a second element so quickly?"


    The lotus had enough sentience to somewhat communicate with Liang Chen, he could at least understand the simple thoughts it wanted to convey. The leaves shivered slightly as he questioned, the answer leaving him slightly dumbfounded, leading to him eventually shaking his head.


    "Ah, fine fine. I really am too sentimental, Ling''er would definitely make fun of me if she saw me. Yumao, Little Lan, you''re both forbidden from telling her about this, understood?"


    He gave the two others a playful warning after he shook his head, returning his attention to the mist above him. The lotus desired this law of death not because it wanted to grow quickly, it simply wanted to become a little bit closer to the man who had nurtured it with his lightning, the man who had left behind the blood from which it had sprouted.


    He drew down the mist while Yumao and Lan Yun nodded their heads vigorously, but it was unknown whether or not they would actually follow through on this vow of silence. He couldn''t just pour all the mist into the lotus, it would just die and wither since it wouldn''t be able to handle the intense influx of energy.


    So he took it slow, pouring in tiny bits of the deathly energy and giving the lotus the time to get accustomed to it. Luckily, it was an Elemental Lotus so it was already excellently suited to taking in and adapting to new energies, that was how they grew more leaves after all. He poured in a little of his own Anima Essence while feeding it the deathly energy, it had grown from his blood so it could rely on that faint connection to take in the Anima Essence, smoothening out the process for it since his Anima Essence was tinged with the law of death. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    A few tiny buds slowly started to appear above the first row of rainbow-coloured leaves, the entire lotus extending a little to accommodate the new buds. And as more and more of the mist sank into the lotus, the buds slowly bloomed, a row of pitch-black leaves covered in ashen spots appearing on the lotus as its aura started to rise.


    A small portion of the mist was left after the second row of petals bloomed, but Liang Chen didn''t bother taking it for himself and just poured it all into the lotus, deepening the colours of the new petals. The lotus now had one row of multicoloured leaves orbiting clockwise and a second row of black leaves orbiting counter-clockwise, it was a strange but eye-catching sight.


    "There you go, now take your time getting used to it, last thing we need is you losing control of your newfound energy."


    Liang Chen stroked the petals of the lotus as he spoke, the entire flower dancing joyfully and caressing Liang Chen''s cheek with its leaves. Raising it to a Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus was quite easy, he figured he could probably also get it to three or four petals quite easily, assuming he had vast enough energy source. But everything after that would get exponentially harder, otherwise, the higher-numbered Elemental Lotuses wouldn''t be that rare.


    Of course, this Elemental Lotus was far from normal, it had sprouted from his blood and its first row of leaves contained his fused lightning while its second row of leaves contained a bit of his law of death. It had left the realm of a normal Elemental Lotus so he couldn''t help but be slightly curious, would it gain true sentience and become a Demonic beast first, or would he manage to give it a third row of petals first?


    "Well, a question for the future I guess. What do you say, how about we really head to the core to take this thing down now?"


    Liang Chen shook his head at the question, it wasn''t something he could answer right now, so he moved on to the next thing he had in mind as he turned to Yumao. He had only come here to reminisce about what he had gained here and to see if there might be something about Yumao''s parents here, just to sate a spell of curiosity.


    And he had found both, the appearance of the bleached skull was distinct enough that Liang Chen could easily memorize it so that he could look for information about similar beasts in the future. He wasn''t sure what he would find, but Yumao was part of his closest family so he wanted to learn everything he could.


    Yumao knew exactly what Liang Chen was talking about, his head turning towards the sky-reaching tower that could be seen from every single part of the hidden realm. That was the core of this entire place, it was where the Sealing God Empyrean did all the true trials of this hidden realm, where he chose who would become his disciple. It was also Liang Chen''s true target after he figured out exactly where this was. A slightly malevolent grin formed on Yumao''s face, Liang Chen resting his hand on Lan Yun''s head.


    "Alright, the place Paparan and Big Brother are heading to may not be safe, so Little Lan will have to be a good girl and wait in a safe place. Don''t worry, all the nice people that Paparan brought out earlier are in there, you can play with them while waiting. Paparan promises that he''ll be quick."


    Lan Yun puffed out her cheeks in protest when Liang Chen broke the news, but this was something he wouldn''t budge on. And her Mamaran had told her several times how stubborn Paparan could be, so the best she could do was mutter quiet complaints and vicious punishments as Liang Chen drew her into his interspatial ring.


    "Alright. Let''s go."


    Liang Chen hopped onto Yumao''s back as he spoke, the feathered serpent flapping his wings and disappearing into the distance as he accelerated to full speed. Yumao''s top speed was not something to be underestimated, he could keep pace with Liang Chen even as he used his own top speed, Liang Chen would only beat him if he rode on his lightning. But that wasn''t something he could do over extended distances yet, and Yumao could fly so he could easily go over every obstruction so he was still the best option.


    They tore through the hidden realm as a black blur as they approached the distant tower, only needing two measly days before they reached what was previously known as the unexplored area. The vast meadow housing only a single winding road lined with a few sparse signs stretched out in front of them, the tower resting at the end of the road.


    "Break through it."


    Liang Chen gave the order calmly and coldly, Yumao''s energy starting to seethe violently. When they last came here, stepping onto this meadow had brought them to the three different trials before they could actually enter the lowest floor of the tower. But Liang Chen had no plans of going through the trials this time, he was going to break directly into the tower and tear it down.


    Darkness was born around Yumao, the space around them trembling and creaking from the denseness of the darkness. The law of death seeping out from the darkness ate away at the land beneath them, the forest resting in front of the meadow withering away as Yumao passed over it.


    He entered the meadow and smashed into the hidden spatial array that was meant to take them away, the creaking of the surrounding space mixing with the creaking of the array as the weight of Yumao''s energy bore down on it. In the end, this was just a training ground meant to occasionally pick out a disciple, the Sealing God Empyrean hadn''t put his all into making it. As such, the array shattered under Yumao''s charge, the scenery in front of them breaking to reveal that the tower was far closer than it looked, the seemingly endless meadow had only been an illusion created alongside the spatial array.


    The true appearance of the tower was revealed, a nine-floored azure pagoda rising up in front of Liang Chen and Yumao. This was the core of this hidden realm, the King Sealing Pagoda where the Sealing God Empyrean forced everyone in this hidden realm to take part in his trials, even if they were basically just normal mortals.


    The doors of the pagoda started to slowly open as the spatial array around it was broken, a suction force seeping out from within. But Liang Chen had already expected something similar, his spear appearing in his grasp as he stepped forward, turning into a blur that shot towards the door.


    He held almost nothing back and tapped into his law of the void, space not even creaking and instead simply fading away as his spear passed through it. His weapon slammed into the opening doors, tearing them from existence and ruining the array at the base of the tower, bringing an abrupt end to the suctioning force.


    Had it been allowed to go on then almost every living being in this hidden realm would have been sucked in and forced to participate in the trials to become an honorary disciple. Enough innocents had died back when Liang Chen first took part in the trials, that scene did not need to repeat itself. With Yumao hot on his tail, they entered the now wide open entrance and stepped into the lowest floor of the King Sealing Pagoda.

 Chapter 297: Final floor of the pagoda.

    The land that spread out in front of Liang Chen after he stepped through the entrance, and what felt like a thin film of folded space, was far too familiar to him. He stood on top of a tall mountain and overlooked vast wilderness dotted with lakes, plains, other mountains, and even a grand volcano puffing out smoke.


    Large corpses of various sizes also dotted the landscape, Demonic beasts of every type imaginable spread about. This was the first floor, the Demon''s Graveyard, and it housed the multitude of corpses that the Sealing God Empyrean had picked up during the Genesis War of the ancient past.


    But while the landscape was exceedingly familiar to him, Liang Chen''s attention was focused on something else. He could feel something, his blood was flowing faster and his Qi was moving about in an agitated manner. There was something above him, something beyond this first floor that was resonating with his bloodline. But his blood was that of a Voidborn Ruler, what sort of existence could possibly resonate with him? Were there actually Voidborn hidden away within this pagoda?


    "Keep your vigilance raised, Yumao, we may need to fight once we reach the higher floors."


    Liang Chen''s goal was the top floor, that was definitely where the Sealing God Empyrean would have left the mechanism that controlled this pagoda. And since he was going up anyway then it was inevitable that he would encounter the thing that resonated with his bloodline, and he would have to be ready for it when that time came. Yumao nodded his head solemnly, Liang Chen scooping up the lotus that was resting on his shoulder.


    "Sorry, but you''ll also have to go into the ring for a bit. Don''t worry, the environment there will be better than on my shoulder, I''ll make sure of that."


    The leaves of the flower fluttered softly as if to show their understanding, the flower disappearing from his palm as he stored it into his interspatial ring. The interspatial ring he was using was something made by someone known as Sovereign Blacksmith, it could hold minor living beings like plants and he could even speed up or slow down the passage of time in it.


    He didn''t put the lotus into the orb where Hui Xin and the others were and instead planted it in a more secluded spot, pouring in some of his lighting and death-tinged Qi to feed it. He then increased the flow of time around that particular area so that the lotus could grow faster, it may even have altered the area around it to perfectly suit it the next time he checked on it.


    "Alright, now it''s just us. There are two places I want to check out before we ascend, please accompany me. You can pick up whatever you want on the way, no real reason to just leave it behind."


    Liang Chen stepped onto Yumao''s back as he spoke, the feathered serpent nodding his head and flapping his wings. The two shot into the distance, Liang Chen pointing out the path so that they could quickly reach their target. And the first target Liang Chen had designated was a large corpse, at least 100 metres long.


    The corpse had eight long legs that resembled thick spears, a pure white carapace covering its entire body. The corpse of this spider seemed untouched, only a small hole in its chest forming a blemish on its body. This hole was something Liang Chen himself had left behind when he had plunged his spear into it to draw out the blood of the spider.


    He and Yan Ling had been surrounded back then, besieged by countless enemies. And he had drenched himself in the blood and allowed its power to enter his body, practically turning him into a mindless beast fueled by nothing but poison and lightning, it was the day he got the title of Scourge King. And the poison of this spider remained one of his strongest even to this day, it liquefied the bonds that kept a person''s cells together.


    "We meet again. Although I''m not as beaten and battered as I was back then."


    Liang Chen spoke as if the spider could hear him, but even the smallest traces of its soul had already vanished with the passage of time. But that was fine, he didn''t come here to reminisce about what happened back then, he came to pick up what he could get back then.


    He stopped in front of the spider and drew his spear, splitting the corpse down the middle with a single swing. And there, tucked away close to the mouth of the spider, were its dull white poison glands as well as a small sac that seemed to be filled with liquefied golden lightning. Liang Chen loosened all three sacs, the energy within them resonating with the energy in his own body.


    His own lightning was already stronger than the lightning of this spider so the lightning sac wouldn''t be of too much assistance, nor would the poison sacs for that matter, but they would be good cultivation resources when he needed a strong source of energy. He tossed the items into his interspatial ring, making sure to not drop them into the orb so that none of the disciples, or Lan Yun, accidentally touched them. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "One last stop, it''s the least I can do for him."


    Liang Chen hopped onto Yumao''s back and the two left the area, Yumao quietly snatching up all the corpses they passed by. The ones suitable could be saved for Liang Chen, but the rest could be freely eaten by him. Their cultivations weren''t the highest since they were left behind in this graveyard, but they would be enough to form a good snack.


    The last place Liang Chen wanted to visit was quickly reached, Yumao landing at the side of a silver lake. Liang Chen walked along the shore of the lake until he reached the thing he was looking for, the corpse of a man sitting with his legs crossed.


    The middle-aged man had chiselled features and flowing silver hair, even now it was flowing slightly despite the lack of a breeze. He looked like he was just sleeping, but there was no trace of life in his body, he was long dead.


    This was the corpse of a Sebettu, one that had fallen during the ancient Genesis War. The man had left a bit of his residual soul in his soulsea even after death, just in case he ever met another member of his race he could tell his story to. And the person he met was Liang Chen, still young and unsure about his own origins.


    This was where Liang Chen learned the truth, where the memories his biological parents had stored inside him had been awakened. It had also been where his bloodline had started to awaken, where he had gained his law of time.


    The man hadn''t known Liang Chen, the two hadn''t even exchanged their names since they had so little time. But even so, the man''s last words weren''t once of remembrance or vengeance, of duty to his race. He had just told Liang Chen to live as he wished, to follow his heart and live as what he believed himself to be, be it Sebettu or Human.


    "Senior, this Junior has returned. The Sebettu are still living even after losing the Genesis War, their state isn''t terribly good, but they''re still alive.  I can''t say that I have any ties with them, but the least I can do is return your body to them, the place you deserve to rest is the place you called home."


    Liang Chen cupped his hands respectfully and gave the corpse a slight bow. This man was someone worthy of respect, at least in Liang Chen''s eyes. Now that he had returned there was no way he would just leave the corpse here, it had to be returned home, to whatever family he may have left behind.


    He placed his hand on the corpse and drew it into his interspatial ring, finding it a secluded place where it wouldn''t be disturbed by anything. With this, he had accomplished everything he desired here on the lowest floor, all that remained for him would lie above, his gaze rising towards the sky.


    "Come, let''s break through it all."


    He stepped onto Yumao''s back and brought out his spear again, the feathered serpent flapping his wings and shooting towards the sky. They reached the hidden ceiling before long, Yumao breaking directly through it to enter the second floor. From the first to the second, then the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, they broke through ceiling after ceiling, circumvented every floor and trial that they may contain.


    Liang Chen had no respect for the Sealing God Empyrean and even less respect for the tower and trials he had set up, he would shatter them all so that there would never be a day where he would suck in countless innocents for his trials. It became a bit harder when they reached the higher floors, but when Liang Chen drew out the first moves of his Dragon King''s Six Steps, even the higher floors had to give way for them.


    The resonating sensation coming from his bloodline and Qi got closer and closer as they broke through to the higher floors, reaching a crescendo as they burst through the ground of the ninth and final floor. The ninth floor was a bit different from the other floors, which so far had all contained some of the things the Sealing God Empyrean had encountered in the Genesis Wars. Hordes of beast corpses, the wails of deceased souls, all-encompassing dread that pulled you down, endless darkness that made it so you couldn''t see around you.


    There was nothing like that on this floor, the only thing there was a large sapphire palace with six spires surrounding it. The six spires connected together at the very top, curving around to form the intricate image of a lock above the palace.  The gates of the palace were shut tight, but they slid open without any fuss the moment Liang Chen placed his hands on them.


    He could see markings of what looked like an array engraved around the hinges of the door and on the floor, but the array was already broken, cut into pieces so that it couldn''t activate. That was most likely why nothing happened as he pushed open the door, not congratulations that he had reached the last floor of the pagoda, no announcement of the final trial, there was just silence.


    But Liang Chen could see that he wasn''t alone. There was someone sitting within the large statue-decorated hall that spread out beyond the doors. The statues had all been broken so that he couldn''t see who they were supposed to depict, but it was probably the Sealing God Empyrean. But Liang Chen couldn''t be bothered to pay attention to this, all his focus was placed squarely on the man seated within the hall.


    The man looked a bit old, as if he was reaching the later stages of his middle-ages, he had short brown hair and kind blue eyes, a soft and endearing expression on his face. His sky blue robe was decorated with markings that looked like brown feathers, it looked a bit odd compared to a normal robe.


    But the thing that really drew Liang Chen''s attention was the man''s aura. It felt slightly familiar but at the same time, unlike anything he had ever sensed before. It was as if the aura contained everything in the world, from the smallest mote of dust to the grandest dragon, it was everything but also only him. There were several hundred screens floating in front of the man, but he had clearly sensed Liang Chen, his gaze had already drifted towards him the moment he stepped into the hall.


    "I see. I wonder if this is that thing people call fate? Does that mean that not even we can manage to escape its grasp in the end? Or is it just a coincidence, a small flash of two paths that intersect before they''re supposed to? How curious."

 Chapter 298: The tale of time.

    Liang Chen''s vigilance rose sharply as he looked at the man that was seated there so calmly. He couldn''t feel much power within his aura, but his senses were warning him of extreme danger, the man who looked at him with such comforting warmth was definitely beyond dangerous. Yumao picked up on the subtle change in Liang Chen''s state, his feathers bristling as he prepared himself.


    "There''s no need to become so vigilant, I won''t do anything to you. If anything I would appreciate it if we could talk, I would like to understand the thoughts and personality of Jieshu''s successor. Although I do understand that vigilance, it''s a good way to survive. But please, have a seat."


    The man also seemed to notice Liang Chen''s change, maintaining his slight smile as he gave a light wave of his hand. A table appeared in front of him, a pillow materializing on the opposite side of the table. The doors creaked shut behind Liang Chen at the same time, they sounded as if they moved slowly but actually shut tight in less than a second.


    Liang Chen''s pupils shrank instantly, his spear sweeping out backwards as he unleashed his strongest move, Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow. He augmented the move with his law of void, but while he tore a gash into the door, the opening was filled instantly, as if it had never been there to begin with.


    "Quick and decisive, you didn''t even show any hint of what you were going to do. You must have battled a lot to achieve that, most people unconsciously show faint traces of their intentions when they move. You were also able to instantly bring out the force of the void, that''s good, it shows that you have the confidence to control it."


    The man didn''t sound too surprised by Liang Chen''s attempt to break out, actually sighing somewhat appreciatively. But Liang Chen''s mind chilled at the man''s words, he had been able to pinpoint the law of the void instantly, and he didn''t seem the least bit surprised by it. Liang Chen glanced at the door, how pristine the repaired section was despite having been hit by the law of the void.


    "You''ve made preparations, huh? Really don''t have any plans on letting me leave."


    "I wouldn''t say that I''ve made preparations, you and I just so happen to cancel each other out so it all boils down to the difference in power."


    The man shook his hand dismissively the moment Liang Chen opened his mouth, as if he wanted to make it exceedingly clear that he hadn''t made a single plan for Liang Chen''s arrival. He gestured towards the pillow on the opposite side of the table again, bringing out a porcelain kettle and filling it with warm water and what looked like rose leaves.


    "Please, have a seat. It will just be a talk, nothing more, I swear that I won''t even mobilize any Qi or the like. Just the fact that you''ve arrived here means that my hiding spot has already been sniffed out, the odds of me being able to keep it hidden are now so slim that I should be leaving immediately. But I would still like to talk, to learn. So please, won''t you indulge me?"


    Liang Chen took his gaze away from the door and turned it towards the man, who was calmly stirring the contents of the kettle with a wooden spoon. His mind started to move as he went over his options, it was clear that breaking out was no longer an option so he would have to approach things a bit differently.


    He placed his hand on Yumao''s head and ruffled his feathers softly, the winged serpent understanding his intentions and shrinking down to an appropriate size where he could comfortably rest on Liang Chen''s head. He then walked over to the pillow, the tip of his spear still dragging along the floor as he sat down.


    "Thank you for indulging me. Most people know me as the Sky-Covering Eagle, but you can call me Tian Shen, what may I call you?"


    The man poured the contents of the kettle into two cups as he spoke, pushing one towards Liang Chen while keeping the other for himself. But Liang Chen didn''t accept the cup, his eyes narrowing sharply as he finally understood why the aura of the man felt somewhat familiar.


    "Liang Chen is good enough. But tell me, what is your relationship with the Sky-Piercing Sparrow? And please, don''t try to say that there is no relation."


    The part of the aura that felt familiar bore a heavy resemblance to the aura of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, who had already tried to kill Liang Chen multiple times. The names were also far too similar for it to be just a coincidence, there had to be a connection between them. And the man, Tian Shen, didn''t deny it, sipping the transparent pink tea while nodding his head.


    "It seems you''ve already met my youngest son. But the look in your eyes tells me that it wasn''t under favourable circumstances. I''m sorry for any trouble he may have caused, Little Niao has always been a bit...extreme in his desire to show off his helpfulness."


    Tian Shen lowered his head slightly as he apologized for his son, Tian Niao. But that act just looked laughable in Liang Chen''s eyes, the things Tian Niao had done couldn''t just be excused so simply.


    "Extreme? Sending people off to commit suicide attacks, sacrificing innocent sects for a chance to kill someone else, throwing away legion after legion of subordinates, are those things that can just be excused by calling them a bit extreme? Are the innocent lives lost so light that a mere lowering of the head can give them peace? Don''t make me laugh."


    Liang Chen had memorized everything Tian Niao had done, the eradication of the innocent Sword Dancer''s sect that he had made Liang Chen commit was one of the regrets carved into his soul. But Tian Shen simply shook his head lightly in the face of Liang Chen''s sharp words, the smile on his face growing a touch softer.


    "Such anger for lives you perceive to be innocent, for lives that have no connection with you. You have a good heart, a crimson red one that bleeds for more than just yourself. I''m glad that Jieshu''s successor is willing to burn for others. But take care that you do not burn yourself out, who will fight for those you bleed for when all that remains of you is ash?"


    Tian Shen completely side-stepped the subject Liang Chen had brought up, clearly not desiring to talk about his own son. But Liang Chen still noticed the peculiarity in what he said, the slight hint that pointed towards what Tian Shen''s own personality was like. He turned his gaze to the side slightly, his sight landing on the thousands of screens that hovered next to them, each showing different cities, some in ruins, some in flames, some tranquil and calm.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Are you curious about them? They''re cities we''ve sent people to so that we can extend them our hand, places we have asked if they want to come to our side ahead of time. Sadly, the ones that have accepted are in the minority so far. But that''s fine, they''ll join us in time, we''ll become family sooner or later."


    Tian Shen followed Liang Chen''s gaze, speaking quietly and somewhat mournfully about the cities depicted in the screens. Liang Chen''s gaze hardened slightly when he saw the sheer number of cities that were currently in turmoil, the number of deaths taking place in front of him was something he failed to count. He had a slight guess as to what this meant, but the answer Tian Shen gave him was less than stellar.


    "Since you''re gathering allies, can I take it as a sign that you''re preparing to go to war?"


    "Not preparing to, we are already at war. This is just a final attempt to bring these children into our fold ahead of time. But you don''t need to worry about that, this war is not one you can interfere in, even if you are Jieshu''s successor."


    Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly at the revelation. If this was just their final attempt at bringing in more allies then he couldn''t even begin to guess how brutal the actual battles were. But at the same time, he also understood that Tian Shen spoke the truth, he was currently too weak to interfere in a war like this. He could see people far stronger than him fighting inside some of the projections, this was a war that had left the scope of what he was capable of.


    He tempered his mind slightly, not allowing his emotions to dictate how he moved. He pulled his gaze away from the screens and directed it towards Tian Shen again, moving the conversation in a different direction.


    "Who is this Jieshu?"


    Tian Shen had used the name three times already so it clearly held quite the significance to him. But Liang Chen had no idea who this person was, or why he would be their successor, so he steered the direction towards it since it seemed like Tian Shen wanted to talk about it. And sure enough, Tian Shen reacted pleasantly once Liang Chen brought it up.


    "Oh, forgive me, you''re the first non-Voidborn Successor so I forgot that you don''t have access to the Voidborn''s archives. Hmm, where to start that story...? How about we just take it from the top?"


    Tian Shen rubbed his chin slightly as he mulled it over, seemingly going through his memories as he searched for the appropriate place to start the story. And the place he chose to start the story was so far removed from anything Liang Chen had expected that it had never even crossed his mind.


    "Back at the dawn of time, before recorded history, even before this Sphere of Existence was made, there existed only three beings. Qiyuan, Jieshu, and Wending. The Origin, The End, and The Harmony. Well, nowadays they''re more known as Existence, The Void, and Balance, the three Ascended Laws that birthed, controlled, and ended all. One created all of existence, one brought all of existence to its rightful end, and the final one made sure that neither of the two others created or destroyed more than they should. Together the three birthed the world as we know it, the first universe."


    Liang Chen had previously heard that there were three Sphere''s of Existence, the one who was likely the Void King had slipped it quite casually when they spoke. But this was the first he ever heard about how the very first Sphere of Existence was born, and only the second time he heard about the two other Ascended Laws. Tian Shen''s eyes glazed over slightly as he talked, a murky light flitting through his pupils.


    "The universe they made birthed humans and beasts, animals and insects. Life flourished and life ended, forming a constant cycle that fed the world and helped it grow. One universe became two and then four, more and more born with the passage of time. That was how the first Sphere of Existence was made, with the careful touch of three ascended beings."


    In essence, it wasn''t too far removed from the realm of possibility. Ning Hao, the Bloodwind Emperor, had once told Liang Chen that he helped nurture and grow the first minor universe of the multiverse they lived in. This could be seen as something quite similar, only on a scale so much larger it was almost laughable, a garden greater than any other.


    "But you know how living beings are, always aiming for greater heights, always striving for the peak beyond the sky. And after innumerable years, one human managed to reach that peak. He grasped the law of Existence, he pulled himself onto the same level as Qiyuan herself. But he wasn''t content with sharing the peak with her, he wanted to stand there alone. But Qiyuan had the backing of Jieshu and Wending so he stood no chance of dethroning her, meaning he could only move on to a different path."


    Liang Chen had gotten his law of the Void through complete coincidence, it had been nothing more than countless coincidences stacked onto each other. He had no idea what it took to actually grasp that law on your own, so he couldn''t actually understand how arduous it was to grasp one of the Ascended Laws by your own merit.


    "He left the Sphere he was born in and used his law of Existence to tear open an entirely new space away from the first Sphere, forming an entirely new Sphere of Existence where he could reign supreme. That was the birth of the second Sphere, and the start of the downfall."


    This too fell in line with what Liang Chen had heard before, that there was one massive natural Sphere of Existence and two smaller man-made ones. But what followed would be a history that Liang Chen had never gotten to hear about.


    "You see, Qiyuan didn''t need to think about that Sphere, it had its own Existence to watch over it. But what about Void and Harmony? That Sphere had neither, it would birth and birth until it exploded, unchecked and cancerous growth."


    It was quite simple actually, if something grew without end, what would happen when that growth reached the limits of the container? Will the container expand or will it continue to grow by breaking open the container? Or in the worst case, would it just keep growing without managing either, smothering everything within the container?


    "Wending and Jieshu had their duties, their very existence was to preserve Balance and The End. So they did what they felt they had to, Wending split himself in two and sent a part of himself into the second Sphere so that he could keep an eye on both, it was relatively easy for him since he was Balance. But Jieshu had it harder, all Spheres were connected to the same Void, the same end. And he was alone, the sole ruler of that Void, so he had to handle both. It simply became too much for him, he was forced to split himself up, birthing the first Voidborn so that he could fulfil his duty."


    The Void was nothingness, it existed everywhere and nowhere. There wasn''t a single place that wasn''t connected to it, and thus it was only natural that the one who ruled the Void had to rule all of it and take care of all of it. But how were you supposed to rule something so large that it left your grasp?


    "But as the Sphere grew larger and larger, it became increasingly hard for the first Voidborn and Jieshu to complete their duty, they needed more hands. So they split themselves up again, tearing away at themselves and birthing more Voidborn. Each new one was weaker than the last so they constantly needed to make more to keep up with the already straining pace of growth. And then, then the second human holding Existence was born."


    The more Jieshu tore away from himself, the less he had to give to the new Voidborn, that was why each subsequent Voidborn was weaker than the last. But even so, he kept on tearing, kept on shrinking so that he could fulfil his duty.


    "But just like with the first one, he could not share the throne with another king, so he left to carve out his own slice of land. And thus, this third Sphere of Existence was born. Wending was forced to tear away another piece of himself and toss it into this Sphere, but in his attempt to maintain balance in the Spheres, he failed to maintain balance in himself. He fell apart and lost himself, now nothing more than a mindless force that moves about and acts on instinct, on rare occasions birthing a single Stasis Born to aid him in what he believes to be his duty."

 Chapter 299: The final answer.

    Stasis Born, it was a name that Liang Chen had only heard once in the past, back when he first learned about the three Ascended Laws. But this was the first time he learned how they were created, he had initially thought that they were like the Voidborn and were just naturally born from the Sphere of Existence.


    "And Jieshu? He now had even more ground to cover, needed even more hands. He created more and more Voidborn to fill in the gaps, to fulfil his duty. And in the end, the duty he was trying to fulfil, fulfilled him. He had torn away too much, birthed too many Voidborn, shrunken himself too much. Some of them had gained sentience and did not wish to be torn apart to help birth new Voidborn whenever it was needed. So they tore apart Jieshu, the brought an end to The End. Balance had faded so Wending couldn''t stop them, and thus the Voidborn became the sole rulers of the Void, twisting their duty into something they felt fit them, continuing on all the way to this very day."


    And thus, the Voidborn of today were born. They were created to bring an end to all things, and almost like a sick joke, they had fulfiled that duty by bringing an end to the one that birthed them.


    "The first and second humans to wield Existence are no more, I took care of both of them after I became the third, it was only a matter of time until they became bored and tried to create a fourth or fifth Sphere. And at that point, it would become too much, the unchecked growth would smother everything else."


    Tian Shen spoke of it very casually, but the things he said practically confirmed his identity to Liang Chen. The Nine Star Demon God had once told him about the sole person who could make a new Sphere of Existence, the Existential Lord that ruled over the original Sphere of Existence. He was the only one who had grasped the law of Existence. And with his identity confirmed, Liang Chen could guess why his blood and Qi had resonated. The Law of Existence was the rival of his Law of the Void, like life and death. It had reacted to its enemy, warned him of its presence. Tian Shen did not seem to care about revealing his own identity and law, simply continuing his story.


    "But the damage has already been done. Void and Balance have faded, only Qiyuan remains of the original three, and even she has abandoned most of her powers so that she does not become tempted to birth more, only creating a single Sphere Born for each Sphere, each one so weak that they can just barely maintain a fragile balance with the Voidborn. Nowadays she just wanders around the worlds, bringing along her little sketchbook and painting the true forms of those interesting beings her blind eyes see."


    In a world where Balance and Void have already faded, how lonely must it not be to be the Existence that remains behind? She had watched what could be considered her siblings tear themselves apart for their duty, and now all that remained was her and the hollow shells of what used to be her siblings. Tian Shen evidently felt something rather similar.


    "It''s sad, isn''t it? The embodiments of the Ascended Laws, possibly the greatest beings to ever exist, and they didn''t even get a proper ending. They simply fell apart while trying to fulfil their duties, while trying to do what they were born to do. All because man could not share one mountain, one throne."


    Two tigers could not share one mountain, it was a saying that most living beings followed unconsciously, and it was what brought about the downfall of the beginning. Tian Shen shook his head lightly, his eyes regaining their clarity as he locked eyes with Liang Chen.


    "I... I won''t let things get worse, everything will end if things are left unchecked. I hold Existence, and while the holder of Balance will never agree to help me, there might still be hope if I have you, the first Void that is unrelated to those that tore down Jieshu."


    There had been three at the beginning, but that didn''t mean that there always needed to be three. As long as Existence and Void kept each other in check and were conscious about what they did then it would be possible to maintain balance, to create a new Harmony. That was what Tian Shen believed, so he stretched out his hand.


    "Help me, Liang Chen. The three Spheres need to be unified, they need to be controlled. We cannot allow the birth of more Existence Holders, cannot allow the Void to go unchecked. Help me protect all the Spheres, all the innocent lives. Help me restore Balance."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    He had taken care of the two previous Existence wielders, but there was no telling when a new one would appear, one he couldn''t nip in the bud. More Void wielders could also appear without him knowing, the fragile balance that was currently maintained would crumble without resistance.


    Liang Chen looked down at the hand after hearing the ancient history, his gaze not revealing any of his emotions. He turned his head sideways without taking the hand, his gaze landing on the screens that showed the cities, gesturing towards them with his thumb.


    "That, is that how you intend to unify all the Spheres? Is that how you will restore Balance?"


    Death and ruin to those that refused to obey, cities burning without discrimination just because they wouldn''t accept that outstretched hand. Tian Shen''s expression was a bit downcast as he looked at the screens, but he simply shook his head.


    "...I won''t lie, it''s a grim sight. But when you protect the innocent, do you do it without spilling any blood?"


    You could not protect the innocent without spilling blood, you could not unify worlds without spilling blood, innocent or not. Liang Chen was clearly intent on protecting the innocent so he was definitely keenly aware of this fact. But contrary to Tian Shen''s expectations, Liang Chen shook his head, not even sparing that outstretched hand a second glance.


    "No, I spill a lot of blood to protect the innocent. But that blood is never the blood of the innocent, nor will it ever be."


    He would become the prime evil, the greatest evil to have ever existed. But he would reach that realm without spilling the blood of innocents. That was the path he had chosen. If others decided that spilling the blood of innocents was a necessary price for their path, then he would step in the way of their path and cut them down.


    "I implore you to reconsider. It may hurt your heart, but sometimes you must weather a great storm to reach the end goal that you seek. Once we pass through the storm, Existence will allow all the spilt blood to be restored, the lost can come back."


    Existence was the evolved version of creation, even souls could be created and implanted with memories. Every person that had ever died could be created anew, so what did it matter if they died for a bit? But perhaps it was that knowledge that formed the rift between the thoughts of the two. One could accept it, the other could not.


    "No. I''m not patient enough, nor do I have the heart to do so. The end does not justify the means, the moment you willingly spill innocent blood it has already become too late to save the innocent. To borrow the words of someone dear to me, I won''t weather any storm, I am the storm. But I am not a storm of innocent blood."


    Liang Chen stood up from his seat as he shook his head, quietly borrowing the words that Yan Ling had forced into Lan Yun''s mind. Tian Shen let out a long and heavy sigh when Liang Chen made his stance clear, but he still looked a bit gratified as his gaze roamed Liang Chen''s body.


    "What a shame. But at the same time, not. I am glad that someone like you has inherited the Void, someone like you is well suited to hold The End, you won''t cause pointless destruction to tilt the balance. But it is still a shame that we could not see eye to eye."


    Tian Shen stood up after he finished talking, the table and teakettle vanishing along with the thousands of screens. Just like he had said earlier, this really wasn''t a place he could stay now that he had been discovered by Liang Chen. He would have to take this avatar and go somewhere else, this wasn''t an avatar he could really afford to lose.


    "Thank you for joining me in this conversation. I must leave now, but please do remain here, at least until the end of the war. Once everything is over then we can talk again."


    Liang Chen could hear a soft clicking sound as Tian Shen spoke, as if the doors around him all locked at once. Liang Chen didn''t see eye to eye with him now, but time would wear down most things so it might be different once he got some time to collect his thoughts.


    But just like Tian Shen had no intention of letting him leave, Liang Chen also had no plans of letting Tian Shen leave, not after he saw the war and carnage he caused outside. He had thought it over while he was sitting there, who could deal with Tian Shen? Who would be suitable to prevent his escape? And the answer he came to was the scene he saw back when he got the full Ocean God''s Physique, that youth that had separated an area from the rest of the multiverse with a single slash.


    "Sorry, but I have no intention of going along with that. But I''m pretty sure I know a few people who would like to have you remain behind, so why don''t you have a conversation with them instead? Yin Long, Tian Shen is here."


    Liang Chen wanted to say more, perhaps call out Ning Hao or Chang Yun at the same time to really make sure that things went well. But there was a reaction the moment the name left his mouth. The entire palace creaked once, a nearly unnoticeable sound reaching Liang Chen''s ears. And then, the palace split in half down the middle, the gash going so deep into the ground that he couldn''t see the bottom.


    "Well now, this is interesting. Tell me, Tian Shen, what sort of weapon do you use?"


    The voice that came from above, containing a slight bit of surprise and excitement, felt like a sword stabbing into Liang Chen''s soul. He didn''t need to raise his head to look, just the voice alone was enough to tell him the truth. The Heaven Splitting King had arrived.

 Chapter 300: The Heaven Splitting King.

    The Heaven Splitting King, Yin Long, had simply arrived far too fast, to the point where it caught Liang Chen completely off guard. He most likely hadn''t been in this universe when Liang Chen spoke up, this was a universe ruled by the Nine Star Demon God after all. But he had arrived the moment the name had left Liang Chen''s lips. Was it really that easy to travel between universes?


    "Yin Long... I see, you should be Nergal. Forgive me, I''ve heard and read about you, but it still takes me a second to put all that together when I first meet someone new. It may be rude to ask, but are you okay? You look a bit more dishevelled than Asmodai and Hades usually do."


    Tian Shen had raised his head slightly, his body now half a step to the side so that the first attack went right past him. It was subtle, but Liang Chen could tell that he was using titles rather than actual names, it seemed like he didn''t want to draw even more people here.


    His words also caught Liang Chen''s interest so he raised his head to properly inspect the person that had responded to his call. The Yin Long standing in the air above him looked the same as the Yin Long he had seen when he got the full Ocean God''s Physique, a light yellow robe, long silver hair and pitch-black eyes.


    But it was just like Tian Shen said, he looked a bit dishevelled at the moment. His robe was so loose and open that it revealed a good portion of his chest, almost displaying a gruesome scar that seemed like it wanted to split him in half. His hair was also damp, clumping together as it hung down wildly, a few errant drops of water still stubbornly clinging to his hair. He raised an arm and ran it through his hair to push it back, glancing down at Liang Chen as he responded.


    "Don''t mind it, I was just a bit busy. But Kid, you really got me good there, I have no idea how badly they''re gonna manhandle me when I return, you should be glad you don''t have to be there."


    Liang Chen had no idea who Yin Long spoke of, but the slightly aggrieved tone in his voice really made it sound like he wasn''t looking forward to returning to whoever it was that was going to beat him up. For that matter, who in this universe could manhandle one of the people controlling a Pillar Universe?


    "I see. Indeed, getting called out while busy is fairly annoying, if you want I can help you form a few avatars to help you multi-task. What do you think, you just do me a favour or two and I''ll give you a hand, fair, no?"


    Tian Shen was evidently quite calm about it, already putting Yin Long''s state behind him as he moved on to a new topic. But the topic he settled on was one that Liang Chen couldn''t help but find a bit strange, offering him a hand, when they were enemies? Taking into account the way he had spoken earlier, it seemed like he was trying to avoid fighting? But as to why, Liang Chen had no idea, it seemed like he could make avatars rather freely after all.


    "No thanks, your avatars are little better than puppets, and I abhor puppets. But you seem quite willing to talk and bargain, I wonder why? Is this avatar perhaps a bit important to you? Is it perhaps...your main avatar in this Sphere?"


    The corner of Tian Shen''s left eye twitched slightly as Yin Long put out his theory, it was so obvious that even Liang Chen could notice it. And of course, if the weakest person present could notice it then there was no need to talk about the true powerhouses present, Yin Long''s lips slowly curving up.


    "Bingo, is it? Now, for the second time, what sort of weapon do you use? I hope it''s not something ranged, really isn''t anything to be gained from that."


    A faint yet sharp light flashed through the black pupils of Yin Long as he spoke. In that moment he looked more like a predator than anything else, a hungry beast that was eagerly waiting to swallow up whatever it could. Liang Chen felt the air around Tian Shen change subtly, but Yin Long''s voice sounded out at the same time, as if he was talking to Liang Chen.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "This is Huafen, it is he who eternally separates heaven and earth."


    A sword had appeared in Yin Long''s grasp before Liang Chen had noticed it, and that sword drew a beautiful archthrough the air, as if it was trying to demarcate the line where heaven ended and earth began. It was a move Liang Chen had actually seen before, once in that ancient recording. A single stroke of the sword that separated one particular area from the rest of the multiverse, possibly even the entire Sphere of Existence.


    But now that he saw it in person rather than through a recording, he couldn''t even marvel at the beauty of it. That sword was nothing but sad, a crying child huddled away in a closet. It was filled with a horrible loneliness and longing, it felt just like Liang Chen did when he realized that his parents and sister had already reincarnated and that he would likely never see them again.


    "This...?!"


    "Lost contact with the outside world? Can''t teleport away or call in any of your reinforcements? This is what it feels like to be alone, Tian Shen. This world, right now it exists just for us, right now we are so alone that it''s suffocating."


    Yin Long descended to the ground as he spoke, cutting off Tian Shen''s shocked exclamation. From the looks of it, not even the Existential Lord that ruled the original Sphere of Existence knew everything about the enemies he was facing. And realizing that, Liang Chen couldn''t help but wonder. Why would he start a war when he didn''t know the full extent of what his enemies were capable of? What pushed him to that brink? But there would be no answer to that question, Yin Long glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.


    "It''s a shame that you''re not a proper spearman, but that''s just life. Still, pay close attention, Liang Chen, it is not often that you get to spectate a fight like this from the front row. So watch, take in everything that you can and use it to move forward, that is how a warrior marches."


    Yin Long, or perhaps more fittingly right now, the Heaven Splitting King, reached out with his right arm after he finished talking. Tremors ran through space all around them, Liang Chen could tell that the palace they were in was crumbling, resisting. Perhaps the entire hidden realm was. Was it crying, struggling to resist whatever was going on? Liang Chen didn''t know, but he did know one thing.


    "There are many innocents in this hidden realm, they won''t even know about this battle. Please, don''t drag them into something they can''t even comprehend."


    Liang Chen himself wasn''t sure if he could comprehend what sort of fight would break out here so much less had to be said for the people living in this hidden realm. The mortals tending to their crops, the shopkeeps working on their line up, the hunters stalking the forest for prey, none of them would even know about the three people currently standing in this tower. For them to die because of them, to die innocent and unknowing, Liang Chen did not want that. Yin Long halted for a second due to Liang Chen''s words, but the curve of his lips crew a touch softer.


    "You''ve got a good heart, a strong one burning with conviction, that''s good, be it heaven or hell, a heart like that will take you far towards either. Don''t worry, I''ve never had the habit of dragging others into my fights, and I''m not planning on picking it up now that I''m already an old fossil."


    The Heaven Splitting King clenched his hand after he finished speaking, and what followed was a scene that Liang Chen never could have imagined. The palace around them, the floors beneath them, that land of death in the hidden realm outside, the cities scattered about, all of them whizzed past him. They flew past him like images, transparent strips imprinted with the scenery.


    Before he knew it he found himself standing on the slightly damp earth of Purgatory''s Cradle, the faint scent of blood hanging in the air. The entire hidden realm that the Sealing God Empyrean had set up had vanished, now grasped securely in Yin Long''s hand in the shape of a sword, one brimming with power.


    He raised the sword, which seemed to swim with all the scenery that once belonged to the hidden realm. The tip was pointed straight at the sky, and suddenly all sound vanished from the world. The squelching of the earth, the rush of the wind, the slight rustling of the grass, everything vanished.


    "I''ll start off strongly, Tian Shen, so I suggest you bring out your weapon."


    In that moment, The Heaven Splitting King became the centre of the world, he and his sword became the world, rejecting everything else, yet also accepting it all. That sword, held high towards the sky, seemed like it became the hands of a clock, time would not move unless the sword moved, and whenever the sword moved so too would time march on in tune.


    "This is Lunhui, it is the sword that brought about the end and birthed the beginning."


    The Heaven Splitting King brought down his sword as he spoke, and what accompanied that blade was the end of all life, a merciless extinction.

 Chapter 301: The might of a ruler.

    Lunhui, the sword of the end and the beginning. Liang Chen had honestly expected that it would bring with it some awe-inspiring or horrifying power, pressure and terror befitting of a sword that got such a heavy description. But there was no such thing, there wasn''t even sound.


    The only thing that accompanied that descending sword was an all-encompassing emptiness, a lack of purpose. If Liang Chen were to put it into words then perhaps the best one would be completion, as strange as it sounded. Everything that needed to be done had been completed, but there was no joy or contentment accompanying that sensation, only emptiness and a bitter taste in the mouth.


    But the destruction brought about by that emptiness was truly something that fit the description of the blade. The earth vanished and the sky was pushed apart, what little remained of the earth took the place of the sky and the fragments of the sky took the place of the earth, both of them spinning in a seemingly never-ending cycle that ground everything it trapped to dust.


    Liang Chen hadn''t even been able to see when the attack properly launched, the world had simply suddenly reversed. He could feel a thin layer of energy surrounding him, it carried the same scent as the Heaven Splitting King so it was probably something he set up so that Liang Chen and Yumao weren''t torn apart by the attack.


    Liang Chen had grown strong, he knew that, he didn''t doubt that fact. He was strong, stronger than many others. But the path to the peak was still long, and the difference between him and a true ruler was still so vast that it looked insurmountable.


    But this was far from enough to discourage him, it only made his determination and conviction burn all the brighter. This was the stage he sought, once he stood in that realm he would be truly fit to become the prime evil, the darkness that swallowed up all other darkness. Only that realm was high enough to help him fulfil his desires. So he made sure he didn''t blink for even a second, sharpening his senses more than ever before as he observed the realm he would one day reach.


    Even amidst the destruction that made even the world itself reverse, Tian Shen was able to remain standing. One of his hands had opened slightly, a faint trace of energy seeping out from him and stabilizing the world around him. No trace of the revolving world or its grinding force could enter that small bubble around him, it only made it tremble faintly.


    "So you can do it, that''s great. Come, Tian Shen, show me your tricks and skills, pull out everything you''ve got!"


    Yin Long didn''t seem disappointed that his attack had been blocked, the edges of his lips actually turned up in a faintly excited manner. He charged forward, his sword held at his side as he reached Tian Shen in practically an instant.


    A sideways slash swept towards Tian Shen''s throat, Liang Chen''s own throat suddenly feeling as if a hand had grasped it tightly, blocking off the flow of air. It was the same as the two earlier attacks he had seen, one filled with emotions and traces of pain. But Liang Chen had no idea what it was, how an attack could contain emotions and even influence those who saw it, he simply couldn''t understand it or the concept behind it.


    Was this perhaps linked to what Yin Long had said earlier, that it was a shame that he wasn''t a true spearman? Liang Chen had no idea what made someone a proper spearman, but he didn''t think that Yin Long had said it for no good reason so he couldn''t help but connect these two points.


    Tian Shen''s hand rose in response to Yin Long''s incoming sword, a faint frown on his face due to the uncomfortable sensation. Something that looked like the head of a hawk appeared in front of Yin Long''s sword, its beak gleaming like metal as it opened its mouth to bite down.


    But the sword curved down strangely at that very moment, and the emotion that ravaged the surroundings changed at the same time. Heavy suffocation was replaced by hollow hunger, Liang Chen suddenly feeling as if he hadn''t eaten in his entire life, as if he had starved since he was born.


    But Tian Shen''s defence was as sudden as Yin Long''s attack, the eagle head turning into water that flowed down and formed a barrier in front of the blade. The water was gleaming and sparkling, it looked as refreshing as spring water, and Liang Chen did not doubt that this water was definitely packed with nutrients it shouldn''t be able to contain, a perfect counter to the strange hunger.


    Tian Shen also retreated at the same time, stepping back while pushing out one of his hands. Something that looked like a small transparent silver sun orbited by six differently coloured planets appeared in front of him, whizzing towards Yin Long to catch him as his own attack was blocked by the water.


    Liang Chen could see the fragmented pieces of the sky, and space itself twist and revolt as the sun passed by it, it was as if it was being stretched, twisted, and crushed all at once. It was an attack that Liang Chen couldn''t quite understand, but the same was true for the defence that Yin Long mounted.


    A pale silver sword covered in several sets of leaf-like patterns appeared in his other hand and was brought down upon the sun, passing through it seemingly without issue. And after the sword passed through it, the sun and the six planets around it just seemed to fall apart, drifting apart and dispersing, even the effect they had on the surroundings fell apart in the same strange manner.


    And at the same time as he dispersed that sun, his other sword clashed with the barrier of water, another scene Liang Chen couldn''t really understand playing out in front of him. The Heaven Splitting King''s sword changed once more, or perhaps it was better to say that the emotion in it changed, hollow hunger turning into burning thirst, a ravaged throat trying to force down so much seawater that it was slowly getting pickled.


    And then, as the barrier of water faded away due to the thirst, Yin Long''s sword multiplied. One turned into countless as exact duplicates appeared all around the area, spreading out so far that they seemed to pass over the horizon. All the swords swung at once, but all their power was gathered in a single point. One turned into many, but the many were still one.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    All the power descended upon Tian Shen without mercy or hesitation, millions of attacks turning into a single blade. But Tian Shen did not panic, the bubble around him twisting slightly so that it formed an arrow around him. The tip of the arrow pushed against the descending power, scattering it and turning it into fluttering dandelions. The attack was dispersed into the revolving world, but the arrow-shaped defensive shell cracked like an egg, seemingly on the verge of shattering.


    Liang Chen could feel his breath clogging his throat as he observed the battle, it was so far above any realm he was familiar with that it was laughable. He couldn''t even understand half the things that were going on, their underlying principles simply flew over his head. But there was one thing he understood, something he realized thanks to his law of time.


    What he had felt when Yin Long raised his sword hadn''t been a trick of the mind. He couldn''t sense the law of time in anything Yin Long did, but time froze whenever his sword didn''t move. The seconds would only tick away whenever he swung his weapon, that sword had taken over even the role of time in this world, this battle. He didn''t have the law of time, but even that law was forced to bend to his sword.


    "You''ve really built yourself a tough eggshell, I don''t even want to think about how tough the defence of your actual body is. But that''s good, the more my sword struggles to pierce your defence the more there is to learn. A bit of a shame that you''re mostly defending though, so how about we kick things up a notch to force your hands a bit more? Watch closely, Liang Chen, this is what it means to have a few supreme techniques up your sleeve."


    The Heaven Splitting King didn''t look sad that his attacks had been blocked, his eyes only burned with greater fervour than earlier. Tian Shen''s expression hardened slightly as Yin Long spoke, Liang Chen focusing fully to catch whatever the Heaven Splitting King was going to do next.


    "The first sword is Huafen, it exists for me and me alone and it speaks of the eternal separation and the empty table."


    The Heaven Splitting King raised his arm as he spoke, the sword he had created using the Mystic''s Hidden Realm floating up and hovering above him, pointing straight to the sky. Time seemed to freeze entirely as loneliness swallowed everything else, a single sword so alone that it hurt.


    "The second sword is Esi, it exists for the abandoned farmers and it howls for the children digging for mud and roots to fill their bellies."


    Another sword appeared as Yin Long spoke, hovering to his right and pointing towards the distant horizon. The hollow hunger that erupted from this sword competed with the loneliness, a very faint creaking sound piercing Liang Chen''s ears as the two differing emotions seemed to ravage the world. But then the Heaven Splitting King raised his hand for the third time.


    "The third sword is Yongbao, and it exists for the beauty of the world, it sings of reunion and embraces even in the darkest nights."


    A third sword appeared around Yin Long, hovering to his left and pointing in the opposite direction of Esi. The creaking sound instantly halted as this third sword appeared, the sheer joy and relief it radiated imposing a balance upon the hunger and loneliness, like a small boat riding around on and pushing down rampant waves.


    And with the appearance of the third sword, the world was forced to its knees. Sound vanished, the wind vanished, the revolving world vanished. Everything disappeared, all that remained was Yin Long and those three swords, even Tian Shen looked like just a flickering candle when compared.


    Yin Long stood amidst the radiance of the three swords, his body radiating what could only be called all the might of the world, everything was beneath him. And then Tian Shen suddenly blocked, hastily raising his arm and creating several hundred yellow butterflies at his side. The butterflies were cut in half the moment they appeared, but each of them released a repulsive force that made even this seemingly empty world creak and groan.


    Liang Chen hadn''t seen it, but he knew what happened, Yin Long had launched an attack. But he hadn''t even seen the smallest hint of it, no movement of Qi or his muscles. Had it been too fast for him to see or had Yin Long actually not made any moves? He couldn''t tell.


    But him not being able to tell didn''t mean that Yin Long would stop launching attacks. Tian Shen''s hands flashed about so fast that Liang Chen only saw after images, thousands upon thousands of hands appearing all around Tian Shen as he birthed strange being after strange being. Each being seemed to consist of some natural force, but each of them was split apart by something Liang Chen couldn''t even see or sense.


    Was this a fight between true powerhouses? Was this the extent of their secret techniques, their supreme skills honed through years of practice? Yin Long''s attacks couldn''t even be perceived by him, but Tian Shen was blocking them all, only the slight bending of his knees showing that it was taking a toll on this avatar to block it all.


    A faint light flashed in Tian Shen''s pupils, a gleam of resolve appearing in his gaze. Power started to suddenly fill his body, as if he had found a new source of energy to replenish whatever he used. His knees straightened and his speed increased, his hands and their after images vanishing as they started to move so fast that Liang Chen couldn''t see them any longer.


    "Yeah, there we go, that''s how it should be. Draw in as much power as you can, let''s go all the way, Tian Shen, let''s pull out all our cards and really spread our wings!"


    It didn''t seem like any turn of events could dampen the excitement of the Heaven Splitting King, everything that happened only pushed it to greater heights. He threw out both his arms as if he was going to embrace Tian Shen, but what came after showed that he hadn''t chosen his previous words on a whim.


    Swords appeared behind his left side, hundreds upon thousands of them, each of them unique. And then, as Liang Chen watched, the swords gathered together, linked up as they connected to the back of Yin Long''s shoulder. A wing quickly took form behind Yin Long, each feather a sword, each one radiating so much power that Liang Chen could feel his eyes bleed from just looking at them.


    Only the left wing was formed, but Liang Chen could already feel the world trembling. Everything that his senses touched was trembling and crying, the land, the sky, the wind, the plants, everything was bemoaning the end. Liang Chen had no idea what the Heaven Splitting King was going to pull out, but he was confident that it would bring an end to this land, it might just break Purgatory''s Cradle in its entirety, it was not something that was supposed to exist.


    But as the swords that were supposed to form the right wing started to appear behind Yin Long, a scene neither of them had expected unfolded. A dagger suddenly broke through the back of Tian Shen''s head, as if it had pierced through the back of his mouth. Smoke-like darkness welled out from Tian Shen''s open mouth and the rest of his orifices, spilling to the ground almost like water as the growing energy in Tian Shen''s body was abruptly cut off.


    "Ha~ah, I knew this was going to happen. You''re an idiot, not even Huafen will be able to maintain itself if you bring out the wings, what would you do if he managed to escape before you destroyed this avatar?"


    A voice rose up from the smokey darkness, he could tell where it was coming from, but it also felt as if it was ringing within the empty space of Liang Chen''s own head at the same time. He didn''t know who, he didn''t know when, he didn''t know how, but someone else had arrived in this sealed-off space.

 Chapter 302: The words of the twin rulers.

    Liang Chen watched as the darkness welled out of Tian Shen''s orifices, fluttering like smoke but falling like water, spreading across the ground until it seemed to cover everything. But strangely enough, he found it hard to look at the darkness, it felt like it was stinging his eyes, as if he was a mortal trying to look directly at the sun. And then, a part of the smoky darkness rose up, moulding itself into a youth.


    Going just by appearances, this youth ranked rather highly amongst the people Liang Chen had met so far. A golden right eye and a pitch-black left eye, black hair mixed with dancing golden swirls. At a glance, the youth gave off a friendly and warm impression, like a child who had grown up down the road from you and played with you as you grew older.


    But the more Liang Chen looked at him, the colder he felt. There was something about the look in his eyes, the light that was hidden deep within them. It was just his gut instinct, but he was confident that this youth wasn''t as warm and amiable as he first appeared. But perhaps that was to be expected from someone who could talk like that with the Heaven Splitting King, saints rarely got to reach the peak.


    "Tch, figures that you snuck in. So? You''re not gonna tell me you just so happened to be in the area?"


    The Heaven Splitting King clicked his tongue when he saw the youth, the wings that had started to form behind him dissipating, the trembling of the world finally coming to an end. Tian Shen''s avatar fell lifelessly to the ground, sinking into the darkness that had welled out from his own body. His last gathering of power had all been for nought, an unseen blade reaping this avatar''s life before he even realized it.


    "They sent me a message when you ran off, sounded pretty pissed by how sudden it was. I''m only here to drag you back before you waste pointless time, last thing I need is to be dragged into a quarrel between you three, I''ve got my hands full with my own one."


    The youth spread his arms and shrugged his shoulders, distancing himself from whatever troubles would come Yin Long''s ways. Liang Chen remembered that Yin Long said he had been a bit busy when he called upon him, and that he would be manhandled when he returned. And now it seemed like that time would come rather quickly, whoever he had been with even sent insurance to make sure he returned posthaste.


    "Tch, don''t try to stay neutral when you''ve already taken their side, may as well dirty your hands properly. You even took my bounty from me, I never even got to see what sort of weapon he uses."


    Liang Chen wasn''t quite sure how to act when he saw these two powerhouses bicker, he had gotten somewhat used to it, but the fact that the grand powerhouses of the multiverse acted just like everyone else still felt somewhat strange. They were practically gods, but at the same time they were nothing more than humans, and he honestly wasn''t sure if that made things better or worse.


    "Yeah yeah, moan and whine as you please, just get your ass back there before they start hounding Chang Lu and have her come after me."


    The youth didn''t even bother giving a proper response to Yin Long''s remark, waving his hand. His body seemed to dissipate into the darkness and fade, but he popped out from the darkness again just as Liang Chen thought he was gone.


    "And oh, bring over Lil Xin the next time you come for a visit, Guang is complaining that he can''t even see his own wife."


    Yin Long waved his hand dismissively at the youth, only clicking his tongue rather than giving an answer as he shooed him away. The youth faded into the darkness again, casting a look at Liang Chen, the first glance he had given him since he arrived. Contrary to what Liang Chen expected, those somewhat cold eyes actually carried traces of expectation, as well as a very faint glimmer of hope, his voice echoing out within Liang Chen''s head.


    "Righteousness is not expecting something from those you saved and dedication is not expecting acknowledgement from those you saved. Most of those in the world won''t know of your righteousness, won''t realize your dedication. But righteousness is still righteousness and dedication is still dedication. The only thing that determines your path is your own choice, but if you do keep moving down that path then I hope that it carries you further than it did us."


    The youth vanished completely as his voice echoed around inside Liang Chen''s head. He didn''t know how or why, but it seemed like he had been observing Liang Chen and the path he had chosen. And he acknowledged it, he validated the path of the prime evil and hoped that he could walk it to the end, or at the very least further than those who set foot on it in the past.


    "Ahh, what an annoying end, he wasn''t even allowed to go on long enough to show me if my offence is lacking."


    The Heaven Splitting King clicked his tongue once more as he looked at the darkness, which was currently scattering into small motes that rose into the air before fading away. All the dignity and grandeur he displayed as he fought was gone, the current him just looked like a normal young master that you could find anywhere, the difference was almost jarring. But Yin Long didn''t seem to care for Liang Chen''s thoughts on it, turning towards him as the last of the darkness faded.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Alright, now that''s dealt with. Calling out one of us was a good choice, but I''d recommend you only do it when you encounter Tian Shen or one of his highest generals. We aren''t dogs you can summon with a whistle, we''ve got our own things to do, getting called out all the time is just annoying."


    Liang Chen didn''t think that Yin Long was trying to threaten him, it was nothing more than a reminder, a warning meant to help him keep his life. He solemnly nodded his head to show that he understood how significant an act it was to call them out, he also wasn''t too fond of having to call out someone else to protect him. Yin Long didn''t linger on the same topic when he saw that Liang Chen understood how to act, circling back to something he told Liang Chen earlier.


    "Well, I told you to pay close attention to the fight and take in everything you could, but things ended a bit too abruptly so you only got to see the swordsman parts of it. And you''re not a spearman so you probably couldn''t understand a damn thing, Yin Yu was much the same. Those last two things, those were what you should pay the closest attention to, it''s fine if you disregard everything else."


    His words weren''t really wrong, Liang Chen had failed to understand most of the things that Yin Long had done, the emotions and power that swirled in his blade. But if he were to focus on just the last two moves of the Heaven Splitting King then there was certainly something he could take from them.


    The first move was the three swords he had created around him, the way they brought the world to its knees until they and their wielder was all that remained. And the second move was those wings that took swords as their feathers. Their presence shook the world, the earth trembled and the sky cried, Liang Chen held no doubts that all of Purgatory''s Cradle might crumble if both wings got to appear and show their power, it was a power that the world couldn''t bear, a power it wouldn''t accept. Yin Long evidently realized what Liang Chen was thinking, nodding his head and affirming his thoughts.


    "Correct. That is what is required of a trump card if you want to look at our level. A power to force the world to its knees, to break its legs until it can''t even stand in front of you. And if you want to do more than just look at our level then you need more than that, a power that the world rejects, a power the world can''t bear, a power that can break the world. If you can create a trump card like that then you''ll be able to stand on our level. You''ve got Void so it should be quite easy for you, but relying on it too much will make it nothing more than a crutch, take everything you have, only like that will you truly create a trump card that the world can''t bear."


    What did you need to stand atop the world? What did you have to wield to stand at the very peak of existence? Simple, something that the world couldn''t accept, but also something that the world couldn''t resist. Yin Long had shown that in his wings, their mere presence broke down the world and his tri-sword formation brought the world to its knees. But what did Liang Chen have? His void domain had brought out the will of the Sphere, but was that really something that could be counted?


    If you asked him, then the answer would be no. And it was for an exceedingly simple reason, it was something that likely every Voidborn Ruler was capable of. And what exactly happened to the previous Voidborn Ruler? Had he not been slain, the void that birthed him left in ruins? He could be killed so he wasn''t on the level that the Heaven Splitting King spoke of, that was a fact that Liang Chen was instinctually certain of.


    "Think about it, but there''s no need to rush it. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, that is how you walk down your path. Just look ahead and keep walking, your life will eventually show you the foundation you can build upon."


    Yin Long shrugged his shoulders when he saw Liang Chen sink into his ponderings. It wasn''t easy to create a trump card like the ones he spoke of, the world was a hardy thing after all. But it was a necessary thing to reach the very peak, a wall all cultivators who aimed for the end of their road would have to face eventually.


    "I''m a man of my word, they''re all still alive in here. But this was a place that Tian Shen used as a base so you can''t blame me for taking it with me so that we can inspect it properly. But I promise you, I won''t harm a hair on the heads of those who didn''t collude with Tian Shen."


    Yin Long waved the sword, the blade that used to be a hidden realm, as he spoke, the various lands of the hidden realm flashing along the side of the blade. Liang Chen had nothing to say about him bringing it with him, Tian Shen had started a war with their entire Sphere of Existence so it was inevitable that the main players in the war would want to inspect the places he had been. And it wasn''t like he could fight Yin Long to take it from him, the difference in strength was so great that it was practically laughable.


    "Alright, time to get manhandled by them. Keep your eyes forward, Liang Chen, hold your head high and walk your path with pride, sometimes that''s all we can do."


    Yin Long gave Liang Chen one last look, placing his fist against his chest while nodding strongly. The light in his eyes was one of acknowledgement, an understanding between two people who walked different paths but still focused on walking them to the end. One had gotten so far he may as well be at the end while the other was still stumbling around, but both were walking, both held their heads high and had their chests puffed out.


    Space around Yin Long started to shimmer and flicker, what looked like cracks appearing on his body. The cracks slid apart and Yin Long''s body followed with them, disappearing and taking the effects of Huafen with him. In the end, only Liang Chen and Yumao remained on the damp plains of Purgatory''s Cradle, both of them having caught a glimpse of the peak and how long their path still was. But Liang Chen kept his head high, his gaze sweeping the surroundings as he picked where to go. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, that was how you reached the end of the path.

 Chapter 303: Moving on.

    "Bad Paparan! They weren''t fun, they were all training!"


    The first thing Liang Chen did after Yin Long left was to bring out Lan Yun again, but even though he had barely spent any time inside the King Sealing Pagoda, he still ended up getting an earful from the little girl. It seemed like she had the poor fortune of entering the interspatial ring while all the other disciples were cultivating, rendering them unable to entertain her.


    "Yes yes, Paparan was mean and put you in the time-out bubble. But come on, you can''t blame paparan for that, it''s not like I keep an eye on the other disciples at all times."


    Liang Chen didn''t resist as Lan Yun tugged on his cheeks, the sounds of their voices mixing with the squelching of his feet striding across the damp earth of Purgatory''s Cradle. He could have just mounted Yumao and flown deeper, but they knew far less about this land than they did about the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, a bit of prudence would take them a long way.


    "But Paparan could at least have checked first!"


    Lan Yun didn''t let up her pouting, years had passed but it seemed like her mind grew as slowly as her body did. But that was fine with Liang Chen, even if she was as spoiled and unreasonable as Yan Ling. He did not get to enjoy that same childhood for long, it had been taken from him and he had been forced to grind his own innocence to dust. And if there was one thing he wanted to avoid then it would be having Lan Yun end up like him, there were already far too many people like him in this world.


    "Ah, yes, Paparan could have checked. But then what? Do you think it would be fair of me to stop their training just so that they could entertain you for a bit? How would you feel if someone interrupted you when you were busy just to force you to do something else?"


    Of course, wanting Lan Yun to have the good fortune of enjoying her childhood for as long as possible didn''t mean that he would let her do whatever she wanted. It was enough that Yan Ling spoiled her rotten, at least one of the parents had to be a bit strict so that she didn''t go completely off the rails. And sure enough, while she looked like she wanted to pout further, she could only grind her teeth cutely.


    "Gnnnn, bleh!"


    She didn''t say anything else unreasonable, but she kept tugging on Liang Chen''s cheeks while puffing out her own. Just a little child with no proper place to vent her miss-placed frustration, or perhaps it would be better to say that she just wanted to vent her loneliness.


    After all, this was the first time in several years that she got to meet her ''father'' again, it stood to reason that she would want to spend as much time as possible with him. So to be tossed aside like that, even if she understood that it was likely for her own safety, it couldn''t be helped that a tiny part of her would feel like he didn''t want her at his side.


    They were emotions Liang Chen didn''t understand, if he had ever felt them then it was already so long ago that it had slipped from his memories. And if you couldn''t understand the emotions, how could you possibly know when someone else was feeling them?


    "Now now, you''ll break your teeth if you grind them like that. Please try to understand Paparan, I can''t bear to see you get hurt so I have to get you to a safe place when things get dangerous. Mamaran surely did the same, didn''t she?"


    Liang Chen stretched out his free arm and tugged on Lan Yun''s cheeks as he spoke, a soft and gentle smile covering his face. Lan Yun''s existence in this land was rather peculiar, she was like a tiny light of peace and tranquillity inside this bloodsoaked world that held no mercy. And that was exactly why Yan Ling had sent her over, she knew that Liang Chen, more than anyone else, needed a light in the darkness, a harbour where he could rest his heart so that it didn''t sink to the depths of the darkness.


    Lan Yun struggled slightly to escape his grasp, but it was nothing more than a symbolic gesture so that she could at least maintain her image. But it didn''t escape Liang Chen''s attention that she leaned slightly into his hand as he pinched her cheeks, subtly resting her head on him. His smile softened slightly at the sight, quickly taking the chance to change the topic.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "You travelled with Mamaran for quite a while, didn''t you? Did the two of you manage to learn a few tricks about the law of wind while doing so? Did Mamaran teach you some neat things that you could use to defend yourself?"


    His question wasn''t entirely random, carrying two separate purposes. The first was obviously to hear more about Yan Ling and Lan Yun''s travels, the things they had encountered over the years. The second was to see if he could glean anything from the law of wind utilizations that they may have learned.


    Liang Chen had taken Yin Long''s words to heart, he needed to take in everything he had if he wanted to create a true trump card. He had Lightning, Poison, Time, and Void as his main laws, he used them frequently and to great effect. But those weren''t his only laws, he technically also had Death, Rot, and Wind in his arsenal.


    But Rot served as a degraded version of Death so it wasn''t used often, even the law of Death was barely used since he could generally just use Poison for the same effect. And then there was Wind, probably the law he used the least, despite being the law he acquired when Yan Ling shared her own bloodline with him to save his life.


    Death and Rot he could study alongside Yumao, but when it came to Wind then he would have to rely on someone else. He did have the massive amount of information that his biological parents had given him, but plucking information from multiple different sources would always be the best option, it made it more likely that you would find something that suited you.


    And luckily, it seemed like Yan Ling had indeed shared something with Lan Yun, but the exact source of the information was not one he would have expected.


    "Oh, Oh! Mamaran told me about something that Master Sirius taught her!"


    Star God Sirius, a loyal follower of the Nine Star Demon God and the progenitor of almost all wolf-type Demonic beasts in Liang Chen''s home universe. He was a being that eclipsed the Sebettu race, probably even back when they were at their prime. If it was advice that came from him then there was a good chance that it would be something that was far from common.


    "She said that she had been taught that far too many people look at the grand nature of wind, the great storm that rages as it tears open the land. No one looks at the littlest wind that blows all around, sneaks through all the small holes and enters places no one else can. It''s tiny, but it can produce extreme damage when used appropriately. She said that it was in that tiny little wind that you would find the heart of wind, the core of the law!"


    Lan Yun spoke excitedly, puffing out her chest while Liang Chen carried her. Her earlier pouting had all been blown away now that she could pretend like she was a high and mighty teacher, despite only retelling what Yan Ling had told her.


    Liang Chen pulled his free arm away from her cheek and rubbed his chin softly, pondering over the words. Yumao was resting on his head, only paying half attention since the law of wind wasn''t something that meshed with him.


    It was indeed an avenue he hadn''t considered before, even the records he had perused mostly spoke about the great blunt force, sharp winds, great speeds, flexibility, and wide-area attacks that the law of wind was most commonly used for.


    But to focus it into just a tiny wind, a miniature breeze? That would be closer to the law of lightning and its great penetrative power, focusing everything you had into a single coiled bolt of lightning that could pierce everything. His eyes narrowed slightly, a sliver of his Qi moving as he kept walking forward.


    As his foot touched the damp earth, a muffled rumble came from deep within the earth, a heavy tremble running through the land and almost throwing Liang Chen off-balance. Several more rumbles sounded out right after, the trembling getting worse as Liang Chen steadied his balance.


    "Figures that it wouldn''t be easy to control... the distance is a bit of a problem."


    Condensing the wind through the principles of lightning was surprisingly easy, probably due to his experience with lightning. But as he sent it into the earth, moving it through the tiniest cracks and openings he could find, he quickly found that controlling it was much harder than lightning. Keeping it compressed became harder as he packed more force into it and tried to send it further away, it had escaped his control and erupted several kilometres before he actually intended it to.


    "Hmm, oh well, time is on my side, we''ll figure it out eventually."


    Liang Chen wasn''t too bothered by the failure, he wouldn''t have gotten this far if a single instance of failure could demoralize him. His gaze rose slightly, landing on the city that was starting to just barely become visible in the distance.


    That would be his next target, and if he was correct, then the fact that it was closer to the centre of his realm meant that it would contain stronger people. But he wasn''t really focused on the people of the city, there was something else there that was drawing his attention.


    He had three rewards waiting for him in this realm, the cradle pointed him towards three different places as a reward for the blood he had shed. Or rather, the blood it thought he shed, all he had really done was kill one of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s avatars. And one of those rewards was located inside that city, a reward that was supposed to be quite beneficial to at least one of his laws.

 Chapter 304: The child and choices.

    The city ahead of them quickly became clearer as Liang Chen''s group approached it, and just as it was previously, there wasn''t a single defensive wall present around the city. Wilderness and civilization blended seamlessly, the two indistinguishable from each other, just the way Purgatory wanted it to be.


    But there was one rather distinct difference that separated this large yet drab city from the previous one that Liang Chen had visited, scent. The previous city smelled the same as the rest of Purgatory''s Cradle, the faint and slightly moist scent of blood, both fresh and old. But this city had a much fresher scent, it was as if lemon trees had been planted along every street to liven up the atmosphere.


    But Liang Chen could tell that there weren''t any trees planted within the city so the smell likely came from somewhere else. And for it to be so strong that it overpowered the natural odour of the land also meant that its source was either rather grand, or something strong enough to drown out the scent of blood. And truthfully, neither of the options was terribly assuring, nothing that could grow big or strong in a land like this would be simple, or good.


    "Yumao, keep an eye on Lan Yun if a fight breaks out and I don''t have time to put her away."


    It would be for the best if Liang Chen could just bring Lan Yun to safety inside his interspatial ring should a battle start, but he had no idea what they might face as they went deeper into the cradle so he had to make sure that he was prepared for most situations. Yumao understood the severity of the request so he nodded his head strongly and slithered down from Liang Chen''s head, curling up on top of Lan Yun''s head so that he could protect her at a moment''s notice.


    As Liang Chen set foot into the city, he quickly noticed another difference, he wasn''t attacked. He had been attacked almost instantly when he entered the previous city, but that didn''t happen here. No, there were plenty of people on the streets, but none of them attacked him, or each other for that matter. They were just watching, guarding themselves while waiting, their expressions tense.


    The people that he saw were a bit stronger than the ones in the previous city, here, most of the people he saw were between the middle and the late-stage of the Soaring Immortal realm. It was a realm so low he didn''t really consider them as threats, but it meant that if there was a ruler in this city they would likely have reached the Primordial Immortal realm. He didn''t fear most Primordial Immortals, but there was no telling what skills or tricks they might have.


    Liang Chen walked rather slowly, but not aimlessly. The guiding sensation produced by Purgatory''s Cradle was urging him towards the depth of the city so that was exactly where he was headed, something was waiting for him there. But as he was walking, roaming eyes constantly tracing his movements, he felt his soul move slightly.


    It wasn''t a movement of wariness or warning, it wasn''t even twitching because it was nervous. No, his soul moved slightly because it noticed something beneficial to it, something that was a part of it. And as such, it started to automatically absorb that thing, partly to return it to where it belonged and partly to strengthen itself. And as his soul did so, he realized exactly what that citrus scent in the air was.


    "Ah, it''s poison. It seems to be rather slow-acting, is it because it''s spread throughout the entire city, or is that just how the poison is?"


    Liang Chen wasn''t terribly worried as he muttered to himself, his steps momentarily halting. His soul was poison itself, it only missed a tiny amount before his entire soul would have been converted into his unique soul-cultivation law, which took poison as part of its core. With how weak the poison hanging in the air was, so weak that he hadn''t even noticed it right away, there was no way it could harm him.


    But Lan Yun and Yumao were a different story so he sent out a bit of his Anima Essence and used it to form a shield around them so that they didn''t absorb too much of the poison. And as Liang Chen secured Lan Yun and Yumao, the myriad of eyes that were occasionally tracing him also sprung into action.


    Most of them scurried away, clearly not wanting to have anything to do with what was going to go down next. But four of the people closest to him grit their teeth, looking as if they had bitten into the proverbial sour apple. But they only allowed that expression to flit past their faces for a second before they moved forward, charging at Liang Chen as one. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The air around their hands started to shimmer slightly, different scents mixing into the air as almost translucent mist started to seep out from their skin. The four of them were clearly proficient in the use of poison, and since they were the first to attack then he also guessed that they were part of the faction responsible for the poison that filled this city.


    He didn''t know what their plans were, but there was no chance that the four of them would be able to take him down even if they attacked him all at once. His Qi moved with a thought, lightning rushing out and piercing all four of them, abruptly shutting down the nerves in their limbs so that they fell to the ground like sacks of potatoes.


    "Now then, you''ll talk, won''t you?"


    A question there was no point in answering, the four men simply didn''t have a choice in the matter. They may be proficient with poison, but there was no way their souls would be able to resist the strength of Liang Chen''s poison, their levels were simply too far apart. So the four men talked, they spilt everything they knew and everything they had done in their lives. And once they stopped talking, Liang Chen sealed their voices forever.


    "Yeah, should have expected that there won''t be many good people in a cradle like this."


    Liang Chen had expected to receive answers along the line of what he got, but it was still disappointing nonetheless. The four bodies were tossed into his interspatial ring, his head turning to gaze towards the depth of the city again. A few errant bolts of lightning appeared around him as his head turned, crackling through the air and curving around buildings as they hunted down and eradicated their targets, only giving them the chance to let out one final garbled screech.


    Lan Yun tried to follow the lightning with her eyes, but it moved far too fast for her to see where it went. But she could still tell what the end result was, those screeches garbled by fried lungs. And as she heard it, she couldn''t help but remember what Yan Ling had once told her while giggling fondly.


    "Mamaran said that Paparan had a... Hard-on? Hardy? For killing, but why, Paparan?"


    She struggled to remember the correct word for a second, eventually just spitting out what sounded most similar to her. But the words she spat out made Liang Chen''s face cramp slightly, Lan Yun both looked and acted far too young to be spouting words like that.


    "The next time Mamaran tells you a word like that then you have to tell her that Paparan will viciously rap her forehead if she speaks like that. And don''t repeat what she says, at least not for a few more years, okay?"


    He couldn''t help but exhale heavily as he gave Lan Yun the reminder, the somewhat grim mood that was approaching due to what he heard dissipating instantly. Lan Yun nodded her head rapidly a few times, but she had a somewhat quizzical expression so whether or not she would take his words to heart was unknown. As for her question, Liang Chen spent a short moment pondering on how to answer it in a way that she would understand.


    "Why, is it? Hmm... I guess the best way to explain it to you would be to say that I do it so that kids like you can grow up happy and without needing to cry. Does that make sense?"


    He didn''t think that she would understand him if he said that he killed to prevent more people like him from being born, or if he told her that he was trying to take the place of the heavenly justice he had been raised on. And Lan Yun did indeed understand the way he explained it, and thanks to that even a child like her was able to spot the hole in his desire.


    "But Paparan, won''t their kids cry?"


    She moved her hand as if she was trying to point while also sweeping out her arm, a very stilted way of trying to gesture towards a broader group of people. Of the four that Liang Chen had killed first, one of them had a son that had just turned 17, the other three had no children. But there were probably some among the others he had killed that had children, some older and some younger.


    "They will. They''ll cry harder than they ever have, losing your parent is one of the most painful things in the world."


    Liang Chen couldn''t sugarcoat it or beat around the bush. He had lost his parents, that pain was one he could understand better than most. It was the pain that started it all, the first embers of wrath that eventually spread to cover his entire body.


    "But then...why?"


    Lan Yun seemed like she wanted to say more, elaborate further. But it didn''t seem like she was able to properly bring out the words, perhaps she simply didn''t know the words to use since she herself didn''t quite understand what she was trying to ask. And to respond, Liang Chen stretched out his arm and opened his hand, directing Lan Yun''s gaze towards the area covered by it.


    "Look. Do you see that small area covered by my hand? That''s all I can grasp, that''s as far as my tiny hand can reach. I''m not a god, I can only save those that my hand can reach."


    Liang Chen had been told many things in his life, but it was perhaps these words that had stuck with him the longest. Yan Ling had been the first to say them to him. You are not a god, you can''t decide what''s right and wrong, only what you want to do. And if you are the one that chose to do it, then it is right for yourself. In the end, he didn''t have to save everyone, couldn''t save everyone, only those he could hold in his grasp.


    "Mhmm, it sounds hard, choosing his hard."


    Lan Yun muttered slightly while rubbing her temples with her closed fists, seemingly trying to wrap her head around what Liang Chen was trying to tell her. She wanted to understand, wanted to learn so that he would pat her head and tell her that she was doing well, that was what Yan Ling had always done. But Liang Chen only gave her a somewhat thin smile, stroking her hair softly.


    "It really is."

 Chapter 305: Thousand Flowers Valley.

    As Lan Yun looked at Liang Chen, she couldn''t help but be a little dumbfounded. Lightning crackled around him with each step, arcing through the air as it vanished from sight. But without fail, each little crackle caused shrieks and wails to pierce the air, almost hurting her ears.


    She was sitting safely on the back of Yumao, her older brother. Well, he said he was the older brother, but she could take human form and he couldn''t, so hmph, it really would be better to say that she was the more mature one.


    Anyway, Yumao didn''t take any action, he simply followed Liang Chen closely. No, all the chaos that swallowed the city, the source of all the screams, all of it was Liang Chen. One step brought chaos, the second step brought death, and on the third step, there was only silence. Well, at least for the moment, new screams quickly filled the silence.


    Lan Yun wasn''t a stranger to scenes of battle, she had seen more than her fair share of them when she travelled with Yan Ling. Single combat, one against many, many against one, outright massacres and close scrapes, she had seen them all. But never before had she seen anything like this. Every step brought destruction without any chance for resistance, every action caused carnage on a horrific scale.


    If Lan Yun had to liken the current Liang Chen to anything then it would be a certain scene she had seen while travelling with her mother. A horrible earthquake had rocked the place they were at, it was so bad that the earth cracked open like a wicked jaw, razing the city. Not even the earth-law cultivators had been able to stop it.


    And then came the wave. An ocean had been located not far from the city, and it seemed like all of the water in it had been brought to life by the earthquake. A wave several thousands of metres tall swept across the land, it swallowed everything in its wake, no one capable of stopping it. They had nearly died there, they would probably have died if they hadn''t gotten to a spatial array in time and fled the area.


    That was what Liang Chen, her Paparan, looked like right now. A natural disaster, something that could not be resisted by living beings. It came, and they had to fall to their knees in response, only the luckiest among them would get to flee, the rest would fall.


    But as she looked at him from the side, she couldn''t help but notice a slight difference between him and Yan Ling. It was their expression. Yan Ling looked happy after she won a battle, be it a close one or a massacre. She had survived, she had taken a step further, proven herself, it was something to be happy about.


    But Liang Chen didn''t smile. He didn''t show any happiness as his power tore down the enemies, no joy as he walked forward. He just looked steely and solemn, with hints of sorrow and tiredness barely visible in his eyes as they swept the surroundings. Was this the expression of a winner? The expression of a natural disaster that couldn''t be stopped? If he couldn''t even be happy about it, then what was the point in doing it?


    --


    Liang Chen didn''t know what Lan Yun was thinking as she looked at him with those sparkling eyes, his own gaze roaming the chaotic city. Again, it was a city filled with death, a city filled with evil. Liang Chen refused to believe that it was just the nature of man to be evil once they were given the chance, their nature to trample others just because they could.


    He had seen good people, kindhearted people who seemed too good for the world. But perhaps it was the existence of people like this that made it all the sadder to come across people like those he hunted. The dark wasn''t more eye-catching than the light, but a single cruel deed would always outlast a good one, the pain was far easier to remember than the joy.


    "No good, getting distracted."


    Liang Chen shook his head and dispersed the thoughts with a mutter, he was finding himself thinking to himself like this more and more these days. In the past, it had always just been a simple process, find a sinner, kill the sinner. But now his mind was moving more and more, he couldn''t stop asking himself why. Why did they move, why did they act the way they did? Where was the worth in it?


    But he knew that it was a pointless thought. It didn''t matter how or why they crossed the line, all that mattered was that they crossed the line. So his thoughts would never bear fruit, his questions would never receive a meaningful answer.


    Liang Chen''s steps stopped suddenly, he had reached his target before he even realized it, caught in his own thoughts. Stretching out in front of him was a mansion-like building that spanned several kilometres and was built around a mountain, an unnatural number of glass-less windows dotting the circular house. The lightly red doors to the mansion were tightly shut, but as was to be expected from a place where fighting and killing were the main goals, there was no array engraved on the door to secure it.


    But even so, his hand stopped before he touched the door, his eyes narrowing. He hadn''t noticed it initially, but now that he looked closer he could see that the entire surface of the door was covered in minute barbs, each one so tiny that they looked like nothing more than grains of dust. He hadn''t noticed the barbs due to his sight, he had only noticed them because of the faint poison they all contained, ready to invade him with the tiniest prick.


    "Yeah, I guess something like that is to be expected honestly."


    The mansion in front of him was the base of the Thousand Flowers Valley, the sect that ruled this city. But contrary to what one might expect from the name, the valley specialized in poisons. Its name was derived from the multitude of poisonous flowers they reared, according to the information Liang Chen had extracted from the previous men, this sect was rumoured to hold the largest field of poisonous ingredients within Purgatory''s Cradle. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    They were also responsible for the poison that was scattered throughout the entire city. Those who couldn''t resist the poison would eventually succumb to it, or be weakened by it, and they could be killed to please Purgatory. As for those that could resist it, they would be left alone most of the time, if not absorbed into the sect so that they could spread their own influence, or just get more cattle to be slaughtered when the time called for it.


    Liang Chen''s hand crackled with power, a blast of wind erupting from his palm and tearing down the door, the splinters getting launched into the hallway beyond the entrance. A few people had been standing there so the splinters tore into them, gouging out flesh and piercing straight through them.


    Liang Chen was getting tired of this place, of this cradle that nurtured evil. Usually, the cities he visited would house so many good people that those he killed were the minority, oftentimes so small that they almost weren''t worth counting. But here? Here he would be lucky if there were ten or more people worth sparing in each city, the rest were as marred in blood and sin as he was.


    He entered the mansion with slow steps, quietly strengthening the Qi he used to shield Lan Yun and Yumao. There was no telling what sorts of poisons they would use to attack him, it was better to be safe rather than sorry when it came to his family.


    But in the end, that worry luckily became something unfounded. He tore through the mansion without problem, his lightning tearing apart everyone before they could even get off a single attack. The difference in power was simply too great, a Soaring Immortal cultivator could not hope to stand against a Primordial Immortal cultivator. Liang Chen had been a bit different, but he had a lot of blessings most other cultivators didn''t have, that was the only way to fight above your own cultivation realm.


    Liang Chen reached the sanctum of the mansion without having to stop once, arriving in front of the metal door that separated the mansion from the mountain it was built around. A strange mixture of scents tickled his nose despite the thick metal door that separated him from the land behind it, his soul gleefully gobbling up the poison carried within the scent.


    "Yumao, be prepared for anything."


    Liang Chen didn''t really need to give Yumao the reminder, but he did so just to be safe. He could feel the cultivator on the other side, an early-stage Primordial Immortal, the lord of this sect. A normal early-stage Primordial Immortal wasn''t really worth any worry, not to him at least, but there was no telling what tricks he may have up his sleeves.


    Liang Chen''s hand touched the door, lightning crackling out and spreading across the entire door. The heat became too much to bear, the metal turning to liquid and dripping to the ground. A small earthen cavern spread out in front of him, leading into a narrow cave that led towards the source of the mixture of scents. And standing between Liang Chen and that cave was the leader of Thousand Flowers Valley, Meng Bao.


    "You know, it''s times like these where I hate that things are going exactly as I expected. Couldn''t you have ruined my expectations and let them stop you?"


    Meng Bao looked like a man approaching his late 40''s, his black eyes polluted by a dim green light that also spread to his bronze hair and the skin right around his eyes. His hands were covered with rough skin, marks of tiny pricks covering his palms. Contrary to Liang Chen''s expectations, the man didn''t carry the soft scent of any poison, he was instead surrounded by the familiar fragrance of dirt and fertilizer.


    "But oh well, that''s just life. One way or the other, things will end here."


    Meng Bao waved his hand in a seemingly casual manner, but a faint bolt of lightning rose from beneath Liang Chen''s feet as he spoke, sinking into his body. He had already expected Liang Chen''s arrival and prepared appropriately, he wasn''t going to just lie down and die.


    The lightning sank into Liang Chen''s body, but that was one of the laws he used to cultivate his body so it was quickly absorbed and rendered harmless. Meng Bao clicked his tongue when he saw that Liang Chen hadn''t even flinched, but a faint light flashed in his eyes when Liang Chen raised his arm.


    "Let''s just get this...oh?"


    Liang Chen stopped before he finished his sentence, his gaze lowering to look at his own arm. He couldn''t see anything from outside, but he could feel that the liquefied element that formed his blood had started to thicken the moment he raised his arm. It was like blood coagulating, quickly clogging his veins so that it couldn''t flow properly.


    Meng Bao immediately took advantage of the situation, another faint flash of lightning hitting Liang Chen, this time descending from above. It was absorbed again, the lightning not doing the least bit of damage. But then Liang Chen raised his head to look at Meng Bao, another soft mutter of surprise escaping his lips.


    "He~?"


    He could feel himself getting a bit dizzy as he raised his head, the ''blood'' in his head had suddenly thinned greatly, carrying so little energy and oxygen that it seemed like it was trying to deprive his brain of it. Liang Chen wasn''t a fool, he quickly discovered what the cause was, and the rather unique trick behind it.


    "I see, you''ve fused lightning and poison into something rather insidious. Even if the lightning has no effect, the poison will quietly activate without the opponent even being aware of it. That''s a very interesting way of using it, I hadn''t even considered it."


    Meng Bao''s lightning and poison laws were fused into his unique law, and the way he used it was definitely worthy of being called insidious. It evaded the opponent''s body and sank into his nerves, merging with the electrical signals that were used to control the body. Once the remnants of his Qi got the signal to move in a specific way, for example raising the arm to attack, then the poison inherent within the energy would activate, either thinning or coagulating the blood as needed.


    Liang Chen would have to experiment with it for a bit, but he was confident that this poison would probably be able to lay dormant for years, just waiting for that one move to be made. It was quite scary to think about, you would just go about your day when you suddenly made one wrong move and ended up activating the poison.


    "If you''re going to praise it, the least you could do is get affected by it."


    Meng Bao didn''t let Liang Chen''s praise get to his head, it only made him appear aggrieved. He could tell that his poison had activated, but it clearly had no effect on Liang Chen. On the contrary, he could feel his poison get absorbed by something not long after it awakened, it had less than zero effect. But that was just the nature of this matchup, Liang Chen was the enemy of all people who used the same laws as him. As long as they hadn''t fused in some other laws, then they would just help him grow stronger. Meng Bao hadn''t known this, and if he did he would probably just be all the more exasperated.


    "Oh well, seems like that''s how the pieces fell this time. But that''s not everything I have up my sleeve, so I won''t just sit down and let it end. Five steps, boy, let''s see if it''s you or me that will end up seeing the sixth one."


    Meng Bao hardened his expression and brought out a sickle that looked like it was made for farming as he spoke. Five steps separated the two of them, only the winner would get to see the sixth step. Liang Chen raised his arm, his spear landing in his grasp, the tip scraping against the ground as he raised his leg to take the first step.


    "Don''t worry, you won''t even be around to see the fourth."

 Chapter 306: The distant ninth and tenth.

    Meng Bao and Liang Chen gazed at each other, quietly measuring the other. And then, Meng Bao made the first move, stomping the ground heavily and causing lightning to erupt from within the earth. It carried a faint floral and earthen scent, and when Liang Chen looked down the hole they had made he could see a few roots crackling with sparks, it seemed like he had hidden the lightning in some poisonous roots. Or had he perhaps extracted it from them to begin with? Or had he turned the poison in the roots into lightning using his unique law?


    Liang Chen wasn''t quite certain, his calm gaze following the lightning as it rushed into him. Time had already slowed down around him, to the point where he would have been able to sidestep the lightning with ease. But he didn''t. He wanted it to hit him, he wanted to experience it, wanted to take the peculiar utilization and turn it into something of his own.


    He had the records of the Sebettu race, detailing what they had learned about the various laws over the years. But the Sebettu were a race at war, their race had been at war since nearly the dawn of their birth, partly to get more land and partly due to the devouring nature of their ancestor. As such, the laws they used were generally geared towards combat and destruction.


    A fiercer poison, an acidic poison that would reduce enemies to nothing and pierce through any defence. That was the law of poison they pursued, not something as peculiar and sinister as Meng Bao''s utilization. There was also the fact that the number of people who cultivated both poison and lightning was limited, and even fewer of that select group fused them together.


    But that was just how the world was, everything was limited in one way or another, no one item held all the answers and all the information. So you had to go out and search, explore and experiment on your own, only like that would you be able to get all the answers you sought.


    The lightning entered his body and diffused, seemingly as harmless as a spring shower. But Liang Chen paid close attention to how the lightning sank into his nervous system, mingling with the signals his body constantly sent. So far, it was very similar to one of his own techniques, the one where he used lightning to force his nerves to send the signals faster, forcibly and violently increasing the speed at which he could move and think.


    But then he raised his arm to point the spear at Meng Bao, and the weak lightning activated when it saw that the appropriate electric signals were sent out. But now that he studied it at a slower pace, and far more closely than previously, he realized that his original theory about the technique was wrong.


    The lightning didn''t release any poison when it traced the electric signals, what it did was that it actually turned his own nervous signals into poison. The lightning flared up and took over those faint electric signals, each one of them morphing into a faint poison that started to act upon his blood, coagulating it to halt his movement. It wasn''t too bad, as long as the coagulated blood stayed in his arm. Should it dislodge and flow along his veins then it may reach his heart or brain, and that would carry a true fatal threat to most living beings.


    Frankly, Liang Chen understood the theory behind the poison and how it worked. It was rather self-evident after all, he just had to look at it once to understand it. But understanding the theory behind it and being able to replicate it were entirely different things, especially due to the main peculiarity of it.


    To turn the surrounding elements and laws into your own was the power of a domain, which was sometimes the greatest ability of a cultivator. But domains were centred around yourself, you had to be their core for them to work. So how did Meng Bao manage to set up a miniature domain inside his opponent''s body to turn their own nervous system against them?


    He didn''t know, but he wanted to learn. What if he could mimic the effect with his own laws? His extremely acidic poison, his ferocious lightning, or even the void, whose domain was forbidden by the Sphere of Existence itself? If something like that opened inside his opponent, what sort of fate would await them?


    Liang Chen was looking forward to learning, it would be a great trump card if he managed to master it. He pulled his consciousness out from his own body and focused it on both his own energy as well as the energy around him, he was barely even acknowledging Meng Bao''s existence. And in that state, he took the first step forward.


    "The First Step shatters the body."


    Dragon Lord''s three steps, the greatest technique that the Heaven Devouring Dragon had left behind for his Sebettu descendants. Each step doubled the power of the last attack and stacked it onto the next, it was a skill that had helped Liang Chen in just about all of his battles.


    His spear thrummed as the power inside it rose, tiny arcs of lightning starting to fill the maw-like opening in the spearhead. The enemies Liang Chen fought recently were all true monsters so he rarely used this first step nowadays. But for what he wanted to experiment with next, he would need to take it step by step. As such, he raised his leg and took the second step forward.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "The Second Step Splits the waterfall."


    The power of the First Step was instantly doubled as Liang Chen''s foot touched down, the arcs of lightning crackling within the maw of his spear growing to cover the entire spearhead. The thrumming of his weapon grew louder, the tiny fang-like spikes inside the maw of his spearhead starting to quiver softly thanks to the accumulated energy.


    But the air around the weapon itself was still calm, the only disturbances were caused by the errant strikes of lightning that left the weapon. It was far from enough, it didn''t even touch the heels of ''closer''. So he raised his leg and took the third step.


    "The Third Step shatters mortality."


    The final part of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps, the power of the Second Step instantly doubled. The air around his spearhead finally started to twist slightly, the power gathered within the softly vibrating spear agitating both the air and the energy in it.


    Liang Chen allowed his consciousness to get enveloped by the energy, sensing how it acted upon the world as he compared it to the goalpost he had set. He knew that reaching that goalpost in a short while was nothing but a pipe-dream, but what he wanted to do now was to see if he had something that could take him towards that goalpost, a starting technique he could develop on without having to come up with something new entirely.


    And as he delved into the power of the Third Step, he came to the conclusion that he did indeed have something he could build upon. But his calculations told him that the path was still extremely long, luckily he had already taken one step down that path on his own earlier.


    "The Ninth should be equal to that three-sword domain. As for those sword-wings...a Tenth would be needed."


    Liang Chen pulled back his consciousness as he muttered, comparing his own power to the skills he had seen the Heaven Splitting King use. Nine steps to force the world to its knees, ten steps to break the world, that was the conclusion he had come to after thoroughly examining the explosive increase in strength of the Dragon Lord''s Three Steps.


    He would have to add an entire seven new steps to the technique that was first created by an Origin Beast, but luckily he had already started doing just that. The Fourth Step already existed, the step that pierced the sparrow. He had yet to try the fifth step, he wasn''t quite sure if his body would be able to handle it so he would need to experiment a bit with it first.


    "But before that..."


    His attention rose slightly, landing on Meng Bao. He was still attacking, but none of his attacks had been able to do anything to Liang Chen. They were technically at the same cultivation level, but Liang Chen cultivated three different systems and had what could only be called an extreme bloodline. They were not on the same level when it came to power, it hadn''t been a fight that Meng Bao could win to begin with. Meng Bao also realized that as he looked at Liang Chen, his pupils trembling softly as he forced himself to utter his last words.


    "Our poisons and legacy, I leave it to you."


    Liang Chen pushed his spear forward, the accumulated energy erupting from the spearhead. Meng Bao only saw a blinding flash of dull violet light, he couldn''t even hear the roar of the thunder, only a high-pitched shriek as his eardrums disintegrated. His body quickly followed suit, falling apart due to the rampaging lightning that tore through him.


    He didn''t even get the chance to feel pain or see his own state, that was the only mercy Liang Chen would show his targets. When the last glimmer of light faded, Meng Bao''s body was gone and the cavern had gained an additional cave, one that went upwards all the way until it pierced through the peak of the mountain. And with that, the Thousand Flower Valley had been exterminated, it was a fall so plain and quick that it was hard to believe.


    Liang Chen could have kept him alive for interrogation, forced him to spit out how he came up with his technique to open a miniature domain in his opponent. But he couldn''t bring himself to do that, not with what he had learned about Meng Bao''s deeds, he couldn''t bring himself to let such a man live on. He''d rather experiment on his own and find the answer that way.


    "We can move forward now, but stay on Yumao''s back for a bit longer, at least until we''ve gotten to check out the garden."


    Liang Chen turned back to look at Yumao and Lan Yun as he spoke, he couldn''t guarantee that there wouldn''t be sentient plants, or just explosions of poison within the herb garden. Lan Yun nodded her head obediently, a slight glimmer in her eyes as she looked at Liang Chen. Yumao and Liang Chen exchanged a quick glance before moving forward, passing through the cave ahead of them to enter the garden hidden beyond it.


    The cave led into an even larger cavern, one that seemed to fill almost the entire inside of the mountain. Large crystals that released light had been embedded into the walls of the cavern at regular intervals, properly illuminating the entire garden with soft light. But rather than calling it a garden, calling it a jungle was probably more correct.


    Trees and small marshes covered the entire cavern, there was even a single large river that split the entire forest in half. It looked like a normal jungle, but the dense scent of mixed poisons filled the air, most normal people and weaker cultivators would probably die just from standing there.


    This was how the Thousand Flowers Valley grew their poisonous plants, how they nurtured them. They didn''t bother setting up fields and the like, they just gave them a natural environment to best stimulate their growth. The number of poisonous plants here was beyond counting, Liang Chen wouldn''t be surprised if not even Meng Bao knew just how many plants were growing here. That was the downside of growing them like this, keeping track of them all and their growth, and possible mutations, became that much harder.


    But Liang Chen wasn''t bothered by their number or their changes, his eyes sweeping the fertile land with a faint gleam. This was one of the rewards that Purgatory''s Cradle had chosen for him, and it was here that he would truly learn about poison.

 Chapter 307: The path of poison.

    The scent of poison only got denser as Liang Chen left the mouth of the cave and descended into the jungle-filled cavern. The mixed poison that lingered in the air got so thick that it formed a faint brown mist, adding an additional eerie touch to the deathly quiet stretch of land. Here, only the most poisonous of beasts would be able to survive, and even then they had to take care that they didn''t become another beast''s snack.


    Liang Chen kept a close eye on Lan Yun and Yumao out of the corner of his eyes, the moment they showed the slightest sign of being affected he would forcibly drag them into his interspatial ring. He would be just fine here, he was like a fish in the water as he strode through the poisonous land, carefully inspecting his surroundings.


    "Oh? That should be one, probably one of Meng Bao''s."


    Liang Chen''s steps halted not long after he stepped into the jungle, his gaze drifting towards a tree that was a few metres to his side. A small pile of dried bones laid in front of the tree, what looked like thin red vines creeping up from the ground and slithering up the trunk of the tree. The vines had grown a few small leaves and buds that would likely grow into berry-like growths in the future, attracting whatever small animals that may stray too close.


    "Stay back a bit, I''m not actually sure if it has any other self-defence properties."


    He waved his hand slightly to Yumao as he stepped forward, crouching down in front of the vines. The leaves fluttered softly despite the lack of any breeze, it was as if they were trying to beckon him over to stroke their soft exterior.


    But Liang Chen didn''t even pay any mind to the fluttering of the leaves, brushing aside the pile of bones that once belonged to a man and digging his hand into the ground. He tore up the roots that the vines grew from, a gnarled mass of thumb-thick roots resting in his palm, the vines dangling helplessly from the roots. A few of the vines had actually penetrated into the bones to suck out the bone marrow, but those vines were so thin that they broke the moment he pushed aside the bones.


    He could feel the poison course within the roots and the vines, but he didn''t absorb it straight away, pouring in an extremely thin bit of his own poison. The roots lit up as he poured his Qi into it, tightly packed letters appearing on the roots, each letter smaller than a grain of rice.


    This was the legacy of the Thousand Flowers Valley, the archives that contained all their knowledge. It wasn''t tucked away into books or jade slips, it was engraved directly onto their poisons themselves, only another poison user would ever be able to read them, and only if he knew how to make them appear.


    "Blood-Flood Root... Needlessly vicious name for something so simple."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter softly as he went over the information stamped on the root. The things written on the root were the name of the poison, its effect, how to grow it, as well as how it had been used by the Valley over the years.


    As for this Blood-Flood Root, it was one of the poisons Meng Bao had used, it could actually be considered a type of medicine in some circumstances. It prevented your blood from clotting, which was good if you had a condition where your veins started to fill with blood clots. But if you didn''t have that then it would just mean that your blood wouldn''t clot and seal your wounds whenever you got hurt, you''d simply keep bleeding until you died.


    At least, that was the natural way to use the poison, its natural effects. Once you enhanced it with Qi then it would thin out the blood within your body, robbing it of the oxygen it was supposed to deliver to the rest of your body. Needless to say, one of these was far more deadly than the others.


    "Since you''re here, the other one should be pretty close as well, you seem like a thing that grows in pairs."


    Liang Chen picked the roots apart while muttering, plucking out a pea-sized seed from within the gnarled mass. He could reproduce the poison whenever he wanted once he absorbed it, but there was no telling when it would be useful to have the source of the poison around as well so he was preparing to set aside a section of his interspatial ring to creating a garden for the poisons.


    He stored the seed into his ring and then bit into the roots, their dry and stringy texture grating on his tongue and throat. It was far from pleasant, but this was still the best way for him to absorb poisons. The roots and vines, as well as the poison they carried, were forced down his throat and into his stomach, unleashing the poison. But the poison didn''t get to cause any harm, it was quietly and swiftly absorbed into his body by the countless roots that his Dragon Lotus had spread throughout his body.


    With the first poison taken care of, Liang Chen rubbed his mouth to get rid of any splinters and stood up. The blood-thinning poison had grown here so the blood-clotting poison was likely not too far away, both were plants that grew on blood so they were naturally attracted to similar areas.


    And indeed, the poisonous plant in question was found not far away. It didn''t take the shape of vines but instead appeared as grass with thin red veins that released an apple-like scent. He dug up the grass and the somewhat sticky roots that they grew from, going over the information and putting aside a seed before he swallowed it all down.


    "Blood-Rot Grass... They really want all their poisons to sound as sinister as possible..."


    The names were so exaggerated that it was hard to take them seriously, but in truth, given enough enhancement through Qi, the poisons would be able to live up to their names. After all, even a poison so weak it was only found in a Demonic beast so weak it hadn''t reached the Ascended Tower realm had been used to great effect by Liang Chen multiple times.


    Another poison was added to his arsenal so he continued his wandering, his steps slow as he moved through the jungle. Occasionally he''d stop and check an area, pick out any poisons he''d find and learn what he could before he absorbed them. Hours became days as he moved, slowly heading deeper into the jungle, to the areas that were visited far less frequently, where the truly freakish poisons grew freely.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "This... Now that''s a nasty one, Meng Bao. Just what were you hoping to accomplish with this one?"


    Liang Chen''s lips couldn''t help but twist as he looked at the scene in front of him, a slight grimace adorning his face. A small grove of trees covered in light pink flowers stood in front of him, each of the flowers containing a faint trace of poison. But all his attention was focused on the surprisingly small orange Rafflesia that was growing within the grove.


    The flower unleashed a practically invisible mist that Liang Chen only noticed thanks to his own law of poison, but while it felt weak, the effect it had shown was tremendous. Liang Chen had watched as a butterfly had flown into the mist, attracted by the colours of the rafflesia, and he had kept a close eye on it with his own poison to see what happened.


    The butterfly had started to stagger the moment it entered the mist, and then, as Liang Chen watched, a part of the mist had gathered together into an exact replica of that butterfly. But that replica was formed entirely out of poison, a pale mockery of the living being it was trying to become.


    But that wasn''t the sinister or eerie thing about this poison. No, that title went to what the poison had done to mimic the butterfly. It had invaded the butterfly''s soul and unravelled it in its entirety, laying bare all its memories so that it could birth an even better replica, something to truly take the place of the butterfly.


    If a poison like this got to grow and was enhanced before being unleashed on a city then there was no telling if the person you encountered was a man or poison given form. Entire sects could probably be wiped out and replaced without others knowing, a single poisonous flower taking complete control so that it could further its own goals.


    Liang Chen didn''t have to be told twice that this was a poison that would be extremely useful so he ventured into the mist while defending himself. But the poison seemed to have a strangely invasive property, a bit of it managing to sneak through his defences and invade his soul. He could feel it touch upon his soul, seemingly trying to dissect it to learn everything about him.


    But his soul was poison itself, so that act was tantamount to suicide, the rafflesia was doomed to fail from the start. Its attempts were foiled and it was dug out from the ground, Liang Chen injecting a bit of his own poison to go over its information. But the information engraved on its roots was a bit disappointing.


    "Mind-Scouring Rafflesia. Supreme Poison for wiping memories, when fused with Anima Essence it can be used to go through the memories before they''re wiped."


    The information engraved on the flower wasn''t accurate, or at least not complete. Whether or not this was because the Valley didn''t know the true extent of the poison or because it had mutated was something Liang Chen didn''t know. But if he had to guess then he would say it was the latter, the Thousand Flowers Valley had a history so long that it was unlikely that they wouldn''t properly study the poisons they chose to mark.


    Whatever the case was, the poison was absorbed and a seed was kept. He hadn''t used it yet, but if he used it properly then he felt that he may have acquired a very useful tool. It would at least save him a lot of time when it came to learning about the enemies he was fighting, he could directly go through their memories rather than first turning them into puppets and having them spill everything they knew.


    Liang Chen''s journey continued after he picked up the eerie poison, his steps continuing to carry him throughout the jungle. And then, after several more days passed, he finally encountered the first of the demonic beasts that lived in this land. Or at least, that was what he thought at first, until he actually saw the being with his own eyes.


    "This...Is this also considered a poison?"


    A deer-like being was striding through the jungle with stumbling steps, its light-brown fur covered with dry mud and chunks of bark that had been torn off from trees. The being was almost twice his side, three tails that ended in thin needles dragging behind the beast. It looked like it should have four antlers growing from its head, but Liang Chen couldn''t actually tell.


    The reason was very simple, the entire upper body of the deer was covered in a dense white fuzz, spindly outgrowths that somewhat resembled mushrooms protruding from the fuzz. Liang Chen had used his law of death on the beast so he could tell that it was still alive, its body was still filled with lifeforce, albeit a bit weak one.


    But the white fuzz and mushrooms were filled with their own lifeforce, one that was intruding upon the deer''s and siphoning it. The roots of the mushroom had extended into the brain of the beast, either controlling it or influencing its thoughts, but to what end he didn''t know. So he observed, he followed the beast for a few days as it moved through the jungle.


    It didn''t seem to be moving entirely without a purpose, no, it seemed like it was looking for something. And after a handful of days, it found what it was looking for. The deer ascended a rather large hill, or perhaps just calling it a large lump of earth that had been haphazardly tossed aside was better. It climbed to the top of the earthen pile, standing a couple of metres above the nearest trees as it raised its head as high as it could.


    And as it stood there, the invasive mushroom moved as well. The remaining lifeforce of the deer was siphoned all at once, the mushroom-like growths pulsating as they grew, expanding like balloons. And then, once the last trace of life vanished from the deer, the balloon-like mushrooms burst.


    White particles that looked like they came from dandelions scattered through the air as the mushrooms burst, expending what little energy they contained to launch themselves into the distance. That was what this poison, or perhaps parasitic existence was trying to do.


    It just wanted to spread, it wanted to infect a wider area so that it could continue growing and go on to infect an even wider area. If it was allowed to go on then the only end that awaited the land would be a white existence, mushrooms covering everything, smothering all other forms of life.


    The white fuzz on the deer''s body grew to cover the rest of it, the corpse of the beast now standing as a final reminder of the mushroom''s spread, and the fate that awaited all those that came in contact with it. Liang Chen sent out a bit of his Anima Essence and got in contact with one of the seeds, his eyebrows rising as he examined it.


    To his surprise, this mushroom was indeed a type of poison. But it wasn''t a normal poison, it was a living one. It had its own lifeforce, and most likely a rudimentary consciousness that birthed the instinct to spread in this manner. If there were any poisons in this land that had the chance to grow into an elemental then this poison would definitely be at the front of the pack, it was basically half an elemental already.


    Liang Chen sent out more of his Anima Essence, snatching up all the seeds that had scattered through the air. This was a scary poison, but that was also why it would be useful. Especially if he could do what he was starting to toy with, fusing different poisons together, at that point it would become all the more frightening.


    So he swallowed the seeds, absorbing the poison and adding it to his arsenal. A scary poison for a scary man, and both would only become scarier when they were added together. Another terrifying weapon was added to his arsenal, Liang Chen giving the rigid corpse of the deer one last glance before he started moving again.


    There were many more poisons to go through, many more things to learn. So he kept moving, absorbing poison after poison as he learned, understood. The archives of the Thousand Flowers Valley were completely taken in by him as the days passed, their poisons and their legacy, all of it was taken in by Liang Chen.


    With lightning and poison he had started, and his lightning had already acquired its own path and distinction. Now it was time for his poison to receive that same treatment, and the end result of that would be something that only time would be able to tell.

 Chapter 308: The wind as pillars.

    Liang Chen stood at the entrance of the cavern, his gaze sweeping across the jungle below him. The land was clearly a great deal more barren compared to when he first came here, the weeks he had spent going around while absorbing and testing his poisons had clearly taken their toll on the land. Even the poisonous scent that lingered in the air had vanished thanks to his plundering, the jungle was practically bordering on becoming a normal stretch of land.


    "Feels like it''s been a while since I last did cultivation like this without speeding up time... Messes a little with my thoughts and expectations."


    Liang Chen rubbed his chin as he spoke, he was so used to barely any time passing in the outside world when he cultivated that it felt rather strange to have the outside time pass at the same rate as his own. Yumao and Lan Yun had been forced into his interspatial ring while he was testing out his new poisons and other ideas he had so there was no one there to comment on his remark, the dull silence serving as the only response.


    He gave the forest one last look before he turned around and left, he had taken all the poisons and legacies for himself, his poisons rising to a new level. But now he was done here, it was time to shift his focus and move on. As for what his focus would shift on to next, it would be how he would proceed with his Dragon King''s Six Steps.


    The silence followed him as he moved through the cave, the dull echoes of his own footsteps serving as his only companion. He had spent several weeks inside the cavern but not a single other person had entered it during that time, nor had he sensed anyone move around close to the mountain in which the cavern resided.


    There clearly wasn''t anyone daring enough to even get close to the territory of the Thousand Flowers Valley while Liang Chen remained there. But as he left the cave and strode through the halls of the Valley''s headquarters, the gates still wide-open, he realized that things were a bit different from what he had expected.


    The city built around the Thousand Flowers Valley was as quiet as the headquarters, there wasn''t a single living being moving through the streets. The almost countless corpses of those he had killed when he first arrived still littered the streets, rotting while remaining untouched. Not even Demonic beasts had dared to enter the city after Liang Chen entered it, despite the buffet of corpses that was presented.


    It was a slightly eerie sight, one that was only made worse by what Liang Chen discovered as his lightning scoured the city for any living beings. There was nothing there. He alone stood in the city as a living being, he was the sole inhabitant, surrounded by the lifeless bodies his arrival had created.


    "Abandoned huh... Guess they were afraid that I''d target them next, the news also seems to have spread..."


    That was the only conclusion Liang Chen could reach based on what he saw, the few people that had been left alive after his arrival must have fled in fear. And they spread the news of the carnage, they told Purgatory of the chaos that descended upon the city.


    A natural disaster that could bring an entire city to its knees, this wasn''t exactly the outskirts of Purgatory''s Cradle, but there was no one here strong enough to handle such a disaster. So they had just avoided it in its entirety, the city had been deemed a forbidden area, a land of death that not even beasts dared to enter.


    But frankly, such a situation suited Liang Chen quite nicely. He would like to spend a bit of time going over the options he had when it came to taking his technique a step further, doing so would be much harder if more and more vile people kept entering the city. So he raised his right leg and started to walk, slowly making his way through the city, his gaze sweeping about without any true aim.


    "I could use the surrounding elements to restore any damage once my body suffers too much from the energy, but I''d have to rely on the Rain-Caller''s Dance at that point, situations where I don''t have access to it would become tricky..."


    He muttered to himself as he moved about, nonchalantly taking in the architecture of the city as his mind moved. Based on his calculations, and a few tests he had made during the last few weeks, his current body would be a bit overdrawn if he tried to execute the Fifth Step. As for the Sixth Step, he would, even in the best-case scenario, end up grievously injured by the sheer scope of the energy it involved.


    The most logical conclusion was of course to just increase his body cultivation, but doing so was much easier said than done. He had reached the Primordial Immortal Realm with his body, he was already at a realm where only the luckiest of chances would allow him to quickly increase his cultivation. And he had no such chances at hand right now so he had to seek out other options to bridge the gap, to strengthen the cards he had in his hand.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "There''s also the option of focusing most of the energy within my weapon and make it a slow accumulation process instead, less flexible but less strain. But in that case I''m screwed if I don''t have my weapon at hand, or if it turns out that my weapon can''t handle it..."


    He came up with ideas and discarded them just as fast. He didn''t want the option to rely on something else, an external factor that he couldn''t fully control. It was something that was related to his trump card, his strongest skill, if he couldn''t bring it out whenever he wanted then it wouldn''t be suited to bear that title.


    "What about a miniature void to bear the strain? A tiny gate to the void within my own body that can suck up the rampant energy and direct it to the point I want to unleash it from? Hmmm... no, that''s too risky, every gate is both an entrance and an exit."


    The void was not something that Liang Chen could put his full trust in, there was no telling what might come out from any gate that connected to the void. And the fact that he would open it inside his own body was also a point of concern, the moment something went wrong it might be too late for regrets.


    He continued to mull it over as he moved, stepping past and picking up the corpses he stepped past, they would be useful for his Chaos King technique. His feet eventually stopped in front of an old building located at the very edge of the city, the wood that served as its walls and floor were already so rotten and aged that it looked like they would fall apart at the slightest touch.


    But even so, the building stood tall. But it didn''t do so by its own merit, several diagonal pillars had been erected around the building, connecting with the walls and supporting them so that the weight of the house was partly dispersed onto the ground through the pillars. Like this, the weakened wood wouldn''t have to bear all the weight on its own and could remain standing despite the fact that it should have fallen years ago.


    And as Liang Chen looked at this house, he felt the closest he had ever been to enlightenment. A flash of genius and understanding as he realized the best path he could take right now, how he could unleash the attacks even though his body couldn''t properly handle the energy on its own.


    "If I can''t bear it myself, then I''ll just unload it somewhere else..."


    His eyes flashed sharply as he started walking again, his mind racing as he clung to every second of this flash. In truth, there was an additional bit of information he had that helped him acquire this flash of understanding, it was the information about wind that Lan Yun had given him before he reached this city.


    The heart of wind, the core of the law, did not lay within the grand terror its storms or sharp blades could produce. No, the terror was in the omnipresent wind, the gentle breeze that snuck through every hole to enter places no one else can. It was so tiny that you could hardly notice it, but you could pack extreme power into it, could produce extreme power if you used it appropriately.


    The paved stone beneath Liang Chen''s feet suddenly blew apart as one of his steps landed. A small crater that was almost a metre wide had appeared beneath him, his brows furrowing slightly.


    "Still a pain to control, returning it is hard without losing power."


    He was trying to do something similar to what he had tried when Lan Yun first told him about the heart of wind, he was trying to pack the wind full of power and then bring it back. The theory he had was quite simple actually, he''d disperse the power of the Fifth Step into the wind around him and rely on his law of wind to maintain it. Once he wanted to unleash the attack he would bring back all the energy at once, depositing it directly into the one point from which he wanted to unleash the attack, using the wind as ''pillars'' to share in the burden.


    He kept walking, every second or third step resulting in the ground erupting as the dispersed energy exploded. There was simply too much energy for the wind to bear, it couldn''t be squeezed into such a small area without reacting negatively. But Liang Chen wasn''t discouraged, his eyes eventually flashing sharply after he failed for the 17th time.


    "Fine, if it''s too much for the pillars to bear then we''ll just have to add more of them, spread the force out even further."


    He acted the moment he spoke, his energy diffusing into the surrounding wind again. Packing too much energy into small motes of air was no good, it would just collapse and detonate. So he sent it out further, spread it out as far as his senses would reach. All the wind would serve as his pillars, and when the air wasn''t enough then he would also rely on the earth itself, sending the wind into the tiniest cracks in the dirt to serve as additional pillars.


    He went all out with this attempt, and the result was immediate. The earth trembled and groaned for a short second before erupting, the buildings vibrated so fiercely thanks to the energy he scattered about that they collapsed and fell apart. The city and earth beneath it vanished, a thick cloud of dust replacing them as it rose high into the sky, not even a finger-sized piece of debris left of the city.


    And then, a bolt of dim violet lightning split the dust cloud. The lightning was several tens of metres thick and tore through the land like a rampaging dragon. Several thousands of smaller arcs split off from this thick bolt, spreading out as they tore deep ditches into the earth.


    The main bolt of lightning tore a gash that was several hundreds of metres deep into the land, the smaller arcs spreading out like spiderwebs as they extended past the sides of the new valley that had been forced into the land. Several hundred metres deep, almost ten kilometres long, and reaching almost 100 metres at its widest point, a grim-looking valley had been carved into the land, the heat of the lightning scorching and melting the sides of it.


    And standing at one end of the valley was Liang Chen, or perhaps floating was a better word, a crater as deep as the new valley was all that remained of the city. He felt that a decent portion of the dispersed energy had been lost, which was what resulted in the destruction of the city, but the fifth step had most definitely succeeded, and it had broken the land in doing so.

 Chapter 309: Wrath vs Wrath.

    The sun hung high in the sky above Wyvern''s Heart city, the sky devoid of even a single cloud. Were it not for the ever-present smell of blood and the naturally tense atmosphere that pervaded all of Purgatory''s Cradle then the city would surely welcome a lovely day. But in a land like this, such a thing was naturally nigh impossible.


    The best you could ever achieve here was a fragile truce, hollow peace. Like a pack of hungry wolves eyeing each other, no one willing to make the first move lest they show a moment of weakness and ended up beset by the rest. But a fragile truce was never bound to last for long, it could be shattered with a single tossed stone.


    But the thing that shattered the fragile truce of Wyvern''s Heart wouldn''t be a stone. No, there wouldn''t even be any shattering of the truce. After all, when calamity arrived and erased the entire pack of wolves, could you really say that their truce had ended? And on this bright and warm day, a calamity like that arrived outside the city, taking the form of a young youth accompanied by a winged serpent.


    Liang Chen raised his head slightly, gazing upon the city that stretched out in front of him. It still didn''t have any defensive walls but it was clearly grander than the ones he had visited so far, several of the buildings also showed signs that some sections had been added over the years. As his gaze wandered down the various streets, he also had to admit that it was probably the most peaceful city he had visited so far.


    It still carried the same tenseness as the rest of the land, but the people here weren''t eyeing each other as vigilantly as everywhere else. Of course, Liang Chen knew that it was only like this because everyone living in this city belonged to the same sect.


    Here, you were technically only allowed to kill outsiders, it was the last stop before you would reach what could truly be called the depths of Purgatory''s Cradle so there was no shortage of such outsiders hoping to reach Purgatory. Granted, as long as you knew how to cover it up then there would certainly not be a problem if you killed your own sect members, in the end, this was a land where everyone lived for themselves.


    "So this is the first one, huh? Looks more normal than I expected, but I hope that the insides run as clean as the outside. Can you bring them out now? Just leave Little Lan inside, I''ll just suffer the headache of appeasing her later on when things are less dangerous."


    Liang Chen stepped forward as he spoke to Yumao, his arrival inevitably drawing the attention of the city. He was an outsider so he was fair game, the problem was that he had reached the early Primordial Immortal realm so he wasn''t game they could hastily attack. Liang Chen paid no mind to the looks he got, nor to the hushed whispers and messages that started to fly about in secret.


    He kept walking calmly as Yumao vanished into his interspatial ring, returning with Jiao Hui Xin and the other disciples he had recently picked up in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm. The appearance of this additional group obviously drew even more attention, they were all just too weak for a place like this, they should have been pruned long ago.


    But quite frankly, it didn''t matter much to the surrounding people why these people had survived, seemingly having received Liang Chen''s protection. No, what mattered was that the 1 fair game had suddenly turned into 53, it had become a veritable smorgasbord that they could use to hopefully receive a new reward from the cradle.


    The disciples were understandably a bit nervous now that their training had been halted and they had been brought out again. And those nerves only got worse when they saw the people around them, not a single one of them had a cultivation that they could properly discern, meaning that they were far stronger than them. Hui Xin was a bit better thanks to the pain her life had been up to this point, she at least didn''t show any of her nervousness on the surface as she turned to Liang Chen, her ruined eyes roaming over his general area.


    "What lesson may we learn this time, Storm Sovereign?"


    In the past she had used the title Wolf Sovereign or Wolf Lord, he led the Storm Wolf sect after all, but it seemed like she had taken Lan Yun''s previous mutter to heart and changed the titles to be more storm-based. She didn''t bother asking any pointless questions, just looking at the previous time he had brought them all out was enough to tell her that he was going to teach them something heavy again. The other disciples quickly steeled themselves, using Hui Xin''s voice to bury their nerves as deeply as they could while they prepared themselves for Liang Chen''s orders.


    "Last time I taught you death, the weight of blood on your hands. This time too I will teach you death."


    Liang Chen obviously hadn''t brought out the disciples just so that they could see this city and experience its air, there were things he had to teach them so that they could walk the paths they had chosen for themselves. He raised his head slightly, using his chin to gesture towards the centre of the city, where they could just barely see seven large spires rising above the rest of the city.


    "That place is Wyvern''s Wrath Sect, one of the seven subsidiary sects belonging to the Nine Wraths Sect, it''s what they consider the Ninth Wrath. They control this entire city, everyone you see around you belongs to them. They will try to kill anyone that wants to head deeper into the cradle, only those who can overawe them with strength can pass. You guys lack that strength so you''d best just consider all of them your enemies."Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Liang Chen had made his preparations before he came here, organized and summarized every piece of information he had acquired after entering Purgatory''s Cradle. That was why he knew about Wyvern''s Wrath and its affiliation with the Nine Wraths sect, it was also why he strode into the city so blatantly.


    The Nine Wraths sect could be considered the rulers of Purgatory''s Cradle, they were the ones currently holding Purgatory. They were also the ones who were most fervent about following, and enforcing, the bloody nature of Purgatory''s Cradle. They wanted to nourish Purgatory with all the bloodshed, feed it all the death in hopes of helping it grow.


    If the people in the cities who were killing without regard were the soldiers, then the Nine Wraths sect was the king that gave the orders and revelled in the slaughter. Either way, be it soldier or king, neither would be able to escape Liang Chen''s judgment, nor his spear.


    "I see, it seems like there will be quite a lot of people for us to save there then."


    Hui Xin and the other disciples quickly caught on, despite not really knowing about the Nine Wraths sect and what it entailed. But if the people of this sect wanted to kill everyone that tried to pass through it then there would definitely be hundreds of people for them to save here, hundreds of people who had suffered fates similar to theirs. But Liang Chen shook his head and squashed the righteous fire that was just starting to burn in their chests.


    "No, there won''t be anyone to save."


    These disciples hadn''t gotten to experience Purgatory''s Cradle, its nature and twisted rules. They had experienced pain and torment in the Mystic''s Hidden Realm, but this land operated on a completely different set of values and rules. And now, Hui Xin and the others would have to learn about them.


    "This land is diseased, its core rotten and decayed. Things here work differently compared to the place where I saved you guys from, here death has far more worth than torture and enjoyment. No one will keep people around just to toy with them, hence, there is no one for us to save in this land."


    Why would you bother tormenting someone when you could just kill them and take a step closer towards the next reward? Life held no worth here, only death. That was Purgatory''s Cradle, death upon death, repeating endlessly until nothing remained. Was it the influence of the Bloodwind Emperor''s laws, or was it the lingering hatred of the universes that had died to form this place? Or perhaps it was just a raw representation of life''s base state, perhaps no one really knew. But Liang Chen knew one thing, one thing above all.


    "There are no lives here for us to save, only souls to avenge and sins to wash away with blood. Sometimes, that''s the best you can do, all you can do."


    You wouldn''t always get the outcome you wanted, wouldn''t always reach the best end. Sometimes you had to settle with what you could get, sometimes you just had to accept the result you achieved after giving it your all. And this land, this land was one such situation. Salvation did not exist here, only vengeance, sin that was washed away with more sin.


    The disciples couldn''t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva when they heard Liang Chen''s sombre voice, their stride unconsciously becoming a little heavier. They had been saved by Liang Chen and were looking forward to saving people of their own, to take on Liang Chen''s role. But there was no one they could save, and it wasn''t even due to their own weakness.


    The group kept walking, but it didn''t take too long before someone made the first move. It wasn''t one of the disciples, they knew that they couldn''t beat anyone here so they obediently followed Liang Chen to see what he would show them. No, the first move was made by one of the surrounding men.


    He had melded into the darkness as if he was part of it, sneaking up on the rear of Liang Chen''s group before singling out an older looking man with a slightly crooked back. He burst out from the darkness without a sound and aimed a clawed hand at the back of the man''s neck, it would just take him a single swipe to separate the head from the shoulders.


    Be it coincidence or skill, the man happened to turn around at that time, probably sensing something. He came face to face with the incoming attack, his spine tingling and freezing up as he saw the sharp glint of those claws. He felt a warm sensation on his chin and mind as the claw approached him, as if his deceased husband was caressing his chin and beckoning him to follow.


    But the claw stopped just as it was about to touch his skin, not even one centimetre away from his throat. A soft white fuzz had appeared around the attacking man''s eyes, slowly spreading to the rest of his face and giving him a much softer appearance. But his eyes turned blank and mindless at the same time, something that looked like a long mushroom slowly stretching out from his right ear. It was at this time that Liang Chen''s voice sounded out, blowing away the warm touch on the old man''s cheek and replacing it with the cold grip of reality.


    "Did you feel that? Experience that? That was death, that is what you impose upon the people you fight, those you judge. The moment you step on the battlefield, the moment you dip your hands in evil to fight evil, you must come to terms with the fact that you are also placing your own head on the executioner''s block. One wrong move and it will fall, understand that, accept that. And then walk forward anyway, fight on through it while accepting what you must shoulder. Because if you don''t, then there will never be anyone to speak up for those silenced voices, the crying children and grieving parents."


    To fight evil in the way they did was to become evil, to kill people was to be ready to be killed. Those who couldn''t understand and accept that were just petulant children who thought they were larger than life. If you couldn''t even lay your own life on the line, how could you possibly think that you had the right to take the life of others? The old man seemed to understand what Liang Chen was trying to teach him, something akin to a bitter smile surfacing on his face.


    "What a heavy duty we''ve acquired."


    A portion of the other disciples couldn''t help but subconsciously nod their heads at his words. They didn''t regret the duty that they got, they simply agreed that it was heavy to bear, both physically and mentally. But Liang Chen shook his head again, his gaze still affixed on those seven spires rising at the centre of the city.


    "It''s not a duty, it''s a choice, one you must make every time you take a step. So take your step, make your choice, I already have."


    His spear appeared in his grasp as he spoke, the tip dragging against the ground as the previously clear sky started to darken with thick clouds. The first shot had been launched, a volley was sure to follow. The Wyvern''s Wrath versus the wrath of a crying child, this was the start of the battle that would determine if the nine wraths of the Nine Wraths sect or Liang Chen''s one wrath would come out on top.

 Chapter 310: The lord of the storm.

    The dark clouds only grew heavier with each passing step, a dark akin to the deep night overtaking the city. This was one of the wraths belonging to the Nine Wraths sect, they would have more than just one Primordial Immortal cultivator, it wouldn''t be strange if they had one that was at the late stage. So he had used the Rain-Caller''s Dance right away, the brewing storm swallowing the entire stretch of land.


    Small drops of rain quickly started to fall, hammering the city with such ferocity that they threatened to drown out everything else. But with that rain came the lightning, flashes of light that cut through the dark and tore apart the hammering of the rain with furious roars. The storm had arrived, and it was intense enough to swallow every little light of life that dotted this land.


    Liang Chen''s eyes slowly moved about as he walked, not even the heavy rain was able to shroud the gloomy light in those golden pupils. His poison was already scattered all around him, latched onto the souls of almost all the people not inside the main building of the sect. But he didn''t activate it all immediately, he allowed them to attack the disciples before he acted.


    Death was something they would have to get used to, something they would have to hold close to their chests. And that went for both the death of their enemies and their own death, if the sensation of death made them freeze up then they would end up walking into an early grave. But not activating the main part of his poison didn''t mean that he wasn''t using it, no, he was employing it quite handily even as he walked.


    Everywhere he looked, lives were unfolding themselves. Sorrows, joys, atrocities, tiny gleams of hope, all of them bared themselves to Liang Chen. The very souls of the citizens were unravelling themselves due to his poison, every second of their lives imprinting themselves in his mind.


    He had taken the poison of the rafflesia and modified it slightly, he wasn''t trying to create an energy-based copy of his target, he just wanted the function to unravel their souls to understand them. But life was both the shortest and longest thing you would ever experience, the number of events you could cram into it was mind-numbing.


    So he had mixed in a bit of his law of time with the poison, drastically increasing the speed at which it unravelled the soul and bared the memories. Each glance encompassed an ocean of memories, each blink made tens of lifetimes flash past his eyes.


    Was this way of doing it better than temporarily turning them into puppets and having them spill everything? If he only looked at the efficiency and speed then the answer would undoubtedly be yes, he could judge tens if not hundreds of more people in the same timeframe if he did it like this.


    But on the heart and mind? It was far heavier, far sadder. To hear about a sin was one thing, to witness it was something else entirely. The terrified expressions, their final pleas for mercy, their snivelling, the gurgling of blood as the last traces of life left them, the dim light of despair in their eyes as their worlds collapsed. He saw it all as the memories revealed themselves, took them all in. The silent fire in the pit of his stomach took them all in as fuel, every tear, every weak cry, it used them all as fuel to burn brighter, to stretch its fiery tendrils towards the sky.


    "Have you gotten used to it now? Have you gotten a taste of death? Then try to move. The next time they attack, aim for their throats, raise your weapons to resist. Accept that you may die, but raise your weapons so that you may live for tomorrow."


    Liang Chen didn''t allow the unravelling souls to draw all his attention, turning his head slightly to glance at the disciples behind him. Several of the citizens had already died after attempting to attack the disciples, turning into stiff statues covered by white fuzz and elongated mushrooms bursting with spores.


    But even so, none of the people around them had given up on attacking, Liang Chen had made sure of that by having his poison eat away at their soul, and thus their minds. Not enough for them to really notice it, but enough for it to have an effect on their actions. After all, a mindless puppet would never be able to give off the same killing intent as these highly experienced killers.


    "Understood, Storm Lord...But the difference between them and us is a bit too great, so please forgive us if we fail to move in the end."


    The disciples quickly assented to Liang Chen''s command, but one of them made sure to speak up somewhat awkwardly. He didn''t think that Liang Chen would get angry or the like for something so minor, but he felt that it would be a bit sad if he got disappointed by their failure. And indeed, Liang Chen wouldn''t be angered by something so minor, his gaze turning towards the front again.


    "Determination isn''t built in a day. Fail as you please, but make sure you build on it to keep moving forward. Today it is they who are too far above you, the next day it will be the next enemy, and then the next. But move forward, climb higher. One day, not even the heavens will be higher than you, and that is what we''re... Well, at least I, am aiming for."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The disciples nodded their heads strongly, hardening their hearts. In truth, very few of them looked as far ahead as Liang Chen did, they either just wanted to vent their anger or help others as Liang Chen had helped them. But not seeing the same end of the path as him didn''t mean that they didn''t find it inspiring. One man stood alone as he tried to reach the heavens, tried to surpass them so that they would finally fulfil their duty.


    If he could have that determination, who was to say that they couldn''t be determined enough to resist their attackers despite the difference in strength? And above all, their Storm Sovereign was behind them, he watched them and urged them onward, supported them. Even if they failed, he would catch them so that they could rise again. And as long as he did that, then some of them felt like they could face the world itself.


    Hui Xin was the first one to raise her weapon, or rather her fists, as another man launched a quiet sneak attack. She couldn''t see the man due to her ruined eyes, but she could faintly feel his presence due to the way he pushed aside the air as he moved, not even the hammering rain was able to obscure those tiny movements.


    She used the law of wind to find him, but it was her secondary law that she wanted to use to attack, the law of strength. It was a concept very foreign to her, she had always been on the side of the weak, the notion of having strength was never something that existed in her mind. So it was a law that was very hard for her to grasp, but she did her best, because she wanted to wield strength like no other. She wanted to have the strength to act like Liang Chen, to break into a sealed dungeon and calmly stride into a cell to stretch his hand out for others to grasp.


    She used the only form of strength she had some experience with, the brute strength to inflict great violence on weaker people. She stomped the wet stone with her thin legs, like a head smashing into the ground after it was knocked aside by a furious fist.


    Pain, that was the first thing she felt from it, painful memories and a slight aching of her bones. But she drew her strength from that very pain, those dark memories and the force that acted upon her leg. She drew it up her legs and into her waist, twisting her body slightly so that she could channel that strength into her swinging arm with greater ease. Her fist was clenched tightly, even more tightly than her teeth.


    She recalled the movements from before her eyes were ruined, the twist of the waist and the swinging of the fist. Cracked temples that led to a quick death, broken skulls, shattered noses, lungs ruptured by fractured ribs. She recalled them all as she had seen them, as she had experienced some of them. She herself did not know how to properly punch, but she had been punched enough to know how to mimic it, she had suffered enough pain that she knew how to inflict it on others.


    The wind whispered to her through the hammering rain and thundering lightning. The incoming man''s outstretched arm, the sword grasped in the hand, the sharp tip aiming for her throat. She knew the pain that sword would inflict, that searing pain as its edge cut through her flesh, removed her skin from her body. Oh, how familiar she was with it and its horror, how many scars she had on her body thanks to that very same pain, how many tears she had cried due to it.


    But she didn''t stop, she didn''t allow that fear to swallow her mind, to seize up her joints. She was still among the weak, she was no stronger than the little girl trapped in the cell, her limbs and body ruined. But the doors of that cell had already been opened, the bars melted under the bright fury of the storm and its lightning. She had to take that first step, wanted to step past the bars and escape that prison. Her body had gone, now it was time for her mind, and if she froze up here then she would never be able to leave that cell, she would forever remain in that dark room beneath the earth.


    So she welcomed the sword. She raised her empty arm so that she could grasp the sharp edge of the blade and push it aside. She would hurt, she would feel that searing pain. But she would move forward, she would step past those bars, and she would be the one who came up on top, she would be the one who would step into the ranks of the strong.


    But alas, the difference in strength was not something she could bridge with just determination alone. Her empty hand reached the blade, but it wouldn''t even budge as she grasped it, it continued forward without pause, spilling her blood as it rent her flesh. Her swinging fist reached the man at the same time, colliding with his shoulder as she unleashed every ounce of strength she could muster, but it had as little effect as her attempt at blocking, the man didn''t even budge.


    But just as the tip of the blade was about to pierce her throat, it came to an abrupt halt. It seemed as if it had just suddenly frozen in time, even the sleeves of the man''s robes had completely halted, unaffected by the pouring rain. And then the man simply perished, his skin turning grey and heavy as his flesh turned to stone, a new statue appearing in the city.


    "You did well, far better than I expected. Keep going, the world is yours for the taking."


    The voice of Liang Chen reached her ears as she looked at the petrified man, even in this icy rain it still sounded as warm as the light of the sun. She had failed, she hadn''t been able to achieve a single thing, but he still praised her and urged her on.


    She turned her head slightly, but Liang Chen hadn''t turned back to look at her, his gaze firmly locked on the building ahead of them. Shaped like three curved horns interlocking at the centre, seven grand spires surrounding it, the headquarters of the Wyvern''s Wrath sect. And standing in front of it, five men whom even Hui Xin could tell eclipsed the rest of the men she had seen so far in this city.


    Their gazes were locked on Liang Chen, steely and cold, with slight hints of dread. They didn''t even glance at Hui Xin''s group, only Liang Chen was worth their attention. But even as these five men looked at him like that, Liang Chen''s expression didn''t falter. Even with all the pressure they exuded, he had taken the time to help her, to encourage her through her failure. That was Liang Chen, the man who had stretched his hand towards them, the god of their storm.

 Chapter 311: The mask of man.

    The rain fell down all around Liang Chen, hammering the streets and the buildings like tiny pieces of hail. But not a single drop touched him, they all moved a tiny bit just before they reached him, parting around him. He had summoned the storm, but the rain did not dare to touch him, the lightning did not dare to flash close to him, as if nature itself felt a sliver of dread.


    His gaze was directed forwards, sweeping over the five men who served as the rulers of Wyvern''s Wrath. Their souls unravelled in front of his eyes, he had made sure that the poison he sent out towards them was so weak that it was barely discernible, it didn''t even have any offensive capabilities to decrease the chances of them noticing it. It couldn''t harm them, but it could bare their lives to him, reveal their deeds and sins for him to judge.


    But as his gaze swept over them, his brows suddenly furrowed for a second. He turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on a disciple that stood still in front of a newly formed statue of a young woman. His gaze landed on this man not because he had frozen up out of fear when she was attacking him, no, it landed on him because he had frozen up out of uncertainty, hesitation.


    "Forgive me, Storm Lord...I hesitated when I saw how young she was...I suddenly became uncertain if what I was doing was right..."


    The man sensed Liang Chen''s gaze and hurriedly lowered his head while explaining himself. Liang Chen had brought them along to kill people before, but back then he had killed a middle-aged man, not a youthful girl like this. She looked young enough to be his daughter so his mind had wavered, was it really right to do this? Liang Chen obviously wouldn''t scold him for hesitating, he simply spoke calmly.


    "Chang Toh, right and wrong have nothing to do with this. We are not gods, we don''t decide what is right and wrong, only what we want and don''t want to do. So don''t concern yourself with if what you''re doing is right or wrong, just do what you want to do and then weather the consequences."


    This wasn''t a disciple that Liang Chen had interacted a lot with, he hadn''t really had a lot of contact with any of the disciples he had taken in. But that didn''t mean that he forgot about them, he still remembered their names and their stories, the goals they said they wanted to achieve. And this Chang Toh was no different.


    "You said that you wanted to become strong enough to save so many people that your lost family could smile at you from the World Tree realm, so just focus on doing what you can towards that goal. Is it right to repay blood with blood? Is it right to kill those who kill? I can''t answer that, no one here can. But what I can say is this, by killing that woman, we''ve saved at least a handful of lives from ending at her hands, and we''ve avenged many more. So don''t think about right and wrong as you face your enemies, just think about whether or not killing them can save enough people to make your family smile."


    Liang Chen wasn''t raising an army of righteous warriors, he wasn''t training cultivators to fight in the name of justice. The only thing he did was give grieving parents and weeping children a chance to fight, a chance to spill blood for whatever they believed in. Right or wrong didn''t have a damn thing to do with that, it hadn''t had anything to do with his journey for quite a while now, it was just another one of the things he had discarded along the way.


    Liang Chen turned his head away as he saw Chang Toh''s hardening expression. Worrying about right and wrong would just cloud their minds, and a clouded mind would be among the first to fall in battle. His gaze landed on the five men again, none of them had moved despite the apparent opening he left as he turned to speak with his disciples.


    "I believe this is the second time we meet, no? Well, physically it''s our first meeting."


    Liang Chen''s gaze was focused on the man standing at the head of the group of five, Wyvern''s Wrath Song Zhao, one of the seven right-hand men of Nine Wraths Sect Leader Lao Ye. It was their first time meeting in person like this, but Liang Chen had actually interacted with this Song Zhao before.


    It was back when he first entered Purgatory''s Cradle, when he arrived in the first city and conducted his first massacre. Song Zhao had taken over one of the bodies of the disciples that had been sent to rule the city and tried to offer Liang Chen a non-aggression pact, they would pretend he didn''t exist and he would do the same for them. Obviously, Liang Chen had rejected the deal.


    "You came faster than I expected. But I must say, I don''t think anyone has ever carved such a bloody path through this land as you have. Is there really any worth in eradicating cities filled with weaklings?"


    Song Zhao spoke calmly, but his ear-length brown hair was a bit dishevelled and his blue pupils carried a slightly dim light. He was two small realms above Liang Chen, but he couldn''t feel any confidence as he actually stood in front of him, it was as if his entire existence instilled dread in others. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "There is worth in it to me."


    Liang Chen couldn''t be bothered to discuss or argue with Song Zhao. He had eradicated two cities worth of people, but they were all so weak that they hadn''t even filled half a drop towards the next reward from Purgatory''s Cradle. In that regard, there truly was no worth in slaughtering them all, at least not in the eyes of those who lived here. Song Zhao didn''t allow Liang Chen''s simply, almost blunt, reply to get to him, doing his best to compose his mind and straighten his back.


    "I warned you previously, not all of our disciples are the same as those little birdies in the outskirts, if you keep persisting then you will have to face our Nine Wraths Lamentations."


    The Nine Wraths sect wasn''t the ruler of Purgatory''s Cradle for nothing, it had its own secret techniques and the like to rely on. As such, they weren''t afraid of becoming enemies with a mere Primordial Immortal cultivator, they wouldn''t even necessarily be scared of most Transcended Immortal cultivators.


    But if it could be avoided then it would be for the best, it was just a shame that this was one of those situations where it seemed like avoidance was impossible. If Liang Chen was someone who could be scared off with threats then he wouldn''t have reached his current position, his only response was to raise his spear and repeat his response from when he last received the same threat.


    "And? I''ll just repeat what I said back then, you can bring out all nine of your wraths, I only need my one."


    Tit for tat, neither gave an inch. It was obvious that there was only one possible outcome now that they had met in person, the wyvern would have to face the storm. Liang Chen faced four middle-stage and one late-stage Primordial Immortal, but he didn''t show the least bit of fear as they faced each other in silence, the time for words had already passed.


    There was no great signal to start the battle, no shout to rouse the spirits. There was simply a flash of dull violet light and the subdued rumbling of thunder as Liang Chen vanished from his position, practically instantly arriving in front of the right-most cultivator.


    The man hadn''t even had time to react, Liang Chen was already right in front of him by the time he saw the lightning. The skin on Liang Chen''s face had been pulled taut from the sheer speed and force he had to endure as he rode the lightning, but moving like this was faster than any other option he had available.


    His spear swept out, time around it twisting like a wave so that it seemed to move extremely slowly, at least to the man he was targeting. But while the upper part of the wave made the spear seem slow, it actually rode the lower part of the wave, where the flow of time was increased so heavily that the spear almost vanished from sight. The man''s head left his shoulders before his thoughts even caught up with the situation, a middle-stage Primordial Immortal like this was not someone who could stand in front of Liang Chen.


    Liang Chen''s gaze moved at the same time as his spear struck, drifting towards the remaining four people. The three middle-stage Primordial Immortals realized that they would at best only be able to play a supporting role so they rushed to back up, putting some distance between them and Liang Chen so that they could support Song Zhao.


    While they retreated, Song Zhao advanced, already grasping a great and heavy sabre that was almost a metre and a half long. The weapon was swept upwards towards Liang Chen, bringing with it a dim brown flame that seemed to shriek mournfully, all the rain and wind within the surrounding ten kilometres vanishing. Liang Chen''s heart moved slightly due to the mournful nature of the shriek, it felt as if the sorrow hidden deep within his heart was being forcefully dragged out.


    He forcefully buried that sorrow and moved his Qi again, the law of time seeping into the surrounding area. But he didn''t use the law of time to directly attack the three retreating men, using it on them directly would drain too much energy. But that didn''t mean that he couldn''t use it to attack them, they had kicked up plenty of things that could be used to seal their fates.


    The man who had retreated the furthest suddenly coughed up blood, a sharp pain spreading across his entire body. He quickly shot a panicked gaze down at his own body and saw that several small holes had appeared in his flesh, a few drops of blood and small chunks of flesh hanging in the air in front of him.


    But as he looked closer, he saw that they weren''t hanging in the air, they were clinging to tiny pebbles and grains of dust that seemed to have been frozen in place. Liang Chen took advantage of this and shot forward without hesitation, brushing past Song Zhao''s weapon as he charged.


    Song Zhao wasn''t as helpless as the rest, the direction of his weapon changing in tune with Liang Chen''s movements. The weapon snuck itself underneath Liang Chen''s arm, lopping it off and spraying blood through the air. But as the blood landed on Song Zhao, several jolts of shocking pain erupted from the places where the blood landed, arcs of lightning crackling violently as the blood revealed its true nature.


    Liang Chen ignored the pain and reached the man, who had pierced himself on dust and pebbles whose time had been halted. Liang Chen''s remaining arm shot forward, his spear running the man through and unleashing a torrent of the law of death. The man''s skin turned sickly pale as his life was forcefully stolen from him, his blood coagulating within his veins before his eyes turned dim and he collapsed to the ground.


    Song Zhao wasn''t happy that he had lost two men so quickly, but he could at least comfort himself with the fact that he had managed to take one of Liang Chen''s arms. Or so he thought at least, when he turned his head he saw that the rain and wind he had previously pushed away with his brown flames had gathered again.


    But this time, all of it was gathering around Liang Chen, sucked towards the stump that remained of his arm. Several bolts of lightning poured down from the dark clouds and merged with the wind and rain, connecting to Liang Chen''s body as a fresh arm was quickly formed to replace the lost one. Only now, as he looked at the eerie scene in front of him, did Song Zhao realize that perhaps the thing they had formed enmity with wasn''t human, but rather a monster masquerading as a man.

 Chapter 312: Nine Wraths Lamentation.

    Liang Chen clenched his regrown hand a few times to check its state, giving an imperceptible nod when he saw that it was working as it should. His eyebrows twitched slightly as he finished checking his arm, his feet kicking off the ground as he shot to the side like a blur. More of Song Zhao''s brown flames landed where Liang Chen had just been standing, the stone sizzling as it melted into a bubbling liquid hissing with steam.


    His feet were just about to touch the ground again when the two remaining men suddenly unleashed a large burst of Qi, Song Zhao''s flames bursting to life with vigour and instantly spreading to cover a larger area. The flames spread to cover several kilometres, Yumao quickly picking up and moving away the disciples that Liang Chen had brought along so that they weren''t swept up in the battle.


    Liang Chen immediately judged that there was no longer any place suitable for him to stand on the ground so he took to the sky, the raging wind around him lifting him into the air. He stopped a bit above the ground, the air solidifying beneath him so that he could have a semi-stable foothold.


    All the land around the headquarters of the sect had become a bubbling muck of molten stone, steam briefly showing itself whenever a bubble sputtered in and out of existence. Liang Chen only had to look at the shimmer of heat above the muck, as well as the fact that all the rain evaporated before it even got within several metres of the land to realize just how warm it was.


    But even so, Song Zhao and his men were standing in the liquid seemingly without problem, it was just that their expressions were grim and solemn as they gazed at him. Song Zhao was the strongest among them and thus his expression was the grimmest, because not even he had been able to properly follow Liang Chen as he moved. His expression was dim, not even the dirty glow of the molten land able to brighten it.


    "My comrades, we are left with very little choice. Retreat to the entrance, we must use the lamentation."


    Song Zhao spoke the words with a rather heavy heart, the Nine Wraths Lamentation was not something to be used lightly. The lamentation was one of the two trump cards each of the Nine Wrath affiliated sects had, being forced to use it meant that they were only a step away from being forced to use their own unique trump card, it meant that they were a step away from destruction.


    The two men didn''t dare dally, they knew how serious the situation was so they instantly charged for the main entrance. Liang Chen''s hand moved slightly, some of the lightning that filled the sky shooting down towards the two men. But Song Zhao charged in front of it to block it for them, he had expected Liang Chen to move against them so he had been ready to spring into action at a moment''s notice.


    The lightning clashed with the brown flames that constantly swept out from his large sabre, the crackling and hissing sound almost threatening to drown out everything else as they cancelled each other out. Thanks to Song Zhao''s guard, the two men reached the entrance safely, immediately sitting down.


    A strange rippling defensive shield formed around them as they closed their eyes, their Qi flowing out in a steady stream and rushing into Song Zhao. He drew a deep breath as the energy flowed into him, several more streams reaching him from all over the city and the surrounding area. His aura immediately rose, like a fire that had just reached some kindling.


    "To feel wrath is to feel lament, you cannot be furious without having something to lament. This is the Ninth Wrath, and thus the Ninth Lament, and we reserve it for the Wyvern plucked out of the sky, the eagle whose home was taken from him by covetous humans. I am Song Zhao, and I am the Wyvern''s Wrath, the Sorrow of the Sky. They called you Storm Lord earlier, did they not? Then that is what I will call you. So come, Storm Lord, experience the sorrow and wrath of those who lost the sky."


    Sorrow birthed wrath and wrath birthed new sorrow, hand in hand they went together towards tragedy. Song Zhao drew in the sorrow of all those who had lost their home in the sky, converted their hatred into fuel and power, had he been stronger then he may have been able to draw in all of that sorrow that was gathered here in Purgatory''s Cradle.


    Song Zhao gathered his newfound strength, the molten land beneath his feet rippling like a stormy ocean as he bent his knees slightly. When he straightened his legs again, he shot into the sky like a meteor, molten stone flung through the air like torrential rain.


    Liang Chen''s eyes flashed sharply, his spear smashing down as he slammed it towards the incoming Song Zhao. The spear met the sabre, the foothold Liang Chen had created instantly shattering as he was pushed into the sky, Song Zhao pursuing him like a maggot clinging to his bones.


    The ever-present storm around them kept swirling around Liang Chen as he was pushed higher into the sky, sinking into his body to repair the fractured bones and ruptured veins that his arms suffered from blocking Song Zhao''s sabre. His strength didn''t grow by just a little after he used the Nine Wraths Lamentation, it wouldn''t be their second-greatest trump card if it was weak.


    In what felt like merely an instant, Liang Chen and Song Zhao had arrived a handful of kilometres above the city, just a small distance away from the dark clouds that covered the sky. But Liang Chen would not allow it to continue. Song Zhao was the lamentation of all the wyvern''s that could not fly in the sky, but at this moment, Liang Chen was the dark clouds that sealed off the sky. And he would not give Song Zhao a chance to fly.


    "Third Step shatters mortality."


    A mutter so soft that it couldn''t even be heard over the sound of the evaporating rain. But the effect of the mutter was everything but soft and subdued, it was an eruption of wind that sounded as if it was trying to break the eardrums of everyone in the city, more akin to a thunderous crack than the rumbling of thunder.


    All the air within a few kilometres had instantly been gathered in the small space between Liang Chen and Song Zhao before finally getting detonated, instantly expanding back to its previous volume. Song Zhao had ascended so he was launched down again like a falling star, more of the surrounding storm sinking into Liang Chen to repair the damage he suffered as the expanding wind rushed over him. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    But he didn''t even wait for this damage to fully heal, his gaze locked on Song Zhao. A bolt of dull violet lightning left the clouds above him and shot straight down, Liang Chen latching onto it and riding it down as he chased Song Zhao. His spear stabbed downwards just as he was about to reach Song Zhao, all the might of the lightning spiralling around the tip of the weapon.


    Song Zhao wasn''t going to just act like a sitting duck so he ignored the fact that he was lying horizontally in the air and swept out with his sabre, smashing it into the side of Liang Chen''s spear. Liang Chen''s bones vibrated and cracked slightly from the impact, but Song Zhao wasn''t much better, parts of the lightning jumped off of Liang Chen''s weapon and arced onto his body.


    He''d never felt lightning like this before, it felt like it would scorch his very soul if he was unattentive with his defence. He could smell his own blood burning but he just grit his teeth and spat a glob of blood onto the wound produced by the lightning. The blood turned into dark brown fur, the lightning coursing through his flesh gathering around the hairs and forming small crystals crackling with power.


    But while the lightning was dealt with, he still had to deal with the actual force behind the attack. He had deflected the spear so it couldn''t pierce him, but the act of doing so pushed him to the side with quite the amount of force. And when the force of Liang Chen''s attack was factored into that rebound force, Song Zhao ended up bouncing across the molten earth for more than just a few metres, smashing through even a handful of buildings before he finally stopped.


    Liang Chen was also left in a somewhat awkward state, the redirection of his downward stab had thrown him completely off-balance. And coupled with the fact that he had yet to become truly accustomed to riding along with the lightning, he smashed into the molten earth at full speed. He passed right through the molten layer and crashed into what remained of the solid ground, the sheer force and speed behind his descent forcing the surrounding earth down to birth a new crater.


    His body ached as he laid within the bottom of the crater, but he luckily had the surrounding storm to support him so he was able to regenerate quickly. This was the advantage of dabbling in body cultivation, especially one as peculiar as Liang Chen''s, his recovery rate was far above his opponents.


    But he didn''t let that fact get to his head, springing into a standing position straight away and locking onto Song Zhao''s distant position. His body twisted as he grabbed his spear, pouring his power into it while unleashing two techniques at once.


    "Chaos King''s Punch, Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow."


    He first unleashed one of the three techniques contained within the Chaos King technique, unleashing the devoured energy he had set aside for a moment like this. Then he amplified all that power through the fourth of his Dragon King''s Six Steps to unleash carnage.


    The crater around him was torn open by the arcs of lightning that roared out from his spear, spider-web like gorges appearing across the land and swallowing what remained of the molten earth. His spear left his grasp and shot forward, the air neatly splitting in front of it and allowing it to easily pierce through the earth as it rose diagonally to run Song Zhao through.


    Song Zhao couldn''t see the attack coming for him, but he could feel it, hear it. The soft whistling of air getting cleaved, the horrifying sensation of having something lock onto his heart, like a dragon barreling through the earth as it rushed towards him. But he was the Wyvern''s Wrath, it didn''t matter if the storm covered the sky to block him, he would just have to smash through that storm to clear the skies again, that was his duty towards all the other poor souls that had been plucked from the sky.


    His back split open, his skin tearing so that blood could pour forth in great quantities. The blood solidified into a mushy imitation of two eagle-like wings on his back, the air groaning softly under the power gathered in them. Both wings shot forward, one greeting the incoming spear while the other tore itself off of Song Zhao''s back and flew towards Liang Chen.


    The wing that tore itself off and shot forward coiled around itself, forming a crimson spiral that dug through the earth as fast as lightning, reaching Liang Chen in practically only an instant. Liang Chen''s energy gushed out to block the attack, but the crimson spiral strangely hopped forward at that second, seemingly teleporting right past his defence.


    It dug into his chest and passed right through it, tearing a hole that was nearly two fists wide in his chest, just barely missing his heart as it practically took his entire left arm off at the shoulder. The surrounding storm instantly descended to heal his wounds, but the blood from the wing lingered on his wounds to block the storm and the growth of new flesh, drastically decreasing the speed at which he recuperated.


    But Song Zhao didn''t fare much better, his entire body tense and trembling faintly as he welcomed the spear. He didn''t have any grand notions of blocking the attack, all he wanted to do was to deflect it. And thus, the outstretched wing met the spear, an almost blinding flash of dull violet light erupting from the weapon.


    The lightning within the spear ravaged the area as it was unleashed, even the molten earth beneath Song Zhao evaporating from the heat. But what was worse was the fact that the lightning was as insidious as it was ferocious, it interfered with his nerves and the signals they sent, paralyzing him where he stood.


    He could only rely on his Qi to move his blood, forcing his limbs to move by controlling the blood in his veins. But doing so was inevitably slower than normal, so the follow-up attack of his sword was a beat slower than he wanted it to be.


    The crimson wing disintegrated under the force gathered in the spear, Song Zhao''s sabre only reaching the spear by the time it was a handful of centimetres from his face. He used all his might to push the weapon to the side, the power and heat of the spear melting a two-finger wide indent into his sword.


    He succeeded in pushing the spear aside, but it still cut across his shoulder as it flew past him, taking the crimson wing with it as it soared into the distance, tearing a path clean through the city. He had managed to deflect the attack and wound Liang Chen, but it had cost him both of his wings and borderline ruined his sword.


    But what was even worse than that was the fact that this still wasn''t the end, all that hadn''t been enough to take down a cultivator two small realms beneath him. He spat out a mouthful of blood, the blood already so coagulated that it was like jelly. Had it not been for his strong blood then the poison contained within the spear would have already blocked off his heart and brain, ending him on the spot.


    He grit his teeth and focused his gaze towards the front, as if he was trying to peer through the small hole the spear had left in the earth. The blood that ran out of his mouth started to wriggle and twist, sinking into his eyes and turning them crimson while also forming small fangs in his mouth.


    "Come, Storm Lord, this isn''t over yet."


    A voice so insignificant in the storm that it seemed pointless, but it reached Liang Chen nonetheless. He spat out a heavy breath and focused his gaze, ignoring the pain of his slowly repairing body. Song Zhao was strong, extremely strong, this was something Liang Chen had to acknowledge. This was probably the most even fight Liang Chen had had in a long time, one wrong step and he might lose.


    But he wouldn''t allow himself to lose, he couldn''t lose. His gaze pierced through the earth and was locked solely on Song Zhao, his Qi surging and roiling. The land beneath his feet slowly started to lose all colour, taking on an almost bone-like texture before it slowly started to turn into ashen sand. He wasn''t done yet, he had more to give. So the end of all existence slowly started to rear its head, the Void creeping out as Liang Chen gathered his strength.

 Chapter 313: The fifth step and the final defence.

    The first person to notice the change was undoubtedly Song Zhao. There was a subtle shift in the air, the faint scent of horrors beyond description. But perhaps the worst of all was the terrible silence that descended, it felt as if he couldn''t even hear his own heartbeats. That silence was the end of all things, the soft whimper as the last flicker of existence faded into the night.


    A flash of light lit up the darkened sky, but the sound didn''t even register in Song Zhao''s mind, or perhaps he truly wasn''t able to hear sounds any longer, he couldn''t really tell. But he knew that things had become more dangerous than ever before, his body tensing up as his expression hardened.


    The dirty brown flames that rose up all around him retracted at once, sinking into his flesh and blood. The blood that had turned his eyes crimson and even formed fangs in his mouth started to bubble and steam, his skin rapidly becoming darker, small patches falling off and revealing blotches of bubbling blood beneath.


    His aura quickly started to rise again, the ever-present storm around the city no longer able to get within two kilometres of him, pushed away by a domain of intense heat filled with the stench of blood. But this newfound rise in strength clearly didn''t come easily, small trembles running through his body as traces of pain flashed through his pupils.


    But his eyebrows suddenly quivered as he finished his preparation, his body lunging to the side with a swift motion. A spear shot past him from behind, just barely missing his shoulder as it dug through the earth. Song Zhao didn''t need to follow the spear with his gaze to know where it was heading, grasping his almost broken sabre as he pursued the spear.


    Liang Chen caught the spear as it returned to him, spinning it to direct the tip towards the incoming Song Zhao. His expression was as hard as Song Zhao''s, now that the Void had come out it meant that the battle had reached its final stage, there was no longer anything else to pull out, nor was there any room for error.


    "Yumao, keep them safe however you feel like, just keep them alive."


    He sent one last message to Yumao, allowing him to act however he saw fit. He wouldn''t have any room left to think about the disciples or how to keep them safe, with the stage this fight had reached then it was fully possible that some of their attacks would have such a range that it might implicate the entire city.


    Once the message was sent out, there was no longer any room for another word, Song Zhao had reached him and was already bringing his sabre down. The intense heat radiating from his body bore down on Liang Chen, even his own blood feeling like it was boiling, pricking his entire body with pain.


    Liang Chen tilted his spear upwards and stabbed out, the storm around him moving in accordance with his desires. The intense wind picked up into a tornado, gathering up all the rain and concentrating it around Liang Chen and Song Zhao. The rain evaporated due to the heat, but that also served to lessen the heat and ease the burden on Liang Chen.


    The two weapons came in contact with each other, Song Zhao suddenly feeling as if his arm had been swallowed by a mire, it felt as if every order he sent to his arm took ten times as long to reach as it would normally. He saw Liang Chen''s elbow snap under the force behind his descending sabre, but his elbow healed a lot faster than Song Zhao was able to move his arm at the moment.


    As such, before Song Zhao could follow up his attack or capitalize on Liang Chen''s broken elbow, the wound was repaired and the spear swept out sideways. The weapon reached him much faster than Song Zhao expected, did it move faster than he realized or had his mind just slowed down to that extent? There was no answer to his question, the weapon slamming into his waist and erupting with both lightning and that horrible silence that Song Zhao had noticed earlier.


    He didn''t need to think, he acted instantly on pure instinct, an instinct that solely sought to keep him alive. The brown flames he had absorbed into his own body exploded, tearing open his waist and blasting him away before the energy that burst out of Liang Chen''s spear could reach him. Intense pain wracked his body as blood quickly bubbled out to cover the torn open area, but he was completely convinced that this outcome was better than bearing the full brunt of that attack.


    Liang Chen turned his head to follow Song Zhao, a slightly wet sensation on his face catching him off-guard. To his surprise, tears were streaming down his face. He couldn''t even really remember when he last cried, but now tears were pouring out from his eyes, a heavy sorrow enveloping his heart without him noticing.


    Helpless anger and despair were perhaps the best words to describe what he was feeling. A bird that had lost its wings, forced to hop along the ground in desperation as it gazed towards the sky that it once ruled, that was what he felt like right now. He hadn''t been in contact with Song Zhao''s weapon for long, but the heavy lamentation it bore still managed to affect him, it might actually overwhelm him if he was forced to feel it too many times.


    He bit down on his tongue to force away those thoughts, any such distractions in a battle like this would lead to death. His gaze focused fully on Song Zhao, who was correcting his posture after having blasted himself away to safety. He straightened his spear to point at Song Zhao, the law of the void gushing out to accomplish his will.


    Song Zhao''s entire body stiffened as that silence assaulted him again, he knew that something awful was going to come next. And just as he expected, horror followed in the wake of that silence. The figure of Liang Chen suddenly appeared directly in front of him, merely a step away, the perfect range for his spear.


    He hadn''t ridden any lightning or charged over, he had simply appeared directly in front of him. There weren''t even any ripples in the surrounding space, nor had he felt Liang Chen move through his domain, he simply appeared there, as if he had always been there.


    His spear was already stabbing forwards, leaving a gash upon existence itself as it aimed for Song Zhao''s heart. His body was still reeling from the pain, but he didn''t hesitate to detonate another bit of flames from within himself, aiming to blast himself backwards while launching Liang Chen in the opposite direction. But that was when he saw the true horror of what Liang Chen had done.


    He was indeed blasted backwards, his chest torn open and replaced by bubbling blood. But Liang Chen stuck to him like a maggot to a bone, remaining a constant one step away from him. He looked as if he couldn''t stand stably, his robe torn apart and his flesh charred by the strong explosion, but he still stuck to Song Zhao, seemingly forced to follow along with him.


    He hurriedly corrected his position and kicked off of the ground to launch himself to the side, but Liang Chen simply followed along with him, maintaining that pitiful distance between them. He had gotten a second to collect himself, parts of the surrounding storm descending to repair his charred flesh.


    He looked as surprised as Song Zhao, but he still stomped the ground heavily and threw chunks of broken earth and stone into the air. The chunks froze in the air, Song Zhao slamming into them and coming to an abrupt halt as his charge was unable to break through the frozen time that held them in place.


    "You...What have you done?!"


    Song Zhao ignored the soft pain of slamming into the debris, it was nothing compared to the pain of his chest and waist after all. No, the main thing that occupied his mind right now was exactly what sort of strange thing Liang Chen had done to force that small distance upon them, to force that to become the norm. But Liang Chen didn''t answer, his empty hand simply pushed forward, the surrounding air gathering in front of his palm, spinning continuously as it became a miniature grinder.


    In truth, he really was as surprised as Song Zhao. He had used his law of the void, but he hadn''t used it directly on Song Zhao. No, what he did was what he once did when he fought against Chen Dairong, the disciple of the Sealing God Empyrean. He had erased the distance between them using the law of the void, turning it into nothing so that he would teleport directly in front of his enemy. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    But back then he had instantly killed Chen Dairong afterwards so he hadn''t gotten to see the actual side-effects of using the void for something like that. The distance between them had been completely erased, but what exactly did something like that actually entail? Simple, there was no distance between them, that range Liang Chen had specified was now the normal distance that the two of them had, it had become a fact engraved upon existence itself.


    If they wanted to put more distance between each other then one of three things would have to happen, one of them would have to die, one of them would have to unleash enough power to break through the energy that powered Liang Chen''s law of the void, or someone with an equally tiered law would have to break it. Until that happened, the two would be forever stuck at a mere step away from each other.


    Song Zhao''s gaze lowered towards Liang Chen''s incoming palm, his instincts screaming at him. But he decided that it was now or never, he had to take the chance or he might lose it forever. He allowed the hand to reach him, the churning wind getting unleashed within his abdomen.


    But he surrounded that wind with his brown flames and the bubbling blood, encapsulating it so that it couldn''t properly explode and tear him apart from within as it was supposed to. His abdomen still expanded violently, his stomach exploding into a mess of blood and chunks, but that alone wasn''t enough to kill a being as hardy as him.


    That was what he had bet on, that his sturdy lifeforce would be able to keep going even after he suffered the wound. If it did then he would have gained the perfect opportunity for an attack, and it was an opportunity he wouldn''t allow himself to miss.


    His large sabre descended at the same time as Liang Chen''s hand dug into his abdomen, roaring with dark brown flames and screaming of wrathful sorrow as it aimed for his head. Liang Chen''s hair melted before the weapon even hit him, clinging to his scalp and scalding his skin. He couldn''t even pull back his hand since it was stuck in Song Zhao''s abdomen, and fleeing was borderline impossible due to what his law of the void had done to the distance between them.


    The best he could do was kick off the ground and jump to the side while tilting his head away, wind surging upwards while the flow of time around the weapon started to twist unnaturally to eat away at the power contained in the weapon.


    But in the end, even though Song Zhao was forced to follow along as Liang Chen moved, it was impossible to completely divert the weapon. It slid down past his head and dug into his shoulder, slicing through his body and even cutting one of his lungs in half, roasting his insides with the intense heat unleashed by the flames.


    The weapon only stopped when it reached the last of his ribs, embedding itself in the bone and refusing to budge any further, preventing Song Zhao from slicing Liang Chen in twain. If he didn''t count the attack he suffered from the weapon that was made using parts from an Origin Beast then this was the worst wound Liang Chen had ever suffered, if even a single circumstance was different then he may have just died there on the spot.


    But right now, with the law of void coursing through him, as well as the ever-present storm fueling him, he was able to cling to life, his wounds even starting to heal slowly. But with how grievous this wound was, he knew that not even the storm he had summoned would be enough, it would definitely get completely sucked in and dissipate before it even finished fully healing the wound, it wasn''t truly eternal after all. So the battle couldn''t be dragged out further, it had to end right here and now. Liang Chen knew that better than anyone, squeezing out a few words between mouthfuls of blood as he slowly forced his body to step forward.


    "You said you were the sorrow of the sky, didn''t you? Then let me dedicate this to you and your wrath. Fifth Step Shatters the Sky."


    The previously unnamed step, the step that had only recently been completed, Liang Chen unleashed it without hesitation. The world grew silent as his voice fell, the air turning heavy as power poured out from Liang Chen''s body. The sky held the power for him, gathered it as he unleashed it all. And then it rushed back to him, descending upon the tip of his spear as he pushed it forward.


    And the world was turned upside down as his spear marched forward, the sky groaned and the earth tore, unable to resist the power that leaked out. The city collapsed in a rain of debris as the earth gave way, a massive bolt of lightning connecting the earth and the sky as it tore across the land and devastated all of creation.


    The clouds were shredded and vanished, a scar-like gorge was torn into the earth. The wrath of the storm seemed to have descended upon the land, the errant lightning escaping from the massive bolt charging the now clear blue skies with enough electricity that lightning descended despite the lack of any clouds.


    When the dust settled, the only thing that remained of the city was the main headquarters of the Wyvern''s Wrath sect, its defensive array shimmering weakly before the cracks that covered it caused it to collapse entirely. Only the pillar of earth beneath the sect remained tall within the crater, hundreds of small valleys spreading out from the crater, with one massive arcing valley stretching towards the distance.


    Yumao had taken to the sky at full speed, solidified threads of darkness connecting the disciples to him so that he could drag them away before they were swallowed by the attack. This was the first time he had seen the fifth step in action, it was also the first time the disciples saw the true horror of their sect master, their storm lord. And what they saw was the power to change the world, to alter planets and landscapes as he saw fit, it was not power that belonged to a human.


    But while they gulped breathlessly, Liang Chen''s expression was a bit dim. The sheer eruption of power had broken through the energy that maintained his law of the void, separating him and Song Zhao. After all, that attack contained almost all his might magnified several times over, it was far stronger than an attack he launched to cross a bit of distance.


    But even so, he could feel that Song Zhao wasn''t dead yet. His body was gone, reduced to almost nothing, but he could still feel his presence. And then he saw it, a single drop of blood that floated in the air, rushing towards the entrance of the sect. He could clearly feel Song Zhao''s aura from that drop of blood, albeit extremely weakly.


    The attack seemed to have launched him towards the sect, by the time Liang Chen noticed him he was already right in front of the gates. He flew into the midst of the two sect members that were sitting there, they had stopped fueling Song Zhao''s Nine Wraths Lamentations so their eyes were now wide open in shock. But Song Zhao ignored their shock, his voice drifting out from the drop of blood.


    "We''ve no choice, activate the Bloodline Array! We''ll use it all if we have to, I need time to recuperate!"


    The two disciples could only nod their heads like chickens, they knew that now wasn''t the time to hesitate. They immediately acted, their human forms twisting as they shed their skin to reveal their true forms, a deer covered in steel barbs and a four-tailed cat with moose-like antlers of bone.


    The two beasts pointed their maws at the ground and vomited out a great deal of blood that quickly started to spread out and form runes. Liang Chen could feel energy surge up from within the earthen pillar that supported the sect, blood rushing up from the ground and joining with the rapidly forming runes.


    Light burst out from the runes, forming a transparent bubble around the entire headquarters of the sect. A bit of Liang Chen''s poison had invaded the sect so he could see that the disciples that remained inside it shed their human forms as the bubble rose, their true Demonic beast bodies forced into the light.


    The same was true for Song Zhao, the drop of blood he had become absorbing some of the blood that rose up from the ground. He quickly grew, turning into what seemed like a mass of blood imitating a tiger, eagle-like wings sprouting from his back while ram-like horns extended from his head. Had his true form always looked like this or had he taken in so much Demonic beast blood that even his true form had been distorted by it? He had regained a rather normal shape, but Song Zhao still seemed to breathe heavily, looking at Liang Chen from the other side of the barrier.


    "You''ve really forced us to the brink, Storm Lord. This barrier is our final line of defence, the last bastion for the wyverns that lost their sky. It is fueled by all our gathered blood and rejects all humanity, only Demonic beasts may exist within it, we can''t even maintain our human forms within it. To force us to hide within this turtle shell...you scare me, Storm Lord, given time you will surely become the end for this cradle."


    Song Zhao''s voice had become deeper, the sound of bubbles popping and hissing mixed in with the sound of it now that he had been forced into his true form. This was the final trump card for the Wyvern''s Wrath sect, a barrier that only Demonic beasts could enter, anyone carrying even a drop of human blood would be rejected. But in truth, it was more of a turtle shell than a trump card, it would only ever be able to keep them safe, it couldn''t defeat their enemies.


    Liang Chen looked at the barrier in front of him, it had stopped only a few inches away from him so he would only have to reach out and he would be able to touch it. But he hesitated slightly. There was a truth he rarely thought about, one he rarely admitted. He had a human form, but was he really a human?


    No, he couldn''t really be called a human, he was a Sebettu. At least he used to be, his bloodline had evolved beyond that over the years. In the past, before he evolved it, his bloodline had the purity of a fourth-generation Sebettu, but what sort of blood had been mixed in over those generations? Was there human blood amidst it, or had it all been Demonic beasts?


    Was his human form a result of human blood mixed with his, or was it just a result of his high-grade bloodline, similar to Lan Yun who had been born from the egg? He didn''t know, he had never tried to find out, it had never really mattered to him. His blood belonged to the Sebettu, but he had been raised by humans so that was what he always considered himself. But now, now it was perhaps time to learn the truth, was there anything about him that was even human to begin with?


    And so, he eventually stretched out his arm, waiting for the moment his palm would strike the barrier. But it never did, his hand passed right through the barrier, his skin and flesh melting away to reveal the truth hidden beneath his mask, the true form he had always thought about but never brought into the light of day.

 Chapter 314: Beast of ruin.

    Liang Chen stood there for a second and looked at the hand that had passed through the barrier, its skin and flesh had melted away, something that looked like dark black wriggling veins dropping to the ground. Song Zhao and his men looked at the wriggling veins, despair slowly etching itself onto their faces, but Liang Chen''s own expression was far more impassive.


    A true form, how many times hadn''t he thought about it in the past? When his bloodline first started to awaken he was already thinking about what sort of appearance he would be able to take once it fully awakened. But even so, he had never actually taken that final step to confirm it, not once had he shed his skin to take on the true form that all Demonic beast races considered their highest pride.


    Was he afraid that the truth would break something in him, not only was he not a god, but he also wasn''t even a man? Or did he simply not see a need to take the true form since he was used to fighting in a human form? Truthfully, he didn''t know, it was a thought he had never really indulged in, he had always been more focused on the path ahead. Or perhaps even that was just a sign of his fear, an attempt to continue escaping from the truth. After all, if he didn''t even have his humanity, what ties could he possibly have left with his deceased parents, the kind couple that had given their life to ensure that the clan didn''t move against him?


    "No, it''s pointless, things aren''t so shallow."


    Liang Chen quickly shook his head and tossed away the thoughts. His humanity had nothing to do with the ties he had with his family, the only thing that mattered when it came to those ties was the times they shared and the memories they formed. He shook his head once more, a soft and mocking smile spreading across his face.


    "Really, Ling''er would slap the back of my head if she saw me like this. She''d definitely scold me viciously as well. So what if a Little Freak doesn''t have any human blood, his soul is so stupidly human that something so tiny doesn''t even matter."


    It had been far too long since he had met Yan Ling, it certainly felt like that to him, but her tone and mannerisms were still perfectly ingrained in his mind. He could practically hear her mocking him as he spoke, that blustering voice soothing his heart and drowning out any other thoughts. He had grown far stronger, but it seemed like his need to occasionally lean on others for support wasn''t going to change anytime soon. He raised his other arm and slid off his interspatial ring, tossing it up to Yumao while turning his head.


    "Take care of that one for me. You should probably put them all inside while you can, I can''t guarantee anything about the size."


    Yumao caught the interspatial ring, the disciples he was carrying vanishing into it to assure their safety. Yumao also flapped his wings and ascended as he finished, putting more distance between himself and Liang Chen. He was eagerly awaiting the sight, the true form of terror and death that none could escape.


    With Yumao putting some distance between them, Liang Chen could turn his gaze back onto Song Zhao and the sect ahead of him. Song Zhao''s true form was quivering softly as he stood there, the fact that Liang Chen''s hand managed to pass through the barrier told him of a truth he didn''t want to accept, an end he wasn''t prepared for.


    But that was just the sort of thing an end was, no one was ever really prepared for it, no one ever truly wanted to accept it. But it came for you nonetheless, marching onwards without halt until its cold hands reached your neck, whispered your name and scattered it to the winds.


    Liang Chen raised his leg and stepped forward, passing through the barrier as if it was nothing more than a thin screen of water, a refreshing shower. But his skin melted as he stepped forward, his flesh slid down his body as if it was rotting at an incredible pace. Bones crumbled and turned to dust, every inch of Liang Chen''s being turning into nothing more than wriggling black veins, infinitely close to worms. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    But it was when the last of these veins dropped to the ground that the true change happened. One rose slightly, stretching skywards as it reached for the heavens. A second quickly followed, twisting around the first and causing both to increase in size exponentially, as if 1+1 became 4.


    A third and fourth were quickly added on, the black veins multiplying ceaselessly as they twisted and coiled around each other, wriggling as a single horrifying mass as they stretched towards the sky. The tower of wriggling veins swiftly started to morph and change, turning as it slimmed down to grow longer.


    A somewhat triangular head formed at the tip, two dark golden orbs lighting up from within the writhing mass to form eyes. The veins split apart to form a massive maw, some of the veins drying out and forming razor-sharp teeth that looked like bleached bones.


    More veins grew out from the long serpentine body, gathering together into eight thick limbs that wriggled as much as the rest of the body, more of the ''worms'' drying out to form bent claws. And then what seemed to be the beast''s back split open, bright red blood that formed a stark contrast to the rest of the body spurting out.


    But the blood never got a chance to fall to the ground, it solidified and hardened, becoming something akin to metallic crystal. They weren''t leathery, or even feathery, but what had formed was unmistakably wings, two bloody and jagged wings filled with a twisted sense of beauty.


    The world changed in accordance with the appearance of the beast, the land dried out and died, taking on a bone-like texture as ashen white sand started to spread out. The dark clouds that had been scattered by Liang Chen''s previous attack started to gather again, a new storm pelting the land as horrendous winds and bolts of violent lightning tore at the ruined land and split the sky.


    This was not a result of Liang Chen using the Rain Caller''s Dance, this was just the natural result of a beast such as this appearing. It was born, and the world changed at its presence, a natural domain that would follow it wherever it went, a blight on the land and life. That was the power of a bloodline sitting at the peak, a bloodline reserved only for Origin Beasts.


    Song Zhao''s quivering body had already slumped to the ground, his crimson head pointed towards the sky, his companions equally unable to remain standing. What laid beyond despair? Hopelessness? Acceptance? Struggling? Rage? No, there was just nothing, an emptiness so all-encompassing that it bordered on madness. Was he even thinking right now? He honestly couldn''t tell, what he was seeing and feeling had already left any scope of reality he could understand.


    Perhaps just fading away into the cold embrace of the void would be better than having to keep looking at the beautiful monstrosity that covered the sky above him. Size didn''t always equal power when it came to Demonic beasts, but the monster above him stretched on for several kilometres, seemingly going on without end. Had the city still been standing then he would definitely have been able to coil around it and crush it with his body, he could flatten it just by coiling up.


    He couldn''t even muster any thoughts of resistance, any desire to move a muscle to escape. He could just lie there with his head raised, gazing upon the horror that had descended upon the city he had ruled for close to 2000 years. With a being like that existing, how could the sky ever belong to the wyverns of eagles of the world?


    He could only watch as the great monstrosity opened its maw wide, the bits of debris that hadn''t been completely disintegrated rising into the air as they were drawn in by that maw. And it wasn''t just the debris. The air, the rain, the lightning, the dark clouds, everything was sucked into that open maw.


    "Ahh...Purgatory has already fallen..."


    Those were the final thoughts and words of the Wyvern''s Wrath, the Sorrow of the Sky. The magnificent abomination above him unleashed the power gathered in its maw, a rippling and twisting mass of wind that was almost invisible billowing forth and descending upon the world. The wind twisted around itself like waves crashing into each other, everything caught in it was tossed about and continuously crushed between the heavy pressure and force of the wind roiling around itself.


    Man turned to nothing, stone turned to nothing, land turned to nothing, civilization turned to nothing. The breath gave everything the same end, non-existence. Dust was thrown into the air, covering they sky as if a volcano had erupted, but only the dust that managed to avoid the breath attack was able to rise into the air, if it got caught then it would meed the same end as everything else.


    By the time the dust settled, all that remained on the land was a wide hole in the ground revealing the hidden storeroom of blood that the Wyvern''s Wrath had been guarding since its conception. Even the ashen white sand and bone-like earth that signified the void had vanished under the breath. The clouds had dissipated after being absorbed, all that remained beneath the blue sky and above the ruined land was Liang Chen, once again in his human form as he gazed down upon the ruin he wrought.

 Chapter 315: The worthless invaluable.

    Liang Chen''s face was a bit pallid as he stood in the air, the energy-fluctuations around him so weak that they were hard to discover. The final attack had completely wiped out the Wyvern''s Wrath sect, but actually launching it was far from as easy as it looked, it wouldn''t have had that much power if it really was that easy.


    The enemies had been eradicated, the first of nine wraths had fallen under his hand. It was a momentous occasion, something this drastic hadn''t happened in Purgatory''s Cradle since the Nine Wraths sect first formed several tens of thousands of years ago. But even so, Liang Chen didn''t look thrilled. He didn''t even look happy, his expression was actually a bit dark.


    Yumao flashed down from the sky and shrank slightly, supporting the drained Liang Chen so that he didn''t fall from the sky. The two descended into the crater that was all that remained of the city and the grand sect that had ruled it, a hole at the bottom of the crater leading to their cherished storeroom.


    But Liang Chen didn''t head into the storeroom to take stock of the blood they had guarded for so many years, he didn''t even glance at it once. His gaze swept the barren crater, scouting the land that no longer even housed a single brick before he eventually found his target.


    "There, about 34 or so kilometres southeast."


    Yumao didn''t need to hear more, nor did he bother asking about what exactly it was his father had found, he simple flapped his wings and brought him over to the spot he pointed out. Liang Chen stopped at a spot that was just as barren as the rest, nothing more than a patch of ruined land left in his wake. But he was confident that it was here, he remembered that single soul with perfect clarity so he was sure that this was where it faded.


    "To ask for forgiveness is pointless, death isn''t something that can ever be forgiven. But still, allow me to at least lower my head. Your resentment and grievances, I''ll carve them into my soul and carry them until the end, so please wait with your revenge until I reach the end of my line."


    He lowered his head to the empty plot of land, placing one hand against his chest as he spoke. It was just like he told the disciples, there wasn''t a single soul in this city for them to save, only souls to avenge and sins to wash away with blood. But not having anyone to save and not having anyone to spare were two completely different concepts.


    And here, in this empty stretch of land in front of him, laid the sole soul he found worth sparing in this wretched city. But in the end, he failed to spare that soul, she got caught up in his final attacks and perished because he couldn''t properly contain the power. Once again, someone who didn''t deserve to die had perished at his hands, another regret had been carved into his soul.


    He raised his head when he finished talking and turned around, gesturing to Yumao that they could return to the entrance of the storeroom. He had lowered his head and carved their existence into his soul, but that was also all he could do. The dead could not and would not forgive, and there was nothing left of this city so there wasn''t even anything he could take care of for the deceased soul, everything related to them had faded underneath Liang Chen''s attack.


    Yumao brought him directly into the storeroom, widening the hole that served as the entrance in a rather forceful manner. The room they descended into was surprisingly small, especially when you compared it to the storerooms of other sects, even sects that were smaller than this one. At best it was probably only around a kilometre or two in each direction, Liang Chen had seen bedrooms that were larger than this.


    But while the room was small, what it contained was beyond valuable. There were no herbs or treasured weapons stored here, only jars or gourds, in some cases only small vials, each one filled with a precious bloodline. Liang Chen could feel it from where he stood, there wasn''t a single weak bloodline here, even the weakest one probably belonged to a beast that was close to the peak of the Primordial Immortal realm. He could even feel two or three that seemed like they belonged to Divine Beasts, this was a room that countless people and Demonic beasts would want to enter no matter the cost.


    Liang Chen saw that a handful of jars had shattered, the blood they once held dried out until only remnants of its energy remained. It was just as Song Zhao said, their final defensive array was quite literally fueled by the blood they had gathered here, each time they activated it they would lose hundreds of years of accumulation. But faced with this exceptional collection of blood, Liang Chen simply shook his head.


    "What a shame, none of it is suitable. Even if we were to put it aside for later, just how long would any of them need to reach the required level? Would any of them ever even reach it?"


    The number of people who would abandon everything just to enter this room once was so great that they could probably populate an entire universe, but to Liang Chen, this room held little worth. His own bloodline was infinitely close to, if not already at the same level, as an Origin Beast, even Divine Beasts crumpled in front of that bloodline. Yumao had his own grand bloodline, one that had been nourished by Liang Chen''s own blood, so he too was at a realm where Divine Beast blood meant little to him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    As such, the blood here couldn''t be used by the two of them, at best they could use it as a cultivation supplement by filtering out the energy in the blood, much as Liang Chen had done in the past when he bathed in demonic beast blood. But out of all the jars in this room, only three of them held blood with elements that matched his own. And as he had already experienced in the past, only that kind of blood could be used by him.


    But that left close to 200 other containers with blood, and just throwing all that away would just be too wasteful. He originally had the idea that he could implant some of the bloodlines into his disciples, but seeing the quality of the blood he was forced to abandon that idea. The disparity was too great, the blood simply contained far too much energy. If he tried to implant that into his weak disciples then they would be unable to properly take in the bloodline and would end up exploding, he would have to wait until they reached at the very least the Primordial Immortal realm.


    "What about giving it to the little one? It would make for a pretty third row, don''t you think?"


    There was no one else here so the one who responded to Liang Chen''s statement was obviously Yumao, his own eyes only drifting about in a disinterested manner. As for the little one he was talking about, it clearly wasn''t Lan Yun, her originally strong bloodline had only grown stronger in the time she had spent with Yan Ling so the blood here would have minimal effect on her.


    "Hmmm, yeah, it doesn''t sound like a bad idea actually. I use lightning and we both use death so I imagine that it''ll eventually get a bit hard to constantly split up everything we find so that she can also get a share. Giving her a unique third one will help her grow on her own, so it''s a good idea. Huh, seems like you''ve actually taken the role of elder brother somewhat seriously."


    Liang Chen gave the proposition a bit of thought, glancing sideways at Yumao after he realized that it was actually a rather clever idea. The stronger they became, the more energy they would need to progress, it would slowly become difficult to evenly share what they found. It wasn''t much trouble between Liang Chen and Yumao, both of them had at least one element that the other didn''t so they could still progress on their own.  But that little lotus he had picked up recently only had lightning and death, she didn''t have an element she could use to stand on her own two feet.


    "Alright, since we have a use for it right now then there''s no need to wait, we''ll just do it straight away."


    Yumao returned the interspatial ring to Liang Chen when he saw that he had made up his mind, Liang Chen sliding it onto his finger and swiping it. He pulled out the lotus he had previously planted to keep safe, its two rows of leaves stirring cheerfully as they stretched towards Liang Chen. But an unplanned hitchhiker also followed the lotus out of the interspatial ring, Lan Yun with her puffed out cheeks appearing in front of Liang Chen.


    "Paparan is a bad man! You brought out the others but not me, bad Paparan!"


    She was puffing out her cheeks in complaint as she vented her grievances, but she still stuck close to Liang Chen so it was a bit hard for him to take it seriously. She clearly just wanted attention, didn''t want to be left behind while the disciples were taken out for a lesson. Liang Chen couldn''t be mad at the little girl in front of him, she was one of the few things in this bloody land that could soften his heart and return it to a normal state.


    "Sorry sorry, but you have to understand that we''re in a very dangerous place, I can''t guarantee that I can properly protect you, and I can''t stand to see you getting hurt."


    He stroked her white hair as he spoke, smiling somewhat apologetically. She was practically his daughter so how could he possibly bear to see her get hurt? Even worse, this land was so dangerous that she might die if he failed to protect her. At that point, how would he ever be able to face Yan Ling again? But the thing about such feelings was that they were often mutual, leading to a situation where one party was bound to end up unsatisfied.


    "Then, am I supposed to just sit in peace while Paparan gets hurt? What if you one day put me in there but then something happens to you? Do I have to wait alone forever?"


    The people inside the interspatial ring couldn''t even pay attention to the outside world unless Liang Chen specifically allowed them to, they would never even know if he perished while they were in there. What sort of fate would that be, waiting endlessly for someone without knowing if you would ever see them again? Liang Chen smiled somewhat softly as Lan Yun looked at him with somewhat teary eyes, crouching down and cupping her cheeks.


    "That won''t happen. I don''t make a lot of promises, but that is one promise I can make you. I won''t allow anything to happen to me, especially not something that''ll prevent me from coming to you. You can test it out whenever you want, just call my name when you get lonely and I''ll be right there. I promise you that."


    Promises, they were shackles that bound you to your words. Liang Chen wasn''t someone who made a lot of promises, he had never really needed to since he considered himself someone who acted rather straightforwardly. But his daughter was worried so the least he could do was make her a promise. She would call and he would answer, that was the promise, as simple as any could be. But if there was ever a promise he had to uphold then it would be that one, no matter what he had to do.


    Lan Yun wanted to complain a bit more, but she could see from the light in Liang Chen''s eyes that there was no more room for discussion. Her cheeks remained somewhat puffed out, but her hands clasped his robe rather tightly as she stuck to his side, clearly unwilling to be sent away again. He obliged her in this, standing up and turning his attention to the lotus that was resting on his shoulder again.

 Chapter 316: The girl in crimson.

    "It seems like the time in the ring has done you well, you''ve properly managed to control your newfound energy. That''s good timing, I''m planning on giving you the third row of petals now, one you can use to stand on your own two feet, what do you think?"


    The two rows of petals, one multicoloured and one black with ashen spots, fluttered softly in response to Liang Chen''s question. The already naturally high sentience of the lotus had only grown after it fully took in the energy used to form the second row of petals, Liang Chen could feel exceedingly clear emotions and intentions from the fluttering of the petals.


    "Alright, then prepare yourself, it''ll be a bit more difficult than the previous two."


    Liang Chen simply nodded his head after the lotus declared its intent, casting a sideways glance at Yumao. He was rather low on energy right now so he was planning on leaving it to him, something Yumao immediately understood. His shadow quickly grew and spread out, tendrils growing out from it and pulling in all the containers of blood. He put away the three that were suitable for Liang Chen, but the rest were all gathered together at the centre of the room, their lids removed.


    He then picked up the lotus and sent it over to the collection of containers, plopping it down amidst them all. The lotus immediately got to work, roots extending from beneath it and dipping into the various containers. The blood came from all kinds of Demonic beasts with different elements, far too many to be used to form a single row of petals. But if the lotus focused on the one element all the different types of blood had in common then it could indeed form the third row of petals, a beautiful crimson one symbolizing blood.


    The act of drawing in all the blood, filtering out the excess elements and absorbing the energy inevitably stirred up the Qi all around them. The wind picked up as a result, concentrating around the containers and forming a small tornado that picked up both the lotus and the blood. The tornado was dyed crimson as a result, the lotus floating in the middle as its roots continued to suck in the blood.


    Faint sounds started to mix in with the sound of the wind, subdued roars, howls, screeches, a cacophony of bestial sounds as the remnants hidden away in the deepest recesses of the blood tried to resist what was happening. The cacophony grew louder and louder, eventually becoming so loud that it seemed like it wanted to drown out everything else.


    But scream and howl as they might, the lotus at their centre refused to stop. It absorbed their energy one by one, silenced roar after roar. It had originally sprouted from a bit of blood that Liang Chen had left behind, granted it was before his bloodline reached its current level, but it was still a powerful Sebettu bloodline at that point. It had then been graced with Liang Chen''s law of lightning to grow to a proper One-Petaled Elemental Lotus before taking in a great deal of death-energy that came from a peculiar skull to reach its current Two-Petaled state.


    From birth to growth, neither had been done through normal means so trying to classify it as a normal Two-Petaled Elemental Lotus would be foolish. It also knew this, it was special thanks to the grace it had received. As such, there was no way it would allow something as petty as a bit of blood to resist it, it would take it all in and grow further, only like that could it ever reach a stage where it could repay the grace it had been shown.


    Liang Chen stood on and watched as the crimson tornado spun and twisted, seemingly shaking somewhat as the energy that maintained it got drained bit by bit. The lotus was clearly taking in all the blood without much problem, it was actually doing it quite a bit easier than he had originally expected, but that was mainly due to him underestimating what the lotus had become thanks to him. The tornado quickly grew smaller and smaller after all the roars were silenced, its colour slowly fading to reveal the lotus again, or at least what used to be a lotus.


    "Oh? Would you look at that, she''s actually faster than you, Yumao. You''d better hurry up, otherwise, you''ll end up losing all the pride of the elder brother."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but smile somewhat wryly as he looked at the thing that emerged from within the tornado. There was no lotus with three gleaming rows of petals, no gorgeous flower brimming with power. No, what appeared in the centre of the fading tornado was a young girl who looked like she had reached her late teens, she only looked a year or two younger than Liang Chen.


    But even so, Liang Chen could still see traces of her petals within her appearance. Her black petals had become short black hair that barely reached her ears, her multicoloured petals had turned into a pair of striking violet pupils to take after the main colour of Liang Chen''s current lightning. As for the blood she had just taken in to form her third row of petals, it had changed into her robe, a delicate crimson one embroidered with images depicting various Demonic beasts. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Lan Yun looked at the girl with gleaming eyes, Yumao grumbling audibly at the scene. He was the oldest by a good deal yet he was also the only one who had yet to acquire a human form, it really wasn''t fair. But that was the price he paid for having a powerful bloodline, he would have to take a few more steps forward if he wanted to acquire his own human form.


    The tornado finally vanished completely, the barefoot girl descending to the ground with a soft sound. Her arms rose slightly, her head lowering to look at her own hands, somewhat absent-mindedly observing the flesh-and-blood body she had just acquired. She was a plant-type Demonic beast so it was originally much harder for her to acquire a human form, she was constantly at risk of getting plucked and tossed into some alchemical cauldron to be turned into a pill.


    She had gained sentience thanks to Liang Chen, she had also quickly gained her second row of petals thanks to him. But never would she have thought that he would also help her gain a body this quickly, this was a qualitative change for a plant-type Demonic beast, it drastically increased her offensive capabilities so that she could protect herself.


    Granted, it was a bit of a coincidence that she gained a body this quickly, it had never been something Liang Chen had planned. The quality of the lightning he gave her, the quality of the death energy, the quality of the blood here, all of it had to work together to produce this result. But it didn''t matter that it was a coincidence, what mattered was that it happened. She lowered her arms again, her shoulders jolting somewhat when she realized the situation and quickly grasped the hems of her robe and dipped into a bow.


    "This Little One greets Master. Thank you, Thank you for the grace you''ve shown me."


    Her voice was smooth and soft, but somewhat stilted thanks to the fact that this was the first time she actually spoke. Liang Chen shook his hand slightly when he heard the way she introduced herself, especially the way she referred to him, it really didn''t suit him.


    "Don''t call me master, it makes me uncomfortable. And don''t worry about any of that, I was the one who asked if you wanted to tag along so it stands to reason that I''ll take care of you. But now that you''ve gotten a body of your own, what are you thinking? Do you want to keep tagging along with me or would you like to spread your wings and head out on your own to see the wider world?"


    She hadn''t been able to move around on her own when she was just a lotus, and she had been in a bad spot back then so it was only natural that she would say yes to his question and follow him. But now she could move and fight on her own, she would probably be decently strong even thanks to the quality of the elements that formed her three petals, she really didn''t need to tag along with him any longer. But even so, she immediately lowered her head.


    "Please allow me to continue following you, Mas...Lo...Father."


    She didn''t even need to think to reach an answer to that question, everything she had was granted by the grace of Liang Chen, even her very birth had been thanks to his blood and the lightning he drew down back then. To abandon him just because she had acquired a body of her own? That was something she would never be capable of, something she wouldn''t be able to accept or forgive.


    "Another one, huh... Alright, if that''s your choice then I''ll gladly accept. But a name will be necessary at that point, have you chosen one?"


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter that first part quietly to himself. Yumao had been the first, then Lan Yun followed, and now her. He was still young, barely a child if you considered the age of cultivators, but even so, he already had three different people calling him Father, it really was funny how life twisted and turned.


    "If possible... could I ask you to gift me one?"


    Liang Chen hadn''t given her a name in the past because she was just a lotus, she had a great deal of sentience but there hadn''t really been a need for a name. Now she had formed her own body so she definitely had the right to choose her own name. But even so, who wouldn''t want their name to be given by the one who helped birth them? Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, tilting it as he wracked his brain to come up with a name.


    "All right. Hmm, you call me Father so the Liang name is a given, as for the given name... Let it be Sheng Lian. Liang Sheng Lian, that will be your name."


    Of the three who called him father, two now bore his own last name, the third one bearing Yan Ling''s last name. They rarely ever used it, Liang Chen couldn''t even remember a single time that Yumao had actually ever used his last name. Granted, Yumao never really introduced himself so perhaps that was to be expected, but that didn''t change the fact that they bore his last name, it was something they took pride in.


    The girl, Sheng Lian quickly bowed in thanks. She looked like a teen, but as she bowed in that manner she reminded Liang Chen more of Lan Yun than anything else. She conveyed her thanks with strong determination, but Liang Chen simply waved it off, it really wasn''t anything worth thinking about if you asked him.


    "Thank you, Father. I promise that I won''t disgrace the ambitions behind the name."


    "Don''t worry about it, just live a good life, that''ll be enough."


    And just like that, Liang Chen had ended up with another child that would tag along with him, he didn''t even have to be near Yan Ling for their little family to grow, he almost found it comical. But of course, he didn''t allow that thought to distract him from what he had to do next. One wrath had fallen, eight more remained.

 Chapter 317: The wrath hunter and the familiar face.

    Another city had met its end at the hands of Liang Chen, and it wasn''t just any city, it was a city that housed one of the Nine Wraths. But even so, even with all that death, the fourth drop that Purgatory''s Cradle had prepared for Liang Chen had yet to fill. Killing the Sky-Piercing Sparrow''s avatar had filled three and a half drops so his view of how quickly a reward was granted had been skewed from the start, the cradle was actually extremely stingy with handing out rewards.


    But when you just gave it some thought you would quickly understand why that was the case. Liang Chen had only picked up one of his three rewards so far, the other two were deeper still, yet that lone reward had been of tremendous help to him. His poison had reached a completely new level, it just hadn''t gotten a chance to truly show itself yet, he didn''t think it would have a great effect when faced with Song Zhao''s brown flames.


    With just one reward providing such a benefit, how much assistance would the last two provide? That third reward was one he was especially curious about. He had arrived so deeply into the cradle that he had encountered the Ninth Wrath, the Wyvern''s Wrath, yet the sensation that the third reward gave him was that there was still quite a way to go before he could reach it.


    But step by step he approached it, the second reward awaiting him somewhere beyond the horizon. But if he had to guess then Liang Chen would say that the second and third rewards were probably located within the cities that housed one of the Nine Wraths. They had existed for so many years already that they had definitely gathered up unimaginable wealth, much like the bloodline storage of the Wyvern''s Wrath sect.


    But before he could bother with any of that he would have to deal with the obstacle that laid ahead of him. The Nine Wraths sect had seven subordinate sects that represented their wraths, Wyvern''s, Man''s, Haunting, Abandoned, Land''s, Ocean''s, and Sky''s, from Ninth to Third. The Second Wrath was rumoured to be the headquarters of the Nine Wrath''s sect, but there was no record of the First Wrath ever showing themselves so Liang Chen had no clues about it. And right now, the city that descended into the earth ahead of him housed one of those wraths, the Eighth Wrath, the Wrath of Man.


    "Sheng Lian, Yumao, don''t let its appearance deceive you, this place is every bit as dangerous as the previous city, probably more so. Don''t let down your guard."


    Liang Chen gave his two companions another warning as they followed the trodden path that meandered towards the city, Lan Yun once again forced to take refuge inside his interspatial ring since they were approaching a city again. The city ahead of them had a slightly peculiar appearance, it was built inside a large basin with rather steep edges, it almost resembled an inverted tower.


    Thanks to this, the state of the city wasn''t the best, the buildings showed clear signs of wear thanks to not just the running water they had to resist whenever it rained but also due to the increased strain brought about from their tilted positions. It was such an unwieldy place to build a city that it was astounding that anyone had gone through the trouble, just the fact that anyone was living there was strange enough.


    Yumao was rather lax about the warning, he and Liang Chen had been through enough together that his confidence had already been built up properly. Sheng Lian was a bit tenser about it, this would probably be the first time she got to show her father that she could be of use, or that she could at least listen to warnings, so she didn''t want to make any mistakes.


    But as they got closer to the descending city they slowly noticed that things were rather strange. The streets were practically completely abandoned. Its unique construction meant that he could see a good portion of the city even if he just stood at the very edge, but even so, he could only see around five people move about on the streets. Even if the city was unwieldy and strange, it still housed one of the Nine Wraths so there was no way it would be this empty and barren.


    There were a few signs of battle scattered about across the city, but all the cities here saw frequent battles and murders so it was hardly something to be surprised about. But what was surprising about these marks was that several of them were actually present on and around the star-shaped building that served as the headquarters of the Wrath of Man sect. And the few people he did see out and about made sure to give all these battle scars great berth, their spines tense and their steps unnaturally quick as they rushed away.


    "Father, I sense a great deal of warm blood within the buildings, they may try to ambush us by using a strange scene to lower our guards."


    Sheng Lian spoke somewhat quietly, carefully prodding Liang Chen''s elbow with her finger. Looking at her actions, he was once again hit by the fact that she really was much younger than she looked, she seemed like a little girl trying to get her father''s attention without annoying him. But her words were based on Liang Chen''s earlier warning, this was a dangerous place where they couldn''t afford to drop their guard.


    "Warm blood, huh. Let''s take a look then."


    Liang Chen didn''t disregard Sheng Lian''s warning, his energy quickly seeping out from his body and spreading into the surroundings. Some smaller insects and the like were quickly hit by it, white fuzz growing on their bodies as they rushed deeper into the city, spreading poisonous spores wherever they went.


    The propagation of the poison was far faster than normal thanks to this so it didn''t take long before Liang Chen''s senses could seep into a good portion of the houses within the city. Thanks to this it was beyond easy for him to observe the sources of that warm blood, one of his eyebrows involuntarily rising in surprise.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Oh? That''s... Unexpected. Follow me, there''s actually a familiar face here."


    Having said that, Liang Chen started descending into the city in a calm manner, clearly not worried about any ambushes or the like. Yumao and Sheng Lian quickly followed him down the road, and at the very least Yumao was confident that the thing that had made Liang Chen say Unexpected hadn''t been the familiar face.


    Liang Chen made his way through the city, not bothering with any of the houses they passed, each one sealed up so tight that it seemed like they were trying to keep the very air out. But he eventually stopped in front of a simple house that was so small that it looked like it couldn''t hold more than two rooms at most, it was practically just a wooden square.


    "It''s me, are you going to open or am I going to have to break in?"


    Liang Chen knocked on the door, or perhaps more accurately, he knocked on the outer shell formed by the array that sealed up this house. It was a rather strong array to be protecting such a small house, but Liang Chen had shattered stronger arrays in the past so he wasn''t joking about breaking in.


    Luckily, the transparent shell that surrounded the house dissolved after he spoke up, allowing him to push open the door and enter. As was to be expected from a city as tilted as this one, the layout of the house was quite different from normal buildings. Everything was skewed slightly, the lone bed and two couches that served as furniture in the room was standing on what should be the wall of the house, they were only a bit away from being on the ceiling. But what had caught Liang Chen''s attention here wasn''t the strange layout, it was the man laying somewhat weakly on the bed.


    "You said that we''d meet again within the cradle since you looked forward to the chaos I''d cause, but I wasn''t expecting to find you like this."


    Liang Chen looked down at the familiar face that wore a somewhat wry smile. A delicate frame enhanced by sharp features, dark pink hair that hung down to his shoulders, a few strands of it kept away from his face by a tiger-shaped pin and a dragon-shaped pin. But contrary to when they had first met, the youth''s gleaming yellow eyes had turned a touch deeper, it was as if they were trying to tug on your soul.


    Shen Fei, given the title of Prince of Dreamy Lust by the Bloodwind Code, the one who had been granted the Authority of Dreams by his universe. He and Liang Chen had first met in Moonset City not long after Liang Chen reached this Dominion and had later engaged in a small fight after Shen Fei insisted. Back then, Shen Fei had been at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm in soul and Qi cultivation, but now he seemed to have reached the middle stage in both systems so his strength had likely lept forward considerably.


    But even so, he was currently laying on the bed almost covered in bandages. Liang Chen could tell that five of his ribs were still broken, as were his left leg and left shoulder, parts of his skull also seemed to be cracked from blunt force. He had clearly been beaten so badly that just moving would be hard for him, otherwise he wouldn''t have holed up in this small house.


    But it wasn''t just Shen Fei, Liang Chen had seen the same in the other houses he investigated, battered and bruised people who couldn''t leave their beds. And that was what had made him say unexpected, it simply didn''t make much sense. Anyone who could batter them to this extent could also kill them, yet they were all still alive, why?


    "What can I say, playing the part of the clown occasionally means you have to look ridiculous. But hey, it seems like you found yourself a woman on the way here, good on you, you were acting rather uptight back during our first meeting."


    Shen Fei waved his right arm somewhat wearily, his gaze momentarily drifting towards Sheng Lian. He was the clown, that was why he was born and why he had been granted power. As such, even if he was in pain like right now he would have to fulfil that duty, otherwise he''d have no reason to exist.


    "She''s not my woman, she''s my daughter, my wife is currently out on her own adventure."


    Shen Fei''s eyebrows couldn''t help but shoot up at Liang Chen''s statement, once again sweeping over Sheng Lian and him in a somewhat incredulous fashion. Liang Chen could guess what he was thinking, but he didn''t see a reason to give more details so he simply moved on to the actual subject they should be talking about.


    "So, I take it that it''s not a coincidence that you, and just about everyone else in this city, are bed-ridden with injuries like this? You''re still alive, so I''m assuming that it wasn''t the Wrath of Man sect that did it?"


    The Nine Wraths and their subordinate sects all sought to nurture Purgatory through their bloodshed, there was no way any of them would just leave people in a state like this when they could kill them. Someone else had to have acted, someone with different goals. Shen Fei spat out a breath at Liang Chen''s straightforward manner, he really wasn''t going to let him save any face.


    "Come on man, at least try to beat around the bush a little before you rush onto the main topic like that, at least try to think about my feelings. But yeah, it wasn''t the Wrath of Man that did this. Honestly, they''re probably as messed up as I am right now, their sect-defending formation hasn''t lowered once in the last five weeks after all."


    Shen Fei spat out the words with a minor touch of glee and self-satisfaction, if even the Wrath of Man sect got beaten like that then it really couldn''t be helped that he also got beaten, right? But he also knew that this wasn''t the complete answer that Liang Chen was looking for so he kept talking.


    "Honestly, I can''t really tell you who messed us up like this. Mind you, it''s not because I don''t want to, it''s just that I don''t know her name. She had long white hair and piercing crimson pupils, she looked to be in her early twenties and fought using mainly martial arts. Does she have a weapon, a name? Fucked if I know, I at least wasn''t able to make her reveal anything like that. But she used gravity and ice, I could at least make out that while she was wailing on me. But yeah, that was about it, she even had the gall to click her tongue and call this a boring place as she left me and headed for the Wrath of Man. Well, that was five or so weeks ago, that demoness has probably headed deeper into the cradle by now, she''s hopefully picking on some other people now."


    Shen Fei clicked his tongue as he spoke, maintaining a rather jovial expression but revealing a slight shade of the bitterness he felt deep within. Liang Chen had received an answer, if it could be called one, it didn''t really reveal much. But it did tell him one interesting fact.


    "So, what you''re saying is that the Wrath of Man sect is currently weakened and recuperating after their battle?"


    Shen Fei was strong, he was someone who could fight above his realm and truly deserved the rank he had received on the Multiverse Bloodwind List. But even he was left like this, seemingly without much chance to resist, so the Wrath of Man sect was probably also in a pretty wretched state. The corners of Shen Fei''s lips twitched a few times as he understood the meaning behind Liang Chen''s question, a burst of slightly disjointed laughter trickling out.


    "Hehe, fuck me, heh. Yeah, she may have shown mercy to those she beat down, but ain''t no way in hell you will, is there? Now that''s a sad fate, what a bunch of unlucky sods."

 Chapter 318: The scent he brings.

    Shen Fei''s burst of laughter was as good as any answer when it came to Liang Chen''s question. Although, the answer was one that would lead to a rather grim scene so one could argue that perhaps laughter wasn''t the best answer to such a question. Of course, Liang Chen wasn''t the type of person who gave much thought to something like that so he simply gave a quiet nod of his head before he turned to leave.


    "Oh no, don''t you even think about just heading off like that, not alone you ain''t!"


    Shen Fei hurriedly called out to stop Liang Chen, wriggling his body as he struggled to sit up. He still had several broken and cracked bones so he looked rather comical when he finally managed to roll into a sitting position. He quickly drew in a deep breath, a faint shimmer of rainbow-coloured light starting to swim beneath his skin.


    "The clown is supposed to follow the circus, especially when the circus is moving about to stir up shit wherever it goes. And there is no way I''ll be absent for the great big spectacle that will follow when you and that demoness end up meeting. I got my ass completely handed to me, I''m looking forward to seeing how you''ll deal with her."


    Shen Fei''s movements were a bit stiff and stilted, the light swimming beneath his skin was a bit familiar so Liang Chen guessed that he had probably used his Authority of Dreams to trick his body into thinking that he was healed. It wasn''t something that could be kept up for long since it seemed to drain a lot of Qi, but that was probably how much he wanted to see Liang Chen''s escapades.


    "Suit yourself, just make sure you don''t interfere. And I wouldn''t say I''m a circus, things are generally pretty quiet wherever I go."


    Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders lightly as he turned again, Yumao and Sheng Lian following close by his side as he headed for the door. Shen Fei moved after him, fine-tuning his control as he moved so that he could smoothen out the movements. His lips had curved into a somewhat wry smirk, true, things would generally go quiet when just about everything around you had been decimated.


    The group left the house and continued their descent with the new addition, moving through the empty streets as they headed for the sect that awaited them at the centre of the city. But Shen Fei could tell that there was something new hanging in the air, something that the demoness hadn''t brought with her even as she scurried about, starting fights and beating up everyone.


    Death, the slightly sweet yet sickly scent of death now hung in the air, subtly noticeable with each breath he took. If he opened the doors of the houses around them, how many people would still be alive? They had gotten through the fierce battle with the unknown girl, but the arrival of Liang Chen was something else entirely.


    But even all that death only made the smirk on Shen Fei''s face extend a fraction. This was why he had decided to head over to Purgatory''s Cradle after learning that it was Liang Chen''s target. It was a place that went completely against him, a place he would not be able to leave alone. Bloodshed would meet bloodshed, and both sides would be forever changed once everything was over.


    "Oh, right, did you and Kuan Niu ever end up meeting? I never got a notification that a new King was crowned by the Multiverse list, did you talk it out or just never meet?"


    Shen Fei spoke up as they were walking, seemingly just remembering something as he was thinking back to when he rushed over to the cradle. He looked rather excited to hear the answer, but the answer Liang Chen could give that question was really only a single word.


    "Who?"


    Quite a lot had happened since Liang Chen last met Shen Fei, there practically hadn''t been a single moment where he could rest or relax. As for the number of people he had fought and killed in that time, it was to the point where he didn''t even want to think about counting it. As such, it was inevitable that a name or two would slip his mind. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Kuan Niu? King of Heaven Embracing Justice? The Unbreakable King? He''s the stupidly sturdy guy who wanted you to duel with the woman whose Wrath Title you stole. You seemed like you were in a rush so I didn''t think that you were going to sit around and wait patiently for that duel. Or did you go along with what he said?"


    Shen Fei showed a rather incredulous expression as he refreshed Liang Chen''s memory. Kuan Niu had gotten the King title on the Multiverse List, it was an honour so grand that his name would be known in several universes, he was a borderline celebrity. To forget who he was despite having met him directly... really showed just how little Liang Chen actually cared about some things.


    "Ah, him, yeah. We met at a pretty bad time so I was forced to brute force my way past him, but I don''t think I hurt him to the point of death, or even grievous injuries so he should still be fine."


    Shen Fei''s remarks did indeed help Liang Chen remember that particular person, he had blocked the entrance to Purgatory''s Cradle by the time Liang Chen got there. Sadly for him, Liang Chen was being pursued by the Tranquil Lake and the Sky-Piercing Sparrow at the time so he couldn''t afford to sit around and wait.


    "So you won. And yet you haven''t been crowned a king yet, man, the world really must hate you, what a poor sod."


    Shen Fei could barely even muster up the energy to chuckle at just how casual Liang Chen''s expression was as he spoke about beating someone who had gotten the King rank. It was laughable really, he beat down a king yet was refused the same rank, it was as if the Bloodwind Codes had a personal grudge against him.


    But at the same time, he felt that this would make certain things interesting. First would be his meeting with the demoness, she didn''t seem like she would give up on a fight as good as the one Liang Chen could provide. And then there was him, the only other person in this universe who held one of the Wrath ranks on the multiverse list. If he and Liang Chen ended up meeting, just what sort of carnage would it end up causing?


    He almost felt light-headed as he walked, he and Liang Chen had barely caught up and there was already so much carnage in their future. Well, Liang Chen''s future at least. He truly was a walking circus, bright dazzling lights to draw in all manner of freaks no matter where he went.


    "This is their defensive array? Feels weaker than the one that Wyvern''s Wrath used."


    Liang Chen''s group stopped in front of the Wrath of Man sect, the star-shaped building towering above them despite the angle they approached it from. Liang Chen''s hand rested on the transparent curtain that seemed to envelop the building and the land around it. It felt softer than the array used by the Wyvern''s Wrath sect, more pliable and prone to tearing.


    "You''ve already been to the Wyvern''s Wrath? I''d ask how things ended up, but since you''re able to comment on the strength of their defensive array then I don''t even need to guess. Unlucky bastards. Guess I''ll take a trip over eventually to see what remains, you seem like the careless type that leaves behind some good stuff on accident."


    Shen Fei clicked his tongue, defensive arrays like these were only used in the worst type of situations, if the Wyvern''s Wrath had used theirs against him then their current state could only be imagined. Of course, he was a bit off the mark, there wouldn''t be anything left for him to see even if he went there, the entire city had already vanished. But Liang Chen felt that there was no need to tell him that, his gaze roaming across the shimmering curtain.


    "Hmm... Yeah, it should work even in this state."


    He muttered quietly to himself after observing the array for a bit, his spear appearing in his grasp. He didn''t bother messing around with testing attacks or looking for weak spots, he just instantly launched the Fourth Step and pierced a glaring hole into the curtain.


    "Yeah, it really was weaker. How curious."


    He murmured once again, but in doing so he forgot to account for one important fact. The array the Wyvern''s Wrath used to block him was one they could only activate by draining the very treasures they had been founded on, it was something that went beyond a ''Worst Situation trump card''.


    The group stepped through the hole Liang Chen had torn in the shield, Shen Fei studying the edges with a slightly solemn expression. He felt like he had a good grasp on Liang Chen''s strength thanks to their previous battle, but if things went as he calculated then Liang Chen would have needed at least three or so attacks before he could make a hole like this. And yet he only needed a single one... it seemed like things really were going to get interesting once he bumped into the other monsters that made this place their home.


    Liang Chen didn''t pay attention to Shen Fei''s expression, his poison had already spread out to cover the entire sect so that he could take in the entire situation. Soul after soul unravelled in front of his senses, countless memories flashing by as life after life was laid bare. He took them all in with a calm gaze, shifting his eyes over to Yumao after a short moment.


    "Sorry, but can you bring out Hui Xin and the other disciples? This seems like a good chance to teach them a lesson about that thing called mercy."

 Chapter 319: The weight of mercy.

    "You... Someone like you''s actually got a congregation?"


    Shen Fei couldn''t help but be slightly taken aback when he saw the multitude of people that suddenly appeared around Liang Chen. Even the strongest among this group was pitifully weak, compared to them at least, so he simply couldn''t see them being his allies or comrades, they couldn''t provide a single bit of aid in battle after all.


    There was also the matter of Liang Chen''s personality, he hadn''t exactly portrayed himself as the type of person that surrounded himself with others, whether it be followers or friends. He moved as he wished, fought as he wished, killed as he wished, uncaring about the image it gave the world. It was far easier for people like that to be reviled, others simply couldn''t understand their actions or motives so they unconsciously distanced themselves. It would generally take a rare mad man to willingly tag along with such a man, as was the case with Shen Fei.


    "Greetings, Storm Lord."


    "Disciple greets you, Storm Lord."


    "What mission do you have for us, Storm Sovereign?"


    But even if Shen Fei thought like that, the undeniable truth was that he could see admiration and devotion in the eyes of the bowing people so they were clearly following him out of admiration rather than madness. Then again, perhaps that admiration alone was a sign of madness, the man they had chosen to follow was someone like Liang Chen after all.


    "I wouldn''t go as far as to call it a mission. We''re about to enter a place known as the Wrath of Man sect, once inside I want the lot of you to decide who dies."


    Liang Chen didn''t even bother answering Shen Fei''s question, it wasn''t like these people were his congregation, they were just a ragtag group of people who decided that they wanted to learn from him, people that wanted to live. As for what he wanted them to do, or rather, what he wanted them to learn, it truly was simple, so cruelly simple that it could break them.


    "Who...dies? Forgive me, Storm Sovereign, but could you give us more details?"


    Jiao Hui Xin''s expression twisted somewhat quizzically before she bowed her head, speaking for the rest of the disciples. Shen Fei didn''t know the story of these people, but he only had to look at her ruined eyes and the grim scars on her arms and legs to know what sort of tortures she had suffered.


    "There really aren''t many more details to give. Once we enter, investigate, observe, and then make the choice."


    There really wasn''t a lot to it, all they had to do was go in and figure out who had to die, whose blood would stain their hands. Most of the disciples took in the words with a somewhat pondering expression, but Hui Xin seemed to have caught onto something in the task, a slight heaviness covering her expression.


    "Does that mean we are also free to do as you did for us and show mercy to those we feel deserve it?"


    He said that they had to choose who died, which theoretically also meant that they would decide who got to live. But Hui Xin wanted to be sure so she asked for confirmation, receiving a shake of the head as an answer.


    "What I showed you guys was, by definition, not mercy. You had done nothing wrong so sparing you wasn''t mercy, I simply gave those who wanted it a chance to keep living."


    Mercy was not something Liang Chen was good at, the cost of it was something he didn''t think he was strong enough to bear. Then again, just by taking in Hui Xin and the other disciples he had accepted so far he had basically taken that burden onto his shoulders already so perhaps he wasn''t as weak as he thought himself to be.


    "With that said, let''s go. Death awaits you."


    Liang Chen didn''t give Hui Xin the chance to ask more questions, some things were simply best learned by experiencing them. He guided them towards the entrance of the sect, the gleaming green door leading into the star-shaped building.


    --


    What greeted them after they pushed open the door was a gloomy atmosphere suffused with low murmurs and subdued moans. Pain, there was no other way to describe it, this was a building filled with nothing but pain at the moment. Broken bones and agony, crushed spirits and shattered bodies, it was a far cry different from the almost eerie silence that Liang Chen left behind, at least that was what Hui Xin thought.


    The environment itself seemed warm and relaxing, the entire inside of the building had been hollowed out to accommodate a fresh plain dotted with various groves. There was even a handful of rivers running about in a crisscrossing manner, wooden huts scattered about everywhere for those that wanted some privacy. It was warm and welcoming, like a respite for those with wounded hearts.


    But all that warmth was drowned out by the pain that hung in the air, it was the taste of sadness, lingering on her tongue with every breath. This was a broken place, both in spirit and in body. Perhaps that was why Liang Chen had brought them out here, because even she could tell that this place was one where they could move about somewhat safely.


    "62 892 disciples, that''s the number of people scattered about here. Take your time, think clearly and deeply, then make your choice."


    The voice of Liang Chen reached her as she gawked at the surroundings, as calm, perhaps cold, as always. Nearly 63 thousand, it was a number so great that she wasn''t even sure how to wrap her head around it, but he spoke it so easily, so casually. How many of them would die? How many droves of people like this had he killed in the past to speak of them like this? She didn''t know, perhaps he himself didn''t know, perhaps they all just blended together after a while.


    He was a strange man. He spoke so easily of death, a wave of his hand reduced generations to dust on the wind. But he never batted an eye, at best he looked a bit weary, or even icy cold in some instances. And yet, he was able to speak so warmly at times, able to weep tearlessly for the lone soul that died in agony and injustice. He took in that one scream and held it close and dear, turning it into a flame that burned hundreds of other souls. One lone soul that brought about the end of hundreds of others, just how did he weigh life for that equation to come up positive?


    But even if she thought that, even if she questioned that, she didn''t doubt him. After all, wasn''t she one of those lone souls? Wasn''t her scream one of the ones he had held close? He cradled her screaming soul, her burning agony, and he used it to fuel a fire that burned hundreds, if not more. And then he gave life to that lone soul, he gave it a vessel that could contain its own scream.


    That was what Jiao Hui Xin was, a weeping soul given form, a screaming soul saved from the abyss. As long as that was what she was, she could not do anything but follow Liang Chen. One day she hoped to move a step further, to become a vessel like Liang Chen, one that could take in the screams of others while also bearing its own. But that future was still distant, today it was hard just bearing her own weeping, her own howls.


    "Go, you''ll never get anywhere if you remain stuck on the first step."


    The voice of Liang Chen reached her once more, quietly and somewhat gently urging her on to take the first step. Her eyes were ruined, but Liang Chen had taught her how to use the wind to understand her surroundings so she could actually ''see'' things far better than before. As such, she could tell that the other disciples were also casting small glances at her.


    They were waiting, wondering. She had somehow ended up as their leader, probably since she was the one who had the easiest time talking to Liang Chen. But that was only to be expected, she had already lived through hell, what worse could others possibly do to her even if she annoyed them by speaking?


    "Understood. Then, that house over there please, Storm Lord."


    Storm Lord, Storm Sovereign, some even quietly used Storm''s Wrath. All the titles they used for him centred around that one word, Storm, partly due to the sect name and partly due to the words of his daughter. But honestly, Hui Xin didn''t think the title suited him very well. He was too calm to be the storm, too quiet. He brought the storm, but he wasn''t the storm. No, he was the silence that remained when the storm passed, the fresh air that grazed the land as well as the ruined land that held no life.


    As she asked, he guided them over to the house. His steps were clearly slower than normal, a deliberate change of pace for them no doubt. The new woman at his side was moving her head about somewhat curiously, but she stuck close to his side in a vigilant manner, like a venus fly trap poised to catch its prey. As for his closest companion, Liang Yumao as he called himself, he rested leisurely on Liang Chen''s head, a stark contrast to the fearsomeness he had shown them several times in the past. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    What a strange gathering, so deeply entrenched in the darkness yet so wholly removed from it. Be it their own home or the midst of enemy forces, they always seemed to maintain the same expression and demeanour, at least Liang Chen and Liang Yumao. Was it confidence or a strange type of madness, the insanity needed to live life the way they did?


    Her thoughts were cut off before they could go any further, they had reached the wooden hut she had pointed out. It was the one closest to the entrance, an almost pitifully small one that seemed like it could only contain a single room. A pitifully small house that radiated a pitiful aura of pain, depression and self-loathing dancing freely about, as if the pain was singing to them.


    The door was pushed open, and sure enough, only a single room greeted them. What seemed like it was the kitchen merged with the living room, a bed tucked away into the corner as if to hide it from the door. And lying on the bed were two people, they seemed to be somewhat older judging by the wrinkles on their faces, a man and a woman whose colours Hui Xin was unable to see.


    Thick layers of cloth covered certain parts of their bodies, so thick that Hui Xin''s wind was unable to reach their skin. She didn''t need to see to be able to tell that they were bandages, horrible wounds were probably hidden beneath the cloth, wounds much like her own.


    "You...Are you the scourge that hit the Wyvern?!"


    The man hurriedly rose from his lying position, his slightly pained moans drowned out by the strong font he tried to put on. But his voice quivered, the hands that supported him shivered. He was afraid. He was clearly wounded and weakened, yet a scourge had appeared at his doorstep, a calamity had descended on his house.


    "Go. Now it is your time to make the choice."


    Hui Xin felt Liang Chen''s hand land on her shoulder, a gentle way to compensate for her lacking vision. He urged her on, but Hui Xin remained standing, her head not actually turned towards the two people on the bed.


    Two people, a man and a woman. They were clearly a couple, sharing this small house. She could see small decorations that seemed to be handmade, carved from wood if she wasn''t wrong. A tree, a man, a child, a beast, what looked like a sun. Were they memories or just decorations? She couldn''t tell, she didn''t know these people. But there was love placed into the decorations, a gentle care to keep them whole and neat so it was clearly something they treasured.


    The man had positioned himself in front of the woman as he sat up, using his subtly trembling torso to shield her from the devil that had descended. Could he protect her? Would he alone, wounded and weakened, be able to protect her from the scourge that ruined the Wyvern? He probably didn''t think so, but he still had to try, there was someone behind him he had to protect after all.


    She couldn''t see his eyes properly, the light within them. But his expression, aged as it may be, was hardened into a gaunt visage of resolution. Despair and hope both rolled into one in a bleak expression, a pitiful one that wouldn''t help in the slightest in front of the being they were faced with.


    Hui Xin studied that expression, those weak flickers of despair and hope that struggled for supremacy. In them, she saw herself, past and present. The despair of the cold cell, the broken limbs that shackled her to her bed. The hope for the future, the vessel of the screaming soul that sought to grow enough to accept others.


    Liang Chen had told them that this was a depraved land, a land of ruin where only death held value. But even in a place as bleak as this, people still lived. They fought and loved, they tried to protect that which they held dear, even in the face of crushing odds. They were stronger than her, she could easily tell that, she could sense the energy hidden deep within them. But even so, she felt that they were the same. Despair and hope existing as one, a bleak existence that held hope for the future.


    "Storm Lord, I believe that these people do not need to die. I believe that they deserve the same mercy that we received."


    She spoke the words with a measure of confidence. She wasn''t Liang Chen, she couldn''t judge people as he did. For that matter, she had no idea how he judged people, how he saw their sins. As such, the only thing she could do was use her own judgment, make her own choice, just as he asked her.


    She wasn''t sure what sort of answer she could expect from Liang Chen, but his expression changed a little after she gave her response. Did it grow softer, a touch gentler? Or was it disappointment, a parent seeing their kids making a hasty choice? She couldn''t tell, she couldn''t see his eyes properly so perhaps she would never know. How was he looking at her, what expression did he make as he took in her judgment? She couldn''t tell, and for the first time, she cursed her ruined eyes.


    "I see. It might be a bit hard, but please brace yourself and bear with it."


    She didn''t know what he meant, but she could feel him lift his arm slightly, a surge of energy that left her soul feeling chilly creeping out from his arm. The two people on the bed stiffened somewhat, twitching for a bit as a clump of energy entered their bodies and then left them. The energy meandered over to Liang Chen, resting above his palm, only a few centimetres away from Hui Xin.


    "Anger is poison to the soul, it infests and rots it from within. The same goes for sorrow, despair, hopelessness, all those bleak emotions are nothing but poison, your soul will be ruined before you know it. Here, see for yourself."


    The voice of Liang Chen was somewhat low, a weary heaviness marring each word. She couldn''t help but wonder, was he also talking about himself as he said so? How long had he been doing what he did, how deep had he allowed himself to sink into the darkness, the wrath? And what had he found as he did so?


    There was no answer to her unspoken questions, her attention was fully swallowed by that lump of energy he had pushed towards her. The energy sank into her body without resistance, it wasn''t like she could ever hope to resist Liang Chen anyway. But the energy didn''t harm her as it moved through her body, eventually finding her soul and burrowing into it. And then, then the anger, the gleeful madness surfaced.


    She saw death, depravity. Truly saw it, as if her eyes had been restored to normal. But what she saw didn''t come from her eyes, it came from the eyes of the two people in front of them. A pair of travellers caught in their ambush, their legs taken off by the trap they had hidden underneath the road.


    "Nothing personal, you just picked a bad path."


    Words that didn''t sound sincere, a hot sensation in her hands as a knife plunged into soft flesh and reaped a life. Exhilaration, happiness, unbridled joy as a small droplet of blood filled a bit more. It wasn''t a life he had just taken, it was just a little brick he placed down to walk forward more easily.


    A family that had failed their ambush on a different pair of travellers. They had misjudged the strength of the enemy and had been severely beaten, they barely managed to escape with their lives. But the two of them knew how to get into their house, there was a flaw in their defensive array, one they hadn''t told the family about when they moved in.


    How easy it was to sneak in at night. It didn''t matter that the family wasn''t sleeping, what good did it do to keep guard when you couldn''t defend yourself? Once they had been decently strong, on par with the two of them so there was no way they could make a move. But now they fell so easily. A knife in the knee to hamper movement, a dagger in the shoulder to prevent counter-attacks, a sword through the throat to fill the small droplet. It was all so easy, so fun, so exhilarating.


    Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. That was all Hui Xin saw, life after life was taken and dumped on the side of the road, brick after brick was happily placed on the road. All for that one little droplet, that one cursed drop they had yet to fill even once. Fellow sect members, people they had shared drinks with before, strangers, it was all the same. Death. Death. Death. All for the droplet, for that little crimson light that pointed further ahead.


    Hui Xin felt sick to her stomach. The sight was bad enough, but the emotions were worse. Anger when the droplet didn''t fill fully, anger at the person they killed for not being stronger, sorrow at not having done something faster, despair as others went further ahead of them. Joy at being faster, happiness at finding a new prey, delight when they found a way to be more efficient.


    Hui Xin felt her knees buckle beneath her, strength left her legs and she collapsed to the ground. She retched almost right away, she continued to heave and vomit as if she was trying to expel all of the emotions she had just felt. But that sickly joy, that twisted anger, it all stuck to her like maggots, gnawing at her mind and bones.


    "Sorry, I didn''t expect it to have such a strong impact."


    A calm voice, a gentle voice. A warm palm reached her back, a soft tingling running along her spine, blowing away the wretched emotions. Was this how Liang Chen saw sin? Was this how he made his judgment? Almost 63 thousand disciples, had he seen this from all of them, felt it from all of them? Could man even endure something like that without breaking? Or had the man perhaps broken long ago, was that perhaps why he chose the road he did?


    Whatever the case was, how could he act as he did? That calmness, that gentle voice and weary expression, how could something like that possibly exist in an ocean of such poisonous emotions?


    "Tha...That...?"


    She couldn''t quite squeeze out the words, retching again, a gush of stomach acid hitting the floor since she had nothing else left in her. She didn''t want to know the answer, she didn''t want to have it confirmed. But Liang Chen was not so kind as to listen to her wishes, or perhaps the harshness of the truth was his form of kindness.


    "Memories, their memories. Did you look at them properly? The twisted expressions of those that died, the drowned out screams of those caught? Did you feel the weight of their lives?"


    Hui Xin couldn''t answer, retching again as she recalled the faces of the dying. The father who fell before his son, the husband who tried to protect his wife, the sect member who took an attack for his junior disciple. Twisted visages of despair, pain and hopelessness, anguish that would never be answered, screams that would never be heard.


    "When you decide to show someone mercy, you don''t just carry the weight of their lives. The lives they''ve taken in the past, the lives they''ll take in the future, you''ll have to shoulder them all. If that one person you spare kills five hundred? That''s five hundred souls added to your burden, a weight you''ll never be able to escape. That is why you must always look closely, learn as much as you can, take as much time as you want. Misplaced mercy is nothing but cruelty, so make sure that you are absolutely certain when you show mercy, very few actually deserve it."


    That was the lesson he wanted to teach them, so simple yet oh-so cruel. Their dream of mercy was nothing but that, a dream, a vain hope so distant that they might never grasp it. Mercy was heavy, it was cruel. Was that why Liang Chen killed, because he considered himself too weak to bear the weight of mercy? Hui Xin didn''t know, and perhaps she would never know, retching once again as she fully took in the lesson about mercy.

 Chapter 320: The futures they see.

    "I''m not going to ask you why you''ve done what you did, this place makes that question so pointless that it''s almost comical. But if you have them, I will at least listen to your final words."


    Liang Chen held his spear somewhat loosely, the tip placed against the throat of a middle-aged man with a large frame, scars running across his entire face to give him a fearsome appearance. But there was no fearsomeness left in this man, he had been broken before Liang Chen even came to his doorstep.


    Song Zhao, the sect leader of the Wyvern''s Wrath had been able to contend with Liang Chen for a good bit, it had been a dangerous fight. This man, Huo Laizen, was the leader of a sect that should be a little stronger than the Wyvern''s Wrath, but he was only able to contend with Liang Chen for two or three exchanges. Then again, thinking about the injuries he had suffered previously, perhaps being able to hold himself against Liang Chen for that long should be something to be proud of.


    The two men locked eyes, one beaten to the ground while the other stood victoriously. But even though Liang Chen was the one who stood as the victor, he was the one that looked the weariest. Nearly 63 thousand disciples made this sect their home. And of all those people, only this one man now remained, this one battered man. There hadn''t been a single one, not a single person worth sparing. No matter where he looked, Liang Chen found only tragedy and violence, and the end of it was always death.


    The further he travelled, the more of Purgatory he saw, the more drained he got. This was a place where humanity went to die, it wasn''t the cradle of Purgatory, it was the grave of morality and kindness. In other places you could believe in the good of man, good people would always be in the majority no matter what city he went to. But here there was only darkness, the only joy he saw in others was a twisted emotion born in carnage.


    "I am the wrath of every man who''s been beaten down by the world, the wrath of those who have lost their heart along their journey. Wherever there is a child screaming because someone beat him up, there I am. Wherever a wife aims her sword at the one who killed her man, there I am. Wherever a man howls at the sky for justice, there I am. I am Huo Laizen, and I am the Wrath of Man. You may kill me here, but that wrath will never fade, it will merely live on in someone else, be it you or some random child five thousand years from now. And as such, mine is the wrath that will be eternal."


    Huo Laizen almost sputtered the words out, the hole torn clean through his left lung causing blood to rush up his throat with every breath he took. But contrary to his position, his gaze was still strong, the corners of his lips still turned up. He may die here, but so what? What he was, what he fought for, what he believed in, all of it would live on into the future. As long as there were humans, what he was would remain. He would die, but he was eternal, and in that, he was able to find pride.


    "Then, goodbye, Huo Laizen."


    That was the only response Liang Chen mustered to the prideful declaration, a simple nod of his head and a slight extending of his arm. The spear ran through Huo Laizen''s throat and poison flooded his soul, death was practically instantaneous. Grand ambitions, dreams of justice, pride to pierce the heavens, just like all things, there would come a day where it simply came to an end, a day where it met a wall that didn''t crack. And today, Liang Chen was that wall for the Wrath of Man sect.


    A soft light emerged from Liang Chen''s chest as Huo Laizen died, three crimson droplets hovering in front of him. One of the droplets had lost its light and just hung there dimly while the two others shone brightly, a fourth in the process of forming next to them. And as Huo Laizen died, the fourth droplet finished forming, now releasing the same gleam as the two other bright ones. A new resonating sensation emerged in Liang Chen''s mind, Purgatory''s Cradle had deemed him worthy of a fourth reward.


    "Jeez, really not an ounce of mercy. Most of the poor bastards didn''t even get the chance to leave their beds, you didn''t even let them try to fight for their lives."


    Shen Fei stood amongst the gathered disciples, who were all pale-faced by now, not even acknowledging the newly formed droplet. They had all been given the same lesson as Hui Xin, the weight of mercy, they had all gotten to see first-hand how Liang Chen saw his sinners. And as one, they were all sickened by what they had seen and felt, sickened by the twisted version of life that seemed rampant here.


    But of course, they hadn''t been shown all 63 thousand, there was no way they would be able to handle all that, they weren''t like Liang Chen after all. And whether it be because they hadn''t seen it all, or because they simply desired to believe, there were some who weren''t as pale as the rest.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "...I''m sure there were at least some who deserved mercy...One or two could definitely have been redeemed..."


    It was a mutter so soft that it practically drifted away with the wind. Condemnation, hope, or just a vain desire, it was a mutter whose emotions were hard to properly catch. The one who said it didn''t seem like he wanted others to hear it, but there was no way that Liang Chen would miss it, his head turning to the side as he pulled back his spear, the droplets sinking back into his chest.


    "You''re... Gang Po Dairen, right?"


    Liang Chen''s gaze locked onto the disciple that had muttered, hidden amidst the other disciples. He was one of the first that Liang Chen freed back then, one of his shoulders had been gouged badly and his thighs had both been shredded horribly. He couldn''t honestly say that he interacted a lot with all his disciples, but he at least made sure that he knew their names and stories.


    The minute noises made by the other disciples instantly died down as Liang Chen spoke, a path almost automatically forming as the disciples stepped aside. Liang Chen and Gang Dairen''s eyes met, the somewhat gangly brown-eyed and soot-haired man quivering quietly as Liang Chen looked at him. His throat seemed to have suddenly dried up thanks to the attention so he could only nod to Liang Chen''s question, the words refusing to leave his throat.


    "Those words, do you really believe them? Do you really believe that some of them deserved mercy, that they could be redeemed and become better people?"


    Liang Chen''s voice was fairly low as he spoke, the sound of his feet moving across the grass almost louder than his words. He stopped only half a step away from Gang Dairen, the tip of his spear dragging across the ground. The two were about even in height, but Gang Dairen couldn''t help but feel like he shrunk as they stood face to face.


    "Tell me. Do you really believe those words, do you really think you can take responsibility for them?"


    Liang Chen didn''t let up, his gaze practically piercing into Dairen as he stood there, his words barely more than a whisper at this point. Gang Dairen''s shaking only got worse thanks to Liang Chen''s low voice, but the Storm Lord had asked a question, and he knew that lying was probably one of the dumbest things he could do. As such, he hardened his heart and prepared for the worst, returning Liang Chen''s gaze as he struggled to squeeze the words out from his dry mouth.


    "I...Do. I can''t say that they were... good people, and I can''t...imagine what you saw. But in all those people, surely there was at least one or two that could have been saved, they could have become like us. That is what I want to believe."


    It was a bit hard at first, but he found that speaking got easier and easier as he progressed through it, as he hardened his determination and belief. He felt like he was facing certain death, but at least he would be doing so with a steadfast heart and by his own belief, there was a certain measure of freedom in that. But he contradicted his sect leader, a monster of a man, so he prepared himself for whatever may come. But to his surprise, the answer he got was a soft smile.


    "Good. Grasp that belief tightly, hold it close to your chest and fight for it with all your might. Follow it, take responsibility for it, grow for it. If you do then there may yet come a time when the world you dream of will become reality."


    Gang Dairen almost winced when Liang Chen''s hand landed on his shoulder, patting it reassuringly, almost somewhat proudly. Liang Chen turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across the other disciples, drilling into each and every one of them as he spoke.


    "The world you dream of, the future you hope to see, both of them can only be achieved by yourself. So if you believe in something, hold it tightly and fight for it, struggle to make that world a reality. There''s no need to look at others like me, who chose the easier path. If you believe in it, go for it, even if the road is thorny and heavy. Bear the responsibility of your choices and fight for the world you dream of, even if it means going against others."


    Liang Chen wasn''t trying to raise an army of clones, he wasn''t trying to turn all these disciples into people like him, just the one of him was already too much. The world they sought, the revenge they desired, the justice they believed in, that, not his own, was what he ultimately wanted them to seek.


    "I told you back then, even if you are my disciples, my spear will come for you if you engage in the same acts as those I target. We may have some ties, but if you run counter to my path then I will target you all the same. But those words go both ways. If I run counter to your path, then I want you to come for me, I want you to have at least that much determination and belief in your path, okay?"


    Hui Xin and the others had never seen someone proclaim that he hoped they would target him, and they had certainly never seen someone do it with a smile as soft as Liang Chen''s. His belief was strong enough for him to kill them, so he hoped that their belief would be strong enough to kill him, they were not words that should come from a sect leader.


    But Liang Chen didn''t care, his gaze still roaming across the disciples. He wasn''t someone who usually tried to put pressure on people, but seeing Gang Dairen mutter his complaint so quietly he felt like seeing how deep his determination actually was. And as he did so, he felt like he was starting to understand exactly why the Nine Star Demon God had provoked him back when he took Yan Ling away to be the disciple of the Star God Sirius.

 Chapter 321: From one wrath to the next.

    "It would appear that your demoness has already reached this place."


    Liang Chen''s gaze swept across the city in front of him as he commented, the signs of battle apparent wherever he looked. There had been nothing more for him to do in the Wrath of Man sect after he took what he could so he had moved on to his next target, the Haunting Soul''s Wrath sect. Shen Fei tagged along with him since that was part of his original goal anyway, the clown following the circus.


    "Yeah, but it seems like she''s taking her sweet time. Look, the ice hasn''t even melted in some of the places yet, prolly hasn''t been too terribly long since she was here. You may actually be able to follow her tracks, sounds fun, no?"


    Shen Fei''s state was a bit better now than it was when Liang Chen first met up with him. Now he could at least walk around without relying on his Authority of Dreams to trick his body. And indeed, there were chunks of ice scattered about in the city, they were especially prevalent in places where large chunks had been taken out of either the ground or nearest building. The damage was a bit more extensive than in the previous city so the girl in question probably had to use more of her power this time around.


    "Track and track, just gotta head to the next sect and we''ll eventually meet her, I don''t think something like that requires extensive knowledge."


    Liang Chen spoke nonchalantly as he walked forward, he had next to no interest in the girl that beat up Shen Fei and the people of these cities. What he had heard about her so far did not warrant placing her on his list so he really couldn''t be bothered to search her out, he wouldn''t bat an eye even if he never ended up meeting her.


    "Ah, spoken like a true ignoramus who doesn''t actually know how this place is set up. Let me guess, when you scour the memories of your enemies you focus on just the particular things you''re looking for?"


    Shen Fei shook his head in an exaggerated manner as he followed Liang Chen, Yumao was in his small form but didn''t allow him to walk on Liang Chen''s right side and Sheng Lian occupied his left side so Shen Fei was forced to stay a couple of steps away as they traversed the streets. Liang Chen''s steps didn''t halt, but his head tilted slightly as his gaze slid towards Shen Fei, a quiet confession that told him everything he needed to know.


    "Tut tut, you''re gonna lose out on a lot of things if you''re that single-minded in your search, gotta broaden your horizons. But yeah, if you think that all the wrath-aligned sects are lined up properly then you''re wrong, this is the last one in fact. Abandoned, Land''s, Ocean''s, Sky''s, and Nine Wraths, the remaining five Wraths are situated in such a way that they form a tilted star. There''s a theory that the roads connecting the five of them are used to form the outline of an array that nourishes Purgatory, but I''ve never found anything to confirm this so I doubt it. As such, once we leave this city through the other exit, the closest sects will be Sky''s, Abandoned, and Land''s, they make up the entire left side of the tilted star. Hence, tracking will indeed be needed if you want to hunt down the demoness for a good show."


    Shen Fei was different from Liang Chen, he was not only officially recognized and acknowledged by his own Universe but also someone who had acquired great fame thanks to his position on the Multiverse Bloodwind list. He revelled in that fame and the chances it bought, he used it far more efficiently than Liang Chen, who never even took the time to let any sort of fame properly spread. And as a result, Shen Fei had access to knowledge that Liang Chen did not have, knowledge he had disregarded so far since he considered it irrelevant.


    "If those three sects make up the left side then it seems like one of my rewards is hidden within either the Nine Wraths sect or the Ocean''s Wrath sect. The other two should then be within two of the other sects, I guess that''s to be expected. That is good information, I may have wandered a bit aimlessly if you hadn''t told me, thank you."


    Liang Chen lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his target was the wrath sects so wandering around aimlessly wasn''t exactly what he wanted. As for the rewards, he couldn''t be certain that they were actually within the wrath-aligned sects, but tracing the resonating sensation and picturing a somewhat tilted star allowed him to approximate a few things. Granted, he had no idea which direction this star was supposed to face, but it should be lying sideways since he said that the three closest sects made up the left side of the star.


    "If you want to thank me then go find that friggin demoness, I wanna see what happens when one monster faces another. Well, looking at her strength she''s probably the same as you, the universe needed a weapon so it birthed her. Wouldn''t it be fun to see which weapon is stronger, which universe managed to create the strongest spear?"


    The corners of Shen Fei''s lips curved up faintly as he spoke, a quiet and somewhat curious cackle escaping him. Liang Chen didn''t bother responding, he wasn''t among those who subscribed to the same philosophy as Shen Fei. People weren''t tools birthed by the universe to fulfil its own needs. Chosen by it, maybe. But not born by it, and never for it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Thanks to the girl''s assault, there was no one to stop Liang Chen''s group as they moved through the city, a silent death spreading out from Liang Chen with each step. He didn''t even have to break through any array to enter the sect of the Haunted Soul''s Wrath, the land around it, as well as the buildings themselves, had been torn up so badly that no array could possibly hope to maintain itself.


    "Do you have any last words?"


    Liang Chen''s steps only came to a halt when he stood in front of the bed where the previous sect leader rested. Unlike the leader of the Wrath of Man sect, this woman had battled the demoness so recently that she hadn''t gotten the slightest time to recuperate. She couldn''t even muster the smallest defence, no resistance towards the death that now stood at her bedside and softly beckoned for her life.


    "Heh, I''ll save them for when you join me by the river Styx, I''ll haunt you until then, coward."


    A weak chuckle and a humourless smirk, the smidgen of Qi she managed to release couldn''t even rustle Liang Chen''s clothes. What pisspoor luck she had that she was found by such an opportunist, Purgatory really was making her into a fool. Liang Chen simply nodded and stretched out his arm, placing his hand on her forehead.


    "All right, wait as long as you want."


    Lightning crackled from his palm, resonating with the electricity in the woman''s head and frying her brain, her organs shutting down all at once. He slid off her interspatial ring and took it for himself, a sideways glance giving Sheng Lian the go-ahead. A bit of her crimson robe stretched out, resembling a gnarled root as it dug into the woman''s body, quickly leaving her as little more than a dried husk.


    A few stitches resembling a minuscule human form started to appear on Sheng Lian''s robe. She hadn''t absorbed a lot of human blood yet, it had really only been the previous Huo Laizen and now this sect leader, but the quality of it had been quite high so she could gain a good bit from it. As for the rest of the corpses he had left in his wake, they were tossed into his interspatial ring at a secure place, at least those who hadn''t been completely ruined thanks to his poison.


    He still had the Chaos King technique, which the Void King had upgraded with the Chaos Sovereign Chapter. Each corpse could be used to cultivate through that technique, he could also just store the energy aside for some of the abilities in the technique. Things had gone a bit awry in the first few cities, but he had made sure to properly handle things in the last two sects so that he had the corpses as a backup tool for when he needed them.


    "Man, this one just makes me feel worse than the previous one. At least Laizen could fight a bit to protect himself, but she couldn''t even raise an arm. Even pigs are slaughtered with more dignity than that. I''d ask if you don''t feel any remorse or guilt from executing them like this, but that''s a bit of a pointless question."


    Shen Fei shook his head at the sight of the execution, he had seen chickens that were allowed to put up more of a fight than this. And indeed, his final question would be a pointless one, because the only answer that could be given to it was another question.


    "If they don''t feel remorse or guilt, why should I?"


    Liang Chen''s question lingered in the air, but that didn''t mean that he did. He used what he saw in the woman''s memories to find the treasury of the sect, the soul-based resources and treasures that had been used to found their sect all those years ago. All of it was taken for himself, another one of the wraths fading into oblivion in his passing as he left the city.


    "Alright, which one are we heading to first? Going to the left will take us to the tip of the star, Abandoned Heart''s Wrath, going all the way to the right takes us to the bottom of the star, the Sky''s Wrath, going only slightly to the right brings us to the side of the star, the Land''s Wrath."


    Shen Fei''s hands swept through the air as he gestured towards the verdant plain ahead of them, green grass tinged with dark crimson rising up to their heels. Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, his gaze slowly moving sideways as he traced the resonating sensations brought about by the droplets Purgatory''s Cradle produced for the rewards.


    One pointed further ahead, quite a bit further away than the other two, so that one likely pointed to the other side of the star. The last two felt quite a bit closer, but they went in opposite directions so he guessed that one was in the Abandoned Heart''s Wrath while the other was in the Sky''s Wrath. As for which of them he would choose first, he had already come to a decision.


    "I''ll head to Sky''s Wrath. It shouldn''t matter which one I head to first, but something about that direction irks me."


    He wouldn''t go so far as to say that it really altered his decision, but there was something about the direction that annoyed him. It almost felt like a soft rushing sound in his ears, a gurgling river coursing freely in the distance. But he could see into the distance so he knew that there was no river, there was no source for that soft, almost indistinct sound.


    He wanted to know where it came from, wanted to know why it felt so annoying, so grating on the ears. So he raised his foot and stepped forward, the group of four crossing the plain as they headed for the Sky''s Wrath, one of them quietly praying to the universe that had given him his Authority.


    And in the end, be it due to the prayers or just poor luck, the outcome desired by the clown was achieved. The first thing that greeted Liang Chen''s group as they approached the towering city ahead of them was the sounds of battle, notifying both of them about what was going on.


    "Really... What a joke..."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter quietly, but he didn''t stop walking. He was already here so he was going to achieve what he set out to do. That was simply who he was, stubbornly pushing forward no matter what blocked his path. So he moved forward and entered the city, two different gazes landing on him the second he set foot into the city.

 Chapter 322: The girl who didnt understand.

    Liang Chen could feel them clear as day, the two pairs of eyes that had locked onto him. They practically pierced into him, ignored everyone else around him and focused solely on him. He felt like sighing, he would have been much happier if he could just enter this place quietly and go about his business, receiving this attention the second he entered the city was just irksome.


    "Oh man, I''d thank the gods if they still existed, this is just too good. You drew a real winner, buddy, a top prize I didn''t even know existed."


    Shen Fei didn''t share Liang Chen''s annoyed outlook, this was better than any result he could have expected. The enemy that had every reason to fight Liang Chen, as well as the person who would definitely not let a prey like Liang Chen get away, both were already engaged in a battle. And then the third party arrived. Would they cease their battle and focus on him, or would they try to talk to find out a way they could do things properly?


    They quickly received an answer to that unspoken question, a thunderous rumble echoing throughout the city. A section of the large cathedral-like building at the centre of the city collapsed, one of its large spires soaring towards Liang Chen''s group. The distance between them was great enough that it didn''t crash down on them, but it continued to move even after it crashed to the earth again. It dug a trench through the city before finally erupting into small chunks a few hundred metres away from Liang Chen.


    Two people stood within the cloud of dust that arose after the spire exploded, a man and a woman. The man had his back towards Liang Chen''s group, but his head was turned slightly, allowing his blue eyes to inspect Liang Chen, a few strands of curly black hair hanging over them. The sturdy metal staff he was holding was placed in a defensive position in front of him, blocking the fist of the opposing woman.


    As for the woman, he could tell at a glance that she was the one who had trashed Shen Fei and the two previous Wrath sects. Snow white hair that just barely passed her ears and a pair of piercing crimson pupils, they looked like a strange mixture of fire and blood, flickering as they reflected the light.


    Both of them looked quite young, barely in the middle of their twenties, but Liang Chen had long since stopped judging people by how old they looked. In truth, looking young could mean that they were that much more dangerous, it could mean that their cultivation had reached a high point while they were still young, stagnating their growth. The Nine Star Demon God he had met was one such example.


    "You, who...What are you? You feel pretty damn far from normal."


    The one who broke the momentary silence that descended over them was the girl, her brows somewhat furrowed as her gaze roamed across Liang Chen''s body. He disregarded her gaze, his own eyes drifting towards the man as he used his thumb to point towards him.


    "Just a passer-by. I''ve got business with him, but that can wait until after you''re done so just take your time."


    He completely brushed aside her question and apparent interest, but he took note of a fact, or rather, two. The first was that her eyes were different from what he originally imagined. When Shen Fei said that she called him boring, he had expected that she would be a battle maniac, seeking out thrill after thrill to feel a rush. But looking into her eyes now he couldn''t see the characteristic joy, there was no exhilaration, only curiosity, as well as a touch of desperation.


    As for the second fact, it was one that was far more headache-inducing. The resonating feeling that made him come here, the reward Purgatory wanted to give him, it originated from this girl. Was she the reward or did she hold something that would be useful to him after he beat her? He didn''t know, but he wouldn''t put it past Purgatory to do something like that, his previous reward had been a big sects treasured garden after all.


    As for the annoying sound that had started rushing in his ears earlier, it was still present, it had actually grown a bit louder after he reached the city. But he still couldn''t detect any source so it remained as nothing more than a nagging annoyance prodding him from the side.


    "Storm Lord, at least that''s the name Song Zhao managed to send out before he met his end. But we just call him a scourge. We haven''t heard anything from Man or Haunting, I take it they''ve already fallen?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The man spoke out, his expression solemn and dark as he glanced at Liang Chen. To this day, the Nine Wraths sect and its subordinates had yet to learn Liang Chen''s name, he simply hadn''t taken the time to introduce himself to any of them.


    "They have."


    A simple answer without any embellishment. There was no trace of pride or bragging in his voice, it was nothing more than a simple statement declaring a fact.


    "So only us five remain... You are dangerous, Storm Lord, you are a danger to the very existence of our Nine Wraths. So I, Sky''s Wrath Tian Shenju, will stop you here, I cannot let you eradicate another wrath."


    Tian Shenju''s body tensed up as he spoke, the staff he was holding creaking quietly as his grasp tightened. He wasn''t quite sure when he last felt this sense of danger, like a mouse being glared at by a cat. If he closed his eyes then he feared that he might see a glimpse of a horrible future, a future where one wrath ended up swallowing all others. And that, that couldn''t be allowed.


    "It won''t just be another wrath. From what I''ve seen so far, it''ll probably end with all five, perhaps even that sixth one that you may or may not have."


    Liang Chen had seen how the overlord of this land conducted itself, they were a perfect match for this twisted place. If all of them ended up following that same pattern then there would only be one end, a Purgatory''s Cradle devoid of its nine wraths.


    "Storm Lord...That''s a bit of a cringey name you''ve chosen for yourself, could you actually be as young as you look? Entered your edgy phase?"


    The light voice of the girl cut through the heavy atmosphere that descended after Liang Chen''s and Tian Shenju''s declarations. Her expression was a bit crooked, as if she was caught between a desire to laugh and a desire to anger Liang Chen.


    "You said you killed the two other anger sects, right? The Man and Soul people right? Well, I''m the one who beat them up, trashed them so hard that they should still be bedridden for several weeks. Correct?"


    The girl pulled back her outstretched fist as she spoke, Tian Shenju taking the chance to take a few steps back and to the side, the three people now forming a triangle as they faced each other. Liang Chen simply nodded at the girl''s question, they had indeed all been stuck to their beds as he arrived.


    "Yeah, thought so. That means you owe me one, I made things far easier for you after all. So you''ll fight me, one predator against another."


    The girl''s eyes narrowed somewhat sharply as she spoke, truly resembling a tiger that was stalking its prey. And that was indeed how she saw Liang Chen. The gait and stance were that of a common man, but she could see the truth deep within. Monstrous eyes that overlooked the world, the cold merciless gleam of fangs, the sharp glint of claws. He was a beast, a hunter, a predator, dangerous.


    "No thanks, you can just keep fighting him. I don''t have a reason to fight you, and I personally don''t feel that I mesh too well with battle junkies like you, I just can''t understand the fun you find in violent battles."


    Liang Chen shot down her request without even giving it any thought. The girl didn''t show any apparent signs of exhilaration from what he had seen, but it seemed to be the most obvious answer to what she was doing here so it wound up being the theory he went with. After all, there was no need to pay too much mind to a passing meeting like this, if things went as he wanted then things would end after the first greeting. But the things you wanted and the reality of the situation were often different, especially for Liang Chen.


    "Fun? Tell me, Storm Lord, do you think battles are fun?"


    The girl''s expression had sunk somewhat as she spoke, her lips were still turned up faintly but her expression was generally dark. Liang Chen had technically already answered the question so she really only asked to get a final bit of confirmation.


    "No. They are necessary, but I think it would be better if there was no need for them."


    Part of the reason Liang Chen''s view of battles was like this was probably due to the type of battles he engaged in. He hadn''t been raised in a sect or clan, not properly at least, he had next to no experience with sparring battles, fights where you just trained to become stronger. Whenever he fought it was to the death, a single wrong move and everything would be over. He simply couldn''t afford to find any joy in it.


    "Right? It''s just a slugfest, crushing or getting crushed. But father said that battles are a fun thing, an activity akin to drawing a painting or creating an array. Every step is deliberate, every swing of the arm needs to connect perfectly with the next to draw the full picture. Alone they look like random lines, but in the end, they will form the full picture, an exquisite painting that makes it all worth it. I...can''t understand that mindset, but it''s something that father holds dear so I need to understand it. And you''ll help me do that, whether you want to or not is irrelevant."


    The air grew heavy as the girl spoke, her left leg sliding back slightly while her right knee bent. She was taking her stance, both hands held open and flat, causing Liang Chen to guess that she possibly specialized in counter-based combat. Tian Shenju tensed up further as the air grew heavy, the ground groaning softly due to the increased gravity.


    "I am Li Zhao Xu, come, Storm Lord, Tian Shenju, let me learn what''s so fun about battles."

 Chapter 323: Bloody free-for-all.

    Liang Chen frowned somewhat when the air grew heavy, his feet quietly sinking into the earth. He really had no need to fight this girl, Li Zhao Xu, and he certainly wasn''t interested in fighting her just because she wanted to understand why her father was what seemed to be a battle junkie.


    "Yeah, no. I don''t have the patien...!"


    Liang Chen''s words were cut off before he could finish them, his feet suddenly losing contact with the ground. He was pulled directly towards Zhao Xu so it seemed like she had altered the flow of gravity in a way that would make her the centre of it all. But Tian Shenju wasn''t pulled in along with him so it seemed like she had a decent level of control over her law.


    "I said that it''s irrelevant whether you want to or not. You will fight, you will hunt!"


    Li Zhao Xu''s left hand shot forward as she practically roared the words, the light in her eyes blazing with that strange mixture of hope and desperation. To not understand your parents and their joys, Liang Chen had lost his parents before he could ever think about feeling something like that so he had no idea how great this girl''s drive was, perhaps he never would.


    Liang Chen brought his arm down and his spear appeared in his grasp, smashing down on Zhao Xu''s incoming hand. She twisted her arm slightly in response, making it move in an almost serpentine manner so that the spearhead wouldn''t hit her elbow. The shaft still hit her hand, but she flipped her hand at the same moment, reversing gravity to lessen the impact and allowing her to grasp the weapon.


    Liang Chen''s brows sank slightly as she neutralized his response, but it wasn''t because she grabbed his weapon, it was because of the rebounding force he sensed. She was tough, extremely tough. It felt like he had hit a boulder out of steel, the vibrations returning to him through the spear making his hand tingle.


    "A bit painful, isn''t it? Father always put great emphasis on body cultivation, having a weak body that breaks down due to love isn''t a good thing he said. Now then, let''s check yours!"


    Zhao Xu pulled on the spear with all her might as she spoke, the gravity centred around her still tugging on Liang Chen to draw him in. But Liang Chen just let go of the spear, a burst of lightning erupting from his body as he broke through the gravity shackles and darted to the side. The head of a large glaive passed through the air just as he dodged to the side, a barely noticeable gleam of energy sliding off of the glaive''s edge and passing through the air to slice a small gash into Liang Chen''s waist.


    Tian Shenju''s feet carved a small ditch into the ground as he halted his momentum, his expression somewhat dim after his ambush had failed. The head of the glaive melted and sank into the pole, returning it to the staff form that Liang Chen had seen when he first arrived here. But he didn''t let the failure stop him, slamming the bottom of the staff into the ground the moment the glaive''s head melted away.


    The earth erupted the moment the staff made contact with it, hundreds of metal glaives rising around Liang Chen and Zhao Xu. Each one glinted with the same barely noticeable gleam, a faint whistling sound breezing through the area as the buildings and land that remained were cut to ribbons.


    Zhao Xu snorted once, the air around her turning so cold that mist arose as a myriad of rectangular glacial shields appeared around her to block the glaives and sharp energy. She kicked off the ground and launched herself at Tian Shenju, using brute force to break through the glaives between the two of them so that she could reach him.


    Her arm swung out, her fist smashing into the pole that Tian Shenju hurriedly used to block. His expression didn''t show any surprise as his feet left the ground so he was probably already very familiar with the sheer physical prowess of this girl. He was launched away, or perhaps he allowed himself to fly away so that he could put some distance between him and her.


    But he hadn''t forgotten his other opponent, the scourge that now haunted these lands. His back prickled and his hair stood on end, he didn''t even need to look back to know what was coming. The air behind his back thickened and changed, morphing into a gnarled mess of wood and bark. The lightning that bombarded him was mostly halted by the wooden shield, his eyes sliding to the side just in time to see Liang Chen passing by him, wreathed in destructive lightning.


    Tian Shenju''s arm shot to the side, his skin turning dark and hard, cracking open until it resembled bark as his fist headed for the side of Liang Chen''s skull. Liang Chen''s gaze shifted sideways for a second, a powerful gust of wind rising from beneath him and pushing Tian Shenju''s arm upwards.


    He took this chance to lash out with his own arm, smashing his fist into Tian Shenju''s waist. But the change that appeared on his arm seemed to have covered the rest of his body as well, he felt like he was trying to punch a tree. His lightning also had a hard time moving through the layer of bark so it showed minimal effect. Tian Shenju was still pushed aside, but it would be a lie to say that he suffered any damage.


    It was only a minor intermission in his charge, a stop so small that it was barely worth mentioning. But that was enough time for Zhao Xu, her feet had kicked off the earth and she had arrived in front of Liang Chen, rather than he in front of her. She used this initiative to smash down the spear that she had taken from Liang Chen, the weapon heading for Liang Chen while the glacial shields turned into spears that shot for Tian Shenju.


    Liang Chen frowned and raised his arms to block, crossing them in front of the spear. The weapon smashed into his arms, immediately melting and returning to him, it was partly formed from his blood after all. But the power behind the attack still remained, smashing Liang Chen downwards until he crashed into the ground. He broke several of the earlier glaives in his fall, a few of the fragments that still held the sharp gleam from earlier piercing into him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    A cloud of dust obscured his vision, but his control over the wind still allowed him to see that Zhao Xu was descending towards him like a falling star, her outstretched foot aiming for his head. He took a step back, his spear once again appearing in his grasp as he slashed upwards, the wind gathering around his weapon.


    Zhao Xu''s gravity seemed to pull her towards him, but the whirling wind around Liang Chen''s weapon now also drew her towards it, countering most of the pull offered by the gravity. She broke through the dust and hurriedly twisted her body so that her foot wouldn''t smash into the spearhead. She also leaned back so that the sharp wind that gathered around the weapon didn''t slash open her torso as the weapon passed by her.


    She did half a backflip so she landed somewhat awkwardly, she was practically horizontal as she descended towards the ground face first. But it didn''t seem to bother her in the slightest, she just pushed out her hands and caught herself, transferring the momentum of the fall into a spin by twisting her arms. She looked as if she was trying to breakdance as she spun there, but it was a motion that allowed her legs to sweep towards Liang Chen''s feet so it clearly wasn''t just for show.


    Liang Chen had felt just how tough her body was so he decided that trying to block her attack with his body would be far from optimal. He put a bit of strength into his legs and jumped into the air to dodge the attack, but Li Zhao Xu acted at the same time. A glacial shield appeared between her and the earth as she pushed off with her arms, giving them a slight twist at the same time.


    She ended up hopping into the air while reversing the direction of her spin, the legs he had just jumped over coming back and colliding with Liang Chen''s shins. There was no sound, but he could sense his bones cracking, the splinters digging through his flesh like maggots.


    His legs were swept out underneath him, pushing him into a horizontal position while still hanging in the air. But he didn''t let an awkward position or the pain of his broken legs stop him, the wind around him pushing him so that his horizontal position became a vertical one, his head pointing directly downwards.


    The glacial shield beneath Zhao Xu shattered as a handful of metallic poles shot up from the earth, one of them breaking through her defence and smashing into her back. Liang Chen did not let go of this opportunity, gathering some wind to both heal his broken bones as well as form a foothold beneath his feet.


    He placed strength into his legs, the air-based foothold creaking as he bent his knees. He unleashed the gathered strength, shooting downwards like a bolt of lightning as he pointed his spear at Zhao Xu''s abdomen. She clicked her tongue and waved her hand, a thunderous explosion booming into existence between her and Liang Chen.


    He was pushed back and aside and she was sent smashing down towards the ground. But she quickly corrected her position, catching herself with her hands and spinning around again as if she was trying to breakdance. The reason for it was quite simple, Tian Shenju had arrived by her landing point and was assaulting her with a furious barrage of attacks with his staff, a barrage she was forced to hastily block with her legs as she spun about.


    But both of them quickly put force into their supporting limbs and jumped away, putting distance between each other just as a thick bolt of dim violet lightning crashed down where they had just been. Errant bolts crackled through the air as they stretched away from the main bolt, racing towards the two fleeing targets.


    Li Zhao Xu clicked her tongue quietly, a barrier of ice rising in front of her. The top part instantly melted, seemingly under her control, the water catching the lightning and conducting it down the rest of the barrier and into the ground. Tian Shenju responded with a barrier of his own, another mass of gnarled branches rising from the ground as a tree was born in front of him.


    The tree was bursting with lifeforce, more than any plant Liang Chen had ever seen, so it was probably not formed by a standard version of the law of wood. But even so, it couldn''t protect Tian Shenju.


    The lightning hit the tree and broke up, crackling through the air in an almost indignant manner. But a strange scene followed shortly after, the bark turned wrinkly and soft, the leaves quickly losing colour. The tree withered at a pace so rapid it was almost instant, the wood turning rotten and weak. It could no longer stop the crackling lightning, which gathered together again and shot towards Tian Shenju once more.


    His expression darkened, his grasp on the metal rod tightening. He placed the rod in front of him to block the lightning, gritting his teeth and grunting in pain as a bit of the lightning raced through the metal and entered his body. But he stabbed the staff into the ground and let go of it before the rest of the lightning could reach him, using his weapon as a lightning rod.


    "...I see. It doesn''t matter that it holds enough lifeforce to counter even the law of death, all organic matter must eventually rot and fade. That''s a good lesson."


    Tian Shenju''s expression was dim as he shook his hands, his bark-like skin a bit blackened thanks to the lightning. He didn''t know what sort of laws Liang Chen used, but he had fought people using the law of death in the past, and none of them had managed to counter his law of wood like that, the lifeforce in it countered the law too much. As such, that left the law of rot, and that may certainly be able to circumvent the great lifeforce contained in the wood. After all, rot was different from death so the lifeforce had no need to fight against it.


    "Yumao, Sheng Lian, you two can do as you please, just don''t get killed. Shen Fei...Just don''t get in the way."


    Liang Chen didn''t bother responding to Tian Shenju''s guess, directing his attention towards his companions. There had barely been any time to squeeze out any words in the previous exchanges, it also happened so fast that it was a bit hard for the others to intervene when they were unprepared.


    "Yeah, things really are different when you add one more predator to the mix. I at least can say that no one versus one has ever felt that close before. It seems like we''re on the right track, so how about we kick things up a notch?"


    The corners of Li Zhao Xu''s lips had turned up slightly, but to Liang Chen, it looked more like something she did to convince herself than something that happened naturally. But whatever the truth was, the more important fact was that she hadn''t been bluffing with her final question.


    The aura radiating from her body quickly rose, her eyes turning sharp and tiger-like as a few tufts of golden fur became visible within the sleeves of her robe. Tian Shenju seemingly felt that he wouldn''t be able to keep up if he didn''t do the same, the aura radiating from him growing stronger in tune with Zhao Xu''s.


    But Zhao Xu''s power grew stronger thanks to something within her, probably a bloodline. As for Tian Shenju, the increase in power came from an outside force, Liang Chen could feel energy descend from the sky and enter his body. If his guess was correct then Tian Shenju had probably just activated his Nine Wraths Lamentation. Both the opponents had unleashed one of their hidden cards to greatly magnify their strength, now things would become far more dangerous and difficult.

 Chapter 324: The poison and the hateful.

    Liang Chen slowly let out the breath that felt like it was clogging his chest. From the very start, he had been the one with the lowest cultivation here. Both Tian Shenju and Li Zhao Xu were above him, probably already half a step into the Transcended Immortal realm. And now their strength took another step forward as they unleashed one of their hidden cards, the two opposing auras felt like mountains as they pressed against him.


    But his mind was cold, his expression calm as he observed his opponents. He wasn''t out of cards himself, and when had he ever actually fought against people who shared his cultivation level? The exhaled breath quietly rose into the sky, his Qi accompanying it as he moved to activate the Rain-Caller''s Dance again.


    But honestly, this wasn''t the first time in this battle that he had tried to use that technique to summon a storm, he had quietly tried it twice already. And in this situation, the third time did not end up being the charm. He didn''t know if it was their auras or if it was tied to Tian Shenju being known as the Sky''s Wrath, but he couldn''t properly launch the technique. Something was interfering with it, stopping the clouds from gathering and the wind from picking up.


    It was a very reliable card to him, it provided him with a seemingly limitless reservoir of energy so that he could keep battling. But now it was sealed, it wasn''t exactly a favourable turn of events. He could technically replicate the same thing by just opening a gate to the Void and drawing upon the energy pouring out from it, but he would be lying if he said that he was interested in just opening a random gate to the Void.


    "It''s your choice if you aren''t going to activate your own strengthening technique, just don''t tap out too quickly, alright?"


    The voice of Zhao Xu cut through the momentary silence, her gaze directed at Liang Chen since he hadn''t activated a bloodline or external power-up. Her knees bent slightly as she spoke, the stone pavement beneath her cracking just from that small movement, she was like a leopard ready to pounce.


    And then she did just that.


    Her legs straightened out and her entire being seemed to become nothing more than a blur. The spot where she had just been standing exploded, chunks of stone and earth tearing through the sky, melting as they flew. Tian Shenju also acted at the same time, rushing forward while brandishing his pole, its blunt head melting and turning into a twisted spearhead.


    Both of them charged out, both of them heading for Liang Chen. Tian Shenju''s goal was to kill him, and Zhao Xu had deemed him the one most likely to teach her the joys of battle, it was only obvious that they''d aim straight for him.


    But even with both of them charging at him, Liang Chen was calm, his head tilting as he settled his gaze on Zhao Xu. She was much faster now, she had probably relied on a mixture of gravity, brute force, and possibly the momentum gained from an explosion. But if there was one thing Liang Chen was confident in then it was his speed.


    Lightning and time flowed in his body, his very being was made up of these two laws. Well, almost all of his being at least. And now he dug it out, activated it and forced it to push his body into overdrive. The world in front of his eyes slowed down as every single cell in his body was forced to move at speeds several times faster than normal, his brain and nervous system flooded with so much power that they would be able to handle the increased strain.


    And then he moved. His head turned away from Li Zhao Xu and settled completely on Tian Shenju, he was the only person among the two that Liang Chen was actually aiming to kill. His feet gave the ground a light kick and he practically vanished from sight.


    He arrived directly in front of Tian Shenju, stepping lightly on the spear that he was now holding. Tian Shenju''s pupils shrank fiercely in an instant, he felt the weight on his weapon before he even saw Liang Chen arrive. It was a dreadful level of speed, you would face only despair if you were unable to handle it.


    But the Sky''s Wrath wasn''t some helpless prey, he wouldn''t have gotten the honour of signifying one of the three great wraths if that was the case. He released all the energy in his left leg when he sensed the flow of energy moving through Liang Chen''s body. He fell sideways as a result, it looked somewhat awkward, but it helped him dodge the foot Liang Chen pushed forward.


    His hair stood on end and his skin crackled from the lightning that lingered in the air wherever the foot moved. Even worse was the somewhat sickly feeling on his skin when he felt that prickling, it was like a slimy hand was caressing him. His Qi quickly moved to dispel the energy that entered him, he couldn''t quite discern if it was death or rot, or perhaps something else entirely.


    A metal pole rose from the earth behind him and pushed him forward in a violent and abrupt manner, adding to the awkward appearance he had thanks to his sudden fall. But he didn''t pay it any mind, raising his shoulder to defend his neck from the weapon that was descending towards him.


    He had slipped past the spearhead thanks to the metal pole, but dodging the shaft of the spear was almost out of the question. The shaft collided with his raised shoulder, the metal layer of defence cracking and shattering almost instantly as lightning ravaged it. The dense layer of bark beneath the metal fared a bit better, he was able to replenish it almost instantly whenever the law of rot made it slide down his arm.


    Granted, the force of the attack still entered his body, rattling his bones, but it was far from a level that he couldn''t handle. At the very least, it wasn''t on the same level as Zhao Xu''s brute force, that was something that had reached a level as dreadful as Liang Chen''s speed.


    As he endured the rattling of his bones, he had his weapon grow several anchor-shaped spikes. Two of them ran right through the foot that Liang Chen still had on his weapon, nailing him down to cut off his speed. Tian Shenju took this chance to twist his body and smash his fist upwards, another metal pole rising up from the earth and colliding with his elbow to give his punch that much more force.


    At the same time, he allowed himself the freedom of mind to check up on Zhao Xu''s state, getting attacked by her while in this awkward posture would be horrible. But he seemed to be a bit lucky today, her legs had sunken into a strange blotch of darkness and thorn-covered vines were entwining her in an attempt to shred her.


    She was halted momentarily, but judging from the way that even the darkness seemed to freeze, it would not be something that could last for long. But before he could worry about how long she would be occupied like this, he had to handle the problem that was a bit closer at hand, the opponent nailed to his spear.


    Liang Chen looked down at the incoming punch, it felt more like a sword than a hand as it approached him. It had yet to reach him but he could feel the energy radiating from it cut open his skin, blood dripping down from his leg. He pulled back the leg he had just kicked out with and brought it down upon the fist, the wind turning violent as he pushed it downwards.


    He could feel gashes opening on his foot, but Tian shenju was not so weak that he could accomplish what he wanted if he kept his distance. The sole of his foot collided with the clenched fist, the wind gathered by his stomp unleashed all at once. He didn''t try to push down Tian Shenju''s fist, trying to counter all that force, supported by a metal pole, would be too hard.


    No, what he did was similar to how he supported the Fifth Step. He had the wind slip into the small openings of Tian Shenju''s fist, the gaps between his fingers. The wind then settled in his palm, packing in and condensing as Liang Chen poured more and more power into it. And then he just detonated all that power, unleashed all the wind in a violent expansion.


    The closed fist was forced open, his wrist tilting back from the abrupt movement. He was going to take this chance to stomp down on Tian Shenju''s open wrist, trapping his arm between his descending foot and his own metal pole. But before he could realize that, gravity around him changed abruptly.


    He suddenly rose into the air, as if there was a hole in the sky doing its best to draw him in. The force of the pull was so violent that not even the spikes going through his foot could hold him in place, they dug deep holes in his foot as he was drawn away from them and into the sky.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "It''ll take more than just that to stop me!"


    Li Zhao Xu appeared above him with a roar, icy mist trailing behind her as she charged. A quick glance told Liang Chen that Yumao''s darkness hadn''t been able to hold Zhao Xu, she had been able to freeze even the darkness and escape. Yumao and Sheng Lian didn''t chase after her as she charged at Liang Chen, they instead switched target to Tian Shenju so that he couldn''t assault Liang Chen from beneath. They weren''t as strong as Liang Chen, he was a true monster after all. But if it was just preventing the other opponent from attacking him then they would be able to handle it somewhat decently.


    Gravity around Liang Chen changed again as Zhao Xu descended upon him, it no longer pulled him upwards but instead started to spin around him. It seemed like she had judged that he would be somewhat skilled in aerial combat thanks to his law of wind so she wanted to disorient him to the point where he couldn''t fight.


    One second he was pulled to the right, then downwards, then to the left, then upwards, spinning all the while thanks to the changing gravity. It was as if she was trying to spin him until he threw up his lunch. But how unfortunate it was for her that Liang Chen''s thoughts currently moved so fast that spinning of this level was far from enough to disorient him.


    He could clearly tell where Zhao Xu''s fist was aiming, the path it would take and when it would reach him. The wind moved according to his wishes, gathering into a spinning orb crackling with violet lightning. Wind became lightning and lightning became wind, the moment you tried to block the lightning it would turn to wind and slip past your defence before turning back to lightning.


    He directed the orb with his mind, but a strange scene took place when he tried to block her fist with it. He missed. Or rather, he was too late. Zhao Xu''s fist wasn''t in the place it should have been when he directed the spinning orb there, it had somehow slipped through that area already and arrived right by his side.


    The clenched hand crashed into his side, a bit below his armpit, bringing with it the full force of Li Zhao Xu and her gravity. Liang Chen felt his ribs practically disintegrate the second her fist touched him, his flesh rippled like waves as the force tore through him and ripped open his veins. He felt like a mortal that had been swatted by a tiger, his body plummeting down as he was pummeled into the ground.


    He formed a small crater, the bottom of the crater crackling and flashing violently due to the blood that was leaving his body. Zhao Xu landed on the ground beside the crater, smashing her fist down to shatter the gnarled branch that suddenly rose from beneath her. The branch cracked and turned to splinters, but each of those splinters clung to her, pierced into her skin and dug through her flesh like maggots.


    A burst of tremendous heat erupted from her arm, blood mixed with ash leaving the wounds as they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. She spun around and crossed her arms in front of her chest before her wounds even healed, Tian Shenju''s twisted spear caught between her arms just as she crossed them.


    He exerted his force to spin the spear like a drill, but Zhao Xu suddenly vanished from her spot, appearing half a step away from Tian Shenju''s side just as he twisted the weapon. Her fist crashed into his waist and blew him away but he managed to barely stabilize himself before he hit the ground, his feet carving deep grooves into the earth.


    "Do you see? This is why fights are boring, when it comes down to it, it''s just crushing or getting crushed."


    The corners of Li Zhao Xu''s lips were still turned up, but Liang Chen couldn''t see a speck of amusement in her eyes, just despairing disinterest.


    "It''s not your fault. You guys can probably counter it, you won''t be as helpless as the other people, but it''ll drain so much energy that you can''t fight properly. I''ll hope for the best, please bring out something that stops it from being a matter of crushing or getting crushed."


    Zhao Xu spoke as she stood there, her gaze moving between Liang Chen and Tian Shenju. In a normal fight, she had her tremendously strong body, and once things got serious she had her supreme technique, the only option she ever had in a fight was to crush the opponent.


    The temperature dropped tremendously after Zhao Xu finished speaking, an unearthly chill arising all around them. The earth froze over, the spilt blood froze, the buildings froze, everything became white as the chill swallowed everything. But as Zhao Xu had demonstrated earlier, her cold had reached a level where it wasn''t limited to freezing physical things.


    The wind slowed and halted, chunks of ice appearing and falling to the ground as it froze. Sound came to an end, the Qi in the air stopped flowing, and finally, time itself ground to a halt, frozen by an unearthly chill.


    "And? Will you be able to resist?"


    All sound had frozen, but Zhao Xu''s voice still reached Tian Shenju and Liang Chen, ringing inside their heads. A world where even time itself was frozen, how could people hope to resist something like that? They would just freeze along with the world and perish, that was Zhao Xu''s greatest strength, a supreme technique created and taught to her by her father himself.


    She hadn''t even needed to use this technique against the two previous sects, they had crumbled to her brute force alone. But she had used this technique against a fair few people in the past so she was able to approximate how strong you had to be to counter it. As such, she knew that Liang Chen and Tian Shenju wouldn''t be brought down by it, but it would weaken them so drastically that it wouldn''t be a fight any longer.


    And indeed, Tian Shenju was able to counter the technique through sheer force. A dense shield of Qi covered his body and repelled the chill, but the problem was that he needed about 60% of his Qi to hold back the cold. He wasn''t entirely confident that all his energy would be enough to beat Zhao Xu, much less had to be said about only 40% of his energy. And that didn''t even account for how quickly his energy drained as he held back the chill, a minute or two would probably be the best he could manage before he met his end.


    Liang Chen sat up in the crater he had formed as he crashed to the ground, his expression somewhat dim. He had the law of time so he could counter this frozen world far more easily. He just had to make the law of time move again, forcing it if he had to, and that was far easier than repelling the chill. But that didn''t mean he could do it as he pleased.


    His cultivation was lower than his opponents, and while he had three different types of energy to draw on, he would eventually run out. Using his law of time to force time to move, using his law of time on himself to forcibly maintain his hyper-speed state, using energy to heal himself and to attack, he was losing energy at a disgustingly rapid rate.


    "Haah, nothing to it but to do it..."


    His slight mutter rang out with a soft sigh, more of his blood spilling to the ground as he stood up. Zhao Xu couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow when she saw the ease with which he stood up, but her connection with the chill quickly allowed her to discover the truth.


    "Time, is it? Now that''s a law you don''t see often. Time, lightning, wind, rot, and I think I saw some poison earlier? You''re a bit spread out, aren''t you? But yeah, that''ll make it easier for you than for him, but are you confident that it''ll be enough?"


    The more laws you had, the more you would have to spread out your attention, otherwise, your other laws would just fall behind and become useless in combat. And when it came to unique laws there was also the need to keep all your laws balanced to properly cultivate, it was a situation where an excess of laws was a detriment, no matter how flexible it made you.


    Liang Chen felt like clicking his tongue, he hadn''t expected her to notice the bit of poison he mixed with his lightning as he attacked Tian Shenju. A terrifyingly strong body, annoying laws that she used expertly, and a supreme technique that could arouse despair in her enemies, she truly was an annoying opponent. But he didn''t click his tongue, he simply shook his head lightly.


    "Yeah, I tried to use one aspect of the poison on him, but it didn''t have much effect."


    Saying it didn''t have much effect wasn''t quite right, it had zero effect. He had managed to drive it out instantly even though Liang Chen had tried to sneak it in and have it nest in his body. But it couldn''t be helped, Tian Shenju wasn''t your everyday fodder, he was stronger and more sensitive than most other cultivators in the same realm.


    "Meaning that you''re gonna show us another aspect now, I assume? Well, do you have a poison capable of persisting in a world so cold that even time freezes?"


    Li Zhao Xu caught onto the hidden meaning in Liang Chen''s words, arousing her interest. The poison hadn''t even worked on Tian Shenju back then so what hope could it have to work in this frozen world? Liang Chen didn''t immediately answer, his gaze drifting about aimlessly, observing the city around him as the slight rushing sound in his ears, one of the reasons he had come to this city to begin with, got louder.


    His senses spread out, his poison-tinged soul spread throughout the surroundings. The rushing sound got louder and louder, but Zhao Xu and the others didn''t seem to hear it at all. The rushing, oh so similar to the sound of a running river, became more indistinct as it got louder, twisting as it moved away from a mere rushing sound.


    "Tell me, have you ever heard this saying before? Hatred is the poison of the soul, it ruins both body and mind. "


    The rushing sound became indistinct and split apart as Liang Chen''s soul spread out further, dug deeper. Indistinct sounds became a jumble of voices, growing louder and louder with each passing moment. Shapes started to accompany these jumbled voices, blurry outlines seemingly appearing out of thin air wherever Liang Chen looked.


    He dug deeper still, to the source of his poison, reaching for that image he had made of this law of his, the law that had accompanied him since he first became familiar with this emotion of his.


    And the world responded, the jumbled voices responded. But their response was clarity, an order to the jumbling and indistinction. There wasn''t a single word mixed in with all the voices, it was just screams, an uncountable number of screams. Souls crying out in pain, a chorus of death and agony, a symphony of hatred and wrath, a poison of the soul.


    "And hatred...Hatred outlives the hateful."

 Chapter 325: Screaming poison.

    The air was cold, and it wasn''t because of Zhao Xu''s domain. A soft whooshing sound filled the area despite the fact that even time had ground to a halt under Li Zhao Xu''s chill. Tian Shenju''s expression was dim as he stood there, first he had to deal with this time-freezing domain and now he also had to deal with whatever Liang Chen was pulling out, things were turning bleaker by the second.


    Li Zhao Xu''s expression was a bit different, almost cramped. Her eyes were swimming about somewhat aimlessly while the corners of her mouth twitched irregularly. She, just like Tian Shenju, could hear it. Shrieking, subdued screams gnawing at her soul, tugging at her consciousness. A knife plunging into her chest, a hammer crashing into the side of her skull, twisted pleasure and powerless hatred. Emotions that weren''t hers, pain that wasn''t hers, memories that weren''t hers, they flooded her soul and mind like corruption.


    "This... You call this poison...?"


    Li Zhao Xu had more experience than most, she could confidently say that in this universe, only those with direct ties to the Nine Star Demon God would be able to match her knowledge. So she was qualified to question this, she had the right to say that this display, this act, this was so far removed from poison that it was ludicrous.


    "Poison can affect emotions, souls, and material things, this isn''t that different from those."


    Liang Chen''s voice cut through the frozen time, mixing with the screams he had dredged up. He was poison, his soul was poison. By using his soul, he could turn even other peoples souls into stone, compared to that, this act wasn''t all that strange.


    Every time he killed someone, a small bit of their soul was absorbed by his bloodline, but how could this happen? Simple, after death, a small part of you remained, a tiny fraction of your soul that lingered. If enough such fractions were gathered they could even form Demonic beasts that were closely tied to the emotions shared by the fragments.


    All Liang Chen had to do was use his soul to interact with these fragments, dredge out the hatred and anger they felt as they died. Their souls lingered after death, and the anger they felt became the poison that corrupted them, and in the end, it all became the poison he used. The more death there was the more poison he would have, the more poison he had the more death he would sow.


    "Not that different... if Uncle Mu heard that you compared an embryonic Prime law with normal poison then he''d probably have an aneurism..."


    Li Zhao Xu couldn''t help but mutter quietly, practically complaining as her eyes kept sweeping about. She could see the faint outlines that now covered almost the entire land, fragmented souls he had dredged up, unified by anger and poison. This wasn''t something poison could do, at least not any poison that followed the normal rules of the universe. But she quickly shook her head, not allowing the thoughts to occupy her mind.


    "Alright then... Let''s see if it''s time to learn."


    She could feel it, her frozen world was slowly being pushed back from Liang Chen. The negative emotions he turned into poison were clearly not only being used to hamper her and Tian Shenju''s minds, he was absorbing it to empower himself, feeding on the poison like a sponge. One drew in power from the sky, one drew out power from within, and one drew in power from the vengeful souls dotting the land. The trump cards had been dredged out, all that remained was to finish it.


    Zhao Xu decided to make the first move, her eyes gleaming sharply as she shrank the frozen world. She focused it entirely on Tian Shenju, drastically increasing its strength as she charged at him. Her instincts were telling her that she needed to finish off one of the opponents, she had no idea what might happen if both got to stick around.


    Liang Chen did not stay still as Zhao Xu charged out, he shot forward as well, aiming for the same target. Tian Shenju felt his feet sink into the ground, his thoughts almost grinding to a halt as the weight of the frozen world descended upon him. Zhao Xu may not kill him, she hadn''t killed anyone else so far at the very least. But Liang Chen would definitely not show that kind of mercy, his life would be forfeit the second he was even one beat too slow.


    He burst out with as much energy as he could, his eyes blazing as he slashed upwards with his metal pole, its head twisting into a sharp glaive. The weapon erupted with sharp energy, energy so sharp that it was able to even temporarily cut through gravity and the frozen world.


    He stomped the ground and shot back to dodge the incoming attackers, a tree swiftly rising where he had just been standing. The land around the tree rapidly dried up and died as the plant grew, sucking in the nutrients and lifeforce of the land to fuel its own growth. The roots and branches of the tree twisted unnaturally as they pierced towards the two opponents, one seeking to entangle while the other sought to pierce.


    He stretched out his hand and pointed it at the tree, but his chest suddenly clogged painfully, a hoarse cough escaping him. A few drops of blood burst out from his mouth with each cough, the veins on his temples pulsating violently as the strange poison Liang Chen had dredged up got to him. The pain felt like his own, he felt like he saw his own death a thousand times over. He could even see himself in some of those foreign memories, it was his spear that sank them into darkness.


    "They still remember you, Tian Shenju, they still scream for you. You thought you silenced them, but I can hear them, those screams that have long since faded."


    Liang Chen''s voice was low, so low that it mixed with the horrible screams and shrieks. His voice and their screams, they were one and the same. He was the voice of the screams, the voice of the poison dredged up from among the angry and the hateful. Tian Shenju grit his teeth and swallowed down the next cough, the blood that ran down his throat almost felt like gravel as he raised his head.


    He luckily saw that he would get a second of reprieve, Zhao Xu had decided to change her target to Liang Chen since they were now closer to each other than they were to him. The veins on her neck were bulging slightly so she also seemed to be struggling with the insidious poison Liang Chen had unleashed upon the world.


    Liang Chen smashed his spear down onto Zhao Xu''s fist, the frozen world around him suddenly shrinking until it was focused solely on her hand and the spear. Time ground to a halt so violently and strongly that Liang Chen had to hastily supply his weapon with more power to make time flow properly again, But that one moment was still enough for Zhao Xu''s fist to slip into his bosom, practically right in front of his chest.


    He stopped dead in his tracks and leaned back slightly, his Qi bursting out as he froze time in front of him. Or to be more specific, he froze the time of his robe, the small patch of cloth that had fluttered in front of Zhao Xu''s hand. Her fist smashed into the cloth, and while she was able to smash through the frozen time through sheer force, he could hear the sound of the bones in her hand shattering.


    The momentum of her fist was lowered drastically, but it still felt like a sledgehammer as it crashed into Liang Chen''s chest. His ribs, which had only just started to heal thanks to the abundant energy he created and drew in, shattered all over again. But he wasn''t pushed back or flung away, he was able to maintain his stance and launch a counterattack.


    The spear that had swished past Zhao Xu''s hand had its trajectory forcibly altered, the descending smash turning into a diagonal descent. He smashed the spear into the side of her leg, smashing it aside so that she lost her footing and stumbled. His knee then rose to greet her head as she fell, but she wasn''t planning on getting caught that easily.


    She spat out a heavy breath and pushed out her free hand, her palm coming into contact with Liang Chen''s rising knee. The frozen world she had set up vanished in an instant, a horrid heat rising from her palm to replace it. Flames lashed out from the spot where her hand touched Liang Chen''s body, the air distorting due to the heat and power that were unleashed by her response.


    It was also at this time that Tian Shenju decided to add his own attack. The two weren''t far from the tree he had created as he dodged, the branches and roots were unable to get close to them thanks to the power they radiated, but that was fine. His heel lightly touched the ground, the tree suddenly exploding violently. All the lifeforce and nutrients it had absorbed from the ground were unleashed all at once, an uncountable number of wooden and metal splinters cutting through the air.


    Even the wooden splinters were able to cut through the buildings like they were butter, and Liang Chen and Zhao Xu were smack dab in the middle of where most of the shrapnel was heading. But dodging was extremely awkward for them since it was at this moment that the energy in Zhao Xu''s palm was unleashed, a rumbling sound blotting out everything else as a blinding explosion of heat and fire was birthed between her palm and Liang Chen''s leg.


    The two were flung away from each other, one spewing crackling blood from his severed leg while the other had blood shooting out from the palm that was torn open by the rebounding force. Zhao Xu grit her teeth and gathered as much of her energy as she could, but the screaming poison in her soul and the myriad of memories that took this chance to invade her prevented her from gathering even half as much energy as she normally would be able to. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The gravity she gathered up wasn''t enough to completely redirect the incoming shrapnel so she had to bear it with her body. Some of it just bounced off of her strong body, but some of the stronger ones managed to pierce her flesh and carve bloody gashes into her.


    Liang Chen had a much easier time dealing with the shrapnel, he didn''t even have to do anything. Sheng Lian appeared at his side, her crimson robe fluttering slightly as thorned vines burst through the ground. Each thorn crackled with multicoloured lightning, each vine moved like tentacles as they swatted aside the shrapnel. When one vine failed to do the trick she simply brought out more, practically filling the land with deep green vines.


    She also helped Liang Chen at the same time, placing her hand against his severed leg and pouring lightning into it so that he could use his body cultivation to replace it. And naturally, Yumao wasn''t just standing around as this happened, he took advantage of the situation to attack Tian Shenju.


    Tian Shenju had just let out another cough, a few more drops of blood sputtering out from between his lips after he finished his attack. He didn''t quite understand how Liang Chen''s poison was affecting him like this, poison born from emotions should have tainted his soul, but it was somehow eating away at his body as well. But he didn''t get to ponder that question for long, his instincts suddenly hopping into overdrive as a horrible sensation of danger overwhelmed him.


    That was when he noticed it, the small shadow cast on his chest by the drops of blood he had just spat out. They had grown darker than they had any right to be, darker than the blackest night. He hurriedly threw himself to the side while unleashing as much energy as he could muster under the effect of the poison, but he was a beat too late.


    The darkness had already touched him, connected with him. Several small holes suddenly appeared on his body, the flesh and blood that used to occupy those small sections sucked directly into the dark shadows to feed the being lurking in them. More blood poured out from his mouth, but the voice of Liang Chen echoed across the area just as Tian Shenju moved to raise a defence against the shadow cast by the new drops.


    "Let''s just finish this."


    The rumbling of thunder followed those words, arcs of lightning crackling through the air. But not a single one of the bolts headed directly for Tian Shenju, not a single one aimed to pierce him. No, all of the bolts flashed through the air around him, dancing almost malevolently as they bathed him in their dull violet light.


    One light birthed a hundred shadows, and right now there were almost several hundred new light sources shining down on him. Tiny shadows were born all over him, from his hair, his nose, his eyelashes, his fingers, new shadows he didn''t have the chance to raise a defence against.


    The screams reached a crescendo in his ears, so many memories flowing into his disturbed and chaotic mind that he started to lose sight of who he was. He had only panicked for a second under that dull violet light, but that one second gave the poison all the time it needed to invade him. And the poison gave the predator all the time it needed to finish the job.


    Hole after hole appeared in Tian Shenju''s body, the shadows practically coming alive as they drew in that which they covered. It was as if an unseen maw had sunk its teeth into Tian Shenju, his final expression one of confusion as he sank into the memories, the poison of the dead and the angry.


    Liang Chen didn''t even spare Tian Shenju''s final fate a single glance, he had full trust in Yumao. All he had to do was ramp up the strength of the poison and provide the light, Yumao would be able to handle the rest. As such, he was free to place his attention on the remaining enemy, Li Zhao Xu, whose expression was cramped once more.


    "All right, one last move to finish it all, is that it? All right, come then, Storm Lord, let''s see whose move is stronger."


    Zhao Xu''s expression wasn''t amused as she spoke, but it wasn''t the disappointed and bored expression she had shown when he first saw her either. She was serious, solemn even. She had failed to learn the joy of battles this time as well, but she had found the seriousness of them. Her instincts were screaming, her heart was thumping and her blood felt like ice. She hadn''t learned to find joy, but she had found another middle-ground between crushing and getting crushed, fear.


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything, he simply gathered his strength as he drew back his spear, the tip leaving a line in the land. Zhao Xu spat out a somewhat heavy breath, her chest felt clogged up thanks to the poison, her head was thumping due to the unfamiliar memories and emotions the poison forced upon her.


    The temperature around her rapidly dropped, the land turned brittle and cracked as it froze. The chill rapidly expanded, but this time it didn''t get so bad that it froze time. No, this time it just froze the land wherever it went, the entire city, and even the area around it, rapidly becoming white with frost.


    She drew back her right arm and bent her knees, sliding back her left leg to stabilize her position as she prepared what looked like a punch. Liang Chen had a slight idea as to what she might do, as well as to what the true nature of her cold law was. But his response wouldn''t change, power gathering in his arm and spear as multicoloured lightning danced around him.


    Zhao Xu''s muscles twitched slightly, Liang Chen''s eyes flashing dangerously as his arm shot forward. The gathered energy spread out with the wind, invisible pillar after pillar forming to support the power he was producing. It wasn''t the first time he was trying to launch the Fifth Step, the step that shattered the sky, but this time ended up being a bit different compared to the previous times.


    Normally, the pillars he formed from wind would be what supported him, they''d bear the power so that it didn''t crush him. But now the souls he had dredged up and extracted poison from also joined in, each fragment bearing a part of the power. The number of pillars increased drastically thanks to the souls, who all became pillars in their own right, the stability of the attack rising as a result.


    But the souls were still reservoirs of poison, sources Liang Chen drew his strength from, tiny pockets of energy in their own right. And all that energy was added onto the power he had already gathered up, all of it fueled into him as he unleashed the attack with more might than ever before.


    But now the attack was far more stable than ever before, the energy was far more controlled and condensed thanks to the sheer number of pillars. As a result, there was no gargantuan explosion as the entire city was buried, the energy was all condensed neatly into the devastating bolts of multicoloured lightning that roared out from the tip of his spear.


    Golden, blue, green, red, brown, violet, the colours all danced around each other as the bolts twined around each other, the pressure of the attack forcing them all against each other, into each other. One by one they were forced to become one, one by one the colours all became one, the strength of the attack rising violently as the bolts became a single golden line that tore through the city, tore through the land.


    Zhao Xu unleashed her own attack, and it was indeed exactly what Liang Chen had expected. The frost that covered the land came about because Zhao Xu had extracted the heat that existed there, the warmth in the air and the heat of the land. And all that heat had been gathered by her, gathered in her, all of it in that one small fist that was now pushed forward.


    Stone melted, earth melted, the resulting lava evaporated, a blast of heat so warm it shone a blinding white rushed out from Zhao Xu''s fist like a ray of light. Nothing was able to stand in the path of that fist-width ray, everything simply melted and evaporated as the ray passed by. And then, the blinding white met the blinding gold, an ear-piercing screeching sound ringing out as space was torn open, black cracks ripping through the sky as they extended out from the point of contact.


    Liang Chen was connected to his attack so he could feel it getting shorn away by the blinding light. If things continued at this pace then the end result would be him winning by a bit, but not enough to actually incapacitate Zhao Xu.


    "Lend me a bit of your power."


    Liang Chen spoke without turning to look at Sheng Lian, his knees had already bent as he shot forward. He had put his everything into that attack, he simply didn''t have it in him to launch a second attack to ensure victory. But unlike Zhao Xu, he had a multitude of ways to replenish his energy.


    The energy he requested found him as he charged forward, towards that patch of cracked space where gold met white. Lightning and death from Sheng Lian and death from Yumao, both his companions shared at least one law with Liang Chen. And right now he took full advantage of that, taking the energy into himself to refill his drained reservoirs.


    He didn''t need to launch a devastating attack, he just needed to launch a well-placed one. He took in all the energy they gave, converting it to Qi he could use for himself. And using that Qi, he tapped into his law of time and launched his spear towards the ray of blinding white, it unleashed such a level of heat that he couldn''t hope to jump in there with his actual body.


    The law of time gathered within the tip of his spear as it flew, but it wasn''t a uniform flow. One edge of the blade flowed with time that was faster than normal while the other flowed with time that was slower than normal, just looking at it was unpleasant on the eyes, like getting poked with small needles.


    The spear passed through the lightning and sank into the ray of heat, the gathered law of time bursting forth, the ray of light forced to endure the same discordant flow of time as the spearhead. Parts of the ray sped up drastically while other parts slowed to a crawl, the balance of the attack instantly crumbling as Zhao Xu failed to stabilize it.


    This was the difference between having the law of time and being able to influence the flow of time, trying to counter the first by using the second was incredibly difficult, you were simply too linear in how you could influence time. The ray of heat became unstable, leaking energy in the form of super-heated rays that shot away from the main attack.


    And that was enough for Liang Chen''s attack to finish the job, the golden bolt tearing through the white ray and shooting straight for Zhao Xu. Liang Chen was hit by one of the errant super-heated rays, the attack passing through his waist like a hot knife through butter. But he still had enough presence of mind to alter the trajectory of his attack slightly.


    The golden bolt that was originally slated to tear directly through Zhao Xu curved away, passing by her so that only a few errant crackles lashed her body. In the end, she wasn''t actually an enemy he had to kill, she had never even come at him with the actual intent to kill. Liang Chen wasn''t so depraved that he''d just kill anyone who tried to fight him.


    So he redirected his attack, the result of the battle was already painfully clear. And if Zhao Xu still failed to give up and decided to keep fighting despite everything then Liang Chen would simply have to use one of the talismans his birth parents had given him when they last met. But it luckily seemed like things wouldn''t reach that end, Zhao Xu glancing sideways at the scar Liang Chen''s attack had torn into the land. She looked a bit unwilling, despondent even, but she still forced the words through her dry lips.


    "It''s... my loss."

 Chapter 326: The functions of a law.

    Li Zhao Xu''s throat felt a bit dry as she stood there. Her breaths felt quick and ragged, but was it her own breathing or the breaths trapped in the memories forced into her mind? She couldn''t tell, right now she was so drained that the screams coming from the poison inside her drowned out almost everything else.


    But to her relief, those discordant screams, the wrathful howls of the long-deceased, started to quickly fade after she declared her surrender. The hazy outlines that had started to fill the city also started to fade, the vestiges, the anger and hatred contained in them, all of it had been pulled out and turned into poison, all that remained for them now was to truly fade from existence. She could at least let out a breath now, pushing aside the confusion caused by the invading memories as she slumped down.


    "So. You don''t seem to be planning on killing me, you wouldn''t have redirected the attack otherwise. So what do you want instead? But let me tell you right out, robbing me is more dangerous than fighting me. The only good things I have on me are tied directly to Father, he''ll notice the moment I cut my connection with them. And he''s overprotective as all hell so things won''t end well."


    She waved her hand somewhat casually as she spoke, bringing along those life-saving treasures was the only way she could convince her father to actually let her go. If her guess was correct then he would break his way in no matter where she was if even a single one of those items was touched, it wasn''t strange for him to act in such an unreasonable manner.


    Liang Chen stood there as the victor, but the charred hole that tore clean through his right waist and his ruined clothes could easily make people believe otherwise. Yumao rose up from the shadows, growing to a size where he could coil up and still support Liang Chen''s wounded side, Sheng Lian taking care to cover his other side. Liang Chen allowed himself to lean on Yumao''s head, a steady flow of death-rich energy flowing into him to help him recuperate.


    "Are you related to the Heaven Splitting King?"


    Liang Chen obviously had no interest in robbing Zhao Xu, he certainly hadn''t kept her alive just so that he could extort her. She hadn''t proved herself worthy of death, that was all there was to it, that was all the reason he needed to spare her. But of course, since he had the chance, he wouldn''t forget to at least ask a few questions.


    The first question he chose wasn''t baseless, he had met very few people who could interact with time despite not having the law of time. To be exact, he had met two such people, the Heaven Splitting King that he had seen recently and now this girl. And if she was truly related to him, then things may become a bit awkward, he had just been saved by the king after all. Luckily, it seemed like it really was nothing more than a coincidence.


    "Heaven Splitting... ah, Uncle Long. No, I''m not related to him, but Father visits him from time to time. The two have somewhat similar feelings towards battle so Father likes to chat and spar with him."


    Zhao Xu looked a bit uncertain at first but then caught herself, as if she wasn''t used to the name, or rather, title, that Liang Chen used. Of course, the situation didn''t actually change much despite his original guess being wrong. Someone who could meet and spar with the Heaven Splitting King, wouldn''t that be an existence on a similar level?


    "Your father, who is he?"


    "Hmm, you probably don''t know his name since he''s so stingy with it, but how about Divine Emperor? I think that was the title he was given? Something in that vein at least."


    The answer he received to his question was just about what he expected, it really took another exalted Universal Heart to spar with another. The person in question also wasn''t someone Liang Chen was entirely unfamiliar with, he had at least heard the title back when his bloodline was first unsealed. The Divine Emperor, ruler of 9 major universes.


    But he had at least seen or talked with the other rulers he had learned about since then, with who was likely the Dark Dawn Monarch showing himself recently. But this Divine Emperor was someone he had never had any sort of contact with so he drew a blank when it came to that particular ruler''s personality. But as long as he didn''t descend then things should be fine, and Liang Chen had no plans of further harming Li Zhao Xu so there should be no reason for him to descend.


    "Alright, next question then. Do you know anything about Lao Ye or the Nine Wraths sect? Well, anything that isn''t already common knowledge at least."


    Lao Ye, the ruler of the Nine Wraths sect, the man closest to Purgatory. In the end, Liang Chen would have to face him, he was the heart of his decayed land and the fire that fueled this cauldron. But information about him was surprisingly sparse, even the sect leaders he had killed so far had preciously little information on him. But sadly enough, it seemed like he was bound to continue drawing a blank on this particular subject.


    "You''ve got poor luck, I''ve got nothing. He''s the one person in here Father forbade me from fighting, said that he may as well just follow me in if I was going to make him drop in to save me anyway. Well, I said I had nothing but that information can be considered something, I retract my starting statement."


    Zhao Xu tried to maintain a casual expression, but Liang Chen could sense the traces of bitterness lurking beneath. But that was only to be expected, no child wanted to have their parent put them down like that, even if it was probably the truth.


    Liang Chen''s expression also sank slightly when Zhao Xu shared what her father had told her. He had obviously expected Lao Ye to be an extremely dangerous opponent, but it seemed like things were worse than he expected. Just fighting Zhao Xu was enough to almost push Liang Chen completely to the brink, if Lao Ye was that much stronger than her then there was a good chance that the current Liang Chen wasn''t strong enough to deal with him.


    "...Earlier, you muttered about an embryonic prime law, what did you mean by that?"


    Honestly, the only option Liang Chen had right now was to set aside the matter about Lao Ye, he would just have to plan some more preparations for that day. So he instead chose to simply move onto the other topic that had caught his interest, the slight mutter Zhao Xu had given when he dredged up the hate-filled vestiges and turned them into poison.


    "Prime Law...right, you probably wouldn''t know about that, you don''t seem like someone with that great a backing after all. But hmmm... how to explain it?"Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Zhao Xu tilted her head slightly as she sat there, rolling the thought around in her head. She was someone from a truly great backing so she could easily tell when someone came from a similar backing. And the man that had brutally beaten her down clearly lacked that backing, which honestly made her loss a bit more shameful. But he seemed to know a bit about The Heaven Splitting King at least so she could seek a sliver of solace in that fact.


    "Ah, right! Tell me, do you know how a Law actually works? Like, take the law of water, do you know what other laws it encompasses?"


    Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to tilt his head slightly, mulling over the question. Now that he actually gave it some thought he had to admit that he didn''t actually know how a law actually worked. But he did know a bit about the law of water thanks to his studies so he wasn''t as unfamiliar with the other laws you could extract from it.


    "Can''t say I know how they work, no. But the law of water, huh... Let''s see, off the top of my head I can name Reflection, Crushing, Life, Heat, Slicing, and Separation."


    Now that he actually bothered to think about it he had to admit that it was a bit strange, why could you use the law of water to get the law of life, or slicing for that matter? His question was reflected in his pupils, Zhao Xu latching onto it.


    "Strange, isn''t it? Separation, Heat, they don''t seem to have a damn thing to do with water yet you can extract them from the law of water. Why?"


    She asked him fully aware of the fact that he didn''t know the answer, providing it the instant he shook his head.


    "Belief and Faith, that''s why. People believe ''oh, water can be both warm and cold so it must be tied to heat'' or ''oh, water in great quantities can separate people, buildings, even entire continents'' or ''oh, water moving at high speeds can cut through things''. It''s all just tiny thoughts, but eventually, they become established facts to people, and in those facts, they can place their faith. ''Yes, this is how water works, this is how it will always work.'' That''s how the laws work, the belief and faith of the masses. That''s why something like poison can be so acidic, because of the belief that it ruins bodies. And what better way to ruin a body than to melt it?"


    The corners of Zhao Xu''s lips curved slightly as she spoke. She had been beaten quite badly, to the point where the opponent even had to show mercy. But at the very least she had this one point to reclaim a bit of pride, knowledge that came from being born to a great backing.


    "So, now we know how the laws work, what makes them tick. So let''s talk Prime Laws. Let''s take Uncle Mu''s Prime Law of Redemption as an example. The law of light he''s corporated into it has the ability to pierce directly into your soul and dredge out all your guilt, it''ll make you weep from all the wrongdoings you''ve ever committed, or rather, the wrongdoings you feel you''ve committed. His law of darkness however is able to pierce your soul and dredge up all the pain you''ve ever caused others, every wound your two hands have ever inflicted in others becomes reflected in your soul. Now that doesn''t sound like something light and darkness should be able to do, right? So what do you think a Prime law is?"


    Liang Chen didn''t immediately respond, continuing to lean against Yumao as he delved into his thoughts. If he really did have an embryonic prime law then this would be important to him later, it would at least give him a clearer picture of what he was dealing with.


    "...I''d say it''s a law that''s taken beyond the normal level, a law that incorporates something it shouldn''t normally be able to contain."


    The information he had right now was vague, Zhao Xu had probably done it on purpose since she wanted him to guess somewhat blindly. But at the very least she didn''t seem like she was planning on forcing him to guess until he somehow struck gold.


    "Somewhat close, you at least touched step one. No, what you mentioned is an embryonic Prime Law, like your display of poison. Emotions are not tied to poison, it may be a saying, but it doesn''t have nearly enough belief or faith to become an established part of the law. And dredging up vestiges based on ''hatred outlives the hateful'' and then turning that into poison? Yeah, no, that''s got nothing to do with poison, it''s an act outside of the established order, the guidelines of the law. That''s an embryonic Prime Law, a brute force method to go against the normal order. But... But if there ever comes a day where you and your belief alone become strong enough to forever alter the law of poison, to turn that act from being something that goes against the order into something that IS the order, then that will be the day a new Prime Law is born."


    That was what a Prime Law was, a lone man''s stubborn belief that grew so strong that the multiverse was forced to bend and acknowledge it. A singular belief that crushed the faith of the many, the evolution of a law or the birth of a new one entirely, that was a Prime Law. A merged law, a Unique Law, a lone law, it didn''t matter what type it was, all of them could become a Prime Law if your belief was strong enough.


    It sounded like an outlandish concept, forever altering a law and how it worked. But strangely enough, Liang Chen didn''t doubt what Zhao Xu said, he was after all aware of the fact that he was stretching the definition of poison with his earlier acts. At the same time, he also felt that things probably weren''t all that simple, at least not for others. After all, if what she said was correct then there was already a Prime Law altering the laws of light and darkness, but he had never heard of anyone using an ability similar to what this Uncle Mu used. So actually dredging out these new abilities was probably not as easy as dredging up the other more established functions contained within each law.


    "But...Let me give you a word of warning, or advice if you will. Prime Laws come with... let''s call it a price. You can consider it additional abilities, but I feel like calling it a price is better."


    Zhao Xu cut into Liang Chen''s thoughts, aiming to snuff them out before they could go anywhere worthwhile. Liang Chen listened calmly, it honestly wasn''t surprising that something that forced the multiverse to change came with a price.


    "Honestly, there''s no telling what abilities you can get, they''re generally tied to the Prime Law you create. You are forcing the universe to alter how one of its laws works after all, it''s only fitting that you receive some closer ties to that particular portion of the law after that. Taking Uncle Mu as an example again, his Prime Law of Redemption makes it so that he can see everything touched by either light or darkness within a few hundreds of thousands of kilometres around him, the man''s like a walking spy network. But should there be living beings within that range then he will be forced to witness their wrongdoings and the injuries they''ve inflicted, the same things he''d show them if he used his laws. And it''s not something he can turn off, it just happens automatically, he''s just had to learn to live with it. So if you take your poison to the Prime Law level, then you may have to get used to experiencing the anger and hatred of all the vestiges you come across, all that wrath will get concentrated into a nice little ball of memories for you."


    Zhao Xu spoke somewhat ominously, clearly trying to warn Liang Chen of what he might have to endure. But quite frankly, that price was far from enough to deter him. He was basically doing that already here in Purgatory''s Cradle, his poison spread throughout every city he entered, unravelling the souls of the inhabitants and laying bare their memories for him. Granted, the scale would probably be larger once he actually reached that point, but he was confident he would be able to handle it at that point.


    "Hmm, got it, thanks for the information and the warning. I can''t say that I have any more questions so you''re honestly free to go do whatever you want now. Sheng Liang, Yumao, could I ask you to handle the citizens here? I feel like I''m going to need a bit of time to recuperate."


    Liang Chen nodded his head and conveyed his thanks, his gaze sliding away from Li Zhao Xu once he got an answer to the questions he had at the moment. He had no reason, or intention, to keep her any longer, so he moved on to the second order of business here, eradication. And once that was done he could start making the preparations for handling Lao Ye, the inklings of a plan forming in the recesses of his mind.

 Chapter 327: The two sides of the coin.

    As long as he was in Purgatory''s Cradle, all that would remain in Liang Chen''s wake would be death and ruin. He was terribly exhausted after his battle with Tian Shenju and Li Zhao Xu, but that one fact wouldn''t change just because of something so small. Even if he somehow ended up so wounded that he couldn''t move, he still had two companions who were more than capable of taking over the eradication for him, especially with the sect''s strongest member dead.


    The once sprawling city had already been devastated as a result of the previous battle but now it almost looked like it had been abandoned for several years. Vines rose up from the ground and coiled around the buildings, the stone cracking in several spots thanks to the force the plants exerted.


    Bones were scattered about in a haphazard manner, small vines or thorns clinging onto some of the bones. There was no escape from Liang Chen, nor would there be any escape from Sheng Lian or Yumao. You could run, but the vines would reach you, you could hide but the darkness would find you. And in the end, you would perish, only the lucky ones able to even leave behind bones that could be buried. Death had descended on the city and rendered it silent, but that barely mattered to Liang Chen as he walked away from the city.


    "So, I take it that it''s not a coincidence that you''re heading in the same direction as me?"


    Liang Chen''s gaze was resting on Li Zhao Xu as he walked, a small part of his mind delving into his interspatial ring to take stock of the new wealth they had just acquired. He didn''t mind Shen Fei tagging along with him, despite their slight differences in ideology, Liang Chen was after all the reason he had entered this cradle to being with. But now Zhao Xu was also casually tagging along, chatting a bit with Shen Fei.


    "So you''re saying he''s got som...huh? I mean, no? Isn''t it obvious that it''s the opposite of a coincidence?"


    She cut herself off mid-sentence, her gaze shifting from Shen Fei to Liang Chen as she tilted her head somewhat curiously, almost as if she was confused by such an obvious question. Shen Fei tapped her on the shoulder when it became clear that she wasn''t going to keep talking, prodding her to give a somewhat clearer explanation. The two were a tad similar so it wasn''t really hard for Shen Fei to communicate with this girl who had beaten him brutally in the past.


    "Well, look at it like this. If I keep going as I have, I will be facing the Ocean''s Wrath and the other sects and stop there, I''ll leave this place and return to Father, probably without having learned a single thing. But if I latch onto your group then I can go as far as to Lao Ye himself, I may not fight him, but I''ll get to see you and him go toe to toe, maybe I''ll glean something from that. And in the case that even that fails then I''ll have this weakling as a backup plan. He seems to enjoy battles more than you so it''s not out of the question that I can learn something from him. The odds aren''t great, but having a 2% chance of success is always better than having just a 1% chance."


    She used her thumb to point at Shen Fei as she explained herself, not giving him any face as she called him a weakling right to his face. He cringed slightly, but it was a definitive fact that he had been brutally crushed, he hadn''t even forced her to use the other side of her law of heat. He was the defeated party and had thus lost the right to speak, he should just be quiet and perform his role as the clown.


    Liang Chen honestly wasn''t quite convinced by her reasons, was it really that important to learn about the joys of battle? But at the same time, he wasn''t honestly against her tagging along, she was a rare clean soul in this dirty and twisted land after all. But his sceptical thoughts still surfaced on his face, he wasn''t exactly trying to hide them, so Zhao Xu kept talking.


    "Normally I''d throw in a bit about how most people would be overjoyed at having such a beautiful and classy woman tagging along, but you seem so asexual that it may have the opposite effect so I won''t even waste my breath on it. Father has drilled the art of arrays into me so I won''t be humble, I''m better than most others, you''d be hardpressed to find someone at my level of strength that''s better than me at it! I''ve also got information, more than most. For example, aren''t you curious about how I managed to freeze the time in such a large area, and for people as strong as you and Tian Shenju, despite my relatively low cultivation?"


    Zhao Xu wasn''t an idiot, she understood the concept of equivalent exchange, sometimes you just had to give if you wanted to receive. She didn''t know Liang Chen all that well, but she had seen a few things during her battle with him so she was able to pinpoint a few things that he needed, whether he knew about it or not.


    "I wasn''t going to shoo you away either way, but now you''ve got my attention."


    Liang Chen pulled his mind out of his interspatial ring and focused fully on Li Zhao Xu as he spoke. He was heading out to hopefully increase his strength before he took on Lao Ye, if he could learn something from Zhao Xu then it would definitely be beneficial to him.


    "The reasoning is two-fold, incidental influence and self-fueling activity. The second one is the easiest to explain, the attack I used to freeze time almost fuels itself. I do it by drawing out all the heat in an area and lowering the temperature to a point where even time starts to halt. But all that heat, that energy, has to go somewhere, right? And that''s the self-fueling part, it all goes right to me and gets converted into pure energy that I can use to fuel the chill. I need to use an internal array Father drew to properly convert the heat to beneficial energy, but you seem to use a peculiar body cultivation technique so you should be able to figure out a different way to produce a similar effect."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Zhao Xu had gotten a front-row seat to Liang Chen''s body cultivation technique, a leg that had been torn off was regrown through just a bit of lightning, it was bizarre even to her. And it hadn''t even been his own lightning that helped him regrow it, it had been the lightning of his companion, Sheng Lian. As such, she could guess that he was probably able to use just about any type of lightning to achieve the same effect, using that to his advantage would be a great way to reduce the cost of his attacks.


    "As for the first reason, it''s a bit trickier. You see, I didn''t actually freeze time for you and Tian Shenju, you were never even my targets so I managed to save a massive amount of energy there. You''ve noticed the same when you use your law of time, right? Using it on just an area is much cheaper than trying to catch someone else with it, yeah?"


    She didn''t have the law of time, but just about all laws adhered to this particular principle. And it was only to be expected after all, living beings contained a lot more energy than just some empty space and stretches of land, trying to affect all that would always require more energy. Liang Chen had obviously experienced this several times already so he simply nodded his head Zhao Xu continuing her explanation after making sure that they were on the same page.


    "But you know, when it comes to certain laws, this principle can be used as a loophole. Take my usage for example. I never touched the heat in your body or tried to lower your temperature, but the air around you still got so cold that time ground to a halt. Now I didn''t technically try to use my law on you, but the air affected by my law still touched you, didn''t it? And if the air is so cold that time freezes, what do you think will happen to a human body when that same air touches them? Simple, the chill will creep into them on its own, that''s just how heat works. You were never targeted but still had to suffer the effects due to how the law works, Incidental Influence. Another example would be what you did to break the bones in my hand. You froze the time of that little bit of cloth and it managed to break my hand. It never targeted me, but I was still influenced by it. You get it? Sometimes you gotta target nothing to target someone."


    Zhao Xu''s index fingers were rubbing her temples as she spoke, it seemed like these weren''t entirely her own words but rather what someone else had taught her. In her case it was probably the Divine Emperor, the act of freezing time through heat may have been something he taught her to begin with. But whether or not it was her own words didn''t honestly matter in this scenario, it was the logic behind them that mattered.


    "Hmm... I see... it seems like I may have been a bit too ''focused''. That''s good information, thank you for sharing it."


    Liang Chen lowered his head in a grateful nod as he spoke, there was logic in the words that he couldn''t refute. It wasn''t like he had never used similar principles. The example she gave was one, and in his battle against Kuan Niu he had turned his poison into dust that he blew down his throat after he realized that he couldn''t infect him normally. But having used it off-handedly was different from using it properly, if he used it properly then he would definitely be able to have his laws show greater effect in some battles.


    "You''re surprisingly...simple, huh? Not sure if that makes you more or less dangerous."


    Li Zhao Xu looked slightly taken aback as Liang Chen lowered his head, the stronger a person was the higher their pride was and the less willing they were to lower their heads. Of course, that wasn''t the only reason she called him simple, the way he acted previously had also shown the same.


    But indeed, did that make him more or less dangerous? You could say that it made him less dangerous because you could avoid having him move by just not doing what he disagreed with. But at the same time it meant that he would move the moment you did what he disagreed with, he was like a wild dog that could bite down on your hand if you did a single wrong move. No intrigue, no schemes, just a straightforward bite that tore out your throat.


    "Fucking tell me about it. I once watched him march into what I thought was certain death just because he didn''t want the desires of some strangers to burn up before they could be fulfilled. It''s a simplicity to the point of arrogance, you''ll see it if you stick with him. That''s especially the case if you observe him when he''s in the outside world, you know, where he isn''t trying to murder just about everything that moves."


    Shen Fei couldn''t help but chime in as Li Zhao Xu came to her conclusion. He still vividly remembered how Liang Chen sought out the Stone-Soul King and fought him to the death just so he wouldn''t attack a city and kill a measly 12 million people. The thing that made that memory so vivid was the simplicity behind why he did it, how childishly simple and naive the reason was. It was a way of thinking that should have died out long ago when faced with the truth of the cultivation world.


    "Hmm, guess that actually puts him on the more dangerous side of the coin, it''ll be good to keep in mind. But on a different note, do you actually have a place in mind or are you just walking until you reach one of the next wrath sects?"


    Zhao Xu fondled her chin somewhat thoughtfully as she mentally noted it down. The fact that he could move for strangers meant that you didn''t just have to be careful about how you acted in front of him, he might track you down just because he learned of something you did to others. But she didn''t do more than note it down mentally, her father was the Divine Emperor, the scale of life and death that she was used to was something completely removed from what others knew.


    "Ocean''s Wrath, that''s my next target. The current me likely can''t handle Lao Ye so I need to get stronger. I''ve been forced to halt it for a while, but it''s about time that I give my body cultivation another push forward."


    Liang Chen didn''t have concrete information on the Ocean''s Wrath sect, at least not yet. But the information he needed was in the name, Ocean. They were the ones most likely to use water, the ones most likely to have water-based cultivation resources. Once he got his hands on them he would be able to advance his body cultivation again, especially if he also added in all the corpses that were piling up in his interspatial ring.


    He''d have to wait until he actually succeeded, but if things went according to plan then he would be able to take out the remaining wrath sects afterwards and then finally head to Lao Ye, to take out the eighth of the nine wraths.

 Chapter 328: The duty of wrath.

    "It doesn''t really give off the vibe of a sect graced with the Wrath moniker. But then again, did any of the other sects actually do?"


    Shen Fei''s head was slightly tilted as he gazed upon the sect, or rather island, that stretched out ahead of them. A small mass of land covered in light blue buildings, trees jutting up here and there to give the entire area a fresh appearance. The water that surrounded the island was perfectly calm, reflecting the sky and the edges of the island, not even the light breeze could move the surface of the water.


    Liang Chen and the others also stood around him, observing the quiet island that seemed to welcome them. Liang Chen''s eyes were a bit narrowed, as if he was trying to peer through the buildings and check out the centre of the island. Now that he was closer, he could feel it. This sect contained one of the rewards Purgatory had prepared for him.


    Before he reached the Sky''s Wrath sect, he had three rewards left. One of those rewards ended up pointing towards Li Zhao Xu, but the resonating feeling that indicated it had vanished after he talked with her so he guessed that the reward was a bit more abstract this time, be it the information she could provide or the background she could connect him with. And of the two left, one was tucked away here and the last one was hidden likely within either the Land''s Wrath or Abandoned Heart''s Wrath.


    "I wouldn''t let the calmness fool you, but you''ve probably already sniffed it out, haven''t you?"


    Zhao Xu gazed upon the city with unconcerned nonchalance, her pupils sliding towards Liang Chen as she spoke. And indeed, Liang Chen had already discovered the source of this calmness, the reason behind the eerie silence that covered the island. But then again, the reason behind it was something he was far more closely attuned to than Zhao Xu so perhaps that was only to be expected.


    "I know there wasn''t much to expect to begin with, but I still hope there aren''t too many like this in the future, it''s unpleasant because it''s uncertain."


    Liang Chen grumbled slightly as he stepped forward, a gentle gust of wind aiding him in crossing the natural moat that separated him from the island. The source of the silence became visible the moment he set foot on the island, the dark blue stone serving as the pavement was strangely soft beneath his feet.


    There was a desiccated corpse sprawled out on the ground in front of him, hands reaching for the water''s edge. This was the one that had managed to make it farthest, only a handful of steps away from the water that she hoped would give her safety, the water she had put her faith into. Death had already conquered this city, its reign so fresh that Liang Chen could still catch the scent of it in the air.


    The soft whooshing sound he heard as he headed for Sky''s Wrath was also present here, the angry howls of the deceased, was even stronger here than back there. The entire sect had died in anger, in throes of wrath and despair. And for once, Liang Chen hadn''t been the cause.


    "I wonder...what answer will you give me?"


    Liang Chen muttered again as he stepped past the desiccated corpse, drained of both moisture and energy. The city was dead, its inhabitants drained of every last drop. But there was one vibrant source of life still present in the depths of the city, a single living being brimming with so much energy that it felt like the air would start trembling. But the energy didn''t feel entirely cohesive, it felt like a mismatch of different types that had just been haphazardly stitched together.


    Liang Chen didn''t rush as he strode through the city, he moved at a calm pace, his soul already stretching outwards and connecting with the vengeful vestiges that filled this twisted land. Corpse after corpse became visible as his group moved through the city, some seemed like they had died while going about their business while others looked more like the first corpse he had seen, eternally frozen in a final desperate attempt to escape. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    It took the group a bit of time to reach the centre of the city, what should have once been a sprawling plaza decorating the front of a grand sect. But the sect had been torn down, the debris that remained of it strewn about the plaza. Some of the chunks had smashed into the ground so hard that they had gouged out the stone and dug trenches through the streets, there were even a few holes that seemed like they pierced all the way through the island, a bit of fresh cold water sloshing about within them.


    And sitting amongst the rubble was the sole source of lifeforce and energy on this island, barring Liang Chen''s group. It was a tall woman with skin so tanned it had turned dark, a head full of unruly blonde hair and a pair of striking blue eyes. She was rather muscular, both her arms bare thanks to the fact that her blue robe had its sleeves torn off at the shoulder. Some of her veins were bulging slightly due to all the energy coursing through her body but she didn''t seem to let it bother her as she focused her gaze on Liang Chen.


    "You''ve come. I was curious if you would try to go directly for Lao Ye or if you would try to first take out the remaining sects, it seems like you ended up being the thorough type. That''s good."


    The woman''s voice was a bit rough, strained even, it was as if she was tightening her throat at all times. Shen Fei and Zhao Xu studied the woman somewhat curiously, stepping back at the same time to indicate that they had no intentions of getting involved in the battle. Liang Chen''s gaze wasn''t focused solely on the woman, occasionally sweeping about to inspect the destruction.


    "I''m a bit surprised that you decided to kill them all. I would have expected evacuation to be the first counter-measure, that way there would at least be a chance for the sect to rebuild in the future."


    The disciples were the lifeblood of the sect, no sect could function without disciples. Yet this woman had torn down the headquarters of her own sect and brought ruin to her own disciples, it was a strange sight even in a land as twisted as this one. He had honestly stopped hoping that there would be people worth sparing here, but having them all die without being able to make sure still left him somewhat uneasy.


    "Counter-measure? I see, you still don''t fully understand us, you wouldn''t use words like that if you did."


    The woman shook her head as she spoke, her movements almost a bit sad. He brought ruin to them, he tore them down one by one. But in the end, he didn''t actually understand them, and in turn, perhaps they didn''t understand him. They just fought without understanding each other, killed without knowing, they really were perfect for this land.


    "Yi Ze Ruan, Sect Master of the Ocean''s Wrath and the one who mourns the diseased waters."


    The woman, Yi Ze, stood up and placed her fists against each other, a simple greeting without a hint of flourish. She didn''t look as if she was about to partake in a battle to the death, nor did she look like she had just torn down her own sect. She looked calm, accepting, almost as if this moment was one she had known about and awaited for countless years already.


    "Liang Chen, Sect Master of the Storm Wolf sect."


    For the first time since he entered this ruined land, Liang Chen introduced himself, returned the greeting he was given. Well, he had introduced himself to Li Zhao Xu at this point already, but it wasn''t quite the same. Yi Ze gave a slow nod of her head as Liang Chen introduced himself, lifting the large two-headed axe that was resting against the stone rubble at her side.


    "Liang Chen... It seems like I was one of the few who got the honour of receiving an introduction. But very well. Liang Chen, let me tell you something. In our sects, there will never be counter-measures for when we get attacked, for when someone who can threaten our existence arrives."


    She hoisted the axe against her shoulder as she spoke, what remained of the stone beneath her feet creaking thanks to the weight of the weapon. The patchwork of energy coursing through her body started to move, an additional surge of energy rising from the waters beneath and around the island, she clearly wasn''t going to try something as foolish as hiding some cards in hopes that she could win without them.


    "We are the wrath sects, our duty, our reason for existing, it is all to feed and revitalize Purgatory with the death she desires. When we can, we use the deaths of others. But when the time comes, we shall use our own, that is what it means to belong to the wrath sects."

 Chapter 329: The ocean Vs The storm.

    Liang Chen and Yi Ze Ruan stood opposite of each other, one hoisting her large axe while the other prepared his spear. Blurry outlines started to shimmer into existence throughout the city, rising from the ground and the desiccated corpses like hazy mist. Yi Ze had pulled out all her own trump cards right from the get-go so there was no way that Liang Chen would keep too many of his own cards hidden.


    He once again found himself unable to use the Rain-Caller''s Dance, Yi Ze was radiating so much energy that it was interfering with the surrounding Qi. But he was confident. He could win, he would win. Confidence born from bloodshed, confidence born from striding through battlefield after battlefield, the confidence of the strong.


    "The souls of the deceased? If I recall correctly then this should be the speciality of the Arbiter of Death, and even then he can only do it due to mixing in his law of life in a specific manner... are you drawing out the deathly energy lingering in the land?"


    Yi Ze''s gaze swam across the land around her, inspecting the hazy figures that now dotted the city as they shimmered in and out of existence. She didn''t know Liang Chen''s laws, but the fact that an outline rose from each of the sect members she had killed gave her enough information to produce a guess. But the figures looked a bit different from the recording she had seen in the past so she couldn''t honestly say that she was confident in her original guess.


    "They''re angry, Yi Ze, angrier than I would have thought. You, this sect, this land, the duty you gave them, they hate all of it, they want it all to burn. It seems like you were the only one who truly believed in that ''duty'' of yours."


    Liang Chen didn''t answer her question, his sombre gaze drifting from outline to outline. The vestiges he had dredged up were filled with far more anger and hatred than he had expected after looking at the vestiges he pulled out in the Sky''s Wrath sect. Was their hatred that much greater or was it just because they had died far more recently?


    If he had to compare their hatred to anything then he would have to compare it to the one he showed in the past. The fury he burned with after his parents were executed, the fury that burned him as he jumped into a pool of Demonic beast blood. He craved death, vengeance no matter the cost. Reckless, dangerous, sad.


    "You ca...!?"


    Yi Ze''s words were forcibly cut off as she suddenly recoiled, her free hand clutching the side of her head. The anger of the dead, the memories that birthed them, it all became poison that seeped into her body, the sheer magnitude of the anger amplifying the poison that tugged at her sense of self. Some of the discordant energy coursing through her flickered, escaping her grasp as it faded into the surroundings and vanished.


    "...I see, you weren''t joking. The grudges of the dead, is it? But this won''t be enough, I won''t let the grudges of some people who couldn''t accept their duty stop me here."


    Yi Ze''s voice was a bit rough as she removed her hand from her head, the veins on her temples pulsating as they bulged. Unseen energy started to flow within her head and chest, the familiar aura of Anima Essence surfacing from within her.


    Contrary to her muscular appearance it seemed like she actually dual-cultivated Qi and soul. But whether or not this would end up being a blessing or a curse remained to be seen, if her Anima Essence wasn''t strong enough to utterly crush Liang Chen''s then she would still end up slowly getting invaded by the laws that he used to alter his soul. But she had no way of knowing that so she grasped her weapon with both her hands and readied it.


    "Here I come, Liang Chen, let death breed retribution."


    Yi Ze stomped the ground heavily as she finished her words, the earth crumbling and tearing apart the vines that were just about to burst out from beneath her. She shot forward like a cannonball, her every step leaving deep marks in the earth. Her discordant energy was rapidly depleted as she charged, but the surge of energy that came from the water all around them constantly flowed into her to keep her topped up.


    She moved far faster than Liang Chen had first anticipated, her large axe swinging down upon him a mere instant after she first stomped the ground. Liang Chen took half a step back to gain the appropriate distance and then swept his spear upwards, aiming to bisect Yi Ze with a quick slash before her axe could reach him.


    But perhaps as expected, there was no way their battle would be that easy. Yi Ze mimicked his actions, taking a step back with surprising nimbleness and ensuring that her descending axe was now heading straight for his spear. The two weapons collided with a loud ringing sound, Liang Chen''s eyes quickly narrowing.


    His attack was rapidly losing strength in the face of Yi Ze''s axe, he could feel his arm slowly sinking downwards. His spear was bending violently beneath the axehead, it looked like it would snap in half, and that was even with his arm slowly sinking downwards due to the loss of strength.


    The shadows cast by her slightly raised arms suddenly wiggled, turning inwards as they became spears that tried to dig into her body. But the attack only managed to scratch her skin before it was stopped, it was as if Yumao''s attack lacked over half the strength it usually had.


    Liang Chen didn''t know if this weapon of his, forged by the Bloodwind Code, could actually break, but he wasn''t interested in keeping this temporary stalemate going to find out. He moved his arm sideways and used his other hand to give the shaft of the spear a light hit, flicking the spear out from underneath Yi Ze''s axe and immediately pushing it forward.


    The axe crashed into the ground since it lost what was holding it back, large chunks of dirt getting tossed around as the ground was gouged out. The tip of Liang Chen''s spear quickly approached Yi Ze, but he quickly experienced the same sensation of losing strength again. As a result, while his spear managed to dig into her chest, it didn''t even retain enough strength to reach her ribs.


    He thought about unleashing some lightning, but Yi Ze was already moving forward again, twisting her torso so that the spearhead would slide out of her chest. He gave up on using lightning and instead unleashed a bit of poison before he hopped to the side, the large axe tearing through the air right beside him.


    But Yi Ze had evidently expected this, her foot already stomping down by the time Liang Chen stepped aside. The ground around them had been all torn up so she was practically just stomping empty air and loose chunks that were still in the process of flying away. But the stomp still unleashed a great deal of energy, space cracking as her foot stomped it and she stepped forward.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    One of her hands let go of the weapon and swept out sideways, smashing into the spear shaft that Liang Chen raised in defence. The spear bent once again thanks to the immense strength in Yi Ze''s arm, the power he put into his defence melted away like snow beneath the sun and the spear smashed into him as a result.


    His feet lost contact with the ground and the bones in his arm shattered as he was flung away with such force that he crashed through two buildings that stood at the edge of the destruction that Yi Ze had caused before he came here. He stabilized himself right after he passed through the second building, pushing out his unbroken arm and giving his wrist a light twist.


    The wind responded to his actions, pushing against the incoming Yi Ze and spinning slightly to redirect her. She was pushed aside enough that she wouldn''t smash directly into him, but she was able to stomp the ground heavily and sharply alter her direction shortly after, now coming at him from the side with her axe raised.


    Liang Chen frowned slightly at the sheer speed with which she was able to change her direction, the power of the wind also hadn''t been satisfactory so she wasn''t pushed as much off-course as he wanted. But he too was quick to react, the poison he had injected her with earlier kicking into action, a trace amount of the law of time helping it act even quicker.


    Yi Ze suddenly found herself extremely light-headed, her vision blurred for a second as she found herself unable to properly control her body. Her legs stumbled and she tripped, a glittering lotus rising from beneath her just as she lost her footing. The lotus exploded right before it touched her, multicoloured lightning and hazy black fog scattering through the area with a thunderous sound.


    She was launched into the air by the explosion, her expression twisting as the poison dug up from the surrounding vestiges started to really affect her again thanks to the opening. But Yumao appeared above her before she could properly gather herself again. He smashed his tail downwards, seemingly not trusting that the darkness he could attack with would be able to retain enough strength.


    He put all his weight into the tail and slammed it into Yi Ze''s back, sending her crashing down with such force that she created a crater as she landed. The crater was deep enough that some of the water from beneath the island managed to leak through, slowly filling it as she laid at the bottom, gazing up at Liang Chen.


    "That poison, it was a blood-thinning one, wasn''t it? If I remember correctly, doesn''t the Thousand Flowers Valley sect use a poison like that? Who was the leader again, Dao Shui? Meng Bao? They used lightning and poison and used that very same poison."


    Yi Ze had an excellent grasp of her own body so she was able to instantly figure out why she suddenly got so light-headed. Something had entered her body and thinned her blood, depriving her brain of the oxygen it needed to properly control her body. It didn''t necessarily have to be poison, but the way it worked was a bit familiar to her since she had once made a journey similar to Liang Chen''s.


    "It was Meng Bao."


    Liang Chen gave half an answer to her question, but that alone honestly served as a proper answer. Liang Chen had the law of poison himself but had also been troubled a bit by Meng Bao''s blood thinning and coagulating poisons, it was probably even worse for Yi Ze. But even so, she laughed somewhat quietly after he answered.


    "I see, so their legacy got to live on even after their fall. What a joyous thing, their deaths held meaning for Purgatory and their lives held meaning for you. Their existence was not in vain, what a blessed fate."


    Her quiet laugh was punctuated with an equally quiet sigh, its meaning known only to her. She sat up in the water, the dim clear blue liquid pouring strength into her body as she pushed her arm forward. Her fist collided with a bolt of dim violet lightning, the impact so strong that it caused the air to ripple as the lightning scattered.


    But there was no way she could take the violet lightning on with just her body like that and get out unscathed, some of the arcs had burned themselves into her arm and sent waves of distracting pain racing through her body. She could only bear the pain as she hopped up into a standing position and stomped down once more, crushing the gleaming lotus that was trying to grow.


    She managed to crush it before it fully grew, but one of the thorns still lodged itself into her leg, the flow of blood around it becoming chaotic and making it harder for her to control her leg. Sheng Lian and Yumao were acutely aware of the fact that getting involved in a fight like this was dangerous, that was why they held themselves back and focused on ranged support unless they had a good chance.


    Yi Ze rose into the sky as the power of her stomp was unleashed, expanding the crater and revealing the waters beneath. She stomped the empty air to change the direction of her ascent, shifting it into a forwards charge aiming directly for Liang Chen. She didn''t know when or how, but the arm that she had broken had repaired itself, pushing forwards the spear he was grasping.


    The spear met the axe she sent out in an upwards slash, her foot stomping the ground once more as she unleashed another great burst of energy. Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed again as the spear and axe collided, his weapon losing strength and trembling fiercely as it was pushed aside. Yi Ze didn''t let go of this chance, she didn''t even lower her weapon and instead just pushed out her shoulder as she continued her charge.


    Another burst of energy accelerated her so much that she didn''t give Liang Chen the time to react, barreling into him with all her might. She could feel his chest caving in under her shoulder, his ribs practically disintegrated as he was pushed back. A good bit of blood rushed out from his mouth as he flew back, his eyes flashing with a violent light as he brought his spear down again.


    Time coiled around his spearhead, flowing in opposite directions as it came crashing down upon Yi Ze. She instinctively sensed danger from the attack so she hurriedly dodged to the side. But the attack was aimed at the extended shoulder so it was a bit hard for her to get it out of the way in time.


    The weapon came down upon the edge of her shoulder, cleaving through her flesh and shearing away a portion of it. The attack reached the bone this time, laying it bare as her flesh was flayed away by the spear and more of the discordant energy coursing through her escaped her grasp and faded away. A grunt of pain escaped her as her expression darkened, her foot stomping the ground again as she rushed forward. Dragging things out was no longer a viable option since Liang Chen had found a way to penetrate her defence.


    She stepped almost into Liang Chen''s bosom, keeping pace with him as he was flying back. She swept her axe out sideways and aimed at his hips, heavily stomping the ground and expending her energy with each step she took. Liang Chen gathered his law of time again and infused it into a blast of wind that he pushed down upon the incoming axe to push it away.


    But another mouthful of blood escaped him at that moment, loosening his control over the laws and rendering the blast of wind too unstable to have much effect. He was forced to hastily dodge, sending a gust of wind smashing into his legs to push himself into a horizontal position that would make the axe sweep beneath him.


    Yi Ze quickly reacted, stomping once again as she put all her force into her arms and brought the axe upwards. The sharp edges were still pointed sideways so Liang Chen didn''t end up getting sliced in twain, but the flat side of the head still smashed into his waist. His bones crumbled under the force and he was sent high into the air, his blood crackling as it scattered through the air.


    Yi Ze stomped the ground and sent herself shooting towards Liang Chen, her flayed arm was burning with pain, as was the arm that had lightning burned into it. The pangs of pain made her lose control of the discordant energy, the poison dug out by the vestiges creeping ever closer to her soul. She wasn''t a body cultivator so she would have to rely on pills to heal her wounds, but there just wasn''t enough time to do that during a battle like this so she could only push her offence to the extreme.

 Chapter 330: An offering to Purgatory.

    Liang Chen grit his teeth and corrected his position to block Yi Ze. The wounds suffered by his body were honestly things he considered negligible, his flesh and bones could be easily restored thanks to his body cultivation. But the problem was his organs. Yi Ze hit him with such force that it was inevitable that his organs would suffer from the impact, he could even feel that his intestines had ruptured somewhat.


    And in that laid the problem. His organs had yet to be converted into his unique law, repairing them wasn''t as easy as it was for the rest of his body. True, he could use his abundant life force to heal the injuries, but it was far from as fast and efficient as it was for the rest of his body. He would need a bit of time, and that was evidently something that Yi Ze would not give him now that he had discovered the trick to her defence.


    He swept his spear towards the incoming axe, the laws of time and wind coiling around it to further enhance its power. The axe was indeed pushed aside, but it seemed like that had been Yi Ze''s plan all along. She rushed forward before her axe was even fully pushed aside, one of her hands letting go as she curled it into a fist and smashed it into Liang Chen''s chest.


    There was quite a bit of force behind the attack, but not even close to what any of her previous attacks had amounted to. No, what came instead of the force was her Anima Essence and soul, rushing into his soul and scouring through it as if it was a dagger seeking for the heart it could plunge into.


    "Gh!"


    But the one who ended up grunting in pain wasn''t Liang Chen, it was Yi Ze. Liang Chen had technically left the realms of a Sebettu, but he still had their innate technique, the Bloody Soul Sea technique. Every time he killed something he would devour a portion of their soul and use it to strengthen his own. It couldn''t be used to increase his soul cultivation, but it drastically improved the strength and resiliency of his soul and Anima Essence.


    And if there was one thing Liang Chen had done plenty of then it was killing, especially after he entered Purgatory''s Cradle. His soul was his strongest aspect, and now Yi Ze got to experience the full force of it, her body instinctively recoiling and causing her to fall down to the ground.


    When she touched his soul, she saw the sorrow of a child. A crying child seething with wrath, a boy who cursed the heavens, cursed the world as he delved into blood. And beyond that, she saw death, the end of life. From small insects to critters, from critters to beasts, from beasts to kings, and from kings to gods.


    Plants rotted away, people rotted away, cities died, countries turned to dust, and finally, even planets died. They went out one by one, the brilliant night sky turning dimmer with each day. And in the end, the sky turned dark, not a single star left to illuminate it. Nothing was born, nothing was saved, all that remained, in the end, was nothing, a great big void that stood all alone in its sorrow. That was the death she saw. Her own, the world''s, the death of existence.


    A burst of pain brought her mind back to reality, out from that great nothingness dripping with sorrow. She had crashed into the ground before she knew it, a thorny vine taking this chance to dig into her body and run through her veins. She could feel it sucking her blood, threads of darkness stitching themselves into her body as they tied her down.


    She turned her gaze towards the sky, but there was no great big emptiness above her, no night sky devoid of stars. There was just Liang Chen, the bright blue sky serving as his backdrop as he corrected his position and used this acquired time to fix his internal wounds.


    "This...I almost find this funny. To have your own trump card become your downfall, it is almost enough to make someone laugh. That''s a strange soul you got there, vicious even. I admit my loss, Liang Chen. The combined strength of my Ocean''s Wrath, you beat it. But I''m not done just yet."


    Yi Ze smiled somewhat mirthlessly as she spoke. She could feel it in her soul, that moment of contact between her and his soul had infected her with something. Her soul was decaying before her very eyes, her existence was fading with each passing second. That sad and empty nothingness she had seen had followed her back into her body, and now it was her turn to go there.


    Even if she could hold it back by sheer force, it would leave her unable to deal with the poison and memories dug up from the vestiges, it would invade her mind and take away her control over the discordant energy. The dead wanted their vengeance, they wanted their energy back. But when you are ready to accept your own death you tend to prepare a thing or two beforehand, and there was no better time for her to release it than right now.


    "Yumao, put them away."


    Liang Chen removed his interspatial ring and tossed it away as he spoke, Yi Ze''s words filled him with an uneasy sensation. Yumao immediately snatched up the interspatial ring and picked up Sheng Lian, Li Zhao Xu, and Shen Fei, quickly shuffling them into the interspatial ring before he returned to Liang Chen and also entered the ring. The ring landed in Liang Chen''s hand just as Yi Ze''s final trump card, the last attack she would ever launch, was unleashed.


    The island started to tremble violently, cracks extending across the entire patch of land as the buildings collapsed and crumbled. Now that she was dredging it up, he could feel it. Every time she stomped the ground, every time she expended a great amount of energy, it had all been to prepare for this attack. All the energy she had sent into the island, all the power she had gathered in it, all of it was blending with the final bits of power she drew from the water.


    All the power erupted at once. Like a volcano exploding or a geyser bursting, all the energy roared as it shot towards the sky. And the island that was forced to house the power was brought along. The entire island was torn from the water and launched into the sky, falling apart as it was unable to withstand the immense force that pushed it up. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The shrapnel filled Liang Chen''s entire vision, it seemed to cover the entire earth as it rose skyward and launched itself at him. This was Yi Ze''s final trump card. She took her sect, an island bordering on the size of a country, and threw it all at him so that he would join her in death.


    But would Liang Chen just accept something like that? The answer to that question was obviously no.


    "I told you, Yi Ze, they are angry at you. You are the Ocean''s Wrath, so you should respond to the wrath of your disciples."


    Liang Chen put away his spear as he spoke, stretching out his arm as if he was extending it towards the vestiges that still filled the world around him. They were the poison that he had dredged up, the wrath of the deceased, they were his poison. But was this really the only form his poison had?


    The hatred, the anger, the desire for vengeance, the darkness lurking within the vestiges were all pulled out, a sinister poison to taint the soul. But under Liang Chen''s control, the poison was forced to change. That unseen yet sinister thing slowly started to condense, a hazy white mist filling the world.


    But that wasn''t enough, not yet, so he kept going. More and more energy was poured out from him and into the poison, the mist concentrating further. And then, the first droplet appeared, a bleak white drop just hanging in the air. One became two and two became four, droplet after droplet appearing in the air as the mist vanished. Enough drops to fill a cup, then a waterskin, then a bucket, then a wagon, a house, a lake, a river.


    The number of droplets increased exponentially, beneath was a clear blue ocean while above was a dim white one, two oceans standing in stark contrast. The vestiges vanished one by one, their everything had been pulled out and turned into poison, their wrath now left in Liang Chen''s hands.


    "Go."


    Liang Chen muttered a single word, his face almost as pale as the poison floating above him. The white ocean, the soul-formed poison turned corporeal, dropped down as it followed his orders, descending upon the rising island and its shrapnel. His white poison was his strongest, it worked by liquefying the bonds that kept cells and the like together, humans would be turned into nothing but a puddle should they suffer its effect.


    But this ocean wasn''t formed from just that poison, he had fused in his law of time, his law of death, and his law of rot, all to ensure that it would have full effect on the rising landmass. And indeed, the poison splashed the island and its shrapnel, the vegetation rotting and dissolving, the stone and earth withering and fading to sand and finally to dust.


    In the end, the massive landmass faded from existence and the white poison landed in the clear blue ocean. The water hissed and sputtered, but the poison and the laws fused into it proved stronger. The clear water was swallowed by the poison, at first just turning dim and sour, but eventually, it too faded away. Yi Ze''s ocean had collided with his, and in the end, only his remained, a poisonous liquid that rendered the place inhabitable.


    There were only two small lives left in this place, Liang Chen who was hovering in the sky and Yi Ze, who had been flung away by the eruption of the island, luckily pushing her away from the path of the poisonous ocean. Liang Chen descended from the sky, landing next to the now white water as he gazed upon Yi Ze.


    "It''s a shame. Had you come here earlier, or had you just been born here, then you could have become our 10th Wrath. Perhaps we''d even be able to extend beyond this cradle at that point, Purgatory''s revival would have been that much closer."


    Yi Ze didn''t even try to sit up as she laid there, she just spoke calmly and quietly. She was weary. She had done her part, both in life and now in death, now it was her turn to rest. But luckily for her, there was someone here that could take over her duty. Although whether or not he knew it himself was unknown.


    "Join you? No, I don''t think that would ever happen, even if we had met earlier. We are both wrath, but our ends are different, our ideologies."


    Liang Chen spoke as he slowly walked forward, he didn''t think that there was ever a time in his life where he would have been in the mental place needed to join the Wrath sects. The goal he sought was simply too different from what they sought.


    "Do you remember what I said earlier? In the end, you still don''t fully understand us. Neither our goals nor our emotions. It''s too late for anything else, but have a talk with Lao Ye, acquire that understanding."


    Yi Ze smiled humourlessly again, weakly shaking her head. He didn''t understand them and they didn''t understand him, they just fought and killed each other without understanding the other. But now, now Yi Ze understood him slightly, she had dug into his soul and gotten to catch a glimpse of him. But it was already too late, that possible 10th Wrath, the Heaven''s Wrath sect would never be born in this land.


    Liang Chen could not read her thoughts, he hadn''t been able to unravel her soul from the very start since it was too strong. So he didn''t know her thoughts, what went through her mind, he simply stopped at her side and brought out his spear again.


    "Why did you never use your law of water?"


    Ye Zi was the lord of Ocean''s Wrath, the Nine Wraths Lamentation that she used could draw power directly from the water and fuel it into her. And looking at the desiccated corpses it seemed like she could also draw out power from the water within your body and take it for herself, leading to the discordant power that had coursed throughout her body. But even so, she had never used the law of water against him, never controlled the water around the island.


    "Because I don''t have it. The sect masters aren''t chosen based on their laws, we''re chosen solely based on strength and how compatible we are with the lamentation. No, I''m not like you, Li...Storm Lord, I don''t have the luxury of multiple laws. All I have is my law of Power. It was enough to reach this point, but it seems like it wasn''t enough to stop you."


    The truth was much simpler than Liang Chen had expected, Yi Ze simply didn''t have any other laws. She had put her everything into power, controlling both her own and her enemy''s. That was how she was able to defend against so many attacks, she surrounded herself in a miniature domain that increased her own power while lowering the power of everything else that entered it.


    And it had worked excellently, even Liang Chen''s attacks lost a lot of power under the effect of her domain. But once he figured it out, that was it. With time flowing in opposite directions around his weapon, the concentration Yi Ze needed to maintain her domain rose drastically, people simply weren''t used to time moving differently like that. And in the heat of battle, doing something like that was exceedingly hard so she wasn''t able to cope.


    "Goodbye, Storm Lord. The path of the world won''t change much whether it''s yours or Lao Ye''s Wrath wins out in the end, but I''ll watch on from the other side. Show me what ending is in store for Purgatory, for our Wraths and lamentations."


    Yi Ze showed a final smile, the same calm and accepting smile she had shown when Liang Chen first arrived here. And then she used the last bit of her strength, her own lifeforce converted into Qi, to shatter what little remained of her soul. It was her death, her offering to Purgatory, and she would give it with her own hands.

 Chapter 331: Onwards to new heights.

    Liang Chen slumped down next to Yi Ze after she ended her own life. His legs simply gave out on him now that the battle was over and the tension was lifted, his exhaustion was catching up with him. Turning the poison born from emotions physical had taken far more energy than turning a normal soul-based poison physical, it probably had something to do with it being an embryonic Prime law.


    "You guys... Just stay in there for a while, won''t you?"


    He muttered to himself as he tinkered with his interspatial ring, activating the function that slowed down time inside of it. He didn''t want Li Zhao Xu and the others to get antsy and nag about coming out just yet, he wanted a moment to catch his breath, a few minutes of silence and calm.


    So he just sat there, a solitary figure in the ruined land. Gone was the picturesque island and the tranquil ocean, taking their place was torn up land and a pale white ocean spreading an unnaturally sweet and sickly smell.


    It was a scene that Liang Chen was disappointingly familiar with at this point, a city brought to ruin and an untold number of lives uprooted and erased. If he took the previous cities as the average then there would probably only be around one or two people worth sparing here, and that was if he was lucky. Without a doubt, several thousands of sinners, scum worthy of death, had fallen here. They didn''t die by his hand, but they undoubtedly died due to him.


    But even so, he couldn''t honestly say that he was happy about it. That exhilaration he felt back in the day when he first stepped onto this path, when he killed his first group of sinners and hardened his determination, it was nowhere to be found. But he didn''t feel empty either, he just felt weary and a bit forlorn.


    How many had he killed by now? It was a bit of a pointless question, he actually knew the answer well. He remembered all his kills, he knew every soul he hoisted onto his shoulders. It was a number that felt exaggeratedly high, it was to the point that he almost felt like laughing whenever he tried to say it out loud.


    But even so, the scenery he saw whenever he turned his head remained the same. People went about their business as always, some lived their lives peacefully while others had the misfortune of getting dragged down by someone else''s sin. How many did he have to kill to make a true difference? Would he have to leave this twisted place before he could actually hope to get anywhere close to making a difference or was the outside actually as twisted as this place, he just hadn''t gotten to see it yet?


    And above all that, what did they feel? When they dragged someone else down, did they feel exhilaration because of it? Did it bore them? Or did they perhaps not feel a thing at all, was it just another number to them? What were they thinking, did they believe that it was worth it as long as they could gain something, that it didn''t matter in the grand scheme of things? He couldn''t understand the people he killed, the sin he fought against.


    Wherever he turned, he saw the same thing. Sin he couldn''t understand, people whose thoughts didn''t make sense to him. And no matter how much he worked, their numbers never seemed to dwindle, the things he didn''t understand simply kept swimming around him, mocking his attempts at erasing them. The constant bloodshed, the seemingly bottomless desire for the pain of others, it made him weary. The number of people willing to do it, the number of people who happily forsook all others for their own pleasure and gain, it made him bitter and forlorn.


    So he sat there, the death he sowed his only companion as he gaze upon the ruin he brought. He breathed in the sickly scent of the poison, the decay that now quietly ate away at the land beneath the surface of the white ocean. He was tired. He was sad. And perhaps, somewhere deep within, there was a part of him that just wanted it all to finally come to an end.


    "But...So what?"


    Yes, so what? He was tired and he was sad, but should he just stop because of that? Yes, there may be a part of him that just wanted it all to end, but that was just what it meant to be human. He had chosen this path, his feet had brought him onto it, and he would see it through to the end. And above all, he still remembered the smiles.


    Moonset city. When he left to fight the Stone-Soul King, 12 million people had been left in that city, 12 million people that would have died if he hadn''t stepped forward. Shen Fei called it a drop in the ocean, a number so low it didn''t matter to the heartless multiverse. But it wasn''t a drop in the ocean to them, and it hadn''t been a drop in the ocean to Liang Chen. And the end result was that they got to smile, the children got to laugh and the parents got to cry in relief, they got to be happy for at least another day, they got to smile.


    He spat out a heavy breath, temporarily forcing out the sorrow and the weariness with it. Those two emotions would probably cling to him for as long as he kept moving down this path, they marked him as human so perhaps he should be more worried about the day he stopped feeling them. But as long as the happiness inherent in those smiles was brighter than the bleak sorrow, he would be assured that they were emotions worth bearing.


    "Now then... what do you have for me?"


    Liang Chen slowly rose from his seated position, casting a glance at Yi Ze''s body. Purgatory had pointed him here for a reward, but Yi Ze was all that remained of her sect. There hadn''t been anything like a secret room, like the one that Wyvern''s Wrath had, so he guessed that she likely had it on her. He removed the interspatial belt she had tied around her waist and sent his mind into it, and sure enough, he found his bounty before long.


    "Ought to be you, no?"


    He couldn''t be confident that the item he found was actually what Purgatory had pointed him towards, the resonating sensation vanished the moment he set foot on the island. But the item in question radiated an aura far beyond anything else in the interspatial ring, just touching it with his mind made him feel as if he was standing at the bottom of a crystal clear ocean.


    The object he pulled out from the interspatial ring was a weapon, a sword to be exact. The handle was made from gnarled wood still covered in bark, it was rough and irritating to the touch. The blade looked to be made from normal metal, although it was unlikely that it was indeed just normal metal, and it was polished until it resembled a mirror. But the true treasure, the heart of the blade, was the gem embedded in the handle, right where the blade and handle met.


    It was a strange gem, from one angle it looked crystal clear, like glass, while another angle made it look as deep blue as the ocean itself. Something that looked like irregular blue veins stretched out from the gem and spread across the sword, as if the gem was trying to taint it with its own colour.


    "...Things would have been quite different if she used you..."


    Liang Chen''s eyes couldn''t help but narrow as he looked at the weapon, or rather the gem. All the aura radiating from the weapon came from this gem, it alone seemed to hold more water-based energy than the entire ocean around the island used to. Luckily, Yi Ze didn''t have the law of water, nor was she proficient with a sword, otherwise things may have gone terribly different.


    "Now then...How to approach the next step..."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Liang Chen had a plan, that was why he had specifically chosen this sect. He came here for water-based cultivation materials so that he could advance his body cultivation. He had a fair bit of wind and lightning-based cultivation resources from before, but water he was a bit scraped for, and what he lacked he could make up for using the excessive number of corpses he had on hand.


    That had been his original plan, absorb the resources and use the Chaos King technique on the corpses to fill in any energy he was missing. But there was another factor he could take advantage of now, Li Zhao Xu. He hadn''t expected her to join him after their first meeting, but since she was with him now there was a chance he could take advantage of her array knowledge.


    "Wouldn''t hurt to ask at the very least."


    The first step would obviously be that, asking her if she would be willing to, or even could, help him. So he swiped his interspatial ring and brought of the non-disciples currently residing in his ring, Yumao, Sheng Lian, Li Zhao Xu, and Shen Fei. The four appeared a few steps away from him, Zhao Xu turning her head somewhat curiously right away.


    "Aaaannnddd, we''re out! Whatdya know, the scenery''s gotten a little change. Was the previous calm not good enough for you?"


    She didn''t even seem shocked at the fact that he had an item he could store living beings in, probably a perk of coming from an exalted background. As for her question, Liang Chen didn''t even need to give an answer, Shen Fei took on that duty for him with a shrug and a somewhat bitter smirk.


    "Yeah, I think that''s just how he is. I haven''t gotten to see it for myself yet, but I''ve heard a few smatterings of rumours that he may have gone a bit wild in the previous cities as well. That''s what ya get when your given role is in the Weapon-category."


    Role, the baseline of Shen Fei''s belief and lifestyle, it was what pushed him to act as he did. He was born and given his Authority because his Universe wanted some entertainment, a toy to make it laugh. So that was how he saw the world, nothing but people given roles. And Liang Chen''s role was a weapon, but whether it was one born out of necessity or twisted enjoyment wasn''t something he knew just yet.


    "Ah, so it''s just natural to him, got it."


    Zhao Xu didn''t seem like she knew quite what Shen Fei meant when he said role or weapon-category, but she honestly didn''t seem to care that much either as she just glossed over it. Liang Chen also chose to just gloss over it, shaking his head for a second before he turned to Zhao Xu with his inquiry.


    "Oh, good lor... Forget it. Zhao Xu, do you happen to know any arrays that can concentrate specific elemental energies in one place? More specifically, water, wind, and lightning?"


    He would technically also need the laws of Time and Void to further his body cultivation, but arrays dealing with Time were far rarer than others. As for Void, he doubted that there were even arrays dabbling in that law so he would have to supply those two on his own. Luckily, those two were much easier to get a hold of, at least for him. Zhao Xu tilted her head slightly at his question, as if he was asking something painfully obvious.


    "Yeah? They''re pretty standard in the attack category, I can draw anything from intermediate to expert ones. But if you''re looking for basic ones then you''re fucked, Father had a pretty weird way of teaching so I never actually got to dabble with the basics."


    She couldn''t help but look at him with a slight twist to her expression, was he really asking her if she knew such standard arrays? He already knew that her father was the Divine Emperor, but could it be that he didn''t actually know what the Divine Emperor was famous for? Liang Chen ignored the look in her eyes, but indeed, he didn''t actually know a thing about the Divine Emperor other than the fact that he ruled at least 9 major universes.


    "That just sounds like the wrong way to go about it, but okay. If possible, I would like you to draw me four arrays. At the centre would be the three elemental arrays, preferably concentrating all their energies on one spot. And surrounding it all would be a sealing array to prevent any energy from escaping, the sealing array will have to be the strongest of them all, the strongest you can draw and support."


    The sealing array would have to be stronger than any of the other arrays, and not just because it had to contain the energy they unleashed. No, there was one type of energy that Liang Chen would need to draw out, and if that wasn''t properly contained then things could go horribly wrong so he needed a powerful sealing array. Zhao Xu tapped her temple for a short moment as she thought the request over, eventually nodding her head.


    "Not impossible, but that''s assuming that some prerequisites are handled. Firstly, I need blood that holds a bloodline tied to each of those three elements, the sealing array will just need blood filled with an overabundance of Qi, no particular bloodline required. Secondly, I need fuel for the arrays. There''s a limit to how much they can achieve by just drawing in the surrounding Qi. Spirit Stones are okay, but blood or Demonic Cores of the corresponding elements would be best."


    She was well-versed in arrays but that didn''t mean that she carried around the things needed to draw them at all times. She could take some shortcuts thanks to her father''s technique, but a few base ingredients would still be required to get the proper power and element for the arrays.


    "I have an excessive number of cultivator corpses, can they be used?"


    Liang Chen obviously wasn''t lacking Spirit Stones after his massacres, but if there was some way to use the bodies of the cultivators instead then that would be for the best. After all, with so many corpses it was inevitable that more than a few of them had bloodlines suited for those arrays. It would also help him get rid of them, it may even be a better use than just devouring them with the Chaos King technique since he would convert them into energy of a more appropriate type.


    "They can, technically at least. But I can''t use them. I''d need to have an array that breaks them down into their base energy or one that draws out the energy within them, and I''m not proficient with either of those array types. Father... isn''t terribly fond of them."


    Sadly though, Zhao Xu shook her head. It wasn''t that it was impossible, it was just that she wouldn''t be able to do it, he''d have to find a different array master. But just as Liang Chen was about to nod his head, he''d just have to use his Spirit Stones instead, a voice piped up from the side.


    "If it''s that then I''ve got one, an array that breaks things down to their base energy."


    Both Liang Chen and Zhao Xu turned their heads towards the source of the voice, the nonchalant Shen Fei that was standing right there. He rolled his eyes slightly when he saw the two of them turn towards him, both of them almost looking a bit incredulous.


    "Don''t look at me like that, I actually happen to know a thing or two. But this particular array I only know of because of my teacher, breaking things down into their base components is a good way to learn about them, and having extensive knowledge about things is a prerequisite of that one technique I showed you when we fought."


    Liang Chen remembered his fight with Shen Fei vividly, the way he used illusions was different from others thanks to his Authority after all. As for which of his techniques he spoke of, Liang Chen wasn''t actually sure. It could either be the technique he used to turn his illusion into reality, the one he used to turn reality into an illusion, or the one he used to create a slowly growing illusion that was both real and illusory at the same time.


    As he went over the techniques in his head he was almost surprised to realize that Shen Fei was actually what you''d consider a pretty scary opponent. The fact that he had already beaten him and was moving on towards progressively stronger opponents had simply muddled that fact for a second. But that was only to be expected, Shen Fei hadn''t gotten his title on the Multiverse list for no good reason, he deserved it just as much as everyone else on the list.


    "Hey, you won''t hear me complaining, I''ll take it as a good chance to learn a new type of array. But yeah, in that case we can put all those corpses to use. We''ll have to sort them out based on elements for the best effect, the ones that don''t have a suitable element will just have to be used for a more standard fuel. Of course, that all relies on you having the blood needed."


    Zhao Xu only smirked at Shen Fei''s comment, she was more than happy to learn about any array type that her Father hadn''t taught her about. Her final statement was pointed towards Liang Chen, he''d obviously have to cough up the ingredients for the arrays since he was the one who wanted them.


    Liang Chen wasn''t the type to carry around an overabundance of blood, he rarely had a use for it, especially with how high the grade of the blood had to be for it to be useful to him. But luckily, he had recently scoured through the storehouse of the Wyvern''s Wrath sect, the sect that was built upon a foundation of bloodlines.


    Almost all the bloodlines had been given to Sheng Lian, used to form the third row of petals that ended up giving her a human form. But three jars of blood had been saved, three different types of Divine Beast blood that matched his own laws. He didn''t hesitate in the slightest and handed Zhao Xu the jars, they were meant to be used for cultivation anyway, and now it was finally the time to use them, as well as everything else he had gathered up so far.

 Chapter 332: Onwards to new heights. (2)

    "Alright, this place should have enough space to accommodate the arrays, we just gotta move a bit away from this new landmark our friend here made. Shen, go flatten that hill over there, taking the elevation into account while drawing the array would be a pain in the ass. Liang and company, start sorting through the corpses and dived them based on elements, anyone not aligned to the proper elements will be used as fuel so divide that group into a further five groups, four weak ones for fuel and one strong one to draw the sealing array and dismantling array. And Spirit Stones, prepare the Spirit Stones needed to speed up the dismantling array, if not I fear that we may sit here all year just waiting for that process to finish."


    Li Zhao Xu started spitting out commands the moment Liang Chen handed over the Divine Beast blood, she was the one who had to draw up the arrays so it was obvious that the other odd jobs fell onto Liang Chen and the others. Yumao grumbled slightly about her commanding tone, but Liang Chen easily pacified him by placing his hand atop his head and ruffling his feathers.


    "Don''t whine, we''re...I''m the one asking for a favour here so it''s just to be expected."


    Yumao could only hold back his grumbling and dive into Liang Chen''s interspatial ring to start sorting through the veritable sea of corpses they had acquired over time. Sheng Lian followed Yumao and Shen Fei trudged over to the hill so that he could flatten it according to Zhao Xu''s instructions.


    Luckily, Liang Chen''s interspatial ring wasn''t actually that disordered, most things were kept separate so that he could easily bring out whatever he needed. It was a bit worse with the corpses, but he had made sure to at least keep the obviously stronger ones separate from the rest, they were the ones who would be most useful after all. As such, he really only needed to give his ring a quick swipe to bring out the strongest corpses and his Spirit Stones, dropping them in front of and around Zhao Xu.


    "These are the strongest corpses I have, at least from among the group that doesn''t match my own laws. Those two rings contain most of the Spirit Stones I own, but tell me if you need more and I''ll bring out the rest."


    Liang Chen had no clue when it came to drawing and supporting arrays so he really didn''t know how much blood or Spirit Stones Zhao Xu would need, but erring on the side of caution would likely bring out the best result here. Zhao Xu picked up the two rings and inspected their contents, checking the corpses afterwards before she nodded her head.


    "Your interspatial ring must have a function to alter the flow of time, even the blood of the bloodline-less corpses still carries a fair share of their original power. That''s good, less will go to waste as a result."


    She managed to discover one of his interspatial rings functions simply by observing the state of the corpses, but even that function didn''t seem to surprise her greatly as she got to work. She brought out a crimson dagger that seemed like it was covered in vines, a brownish-red gem inlaid in the handle seeming to serve as the source of the vines.


    She slid the dagger across the throat of the closest corpse, the vines and gem emitting a faint light as the stagnant blood within the corpse was drawn out through the cut. The corpse dried at an astonishing rate, Zhao Xu discarding it without much thought as she moved on to the next one. She slit throat after throat as she procured the blood she needed, the dagger seemingly serving as a reservoir to preserve the blood, and possibly the energy within it.


    When she finished with the last of the corpses, she brought out some items that Liang Chen didn''t recognize, mostly plants and what appeared to be parts from Demonic beasts. All the ingredients were drawn into the gem, vanishing from her hand one by one.


    "Alright, this should be enough for the sealing array so we can draw that one first. If you want to learn a little bit then you can follow me, but what I can teach you will in no way be enough for you to draw your own arrays."


    Zhao Xu inspected the gem as she spoke, tapping it a few times as if she was trying to gauge its contents. Liang Chen followed her as she moved away from the poisonous ocean he had created, picking up the dried corpses she had discarded. Once she got far enough away from the ocean, she crouched down and placed the tip of her dagger against the ground, a steady stream of greenish-red liquid leaking out from the tip.


    "When it comes to arrays, the important part is that not a single part of it is useless. Every stroke has a meaning, every rune a purpose. Foregoing one line to focus on another opens a weakness in your array, and that weakness will be exploited by your enemy, it''s like the opening you reveal after a punch, it''s one step closer to hell."


    Zhao Xu moved her dagger as she spoke, lines imprinting themselves onto the ground, overlapping in some areas while connecting in others. Her movements were swift and sure, filled with the confidence of an expert.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "They''re also much like people, a greater whole formed from several smaller parts. The Lines form the veins as they meander around and the organs that support us, once you have enough Lines you get a Rune, serving as the bones that carry us. Once you connect enough Runes you get a Form, that''s the meat coating our bones and giving us our form. And once you''ve connected all the needed Forms, you end up with the skin, the Symbol, the completed array. There''s an additional step or two when you reach a level high enough to turn entire Runes into nothing more than Lines, but I haven''t reached that stage yet."


    Zhao Xu spoke confidently, but she wouldn''t let that confidence get to her head. She had indeed reached a stage many others would never reach when it came to array creation, but she was far from the peak. And if she also kept in mind her father''s more unorthodox way of making arrays then she was even further from the peak. But then again, she was still so far above Liang Chen that it may as well be comparable to the difference between her and her father.


    "Not a single part of the array, no part of the body, is useless, it all serves a purpose. Discovering this purpose is what you need to do if you want to create or destroy an array. Taking this one as an example, the last five Lines I''ve drawn are all meant to stabilize the energy flowing through this one rune. The Line I''m drawing right now, as well as the next five, are all meant to transfer the energy flowing through this Rune into the next one. And the eight Lines I''ll draw after that are all meant to stabilize the energy flowing into this Rune from the others. Depending on which of the Lines you destroy you can either shut down the Rune itself or cause a chain reaction that can take down several of the other Runes around it. On the other hand, destroying the runes responsible for regulating or creating the element of the Rune will have a much lower effect since the energy itself will still flow properly."


    Zhao Xu continued talking as she drew, not really caring about how much Liang Chen would manage to pick up. Some people were meant to draw arrays, some were meant to cure wounds and heal diseases, some were meant to forge weapons, and others still were meant to create techniques. Those were the ones born with the talent, be it the talent to accomplish their task or the talent to work hard enough to make up for the lack of appropriate talent.


    If Liang Chen was the first case then he would learn from just this, if he was the latter then he wouldn''t learn anything from this and would have to search out the answers on his own. Whatever the case was, it had nothing to do with Zhao Xu, she only spoke because of a fleeting fancy, a moment of mimicry.


    And indeed, Liang Chen didn''t really understand much of what she said. He obviously understood the basics, but the finer details escaped him. What made this Line more suitable to sending out energy while this Line was more suited to accepting energy? Why did these four Lines enable this Rune to birth lightning? He didn''t understand. But he still listened, he picked up what he could understand and memorized what he could not, there was still time for him to understand in the future.


    Hours turned to days as Zhao Xu drew, murky lines starting to fill the land as the image she wanted to carve into the world slowly took form. Three images stood at the centre, one in the shape of a bird, one in the shape of a tiger, and one in the shape of an elephant. The three beasts faced each other, overlapping at the place where their maws would touch.


    Surrounding these three images was an image that looked like a dark spiral, looking at it from above made it seem as if it was swallowing everything and dragging it downwards. A final image was mixed into this dark spiral, it resembled jagged teeth that adorned the spiral and sank into the three bestial images.


    Five large arrays, the spiral that formed the outline alone was nearly three kilometres across. It didn''t need to be this large to work, but Zhao Xu had increased the size so that they could throw out more corpses at a time to speed up the process. Liang Chen sat at the very centre of the array, at the spot where the three bestial images overlapped into a twisted mess of lines.


    He had already thrown out a great deal of corpses, the jagged teeth mixed into the other images dismantling the corpses and reducing them to their base energy. He also threw out all the cultivation resources he had on him, anything he had that was related to his body-focused laws was tossed out and dismantled by immaterial teeth.


    The treasure he got from Yi Ze Ruan was no different. Only in the case of this sword, he had to first pry loose the gem that served as the core. After all, it was this core that carried all the water-based energy that he was searching for.


    The arrays thrummed around him, buzzing with power as they voraciously drew in the energy that was offered to them. Zhao Xu and the others stood outside the array, Zhao Xu keeping a close eye on the runes that formed each array, making sure that things worked as they should.


    After what felt like years, Liang Chen threw out the last of the items he had prepared. All the corpses were gone, all the body-focused resources had been expended, he had put just about everything he had on the table for this moment, this step. He raised his head slightly as he sat there, locking eyes with Yumao.


    "If it shows signs of running out of control, activate your domain, that way I''ll stand a greater chance of containing it."


    Zhao Xu and Shen Fei didn''t know what Liang Chen meant, but Yumao was extremely clear on it. Liang Chen needed two additional energies for his body, one was relatively harmless and easy to acquire, but the second one brought with it risks should he be unable to control it. So he steeled himself, he didn''t allow his attention to waver for a single instant.


    Liang Chen nodded his head as Yumao steeled himself, closing his own eyes to signal Zhao Xu that he was ready. The arrays whirred to life around him, the sealing array locking down the area as the three bestial arrays summoned their respective elements and bombarded him with them.


    Today, Liang Chen would advance his body cultivation by altering some of the more important parts of his body. And the parts he had selected for today were the two most important ones, the brain and the heart, failure was not an option. But what he did not know was that he had already made a mistake, an error he had engraved into his very body without knowing it.

 Chapter 333: From greater heigths to deeper depths.

    Liang Chen closed his eyes as the arrays whirred to life around him, he could feel the energy lurking within them surging to the surface, seething violently as they twisted the air. He closed his eyes to focus, to blot out the surrounding world as he focused on himself, on his own world. And then, then came the pain.


    He could feel his skin crackle and split as the lightning landed on him. His flesh burned and his blood evaporated, expanding and rupturing his veins as it tried to escape. The wind felt like icy knives sliding across his charred skin, like maggots as it crawled in through every opening it could find.


    It pushed up underneath his skin, filling up empty spots that should never have been empty. His face felt bloated, like half of his head had suddenly swelled up from the thick and violent wind that crawled up through every wound it could find.


    But worst of all was perhaps the water, or perhaps it just felt worse than the others because it was the one element he couldn''t control on his own. The wind, the lightning, they both struck his body from the outside, they assaulted him like monsters. But the water, the water was insidious, sinister in its approach.


    His open mouth, his nostrils, his ears, the edges of his eyes, it latched onto every opening it could find. It forced itself into his body, filled his throat and lungs until his chest felt like it was filled with lead. His eyes felt like they turned to mush as the water forced itself past them and filled up the bone socket around it. But worst of all was perhaps the sound, the incessant drumming reverberating through his skull as the water pierced his eardrum and pounded against the cochlea in a desperate attempt to reach his brain.


    He had altered himself, his flesh and blood was a coagulation of his laws held together in the shape of a man. But the sheer vastness of the energy fueling these arrays gave them such power that they could tear through his altered body, completely ignoring the alterations he had made. Granted, he could absorb these invading elements to heal the wounds they left, but the agony remained all the same.


    Was he screaming? Could he even scream with so much water flooding his lungs and throat? Liang Chen didn''t know the answer to either question. All he knew right now was focus. All he saw right now was that internal image of his own brain, jiggling slightly thanks to the water''s assault, and his own heart, thumping desperately as it tried to push the evaporating blood through his veins.


    He was in agony, but he was composed, focused on the task ahead. And thus he knew, this agony wasn''t enough. This pain, this torment, it was far from enough for what he wanted to achieve. So his energy moved, his thoughts moved. And to respond to those thoughts, the world provided the last two agonies he needed.


    First out was time, ever-present and endless. It flowed all around him, surrounding him like an ocean yet flowing down set paths. He tugged on the paths, called in the ocean. Here was a being trying to go against it, here was a being exempt from the paths it had set down. So come, come and punish this being.


    And punish him it did. Like a vengeful snake it coiled around him, tied itself around him like a knot as it tried to drag him down the stream of time. Charred flesh healed, cracked skin stitched itself back together, wound after wound becoming a gnarled scar. But the scars were only temporary, they aged so fast that they quickly vanished, his skin turning dry and wrinkled.


    From dust he was born and to dust he would return, that was the decree of time as it dragged him along. Wrinkled skin faded to white, dried flesh slid off the bone, aged bones turned to dust before any lightning or wind could harm them. To dust he would return, but from dust he would rise. The very time that returned him to dust was then used to restore the arm it took, bones, flesh, veins, all of it growing back so that it could be returned to dust once more.


    And lastly, was void. The nothingness that was the end, the nothingness that signalled the beginning. It was nowhere, and yet it was everywhere, locked away from the rest of the world, a veneer that was both as thin as paper yet as sturdy as metal separating the two. Liang Chen reached out to that veneer, that silken sheet he saw all around him. And he tore it apart like a piece of wet paper, welcomed the nothingness of the end and the beginning.


    Did it make a sound as reality tore? Did the world groan and creak from the strain? Or did the eerie silence leaking out from that eye-like tear drown everything else? Once again, Liang Chen had no answer, he only had agony.


    But perhaps amusingly enough, the void was the kindest of the agonies, the gentlest. There was no pain, no soul-rending horror that could make him scream. There was only silence, a despondent silence that was born from nothingness and brought nothingness. What it touched simply vanished, it faded from existence as if it had never existed. It brought with it the peace of nothingness and the despair of oblivion. Gently, painlessly, equally.


    From nothingness, all was born, and to nothingness, all must return, such was the decree of the void. But it was from this very nothingness that Liang Chen was formed, it was he who commanded it, who decided what would and would not return to nothingness. And it was he who was exempt from it, the very void that gave him oblivion giving him peace as it returned what it took.


    He was born. In the lightning that tore him apart, he was born. In the wind that cut him up, he was born. In the water that drowned him, he was born. In the time that dragged him to his final end, he was born. In the nothingness that spoke of oblivion, he was born. They killed him, and so he was born. He was born, and so they killed him. That was Liang Chen, the lord of the storm, its eternal victim and its eternal deity.


    But to him, this death was only surface level. It scratched the surface but never ventured to the depths, the death never reached the core. And so, the core would never be born, it could not be born without death, and it could not die without being born. Now, now it was time for death to reach the core, it was finally time for it to be born.


    That death lurking on the surface, he dragged it down with him into the depths, forced it away from its home and pulled it towards the core. It was indiscriminate so the death followed him eagerly, tore up and birthed equally as it pierced deeper and deeper.


    Through the skin. Through the flesh. Through the veins. Through the bones. It dug deeper and deeper, followed the beckoning so that it could reach the core and grant it death, grant it life. And when it reached that untainted core, it brought with it life and death, it brought with it a loss of control.


    The brain, the first of Liang Chen''s targets. It controlled everything that went on in the body, it was responsible for everything. And now it was dying, twisting and fading thanks to death, flashing and growing thanks to life.


    The occipital lobe was the first to fade, taking Liang Chen''s sight with it. The senses he was using to inspect his insides vanished and darkness swallowed everything. His brain was getting eaten so his senses and body were forced to pay the price. But luckily, Liang Chen had a part of himself that didn''t rely on his brain, his soul. So when his senses failed him, his soul rose up to fill the gaps, displaying his brain so that he could keep eating it.


    Dull pinkish and faintly red brain matter faded and disappeared, striking grey flooding in to replace it. The grey matter moved like liquid, it occupied the empty space and moulded itself into a replica of what had been lost. Brain matter, blood vessels, nerve fibres, all of it rose up one by one to replace what had been lost. And as they were born, they connected themselves to the rest of the brain to bring death, to bring birth.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The parietal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the cerebellum, they were closest to the occipital lobe so now it was their turn to die. One processed sensory information, one processed memories and auditory information, and the final processed balance and coordination. As they died, so too did the sensation of the earth against Liang Chen''s body. Hot or cold lost all meaning to him, his tongue felt like nothing more than a lump of wood in his mouth.


    His memory also started getting affected, it felt like they were fading one by one as the temporal lobe died. His first kiss, his first kill, the joy he felt when he received his 5th birthday present, the sorrow he felt when his sister died. One by one they felt like they were getting more distant, less important. But where his mind forgot, his soul remembered. The burning pain. The agony of helplessness.


    The wrath... oh how it remembered the wrath. Flames burning within, lurking within the depths to hide, but always there nevertheless. They flickered and roared now more than ever. Things he couldn''t forget, things he wasn''t allowed to forget, things that no one was allowed to take from him. Now they were all fading one by one, and he burned as a result. In wrath he saved them, in wrath he maintained them, with wrath he punished himself for almost letting them fade.


    His soul also maintained his clarity, it didn''t allow him to forget what he was doing, what he was holding back above. He lost his balance and fell to the side as his cerebellum faded, but compared to everything else it could only be considered insignificant. Since death reached his cerebellum it also reached his brain stem, his heart rate turning irregular as his clogged lungs stopped even trying to work.


    But he didn''t even have a brain right now so what need did he have for oxygen, what need did he have for a beating heart or breathing lungs? Right now, the very same energy that was killing him was the only reason he was alive, his body took whatever energy it needed directly from them. And in doing so, what was lost was replaced, the already altered nervous system in the spinal cord connecting with the slowly altering brain stem.


    Brain matter faded, colours faded, replaced by striking grey. Death faded, replaced by birth. Distant memories, faded emotions, the sensation of earth beneath him and the air around him, one by one they returned as death faded. And as death faded from one part, it moved on to the next.


    The frontal lobe, the final piece of the first core. Luckily, the frontal lobe was a bit less, if that was even possible, important than the others. It mainly handled cognitive skills such as impulse control, emotions, memories, and a bit of motor function. One by one they faded as the frontal lobe died, but one by one they were kept intact by his soul as his brain slowly reformed itself.


    At this point, his brain was just about done. The different lobes had all been altered and the connection with his spinal cord was now perfect, that which had faded and died had all been returned and born again. He didn''t know how much time had passed in the outside world, time wasn''t a concept that existed to him as he tortured himself like this. But no matter how much time had passed, it was time to move on to the second core.


    The death that had ravaged his brain sank deeper into the depths, passed through flesh and bone, throat and ribs, finally settling around the heart. It hammered to push evaporating blood through ruined veins, thundered to deliver oxygen to a newborn brain. But in death it fell silent, in birth it would be quiet.


    He deliberately chose to do his brain before his heart. The heart pumped blood around your body to send oxygen and nutrients to the rest of your body, the brain above all. But now? Now his brain no longer needed oxygen, all it needed would be one of the elements that formed it.


    But in the end, the heart still served as another centre of the body. All the veins connected to it, all the blood flowed through it. As long as his heart wasn''t altered, the blood flowing through it, the veins connecting to it, all of them had to be careful so that they didn''t ruin it. Once the heart was ruined, even if he didn''t need one, it would heavily impact the flow of energy in his body, it would become sluggish and unstable as his blood stopped flowing.


    Death swallowed his heart, the beating of life falling silent as fresh red slowly gave way to striking grey. He could feel his body thrum. His veins were humming as his heart changed, their source, their core, was finally becoming a place they could connect to fully.


    Liang Chen kept going, more and more veins humming joyfully. His blood felt like it was seething more violently than the death that assaulted him. Soon it would be complete, soon it would be able to flow freely, as wildly as it wanted. And then, then Liang Chen completed altering his heart, a familiar thud ringing out from his chest. But that thud served as a signal, it was the bell tolling for doom.


    His veins suddenly flared to life with energy. The power gathered in the arrays around him, within the stream of time around him, within the tear in reality above him, his veins voraciously sucked it all up. But rather than saying that it was his veins, perhaps it would be better to say that it was his meridians doing it. They moved within his veins, so when the source of the veins got fully altered, they too rejoiced that they could now act freely.


    The meridians were the path his Qi followed, it was within them that most of his energy flowed, they were the ones who had to show the most restraint when it came to his unaltered heart, but now there was no more need for that restraint. There was no mention of altering them in the original Ocean God''s Physique, but Liang Chen had gone ahead and altered them when he first noticed that they remained unchanged even after he altered his veins. They were a semi-conceptual thing, but he had been able to alter his soul so doing his meridians was simple.


    As a result of doing this, the speed at which his Qi flowed had drastically improved, he could call it forth practically instantly. In fights between people of the same level, this was a massive advantage that could easily turn the tide. It was also useful to him in battles against those stronger than him, it helped him keep up with the speed they got from forcing out their energy as fiercely as possible.


    But now he would learn why the original technique didn''t include the meridian, and he would have to learn it with his own body.


    The energy drawn in by the meridians was far too much for his veins to bear, it spilt out and flooded the rest of his body without his permission or control. But his meridians simply kept on drawing in more energy, bringing death and birth to everything that was Liang Chen. His intestines, his lungs, his kidneys, the organs he had purposefully left aside for now were assaulted one by one, altered one by one in ways they shouldn''t be, ways that didn''t align with the Ocean God''s Physique.


    The Ocean God''s Physique altered your body, transformed it into one formed by pure elements. But did this turn you into an Elemental, a Demonic beast formed when a certain element gained sentience? The answer was no, turning a man into a Demonic beast wasn''t something done so easily, not even taking in a bloodline could do that.


    So what separated a man from an Elemental? In this case, the answer was the meridians. They were the shackles, the anchor that kept you from going all the way into the Elemental territory. They were a thing very few people would ever get in contact with, and even fewer would ever find a way to alter them in some way.


    But Liang Chen had come in contact with them, and using his experience with his soul he had been able to alter them. And thus, that final shackle, that anchor that should have kept him as a man, or whatever he was counted as, was removed. Had he not changed his meridians, they would not draw in as much energy as they did now, they would not spill out so much energy that the rest of his organs were forcibly altered ahead of schedule. Nor would he have to suffer the consequences of the complete altering.


    But it was already too late to talk about what he could have avoided by doing things differently in the past, now it was time to pay the price. The overflowing energy conquered all his organs, forced them to conform to the state that the rest of his body was in. And then, when the last of his organs, even his Dragon Lotus, was altered, the time to pay came.


    What was an Elemental? It was a mass of elemental Qi that had gained sentience and cobbled itself together, forming a core that kept it from dispersing and returning to the elements. But Liang Chen had no such core, he was just a mass of elements held together by a technique he had stopped following.


    And with nothing to hold him and his elements together, the only fate left for him was to drift apart. It was as if he was melting, flesh and skin that continuously changed between his various elements slid off of his body, turning into droplets that rose into the sky one by one. Bit by bit he fell apart, returning to the elements that formed him, a piece to the wrathful lightning, a piece to the quiet water, a piece to the drifting wind, a piece to the flowing stream of time, a piece to the endless void.

 Chapter 334: To be free and everywhere.

    At this moment, as he fell apart and scattered to the winds, Liang Chen felt freer than ever before. He couldn''t sense the presence of lightning, nor could he sense the water, the void, the flow of time. No, right now it was just him and the wind, free and unrestrained, omnipresent. He brushed against every strand of grass, touched every rock, tossed and turned alongside every wave that may rise.


    He was gentle and soft, his passing didn''t even disturb the insects resting amidst the trees or grass. But at the same time he was violent and cruel, buildings fell, oceans were tossed into a frenzy, people suffocated when he neglected them and exploded when he blessed them. He had already stretched beyond the area where he originally cultivated, he moved with the wind and spread throughout the lands around him.


    Across plains, through cities, above oceans, not a single place was free of his touch, his gaze. Not even the people were safe, their insides and outsides laid bare to him as he encompassed the land. After all, what was the wind? Wind, wind was nothing more than the movement of the air. To be the wind was to be air, and to be air was to be everywhere.


    In truth, Liang Chen understood his current situation. He was vanishing. Little by little, he was dissipating into the wind, becoming just another part of it. He was not an Elemental, he lacked the appropriate core to maintain his form and ego while still tying him to the wind.


    His vision, if he could even call it that right now as he observed everything touched by air, focused on the place where he was supposed to cultivate. A black dome now covered the area, smoke-like tongues occasionally stretching out from it before dissipating again. Yumao''s Nether God''s Grasp, his innate domain. This was probably the only thing that maintained this sliver of Liang Chen''s consciousness, were it not for it then he would probably have fully faded the second he melted.


    Yumao and the others were gathered inside the domain, gathered around the now empty spot where Liang Chen had previously sat. Yumao''s scales were flaring, almost pulsating like veins as he pulled out every drop of energy he had. Sheng Lian and Shen Fei were also paling rapidly so he was probably draining part of their energy as well to increase the strength of the domain. He wanted to buy as much time as he could, even if it was just a second. Would it be enough for Liang Chen to figure something out, for them to figure something out? Neither of them knew, none of them did.


    But the wind was watching them. It was helpless, unable to do anything since the consciousness residing in it was fading. But it was watching. Their efforts, their desperation, their hopes, it saw them all. But the one who could answer them was not within the wind, so all it could do was watch.


    --


    He melted. Like ice that encountered fire, he melted. There was no wind, no lightning, no time, no void, there was only water. The water that ran across the land in streams, the water that separated countries in oceans, the water that hammered the land as it fell from the sky. He saw it all, he was it all, a tiny spark of life in a seemingly endless ocean.


    He was free, of that he was sure. He could go wherever he wanted, nothing could stop water if it wanted to get somewhere. The smallest crack was an open door to him, and if there was no door then he could just make one. It wouldn''t happen in a day, but week after week, month after month, year after year, as long as he kept moving across the same spot then a door would be made.


    Nothing could stop him, so he was free. But at the same time, he was a captive. Where did water flow? In streams, in rivers, in lakes, in oceans. When it fell from the sky it would either join one of these bodies or just sink into the land and vanish. So he was free to go wherever he wanted, but he was trapped in the bodies he inhabited. He could not move on his own, if he wanted to leave his lake then he would need help from outside forces, without them he would stagnate and rot.


    But when water first got to move, it was both voracious and gentle. A soft stream running around your legs as you played with your son, a soothing coldness that gave you reprieve from the scorching summer heat. A merciless wave rising up from the ocean to wreak devastation and havoc, a whirlpool that drew in and crushed all. That was water, that was Liang Chen.


    But water did not only exist in the stream or the river, it also existed within living beings. Mixed into their blood, mixed into their organs and skin, even the bones contained a bit of water. And that water, Liang Chen was that water. The way they moved, the way their blood flowed, the subtle differences in heat brought about by changes in emotions. He saw them all, he was them all.


    And right now, the gaze of the water, his gaze, was focused on the water that was gathered around his previous cultivation spot. The moisture in the air, the puddles on the ground, the beings gathered there, he saw the world from them all. A dark dome surrounded the area, Yumao desperately pouring out energy to sustain it.


    Liang Chen could feel it, he was evaporating. The water inside Yumao and Sheng Lian, it was evaporating little by little. Was it due to their strong emotions or the immense expenditure of energy? He couldn''t tell, all he could tell was that he was fading little by little. They were hoping, praying, desperately reaching for a strand of hope.


    But he wasn''t that hope, he wasn''t the answer to their prayers. He was just a spark of life in a suffocating ocean, infinitely weak and helpless. So he could only watch and wait for the one that would answer their prayers.


    --


    He roared as he rose. He broke the sound barrier as he ascended into the skies, into the dark clouds scattered across the land. The wind was all around him, the water grew thick and heavy in the clouds. But none of it had any ties with him, none of it belonged to him. He was lightning, pure and simple.


    And right now, he felt free, untethered. The wind wasn''t tied to him, the water wasn''t part of him, time and void didn''t exist to him. He was lightning, solitary and proud. The clouds housed him, but they were not his home. If he wanted to strike the earth then he would tear through everything to reach it, that was the freedom of lightning, the pride of the tool that once dispensed heaven''s justice.


    A flash that struck a tree gave primitive tribes fire to cook their food, to warm their houses and to repel predators. A flash that struck water unlocked the building blocks of primitive lifeforms. A flash that struck a building melted its supporting beams and made it collapse on its inhabitants. A flash that struck a man scorched his brain, cooked his flesh, overloaded his muscles.


    But he wasn''t limited to these flashes, to these clouds that crackled with hundreds more of him. He was everywhere. Imperceptible signals running through the atmosphere, minuscule signals flashing through the nerves of living beings. He saw them all, because he was them all. When a man wanted to walk, he called upon Liang Chen. When the clouds wanted to wreak havoc on the land beneath them, they called upon Liang Chen. He was everywhere, in everyone. He obeyed no one but helped everyone. That was Liang Chen, that was lightning, or perhaps more accurately, electricity.


    And right now, the gaze of the lightning, was focused on the inhabitants of the dark dome that covered his previous cultivation grounds. Shen Fei''s and Li Zhao Xu''s internal signals were mostly fine, they showed signs of stress with how fast they moved but it wasn''t anything terrible. But Yumao and Sheng Lian were on the verge of a panic attack, the signals in their bodies were running so rampant that it was a miracle that their muscles weren''t spasming out. Contrasting signals were sent out and crossed each other multiple times every second, their brains were practically flooded with them as they desperately sought a solution.


    But the lightning was not that solution, nor did it house the solution. It was free, but it was also helpless. So it could only watch their prayers, their desperation, and wait for the ones that would answer them.


    --


    Time. Time was everywhere. It flowed everywhere, in everyone, around everyone. There was no place where time didn''t exist, only places where time had temporarily halted. Sooner or later, all things would be embraced by time again, all would return to that endless stream that ran towards the future.


    And right now, Liang Chen was that stream, that ever-flowing river that none could ever escape. Here, there was no water, no wind, no lightning, no void. All that existed here was the past, the present, and the future. It wasn''t the way he would have wanted to, but this marked the first time Liang Chen ever got in contact with the river of time, the true flow of it. And what he saw was beyond his wildest imagination.


    Looking at the past was simple, all he had to do was go back along the river, tracing it as if he was running his hand through a stream. Looking at the present was equally simple, he just had to look down and he would see it. It was all around him, moving forward one second at a time, existing one second at a time, replaced one second at a time.


    But the future? The future was painful to look at. Every possible outcome from every possible choice branched off into a different stream. For each second that passed, several million streams were born. And from each of those streams, countless millions were born, possible timelines, possible futures. One for when Liang Chen stepped to the right, one for when he stepped to the left, one for when he stopped walking, one for when he was hit by a meteorite that fell from the sky, one for when the earth cracked beneath him.


    Some of the branching streams were thicker than others, they were the futures most likely to happen based on the future and the past. But not even they were guaranteed to happen, something Liang Chen saw when the river skipped past one of the larger branches and settled on a small stream, expanding it to become the new main river. He traced back to that diverging point and saw the source, a child that was celebrating what looked like their sixth birthday.


    The child looked thin and haggard, his bright blue hair had fallen out in tufts so that only small blotches remained. But he looked happy, radiant even. His parents were also full of smiles, they were beaming with such joy that Liang Chen could feel it from within the river. Something about this birthday had made the river of time move away from one of the more likely futures, but Liang Chen had no idea what.


    Liang Chen, the river of time, pulled its gaze back from the celebration, turning towards the past. He traced the river, traced himself, and moved back. The battle against Li Zhao Xu, his meeting with Tian Shen, his arrival in this land, his arrival in this universe, he moved further and further back, tracing himself and his past as he sought his target.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Did it take years, minutes, seconds? He couldn''t tell, all he could tell was that he reached the target he sought. A familiar city was reflected in the river of time, a family of three sharing a meal as they chatted. Smooth black hair and deep green eyes, a child that had yet to be tainted by wrath, a child that had yet to be touched by time.


    Reversing the flow of time so much that he could reach this location again was nigh impossible, Liang Chen didn''t even think it would be possible if he reached the apex of power. But right now he was time, and time was him, so would it possibly be possible right now?


    He sank into the river, delved into that reflected image. It felt like he was splitting off a part of himself, he remained as the river, but a bit of him sank into it all the same as it joined that reflection. The boy untouched by time and the man who had become time overlapped, the bonds that tied them together connecting them as they become one.


    He felt sick as he sat there, the taste in his mouth was oh-so-familiar, but it mixed with the flurry of memories the future brought with it so he couldn''t enjoy it. He did his best to hold down his vomit as he weathered the sensation, calmly waiting for the time it would pass. He had to wait for a bit, but in the end, it passed, just like all things did.


    He looked at the two people sitting in front of him, his throat clogging as his chest felt like it was hit by a hammer. How many times had he dreamed of them? How many times had he cried for them? He had accepted the loss, accepted that they were gone and he would never be with them again. But now that he sat there, now that he possibly had the chance to change things, how could he not at least give it a try?


    It took a while, but he managed to convince them to flee. They slipped out of the city in the cover of night, before the accusations of treason were raised against them. This time, the heads that rolled on the scaffolding weren''t theirs. The child that cried wasn''t him. This time, he had managed to save them.


    But it was all futile.


    A bandit attack as they slept. A wild Demonic beast as they moved through the forest. An attack by a member of an enemy clan. An errant bolt of lightning. A collapsing mountain. An earthquake that kicked up a tsunami. A meteorite crashing into them. No matter how many times he went back, no matter how many attempts he prevented, death always came for them.


    He was never allowed to get far, the best he had managed after countless tries was to buy them a measly two days beyond their original death. And after that, he would always find his way back to that hidden realm, back to that hell, back to those people that brought light to his world.


    The past was the past, alterations were only allowed within tiny margins. Those who died would die, only the circumstances of that death would change. You could do whatever you wanted to prevent it, death would come for them all the same. That was why the past was the past, because it had already happened, because it dictated the future.


    So it was futile to go back, to wish for a change. All it brought was fresh despair, a hot knife to wounds that had already gone cold. The fates of Qing Feng and Qing Lan were set in stone the moment Liang Chen stepped towards the future, death was all that awaited them, death was all he could give them.


    He traced the river of time back one last time, to that fateful day that they stood before the scaffolding. He sank into the river and connected to that boy again, that crying child showing the first blotches of wrath. He heard their last words again, words he had already memorized and repeated countless times. But this time he didn''t let them go in silence, this time he wanted to at least give them something in return, even if it was accompanied by a tearful smile.


    "Father, Mother, thank you. For taking me in, for raising me, for giving me a name. Thank you. Please, don''t worry about me, it is just as you said, there will always be a bright dawn awaiting me. I wish you could see her, wish you could see our daughter. I know you don''t understand, but please, at least understand this. I was happy with you, and I''ll become happy again in the future thanks to the life you''ve given me."


    Would the words follow them into the future even if they couldn''t understand them? He didn''t know. But he spoke them all the same, he wanted them to know, even if it was just in this one fleeting moment, that he would be happy, that he would be all right in the future.


    The two didn''t seem to understand what Liang Chen was saying, but really, how could they? Their child had just started speaking in a completely different tone, and about things they didn''t understand nonetheless. But even so, they smiled brightly. He said he would be happy, he said that he would find a bright dawn. Were the words true, or just a lie to comfort them? It didn''t matter. Their son had said them, so they would believe them.


    Liang Chen disconnected himself from the young boy as the two smiled at him, returning to the river of time, returning to himself. He had lingered in the past for long enough, the future awaited him, belonged to him.


    He returned to the part of the river that showed the present, focusing his gaze on the black blotch that floated in it. A dark domain was reflected in the present, covering the place where he had cultivated earlier. Yumao and the others were within the domain, draining themselves of power to sustain it. This domain was most likely the reason he could maintain his sense of self even though he was part of the river of time, it was doing its utmost to fuel his fragmented self with power.


    He could feel Yumao''s desperation, Sheng Lian''s horror. Now, they were the child who was crying, the youth amidst the crowd that cursed the heavens. Back then, he raised his head to the sky and begged for justice, prayed for salvation. But there was no answer, the only thing he got was silence. But he would not allow their prayers to go unanswered, their desperation to be met with silence. There was only him here, only time. But it was precisely because of this that he was confident that part of his salvation would be found here.


    --


    The world was empty. There was no water, no wind, no lightning, not even time. No, this world was completely empty, a stretch of empty white land that continued on for as far as his senses could go. But as he looked closely at that white expanse, he could faintly see something beyond it. The lifeless land of the void stretched out beyond the whiteness, only a thin sheet separating the two.


    "Oh? A new one''s arrived, should I count it as quick or slow? Tell me, which Voidborn generation are you the Ruler of?"


    An unfamiliar voice reached Liang Chen, echoing through the empty land. His head spun around and his eyes narrowed, his body tensing somewhat as he located the source of the voice. Figures had appeared behind him, 5 indistinct humanoid shapes that were almost as white as the land around him, only they had a tinge of grey to them.


    "There''s no need to be nervous, this is the place all the Rulers end up after we perish so it''s only obvious that I''d be able to point it out. I''m Chen Daoge, I was the Ruler of the 6th generation of Voidborn."


    The one who spoke up first addressed Liang Chen again to calm him, introducing himself. But his words didn''t give Liang Chen much comfort. If it was as he said and all the Voidborn Rulers ended up here after they perished, did that mean that the four other figures were also past Rulers? But Liang Chen made sure to maintain his calm, this was not a situation where he could afford to panic.


    "Oh? They all end up here? I''d have expected that the end result would be returning to the Void."


    It was a bit ironic, the envoys of the Void couldn''t return to the Void after they perished. But it also begged the question, was this their version of heaven or hell? Whatever the case was, he knew that he couldn''t stay here for long, he had to return so that he could figure out how to fix this situation. He didn''t know why he ended up here, without his lightning or other laws, but it clearly meant that something bad had happened to his body.


    "That is the end result, it just isn''t straight away. The Void... our home, it was birthed by Jieshu, it belonged to him. When our predecessors tore him apart they also tore apart the core of the Void, the source of all its energy. Without that core, the Void is forced to constantly recycle its energy to birth new Voidborn. That''s where we come in. Once it needs more energy, it takes it from us. Sometimes it takes a small piece to birth normal Voidborn, sometimes it takes it all to birth a new Ruler."


    The one who responded this time wasn''t the one who introduced himself as Chen Daoge but one of the other four. They had probably been here for a while so they would have had plenty of time to figure out how things worked, it was only right that they explained it to the newcomer. But they also knew what it meant when they got a newcomer, another one of the figures letting loose a sigh.


    "Since you''re here I guess that means we''re gonna lose another Ruler before long, I wonder which generation will be chosen this time."


    The Void needed a Ruler to control it, it was they who were the closest to becoming a new core. The new one could be born quickly, or the Void could wait several thousands of years before it decided to birth it. But truthfully, it was almost all the same to these people, time had long since lost almost all meaning to them.


    "...I hope this new one can fulfil our duty, the Void has been without a core for too long already. It''s about time we''re allowed to rest after our own end."


    This time it was Chen Daoge that spoke up again, the feature-less figure seeming to turn its head, as if it was sweeping the empty landscape around them. They had done their best to perform their duty, it was only right that they got to rest after it was done. But this wasn''t rest, it was just waiting for the Void to finally drain them of everything.


    "It''s almost funny, don''t you think? We are born by the Void, the end, but we ourselves aren''t allowed to reach our end."


    The irony of the situation wasn''t lost on the Rulers, one of them chuckling humorlessly as she spoke about it. The others simply shook their head at it, it had long since stopped being funny to them.


    "Well, let''s get you settled in, newcomer. It''s been too long since we last got any news about how the Void is doing so let''s have a nice long chat while we wait to see who gets recycled next."


    Chen Daoge beckoned Liang Chen over, his words catching his interest. Liang Chen lowered his gaze again and peered through the white land, the seemingly infinite Void stretching out beneath and around him. He could see the Voidborn that lived there, he even saw what looked like a small city rising on the horizon. He could see all of this, so how could they say that they hadn''t gotten any news about how the Void was doing?


    "...Newcomer? Are you still in shock? Can''t quite grasp it?"


    Chen Daoge and the others seemed to misunderstand Liang Chen''s silence. But from their perspective it was only logical, even they found it hard to believe that they could die, they were Voidborn Rulers after all! Liang Chen raised his head after a short moment, his gaze landing on the five figures.


    "We...are different."


    Yes, he understood that now. Part of the understanding came from the explanation they gave, but another part of the understanding came from within him. He could feel it. It was in the land around him, in the thin sheet that separated this place from the Void, it was even within the Void itself.


    "You are Voidborn. The Void gathers energy and uses it to birth you, to create children that can carry out its duty. Or perhaps it''s just lonely and wants company, I don''t know."


    He stretched out his hand as he spoke, grasping at the white expanse. It felt like a sheet of silk as he touched it, his fingers sinking into it. In the end, even the greatest of the Voidborn, the Rulers, were just Voidborn. They were born of the Void, for the Void. It was like a flame spitting out a spark and using it to start a new fire somewhere else. The new fire was born from the original flame, but it wasn''t the flame.


    "You..."


    The five figures seemed like they were caught off-guard, not by Liang Chen''s words but by his actions. What was he grasping? This was an empty space where they awaited their recycling, what could you possibly grasp here? Liang Chen didn''t bother letting them finish their questions.


    "But I am not born of the Void, I am not energy it has cobbled together to form a child."


    No, Liang Chen had never been born of the void, he wasn''t energy it had gathered to form a new child. He had taken it into himself, the Void and its energy, he had taken it all in and used it to form his body. His blood flowed with the Void, his heart thumped with it, his bones were formed by it.


    He put some strength into his hand and drew it sideways, tearing apart the silken sheet that separated him from the Void. The white expanse tore like paper to reveal the grey and lifeless land, a surge of pure energy flooding in through the tear. And a slight sensation came along with that energy, a sensation from beyond the Void, a quiet prayer and silent desperation from where he previously cultivated.


    "No, I am the Void."

 Chapter 335: The monarchs vow.

    There was a low and quiet tune in the air as Liang Chen laid bare the Void, a soft hymn that danced through the air. It was similar to the first time he entered the Void, countless Voidborn kneeling as they chanted in reverence. But there were no Voidborn heralding his arrival this time, not a lowered head in sight. No, the hymn came from the air itself, this time it was the Void itself singing.


    But there was another sound that mixed in with the hymn, a low and droning sound that subtly merged itself into the tune. How familiar wasn''t he with this sound, how many times hadn''t he heard it in his life? It was screams. Roars, cries, shouts, wrath unfettered as it roared at the sky.


    "So you exist even here..."


    Liang Chen knew that these screams weren''t physical, there weren''t actually countless Voidborn shouting right now. No, these screams were those that should have long been silenced, anger unfulfilled and sorrow engraved on the soul. Not even the Void could escape the vestiges Liang Chen had started to tap into with his poison, not even the Void was free of wrath. The wrath of the dead mixed with the hymn as it rose, subtly altering it. Whatever the hymn originally wanted to convey was lost in the wrath, now it was nothing more than a dirge, a silenced cry for justice.


    "Ho... It''s home..."


    The voice that came from behind Liang Chen sounded a bit choked up, stammering and hesitant even. The five figures behind him were standing there somewhat dumbly, gazing out upon the land that spread out in front of them.


    "Home...What has time done to you? How did you end up like... like this?"


    The one who questioned spoke in a low voice thick with anguish. They could all sense it, this was their home, this was their Void. But looking at it, they simply couldn''t recognize it. Their home was a great wilderness untamed and untouched by time, an endless paradise as colourful as the world outside the Void. But now there was no wilderness, no great trees or frozen wastes, not a single one of the places they had slowly acquired over time was there. It was just grey and black, a bleak land, a hopeless land.


    "It...It was me, I did this... I got arrogant, greedy. I reached my hand for the world, and the serpent coiling around it retaliated..."


    To Liang Chen''s surprise, there was one among the figures who actually had an answer to their question. The only one that had introduced themselves, Chen Daoge, lowered his head in shame. It was he who had fought Jormungandr in the past, it was he who had brought this ruin to their land. There was a bout of silence from the four other figures, but in the end, what they showed Chen Daoge wasn''t condemnation.


    "With strength comes pride, and with pride comes arrogance, comes fear... I remember Shao Ye Long said something very similar when he spoke about the time he went against Jieshu."


    Liang Chen had never heard about this Shao Ye Long, but since the figure said he went against Jieshu then he guessed that he may have been the first Voidborn Ruler, the first to go against the original Void.


    "To live is to desire. We are embodiments of the inevitable end, all things return to us sooner or later so we should never need to desire anything. But we do so all the same... to live is to become corrupted."


    The Void, the inevitable end of all creation. What need did it have for desire when all things would eventually return to it? But in the end, it desired just like any other. It was true in the past when the Ruler''s set out to acquire things and it was true now. After all, if the Void didn''t desire something, why would it birth Voidborn and Rulers?


    "Even now, when we''ve stepped past everything and just await our end, we end up desiring, don''t we?"


    The one who spoke up this time reached out their hand, grasping for the endless Void that Liang Chen had revealed. They wanted to go home. They wanted to walk the lands they used to be familiar with, wanted to see if any of the people they once knew were still alive. They desired to return.


    But it was a desire that couldn''t be granted. The hand that reached out was stopped by an invisible wall as it tried to leave the white area and return home. Liang Chen had revealed their home to them, but they could only watch from their prison. The one who had reached out to the Void but failed to reach it suddenly seemed to sense something, tilting its head as it turned towards Liang Chen.


    "This...The Ruler of this generation is still alive...So you really aren''t one of our Rulers...Then who...what are you?"


    They may not be able to enter the Void, but they could still sense the oh-so-familiar energy that was pouring in through the opening Liang Chen had created. And thanks to that they could sense a familiar energy, the aura of a Voidborn Ruler. Five of them were here, meaning that only one Ruler should exist right now. And that Ruler was very clearly still alive within the Void, giving credence to Liang Chen''s earlier statement. He was different, he wasn''t a Voidborn, he was not a sibling born to carry on their duty. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I am Liang Chen. And just like I said, I am not one who was born by the Void. No, I chose the Void, I accepted it and took it in."


    He could have abandoned it when he first took in the Voidborn blood, back when his bloodline first mutated thanks to all the extreme bloodlines it carried. He could have forsaken the Void back then, he could have cut it out from his bloodline or chosen to never use it. But he didn''t. He took it in and used it, he accepted it and merged it into his very being. The inevitable end, the great decay, the cruellest concept in existence. He knew what it was. But he took it in all the same, accepted it all the same. And perhaps, in turn, it came to accept him and his wrath.


    "I''m going to leave now. This place... is not where I belong. There are people waiting for me, praying for me."


    Liang Chen could feel it. That soft tugging sensation that pulled on his being, that quiet prayer and the silent desperation that beckoned him towards where he should have been cultivating. Was it Yumao crying? Or was Sheng Lian screaming desperately to make him come back? It didn''t matter. They screamed, they cried. And Liang Chen, he was the one who responded to such screams.


    "Wait, wait. Please, for just a moment, please..."


    "Please wait!"


    The figures all called out at the same time as Liang Chen set one foot into the Void, rushing to stop him. He halted his step and turned his head, sweeping his gaze over the figures. They were anxious, worried. They had no features but they drowned in sorrow, they oozed despair. He could feel it within himself, the anguish, the pain, the helplessness.


    "..."


    The five figures looked at each other in silence for a second, their gazes hopping between each other and Liang Chen. Who should talk? Who should make the request? Could they even do it, did they have the right? What if he said no, what if he rejected them? They hesitated, they worried. But in the end, they had to act, so Chen Daoge spoke up.


    "Yo... No, Liang Chen, you said you accepted the Void?"


    Confirmation, he wanted it, no, needed it. The Void was alone, the Void was the enemy. All who existed feared the Void, because it was what came for them all in the end. To accept it meant to accept being the enemy of all, the greatest evil all tried to avoid. But Liang Chen nodded his head all the same, without an ounce of hesitation.


    "I have."


    His was the path of sin. Once he reached the end of his path he would be the only source of evil left in existence, only like that would he be able to abate his wrath, would he be able to accomplish his goal. At that time, the Void would no longer be considered the greatest evil, he would.


    "In that case, would you listen to a request? Consider it the final desire of departed rulers unable to do a thing."


    Chen Daoge''s voice hardened a little as he spoke. They couldn''t leave this place, had it not been for Liang Chen then they wouldn''t even have been able to see the current state of the Void. Was it selfish of them? Definitely, it was approaching the height of selfishness. But they still had to do it. They had failed their duty in the past, but the ones who ended up having to pay the price for that never ended up being them. No, the ones who paid the price were always the ones they tried to protect.


    "The Void...No, the Voidborn, please... please protect them. We have made the world hate them, and in turn, they have come to hate the world. The world, their own hatred, their idiocy, their endless desires, this horrible world I have left for them, please... protect them from it."


    The figures lowered themselves as Chen Daoge spoke, bowing as deeply as their current form allowed. Some of them killed Universal Hearts and universes due to their desires, some of them fought entire Multiverses due to arrogance, some of them killed just to fill the Void. They had fought and fought, be it due to arrogance or their own twisted ideas of what the Void needed. It was only later, while trapped here, that they realized how wrong they had been from the start. The Void didn''t need them to do any of that, wanted them to do any of that, they just needed to exist and dispense the final end that awaited all existence, nothing more.


    But they had already strayed, and they had taken the Void with them. Voidborn after Voidborn sought to escape the Void and enter the real world, they sought to return it all to the Void, as their rulers had done in the past. And it had only gotten worse after Chen Daoge''s time, his actions led to the Void becoming a place where it was hard to live, now most Voidborn just dreamed of escaping it.


    But the world wouldn''t accept them so it was inevitable that they were hunted when they escaped. This fostered anger so they fought back, which in turn fostered anger in the world. It was an endless cycle of hatred and wrath, an endless cycle of pain that they had created, forced upon the people they were supposed to protect and rule.


    Liang Chen stood in silence for a bit as the five figures remained bowed, unified by their request. The arrogance of their time had already been tempered and ground, hotheadedness had given way to calm and understanding. They were Rulers, they were meant to rule. And in that, they had failed spectacularly.


    "..."


    Liang Chen turned his head away, his gaze drifting across the Void. He saw the same lifeforms as last time, wurms and humanoids doing their best to scavenge the wasteland to survive. But above all that, he heard the screams. The roars of silenced wrath, the lingering resentment of the deceased. The dirge that the Void sang for him. Would he help? Would he protect the race that had been driven astray by their rulers? To him, the answer to this question would always remain the same, it was the answer he had engraved into his very being.


    "If there are innocents suffering, I will protect them. If there are sinners running about, I will judge them. That is who I am, that is what I do. And to that end, it doesn''t matter if they are men, demons, monsters, or Voidborn."


    That was all he said before he stepped forward again and enterd the Void, a wave of his hand tearing open a gate that led to Purgatory''s Cradle. Man or monster, demon or Voidborn, it never mattered to him. Where innocents screamed, he would protect. Where sinners laughed, he would judge. Whenever there was someone who the heavens had ignored, he would act. That was the vow Liang Chen had made in the past, and it was the vow he upheld to this day. And now it was time to make sure that he could continue upholding that vow.

 Chapter 336: Once again, sky-covering red.

    The gate that Liang Chen tore into reality didn''t just bring him directly to Purgatory''s Cradle, it connected with the gate he had opened there previously so that he could arrive right above the place he had previously cultivated. It was to be expected, but there was practically no trace of him left there, not even any scraps of cloth.


    There was however a slight glimmer of light coming from the dusty ground, a single item to represent the man that once sat there. A deep crimson ring untainted by the dust around it, the wavy pattern covering it seeming to ripple with the wind. Right now, that ring contained his daughter and most recent disciples, patiently awaiting his return.


    He dropped down to the ground without a sound and bent down to pick up the ring, but it was futile. His fingers slid right through it, dissipated like smoke whenever he tried to touch it. He could only sigh softly at the scene, straightening his body as he raised his head.


    "...I guess that''s to be expected."


    He took in his surroundings with a sweeping gaze as he muttered, checking up on the others. Yumao and Sheng Lian were still desperately pouring out their energy to sustain the dark domain, Shen Fei and Li Zhao Xu also seemed to contribute. But Liang Chen couldn''t hear them, it seemed as if all sound had simply ceased to exist.


    For that matter, it didn''t seem like they could see him either, they weren''t even turned in his direction. But it really couldn''t be helped, right now he was just a mass of energy, a clump of raw Void energy. The shape he currently had was only something he pictured in his own mind, he probably didn''t even have a form right now.


    But he didn''t need to have a form to feel things, and right now he felt a myriad of things. The first thing he sensed, surprisingly enough, wasn''t his other parts or laws. No, the thing he sensed first was a cry, a subdued sob that echoed in the back of his head, calling to him, guiding him. The problem was the distance, he could feel that the cry was extremely far away, further away than any journey he had ever made, even crossing universes wouldn''t be enough to meaningfully shorten the distance. But it called to him all the same, crying all the while.


    The second thing he sensed was desperation. Yumao and Sheng Lian, they were both desperate, they poured out their own lifeforce to support the domain. They were praying, hoping, begging for someone, anyone, to help them. They wanted to do it themselves, but they couldn''t, didn''t know how. So they begged, prayed.


    And the final thing Liang Chen sensed was himself. A little piece within the lightning, a piece within the wind, a piece within the moisture in the air, a piece within the endless river of time, fragments of himself, the man he used to be, scattered as they returned to where they belonged. And then, the one thing that tied them together, his soul.


    It was floating not far away, a replica of him that faced him silently. Once they were tied together, body and soul, but now only the soul remained. But there was something that still tied the two together, the laws fused into them. His body and soul may have followed different paths, but both had incorporated time and Void, and it was the existence of those two laws in his soul that allowed it to retain a sliver of connection with the current him.


    He only exchanged a short glance with his soul before he turned away again, his soul was him and he was his soul, there was no need for the two to confirm each other''s thoughts. His gaze landed on the desperate Yumao and Sheng Lian, what he envisioned to be his arm reaching out and stroking their heads.


    "Thank you, things wouldn''t have worked out if it wasn''t for you."


    Nether God''s Grasp, the dark domain Yumao had forcibly erected to cover this entire area. Had it not been for that domain sealing this place up and pouring in vast amounts of energy then the parts of Liang Chen that had merged into their respective elements would have already faded. The consciousness in them would vanish and they would become nothing more than another part of the natural elements, lost forever. But for now, they were still here, for now, there was still hope.


    "Well then, what do you say we get started?"


    Yumao and Sheng Lian didn''t seem to notice his caress so he pulled back and turned his attention back onto his soul. Right now he was nothing more than a conglomeration of energy, and since he had left the Void he could feel himself slowly slide apart. There was nothing holding him together, that was why the different parts of him were falling apart.


    His soul was a bit different, it hadn''t reached the same stage as his body, but he''d prefer not to have to rely on body possession to acquire a new body. He''d also end up losing his law of lightning and wind, and that was before he even considered the idea that the new body may reject his soul.  And since that was the case, there really was only one option he was considering at the moment.


    Create a new core.


    If there was nothing to hold him together then he would create something to hold him together. Even if that something was just immense pressure that crushed him into a single seamless whole.


    "And for that...you."


    There was, however, one thing he had to do before he could really start. His soul had yet to reach the same stage as his body, but once it did then it would undoubtedly experience the same dissipation. And if that was the case then he may as well get it out of the way now and include his soul into that seamless whole. His body would be his soul and his soul would be his body, and all of it would be his laws.


    His soul simply nodded its head, they were of one mind so whatever he could think of, it could too. And compared to his body, his soul was far easier to cultivate. Its strength was already far above its actual level thanks to the Sebettu''s innate technique, and the elements merged into it were things that were far easier to find. As such, there was no reason for Liang Chen to hesitate.


    "Go, drink to your heart''s content."


    Liang Chen gave a light wave of his hand, ripping open the gate to the Void a bit more. A flood of energy poured out from the wound, raining down upon the soul as it tried to engulf it. The surrounding time was all drawn in at the same time, the small portion of him stuck in the river of time doing its best to direct the energy.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    There was nothing these two parts could do about the remaining three laws, but they were luckily abundant in this land so they didn''t have to do much. Rot was omnipresent, wherever there were living beings there would be rot so it was easy to find that law. Death was more than abundant in this land, it had seeped into the land and air long before Liang Chen had ever set foot here, it was part of it as much as life was.


    And finally, there was poison, which he could luckily find twofold here. The first source of poison was the great ocean of it he had just created in his previous battle, it contained an unimaginable amount of it. But that wasn''t the only source, there was also the vestiges he had started to dig up with his embryonic Prime Law.


    They screamed at their deaths, roared in anger at the injustice they suffered. Hatred, desperation, wrath, it was all entrenched in the vestiges, poison that tied them to the land, poison that kept them here. And Liang Chen dug out all that poison for himself, drew out and extracted grudges that had long turned to dust.


    All of it was forced directly into his soul, merged into what should be the brain and heart of his soul, quickly altering them. Yumao and the others may not have been able to notice Liang Chen''s arrival, but there was no way for them to miss this flood of incoming energy. They couldn''t tell what it was doing, but Yumao was more than familiar with these particular laws.


    He seemed to say something, gleams of hope emerging in his eyes, but Liang Chen couldn''t hear him so he had no idea what he was saying. He focused on his soul, on the energy that was altering it. Soon it would reach a breaching point, soon it would overflow.


    And indeed, before long, much faster than when he did his body since he had some experience now, it overflowed. The energy poured into his soul, drawn in by its meridians as they greedily absorbed it. Parts that should have been left for later were altered one by one, the soul quickly becoming a mass of elemental energy. And then, just like his core-less body, it slid apart.


    One part to the wrathful poison, one part to the uncaring death, one part to the recycling rot, a part to the peaceful void, and a part to the endless river of time. Normally, this would be the end of it, just another unlucky fellow who stumbled on his path. But Yumao''s domain was still in effect, it still poured in energy that maintained his consciousness.


    And just like that, there were suddenly ten different parts of his consciousness floating around, four occupied the same elements but the remaining six occupied their own elements. And all of them were of one mind, all of them had the same idea.


    One by one they gathered, squeezing themselves to the utmost limit to gather themselves around the ring that marked his previous location. Lightning, Wind, Water, Poison, Rot, Death, Time, and Void, every single one of Liang Chen''s laws had gathered themselves. Water was the one odd out since it was the only law he couldn''t actually control, but it was still an integral part to his body cultivation.


    "...You know, looking at it now, it''s almost a bit funny, no? Lightning, wind, and water to form the storm, to form the heaves. Poison, death, and rot to form the abyss, to form wrath. And then there''s time and void to tie it all together, the bridge that connects the heavens and their wrath."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter somewhat humorously as he looked at the parts that had gathered and were quietly looking at each other. From the start he had moved forward with the goal of taking over the role of the heavens, he''d administer the wrath they refused to dispense. And now, before he knew it, he had picked up and become something that could form a close representation of those very things.


    "But this... This is too many. One. That''s all that''s needed, a single Liang Chen, the world really doesn''t need more, don''t you agree?"


    If each of these were to become a new body, a new Liang Chen, then it really would be too much. No, the world only needed a single him, any more than that and it would just be too sad. The various parts of him agreed on this part, the sole evil in the world didn''t need multiple parts, all it needed was a single seamless whole.


    The two parts representing time stretched out their arms, connecting and merging into each other. The two parts representing the Void did the same, 10 becoming 8. Next up was wind, water, and lightning, the laws that once formed his body merging into a single one. He had already merged all of these laws before so he was very familiar with the process, it only took an instant to do it.


    But they didn''t want to stay together, there was no core tying them together so they wanted to slide apart the moment they merged. But that was fine, in the end they''d stay together whether they wanted to or not, he just had to keep them together for a bit.


    8 parts had shrunk down to 6, but it was still not enough. Poison, death, and rot were the next to fuse, vanishing into each other one by one to reduce the number to 4. Void Storm, Void''s Abyss, and Void''s Wrath, Liang Chen''s three unique laws. One for the body, one for the soul, and one for it all together. In the past, they were separated, but now it was time to let them all become one.


    The four figures reached out to connect with the others, clasping their hands to form a circle. And then they faded, melting away into energy that merged into a single gathering of laws. Powerful but unstable, constantly at risk of dissipating and returning to nature. This was the final step, all Liang Chen had to do now was gather enough pressure to force this unstable gathering to compress. It was like when he reconstructed his bones, he just had to compress the energy until it took on physical form. That would be him, a pressurized gathering of elements, a walking representation of the heavens and wrath, a monstrosity in human form.


    But where was he to gather this type of pressure? Yumao and the others were barely aware of him at the moment, they could at best sense the mass of energy, whether or not they recognized it as him was unknown. And would they be able to output enough strength to exert enough pressure? He didn''t know, personally, he didn''t think so.


    But luckily, he knew a way to get hold of the pressure he needed. He had experienced it once before, a pressure unlike any other, a rejection by the Sphere itself. He had avoided it ever since, but now it was time to call it down once again, this time he would face it head-on.


    The void part that formed this mass of energy expanded outwards, it stretched along the ground and into the sky. The earth lost all colour as the ground turned a pale white, the air becoming heavy and dry. Soft strands of grey grass started to sprout from the changed earth, small black worms struggling to reach the surface as trees started to rise.


    Domain, the ability all cultivators of a certain level could use. The ability to alter the world to a state more suited for your elements, the ability Liang Chen rarely used due to the Void that was merged into his laws. He called it forth once more, and the world changed in response. Pale white earth, grey grass, black worms, light brown trees with bright red leaves that bore a striking resemblance to maple trees. This was the Void born of his law, a Void he had never seen before, and now he imposed it upon the world.


    But there was one who could not accept this, one who would not allow the Void to alter the world in a manner like this. And it rose to respond to this threat. The sky darkened with deep crimson clouds, a horrifying pressure bearing down on the land and flattening the newly formed trees. The clouds rumbled with the familiar sound of thunder, incandescent arcs of pure white lightning flashing across the clouds. Each one was as thick and long as a dragon, each one commanded enough power to shatter worlds.


    Liang Chen had called down the Void to alter the world, and the Sphere of Existence could not, would not allow this. So it brought its punishment, its wrath. But Liang Chen simply smiled, if a mass of energy could even do that.


    "I don''t accept you. I didn''t back then and I don''t now. But thank you for the pressure, I''ll make sure to put it to good use."

 Chapter 337: The Spheres wrath.

    The air crackled with power, white arcs splintering away from the clouds as they tore through space. The world groaned in pain under the wrath of the Sphere of Existence, each little crackle of lightning was like a knife that cut through it. Space was torn open without regard or care, but the gashes left by the lightning were so turbulent that the scenery beyond the scar constantly shifted and distorted.


    And following that crackling power was an inhumane presence that crushed down on everything. It was many magnitudes worse than the last time Liang Chen had sensed it, it felt as if it was trying to compress an entire planet into a single pea-sized marble.


    But Liang Chen still stood tall, if his current form could even manage that. The Void was outside of the Sphere of Existence''s jurisdictions, it was not shackled by any one of the three Spheres. No, it was they that were shackled by the Void, it was they that had to fear it, because sooner or later they would return to it. And that was true whether they wanted it or not.


    But Liang Chen wasn''t the only one present, and him being able to bear it did not mean that the others would be able to do the same. Yumao and the others were forced to the ground, sprawled flat as their bones creaked and the earth groaned. The Sphere was indiscriminate in its wrath, it had been aroused so the area that awoke it needed to be erased.


    But even as he was being pressed against the ground, Yumao did his best to maintain his domain. It was trembling and constantly breaking under the presence of the crimson clouds, but each time it shattered he reformed it straight away, ignoring the toll it took on him and Sheng Lian as well as the cost they had to pay. Liang Chen reached out to the two of them, a tendril of chaotic energy replacing his hand as he stroked their heads.


    "Enough, that''s enough. You''ve done enough, thank you. Now rest, leave everything else to me and sleep peacefully."


    He wasn''t sure if they''d be able to even hear his words, but it seemed that worry was pointless. The two raised their heads as fast as they could, the desperation that filled their eyes washing away like dust in the rain. They both flashed wide smiles, Yumao''s looking exceptionally creepy since he was still trapped in his bestial form.


    The dark domain cracked and shattered one more time, but this time it wasn''t reformed. The surge of power it provided also faded, leaving only the chaotic wrath of the Sphere and the mass of energy that was Liang Chen. Yumao wriggled slightly as he tried to dive into his familiar home, the house that held his egg and birthed him, Liang Chen''s dantian. But there was nothing, no response, no bond. The home he once inhabited was gone, the internal ties it had created were erased.


    Liang Chen retracted the tendrils of energy he had stretched out and focused on the crimson sky above him. More and more lightning was crackling across the clouds, their roar drowning out even the sounds of space tearing and the world groaning. This time there would be no Universe Consciousness coming along to shoo it away, this time it would just be him and it.


    Lightning continued to gather, but Liang Chen practically ignored it and kept on increasing the size of his domain. More and more trees sprouted as the domain grew, pale white earth and grey grass covering the land as he openly challenged the Sphere. He expanded his domain towards Yumao and the others, enveloping them in it.


    This domain was his own Void, it was not a place for living beings that didn''t belong to the Void. But right here and now he was the Void, it was nothing more than another part of him. And there was no way he would let a domain of his creation harm his friends. As such, the only thing the domain did to them was shield them from the wrath of the Sphere, giving them some breathing room as they rested amidst the maple-like trees.


    "Well? Are you just going to sit around and watch forever?"


    He once again raised his attention towards the cloud-covered sky after ensuring that Yumao and the others were safe, practically taunting the lightning. But the Sphere was not rushed, or perhaps it simply couldn''t hear the words of an existence like Liang Chen. It kept gathering its power, crimson clouds slowly dyed white by roaring lightning.


    It was a beautiful sight, a sky covered in untainted white, boundless and eternal. But the roars it brought with it were anything but beautiful. They spoke of the end of the world, unacceptable desires snuffed out before they could cause harm. And it was with exactly one such roar that the Sphere started its judgment.


    It was a bolt of lightning but it looked more like a pillar that connected the heavens and earth. It was so bright that it was hard to tell exactly how large it was, but Liang Chen guessed that it was likely at least a few kilometres in diameter, it was far too thick to actually be called a bolt of lightning.


    It also didn''t splinter off like normal lightning, not a single arc branched away as it descended. No, all its power was gathered within, not an ounce was wasted as it descended upon Liang Chen. Was it a warning shot to put him in line, or was it perhaps testing his limits to see if it could get away with using a minuscule amount of energy?


    Liang Chen had no answer to that question, he was just a man so he had no idea how the thoughts of the Sphere of Existence worked. But would this be enough to take him down? Oh, for this question he had an answer, and it was a resounding no.


    His will moved, and the energy that formed him moved in response. The lightning tore apart the world and space as it descended, but Liang Chen tore apart reality as he moved. A gash opened in the world and swallowed the lightning, the massive pillar-like bolt sinking into the scar without a single sound as it vanished.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    But as it vanished, the mass of energy that was Liang Chen recoiled slightly. It was as if it had taken a hit that forced it down, shrinking slightly as a result. And as the mass of energy shrank, the domain expanded again, the crimson leaves gleaming slightly.


    The Void took in all, accepted all. In the end, everything would become the Void, Existence was in the end nothing more than food for the Void, the energy that would be used to start a new world. In the past the Sphere may have been able to stop him, it would have been able to crush him as it pleased.


    But now? No, now it was already too late. The man had faded and the Void had been born, and as long as the Sphere was unable to crush the Void, it would be equally unable to crush him. Would things be the same after he managed to compress himself into a physical form? He didn''t know, there was after all no telling how the Void would react to being completely merged with other laws. But no matter what happened later, right now at least he was practically invincible. And the first one who''d have to suffer from that would be the Sphere of Existence.


    The probing attack had failed spectacularly, in fact, the energy that fueled it had been taken in by the enemy and used as fuel to promote their own growth. The clouds and the lightning covering them trembled as a result, but was it done out of fear or anger? Whatever the case was, the response chosen by the Sphere was an all-out attack. A single charge to decimate that which dared to go against it.


    The lightning that covered the sky loosened bit by bit, once again revealing the crimson clouds that covered the blue of the sky. But the crimson clouds also started to dissipate, pouring themselves into the white lightning as the Sphere prepared its final attack, the final part of its judgment. The bolts didn''t fall down one by one to push Liang Chen to his limits, no, they poured down like rain.


    The sky collapsed and fell, that was what it looked like from below. An uncountable number of lightning bolts descending at once, each one as thick as a heaven-connecting pillar. This was an attack meant to completely ruin the world, an attack that would leave nothing in the end.


    But what meaning did an attack that would leave nothing have to do with the Void? It was the nothing that remained in the end. Liang Chen gazed at the world-ending spectacle that descended towards him. This was the full extent of the Sphere of Existence''s wrath, a collapsing sky and a ruined world. But if it thought that this would be enough to compete with him then it would end up disappointed.


    Liang Chen had seen several planets already, he had seen so many skies and worlds that he couldn''t be bothered to count them anymore. And in each one there were screams, each one housed innocents that fell for no good reason, sinners that evaded judgment. His wrath encompassed all skies, all worlds, and the Sphere thought it could take him down by only bringing out enough power to take down a single sky, a single world?


    "You have no place here. I''ll do what you should have been doing from the start, so you can just fade away."


    If the heavens wouldn''t punish sinners then he would do so, that was how Liang Chen had started his path. He still stood by those words today, it was just that they''d been expanded unknowingly to also include saving the innocent. To save and to punish, that was his goal. The one who responded to screams, both silenced ones and those still going on, that was Liang Chen.


    The sky collapsed on him to punish him, but he tore apart reality to welcome it. A gash appeared above him, a scar on existence. But this one was larger than any he had ever created before, it seemed to stretch from one end of the horizon to the other. A gash upon reality, a tear in existence that could swallow even the sky as it fell.


    And it did just that, it swallowed the pure white lightning that filled the air. A small figure had rushed towards the gash from within it, but the white lightning swallowed it up before anyone could spot it. And with the lightning sinking into the Void, the mass of energy that was Liang Chen started to quickly change.


    Bit by bit it shrank, like a barrage of hits was smashing it into the ground. A sword needed to be hammered to be forged, dents and impurities had to be beaten out so that the weapon could reach its full potential. And Liang Chen was the same right now, directing all the energy of the lightning into himself to hammer himself, to forge a body.


    The domain around him also changed as the mass of energy did. It stopped expanding after a bit and instead seemed to grow denser, more connected to Liang Chen. Slowly but surely, every inch of the domain felt like it was part of him, each tree or blade of grass just another extension of his body.


    And then, when the last bit of lightning vanished into the Void, the gash on reality collapsed in on itself and sank into its creator with a sound that was akin to rusty metal gears grinding against each other. The domain he had stretched out also did the same, but it didn''t leave the altered world behind.


    No, the land, the trees, the grass, the black worms, all of it vanished. A gaping crater was left in the area, Yumao and the others hurriedly catching themselves before they fell. And then their gazes were all drawn towards the same place, the previously empty area that now housed a familiar and naked man grasping a crimson interspatial ring.


    --


    Kongxu Zhuren stood inside the Void with a twisted expression as he looked at the spot where the large gash had just been. His grey eyes gleamed darkly and his green hair was dishevelled, had it not been for the lightning that fell on him just now then he would have been able to hop out of the gash and instantly reach the location of the fake ruler. He had noticed his presence the second he opened a gash, but it had been pretty far away from him so he needed a bit of time to rush over.


    "...Fine, you''re lucky, lucky boy. But that luck will run out sooner or later, you can''t hide from me forever."


    He couldn''t help but grumble at the other party''s luck. If he could only sense the other party''s energy for a bit then he would be able to locate him and tear open a gate to reach him. But the other party, the fake ruler, his connection with the Void made it nigh impossible for Zhuren to properly sense him, he simply melted into the surroundings.


    "And this...Don''t think that I''ll take this insult sitting down."


    Zhuren''s gaze lowered slightly, landing on a patch of land beneath him. The earth there was pale white and grey grass had sprouted, hundreds of maple-like trees dotting the land. This was a patch of land that shouldn''t exist in the Void, it had no home here. Yet here it was, standing safely there as if to mock Zhuren.


    And worst of all was that Zhuren couldn''t interact with it. The entire stretch of land was surrounded by a bubble that rejected him, it refused to let him or his energy get close to the land. He was a Voidborn Ruler, born of the Void to rule and control it, how could there possibly be a patch of land in the Void that rejected him?


    "This is my home, not yours. The Void doesn''t need a fake ruler, an intruder who doesn''t understand a thing about it. I will cut you off, just you watch."

 Chapter 338: The remaining three.

    Liang Chen stood in the air somewhat absent-mindedly, his body had been reconstructed but his mind still felt a bit scattered, spread out amongst his elements. But he quickly regained himself, the faint heat of the ring in his palm tugging at the pieces of his mind and pulling them back together. Out of everything he had, this ring had been with him the longest, he''d acquired this ring before he even got hold of Yumao''s egg. And right now it housed half of his family, only Yan Ling was missing.


    "Yooo... I get that you may be proud of it, but don''t you think it''s about time you cover up that weapon? It ain''t exactly tickling my fancies, and the violent missus here doesn''t look too interested either."


    A voice snuck into Liang Chen''s ears as he gazed upon the ring, drawing his attention back to the surrounding reality. Shen Fei and Li Zhao Xu stood in the air a bit away from him, Zhao Xu averting her gaze somewhat while Shen Fei smirked, using his eyes to gesture towards Liang Chen''s lower parts.


    It was only now that Liang Chen realized that he wasn''t actually wearing anything, not even a single scrap of cloth. But perhaps something like that should have been expected, he had just taken a jumble of elements and used them to form a body, he wasn''t exactly in a situation where he could bother with creating some clothing.


    But he obviously wouldn''t stay like this now that he had realized it, he slid on the ring and brought out a set of clean white clothes he could change into. His gaze then slid past the two and landed on Yumao and Sheng Lian, who were so drained that they were only able to stay afloat thanks to Li Zhao Xu giving them a hand. Then again, the same may be true for Shen Fei, Yumao had taken a fair bit of energy from him, but if that was the case then he was hiding it pretty well.


    He raised his foot and stepped forward, his intention being to arrive by his two companions. But he vanished the moment he put some strength into his legs. He appeared again a few metres behind Yumao, stumbling through the air slightly as he corrected his balance.


    "This... Alright, some adjusting will be needed."


    Liang Chen glanced down at his own body, clenching his hands a few times as he spoke. He didn''t feel all that different, at least not in the power department, but there was clearly a rift between what he was feeling and what had actually happened. He had just become an Elemental composed of a myriad of elements, two of which don''t normally birth Elementals, it was only to be expected that there would be things he would have to learn on his own.


    He turned and tried to move once more, taking great care to not put an excess of strength into his movements. It went a bit better this time but he still overshoot the pair a little so he was forced to try again a third time before he managed to actually reach them.


    "Thank you, I would not have managed to pull through if you hadn''t been there to supply me with energy."


    Had it not been for the Nether God''s Grasp then the scattered fragments of Liang Chen''s consciousness would not have been able to maintain themselves in the elements, at least not long enough for him to gather himself again. His Void and Time aspects would probably have managed to last long enough, but he''d lose all his other laws, it would have been a heavy blow.


    "Ahh... Father... Since when were you so sappy?"


    Yumao raised his head weakly while smirking, or at least doing his best to emulate one with his serpentine body. Sheng Lian also tried to talk, but she seemed far too drained to even muster a single word. She wasn''t like Yumao after all, who had been touched by Liang Chen''s Void in the past, her bloodline and cultivation were a bit weaker so the strain was simply too much for her.


    "Oh shut it, I don''t need you to copy Ling''er even in this state. Go and get some rest, both of you."


    He really took too much after Yan Ling, even spitting jokes when he was on the verge of collapsing like this. Yan Ling really had pulled a fast one on Liang Chen with how much she corrupted his little Yumao, so surely a bit of punishment would be in order when they met again, right?


    He didn''t give the two any chance to formulate a response, placing a hand on each and gently stroking their heads before he pulled them into his interspatial ring. He slowed down the time within the ring as much as he could, it would take longer for them to recover like this but it also gave him more time to act if something unexpected happened to them during the recovery.


    "Are you a Voidborn?"


    Zhao Xu seemed like she was done waiting for Liang Chen to settle his business, questioning him the moment he put away Yumao and Sheng Lian. The Voidborn were a race that wasn''t viewed favourably so he expected her tone to become sharp, but to his surprise it seemed more inquisitive than anything else. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "That way of opening a gate to the Void doesn''t match Uncle Long or Fiend Ying, it was too quick to have been done by the technique of Ancient Turtle, and there''s no way the Fogswamp would be able to open gates that can resist the wrath of the Sphere Consciousness. So, tell me, are you a Voidborn, a Ruler one at that?"


    Li Zhao Xu was the daughter of the exalted Divine Emperor, the level of the people she could come into contact with was far above anything most people would even believe possible. As such she could easily recognize the Void, she had recognized it the second he opened a gate to it. But the fact that she recognized the wrath of the Sphere Consciousness was not something Liang Chen had expected, not even Shen Fei seemed to have recognized it when they first encountered it in the past.


    "No, I can''t be counted amongst the Voidborn. Me being able to use the Void is just a coincidence, well, a string of coincidences actually. But if you want concrete proof then I can''t give any so you''ll have to rely on your own judgment."


    Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders as he turned to face Zhao Xu. He didn''t try overly hard to convince her, he laid out the facts as they were and left the rest to her. Whether or not she was convinced or believed him would be up to her, they weren''t exactly terribly close so he couldn''t say that it mattered much to him either way.


    "No, I believe you, let''s just call it my intuition.  And if that doesn''t ease any worries then there''s no way you''d have connections with Uncle Long if you were actually a Voidborn, there''s no way he''d allow your head to stay connected to the rest of your body."


    Surprisingly enough, Zhao Xu straightforwardly accepted his explanation, sliding her finger across her throat to emphasize her final statement. As she mentioned it, Liang Chen realized that he actually had no idea what sort of relationship the rulers of this multiverse had with the Voidborn.


    The Void King at least seemed to sympathize with them a bit, and if it wasn''t directed at them then it was directed at the Void itself. The Bloodwind Emperor seemed to be more neutral towards them, he had pointed out their nature but also gone on to say that no power was truly evil, only the intent that drove it. As for the Ever-Changing King that he had met once, he simply seemed to be amused at the turn of events. And finally, the Nine Star Demon God hadn''t shown much of a reaction either before dropping the topic.


    As for the rest of the rulers, he didn''t know much, if anything, about their relationship with the Void. The best he had was guesses, both of which were based on Zhao Xu''s response. The first guess was that the Heaven Splitting King had a pretty poor relationship with them and the second was that the Divine Emperor was mostly neutral. If he had animosity towards the Voidborn then he would definitely have warned his daughter, she''d probably have inherited a bit of that animosity over the years. But the only thing she showed when faced with his Void was curiosity so it didn''t seem like she had inherited any hatred.


    "Alright, with the pointless questioning out of the way..."


    Shen Fei inserted himself into the conversation with a casual wave of his hand, almost as if he was trying to gesture that he was brushing the topic away to move onto the next one.


    "Your body, how is it now? Well, I guess asking ''What is it now?'' is more accurate."


    A mass of elements that had conglomerated under the pressure brought about by the Sphere Consciousness, it was technically in the realm of Elementals. But an Elemental like this should not exist, even an Elemental formed from just two merged elements was exceedingly rare. Had it not been for the fact that the laws were fused to begin with, and that each of the elements contained his consciousness, this end-result would probably never have come about.


    "It''s good, amazing even, I feel like I just woke up from a good nap. As for what it is..."


    Liang Chen drew his finger across his palm as he spoke, his nail cutting a small wound into his flesh. A bit of blood poured out and dripped down, crackling with electricity as it fell. But it split apart before it could get too far away, sliding apart into Liang Chen''s various elements as it disappeared.


    "It''s all like that, from my blood to my bones and organs. It''s all just a mass of elements tied together by consciousness and pressure, like charcoal compressed into a diamond. It''s technically unstable since it will fall apart once it leaves my control, but I don''t have a core like normal Elementals so I am able to avoid having a single glaring weak spot."


    Indeed, Liang Chen still lacked that one vital thing all Elementals had, a core. Perhaps it was because he fused both his body and soul into a single cohesive entity, or perhaps it was because the world didn''t consider him among the ranks of its Elementals. Personally, he didn''t really care, it meant that he didn''t have to constantly protect that glaring weak spot from attacks.


    No, as long as he absorbed enough energy and elements he could heal any wound, even a decapitation could be healed. After all, at this point his head was mostly just decoration, the form he had right now was something he only had because he pictured it. His true form right now would either be just a ball of energy or the serpentine dragon he became when last unleashed his true form, any other form would just be something he had because he chose it.


    "Since you said you feel amazing, does that mean...?"


    Perhaps it was by tacit agreement, but neither Zhao Xu nor Shen Fei said a single thing about Liang Chen''s domain or how different it was from the Void they had been told about. Or perhaps they just assumed that something like that was to be expected of a domain that contained more laws than just Void. Liang Chen knew what Shen Fei was asking him, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upwards.


    "Yes, the hunt is still on."


    The journey was almost over, only three Wraths remained ahead of him. The Abandoned Heart''s Wrath, the Land''s Wrath, and the final Nine Wraths sect, the rest of them had all been buried by his hands. And now it was time to bury the last three, it was time to reach Purgatory.

 Chapter 339: The lone tomb.

    Hunt, that was the word Liang Chen had used to describe his actions against the remaining Wrath sects. But was that really the word to use, was Liang Chen really a hunter? No, Liang Chen was no hunter, he had no prey to stalk, no tracks to follow as he made his plans. He was a butcher, not a hunter, and the remaining Wrath sects had to find that out the hard way.


    First on the list was the Abandoned Heart''s Wrath, mainly because it was the location that housed the final reward Purgatory had prepared for him. The Wrath they styled themselves after, as well as their lamentation, was that of someone who had been abandoned by those they cherished. Dark emotions that festered like venom, disappointment and hatred that could twist minds as they cried all alone.


    But now they weren''t alone anymore. One by one they had gathered together, their tears and internal venom pooling together into a single festering ocean lashing out against the people and world that had abandoned them. If they had the time then they may indeed have the chance to swallow up all those who had abandoned them, the chance to settle their wrath.


    But that time was something they would never get. Be it fortune or misfortune, time itself had not decided to abandon them, arriving at their doorstep in the form of Liang Chen. And then the butcher revealed himself.


    There was no fight. No tracking, no tricking, no whittling down their numbers quietly. It was just a massacre, a wave of death that washed away their festering hatred as if it was making a mockery of it. The Harbour of the Abandoned, Sect Leader Hyong Hao fared little better than the rest of his sect, he wasn''t even as strong as Tian Shenju of Sky''s Wrath or Yi Ze Ruan of Ocean''s Wrath so he met his end even faster than they had.


    182 364 people, that was how many members the Abandoned Heart''s Wrath had. The world had no shortage of abandoned people, crying souls begging for revenge and company, so perhaps it should be no surprise that it was this sect that had the most members among the subordinates of the Nine Wraths sect.


    Some of them may have tried to flee when things looked bad, when the massacre truly bloomed into carnage. But in the end, Liang Chen''s wrath was not one that allowed others to escape, it was an all-encompassing web that placed a scythe against your throat the moment you touched it. And of those nearly two hundred thousand people that touched the web, only nine got to walk away alive.


    Perhaps it could be called a good harvest, most of the other sects he had visited earlier barely had one or two people that were worthy of sparing. Or perhaps it could be seen as a tragedy, that Purgatory corrupted people so thoroughly that only nine were clean enough to be spared in the end. Liang Chen was the type that leaned more towards the second option so he showed no joy as he allowed the nine to escape, descending into the treasury of the sect.


    The item he was looking for was easy to find, and not just because Purgatory''s Cradle was pointing him towards it. It was hovering in the centre of the treasury, a nearly invisible tornado surrounding it and keeping it afloat. It was a book with an extremely plain title, Heart of Wind.


    Purgatory''s Cradle had seen his law of wind and decided to present him with a gift geared towards it. It was a cultivation manual that focused fully on the law of wind, once mastered all the wind in the world would be your servant, your eyes and ears. But what a shame it was that the book was of little use to Liang Chen, forget the fact that it focused on just a single law, he didn''t even know how he was supposed to cultivate right now.


    His Dragon Lotus had vanished after his transformation, the centre of his power had shifted away from the lotus and spread out to his entire body. Anima Essence, Qi, Fiendgod Essence, none of them meant anything to him anymore. His body was his soul and his soul was his body, and both were his energy, falling into none of the categories. No, now they simply fell into the category of energy, pure and untamed energy waiting for a chance to rush out.


    But he still kept the book, as well as the other resources in the treasury. Resources would always be useful, especially since he had weaker disciples he had to take care of now. The book was the same, the best he could do was glean some interesting uses of the law of wind from it, but some of his disciples would be able to make good use of it. One such disciple was the blind Hui Xin, that poor broken girl who quietly cried for revenge.


    "Hmm, perhaps she''d have ended up here if she ever got to leave the hidden realm."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but mutter slightly as he thought about it. Thinking about it, a good portion of the disciples he had taken in over the years fit in rather well in this sect. Had he not met them when he did then there may come a day where he would have stood opposite of them instead, assuming they managed to survive the predicaments they were in when he originally met them.


    But in the end, the past was the past, and he had personally experienced how unchanging and merciless the past was. He shook his head to discard the thoughts, leaving the ruins of the sect and heading towards his next target with Shen Fei and Zhao Xu in tow. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The Land''s Wrath, the last sect before the Nine Wraths sect. Just like Tian Shenju''s Sky''s Wrath and Ze Ruan''s Ocean''s Wrath, it was a sect that carried the wrath of the world, not of man.


    The land could accept being eroded by time or destroyed by disasters, but it could not accept what man did to it. Digging it up, melting it down into twisted structures, a mockery of what it used to be. With each step they took they ruined another stretch of land, with each settlement they made they inevitably left another stretch of land uninhabitable. It could not accept them so it raged, and Juela Shang Yi was the woman who had the duty of representing that wrath.


    But in the end, the day where it was time for her to put that duty down came. It was almost eerie how quiet it was. She had expected, or possibly hoped, that the end would at least come with a great big bang or a fanfare. But no, the only sound that accompanied it was soft footsteps and a somewhat sad expression. Was that right, for the end to look so sad?


    Others may not think so, the one who wrought such devastation and carnage had no right to look sad as he did it. He should be cruel and vicious, otherwise, he wouldn''t be wreaking such havoc. But Shang Yi had a different opinion, and perhaps that was why she was the sect master of a Wrath-aligned sect.


    "Yes...that''s the look. To feel wrath is to lament, to lament is to feel wrath. When we scream we also cry, and when we cry we also scream. One scream meets another and a symphony is born, a world is changed..."


    That was the mantra of the Nine Wraths sects, you could not feel hatred without lamenting the source, and every time you cried in sorrow over something you would inevitably also feel wrath. So it was just fine for Liang Chen to look sad, it would even be fine if he cried for the people he killed. That was what it meant to be wrath.


    "I''ll be going ahead first, Storm Lord. The wrath of the land, the cries of the earth, I''ll leave them to you. I''ll watch for the day they''ll find a home in your Arbiter''s Wrath..."


    Shang Yi''s sentence was punctuated by the sound of gurgling blood, she had ruptured her own lungs and throat so that she could put an end to her life with her own hands. But she died with a small smile on her face, her duty came to an end but she had someone she could hand it over to so her wrath wouldn''t fade here, not yet.


    Liang Chen gave no response to Shang Yi''s parting words, quietly glancing down at her body for a few seconds before he put it into his interspatial ring. He swept the sect clean, once again leaving nothing but ruin and death in his wake.


    Seven sects, seven wraths. The Wyvern''s Wrath, The Wrath of Man, the Haunting Soul''s Wrath, The Sky''s Wrath, the Land''s Wrath, the Ocean''s Wrath, the Abandoned Heart''s Wrath. One by one they had fallen, one by one they had been buried by his hands. Now, the only thing standing between him and Purgatory was the final sect, the Nine Wraths sect.


    They were the ones who stood at the centre of it all, they were the ones who pushed and prodded this twisted land deeper into its bloodshed, aiding it in its descent. And they were his final target here, his quiet footsteps bringing him towards them, his arrival as sure as the passage of time.


    The Nine Wraths sect was mostly shrouded in mystery, even to Liang Chen. He hadn''t been able to read the memories of the stronger sect leaders, and the other members had never gotten to set foot in their core sect so they had no idea what lay there. As such, when Liang Chen arrived in front of the Nine Wraths sect, he was seeing it for the first time.


    And his first reaction was surprise. There was no grand city surrounding it, no gargantuan headquarters housing their elite disciples. No, the Nine Wraths sect was just a lone marble mausoleum standing on a stretch of dead land, cracks spreading across the dry yellow earth, a lone and forgotten tomb. Sure, the mausoleum was bigger than most, but it barely stretched two kilometres in each direction, it was smaller than some of the guard towers that the other sects had.


    But Liang Chen didn''t let the appearance fool him. He could feel it in the air, a tingling of power, a sombre atmosphere that made him feel like he was standing alone in the rain. He could also feel it in the earth, there was something below them, buried in the earth, gazing furiously at the sky. He could feel its wrath, it was like whispers in his ears, like the screams of the vestiges he dug up.


    He stepped towards the mausoleum with calm and slow steps, but Shen Fei and Li Zhao Xu seemed to bump into something when they were about a kilometre or so away from it. They tried again and again, even unleashing their Qi, but they simply could not take a single step closer.


    "There''s no point forcing it, if you can''t get closer then it''s because Purgatory has decided to reject you."


    A voice reached them from behind while Liang Chen was observing the two to see what was stopping them, the hairs on his neck standing on end. His head swivelled around to see a young man standing in the entrance of the mausoleum, a baggy white robe covering his body. He had a head full of unruly brown hair and somewhat sunken in blue eyes that carried a calm light,


    His robe was baggy, but just looking at his face and hands was enough to tell Liang Chen that he was skinny, to the point where he actually looked as if he had been starving for a while. His fingernails were a dirty white and covered in spots, but it, strangely enough, didn''t seem like they were that way because they were actually covered in dirt, it just seemed like they grew like that.


    "I''ve already put over some tea, but if you prefer alcohol then you''ll have to bring your own, I don''t normally stock things like that. I''ll be waiting inside, Storm Lord, let''s have a little chat before we tear into each other."


    The man looked like he had only come out to clear up the group''s confusion, turning around and addressing Liang Chen over his shoulder. He walked back into the mausoleum but left the stone door open, a subdued herbal scent drifting out. Lao Ye, the lord of the Nine Wraths, had extended Liang Chen an invitation.

 Chapter 340: Understanding between wraths.

    "Ain''t no way in hell that I''m letting you just leave me here. I''m not missing the confrontation between the two of you, so if you''re gonna accept his invitation then you''d better stuff me into that ring and get me a front-row seat."


    Shen Fei didn''t even give Liang Chen the chance to say anything, making his stance clear the moment Liang Chen''s gaze turned towards them. He had specifically come to Purgatory''s Cradle to see what sort of chaos Liang Chen would wreak in a place that went against his entire ideology. To drop out at the very end, with the grandest show right in front of him? There was no way he could stomach that.


    "Father said I was forbidden from fighting, Lao Ye, and I can''t very well leave without first seeing exactly what''s supposed to make him so great. Let''s hope he''s as nuts as this weakling here, at least that way I may still have a chance of learning what''s supposed to be so fun about battles."


    Li Zhao Xu had just about the same opinion as Shen Fei, gesturing towards him with her thumb. He cringed a little at the nickname she used for him, but she had summarily smashed him in the past so it really couldn''t be helped. He was the weaker party so he could only do his duty as the clown and smile somewhat foolishly.


    "Alright, it''s your own choice so don''t blame me if anything happens."


    Liang Chen simply shrugged his shoulders and pulled the two into his interspatial ring, using his control over it to tweak it so that they could at least look at the outside from within. He knew he could bring them along after storing them in his ring even if Purgatory rejected them, he had been able to move ahead even with all the disciples in his interspatial ring after all. With them taken care of, he stepped towards the inviting entrance of the mausoleum.


    At first, Liang Chen thought that the soft herbal scent that drifted out from the entrance came from the tea that Lao Ye had supposedly put over, but he realized his error the moment he passed through the gate. A tranquil garden, that was the best way to describe the inside of the mausoleum.


    Green grass, various herbs that could be used for tea, even some berry bushes and fruit trees were scattered about. It was a peaceful little slice of paradise, there wasn''t even a single house present to break up the verdant landscape.


    There was however a simple stone bed tucked away amidst some of the bushes, a round stone table and two chairs placed a short distance from it. Lao Ye was slowly strolling towards the table, heading for the small kettle that rested above a fire burning within an indent in the table.


    "I''m sorry if you expected something grander. I used to be a monk so I really only have experience with chambers like this."


    Lao Ye still spoke very casually as he took a seat, plucking a small flower from a bush next to him and tossing it into the steaming kettle. He spoke politely but not cordially, calm to the point that it almost felt indifferent. Liang Chen had torn down everything he had built up over the years so it was a tone that felt a little incongruent with the relationship they should have.


    "Purgatory, I take it she''s beneath us?"


    Liang Chen sat down on the chair that had been prepared for him, his eyes gesturing towards the ground beneath them. He could feel it beneath them, buried deep but not forgotten, a fury-filled gaze directed at the distant and endless sky.


    "Indeed, but for you, it''s more correct to say he. It takes a form quite similar to whoever gazes upon it...albeit a bit more twisted."


    Lao Ye didn''t try to trick Liang Chen or the like, it was already pointless when you thought about the point they had reached. He gazed quietly at the steaming kettle for a bit, the small bubbles rising to the surface of the light red liquid dancing in his eyes.


    "To be honest, I''m actually a little surprised that you accepted the invitation. You ruined the other sects so thoroughly that I expected you to launch an attack right away. May I ask why you didn''t?"


    How much death had Liang Chen reaped in this land already? How many souls had returned to the embrace of the Sphere under his hand? Merciless, unstoppable, unrelenting, that was the type of beast he was when he killed. But here he sat, quietly waiting for tea while sitting just an arm''s reach away from a target to kill.


    "Because I want to understand."


    It was a simple, if somewhat cryptic, answer. He wanted to understand Lao Ye and the wrath sects he had created. Why did they act the way they did, what made them tick, why did they struggle to nourish Purgatory? He didn''t know any of it, but he wanted to know. The world was filled with misery, but why was that? There were countless people he had to kill for his goal, but why did they exist, what did they gain from their actions?


    Lao Ye raised his gaze from the kettle, his head tilting for a second as he digested the meaning behind Liang Chen''s words. And when he understood what he meant, he also realized where those words might have come from, his lips forming a somewhat bleak curve.


    "Understand...? Ah, you must have spoken with Ze Ruan. That''s good, she always liked talking, she would have made a better teacher than sect leader... She was always a fool, always ending up in danger and harm''s way. You could warn her a thousand times and she''d still charge ahead... even if you told her that you were going to a land of unending slaughter. Really, why did she have to be so foolish?"


    His gaze lowered again, settling on the bubbles in the tea. Born at the bottom of the kettle, the warmest place, they all rose desperately. But their struggles, their ascent, it was all short-lived. In the end, they all popped at the surface, some never even got to see it before they faded. But he didn''t allow himself to gaze upon the bubbles for too long, locking eyes with Liang Chen as he raised his head.


    "To understand... Should I perhaps find it a bit funny that the two of us have the same goal right now? Very well, then let''s understand each other, Storm Lord. Can you tell me, why did you kill them all? From Wyvern to Land, why did you trample on their dreams and massacre them?"This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Liang Chen wanted to understand why they acted how they did, but wasn''t the opposite true? Why did he kill them, why did he seek them out and butcher them all without remorse? They didn''t know, perhaps only in their final moments would some of them realize the truth. Now it was Liang Chen''s turn to tilt his head fractionally, he needed a bit of time to organize his thoughts so that he could word things properly.


    "...Because I am angry, Lao Ye. When good people die, why do the heavens turn a blind eye? When a bad man kills and walks free, why do the heavens turn a blind eye? When innocents drown and sinners form rafts with their corpses, why do the heavens turn a blind eye? As a child, I was taught that the heavens rewarded good deeds and punished sinners, but that''s not true, is it? No, that''s just a kid''s tale to make them behave. So I am angry, Lao Ye, angry at the heavens that don''t exist. But I am not a kid''s tale, I am not a fantasy that turns a blind eye. I am unable to reward good people, but killing sinners, oh, I am far too good at that. That is why I killed them, Lao Ye, and why I spared some others."


    A fantasy, a story told to children, that was the righteousness of the heavens. But from that fantasy came Liang Chen, and while he was more of a destroyer than a saviour, he could at least fill one of the roles that the dream-like heavens were supposed to have.


    Lao Ye listened quietly as Liang Chen spoke, occasionally glancing down that the tea. But when he heard Liang Chen''s reasoning he couldn''t help but smile a little. It wasn''t a soft or gentle smile, no, it was more akin to a smile that was between exasperation and amusement, a smile that only existed because he didn''t have any other expression that fit.


    "So in the end, it all boils down to wrath. Fitting, very fitting. It''s... a shame, that we didn''t get to meet earlier. If you had been born here then you may well have ended up joining us in the end. The wrath that the heavens didn''t deliver, the lament of a loss that was never avenged, I suppose you would have been our 10th wrath. Heaven''s Wrath, yes, that would have been a good 10th one."


    Lao Ye''s eyes turned a bit distant, gazing past Liang Chen as if he wanted to peer straight into that future, a future where they left Purgatory''s Cradle and accomplished their goals. But alas, the river had split and that particular branch had been lost to time. And thus they ended up here, around this small stone table where they shared their last drink.


    "Ze Ruan said something very similar in the end. But I''ll tell you what I told her. No, I don''t think that would ever happen. We are both wrath, but our ends are different, our ideologies branch away from each other. In the end, we are bound to face each other, to kill each other."


    Liang Chen''s answer was set in stone. They may both be wrath, but wrath came in many forms and travelled many paths. And it just so happened that their paths branched away and then crossed each other, erasing one branch forever. But the small smile on Lao Ye''s face still remained as Liang Chen rejected him.


    "Ah, so that''s why she spoke of understanding."


    Now he understood why Ze Ruan had spoken to him about understanding, she may have even told Liang Chen to come here and talk, it certainly seemed like something she might do. Very well then, perhaps things would change if there was understanding.


    "Tell me, Storm Lord, do you know what Purgatory really is?"


    Purgatory, some saw it as just a consciousness that guided you towards rewards, a blood-soaked god hidden away from sight. Others saw it as a mass of energy that could help them ascend, energy that could fulfil all their wishes. But Liang Chen knew what Purgatory really was, where it had come from.


    "Heavenly Punishment, the flame that burns you for all the sins you''ve committed. Once it struck all who grew strong enough to take over a universe, or those who committed sins."


    The great law set down by the multiverse consciousness. Breach it and die, that was what Purgatory was, an ancient law, a bygone punishment lost to time. The multiverse consciousness had died after the Bloodwind Emperor and Qiao Xingmei fought, but that ancient law, the power that drove it, that still remained right here in this very land.


    "Exactly, you''re quite learned. So, Purgatory falls in line with your wrath, it accomplishes what you desire, which I imagine is why you''ve decided to seek it out. But tell me, Storm Lord, do you know why we are nourishing it?"


    Lao Ye nodded his head slightly, still carrying his smile. He picked up the kettle, two stone cups forming on the table so that he had something to pour the tea into. He pushed one to Liang Chen and took the other for himself, taking a sip of the warm and somewhat bitter tea as he spoke.


    "Because men are weak. They may boast about their strong wills, but time grinds all things to dust, even kindness and determination. Friends become enemies, determination becomes fear, anger becomes apathy."


    People changed, locations changed, lives changed, everything changed with time, everything was ground down to nothing. That was the mercy of time, but at the same time, it was the cruelty of time. And it was especially cruel to those who feared what the passing of time might rob them of.


    "And in that weakness, lies the misery of the universe. Men will do whatever they can to ease that weakness, they''ll kill, they''ll steal. Monasteries will be robbed, cities will be burned, kingdoms erased, monks tortured for just a glimpse of power that can push back the weakness. As long as we are men, we will have that weakness. And as long as we have that weakness, there will be misery and cruelty."


    That was Lao Ye''s truth, misery and weakness. To be weak was to be miserable, to be strong was to fear weakness and spread misery. You could not escape it, you could not hide from it, you could only accept it. But what then of those who did not want to accept that world, that misery?


    "But Purgatory is not a man, it is power, eternal and pure. Determination that will never be worn down, wrath that will never burn out, that is Purgatory. If either of us ascends to power then we will eventually crumble just like all other men. But Purgatory will never crumble. Once we manage to nourish it back to full health, it can once again return to the multiverse and take up its rightful position, its duty."


    Liang Chen wanted to become the prime evil, the one source of fear and cruelty in the multiverse. All who sinned would be struck down by him, and that would become fear that would prevent others from sinning. But to Lao Ye, such a thing was impossible. Because man was not eternal, only Purgatory was. And of course, Lao Ye was not so foolish that he didn''t understand what awaited him at the end, should he succeed.


    "We will burn. You, me, the sect members that foolishly followed me for so long, all of us will burn in the fires of Purgatory for our countless sins. But so too will the rest of the sinners, our journey to the yellow springs will be so crowded we can stack ourselves up into the thousands and still be cramped. And the innocents will smile, for the heavens have returned. They will have what we can''t offer them ourselves. Peace, eternal and guaranteed. What''s the saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions so the road to heaven must be paved in sins?"


    He would burn for eternity, and he''d doom all those who followed him to that same fate. But he was fine with it, that was a price he was willing to pay. If that was what he had to do to make his fellow Muni smile happily then he would do it a thousand times over, even if he will never attain Moksha thanks to it. That was his Wrath, the wrath that had attracted thousands of others to form seven new wraths, that was the wrath that had attracted the ninth wrath that was resting beneath them.


    "Now that you understand, Storm Lord, allow me to ask you. On this path to eternal damnation and unending flames, will you join me, will you prosper with me in hell for eternity?"

 Chapter 341: The rift between them.

    Liang Chen looked down at the outstretched hand that reached across the table. Lao Ye was telling the truth, this Liang Chen could instinctively tell. He sought to revive Purgatory, he sought to drown the multiverse in its flames so that he and the other sinners could all burn together. In that regard they were quite similar, chasing a future where sin was burned to ash.


    And indeed, if they worked together then the speed at which Purgatory was revitalized would drastically increase, the future would approach them that much faster. But he couldn''t raise his own arm, he couldn''t grab that hand, he could only shake his head.


    "Understanding... Perhaps I wasn''t the only one who needed it. I have understood you now, Lao Ye. But tell me, do you understand me?"


    Lao Ye''s goals and motivations, perhaps even his past, Liang Chen understood them now. He could also understand why he had taken the path he did, it was honestly a path that Liang Chen himself could have ended up on if his life went a bit differently. But he hadn''t ended up on that path, he was close to it, but that one step he had taken to the side created a moat between him and Lao Ye.


    "...I would like to say that I do, but judging by your response I would probably be lying a bit if I did, no?"


    Lao Ye slowly pulled back his arm as he spoke. He hadn''t outright rejected him, but the light in Liang Chen''s eyes told him that there was no chance of him accepting the offer. And indeed, the minor difference between them was enough to forever put them on opposite sides of each other.


    "It all lies within that very first sentence, that simple fact that still clings to my insides. I am angry, Lao Ye. It is my anger, not someone else''s. I am the one who burns with it, it is within my chest that the fire roars. And so, I will be the one to extinguish it, I will be the one to act on it. I won''t hand my wrath, nor my duty, over to anyone else. Other options may be easier, faster. But they are not my options. So I won''t join you."


    Liang Chen came here for Purgatory, to make its power his own, that much was true. But as long as he was the one who controlled it and used it to mete out punishment then it would be fine. After all, when he used his lightning to kill someone, you didn''t go around saying that the lightning killed them. His explanation was more than enough for Lao Ye to understand him, understand the moat that separated them. But he didn''t look disappointed at the realization, a small smile still hung on his face.


    "Ah, I see. That''s quite the arrogance you have there, you''d make a terrible monk. But who knows, maybe it''s for the best? Maybe what''s needed to break the chain of lamentation is just a bit of good old fashioned arrogance. Time will tell, it always does. Before we start fighting to the death, do you mind if I finish my tea?"


    He spoke the words very casually, as if life and death battles had just become the norm for him. But there was something more to his tone, an utter disregard for his own life. Would he win the battle? He wasn''t sure, he had no way of knowing. But he sounded like he didn''t mind either outcome of the battle, be it his victory or his death. And he wasn''t the first one to give Liang Chen this feeling so he couldn''t help but question him as he sipped the tea.


    "Your disregard for your own life, where does it come from? Some of the other guild leaders were much the same, Ze Ruan even smiled calmly at the end. Why do you weigh your lives so lightly?"


    They had grand goals, ambitions spanning the entire multiverse. People like that usually valued their lives greatly, there was after all no way for them to accomplish those ambitions if they ended up dying early on. But Lao Ye didn''t seem to care in the slightest if he died before he accomplished what he set out to, his life was as light as paper. Even Liang Chen treasured his life greatly, he took a lot of risks but there was never a second where he treated his life lightly. Lao Ye stopped drinking in response to the question, tilting his head somewhat quizically at the question.


    "Why we weigh our lives so lightly? Because we don''t have lives, Storm Lord. Me, Ze Ruan, Tian Shenju, we don''t have lives, all we have are wrath. And unlike lives, wrath is eternal. Tell me, Storm Lord, do you think you''re the first one to be furious at the heavens, or do you think that I''m the first one to be angry at the world''s weakness? The answer is no, there have been many before us. We can''t hope to be the first, but we can hope to be the last. And even if that fails in the end, someday there will come someone who''ll become the last, only then will we truly die."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    That was the truth behind those who chose to join the wrath sects, a tragedy to some, a relief to others. They had abandoned themselves, their lives and identity, all for that wrath that threatened to consume them. His explanation also reminded Liang Chen of the final words left by the sect leader of the Land''s Wrath, Shang Yi.


    The wrath of the land, the cries of the earth, I''ll leave them to you.


    She had died, but her wrath would live on in Liang Chen as he strode towards the future. And even if he ended up dying to Lao Ye, the wrath she left with him would just be transferred to him. That was their eternity, their lives, and their solace. The ideology, the belief Lao Ye presented, finally allowed Liang Chen to realize what the exact reason for the rift between them was.


    "I see, so that''s where the disconnect is. Thank you for the answer. And for the tea, it was sweeter than I expected."


    He didn''t bother elaborating on the disconnect, the source of the rift, Lao Ye probably knew it even better than him. They had abandoned their lives, they sought to awaken Purgatory with their wraths and then burn for their sins. That was how they put it, and it was probably completely true.


    But seeing it in another way, they just wanted to die. They wanted to leave this world that had spawned their wraths and lamentations, this world that had robbed them of their identity. And in that, laid the difference. Liang Chen wanted to live, he wanted to see the future, spend time with his loved ones, see the world. He wanted to see the future he built, they just wanted to leave the present.


    "Thank you, I made it using flowers that grew in my home town. If you end up being the victor then you can take some of them with you, I always keep a few seeds safe in my ring. They grow much better in the outside world, this land is a bit too bloodsoaked for them so it takes away from the flavour. It''s best if you plant them next to running water, that way their roots can extend into the water to extract some of the nutrients that may get washed along with the water."


    Lao Ye''s smile softened slightly as he spoke, he was clearly very fond of these particular flowers. He didn''t say anything else after thanking Liang Chen and giving him some hints about how to cultivate the flowers, he simply sipped the tea quietly. He would occasionally turn his head, his gaze drifting across the little garden he had created here, this little slice of land that didn''t belong in this twisted and ruined land.


    Liang Chen also didn''t say anything, basking in the silence as he sipped the tea that Lao Ye had provided. He wasn''t lying when he said that it was sweeter than he expected, it was actually a bit too sweet for him. But Yan Ling would probably like it, she had always been fond of sweeter drinks. He didn''t know about Lan Yun, but she had spent so much time with Yan Ling that she likely shared the same tastes so she''d probably enjoy this tea as well.


    "Thank you for the patience. Shall we begin?"


    Lao Ye eventually finished the tea, the kettle now cold and empty, only a few sparse drops remaining in his cup. He put down the cup and rose from his chair, his almost malnourished body creaking slightly as he stretched. Liang Chen mimicked his actions, the two facing each other from opposite sides of the table.


    Lao Ye raised his hand slightly, pointing his palm towards the ceiling. He didn''t bring out a weapon, but a brief sensation of nausea still hit Liang Chen, vanishing after a quick second. Lao Ye''s eyebrows rose in slight surprise, his fingers curling slightly. Another sensation of nausea attacked Liang Chen, but it too vanished after less than a second. A gleam of realization arose in Lao Ye''s eyes as he nodded his head.


    "I see, that is usually enough to take out most opponents, but it doesn''t seem to work on you. You must also use the law of time, and your relationship with it is quite intimate. It''s my first time facing someone else who uses the law of time, it''s a good thing I figured out early on that it doesn''t work."


    Two failures was all it took for Lao Ye to pinpoint one of Liang Chen''s laws. Granted, he could only figure it out due to the fact that he had the same law, but the rarity of said law was so great that he could be called quite intelligent to figure it out so quickly. Or perhaps it had to do with how he utilized it, Liang Chen wasn''t quite sure.


    Whatever the case was, he threw it to the back of his mind for now as he spat out a breath. This would be his first big fight after his transformation, the other sect leaders had not been able to last long enough for him to get a good grasp of his current strength. Needless to say, as the leader of the Nine Wraths, Lao Ye had already reached the Transcended Immortal realm. But he didn''t seem to be in the early stages, he was firmly entrenched in the realm with a very stable foundation, he was one of the strongest people Liang Chen had ever encountered.


    But even so, he would fight. What he sought was buried beneath this land, all he had to do to reach the end of this journey was to win this fight.

 Chapter 342: The speed of despair.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

 Chapter 343: The bane of time.

    Liang Chen''s eyes slowly swept through the blinding mist, looking for any sign of movement that may betray Lao Ye''s current position. But the mist betrayed nothing, it quietly spun around Liang Chen like a tranquil stream trying to lull him to sleep. Lao Ye also wasn''t making the first move, he was probably observing Liang Chen, waiting for the moment he got impatient and revealed an opening.


    Neither side made a move for a moment, Liang Chen eventually taking the lead. He sent out a bit of his energy, a thin arc of lightning sinking into the mist and vanishing from sight. He was hoping to use it to map out his surroundings, or at least figure out how much area the mist covered. But it was a futile endeavour, he lost track of his lightning the second it got more than a handful of centimetres away from him.


    "...It really is an annoying domain."


    Liang Chen could only mutter a soft complaint, this may well be the first time he was this utterly blind to his surroundings. The control he was used to had been robbed from him, if things remained like this then he would be stuck in a reactive state. And there was no faster way to lose a battle than to be forced to stay on the defensive as you reacted to your opponent.


    "Let''s try a larger range, see if we can''t flush you out."


    Liang Chen''s eyes gleamed with a dim light as he spoke, a large sphere of water gathering above his head. In the past, while water may have been used in his body cultivation, it wasn''t actually one of his laws so he hadn''t been able to use it. But now he was water, his blood, his organs, his soul, every part of him was composed of water so there was no way he would be unable to use it.


    The sphere suddenly erupted violently, a gust of wind from within launching hundreds of droplets in every direction. One droplet became two and two became four, the hundreds of droplets becoming uncountable in just a split second as they cut into the mist. As he expected, he lost track of the droplets the moment they vanished from sight, but his goal hadn''t been to track them so it was fine.


    But he still ended up disappointed, not a single sound followed his attack. There was no grunt of pain from Lao Ye nor the sound of water hitting the wall, it seemed like not even an attack that should theoretically fill the entire mist was able to hit anything. But just as he felt like clicking his tongue, a slight blur of colours caught his attention.


    The tip of Lao Ye''s spear had pierced through the mist and appeared practically right at his side. The tip of the weapon was visible but Lao Ye wasn''t, Liang Chen couldn''t even see the hands holding the spear. His position was a bit awkward, a spear wasn''t the ideal weapon to block an attack that was already so close. But to someone like Liang Chen, who specialized in speed, that awkwardness could easily be made up for.


    His arm rose sharply and the weapon slid through his grasp until he was practically holding the spearhead. He swept his arm sideways to swat away the attack, but the spear bent unnaturally just as the two were about to make contact. The spearhead suddenly drooped down and dipped under Liang Chen''s spear before it straightened up again and continued heading right for his chest.


    He quickly reacted and reposition his own weapon, but the opposing spear simply bent again, the shaft acting more like a meandering river as it continued to evade his attempts to block it. Or perhaps saying it moved like an insidious snake was more apt as it crept a touch closer every time it evaded one of his attempts to block it.


    Liang Chen knew that he was running out of time, the spear was getting so close that he soon wouldn''t be able to attempt another block even with his speed. His eyes flashed with a dim light and his Qi erupted, a gust of wind so dense it was solid rising from his body to block the spear as he took a step back.


    But he was suddenly assaulted by a headache as he tried to take a step back, his stomach churning slightly. His foot made contact with a stone behind him and he stumbled for a split second, it really was only a split second. But the spear seemed to have waited for that moment, the defensive wall of wind suddenly turning to stone and crumbling as the spear touched it.


    The weapon shot forward at renewed speed, angling itself upwards so that it could sneak in beneath Liang Chen''s ribs and get to his heart. It reached him at the exact same time as he stumbled, his feet losing touch with the ground as the force behind the attack pushed him into the air.


    The spear ran him through, crackling blood splashing into the mist and dyeing the ground red. But the spear didn''t stop at just running him through, he could feel the areas around the wound hardening and cracking, slowly turning to stone. But the hardening reached an impasse before long, it couldn''t convert the void he had merged into his being so it was unable to make any proper progress.


    Liang Chen snorted once, clutching the spear that pierced through him and stabbing out with his own. He traced Lao Ye''s spear and aimed at the spot where it vanished into the mist, an unnaturally fast bolt of lightning leaving his spear. But as he attacked, another headache assaulted him and his stomach churned once more. His attack pierced into the mist, but he didn''t hear a grunt from Lao Ye, nor was the spear that pierced him pulled back so it seemed like he had missed.


    "...I was expecting something like that to kill you, or at least hurt you a bit. Do you not have a heart?"


    The startled voice of Lao Ye drifted through the mist, his spear had run clean through Liang Chen''s heart without eliciting much of a reaction. Even the petrification he was a little proud of had proven ineffective, he really wasn''t sure what to think of that. Liang Chen didn''t bother answering that question, stepping on empty air and dashing backwards.


    He cut through the mist at the speed of lightning, it was such a mind-boggling speed that he should have left the mist in less than a second and reached the wall of the mausoleum. But he didn''t. No matter where he looked there was only mist, no matter where he moved, there was only mist.


    "It''s no use. I told you, this is the lamentation of weakness, true helplessness. It is everywhere you go, it haunts you to the end of time, that''s the sort of curse weakness and powerlessness is."


    Lao Ye did nothing to stop Liang Chen''s attempts to flee, his voice simply swam through the mist to remind Liang Chen of where he was. Misery filled the world, it would be with you wherever you went, especially if you were too weak to do anything. There was no way for mankind to escape it, that was why the world was so cruel.


    Another headache suddenly attacked Liang Chen, his stomach churning the second he decided to halt his dash. And it was at that exact second that Lao Ye''s spear cut through the mist again, as if it had been waiting for him. By the time his feet stopped, the tip of the spear was already piercing his skin, using his own speed against him.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I told you, Storm Lord, once you know where the lightning will go, it is far too easy to dodge it, and even easier to counter it."


    Lao Ye''s voice reached him as the spear tore through his waist, the spearhead suddenly expanding violently and tearing out a large chunk of his waist. He had evidently judged that just piercing Liang Chen would do little so it was better to whittle him down to nothing.


    Crackling blood once again danced through the air, the droplets dancing like the wind as they fell to the ground. The spear was pulled back right after it gouged out his side, vanishing into the mist so that it could prepare for its next attack.


    Liang Chen''s eyes narrowed sharply, his spear rushing forward and turning into a thick pillar of lightning that charged into the mist. But the attack once again proved fruitless, Lao Ye was taking full advantage of the fact that they were fighting in his home ground.


    The wound in his waist quickly restored itself, he was surrounded by plenty of wind and water so a wound like that could be healed in less than a second. He spat out a light breath and tapped into his energy, since Lao Ye was using his domain to suppress him he would have to use his own domain to counteract it.


    A low droning sound suddenly spread through the mist, the world around them seeming to creak and groan in pain. The earth beneath Liang Chen''s feet turned white as grey strands of grass superimposed themselves on the grass that was already present. A tree appeared at his side, the fluttering crimson leaves barely visible through the mist.


    This was Liang Chen''s domain, his little slice of the void superimposed on the real world. But whatever was fueling Lao Ye''s domain was clearly not a slouch, the mist wasn''t actually fully pushed back by Liang Chen''s domain. He could now everything within a metre around him, but that was it, he still couldn''t see the end of the mist, nor Lao Ye for that matter.


    He could however feel the energy leaking out from his domain, the Qi that should have been concentrated fully inside the domain was seeping out and vanishing back to the void. This was his first time actually using the domain properly, he was far from as used to it as Lao Ye was to his own domain. So he leaked energy, he failed to control it properly and the end result was that it lost out to Lao Ye''s domain, despite his domain having the void fused into it.


    But at the same time, at the back of his head, he could feel something odd about his domain. It was something he hadn''t felt when he first summoned it, it was groaning. It felt as if something was pressing down on it, exerting itself to force the domain to either crumble or shrink. Was it just because Lao Ye''s domain was covering it or was there something else? He couldn''t tell at the moment, and this wasn''t exactly the best time to try to figure it out.


    He got a bit more control of his surroundings thanks to this so he let out another breath, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. He took a step forward and charged into the mist again to follow the spear, slashing out with his own weapon periodically to test the waters.


    Just as his weapon reached its highest point and had expended all the energy he had poured into it, a headache assaulted him, his stomach churning again. And just as he expected, this was the moment where Lao Ye''s spear appeared again, rushing to cross the one-metre wide space that Liang Chen''s domain had created for him. All the energy in his weapon had just been expended, he could have chosen to save a little but he used it all, giving Lao Ye the perfect chance. But this time Liang Chen was ready, this was the exact moment he had been waiting for.


    He closed his eyes and sank his senses inwards, ignoring the weapon that came for his throat. He was going to find out how Lao Ye hit him with that headache and churning stomach, both were things he technically shouldn''t be able to feel anymore. And then, as he delved deep into his own body and scoured the elements that formed him, he found it.


    He wasn''t actually getting a headache or a churning stomach, the truth behind the sensations was the law of time. Something was making the law of time within his body act up, it was tossing and turning violently in protest. None of Lao Ye''s energy had entered his body, his law of time was reacting to something from the outside, something from the source.


    So Liang Chen traced it, he recalled the moments he had spent as a being of pure time, of the time he melted into the river of time. The world in front of him changed, his insides giving way to the endless river of time and its countless branching paths. He gazed forward, his eyes pricking with pain as he took in the millions upon millions of possible paths the future could take.


    And then he saw it, a dull stream of energy interfering with the flow of the river. A nearly invisible hand was pushing the river, guiding it down one of the smaller branching paths that normally would have a hard time becoming the actual future. And that branch was the one where Liang Chen expended all the energy of his attack as his spear reached its highest point, the future where he would leave a small gap in his defences.


    As with all the other paths, this one spread out into millions of other paths as countless various futures became available. And the invisible hand was guiding the river towards the branch where Lao Ye''s spear ran through Liang Chen''s throat, removing his head from his neck.


    Now Liang Chen realized what the source of the sensation was, why Lao Ye''s attacks reached him at the perfect time. Because he was making it happen, he used his law of time to push the river of time down the path he desired. The river of time wanted to revolt, but it was a mindless being so it ended up losing to Lao Ye''s strength and was forced to obey. But Liang Chen also had the law of time so he sensed this revolting, the protest, that was the source of the sensations.


    The question was, how was he to counteract this? Could he compete with Lao Ye in pushing the river? He wasn''t sure. Part of him may be made up of time, but there was still a difference in strength between him and Lao Ye so he wasn''t sure if his quality could make up for the quantity. But then it struck him, did he really have to compete with Lao Ye in pushing the river towards the desired future?


    "In the end, it all returns to nothingness."


    Liang Chen stretched out his hand, or at least visualized himself doing so, and aimed at the branching path that Lao Ye was aiming for. His energy poured out and sank into the river, flowing towards the branch in a quiet manner. Lao Ye seemed to sense his approach strengthening his efforts to reach the branch so that Liang Chen couldn''t compete with him.


    But Liang Chen had no intention to compete. That branching path only had one end, all he was going to do was help it reach that end ahead of schedule. His energy reached the branch and then bloomed, the law of void contained within it tainting the branch, tainting the possible future.


    The void was the end of all things, it was the future everything marched towards, whether they wanted to or not. And now that end had reached the branch, and as the end reached the branch, so too did the branch reach the end. It marched towards the void and now it had found the void, what need was there for it to keep marching?


    Silently, peacefully, painlessly, the branch vanished. The possible future had reached its end before it could even start. You could say that it had reached its end and vanished, or you could say that it had been rejected and destroyed, neither could be considered wrong. Whatever way you saw it, the branching path, and by extension all the branches that stretched out from it, vanished into nothingness. The desired future Lao Ye had aimed for vanished in front of him, the energy that formed the nearly invisible hand quivering and dissipating.


    Liang Chen opened his eyes again and left the river of time, his hand flashing forward and grasping the incoming spear before it reached him. It didn''t dodge him this time, the mist around him trembling slightly as a pained gasp came from within. Liang Chen felt pain when Lao Ye interfered with the river of time, especially the part of the river that concerned him.


    But Lao Ye had only interfered and pushed the river of time so the discomfort was relatively minor compared to everything else. But Liang Chen? He erased the entire possible future that Lao Ye was aiming for, something like that definitely had to be more painful than just a headache.


    "That was a very, very good trick, Lao Ye, thank you for showing it to me."


    Now it was time for Liang Chen''s voice to drift through the mist. It had been incidental, but Lao Ye had shown him an entirely new way of using the law of time, what a shame it was for Lao Ye that this way just so happened to be the bane of all who used the law of time.

 Chapter 344: An offered soul.

    Lao Ye stood within the mist as he observed Liang Chen, or at least did his best to. The blood vessels in his right eye had all exploded thanks to the unbearable headache that assaulted him so part of his vision was dyed a deep red. The throbbing also made his vision ripple like water so he had a hard time keeping track of Liang Chen''s smaller movements.


    What...exactly was the man standing ahead of him, clutching his spear like an immovable vice? His chest had been pierced and his side had been gouged out, yet the wounds repaired themselves in basically an instant. It wasn''t unheard of for body cultivators to do this, it was the way the wounds healed that was strange. They hadn''t used his abundant life force to regrow the flesh, no, they had just taken in the surrounding wind and water and turned it into fresh flesh and blood. It was unnatural, body cultivators should rely on their insides, not the outside world.


    Then there was his domain, that peaceful and contrasting landscape he had brought down upon the world. When two domains met, the stronger one would crush the weaker one, or at least compress it down to a minuscule size. But that didn''t happen here. Lao Ye''s domain pushed down on it but was unable to budge it at all, it was in fact Liang Chen''s domain that was slowly eating away at his domain, forcing him to constantly expend some energy to maintain it.


    And then there was his law of time. Lao Ye had already tried his sure-kill technique, dragging Liang Chen''s soul and mind into the river of time so that it would get lost within the aeons. But somehow, the technique he had polished and perfected over several hundred years had failed to work. Liang Chen''s mind had definitely fallen into the river of time, but it simply floated about as if it had returned home, it didn''t even show a trace of dispersing under the weight of time.


    And then he erased a timeline, which was perhaps the most mind-boggling of the things he had done so far. Timelines were often erased, every time the present moved past a possible timeline that unused timeline would be erased, it no longer had a use after all. But Liang Chen had erased the timeline before it could even be reached.


    Sure, Lao Ye urged the river of time to guide it towards the path, the future, that he wanted. But that took all his effort, and at best he could push it towards a future that was very close to the most likely future, and even then it wasn''t guaranteed to work due to outside factors. For example, he couldn''t just push the future towards one where Liang Chen was suddenly hit by a meteor and died, even if that future did exist at all times. The possibility of that future coming to pass was simply too small, he didn''t think that there was enough energy in this universe to force that future to happen.


    But to erase the future? That was an entirely different concept, you weren''t guiding or prodding the river of time, you were forcing it. All of a sudden the odds of that future happening dropped to 0, a concept that shouldn''t be possible for a river of time that encompassed all possible futures.


    Was it the law of destruction, was that what facilitated that law of time and the domain that was currently corroding his own? It was a possibility, but Lao Ye didn''t have all that much faith in it. He had seen a destruction domain before, the carnage brought about by the descent of the Void King. That domain had been a black hole, it had swallowed everything equally and left nothing but a black void, it would never be capable of creating a serene landscape like this.


    He wanted to keep thinking, wanted to keep going over all the strange things that surrounded the man in front of him, this Storm Lord that had taken up the duty of wrath. That was the problem with the pain that wracked his head after Liang Chen erased the future he had been trying to push the river of time towards, it had messed up his thoughts to the point where he wasn''t focusing on the fight.


    But his thoughts were quickly forced back into the fight, the spear in his grasp was suddenly yanked out from his hands. He had been so absent-minded in pain and confusion that he hadn''t even been grasping his weapon properly, it would have been a death sentence if he hadn''t maintained his domain and remained hidden.


    His gaze followed the weapon as Liang Chen pulled on it, extracting it from the mist. His brows were a bit furrowed and he clicked his tongue so it seemed like he had been hoping to pull him out of the mist at the same time, in that case it perhaps wasn''t all bad that he had been absent-minded enough to lose his grip.


    Lao Ye grit his teeth firmly, cracking one of his molars to wash away the throbbing headache. Death or life, neither mattered to him in this fight. But he wouldn''t just hand his life over to Liang Chen like that, he would have to prove that his wrath was the one that had the right to swallow up his, he would have to prove that he had the strength to carry their wrath into the future.


    He let out a long breath and raised his arm slightly, the weapon Liang Chen had taken from him melting and seeping into the ground. It rose up again beneath his feet and reformed in his hands, the tip glinting sharply as he pointed it at Liang Chen.


    His body regenerated in a strange manner but there was a good chance that it still required energy. And if it required energy then there were likely some spots that required more energy than others, more complex parts that would take longer to heal. The brain was likely one such part, no, it was perhaps the only part. After all, he hadn''t even reacted when his heart got pierced.


    His eyes narrowed as he observed his opponent, a soft glimmer catching his eye. The air three metres to his right was shimmering softly, a tiny arc of lightning passing through it. He instantly reacted and thrust out his spear, the tip arriving right in front of Liang Chen the instant he reached that area. A grey spear met his weapon to block it, but he touched upon the law of water inherent within his weapon to bend the shaft.


    It meandered like a river, bending and twisting in tune with every move Liang Chen tried to make. The world could crumble, it could tremble and break, the river would never care, it would just change shape. And his spear did just that, it bent and curved, it rose and sank, all depending on how Liang Chen tried to block.


    His spear tilted downwards one final time and dug into Liang Chen''s thigh, running it through and spilling more blood, each droplet crackling with electricity. He immediately pulled back his weapon, but Liang Chen''s hand was too fast, reaching it before he could fully retract it. So he let go of his weapon again, he allowed it to melt into the ground and then simply reformed it in his grasp.


    This was the advantage of having a good weapon, especially a good weapon with capabilities your opponent didn''t know about. But Liang Chen moved the second Lao Ye''s spear melted, in the second before the weapon got to reform.


    Lao Ye once again caught a glimpse of a tiny arc of lightning passing through the air, this time only half a metre away from him. He hurriedly stepped to the side to put some distance between him and the arc, vanishing into the mist just as Liang Chen appeared there.


    That was what he had been trying to tell Liang Chen all along, what he didn''t seem to learn. To move at the speed of lightning, to ride lightning, actually had a very simple weakness. Predictability. Lightning moved in a very simple pattern, it was practically a straight line most of the time. And beyond that, lightning was a very dangerous thing, it affected the world around it strongly, especially the air. It charged it so much that errant arcs were inevitable. Once you found the arcs you would know where the lightning would travel, and once you knew the path it would be much easier to react to it.


    Granted, the speed was still so extreme that even Lao Ye only had a split second to react, there wasn''t even a moment for hesitation, and that was with him being supported by his domain. But it was better than having to react to it completely blindly, or even worse, wait with reacting until he saw Liang Chen directly in front of him.


    He observed Liang Chen quietly after his weapon reformed, the training and teachings he had received in the past made him unaccustomed to making the first move so he was content with just waiting for Liang Chen to reveal an opening. But he just stood there for a bit, his gaze calmly sweeping the surroundings as if he was waiting for the inevitable attack.


    "Got it, so you can''t reform the spear instantly after you melt it. It''s a Bloodwind Weapon so I''m guessing that you actually need it to move through the ground and back to you?"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    His voice cut through the mist and reached Lao Ye, whose eyebrow ticked up slightly. So he had just been waiting around because he wanted to gauge the time it took for Lao Ye to reform his weapon. He was a bit surprised that Liang Chen managed to pinpoint the truth, and even origin of his weapon, but perhaps it wasn''t anything to be surprised about.


    "You speak the truth. I will need between half a second to a second to reform my weapon each time I melt it, it depends on the distance between us. I want to say that you also hold a Bloodwind code since you could pinpoint the origin of the weapon, but you haven''t brought out your own so I believe that I may be wrong. Did you have one in the past possibly?"


    Lao Ye didn''t mind talking with Liang Chen, his voice would scatter through the mist to prevent him from pinpointing it so he didn''t need to worry about being tracked. And it was just nice to talk to others who held beliefs similar to him, words were the best way to delve into someone''s mind and motivation, even if the words spoken were unrelated.


    "I did, but I lost it recently. But frankly, I would never be able to get past the Lord rank with it so I should have been searching for a new weapon anyway, it was starting to fall behind against my most recent opponents."


    Lao Ye''s pupils shrank slightly as Liang Chen spoke. He didn''t sound like he was lying, Lao Ye actually believed that he was saying the truth. And that was the scary part. He would never be able to move past the Lord rank? Lao Ye had barely managed to acquire the exalted Emperor rank on the Bloodwind Multiverse list thanks to the bloodline he found within this cradle but even he found Liang Chen to be a daunting opponent. And yet he would never be able to move past the Lord rank?


    There was no way the Bloodwind Code would consider him too weak or untalented to give him a higher rank so it had to be something else. Had he offended the Bloodwind Emperor perhaps? But if that was the case, then how come he was still alive, did he have someone equally strong protecting him?


    Lao Ye''s mind kept moving, never noticing that his thoughts were slipping despite the fact that he no longer had a headache. But this time that absent-mindedness would not aid him. No, this time it prevented him from seeing the tiny speck of steam rising from the tip of his reformed spear, that tiny drop of blood clinging to it.


    But then Liang Chen''s body blurred and Lao Ye snapped fully back to reality. His pupils shrank further, barely visible now. Liang Chen had arrived directly in front of him, brandishing that gleaming grey weapon.


    He immediately raised his spear, but Liang Chen''s foot stepped down on the spearhead, allowing the sharp edge to cut into his foot as he pressed it down. He twisted and bent the spearhead in a myriad of ways, but Liang Chen''s foot kept following it no matter where it went, pressing it down each time.


    He tried to jump back, but Liang Chen was like a maggot sticking to his bones, always right in front of him. By the time he came to terms with the fact that fleeing wouldn''t work the incoming spear was practically already at his side. He looked at it with a somewhat bleak expression, he could instantly tell that none of his own defences would be able to block the attack when it was already this close.


    "Ah, so in the end, you were correct, Senior Xingmei. Yours is a bloodline that can grant no rest or victory, only an earlier incineration."


    He couldn''t help but mutter quietly to himself. Those words he had heard when he acquired his bloodline, he had never paid much attention to them, but now it seemed like they would come true in the end. He drew in a sharp breath and touched upon the bloodline he had already activated, upon that pure water flowing in his veins.


    And then he followed the connection inherent within the bloodline, traced it down to the place where he found it. Energy stirred within the ground as he tapped into it, a furious being buried all alone beneath them suddenly had its energy borrowed. The energy rose up, rushed to the surface like a dragon released from its shackles.


    The energy sank into Lao Ye''s body, moving along with the bloodline he had used to urge it up. The aura radiating from his body instantly shot upwards, but the effects of the energy were also immediately apparent. His skin started to flake away, floating upwards before turning to dust and vanishing, as if he was slowly being burnt to ash.


    Purgatory, the energy that burned sin and punished cruelty, the energy buried beneath them. Now he tapped into its power thanks to the bloodline he had found inside it, now he grew stronger than ever before. But he also paid the price. Today would be his last day, even if he should win.


    He and his sins would burn, his soul would be drawn into Purgatory to burn forever, he wouldn''t even be able to be reincarnated, much less go to any afterlife. The Bloodwind Emperor may still be able to take him to Tartarus, but Lao Ye wasn''t so arrogant that he thought that the Bloodwind Emperor had taken notice of him.


    He reached out with his arm and grabbed the incoming spear, clenching his fist and shattering the weapon. It was more fragile than he thought, probably a result of being a construct made solely from elements. The skin on his arm started to flake faster, revealing bloody flesh that also started to flake away.


    He pushed out his arm again, not giving Liang Chen any time to react as he drove his fist into his chest. He was fast now, faster than he had ever been before. Purgatory ate his soul, but it gave him strength befitting of that act, a glimpse at the future he had forever buried with his acts. His domain crumbled, the mist vanishing since the overpowering energy coursing through him didn''t match the domain, but that hardly mattered when compared to the strength he got.


    He could feel Liang Chen''s chest gave in, blood splattering the arm that sank slightly into his flesh. The blood hurt as it hit him, it felt like it both cut him, sizzled like acid, and crackled like lightning. But worse still were perhaps the parts that didn''t hurt. A small hole had appeared on his arm, a drop of blood had simply taken a bit of his flesh and vanished as if they had never existed to begin with. He didn''t know what caused it, he hadn''t even felt a thing. It was unknown, it was... scary.


    But even if being splashed by the blood hurt, he managed to push Liang Chen back, his body now ravaged by the same energy that burned Lao Ye. And indeed, he could see that Liang Chen''s skin was also flaking, drifting away like ash upon the wind. But wherever a piece of him vanished, a new one quickly grew back.


    Lao Ye almost felt like blinking dumbly. He could actually still regenerate? He had the bloodline of a Primordial Man, but even that wasn''t enough to let him regenerate normally as Purgatory burnt him, at best it only bought him an additional 30 seconds.


    "Haha, life really leads to some strange encounters if you live long enough. This is the power of Purgatory, Storm Lord. Right now I am stronger than ever before, strong enough to protect any monastery. But in about 45 seconds, I will fade from this world, just another soul that will burn forever. Come, show me if your wrath can withstand Purgatory, show me that you are worthy of trampling and inheriting all our wraths."


    Laugh, that was the best thing Lao Ye could do in this situation. Really, what an outrageous thing that had come here, what outrageous wrath that had been born. Perhaps this really was a wrath that could take in Purgatory, perhaps this was a man that could actually follow through on his ambition. It was a nice dream, a beautiful dream of a future where the heavens actually did as children were told they did.


    "Come, Storm Lord, let me drift away in that dream."


    Lao Ye brandished his spear and glanced at it, the weapon creaking and groaning in his grasp. It seemed like even an Emperor-rank Bloodwind weapon had a hard time handling the energy of Purgatory. Lao Ye raised his gaze and placed it back on Liang Chen, but as he did so, his pupils started to tremble quietly, quivering uncontrollably.


    Something had appeared in front of Liang Chen, a crack. It looked like a scar on reality, a tear in the world itself. He could feel ominous energy seep out from the crack, a grey and barren wasteland just barely visible beyond the crack. What was that? What sort of place was that? And above all, what was that bone-chilling energy that made even the violent energy of Purgatory tremble like a child?


    "I was wondering how I''d hold up since the fifth was so much easier now, shall we find out?"


    Liang Chen said something but Lao Ye didn''t really understand what he meant, he wasn''t even sure if he wanted to understand. But he would, in the end, he would understand whether he wanted to or not. The air suddenly got heavier, the earth sinking down in several places as if pillars had suddenly appeared there. The already ruined land within the mausoleum sank down as more and more of the invisible pillars seemed to appear, even the unbelievably sturdy walls trembling from the energy that was gathering in the air, gathering in Liang Chen.


    Lao Ye wanted to move, but his feet felt like they were nailed to the ground, one of the invisible pillars seemed to have placed itself on top of him to hold him down. So he could only watch as Liang Chen reached out and grabbed the crack, actually grabbed hold of that tear in reality. And then he heard it, a soft mutter, as if not even Liang Chen was a bit unsure.


    "Hmm, would Sixth Step Crushes Purgatory work?"


    Before Lao Ye even got the chance to ponder the meaning of those words, all the energy that had gathered in the air retracted all at once. The invisible pillars vanished as one, the almost suffocating amount of energy sinking into Liang Chen and the crack he was holding.


    The world cried. It groaned in pain and screamed, Lao Ye could hear it, feel it in his body. It was painful. It was as if the world was trying to share its pain with him, or perhaps it just wanted someone else to bear the pain while it cried. But in the end, it accomplished nothing.


    That crack, the tear upon reality, shrank. It twisted and changed, releasing audible cracking sounds as it was altered, forced into a more appropriate shape. It was bent and broken, forced to obey the man who held it. And in the end, it was forced to land fully in his grasp, completely altered. What was once a tear upon reality had now become a weapon, a long spear with a dull grey tip, ominous energy constantly oozing from it and twisting the world around it.


    "Here I come, Lao Ye, Purgatory."

 Chapter 345: The King of the Jar. (1)

    Liang Chen''s entire body burned and crackled, it felt like every inch of his being was groaning in pain. When was the last time he had felt pain like this? Had it been back when the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had cut him with the weapon forged using a major Origin Beast? That was at least the most recent one he could remember at least, it was pain that had already left the realm of just pain.


    Even if he lost all his senses, this pain would continue to burn him, even if he numbed all his nerves, this was a pain he would never be able to get rid of. Had he not experienced so much pain in his life then he would have probably collapsed into a sobbing mess, crying and screaming uncontrollably as he writhed in agony.


    Was this the power of Purgatory? Was this the heat with which his own sins burned? Parts of him were constantly flaking away, skin and flesh vanishing before quickly being replaced by a fresh batch. It looked to be in a stalemate, the power of Purgatory and his regeneration, but he knew that he would sooner or later end up on the losing side.


    Everything he wanted to regenerate required energy, he had to gather in the elements and add them to his compressed form after all. Eventually, he would run out of energy, and at that point he may truly fade from existence as the parts that composed him drifted apart.


    And on top of that, he knew that the thing he was currently grasping with his right hand wasn''t making things better. A twisted weapon, a crooked and dull scar on reality that made his arms ache. The Sixth Step, this was technically his second time unleashing it.


    The first time had been on his home planet and the end result had been a web of lightning that still scarred the sky to this day, a timeless mark on the world. But back then he had used the Chaos King technique on a myriad of corpses to constantly replenish his energy and restore himself, yet he had still lost one of his arms. And that was with him being far weaker than he was now, meaning that the burden he had to bear was technically lower.


    And now he unleashed it again, and while it took a different form, the power was many magnitudes greater. A rift in the fabric of reality, a gate to the all-encompassing Void, what would happen if he tried to grasp and control that while dramatically increasing the power of said action? The end result was the weapon in his hand, that dull grey spear oozing with the power of the void.


    It twisted the world just by existing, the air and space around it crumbled apart like dried earth, an ever-growing door to the void carving itself into the world. He used power to create it, to force it into a shape that he could utilize. And in turn, it gave him power, the constant stream of energy that seeped out of it pouring into him.


    But of course, the only one who could actually use that power was him. If anyone else came in contact with that power then they would start to fade from existence, that was the kind of being that the void was after all. But that didn''t mean that he could use the weapon willy nilly. It was quite similar to him, it maintained its form due to an immense flow of energy that kept it in check, once that energy was lost it would revert to its actual form. It may even expand so quickly that it would be like an explosion. It was that energy that made Liang Chen''s arms ache, it felt like he was holding a few tons of molten stone.


    "Here I come, Lao Ye, Purgatory."


    He wasn''t sure how long he could maintain this weapon so he didn''t want to waste too much time, especially not now that Lao Ye had drawn upon the power of Purgatory. He gave the ground a light kick and vanished from sight, only a slight crackling in the air telling the world of his movements.


    Lao Ye''s gaze hardened, but he didn''t retreat. He stepped forward and smashed his weapon downwards, cutting Liang Chen off before he could even reach the end of the lightning bolt he was trying to ride. The spear descended upon his right shoulder like a falling meteor, space cracking in its wake as Lao Ye failed to fully control and contain the power within his weapon.


    But then an almost unbearable headache assaulted him, blood pouring out from his nose as he stumbled a quarter of a step to the side. He knew, instinctively he knew that this wasn''t a backlash from the power he was using. No, this was pain born from his connection with the law of time. Again, Liang Chen had erased a possible future. There was no longer a timeline where that descending spear would land on his shoulder, it was bound to miss it by just a handful of centimetres.


    But he grit his teeth and bore the pain, the taste of copper and iron filling his mouth. His weapon creaked in a quiet tone from how hard he was gripping it, from how much energy he poured into it. The weapon that had just barely missed Liang Chen''s shoulder due to his stumbling immediately changed direction, the downwards smash morphing into a sideways sweep.


    The more energy you put into an attack the harder it would be to change its course, and Lao Ye hadn''t spared any energy as he launched his attack. His muscles snapped from the force it took to redirect the attack, but what did something like that matter to a dead man?


    The sideways sweep collided with Liang Chen''s spear, which had been in the process of stabbing forwards, space around the point of collision simply crumbling and fading quietly. Liang Chen''s spear was slowly pushed to the side, but it was so slow that Lao Ye felt like laughing.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Just how great was the difference in their cultivation? If he went by energy density then Liang Chen was at about the middle-stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, quantity-wise he was probably at about the late stage. But Lao Ye? He had already reached the late stage of the Transcended Immortal realm, just a bit shy of reaching the very peak. He was an entire great realm above Liang Chen and dual-cultivated body and Qi.


    And yet he was barely able to keep things even, he could even be said to be on the losing end in some exchanges. It was laughable, or at least he had to consider it laughable, otherwise he would just end up feeling fear. So he could only laugh inwardly and put more force into his attack, he had to push Liang Chen to the very limit in these last seconds he had left. But just as the tip of his spear reached Liang Chen''s waist and left a small cut, spreading more of Purgatory''s flames, Liang Chen vanished.


    Lao Ye''s pupils shrank slightly again, he hadn''t heard any crackling of lightning or seen any arcs scattering about so he hadn''t been prepared for Liang Chen to suddenly vanish. But he instantly felt him, that suffocating sensation bearing down on his neck couldn''t be mistaken for anything else.


    He once again didn''t try to dodge, he just spun around and continued sweeping out with his spear, only tilting his head back slightly. He felt a headache again, one of the scars on his neck suddenly aching and acting up so that he couldn''t lean his head back as far as he wanted to. Another possible future had just faded from existence, pushing him towards his end.


    It would be bad enough to have his possible future erased like that, but thanks to his own law of time he had to suffer the horrible discomfort of feeling the future get erased, it almost made him curse the fact that he had the law of time. He didn''t even dare to use that law right now, partly due to how the energy strain would lessen the time he would be able to handle Purgatory''s energy and partly due to his fear that Liang Chen would counter his usage, he really couldn''t handle more of that horrible discomfort right now.


    Liang Chen had erased the future where he evaded the attack by leaning his head back, but perhaps as was to be expected, he wasn''t so omnipotent that he could erase all but one possible future. So Lao Ye was still able to slide his grip on his weapon back and tilt it upwards, blocking the grey spear that aimed for his life. He was in an extremely awkward position, his own spear almost pressed against his face and chest, but it was better than losing his head right away.


    But as his eyes slid past his own weapon, what they caught sight of was simply Liang Chen disappearing again. The force that had pressed against his spear vanished, but the sense of imminent death that came from his side didn''t give him even a second to breathe. His pupils slid to the side, his hand sliding up along the shaft of his spear so that he could smash it down sideways despite the awkward position.


    Liang Chen had indeed arrived right at his side, his spear already lunging forward. Lao Ye''s gaze slid down slightly, finally allowing him to see the culprit behind Liang Chen''s disappearing act. A tiny arc of lightning could be seen beneath his feet, but the arc didn''t stop there. No, it continued onwards, arching slightly as it disappeared beyond Lao Ye''s line of sight.


    "Ah..."


    That was really all he could say, the only word he could muster at this exact moment. His descending spear collided with Liang Chen''s, the force of the collision once again disintegrating space. But it wasn''t just space that fell apart this time. Lao Ye''s weapon crumbled a mere second after it made contact with Liang Chen''s spear for the third time, disintegrating and fading like bubbles in the wind.


    And it was the worst kind of fading possible, it had broken so thoroughly that he lost all contact with his Bloodwind Code. The rank he had built up, the title he had achieved, the weapon he had gotten used to, all of it vanished as if it had never existed to begin with. The weapon continued forward, Lao Ye reacting quickly and smashing his own fist into his waist.


    He immediately bent awkwardly, like a shrimp. He could feel two of his ribs shattering as a result of the attack, but at least Liang Chen''s spear missed him, passing through the area where his waist had just been. Lao Ye quickly acted again, his foot rising sharply and unleashing a violent ripple of Purgatory''s energy.


    The energy didn''t just wash against Liang Chen, it also surrounded Lao Ye and crushed the tiny threads of lightning that had started to arc around him. He then kicked off the ground with his other foot, hopping backwards to put some distance between the two.


    "You''re a fast learner, first the law of time and now the lightning, you must have a good bit of experience in taking the techniques of others."


    Lao Ye breathed a bit heavily as he spoke, gulping in deep breaths. Three hits had been enough to completely shatter his weapon, he didn''t doubt that he would perish if he took a single hit of Liang Chen''s spear. That alone was bad enough, a one-hit kill weapon, but the speed at which Liang Chen learned was also something that made his hairs stand on end.


    One glimpse at how he prodded the river of time was enough for him to devise a way to erase possible futures. And he only had to be caught off-guard a handful of times before he found the weak point of riding lightning, as well as a countermeasure.


    Yes, lightning left behind a small trail, once you saw the trail you would know where they would end up and could somewhat react. But what if the lightning had no trail? What if you were surrounded by a continuous web of arcs that connected together, a prison of lightning? Wouldn''t your opponent be able to ride the arcs as he pleased, without having to worry that you''d get to see where he''d end up?


    "It''s a bit of a waste for it to be so focused on close-range combat, but the freedom to pursue your own path is the right of man."


    Yes, it was a good way to remove the weakness of riding lightning, but it would only work in close-quarter combat, which wasted the inherent abilities and attributes of the law of lightning somewhat. But if that was the path Liang Chen had chosen to take it then Lao Ye wouldn''t say anything about it.


    Liang Chen didn''t give any response to Lao Ye''s statements, most of his focus at the moment was used to repress the immense pain that wracked his body. The flames of Purgatory were still scorching him as he stood there, and the weight of his weapon grew heavier with each passing second, he could feel it grow more volatile by the moment. For each second that passed, his ability to use his various laws decreased as he required more and more focus to contain the volatile energy. But that was fine, things had been properly set up already, it was time to end this.

 Chapter 346: The King of the Jar. (2)

    Liang Chen spat out a long breath and bent his legs slightly, Lao Ye mimicking his actions and spitting out a breath. The end was coming, both could feel it in the air. Lao Ye would die no matter what outcome was reached, both of them also knew that. But even so, Lao Ye had no intentions of just letting it happen, his wrath wouldn''t allow it.


    "Come, Storm Lord, I won''t be satisfied if you''ll allow my time to just run out."


    Yes, that had always been an option. Liang Chen didn''t need to actually attack Lao Ye, he could have just run around for the 45 seconds of life that Lao Ye had left, that would have been the easiest way to win. But he hadn''t done that, his wrath didn''t allow him to leave the sinner be. And Lao Ye, truthfully, was thankful for that. A wrath that was inconvenient, a wrath that didn''t let sinners go even if that may be the easier option. It was good that it was this type of wrath that had come for him.


    Liang Chen didn''t need Lao Ye to tell him, the energy he had gathered up was all released at once. He shot forward at full speed, not even a blur as he cut through the air. Lao Ye saw his path, a straight line coming right at him. He drew in a sharp breath and brandished his fists, his muscles exploding with power just as Liang Chen appeared in front of him, his spear already sweeping out.


    He pushed his fist forward, Purgatory''s power flowing rampantly through his blood as he unleashed it all. But then, just as he was about to release all that power, he suddenly felt light-headed. It wasn''t a headache like when Liang Chen interfered with the river of time, it was the lightheadedness that came with a lack of oxygen. His body suddenly felt incredibly light and fragile, blood leaking out from his nose and ears without end. He could feel it, his blood had suddenly thinned by a great deal, removing a majority of the oxygen it usually pumped through his body.


    "Ah...Poison? Since when...?"


    Yes, he recognized it instantly. He had been poisoned, and the poison in question seemed to belong to one of the sects on the outer edges of Purgatory''s Cradle. It hadn''t been one of the wrath sects, but it was still a sect within the cradle so Lao Ye had some knowledge of it. But he didn''t know when he had been poisoned, he couldn''t tell when Liang Chen had snuck it into him.


    "I am poison, Lao Ye."


    Whether it was because he knew this was the end or not, this time Liang Chen answered Lao Ye''s question, his spear still sweeping out. And Lao Ye instantly understood, partly due to the fact that he had seen Liang Chen''s body regenerate using just wind and water.


    Poison, at least a part of his existence was poison. Just like his blood cracked with lightning or wind, it oozed with poison. And he had spilt a good deal of blood already, some of it on Lao Ye and some of it into the surroundings. Was it a gaseous form of the poison, had he breathed it in as the blood evaporated and scattered?


    "Ah...That''s sneaky, not like a storm at all..."


    Lao Ye muttered a wry complaint, there was no way for him to actually block Liang Chen''s attack now, not in this state. He could of course release the energy, but that one instant of lightheadedness meant that it was impossible for him to direct it properly enough to repel the attack. The spear would hit him, and then it would kill him.


    But even so, he still unleashed the gathered energy. It was an uncontrolled release, just a violent outpouring of energy to slightly redirect Liang Chen''s attack. And it worked, the attack pushed him back a good bit and forced Liang Chen''s spear down a bit. But just as he expected, or perhaps hoped, it simply wasn''t enough.


    The dull grey spear suddenly released a blinding light and disintegrated, the ominous energy that constantly oozed out of it and twisted the surrounding world erupting like a vicious dragon. A line appeared in space, in reality. It went across Lao Ye''s knees, across the walls of the mausoleum, across the horizon.


    And then it split open. It was like being inside an orb as it was opened, the line split into two and moved in different directions, one up and one down. A bit of the mausoleum''s ceiling vanished as the line passed over it, giving Lao Ye a glimpse of the world around them. The land he had gotten used to, the dead land he called his home, no longer existed.


    The mausoleum itself still existed, or at least still stood, but the world around it had completely changed. Bone-like white sand that stretched out as far as the eye could see, craggy mountains made of black stone covered in small spores, a colourless sky so bleak and hopeless it made him sad. The world around them had completely changed thanks to the line unleashed by Liang Chen''s attack, the only bit of colour in this pale land was the small bit of earth that they stood on. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Oblivion... is that the hell you''ve prepared for sinners?"


    Lao Ye questioned somewhat powerlessly as he gazed upon the surroundings. The power of Purgatory had already left him, he couldn''t even feel the presence of Purgatory any longer. And he only had to lower his gaze slightly to realize his fate. The line had also passed across him, he too was in the process of becoming part of this pale land. Slowly but surely, he was vanishing, everything beneath his knees was already gone.


    But just when he thought that the lifeless land would be his final sight, the lines that had opened it closed again. The pale sky, the dreary sand, the craggy mountains, all of it vanished as the lines retraced their earlier paths, returning to a single seamless line that then sank into Liang Chen. In the end, they returned to that familiar blood-soaked land, the familiar scent tingling Lao Ye''s nose as he once again sensed Purgatory beneath them. It would seem that he at the very least would not end up vanishing in that dreary land.


    Liang Chen spat out a somewhat heavy breath, staggering slightly. That final line had been the truest form of the attack he had chosen for this Sixth Step. A gate to the Void, one larger than any he had ever created. Once opened, everything he designated would be forced into the Void, a death sentence for most beings. Naturally, forcing something into a gate to the Void wasn''t easy, it had only worked on Lao Ye because he was poisoned and had unleashed all his energy.


    "It is my win, Lao Ye."


    Yes, there was no longer any way for Lao Ye to escape his fate. He was fading from existence in front of Liang Chen''s eyes, disintegrating from his legs and up. Painless, peaceful, but oh-so terrifying.


    "Indeed. I... Have been utterly crushed, my wrath has been beautifully trampled."


    Lao Ye sat on the ground as he spoke, he didn''t even try to gather any Qi to fight against the disintegration. He had been crushed completely, he had given it more than his all but it had still not been enough. And that too was fine, he was content with the outcome.


    "A man I met in the past told me that the anger in my heart warms me now, but it will leave me cold in my grave. Sometimes, when I felt a moment of weakness and hesitation, I would wonder if he was right. Once I reached the end and burned, would I only feel coldness?"


    He would burn forever no matter what end he reached, be it waking up Purgatory or handing that duty over to someone else. When he burned like that, would he feel cold, would he feel regret? The thought had graced him more than a few times, occupied more than a few dark nights of silence.


    "Perhaps the reason he told me those things was because he sensed the hesitation within me. After all, if my anger truly burned hot enough to warm me in my grave, would I really feel hesitation enough to think about those words? But... I don''t sense that hesitation in you, that is probably why you won, why you rejected my offer."


    Lack of hesitation, or perhaps it was better described as selfishness. The selfishness that drove him to reject Lao Ye''s offer despite it being the easier option, the selfishness that drove him to fight and personally kill Lao Ye despite just waiting being the easier option. Lao Ye didn''t have that, that was why he wanted to wake Purgatory, and that may just be why he had lost in the end.


    "Purgatory lies below, sealed within a recuperation array I helped him prepare. You can easily get there by just digging about ten metres down at the rightmost corner of the mausoleum, it''ll take you to a set of stairs that will lead you right there. I don''t know if you''ll be able to achieve what you want... But whatever the outcome ends up being, I''m leaving my wrath with you, Storm Lord. Don''t fall to weakness and hesitation, I''ll be watching your wrath and your path from wherever I''m going now."


    Lao Ye smiled calmly as he spoke, now he truly fit the image of a monk. He fiddled with the ring on his finger, sliding it off and rolling it in his palm for a bit before he tossed it to Liang Chen.


    "The seeds I said you could take. Don''t forget to plant them next to running water, it''s best if that water comes from a mountain rich in minerals."


    Liang Chen caught the ring and sank his mind into it. The ring contained far more than just the seeds, it contained everything Lao Ye had acquired in the years after coming here, it was a staggering amount of wealth. Lao Ye looked at the ring with a somewhat soft expression, his smile growing a bit thin.


    "...Laogang Mountain in the Lord-Touched Waters Dominion. If it''s not too much trouble, could I ask you to plant one of the seeds next to the stream running across the peak of that mountain? I have lost the right to reach Moksha, but I want to at least fulfil this final duty to my Muni, I fear that they won''t be able to rest peacefully if they don''t get to scold my spirit at least a few thousand times."


    Liang Chen wasn''t very knowledgeable about the customs of a monastery, it had never really been something he read up on. As such he wasn''t sure if this was some sort of burial ritual of their monastery or just something Lao Ye wanted done to put his own mind at ease. But in the end, it didn''t really matter.


    "Laogang Mountain, I got it, I''ll plant one there."


    Lao Ye looked a touch surprised that Liang Chen agreed so easily, his smile morphing into that indescribable mixture of surprise and amusement.


    "Heh, has anyone ever told you that you may be a bit too kind to your enemies? But then again, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Farewell, Storm Lord, may you and your heavenly wrath prosper in hell for eternity."


    Those ended up being the last words of Lao Ye before his head disintegrated. The Emperor of Lamenting Wrath fell in this lone tomb, and joining him in his grave was the Nine Wrath sect and its subordinates, all their wraths entrusted to the one that ended them.

 Chapter 347: The Rulers and purpose.

    Liang Chen spat out another heavy breath after the last few threads of Lao Ye''s existence faded from the world, his face turning pale as he stumbled. The fire of Purgatory had faded after they went to the Void, but the act of opening and closing such a massive gate still placed a heavy toll on him, it would never have worked if he hadn''t incorporated it into the Sixth Step.


    "Haah... I''m glad it hurts."


    He rubbed his chest somewhat weakly, muttering to himself. Talking with him had allowed him to understand Lao Ye, where he came from, who he was, what he sought. And because he understood him, it hurt a little to kill him. He was like Liang Chen, rooted in good intentions but twisted by wrath to take the wrong path.


    Was he a bad person, was he a good person? Liang Chen could not give a final answer to that question, the best he could say was that he could not accept the path Lao Ye had chosen, so they fought and they killed. But it didn''t feel great, it was sour and bitter. And that was good, he was happy that he could feel that. Should there ever come a day where he didn''t feel like that after killing someone like Lao Ye, what would he have become then? Would he still be Liang Chen, would he still be walking the path he wanted?


    "The lament of a loss that was never avenged... You got that one wrong, Lao Ye."


    He muttered again as he sat down, regulating his breathing to calm his pounding heart. Lao Ye said that his was the wrath that the heavens didn''t deliver, his lamentation was the loss that was never avenged, that was how Lao Ye saw Liang Chen. But was that really correct? The wrath part was certainly correct, but was Liang Chen''s sorrow that of a loss never avenged?


    At the very least, he didn''t think so. His wrath may stem from that, but he couldn''t honestly say that it was his sorrow. Truthfully, he had never really thought about that part, the sorrow that came with wrath. He just acted, he moved and he struck, never giving himself time to think about it. The source of his lamentation, the bitter sensation in his chest, he had no word he could give it, no meaning.


    "Perhaps it would have been easier if you were just an unforgivable murderer."


    He really would have looked a bit laughable to someone just looking in from the outside, pallid and breathing heavily as he continuously muttered to himself. But then again, if they had seen the battle then they probably wouldn''t have dared to laugh at him. Liang spat out another breath and tossed all thoughts to the back of his mind, he knew what he had to focus on first.


    "Alright, let''s rest a bit first."


    Purgatory was waiting for him below, but he didn''t think that his current state was appropriate for meeting it. His energy was mostly drained and his mind was rather exhausted from the strain of the battle, the sheer speed at which his thoughts needed to flow was far too tiring. So he closed his eyes and just sat there, his hands placed on the ground as he used them for support and leaned back.


    The scent of blood. It filled every inch of this cradle, it hung in the air and it festered in the ground. But right here and now, that scent eluded him. What hung in the air was instead the scent of moist earth and the bitter scent of herbs, a faint note of floral scent just barely clinging to life. Compared to everywhere else in this land it was paradise, the little slice of land Lao Ye had carved for himself.


    But soon, even this paradise would vanish. This land, this cradle, it would lose its purpose once Liang Chen achieved his goal. The bloody scent, the twisted rules that governed this land, he would crush them all and erase them. It was a place that shouldn''t exist, a place he couldn''t accept, and now he could finally get rid of it.


    He didn''t bother keeping track of time as he rested, a concept that was a bit strange for a being that was literally made up of time. As such, he had no idea how much time had passed when he opened his eyes again and stood up, stretching his body.


    "Hm?"


    He was just stretching his body when he suddenly stopped, his hand unconsciously landing on his chest. He felt something there, but it wasn''t the bitter feeling from earlier. He felt like there was a touch of energy within him that didn''t belong to him, but it didn''t feel like energy that someone had sent into him either. It felt like it was waiting for something, an order, a purpose. But above all, it felt a bit familiar. Very faint, but still familiar.


    He sank his mind into his own body and located the energy, or at least where he could feel it, but it wasn''t there. He could feel it, but he couldn''t see it, not even sending some of his restored energy to wash over it allowed him to detect it. His brows furrowed slightly and his mind wandered forward, touching upon the spot where the energy was supposed to be. And as he did, a slight warping sensation washed over his body, the scent of the land vanishing.


    He hurriedly pulled his mind out from his body, but it was already too late, he had vanished from the cradle. But he hadn''t arrived in an unfamiliar land, he was actually very familiar with where he had ended up. White earth, grey grass, maple-like trees, this was his domain.


    But he hadn''t brought out his domain so it shouldn''t be present. Even stranger was the land beyond his domain, separated from it by what appeared to be a translucent bubble. The wasteland of the Void stretched out beyond his domain, making it all too clear to him that he had ended up in the Void thanks to that energy.


    "This...hmm..."


    He had no idea why the energy had sent him here, or why his domain was present in the Void. A domain was something formed when you used your laws to alter the world around you to a state better suited for you, the alteration would grow stronger all the way until your domain became a real world. But his domain should not have reached that stage yet, and even if it did, it shouldn''t have appeared inside the Void like this.


    It was a strange situation, but Liang Chen wasn''t planning on pondering it too much. Not only was he an extremely unusual creature, but one of the laws merged into his domain was the Void, it would have been stranger if things continued on as normal. As such, rather than spend time pondering that, he put his focus on the other strange thing he saw around him.


    The translucent bubble covering his domain, it was covered in small runes that were tightly packed together. They were clearly not natural constructs, he could see humanoid Voidborns drawing them onto the bubble as he stood there. They surrounded the domain from all sides as they worked, each little rune putting an additional bit of pressure on the domain.


    But Liang Chen could instinctively feel that it wouldn''t be enough. They could cover the entire bubble in runes but it wouldn''t be enough, they wouldn''t be able to break or crack it, the best they could do was lock it in place. As for why they wanted to do that, he guessed that it was probably because they had no idea what this land was. But how could they know? This was his land, his little slice of the world. Here, he was king, here, he was god. As long as he rejected them, no one could enter.


    "Ah? Ah! We greet the Elder Deity!"


    A voice cut through the bubble, a slight tremble in its tone. Liang Chen followed it, his gaze landing on a Voidborn that had spotted him. The Voidborn had already dropped to his knees and lowered his head, halting whatever it was that he had been doing. His voice had also reached the others, their attention landing on Liang Chen. They immediately halted what they were doing and knelt down, lowering their heads in reverence.


    It was reminiscent of the first time Liang Chen had entered the Void, how they had knelt and sung him a hymn. But this time he was close enough to actually hear their words. He wasn''t immediately sure how he should react, but the sound of something cutting through the air drew his attention before he came to a decision.


    A youth was flying over at extreme speed, his grey eyes gleaming darkly while his green hair fluttered wildly. He landed a short distance away from the domain, his feet digging small trenches in the sand as he slid forward, he had clearly rushed a bit too quickly to get here. The Voidborn with lowered heads immediately noticed him, turning their bodies slightly as they greeted.


    "We greet the Younger Deity!"If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The youth''s expression twisted into a grimace as the Voidborn greeted him, the veins on his temple bulging for a second. He stretched his arm towards the man who greeted him first, his palm looming over his head. His veins bulged slightly from anger, but to Liang Chen''s surprise, he only gave the Voidborn a relatively light hit on the head.


    "Wrong! He is a fake Ruler, he does not deserve the Deity title."


    The youth''s voice was dark and slightly hoarse, repressed anger gathering in his throat. He raised his head and locked eyes with Liang Chen, grey and golden meeting as they looked at each other. Liang Chen instantly realized it, understood it instinctively. This youth was the current Ruler of the void, he was the Voidborn Ruler that Chen Daoge and the others had mentioned when Liang Chen first melted into the void. And clearly, the youth also knew who he was.


    "Fake Ruler, I am Kongxu Zhuren, I am the true Ruler of the Void, its soul and heart."


    Kongxu Zhuren took the initiative to introduce himself, walking right up to the translucent bubble. He placed his hand on it and pushed, but he was rejected just like the other Voidborn, gritting his teeth slightly. Liang Chen allowed his gaze to slide across Zhuren for a bit, eventually tilting his head slightly.


    "Okay. And?"


    Liang Chen didn''t introduce himself straight away, he was a bit caught off-guard by Zhuren''s over the top introduction. Would it not have been enough to just give his name if he wanted to introduce himself?


    "And? Is that all you have to say? You try to take my duty and life from me and the best you can muster is ''And?''"


    Another vein popped up on Zhuren''s temple as he practically forced the words through his grit teeth, he looked as if he would bite into Liang Chen''s throat if they weren''t separated by the bubble. But his words only dumbfounded Liang Chen. Had he perhaps misunderstood something along the way?


    "Your duty, your life? Kongxu Zhuren, I don''t even know you, why would I have any interest in things like that?"


    Yes, Liang Chen had learned about the fact that there was a Voidborn Ruler present in the Void, but that was it. He didn''t know their name or how they looked, until now at least, so he had never formed a single thought about them or how he should treat them. If they were innocent then he would protect them, if they were sinners then he would kill them, that was all. Now it was Zhuren''s time to be a bit dumbfounded, his lips parting slightly.


    "You... do you not have the law of the Void?"


    The law of the Void was special, it was reserved for Voidborn Rulers, at least as far as Liang Chen was aware. Even he had only acquired his through coincidence after coincidence stacking on top of each other. Zhuren obviously already knew about Liang Chen''s law of the void so he simply nodded his head, Zhuren''s expression hardening slightly when Liang Chen confirmed what he already knew.


    "To have the law of the Void is to be the incarnation of the Void, its heart and soul, its ruler. But the Void only needs one ruler, that''s why it only ever births one. But now there are two, you and me. A ruler that can''t rule, what purpose is there in an existence like that, what reason is there behind the birth of such a creature? I can see it in your eyes, you are not a purposeless being. So you must seek to rule, that is the purpose of a Ruler. But I will not allow you to take over the reason behind my birth, my purpose."


    Voidborn Ruler, their purpose was in their name. They ruled the Void, the great expanse without end. And there was only ever one, because the void, despite its eternal vastness, only ever needed a single ruler. But thanks to the anomaly that was Liang Chen, there were now two, an older and one younger. But what reason did the younger have to exist if the older already existed, what sort of purpose could an existence like that have?


    Kongxu Zhuren was not born for no reason, he refused to believe that. He had his purpose, he had to rule and restore the Void, that was the purpose he was born for. His thoughts were emblazoned in his eyes, his pupils burning with something akin to desperation. And so, Liang Chen understood.


    "Purpose, reason? It seems like you think needlessly highly of life, of the world. Kongxu Zhuren, people aren''t born with a purpose, they aren''t born for a reason. They are just born, there''s no rhyme or reason to it. Purpose, Reason, they are things you find yourself, things you decide yourself."


    Liang Chen''s path, the bloodsoaked road he had decided to walk, he wasn''t born to walk that, he wasn''t born to punish sinners. He chose to step onto that path, he chose that purpose and reason for himself, that was all there was to it, just the thoughts of a single child.


    "You want to believe that you''re born for the purpose of ruling the Void? That''s fine, go for it. But don''t push that delusion onto me, don''t spin a tale in your head just to fit your worldview. You''re right, I do have a purpose. But I picked that purpose, I didn''t get it just because I got the law of the Void, I picked my purpose long before I got that law. So go ahead, you can rule the Void all you want, I have no desire to do so. I protect the innocent and punish sinners, be they man, beast, or Voidborn, no more, no less."


    Liang Chen didn''t want to get into a needless conflict with Zhuren just because he had deluded himself into believing something was true so he made things clear right away. He had no desire to rule the Void, he had no desire to rule anything for that matter. He simply punished sinners and protected the innocent, wherever they may be and whoever they may be.


    Kongxu Zhuren still stood there looking dumbfounded, perhaps even more so now that Liang Chen had finished talking. He looked confused, be it because he couldn''t understand what Liang Chen was trying to convey or because he had never thought about it before. Whatever the case was, it had nothing to do with Liang Chen, things would only have anything to do with Liang Chen once Zhuren started going too far.


    Seeing that Zhuren seemed too dumbfounded to respond, and since he had nothing more to say, Liang Chen turned around and walked away. The energy he had felt, the energy that brought him here, he could still feel it. But now he didn''t feel it in his body, now he felt it in his domain. It was here somewhere, waiting for him.


    Zhuren seemed to call out to him a bit after he started to walk about but Liang Chen couldn''t hear him properly, he had probably stuttered somewhat. As such, he simply ignored him and continued on, quickly reaching the energy, which was floating harmlessly in the air.


    It was only light blue in colour, but compared to the white earth and grey grass it was basically blindingly colourful. It bobbed slightly as Liang Chen reached it, like a puppy eagerly awaiting its command. Perhaps it was because he was now inside his domain, or rather the actual location of his domain, but he understood what it was waiting for.


    It wanted to be used, it wanted to be born. It was energy so it had no form, but it needed a form. Liang Chen had brought it here, brought it into his world, now he needed to add it to his world. And he understood. This was his domain, his world. Here he was king, here he was god.


    He also understood where the energy had come from, or rather, why it had ended up here. Lao Ye had died to the law of the void, his existence had been erased. And where did things go when they were erased? The Void, the inevitable end of all things. But Lao Ye hadn''t just died to any void, he had died to Liang Chen''s void.


    And as such, he went to Liang Chen''s void, he became the energy that facilitated its growth, its change. And who was the one that decided how this void should grow, how it should change? There was only one man who could decide that.


    "...It may not be the mineral-rich water you said was best for them, but it should be fine for one or two, no?"


    Liang Chen came to his decision after a short moment, muttering to himself. He stretched out a hand and touched the energy, he only had to imagine the change he wanted to take place and the energy would make it happen. So he imagined, he envisioned the scene, and the energy obeyed.


    It sank to the ground, seeping into it like water as it stretched out. The white earth started to tremble slightly and pull apart, a ditch forming in front of Liang Chen. The ditch split the entire domain in half, going from one end to the other in a meandering manner. And then it started to fill, clear blue water pippling up from the ground to fill it.


    Before long, a clear stream had formed in the domain, the water moving slowly thanks to an underground river that kept it circulating. An additional colour had been added to the domain, a colour the void had not seen for many years already. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out some of the seeds that had been in Lao Ye''s interspatial ring.


    He crouched down and stuck them into the ground next to the stream, using his finger to dig them into the earth so that they would have enough space to grow. This was his world, if he wanted some plants to be able to survive here then they would be able to do just that, even if this was technically inside the Void.


    "There, you nurture them, it''s the least you can do after taking away so many lives."


    It was incredibly small, just a few flowers right now. But it was still new life, and the least Lao Ye''s energy could do after causing so much death was nurture these small new lives.


    Liang Chen stood up again, his gaze drifting along the newborn stream. He wasn''t quite sure what to make of this, it wasn''t every day you suddenly found yourself the lord of a new domain like this. For example, what if everything he destroyed with the law of void became energy like this, would he have to come here all the time to decide what it should become?


    Luckily, he had plenty of time. He didn''t need to figure out everything right away, he didn''t need to understand everything right away. He had time, he could take things one step at a time. And right now, the step he was going to take wasn''t here.


    He tapped into the law of the void, a rift forming at his side. He could see the familiar landscape of the mausoleum beyond the rift, a single step taking him out of the Void and back into Purgatory''s Cradle. He didn''t even cast a second glance at the distant Zhuren, who still stood there with a somewhat confused expression on his face.


    The rift closed again behind Liang Chen, but he could feel it more clearly now than ever before. That void, that world of his, he could enter it whenever he wanted. That was his void, it had been within him ever since he became the void, but that was precisely why he hadn''t noticed it until there was a change in it. Just like you didn''t normally feel your liver until something was different, he hadn''t felt that void until something was different.


    Liang Chen put away the thoughts of Zhuren and the void, storing them in the back of his mind so that they wouldn''t slip him. He then turned his attention towards the corner of the mausoleum, towards that patch of land that Lao Ye had pointed out in his final moments. It had been long enough, or at least felt like long enough, it was finally time to meet the entity, the energy, that had twisted this land.

 Chapter 348: Purgatory and wrath.

    Liang Chen made his way to the rightmost corner of the mausoleum, a patch of land that was looked no different than the rest of this little garden, or at least what used to be a little garden. He glanced down at the dirt, the earth and plants withering away as they became mulch that was subsequently pushed aside. And just as Lao Ye said, beneath a layer of dirt was a set of stone stairs leading down, soft blue crystals embedded into the walls and shedding their light onto the path.


    Liang Chen set foot on the stairs and made his way down, the air thick with Purgatory''s energy. The energy was filled with a sensation he was exceedingly familiar with, perhaps even comfortable with. Wrath, volatile and violent, like a chained dog snarling as it tried to break free. The air tingled with unrestrained anger, pricking the skin like needles.


    The stairs didn''t continue for too long, plateauing out into a short tunnel illuminated by the same blue crystals. Beyond the tunnel laid Purgatory''s chamber, a simple square room covered in deep crimson runes that quietly pulsated like veins, each one oozing out a bloody scent.


    "And so, another one comes. The previous one seemed quite capable, but apparently not capable enough. So, new one, what sort of anger brings you here, what sort of desire do you want fulfilled?"


    And sitting in the centre of the room, the focal point of the bloody runes, was Liang Chen''s target. Lao Ye had already told Liang Chen about how Purgatory''s form changed depending on who talked to it, but the form it took for him was still a tad unexpected. It did indeed take on his form, albeit somewhat younger than the current him, but its golden pupils were narrowed like a snake''s, its head full of crimson hair.


    It wasn''t a form he was unfamiliar with, he had actually seen it plenty of times in the past. It was back when he first started cultivating, when he bathed in excessive amounts of Demonic beast blood and was slightly tainted by it. This was the form his bestial instincts took back then, or perhaps it had just been a way for his mind to give a concrete image to his repressed anger and hostility.


    Liang Chen stood at the entrance of the room, quietly observing Purgatory as it sat there and absorbed the energy of the pulsating runes. Shen Fei had mentioned that the final wraths sect may be positioned as they were to form a grand array, and looking at the current scene it didn''t seem entirely groundless. This land was filled with death and blood, and both of those things held power, power that Purgatory desperately needed to restore itself.


    Liang Chen still didn''t respond to Purgatory''s question, quietly stretching his arm into the room. A fine red mist filled the entire room, seeping out from Purgatory''s body every time one of the runes pulsated. One of his fingers touched the mist and a burning sensation immediately washed over him, the skin around the affected area flaking away.


    "That''s not a good idea. Well, it is if you want to die. My power is not something that can be handled by people. You bathe in sin, and so you will burn if you touch me. And you... you look like you''d burn exceptionally well."


    Purgatory gave him a light warning when it saw his finger burn, a somewhat crooked smile on its face. Liang Chen pulled back his arm and checked his finger, it burned about as much as it did when Lao Ye utilized the power of Purgatory so he could offset it momentarily with his regeneration. Having confirmed his guess, he finally turned his attention to Purgatory.


    "What about you? What desire are you hoping to fulfil after arranging things like this? You say that we bathe in sin, but you encourage that very same sin, you reward it so that we''ll repeat it. What will you accomplish by birthing scores of people that deserve to burn?"


    Purgatory, the ancient power of heavenly punishment. Once it did just that, it burned sin. But then the Bloodwind Emperor happened and the multiverse consciousness died, Purgatory falling along with it. What had changed since then? Did Purgatory believe that its revival was worth creating a few million people that it should technically scorn?


    "Birthing? I don''t birth people who deserve to burn, people simply deserve to burn. They lust, they greed, they ignore everything else but their own desires. Horrible things, vicious things. The worst thing this multiverse ever did was create living beings. The only good thing about them is the burning anger and hatred so many of them nourish within themselves."


    Purgatory sneered derisively, saliva almost flying from its mouth as it spat out its inner thoughts. It wasn''t shy about them either, it had probably never been. It hated, it despised, it was angry, and that was exactly why the wrath sects had formed around it. The answer wasn''t too far removed from what Liang Chen had expected, Purgatory had encouraged far too much bloodshed for its thoughts to be anything normal. But even so, it was a shame.


    "How disappointing. I... hoped that the thing that once stood for heavenly punishment and burning sin would be a bit different. But no, you''re just another angry child throwing a tantrum."


    Yes, this great entity that once policed the multiverse was now no better than a crying kid, completely tunnel-visioned as it generalized things. Liang Chen was an angry and vicious person, but not even he had sunk to a point where he thought all people were bathed in sin. Liang Chen''s words evidently hit a soft spot, Purgatory practically seething as it responded.


    "Heavenly punishment... Yes, I once stood for that. I dedicated my all to following my rules, my purpose. I burned sin, I punished evil and cruelty. I, and I alone, made the world a better place to be. I gave you people peace! And what did I get in return, how did you reward me? You killed my creator, you cast me down and buried me in this forgotten tomb! Did you ever try to help me, did you ever come to thank me for what I did? No! You only ever came because you wanted more energy, because you heard that there was a good resource here that you could use to grow stronger. I saved you, and you abandoned me!"


    Liang Chen didn''t know this, but the mausoleum he stood in right now hadn''t always been here. Only when Lao Ye arrived here was it constructed, before then, Purgatory had simply rested within the dirt of this land, alone and forgotten, abandoned.


    Purgatory''s words also told Liang Chen why Lao Ye had planned to entrust his wrath to it. Rules. Purgatory was created to follow certain rules, heavenly punishment was only ever meant to strike down on certain people, so rules were necessary to ensure that. Did these rules still exist within it? Did it still have to follow them after its creator died? Liang Chen didn''t know, but Lao Ye at the very least seemed to have believed as much. But whether or not it still needed to follow those rules was irrelevant to Liang Chen.


    "We didn''t do that. From what I''ve heard, the Bloodwind Emperor killing your creator was an accident. Now granted, I wasn''t there so I can''t verify that, he may well have done so on purpose. But so what? How much time do you think has passed since then, how many of the people you condemn still live? The people out there, trying to live their lives, they don''t even know about your existence. You say that they abandoned you and deserve to burn, but do you really think that ignorance is a sin? Should they burn because no one ever told them anything, should they burn because of something done by an ancestor that has already faded from history?"


    Yes, it didn''t matter to Liang Chen whether or not Purgatory was still bound by rules. The things it had done, the things it stood there and said it would do, he couldn''t accept either. Sin was not hereditary, a child did not deserve to die for what their father did, nor did they deserve to burn because of ignorance. Yes, Purgatory had been abandoned here, but it wasn''t by the people of this time, it wasn''t by the people it was trying to burn.


    "Hah, does it matter how much time has passed? You say ignorance isn''t a sin, but why shouldn''t it be? I did so much for them, but they let my name fade from history? They couldn''t even muster the will to pass on my name to future generations, couldn''t even bother to spread word of what I did, of how they should live? To willingly let themselves sink into depravity, is that not a sin worthy of burning?"


    True, the people of this time may not have been the ones who abandoned Purgatory. But who was it that had the right to decide that ignorance wasn''t a sin? Liang Chen had learned, Lao Ye had learned, plenty of people had learned about Purgatory over the years so it was clearly still possible to learn. Yet they never seemed to do, they relished in their ignorance. Liang Chen once again spoke against Purgatory''s beliefs, shaking his head lightly. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "But they did spread word, Purgatory. The heavens are just, if you sin they will strike you down for your cruelty, if you do good then they will reward you for your benevolence. That is part of the story that my father told me as a child, a story told to children all over the world."


    A story he had been told as a young child, one of his earliest memories. The heavens are just, the heavens punish evil. That story had been his belief, and in the end, it had become part of his wrath, one of the triggers that started it all. But clearly, a children''s tale was not good enough for Purgatory, for the world.


    "And what good has that done? Is the world outside at peace? No, it can''t be, if it was then there wouldn''t be people entering this land. If it was, then there wouldn''t be people like you here, seething with anger and hatred, bathed in blood. So clearly, they couldn''t be bothered to properly spread the word, couldn''t be bothered to live properly."


    Purgatory had no access to the outside world, it had no idea what went on beyond this cradle. But it didn''t need to have access to it to know how it was. As long as there were people willing to enter this cursed land, the world would never have peace. And there had never been a shortage of people willing to come here and kill, there had never been peace. Once again, Liang Chen shook his head.


    "But they do live properly. No, the world isn''t at peace, it may never be. But that does not mean that it deserves to burn. There are good people out there, far more good people than bad. Should they burn because you''ve been tunnel-visioned by anger? No, no they shouldn''t. I won''t accept that, I never will. They''ve done good, they don''t deserve to burn."


    Purgatory was twisted, ruined. The years it had spent here had broken it, he could clearly tell that now from its words. Its hatred and anger, born from abandonment, had festered in it, become a poison that ruined it. Once it had been a weapon of peace and justice, but time and hatred had eroded it, not even it was safe from the cruelty of time.


    But no matter what caused it to reach this point, what caused it to cross the line, all that mattered to Liang Chen was that it had crossed the line. Purgatory felt like it finally got an answer to the question it had asked at the start, what had he come here for?


    "You won''t accept it? Do you think you have the right to decide what is and isn''t accepted? Is that what you came here for, what you killed so many people for, to tell me that you don''t accept me and my plans?"


    Liang Chen was just a man, one among billions, one among countless. What right did one man have to decide what was and wasn''t accepted? What right did one man have to go against, to reject, the arbiter of punishment birthed by the multiverse? Liang Chen simply shook his head again as Purgatory sneered at him, he hadn''t come here to tell it his thoughts. He stepped forward after shaking his head, walking directly into the red mist that seeped out from Purgatory.


    "No. I killed so many because they deserved it, they had sinned so they deserved to burn. And I came here for you, for your power. The heavens are dead, Purgatory. Heavenly Punishment is a forgotten thing, a threat no one heeds any longer. But it doesn''t need to be like that, I won''t let it be like that. If the heavens can''t cast down punishment then it falls on man to do so, and I will be the man that does so. Give me your power, Purgatory. Help me burn the sin of this world."


    Liang Chen burned. His skin and flesh flaked off and disintegrated, his blood crackled for a bit as it fell, vanishing before it touched the ground. But for each patch of skin he lost, for each step that robbed him of flesh, new ones grew back. In the end, he stood in front of Purgatory, his hand slightly stretched out as the fires continued to burn his sin. The corners of Purgatory''s lips twitched in response, dumbfounded laughter escaping him as he sneered once more.


    "Ha...Hahaha, that''s what you came for? Not even the previous man above was as deluded as you were. Man cannot become the heavens, just as the heavens cannot become man. They don''t understand each other, their struggles and thoughts, that''s why they can never take over each others roles. Do you really think you can be impartial? Just? No, the punishment you mete out can ever only be born by your own judgment, your own standards and morals, it will always be biased."


    Gods and humans could not coexist because they could not understand each other, and the same was true for man and the heavens. Heavens was impartial, it held no one else in high regard so it could punish everyone equally. Man could not, they had emotions, people they loved, people they hated, acts they hated. Biased and hateful, that was why man could never become the heavens. Liang Chen didn''t deny Purgatory''s accusations, he completely agreed with them.


    "Yes, yes it will. I will be selfish, unjust, cruel to many. But so what? I''m not a god, Purgatory, I''m just an angry child who does whatever he wants. I don''t need to be perfectly just and unbiased, I can never be. But I''ll still go on ahead, I''ll still stride forward, all the way until there comes a day where the only sin left to burn is me. So come, Purgatory, join me in burning."


    He wasn''t a god. Once he may have hoped, dreamt even, of becoming one. But no more. He could never become a god, he could never be like that, he could only ever be himself. And that was fine. He''d continued to walk that path, continue to walk as himself, all the way to the end.


    Purgatory fell a bit silent as Liang Chen stretched his hand closer. He gazed upon the burning man in front of him, the entity that continued to flake away and rebuild. The way he resisted the fires of sin was just too strange. Or rather, the way he didn''t resist them at all was the strange part. He burned and fell apart, but he didn''t use any of his energy to resist the power. Yet he regrew everything he lost. He stared deep into Liang Chen, his gaze piercing right into his very core. And there he saw it, the vastness, the great end. And he understood exactly what the man in front of him was, what he had become.


    "You... I see, you''re that thing from beyond, the emptiness. What a monster, what a horrible thing has been born into the world. Let me guess, if I reject, then you''ll erase me? A wrath you can''t accept or control, no need to keep that around, is there?"


    Not a Voidborn, but of the Void. A man, but also the Void. A physical entity, but also the great nothingness that shouldn''t exist. He was a being that should never have been born, a monster that by all rights, should never have walked this earth.


    "..."


    Liang Chen didn''t respond, but his silence was all the answer Purgatory needed. If it rejected his offer, then he would use his law of the void to erase it. Purgatory was dangerous, if left unchecked there was no telling what it might do. And he could not accept what it tried to achieve, so he would erase it without a trace. Purgatory snickered somewhat lowly when he reached the same conclusion, he truly hadn''t expected that the great emptiness would ever arrive at his doorstep and threaten him.


    "It''s not impossible. If I want to, then I can indeed give you my power. But if I reject it, then not even Jormungandr would be able to devour and take my power for himself."


    That was his right, the last right of Purgatory. If it rejected someone then they would never be able to acquire its power. He would fade from existence forever, but he would take his power with him. Never again would sin burn in this multiverse.


    "Alright, what is it you want me to do?"


    Purgatory hadn''t accepted or rejected, it simply stated that it wasn''t impossible. So there was something it wanted, something it desired. In that manner, perhaps it was more human than it wanted to be, more human than it thought it was.


    "I want to test you. You speak of wrath, but are you truly wrathful? Memories, emotions, they birth so much wrath. But in time, they fade like everything else, and the wrath they birth fades with them. I want to see if your wrath is skin deep or if it''s truly a part of you. I''ll join you for a bit, to see if wrath truly is a part of you. If it is, then I will accept you and willingly give you my power. If not, then I would rather just fade from this filthy world."


    Time healed all wounds, a saying that was all too familiar. People forgot, memories faded. The love they birthed, the anger they brought, in time they would all become nothing more than a whisper on the wind, heard by no one. Was Liang Chen the same? Would there come a day where his wrath would become just another word whispered with the wind, an emotion lost to time?


    "I accept."


    Liang Chen didn''t think so. If his wrath was so fickle then he would have never gotten to this point, he would have never reached this place. The very fact that he stood here in front of Purgatory, an ocean of blood holding him up, that alone told him everything he needed to know.


    Purgatory stood up from its seated position after Liang Chen nodded his head, glancing at the outstretched hand that still burned. And it reached out with its own arm and grasped that hand, its entire being melting into energy that flooded into Liang Chen.


    "Very well then, new one. When you wake up, show me how true your wrath is, show me that it''s not dictated by something as feeble as memories."


    The words echoed in Liang Chen''s head as his vision was dyed black, a weightless sensation overtaking his entire body as the energy filled him, a small part of it quietly covering his interspatial ring. He was falling asleep, he could feel it. It was similar to how his consciousness faded when he cultivated, Purgatory was filling him with energy, and his body shut down his mind so that it could more easily take it all in.


    But what he didn''t notice as his consciousness drifted away, surrounded by the burning flames of Purgatory, was that the land all around them was trembling. The cradle quaked, the land and sky cracked. Purgatory''s Cradle, the land that had existed for countless years already, was crumbling to pieces. Purgatory was gone so it no longer needed a cradle, all it needed now was to see if the monster that reached out his hand would be worthy of burning the world.

 Chapter 349: Wanderer. (1)

    Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.


    A rhythmic and dull sound echoed throughout the darkness. At first, it felt far away, but each thud made it a bit clearer, a bit louder. Sounds became sensations, each thud accompanied by a soft vibration, felt more in the body than in the ears. It was like an alarm, a call to rise, slow and steady yet seemingly never-ending.


    And so he did just that, darkness giving way to light as his eyelids slid open. Pain, that was the first thought that flashed through his mind as he opened his eyes. The light stung, it felt like small needles that dug into his eyes, not even the soft brown colour of the wooden ceiling above him helped combat the small flashes of pain.


    He blinked. Once. Twice. Light and darkness flashed before his eyes as he blinked, the two slowly merging as his eyes got accustomed to the light. It was darker than he had expected, the room he was in could even be called dim, yet the light had stung him when he first opened his eyes.


    The sight that greeted him was a plain room, wooden walls devoid of decoration, only a single window inlaid in the door letting in some light. A few barrels and sacks occupied the room, tucked away into the corners to make space. The low thumping still persisted as he laid there, rising up from the floor to enter his back.


    He tried to move his arm, but a jolt of pain shot up his arm the moment he moved his finger. It felt like lightning rushing through his vein, tiny blades carving open his flesh. But strangely enough, sound refused to escape his lips. He knew it was painful, but he couldn''t even grunt, it was as if his instincts were telling him that this pain wasn''t worth fretting over.


    He drew in a slow breath, his lungs felt stiff and cracked now that he actually paid attention to it. Slowly, he tried to move his body again. First, a finger, then two, then his hand, then his arm. Slowly but surely he managed to move his body without pain, slowly but surely his movements got smoother as his muscles warmed up.


    "Oi, there''s movement. Quartermaster, you''re up!"


    A voice cut through the rhythmic thumping as he was warming up his body, a tanned face had passed by the small window while he was focusing on his own body. He tensed up slightly, the realization that he had no idea where he currently was suddenly washing over him.


    Had he been captured? Kidnapped? Were they the reason just warming up his muscles hurt that much? And if he was here then what about... what about who? Who was he trying to think about, who was he suddenly worried about?


    His previously calm blinking suddenly turned panicked as his apparently slow mind reached the core question he should have been asking from the start; Who was he? He tried to think back, tried to remember. But all he came up with was darkness. Name, age, appearance, history, he couldn''t remember anything. The first memory he could recall was that quiet and rhythmic thumping that broke through the darkness to wake him up.


    An even softer symphony of thuds came from outside the room as his mind was racing, a shadow covering the light that the window let in. The door was pushed open and the shadow walked in, a tall and muscular woman whose skin had seen so much sun it turned dark stepping into the room. She was accompanied by a dry wind and the scent of sand, shutting out both of them as she closed the door and strode forward.


    He got a better look at her as she got closer, not only was her skin baked by the sun but she also had several scars marring her skin. The bare arms revealed by her torn shirt, her abdomen, even her face was filled with scars of varying sizes. The largest by far was the one that covered her entire right eye, it was about the size of a fist and had removed the entire eye, only a black pit left to tell its tale.


    "Hey, Kiddo, are you firing on all cylinders?"


    The woman squatted down at his side, brushing aside her short black hair as her lone eye wandered across his softly twitching body. His pupils shrank slightly, he didn''t know what to think, what to do. Was she a friend or a foe? Did she know who he was? He did not know, and thus he could not react. His lack of reaction, however, drove the woman to act, unfastening the waterskin at her waist and pouring its contents onto his face.


    "Drink. Drink and fire up those cylinders."


    The liquid she poured over his face was clearly not water, it was a deep red and stank of alcohol and bitter grapes. Some of the liquid entered his mouth and slid down his throat, settling in his stomach. Bitter, it really was as bitter as it smelled, it probably wouldn''t be going overboard to call it disgusting. But it did indeed help. The splashes of the cold liquid washed away needless thoughts and cleared the way for more appropriate thoughts.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    No, he did not know if this woman was a friend or foe or if she knew anything about him. But did that matter right now? No, it didn''t. He had no idea who he was or where he was so how would he ever be able to figure out if this woman was a friend or foe by just looking at her? He had to ask, question and investigate, only like that would he learn. The woman''s lips curved slightly when she saw the clarity in his eyes, putting away the water flask as she nodded her head.


    "There ya go, now you''re looking a bit more present. Kiddo, I''m Zheng Yi Sao, but you can just call me Quartermaster as long as you''re riding with us. How you looking? You were practically buried in the sand when we found ya so I imagine a thing or two inside might be fried from the heat."


    Yi Sao''s eye swept across his body again as she spoke. A youthful body, bright golden eyes and dim grey hair, a simple but neat pair of white clothes covering his body. He looked more like a young master or a scholar than someone who should be mulling about within the Wandering Desert. Then again, if her guess was correct then he may, in fact, be one such scholar, he''d probably just gotten kidnapped and dumped here when they were done with him, it wasn''t exactly an uncommon tale.


    "Fried... Probably? You wouldn''t happen to know who I am, where I am, and how I ended up here, would you? I''m drawing a bit of a blank on everything so I''m having some issues with staying calm."


    Polite yet slightly casual, definitely not a young master, that was Yi Sao''s analysis. Some things couldn''t be erased even if the memories of it were, if the youth had been a young master then there would be traces of that past arrogance or grace in his voice. But there was nothing, he spoke just like the kids she sometimes walked past when they anchored by a city.


    The situation also seemed a bit worse than she had expected, but then again, just being alive after being tossed into the Wandering Desert could be called a miracle. His eyes were clean and pure, that bright golden almost piercing through her. He wasn''t lying, she could judge that with perfect clarity. The heat had fried his brain and robbed him of his identity.


    "Got it, so you''re stuck all the way up shit creek without a paddle, not an ideal situation. But ya know what they say, piss poor luck rarely arrives alone so I''ve gotta keep up the bad news. Sorry kiddo, I ain''t got a clue who you are or how you ended up here. Well, not technically, I know why you''re on this ship but not why you were ditched in the desert. As for where you are, you''re currently aboard the Sand Sovereign, you won''t find a prouder flagship on all the Wandering Desert."


    Yi Sao spoke somewhat crudely but concisely, providing what little answers she could. But perhaps as was to be expected, even the answer she was able to give was of little help to someone who couldn''t even remember their own name.


    "Wandering Desert... Sand Sovereign... Neither of them sounds familiar. A bit foreign to the tongue even."


    He almost felt like shaking his head, the words felt like blocks on his tongue, unfamiliar and strange. Was it because of his lost memory or because he had never heard about them before? He couldn''t quite tell, that was one of the annoying parts of amnesia, the constant questioning and uncertainty. But luckily, in cases like this, there was generally one thing that would always be on your side.


    "It is what it is, kiddo. If you can''t do anything about it then ya can''t do it, simple as. Best to just give it time, time''ll heal just about any wound, be they physical or mental. Well, that''s assuming the wounds don''t just kill ya before them, not impossible really. We picked you up so we''ll take care of ya until you decide to dip, as long as you''re willing to work on the ship at least. Whaddaya think?"


    Yi Sao held out her hand as she spoke, almost waving it in front of his face. The line of business she was in had a near-constant turn-over, the need for new hands on deck was always present, always nagging at the back of their minds during each confrontation. The boy had the luck to survive being dumped in the desert so who knows, he may end up being like a lucky charm to them.


    As for the boy, he had nowhere else to go, not even a name to go by, so he could only latch onto what he had right now and hope that Yi Sao was right, that time would heal all wounds.


    "Please take good care of me, I''ll do my best to work properly while I''m in your care."


    He stretched out his arm, it had been the first part of his body that he warmed up so he could move it mostly without a problem. Yi Sao clasped his hand and shook it, she put a good deal of strength into her grasp but he didn''t react so the corners of her lips turned up a bit further.


    "Hey, you''re hardier than you look kiddo, that''s good! I''ll be calling you kiddo, that''s what you are after all, but can''t let the rest of the crew enjoy the same privilege as the Quartermaster so we''ve gotta give you a name, at least until you recall your own. But don''t get your hopes up, I''ll stick to the nice and simple name of Wanderer. Don''t like it? Tough luck, remember your own name if you wanna change it."


    Yi Sao pulled on his arm as she spoke, pulling him to his feet while naming him. She helped Wanderer stay upright, her hand pouring hot energy into him to shock his muscles awake. It was a bit unpleasant, but the back of his mind once again told him that a sensation like this wasn''t worth fretting over so he didn''t make a sound. Yi Sao smiled again when she saw his lack of reaction, patting him on the back and pushing him towards the door.


    "That''s a good kiddo, you may just fit in real good here. Follow me, gotta greet the Cap if you''re gonna spend any more time here. He''s pretty similar to me, but if you annoy him then he may just dump you on Skewer''s Rest when we reach it so try not to poke fun at his appearance."

 Chapter 350: Wanderer. (2)

    The first thing that greeted Wanderer when Yi Sao pushed him out of the room was a gust of warm air and blinding light. The sun was terribly bright, there probably wasn''t a single cloud in the sky to cover its brilliance, giving the world nowhere to hide from its rays. The light was technically warmer than the air, he could feel it on his skin, but the air was still the more bothersome of the two.


    It was coarse, if air could even be described like that. Each breath felt like it brought with it gravel and dust, a grating and uncomfortable sensation filling his throat. The more he breathed, the more his throat filled. It was as if the wind wanted to suffocate him, filling his lungs with debris as it forced him to take in each breath faster and faster. He suddenly felt Yi Sao''s hand land on his shoulder, patting it heavily to focus his attention.


    "Don''t panic, Kiddo. Calm and slow breaths, that''s how you get through it. If you panic and hyperventilate then you''ll end up drawing in too much residue all at once and then you''ll really suffocate. Calmly, slowly, give each breath time to pass through you, you''ll find that it ain''t as bad as it seems."


    Her voice was the only thing he could rely on right now so he could only force himself to calm down, which he managed so easily that it surprised him. One breath. Two breaths. Slowly, calmly. Debris still entered his throat, but now that he gave it time to pass it slid down his through, dissipating as it reached his stomach. Slowly and steadily he breathed, slowly and steadily he acclimated.


    "Yes, that''s the way. Panic and irrationality in a strange situation will just kill ya. Breathe deep and breathe slowly, that''ll get ya through most situations."


    Yi Sao patted his shoulders once more, Wanderer slowly blinking a few times as his eyes got used to the bright sun above. Slowly but surely he became aware of his surroundings, of the vessel he was standing on.


    Galleon. That was the word that rang in his head as he looked at the thing, the ship, he found himself on. Four large masts hoisting white sails covered in markings that released a dim glow, wooden railings preventing you from falling overboard, an elevated deck behind him and a slight upwards curve ahead of him.


    People were milling about on the deck, most of them were just chatting as they relaxed but some seemed to be acting as lookouts, each one focusing on a different direction. But strangely enough, despite this being a ship, Wanderer could still feel the thumping that had awoken him from the darkness. There was something beneath the ship, connected to it.


    But it was hidden by the land around them, by the Wandering Desert. And what an apt name it was. Sand as far as the eyes could see, stretching all the way to the horizon and beyond. Dune upon dune of pale golden grains, each one shifting like waves, tossing and turning like the turbulent ocean. It was a desert, but it acted like the sea, it felt alive in the wind.


    "Majestic, isn''t she? She stretches out further than you can imagine Kiddo. Even if ya wandered all the way over to that horizon, you''d just find that she stretches all the way to the next horizon, and then she goes even further beyond."


    Yi Sao''s voice reached Wanderer as he gazed upon the land around them, the roiling desert that they sailed. Her eyes gleamed reverently, warmly, like a child looking up to their mother. But Wanderer couldn''t share her emotions. Was it really that special? Transcending the horizon and continuing onwards, was something so small really worthy of such reverence?


    But as the thought struck him, he couldn''t help but wonder. Small? Why had he thought it was small? It was infinitely larger than him, he could probably spend years walking and still not reach the end. And yet he thought it was small. Why?


    "Come on, Kiddo. We can continue admiring her beauty later, let''s head to the Cap first."


    Yi Sao tugged on his shoulder as he questioned himself, pulling him out of his thoughts and guiding him across the deck. The people they passed greeted them, Yi Sao introducing Wanderer to them and giving a very short description of his circumstances. He received quite a few looks of pity, and more than a handful of insurances that he could come to them if he ever needed help. Or as they said, part of the crew, part of the family.


    They crossed the deck and ascended the front of the ship, the bow from which you could see the entire stretch of land ahead of them. The area at the very edge of the bow was abandoned, save for the one person standing there, hands behind their back as they quietly gazed upon the endless sand of sea ahead of them.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "So our little caged bird has awoken?"


    The voice that came from the person was soft and calming, it was a perfect match for the slim and delicate frame that was slightly visible thanks to the tight-fitting red and brown clothing they were wearing. But as the person turned their head, a few strands of their black hair trailing over their green eyes, Wanderer saw that this person actually had a rather pronounced adam''s apple. They looked delicate and graceful, effeminate even, but they were undoubtedly a man.


    "Aye, just pulled him up actually. But yeah, he''s fried on the inside, can''t remember a thing, be it about himself or how he got where he was. I''ve dubbed him Wanderer for now, and he''s already expressed his willingness to work on the ship, at least until he manages to unscramble the mess in his head and remember a damn thing."


    Yi Sao pat Wanderer on the back to push him two steps forward, a quiet indication that it was his time to step up. But the voice of the man in front of him sounded out the moment he tried to bow.


    "There''s no need for that level of formality. You''re part of the family as long as you''re part of the crew. Just look me in the eyes and introduce yourself, anything more is overdramatic."


    Wanderer gave up on the bow and raised his head slightly, matching the gaze of the captain. Green eyes, like a verdant field stretching out in front of you, a twinge of tiredness lurking within each blade of grass. He looked soft and calming, perhaps that was why he was the captain.


    "I don''t know who I am or where I''m from, but I''ve been given the name of Wanderer. I have nowhere else to go, so please allow me to work on this ship until I regain my memories."


    Once again, polite yet casual. He had lost everything so he really didn''t have anywhere else to go, he could only wait until the day his memories returned, or until he found something that triggered them to return. The captain''s smile softened slightly as he nodded his head, stretching out his arm.


    "Yes, that''s much better. I''m Ching Shih, Captain of the Sand Sovereign. Wanderer, you can stay here as long as you want, until you''ve regained your memories and beyond should you choose to. Welcome aboard, I hope you can break free from your little cage and soar freely."


    Wanderer stretched out his arm and accepted the hand that was offered to him, the two sharing a short handshake before they separated. But Wanderer didn''t retract his gaze from Ching Shih afterwards, his head tilting slightly. It was his wording, specifically what he had said at the very start and what he said at the end. Ching Shih seemed to understand what his eyes were trying to say, chuckling lightly as he gestured towards the sand ahead of them.


    "Curious why I''m calling you a caged bird? Because that''s what I thought you were when I first saw you. Fine clothes, a delicate and untouched appearance, you were the perfect picture of a young master. And young masters are always caged birds, chained down by the expectations of others. They can see the greater world, but their chains prevent them from ever leaving that little area around them, that cage they call home. But now you''ve lost everything, your chains included, so the wider world is waiting right at your fingertips, you just need a single step and you''ll soar."


    Wanderer followed Ching Shih''s hands, once again gazing out towards the seemingly endless land of sand. This was what he called the wider world? A tiny patch of land covered in sand, a stretch of land that barely reached across a few horizons? What a small world, what a small freedom. But once again, he had no idea why he would think like that, this world was already so much larger than anything he could see right now.


    "You can head down to Chao Zen, he''s our boatswain and will help you find a few jobs to take care. He''s that old man leaning against the railing while puffing his pipe."


    Ching Shih obviously couldn''t see the thoughts that cropped up in Wanderer''s head as he gazed upon the sea of sand, turning his attention away from the surroundings as he pointed towards the deck. Wanderer followed his finger and quickly spotted the man, Ching Shih was talking about, nodding his head before stepping away.


    "As you say, Captain."


    Yi Sao and Ching Shih''s gazes followed Wanderer as he walked towards Chao Zen. His steps were steady so he didn''t seem bothered by the slight tossing of the ship.


    "He''s sturdier than he looks, Cap. I gave his hand a good squeeze earlier but he didn''t even flinch. He also survived being dumped in the desert so he clearly isn''t as delicate as we first thought. Whatdya think, should we keep an eye out to see if he has a troublesome identity or backing?"


    Yi Sao informed Ching Shih of what she had found out earlier, anyone who could take one of her handshakes without flinching was sturdier than your average joe. And if he was that sturdy at a young age then he may really be a young master, one that may even come from a troublesome family. But Ching Shih merely smiled slightly.


    "So he''s sturdy? How good, Levi said that we''ll cross by a wreck in a few days, we could use another pair of sturdy hands to help carry everything aboard in good time."


    He turned around again after he spoke, leaning against the bow as he savoured the warm and coarse breeze, taking in the vast world ahead of them.


    "And what does it matter if he has a troublesome backing? We are the Sand Sovereign, and he is now family, our Wanderer. As such, it''s our duty to take care of any troublesome things that may cause him distress."

 Chapter 351: Wanderer. (3)

    "Oy, Wanderer! There''s a bit o'' residue falling from the mizzen mast, can you salvage it before the wind eats it all?"


    A voice cut through the wind that danced across the deck of the ship. Liya Qing, the lookout responsible for the main mast called out to Wanderer from her vantage point, her auburn hair fluttering wildly in the wind as her brown eyes narrowed sharply.


    "Understood, Miss Qing!"


    Wanderer''s voice cut through the wind in response to Liya Qing''s request, his steady feet quickly bringing him across the deck. The ship was tossing and turning with the roiling sand beneath them, but his feet didn''t stop for a second, his body bending and turning in tune with the ship to stabilize his stance.


    A middle-aged man with a loose blue shirt stood close to the railings, clutching a rope tied to the sail of the main mast, supporting it to keep it steady. With the other hand, he picked up one of the tools at his side, one that looked like a butterfly web, and tossed it to Wanderer.


    "Catch, don''t ferget to go for the shiniest glimmers first, they''ll be the most important ones."


    With the tool in hand, he ran up to the raised rear portion of the deck and positioned himself beneath the sail hoisted on the mizzen mast, the rearmost mast. Mixed in with the strong wind and the sand it threw about were small glimmers of light, raining down from the sail like snowflakes.


    They were evidently a bit heavier than the actual sand, slowly fluttering down rather than getting completely carried away by the wind. But if left unchecked then the wind would push the glimmers enough that they would end up falling into the sand around the ship so they still had to be caught.


    "Wanderer, rope! Shao, twist! Zen, catch!"


    A voice came from atop the mast, a rope dropping down from the crow''s nest that served as the lookout point. Wanderer swallowed once before he grasped the rope and readied himself for what was to come. The sound of something falling mixed in with the wind, the rope Wanderer was holding going taut as it shot skyward, bringing him with it.


    He quickly stretched out the net he had been given, the fine white silk that formed its head releasing a dim light as it started to attract the gleaming snowflakes. One by one they started to sink into the net, Wanderer swinging it towards the larger snowflakes. In the end, the net wasn''t an all-powerful tool, it could only attract snowflakes within a certain distance so he really had to focus on the larger ones.


    The rope he was holding suddenly twisted somewhat, spinning around the mast as if it wanted to twine itself around it. A glance was all Wanderer needed to see Dia Shao, clutching onto the halfway point of the mast with one hand while using the other to direct the rope that was pulling Wanderer. Thanks to Shao''s aid, Wanderer started to swing around the mast, allowing him to cover a wider area to collect more snowflakes.


    But he was starting to reach the end of the rope, once he reached the crow''s nest from which the counterweight had been dropped, he would crash into it and become a mess of flesh and bones. So they counted the seconds, each link involved in the task counted the seconds to erase the possibility of failure. And once the allotted time was used up, they called out.


    "Wanderer, drop!"


    "Wanderer, let go!"


    "Newbie, I''m waiting!"


    Three voices joined as one, each one had counted separately but not one of them had been off. This was their job, this was their livelihood, this was their family. Errors could not be accepted, would not be allowed. Wanderer knew what to do know, Chao Zen had given him very detailed descriptions of all the jobs on the ship so that he would be ready to cover whichever one they needed him to.


    What he had to do right now was trust. He had done his job, now he had to trust that the others would do theirs. Of course, one mistake and he would splatter the deck of the ship, that or end up in the sea of sand around them, food for whatever lurked beneath the surface. Could he do it? Could he put his trust in people he had known for a mere three days?


    His hand let go of the rope, a sensation akin to a rock settling in his stomach overtaking him as gravity grabbed hold of him. In the end, it didn''t matter whether he could or couldn''t put his trust in them. He had to, that was all there was to it. So he let go of the rope and let gravity do its thing, his body rapidly dropping towards the deck.


    A slight twinkle of white cut through the dancing wind and sand as he fell, tightly clutching the net so as to not lose any of the snowflakes. The twinkle grew larger and larger, all the way until he hit it and was enveloped by a soft sensation. A large mattress, rapidly inflated using Qi, had caught him. Chao Zen stood next to the mattress, his greying hair fluttering wildly as he bit down on his pipe, his grin reaching all the way to his black eyes.


    "Told ya I was waiting, didn''t I Newbie? Now come on an get up, Dengde is waiting beneath deck with the cauldron."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He flipped the mattress to force Wanderer off, making sure he landed on his feet and headed for the door that led beneath the deck before he put away the mattress and made his way back to his previous position. Wanderer shut out the sound of the wind as he closed the door behind him, quickly navigating the corridors as he made his way down to the bowls of the ship.


    He swiftly reached his target, the door to Shin Dengde''s room already wide open. He moved in with quick steps, the somewhat youthful man sitting crosslegged in front of a bubbling cauldron waving his hand.


    "I take it you''ve picked up some residue. Hand it over and wait, it shouldn''t take more than a minute or two."


    Wanderer did as he was told and handed over the net, Dengde pouring its contents into the bubbling cauldron with a slightly tired expression. But even if he looked weary, his black eyes never lost their focus. He sniffed the liquid in the cauldron a minute after dropping in the gleaming snowflakes, his brows furrowing slightly before he picked up some of the vials he had scattered around him.


    He poured in a bit of viscous sludge from some of the vials, the liquid in the cauldron taking on a dim yellow hue. He then grabbed an empty jar and a brush, filling the jar with the liquid before closing it and handing the two objects to Wanderer.


    "Give them to Shao, he''ll see to it that they find their home."


    Wanderer accepted the two items and tucked them into his bosom, keeping them safe beneath the loose brown shirt he had been given by Yi Sao. He dipped into a minor bow as he bade Dendge farewell, turning around and jogging back to the deck while Dendge returned to the cauldron to stabilize the mixture.


    Wanderer ran back on deck and returned to the mizzen mast, raising his head as he traced it with his eyes. He could see Dia Shao halfway up the mast, constantly adjusting the ropes that connected the sail to the mast. He couldn''t throw the jar from this distance so there was only one option available to him, he would have to climb.


    So, he grabbed onto one of the many ropes twined around the mast and started to climb. There were plenty of ropes twined around the mast exactly for situations like this so Wanderer had plenty of places he could grasp onto to ascend. The roaring wind was annoying, but there was a slight irking at the back of his mind, like a tiny voice telling him that this wasn''t a problem at all, this wind was far from being an enemy, not even worth a second thought.


    So he climbed ever higher, from rope to rope as the wind roared, or perhaps danced, all around him. Each time it brushed against his body he felt like he saw a puppy cuddling up against its owner, eagerly seeking affirmation and care. It was an exceedingly strange thought, but the strangeness of it made Wanderer smile slightly. What an absurd situation, how could he not smile at a time like this?


    "Oh, solution''s done, eh? Thanks a bunch, Wanderer, I''ll get the rest done."


    Dia Shao''s voice reached Wanderer as he smiled to himself, it seemed like he had reached his target while lost in thought. Shao stretched out an arm and accepted the jar and brush that Wanderer pushed towards him, his brown eyes shifting slightly as he put his focus onto the sails.


    He spat out a heavy breath, the jar and brush levitating out of his grasp and moving towards the sail tied to the mizzen mast. Shao''s eyes narrowed slightly as he focused, the jar opening itself and allowing the brush to dip itself into the slightly yellow liquid. And then the brush started to draw on the sail, constantly filling up the dimly glowing marks that covered the sail.


    These marks were supposedly part of an array, a drawing with magical properties as they put it. It was their emergency solution should things take a turn for the worse, but if the array wasn''t activated then it was a bit susceptible to the environment so they had to take care that it wasn''t eroded in strong weather like this.


    That was what the gleaming snowflakes had been, small scratches that fell off from the array. Should too many of them fall off then the array would no longer function when they needed it so they had to collect as many as possible so that they could repair it straight away.


    Wanderer watched as Shao did his job, his eyes gleaming slightly. Qi, that was what Shao used to move the brush and jar without touching it. The energy of life, the source of freedom, that was what some of the crew members called it. As for Wanderer... he couldn''t use it. Yi Sao had checked him and said that he lacked something important, something known as a dantian, the storehouse that contained all your Qi. No dantian, no storehouse, no Qi.


    "Don''t look so jealous, Wanderer. Sometimes you just draw the shorter straw in some aspects, that''s just life. If you always just focus on the shorter straws then that''s just what your life will be, short straws wherever you turn. Focus on the good things, the longer straws you''ve drawn, life''ll be much happier like that."


    Dia Shao looked down at Wanderer as he spoke, his expression somewhat soft. Sometimes you just encountered people who had something you didn''t, that was just life, everyone on this ship had experienced. But once you focused on those things then they''d just become chains that dragged you below the surface and drowned you. It was a sad way to live, a pitiful way to live.


    Wanderer simply smiled quietly at Shao''s words, his gaze continuing to follow the brush and jar as they moved against the wind and painted across the sail. He got a bit lost in his observation, a bright gleam of light drawing his eyes after an unknown amount of time had passed, Shao''s voice sneaking into his ears.


    "Look out there, Wanderer. That''s a sight you can only get from up here."


    Wanderer followed Dia Shao''s outstretched arm, his gaze peering across the seemingly endless sea of sand. A thick wall of wind and sand rose in the distance, surrounding them on all sides. This was the eye of the storm, the sole land of calm amidst the chaos around them. The sun was high above them, its rays reflecting off of the crystals mixed into the sand that flew about with the wind, a million bright lights dancing in the dark storm around them.


    And at the centre of it all was the wreckage of what should have once been a towering building, slightly skewed now that the sand had swallowed everything but the top half. But even if it was surrounded by sand, the building itself ruined, a great tree was growing atop the building, lush green leaves casting their shade around it. Dia Shao''s lips curved up as he looked at the building, pointing at the tree.


    "A wreck from before the Wandering Desert was created. Look, you see that tree? The crumbling of Purgatory''s Cradle should have destroyed all traces of life in the area, but yet that tree still stands firm after seven years, I can''t even imagine what sort of treasure we''ll find at the base of those roots."

 Chapter 352: Wanderer. (4)

    "Everyone to their positions! Levi''s warned me that there are a few beasts lingering around the ruin so expect us to get attacked after we enter. Don''t get lax, don''t get killed, I''m still hoping that we can all get drunk to celebrate afterwards!"


    Ching Shih''s voice resounded across the entire ship as they approached the tilted ruin. A slight tremble seemed to run through the air, the atmosphere solidifying somewhat as it tensed up. No treasure was acquired without danger, and few dangers were braved without losses.


    They had weathered the surrounding storm already so the crewmembers had a bit more leisure as they gathered on deck. But their expressions were dignified and solemn, a slight twitch of nervousness occasionally making itself known as Wanderer allowed his gaze to roam across the faces of those gathered. Ching Shih allowed his own gaze to drift across the gathered members, nodding slightly before using his chin to gesture towards Wanderer.


    "Good, not a one missing. We''ve got a new member on this excursion, but poor lad doesn''t even know his own talents so we don''t have a good place to put him to use. Dengde, Qing, the two of you will take him with you. Dengde, see if you can''t teach him a bit about arrays, Qing, make sure that he learns the basics of being a scout."


    The captain''s words were law in situations like this so both Shin Dengde and Liya Qing nodded their heads and voiced their understanding, shifting over so that they could take up positions around Wanderer. A scout and an array aficionado, they were the ones in charge of taking the lead and making sure that the crew didn''t end up walking into any traps.


    The remaining crew members already knew their positions so things proceeded smoothly, the ship cutting through the sand and anchoring next to the ruin. It was a very simple anchoring process, they simply dropped metal plates covered in fine lines that stuck to the sand.


    "The normal docking procedure also involves tying ropes to both our ship and the target, but we never know what we might encounter in places like this so we skip the ropes so that we can hasten our possible retreat."


    Liya Qing explained a bit about the procedure to Wanderer as they watched. It wasn''t the scout''s job to dock the ship, but it was still good to know the how''s and why''s, that way you could avoid messing with them in the future.


    As Wanderer watched, a head poked up from the sand. A long serpentine neck covered in dull scales, a triangular head several tens of metres long, a maw that split the entire head in half, and two pairs of murky yellow eyes. The creature used its mouth to pull on the anchors, dragging them beneath the sand with somewhat stilted movements, seemingly dragging them towards the ship''s keel, its underside. Liya Qing evidently saw Wanderer''s eyes open wide, chuckling softly as she explained.


    "Surprised you, didn''t it? You don''t see it often, but that''s another part of the ship. Levi, a puppet imbued with the spirit of an old Leviathan. Well, that''s what Captain keeps saying, but I''ve got the feeling it''s just the spirit of some boring old sea serpent. She serves as our main engine as well as our tracker, she''s able to spot ruins and tracks of demonic beasts based on movements in the sand so we rely on her quite a bit."


    There was rarely a need for Levi to show herself as they moved so this was indeed the first time Wanderer saw it. But learning of its existence did answer one of his questions. The thumping sound that awoke, the soft thumping he could feel beneath his feet even now. Levi had been the source all along, her slightly stilted movements transmitting through the ship and reaching him.


    "Alright, docking''s done. Wanderer, stick close to me. I may not look like the most reliable out of the crew, but I''m not gonna let any harm come your way."


    The one who spoke up this time was the youthful Dengde, patting Wanderer reassuringly on the shoulder. He was indeed on the younger side when it came to the rest of the crew, but he still had his pride as a member of the Sand Sovereign, he wasn''t gonna let the freshest kid get harmed while he was supposed to teach him the ropes.


    "Ohh, Lil Dengie is starting to grow some hairs? I''ve got shivers, shivers I tell ya!"


    Liya Qing simply snickered at Dengde''s declaration, sweeping back her auburn hair simultaneously so that it wouldn''t fall in front of her eyes. Dengde snorted somewhat coldly at her joke but didn''t say anything further so he probably wasn''t as offended as he pretended to be.


    The crew boarded the skewed building, the subdued scent of wood and moss surrounding them as they passed through what used to be a window. Roots of varying sizes lined the walls, covering what seemed to once be artworks or decorations as they broke through the floor. The thin layer of moss that covered each root was budding with small white flowers, it was practically paradise compared to the ocean of sand outside the ruin.


    "Alright, full alert everyone. Dengde, Qing, Wanderer, we''ll defer to you."


    Ching Shih''s voice reminded everyone that they couldn''t relax just because things looked beautiful. Beasts could attack them, the ruins could crumble, they could activate some arrays that still lingered in the building, the plants might even be capable of releasing poison if they weren''t careful.


    "Alright, our job starts here. Wanderer, one of the first things you gotta do when you scout out a place like this is to secure a safe path. Where is the ground the thickest, which spots are good for hiding traps, which area looks just too enticing to be left alone? You also have to take into account the unique properties of each area. Like here, roots cover practically everything. How have the roots affected the stability of the building, where are the roots at their densest so that we can use them instead of the floor? Which way do they go, downwards or sideways? Your eyes are your most valuable asset here, your experience is second, use both when you can."


    Liya Qing started her teachings straight away, her brown eyes narrowing sharply as she inspected the room around them. She pointed to the various roots as she spoke, how they twisted and bent, where they gathered to connect with other roots. She then pulled a small stone out from the pouch hanging from her belt, tossing it towards a section of the floor not too far from their current position.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The floor crumbled as the stone hit it, revealing the thin roots that had ruined its stability. Needless to say, such roots wouldn''t be able to support even Wanderer''s weight so that particular path would have been disastrous for them. Liya Qing tested a few more spots, probably just to show Wanderer how careful he had to be, and then started guiding the group downwards, using various roots as stairs or poles to descend. And all the while, she didn''t forget to teach Wanderer what she knew.


    "Another thing you need to be wary of when scouting, especially when we''re away from Levi, is tracks of beasts. For example, look over there. Small scars in the stones, roots that have been torn or pierced, holes in the outer walls of the building. Nature didn''t do that so there must be beasts in the area. We''re surrounded by an ocean of sand so that reduces the number of possibilities by quite a bit so we can generally draw on our experience to make educated guesses. The scars look like they were left by fins so I''m thinking there are a few Sand Snappers in the area, vicious things that act like flying fish, they launch themselves through gaps in the sand and either use their long beak to skewer their prey or their sharp fins to slice them open."


    Wanderer carefully and quickly took in everything Liya Qing wanted to teach him, golden eyes vigilantly sweeping the surroundings. She smiled a bit softly at his earnest attitude and the way he picked up stones to mimick her way of testing the path, they had picked up a good member.


    But at the same time as her smile softened, her eyes narrowed further. She wasn''t the only one, Ching Shih and the others also narrowed their eyes. The traces of the Sand Snappers were clear, and some of them looked relatively fresh. So where were they? Why had none of the snappers attacked them yet? Had they abandoned their territory while they anchored? If so, why? Levi didn''t give off the aura of a beast so it shouldn''t be her, could it be that another beast had swum by coincidentally?


    They continued to question as they moved, but there was no one that could answer their questions. The Sand Snappers didn''t attack them, that alone stood as a fact so that alone they could trust in. And in truth, this was favourable to them, beasts were one of the greatest dangers whenever they delved into ruins like this.


    "They''re getting denser, we''re approaching the source of the roots. Wanderer, it is always when you''re closest to your goal, as well as after you''ve achieved it, that your guard is at its lowest. Always pay attention to this, never allow it to become the reason for your downfall."


    Liya Qing spoke up suddenly as they continued to descend. The roots around them had indeed grown both thicker and denser, covering practically everything right now. But Wanderer couldn''t see what made Liya Qing so certain that they were close to the source, and that was the difference in their experience.


    But indeed, Liya Qing had been right. They only had to descend two more floors, and move through five rooms, before they reached the source of the roots. The source from which the seed had sprouted, the soil that provided this lush tree with its nourishment, was a corpse.


    Sprawled out on the ground in front of them was a desiccated corpse that seemed like it once used to be a man. The spot where all the roots extended from was the pouch at the man''s waist, he had probably been carrying the seed when he perished. And now the seed had sprouted and dug into his body, drawing on his blood and the energy in his flesh to grow and sustain itself.


    "Dengde, how does it look?"


    Ching Shih''s voice sounded up from the group that was in the process of entering the room, his voice tinged with wariness. Dengde checked with Liya Qing and then took half a step forward, inspecting the corpse closely. The corners of his lips curved up after a bit of searching, his arm reaching out to slide off the ring that the corpse wore.


    "Jackpot, Cap. The rest isn''t worth any notice, but he''s got an interspatial ring. It doesn''t look like it''s a blood bound type either so we should be able to peruse it at will."


    Dengde held the pale blue ring as if it was a gem, rolling it in his palm for a bit before he closed his eyes. He seemed to be doing something, grimacing after a few seconds and opening his eyes again.


    "Bah, never mind, not as good as I hoped. Bozo here was basically just as drunkard, there''s nothing but alcohol and raw meat in here, you''d think he wanted to be ready for a feast at any moment."


    Dengde tossed the ring to Ching Shih as he grumbled, but there was a slight curve to his lips so he evidently wasn''t entirely displeased. And indeed, Ching Shih also smiled slightly as he caught the ring, hefting it a few times as if he wanted to show it off to the others.


    "Don''t be such a stick in the mud, he''s sponsoring a feast for us so we should be happy. Ain''t that right, boys?"


    The other crew members happily agreed, no one would complain about a free feast of alcohol and meat while they were sailing. They checked the rooms a few more times just to be on the safe side, but in the end, it seemed like that ring would be their only bounty here. Going further down wasn''t going to work, the sea of sand had already swallowed and crushed everything beneath this floor. And who knows, in time it would probably also swallow this floor and the rest.


    "Miss Qing..."


    But as they were about to turn around and make their way back up, Wanderer tugged on Liya Qing''s sleeves. The group halted in their steps and turned to him, Wanderer pointing towards one of the root-covered walls with slightly furrowed brows.


    "That wall... I can''t help but feel that there''s something off about it."


    it was a sensation he couldn''t explain, it was like a voice at the back of his mind telling him that there was something lurking behind the roots. But he couldn''t tell where it came from so he had been a little hesitant about speaking up. Liya Qing looked a bit surprised at his sudden remark, they had checked these rooms multiple times and not found anything.


    But that didn''t mean that she would just disregard him. They were family, and family trusted each other. She brought out another stone from her pouch and chucked it at the wall, a standard preliminary test. But as the rock hit the roots, a hollow thud sounded out, echoing throughout the room.


    And then the roots burst open. Arrows made from pure steel were launched from behind the roots, holes surrounded by small drawings just barely visible in the spots where the arrows had come from. Liya Qing was the target of the arrows, they seemed to be drawn to her by a strand of unseen energy. And worst of all, they were incredibly fast, Liya Qing and the others were still frozen in shock by the time the arrows had arrived directly in front of her.


    And Wanderer watched this, standing right next to Liya Qing. His heart clenched, an ache surfacing in his chest. She wouldn''t be able to dodge this. The arrows would embed themselves in her head and chest, stealing her life and burying the knowledge she had yet to share. And it would all be because of him, because he hadn''t been able to stay silent.


    Would he accept this? Could he? He didn''t even need to ask the question, the answer was no, it would always be. He wanted to move, he told himself to move, he had to move. His pupils contracted sharply and his body moved, perhaps more on instinct than anything else.


    He wrapped his arms around Liya Qing and pulled her into his embrace, his feet moving slightly. The arrows were fast, fast enough to kill almost anyone in the crew. But Wanderer was faster. One step brought him to the other end of the room, Liya Qing safe in his embrace, her face buried against his chest.


    But the arrows just turned, homing in on the one that had activated their trap. Again, they were fast. But once again, Wanderer was faster. He told his legs to move, to save the woman in his arms. And they obeyed his command, another step taking him to the corner of the room. Several of the arrows failed to turn in time and buried themselves into the wall, unable to extract themselves.

 Chapter 353: Wanderer. (5)

    Liya Qing felt rather helpless in Wanderer''s embrace. She could barely register what was going on. One second she had thrown a stone and in the next one, an arrow was right in front of her face. This was where she would meet her end, that single thought had flashed past her mind as she gazed upon the arrows.


    But that final thought was mercilessly trampled upon by Wanderer. Faster than she could understand, faster than she could register, he had grabbed her and dragged her away. That little kid, running about eagerly to fulfil any order they gave him. Since when was a kid allowed to have a chest that felt this safe and secure?


    She could hear the arrows cutting through the air, just the sound almost made her skin prick in pain. But they never hit her, they never even scratched her. Wanderer embraced her and ran, each step as light as the wind but as fast as lightning. Arrow after arrow sank into the walls, forever embedding themselves into stone and root.


    And in the end, perhaps before anyone could even properly wrap their head around the situation, the last arrow vanished. Wanderer stood not far from his original spot, still embracing Liya Qing. Funnily enough, his face was paler than hers, but was it due to confusion at his feats or fear of her getting harmed?


    The other crew members were also looking at him with mouths agape. They all did the calculations mentally. If those arrows had aimed at them, would they have been able to dodge? The answer most of them came up with was far from optimistic, which made them that much more amazed at Wanderer''s feat.


    "Hahaha, told ya, didn''t I, Cap? Kiddo''s far sturdier than he looks. And from the looks of it, speedy as shit to boot. He''s real soft to the touch, but maybe he''s one of them body cultivators? They don''t need a dantian to do their thing so it don''t sound too far-fetched, no?"


    The first sound to break the silence was the boisterous laughter of Yi Sao, as well as the sound of her slapping her thighs. She had told Ching Shih from day one that Wanderer was much sturdier than he looked, he hadn''t even flinched when she shook his hand. And now it seemed like she had really been spot on, and boy howdy he was sturdy.


    "Hm...Hmph. Dengde, check the wall. Anything protected by an array like that must be valuable. Wanderer, thank you for protecting Qing."


    Ching Shih cleared his throat and gathered himself thanks to Yi Sao''s laughter, quickly tossing an order to Dengde before he gave Wanderer a slight bow. He hadn''t been the target of the attack but had still protected Liya Qing, how could Ching Shih not thank him?


    "Ah, no, please don''t say that. I almost got Miss Qing hurt so I don''t deserve any thanks..."


    Wanderer quickly shook his head and arms, freeing Liya Qing from his embrace. She only needed to be protected because of what he did, he really couldn''t accept any thanks with a clean heart. At the same time, he was amazed by the speed he had been able to pull off. He had given his body an order and it had listened, more by instinct than anything else. Would he be able to replicate it in a less stressful situation? He wasn''t sure, but he honestly wasn''t confident, otherwise, it would have happened multiple times over the last few days as he went about his business.


    Dengde carefully got to work on checking the wall around where the arrows had come from, his eyes closed as he traced the roots with his finger. He nimbly avoided a few places, a faint light at the tip of his finger as he seemed to draw something on the roots. After a few minutes, his eyes opened again, an excited glimmer in them.


    "Hah, Wanderer, you really are our lucky star, aren''t you?"


    He placed his hand against the roots as he spoke, the light from his finger extending to cover his entire palm before it sank into the roots, and probably the wall behind them. The roots around his palm fell to the ground as the wall behind them slid open, revealing a hidden compartment that housed a small wooden box.


    Dengde opened the box carefully, a fresh breeze spreading out from the box, refreshing the minds and hearts of everyone in the room. A transparent crystal rested on a silk sheet in the box, the crystal barely the size of Wanderer''s pinky. But Dengde''s eyes gleamed brightly as he looked at the crystal, grinning as he spoke.


    "A Spirit Stone, and an exceedingly pure one at that. It''s probably a High-Quality one, may not even be too far away from Top-Quality. Well Captain, now I''d say we''ve got more than enough reason to enjoy that feast sponsored by the bozo in the other room, no?"


    Wanderer knew that a Spirit Stone was a crystal formed from crystallized energy, but he didn''t know anything about their classification or qualities so he had no idea how valuable the one in front of him was. But looking at the smiles of everyone present told him more than enough, they had struck gold.


    "Aye, now we''ve got all the reason in the world to enjoy it. Fuck, I''ll be the first one to beat up anyone who doesn''t get drunk tonight."


    Even Ching Shih seemed to have a little trouble controlling himself as he looked at the crystal. He quickly closed the wooden box and tucked it away inside the ring they had taken from the corpse earlier, cheerfully announcing that it was time to return.


    The crew retraced their steps and ascended the ruin to return to their ship. No beasts had attacked them as they descended and the same held true as they ascended, it seemed like they had really abandoned this territory, or at least didn''t dare to show themselves. Thanks to this, they were able to easily and quickly get back to their ship and share the good news with the few crew members that had been left behind to oversee the ship. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    They were so overjoyed at the treasure they got that they didn''t even bother searching the rest of the ruin for any other hidden treasures. They hadn''t found anything with their own search, only Wanderer''s instincts had allowed them to find the good stuff at the very end. But it had also almost cost them a valuable member, they were worried that things wouldn''t go so well should there be a next time.


    So they took the bounty they got and didn''t bother trying to bite off more than they could chew, this stone alone would be able to keep them going for several more years. And of course, such a great haul had to be celebrated. Luckily, the unfortunate soul who became nourishment for the tree had plenty of alcohol and meat on him.


    Some of the meat was spoiled due to the passage of time, but a good portion of it had been contained in secure containers so it had weathered the passage of time far better. The jars and barrels of alcohol, both beer, wine, and other stronger drinks, were all opened and a great fire was started in the specially prepared fire pit on deck.


    "Alright boys, our lucky star got us one of our best hauls yet so we''re gonna party like you won''t believe it! I''ve activated Levi to keep watch, that''s how hard I want you idiots to party! Drink, eat, be merry, enjoy life!"


    Ching Shih held a gourd as he addressed the crew, who had prepared drinks of their own from the various jars. The alcohol was raised high with a loud cheer, with Levi keeping watch and controlling things they could enjoy themselves as much as they wanted so they threw away all inhibitions.


    Wanderer obviously also took part in the festivities, indulging in the meat and various drinks. The meat was a bit plain but otherwise very good, but it, unfortunately, seemed like he had a rather high tolerance for alcohol. He downed glass after glass of various drinks, but they didn''t seem to affect him in the way they did the others.


    Day slowly gave way to night as they continued to feast, thoroughly enjoying the alcohol and meat that the deceased had so graciously provided them with. Wanderer had just picked up a jar of alcohol when someone walked over and hooked their arm around his, dragging him and the drink along.


    "You''re coming with me, Wanderer."


    Liya Qing pulled Wanderer along with her as she walked, a few of the crew members whistling or cheering them on as they headed for the door that led to Wanderer''s room. Well, they called it a room but it was actually just an old storage room that they had furnished with a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. The barrels and sacks that had been there when he first awoke on the ship were still present, tucked into the corners.


    "Firstly, we''ll put that aside."


    Liya Qing took the jar of alcohol from Wanderer and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. He was originally only going to use it to fill his glass but she had dragged him away before he could do so. As a result, the jar was so large that it practically covered the entire nightstand, it was something meant for a group of people, not a single youth.


    "You saved my life, Wanderer. When I failed to react, when everyone failed to react, you reacted. You''re small, you look delicate and frail. But your chest, it felt warm and safe, I felt like I was embraced by a fluffy cloud, high above any danger. Now,  now it''s my turn to make you feel warm and embraced, like you''re on a cloud."


    Liya Qing pushed Wanderer onto the bed as she spoke, pulling off his simple brown shirt as she straddled his legs. She showed no shame as she removed her own shirt and bared herself, raising Wanderer''s hands and placing them on her mounds.


    "Pretty good, aren''t they? The shirt hides them most of the time but I''m actually pretty proud of them, you won''t find a finer pair across the Wandering Desert."


    Wanderer''s fingers sank slightly into the mounds he was fondling, a soft sensation filling both his palms. Like a cloud, perhaps there really was something to what she had said earlier. But even so, why couldn''t he help but tilt his head? That thing he was feeling right now, was that really what he should be feeling right now?


    "Well then, let''s see what we''re dealing wi...th?"


    Liya Qing''s words trailed off slightly as she nimbly slid her hands into Wanderer''s pants and rested them on his groin. The reason her words trailed off was the sensation her hands felt. Soft, it was too soft. Why was it still soft?


    "Are you feeling okay, Wanderer? You probably don''t know your own preferences right now so just tell me what you feel, that way we''ll have an easier time figuring out how to get both of us ''worked up''."


    She guessed that it just couldn''t be helped, he was young and probably inexperienced, especially now that he had no memory. What he liked and how he liked it, he knew none of them right now so they could only go based on what he felt. But Wanderer only shook his head somewhat bitterly.


    "What I''m feeling... I don''t think that''s something I should share."


    Yes, he had no memory, but even he felt that sharing what he was feeling right now probably wouldn''t be the right move. But Liya Qing urged him on to share what he was feeling, to be honest, both with her and with himself. So he did just that, he told her his honest feelings.


    "I... I feel disgusted. When I look at you like this, when I touch you like this, when you touch me like that. I feel disgusted, like a billion maggots crawling in my skin, in my head. And... Yes, there''s a degree of anger there as well. Anger at me. That''s what I''m feeling right now, Miss Qing, disgust and anger."


    Perhaps it was honesty that was a bit too brutal, but it was exactly what Liya Qing had asked for. That was why he was still soft down below despite the sensation in his hands, because he felt disgusted. But he couldn''t understand why, or why he felt so angry. But he felt it, it echoed within every inch of him.


    Naturally, being told that someone got disgusted from seeing her bare body and being touched by her wasn''t a good feeling, even for someone as mentally strong as Liya Qing. Her instinctual reaction was to redden in shame, her hand unconsciously swatting out and slapping Wanderer, a loud and crisp sound echoing out beyond the room.


    Wanderer''s head was forcibly turned to the side by the slap and a small split appeared on his lip, a drop of blood soaring through the air before it landed in the jar of alcohol and mixed into it. Liya Qing looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn''t spit out the words in the end, be it because of Wanderer''s confused expression or because he had saved her life earlier.


    She stood up and put on her shirt again, stomping out of the room after giving Wanderer an indignant look. Wanderer heard some jeers from the deck after Liya Qing left so it seemed like the crewmates found the situation quite humorous. In the end, he too stood up from the bed and put on his shirt again.


    He picked up the jar of alcohol and brought it out with him, returning it to the table he had gotten it from. His glass had vanished in the time he was gone so he gave up on filling it, just leaving the jar there and walking away.


    A slight motion caught his attention, Ching Shih was leaning against the bow of the ship and waving him over, a soft and slightly amused smile on his face. Wanderer gave him a nod and started to walk over, the crew members with empty glasses making their way over to the table that held the jar of alcohol that Wanderer had just given up on.

 Chapter 354: Wanderer. (6)

    Ching Shih was leaning against the bow of the ship, overlooking the fire-lit scene of the crewmates celebrating their haul. He raised his glass slightly, saluting Wanderer as he trotted over.


    "Hah, I don''t think I''ve ever seen Qing that red before, you must have really hit her where it hurts."


    It would have been hard for him, or anyone else for that matter, to miss it. The slapping sound that had come from the room was so loud that it practically echoed across the deck, and then Liya Qing stomped out while as red as a tomato, it didn''t need a genius to connect the dots.


    "I... I may hav... No, I did go overboard. But Miss Qing asked me to be honest so it didn''t feel right to lie. I hope she won''t be too insulted."


    Wanderer didn''t immediately lean against the railing like Ching Shih, maintaining a respectful distance. But Ching Shih simply waved him over and pat the railing at his side, turning so that he could gaze upon the dark desert and the crescent moon looming over it.


    "Don''t worry about it too much, no one here is so weak-hearted that we''ll let a bit of humiliation get to us. She''ll be back to normal in a few days or so. But really, the way she stomped out, you''d think you had insulted her mother. Just what did you say to her?"


    Ching Shih sipped his drink as he spoke, a slight curve to his lips. He told the other crew members to party and feast as much as they wanted, but he himself seemed to be sticking to simple water, maintaining a clear head. Wanderer mulled it over for a bit but eventually told Ching Shih exactly what he had told Liya Qing, causing the captain to burst into laughter.


    "Haha, yeah, now I get it! Disgusting, heh? You''ve got a surprisingly vicious tongue, Wanderer, nice going."


    Ching Shih continued to chuckle quietly for a bit, his cup shaking. It really must have been one hell of a blow to Liya Qing''s pride, to be told something so upfront after baring herself. Wanderer could do nothing but look helpless, his somewhat aimless eyes drifting across the desert.


    "I couldn''t help it. The emotions just welled up from within me, disgust and anger. I felt like I wanted to shout, to scream. They were warm, searing, they burned in my chest. But I... I don''t even know why I felt like that. Why is she disgusting? Why was I angry as I lay there? I felt it all, but I don''t know a single thing... Not even my own name..."


    The pain of amnesia, of instincts buried within. He bore the emotions, their cost and consequences. But why? Why did he bear them? He didn''t know, he couldn''t know, yet he had to bear them all the same. Ching Shih placed down his drink and reached out with his hand, placing it on top of Wanderer''s head and ruffling his hair.


    "The disgust can mean any number of things, but that anger probably means you''ve already found the one."


    The smile on Ching Shih''s face was exceedingly soft and gentle in the light of the moon, it was a smile of understanding and remisicence. But Wanderer didn''t quite understand what he meant so he needed Ching Shih to clarify it for him.


    "The one?"


    "The other half of your soul, the one you''re determined to spend the rest of your existence with, the greatest treasure you''ll ever manage to find."


    Ching Shih''s hand slowly trailed away from Wanderer''s head, resting on the railing in front of him as his distant gaze slid across the horizon. He looked like he was searching for something, but the slight traces of bleak light in his eyes told Wanderer that whatever he was searching for was something he could never find. So he questioned.


    "...Have you found your one?"


    The one, the person who could complete you. If Ching Shih had managed to find this person, why did he look so sad as he gazed upon the horizon? Ching Shih didn''t hide it, nodding his head with a gentle and forlorn smile.


    "I did. She was beautiful, her heart alone shone with the light of a thousand suns. But, sometimes you find the one early on, and then they leave you just as early. All of a sudden you''re alone, empty, incomplete. But no matter how many pieces of you fall away as they do, a little bit of them will always remain in you. The rest of the crew think I''m a great captain, but I''ve only managed to retain a single ray of her light, she was worlds better than me."


    Had she died? Or had he not been her one, forcing a separation? Wanderer didn''t know, Ching Shih hadn''t specified it. But he could feel the pain in Ching Shih''s expression, he looked a bit hollow and lost. But Ching Shih didn''t allow himself to immerse in those emotions for too long, casting a sideways glance at Wanderer before speaking.


    "She had a saying, well, her great grandmother had a saying. If you''re worried about those unknown emotions, just think about it. Faith is the reward of the faithful."


    Faith... it was a word that didn''t seem to have much to do with their current conversation. But Wanderer did not think that Ching Shih would just mention it out of nowhere so he laid bare his ignorance and asked for clarification.


    "What does it mean?"


    Ching Shih honestly looked a bit taken aback by the fact that Wanderer didn''t understand the meaning behind the saying, he didn''t seem to have considered this turn of events. But he only had to wrack his mind for a few seconds before he came up with a suitable analogy.


    "Hmmm... remember when we broke through the storm? You had to gather the residue from the array, didn''t you? And in doing so, you had to let go of the rope and drop down so that Zen could catch you. One wrong move and you would have died. But even so, you did it. You performed the task admirably and let go. You trusted that Chao Zen would catch you, you had faith in him. And in turn, they had faith in you, in the idea that you would complete the task, faith in the fact that you would believe in them. You had faith, and your reward for it was faith. So, faith belongs to the faithful, Wanderer, it is their reward."


    Faith for the faithful. It was simpler than it first appeared, but at the same time, it also seemed to become a bit more complicated as Wanderer tried to think it over. Ching Shih saw his expression and chuckled lightly, slowly reaching out with his arm again.


    "Haha, no need to mull it over that seriously! You''ll understand it so..."


    He didn''t get to finish his words, a loud and panicked shout coming from amidst the crew members that were still celebrating.


    "Doushi! Medicine, we need medicine!"


    Ching Shih spun around instantly, knocking his glass down from the railing and into the sand. Wanderer mimicked him and turned towards the commotion, the crew members were gathered around the table where they had gathered the jars of alcohol. The two hurried over and made their way through the crowd, Ching Shih directing an authoritative gaze towards the man who had shouted.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "What''s going on?! Report!"


    The middle-aged man was crouched down slightly, holding another man that Wanderer had met a few times. The man was breathing heavily, his throat swollen painfully. His shirt had been torn, probably to make it easier to breathe, revealing his chest, which had a few white spots slowly appearing.


    "Cap, Bao suddenly started to cough violently after drinking some alcohol. His throat seems to be clogging up and a few white spots have started to appear on his chest! We need Doushi!"


    Yao Kun Doushi, the ship''s doctor, responsible for the health of everyone on board. Ching Shih''s narrowed eyes swept over the fallen man, who had knocked over most of the alcohol as he collapsed into his friend''s arms. He turned his head sharply and shouted at the black-haired Doushi, who was already rushing over.


    "Doushi! Bring your antidote equipment, check for everything you can! The rest of you, drop all the alcohol and meat, don''t touch any of it!"


    Doushi halted in his tracks and spun around, rushing to his cabin so that he could gather his equipment. The rest of the crewmembers immediately did as their captain said, spitting out whatever meat or alcohol they had in their mouths. Doushi quickly returned, a loose grasp on a myriad of different tools and jars as he rushed over. He dropped all the items next to Bao and squatted down, barking out orders as he prepared his items.


    "Captain, I''ll need some of his blood for a test. Yi Sao, keep his mouth open and help him breathe. Qing, make sure his blood keeps flowing!"


    The ones who were called upon immediately acted, Yi Sao keeping Bao''s mouth open and massaging his throat while using her Qi to guide air down his throat. Liya Qing placed her hands on Bao''s abdomen and used her own Qi to aid his blood flow, making sure that oxygen kept circulating.


    Doushi prepared a large ceramic plate and poured the contents of several different jars onto it. Some were in powder form, others were a paste, and some came in the form of dried or fresh herbs. Once he had finished setting up, Ching Shih'' made a cut in Bao''s arm and drained some of the blood onto the plate before he closed up the wound.


    Doushi focused all his attention on the plate, using a silver needle filled with energy to push the blood around. He made the blood touch each of the medicines he had poured onto the plate, and one by one the medicines started to sizzle and melt, withering until nothing but blood remained on the plate. Doushi''s expression was extremely unpleasant when he saw the result, Ching Shih already able to guess the answer as he questioned.


    "It''s bad?"


    "Extremely. The poison is vicious, it seems to constantly change properties to counteract the various antidotes. With what I have on hand, the best I can manage is more standard antidotes, but there''s no way they''ll have any effect."


    It was painful to admit, but that was all Doushi could do. He was set up to deal with most of the common poisons they may encounter, but this was a poison that had festered in alcohol from before the cradle fell and the Wandering Desert was created. It was far removed from what he usually dealt with, he simply didn''t have the tools on hand to do anything useful. But Ching Shih didn''t give up, his expression dark but determined as he gave an order.


    "Yi Sao, I''ll take over the breathing assistance, bring me the haul."


    Yi Sao understood him perfectly well, not even hesitating before she stood up and rushed towards the ship''s storeroom. She quickly returned, carrying a small wooden box that everyone on the ship recognized by now. Someone in the crowd couldn''t help but speak up, but a sharp glare from Ching Shih silenced them before they could say anything meaningful.


    "You..."


    "Quiet."


    Yi Sao opened the box to reveal the Spirit Stone they had picked up earlier, the source of this entire feast and celebration. This small crystal could provide for the entire ship for several years, it was the greatest treasure they had ever picked up. But now Ching Shih grabbed the crystal and brought out a knife, shaving off small pieces that fell into Bao''s open mouth.


    The shavings dissolved when they entered his body, turning into pure energy that rushed through his veins and flesh. The swelling of his throat fell somewhat, no more white spots appearing on his chest as the surge of pure energy repressed the poison. Ching Shih spat out a heavy breath when he saw that it was effective, at the very least the brute force approach hadn''t failed them.


    "Phew... at least the symptoms have lessened somewhat. Tell me, Doushi, if we keep suppressing the poison like this, will you be able to cure it?"


    He couldn''t help but ask, he had to ask. In the end, what they were doing now was nothing but suppressing the poison, once they used up the last of this Spirit Stone, Bao would die all the same. The poison had to be cured, and there was no one else here he could ask. But Doushi didn''t respond straight away, suckling on his teeth for a moment before he gave a hesitant answer.


    "...If I can get my hands on more ingredients then I can try, but I cannot make any promises."


    He couldn''t lie. He had no idea what sort of poison they were dealing with right now so he didn''t have the slightest guarantee that he''d be able to deal with it. He could do everything in his power, but in the end he may still fail. But a chance was still better than no chance, Ching Shih nodding his head strongly and barking out orders to everyone.


    "Very well. Raise the anchor! We''re heading for Skewer''s Rest at full speed! Scrounge up anything we have of value, if the need arises then we''ll have to head to Ninth Star City!"


    The crew members loudly accepted the order and rushed to their positions, the festive mood all but thrown to the back of their minds. The anchor was raised in no time and the ship started to tear through the sand again as it rushed towards its target.


    The meat and alcohol were tested, but no more traces of poison were found so it was likely that the poison had been in one of the jars he broke when he collapsed. But the crew members didn''t dare to touch them anyway so it was all dumped over the board, no one wanted to risk ending up like Bao. Ching Shih spat out another heavy breath as Bao was taken away to a cabin, Yi Sao sticking with him to suppress the poison whenever it seemed to flare up again.


    "Wanderer. You spoke about your name earlier, didn''t you? About not knowing it?"


    Surprisingly enough, Ching Shih turned to Wanderer once everything had quieted down somewhat. They were the two who didn''t have a job right now, the ship was able to move perfectly fine even if they did nothing. Wanderer nodded his head slightly to the question, it had indeed been one of his passing complaints earlier. Ching Shih slowly walked over to the railing at the side of the ship, rubbing the spot between his eyes slightly.


    "Do you know why we gave you the name Wanderer? Why we accepted it? We could have given you any number of names, even after Yi Sao gave you that name. We could have used any number of nicknames, but we stuck to Wanderer. Why do you think we did that?"


    It was indeed a bit puzzling. Wanderer, it was a title more than it was a name. Yet almost everyone on the ship called him by that name, only occasionally would he hear Newbie, or Kiddo from Yi Sao. He didn''t need to answer Ching Shih''s question, the answer was evident on his expression.


    "Because that is your freedom. You are lost, so hopelessly lost that everything around you is a haze. And so, you wander. You wander around and search for the truth, traces of a past you can''t even remember. That''s your freedom, the freedom to wander and search, to stumble through the darkness as you search for yourself, who you are and what you want to do."


    Ching Shih did not believe that it was possible to be more lost than Wanderer. No name, no past, no information. He had nothing and he knew nothing, everything was unknown and foreign to him. So he had no choice but to stumble through the darkness as he searched, as he wandered.


    Ching Shih turned his head slightly, his gaze lingering on the spot where Bao had collapsed, where he had removed a piece of the Spirit Stone to temporarily save him.


    "A handful of the crewmembers probably don''t fully agree with my actions just now. Using a High-grade Spirit Stone to suppress a poison affecting only one man? And it may not even save his life in the end? It would have been better to save it and allow nature to take its course. They don''t mean anything bad by it, they probably don''t even want to have those thoughts to begin with. But that''s just how people are, sometimes they have thoughts they don''t desire. But I am the Captain, that is the name I have been given. The freedom of the wanderer is to take his time to find himself and the freedom of the captain is to be selfish when it comes to the lives of his men. Keep that in mind, Wanderer, the freedom that comes with each name."


    Ching Shih, Captain of the Sand Sovereign. That was his main title, that was his freedom and his duty, no matter what others may try to say. Wanderer didn''t say anything in response, he didn''t really know what he could even say. But Ching Shih seemed to take his silence as puzzlement, his gaze drifting towards the distant horizon as he explained himself.


    "...Skewer''s Rest and Ninth Star City, they''ll be the first places with other people that we''ll take you. When we get there, follow the freedom of your name, as long as you do that, we''ll be content with the outcome."

 Chapter 355: Wanderer. (7)

    The Sand Sovereign, as it cut through the night Wanderer got a sense of just how the ship got that name. The desert flew past them as the ship moved, the sand was thrown aside and splattered through the air like drops of water. The ship was fast, far faster than Wanderer would have expected of a vessel this large.


    He didn''t know if they were just that close, or if it was due to the immense speed of the ship, but something became visible on the horizon even before dawn started to break. The captain and the others also spotted the distant structure, Ching Shih taking the chance to leave the ship''s helm and make his way over to Wanderer.


    "We''ll reach Skewer''s Rest before long so take this, that place can quickly become dangerous if you show weakness."


    Ching Shih swept the ring he was wearing and presented the spear that appeared in his hands to Wanderer. The spear was hard, that was the first thought Wanderer had when he grasped it. The handle was rigid, more akin to stone than wood. Tough and durable, but lacking in flexibility. A strap accompanied the weapon, allowing Wanderer to tie it to his back, albeit in a slightly awkward manner since the weapon was longer than him. Ching Shih gave a small nod of his head as Wanderer fiddled with the weapon, it wasn''t a coincidence that he had given him a spear.


    "I don''t know if you''ve got any prior experience with weapons, not that it really matters now. But a spear is the perfect weapon for a beginner, it''s simple and easy, just stab and slice. But more importantly, it gives you range. I don''t know how it is when it comes to stronger cultivators, but between normal people and weaker cultivators, the range of the spear is king. As long as you can use it to prevent others from coming close to you, you''ll be undefeated. So, if things end up going bad out there, point the tip at the enemy and make sure to keep them at range, back pedal if you have to."


    There was a reason that the spear was the favoured weapon in the army while the sword was used more as a side weapon. Charging cavalry, rushing soldiers, all could be decimated with a properly lined up squadron of spearmen. Granted, if you failed to keep the enemy at bay and let them get close then things would become quite grim, but there was no need for him to reiterate that point.


    "Thank you, Captain. I will make sure to try my best."


    Wanderer made sure to engrave Ching Shih''s words into his mind, he knew nothing about fighting so he had to absorb any advice he could. But at the same time, this scene felt familiar to him, a little dear even. Had someone given him a spear and advice in the past as well?


    "Good, but make sure you take the others and escape if things really get too hairy, a moment of pride is not worth an eternity of loss."


    Ching Shih did not notice Wanderer''s glimmer of familiarity, patting his shoulder somewhat heavily. He was already on the cusp of losing one crewmate, and although it may be common for people in their line of business to die, it wasn''t something he wanted to happen.


    Ching Shih raised his head slightly after patting Wanderer on the shoulder, his gaze landing on Yi Sao as he waved her over.


    "Yi Sao, when we dock I want you to take Wanderer and five others with you to the tavern. Check if Dong Shao and his crew have returned, if they have then you need to get hold of their Five-Hearts Orchid. No matter what, understand?"


    He spoke with a hard edge, a cold wedge driving itself into his words. Wanderer couldn''t quite pinpoint it, but the words ''No matter what'' pricked his heart slightly. It felt warm, but it was an uncomfortable warmth, like a small spark lit up inside him and then faded.


    "Don''t worry, I know what to do. Wanderer, get ready by the railing, we''ll move as fast as possible."


    Yi Sao simply nodded her head and started preparing. She gave Wanderer a quick reminder and then went around to inform the five others she was going to bring along. Her steps were quick and sure so it seemed like she had already determined who else she would bring along. Perhaps a scene like this was rather common for her?


    Before long, Yi Sao and the fiver selected individuals gathered around Wanderer, a slightly tense atmosphere running through the chosen people. The distant structure slowly grew larger as they got closer, revealing its actual form.


    It was a stone island covered in what looked like moss, but some of the moss was large enough to look like a forest. A tilted mountain rose at the centre of the island, jagged cliffs jutting out from the almost perfectly straight landmark.


    "That''s Skewer''s Rest. Don''t let its appearance fool you, it''s not actually an island. It''s a spear, a weapon thrown out by the One-Eyed Saint five years ago. It skewered his opponent and buried him beneath the sand, the leaking lifeforce of the slain foe creating the land you see there. The foe was luckily not on the level of the King of the Ash Lands, the last thing we need is for them to ruin this dominion any further."


    Wanderer obviously didn''t know who Yi Sao was talking about as she introduced the land ahead of them, but he didn''t need to know them to be amazed at their prowess. A single thrown spear had created an island, and a single battle had apparently ruined the dominion? Granted, he didn''t know what a dominion was, but he could at least guess that it was something larger than this desert so ruining it definitely wouldn''t be easy.


    The ship reached the island before the sun managed to rise too much, revealing the dock that was built on its side. A city of stone and wood stretched out across the island, there weren''t any trees on the island so all the wood had probably been shipped in over time. A myriad of other ships were already docked there, some looked fine but others had clear signs of damage, holes in the hull or cuts in the sails.


    "Dengde, keep taking care of Bao, shave off some of the crystal whenever he seems to be getting worse. Doushi, you''re with me."


    Ching Shih barked out the orders without turning his head, his gaze firmly locked on the city ahead of them. He didn''t call for Yi Sao, but she knew her mission, as did the rest of the people in her group. The ship docked in the harbour, the area around that particular dock strangely empty, there wasn''t even a single other ship there.


    Wanderer also saw some people shy away from that section of the harbour, especially when they saw the large ship pull into the dock. Sovereign, the title of a ruler, it could inspire either fear or awe, despair or reverence. The Sand Sovereign, in the end, what did it inspire?


    The anchors were dropped and the ship docked, the crew separating into three groups. One group stayed behind to keep an eye on the ship, one group went with Ching Shih, and the final group was the one with Yi Sao and Wanderer. They moved in the opposite direction of Ching Shih''s group so it was clear that the captain had a different target in mind.


    Wanderer took this chance to survey his surroundings, this was the first city he had arrived in after losing his memories after all. Haphazard, that was the only word he could think of as he looked at the city around him. There was no rhyme or rhythm to how things were built, roads were cut off or forced to make abrupt turns by buildings that had just been placed there. Some buildings were squeezed right up against each other while others had large gaps between them, some had even built small shacks in these larger gaps.


    The people were also a bit strange. Most of them looked gruff, on edge and wary even. And those who didn''t look like they were on edge looked either drunk or careless, they staggered around without a care in the world. But their eyes were empty, or perhaps hopeless was a better word. They walked around, but they were already dead, if not physically then mentally.


    "Dead or dying, Wanderer."


    Yi Sao''s voice reached him as his gaze swept about. The people on the street gave them ample room so they didn''t have to worry about colliding with anyone. He turned his head to look at her, tilting his head slightly, because he wasn''t sure what she meant.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "The people here. Those who settle on this solitary island are either dead or dying. They''ve given up on living, they fear the struggle and the pain, they''ve abandoned whatever hope they had left. So never settle down in a place like this, Wanderer. Follow that name until you find your own. Don''t become one of the dead, it''s far better to be someone who spreads death."


    Death, the final end goal of all life. Some reached it early, be it because they gave up or because their path to the future was cut off. It was a miserable fate, and it was far better to be someone who sowed death rather than someone who reaps death. Wanderer''s eyes drifted over the people milling about around him, a slight murmur escaping him.


    "...It would be nice if they could just live good lives instead."


    To sow death or to reap death, were those two really the only options you had in life? Wanderer didn''t know, there were far too many things he didn''t know. But he felt it within him, a thought that came forth with each thud of his heart. It would be nice if people could just live good lives, it would be nice if there weren''t people who reaped or sowed death.


    It was a soft mutter, or perhaps prayer, one heard only by Wanderer as they moved. The lone and quiet whisper of the nameless.


    Wanderer and the rest of the group quickly made their way through the streets, heading for the tavern that the captain told them about. Wanderer''s eyes continued to drift about as they moved, but he didn''t feel any sense of familiarity from anything around him, and those who glanced at the group didn''t seem to recognize him either.


    As such, he didn''t find any clues about his identity in the time it took them to reach the tavern, a simple square building that had an open front with a lot of tables. Yi Sao seemed to recognize some of the people indulging in alcohol amidst the tables at the front snorting coldly.


    "Hmph, figures that those annoyances would be lounging around here, when it rains it really pours. Ignore them as much as possible, we''re only here for Dong Shao and his men."


    She strode forward with heavy steps after giving the rest of the group the reminder, her expression stern as she pushed open the doors to the tavern. Wanderer saw that some of the people she had recognized were looking over, whispering and snickering to themselves.


    "Dong Shao! Flower head, are you here?!"


    Yi Sao''s voice rang throughout the tavern, which was filled with the heavy smell of alcohol and smoke, a slight tinge of sweat mixed into the scent. As with the outside, people were scattered amongst the tables within the tavern, drinking the day away without a care.


    It was obvious that Yi Sao would receive her fair share of stares after shouting so loudly, but no one stood up to answer her call. She also swept her gaze across the room, but judging by how dark her expression became it seemed unlikely that her target was present.


    "Heee? Well dip me in the sand and call me Snapper Feed, if it ain''t snappy little Sao. Was da matter girlie, you''re looking awfully desperate there. Gonna cry maybe?"


    No one stood up to answer her call, but there was one man who chuckled at Yi Sao. He was leaned back in his chair, his head and chin covered in frazzled black hair. He was actually a bit similar to Yi Sao, he too only had a single eye, a long scar going across his left eye. He was seated not too far away from the entrance, occasionally using his lone eye to glance at the men outside the tavern.


    "Hmph, I have no idea what sort of miracle has happened for a worthless yuppie like you to grow some balls, but don''t shove your head too far up your ass, it''ll cost you your life."


    She spoke harshly, her fingers moving slightly as the energy within her body started to seethe in a quiet warning. The atmosphere in the tavern immediately tense up somewhat, but the black-haired man didn''t seem to care about it.


    "Oh nooo, I''m soooo scared here."


    He raised both arms in an exaggerated manner, but the smirk he wore never left his face.


    "You''re looking for Dong Shao, aren''t you? Well too bad, old flower head ain''t here. Well, he was on the way here originally, but man, oldie must have some terrible luck to run into us on the way. The closest harbour at the time was Shiren''s Dune, I wonder if they managed to get there intact with their tattered ship?"


    The man continued to smirk and chuckle, clearly taking great delight in having ruined whatever plans Yi Sao had. Yi Sao ground her teeth slightly with a dark expression, the people she had brought along tensing up as they readied themselves for whatever might happen. But once again, the man leaning back in his chair didn''t seem to care, he actually leaned forward slightly, his smirk growing ever wider.


    "But, that''s not to say I can''t get ya to him. We''ve had quite the luck lately so we''ve managed to...upgrade our ship quite a bit. I can take you directly to old flower head, but it''ll cost ya."


    The man''s smirk only grew wider and wider, a shade of lecherousness emerging in it as he let his gaze sweep across Yi Sao''s body.


    "I''ve heard great things about the whore of the sands, I wouldn''t mind getting a t...!"


    The man''s voice was instantly cut off as Yi Sao moved, the wooden floor beneath her feet shattering as she barreled forward. Tables were tossed aside and chairs were shattered, her fist smashing into the man''s face before he had the chance to respond. He rolled backwards, some blood gushing from his broken nose and splattering the ground.


    "Fuck it, we can live without your trade routes."


    Yi Sao spat out the words and started walking forwards, a long sword appearing in her grasp as she caressed the ring she wore. The man stumbled to sit up straight, one hand clutching his bloody nose while he glared daggers at Yi Sao. The men who had been seated around him didn''t move, but they held their weapons ready and glared fiercely at the rest of Yi Sao''s group.


    Wanderer watched them from where he stood. His heart thumped slightly with each step Yi Sao took, the sound of the man''s blood hitting the floor exceptionally loud in his ears. Three more steps, that would be all Yi Sao needed to reach the downed man. From there, a single swing of the sword would be enough to remove his head.


    A simple motion, a simple act, an eternal consequence. He had insulted her, infuriated her while she was already on edge, and for that, she would kill him. But. But did the man deserve to die for that? Was that the weight of his life, one insult? It was light, that was what Wanderer thought. One lie, a handful of words. It was light, so pitifully light that you couldn''t even feel it in your grasp. Was that how light a life was?


    No, life was heavier than that. Even here, where dead men walked, life had more weight than that. Wanderer was sure of that, convinced of that. Life was heavy, it wasn''t something people should just take freely, especially not for such light reasons. He felt it in his chest, with every thump of his heart, that weight.


    Yi Sao raised her sword, so Wanderer raised his leg. Yi Sao brought down her sword, so Wanderer brought down his leg. A clank was heard as the man with the bloody nose raised his arm, but the sword never ended up reaching him.


    Wanderer had appeared in front of him, grasping the spear that Ching Shih had given him. Yi Sao''s sword had clashed with the shaft of the spear, trembling slightly from the force of the collision. Her eye blazed somewhat due to the intrusion, but Wanderer remained steadfast.


    "Miss Yi Sao...this... this isn''t something worth taking a life over. I understand that he insulted you, but please... don''t waste a life for something so light."


    Yi Sao''s eye narrowed slightly as she looked at Wanderer. She couldn''t move her weapon. Or to be more exact, she couldn''t move it forward. She felt like she was pushing against a mountain, it was futile no matter how much effort she put in. At the same time, she hadn''t even been able to see him move. He hadn''t been there when she raised her sword, nor when she started to swing it, she was sure of that. But then, suddenly, he was there, blocking her with his spear.


    "Please, Miss Yi Sao... We''re here for Bao, not to waste lives."


    He implored again, reminding Yi Sao of why they had come here. There was a life they had to save, a poisoned companion they needed to heal. Yi Sao''s narrowed eye continued to sweep over Wanderer, inspecting him. But his face was devoid of ulterior motives, his eyes clean. He simply didn''t believe that this man''s life was so light that it deserved to end here, not for this. She drew in a sharp breath but then pulled back her weapon as she spat the breath out, glaring sharply at the downed man.


    "Remember this, Zin Yu. Your life was just saved by a kiddo who hasn''t even grown hair on his crotch yet. Think about that every day, remember that humiliation. Let''s go, we need to report to Cap."


    She spat a few vicious words at the downed man, Zin Yu, before she turned around and put away her weapon. She strode through the path she had cleared as she charged at him, none of the others in the tavern making a move. Wanderer followed her after heaving a light breath, it was good that things had ended calmly.


    But as they walked away, Wanderer a bit to Yi Sao''s side, Zin Yu''s eye gleamed darkly, like a predator that finally saw its chance. His brown eye twisted and changed, giving way to a compound pupil that resembled a fly''s, a pupil that wouldn''t miss anything.


    His legs morphed into those of a cheetah and he shot up from the ground, rushing forward like a blur. His arms were the next to change, skin and flesh molting as they morphed into the blades of a mantis, gleaming with a sharp and deadly light. He crossed the distance in no time and swung his arms, aiming for Yi Sao''s neck without a shred of hesitation.


    But as he swung his weapons, his drastically strengthened eye saw Wanderer turn his head slightly, his golden pupils piercing straight through him. They hadn''t shown much emotion when his group first entered the tavern, but now Zin Yu saw a well-hidden but unmistakable trace of anger in them.


    His heart thumped in his chest, each thud felt like the blow of a hammer. But he didn''t stop his arms, it was for this exact moment that he had agreed to the deal, to the surgery, it was for this moment that he had struggled through and survived that surgery. So he swung his arms, faster than any attack he had delivered in his life. All he had to hope for was that he would be faster than the youth that had turned his head.

 Chapter 356: Wanderer. (8)

    Why? Why was he attacking? Wanderer couldn''t understand it. His life had been spared, no, saved even. He should be happy, he should be celebrating, perhaps even a little thankful. So why was he attacking? Why was his visage twisted with such malicious glee? Some insults, some humiliation, was the weight of something like that greater than a life?


    No, life was so much heavier than that. It was for this belief that Wanderer had stopped Yi Sao when she tried to kill Zin Yu. So why didn''t this man understand that? Or did he perhaps understand but not care? The weight of a life, perhaps he simply didn''t care about it all, perhaps life had no weight to him?


    But Wanderer cared. To Wanderer they had weight. He had already stopped Yi Sao once because of that weight, that care. But was it fine to stop Zin Yu in the same manner? Yi Sao hadn''t known his thoughts, his beliefs so it couldn''t be helped that she acted the way she did. But this man, Zin Yu, he knew, Wanderer had made it very clear. Yet Zin Yu still acted the way he did. Did he still deserve to be stopped in the same way despite making his disregard for life known?


    "No, no you don''t."


    The answer spilt from his lips, poured out of his heart before it even flashed in his head. Things had been made clear for Zin Yu, he understood the situation. But he still disregarded life, was still willing to spill it like water. He didn''t deserve the same mercy as Yi Sao, the same thoughts.


    If Wanderer still treated Zin Yu the same then the others would just treat it as if it wasn''t actually all that important to him. The moment he took his eyes off of them, they''d just go back to spilling life like water. After all, someone who couldn''t even be cared to mete out a little punishment would never care enough to track them down.


    But death? No, he didn''t think death was a fitting punishment, it wasn''t a punishment befitting the crime. His eyes swept over the man, who almost seemed frozen in place, his mantis-like arms mere centimetres away from Yi Sao''s neck. And then it hit him. Yes, since Zin Yu disregarded the weight of life then Wanderer would show him that weight. The weight of his own life, the weight of the struggle.


    His arms moved in tune with his thoughts, his body acting on his orders. He just had to think, and his body moved. He didn''t think about whether or not he would be fast enough, the warm thumping in his chest told him that he would always be fast enough. He just had to desire, and it would accomplish it.


    One step brought him in front of Zin Yun. One move of his arms caught both the mantis scythes. A second move bent both the scythes inwards, away from Yi Sao''s neck. And the third move pushed the scythes into Zin Yu''s body.


    One scythe ran through Zin Yu''s left lung while the other one was bent so crookedly that it cut through the elbow that was connected to it. Zin Yu was pushed back by the force of his scythe piercing his lung, but his left arm remained in Wanderer''s grasp.


    Yi Sao spun around as Zin Yu was launched back, her face a shade paler than previously. She hadn''t detected him at all, she hadn''t even heard him as he approached. She knew, if it wasn''t for the youth standing there so calmly, then her head would have left her shoulders.


    Wanderer looked at the mantis scythe he was still clutching, even the blood that dripped from it was a sickly green, it wasn''t something that belonged on a human. But that particular fact didn''t matter to him, his head rising slightly as his gaze landed on Zin Yu, who was leaning against the wall that had stopped his momentum.


    "Life... is heavy, Zin Yu. It''s full of struggle, even if you sometimes can''t feel it, or even understand it. Feel that struggle, feel that weight. I hope that you will come to understand the weight of life, I hope you will come to appreciate it."


    The heat in his chest, the embers and sparks that flickered around. Wanderer thought that he could expel them through his voice, spread them from his body to his surroundings. But he was wrong, each word he spoke just stoked the embers. Embers became fire, sparks became dancing flames. Familiar, it felt oh so familiar. The fire called to him, the heat welcomed him. But Yi Sao''s hand landed on his shoulder as he was thinking about embracing the fire, smothering the flames and cooling the heat in his chest.


    "Thank you, Kiddo. Now I too, owe you my life."


    She lowered her head gratefully, bending her waist in the process. One second he had stopped her from taking a life and in the next one, he stopped someone from taking hers. All for the sake of that weight he couldn''t even understand thanks to his lack of memories. Was this perhaps how he was before he lost his memories? Instincts ingrained in his bones, belief carved into his body, never to be forgotten.


    She raised her head again after conveying her thanks, her gaze drifting across the mantis scythe Wanderer had just dropped on the floor. Her gaze then moved over to Zin Yu, his cheetah-like legs and his compound eye. A sneer formed on her face when she saw his state, it really was sickening what he had become.


    "So you''ve thrown your lot in with them, have you? Figures that scum like you would jump at the opportunity to earn money. I''d kill you right now, but Kiddo has already saved your life once and spared you the second time, so I''ll leave it at this. But don''t you ever show yourself around us ever again, I''ll make you wish you hadn''t survived the surgery."


    She was obviously familiar with exactly what Zin Yu had done to change his body like this, and from the looks of it, she was far from accepting of it. The other patrons in the tavern also didn''t look too fondly at the staggering Zin Yu, but Yi Sao didn''t spare him another glance and turned away.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Come, we still need to report to Cap."


    Their target wasn''t here, and if Zin Yu''s words were to be trusted, which was likely since he used them to taunt her, then it would be faster to head to Ninth Star city. The five other people she had brought along swiftly followed her, Wanderer staying close to her side and occasionally casting a glance at the mantis scythe he had dropped on the floor.


    "Is there something special about his body? It didn''t sound like you considered his change... natural."


    A surgery she called it, at the same time she also seemed to consider this surgery the same as joining a certain faction. But a body like that, a mixture of multiple creatures, could something like that really be acquired through something like a surgery? According to Yi Sao''s grimace, the answer was yes.


    "That''s because it isn''t natural. It''s called the Shadowchaser surgery and I''ve been told it''s the original technique of Lucifer, one of the supreme rulers who reigns over our multiverse. He''s been using it to spread chaos throughout the lands, and from what I''ve heard it''s not just this universe that is suffering from it. It''s war, Kiddo, a war of supremacy between the higher-ups who want more lands to rule. That''s why I said he''s thrown his lot in with them. Only those on the side of Lucifer can get the Shadowchaser surgery to increase their power, only those who have decided to join the invaders can become like that."


    Big words. Multiverse, supreme ruler, war of supremacy, a stage too large for Wanderer to really understand it. But while he didn''t understand the stage, he felt like he understood the pieces that moved on it. A surgery to increase your power, a surgery to spread chaos, a war too big for small people to understand. Zin Yu spilt life like water, but life was spilt far more freely than water in war. For each grain of sand in the desert, a thousand lives wasted, a thousand screams silenced and forgotten.


    His chest felt warm again. The embers stirred in his heart. But there was something else there as well this time, a clogged feeling in his throat. Was he sad? He didn''t know, but if he had to put a word to what he felt then he thought that sorrow was the most fitting. Life like grains of sand, scattered and tossed about without thought or care. Why was it like this? What was to be gained from this?


    "Don''t think too much about it, Kiddo. Sometimes, life is just like that. Not everyone views life the same as you, the stronger you get the lighter life becomes. So don''t think too much about it, don''t ruin yourself by worrying about the why''s and the what''s. Gods are the ones who have to worry about those things all the time, and we''re not gods. We can only do what we want, what we''ve decided."


    Yi Sao''s hand landed on Wanderer''s shoulder as they walked, she had evidently seen his thoughts on his face. But she considered them pointless. Gods were the ones who had to constantly worry, not mortals like them, all they had to do was their best, nothing more and nothing less.


    Wanderer didn''t respond to Yi Sao''s statement, nor did she seek an answer from him, they simply kept walking. But Wanderer felt a slight sense of familiarity to those words, each syllable stoking the embers. Gods, were they really the only ones who had to worry about the why''s and the what''s, were they really the only ones who had that right? In that case, if he wanted to worry about those things, would he have to become a god?


    The thoughts flashed about in his head, each one dancing like the sparks that awaited their fire. But there was no fire in him, only embers barely flickering with life. So he reached no conclusion, he was just left with endlessly bouncing thoughts.


    Wanderer was still immersed in his thoughts, his endlessly flickering sparks, by the time they met up with Ching Shih and the others again. The captain''s expression wasn''t good, it was clear that they too had failed in finding something that could cure the poison that was ailing Bao.


    "So... Ninth Star city is our last recourse. The Wolf Queen''s groom selection is still going on so there should definitely be more people there than usual, someone will definitely have something. And if worst comes to worst... we can try to beg the Wolf Queen, her teacher will definitely have what we need."


    Ching Shih was mulling over the options they had with a sour expression, quietly sucking on his teeth. The Wolf Queen, he really didn''t want to disturb her while she held her little tournament to find a groom. He hadn''t heard anything bad about her, but her teacher was so far removed from their lives that he didn''t want to risk offending them. But if worst came to worst then he would have to bite the bullet, he just had to make sure to go there alone so that she only killed him if things really went poorly. But right now, there was another thing he also had to keep in mind.


    "So Zin Yu has thrown his lot in with Lucifer... Not entirely unexpected. But he said he could get you directly to Shiren''s Dune, and that part is worrisome. Even our Sand Sovereign would need five days to get there from here, the upgrades he spoke of probably aren''t normal. We''ll head directly for Ninth Star city, but be on a constant lookout for the Moving Fortress. If worst comes to worst..."


    He didn''t finish his words, but the tension in the air was clear, a cold intent seeping into the air with his words. The two groups that had met up boarded the ship again and checked up on the poisoned Bao, he still seemed to maintain a stable state, but a bit more of the Spirit Stone had been shaved off in the time they had been gone so it clearly wasn''t natural stability.


    "Raise the anchors, we''re leaving immediately."


    Ching Shih didn''t hesitate. He gave the order and the crew moved to fulfil it. The Sand Sovereign left the harbour and cut through the sand once more, rushing towards the distant destination that awaited them. Wanderer remained in his thoughts, within the sparks, as the ship moved. He wanted an answer, he wanted his answer. But he had nothing, only embers and cold sparks.


    But eventually, he was forced out of his thoughts. The boat rocked all of a sudden, a large wave of sand washing over the deck from the side, tossed up by an explosion that just barely missed them. Wanderer shook his head and forced the sparks down into the embers, his gaze shifting towards the sea of sand.


    A ship, if it could even be called that, had appeared a few hundred metres away from them without any sign, the air around it shimmering and twisting strangely. He called it a ship, but it looked more like a moving building, a metal castle covered in large canons and weapons. The Moving Fortress, was that the name Ching Shih had used earlier? Yes, it truly deserved that name, the Sand Sovereign paled in comparison.


    But no one on the ship panicked despite the difference, a ferocious glint actually appeared in the corner of their eyes. Ching Shih stood at the helm of the ship and waved Wanderer over, the rest of the crew running to their positions. They had been ready for this, they were always ready for this.


    "That''s the Moving Fortress, the ship of Zin Yu and his crew. You saved him once and spared him the second time, but now he has directed an attack against my crew, there will be no third time for him. So watch, Wanderer. I will show you why it is we that are the Sand Sovereign and not him."

 Chapter 357: Wanderer. (9)

    ¡°


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    immensity of both the fortress and its metal shell meant that they needed an excessive amount of attacks to do any meaningful damage. But despite all that, the final victor would not be the Moving Fortress, a fact Ching Shih and everyone else was well aware of.

 Chapter 358: Wanderer. (10)

    addressing the guard when their turn came after a little less than an hour.


    The guard¡¯s face was covered by a metal helmet, but Wanderer could have sworn that he was looking right at him, a slightly sinister aura leaking out from within the armor. But the warp activated before he could confirm if his senses were correct, the nauseating sensation of both his body and the world around him twisting uncomfortably.


    He couldn¡¯t quite tell how long the sensation persisted, it felt almost eternal while he was enveloped by it, but the moment it ended it suddenly felt like it had just lasted a single instant. The twisting world around him returned to normal as the sensation faded, a new district of the city revealing itself around him. But as the world around him started to reveal itself, he heard a loud cracking sound, one that was quickly followed by a myriad of screams.


    ?We need to take cover! Yi Sao, Qing, I¡¯m leaving Bao¡¯s defense in your hands!?


    Ching Shih¡¯s slightly panicked but firm voice cut through the screams around them, Wanderer¡¯s gaze drifting towards the sky. The cracking sound had come from above, and indeed, the entire sky appeared to have cracked open, shattered like glass. And a massive meteor was descending towards the city from that crack, the air around it violently distorted due to its weight and speed. Wanderer could feel his shoulders droop slightly just from the pressure the meteor brought with it as it fell. If that thing landed on the city then there was no doubt that it would wipe out everything.


    ?Why isn¡¯t the defensive array activating?! Tch, Second Squadron, block it!?


    A thunderous shout rocked the city as the meteor approached, it seemed like the guards were already springing into action to make up for the fact that their actual defenses weren¡¯t activating. The guards around the warp array they were standing on shot into the sky, a few more guards rising from other spots within the vicinity. They shot towards the meteor, wreathed in energy as they drew their weapons. They had to be close when they broke it, otherwise it would be hard for them to immediately control all the fragments that may scatter.


    But a deafening boom blocked out all other sound before the guards could reach the meteor, tongues of deep violet flames erupting from within the meteor as it exploded. One massive boulder turned into thousands of smaller fragments, each one flickering with violet flames as they spread out and fell upon the city. The timing was just too perfect, you¡¯d have to be an idiot to not realize that someone was controlling it.


    ?Fuck! Scatter, block as many as possible!?


    The guard that had called out earlier cursed loudly as he spat out the new order, the guards rushing to stop as many of the fragments as possible. But the attack had been too sudden, there just hadn¡¯t been any time for them to prepare. So they couldn¡¯t stop it all, the rain of death crashing into the city.


    Screams of panic became howls of pain and shrieks of grief, the bustling sound of life became the rumbling sound of ruin as the city fell apart. Buildings collapsed, lives were squashed, flames and dust rose towards the sky in a grim fusion of brown and violet. It was only through sheer luck that none of the fragments fell on Wanderer¡¯s group, most of the guards that rose into the sky had originated from their warp array so the fragments closest to them were all blocked.


    But the impact of the meteors was still disastrous, the earth cracked open even in areas where none of the meteors had fallen. One such crack had reached the warp array where Wanderer¡¯s group stood, splitting their escape route in half.


    ?There¡¯s another warp array a bit away from here, that¡¯s our ticket out of here!?


    Ching Shih immediately took charge of the situation. They had to flee, and they had to do so quickly if they wanted to remain alive once the day ended. The captain immediately started to guide the group away, leaving the unconscious Bao to Yi Sao and Liya Qing. They rushed through the chaotic streets, the smell of blood, smoke, and dust so thick that Wanderer almost felt like it was going to choke him.


    Why did this happen? He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, question. It was instantaneous, the change from peace to chaos. One minute these people had been going about their day in peace, and the next minute they were screaming, crying for those they had lost, crying as they feared for their lives. Why? If it was to further the war, why did these innocent bystanders have to suffer? If it was to get hold of a single person, why launch an attack that would involve the entire city? Why did they do it? What could they possibly gain from it? He didn¡¯t understand, couldn¡¯t catch a glimpse of what the atttackers may be thinking.


    The cracks in the sky opened a bit more as his thoughts were rushing about, another meteor descending from one of the cracks. But this time it wsan¡¯t just the meteor, people also appeared from within the cracks. A grim mixture between man and beast, twisted forms akin to Zin Yu¡¯s. The one who seemed to be the leader had a lion¡¯s head, two curved horns adorning the sides. His golden eyes looked down at the city, filled with nothing but the light of insignificance.


    ?Liang Chen! I know you¡¯re hiding here! You¡¯ve escaped for long enough, this time there will be no escape for you!?


    His voice shook the entire city, Wanderer almost had to cover his ears due to how loud it was. So that was it. They had come here to kill a single person. Just one man. For one man they had ruined this city, for one man they were willing to bury millions. Women, children, men. Fathers, mothers, sons. All of them buried indiscriminately, all of them erased as if they didn¡¯t matter.


    Sad, that was the only word Wanderer could think of right now. It was sad that they were willing to go this far, it was sad that there were people who thougt so little of life, it was sad that so many lives ended for nothing.


    But while that was the only word he could think of, it wasn¡¯t what he was actually feeling. No, the emotion he felt right now more akin to anger. The embers in his chest were smoldering, the spark flickering as it screamed. He was angry. Angry that he couldn¡¯t do anything, angry that people were willing to do this, angry that they were allowed to do this without any retribution.


    ?Wanderer! Focus, otherwise you won¡¯t make it out of this hell alive!?


    Yi Sao¡¯s hand smacked the back of Wanderer¡¯s head, forcing his thoughts back to the present. His steps had unconsciously slowed as he was distracted, a bit more and he would have been separated from the group. She pushed him forward, towards Ching Shih, who wore a grim expression as he surveyed the surroundings.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ?Hell... No, hell doesn¡¯t have innocent bystanders. This is war, Yi Sao, war has reached the desert.?


    Wanderer followed Ching Shih¡¯s eyes, taking in the carnage around them. Both of their gazes settled on the same thing, a building reduced to ruins. Blood and flesh was visible in the rubble, the dust thick like mud thanks to the streaming blood. Wanderer felt a pang in his chest as he looked at it, an ache in his core.


    A mother, a father, and their son, all buried beneath the rubble, bodies broken by stone. The father was already dead, he had probably tried to shield his wife and son. The woman was still alive, at least for now. She held out her arms, pushing the infant boy she was holding towards Ching Shih¡¯s group, her mouth open as she begged. But it was a silent beg, one without words. A stone had crushed her chest, her lungs were beyond ruined so she couldn¡¯t even produce any sound to beg. She could only hold out her son, the child she and her man had protected with their lives, and quietly beg.


    ?Don¡¯t look. If you look, you break. Steel your heart and look forwards, otherwise you will do nothing but join them in the dust.?


    Ching Shih pulled his gaze away and used his hand to force Wanderer to do the same, his expression steely. War was cruel and vicious, just a miserable pile of sorrow. But if they allowed themselves to get too caught up in the carnage around them then they would just end up joining it. Ching Shih kept one hand on Wanderer¡¯s back, quietly pushing him forward so that he would keep pace with the rest of the group. Wanderer wanted to look back, but the dust and fire around them already obscured the woman and her child. One spark in his chest, like a lone firework in the dark sky.


    The group ran as fast as they could through broken streets and ruined buildings, through carnage and sorrow. An earth-shaking rumble hit the city as they ran, the second meteor had broken up and descended on the city. By now there were so many screams scattered throughout the city that they all mixed into one, a mess of sounds that was more akin to a rushing river than the death of a city.


    From one district to the next, from one street to the other, from one death to the next. They ran without looking back, they ran without looking around, they ran while blocking out the screams and the carnage. That was how people lived, that was how you survived, you drowned out the screaming world to save your sanity. And eventually, as they protected themselves, they reached their target, another warp station.


    But this warp array was clearly different from the previous one, it wasn¡¯t carved into the ground in an intricate display of lines and runes. No, this was a comparatively simple drawing engraved onto a standing crystal hexagon, it almost looked like the glittering gate to a new world.


    ?There! That¡¯ll take us directly to the area where the groom selection is taking place! There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll have the guts to attack that place so we¡¯ll be safe there.?


    Ching Shih evidently hadn¡¯t chosen this particular spot randomly, there would be fewer places safer than the groom selection, where the Wolf Queen should currently be present. This warp array was also sturdier than the normal ones due to the Wolf Queen¡¯s high status, that was why he had been confident that it would still be standing despite the chaos in the city.


    ?Wanderer, you take Bao and go in first, move away the second you arrive otherwise we may crash into you!?


    Ching Shih poured his energy into the crystal gateway, tossing out handful after handful of Spirit Stones to expedite the process, organizing the group at the same time. But Wanderer didn¡¯t respond, glancing back at the path they had just taken to get here, biting down on his lips until they bled.


    ?I... I won¡¯t go with you.?


    That was the answer he had reached, the conclusion he had come to. This was it, this was as far as he could follow them. He wanted to stick with them a bit longer, but it seemed like the world had decided that it wasn¡¯t meant to be.


    ?You...what? Are you crazy, Wanderer? Listen, I know that it¡¯s bad, it¡¯s absolutely atrocious. But if you go back into that hellscape then you¡¯ll die. No more wandering, no more learning, no more joy. Just death and sorrow. Please, Wanderer, I know I advocate that people can do what they want to, but please...?


    Ching Shih¡¯s expression contorted as he spoke, no begged. This city was now the home of death, all life in it would just be ruined and there was nothing that any of them could do about it. Wanderer wasn¡¯t an idiot, he had realized the same thing, flashing Ching Shih a somewhat bleak smile.


    ?I know. There is nothing left but death and sorrow in this place, some people have wasted away the life and joy, spilt it like water between their fingers. But still... I need to go. I... I want to go, I want to do what I can. One way or the other, I want to make a difference, even if it ends up being insignificant. The smoldering in my chest...I fear that it may just turn me to ash otherwise.?


    He felt it in his chest. He wanted to act, he wanted to do something, even if it ended up being nigh on pointless. The embers in his chest smoldered, they wanted to burn, to rage. And if he didn¡¯t follow his heart this time then he feared that those flames would turn on him, that he would turn on himself. So he listened, turned his body back towards the merciless carnage he managed to escape. One spark, glittering alone like a firework in the nightsky.


    ?Wait, Wanderer, wai...fuck! Yi Sao, bring Bao and the others to safety, I¡¯ll catch up later!?


    Ching Shih cursed once again as Wanderer broke away from the group, broke away from safety. He quickly chased after Wanderer, spitting a few orders to Yi Sao to make sure that the rest of the crew present would at least get to safety. Yi Sao and the others grimaced as they looked at the two running people, exchanging a few glances before they eventually spat out a collective sigh.


    ?Part of the ship, part of the family.?


    The creed. Their creed. This was the rule by which they lived their lives, this was the rule by which they died. He was a part of the ship, he was a part of the family, it was their duty to witness his life and choice. Four of the people in the group positioned themselves around the wagon that carried the unconscious Bao, picking it up so that they could share the load. And then they all started running after the two people that were vanishing into the dust and fire.


    Wanderer ran. He retraced his steps, jumping over rubble and corpses as he moved, the cacophony of screams rushing through his ears and adding onto the rushing sound that was already giving him a headache. The sound of an explosion, or a different sound from a particularly powerful attack, would occasionally rock the city, the only thing to break up the discordant melody that currently haunted him.


    His chest felt tight and warm, embers smoldering crimson as they threatened to explode. What would happen if they ignited? What would happen if that solitary spark touched the embers, what would become of him? He didn¡¯t know, and honestly, he was a bit afraid. But even so, he ran. For the choice he made, for the call of his heart. He was afraid, death was all around him, caressing the back of his neck as it waited for him to take a single wrong step. But even so, he ran. Because he had chosen it, because he wanted to make a different, no matter how small it may be.


    The fire raged around him, violet tongues reaching towards the sky as they crept over the rubble, swallowed the corpses. The flames would occasionally reach towards him, a searing sensation running through his body. But the embers in his chest were hotter, the spark burned far brighter.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to run past the death, past the lost who could no longer cry. And there he saw his target, a crying mother who couldn¡¯t even let out her voice to beg, a silent scream that no one would ever get to hear. She was still holding her infant, still reaching out with him, but now towards the sky. She begged those she couldn¡¯t see, be it the gods, be it the heavens, be it the rulers that controlled everything. But just like her scream, the world was silent.


    ?Miss! Please stay as still as possible, I¡¯ll see what I can do!?


    But Wanderer wasn¡¯t silent. He dashed over to her and crouched down at her side, his nose clogged by the scent of smoke and blood. He didn¡¯t immediately accept the infant and instead started to pull away the debris that was crushing the woman, slowly making room for her to move. But the more rubble he moved, the more carnage he saw.


    The woman¡¯s chest was completely crushed, and everything below was mangled into an unrecognizable mess. But she could still be considered the lucky one. There was more than one family in the house, Wanderer realized that now, saw them now. They hadn¡¯t even gotten the chance to let out a silent scream, they had been silenced before they even got that pitiful right.


    Wanderer grimaced as he continued to move the rubble, the situation was bleak. And it seemed like the woman also realized this, she didn¡¯t even try to move, didn¡¯t even look down at her own body, she simply pushed the infant in her hands towards Wanderer, begging silently, praying quietly. Wanderer¡¯s grimace only got bleaker as he looked at the woman, at the crying baby. A spark in his chest, rising in the darkness like firework.


    The ground trembled while Wanderer¡¯s face contorted, rubble and corpses getting thrown into the air. A being had landed not far from their position, elephant legs breaking the ground beneath them while lizard-like limbs used their sharp claws to cut apart the surrounding rubble. Hawk-like eyes scanned the surroundings, latching onto any signs of life they could find. Once they spotted signs of life, the arms swung out and cut it down, energy tearing through the air like sharp blades.


    Wanderer¡¯s chest felt tight as he saw it. They were looking for a specific person, just one single man. And yet they were killing this indiscriminately, wiping out any signs of life for no good reason. Life had no worth to them, or perhaps it was just that none of these life had any worth to them, only their death did.


    ?Wanderer! We have to go, now! If you want to make a difference, bring the baby! It¡¯s too late for the mother, but at least you can save the kid, that¡¯s the only thing you can do for her!?


    Ching Shih reached him while Wanderer was looking at the distant beast-man, lifting him up while shouting to be heard. But sadly, it was this very same screaming that alerted the beast-man to their presence. The hawk-eyes locked onto them, nothing but indifference revealed in them as he swung his arm, indistinct slashes cutting trough the air as they flew towards them.


    The target was Wanderer and Ching Shih, as well as the crew that was rapdily catching up to them. But in-between Wanderer and the beast-man was the woman and the infant, they were the first in line to getting shredded. Wanderer had already seen the corpses, but seeing their disregard for all life, even one as small as this, firsthand made his chest clog up even further. The infant had done nothing, it hadn¡¯t even gotten a chance to live so how could it possibly deserve a fate as horrible as this? A spark in his chest, a tiny light barely visible in the darkness.


    There was a thump in his chest, a light thud. He understood, or perhaps it was better to say that he decided. He sprung into action and broke free from Ching Shih¡¯s grasp, hopping over the woman and the infant, placing himself in front of the incoming attack. One spark, rising quietly and alone to futilely light up the dark.


    They did not care about the weight of life, they spilt it like they spilt water, nothing but a grain of sand in the desert. But life wasn¡¯t like that to Wanderer, it was heavier, worthier. And if they didn¡¯t understand that, or didn¡¯t want to accept that, then he just had to show it to them, force them to understand it. And if they refused it even then, well then he would just have to abandon them, he¡¯d just have to value their lives as lightly as they valued the lives of others. Perhaps it was a selfish desire, a tyrannical one even. But he still embraced it, accepted it, because that was the weight he saw in life, the worth it held.


    His heart thumped as he saw the attack approach him, felt the sharp wind on his skin. But he remained steadfast as he strode forward, it would have to go through him if it wanted to reach the woman and the child. He wasn¡¯t afraid, there was no longer room for fear in his chest. He would stop the attack, and then he would stop the beast-man. This was what he had decided, this was what he would do.


    One spark danced in his chest, one lone firework struggled against the night. But the nature of fireworks was to explode and propagate. One alone may not be enough to light up the dark sky, but a firework was never alone. The spark exploded. It burst within his chest and spread out. One spark became a hundred, a hundred became ten thousand, and ten thousand became a million.


    The dark sky was swallowed by the erupting sparks, flickering lights blotting out everything else. And as Wanderer expected, the sparks inevitably hit the smoldering embers in his chest. One spark wasn¡¯t enough to light the fire, but with how many sparks were constantly being born in his chest, it barely even took a second for enough sparks to land on the embers to ignite them.


    Fire was born in Wanderer¡¯s chest just as the attack was about to reach him, violent flames bursting forth from the embers. But there wasn¡¯t any pain, just a familiar comfort, a familiar sensation of soft sorrow. And then the fire spread, one tongue of flame becoming an inferno that immediately swallowed Wanderer¡¯s entire being. One spark became an inferno, and Wanderer was embraced by the oh-so familiar flames.


    --


    Ching Shih was perhaps the first to notice a change. He felt it in the air, a quiet change. The screams in the city, the rumbling of chaos, it all seemed to simply fade away. The air seemed to tremble slightly all of a sudden, it also got thick and heavy, making the simple act of even breathing hard.


    ?Wanderer... are you okay...?


    His voice was a bit stifled as he asked. He could only see Wanderer¡¯s back, but he could feel a change in him, a fire. And above all, the merciless attack that should have ripped him to shreds simply hung there in the air, a mere handful of centimeters from his chest. Wanderer raised his hand slightly without turning his head, his hand landing on the frozen attack, which simply faded away into the wind.


    ?I wander no more.?

 Chapter 359: Liang Chen. (1)

    What it meant to burn, to be engulfed by flames, Wanderer understood what it meant now. No, Liang Chen remembered what it meant now. That rage, that familiar wrath, it nestled in his chest, filled his very being. He was sad. He felt it deep within him, a cold sorrow at the miserable loss of life, the pointless carnage that swallowed the city around him. But above that sorrow was the rage, the endless wrath that scorched even the cold sorrow.


    Yes, he was sad. But it was the anger that defined him, it was the anger that drove him, pushed him forwards. That had been the case in the past, when he first started his bloody journey, and it was the case even after he lost his memories. The path to peace wasn¡¯t good enough, he had thrown away the chance at safety because of the anger in his chest, that lone spark waiting to erupt.


    ?One scream is a note, a handful of screams is a verse, a myriad of screams is a melody, and all the screams in the world is the song.?


    A voice rang out within Liang Chen as the fire swallowed him, as the rage reignited. It was a familiar voice, he now realized that it had been years since he last heard it, but it was familiar nonetheless. With just a slight move of his mind he found himself within the bloody city that symbolized his soulsea, but now it was perhaps better to say that it represented what he considered his own mind. And there he stood, golden snake-like pupils and a head full of hair so crimson that it looked like it was dripping with blood. Purgatory, the creator of the test and the reason Liang Chen¡¯s memories had been sealed away.


    ?The world screamed and I responded, people screamed and I responded. That is who I was, what I was made for. But in the end, I was abandoned like everyone else, and no one bothered to respond to my screams. That is the fate of all those who burn, a cold and lonely grave that won¡¯t be warmed by any amount of wrath.?


    Purgatory kicked about the blood around him as he spoke, bitterly complaining about his fate. He fought for the world, he ensured that people would have better lives. But in the end, he didn¡¯t even get a proper tomb until countless years later, he was just left in the dirt, lost to time. Liang Chen didn¡¯t bother responding, he had already told Purgatory everything he had to say on that matter so he just waited for Purgatory to say what it actually wanted to say.


    ?Hah, still cold. Good. That¡¯s good, new... Liang Chen, if you¡¯re not cold enough to distance yourself then that heat, that burning, will turn you to ash. I¡¯m done. I did my fighting, I already got my unjust ending. Now it¡¯s your turn, that¡¯s the right you¡¯ve acquired after passing the test.?


    Purgatory¡¯s lips curved up in a twisted manner as it spoke, wading through the blood as it approached Liang Chen. The fate of all those who burned was to become ash, but if you were cold then you could at least offset that fate a little, buy yourself some time to burn more people. Purgatory stopped in front of Liang Chen and stretched out an arm, presenting its hand. And Liang Chen took that hand, accepted it as he had so many other things.


    ?Now it¡¯ll be you who accepts the song of the world, all the way down to the smallest note. The sky that catches all screams, the heaven that dispenses all punishment, that is your new identity. Sin burns sin, I look forward to seeing how brightly your sin will burn, oh new lord of heaven¡¯s wrath.?


    Purgatory started to dissipate as it spoke, flaking away like ash in the wind, that twisted and even slightly relieved smile the last thing to fade away. Purgatory had already fused with his body, that was why several years had passed between him meeting Purgatory and waking up. If he failed the test then it would just remain within him, unknown to him until it killed him. But if he succeeded then it would lead to this, a quiet succession ceremony without any fancy exchanges, he  had the power of Purgatory after the fusion after all, this finally exchange was just Purgatory handing over the last bit of information on how to use it. And as he understood its power, he understood its parting words, sin burns sin.


    He opened his eyes after Purgatory faded, returning to the ruined city where time seemed to stand still. He felt power, seething and raging power unlike anything he had felt before. Purgatory was a mass of energy with consciousness, a power with a mind of its own. And that energy, that power, had all been transferred to him, become part of him. How strong was he now, after first becoming an elemental and then taking in Purgatory? How strong would he be once he fed the Flames of Wrath? He didn¡¯t know, he truly didn¡¯t know.


    ?Wanderer... Are you okay...??


    He heard a familiar voice from behind him, a worried and somewhat hesitant voice squeezed out between labored breaths. He didn¡¯t need to turn his head to see Ching Shih standing there, his hand reaching out somewhat . Ching Shih, captain of the Sand Sovereign, he had been very good to Liang Chen the entire time they had been together. But now, now Liang Chen could tell what lurked within Ching Shih. His soul unraveled itself without Liang Chen even needing to turn his head, his past laid bare.


    There was sin there, but perhaps he had already expected that after seeing how Ching Shih dealt with the Moving Fortress. But Ching Shih was human, so where there was sin, there was virtue. He had done good, not just to Liang Chen but to many others as well. He was a pirate, but he wasn¡¯t all bad, he struck a balance in life. And that balance was one that Liang Chen could accept, it was a balance that sought to lean towards virtue, a balance that deserved to flourish.


    He thought about what to say, but it struck him almost instantly. The freedom that came with a name, the right you were given when you were given a name. That was what Ching Shih had told him, taught him, so that would be his response.


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    ?I wander no more.?


    Wanderer was dead, he ceased to exist when Liang Chen found himself, remembered his duty. Heaven¡¯s Wrath, that was the new name he had been given, that was the new freedom he had gained. And now he would excersice that freedom, take it for himself no matter what anyone else tried to say.


    His arm rose and his hand stretched out, his fingers gently resting on the attack that hung in the air. The energy that had sealed off and hidden his interspatial ring vanished, fading away so that it saw the light of day again. But he didn¡¯t bring anything out from within the ring, he simply called forth a bit of his energy and sent it into the attack.


    The energy sustaining the attack, the vicious energy that had stolen countless lives in this city, faded away to nothingness. It was strong, but it wasn¡¯t stronger than Liang Chen, stronger than the void. Liang Chen raised his foot and stepped forwards, his gaze locked on the beast-man trembling in terror.


    ?Are you afraid, Jyugo??


    The man¡¯s life unraveled in front of Liang Chen¡¯s eyes, every event from birth to his rapidly approaching death flickering past his gaze. He couldn¡¯t resist Liang Chen¡¯s poison so his every act was as clear as day to him, he could look at his life like he looked at the scenery around him.


    ?Did the Golden Branch not warn you? Did they not give you guys any information? Did the Golden Worldtree perhaps just toss you away to die??


    Liang Chen knew the answer to all these questions, he just asked them to get into the head of the beast-man, Jyugo. The Golden Branch sect, a close ally of the Tranquil Lake, the organization headed by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. He hadn¡¯t dealt with them in quite a while since he left their range of influence, but now it seemed like they had even spread all the way to the Heaven and Hell Dominion. The Golden Worldtree was the moniker of their founder and leader, someone who had reached the peak of the Transcended Immortal realm, or very possibly  entered the Sovereign God realm. He was on the list already, his sins were just waiting to burn.


    But jyugo wouldn¡¯t burn. No, his sins weren¡¯t going to turn to ash that settled in Purgatory, it wouldn¡¯t become fuel for the Flames of Wrath. No, Liang Chen had a different plan for him, a different plan for the people that had come here and sown such chaos. He stopped in front of Jyugo, whose face was devoid of blood as he shivered, his feet refusing to take even a single step.


    ?Do you hear them, Jyugo? The screams, I mean. They echo through the city, both those of the past and those in the present. It¡¯s all just screams and howls, sorrow and anger in droves, enough to drown a man. I want you to hear them, Jyugo, I want you to see them. I want you to drown in what you have brought about?


    Liang Chen¡¯s voice was cold and calm, almost insidious. His poison spread out, sank into the world and dredged out what lurked within. Vestiges rose to the surface, indistinct figures appeared all throughout the city. Those who died in the past and those who were dying in this attack, vestige after vestige was dredged up. Each one screamed in Liang Chen¡¯s ears, their anger and hatred becoming fuel for his poison. Each one was a silenced scream, forgotten to time. But each one was caught by him, each one was heard by him. And he answered them.


    ?Take them, Jyugo, some of them are screaming for you directly.?


    Liang Chen¡¯s hand reached out, a finger brushing against Jyugo¡¯s forehead. The simple touch unleashed the poison, the dredged up vestiges. It all flooded into jyugo, a constant stream of death and anguish that drowned out all other thoughts. The final memories of their deaths, the rage they felt as they fell, the anguish and the pain.


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t turn it into poison he could draw energy from, he simply turned it upon Jyugo so that he could experience what he sowed, so that he could discover what the world hid. Some of the vestiges had indeed been left by those Jyugo killed, but most came from the past, they had nothing to do with Jyugo. But they didn¡¯t care about that, they only cared that they had found someone to hear their screams, someone to share their pain and sorrow.


    Jyugo crumbled under the anguish, the screams and the pain. His mouth hung open and his throat moved, but no sound managed to leave his mouth. Only blood poured out, the insides of his throat so torn up from that single silent scream that it would be irreparably ruined even if he managed to survive this encounter.


    But he wasn¡¯t going to survive this encounter. His eyes started to roll back, drool mixing with the blood pouring out of his mouth. Eventually, his legs simply lost all strength and he fell to the ground, his eyes empty and hollow as he laid there, his breaths so shallow that they were hard to notice. His body was alive, but his mind had crumbled, collapsed under the screams and pain. Or perhaps his mind had killed itself to escape the torment, perhaps it saw more comfort in death than it did in such a horrible existence.


    Liang Chen looked down at the broken man, there wasn¡¯t an ounce of mercy to be found in his expression. He opened his hand, a tiny puff of crimson mist leaving his palm and sinking into Jyugo. The beast-man¡¯s body started to flake and fade away as the power of Purgatory burned it, as the Flames of Wrath burned it.


    Flesh and bones faded into the wind, one broken existence vanishing from the world here. But the small puff of mist still remained, a small crimson cloud rising from what used to be a man. The mist was a little bit bigger than it was when Liang Chen sent it into the man, the Flames of Wrath burned a little brighter.


    Sin burned sin, that was one of Purgatory¡¯s abilities. Each sin burned was taken in, each sin burned was shouldered by Purgatory, by the lord of heavenly wrath. And with each new burden, the flames burned brighter, burned stronger. But Liang Chen didn¡¯t use flames so this ability had moved into his own elements instead. The more sin he scorched, the stronger they would burn, until one day they could swallow the world.


    Liang Chen caught the mist and allowed it to sink back into his body, a searing sensation running up his arm. Sin burned sin. Liang Chen burned sin, but he wasn¡¯t free of sin. As such, he too burned under the flames. If they one day became stronger than what he could bear then he would fade like the rest, that was the fate of all those who burned.


    ?Try all you like, my sin will burn forever.?


    But he didn¡¯t care. He wouldn¡¯t meet that end, he wouldn¡¯t allow it. One sin needed to tower above all others, one sin needed to extinguish all others for the sake of the world he desired. And he would be that sin so he wouldn¡¯t allow himself to fade away.


    He raised his head slightly once the burning sensation started to fade, his gaze piercing through the ruins around him. This beast-man wasn¡¯t the only one, there were still several others spreading havoc, fighting with the guards as they looked for him.


    The sky suddenly grew dark, black clouds blotting out the sun as they covered everything. A drop of rain fell from the clouds, another one quickly following it, a torrential downpour suddenly hitting the city while the wind howled furiously. The violet flames burning across the city were extinguished by the pouring rain, a bone-chilling sensation assaulting those in the city.


    And then a red flash lit up the city, the roaring sound of thunder shutting out all other sounds. A red crack appeared in the clouds as a crimson bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, a multitude of bolts following the first one and bathing the city in their crimson glow, bathing Liang Chen in their majesty. One sin had been burned, but there were still many more left.

 Chapter 360: Liang Chen. (2)

    Liye Shu stood in the air with a tense expression, the air around him shifting quietly as his energy moved about. The dark clouds, the rain, the lightning, he knew what their arrival meant. Their target had revealed himself, he had indeed appeared in this city after his long absence.


    But why was the lightning crimson? According to the reports he had studied, the lightning should be a dull violet, a dark bolt to match the clouds. But there it was, as crimson as blood, oozing a sinister aura that made his fur stand on end. It was strange, it was unknown, and that made him uneasy. But despite all that, he had a job to do, a duty to fulfil, so he had no choice but to swallow his worries.


    "So you''ve finally revealed yourself, Liang Chen! I am Liye Shu and I''ve come here o...!?"


    Liye Shu''s words were abruptly cut off, the air around him bearing down on him like a mountain. He fell from his vantage point and was brought down to the ground, smashing into the earth and sprawling flat. Blood poured from his mouth, his jaws had been clamped shut so abruptly that his sharp teeth caught his tongue and cut clean through it.


    He tried to stand up, but it felt as if a giant was pressing down on him, if it weren''t for his strong body then he would have already been crushed. He focused all his strength on his head to see if he could raise himself if he focused all his efforts on one area, but it only resulted in his curved horns breaking as he clashed with the oppressive force.


    His heart pounded in his chest as he lay there. The only sound around him seemed to come from the pouring rain, a rhythmic tapping that drowned out even the carnage. It wasn''t supposed to be like this. He was a trump card, a final solution to handle their problems. He was strong even before he underwent the surgery, and when it succeeded he acquired a piece of a lion, the king of beasts. He was a winner, he was supposed to win.


    But now he was sprawled there, crushed against the muddy dirt. And an unfamiliar sensation started to ooze out from deep within his chest, a sensation unbefitting of one who should be the king of beasts. Fear. The unease at the unknown situation had completely exploded now, blooming into the horrible flower of fear. His face felt wet, but now he wasn''t sure if it was because of the incessant rain or because of his tears. He hoped that it was the first option.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    His ears perked up as a sound reached him, the only other sound audible within this awful rain. He couldn''t raise his head, but he could at least move his eyes slightly, just barely peeking over the mud. But as he raised his gaze, he wished that he hadn''t, he wished that he had just kept his eyes on the dirt beneath him.


    The rain had changed without him noticing it, was it because of the approaching person? Drops that were once crystal clear had become crimson, a reflective sheen to each of them. And in him, he saw himself, reflected a thousand times over. But the him in the reflections wasn''t the current him, it was a corpse, decayed and rotten as it faded away, vanishing just as the rain hit the ground. His pupils trembled at the sight, his mind was tossed in such disarray that he couldn''t even feel the pain brought about by the crimson rain.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    Soft sounds. Calm footsteps, confident footsteps. The source of the sound came into view as Liye Shu''s eyes trembled. At first, it was just a silhouette in the rain, untouched by the drops as he moved. But before long his expression became visible, golden eyes that showed no mercy, just anger and an ounce of tiredness.


    "You... It''s you..."


    Yes, Liye Shu instinctively understood it. The once pure rain, the clean water, it was his presence that had tainted it, turned it red. Haemolacria, crying tears of blood, a sign of extreme stress and trauma. Yes, that was what he was doing, that had to be what he was doing. The sky was crying, the heavens shed tears of blood at his arrival, the crimson rain was his herald, it had to be.


    "Yes, it''s me. Weren''t you looking for me, Liye Shu? Didn''t you do all this to flush me out? Well? Here I am, so what now?"


    Liang Chen slowly walked forward, the red rain cascading around him scorching Liye Shu every time it hit him, burning his sins. Liye Shu struggled to keep his gaze raised, struggled to look at Liang Chen as he approached.


    "He...He....Hehe..."


    A smidgen of laughter escaped him as he lay there, a broken string of almost manic laughter slipping out from between his lips as tears ran down his face. Was it the pain of burning that broke his mind, or had it been fear that made his mind slip into the darkness to protect itself? Liang Chen wasn''t sure, standing there as the lion-headed man giggled and cried.


    He felt that the scene was a bit familiar, if he could call it that. Back when he first returned to his own planet after leaving Tripartite planet he had encountered something similar to this. A city ravaged because of him, a family buried in rubble, he lost a friend that day.


    Back then he had also approached those who ruined the city, those who had looked for him. And he told them to weep, for now they had found him. But now, now there was no need to say it, it simply happened on its own. They had sought him, and they had found him. And now they wept, for they learned what it meant to find him.


    Liang Chen stretched out his hand, Liye Shu''s ring finger tearing itself away from his hand and flying into his palm, a metal ring winding around it. He removed the interspatial ring and tossed away the finger, searching through the ring until he found the item he was looking for. A golden orb appeared in his grasp, a branch engraved onto its glossy surface.


    Despite his sad ending, Liye Shu was still a strong member of the Golden Branch sect, he probably wasn''t too far away from the upper ranks. As such, he of course had a communication treasure he could use to quickly get in contact with the other members of the sect. And in the worst of situations, he could also contact his superiors, or they could contact him to send out orders. Liang Chen poured his energy into the orb, its garish light spreading into the surroundings.


    "Worldtree, you can hear this, can''t you?"


    Yes, Liang Chen was confident of that. Golden Worldtree, the founder and leader of the Golden Branch sect, would definitely be on the other side of this communication treasure. He would be listening and waiting, perhaps he was even anxious about getting the updates as quickly as possible.


    "This is the first time we''re actually talking, isn''t it? Well, we can''t really call it talking. I''m going to come for you, Worldtree. You, your sect, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow that you''ve allied with, I''m coming for all of you. So wait for me, and wash your neck. Feel free to run, feel free to hide, but there won''t be any escape in the end."


    Liang Chen clenched his hand after he made the declaration, shattering the golden orb and snuffing out its light. This was his declaration, his judgment. Seven years. For seven years they had gotten to run free, gotten to spread as much chaos as they wanted. No more. Now he had returned, now he would allow no more.


    Liang Chen raised his head, the lion-headed man at his feet was already fading away, the crimson rain washing away his existence and leaving only a small crimson mist. The dark sky crackled with crimson lightning, his lightning, his wrath. He stretched out his arm, his mind moving along with his limb.


    The lightning wriggled and roared in response to his call, it raged in response to his summons. One bolt fell from the sky, arcing out into several hundred strands. A second fell shortly after, arcing out in much the same manner as the first. And then a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. Lightning rained from the sky, a crimson net to cover the heavens.


    Lightning and rain fell on the city, their roar loud enough to drown out all the screams, loud enough to gather them all. Their fall was a different type of chaos for the city, a different type of carnage. Those hit by the lightning burned, their sins scorched them from within and they washed away with the rain, only a faint red mist remaining after their passing.


    Liang Chen''s gaze remained locked on the sky, his golden pupils reflecting the crimson arcs that danced at his command. Did he feel that it was sad? To cause so much death mere moments after regaining his memories? Did he think it was pitiful that a city that was already enveloped in chaos would have to suffer even more due to his arrival? If he did, then he didn''t show it on his face, he only looked a tinge weary as he burned sin, as he burned. This city was just the first, there would be many more in the future, he would burn many more times, all the way until he was the final bit of kindling left in the world.


    But that goal was one for the distant future, for now, he would have to be satisfied with being the last bit of kindling left in this city. His mind moved again and the falling rain paused, the roaring lightning faded. The black clouds dissipated to reveal the bright blue sky, as if the previous carnage had been nothing but an illusion.


    Liang Chen lowered his gaze and turned away, returning with the same calm steps he used to come here. The faint red mist slithered through the city and sank into him, burned him, empowered him. But he didn''t flinch, pain was already something he was all too familiar with.


    He checked his interspatial ring as he walked, checked up on the people inside it. He had luckily slowed down time as much as possible inside it before he went to meet Purgatory so he avoided repeating the mistake he made with Yi Xue and the first round of disciples. This time the disciples, as well as Yumao and the others, didn''t have to suffer for several years inside the ring, barely any time at all had passed for them.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    But he didn''t bring them out yet, nor did he contact them yet. There were a few things he wanted to do first, it wouldn''t be too late to greet them all once he was done.


    His steps brought him back to the rubble that buried a mother silently begging someone to save her son. Ching Shih and the others were also still there, dumbfounded and uncertain what to do next. Liang Chen temporarily ignored them and knelt down next to the woman, who looked at him while she quietly pleaded.


    "I... I can''t save you. Your lungs are crushed and your heart is punctured, the best I could do was draw out your time. But your son, I can save him."


    The woman was dead, her fate was already sealed no matter how much Liang Chen wanted to overturn it. He wasn''t a god, he couldn''t save everyone. And sometimes, just sometimes, he also failed to save those that his hands could reach.


    The woman didn''t look shocked by Liang Chen''s revelation, perhaps she knew her state better than anyone. But still, she smiled, a smile as bright as the morning sun. Her son would be saved, her child would live, and that was all she could ask for right now.


    "Do you have a favourite fruit, or tree?"


    It was a strange question, one neither the woman nor Ching Shih''s group understood the purpose of. But Liang Chen looked intently at the woman. Calmly, sadly, apologetic. He brought death to them, and he failed to save them. Another soul, another innocent scream carved into his soul. The woman couldn''t speak her answer, her lungs were too ruined, but she could mouth the answer.


    "Plums, that''s a nice choice. Lovely flowers. Then so be it. Continue to watch over him in the future, let your shade shield him from the sun."


    Liang Chen spoke softly as he took the child from the woman, holding it close to his chest. His other hand landed on the woman''s head, his energy quietly seeping into her body. The void bloomed within her, consumed her painlessly.


    And as it consumed her, he could feel it within him. Another stream of energy had appeared in the little slice of the void he had acquired for himself, that little land where he was god. It waited for his order, waited for his directions. And he gave it, he pushed the energy into the ground and allowed it to bloom, a small plum tree growing within his void.


    In the end, all that remained of the family was the child, the crying baby in Liang Chen''s hands. Ao Fentian, that was the name he had read in the woman''s soul, her memories. She hadn''t been able to say her child''s name in the end, but it got across nonetheless, it reached him all the same.


    "Ao Fentian... You must live well."


    Did he whisper the words to the child or did he whisper them to himself? Perhaps not even he knew. He dipped his mind into the interspatial ring and contacted Jiao Hui Xin, the poor girl with ruined eyes. She was the best choice for taking care of Ao Fentian right now so he sent the child to her, making sure that she didn''t notify Yumao and the others about his return just yet, lest they start making a ruckus.


    "This... Is this your name?"


    A familiar voice cut into Liang Chen''s thoughts after he sent away Ao Fentian, Ching Shih looking at him with a somewhat complex expression. He wandered no more, he had said it himself. So he was Wanderer no more, no, now he was that chaos, that furious lightning that fell from the sky. That was his name, his duty.


    "Liang Chen, that is my name. And yes, this too is my name."


    One was the name he used to introduce himself and the other was the name he had been given, the name that came with a freedom and a duty. Ching Shih had expected the answer, but his smile still turned a bit wry. They had really brought something tremendous onto their little ship, the man in front of him was so far above them that they should never have come into contact.


    "Bao... Can you take a look at him?"


    Ching Shih felt a bit awkward, but looking at the city around him he knew that there really wasn''t anyone else he could ask. Bao was still poisoned and needed treating, but there was a good chance that the doctor they were going to visit was already dead. Liang Chen''s expression sank slightly at Ching Shih''s question, his gaze drifting towards the wagon holding Bao.


    "Doushi. You knew from the start, didn''t you?"


    He didn''t immediately respond to the question, nor did he check Bao''s state. No, he first addressed the ship''s doctor, Yao Kun Doushi. And as he expected, Doushi''s expression turned extremely bitter.


    "Even if the poison is removed... The damage is already done. His lungs have suffered the brunt of the damage, they won''t even be able to function at half capacity. He should be able to walk just fine, but he can forget about even jogging, he won''t be able to do anything strenuous, otherwise, it will cause his weakened lungs to collapse."


    Indeed, removing the poison from Bao wouldn''t solve the underlying issue. It had already attacked his lungs, etched itself into his body. Even if it was removed, the scars would remain. Bao would never be able to go back to how he was before he drank the poisoned alcohol.


    One drop. A single drop of Liang Chen''s blood diluted in an entire jar of alcohol had brought about this result. Bao only had to take a single sip of that alcohol and his life was ruined, that was the type of existence that Liang Chen had become.


    "Then... nothing?"


    Ching Shih''s face was pale. Bao was part of his crew, his family, and there was nothing he could do for him? Even if they managed to remove the poison, life would be extremely tough for him, there was no way he would be able to remain on the ship. The despair he was feeling right now, was that why Doushi hadn''t said anything earlier? To spare him that pain and let him keep a bit of hope?


    Liang Chen didn''t say anything and stood up, making his way over to the wagon. Bao was lying in it, his throat so tensed that the veins in it were bulging. He was in pain, Liang Chen''s blood was not a pleasant thing to take in. Liang Chen looked at his struggle and placed his hand on Bao''s chest, felt the sensation of his blood flowing within him. And he had an idea, a bit of a crazy one, but an idea nonetheless.


    "Bao. Tell me, do you want to live? Even if you must suffer through horrible pain, even if you could die at any moment without knowing why, even if you have to move along an arduous task if you want to reclaim your own life, even if the future looks completely uncertain?"


    He had an idea, but that didn''t mean that he could just go ahead with it, he needed permission first. Bao opened his eyes slightly, squinting as he looked at Liang Chen with murky eyes. He could feel the poison in his lungs throbbing, resonating with the man who spoke to him. Wanderer, that was the source of the pain he felt now, he finally understood that.


    But that fact, it didn''t matter any longer. It wasn''t like he had done it on purpose, it was probably nothing more than an accident, a cosmic joke. He had heard what Doushi said, what his fate would be even if the poison was removed. That was not life, at least not to him.


    "I... I want to live... I want to keep following Captain to the horizon... and then beyond."


    He didn''t just want to live, he wanted to travel, he wanted to be of help to his captain, he wanted to help him reach the scenery that he dreamed of. Liang Chen smiled softly at the answer, Ching Shih had really managed to raise himself a good family.


    "Then grit your teeth and suffer for me, Bao. Keep your wits about you and fight for that horizon."


    That was the last thing Liang Chen said before he made a cut on his palm and a cut on Bao''s chest, pressing his bleeding hand against the wound. His blood, his ruinous existence, poured into Bao through the wound. And Bao screamed, he howled like a man plummeting through hell. Blood gushed out from his mouth and eyes as he tore his throat, the screaming quickly becoming nothing more than a desperate gurgling.


    But even so, Liang Chen continued. His blood, his power, it poured into Bao without restraint. The ruined lungs, the scarred throat, they were all encroached on by his power. Bit by bit they were corroded, erased from within Bao''s body.


    But it wasn''t just the ruined parts that were being erased. The healthy tissue suffered the same fate, inevitable corrosion and vanishment. Bao tossed like a wild dog as he lay there, the pain of losing his lungs and throat was worse than anything he had ever felt, it made him think that death was a preferable option.


    But he didn''t choose death, nor did he close his eyes and allow his mind to drift into the gentle embrace of unconsciousness. He had to fight for that horizon, that was what he said. He needed to grit his teeth and keep his wits about him, if he didn''t, then he feared that he would die.


    And slowly, he felt a change within him. He felt like his mind was being drawn down into his chest, to where his lungs and throat should be. And for the first time, he felt like he could see his own insides, his veins and the blood in them, the movements of his muscles.


    And there he saw it, the horrifying sight of his empty chest. His lungs and throat were gone, eaten away by the blood of calamity. But that wasn''t the end, because that very same blood then started to expand and morph, slowly taking on the shape of his lungs and throat. And as they formed, his mind felt like it was getting stretched further, coating the new lungs and throat like an invisible film.


    And in truth, that was exactly what was happening. Liang Chen was using the principle of the Ocean God''s Physique to alter Bao''s lungs and throat, but he was doing it using his own elements. He would provide the energy to fuel his lungs and throat, and Bao would use his own soul to keep everything together. Granted, Bao couldn''t control his soul so Liang Chen was forced to do that for him, using his poison to interact with the soul.


    It was a risky idea. One wrong move and Bao would die. But luckily, Liang Chen didn''t make that wrong move. The lungs and throat were successfully altered, albeit not in the exact same way as Liang Chen''s. He then gave Bao the information about the Ocean God''s Physique so that he could cultivate it on his own, or at least, the path he had taken in the Ocean God''s Physique, that way he could get around the fact that the technique was protected by the safeguard left by its creator.


    If Bao one day managed to cultivate it to a stage where he could alter his lungs and throat with his own laws then he would be rid of Liang Chen''s energy. But until that day came, a part of Liang Chen would remain within Bao, neither of them knowing what this could end up meaning.


    "That should do it, I hope at least. I''ll warn you again, I have no idea what sort of changes can occur after this. But if things go as I expect them to, then you should have no problems living as you please."


    There wasn''t really a need to warn Bao again, he had been ready for any risk when Liang Chen first made the offer. Besides, he was a pirate, the future was always uncertain for him, at least now he would have the chance to head towards it with everyone else.


    "Th..."


    Bao''s words trailed off before he could finish them, his eyes rolling back as he finally fainted. He had resisted the pain all the way to the end without fainting, but now he was allowed to drift away, the pain catching up with him. But Liang Chen didn''t look worried, he knew just how horrible the pain of altering your body was, it was almost a miracle that Bao had lasted as long as he did.


    "So... what now? I take it you won''t keep travelling with us?"


    Ching Shih glanced at Liang Chen while the other crew members were thanking him, his expression making it clear that he already knew the answer. Liang Chen was not someone that would travel with them, their paths would separate here. And indeed, their time together had been comfortable and warm, but this would be where it came to an end.


    "You said the Wolf Queen was holding a groom selection, didn''t you? The storm and the wolf are one, so it''s about time I go and give my wife a good whack to the back of the head."


    The warmth and comfort he shared with the people of the Sand Sovereign would come to an end, it was time for him to go and share that warmth with those who had already waited for him for far too long. He said his farewells to Yi Sao and the others, thanked them for the kindness they had shown him.


    But after that, he turned and left, moving just as decisively as he had when he unleashed his lightning. Ching Shih''s eyes lingered on his back as he walked away, his thoughts wandering. It seemed like he would have to start paying more attention to the news that came from outside the Wandering Desert, because a true monster had just been unleashed. The name he chose was Liang Chen, but the name he had been given by Ching Shih was Heaven''s Wrath, now it was just a matter of time before the world bent the knee and crowned him with that name.

 Chapter 361: The grand groom selection.

    Third Star city was bustling beyond belief, there were people no matter where you looked and countless people had taken this chance to open small stalls to sell whatever they could get their hands on or think of. But perhaps that was only to be expected, this was after all where the Wolf Queen was holding her groom selection, attracting people from all corners of this universe, and beyond even.


    On her own, the Wolf Queen was already rather spectacular. She could be counted amongst the youngest Sovereign Gods and had grasped the exalted law of space, people were speculating that she would reach the King or Emperor rankings in the Bloodwind List if she were to absorb a Bloodwind Code. But in the end, the entity behind her overshadowed all of that, becoming the true driving force for this liveliness.


    Nine Star Demon God, the true ruler of this universe. The Star God that the Wolf Queen had taken as her teacher was a direct subordinate of that ruler, a single word of his could decide the fates of all the organizations in the universe. And rumour had it that this ruler was... fiercely loyal to his wife to say the least, so it was practically a once-in-a-lifetime event for him to approve of a groom selection like this.


    To accommodate the selection, the city lord had activated one of his final defensive trump cards, the Myriad Realms Fortress. All the buildings closer to the centre of the city had merged together into a single homogenous structure that the lord could move at will, creating a constantly changing maze. Of course, at the centre of this maze was the Wolf Queen, only those who managed to reach the central chamber would be worthy of becoming possible grooms.


    The central chamber itself was... honestly too simple to host something like a groom selection. It was a defensive trump card after all so they didn''t really focus on decorating it or making it extravagant. Normally it would serve as a control centre from which the city lord would direct the outside battles, but now it was cleared out to create a mostly open space where makeshift courtyards had been built.


    The courtyards lined part of the edges of the circular hall, forming a half-circle that stood opposite the single elevated courtyard that was built on the other end of the hall. That was the dwelling of the Wolf Queen, from there she could see everything that happened within the central chamber, from there she could judge all the potential grooms and decide when to start the final step of the selection.


    "Three years... It''s not exactly a long time per se, but once things get dull it sure stretches out the sensation of time, doesn''t it?"


    Sitting and mumbling in one of the courtyards was Zhongzhi, a string attached to a gourd pressed between his fingers as he rolled it around. At times he cast his amber eyes towards the elevated courtyard, other times he cast his gaze towards the one sharing his table, eyes as black as the night and hair the same shade as the glittering ocean serving as his defining traits.


    "That''s got a fairly simple solution, no? Just don''t let things get dull."


    Arie Ryung Agnis kept his gaze lowered as he answered, the pencil he was holding slowly moving across the paper he held against the table. Parts of a mountainous forest started to form on the paper, but to call it good would be an exaggeration, he was clearly still an amateur. His pencil slid shortly after he spoke, accidentally ruining the picture. Zhongzhi swigged his gourd somewhat bitterly as Arie crumpled up the paper to start anew.


    "That''s easy for you to say, you''ve got a cushy position so you''re used to having plenty of free time. All I know is cultivating, but I can''t even do that because we''ve got no clue when she''ll start the final selection. Gods, can you imagine fighting to get to this point only to miss the final step because you''re cultivating? I''d become the joke of the century."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Zhongzhi lowered the gourd and continued to roll the string between his fingers, he really was bitter about it all. He was among the first to reach this central chamber, hurrying along because he didn''t want to miss the chance to at least take part in an event as grand as this. But if he had known that he would have to wait at least three years in the central chamber afterwards then he would have waited a bit longer before he made his move.


    "What''s wrong with being part of a good joke? Imagine the stories you''d be able to share whenever you stop by a new city?"


    Arie commented with a light chuckle, the slight motion throwing his pencil off-course again, ruining another one of his amateurish paintings. He crumpled the paper with a slight click of his tongue and pulled out a new one, he''d get it right eventually. Zhongzhi maintained his slightly bitter demeanour, members of stronger sects or clans really didn''t know what sort of things wandering cultivators like him valued.


    "Ah, rich kids, painfully unaware of the common man''s struggles."


    Zhongzhi stopped twirling the thread and raised the gourd again, but his hand stopped before he could take a swig. A very faint sound had reached his ears. And judging from Arie''s raised head, he too had heard the same sound. The two turned their gazes towards the sole entrance to this central chamber, an arched hallway just wide enough to fit two people standing shoulder to shoulder.


    Their eyes narrowed quietly as they focused on the hallway, on the sounds. Subdued screams, faint sizzling, the quiet laugh of a child, and soft footsteps that somehow seemed to be louder than everything else.


    "Something big is coming."


    Arie licked his lips as he spoke, but judging by the slightly raised hairs on his neck and his somewhat dry lips, Zhongzhi guessed that it definitely wasn''t due to excitement. And then he felt it too. It was as if thousands of centipedes had suddenly appeared both on and in his body, crawling through and across him in a writhing mass. Formication, that was what he believed the word for it was.


    The unpleasant sensation didn''t arrive alone, the air also felt like it changed slightly. In his throat, the air felt sticky and viscous, almost thick with blood. But once it reached his lungs it felt hot, scorching even, as if it wanted to light a fire within him.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    The sound of footsteps, still so soft yet so loud. Yes, something big was coming, Zhongzhi agreed with that. For three years they had waited, and now it seemed like one of the big competitors for the groom position had arrived. The two watched and waited, and they were confident that the others were doing the same from their courtyards. An arrival like this was not one to miss, especially since the new arrival most likely also had quite the strong backing.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    The sound of footsteps slowly got louder, closer. The new competitor wasn''t in a rush, their steps were calm and composed. But in the end, they had to step into the light, they had to walk through the end of that arched hallway and reveal themselves. And as they stepped into the central chamber, the crawling sensation that covered Arie and Zhongzhi faded away, the air returning to normal as it seemed like the arriving party had pulled back their energy.


    "Aiyah, look at those robes, that''s definitely another rich kid sent here by their organization. But to bring a kid with him... he''s got guts, I''ll give him that."


    Zhongzhi shook his head as he observed the new arrival, a young man. He looked as if he had barely reached his twenties, but everyone here was far older than they looked so he wasn''t stupid enough to actually judge him based on that. He did, however, not mind judging him slightly based on the clothes that he wore.


    Dark golden robes embroidered with violet and emerald threads that gathered together to form a wind-like pattern, it was definitely something that looked far too complex and extravagant to belong on a wandering cultivator. And then there was the child he had brought along. It was just an infant, a few tufts of black hair jutting out on its head while its green eyes curiously swept the area. It was probably this child that had been the source of the faint laughter they had heard earlier.


    Zhongzhi and Arie continued to observe the youth as he raised his other arm and brushed aside the strands of silvery-grey hair that had fallen down to cover his face. His hair hung to just past his shoulders, but judging by the way he was fiddling with it he was probably used to having it shorter. The youth''s golden pupils calmly slid across the entire central chamber, eventually settling on the lone elevated courtyard as he finally spoke up, seemingly muttering to himself.


    "I hope you''ve prepared yourself for a few slaps, that''s the least you deserve for what you did to Yumao..."

 Chapter 362: My game.

    "Ey, new guy! Here, over here!"


    Liang Chen heard a voice calling to him as he stared at the courtyard where he could feel Yan Ling. His head turned slightly and landed on the one that called out to him, one of the only two people who wasn''t currently within their own courtyard. A young man was sitting there in loose robes, holding a string that connected to a gourd while he waved. His dark brown hair hung down in an almost unruly manner and there was a subdued light in his amber pupils.


    Sitting opposite of this youth was another young man, his pupils black like coal and his hair a glittering shade of dark blue. This youth wasn''t waving at him and instead greeted him with a cordial nod of his head, a sheet of paper with some pencil lines sprawled out in front of him. They looked cheerful and amiable, like actual teens out on a trip. But he could sense the aura that seeped out from within them, the energy they had hidden away. Sovereign Gods, both of them, and probably strong ones at that.


    "Haa... You really like playing some annoying games..."


    Liang Chen muttered quietly, casting a sharp glance at the distant courtyard before he made his way over to the two other youths. Yan Ling was definitely watching him right now, hidden away while snickering at the fun she had created. But he would have to disappoint her, he would take this little game of hers and completely smash it.


    "The name''s Zhongzhi, wanderer so no last name to speak of. This is..."


    "Arie Ryung Agnis, it''s nice to meet you."


    The two youths introduced themselves as Liang Chen walked over, Arie putting away the paper he had been scrawling on as he gave another polite nod. His robes were a fair bit finer than Zhongzhi''s, they were probably made using some type of silk, so Liang Chen guessed that he most likely came from some greater backing.


    "I''m Liang Chen, this is Ao Fentian."


    Liang Chen returned the greeting as he stood beside the table, using his chin to gesture towards the infant he carried in his arms. Ao Fentian was clinging to him, almost burying himself in Liang Chen''s chest, but he still curiously looked at the two unfamiliar youths.


    "He''s supposed to be with his caretaker right now, but he has a tendency to cry if I''m away for longer than just a bit so I brought him along for now."


    Yes, Ao Fentian was supposed to be with Jiao Hui Xin and the other disciples that were currently within his interspatial ring, but she told him that Ao Fentian made an unimaginable racket whenever Liang Chen left. It was just too distracting to bear. Zhongzhi nodded his head vigorously as Liang Chen spoke about the infant, this was clearly the topic he wanted to delve into.


    "Yeah yeah, he''s part of the reason I called you over! You brought your kid here? You know where this is, ya? Not the best idea to bring a kid here, don''t you think? And oh ya, where are you from? Arie here''s a rich kid from a big family, I take it you''re the same since you''re wearing clothes like that?"


    Zhongzhi looked like he wanted to reach out and poke Fentian''s cheeks, just to make sure he was actually real. He didn''t even want to think about how much guts it took to bring your kid to a groom selection like this, it was probably one step above just spitting in the face of the Wolf Queen. Fentian retreated further into Liang Chen''s chest as Zhongzhi spoke, his amber eyes lingering curiously on the infant.


    "He''s not my child. I adopted him since I failed to save his mother."


    Liang Chen set the record straight and gently stroked Ao Fentian''s head. His mother had died because of Liang Chen, and he had failed to save her even though he should have been strong enough to do so. Now all that remained of her was this child and the name she had given him, the least Liang Chen could do was make sure that he grew up happy and safe.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Aigoo, life really is rough, isn''t it? But that''s good, gotta take responsibility for your failures, you''re a good man in that regard."


    Zhongzhi shook his head lightly as he spoke. He was a wanderer so he had seen his fair share of gruesome scenes, especially now that this blasted war had started. Death really was far too... common in times like this, especially in non-cultivators who didn''t even get to have a say in the war.


    "And your robes? The stitching doesn''t look rushed or rough so whoever made them clearly took great care to make it right. Is it perhaps custom ordered rather than standard fare?"


    The one who moved on to the next topic was Arie, his gaze quietly inspecting Liang Chen''s robes. He came from a larger clan so he had a plethora of experience in a multitude of things, he had even studied tailoring for a while. That was why he could see that the robe was meticulously made. The fabric wasn''t of the highest quality, but the care put into each stitch, each pattern, it was extraordinary and definitely worthy of attention.


    "Ah, my wife made it for me, I guess it can be considered an engagement gift."


    Liang Chen responded casually, a soft smile on his face. The first time he handed Yan Ling the ring and the promise, she had given him this robe. But he had never worn it before, he was too worried that it would be ruined since he had been constantly fighting back then. But now he had to wear it, on this day, during this meeting, he had to wear it no matter what.


    "You... You... Your wife?? Did I get that right? I did, didn''t I? Boy, you''re one crazy motherfucker, anyone ever told you that?"


    Zhongzhi''s eyes looked like they were about to bulge out as he sputtered out the words. Bringing a kid here was one thing, at least he had a reasonable explanation for it. But already having a wife? That was an entirely different matter in this context. Polygamy was fairly common, but the stronger a person was the more loyalty they wanted. The Wolf Queen was one of the youngest Sovereign Gods to date, she had the right to be arrogant and grand. Would a person like that really be fine with being the second wife, or even just a mistress?


    "You... I gotta ask, but you didn''t come here to insult the Wolf Queen, yeah? Cause it really looks like you''re trying to push her buttons here."


    So far, everything Liang Chen had shown made it look like he was just trying to piss off the Wolf Queen. Did they maybe have some prior grudge that he now came to settle since she made such a public event?


    "You''re quite calm about it. You don''t seem foolish enough to not understand what you''re saying, so can I take it that you''ve got something lined up?"


    Arie''s reaction was a bit more subdued than Zhongzhi''s, but his eyes were still somewhat narrowed. The creepy sensation that had washed over them when Liang Chen first arrived showed that he was far from ordinary, and getting to a place like theirs while having a habit of doing stupid things was... difficult to say the least. So he was likely planning something, something that could take care of any fallout. But contrary to his expectations, Liang Chen simply shook his head.


    "No? I''m just going to meet my wife, why would there be anything wrong with wearing what she made for me while doing so?"


    He naturally understood why the two reacted so strongly, the corners of his lips curving up slightly. Who could possibly imagine that the exalted Wolf Queen that set up this groom selection was already taken, it was all just a game. But what exactly the point of the game was, Liang Chen wasn''t sure. It could either be to draw plenty of attention to the wedding, to how great her man was, or more likely, just to annoy Liang Chen.


    "...Your wife... Where is she now?"


    Arie seemed to catch onto something from how Liang Chen spoke and his earlier actions, his gaze narrowing further. Was it confidence or truth? He couldn''t be sure just yet, but things would certainly get chaotic if it was the second option. He wasn''t sure which answer Liang Chen could give that would be preferable, but he was certain that the answer Liang Chen gave was not the right one.


    "Right over there."


    Liang Chen''s free arm stretched out and pointed towards that distant raised courtyard, solitary and dignified as it overlooked all the others. And then Arie and Zhongzhi felt the Qi in the area move, a slight crackle echoing in their ears.


    A golden light flashed out from Liang Chen''s outstretched finger, the horrifying roar of thunder blotting out all other sounds. The bolt appeared and vanished in the same blink, it was just a bright flash of light and then destruction. A path had been carved directly from their courtyard to the raised one, over half of the raised courtyard had vanished once the light faded. And as was to be expected, Liang Chen stood at the base of the path that had burnt itself into the area, a slightly lopsided smile on his face.


    "Didn''t you want to play a nice game, isn''t that why you prepared all this? Well, I gotta get some payback for what you did to my poor Yumao so we''ll be playing my game, not yours."

 Chapter 363: A world for two.

    Yan Ling sat within the courtyard that had been prepared for her, leaning back in her soft chair as she surveyed the other courtyards. Three years, to cultivators it was a timeframe so small that it was basically negligible. But to her, these three years may as well have been a hundred times longer. The reason was simple, she was waiting. She didn''t know when her target would come, didn''t even know if it would come at all, so she could only wait and watch, each passing day adding another degree of severity to the punishment she would make her target suffer.


    "No luck yet, I take it?"


    A calm voice reached her from behind, making her jump slightly since she hadn''t sensed a thing. But she recognized the voice so she didn''t get defensive, it wasn''t like she would be able to do a thing even if she tried to fight back after all.


    "Not yet, no. But if there''s one thing you can call him then it''s an abrupt asshole so there''s no telling when he''ll just drop in. Good afternoon, Miss Luo."


    She heard the sound of a chair being pushed so she turned her head slightly as she greeted, the newly-arrived woman flashing a calm smile as she sat down. Light pink eyes that tugged on your heart, a calm demeanour that almost made you want to sleep, and hair that seemed to swim with all the colours of the rainbow, she was about as far removed from the word nightmare as possible. But even so, that eerie word was attached to her title. Nightmare Queen, a terrifying Universal Heart in her own right, but at the same time she also carried a heavier title, wife of the Nine Star Demon God.


    "It would be nice if he could arrive quickly, waiting in uncertainty is always painful."


    The Nightmare Queen''s gaze, Guo Luo''s gaze, slid forward and passed through the hidden window ahead of them. The corners of her mouth were curved up slightly, almost hopefully, but the look in her eyes was one of reminiscence, pained reminiscence.


    "It''s fine. I''ll just torment him a bit for making me wait like this after I already went through the trouble of looking all over for him. Really, he just had to go and drop off the face of the earth, I''ll beat him if he thinks that he can complain about having to go through a few games..."


    Yan Ling refrained from commenting on the look in Guo Luo''s eyes and instead grumbled out her own grievances instead. When she finally returned to this universe after far too many years, the first thing she wanted to do was find Liang Chen so that they could finally reunite. But he was nowhere to be found, not even the Nine Star Demon God could find him. At first, she just put out a universe-wide notice for him to come, but there was still no reply. So she had to resort to this game, partly to call him out, but mostly to vent her grievances and make him suffer just a smidgen.


    "They always complain. Even when they''re the ones at fault. But trust me, beating them rarely ever works, they''d rather drop dead than make things that easy for you."


    Another voice from behind caught Yan Ling off-guard, but this one was also familiar, albeit not as familiar as Guo Luo''s. Another chair was pulled up as someone plopped down, Guo Luo''s gaze wandering over as she flashed another smile.


    "Rare for you to show yourself here. I take it something good is going to happen then?"


    The woman that had arrived had a demeanour that was a bit different from Guo Luo''s, it was colder and felt a bit more distant. She had pitch-black eyes that contrasted her snow-white hair, her gaze surveying the courtyards that spread out ahead of them, the corners of her lips pulling up into a small but tender smile.


    "Mhm. Xu''er is on her way here so I''ve come to pick her up, I fear that the idiot would kick up too much of a fuss."


    Yan Ling glanced sideways at the new woman that had arrived, not allowing the tender smile on her face to trick her. Anyone who could just sneak up on her like that was far from normal, and if you had to rank people then this woman would probably be among the top 10 worst people to have sneaking up on you.


    "Aye, he certainly seems liable to do that, even if it''s just for the hell of it."


    Guo Luo, however, was still completely relaxed, even chuckling lightly as they spoke. Yan Ling was caught off-guard, but she didn''t allow herself to just sit there like an idiot.


    "Eeeh, even Miss Kongxu has shown herself today? That''s gotta be an omen of good fortune, seem''s like good things are gonna drop from the ceiling today."


    She didn''t try to be overly respectful or polite, she already knew that this woman didn''t like that kind of attitude, it was said that her husband used that tone whenever he tried to annoy her. It was a strange statement, made all the more strange by her husband''s identity, the Divine Emperor, a man said to be on par with the Nine Star Demon God.


    And perhaps as was to be expected, anyone fit to be his wife was far from normal. Mei Kongxu, more commonly referred to as the Divine Empress by friends, and the Decayed End by enemies. Yan Ling had never gotten to see her fight, but from what she had been told, she was a woman who more than earned that nickname, and it would be for the best if you never had to learn how.


    There was no response to Yan Ling''s statement. Mei Kongxu did open her mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat. An odd sensation had suddenly started to fill the area, it was something akin to thousands of centipedes crawling across their skin. The sensation arrived in tandem with screams from the lone hallway that could lead people to these courtyards, a bit of child-like laughter mixed in with some of the screams. Guo Luo and Mei Kongxu looked a bit quizzical, but Yan Ling froze up as the sensation washed over her, the words practically spilling from her lips.


    "...He''s here..."


    Yes, she would not mistake this sensation, or rather, its source. That dread, that existential fear, only one being could possibly bring that with him. Her fingers suddenly felt uncomfortable, her limbs so restless that she almost squirmed slightly.


    "Bastard, you''ve finally decided to show yourself. I''ll personally beat into you just how long I''ve waited, I''ll have you jumping through hoops and doing tricks until I''m satisfied enough to come to meet you. I''ll have you squirm like I... did..."


    Her words slowly started to trail off towards the end. The reason was simple, he showed himself. He strode through the opening and stepped into the light, finally appearing before her for the first time in what felt like several lifetimes. He just stood there with a straight back, surveying the various courtyards while he held that infant. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Oh? He brought along a child? It''s not yours, but it doesn''t really look like him either, did it inherit its mother''s looks, or did he perhaps adopt it?"


    Guo Luo tilted her head slightly as she looked at the youth that revealed himself. Her husband had talked a little about him so she wasn''t unfamiliar with his appearance, but the infant he brought along was definitely something she hadn''t been told about. Mei Kongxu also looked at the small child, her head tilting for a short second before she shook it.


    "Doesn''t seem like it''s his. The blood flowing through its veins doesn''t match his, there''s no bloodline in it. Just a perfectly normal kid, so he probably adopted it due to some circumstances."


    The two women quickly figured out the truth behind the small child, they had been alive long enough to see a lot of things so it was quite a lot easier for them to make accurate guesses in most situations. But Yan Ling was still quiet, she wasn''t even looking at the child and was instead focused fully on Liang Chen, her mouth dry as she squeezed out her voice.


    "He looks...sadder."


    That was the first impression she had, the first thought that struck her when she finally got to see him again. The plans she had to torment him, the games she had prepared, they all flew away as she looked at him. He wore his usual expression, there was even a bit of a smile on his face. But to her, he looked sad, he looked as if he was carrying a mountain on his back.


    "That''s the look of a man with a burden he''s chosen to bear, you''ll have to make sure that it doesn''t end up crushing him."


    Mei Kongxu spoke up again after Yan Ling''s thoughts spilt out. Burdens were a heavy thing, but few burdens were heavier than those you chose to bear. And in her experience, it was always those who looked to be the freest that chose to bear the heaviest burdens, perhaps that was the only way they could truly feel their own freedom.


    Yan Ling didn''t say anything, any words she tried to squeeze out were just caught in her throat. She saw the distant youth turn his head slightly, his gaze drifting across the courtyard before finally settling on hers, she even felt that he was looking directly at her, his golden pupils swimming with experiences she had been unable to share. He muttered a few things, but he spoke so quietly that the words never reached her.


    He looked as if he was going to head right on over, but someone from one of the courtyards called him over before he could move. Her gaze raised and landed on the courtyard, if her memory served her correct then the ones living there were Zhongzhi and Arie Ryung Agnis, one was a strong wanderer while the other was both strong and came from a strong background.


    "Bastards... I should smash your heads into the earth..."


    Her grievances slipped out as she looked at Liang Chen walking over to the two, the women at her side showing small smiles at the sight, she was quite similar to their husbands in that regard. Their gazes then traced Yan Ling''s and landed on the youth in the distance, this was their first time actually seeing him in the flesh.


    "He feels a bit different from ours, doesn''t he?"


    "Yeah, I guess subdued would be the best term for it. Or perhaps contained is more suitable. Whatever the case, he feels a bit more controlled and calm, guess it was about time we got one like that around these parts."


    The two spoke their honest thoughts as they looked at the youth, who was calmly chatting with the two that had called him over. They looked at him a bit dumbly at times so he was probably saying some strange things, but the grander a person was the stranger the things they said would seem so perhaps it wasn''t too weird.


    But then they saw him turn towards their courtyard, a bright and sunny smile on his face as his free arm stretched out. The two women felt it before anything happened, the Qi within the area was starting to move violently, crackling erratically as it jumped about. And in that instant, they both realized the same thing.


    "Ah, of course, he''s not sane."


    "What a shame, I was hoping we would have at least one normal person."


    The words of the two women were punctuated by a blinding flash of golden light and a horrifying roar of thunder, both sight and sound fully blotted out by the combination of the two. Mei Kongxu frowned slightly when she saw the deep golden lightning bolt, it didn''t seem like the youth had been able to sense her so the lightning was heading straight for her.


    It tore through the land and instantly reached the courtyard so she quickly stretched out her arm, twisting her wrist just as the lightning was about to reach her. The lightning twisted away from her as a result, fizzling into pale white smoke with a subdued whimper. But contrary to her expectations, a sliver of energy still remained in the lightning she had diverted, enough for it to tear through the rest of the courtyard beside and behind her.


    ---


    Liang Chen stood at the base of the gorge that his lightning had formed as it tore through the land, a lopsided smile on his face as he gazed at the distant courtyard. Ao Fentian was still in his arms, but he had shielded his eyes and ears so that the lightning wouldn''t scare him, much less harm him. He could already envision Yan Ling''s dumbfounded expression, she would definitely never expect him to flip the board like this.


    But his eyes slowly started to catch sight of something he hadn''t expected within the courtyard, other people. He had been able to sense Yan Ling with perfect clarity, his lightning had been accurately aimed since he could sense that she was alone there. But now he could see two other women there, and one just so happened to be sitting right where his lightning should have gone.


    But she was obviously fine, there were even clear signs that the lightning had twisted away from her before it reached her. She was strong, he could instinctively tell that, strong and dangerous. The other woman felt a bit different, but she also carried a familiarity that he couldn''t quite place his finger on, he would need to get closer to figure out where it came from.


    But then his eyes landed on the girl sitting between the two women. Sapphire eyes that sparkled like the endless ocean and silky cyan hair that was tied into a single long braid, the sea and the wind, all gathered in a single person. A single glance was all it took to throw Liang Chen several years into the past, back to when he first stepped into the Mystic''s Hidden Realm.


    He could feel the wind around him, the breeze that brushed past him as he flew through the air. She had thrown him into the air while clicking her tongue and complaining. She was too weak to fly so the best she could do was simulate flight as she constantly grabbed him and threw him, first to get him to safety and then to position him so that he could attack.


    What a first meeting it had been, she had done nothing but complain and shout at him before putting him to work even though he was wounded. And now here they were, years later, almost lifetimes later it felt like. Back then he had looked dumbfounded because she threw him, but now he just looked dumbfounded from seeing her.


    "She looks lonelier."


    The words slipped out without him even noticing. You could say that she had changed a lot, her hair had once been deep emerald and her eyes had been heterochromia thanks to her changing bloodline and laws. But you could also say that she had barely changed since this cyan hair and sapphire eye colour was what she had to begin with.


    But right now, it didn''t matter to Liang Chen which of the two could be considered correct. Her eyes were different, deeper. How many years had she spent in the other universe, how many years had she fought and trained on her own? And then how many years had she waited, quietly hoped for him to come? Her eyes looked lonely, and her shoulders were slightly slumped, as if she carried a mountain on her back.


    Games, tricks, boards, payback, all of those things faded from his mind as he looked at those eyes, that familiar face. His feet moved before he knew it, his body instantly vanishing and re-appearing in front of her. He had moved so fast that both the two women beside Yan Ling and the two men he had been chatting with looked shocked, but he couldn''t even see their expressions.


    The only thing he saw right now was the girl in front of him, the only thing his eyes reflected was her visage. And as he stood there, she was the same. The entire world had vanished, all sound had been drowned out. The only thing that existed was that sad youth that stood in front of her, that pitiful kid who had grown through suffering until he reached his current point, only he was reflected in her eyes.


    The two moved without words. The child vanished from Liang Chen''s arms as he reached out his arms, Yan Ling stretching out her own so that she could hold his hands. He pulled her up from her seat and she opened her arms wide, coiling them around his chest as she buried her face in his embrace and he buried his face in her hair, the two sharing the same words.


    "I''ve missed you."


    "I missed you."

 Chapter 364: One second.

    Liang Chen felt something unfamiliar as he embraced Yan Ling, as he buried his face in her hair. There was none of the deathly coldness that he had gotten used to, no warm and wet splashes of blood, no smell of burning bodies and decaying lives. There was just a gentle warmth that slowly seeped into him and that familiar fragrance that soothed him, it was so far removed from what he had gotten used to that it was practically the exact opposite.


    But perhaps above all, it was... quiet. There was no shrieking from the dead, no rumbling of thunder, no angry howls from the remnants that filled the land. When was the last time the world around him had been this peaceful, this calm and welcoming? He couldn''t remember. It had always just been fighting and death, that was what he brought, that was what he dragged around. But right now, right here, he was allowed a measure of peace.


    If there was an eternity that would be worth something then he felt like it would be this moment, this was something that deserved to last longer than time itself. But even with his law of time, it was impossible to achieve something like that so the embrace ended even though it felt far too short. The one who ended the exchange was Yan Ling, Liang Chen''s gaze lowering to meet her eyes.


    "Little Lan, she''s with you, right?"


    Her expression was soft, warm. It was an expression she usually reserved for special occasions when she decided to take a little break from her mischievous and teasing ways. And once again, it was an expression that Liang Chen had not seen from anyone in a long time, it was different from the twisted expressions of despair or anger as people died.


    "Of course. You threw her at me so I had to take good care of her after all."


    She herself may not be as appreciative of it, but Liang Chen had indeed done his best to take care of Lan Yun, she was practically their daughter after all. His finger touched his interspatial ring and drew out the one they were talking about, the blue-eyed and white-haired girl who barely looked 10 appearing at their side. Her hair was tied into the same type of braid as Yan Ling, it was just a fair bit shorter.


    "Mamaran''s back!"


    Lan Yun''s bubbly voice echoed out as she bounced forward and hugged Yan Ling''s waist. Compared to him, she had spent far more time with Yan Ling so it was inevitable that she would be more attached to her. Looking at it from an outsider''s perspective, he had done a terrible job as a father, his own father would surely be ashamed of him. But it luckily seemed like Lan Yun had no plans of saying anything about it, the two girls sharing a look as Yan Ling stroked the child''s head.


    "You remember what I taught you, right?"


    "Of course course course! I made sure to remember it perfectly!"


    Lan Yun pulled away from Yan Ling''s waist and spun around to face Liang Chen, her lips curved up so far that it seemed like she wanted to split her face in two with her smile. Yan Ling also looked at Liang Chen, one hand on top of Lan Yun''s hand as she smiled as softly as she did when she first helped Liang Chen sleep again.


    "Welcome home."


    "Welcome home, Paparan! We''ve been waiting!"


    One spoke calmly while one shouted energetically, completely ignoring their surroundings and everything else. And then there was the one who was spoken to, the one who was welcomed back, standing there dumbfounded, his feet rooted to the ground.


    "Ah..."


    The words wouldn''t come out. His throat felt stuffy and clogged, so warm that it was almost searing. His eyes hurt. He blinked rapidly, but the pain remained, the only thing the blinking achieved was making the rest of his face wet. Was he crying? No, that was a stupid question, he could tell even without looking at his own face, he was definitely crying right now. But that was fine, he saw that Yan Ling was also crying a little so it should be fine if he did the same.


    "I''m home."


    He finally managed to squeeze out the words, finally managed to move forward, his arms wrapping around the two in front of him. Home. When was the last time he had a home he could return to? For how long had he been wandering from one place to the next, from one battlefield to the next? How many years had it been, both in real-time and in time for him? How long ago had his parents died, how long had it been since he was chased out of his hometown and his house burned down.


    "I''m home... I''m home..."


    It didn''t matter anymore. His home was gone, burned to ash along with his past. But he was home now, his new home. He had fought, he had killed, he had protected, and now he had earned his new home, his new family.


    "Yes, you''re home now, it''s all right."


    Yan Ling wrapped her arms around Liang Chen, whispering gently. She could feel his back as they hugged, she could feel his spine and shoulder blades. She hadn''t seen it from a distance, but now she was confident that he had gotten thinner. His life was eating away at him, his choices were grinding him down. What sort of life had he lived while they were apart, what had he seen, what had he done? She didn''t know any of it, but she could feel it as she embraced him, the weight of it all.


    She held him close without saying anything else, Lan Yun sandwiched between them, uncertain how she could possibly hug both of them at the same time. Yan Ling could feel her hair get wet as Liang Chen buried his face in it, but something as small as that was far from enough to wipe the smile off her face. He wasn''t the only one who came back home. Her mother had betrayed her, her brothers had died, her father had sacrificed himself, her sect had perished. Only she and her older brother remained, everything else had been lost. But now she was home, now everything was possible.


    "So I take it this was the purpose of the groom selection? A farce meant to draw out a single person?"


    But in the end, no matter how cut off they felt from the rest of the world, the surroundings were still there, the other people were still there. The voice that cut through the tender moment had accurately understood the situation and acted as the mouth for those who had waited here in hopes of marrying the Wolf Queen. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Liang Chen and Yan Ling both drew in a short breath and separated, wiping away the tears that still lingered on their faces. They looked at each other somewhat bitterly, while also somewhat amused. Of course they would be interrupted here.


    Liang Chen turned around to the source of the voice, a muscular youth with a head full of golden hair like a mane. Contrary to expectations, his dark brown eyes were calm and his demeanour relaxed, he didn''t look particularly offended at having been involved in this farce. Liang Chen nodded his head, he didn''t bother mincing his words and stated it plainly.


    "Yes, I am afraid that is the case. My wife is a bit mischievous like that, and was probably annoyed at my silence. But I can understand it if some of you are offended at that, you''ve wasted a bit of time here after all. So, if anyone actually wants to fight to expel that annoyance, then I will humour you. But I have no intentions of handing over my wife, so you''d best be prepared."


    It was just to be expected that they would end up annoyed after having wasted their time here, it had been three years for some of them after all. So if they wanted to fight, be it to protect their pride or for a chance to win the maiden''s hand, then he would join them, and he would crush them. His gaze was calm as he spoke and locked eyes with the youth, completely unaware of the fact that he had done a complete 180 on his earlier words that they would play his game, not Yan Ling''s.


    "Hmm. No, I''m good, I just wanted to make sure I got things right. I have no interest in fighting over someone else''s woman, it''s a waste of perfectly good emotions."


    The man scoffed slightly at Liang Chen''s words. Yan Ling was hailed as one of the youngest Sovereign Gods, those who could come to this groom selection weren''t foolish children who thought with their groins. They had lived and fought for many years already, they had experienced and learned many things so they weren''t the type to lose their heads in anger or shame over something like this.


    Liang Chen''s gaze slid away from the man as he stepped back, slowly moving across the other people that had revealed themselves from their courtyards. Some of them looked a bit exasperated, but none of them were too angry at the scene, some even treated it as a little show, an interlude to add some humour to their lives.


    "Fuck it, I''ll give you a go."


    A man raised his hand just as Liang Chen''s gaze was about to reach the last few people. The man had slicked back blue hair and light yellow eyes, his body looked a bit thin but well balanced, his lips slightly curved. He took a few steps forward, stretching as he did so.


    "The name''s Shaoya, wandering cultivator. I specialize in speed so I''m itching to see which of us is faster. Don''t bother holding back and just go full force, otherwise I won''t be able to determine a thing."


    Shaoya wasn''t angry or annoyed, just curious. He hadn''t gotten to see everything, but he had heard something cut through the wind so he was certain that Liang Chen was fast, faster than most normal cultivators. So he wanted to see, who was faster, who had specialized harder? He finished stretching and brought out his weapons, two shortswords, one a glittering red while the other a cold blue. Liang Chen gave a slight nod and then turned his head, flashing Lan Yun a small smile.


    "Can you do Paparan a favour and close your eyes for a second?"


    He preferred the cheery and bubbly Lan Yun who took after her mother, there was no need for her to see too much of things like this, it might twist her mind like it did his. But it seemed like he had done similar things a bit too often in the past, Lan Yun simply puffed out her cheeks and latched onto Yan Ling''s thighs.


    "Nuh uh! Whenever Paparan says something like that I end up getting tucked away!"


    His smile cramped slightly as Lan Yun practically hid behind Yan Ling. He only had to raise his eyes slightly to see that Yan Ling''s lips were twitching somewhat, she was probably just an inch away from laughing at him. He crouched down so that he could lock eyes with Lan Yun, smiling gently


    "I promise I won''t do that this time, really. Look at me, do I look like a liar right now."


    Lan Yun stared at him intently, scrutinizing his gaze and the curve of his lips. She raised her head to look at Yan Ling, who simply smiled at her calmly and left the decision up to her. In the end, she ground her teeth slightly and huffed as she relented.


    "Gunununu... Fine! But Paparan only said a second, so I''m only going to close my eyes for one second, hmph!"


    She couldn''t not trust him when he was looking at her like that. But she still had to teach him a lesson so she had no intention of doing anything more, or less, than what he had said. One second, that was all she would give him. But to Liang Chen, that answer was more than enough.


    "That''s fine, one second is enough."


    The corners of his lips curved up as he straightened his legs and stood up, ruffling Lan Yun''s hair to thank her. He locked eyes with Yan Ling as he stood up, her own lips curved up in an amused arch.


    "Hoh, you''ve gotten cocky while we were apart."


    One second is enough. Those were very arrogant words for a fight like this, they were not words that Liang Chen would ever have said in the past, it just wasn''t in his nature. He simply smiled at her statement and turned around, his gaze landing on the distant Shaoya.


    "No, I''ve gotten strong."


    The two men locked eyes, Shaoya letting out a deep breath as he readied his weapons. He could see it in Liang Chen''s eyes, he wasn''t going to play around with him. And how could he, his wife and daughter were right behind him, looking at him. His home was behind him. The two men looked at each other in silence, the somewhat cheeky voice of Lan Yun serving as the starting signal as she closed her eyes.


    "O..."


    Liang Chen''s energy burst forth the second Lan Yun opened her mouth, the air in the area groaning as he stepped forward. He cut through the air as he vanished from sight and instantly appeared in front of Shaoya, the man who specialized in speed barely able to raise his two swords in defence.


    Liang Chen''s knee rose without mercy and smashed into the two weapons from below, pushing them upwards and leaving Shaoya''s chest unguarded. He straightened his already raised leg and smashed his foot into Shaoya''s chest, sending him flying backwards.


    "N..."


    He kicked off the air and shot after Shaoya, arriving just beneath him and punching upwards, his fist crashing into the man''s spine. Shaoya wasn''t even able to react as he was launched into the sky, towards the ceiling of the defensive dome. Liang Chen chased after him again, too fast for most people to even follow with their senses.


    He arrived next to the ascending Shaoya and sent out another kick, his foot smashing into Shaoya''s chin and halting his upwards rise, sending him flying sideways again. The empty air was like solid ground for Liang Chen as he chased after Shaoya, once again instantly arriving at his side.


    "E..."


    For the first time since he awakened after absorbing Purgatory, Liang Chen was using most of his powers, used one of his greatest advantages. Lightning law cultivators were said to be as fast as lightning, but was that really true? The Qi they unleashed, the attacks they launched, all of them were controlled by their thoughts and their senses, and could such a thing ever be as fast as true lightning? The answer was no.


    But Liang Chen didn''t have those restrictions. Liang Chen was lightning, he was the void, he was the wind, and they were him. If lightning wanted to move, why would it not move as fast as lightning did?


    He arrived above Shaoya and smashed down with his foot, his heel slamming into his abdomen and sending him crashing down to the earth, embedding him in a crater in the ground. He then kicked off from the air again and returned to his previous position, right next to Lan Yun and Yan Ling, his home.


    "Done! That was a one second Papa...ran?"


    Lan Yun''s eyes opened with a triumphant and cheeky sound, but her words trailed off as the sound of Shaoya crashing into the earth reached her. And there stood Liang Chen, right by her side as if he had never left, smiling at her like a reassuring father.


    "See, I told you Paparan wasn''t a liar."

 Chapter 365: The long-awaited promise.

    Yan Ling looked at Liang Chen and the reassuring smile he wore as he stood there, triumphantly looking down at Lan Yun. Fast. Extremely so, even she had to admit that she wouldn''t be more than 50 or 60% confident in victory if she had to face that kind of speed. But that was just factoring in the speed, she knew that Liang Chen still had another trump card, his main specialization even.


    He was... horribly skewed, that was probably the best way to describe him. Fighting and training, that was basically everything he had done ever since his parents were executed, he''d never gotten the time to delve into anything else. So what did he get from this, from abandoning practically everything else? Attack power that bordered on the impossible, he may have even crossed that border now after all this time. Speed beyond mortal limits and attack power that could rend worlds, what a terrifying thing that was.


    "One second... It looks like you''ve learned how to be honest while we''ve been apart."


    But, in the end, what did it matter to her how terrifying her man was? It was only right that he was terrifying, he was the man who stole her heart, the man who would bring existence to its knees so that he could stand as the sole beacon of evil. So go ahead, be terrifying, be monstrous, I''ll be there to support your shoulder whenever things get hard.


    Liang Chen obviously couldn''t read Yan Ling''s thoughts, his hand resting on Lan Yun''s head. But he didn''t need to read her thoughts to see the care behind her gaze, the warmth in her eyes, the support that existed for him and him alone. With someone to look at him like that, how could his smile ever fade?


    "I''ve always been honest, you''re the one who was the problem."


    Straight-forward, if you wanted to be kind then you could describe Liang Chen like that. And if you wanted to be a bit more realistic then you could use simple-minded. He had one thought and he acted on it, he spoke one thing and he moved for it, a beast whose limbs moved solely on emotion. The companion that stole his soul, however... she was a trickster through and through, he didn''t even want to count the number of headaches she gave him, even if she snorted and denied the accusations.


    "Hmph, blatant slander, I''m an upstanding citizen."


    What an awkward place to hold this conversation, standing in front of the gazes of multiple Sovereign Gods and others close to that level, surrounded by a shattered courtyard dominated by a queasy tenseness. Really, what a terrible place they had chosen. And yet, neither of them cared, one smirking lightly while the other repeated their earlier snort.


    "Oh, then who was it that came up with the idea to infiltrate the Qing clan''s party for the younger generation and poison their food to cause chaos?"


    "A one-time thing supported by a certain freak, nothing more."


    What a pointless conversation. Words understood only by the two of them, events experienced in the time the two shared. None here could understand it, none would care about it, it may as well be entirely unknown. But this pointless thing, it meant the world to them, that unknown time, it was irreplaceable to them.


    "It''s nice to see a reunion like this, don''t you think? Everything turned red when I saved Jun''er so we didn''t really have the time to enjoy ourselves like this."


    "Mhm, it''s relaxing. My reunion was nice and calm, but my clown has always been good at making us enough time so I''d say that''s probably to be expected."


    Two unknown voices quietly reached Liang Chen as he stood there, the hairs on his neck rising slightly. He had seen that there were two other women in the courtyard after he launched his attack, but they had slipped from his mind as he focused fully on Yan Ling. Now that they spoke up they also crept their way back into his mind. He hadn''t forgotten how one of them had been sitting right where his lightning went, yet she had remained seemingly unharmed. They weren''t weak, definitely not.


    "Ah, right. Sorry, I forgot. Here, let me introduce you."


    Their words also brought Yan Ling back to the wider reality so she turned her head somewhat awkwardly. It was one thing to forget about normal people, but forgetting about existences like these could easily lead to some grim situations. That was especially the case when she thought about what sort of relationship one of them had with the lord of her master. But there was no need for her to introduce them, Liang Chen''s gaze sliding across them.


    "No need. You should be the Nightmare Queen, correct? And you... the father was the Divine Emperor so I guess that makes you the Divine Empress?"


    Light pink eyes and hair that swam with all the colours of the rainbow, the first woman resembled a stained glass window, she seemed to exist just to draw your attention. Pitch-black eyes and snow-white hair, the second woman could be said to look a lot more normal, at least colour-wise, but her existence radiated a chill that could not stem from any ice-related law.


    "You can just call me Guo Luo, I''ve never been very fond of that title, it''s a bit too pompous. But to have actually read up on even us, maybe you really are a bit more sensible than our guys, at least a little."


    The rainbow-haired woman smiled, a calm and gentle smile that did not befit her title. And yet, that was the title that had stuck with her despite the long passage of time so she had clearly done something to deserve it, Liang Chen was not too interested in finding out exactly what.


    "No, I haven''t read up on either of you. But you, Miss Luo, give off a vibe similar to an acquaintance of mine. As for you... your daughter really takes after you."


    Indeed, Liang Chen hadn''t really read up on the powerhouses of this universe, of any universe for that matter. But there were other ways to figure out people''s identities. When Liang Chen first fought Shen Fei, he had used a move that he proudly proclaimed was taught to him by the daughter of the Nightmare Queen. And the rainbow-haired woman in front of him gave off an air that was exceedingly similar to the aura that Shen Fei had at that time. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    But she was strong, far too strong to have taught Shen Fei that technique in the past, so she was more likely to be the queen herself rather than the daughter. And the other woman was even easier, she shared both appearance and aura with Li Zhao Xu, who had fought so hard to understand why her father liked battles. If there was an emperor then there was an empress, it was elementary.


    "Takes after me? You wouldn''t say that after meeting her father."


    The other woman, the Divine Empress, didn''t deny his conjecture, wordlessly acknowledging it. The Divine Emperor... according to Li Xu was a man who liked battles, he was a junkie that almost viewed it as art. He wasn''t the kind of man that Liang Chen was terribly interested in meeting, especially not if he was like Li Xu and picked fights wantonly.


    "Xu, she''s still with you, isn''t she?"


    The Divine Empress'' gaze was calm, almost quiet as it rested on Liang Chen. It felt like a calm winter night, the mounds of snow absorbing all sound and leaving nothing but unmoving darkness, not even the light of the moon capable of rocking it. There was a chill to it, just like any other winter night, but there was also a serene beauty tucked away beneath that chill, or perhaps calling it a quiet acceptance would be better.


    "Yeah, she''s here."


    Liang Chen gave his interspatial ring a slight touch and pulled out the person he had in mind, the white-haired and crimson-eyed Li Zhao Xu appearing from within the ring. Her eyes moved about the surroundings for a bit before settling on the Divine Empress, a happy shout escaping her.


    "Mother!"


    She leapt forward like a small child and wrapped her arms around the Divine Empress, who formed a warm and gentle smile that contrasted her earlier aura.


    "How was it, did you feel like you managed to learn something new?"


    The Divine Empress'' hand slowly rubbed Zhao Xu''s back, more like a mother consoling a small child than a mother welcoming back her adult daughter. But Liang Chen had learned thanks to Lan Yun, that was just how it was to be a parent. Zhao Xu raised her head slightly from the Empress'' embrace, a grin on her face.


    "Nope, I couldn''t figure out a single thing! And that one there trashed me, beat me black and blue, but I still couldn''t learn a single thing."


    Her hand stretched out and she pointed at Liang Chen, declaring her failure without the slightest bit of shame. She had at least looked bitter when she originally spoke with Liang Chen about it, but all of that seemed to have melted away when she met her mother. Or perhaps she was just hiding it to look strong in front of her family, only the one in question would know.


    "That''s fine too, people aren''t meant to learn or understand everything. Just reach out one hand at a time and grasp what you can, no need to worry too much about the things that never reach your hands."


    Luckily, it didn''t seem like the Divine Empress was planning on pursuing the fact that Liang Chen had beat her daughter, preferring to place her full focus on her instead. But Yan Ling nudged his side with her elbow and looked at him somewhat incredulously.


    "You...beat up Mei Kongxu''s daughter?"


    That wasn''t just anyone''s daughter, that was the Divine Empress'' daughter! The Decayed End, a woman feared throughout a multitude of universes, he had beaten her daughter black and blue! You may as well just say that normal suicide wasn''t good enough so you wanted to do something special. Liang Chen could only shrug his shoulders lightly, it wasn''t as if he had known anything back then, nor would it have mattered.


    "To be perfectly fair, she attacked me first at the time, I even said that I had no interest in the battle."


    Liang Chen''s target had only been Tian Shenju at the time, he had even been quietly hoping that Zhao Xu wouldn''t be there. But his luck was poor so she had indeed been there, she was even fighting Tian Shenju at the time.


    "Ah, he did do that. But he still chose to fight rather than flee, that counts for something, right?"


    Zhao Xu cut in from the side, but whether or not she was trying to support Liang Chen or damn him further was impossible to tell. Who could stop him if he wanted to flee? Who among those present wouldn''t think that he could flee at any moment if he wanted to?


    "Life''s been hectic for you it seems."


    Yan Ling spoke as if she sympathized, but her expression showed everything but that emotion. The personality of this Zhao Xu seemed to be one that didn''t mesh well with Liang Chen, yet she had clearly stuck by his side, she had been in his interspatial ring after all.


    "Don''t mention it, it''ll give me a headache."


    He felt like shaking his head, he luckily didn''t have to spend too much time with Li Zhao Xu, Shen Fei was the one forced to suffer that fate. Liang Chen''s gaze moved slightly, but Guo Luo was just smiling peacefully, contently, from the sideline and didn''t seem like she was going to involve herself too much. The Divine Empress, Mei Kongxu, was also preoccupied with her daughter so she seemed to be done talking. It wasn''t the best time, but it was the promised time.


    "...Do you remember what we promised last time?"


    Their last meeting, how long ago had it been? how many years had it been since their last separations, how many rivers of blood, how many scars? But they had reunited in the end, they had fought and struggled for that promise. Yan Ling knew what was coming, a smile as soft as silk forming on her face as she gently touched the ring that rested on Liang Chen''s finger.


    A ring split into two colours, a wavy blue and a wavy silver, both dancing around the ring while an emerald sun adorned it as the centrepiece. It was a wholly useless ring, it wasn''t even engraved with a singly array, it was just made from stupidly sturdy materials. But it was important, more important than any other thing she had ever made.


    "The bright dawn that rose from the Green Rivers. How could I forget? No more separations, no more distance."


    The man whose name meant the bright dawn, the man who rose from the Green Rivers to become what he was now. It was forged by her, for him, to symbolize him and their promise. Liang Chen placed his hand atop of Yan Ling''s, the promise she had made him back then was seared into his brain, the promise they shared.


    "Always and forever, I''ll be by your side."


    "Until we see the end of time."


    Simple, straightforward, seemingly impossible. That was their promise, that was their eternity, that was their time. Liang Chen''s other hand stretched out and landed on the ring that adorned Yan Ling''s hand, the ring he had personally made for her as his promise.


    A simple silver ring that held six crystals, one golden, one white, one grey, one cyan, one purple, and one black. Each crystal was made by his laws, each crystal represented a part of him, a part that she had conquered. But one was missing, the final piece he had promised her years ago.


    His Qi quietly moved, seeped out from him and latched onto the ring, onto the centrepiece that was left empty. And then it got greedy. It was as if a black hole had been born there, all the energy in the area getting violently torn towards the centrepiece, the foliage in the area quivering gently.


    The final crystal quietly formed. A wolf''s eye, that was the form he chose, the proud gaze of a wolf facing the heavens, that was the image of Yan Ling that was most engraved in his mind. At first glance, the crystal looked perfectly transparent, as if it wasn''t even there. But as you looked closer, colours would flit by. Blue, gold, white, black, grey, cyan, purple, they danced about without rhyme or reason.


    The shape was her, the colour was him. He was transparent, the empty void. But at the same time, he was everything else as well, the embodiment of the paradox. Finally, finally, he had made good on that promise they shared years ago, finally, the time had come.


    "Yan Ling, will you stay with me? Will you marry me?"


    What a first meeting it had been for the two, what a tumultuous time they had met in. And what a time they had shared, ups and downs in an unending stream. But they had met, they had shared time, and because of that, the answer to his question was already set in stone.


    "To the end of time, and then even further beyond."

 Chapter 366: The shared pain.

    The world fell silent when Liang Chen got his answer. Or perhaps it was just him, his mind so focused on the fulfilment of that old promise that everything else just faded away. His hands felt warm, the touch of Yan Ling''s skin felt like fire. Each beat of her heart was transmitted to him through their touch, each thump of her heart made the fire-like sensation dance passionately across his hands.


    "Ah..."


    When was the last time he had been this happy? When had his blood last rushed like this for a reason other than anger and death? Right now, he was alive. Right now, the heart that shouldn''t exist in an elemental body like his was beating ceaselessly. And right now, this cruel world that had twisted him, for just a moment it seemed as if it had become the world he always envisioned as he killed.


    "Aha, you should see the look on your face right now. You look even more dumbfounded than you did when I first tossed you around like a ragdoll, you look so dumb."


    Sound broke into his quiet world, opened it up so that it could accept the wider world. Yan Ling was giggling as she looked at him, but she hardly looked better. Her lips were curled into a wide grin that occasionally twitched, it was trying to grow wider even though it was already stretched as far as it could go. Her face was also a wet mess, tears had started streaming from her face at some point, she really looked like a mess right now.


    "You always need to get in the last word, don''t you?"


    But this mess, it was exactly what, who, Liang Chen loved. He wasn''t confident in his own mental strength, especially not the mental strength of his past self. Were it not for Yan Ling then he would have undoubtedly become even more twisted than he already was, he would have become something he wouldn''t even be able to recognize. But this mess had saved him, so he loved it oh so dearly.


    His hands let go of the scorching fire and rose until they rested on her cheeks. He had cried, he had laughed, he had smiled, he had proposed, he had done everything he wanted after meeting her again. But there was one thing he had yet to do, and now the urge to do so was so strong that it made his lungs feel clogged.


    His body bent and his head lowered, and finally, his lips met hers as he closed his eyes. If her hands were fire then her lips were the sun, that small moment of contact almost enough to completely swallow Liang Chen. He could feel the sparks, the air crackling as if it was alive. It felt as if their love had manifested itself into reality, a subdued celebration of their emotions.


    But then a scent that had no home here hit his nose. Scorched flesh, the sizzling of burning meat. It was a scent and sound too familiar to him, he brought it with him wherever he went. But it had no home here, this was not a place where he had unleashed his death.


    His eyes immediately shot open to locate the source of the smell, his pupils shrinking violently as he did. The sparks he heard, the crackling air, it wasn''t just in his head. There really were sparks dancing between him and Yan Ling, they rose up from where their lips met, scattering after a few seconds. And that scent, it too rose from where their lips met. Yan Ling''s lips were burning, crackling with lightning as they met Liang Chen''s.


    He hurriedly let go of her cheeks and pulled back, but Yan Ling did not allow him to escape. Her hands shot forward and landed on his cheeks, holding him in place as she leaned forward and resumed the kiss again. Her lips once again started to burn and crackle when they met his, the scent of sweet apples drifting through the air, one of Liang Chen''s poisons. She maintained the kiss as she ignored the sizzling, separating their locked lips after a handful of seconds.


    "Love is painful they say, but I say that it''s definitely worth it."


    She licked her lips as she spoke. There wasn''t even any blood dripping from them, the lightning had seared through her skin without allowing anything to spill. The poison that had tried to enter her was stopped by the very same lightning that had seared her lips, evaporated before it could do any harm. She had separated their lips, but her hands were still resting on his cheeks, allowing her to peer deeply into his chaotic eyes.


    "You''ve fought hard, Little Freak. You went far and you grew strong, you did a lot, and you saw a lot. You saved many, and you killed many. It must have been hard, you''ve even had to throw away your own existence and become something else entirely. But I''m proud of you, Liang Chen. My Chen''er, my Little Freak. So don''t think about this pain, don''t worry about it. I will bear it, and I will overcome it. So just kiss me, and don''t be afraid."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    She was the one who knew Liang Chen best in the world so she had been the first to notice it. Something was different about him, she had noticed it when he first arrived. And now, when they kissed, she had found out exactly what it was. He was no longer human. Well, he was technically a Sebettu originally, but that was a bit beside the point.


    The crackling as their lips met, it felt like she was kissing a bolt of lightning, as if she dipped her lips into a pool of poison. They were laws she was intimately familiar with, they belonged to her husband after all. She wasn''t stupid, she had lived and learned a lot so she could easily hazard a guess as to what had changed.


    His body cultivation technique, it revolved around turning your body into your laws. He had succeeded in it, he had accomplished what the technique set out to do. She didn''t know whether it was part of the technique or not, but he had become his laws, his elements. He had lost his humanity and become an Elemental, a body consisting solely of his fused law.


    And in that, laid the current problem. A body consisting of lightning and poison, how could a normal person interact with it? The skin he wore could be considered clothes that kept the elements chained down, preventing them from interacting with the outside world. But his fluids, they did not have the same safeguard. His tears were poison to all who dared drink them, his saliva was liquid lightning, his blood was wind and water, you had to touch them at your own risk.


    "...I was hoping that it wouldn''t be like this..."


    Liang Chen''s expression turned bitter and skewed. He knew that there would be consequences to becoming an elemental, but it wasn''t like he had a lot of options at the time. He had unknowingly made a mistake in his body cultivation, the only way he would be able to survive while cultivating was to become an Elemental.


    He hoped that the consequences wouldn''t extend to a point where they would affect his family, but it seemed like it was a vain hope in the end. As he was now, he couldn''t even kiss his wife without hurting her. His thoughts were written plainly on his face, engraved onto his twisted and bitter lips. And Yan Ling did not like what she saw, so she erased those letters with her own lips.


    The sound of crackling once again spread through the air, the scent of scorched flesh accompanied by sizzling. Her fingers almost dug into Liang Chen''s cheeks as she held his head in place, she would not allow him to escape her love because of something so small. When she finally pulled back her head again, the lips that had started to heal thanks to her strong bloodline were burnt once more. But she licked them all the same, a satisfied expression on her face.


    "I like it, it tastes like the Little Freak I know. It''s just pain, nothing more. I''ve felt it a thousand times before, you''ve felt it a thousand times before, we''ve suffered enough to get used to it. So let me savour this pain, let me bear it for you, that is how we share burdens. One day we''ll overcome it, we always do."


    She leaned forward again when she finished talking, planting her lips against his. Her lips had just started to heal but now they were burning again. It was as if she was trying to scar herself, to brand herself with his mark for all to see. But she just wanted to bear his pain. That was one of the reasons she had fought so hard, trained so desperately.


    The Storm Wolf sect, it didn''t consist of just the wolf, nor did it consist of just the storm. Only when the two were together could it reach its true potential, only when the storm raised the wolf, only when the wolf supported the storm, only then would it show its true splendour. She was weak in the past, undeserving of the storm that she found. But now she was strong, now she could support the storm, now she could bear its pain and burdens, now they could fly together.


    "Always... You''ve always been unfair, you know that, right?"


    Liang Chen felt a strange mixture of bitterness and gratitude when Yan Ling pulled back her lips again. She was always like this, always making him do things he didn''t want to. But he never was able to say no to her, the sheer conviction and care in her eyes when she looked at him made it impossible to say no. It was always for him, every time. She made him hurt her, but it was always for him. And every time he relented, she flashed him the same smile as she did now, that bright smile that melted him.


    "Only towards you, Little Freak, it was always only towards you."


    She wasn''t lying, it was always only towards him. Back in the sect, she was always different, the young miss everyone wanted to get close to but couldn''t because she kept them at arm''s length. It was only towards him that she was different, only towards the one who she had shared her pain with.


    Her lips had finished healing during the short exchange they shared, even burnt flesh was no trouble for her strong bloodline, especially now that she had become a Sovereign God. So she presented them. She didn''t push them forward, she just presented them. She wanted him to do it, she wanted him to share it with her. And so he did. He made sure that Lan Yun wasn''t squeezed between them due to their earlier movements and then leaned forward, placing his lips on hers.


    The sizzling of flesh, the crackling of lightning, the dancing of sparks that lit up between them. He looked straight at her as they hit him, and she too looked straight at him, not even flinching. This was their pain, it belonged solely to the two of them, and it was shared solely by the two of them. It was a vow, just like the rings they now bore. And because she knew that, she could smile brilliantly as they separated again.


    "The wedding, it needs to be grand enough for the whole universe to see. But before we get it started, there''s someplace I need to take you. I met some people in the universe where I trained, a lovely couple and their daughter. They need to be at our wedding, I promised them that they would become part of the family, so we need to go pick them up."

 Chapter 367: Family. (1)

    "Alright, the poor guy''s had to wait long enough, I''m sure Yumao''s gonna suffocate if you leave him be any longer."


    Yan Ling sat on a comfortable couch as she spoke, Lan Yun sitting on her lap as she was getting her hair brushed and braided. They were no longer within the large hall where the groom selection had taken place, they had moved onto a flying ship that Yan Ling had brought out. She wanted to get the wedding underway as fast as possible so she wasted no time in heading out to pick up the three people she had mentioned.


    Liang Chen, who sat next to Yan Ling and played with Lan Yun''s fingers, gave a slight nod of his head. Yumao had indeed been getting a bit antsy within the interspatial ring, he might just start a bit of a revolt if he left him alone any longer. But Yumao wasn''t the only one he had to bring out, there were others he also needed to introduce her to. So he swiped his interspatial ring and brought them out, Yumao''s energetic voice immediately reverberating throughout the room.


    "Howdy, Missus! It''s good that you''re finally back, Father here''s been deathly lonely without you, even crying himself to sleep some nights. But oh, you need to watch out, he said that he had to spank you when you met again. Naturally, if that''s your kink then you can just enjoy it, but please warn me in advance so that I can escape to a soundproof place!"


    Liang Chen instantly regretted bringing out Yumao. The feathered serpent had shrunk down to a manageable size so that he wouldn''t break the table in front of them, but the words he spat out as he hung there in the air made Liang Chen''s brows tremble. He had almost forgotten just how badly Yan Ling had ruined him, it was bound to be disastrous when they reunited.


    "Crying?"


    Just as he feared, Yan Ling''s gaze slid towards him, the corners of her mouth tilting upwards as if she was about to laugh. Yumao''s gaze followed hers as he nodded energetically, Liang Chen could already feel a headache approaching.


    "You''ve raised my poor little boy to be a liar. But oh, I did say that I was going to spank you so that''s gonna happen, you have no idea how many headaches I''ve gotten from the way you''ve made him talk."


    It had been the same ever since Yumao learned to speak in the human tongue, he had spouted so many words that Liang Chen had never even heard before. And the way he talked to others was especially headache-inducing, it was like he was trying to egg them on. He naturally knew where this speech pattern came from, but the one responsible for it scoffed as if she was offended.


    "Bah, nothing but slander, that''s all you''ve ever done. But ah, I''ll look forward to the spanking, just tell me when."


    Lan Yun leaned her head back slightly as Liang Chen and Yan Ling spoke, looking at Yan Ling somewhat curiously. Yan Ling rubbed her hair a bit and returned her head to its proper position so that she could keep brushing her hair, this definitely wasn''t the time to teach her about things like spanking. Yumao landed on top of Liang Chen''s head and nestled into his hair, allowing Yan Ling''s gaze to drift towards the other people that had appeared.


    "Alright, you''ve had to listen to our ramblings for long enough. Introduce us, won''t you?"


    There were two other people that had appeared from the interspatial ring, one who she had seen before and one whom she hadn''t. Her gaze first slid towards the one she had seen, the infant that Liang Chen was now holding.


    "This is Ao Fentian. His family... They died because I arrived in their city. I could not prevent his parents from dying, I could not protect them. His mother begged me, silently, wordlessly. He was all that was left of their family, she wanted at least him to live. So I took him in, I will make sure that he lives a happy life, that is the least I can do for him."


    Ao Fentian had tufts of black hair that hung a bit loosely and green eyes that were a bit red, he had probably been crying and kicking up a fuss just before Liang Chen brought him out. He was looking at Yan Ling with a head that moved from side to side slowly, his hands opening and closing repeatedly.


    Liang Chen didn''t go into too many details, but Yan Ling could imagine how painful it must have been, how chaotic and violent. A child left alone due to someone else''s mistakes, he probably saw far too much of himself in that infant. She moved Lan Yun over to her knee and leaned forward, picking up the small infant and placing him on her other knee, rocking it gently as she smiled at him.


    "Hello there, Little Tian. I''m Yan Ling and this is Yan Lan Yun, if you want to then you can consider me to be your mother and her to be your sister. We may not be as good as the real one, but we''ll be the best we can, I promise."


    A fake mother, Yan Ling was intimately familiar with how painful such a thing could be. That was why she was determined to be the best she could be, she would never allow even a shadow of her own mother to exist in her. Ao Fentian laughed lightly as he rocked on Yan Ling''s knee, Lan Yun playing with his hands by allowing him to grab onto her fingers. Yan Ling smiled quietly as she looked at the two children, raising her gaze towards the last person that had appeared.


    "And this, this is Sheng Lian. Liang Sheng Lian. Do you remember the place where your brother first found me? She was born there, a small little lotus growing from some of the blood I lost back then. I couldn''t help but pick her up and bring her along. I nurtured her a little and she ended up taking human form before long and she''s chosen to stick by my side for the moment."


    Sheng Lian had short black hair that barely reached her ears, and striking violet eyes, her features were so delicate that she almost looked like a flower. But then again, that was exactly what she was, a flower that got to take human form. But she was born from Liang Chen''s blood all the same so it didn''t matter what form she took.


    "It''s not for the moment, Father. It is until the end."


    Yan Ling''s smile couldn''t help but widen when Sheng Lian rebutted Liang Chen''s closing statement. Liang Sheng Lian, the fact that she had been given that last name meant that Liang Chen considered her family, she was his daughter no matter what. It was the same with Lan Yun and Yumao.


    Yan Lan Yun, born from an egg they had picked up and fed a bit of Yan Ling''s blood. Liang Yumao, born from an egg that was fed Liang Chen''s blood. Of the three, not one of them was born in a conventional way, but all three of them were their children. Yan Ling knew this, and that was why she smiled happily, and that smile only grew wider as Liang Chen shook his head.


    "You only say that because you haven''t seen how big the world is. One day you''ll find something you want to do, and on that day odds are that you''ll have to head out on your own. Of course, you''re always free to come back, a home is a place to rest when you''re weary from travelling after all."


    Oh how they had changed. Back then, when they first met, when they first travelled together, could either of them have imagined that they''d ever come this far? With how they acted back then, would anyone ever believe that they''d end up together like this, with such a big family?


    "It''s nice to meet you, Sheng Lian. Can I call you Lian? Don''t worry, I''m not so narcissistic that I''ll make you call me mother, you can just call me whatever you want. I look forward to getting to know you better as we travel."


    Yan Ling smiled gently at the girl, who honestly looked to be as old as her, if not a bit older. She had never met her before, so even though Sheng Lian called Liang Chen father, she could not expect to be called Mother. But that was fine, family was not defined by something as small as titles.


    "Thank you, but please, allow me to call you Mother. Father has told me a lot about the time he spent with you, I think it would be wonderful if I could have someone like you as a Mother."


    Sheng Lian was very polite, cupping her hands and bowing slightly. She had heard so much about Yan Ling that this hardly felt like the first meeting. She wasn''t a human so she couldn''t understand all human thoughts, but family, that was something all races understood. And she felt that it would be nice to be part of this family, this would be a warm home, if a bit of a strange one.


    Yan Ling''s smile widened again and she beckoned Sheng Lian over, handing Lan Yun and Ao Fentian to her. Children should get along well together, especially if they were siblings. Well, this group of siblings looked quite mismatched, but that was the charm of their family, was it not?


    She scooted to the side so that Sheng Lian could sit down. She clearly looked a bit unaccustomed to dealing with children like this, but she would learn in time, that was what it meant to be the elder sister. Well, that was ignoring the fact that Lan Yun would technically be the older sister, but Yan Ling felt that it would just cause headaches if she tried to think too hard about the hierarchy of the siblings. She made sure that the three siblings got along before turning her gaze back onto Liang Chen, that was one family dealt with, but there was one more to check on.


    "You didn''t bring them out, but how are the new sect disciples?"


    Sect disciples. The Storm Wolf sect had already been destroyed, at one point only having Liang Chen, Yan Ling, and Yan Ying. But Liang Chen had picked up Yi Xue and the others, adding them to the sect by saving them. Granted, they had separated a while ago, but she knew her man. That was why she could respond so confidently to his question.


    "You knew that I''ve picked up new ones?"


    "I wouldn''t say that I knew, but I''ve known you for long enough to understand what sort of things you do. You have a habit of picking up people. So, how are they?"


    He was a broken man, a wounded man. And perhaps because of that, he had a habit of picking up people similar to him. Those who had lost, those who had been robbed, those who had been abused, those who were angry. He moved forward, and they saw his back as inspiration so they followed.


    "Hurt. They''re hurt."


    That was the best word Liang Chen could think of when he was asked about the new disciples he had picked up. All of them came from the Mystic''s Hidden Realm and all of them had seen the depths of human depravity, all of them had lost and suffered far too much. They were hurt, and he hadn''t been able to fix them.


    "They always are, isn''t that why you pick them up?"


    Hurt, how fitting wasn''t that word for him? He was hurt, so he attracted others that were hurt, it was how he had first attracted her all those years ago. Pain resonated, it yearned to be shared between kindred spirits, it yearned for a place to rest.


    Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring again, it would be best for Yan Ling to see the new disciples herself. A bit of wind came from him as he touched ring, gently pushing aside the rest of the furniture in the room. There were quite a few disciples, but this flying ship was definitely something fit for a Sovereign God, even this one room had more than enough space to house all the disciples.


    "You''ve called for us, Storm Lord?"


    The disciples were quick to react when they arrived in the ship, kneeling respectfully in Liang Chen''s direction. As always, Jiao Hui Xin was at the front, her scarred eyes kept closed so that others didn''t have to look at what had become of them. Liang Chen waved his hand to have them stand up, gesturing towards Yan Ling.


    "It''s nothing serious so there''s no need to be nervous. Do you recall what I told you when we first met? I said I could be considered one of the leaders of the Storm Wolf sect. Well, this is the other leader of the sect, the true one. Wolf Queen Yan Ling, my wife."


    The true leader. Liang Chen was never a leader, he didn''t have what it took to be a sect leader, it was a title he just had to don for a bit as he took care of some people. But Yan Ling, she wanted to be a sect leader, it was her dream, and she deserved that title more than he did. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Jiao Hui Xin greets the Wolf Queen."


    "Zi Tin greets the Sect Leader."


    "This Chang Toh greets the Wolf Queen."


    The disciples, who had yet to get up from their kneeling positions, lowered their heads once more. How many times hadn''t Liang Chen told them that he wasn''t fit to be a leader, that he wasn''t someone who should be a sect leader? They had their own thoughts on the matter, but what could they say when the man in question refused it so vehemently?


    Yan Ling looked at the people he had gathered, her brows flinching. They looked far worse than the first batch with Yi Xue. The first batch consisted of warriors and a few cultivators, most of them had just been unlucky in where they ended up. But these people, they were just normal people who had suffered. She could see the scars, the signs of torment, the marks left by years of suffering.


    She got up from the couch and moved over to the one at the front, kneeling down in front of Jiao Hui Xin. Her eyes bore marks that showed that they were once sewn shut and her elbows and knees were badly scarred from how violently they had been broken. She was thin, even thinner than Liang Chen, she must have been starved for a long time to end up like this. Yan Ling''s hands reached out and looped around the girl''s neck, pulling her close.


    "You''ve suffered. It must have been hard, it must have been painful, and it must have been sad. Thank you for holding on as long as you did, thank you."


    There was nothing else she could say. She couldn''t even begin to imagine where he had dragged them up from, what sort of hell they had lived in until he arrived. Their life had been pain, it would have been easier to just end things. But they had held on until he found them, she wanted to praise them for that. Liang Chen cut in as Yan Ling embraced the girl, she could do what he couldn''t.


    "My wife is different from me, she has always wanted to be a sect leader. She is good at teaching others, with her help you will be able to grow stronger far faster than you would be able to with me. Especially you Hui Xin, she also specializes in the law of wind so there is a lot you can learn from her."


    Hui Xin needed the law of wind to replace her eyes, Yan Ling was perfectly suited for that so she''d improve by leaps and bounds. She was also the daughter of a sect master so she had been taught ever since she was young, the type of knowledge she had was different from what Liang Chen had acquired from just reading and fighting. She was what they needed to grow stronger, not him.


    The disciples respectfully accepted his words and allowed themselves to be brought back into the interspatial ring, practically emptying the room again. Yan Ling sat back down on the couch, her gaze landing on Liang Chen.


    "So you''re just gonna throw them at me again, are you? I recall that you did much the same with Yi Xue and the others when we last reunited."


    It was a bit of an exaggeration, she had really only spent a few days with Yi Xue and the others, teaching them a few things in the short time she had. And besides, it wasn''t like she minded, it was fun to teach them.


    "It can''t be helped, I''m incapable of teaching others. They''ll only go astray if I try to teach them anything."


    Liang Chen didn''t deny it and shrugged his shoulders. He didn''t want to teach them things like this in the first place, it was enough that there was one of him. They should have just lived happily and safely someplace far away, somewhere they could lick their wounds and overcome their pain. Following him and fighting would only deepen the pain and add to it. But since they were adamant to learn, it was best to throw them to a professional. But, that was a notion that Yan Ling shot down with a smile.


    "No, that''s not true."


    She knew the truth. She felt like the disciples also knew, Yi Xue and the first batch of disciples probably also knew. Perhaps it was just Liang Chen who didn''t know, too twisted to look at himself properly. But they knew, and sometimes that was all that mattered.


    "They''re alive right now, aren''t they? They''re moving forwards, aren''t they? They suffered, they lost, they cried, but they still live and can still move forwards. Why is that? It''s because you picked them up. I can teach them how to use their laws, but you are the one who taught them how to live and move forward. Never belittle that fact. Living is hard, especially after suffering, it is beautiful to teach others how to keep living, no matter how they do it."


    She hadn''t been there, but she could somewhat guess at the flow of events. They suffered, he came along and killed those who made them suffer, that was what he always did. They were suddenly freed, but they couldn''t even get revenge on those who made them suffer, couldn''t kill those who stole from them. They had nothing, so what should they even live for at that point? He was the one who gave them that something, he gave them a reason.


    "You''re blowing it out of proportion."


    Liang Chen rolled his eyes slightly. He hadn''t done something like that for Hui Xin and the others. In fact, he had actually rejected them at first, he didn''t want to teach them. They always had the will to live and the desire to move forward, he had nothing to do with it.


    "I have to, otherwise you will just keep putting yourself down."


    Yan Ling simply smiled. You could deny it all you wanted, the truth would still remain the truth, that was what made it the truth.


    The family, now consisting of two parents and four children, continued to enjoy their time together as the ship moved. Liang Chen knew where Yan Ling had trained, it was in an entirely different multiverse, so the only way for them to get there was to take a specialized spatial array. Luckily, they had one that was pretty close, the one that belonged to the Nine Star Demon God.


    Liang Chen didn''t know what he should have expected from a spatial array that took you from one multiverse to another, but it was quiet. There was just a quiet hum that travelled across the ship and then it was done, there was hardly even any vibration. It could have something to do with the fact that it was a spatial array that belonged to one of the rulers of their multiverse, but this was his first experience with it so he couldn''t be sure.


    A slightly strange sensation washed over Liang Chen when they arrived in the other multiverse, it was as if he was standing in a river that had just changed direction in the blink of an eye. His thoughts were evidently visible on his face, Yan Ling cutting in.


    "Does it feel strange? I was told that time here flows differently from our own universe, but I''m sure you can feel it better than I can. But ah, I asked the Nine Star for some help and he called in a favour for me so time in the place where we''re heading is flowing in tandem with the time of our own universe. It''d be a shame if the people living there didn''t get to be around for our reunion and wedding after all."


    Time. Liang Chen was connected to time far more closely than any other living being, it was part of him and he was part of it. And now he had entered a space where time flowed completely different to what he was used to, it was only to be expected that it would feel different.


    But gradually, he got used to the sensation, the couple leaving the flying ship as they got closer to their destination. Yan Ling made Yumao and the others return to the interspatial ring for now, they would have plenty of time in the future to greet those they were going to meet now.


    The two walked across a small plain, their steps calm as they held hands and took in the scenery. The land was green, flowers scattered about the plain to add some colour. A hill rose up ahead of them, Yan Ling assured him that their target was just beyond that hill. As they walked, a scent slowly made its way into Liang Chen''s nose. Wheat, someone was growing wheat not far from here. He could also smell animals, probably cows, so it seemed like a farm rested beyond the hill.


    And then, then his feet stopped. He hadn''t thought much about it earlier, but as that scent hit him, he was reminded of who Yan Ling said they had to meet. A couple and their daughter. A farm. Wheat. Cows. It was just a quick glance back then, but as he looked around now he realized that even this plain was a bit familiar. Yan Ling smiled at him, gently pulling on his hand.


    "Your feet stopped. They should keep moving."


    She knew. She had been told and that was why she knew. And because of that, she knew why his feet had stopped, why they refused to move, why he suddenly looked so pale.


    "I c...I can''t go there. No, not there. Anywhere else is fine, but not there."


    He couldn''t help but stutter. This place was not one he should be. No, this was the one place in this Sphere of Existence that he shouldn''t be, the one place he had no right to be. He wanted to leave, but Yan Ling did not allow him to pull back, gently tugging on his hand to pull him forward.


    "You can. You will. And above all, you must. They''re waiting, you know? I told them that I''d bring my husband to be along in the future, I told them that they would love him."


    Yes, they would love him, they would treasure him more than anything else. How could they not? Liang Chen didn''t know how Yan Ling had learned about them, much less how she ended up meeting them, but that wasn''t important right now.


    "Yan Ling... I can''t do it again. They''re free, they''re finally free."


    They were free, they were happy, and above all else, they were safe. They got to escape from the carnage he brought, the suffering he forced upon them. They didn''t need him back in their lives, he would just inflict pain on them again.


    "And you''re shackled. The chains have seeped into you and twisted you."


    Yan Ling''s voice was soft, softer than it had ever been before as she held his hand, gently tracing his knuckles. The past that formed him, the pain that twisted him. He had stepped past it and moved forward, but it still stuck to him like chains, coiled around him and dug into his flesh. It was painful for him, but at the same time, it was dear to him so he couldn''t completely remove it. And that was why she needed to bring him here, why she had to make him step forward.


    "It''s fine, it really is. You''re no longer that little child, you''re no longer helpless. You have grown strong, you have grown confident. If you decide to protect someone, you can do it, you have that strength. And if you end up falling short, then I''ll be there to pick up the slacks. As will Yumao, as will Sheng Lian, as will the disciples. What one can''t accomplish, a hundred will."


    It wouldn''t be like back then, when he was the lone child crying in a crowd full of cheers and condemnations. He wouldn''t have to watch helplessly, he wouldn''t fail at the last step. This time he could act, this time he could protect, he was that strong now. She looked deep into his eyes, his pupils trembling. And then she tugged on his hand once more.


    "Come, Liang Chen. You, of all people, deserve it."


    His feet moved as she pulled on his hand. One step, two, three. Slowly but surely, they took him to the hill. And indeed, resting not far from the base of the hill was a farm, rows of golden wheat stretching towards the sky and a small fenced path that separated the wheat from a plain where light brown cows grazed. Several other farms were dotted across the area, forming a small village divided by crops and farm animals.


    Yan Ling kept tugging on his hand, pulling him down the hill and onto the path. The wheat field was rather large, but there were only three people working it, and one of them spotted them as they headed over.


    "Oh? Is that little Yan Ling I spy? You''ve already come running back?"


    The one who spotted them was a rugged man with strong features, he looked as if he had been carved from stone. His skin was tanned from working in the sun, but his black eyes were darker than his skin, as was his shoulder-length brown hair. The man had a toothy and bright smile, and the two others that were working the field were making their way over as well, clearly rather happy.


    "I''d ask if someone has bullied you again, but who''s this?"


    The one who spoke this time was one of the two that had made their way over, a tall and mature woman with clear blue eyes and long black hair. Her skin was smooth but tanned from the work, and what should have once been a delicate figure had become a bit muscular thanks to the hard work. The woman''s gaze lingered on Liang Chen, who couldn''t help but freeze up slightly. Yan Ling pulled on his hand again, wrapping her arm around his elbow.


    "This is the man I was talking about, my pride and joy. He''s finally returned to me so we can finally hold our wedding. I promised I''d come to pick you up for that, didn''t I?"


    The eyes of the three people lit up when Yan Ling explained who he was, the man''s toothy smile growing into a grin as he stepped closer. His eyes ran across Liang Chen''s body, momentarily resting on his face before settling on his shoulders.


    "Oh ho, so this is the one you couldn''t stop bragging about? He looks a bit skinnier than I imagined, is he not eating well?"


    It wasn''t to the point of being scrawny, but you could definitely call him delicate and slim, his muscles could only be seen when he wasn''t clothed. But naturally, Yan Ling wouldn''t be nice enough to say that, grinning back at the man.


    "He never is, he''s an inconsiderate bastard like that."


    The woman stepped forward as Yan Ling grinned, mimicking the man as she observed him, her gaze resting on his face for a few moments with some uncertainty. But she saw the same as the man, the young man really was too scrawny, even their daughter was better than him. And in a situation like that, there was only one thing they had to do.


    "Hmm, we''ll have to fix that, won''t we, dear?"


    The man nodded his head a few times as he agreed with his wife, his gaze returning to Liang Chen''s face. It lingered there for a few seconds before he stretched out his hand, they hadn''t even greeted each other properly yet.


    "Of course, of course, children need to eat well. But hmm... you look a bit familiar, friend. Have we met before?"


    Liang Chen looked at the hand that was held out to him, his breath caught in his chest. He was nervous, or perhaps anxious was a better term for it.  He shouldn''t be here, he shouldn''t have come here and ruined things.


    Things looked as if they were going to become a bit awkward since he was just staring at the hand, but the man who held out his hand got an elbow to the side before things could reach that point.


    "Alright, that''s enough staring dad. Can''t you tell that you''re making him uncomfortable?"


    The youthful voice came from the third, and last person, who had been working in the fields. It was a young girl who looked like she was just approaching her twenties, she had the same chestnut brown hair as her father and the same clear blue eyes as her mother. Her features were strong, but not as strong as her father''s, and she was slightly less tanned than the two, possibly thanks to the large-brimmed straw hat she wore. She elbowed her father''s waist once more while nodding to Liang Chen, using her thumb to gesture towards Yan Ling.


    "Sorry about him, he can be a bit insensitive at times. You do look a bit familiar, but Yan Ling here has told us so many things about you that we''ve just naturally formed an image of you in our heads, can''t be helped that we find you familiar."


    Yan Ling simply smiled widely without saying anything, her gaze moving between the people that had gathered here. The girl stretched out her hand in place of her father, smiling warmly as she did the introductions.


    "I''m Qing Chun, dad''s Qing Feng and mom''s Qing Lan, nice to finally meet you."


    Liang Chen couldn''t help but swallow even though his mouth felt dry. The names, even the names were the same after reincarnation. Their features had warped slightly due to the hard farm work, but the base was unmistakably the same, it was as if he was peering into the past.


    Yan Ling gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he looked at the hand, smiling at him oh-so-gently from the side. She urged him on with her gaze, wordlessly told him that it was fine, that he deserved this. So he reached out with his own hand, stumbling over his words slightly.


    "The name is Liang Chen... It''s nice to meet you."

 Chapter 368: Family. (2)

    "Well, now that we''ve gotten to introduce ourselves like this I think it''s about time we stop standing around like we''ve sprung root. Come on in kids, you gotta eat well to live long and healthy."


    Qing Lan''s gaze was soft and gentle as she looked at Liang Chen and Qing Chun exchanging greetings, clapping her hands to draw everyone''s attention. How long hadn''t they waited to finally meet the Liang Chen that Yan Ling had bragged about so many times? Now that they had finally met, they couldn''t just let him stand around outside, especially when he looked that pitiful.


    But still, there was something they had to take care of with him as well. It shouldn''t be more than a formality, but they still considered it important. She cast a sideways glance at her husband once she drew everyone''s attention, her eyes gesturing towards the wooden shack that stood next to their house. Qing Feng was more than familiar with his wife so a simple look was all it took for him to understand her intentions.


    "Sorry, Chen Boy, but could I ask for your help? We''ve gotta make some more food now that we''ve got two new people at the table so we need to carry in some more ingredients. You mind helping me carry them? Little Yan Ling, you can just head in with the others and extend the table."


    Qing Chun let go of Liang Chen''s hand as her father spoke up, flashing Liang Chen a warm smile as she stepped back so that her father could take her place. Yan Ling gave Liang Chen''s shoulder a gentle squeeze before she gave him a light push and stepped past him.


    "Go on, don''t want to be rude and make them do all the work, do you?"


    Yan Ling still wore her own gentle smile as she urged him on, she knew that he''d be rooted here forever if she didn''t give his back a few pushes. Life had broken this lovely man of hers quite a bit over the years, if she didn''t keep an eye on him then she was scared that he''d just crumble and burn himself to ash. Liang Chen obviously had no choice in this situation, not that he was going to refuse from the start, so he simply nodded his head.


    "Great, just follow me."


    Qing Feng''s hand landed on Liang Chen''s shoulder and he was pulled along towards the shack, Yan Ling and the two others vanished into the house, Yan Ling quietly pulling out a communication orb.  The two men quickly reached the shack, Qing Feng pushing open the door to reveal a cold room filled with hanging cuts of meat. But he didn''t immediately enter the shack, he simply stood there and took in the cold air for a few moments before he spoke.


    "20 years, Liang Chen. Yan Ling stayed with us for 20 years, it''s only thanks to her and the things she''s given us that we''ve managed to stay so youthful over the years. But more than that, what do you think 20 years of someone''s presence does to a person?"


    This was the first Liang Chen heard of how long Yan Ling had spent with his reincarnated family, and the actual number surpassed what he had expected. 20 years, that was longer than they had been together. At the same time, he also realized something else. Yan Ling wouldn''t have wasted her time in this universe, if she spent 20 years with them then it meant that they were 20 years she could afford to spend in quiet cultivation.


    It would have been after she finished what she came here to do, something that he already knew had taken quite a few years. To him, their most recent separation hadn''t been long at all, but to Yan Ling? She had spent more time alone than she had with him, no, she had spent more time alone than she had with her own family. She had fought, trained, and waited, and she had done so far longer than he had.


    "We''ve been together for so long that I consider her the same as my own daughter, and I hope that she can consider us as something akin to her family."


    Qing Feng breathed in the cold air of the storage room as the memories washed over him. It had been many a year since they first met Yan Ling, it almost felt like a lifetime ago. By all accounts, she had been too close with them, treated them too well. But... she was just lonely. A child that had lost her family, a child that was all alone as she struggled. They couldn''t leave a kid like that alone, and that was how their relationship slowly unfurled.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "She cried quite a bit you know? When the night was at its darkest, when the winter was at its whitest. Alone in her room, as quietly as a mouse so as to not disturb anyone. She cried for you, she cried for her family, she cried for her junior and senior disciples, and then she cried for you again."


    Liang Chen felt his breath catch in his throat, the cold wind of the storage room like ice as it fell into his lungs. He had lost things, yes that was true. But Yan Ling had lost just as much, she had lost and lost again. And then they had separated, they had split apart before either of them really got to deal with their trauma. Granted, it was Yan Ling''s choice to do so, but that didn''t mean that it was easy. But it was still her choice, that was probably why she had cried on her own, why she had cried quietly.


    "I don''t know how old you or she actually are, nor will I ask. But she is my daughter, and she has cried for you, Liang Chen. No more, do you understand? She is not allowed to cry anymore, can you promise me that?"


    Qing Feng finally turned his head and looked at Liang Chen, a strong yet caring look in his eyes. Liang Chen didn''t want to, but he felt a slight pain in his chest as he looked at those eyes. He''d seen a similar gaze in Qing Feng''s eyes before, back when he said goodbye to Liang Chen before he was executed. The look was the same, but now it was dedicated to someone else.


    Liang Chen looked into that familiar pair of eyes for a second before he drew in a long breath, allowing the cool air to wash over him. The cold air dredged up his memories as it settled in his lungs, the years rising from within him as he thought back to everything he and Yan Ling had gone through. No more crying. Could he promise that?


    "I... I lost my family when I was young. They could have escaped, but they allowed themselves to get executed so that I could live. They smiled, but all I could do was cry, cry and burn. And I kept burning as I lived, for that was all I could do if I wanted to achieve my goals. And then I met her, that cheeky brat."


    The corners of Liang Chen''s mouth couldn''t help but curve up whenever he thought back to the day they first met. The way she had thrown him around was still fresh in his mind, engraved into his soul. She really had been a cheeky person, just running around doing whatever she pleased.


    "The years have gone by, people have come and gone, but she remained no matter what. I still burn, Qing Feng. Thanks to my parents, I still burn. The fire started on the day my parents died and has kept burning ever since, and it will keep burning until the end of this world, of that I am convinced. But as long as she is by my side, that fire will never swallow me. As long as she lives, I can keep being a person and not just a raging inferno."


    It felt strange to tell his reincarnated parents this. They had willingly died so that he could keep living, but in doing so they had ensured that Liang Chen would forever burn. They had started a fire in him, and it still scorched his soul to this day. But at the same time, it felt liberating to get it out. They died for him, but did he have to be thankful for that? Wasn''t it fine for him to be at least a little resentful for getting left alone like that? With every sacrifice, there were those who were left behind to carry the sorrow, and sometimes they would have been happier if they got to join those they cried for.


    Naturally, Liang Chen had already stepped past those emotions, they had just become more firewood for the fire that burned him. But it still felt good to get them out, it felt good to let some of that fire out into the world. But, in the end, that was not the point of his statement. So he stepped past Qing Feng and into the storage room, pulling down two legs that were hung to dry, stepping past Qing Feng again as he left the storage room.


    "She made me human, Qing Feng. She replaced the family that was lost, she took what was once nothing more than ashes and turned it back into a home. I won''t let her cry, nor will I allow her to be alone any longer. She is my family, so I will burn the world into one where she''ll never have to cry again."


    Liang Chen''s lips were still curved up, Qing Feng could see it when he stepped past him. But he could feel the heat in that gentle curve. Yes, this child really was burning, this child really was fire. But looking at those eyes, so focused on the house that Yan Ling had entered, he could flash a relieved smile.


    The fire burned like no other, but it wouldn''t burn her. The world may burn, yes that was true. But the family wouldn''t burn, for the family was what shaped the fire to begin with. So Qing Feng was relieved, but at the same time, he was a bit sad.


    He was a kid, or at least he looked like one. As such, he was probably rather young when he first started to get strong, just like Yan Ling. Kids shouldn''t think about things like burning, they shouldn''t think about what allows them to remain human or how they should shape the world. They should be kids and just have fun. But it was already too late for this one and Yan Ling, someone had stolen that from them. And that... He couldn''t help but find that sad.

 Chapter 369: Family. (3)

    Liang Chen stopped in front of the door, holding the two beef shanks as he looked at the door handle. He¡¯d really only have to reach out with his free hand and push the handle down and then he¡¯d be able to meet up with Yan Ling and his reincarnated family, it was an act so easy it would be simplicity itself. But he didn¡¯t stretch out his arm, his head tilting slightly as he looked down. His posture was maintained for a handful of seconds, long enough for Qing Feng to catch up with him and place his hand on the handle.


    "They¡¯re waiting for us on the other side,Wasn¡¯t really any need to wait for me."


    Qing Feng seemed to have become rather relieved by their conversation, he looked more at ease now, even a little appreciative. But there was a tiny glint in his eyes, a sliver of sorrow tucked away behind his pupils. He probably wasn¡¯t entirely comfortable with the sort of life Liang Chen lived. But he didn¡¯t voice his thoughts and just pushed open the door, beckoning Liang Chen inside.


    "Welcome. Our home probably isn¡¯t much compared to what you and Yan Ling¡¯ve seen over the years, but at least you¡¯ll always be welcome here."


    Qing Feng¡¯s arms swept out in a welcoming gesture. Liang Chen was going to marry and take care of the girl he treated as if she was his own daughter, they¡¯d be family once all this was over. And his doors, well, they were always open to family, even if it was family he had yet to learn that much about. Liang Chen still stood a step away from the open door, his head still slightly tilted as he looked down at where the handle used to be.


    His brows were furrowed, wrinkles spreading across his forehead. He found it¡­ a bit difficult to take that one step forward. It had been the same with the handle, his hand hadn¡¯t been quite willing to stretch out, it was as if his entire body was hesitating to move forward. He had already given up on his family, he saw that they had reincarnated and were happy so he gave up on reuniting with them, remembering the past would only hurt them, and being with someone like him would only endanger them. So he was content with keeping his distance, but then Yan Ling had dragged him here.


    She had given him a pep-talk, she had convinced him that it was fine, that he deserved it. And he had believed her, albeit somewhat hesitantly. He had grown strong, he had grown confident, he was someone who could protect others. But in that moment where he was alone and had to take the step on his own, his body faltered, it still feared and hesitated. He realized it, and he also realized why, the shadow of a self-deprecating smile flashing past his face.


    "¡­I really am a joke."


    He shook his head, wiping away the shadow that tried to settle on his face. He then raised his head and took that step forward. No matter how much of a joke he was, there was someone on the other side of that door that thought better of him, someone who believed that even a raging fire could take care of others without burning them. He had to respond to that belief at the very least, he had to make it come true.


    "There ya go, welcome to our humble abode. Honey, we¡¯ve brought two more legs, that enough for you?"


    Qing Feng closed the door behind Liang Chen and welcomed him, calling out to his wife afterwards, his voice echoing through the hallway. The house that was hidden behind the door was as normal as they came, a small room where you could leave your coats and shoes, a small hallway leading into a living room on the right, furnished with four bookshelves. The books looked a bit too nice for a farmers family so they were probably brought by Yan Ling over the years.


    "Yeah, two legs¡¯ll be more than enough! I¡¯ve already gotten to work so you can just bring them right here!"


    The voice of Qing Lan came from beyond the living room and a bit to the left so there was probably another small hallway there that separated the two rooms. Yan Ling and Qing Chun¡¯s voices could just barely be heard a bit to the right of the living room so it didn¡¯t seem like they were helping with the cooking, and with what Liang Chen remembered of Yan Ling¡¯s cooking it was unlikely to be a coincidence. And indeed, Qing Feng confirmed just that with a gesturing nod.


    "You heard her, Chen Boy, just take em straight to her. Into the living room and then straight to the left, you can¡¯t miss it. Yan Ling said that you¡¯re the one who was in charge of cooking when you travelled together so I take it that you don¡¯t have anything against helping her get things ready faster? The two other kiddos have been too lazy in their training so I wouldn¡¯t go farther than saying that what they make can be eaten."


    Liang Chen looked at the small wall straight ahead of him, as if his gaze could pierce the wood and see it all. And true, he could do that if he wanted, or at least something similar. If he wanted to then he could see everything that happened on almost the entire planet, much less this small house. But he didn¡¯t. Right now he just didn¡¯t want to do that. It was the atmosphere here, the gentle and peaceful aura that lingered in the air, it even came from Yan Ling. This was home, this was a place where you should rest with your family, this was a place to be normal.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Yeah, I can help her. I have some¡­ Experience with cooking."


    But, even if he didn¡¯t use his abilities here, he felt like he could tell what Qing Lan was cooking over there. The scent of vegetables in the air, the heavy smell of broth, the fruity fragrance of redwine, the beef shanks he carried. Yes, he was familiar with a dish just like that, he had quite a bit of experience with cooking that dish.


    "Perfect. I¡¯ll go make sure the two other kiddos actually set up the dining room, they¡¯ve got a tendency to wander into their own world when they¡¯re together."


    Qing Feng¡¯s hand landed on Liang Chen¡¯s shoulder for a moment, an although it seemed like he was quite used to the act, he also looked a bit awkward doing it to Liang Chen so it was probably a way for him to close the distance between them. There was no need for it, but he guided Liang Chen to the living room and pointed him down the path to the kitchen before he split away and headed for where Yan Ling¡¯s voice came from.


    "You can drop the legs over there, dear. Ah, and can you get our new son-in-la¡­ oh, how nice timing."


    Qing Lan spoke to him the moment he entered the kitchen, dried ingredients hanging from the wooden beams that lined the ceiling. She didn¡¯t turn to face him straight away but changed her tune when she glanced back and saw him, gesturing towards the bench next to her with her thumb.


    "That one, just plop them down there. I¡¯m going to make a stew I¡¯ve been eating since I was a child but it¡¯s rare for me to make it for so many people, mind helping me? I should have a recipe around here somewhere¡­"


    Her head started moving about a bit as she looked around, seemingly scanning the various shelves and handwritten books that were scattered about in the kitchen in a haphazard manner. She was just about to step away from the stove when Liang Chen stopped her by placing the two legs on the counter she had pointed at.


    "No need for a recipe. I can tell what you¡¯re making from the ingredients, my family used to make a similar dish."


    The ingredients he saw were exactly what he had smelled. Some carrot, some potatoes, a  bit of leek, fresh garlic, sweet potato, bell peppers. There were two vegetables he wasn¡¯t quite familiar with, probably a local speciality more than anything else. She had also pulled out some spices, some that he was familiar with and some that he wasn¡¯t, it seemed like this reincarnated version of his mother preferred the food to be a bit spicier.


    "Oh? That¡¯s wonderful, then we can just get right to it. But you¡¯ll have to tell me about your version of the dish later, regional varieties have always been an interest of mine."


    Qing Lan smiled quite happily, almost humming as she turned back to the stove where the broth was stewing. Another pot was placed right next to the broth, a bit of smoke rising from it as she was cutting the vegetables and spices into it. Liang Chen also gave a very small and quiet smile, fetching the large cutting board that Qing Lan had probably prepared.


    "Yeah, when we¡¯ve got the time for it then I¡¯ll teach it to you, you¡¯ll probably pick it right up."


    He wet a small cloth she had put on the counter and placed it beneath the cutting board, fetching one of the knives that had been stabbed into what looked like a sponge. He picked a long and flexible one, as well as one that was wider and heavier than most knives, sharpening them slightly before he placed the first beef shank on the cutting board. He first used the heavy one to remove the hoof, this wasn¡¯t the type of dish that used it. He then spun the leg so that the thigh-part faced him, sliding the long knife under the skin.


    There were several layers of fat between the skin and the meat, most of them getting removed as Liang Chen made small cuts while tugging on the skin to remove both it, the fat, as well as the connective tissue that held them together. He left the layer of fat that was right above the meat, it would just add more flavour. He then followed the bone with the long knife, bending it as he cut out the meat and separated the joint. Qing Lan occasionally glanced over at him, a soft exclamation of surprise slipping out.


    "You¡¯re good with the knife, did you work as a chef before or is it just something you learned?"


    His cuts were quick and clean and he worked with efficiency that was clearly ingrained into him, each move repeated more than just a handful of times. There weren¡¯t many actual chefs in these parts, just people who were taught the basics as they grew up, it would be quite nice to have an actual chef to learn from. But Liang Chen could only shake his head, Qing Lan not missing the fond and slightly reminiscing curve of his lips and eyes.


    "My mother taught me when I was younger. I was rather lazy back then so she wanted me to at least have something to do."


    He wasn¡¯t cultivating, nor was he studying to cultivate in the future, so whenever the other kids in the area went off to cultivate he would be all alone and have nothing to do. At those times, his mother dragged him into the kitchen and made  him help. Now that he looked back at it he couldn¡¯t help but find it slightly funny. Those kids who had cultivated diligently and the boy who helped in the kitchen, it really was funny that it ended up being the latter that rose highest.


    Qing Lan¡¯s eyes sparkled slightly as she looked at Liang Chen. Yes, the look he wore now was much better than the one he had when he first came here, he had been far too similar to how Yan Ling was when they first met. This was much more natural, much more fitting for the age he looked to be. Of course, she also quite enjoyed what she heard.


    "How nice. I wish Yan Ling or Little Chun had an interest in cooking, it¡¯s much more fun to cook with family, don¡¯t you think?"


    They occasionally tried to help, obviously, but those times couldn¡¯t really be called cooking together. It was fun enough, always something to laugh about due to how chaotic it was, but this type of cooking together was also nice, it was more peaceful and calm. If she had to come up with a comparison then it would be like gently rowing a boat across a lake, both parties taking charge of one oar as they worked together. It was satisfying, so it was a shame that her daughters couldn¡¯t share in it. Liang Chen also didn¡¯t deny it, maintaining a fond expression as he finished the first shank and started to cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.


    "Yeah, it really is fun."

 Chapter 370: Family. (4)

    "Okay, you can drop the meat in here, it should be warm enough to give them a nice quick sear."


    Qing Lan had already prepared a second pot and kept it ready on the stove, a thin layer of some type of oil coating the bottom. A bit of smoke rose from within the pot so a pleasant sizzling sound spread through the kitchen as soon as he dropped the meat into the pot. Qing Lan pushed the herbs and spices she had prepared towards him just as soon as he finished with the meat, giving slight details about the local ones.


    "You can just use the normal ones as you see fit, but this one has a rather spicy earthen taste so be careful with it, this one is a bit bitter but it helps tenderise the meat so it cuts down on the cooking time, we just need to make sure to take it out before we eat. And this last one tastes a bit like mushroom, it¡¯d be best if you cut it into small flakes before you add it."


    Liang Chen gave all three herbs a quick taste, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t know how much of each he should add. Qing Lan seemed to be lying a little about the second herb, it was more than just a little bitter, it¡¯d probably leave behind some residual flavour even if they fished it out before they served the food. They had probably just come to accept that, a little annoyance was fine if it made things easier after all.


    He cut the first and third herb after tasting them, each one small enough to cling to the meat so that you could taste them without the flavour being too overpowering. The second one he rolled up with some string and dropped in, stirring it around with the searing meat. Truthfully, he could use his poison to tenderise the meat if he wanted to. He had a poison that was specialized in breaking down the bond between things and  thus melting them, if he just controlled that reaction a little and focused it on the meat protein and broke it into smaller pieces then he would achieve the same effect without the lingering aftertaste produced by the herb. But he didn¡¯t do so, he accepted the annoyance.


    "It¡¯s nice to do something normal¡­"


    "What¡¯s that?"


    "Nothing, please just ignore it."


    The words slipped out of him before he could stop himself so he could only shake his head when Qing Lan tilted her head, her gaze focused on the roasting vegetables in front of her. Yes, it was nice to act normal, it was nice to pretend like he had gone back to a time before the execution, back to before he became the twisted thing he was now. He had buried the past and stepped over it, but now it had dug its way out of the grave and clung to his feet. And his body accepted it. It allowed it to hold onto him, it slowed down so that it wouldn¡¯t fall to the wayside. As twisted as he had become, that love he felt was still there. Buried beneath oceans of blood but there nonetheless, it was one of the things that still kept him human.


    He shook his head once more to return his focus to the cooking, stirring the pot. Once the meat had seared nicely, the juices fully sealed inside, he grabbed the redwine and poured it in. A lot of good flavours were now stuck to the bottom of the pan, if it was up to him he would have just roasted the vegetables in this same pot but it seemed like Qing Lan did it differently now. He scraped the wooden spoon along the base of the pot as the redwine evaporated, loosening everything that had clung to it. A familiar voice reached him as he stood there, playfully bouncing about.


    "Oh, something smells good. What are we cooking here, anything we¡¯ve had before?"


    Yan Ling¡¯s chin landed on his shoulder as her voice snuck into his ears, her arms wrapping around his waist. She was a bit shorter than him so her chin shouldn¡¯t normally fit on his shoulder, he guessed that she was likely tiptoeing just because she wanted to create a scene like this. Whatever the case was, he could see Qing Lan smile softly, stealing a few glances when she thought they weren¡¯t looking.


    "No, I haven¡¯t made it for you before. I ate it a lot as as kid, but it¡¯s been more than a few years since I last tried to make it."


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t have to spell out why he hadn¡¯t made the dish in so long, not even cooking it for the one who would end up becoming his wife. It was a dish that was tied to nothing but happy memories, but as was often the case, it was the joy in those memories that made them all the more painful. Yan Ling had her fair share of those very same memories so she knew how it felt. But Liang Chen had helped her fill up some of those memories by associating them with other things so it was only fair that she did the same. After all, they were already one, what he couldn¡¯t do, she would do for him.


    "Oh, now that just makes me look forward to it. I hope you¡¯ve got the recipe memorised, Little Lan will need to taste it in the future."


    What a silly thing to say. She knew better than anyone else just how good Liang Chen¡¯s memory was, there was no way he¡¯d ever forget something like that from his past. But right now they were normal, right here they were normal. So she played along with her role, and for the first time since they met, the two got to at least pretend to be a normal couple.


    Liang Chen cast an askance glance at Qing Lan but she didn¡¯t seem surprised by the pet name that Yan Ling threw out. Perhaps that was just to be expected, Yan Ling had spent so much time with them that it was nigh-on impossible that she would hide the child that was basically their daughter. No, she had probably even introduced her as their daughter to begin with, that was basically what she was after all. But even so, they kept Qing Lan in Liang Chen¡¯s interspatial ring today, leaving her with Yumao and Sheng Lian. It was probably Yan Ling¡¯s consideration, both towards the Qing family and towards Liang Chen.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Ah, that should be enough. Let¡¯s mix them now."


    Qing Lan¡¯s nose wrinkled for a second as the smell from the pot hit her, reminding her of what they were actually doing. She pushed her pot closer to Liang Chen so that he could tilt the contents of his over without having to push aside Yan Ling, but it was probably a pointless consideration, it wasn¡¯t like Yan Ling would have let go to begin with, she¡¯d just make him drag her along.


    "Table¡¯s all¡­ Set."


    Qing Feng¡¯s voice announced his arrival in the kitchen, his words trailing off slightly as he seemed to spot Yan Ling and Liang Chen¡¯s position. Liang Chen could practically hear the corners of his lips twitching so he guessed that Yan Ling was indeed tiptoeing to maintain her position. But contrary to what Liang Chen expected, Qing Feng didn¡¯t follow things up with a humorous remark to make everyone laugh.


    "That look takes me back a good number of years. We were exactly the same right after we had our wedding and our parents allowed us to live together, weren¡¯t we?"


    He made his way to Qing Lan¡¯s back and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head as he reminisced about the past. But the past he reminisced about was one that Liang Chen knew nothing about. They had grown up to be rather similar, both in appearance and personality, to his own parents, but it was inevitable that the life they had lived was different. In the end, Liang Chen didn¡¯t really know a single thing about these people. The thought had just struck him when he felt a light tingling on his shoulder, Yan Ling¡¯s small glare greeting him as he turned his head.


    "Stop thinking about pointless things. It¡¯s fine, it always has been and always will be. Besides, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re pressed for time, you least of all. So it¡¯s fine, just stop using that pretty little head of yours."


    She spoke so quietly that the Qing couple couldn¡¯t hear her, a small bit of her saliva still lingering on Liang Chen¡¯s shoulder since she had bit him to draw his attention. Her teeth hadn¡¯t broken the skin luckily so he didn¡¯t have to worry about the nature of his body hurting her as it did when they shared a kiss. Naturally, Liang Chen couldn¡¯t just stop thinking about things like that. But luckily, Yan Ling was right behind him to help him, when he couldn¡¯t stop thinking then she would be there to distract him, allowing the four people to finish the dinner preparations calmly and peacefully.


    Qing Chun was waiting for them in the dining room as they brought out the pot of stew as well as the side dishes that they had prepared, a leather bound book in her hand. Yan Ling and Liang Chen shared a look, Yan Ling gesturing towards Qing Chun and the bookshelf with her chin. Apparently, there was a rather clear divide in who did and didn¡¯t use the books that they had received. The book snapped shut when the first pot was placed on the table, Qing Chun¡¯s eyes turning into crescents as she leaned forward to take in the scent.


    "Sweet, dinner¡¯s done. Alright mum, we¡¯re basically celebrating a wedding here so I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how you¡¯ve spiced up the food."


    She felt a bit more casual than she did when she first introduced herself to Liang Chen, probably because they were about to eat dinner. But Liang Chen still noticed that she glanced at him a few times, staring at his face for a few split seconds before she looked away. Qing Lan put down what she was holding, wiping her hands on the cloth she kept on her waistband.


    "If you want to get your hopes up then direct them at him, I only did the vegetables and heated the broth."


    She gestured towards Liang Chen, who was putting down some bread they had warmed up. Qing Chun flashed him a thumbs-up before picking up a bowl, stealing another two glances at his face.


    "Very well, future brother-in-law, I¡¯ll welcome you to the family by getting a big bowl."


    She reached for the pot of stew when she finished talking, but Qing Feng rapped the back of her hand with a spoon before she could snatch any of the food. It looked a bit chaotic, but Liang Chen could feel the warmth and comfort, the love that was shared here. Everything was quickly placed on the table and everyone got to their seats, the table that normally only housed for extended thanks to some wooden plank.


    Qing Chun was finally allowed to grab some food, everyone filling their bowls and plates with whatever caught their fancy. But Liang Chen¡¯s hands stopped shortly after they had started eating, a very small wrinkle growing between his brows. Something had arrived outside the house.


    He hadn¡¯t stretched out his senses, nor was the thing that arrived unleashing all its energy for others to see. But even so, he could tell that something had arrived, something out there was announcing its presence by moving the wind around in strange ways, as if it wanted to make sure that Liang Chen and Yan Ling knew about it.


    Yan Ling¡¯s hand landed on his thighs as the wrinkle between his brows grew larger, the two locking eyes quietly. She shook her head lightly, making it clear that she was likely involved. The energy that had started to quietly seethe settled down again just as a knock came from the door. The one on the other side of the door didn¡¯t wait for long after announcing their presence with a knock, pushing open the door and entering, giving a low nod to apologise.


    "Sorry for intruding on such short notice."


    The one that arrived was a man, his face hidden because of how he lowered his head. But the dark silver hair that covered his head felt familiar to Liang Chen. Yes, he had seen hair like this before, albeit the one who had it was a woman, the shade was the exact same. The Qing family evidently knew this man, Qing Feng waving his hand casually as he pointed at an empty spot at the table.


    "Nonsense, you¡¯re family just like Yan Ling so our doors are always open for you."


    The man raised his head as Qing Feng spoke, finally showing his face. He didn¡¯t look too young, seemingly bordering on the thirties, but his features were clean and sharp so it looked like he took care of himself. But the thing that drew Liang Chen¡¯s attention were his eyes, that pair of eyes that had locked onto him. They were a shade of grey so dark that they started to encroach on black. Granted, he had seen similar colours on other people in the past, but there were two particularly noteworthy people with that same colour. And when he added in the hair colour, which matched the third person in the three-man group he was thinking of, the realisation crept in. His gaze sharpened for a moment as he focused his senses on the man, and indeed, flowing within his veins was blood that Liang Chen was far too familiar with.


    "Hello, Brother, it is nice to finally meet you."


    The man spoke politely, his tone containing some exasperation as well as some apologetic undertones. Once again, the Sebettu had come to meet with him.

 Chapter 371: Family. (5)

    "Eh? Brother? The two of you?"


    The man¡¯s sudden words evidently drew the attention of the Qing family, their gazes moving between Liang Chen and the newcomer. They were far more familiar with the newcomer than they were Liang Chen, their doors were always open for him, and that familiarity was the main source of their shock. There was also the fact that Yan Ling had spoken a great deal about the man who was to be her future husband, but she had never mentioned anything about his family, much less that the man she occasionally brought with her was his brother. The man looked slightly exasperated as he was faced with their gawking, sitting down at the seat that Qing Feng had pointed him towards.


    "Our relationship is a bit complicated. If we go by technical terms then we are indeed brothers, but we were raised by different families and have taken different parents. In truth, this is our first time meeting. Hell, if it weren¡¯t for Sister-In-Law then I may never have gotten to meet him, there wasn¡¯t much reason for us to ever cross paths after all."


    The man gestured towards Yan Ling with a nod, confirming Liang Chen¡¯s suspicion that she had something to do with his arrival. Yan Ling took his gaze head-on, a small smile on her face as she tilted her head in a way that made it seem like she was questioning why he was looking at her. The man spoke up again as Liang Chen was looking at Yan Ling, drawing his attention.


    "Liang Chen, I have not come here on behalf of our people, nor have I come in an attempt to drag you back to us. I have come here as Ren Shuya, no titles, no positions, just me."


    The first thing the man, no, Ren Shuya, did when he got Liang Chen¡¯s attention was to draw a clear line. He did not come here as a member of the Sebettu, he did not come here as one of their generals, he simply came as the estranged brother that never got to share the relationship that was supposed to be his.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze lingered on Ren Shuya for a moment, he could feel the drifting gazes of the Qing family. It was quite obvious that there was a story to tell here, but they were sensible enough to know when to remain silent so they just waited with bated breath and allowed things to take their natural course. Eventually, Liang Chen¡¯s gaze slid towards the one responsible for this, the one watching it all with that small smile of hers.


    "It¡¯s not a coincidence, is it?"


    The situation was too perfect, too weird. Yan Ling, after entering the tutelage of the Nine Star Demon God, just so happened to enter the multiverse where his family had reincarnated? And not just the same multiverse, but the very same universe, even ending up meeting them? And then she also ended up getting acquainted with the one who would be his brother if he got to grow up normally? It was all too perfect, and no coincidence was ever perfect. Yan Ling just smiled when faced with his gaze, she didn¡¯t even try to hide it.


    "¡¯Family is the most important thing in the world, all facets of it.¡¯ He¡¯s a bit gruff but he can say some good things occasionally."


    Nine Star Demon God. First he set up a meeting between Liang Chen and his birth parents and now it turned out that he had interfered again. Liang Chen had no idea what sort of relationship the Nine Star Demon God had with his birth parents, but it couldn¡¯t be shallow since he kept on interfering like this.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze lingered on Yan Ling for a moment, the oh-so soft smile never leaving her face. She knew Liang Chen better than anyone, this twisted man of hers that was oh-so broken. He had lost many things through his life so it was understandable that he was afraid of making new connections, he had almost crumbled when she first brought him here. But he was strong now, it was fine to make connections, it was fine to reclaim that which he had lost, he didn¡¯t need to be lonely anymore.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    His gaze eventually left Yan Ling, the two not exchanging any further words as his gaze slid across the Qing family and then finally settled on Ren Shuya. The expression he wore was polite and calm, but the exasperated and apologetic undertones still lingered there, he probably felt rather awkward about making something like this their first meeting.


    "If you wait around for too long then the food will get cold. Don¡¯t waste Qing Lan¡¯s effort."


    He lowered his head slightly as he spoke, picking up the spoon that had been placed by his seat. He dipped it in the stew and brought it to his mouth, savouring the taste as it slid down his throat. He had made this, others had helped, but in the end it was the result of his hard work. It was good, he had really put his heart into it so he could only call it delicious.


    But there was a slight bitter taste that clung to the back of his throat, a stuffy sensation that almost made it feel as if some food had gotten stuck there. But as the others started to go back to eating, he forced that feeling down by pushing more food down his throat, the pleasant sound of familial chatter slowly filling his ears.


    As he pushed the food down his throat, a finger gently poked his thigh under the table. There was only one person sitting right next to him, his gaze quietly drifting towards Yan Ling. Her eyes gestured down to her hand, which was opening and closing rapidly as it beckoned him.


    He stretched out his free arm and took hold of her hand, their fingers entwining under the table. The bitter taste in the back of his throat subsided slightly as his hand warmed up. The two held hands while enjoying their meal, Yan Ling¡¯s gaze quietly drifting across the table.


    "Look at it. We made this. Despite everything we¡¯ve been through, despite how we¡¯ve lived our lives, we¡¯ve managed to make something like this, even if it may just last for a day right now."


    Yan Ling knew what the situation was like right now, she knew about the attacks launched by the other Sphere of Existence. As long as that was going on, peaceful days like this would become harder and harder to get, especially when the one at your side was someone like Liang Chen, who seemed unable to just sit still. But still, they had managed to carve out a bit of peace for themselves. And that was why Yan Ling kept talking.


    "We¡¯ve lost many things, haven¡¯t we? Fathers. Mothers. Sisters. Friends. We gained them all and then lost them all. It¡¯s lonely, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s painful, isn¡¯t it?"


    Her voice was quiet, barely a whisper as she looked across the table. Liang Chen wasn¡¯t the only one that had lost things, Yan Ling had lost her fair share of things too. Her father, all but one sibling, her entire sect, even the person who was once her mother had been killed by Liang Chen. Hers was a life marred by loss. That was why she understood his pain and his reservations, both about this reincarnated family and the family he had rejected. But understanding did not equal acceptance.


    "We¡¯ve lost many things so we have less than normal people. So shouldn¡¯t we make up for it by treasuring what little we have, enough to at least make up for everything that we¡¯ve lost?"


    Yan Ling was certain that she was living up to that last part. She treasured everything she could get her hands on, she showered it all with enough love to suffocate them. Because that was how she knew to keep them by her side, Liang Chen¡¯s way of doing the same was unfortunately to keep them away so that they wouldn¡¯t get hurt by his actions. Naturally, she also knew that he had other reasons for keeping Ren Shuya and the others away. But wasn¡¯t it already fine? Didn¡¯t he deserve a little more?


    "Just as friends can become family, what should be family can become friends. And for some people, perhaps that alone will be enough, don¡¯t you think?"


    She squeezed his hand as she spoke, the same gentle gesture she always used to urge him on. If Liang Chen was the one who would become the world¡¯s greatest and sole evil then Yan Ling was the light that prevented him from fully submerging into that role, or perhaps she was the only one who could stop him from ever reaching that end. Always there, always urging him on to do the right thing, always there to save his human heart.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze rose slightly as she squeezed his hand, drifting across the table and landing on Ren Shuya, who was chatting warmly with Qing Chun, idling away the minutes as they talked about their recent days. Ren Shuya had stayed true to his word, he hadn¡¯t asked or hinted at a single thing, he simply came here to enjoy a bit of peace. Liang Chen glanced at Yan Ling once more before his gaze landed on Ren Shuya again, a soft sigh escaping him.


    "Alright. I¡¯ll join you for a visit, Ren Shuya. They deserve to at least see my future wife."

 Chapter 372: Those two, years later. (1)

    Liang Chen¡¯s sudden address drew Ren Shuya¡¯s attention and cut short the pleasant conversation he was having with Qing Chun. There was a slight gleam in his eyes as they landed on Liang Chen, but the fact that it was an appreciative and still somewhat apologetic one made it hard to say anything when faced with it?


    "You¡¯ll come visit? Father and Mother have been feeling quite nostalgic recently so I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll welcome you warmly. I¡­ I hope that you can at least become friends over time, but I also understand that not everything is meant to be."


    Ren Shuya was understanding of Liang Chen¡¯s predicament, of course he couldn¡¯t just accept some strangers as his parents out of the blue. But at the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but lean towards his own parents and try to do what was best for them. He had seen how nostalgic and reminiscent they had become ever since they had apparently met Liang Chen for the first time. They had lost many of his years and they would never get that time back, their son had grown up without them, it was not something a parent ever wanted to experience.


    "And thank you, both of you."


    Ren Shuya lowered his head to convey his feelings, not gesturing excessively to either of them. But it was rather clear that he was mostly talking to Yan Ling, he was probably aware of the fact that it was unlikely that Liang Chen would ever take the initiative to visit his birth parents if it wasn¡¯t for her prodding. Yan Ling smiled sneakily and winked as Ren Shuya raised his head again, Liang Chen shaking his for a moment before he raised his spoon again.


    "I wouldn¡¯t get my hopes up. And don¡¯t expect us to rush there right away, I have other places I plan on visiting first."


    Yan Ling wasn¡¯t wrong, he knew that, those that should have been family could end up becoming friends. But Liang Chen¡­ wasn¡¯t the type that really made friends easily. He could get closer with others, he could appreciate and care for them, but it was much harder when it came to being friends. After all, in the end it was he who had caused the death of his two previous friends, he could still feel their blood whenever he clenched his hands.


    "That¡¯s fine, they¡¯ll be happy enough to hear that you¡¯ve actually decided to visit. I¡¯ve already started to tinker with a possible wedding gift, but with you deciding to visit I think it¡¯ll be much easier to get the permission for it. And don¡¯t worry, this will be a present from Ren Shuya, Ren Shuren, and Ren Yazhu, not from the Sebettu race nor from their leaders. Just a personal gift between people, nothing more."


    Once again, Ren Shuya made sure to draw a clear line. It was hard enough to get Liang Chen to agree to a visit, the last thing he wanted to do now was to insinuate that Liang Chen should create ties with the Sebettu, even accidentally. If that made him call off the visit then it would undoubtedly hurt his parents, and that had to be avoided at all costs.


    Liang Chen gave a small nod and brought the spoon to his mouth again before turning his head to chat a little with Qing Lan. Ren Shuya took the hint and returned to his conversation with Qing Chun, the pleasant chatter of warm voices quickly starting to fill the room once more.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The light was bright. Really, it was just too bright, to the point where it would hurt to open your eyes. The stark whiteness of the room also didn¡¯t help, the blinding colour only broken up by small patches of fresh red and dried brown. The air was thick with that stale smell that had now become familiar, old blood and an excess of medicine and anaesthetic, it was a smell that numbed the nose.


    But even with all the anaesthetic pumped into him, Zun Zhao could not get any rest. His head was a bit hazy, but in a few moments there would no longer be any drugs that could make him light-headed. Would he miss it? It was hard to tell, the numb sensation he got from some of the stronger drugs was nice, it dulled the pain and made it easier to focus. But at the same time, no longer being affected by those drugs meant that he was one step closer to perfection, one step closer to achieving his goal.


    The stone bed beneath him was rough and uncomfortable, especially on the back of his head, so he couldn¡¯t help but lift his head. He observed the surgery that was currently taking place, the changes that were implemented into him.


    Back when Liang Chen first met him, he was just a cute little kid with curly blonde hair and light green eyes, he was the picture of innocence. But the years had come and gone, and with time all things would become twisted, especially if you lost those close to you and became desperate for strength and vengeance.


    Gleaming gold had been mixed with murky purple and dirty green while light green had become tainted by pale white and mottled brown. He was approaching his twenties after all these years, but he was still only a little bit bigger than when he was still a child, his growth stunted by the repeated surgeries.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    His gaze landed on his chest after he raised his head, on the monstrosity resting there. His entire chest had been cut open, his ribs torn out so that they could get free access to his lungs. But the lungs that humans should have, they weren¡¯t there any more. No, his lungs had already been removed, he could see them on the stark white floor next to the bed.


    A new set of lungs had been prepared and were currently resting within the cavity of his chest, but they were too hideous to be called lungs. They looked like three cancerous lumps, each one covered in pustules that grew and shrank in tune with the movements of the lungs. Of the three, one was a dark purple, one a bright pink, and the third was as black as tar, the pustules on this particular lung leaking slightly.


    "The fusion will begin now, please steel your mind and grit your teeth, I promise that I will finish it as quickly as I can."


    The doctor spoke as Zun Zhao studied his new lungs, drawing his attention. The doctor was a slightly older looking man with brown hair and blue eyes ,a sky-blue robe decorated with feather-like markings adorning his form. He was a doctor right now, but he was also the one who saved Zun Zhao and his sister after their young master was killed, he was also the one who offered Zun Zhao the strength to get his revenge.


    Zun Zhao still didn¡¯t know the man¡¯s name, he just always called him doctor or benefactor. But if Liang Chen was here then he would recognize the man, for they had met before. Tian Shen, the Sky-Covering Eagle. Or perhaps more relevant for the people of this Sphere, he was the one holding the Ascended law of Existence, the leader of the forces that were currently waging a war on this entire Sphere.


    Zun Zhao grit his teeth with a small nod and the doctor placed his hands on the lungs, two of the pustules rupturing beneath his hand. A shimmering rainbow-coloured light seeped out from his hand and surrounded both Zun Zhao and the lungs, changes quickly starting to appear.


    Tendrils of fresh flesh sprouted from the cavity that was Zun Zhao¡¯s  chest, latching onto the lungs that were at least three times as large as his normal pair. The lungs reacted favourably to the tendrils, wriggling slightly as the tendrils merged into them. Zun Zhao¡¯s body convulsed violently as he grit his teeth, sweat pouring out from him as if he was a leaking balloon. No matter how many times he felt it, this really was a pain that left you wanting death.


    The new lungs were dragged into the cavity of his chest, squeezing his heart as they slowly started to inflate and deflate. The ribs that had been torn out started to regrow, extending slightly to accommodate the new lungs. The rest of his chest also healed slowly, covering the new ribs and lungs. But even so, Zun Zhao looked anything but normal right now, his chest was still expanded to three times its normal size, he looked like a toad trying to present itself.


    But eventually, the bloated chest started to shrink, the doctor ensuring that the lungs settled properly and that the ribs covered them. His chest would expand again when he wanted to call upon the power of the lungs, but until then he would at least look normal. Once his chest was fully back to normal, the doctor pulled his hands back, placing one on Zun Zhao¡¯s head and gently ruffling his hair.


    "There we go, you did very well.You¡¯ve grown much stronger, you didn¡¯t even get close to fainting this time. Since you¡¯ve reached a stage like this then you¡¯re far more likely to survive future surgeries. You¡¯ve done well, Zun Zhao, the young master would be proud of you if he could still see you."


    The doctor spoke with the same warmth and gentleness as a father watching over his son, but his words inflamed the rage in Zun Zhao¡¯s chest. The pain had dulled it momentarily, but the words reminded Zun Zhao of what he had lost, of why he endured this pain.


    "Thank you doctor, for everything. With this¡­ is the poison done?"


    Zun Zhao breathed rapidly a few times to regulate both his mind and  his breathing, asking for an answer he already knew. But he wanted to hear it, he wanted to get confirmation, just like his young master always gave. And the doctor obliged, just as always.


    "Yes, with this you will no longer need to fear any poisons, they will become nothing more than a nourishing mist for you."


    The doctor had already told him this in advance, but the lungs he just got implanted came from a very special Demonic beast that lived on poisons. Poison was one of the two weapons used by the enemy his young master asked him to kill so becoming immune to them was vital. And with that taken care of, there was only one immunity left that he needed.


    "Then, can we begin with the lightning right away?"


    Lightning and poison, that was what the doctor had told and shown him. But he also warned him that the strength he could acquire through the Shadowchaser surgery wouldn¡¯t be enough to take down the enemy  that used these two elements. If he wanted to avenge his young master then he would need immunity, not just resistance, that was why he had struggled so hard, finally reaching a point where he could contain the needed organs. But the doctor continued to gently ruffle his hair, smiling calmly.


    "There¡¯s no need to be hasty, rushing things will have an adverse affect. Go out and get used to your new lungs first, wasn¡¯t there a stronghold of the enemy clans that you wanted to take care of earlier? You should be strong enough to do that now. We can do the lightning immunity afterwards, and after that you will truly be ready to take on the one who formed the alliance that killed your Young Master."


    Soft and gentle, his words had a sweet allure to them that Zun Zhao couldn¡¯t resist. Yes, he really was rushing. He¡¯d already waited for around eight years so what did it matter if he waited a bit longer? It would be better to prepare properly so that he could ensure the downfall of his enemy. He sat up somewhat unsteadily, the doctor continuing to smile as he opened the door.


    "Ah, but don¡¯t forget to see little Zun Zhi first, I¡¯m sure she misses you."

 Chapter 373: Those two, years later. (2)

    Contrary to the stark white operation room, the sight that awaited Zun Zhao beyond the closed doors was a cheerful colourfulness. The walls and ceiling of the hallway were decorated with a myriad of murals, smudged drawings depicting anything from people to locations, it was as if an entirely new world unfolded itself along the walls. There were quite a few people going about their own business around Zun Zhao as he went on his way, some had a calming and gentle expression while others still looked a bit grim, a heavy air lingering around them.


    The difference was clear at a sight, but perhaps it was just to be expected. The gentle people were all those who were employed by the doctor, the benefactor that allowed him to pursue the last will of his deceased young master. And those with the heavy air were all like  him, the unfortunate and powerless that the doctor had picked up, the crying people he helped find a new people, Shadowchasers he called them, us. Were things just a bit different then Zun Zhao may very well have ended up like them, darkened eyes and heavy steps, shoulders lowered by sorrow.


    But luckily, Zun Zhao had yet to reach that point. No matter how much his body was altered, no matter how strange his innards became, no matter how dark his mind became, there was always something that would stop his steps from getting too heavy. He rounded a few corners and moved through a few rooms, his chest feeling a bit uneven thanks to the new pair of lungs that had fused with him. Eventually he pushed open a set of doors, the bright rays of the morning sun pouring in. And there she stood, the lifeboat that kept him from sinking just yet.


    "You¡¯re out! Is everything good, did things go okay, were there any complications, any pain?"


    A barrage of questions hit him as he stepped beyond the door, lush grass and moist earth softening his steps. His hair had been tainted by murky purple and dirty green while his eyes had been tainted by pale white and mottled brown, but hers, hers was still as beautiful as it was in the past. Beautiful golden hair with a slight curl and glittering green eyes that carried enough light to make up for what Zun Zhao had lost.


    His arm reached out and landed on his sister¡¯s head, Zun Zhi¡¯s head, and ruffled her hair in the same way their young master and their big brother Liang Chen had done in the past. Normally he would pull her in for a hug, but he didn¡¯t want to hold her close to the lungs he had just altered, she didn¡¯t need to be close to something that dirty. No, she needed to stay bright and gleaming, it was enough that he went ahead and dirtied himself.


    "Of course everything went fine. In fact, I feel better than ever, I¡¯ll never have to fear any kinds of poison again."


    Poison was a scary thing, it could creep into you no matter how strong you got. What did it matter if you were so strong that you could tear up cities, a single wrong meal could spell your doom. But now, now Zun Zhao would never have to fear something like that and was free to continue his revenge. And soon¡­ Very soon, lightning immunity would follow, then he would finally get to finish his revenge and let his young master rest in peace.


    "And oh, Benefactor said that I could get lightning immunity very soon, I just need to get accustomed to my new lungs first! Soon, very soon, this will all come to an end and we can go back to normal!"


    Zun Zhao¡¯s gaze slid past Zun Zhi, trailing beyond the small garden she had been waiting in. He could see the future already. The alliance that killed their young master would be ruined, he and his sister would get to live in peace in a big city, wealthy and peaceful thanks to his strength. If he got to spread his name enough then they might even get a hold of big brother Liang Chen and have him visit, Zun Zhi would surely love that.


    His eyes practically sparkled as he gazed into that not-so distant future. Soon, soon everything would be set right, at that point he should be allowed to shed a few tears for his young master, wouldn¡¯t he? But while he gazed into the horizon and the future, he failed to see the dark swirls in Zun Zhi¡¯s eyes and the way she bit the corners of her lips


    "We can just stop now, can¡¯t we? The city is gone, but we can find a new one, we can make a new home. This¡­ We don¡¯t need to do this¡­"


    The hand weakly tracing his chest pulled Zun Zhao¡¯s attention back onto his sister. One of her hands was held to his chest while the other was hidden behind her back so Zun Zhao couldn¡¯t see her clenched fist or the veins bulging on it, the nails digging into flesh until they drew blood.


    Zun Zhao twisted his torso slightly so that her hand left his chest, she had just been tracing the lungs he had just acquired. Meanwhile, his stretched out hand lowered to cup her cheek, his finger tracing beneath her eye. The glittering eyes were clouded by worry and unease, their luster missing.


    "I¡¯m sorry for making you worry about me like this, I really am. But I¡¯ve become strong now, I won¡¯t fall like the young master, I won¡¯t leave you alone. So please, don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll all be over soon."


    Zun Zhao could see only one reason for the worry that muddied his sister¡¯s eyes, putting on the calmest and gentlest expression he could as he rubbed her cheek. Yes, he was much stronger now than he was in the past. If he had been this strong back then then he would have been able to protect their young master, he wouldn¡¯t have died and left behind such regrets and resentment that he would ask the two of them to avenge him. In fact, the current him was stronger than the big brother Liang Chen that awed them back then, he had reached a realm the young him would never be able to dream of. So he didn¡¯t want his sister to worry about his safety, he wanted her to feel at ease, knowing that he¡¯d come home every time. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "I know, let me show you. I can¡¯t be compared to the past, but it¡¯s probably hard for you to embrace that difference without seeing it. Come, I¡¯ve got just the way to show you!"


    Zun Zhao lowered his arm again, clutching the hand that Zun Zhi previously used to trace his chest. He held it tight as he turned to the side and started to move, jogging lightly. Well, to a normal person it would be a light jog, to him it was like a snail¡¯s pace. But it was for the sake of his sister so he was fine with taking it painfully slow, anything more and she might just break after all.


    He dragged her through colourful hallways and rooms, past gentle people and others like him, never once noticing the pained and distraught twisting of her expression. Before long, he reached the section of the complex that he was searching for, the transportation hub. The hub was in fact just a massive empty square filled with arrays engraved into the floor, a simple sign placed next to each to indicate where they would lead.


    Thanks to this, the unfortunate souls picked up by the benefactor could go wherever they needed to go. In fact, the hub was constantly expanding, the benefactor setting up new stations in the outside world whenever he picked up a new unfortunate soul. He tailored each array to the new people, setting them up in places connected to the trauma that haunted them. He was kind like that, giving them the strength and means to heal their own trauma.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Zun Zhao to find the array he was looking for, he had studied each and every array related to him time and time again, engraved their positions into his mind as if they were a curse he never wanted to forget. Stormbeak city, the stronghold of the Storm Dancer clan, one of the clans that was behind the orchestration of his young master¡¯s death. He wouldn¡¯t even have known about these people if it wasn¡¯t for his benefactor, but the doctor had luckily opened his eyes, ensuring that his young master¡¯s revenge would be completed without a single lousy insect escaping.


    He dragged Zun Zhi onto the array and activated it, space around them twisting for a few short moments before they finally arrived at their destination, which was a few kilometres in the air above the city. Stormbeak city was located on a tall cliff and shaped like a triangle, dark blue waves beating against the base of the cliff relentlessly as they threw white foam into the sky.


    Zun Zhao¡¯s gaze was locked on the large gathering of buildings that served as the centre of the city, bright blue stone carved into intricate shapes. The Storm Dancers, the next step in his revenge, he could see them milling about like ants down there. Their every movement irked him, poked his eyes like hot needles and prodded at his soul. How dared they act so carefreely after killing his young master and ruining their city? What right did they have to be so peaceful and accomplished? Was it their strength, because they were stronger? Well, if that was the case then he would claim that very  same right here today.


    "You can stay here, it¡¯s perfectly safe, benefactor has ensured that. Please watch, I¡¯ll show you that I¡¯m stronger than we could have ever dreamt of!"


    Zun Zhao let go of his sister¡¯s hand and stepped beyond the boundary of the array, his back tearing open as two pairs of insect wings burst forth to keep him afloat. He slowly lowered himself closer to the ground, one pair of his wings fluttering with wind while the other made the air around them vibrate to the point where it produced a painful sound.


    His gaze remained locked on the gathering of buildings, the skin and flesh around his eyes melting away as his eyes expanded and his pupils took on the shape of a goat¡¯s. The ground that was still quite far away from him instantly became clearer, each individual moving about down there visible to him, he could even study their faces as he pleased. He allowed his gaze to drift across the city, but the same emblem appeared on every person he looked at, they all had that accursed insignia on their chests. A city built solely for a single clan, with every single person serving as a member, was this the sort of entity the Storm Dancers were?


    The faces he saw also made his own expression twisted. They all looked so damn happy, their bright smiles appearing twisted as they reflected off of his eyes. They all looked to be laughing and smiling, enjoying the bright day in their own ways. How dare they. How dare they frolic about like this after robbing him of his family. Was it because they were strong? They were strong so they could rob others and then dance as they pleased? How sickening it was, how disgusting a world where something like that was okay was. But today, today it was Zun Zhao who was strong, today it was he who could be disgusting.


    He sank lower, his insides churning as he looked at the peaceful scene. In the past, he and his sister were frequently part of such scenes, their young master always taking great care of them. But now those times were gone, burned to ash and mixed with blood and regrets.


    His feet finally touched the ground, cracks spreading out beneath him as dark brown scales grew to cover his legs and his feet twisted into a five-clawed shape. The buildings closest to his wings turned to dust thanks to the strong vibrations, what little wasn¡¯t crushed getting cut to shreds by the wind that fluttered around his other pair of wings. If that was how the buildings fared then there was no need to talk about the people that were closest to him, a familiar scarlet immediately dyeing the world.


    Naturally, chaos immediately broke out, the screams that rang through the air quickly drowned out by the vibration coming from Zun Zhao¡¯s wings. His goat-like eyes swept across the surroundings, but everywhere he looked he saw that damned symbol, it was as if they wouldn¡¯t be happy until they had emblazoned it on every single building and person they could get their hands on. The person who should be the leader of the Storm Dancers was rushing towards him, the scarlet that dyed the world mixing into Zun Zhao¡¯s eyes.


    "Now¡­ Now it is I who am strong¡­ Now it is my turn to take, just like you took my young master."


    His chest expanded violently as he spoke lowly and darkly, his voice dredging up the grudge that constantly suffocated him. The new lungs he was getting used to activated as his chest expanded, dark green mist spilling out from his mouth, nostrils, and ears. The mist slithered along the ground as if it was alive, spreading with the wind until it practically covered the entire city.


    Zun Zhao heard the sounds of retching and coughing that came from throughout the city, the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground. He heard justice and karma, retribution that he had brought about.


    "See? Do you see? I¡¯m no longer weak like back then, I am one of the strong now. So please don¡¯t worry, Zhi, I am doing just fine."

 Chapter 374: Those two, years later. (3)

    "Huuuh¡­Haaa¡­Huuu¡­"


    Zun Zhao could hear his own heavy breaths mix with the subdued sound of his own rushing blood. He felt ecstatic, almost euphoric as his gaze bore into the man who should be the leader of the Storm Dancers. The man was strong, stronger than any enemy Zun Zhao had ever fought. But now that man had been brought to his knees, a bit of his shoulder torn out as if a wild beast had bitten down on it, a myriad of other wounds scattered across the rest of his body.


    Zun Zhao had done that. It was him, and just him alone. An entity he couldn¡¯t even dream about in the past, a realm he didn¡¯t even know about, those things were now falling because of him. He could almost get drunk on that fact, on the sheer gulf between the powerless and helpless past him and the strong him that he had become now.


    Naturally, he had a few wounds of his own, but the first thing the benefactor did was make sure that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about getting hurt while fighting. The leg that had been torn off was already growing back, the blood-like sludge that was getting extracted from the innumerable dead bodies littering the city getting funnelled into his wounds.


    "Ah, you know, I feel like it¡¯s almost not right. My young master suffered greatly before he died, everything became ruins and there was so much suffering, so many cries. You and your people probably revelled in it, didn¡¯t you? That¡¯s why you took your  time, wasn¡¯t it? And yet here you are, getting a much quicker end, it really doesn¡¯t feel fair."


    Zun Zhao¡¯s teeth grit as he spoke, the emblem he still saw on the opposing man¡¯s chest digging at his mind. Yes, things here had really ended oh-so quickly, far too quickly. The citizens failed to handle the poison so they probably died in less than 30 seconds, the stronger people lasting almost one minute. The leader on the other hand could fight for almost a full two minutes before they reached this moment. Compared to his young master and their city it really was far too quickly, the suffering just wasn¡¯t equal.


    The auburn-haired man gasped for breath while listening to Zun Zhao, his eyes glaring just as fiercely. He was strong, but finally, so was Zun Zhao. And even if he was strong, Zun Zhao had poison, that scary thing that would creep in no matter how strong you were. So the man could glare all he wanted, no one saved Zun Zhao¡¯s family when he glared so he wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to save this man now.


    He grasped his weapon, a long halberd that seemed to have been made using a spider¡¯s leg and a mantis¡¯ scythe, its blade jagged and sharp. His benefactor had given him this weapon after he survived his second surgery, a present for his strong determination. It had served him well so far and helped him achieve a great part of his revenge. But as he took a step closer to the beaten man, his senses finally caught on to something, something that was falling down from above.


    "Zhi?!"


    His mind jolted as he recognized the thing, his head hurriedly tilting back so that he could look into the sky. There she was, his  sister, falling towards the earth like a meteor. She was close to the ground, extremely close. Humans could only fall so fast without using Qi, so judging by how high up the array was she had probably jumped down from it mere seconds after he had landed and started his attack. If she hit the ground like that then she was dead, there would be zero chance of survival.


    His five-clawed legs kicked off of the ground and his wings flapped as he shot into the air, the already shattered streets crumbling to dust beneath him. He rapidly approached her, but she suddenly winced as he got closer, blood suddenly spurting from the arm that was closest to him. He had forgotten about the vibrations that surrounded him, the pair of wings responsible for them quickly retracting into his back with a sound akin to meat sliding across metal.


    The wind surrounding the other pair of wings rushed forward and surrounded his sister, quickly reducing her falling speed so that she wouldn¡¯t just crumble when he caught her. By the time her speed had been reduced enough and he could take her in his arms, they were only two or three metres away from the ground. It really had been far too close, Zun Zhao¡¯s eyes swimming with worry as he inspected his sister.


    "Zhi, what are yo¡­ GH!"


    His words were cut off with a groan, a hot pain spreading from his lower back. A small patch of skin on his neck slid open to reveal another eye, one shaped like a chameleon¡¯s. The leader of the Storm Dancers had forced his arms forwards, launching a metal knife directly into Zun Zhao¡¯s back. The small weapon was branching out inside him, but it was doing it so slowly that it was probably just a final attack to anger him rather than an actual attempt at killing him.


    Zun Zhao clenched his teeth as his chest heaved, he wanted to spin around and tear off the man¡¯s head. But he was holding his sister right now and she was so normal that a single hasty move would turn her bones to pulp so he had to be extremely careful. He carefully landed on the ground again, but Zun Zhi wriggled out of his grasp just as he was about to put her down. She rushed past him and stopped in front of the kneeling man, spreading out her arms as she faced her brother. Zun Zhao looked directly at her, occasionally glancing at the man behind her.


    "Zhi, you need to step away. That man is dangerous, so please step aside quickly and let me finish this."


    He held out one arm like he was trying to soothe a puppy, his other arm reaching behind him and extracting the branching knife. He tore out some flesh, but more of the blood-like sludge that was extracted from the corpses was funnelled into the wound to fill it. He wanted to rush forward, but he had to wait for Zun Zhi to step away so that he didn¡¯t hurt her in the process. But she didn¡¯t budge, her eyes clear and strong.


    "No. This has gone far enough, too far even."


    She had heard things before, but this was the first time she actually saw her brother carry out their revenge. But the things she saw¡­ They were worse than what she had heard, far worse. She couldn¡¯t accept it, she really couldn¡¯t. And she didn¡¯t want her brother to walk down a road like that, he had to stop before it became too late. But the question was, was it perhaps already too late for that?


    "Too far? Zhi, they killed our young master, the robbed us of what little family we had left. They burned our city, the ruined our home! How can anything be too far?"


    Zun Zhao swept out his arms in a violent motion as he spoke, gesturing towards the broken city around them. This was what had become of their own home, this was the fate that these people had imposed on them. How could equal justice ever be too far, too much?


    "They? Who are they? I¡¯ve never seen any of these people before, Zhao. And what about those children? Their mothers, their siblings, their friends? Did they kill the young master, did they burn the city? They¡¯re not even old enough to understand what¡¯s going on so how can they not deserve mercy?"


    Zun Zhi was sad, she was angry, the loss of their young master had hurt her greatly. But these people? These citizens just going about their daily lives? How could they have anything to do with the death of their young master? And even if they did, there was no way that everyone here deserved to die for that, there was simply no way that everyone here had something to do with that death. She needed her brother to understand that, but in truth it was something she should have told him long ago, many many deaths ago.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "They didn¡¯t know us either, Zhi! They had never seen us or the young master before, we were nothing but strangers! WE were just children, Zhi! WE didn¡¯t understand anything that was going! The kids in the neighbourhood, the children of the other families, the children that were just visiting, none of them understood anything. Did they not deserve mercy? Did WE not deserve mercy? So why didn¡¯t they give us mercy, why did they try to kill us all the same?"


    Zun Zhi had no choice but to stumble over her response when her brother rebutted her fiercely, his teeth grinding against each other. It was the unavoidable truth, they had also just been kids back then, and the attackers had never seen them before yet tried to kill them all the same. But even so, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to accept something like that, not when she looked at the carnage it caused. A cycle like this, it was too cruel. But as was often the case with cycles like this, they fuelled themselves because they couldn¡¯t be stopped when they first began.


    "Do you remember what big brother Chen said all those years ago? Just having a good heart and the will to do right isn¡¯t enough, it¡¯s worthless if you don¡¯t have the strength to see it through. I have gained that strength, I can finally see it through in the way that they would have wanted, in the way that is deserved. I know that it sits in your stomach like a disease, but this is right, Zhi. It is justice decreed by the heavens."


    The Big Brother Chen that they had met all those years ago, despite the relatively short time they had spent together, left a strong impact on both the twins. The things he said, the way he acted, what they had heard about him afterwards, it was all engraved in them in different ways. The big brother they met in the desert, he had rushed out alone and eradicated the Stone-Soul King and his entire herd containing thousands of beasts so that they wouldn¡¯t harm the city. He would see this as justice, he would surely understand and accept it.


    Zun Zhao took a step forward, blurring as he vanished from his original position. He breezed past his sister, taking great care that his wind didn¡¯t harm her. But he arrived directly in front of the still kneeling man, his arm swinging out so that the shaft of his halberd crushed his skull and ended his life.


    With the last man dying, the halberd he was holding sank into Zun Zhao¡¯s arm and vanished, leaving only the twins who now had their backs to each other. Zun Zhao could see his sister tremble thanks to the eye on his neck, was it fury, fear, or mental pain that made her quiver? He didn¡¯t know, but there was one thing he knew, one thing he remembered well.


    "All those years ago, do you remember when Big Brother Chen asked if I would defend you even if it resulted in feeling pain? I still stand by my answer from back then, I will protect you from all danger. That answer doesn¡¯t change even if the pain I have to suffer comes from your anger or disappointment."


    He still remembered the scars that had dug deep into Liang Chen¡¯s body at the time, he looked as if he was just a step away from death. The pain must have been harrowing, but he barely flinched at it, acting like normal. And now, now it was finally his turn to do the same.


    "¡­It¡¯s just as he said, all pain is worth bearing if you bear it while living the life that you¡¯ve chosen to live."


    His words still lingered in the air as he grabbed hold of his sister and flew into the air, controlling his speed as he shot towards the sky-borne array that would take them back to their benefactor¡¯s complex. He couldn¡¯t think of anything to say at this moment, and his sister seemed to be unwilling to say anything in turn so the quick return trip was done in silence. Only when they were finally back in the complex and the waves of exhaustion that followed the usage of his powers did he finally open his mouth again.


    "It¡¯ll be over soon, very soon. Please, just stay here and be safe until then. Once everything is over¡­ Then I¡¯ll be willing to do whatever to earn your forgiveness, so let me make you angry until then."


    He started to walk away when he was done, his lungs were starting to burn within him, it didn¡¯t seem like he was as accustomed to them as he first thought. He needed to rest to recuperate, but then again, it was the same every time he used his newly acquired powers so it wasn¡¯t exactly a new sensation.


    Zun Zhi looked at her brother¡¯s back as he walked away, clenching her fists and biting the corners of her lips. It was worse than she had expected, so much worse than she ever could have imagined. This¡­ This was a path to ruin, one she had to stop in any way she could.


    She returned to the room she had been given, quickly going over everything she had there. She knew what to do, who could help, she just had to find him. But she didn¡¯t leave right away, she needed to wait. She wasn¡¯t sure if she would be allowed to leave, and if someone told her brother then he would definitely stop her. So she proceeded to wait.


    She counted the hours, checking the clock ever so often as she prepared and re-prepared everything she had. When the hours had passed and the deep night had finally descended, that was when she made her move. Just about everyone would be sleeping at this point, and her brother would practically be in a coma since he just used so much of his powers.


    She quietly opened the door and snuck out, holding a cloth bag close to her chest. The bag contained almost everything she owned, but most importantly, it contained a Spirit Stone she could use to activate one of the many arrays that would take her away.


    Just as she expected, just about everyone was asleep, only a dim light resembling moonlight laying her path bare. She had already memorised the path since she had been waiting there so often so she would be able to navigate it even if it was pitch black. And thus, she quickly reached the hub that held all the arrays. But her breath caught in her chest when she reached the entrance, someone she hadn¡¯t expected to see was standing inside, his back turned.


    "So you came. I always wondered when the time for you to leave would come. It seems that you¡¯ve chosen today to be that time."


    Brown hair and  blue eyes, a sky-blue robe decorated with feather-like markings. The benefactor that had saved them, the doctor that gave her brother his power, he had been waiting for her to come here.


    "Are you¡­ Going to stop me from leaving?"


    She clutched the bag tightly, she didn¡¯t think she had any chance of leaving if the benefactor tried to stop her. She¡¯d be forced back to her room and would have no choice but to remain there, no different from a caged bird. But contrary to her expectation, the doctor turned around with a gentle and caring smile on his face.


    "No, I would never stop you. Do you know why?"


    He looked at her like a father would at his daughter, speaking in such a gentle tone that it seemed like he would teach her a lesson. He also didn¡¯t wait for her to come up with an answer, his gaze sweeping across the myriad of arrays.


    "I don¡¯t determine what path in life you take, I don¡¯t do that for anyone here. I simply give you the freedom of choice and do what I can to help you once you¡¯ve made your choice. You¡¯ve made your choice, and I will respect that and try to help you. That¡¯s all I¡¯ll ever do."


    He spoke so kindly, his eyes gleaming with such a gentle light that Zun Zhi couldn¡¯t bring herself to doubt him, her very soul believed him from its very core. The benefactor stretched out his arm after softening his smile a bit further, pointing at an array tucked away towards the corner.


    "That one. If you take that array then you¡¯ll arrive at the fringes of the Heaven and Hell Dominion, it¡¯ll take you as close to your big brother as I can get you. And you should take this, it¡¯ll keep you fed and safe as you move."


    A blue ring materialised out of thin air and slid itself onto Zun Zhi¡¯s finger, a hidden blade extracting a bit of her blood and feeding it to the ring. The accessory let out a short burst of light before it went dark again, but now she could feel a slight connection with the ring, just a move of her mind would allow her to bring out the things inside it, or put in new items.


    She marvelled at the item for a moment before she heard a slight sound, dragging her back to reality. She quickly bowed and thanked their benefactor, earnestly heading for the array he had pointed out afterwards.


    "Thank you, Benefactor. Please keep my brother safe until I return."


    The doctor, the Sky-Covering Eagle Tian Shen, looked at the back of the girl with his seemingly unchanging kind gaze. He¡¯d probably held that same expression when he first started the war against this Sphere and attacked innumerable cities. He watched as she activated the array using her Spirit Stone, vanishing from the complex in silence.


    When she was gone, he gave a light wave of his hand and the array vanished, leaving behind a clean and empty spot ready for a new one. He then placed his hands behind his back and started to saunter through the hallways and rooms of his complex, eventually arriving in front of Zun Zhao¡¯s room.


    He didn¡¯t even knock, opening the door with slightly rushed motions as he put on a concerned expression. He placed a hand on Zun Zhao¡¯s shoulder, practically jolting him awake despite his coma-like state. And then he spoke with the same concern as a father worrying about his children.


    "Zun Zhao, I need you to listen carefully and not panic. It¡¯s your sister, she snuck out and took the array you used earlier to return to Stormbeak city. I don¡¯t know what she wanted or how she got down, but there were no traces of her when I got there. There were lightning-like burn marks on the city and around the array so I fear that she has been taken, possibly killed, by the demon who forged the alliance that originally killed your young master."

 Chapter 375: The two rulers.

    Zun Zhao sprang out of bed before the doctor could even finish his sentence. He only needed to hear that she had snuck out for his back to run cold, his veins suddenly filled with ice rather than blood. The world was dangerous, the death of their young master and the destruction of their city engraved that terrifying fact into his very soul. His sister was a normal person, he had made sure that she didn¡¯t get to go through the same gruelling surgeries that he did to grow strong, she was so weak that she¡¯d crumble at the smallest touch. And yet she had gone off on her own, and disappeared as a result.


    "I need to go!"


    Forget getting dressed, he didn¡¯t even bother taking the time to wipe the drool at the corner of his lips. If his sister was taken by the monster that forged the alliance that killed his young master then there was no telling what sort of horrible fate awaited her. They were already fine with killing the two of them back when they were just children, but now Zun Zhao was their enemy so it would be even worse. After all, forget the thousands, he had probably killed close to a million or more of the people belonging to that monster¡¯s alliance, he was definitely the greatest thorn in that demon¡¯s side.


    "No. I can¡¯t allow that."


    But just as Zun Zhao was going to rush past him, the doctor¡¯s hand reached out and landed on his chest, his gentle yet firm words seemingly rooting him down. The doctor gently held his chest, his visage twisted in worry and concern as he locked eyes with Zun Zhao, who looked like he could explode at a moment¡¯s notice.


    "You¡¯re worried, fearful. I understand. No, I really do. Family is important, more important than anything, it is for them that we are willing to do anything. But if you rush out there now then you will die. The demon will kill you and you will achieve nothing, your sister following you shortly. So take a breath, cool your heart, and then think about the situation. Can you do that for me?"


    Zun Zhao¡¯s insides felt scorching, the lungs he hadn¡¯t really gotten used to yet felt like they were on fire. But the words of the doctor still sank into him, slithered into his soul like the first summer breeze. The heat cooled down, almost magically, and his mind calmed so that he could see that the doctor was right, he usually was in situations like this. When the doctor saw that Zun Zhao had cooled down, he raised his hand from his chest and placed it on his head, ruffling his hair just like their young master had done in the past.


    "That¡¯s good, you must always make sure to see all situations with a cool heart and a calm mind. Now, I didn¡¯t find any traces of your sister, but there also weren¡¯t any other traces of death, other than the ones you caused of course. From that we can gather that they kept her alive, so there is something they want from her. And if I had to guess, then that thing is you. You have wounded the alliance greatly so now they are afraid, especially because they can¡¯t get a hold of you. So, what does that mean?"


    The doctor¡¯s words were like medicine, partly assuring Zun Zhao while also partly stroking his ego to strengthen his confidence. Zun Zhao forced down a few mouthfuls of air, the cool night air settling in his lungs as he used his mind, just like the doctor asked.


    "¡­It¡¯s over when they get me?"


    Lives had worth, be they great or small. Even the weakest human had some sort of worth to others, and they¡¯d be kept around for as long as worth existed. Zun Zhi¡¯s worth would run out once the demon got hold of Zun Zhao, and worthless lives weren¡¯t kept around. The doctor helped Zun Zhao understand that, giving a nod and then a shake of his head in response.


    "Correct, the moment they get you they win, and they¡¯ll also have no more need for your sister. So you can¡¯t go out yet, you cannot stand against that demon as you currently are, his lightning will roast even your soul."


    Lightning and poison, the doctor had reminded Zun Zhao numerous times of his enemy¡¯s weapons, it was these two weapons that shaped the path Zun Zhao took in his surgeries. Everything after the first two surgeries was done to combat those two weapons, and they had been so close to completion, just a single step away.


    "Then¡­ The surgery for the lightning immunity, can we push it forward?"


    The last single step, originally it should have waited for at least a few months so that Zun Zhao could get used to his lungs and properly integrate them with the other parts he had gotten implanted. But could he really wait several months now, did he really have to let his sister suffer there for that long? But sadly for him, the doctor that always had a solution shook his head.


    "We can, but it won¡¯t be enough. When I originally calculated it, you would first get more time to get used to your new organs between each implant. That time could also be spent to slowly strengthen the implanted organs, that way you¡¯d be much stronger overall once the final implant was done and you got used to it. If we push it forward to now, you won¡¯t have that period of acclimatization and strengthening so the demon will just use pure physical force to kill you."


    His words were in line with what he had done so far. He¡¯d always given Zun Zhao time to get used to each organ or limb, always pointing him towards people in the alliance or beasts that used elements similar to that new limb so that he could absorb it. But even though he shook his head, Zun Zhao noticed that there was something the doctor hadn¡¯t said, his knees bending as he knelt down and lowered his forehead to the cold ground.


    "Then¡­ Is there nothing? Is there really nothing that can be done now? Doctor, please, she¡¯s all I have left. Please, I¡¯m begging you, show me the way to save her."


    The doctor said that it wasn¡¯t enough, he hadn¡¯t said that it was impossible. The doctor he knew was very particular about his words, if he didn¡¯t say that it was impossible then there was definitely something he could do. Once again, the doctor would be able to save him, able to point him in the right direction.


    "¡­There¡­"


    The doctor looked down at the kowtowing Zun Zhao, his words trailing off for a moment. Zun Zhao didn¡¯t raise his head, but he could feel the doctor¡¯s conflicted gaze, the desire to help clashing with the knowledge of what had to be done. After what felt like an eternity, the doctor squeezed out the words that Zun Zhao wanted to hear.


    "¡­There is a way. But¡­ But that surgery¡­"Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    The doctor kept trailing off, almost as if he was biting his tongue in hesitation. But it was enough for Zun Zhao. There was a way, there was something he could do. He raised his head slightly, only to bring it down again with full force, cracking the cold stone and drawing some blood from his forehead.


    "Please, Doctor! If there is a way then I need to take it. You¡¯ve seen me survive all the other surgeries, I¡¯ll survive this one too."


    Taking his arms, taking his legs, tearing out his spine to make room for wings, lungs, stomach, liver, eyes, teeth, there was no end to the painful surgeries that Zun Zhao had gone through. But even if he felt like he wanted to die, even if his own body was slowly being ground away, he always survived and kept on moving. Now would be no different, he would survive and move on. But once again, he heard the very soft sound of the doctor shaking his head, an almost sad voice spilling forth.


    "No, you won¡¯t. Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m belittling you, but that  surgery is not one that can be survived, it¡¯s not meant to be survived. If you undergo it, if you take in that thing¡­ You will die and come back to life as something completely different. You can never call yourself human again, you will become a true Beast, be it Divine, Demonic, or Origin."


    Despite all the surgeries, despite all the parts that had been stripped out and replaced, what flowed in Zun Zhao¡¯s veins was still human blood. No matter how monstrous he became, he was still human, to many this was an important distinction. But at this moment, would such a distinction matter to Zun Zhao?


    "Then let me become a beast, Doctor. No, I¡¯m begging you, help me become a beast."


    Silence followed Zun Zhao¡¯s desperate plea, his begging for the monstrous.


    "¡­"


    The doctor seemed to struggle with his words, his choices. For a few moments, the only sound that filled the room was Zun Zhao¡¯s breathing, each one filled with desperation that only the good doctor could ease. And after what felt like ages of hesitation, the doctor once again saved Zun Zhao.


    "¡­Very well, but may the gods forgive me."


    Zun Zhao heard the doctor crouch down, his hands landing on Zun Zhao¡¯s shoulder. They felt warm and large, so trustworthy that Zun Zhao almost got the urge to go to sleep. But he couldn¡¯t sleep, for now the good doctor would once again lift him from the mud and give him exactly what he needed.


    "Come then, Zun Zhao, let me give you the heart of an Origin."


    ¡ª¡ª


    Liang Chen wasn¡¯t sure if he felt tired or not once they finished dinner with Qing Feng¡¯s family. Naturally, part of him was thrilled that he got to meet them again, even if they had no memory of how they knew him in their past lives. But the promise he had made Yan Ling still hung on his mind. Visiting his birth parents, even if it was just for a small meeting so that they could meet Yan Ling.


    This would be their first proper meeting, even for Liang Chen. Granted, they had met before and had a talk thanks to the Nine Star Demon God, but that meeting was as formal as could be, he never actually planned on interacting much with them after all. Were it not for Yan Ling¡¯s urging then there was a real chance that Liang Chen would never meet them again, they¡¯d be just like the countless other strangers that always just brushed shoulders and then never saw each other again.


    Thanks to this, he didn¡¯t quite know what to feel. Going from his previous family to who could have been, and perhaps should have been, his family. What a strange situation it was, both should be his family yet neither of them were, he didn¡¯t really belong with any of them.


    He threw the thoughts to the back of his mind with a sigh, his gaze drifting to the side and out of the window. They were currently on a specially prepared ship that was taking them back to the interspatial array that would take them back to their own multiverse. It was beyond the dead of night so Yan Ling was sleeping next to him, Yumao and Lan Yun curled up together, Ao Fentian kept safe between them, while Sheng Lian slept in another room. She was technically the youngest of these three children, but she looked the oldest and acted as the most mature so it was a bit hard to have her sleeping in the same bed as them.


    Colours flashed by beyond the window, planets and galaxies blurring thanks to the speed of the ship. When he thought about it, Liang Chen had to admit that it was quite marvellous. Planets, universes, even multiverses, at this stage they could move between them as they pleased, it barely took any time at all. But how bad wouldn¡¯t it have been back in the distant past? Going between planets would be hard, but going between universes and multiverses would be almost impossible, the world you would know back then was so much smaller than what they had gotten used to now.


    "¡­I guess it is about time I check it out."


    When he thought about how big the world had become, there was one thing that popped into his mind. There was an aspect of the world that shouldn¡¯t exist yet did so all the same, it was an aspect that very few in their lives would ever see or even learn about. But that aspect was exactly the one Liang Chen was the closest to, it had become part of him and he had become part of it. He¡¯d left it alone for quite a while, mainly due to the trial Purgatory had prepared for him, but now it really was time for him to check it again.


    Part of his consciousness sank into his own body and touched upon that one spot he could always sense but never locate if he tried to use conventional means. He felt a momentary twisting but it barely lasted for a quarter of a second, and by the time it ended he found himself standing within the void.


    Pale white earth, grey grass, and blooming maple trees spread out in a small area around him. This was his slice of the void, the untainted domain he had created, the endless wasteland of the void stretching out beyond the dome that covered his domain. A stream filled with clear blue water split the domain in half, the water born from the energy that Lao Ye had become after being swallowed by the void flowing freely.


    Growing next to the small stream were a handful of tea-flowers, their bulbs coming in all the colours of the rainbow as they reached towards a sun that wasn¡¯t there. He had personally planted these seeds here after killing Lao Ye, the years had allowed them to grow tall and ripe. And on the other side of the stream stood a small plum tree, Liang Chen¡¯s expression sinking slightly as he looked at it. The tree was what had become of Ao Fentian¡¯s mother after Liang Chen had swallowed her with his void, it was the tree she had thought of when he asked her what her favorite was. She had died because of him, but this was the best he could do for her.


    Other than this small area, there was nothing out of the ordinary within his void, he hadn¡¯t erased that many people with his law after becoming part of the void. But beyond the dome, within the seemingly endless wasteland, the Voidborn still waited.


    "The Elder Deity!"


    "The Deity has returned!"


    "The Elder Deity!"


    Liang Chen finally stopped ignoring the calls that had started ever since he stepped into the void and turned his head. Just beyond the edge of his domain, the Voidborn were waiting for him. Some were humanoid, some were nothing more than small worms, and other still were large gatherings of worms wriggling as one. They were all bowing reverently, the humanoid ones bending the knees as they worshipped him like they would a god.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze slid across them, stopping when it landed on someone he hadn¡¯t expected to see here. The normal grey eyes tied to the void and green hair that hung loosely down to his shoulders, a teen with clear features sat there with his legs crossed and a serious expression. Kongxu Zhuren, the Voidborn Ruler of this age and the one that the Voidborn called the Younger Deity because he was born after Liang Chen got hold of his law of the void.


    The two of them weren¡¯t exactly on the best of terms during their last, and coincidentally first, meeting. There was only ever supposed to be one Voidborn Ruler at a time, and Liang Chen wasn¡¯t exactly a natural-born one, so it was inevitable that Kongxu Zhuren believed that Liang Chen was out to steal the position he was born for. But it saved Liang Chen some trouble that Kongxu Zhuren was here, there were some questions he wanted answered. And thus, the two locked eyes, coincidentally opening their mouths at the same time.


    "I¡¯ve got some questions for you."


    "So you¡¯ve returned. Good, I wish to talk with you."

 Chapter 376: The open void.

    Liang Chen and Kongxu Zhuren locked eyes, the two rulers of the void separated only by the transparent film that was the edge of Liang Chen¡¯s domain. Liang Chen was surprised enough that Kongxu Zhuren was here, seemingly waiting for him. But actually wanting to speak with him as well? That was all the more surprising. When they last met they had just dumped their own opinions and philosophies on each other and then Liang Chen had splendidly ignored him, there shouldn¡¯t really be much for the two to talk about. But then again, Liang Chen also had questions for Kongxu Zhuren so perhaps it was a bit wrong of him to think that there wasn¡¯t much for them to talk about.


    "Alright, seems like we can both get what we want then."


    Liang Chen sat down and crossed his legs as he spoke, the two now sitting at almost the same height. Now that he took a closer look at him, Zhuren seemed a touch dishevelled. Brown spots and clusters of dust were scattered about on his robe, a few smears of dirt jutting out from beneath his clothes, and his hair had clumped together in some spots close to his scalp. But Zhuren did not seem bothered by his own appearance, moving the conversation along.


    "How do you wish to proceed with the talks? Shall we take turns speaking and asking or shall we have one person finish all their own questions and then move on to the next?"


    The way he spoke and carried himself was quite different from their previous meeting, where he looked as if he couldn¡¯t wait to swallow Liang Chen whole. It wasn¡¯t to the point of being subservient or nice, but he was definitely acting in a manner that could at least be called formal.


    "We can take turns, I¡¯ll start. When last we met, you didn¡¯t exactly look like you wanted to tolerate me, so why do you suddenly want to talk with me?"


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t have anything to base it on, but he had a guess that Zhuren¡¯s sudden desire for a chat was tied to his dishevelled appearance. It was highly unlikely that it came from training or from just sitting here, so someone else must have caused it. Zhuren was a Voidborn Ruler, one born naturally, the number of people that could leave him looking like a mess could probably be counted on both hands. Zhuren probably noticed Liang Chen¡¯s gaze, his fingers tracing some of the brown spots on his robes before he answered.


    "I fought Jormungandr, the Void King, and I lost. I fought The Heaven Splitting King, and I lost. I tried to have my people join the war, but we met the Divine Emperor and were crushed without resistance. I tried to fight the wife of the Dark Dawn Monarch, and I lost again. I fought, I fought, and I fought to fulfil the duty I was supposedly born for, but I did nothing but lose."


    Zhuren stopped a little in each sentence, taking half a breath before he could utter the declaration of his defeat. If he had picked his own battles then Liang Chen could only say that he made terrible choices, fighting three of the known rulers of this multiverse, and one of their wives, was nothing short of suicidal. But then again, he was still alive to speak of it so he probably wasn¡¯t that easy to kill.


    "I was born for this, I¡¯ve been convinced of that since my creation. I am to rule the void and bring about the inevitable end that awaits all existence, there is nothing that can stop me. That is what the Voidborn Rulers are, that is why we are made. But I lost. Again. Again. Again. Again. I lost time and time again. The purpose I was born for, what I was made to do, I couldn¡¯t even get close to achieving it."


    Voidborn Rulers, existences born by the Void, each one wielding that very same law. There should only ever be one in existence at the same time, and they are the highest authority of the Void. Perhaps it is inevitable that they would think highly of themselves, inevitable that those who knew about them would equate them to the final end of all. But here one such ruler was, crushed again and again, both in body and mind. No matter how strong he was at birth, no matter how mighty the law he wielded, in the end, Zhuren was basically no more than a child. A child with no one he could turn to.


    "And then I thought of you. When last we met, you spoke to me about purpose and reason. We are not born with them but choose them for ourselves. I wanted to hear more about that. The purpose you chose for yourself, the reason you found, have you ever failed in it? And if so, how do you deal with it?"


    Zhuren was¡­ Uncertain was perhaps the best word that could be put to it. Everything he believed, everything he had been convinced of, it had all been crushed ruthlessly. He had hated Liang Chen for seemingly trying to steal his purpose, but now he wasn¡¯t even able to accomplish the smallest bit of that purpose, even after deciding on it of his own volition. Was he even worthy of it to begin with?


    Liang Chen felt like tilting his head at Zhuren¡¯s question. He seemed like a lost child clutching the small wooden figurine he had built and broken on accident.But, no matter what he looked like, he had asked a question so Liang Chen would answer.


    "Of course I¡¯ve failed. There are people I couldn¡¯t kill because I was too weak, people I couldn¡¯t save because I was too weak, and there are people I¡¯ve killed because I was too careless. I¡¯ve failed more times than I want to admit, more times than I ever wanted to. But I still failed. And the odds of me failing several more times in the future are high. All who live will eventually fail, that¡¯s just the nature of it all."


    Liang Chen had failed many times. Friends were lost, family were lost, strangers were killed, people he knew to be good were killed. And it would continue to happen, he¡¯d be unable to kill some people, much like he was right now with the Sealing God Empyrean, and there was a good chance that others would get caught in the crossfire during future fights if he wasn¡¯t careful. He would fail, and he was well aware of it.


    "Then why choose a purpose that hard? Why would you find a reason that keeps pushing you down, why choose something when you know it¡¯s doomed to fail?"


    Zhuren looked bitter as he spoke, chewing on his lower lip in indignation. He was born strong so failure was something he rarely tasted, or at least that was how it should be if he went by what their ancient archives said. But he had kept failing, he had done nothing but fail since the time he opened his eyes. It was painful, it was sad, it was infuriating. It made him want to lie down and never do it again. And naturally, Liang Chen had felt those very same emotions. But never once had he allowed them to control him, and the reason for it was simple.


    "Because I believe it to be right. That is why I chose it as my reason, my purpose, that¡¯s all I need."


    Right. The proper thing to do. The heavens hadn¡¯t given out justice so he would do it in their stead. It may not be the justice he sought as a child, but it would be his justice, and that was all he needed. As long as he had that, he could fail for all eternity and still keep getting up.


    "Even if you keep failing?"


    Belief was a funny thing, especially to a being like Kongxu Zhuren. It couldn¡¯t be seen or felt, you might even say that it didn¡¯t mean anything at all since it could be changed so easily at times. But sometimes, such as right now it seemed, it alone was enough to alter the world. Zhuren had chosen a purpose for himself, the purpose he was born for, but even he found it hard to believe in it, in himself, after all his failures. That was why he wished to speak with Liang Chen, and just as he hoped, he got something akin to an answer from it.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "I¡¯m still alive, aren¡¯t I? Those I¡¯ve failed to kill, I can still get to them in the future. Those I¡¯ve failed to save or those I¡¯ve killed, I can still atone for those failures as I keep living. I am alive, so I am going to fail. But I am alive, so I am free to keep trying until I succeed."


    They hurt. All the people he¡¯d lost because he was weak, all the people who died because they happened to be around him. They all hurt him, they were all remembered by him. But he wouldn¡¯t let them hold him back, he wouldn¡¯t let the pain chain him down. He¡¯d keep trying to atone for those failures, but at the same time he would keep moving forward.


    "And you¡¯re still alive as well, aren¡¯t you? You failed, but you survived, so you can just try again. But if you¡¯re going to keep trying, make sure that you¡¯re sure that you¡¯ve chosen it for yourself, only like that will you be fine with bearing the consequences of your actions, be that your success or your end."


    Perhaps it was strange, no it definitely was strange, for him to offer words like these to someone like Zhuren. After all, Zhuren had openly admitted that he tried to kill the Void King, a ruler belonging to Liang Chen¡¯s multiverse. But what Kongxu Zhuren wanted to do had nothing to do with Liang Chen, he was free to do exactly as he pleased, he simply had to be prepared for the consequences.


    Kongxu Zhuren chewed on the words a little to digest them. It was extremely simple advice, to the point that it sounded ridiculous despite how true it was. But truthfully, was it really that simple to just keep going no matter how many times you failed? Zhuren didn¡¯t know, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t understand unless he failed many more times.


    "I¡­ I can¡¯t say that I fully understand it, but I at least feel like I am seeing something new. Thank you for the thorough answer, please state your next question."


    His main question was answered, the nagging sensation at the back of his mind easing slightly despite the fact that he couldn¡¯t fully understand the scope of the answer. There was one more question he had, but it would have to wait until Liang Chen got to ask his next question. As for Liang Chen, he didn¡¯t hesitate and pointed directly at the flowers and the plum tree growing a bit behind him.


    "Those flowers, that tree, why do they grow? The Void is the end of all things, even time and space, they should have no sway in here. But the flowers and the tree, they¡¯ve grown at a pace that is about in tune with the flow of time in the world outside the Void. Why?"


    The tree was one thing, it was grown using the energy he gained from absorbing someone with the law of the Void. But the flowers were just normal seeds he had planted here, just the fact that they managed to sprout in this land was amazing enough. It was probably tied to the fact that this domain was his section of the Void, but when he looked at Kongxu Zhuren and his reactions it seemed as if he too was experiencing the same flow of time, or at least something close to it.


    Zhuren¡¯s gaze landed on the colourful flowers that formed a stark contrast to the Void he was used to, a somewhat pensive expression forming on his face.


    "To answer that question I will need to speak of the birth of the Void. Tell me, what do you know about the Void¡¯s origin?"


    It sounded paradoxical, the birth of nonexistence. But for that matter, the very existence of the Void was a paradox, it was not something that should exist. As for said birth, Liang Chen had indeed heard about it before.


    "Tian Shen, the current holder of Existence, has told me about the origin of the first Sphere of Existence and the three beings that lived at that time. But I cannot confidently say that I¡¯ve heard the truth."


    No matter how cordial he was or how gentle he made himself appear, the fact of the matter was that Tian Shen was someone who had started a war against this Sphere of Existence. Liang Chen could listen to his words, but completely believing them was something else entirely. But surprisingly enough, Kongxu Zhuren seemed to not just know of Tian Shen, but also think rather highly of his words.


    "If the Heaven-Covering Eagle has told you then it should be mostly the truth, his lies never stray too far from the truth. But a lie, no matter how close to the truth, will always lack the full truth. Allow me to guess, did he speak of how the ancient Jieshu tore himself apart to create the Voidborn, who then tore him apart when they gained sentience?"


    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t strange for Zhuren to know about Tian Shen, Existence and Void would forever be intertwined, both as enemies and as allies. Liang Chen gave a small nod to the guess, Zhuren moving on to fill in the blanks that Tian Shen had intentionally left.


    "I shan¡¯t lie, that story is correct. Jieshu created us, and when our ancestors grew tired of being torn apart to birth new Voidborn they decided to end him. That sin of patricide will forever hang on our shoulders and we will not make excuses for it. But can I assume that the Eagle didn¡¯t tell you that he helped strike the final blow against Jieshu? And what¡¯s more, he took away the corpse and preserved it."


    The Voidborn of the past had killed their creator to spare themselves further separation. Were they right or wrong to do so? Perhaps none alive could know the truth, perhaps none alive had the right to judge them. But at this moment, that particular aspect didn¡¯t matter all that much, Liang Chen focused more on the final part.


    "I assume the preservation of the corpse is the reason you¡¯re telling me this?"


    Nothing Zhuren had said so far seemed to be tied to the reason why time flowed the way it did in the Void. He probably wouldn¡¯t speak pointless words forever so there was really only one thing he could be trying to imply.


    "Correct. No matter how much he tore, no matter how much he fell, Jieshu is the source of the Void, the creator and the core. When he resides in the Void, it is closed to all but those who can tear open a gate to it by force. And as long as it is closed, the time and space of the outside world holds no sway here. You can enter the void after several million years in the outside to find that not a single moment has passed here, or you can enter again after two seconds and find that eons have passed. But as it stands, Jieshu does not reside in the Void."


    A core would always be a core, a source wouldn¡¯t stop being just that simply because it became scattered. Jieshu was the key to the Void, that simple fact held true even countless years after his passing. Well, that fact may change over time thanks to Liang Chen, he was after all the first living being to actually fuse with the Void.


    "The corpse rests in the Eagle¡¯s possession, and as long as it exists in the outside world, the Void will be connected to the outside world. Time here is locked to your time, moving in the outside world moves in the Void, and entering or leaving the Void are much easier. As long as he has that body, the Eagle can freely enter and leave the Void, it acts as a personal gate. And because of it, the Void and his Sphere have entered a temporary alliance. Well, at least it was one of the reasons, my personal revenge against the Void King was another."


    Naturally, this was the first Liang Chen heard about Tian Shen having the ability to freely enter the Void, but it also happened to be the first time he heard about the Void having formed an alliance with him. But then again, Zhuren had lost to the Void King and the others so he would likely also lose to Tian Shen, did he really have any choice but to enter an alliance?


    "So he can enter the Void freely¡­ That¡¯s good information. Very well, your next question."


    Liang Chen quietly memorised the fact that Tian Shen could enter the Void, it meant that he couldn¡¯t just run in here if the two ever came to blows in the future. He had a few more questions in mind, but Zhuren had followed the deal so he would do the same and wait his turn.


    "¡­The words you told me when we first met, the purpose. Does yours still hold strong?"


    Zhuren hesitated for a small moment before could get the words out. Was it because the words he said back then were basically a dismissal of Zhuren¡¯s opinion while also serving as something of a threat? Liang Chen couldn¡¯t read the answer from Zhuren¡¯s expression, a steely light in his own eyes serving as an answer to the question. He had already stopped wavering when it came to his beliefs and his purpose.


    "Yes, I was hoping for a response like that."


    Hoping, expecting, Zhuren wasn¡¯t quite sure which one it was. Liang Chen was someone that even Tian Shen was keeping an eye on, that was how he learned his name in the first place. But more importantly than that, he had managed to not just acquire the law of the Void but also completely take over a section of the Void, a section that was quietly growing. No other Voidborn Ruler had managed the same. How could a person like that be normal, how could their belief be weak?


    Zhuren spat out a long breath. It hurt. It burned in his chest and at the back of his throat. His body was revolting, it wanted to reject his decision, his pride and confidence were screeching at him. But he still brought his fists to the ground and leaned forward, lowering his head.


    "Liang Chen, I have failed. I could not do what was expected of me, what I chose to do, nor can I protect those I should protect. If things continue their course, then the Void will be fall, be it beneath the Eagle¡¯s feet or beneath the feet of your Sphere. I belong to those you would define as sinners, but the others who live here do not, they are simply trying to live in peace. So I ask of you; Please help me protect the Void and the innocent who live here."

 Chapter 377: The bursting bubble.

    "Lie down, please."


    The doctor gestured towards the stone bed in the operating room, Zun Zhao looking as if he could barely contain himself as he hopped on. The stone was cold against his back, his shirt already removed on the way here. He could feel the pounding of his heart reverberate through the stone, each of his breaths caused his back to press against bed, the new lungs within him bloating like balloons. He wanted to get it over with. No, he wanted to already be done with it and on his way, his legs were itching to the point that he had the urge to claw out his nerves. Ah, how uncomfortable it was that he could still panic like this. As he was lost in his own thoughts like that, the doctor¡¯s fingers reached his chest.


    "I must remind you again, this is highly unprecedented. I have never performed the Shadowchaser surgery twice on the same subject in such a narrow time-frame. I have no idea what sort of complications it may cause, but I can assure you that it will be more painful than ever before. So make sure you steel yourself more than ever before. Think of your sister and the torment she might suffer, use your desire to save her as fuel to keep yourself going."


    Zun Zhao instinctively shuddered as the doctor¡¯s hand traced his chest, for a brief instant he felt as if the nails gently sliding down his sternum were claws. He felt like laughing, the desire to scoff and spit at his own weakness were festering in his chest. He just had to be reminded of the danger and he instantly reached a state where even his great benefactor felt scary, he really was so pathetically weak.


    He bit down on the tip of his tongue until blood poured out freely, sliding down his throat. This taste had already become so familiar to him, both the taste of his own blood and the taste of other people¡¯s blood. Yes, this taste was so unmistakably familiar now, each time he tasted it reminded him of his growth. He had grown, the scared little child who cowered in front of a mere Stone-Soul Scorpion no longer existed. He was able to stand up for his sister back then, and he would do the same now.


    "I understand, Doctor. I won¡¯t falter, I won¡¯t stumble. I¡¯m ready, so please do it."


    Zun Zhao sucked in a heavy breath as he spoke, his eyes and mind like steel. He would die here, the good doctor had already warned him of that. But it was fine, he would live again. He¡¯d grow stronger, he¡¯d save his sister, he¡¯d kill those who killed their young master, and then he would live in peace with his sister and possibly their big brother Chen. If the situation ever called for it he could also use his new strength to help those around him, it would be a shame to just let it go to waste, might as well put it to good use. The doctor¡¯s hand rose from Zun Zhao¡¯s sternum and reached his face, cradling his cheek like a father would when he wanted to treasure his only child.


    "I¡¯m glad. I am happy, Zun Zhao. Do you know why? Because this world has people like you in it,children like you. Life can be painful, existence can be painful. And when people find painful things, they try to run away and hide from it, they shut it out. But you don¡¯t. You¡¯ve seen the pain, you¡¯ve felt it. But you still look at the world with those beautiful eyes of yours, you still move forward and do your best. Thank you, Zun Zhao. Thank you for being born, thank you for wanting power."


    The doctor¡¯s hand was warm, the gentle sensation of it resting against Zun Zhao¡¯s cheeks made his earlier spot of fear feel even more ridiculous. But at the same time, he felt a bit bad about the doctor¡¯s praise. He wasn¡¯t such a good person, he was just selfish, it had always been selfish. But perhaps¡­ When he was done with this all, perhaps then he could try to become someone worthy of the doctor¡¯s praise. He didn¡¯t know if the doctor could see his thoughts or not, but the gentle and warm hand left his cheek and slid back down to his sternum.


    "Now, please die, and then, please live forever."


    The gentle hand that had slid down to his sternum received a sudden boost of strength, the index finger effortlessly tearing through his  bones and leaving a gash in his chest. The doctor stuck in another finger and then spread his two fingers apart, pushing open the gash until it revealed his pulsating lungs and his pumping heart. It was such a simple motion, the mere separation of two fingers. But it tore open his chest just like that, the two sides moving far away from the fingers that originally guided their path.


    The sudden pain caused Zun Zhao¡¯s mind to blank, a silent scream consisting solely of a stifled and trapped breath creeping out of his throat. This was completely unlike any of the other Shadowchaser surgeries, the doctor had always been gentle and careful, using as much anaesthesia as possible to ease the pain. But there was none of that now, which Zun Zhao could only attribute to his own urgency.


    The membrane shielding his heart was torn open and his pounding core was laid bare for all, a single squeeze of it would be enough to kill him. The doctor held out his hand, light gathering above his palm. In the previous surgeries, the doctor had just brought out the parts that would be implanted, it was as simple as taking something out of an interspatial ring. But this time seemed different, a spectacle of light as something slowly formed above his palm.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    As he looked at the slowly forming object, Zun Zhao felt his heart pound harder than ever before, threatening to jump out of his chest. It was a droplet, a pure golden droplet that looked to be carved from the sun itself. The inside of the droplet was filled with a liquid even deeper than the crystal that covered it, the colour alone was enough to nearly suck out his soul and shatter his mind.


    He could feel it. The pounding thing in his chest told it to him in no uncertain terms. That thing was a heart. That simple yet exquisite crystal, that perfect creation, it was a heart. But what sort of being could have a heart like that? Was there even a living thing worthy of having something so perfect inside it?


    As Zun Zhao was enraptured by the golden heart, the doctor proceeded with the surgery. Well, that was if it could even be called a surgery. He plunged his hand down, the newly formed heart crushed against Zun Zhao¡¯s own heart, drowning his consciousness in endless darkness.


    But contrary to what Zun Zhao expected, the darkness did not last for long. An uncountable number of lights started to appear within the darkness, flitting about as they followed their own patterns, some revolving around each other while others danced about seemingly without rhyme or reason. Before he could take a good look at them, Zun Zhao felt something tug on his consciousness and he was pulled away from the lights.


    The lights grew distant as he was pulled away, a sensation similar to passing through a screen of water washing over him. He then saw it, the bubble surrounding the dancing lights, the border that stopped them from moving further. More lights appeared around him, but he kept getting pulled away. The same sensation washed over him several times, bubble after bubble revealing themselves. Before long, the world he saw was nothing but bubbles filled with lights, an uncountable number of small bubbles clinging to 81 large bubbles.


    But then the sensation washed over him again and he saw that even that gathering of bubbles was surrounded by a bubble, even that vastness had a border. But beyond that border were several more bubbles just like this one, an uncountable number of small bubbles clinging to several larger bubbles within each one. There had to be at least 200 of these gargantuan bubbles, the number of small bubbles reaching a number so ludicrous that Zun Zhao didn¡¯t want to think about it.


    But then, just when he felt like he was reaching the limit of his understanding, he felt that sensation again. Once again, a bubble appeared before him. Even these gargantuan bubbles that housed so many others, even they were surrounded by a border, one vastness that cradled them like a loving father. Zun Zhao couldn¡¯t tell why, but he felt like crying as he looked at that, this thing that he instinctively knew to be the final bubble. Ah, how his heart ached as he looked at it.


    But then he felt it, right there behind him. Was it his soul? His very existence? His heart? He couldn¡¯t quite tell, but something was screaming at him about the thing behind him. His consciousness spun around and he saw it, his vision filled by nothing but it.


    Another bubble, one separate from the final bubble that was now behind him. But this one¡­ there was no word he could use to describe it. Just the final bubble behind him was so large that it couldn¡¯t even be described as a vastness, it defied reason. But this one, the one slowly beckoning him, it was at least two or three times larger, it seemed to cover all of existence as it loomed there.


    But¡­ It looked sick. It was bloated, bulging and rippling. A few smaller cracks had already started to emerge across it, each ripple tearing at them. Just a bit more, if it grew just a bit more then it would surely burst, the bubble that seemed to cover the world would explode and fade away. And as he had that thought, his consciousness was sucked into the bloated bubble and darkness overcame him.


    ¡ª¡ª


    A tinge of light reached Liang Chen as he stepped out of the Void and returned to his ship. He¡¯d kept on talking with Kongxu Zhuren after the ruler made his request, time flowing away like sand between his fingers. He looked at the bed, but Yan Ling was no longer there, the scent of food coming from the adjacent room. Voices also spilled out from beyond the closed door, Lan Yun being the loudest among them as she seemed to be teaching Ao Fentian something.


    "Welcome back. Learn something new?"


    Yan Ling greeted him warmly as he stepped through the door, placing a few more dishes on the table that Sheng Lian and Lan Yun were currently busy setting up. Well, saying that Lan Yun was helping was an exaggeration, she was holding the hand of the infant Ao Fentian and helping him walk so she really only had one hand available. Yumao was curled up on her head, probably choosing it as the best place to keep an eye on the two so that they didn¡¯t trip.


    "A lot, but how much of it will end up being useful is questionable. Has there been a battle nearby?"


    Liang Chen wrapped his arms around Yan Ling from behind, taking a deep breath. It was peaceful. It wasn¡¯t often that they could afford some peace like this so he appreciated it now while he could. But there was something at the back of his mind, a soft sound that tugged at his soul.


    It wasn¡¯t an unfamiliar sound, it was the indistinct rushing of thousands upon thousands of screams mixing together. If he heard that then it could only mean one thing, his embryonic Prime Law of Poison had found a spot that housed an untold number of souls drowned in anger. Their lives had faded, but their resentment remained in the land like poison, screaming out for those who would listen. And Liang Chen, with his wrath, had become one of those who would listen to their pleas and sorrows.


    Yan Ling put down the plate she had been holding, turning her head slightly to peer out the window. Her eyes narrowed cutely as she rummaged through her memories, it was enough to almost make Liang Chen temporarily put aside the sound at the back of his mind. She eventually seemed to recognize something beyond the window, her head tilting slightly.


    "We should be getting close to a place called Stormbeak City, but that place is controlled by a sect known as the Storm Dancers. They¡¯re generally quite peaceful, a good two-thirds of their techniques are ritual dances meant to worship their deities. There shouldn¡¯t have been any battles in their territory, they don¡¯t really tolerate them. But we can stop by and ask them about it, that okay?"

 Chapter 378: Those who stand in the blue.

    The closer they got to Stormbeak city, the louder the rushing at the back of Liang Chen¡¯s mind got. The screams clawed at him, the only person who could hear them, the instrument of their revenge. It was like he was standing above a pit filled with rabid hounds, there wasn¡¯t a single coherent sound or thought, just a desire to sate their anger. It was sad, but that was the nature of wrath, it swallowed everything else until it alone was all that remained.


    "Not much further now, only a minute or two. But I can¡¯t get in touch with their leader, Douzhou Shan. If you¡¯re right and there was a battle in the area then it seems likely  that it took place within the city, there¡¯s little other reason for Douzhou to make a move."


    Yan Ling sat at the table, holding a small jade orb used for communication. Her other hand was busy feeding Ao Fentian, but her brows were slightly furrowed. She was the disciple of the Star God Sirius and the Nine Star Demon God, there were few others in this universe who could match a status like that. As a result, she had been introduced to countless people and gotten their contact information, no one dared to remain silent if she called.


    But now there was no answer, not even the second or third in command were answering when she tried to call them. If there really had been a battle in the city, one that left the top three of the sect unable to answer, then that was a problem in of itself. They were a generally peaceful sect, but you didn¡¯t gain control of a city by being weak. Douzhou Shan was close to a pacifist and obsessed with his religion, and he may have stagnated in his cultivation for quite a few years, but he was still a Sovereign God. He wasn¡¯t someone you could just kill quietly.


    Someone should have noticed, someone should have heard. Even if those within the sect couldn¡¯t then someone else within the city should have. Only the few central mansions belonged to the Storm Dancer¡¯s, the rest of the city had just ended up being built there over time since it was safe, they weren¡¯t actually affiliated with the sect. As such, even if someone attacked the sect, there was no need to attack the rest of the city, there should have been time for someone there to send out at least one distress signal.


    "It¡¯s poison."


    Liang Chen¡¯s voice reached her as she fiddled with the orb again. He also sat at the table, picking at some of the prepared food and sliding it over to Sheng Lian, who was cleaning up a small mess that Lan Yun had made while running around with Yumao. His head was turned, his gaze cast beyond the window while his eyes narrowed slightly. She couldn¡¯t see it from her position, but she didn¡¯t doubt that he was looking directly at the distant city, sensing something she couldn¡¯t.


    Indeed, Liang Chen could sense it. His soul was poison itself, his existence steeped in that nauseating and fresh scent. But while he could detect the poison within the distant city, the sweet scent that his soul could only describe as delectable, he couldn¡¯t actually recognize it. No poison was the same, even those with similar effects achieved them through a different method. As such, to him, they all smelled differently, they had a slight tinge that set them apart from each other. And yet, despite his extensive delving into different poisons, he had never encountered a poison like this.


    "Hmmm, poison¡­ There are a few local Sovereign Gods that use the law of poison, but none that have a grudge with the Storm Dancers. As for the people taking part in the war, Teacher has never mentioned anyone using the law of poison."


    Yan Ling scoured her memories, she was a Sovereign God now so it was inevitable that she would have to join the war, thus her teacher had told her about what she might encounter. But poison was a bit of a rarity amongst Sovereign Gods, most saw it as something that became harder to use as you got stronger so it was rarely worth the investment to them.


    And naturally, the so-called ¡®local¡¯ Sovereign Gods that she spoke of were in fact the Sovereign Gods living within this universe and the three closest ones, there were no other Sovereign Gods living within this galaxy. But if she was asked if any of those Sovereign Gods could have done this, even if they had the law of poison, she would have to say no. Those Sovereign Gods were subordinates of the Nine Star Demon God, and there was no way they would dare to betray him.


    "It wouldn¡¯t be strange if they¡¯ve added new people to their forces, this is their third attempt after all, they probably don¡¯t want to fail again."


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze remained locked on the distant city, just barely visible on the horizon now. He¡¯d studied, he¡¯d listened and read to gather information, so he wasn¡¯t entirely ignorant about this war that Tian Shen had started. This wasn¡¯t the first time Tian Shen tried to invade this Sphere. The first happened before even Chang Yun¡¯s time, the records of that time so blurry no one seemed to know why it ended. The second happened during the time of the Bloodwind Emperor, the Human Emperor, and the Void King, and subsequently ended thanks to them.


    And now the third had begun. Tian Shen lost to just three people on the Void King¡¯s level during the second attempt, and now there were an entire eight of them. Would Tian Shen not know this? Would he just jump in here blindly and hope for the best? Liang Chen found it unlikely. Tian Shen had something planned, he had something he felt he could put his faith in, something to ensure victory.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Yan Ling gave a short nod, it was a reasonable train of thought. Tian Shen was able to become the Existential Lord, the sole living person to have grasped the law of Existence, would he be foolish enough to start a war he had no chance of winning? She tilted her head back to finish the last of her drink and then put down the glass, picking up Ao Fentian as she stood up.


    "I¡¯ll hold onto him. Lian, can I leave Little Lan to you and Yumao?"


    Yan Ling pointed her gaze to the horizon beyond the window after she stood up, shooting Sheng Lian a request at the same time. There was no telling what they might find there so it would be for the best to have the kids properly supervised. Granted, the very best option would be to just toss them into Liang Chen¡¯s interspatial ring, but it was just too sad to toss them away at all times like that.


    Sheng Lian had already finished cleaning up the mess so she took hold of Lan Yun¡¯s hand with a nod of her head, Yumao remaining nestled on top of her head. He would normally joke around a bit in situations like this, it was a bad habit he had sadly copied from Yan Ling while Liang Chen wasn¡¯t looking. But he was sensible enough to hold himself back in times like this, he wouldn¡¯t risk the life of Liang Chen¡¯s daughter, basically his own sister, after all.


    The ship stopped not long after Yan Ling made her request, vanishing shortly after as Yan Ling put it into her interspatial ring. The source of the multitude of screams in the back of Liang Chen¡¯s mind unfurled itself beneath the group.


    Stormbeak city was silent as it stretched out to cover almost every spot of open land. The a gathering of bright blue buildings served as the centrepiece of the city, but what had once been a beautiful estate had been torn apart, blue stones ground to dust or stained with dark brown blood.


    Clothes were scattered throughout the city, some close to the destroyed centre were torn apart but those further apart were completely whole. There were some dark smudges around the clothes, now dry thanks to the passage of time. Liang Chen hadn¡¯t seen what happened, but he had a similar poison so he could assume that the one that attacked this city used his poison to dissolve the people.


    The air was silent as Liang Chen¡¯s group stood there. If Stormbeak City was silent before they arrived then now it had become eerily quiet, it was as if all sound had been sucked out of existence. The wind, the slight sounds of moving grass, even the inaudible howling of the vengeful souls had fallen silent.


    "Little Freak¡­ Deep breaths, deep and calm breaths."


    Yan Ling¡¯s soft voice broke the silence, a hand landing on Liang Chen¡¯s shoulder and gently rubbing his arm. The source of the silence was standing right next to her, as strange as it was to say something like that. He just stood there and looked down, but that alone was enough to make even the wind die down.


    His face was stiff, an expression some might call emotionless adorning it. But Yan Ling knew him well, she would never believe something so silly. Fury and sorrow, those were the best words she could think of at the moment, but perhaps not even that would be enough to describe it. He was a volcano about to erupt, a tsunami making its way towards land, a storm about to grow out of control. But she could understand it, she herself was angry at what she saw, but Liang Chen was always more compassionate than her so it was inevitable that he would burn that more fiercely.


    Liang Chen¡¯s eyes scanned the entire city, scanned the screaming souls that had seeped into the soil. And thus he saw it, thus it burned him. The clothes scattered throughout the city weren¡¯t uniform, they came in all sizes and colours. And in this instance, the sizes were what he noticed first. Many of them were just too small to belong to adults, some were so small that they couldn¡¯t even belong to children.


    Whoever attacked this city, their attack had been completely indiscriminate. Fighters and citizens, women and men, old and young, all had died and become sludge that was now dry. Kids playing with their friends, infants suckling at their mothers chest, brothers trying to shield sisters, fathers trying to protect sons. All fell, all died without getting a chance to fight back, all perished without a chance to live.


    Liang Chen drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, soft sounds finally returning to the city. His head tilted back as he opened his eyes again, his gaze piercing into the sky. Vast. A blue sky that spread out endlessly, dotted with white clouds that drift about without a care. Vast. Endless. Empty.


    As a child, how often hadn¡¯t he turned his gaze skyward and prayed to the heavens? How often hadn¡¯t he begged and dreamt of the justice that lay within that caring blue? But it wasn¡¯t there, the heavens, the blue, the clouds, it was all just empty.


    "Come. Show yourself, you lost and you angry."


    His voice echoed across the sky like thunder, his poisonous words spreading through existence. The land trembled quietly as things started to rise from the ground, featureless humanoid shapes rising from beneath the empty clothes that were scattered about. He had briefly told Yan Ling about it, but this was still the first time she saw him using his embryonic Prime Law of Poison to dredge up the shades of those filled with anger as they died.


    She couldn¡¯t hear it before, but now that he had pulled them up she could hear them too, the ceaseless screams that mixed into one indistinct sound. It hurt. The noise stabbed at her mind, it felt as if it was digging around in her brain with a spoon. To live while having to hear this¡­ Sadly, she knew what it took to live a life where you chose this.


    Liang Chen looked down at the shades that rose and screamed, at the poison that their anger had become. The screams were more distorted than normal, it was as if their voices were covered up by coughs, both dry and wet ones. His gaze was still stiff as he looked at them, somewhere in those shades should be the answer to who killed them. And when he found it, he wouldn¡¯t just sit around. The sky and the heavens were empty, that endless blue was empty.


    Was. It was empty. But now he stood there.

 Chapter 379: Wrath unfulfilled.

    The sun hung high in the sky and nary a cloud obscured the gorgeous blue that spread out above them. The lightly salty scent of the ocean at the edge of the city reached Duan Qiu¡¯s nose, the oh-so familiar scent making him stop to take a deep breath. He had lived in Stormbeak City all his life, but this scent was one he would never get tired of. It reminded him of the time when he was just a fisherman for the sect, he¡¯d already lost count of the number of days he spent out at sea.


    As he was taking in the scent he could only describe as lovely, a soft sound hit his ears and brought forth another nostalgic memory. It was a quiet buzzing, like the rapid flapping of wings. He was reminded of his time as a kid, when he chased dragonflies around one of the various lakes that had slowly formed around the city.


    A good memory makes for a good day.


    The corners of his lips couldn¡¯t help but curl up as he mused to himself and thought about the past. He felt a bit playful so he turned his head to track the dragonfly that had made its way into the city, if it was close enough then he may just try to catch it like the olden days. But just as he turned his head, he found that the world in front of his eyes had cracked apart, as if his eyes had been split into several hundred parts.


    Eh?


    In his fractured vision, he indeed saw the dragonfly wings from his youth, but these were larger than a grown man. And what laid at their end was dirty golden hair mixed with purple and brown, it was something far more humanoid than what he expected to see.


    Eh?


    He uttered one last questioning sound before the fractured world started to blink out, segment after segment of his vision turning dark as his consciousness dimmed. Looking at the movements of that humanoid thing, it should have taken no time at all, less than a second. But the blinking out of the world felt oh-so slow to him, his mind slowly dragged into a mire before it went dark, a strange squelching sound echoing in his ears as the last sound in the darkness.


    Even this squelching sound was familiar, and a bit hateful if you asked him. It was the same sound he heard when his childhood bully had squished the big dragonfly he finally managed to catch after chasing it for several minutes.


    -


    Shao Lui Je was running about in the streets just a short walk away from his house, Huo Shan, the neighbour¡¯s son, playing with him as they explored. Well, at least it was a short walk to the two of them, their legs were so much smaller than even those of his youngest Big Sis so it took them more time to get around. But it was definitely worth it, they were ¡®quickly¡¯ making their way over to where his youngest Big Sis was working. He could already see her surprised expression in his mind, a wide grin adorning his face.


    She¡¯ll definitely give us sweets! She says that they always have lots left after they finished baking for the day!


    Just as he could already see her expression, he could also taste the sweetness of what she would give them. He couldn¡¯t think of any better baker than his youngest Big Sis, everything she made for him was always so sweet that it left him smiling for hours on end.


    Je-Je, look! It¡¯s so pretty!


    Huo Shan¡¯s shout dragged Shao Je¡¯s attention to one of the alleys that stretched past a bend in the street ahead of them. Mist was rolling out from the alley, but this one was so dark green that it looked as if a forest was rolling towards them. It was so verdant and splendid that they couldn¡¯t help but look at it as it slithered towards them, rising to cover the buildings.


    It¡¯s like the morning tide!


    They lived in Stormbeak city, the great and seemingly endless ocean was right beyond their city. If there was one thing they were used to then it was mist and fog rolling in over the city and blocking out everything else. But this one was so colourful and pretty that it was unlike anything they had ever seen. But as they ran towards the enchanting mist with all their might, they saw something unexpected.


    Eh? Big Sis?


    Shao Je¡¯s head couldn¡¯t help but tilt when he saw his youngest Big Sis running through the fog. She held a cloth to her mouth like she did when she had to clean the toilet, running so fast that she had seemingly forgotten to put on her shoes. She saw Shao Je just as the beautiful mist washed over him, wrinkles appearing on her face as she made an expression he didn¡¯t understand. She rushed over quickly picked him up, knocking over Huo Shan in the process.


    But she didn¡¯t stop to apologise to the neighbour, she just moved her arm so that the cloth she held in front of her own mouth was put over Shao Je¡¯s. Shao Je¡¯s throat felt clogged the moment she put the cloth over his mouth, a dry cough creeping up from his lungs.


    Big Sis, please take it away! And we have to get Sha-Sha, he fell over!


    He tried to push away her arm so that he could breathe freely, but his youngest Big Sis had just turned 16 and was a whole ten years older than him, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to push away the arm of someone who was practically an adult. And thanks to that, he felt his throat get stuffier and stuffier, his cough growing worse thanks to the cloth blocking his mouth.


    But if there was one stroke of luck in this situation then it was that he was in the arms of his Big Sis. He would always fall asleep easily when his siblings held him, and his eyelids were quickly becoming heavy so it seemed like he hadn¡¯t managed to shed that childish part of him yet. He wanted to remind his Big Sis that Sha-Sha was still lying on the ground because she pushed him, but his head was heavy so he decided to do it later. First¡­ First he would get some rest.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I¡¯m going to sleep a little, Big Sis. But you have to make sure to wake me if we¡¯re going to eat some sweets¡­ I¡¯ll hate you if you leave me out¡­"


    -


    It¡¯s not looking good.


    Gung Hao Lin sat at the edge of the bed, bent forward as he rested on his cane, and looked out the window. A dark green mist was washing over everything and he could just vaguely make out the silhouettes of people rushing about within it. Some of the mist had seeped in through their shoddy windows, falling to the floor almost like water before it started to rise up again.


    He could feel it in the stump that remained of his left leg, this mist was dangerous. No, that probably wasn¡¯t the right thing to think, it would be more correct to say that this mist was the end. He raised his head slightly and looked away from the mist that had made its way in, turning his gaze back outside. Some of the silhouettes he had seen earlier were gone, even though they weren¡¯t running fast enough to escape his sight in such a short time. Had they fallen? Had they found some place to hide?


    It¡¯s a shame. There were so many more years to look forward to, so many more things to try.


    He couldn¡¯t bear to look outside anymore and turned his gaze away, his deep brown eyes that still held traces of youth landing on the person resting on the bed. Beautiful hair that reminded him of chestnuts, skin that brought up memories of his time in the wheat fields, lips like the cherries he ate as a child. Were it not for the massive scars that disfigured her face and the soulless eyes staring blankly ahead then she would be picturesque.


    Should I say I¡¯m sorry? I couldn¡¯t uphold the promise in the end, I couldn¡¯t even become anything proper.


    Gung Lin smiled softly and warmly, a slight twist of regret at the edge of his lips. Even with the scars and the empty eyes, he still found his wife as beautiful as the day they first met. The light she radiated came from within, it would draw him in no matter how much of her outside changed.


    I didn¡¯t think this would be how it ended. I was hoping for more flowers when the time finally came. Adorning everything with your favourite dahlia¡¯s would have been lovely.


    His smile almost collapsed as he spoke and looked at her. Oh how he longed to hear her voice now. But she had been in this vegetative state ever since the attack that took his leg and left her scarred like that.


    The mist had now risen up to the edge of the bed, a few faint yet sweet scents already tickling his nose. He could feel his throat clog and itch as the scent dug into his head, it took all his energy to suppress the cough that was trying to worm its way out of his throat. He grunted heavily a few times as he resisted, pushing aside his cane as he laid down in the bed next to his wife, looking up at the ceiling in the same way they had once gazed at the night sky together. He took hold of her limp hand and closed his eyes, his lips twitching incessantly as his mind slid back to the past.


    In sickness and in health, I won¡¯t leave you even if death do us part. That one¡­ At least that one I got to uphold, dear.


    -


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze remained so cold and steely that it bordered on emotionless as he went through the remnants he had dredged up with his poison. There wasn¡¯t much about their lives, just lingering thoughts of anger that remained after their death. The sources of their anger were all different, one from a childhood bully, one from a future where they ate sweets without him, one from promises unfulfilled. But they were all anger nonetheless, they all lingered in the land as a final curse.


    Yes, it really was just as he feared. An indiscriminate attack, the attacker had never even gotten close to a good 99% of the people that died here. Most of them didn¡¯t even know that there was an attacker, they only saw a green mist and then their fates were sealed. Those who knew that the end was nigh could only curse the world, while those who didn¡¯t know drew anger from past memories that suddenly popped up in their minds.


    Perhaps that was how the human mind dealt with sudden death, it could do nothing but draw on previous experiences to provide the host with at least something resembling understanding. As for why? Perhaps when the unknown end was approaching, the only thing the human mind could rely on for support was a bit of understanding, something to ease the fear of the unknown. Liang Chen didn¡¯t know, he was probably the least qualified person to ever ponder the intricacies of a normal person¡¯s mind.


    "Nothing¡­"


    The corners of his mouth twisted slightly, his eyes narrowing as he swept the screaming remnants. There was nothing about the attacker within them. The best clue he got was from the first man, the bug-like wings and the dirty golden hair. The sect leader and his closest aides also had remnants here, but be it the poison or their intense hatred, they were too twisted to see anything properly. It was as if a haze had been cast over everything they saw, leaving everything but their own burning emotions blurry.


    In the end, the only thing Liang Chen gained from these remnants was anger. The innocent and the sinful, the hopeful and the despairing, the kind and the cold, everyone died as one, everyone hated as one. In the end, they became the dead and the hateful, and then they reached him with their anger.


    "I¡¯m sorry. But eventually¡­ Eventually, that I can promise you."


    In time he would act on the anger they had transferred to him, in time he would mete out the justice he felt that these people deserved. But it couldn¡¯t be now, he didn¡¯t have enough clues, all he had was the hair, the wings, and the scent of the poison. But in time¡­ In time he would find the target and put an end to it.


    "Until then, take your rest, you¡¯ve felt enough hatred."


    His expression softened somewhat as he muttered words the shades would never hear. Their bodies had vanished, their souls had returned to reincarnation, and their hatred had passed on to him, continuing to linger around now would be nothing but torment to what little bits of their souls still clung to the remnants.


    He stretched out his arm, his open palm facing the myriad of shades that filled the earth. One by one, they started to melt away into mist, colourful clusters bobbing about as they joined together. To Liang Chen, anger was poison, and poison was just another thing he could control as he please, just another one of the pieces that formed his body.


    Colour after colour mixed together into a single whole, wrath after wrath was merged into a single fury. Normally, when you mixed colours like this, you would get either white or black, depending on if you mixed materials or light. But this cloud took on neither of those colours and instead became a vibrant shade of grey, much like the silvery-grey of Liang Chen¡¯s hair.


    Once the last bit of mist, the last remnant, merged in with the rest, Liang Chen clenched his hand. The mist hardened and compressed, turning into a single bolt of grey lightning that shot into the sky with a thunderous rumble. A massive burnt mark was left in the city, but the land was already dead so it didn¡¯t matter if he destroyed it a bit more.


    The lightning shot into the sky and then spread out, dyeing the gorgeous blue a dull colour as it blocked out the sun with its own light. And when it had spread out to cover several kilometres of the sky, the lightning became liquid that rained down on the land. Grey, purple, green, white, blue, pink, orange, rain in all the colours of the world fell down around Liang Chen. Each drop a soul that screamed, each drop a poison that cursed the heavens, each drop a wrath unfulfilled.

 Chapter 380: The grey-clad. (1)

    Tap.


    A finger struck the table.


    Tap.


    Soft flesh, flexible nails, hard wood.


    Tap.


    A dull sound.


    Tap.


    A repetitive sound.


    Tap.


    An angry sound.


    Tap.


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t use much force, it was just a slight and repetitive tapping of his finger. And yet, a dent was already forming in the table, the edges would likely be scorched if he was a bit less careful with controlling himself.


    Tap.


    A good memory makes for a good day.


    Tap.


    We have to get Sha-Sha, he fell over!


    Tap.


    In sickness and in health, I wont leave you even if death do us part.


    Tap.


    His eyes were open, narrowed sharply. But he could still see them, hear them in the back of his mind. He¡¯d dredged up remnant souls before, he¡¯d gone through their wrath before. But this was the first time he had dredged up an entire city, the first time he had experienced the deaths of so many innocents, so many who didn¡¯t even know what happened to them.


    Tap.


    So his finger moved, slowly bruising the table. His stomach churned, the Qi within roiled like a boiling ocean. He was angry. Then again, when was he not angry?


    But this time it was worse. There was always an enemy, a sinner, a monster he could point his spear at. Naturally, there was one this time as well, but Liang Chen had no idea who it was.


    The remnants contained nothing. Most died too fast, some weren¡¯t even close, and those who could have seen anything were too twisted for Liang Chen to see anything properly in their remnants. All he had was a gleam of bug-like wings and dirty golden hair. But finding someone like that in a universe as big as this one? And finding the right one at that?


    In essence, he had nothing to go on. He was wandering about blindly, his hands fumbling through the dark. So he was angry, but there was nowhere for his anger to go.


    "Papa¡­"


    A voice tickled his mind from the side, a soft and cautious touch pulling at his clothes. Eyes as blue as the sky looked at him somewhat worriedly, hair as white as snow was tied into a ponytail that hung down lifelessly, it was like looking at a whining dog¡¯s tail.


    She was careful and gentle, perhaps even uneasy. It was a stark contrast to her usual boisterous manners, where she would just run around and jump straight at him while screaming Paparan.


    Was she scared of him? He rarely showed anything other than soft kindness in front of her so it wasn¡¯t impossible. Was she worried about him? That was equally possible, she was young but that didn¡¯t mean that she was stupid, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she noticed and knew more than she let on.


    "Haaa¡­"


    Whatever the case was, he really was a bit of a failure as a father if he let his daughter, adoptive or not, end up like this in front of him. His finger finally ceased its relentless assault of the table so that he could lift up Lan Yun and place her on his lap.


    Did she take it as a sign that he was doing a bit better so it was fine to be a bit more normal? Or did she think that he needed consoling? Whatever the case was, she did her best to wrap her small arms around chest as she rested her cheek against his chest.


    "It¡¯s not Papa¡¯s fault, so Papa doesn¡¯t need to be that sad¡­"


    Softer than a whisper and gentler than the world, her voice was barely audible because of how she pressed her face against his chest.


    Ah, the child was worried about the parent, he really was quite the failure. But if there was a bright side then it was that she mistook his anger as sadness. Or perhaps they were just the same emotion to her, two sides of the same coin.


    His hand moved to her back, slowly stroking it as she buried her face in his chest. He thought it over for a bit, what to say, how to say it. The child was worried, how should he comfort her? Should he even comfort her to begin with? In the end, he decided that his comfort would come as a lesson.


    "Little Lan, you¡¯ll find that in life there are very few things that end up being your fault. But they¡¯ll all be your responsibility, so talking about fault will just be a waste of time. They are your responsibility, so you must solve them. That¡¯s all there is to it, that¡¯s all thats bothering me."


    Hypocritical, that single word swirled around in his mind. Looking for fault was a waste of time, they were good words, but they lost all strength when his current mood was caused by him doing just that.


    "But it has nothing to do with Papa so it¡¯s not your responsibility."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Judging by her reply, it seemed like Yan Ling had told her a thing or two about what they had learned in Stormbeak City. Well, Lan Yun had been by his side for quite some time so it was also possible that she had just guessed that he would be angry for someone else again. Well, whatever the case was, he might as well keep the lesson going since she was giving him this chance.


    "In some cases, that may be true."


    He removed his hand from her back and placed them under her shoulders, hoisting her away from his chest and holding her up so that they could look at each other. But as he was going to speak, the person who quietly entered the kitchen while they were talking plucked Lan Yun away and stole his words.


    "But Little Lan, in life there are two kinds of responsibility. One is the kind that is foisted on you, the other is the one you choose for yourself."


    Yan Ling had made her way up to them, holding the young Ao Fentian close to her chest. Now that she had plucked away Lan Yun both her hands were occupied, the two children held as close and as gently as only a mother would. But her eyes were locked on Liang Chen.


    "Isn¡¯t that right?"


    Cyan hair that reminded him of the gentle summer¡¯s breeze, tied into a lively braid just like the day they first met. Sapphire eyes that sparkled like the ocean beneath the sun, oh so gentle yet oh so mischievous. Even if he was angry, she looked at him as she always did. And in turn, he could feel part of himself melt away.


    "Stole my moment to shine."


    A casual shake of the head and a small exhale of air, the picture of exasperation. But the corners of his lips had already started to curve up, it was warm here.


    "It¡¯s a habit, feels pretty good so I¡¯d recommend you try it some time in the future."


    Yan Ling spoke with a small chuckle, she almost always did, as she sat down. Lan Yun could sit on her lap, but Ao Fentian was too small for that so she kept holding him close, Sheng Lian coming over with a bottle of heated milk so that he could get some food. Her crimson robe and short black hair were both a bit dishevelled so she had probably just been playing with Ao Fentian.


    Since Sheng Lian had made her way over, Yan Ling handed over the child and leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the table, Lan Yun¡¯s head popping up beneath hers.


    "Done sorting out your thoughts?"


    From jokes to straight to the point, Yan Ling really changed her tune at a pace that Liang Chen could never keep up with. But it was never unpleasant so it really seemed like she was a natural at it.


    "No. But spending time thinking about fault is just a waste of time. I¡¯ll find them, I promised that I would. After that it¡¯ll be up to the dead to speak of fault and forgiveness."


    Since he first went out of his way to teach his daughter a lesson he might as well pretend like he actually followed the same rules. He¡¯d find the killer, then he would kill them. That was all he did, that was all he was. He found the sinners and he killed them, the darkness that ate even the night. It would be up to the dead to speak of forgiveness or regret, all he spoke of was death. It was grim, but Yan Ling seemed satisfied.


    "That¡¯s good then, your decisiveness has always been one of your charm points, it¡¯s not like you to run around in your thoughts."


    Her smile was soft and charming as she spoke, but anyone who knew what she was thinking about would consider it insane. The decisiveness she spoke of was something that dyed the land red with blood, it was a young child slowly poisoning an entire palace without thinking about any sort of backlash or retribution. That was not decisiveness.


    "It¡¯s fine to call it recklessness, that¡¯s what people would usually call it."


    He¡¯d been called it more than once before. Reckless, careless, suicidal even. He moved without thinking, he struck without a care. He saw something that displeased him so he acted, consequences be damned. Liang Chen didn¡¯t consider himself decisive, he was reckless. But Yan Ling simply snorted at that clarification, a hand stretching out to pinch Liang Chen¡¯s nose.


    "Yeah, well people are idiots who don¡¯t know how to appreciate someone who¡¯s as stubborn as a mule and as impatient as a boar."


    "Blind as bats, the whole lot of them!"


    Lan Yun suddenly piped up to compliment her mom¡¯s complaint, waving her fists from underneath Yan Ling¡¯s chin. Liang Chen felt the corners of his lips twitch as he looked at the two of them, Yan Ling had really painted their daughter in her own image.


    "And here I thought you came to comfort me, not insult me."


    But still, he couldn¡¯t even feel a trace of the anger he felt earlier, it had all settled down into a nice and thick layer of ice in his chest. In this place, he could be a bit more peaceful, he could take a step away from the man he chose to become. He could be¡­ normal.


    "Bah, say that when you stop smiling."


    Yan Ling snorted triumphantly. No matter how much Liang Chen occasionally complained, he was always smiling. That was the expression she was after, happy and peaceful. His decisiveness and ambition were attractive, but she didn¡¯t want that to be everything he was, so he had to smile like this when they were together, she had to protect that part of him.


    "Is everyone no longer at risk of dying?"


    A voice came from the entrance while they were smiling at each other, a small serpentine head poking out from the side. Yumao peeked at them from the entrance, his voice dripping with worry so false that he himself could barely hold back his laughter.


    "You¡¯re the last person I want to hear that from, you don¡¯t even believe in those words."


    Liang Chen could only roll his eyes. He had raised Yumao ever since he hatched from his egg, he knew better than anyone what sort of personality he had. They¡¯d be lucky if Yumao wasn¡¯t the first to egg Liang Chen into a rampage while he was angry.


    Yumao¡¯s laughter finally got the best of him, a strange-sounding chuckle escaping him as he flapped his feathery wings and flew over. His long body curled up on top of Liang Chen¡¯s head, the snake¡¯s scales rubbing against his scalp as he dug into his usual spot with a snicker.


    "Well no, but mother said it would be funny to say it at a good time."


    He should have known that it would be her fault. Yumao had been so nice and normal when he was younger. Well, normal for a beast at least. But then he learned how to talk, and Yan Ling¡¯s influence became painfully apparent.


    "You¡¯re ruining him again."


    He could only blame the source that was sitting on the other side of the table, her slender and slightly scarred finger still tracing his nose. But she simply scoffed again.


    "Bah, say that when you stop smiling."


    "Now you¡¯re just repeating yourself."


    "The truth can be repeated into eternity without losing its charm."


    The two bickered as they always did, the small dent in the table quickly forgotten. It was warm here, it was bright here. In a place like this, even lightning could get some rest, even the one that would become the prime evil could find a measure of peace and normality.


    But time moved on without halt, it never stopped for anyone. And there was always more to do, so eventually, they had to talk about what to do next.


    "So, have you decided where you want to go first?"


    There was technically nothing for them to do, but the number of things they were going to do was mind-numbing. They had to visit Liang Chen¡¯s birth parents, they had to bring back the reincarnation of the family that raised him, they had to find out who else they wanted to invite to their wedding, they had to check on whatever friends and acquaintances they had. And beyond even that, there was still the war with the other Sphere, there were thousands of battlefields that they could visit. They had nothing they really needed to do, but there was no end to the number of things they were going to do.


    "¡­I gave my word. I may be reluctant, but that¡¯s no reason to go back on it."


    His words trawled off slightly. He really was reluctant. No, saying he didn¡¯t want to do it would be better, he saw no reason for it. But he had given his word, both to the man who was supposedly his brother and to Yan Ling. And in the end, Yan Ling wanted this because of how her own family had been, Liang Chen would not deny her that. So he sighed once more, but still accepted what had to be done.


    "Haaa, let¡¯s head to the Rahu universe, may as well get this family visit over with as soon as possible."

 Chapter 381: The grey-clad. (2)

    A dark green expanse dotted with occasional flashes of brown. Sounds came from all directions, be they the buzzing of insects or the howling of stalking beasts. The air was wet and heavy, it clung to her skin and clothes like mud, each movement made her feel as if she was pushing through a quagmire. And then there was the smell. The scent of dense vegetation, rotting plants, mud that slowly swallowed everything that lingered.


    "This¡­ I wish I knew where this was¡­"


    Zun Zhi swallowed down a lungful of heavy air, doing her best to withstand the assault on her senses. She had just gotten through the spatial array that the doctor had prepared for her so she should be relatively close to Big Brother Chen. But other than the fact that this was supposedly on the fringes of something known as the Heaven and Hell Dominion, she had no clue where it was.


    "Brother¡­"


    She toyed with the ring on her finger as she muttered, the soft blue colour serving as a brief respite from the suffocating wilderness around her. Truthfully, she was scared. She wanted to cry, she wanted to run, she wanted to hide.


    She¡¯d never been this far away from her twin brother, and never before had they been separated for as long as they would now. She wasn¡¯t used to being alone, and she was even less used to acting alone.


    But Zun Zhao was acting strange, he was slowly heading to a place she couldn¡¯t follow him. She had to stop him before he went that far, before he fell that deep. But she couldn¡¯t. Gods, how she wished that she could. But she was too weak so he wouldn¡¯t listen to her, her hand would never reach him.


    "Big Brother Chen¡­ Please."


    Their Young Master was dead, their city was ruined, their home was gone. There was only one person left that she could rely on now, only one place where she could rest her hopes.


    Zun Zhao still recited some of Big Brother Chen¡¯s sayings to this day, the wounded youth that had marched into their lives for that short period of time had left a huge impact on them. If it was him¡­ Surely he could save her brother before it became too late, right? He would drag him out of the darkness and show him that all those killings weren¡¯t right, he would show him a better path. He had to, right?


    "¡­I don¡¯t have the time to sit around like this, I need to find out where Big Brother is."


    The breath that left her lips was heavier than it was when it entered her lungs, the very land itself here seemed to pull at it with all its might. Her throat was cold, but it was one the inside,  a dark chill that crept up from the depths of her chest. Afraid, she was afraid. But she had to move.


    She quickly scoured the ring that the doctor had given her, she needed to know what she had on hand. The first thing was obviously her own bag, containing enough water for five days and food for three, it was what she had managed to quickly gather up as she prepared to leave. Then there were the contents of the ring.


    "Food¡­ Water¡­ Weapons?¡­ And a ring."


    Food for two weeks and water for three, a bow with some arrows, two small daggers, and some simple clothes so that she wouldn¡¯t have to constantly wear the same thing. And then there was the final item, a simple silver ring covered in sharp triangular carvings. At a glance it looked similar to the ring that Big Brother Chen had gifted them, the ruby ring that her brother had used to protect them shortly after their Young Master died. But the carvings were different so she couldn¡¯t tell what sort of use the ring had. She could only hope that it would be as defensive as the one that Big Brother gave them.


    "Okay. Now it¡¯s time to move."


    She carefully traced the ring as she mustered up her courage, another heavy breath sinking into her lungs like smoke. The wilderness was dense and heavy, and she was small and fragile. But she had to move, so she had to brave the darkness. And so, the young girl moved.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The spatial array that led to the Rahu universe wasn¡¯t one that was publicly available. It had been quite some time, but there were still many who remembered the Sebettu¡¯s merciless conquest in ages past, those who lost family to them still lived even to this day. So the array was hidden, tucked away in a place so safe that none would dare to even think about using it to launch an attack.


    And in this universe, there was only one place that fit that description. The land of the one who decided to protect the Sebettu in the first place, the undisputed king of this universe. The headquarters of the Nine Star Demon God.


    Well, calling it a headquarters was probably a bit too grand. Was it due to the personality of the Nine Star Demon God? The spot itself was excessively plain. A simple city, simple buildings. A few smaller lakes, basically ponds, scattered about in a haphazard manner, weeping willows lining each one while small lilies stretched up from the bottom.


    The land around the city was pleasantly green, hills and meadows covered in colourful flowers stretching out as far as the eye could see. But the city itself was covered by a thin layer of snow, soft petals constantly falling despite the clear blue sky that greeted them from above.


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    The ruler was a demon, nay, a god of demons. He was an entity that could rule several universes without anyone challenging his dignity, he commanded beings that served as the progenitors of entire lineages. But his home¡­ it was so peaceful. It was quiet and calm, normal to the point of boring.


    The people that filled the streets, over two-thirds of them were just normal people who had yet to even cultivate. They ran shops, they grilled meat for their stalls, they made clothes that they put up for sale. It was normal, it was all just normal. Liang Chen had seen sects that wouldn¡¯t even reach the Demon God¡¯s toes that made themselves look greater than this, more extravagant, more boisterous.


    "Paparan, it¡¯s not cold! Look, look, touch it!"


    A loud voice cut through the quiet calm that descended with the snow, Lan Yun running about the streets. She left small marks in the snow with each step, occasionally stepping back to widen her own footprints. She scooped up a handful of the snow with her bare hands and pushed it towards Liang Chen, hoisting her arms above her head while tiptoeing so that she could get it as close to his face as possible.


    She was loud, but it was gentle. A man, a woman, and their three children. Well, calling them children was perhaps a bit of a stretch. One was a winged snake, one was a humanoid Elemental Lotus that looked like a girl close to her twenties, only the last one looked like a child. But then again, that child hatched from an egg and was also some type of Demonic beast so perhaps that description wasn¡¯t apt there either.


    But well, it was peaceful and calming so he was able to splendidly ignore those things. He picked up Lan Yun and spun her around over his head, seating her on his shoulders. Sadly, this little one was heavily tainted by Yan Ling so all the snow she was holding was swiftly dumped onto Liang Chen¡¯s head and rubbed into his hair.


    "Oh, you weren¡¯t kidding, it really isn¡¯t cold."


    The melting snow crept its way down his neck, but it really wasn¡¯t cold. It felt like a pleasant shower, a slight tinge of warmth that gently caressed his skin. Liang Chen was just about to shake his head to toss away the remaining snow when a hand reached into his hair, combing through it and gently removing the warm snow.


    "Come on now, your dad¡¯s hair is already so pale and colourless that it doesn¡¯t need a touch of white, it already looks dead enough."


    Yan Ling¡¯s voice was accompanied by a soft chuckle, her hand swiftly but gently cleaning his hair until not a trace of snow was left. It could have been easily done with just a bit of wind, but neither of them felt the need to point that out. For a second, just a single second, Liang Chen felt like smiling. But then he saw the corners of Yan Ling¡¯s lips curve ever so slightly.


    "His face however, could definitely stand to look a few shades paler."


    Her hands moved as quickly as her mouth, the snow quickly forced against his face as she rubbed it in. The taste made its way into his mouth, warm water running down his throat. The sensation of snow against his face wasn¡¯t exactly unpleasant since it wasn¡¯t cold for once, but with her taking the first move how could he possibly let himself fall behind?


    "Fine, I¡¯ll be childish with you."


    His foot quickly moved, kicking up the snow beneath him and launching it directly at Yan Ling¡¯s head. He didn¡¯t use any wind to control its trajectory so most of it missed her, only a bit less than half actually hitting her, her chest at that. It was terrible aim, and it was terribly childish. But they had fun, they had peace, so they indulged.


    They played in a manner most would find unbefitting, dragging in the three children as they frolicked in the snow. It was peaceful and it was calm. In other places, he was the Scourge King, and he brought death with every step. But here, here they could have some semblance of peace.


    "Ah, I guess that¡¯s why."


    A mutter escaped his lips. He felt like he understood why the Nine Star Demon God made his home a place like this. In the future, once things were done, if he was still around, it would be nice if he could have something like this as well.


    "I greet the esteemed Crown Prince and his future wife."


    Ah, but before that time could come, there were things in the present for them to deal with. The twinkling of joy in Liang Chen¡¯s eyes died down as he turned his head to observe the woman who just called out to him.


    Short silver hair, pale grey eyes, tanned skin, a figure covered by a vibrant grey robe. Her waist was slightly bent and her gaze lowered to just below Liang Chen¡¯s eyes. He could tell without being told. A Sebettu. They weren¡¯t too far from the spatial array so they had probably come to pick him up, to ensure that he actually stayed true to his words. It was a bit¡­ annoying. But he had still given his word, so he would keep it, taking Yan Ling¡¯s hand in his own.


    "Alright, lead the way."

 Chapter 382: The grey-clad. (3)

    "Please, you need but step inside."


    The woman who came to pick them up guided Liang Chen and his family to the spatial array connected to the Rahu universe, a house as simple and plain as the rest of the city around it. If he didn¡¯t know about it then he would have just walked right by it, but then again, that may very well be on purpose.


    The woman¡¯s waist was slightly bent as she gestured towards the open door, Yan Ling and Lan Yun curiously, and somewhat excitedly, examining the empty interior.


    "Please, Your highness, they are all waiting with bated breath."


    She respectfully urged them on, stealing a few glances by sneakily raising her eyes whenever she got the chance. But Liang Chen could see it, the depth to her pale grey eyes, the fire burning within them. It irked him. The look, the expectations buried within her fire, the version of him that was reflected in her gaze.


    "I¡¯m not your highness."


    He corrected her as he stepped past her, bringing Yumao and Sheng Lian into the building. Yan Ling was already holding Ao Fentian and Lan Yun so their entire little family was now inside, the guide closing the door behind them with a somewhat lopsided smile.


    With the door closing, the entire room lit up, pale blue lines snaking along the floor and creeping up the walls, even the ceiling was completely covered in them. The entire building was the spatial array, and with the door closed it activated.


    "Hold him tight, I¡¯ve got a bag ready."


    Liang Chen¡¯s eyes gestured towards Ao Fentian as he felt the air around them contort, a paper bag already clutched in his grasp. The reminder was a bit pointless though, as even with how excited she was, Yan Ling hadn¡¯t forgotten about the infant and was already holding him close while gently patting his back.


    The array fully activate and space around their group spun and stretched into a tunnel. Their bodies were naturally caught in the spinning and launched forward, soaring through the ¡®tunnel¡¯ at speeds that would tear people to shreds if it were in the outside. Luckily, spatial travel rarely took too long, even one passing between universes like this one didn¡¯t take more than a handful of seconds.


    As such, it didn¡¯t take long before the spinning stopped and they found themselves with solid ground beneath their feet again. He could feel the light of the sun and a fresh breeze so it seemed like they were in the open. He could sense the myriad of presences around them, their eyes were practically drilling holes into him, the fire within them just waiting to swallow him whole.


    "We gree¡­"


    Several voices rose up in unison, a deep tone mixing with respectful expectations. But Liang Chen waved his hand before they could even utter a sentence.


    "Quiet."


    While one hand waved them into silence, the other was already bringing the paper up to Ao Fentian¡¯s mouth. The infant was crying at the moment, snot and drool running from his face. In-between his cries he also threw up, a clear and somewhat sour liquid spewing out of his mouth and into the prepared bag.


    Spatial travel was something that took a toll on people, the first few times were the worst but if you weren¡¯t prepared for it then it could be hard to bear even afterwards. Ao Fentian was just an infant, he had just barely passed a year of age by the time Liang Chen had to take him in. There was no way he could prepare himself for something like this so it was only natural that he ended up retching every time they stepped through a spatial array.


    "You should see them looking, Little Freak. It¡¯s like looking at an ocean with eyes. The six at the front are especially funny, their mouths are still hanging open because of you."


    Yan Ling whispered to him with a light snicker as she gently rubbed Ao Fentian¡¯s back to comfort him. Liang Chen may be focusing on the child, intentionally ignoring the Sebettu around them, but Yan Ling was taking great delight in observing them all.


    In the end, the child stopped crying thanks to all the comforting, and the fact that he stopped vomiting, so silence returned to Liang Chen¡¯s group. With that, he had no more excuse so he turned his attention towards the Sebettu that came to welcome them, as well as the land around them.


    A large park, larger than any he had ever seen. The patches of trees, smaller hills, rocky formations, and even minor rivers and streams made it seem more like a forest than anything else. But he could see buildings rising up all around them, just beyond the edge of the park, so they were definitely in a city. The buildings were exceedingly tall, even the smallest one that he could see still had three floors while the largest one had somewhere above ten. From a distance it all looked like building blocks that had been tossed together in a box.


    And then there were the people that now flooded the park. Yan Ling hadn¡¯t been wrong, it really was like an ocean with eyes. There were eyes as far as he could see, heads popping up from between branches or halfway up some of the rock formations. Some people were even helping others to see by putting them on their shoulders.


    They were surrounded on almost all sides, the only open spot was a small path that went straight through the sea of people, one of the tallest buildings in the city waiting at the end-point of said path. But blocking the road were the six people that Yan Ling pointed out, their mouths still open from when Liang Chen silenced them.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "Just go on, I want to get it over with."


    Liang Chen almost sighed as he spoke. Looking at the sea of people, the fervent fire in their eyes, the depth of their expectations, he was starting to regret coming here. He knew things would end up like this, it was one of the reasons he didn¡¯t want to come here to meet Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu.


    But Yan Ling loved and treasured family above all so she naturally had a hard time understanding his reluctance to meet with what should be his family. So she asked sincerely in hopes of making him happier, and he accepted that sincerity of hers, leading him here, to now.


    "Ahem. We greet the esteemed Crown Prince and his future consort!"


    "Welcome home, your majesty!"


    The six people at the front cleared their throat and then spoke loudly, their waists bending at a very slight angle. And with them taking the lead, the sea of people around Liang Chen¡¯s group quickly spoke out, their voices gathering into one rumbling that swept over them. Liang Chen had already put away the bag full of vomit and was already covering Ao Fentian¡¯s ears so that the needlessly loud audience didn¡¯t scare him.


    When the sound finally died down, Liang Chen removed his hands from Ao Fentian¡¯s ears, pinching and tugging on his cheeks for a few moments to twist a laugh out of him. He left the Sebettu hanging for a handful of seconds as he did so, only directing his attention towards after he was done.


    "I don¡¯t see Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu. Where are they?"


    He only came here to meet the people who birthed him and then threw him through space. The current him had next to no interest in the Sebettu, least of all when it came to taking over as their ruler. He had no ties to them, even the blood that should come from them was gone from his body. Yet they kept looking at him with those eyes, a silent ambitious plead burning within the depths of their pupils.


    Liang Chen wasn¡¯t against people looking at him with expectations. If anything he would actually say the he was used to it, the gazes that followed him were generally either fear or expectation mixed with hope. But the way these people were looking at him, the one of the Sebettu¡¯s voices as they reached toward him, it made his stomach churn.


    They didn¡¯t want to be saved, not in the same way those he usually saved did at least. No, the Sebettu looked at him with the expectation that he would bring them back to their old peak. In him they saw the glory of the past, the power to take over and rule multiple universes again. They saw a chance to leave this squalor and burn a path back to the bright peak that should rightfully be theirs. And thus, looking at the six grey-clad people blocking the path, he felt sick.


    "The emperor and empress dowager are temporarily occupied with important tasks. But please rest assured, your highness, we will be able to free them up for you in less than five day¡¯s time. So please, why don¡¯t you take a moment to explore the empire? I¡¯m sure there is a lot that your consort would like to see while you¡¯re here."


    The one who seemed to be the central figure of the six was the one who spoke up. She was one of the two women in the group, and while he couldn¡¯t quite discern her age she was already getting some crow¡¯s feet by her pale blue eyes, a few strands of her light silver hair almost covering them.


    She spoke carefully and slowly, her eyes closely observing Liang Chen¡¯s face to gauge his reaction. But his blank face didn¡¯t betray any of his emotions, except for trace amounts of annoyance.


    "Please, fo¡­"


    She opened her mouth to speak again, but her words caught in her throat when his eyes landed on her. Striking golden eyes looked straight at her, straight through her. She felt as if he was digging through her soul just by looking at her, as if her entire being was unravelling to lay itself bare to him.


    "It seems like you¡¯ve made sure to do a little bit of research."


    She couldn¡¯t help but swallow a quick mouthful of saliva as he spoke to her. She mentally went over what she had said but couldn¡¯t find anything that should be a forbidden topic. They had indeed done some research on him, mainly by asking his brother about their first meeting.


    So they knew that he didn¡¯t really have any emotional ties to them, he only came here because Yan Ling had asked him to. If she said that she wanted to leave then they would be gone immediately. But if she wanted to stay then they would be here as long as she wanted. The five days they bought themselves by delaying the meeting with Ren Shuren, the plan was to have Yan Ling become thoroughly enamoured with this place in that time so that she would make Liang Chen stay here longer. Emotional ties could be formed over time, they just needed him to stay here for a bit longer.


    "But¡­ Just how much did you hear?"


    His voice was low, the sneaking sense of unease that started to creep up her spine turning into full-blown chills. It wasn¡¯t bloodline suppression. She had faced others with a stronger Sebettu bloodline than her before, she¡¯d even stood in front of them when they were angry.


    This¡­ This was something else entirely. Was it her blood that was running cold? Was it her body that was quivering in fear? Was it her soul that was screaming at her? No, it was her very existence. Everything that made up ¡®Chao Qui Zen¡¯ was giving up life, it was whispering of the end.


    Tap.


    "When you do your research on someone¡­"


    A footstep, a soft and quiet voice. Her eyes naturally sank to avoid him, but she could feel his gaze. And worse yet, she could hear his steps, his voice.


    Tap.


    "You need to do more than just get reports from a first meeting."


    Tap.


    "Look into their past."


    Tap.


    "Look into their actions."


    Tap.


    "Look into what drives them."


    With each step he took closer, she felt her waist bend further. When his steps finally halted, she could only see his feet. Her face  felt wet, was she sweating or crying? Her back also felt wet so she figured that she was probably sweating, she was hoping that she was sweating.


    Sshh.


    She heard the gentle sound of clothes rustling. His arm was rising, she could sense it. When it landed, what would she feel? Her entire body tensed, but in the end, the land didn¡¯t land on her.


    RRAAAAAA!


    A scream. No, a roar was more fitting. A scream had a purpose, something it wanted to express. This was just pain given sound, an instinct unleashed by a body pushed beyond its limits. When she mustered up the courage to raise her head slightly, she saw that the elder at her side had fallen to the ground, his fingers digging into his own flesh as he clawed at himself in agony.


    He was burning. Crimson lightning fluttering with flames as red as blood were ravaging his body, eating him alive. The flames came from Liang Chen¡¯s hands, she could even see them burn his own palm as he held it there.


    The elder screamed and roared as he burned, but Liang Chen simply looked at him, that crimson light reflecting off of his golden eyes and casting a bright hue on his silvery-grey hair. He too burned, but his expression showed no signs of it.


    Why that elder was burning, why exactly he was chosen¡­ she felt that she may have an inkling as to why. Of the six elders, he was the only one who engaged in certain actions and had a more¡­ colourful life than the rest, that was the only thing that set him apart from the rest. But how did he know? Why did it matter? And that crimson light that was reducing the elder to nothing, just what was it?


    She trembled when she noticed that Liang Chen¡¯s eyes landed on her again, that red light still dancing across him.


    "Lead the way."

 Chapter 383: The Grey-clad. (4)

    "Well?"


    The elder couldn¡¯t stop her trembling as Liang Chen¡¯s gaze rested on the back of her head. Like a rabbit trapped by a tiger, her body was instinctively warning her. She was a Sebettu, a predator with exalted blood flowing through her veins. But right now¡­ She felt like helpless prey for the first time in her life, all the way down to her very core.


    "Little Freak, they won¡¯t be able to raise their head if you keep looking at them like that. Take a breath and calm down."


    Another voice luckily cut in just as the elder felt as if her legs were going to give out underneath her. The carefreeness of the voice didn¡¯t fit in with the situation, a faint remnant of scent still lingered from the elder that was just reduced to nothing. She finally dared to raise her head slightly when she felt Liang Chen¡¯s eyes slide away from her, the red light fading at the same time.


    Cyan hair tied into a braid, sapphire eyes that carried a certain depth despite their mischievous glimmer. Yan Ling, the fiancee of the Crown Prince, and if the reports were true then she was the one who actually convinced him to pay them a visit.


    "I¡¯d say don¡¯t mind him, but you really brought this on yourself. Yeah, you really should do your research when you invite someone to your doorstep."


    She didn¡¯t look apologetic, nor did she look disturbed. It was as if scenes like this had become commonplace for her, an everyday occurrence. Then again¡­ Maybe they were? That thought gave her a fright. The Crown Prince, what if he really did go around and just killed people that displeased him wherever he went? If he stayed here, would that be the fate of the Sebettu?


    "No need to look so afraid, it¡¯s really easy to avoid getting on his bad side, just be a good person. With that said, could you guide us to our lodgings? Little Fentian here isn¡¯t too comfortable being stared at by so many people."


    The girl, Yan Ling, she still spoke so casually, without a care in the world. The scent of the scorched elder still lingered in the air where his body used to be, and with a quick move of her pupils she could see that the crowd around them was stunned into silence, mouths agape as faces turned pale. Yes, that was the common reaction, that was how people were supposed to react.


    She had fought in many wars, but even she felt a part of herself tremble as someone who was her equal simply burnt to nothing with a guttural growl. And yet the one who supposedly brought the Crown Prince here was still smiling softly, more concerned about the infant that looked as if it was about to cry again.


    Insane. The Crown Prince they had invited back was mad, but his fiancee was no less deranged it seemed. That¡­ May make this entire thing a mistake. In that moment, she really just wanted to send them away.


    "Yes¡­ Yes, of course. Please, allow me to guide you, we¡¯ve prepared the best possible lodgings for the two of you, I am sure that you won¡¯t find it lacking."


    But what was she supposed to do? The current highest authority of the Sebettu had ordered them to welcome the Crown Prince and his fiancee while treating them as honoured guests. They had to be polite, hospitable, and forgiving so that the Crown Prince would want to form a bond with their race again. Even if it meant swallowing what felt like several mouthfuls of dirt.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    While the female elder was swallowing both fear and unwillingness to guide Liang Chen and Yan Ling to the lodgings they had prepared, two figures were looking at them from one of the distant buildings. Of those two figures, one looked as if she was about to fly into a rage.


    "Brother, stop blocking my path and let me go. Now!"


    A youthful figure, silver hair that hung down just past her ears and eyes such a dark grey that they bordered on black. Every pore on her body radiated a dignified and regal aura, but it was currently twisted by anger that almost oozed out of her like steam. Ren Xiao Ping, daughter of Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu. If they went by blood then she would be Liang Chen¡¯s biological younger sister.


    "You know I can¡¯t do that. We need him."


    The one who blocked her path looked a bit older than her, bordering on his thirties. He had a headful of dark silver hair, albeit much shorter than Xiao Ping. He also had eyes that were almost identical to hers in colour, so grey they teetered into black. Ren Shuya. Tracing the bloodline, he would be Liang Chen¡¯s biological younger brother.


    Liang Chen was considered a Crown Prince thanks to his bloodline, or at least the bloodline that the Sebettu knew him to have in the past, it was worthy enough for them to consider him one possibility for their next emperor. But of these two siblings, only Xiao Ping had a bloodline that was of equal purity, granting her the title of Crown Princess. Ren Shuya was born later than both of them, after their parents had paid several heavy prices for both Liang Chen and Xiao Ping so his bloodline was two tiers lower.


    But he was still the son of the current Emperor dowager and empress dowager, and he had strength befitting that bond, so it wasn¡¯t as if he had a low status within the race. Certainly, even if he stopped the possible future empress like this then there were very few within the race who wanted to risk speaking up against him.


    "Need him? He just massacred one of our elders in front of everyone! You want to rely on a man like that? Have you no pride as a Sebettu?"


    Naturally, Xiao Ping was one of those who dared to speak up against him no matter the situation, flaring up that much more fiercely as she looked at her brother. They had gathered far too many of their citizens in that park to welcome the new Crown Prince, far too many people had seen him kill one of their elders like that. How could they possibly allow that?


    "I have lived here far longer than you have, I was there as our race declined so don¡¯t speak to me about our pride."


    Ren Shuya didn¡¯t budge, his tone deep and strong as his gaze cooled. The relationship between these three siblings was¡­ strange to say the least. Liang Chen would be the oldest based on birth, but he was sent forward in time so by age he was the youngest. Xiao Ping was the next to be born, but it ended with her being sent forward in time as well. And then Ren Shuya was born, last of them all. But he wasn¡¯t sent forward in time so he had actually lived quite a few more years than the rest of his siblings, despite being the ¡®youngest.¡¯ As such, he was also the only one of them who actually had to live through the decline of their race.


    Xiao Ping knew that, hence she sucked in a deep breath of air, which felt like ice when it reached her burning lungs. She swept her hair back, her palms wet with sweat from how tightly she had clutched them. Ren Shuya looked down at her as she drew in breath after breath, he was very clear on how he felt about their pride.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "We¡¯ve clung to our pride for countless years while sheltered by the Nine Star Demon God, but what good has it done us? Has it restored any of our lands? Has it brought back any of our dead? That pride you speak of, it has done nothing for our race but hold us down."


    The Sebettu had done nothing but lose people and land ever since their decline started, all the way until they were reduced to this bare minimum. And at no point in time had their pride, be it in their race or bloodline, done a damn thing for them. Nay, it only made them lose more as they engaged in foolish ventures.


    Xiao Ping let out the breaths she had sucked in, the air sticking to her throat like mud as she spat it out. She felt clogged up as she looked back at the scene outside the window.


    "Fine, let¡¯s ignore pride for now then, let¡¯s look at it from a different angle. He just killed one of our elders, one of the people leading our race, one of the men our citizens look up to. Are we just supposed to allow him to keep killing our leaders like that? Is that how you want us to rise again, like headless chickens scrambling for the seat of king because our leaders are dead?"


    Elder Shouru Mang, he had served their race for countless years. He was already a Vice-Elder during the time of their parents, he was ancient, a true pillar of their race. If they lost everyone like that¡­ what would the citizens do? But Ren Shuya¡¯s answer was anything but reassuring.


    "He won¡¯t kill many more of our leaders, only three or four more, depending on how strict his standards are. And we can manage just fine without them, maybe even better than before."


    He was casual, nonchalant, dismissive even. His pupils didn¡¯t even waver as he spoke of the likely, nay, certain, deaths of their elders. It was as if they were set in stone. And it was because of this that Xiao Ping understood something.


    "¡­You knew he would kill the elder?"


    The one who prepared the list of elders that would greet Liang Chen was Ren Shuya, Xiao Ping was still against bringing him in so she didn¡¯t want anything to do with it. The anger she had just barely started to suppress, she could feel it surge forth again, especially as Ren Shuya nodded.


    "Of course. When you bring a bomb into your house then you need to make sure you know what¡¯s going to set it off."


    He hadn¡¯t told the elders, but how could Ren Shuya not have investigated ahead of time? Not that he had to investigate much, he had been friendly with Yan Ling for years and she practically never stopped talking about her Little Freak. He knew what sort of people would send Liang Chen into a murderous rage before the two even met for the first time. But still, he sent out Elder Mang.


    "You knew, yet still sent out Elder Mang?"


    Xiao Ping¡¯s voice was low, the temperature in the room dropping sharply as the air started to vibrate softly. Ren Shuya recognized the look in her eyes, it was that of a beast about to pounce its prey. But he still stood his ground, and he didn¡¯t deny the truth.


    "I sent him out specifically because I knew. He was a peace-offering, a showing of goodwill. If we want his help, then we need to show that we¡¯re willing to change, willing to purge."


    Elder Mang, a respected elder that had served the race for many years, Ren Shuya had treated him like a sacrificial lamb. And he wouldn¡¯t be the last, Ren Shuya would offer up as many as was needed to achieve his goal.


    "He was one of our elders! He helped raise our father! He protected our race during the decline!"


    Xiao Ping practically exploded, the room around her getting torn away in large chunks, as if a beast was eating away at it. Only the area around Ren Shuya maintained a sliver of calm, a pale blue shimmer lingering in the air around him as he kept talking.


    "He was a vicious man who only became further twisted by war and loss. There would be no path to the future for the Sebettu as long as he was around. There would be no peace to be had."


    Yes, Elder Mang had served the Sebettu for many years, before the downfall even. But he had seen too much war, he had lost too many people. He had become someone whose mind would be forever trapped in the war, the peace Ren Shuya sought could never be achieved if he was still there. Ren Shuya had seen parts of the war, that was why he could speak like that. But Xiao Ping¡­


    "Peace! When the hell did the world ever give us peace? It kicked us down and trampled us when we were down! Were it not for the Nine Star Demon God then you wouldn¡¯t be here! Our parents wouldn¡¯t be here, your friends wouldn¡¯t be here. The world would have trampled them all while they were down and weak."


    Xiao Ping hadn¡¯t gotten to see any of the wars, she had been sent through time before she could suffer such a fate. As such, how could she possibly understand? She only understood what little she knew, what misery she had been told of, what glory she knew was lost. And that was why she couldn¡¯t stand on the same side as Ren Shuya.


    "We can have our peace, but only when we¡¯ve become strong enough to grasp it with our own hands. Strong enough to scare everyone else away from touching us."


    The Nine Star Demon God, they needed to become akin to an existence like that. Able to trample those who robbed them of their glory, able to trample those who stole their friends and family, and above all, able to do so without anyone daring to stand against them. And if there was one thing she knew then it was¡­


    "And we don¡¯t need that ingrate down there for that! We need our elders, we need our citizens."


    Her body turned, a sharp finger pointing through the ruined window. Liang Chen did not accept his heritage. Their parents had sent him through time to ensure his survival, but he did not take them as his parents. No, he clung to those who adopted him afterwards, forsaking his birth family, his race. He was an ingrate, someone who couldn¡¯t understand what he had been given. The Sebettu didn¡¯t need him. She didn¡¯t need him.


    "No, Xiao. We need him."


    Naturally, Ren Shuya didn¡¯t agree with her. If the Sebettu wanted to rise then they needed Liang Chen, if not his strength then his mindset. He had something they needed, the willingness to bear sin, the strength to move forward without regard, the strength of mind to accept nothing less. They had lost that while clinging to their petty pride over the years. And he would be the spark that would once again light their fire.


    "Wasn¡¯t he weaker than you when you first met? By a lot even?"


    Ren Shuya knew. Yan Ling had told him, his parents had told him. Liang Chen¡¯s strength, or at least his cultivation. The pace at which it moved was unnatural. And his bloodline¡­ Ren Shuya couldn¡¯t really feel it anymore, he just felt an instinctual dread when he tried to pry into it. But Xiao Ping¡­


    "He¡¯s still weaker than me, barely within the Transcended Immortal realm. His fiancee may be a Sovereign God, but haven¡¯t I already killed three Sovereign Gods?"


    Could she not sense it or was she just repressing it because she refused to accept it? Yes, she was strong enough to kill some Sovereign Gods even though she was only at the late stage of the Transcended Immortal realm, she had all right to be haughty and proud. But how could she not understand it?


    "And what was his realm when you first met, hm? Wasn¡¯t even a Primordial Immortal, right? And the way the elder just died, do you really think his strength is just in the Transcended Immortal realm?"


    It hadn¡¯t even been that long since their first meeting, not even a decade if he recalled correctly. Yet he shot up in cultivation, he shot up in bloodline, he shot up in strength. Ren Shuya hadn¡¯t been able to find any records or traces of recent fights that he had taken part in, but surely Liang Chen would be stronger than his cultivation realm showed, he had to be.


    "Don¡¯t belittle him, Xiao. He is strong, probably far stronger than we can guess. We, as a race, need him if we want to rise. And if the cost of that is some of our elders and more twisted citizens then its a price I am more than willing to pay."


    Ren Shuya had made up his mind. The spark was a necessary existence to the kindling that was the Sebettu. To raise the Sebettu out of their squalor, their unconsciously accepted misery, he would be wiling to sacrifice as many as he needed. Let them be purged so that they could all rise from the ashes.


    "We don¡¯t need him, Shuya. And if the cost of us rising is sacrificing our elders and citizens then we don¡¯t deserve to rise."


    But wherever there was one side there would be another. And in this case, Xiao Ping was the other side. Those who had seen war and those who hadn¡¯t, those who had lost and  those who hadn¡¯t, those who were willing to sacrifice and those who weren¡¯t. The divide started there, Liang Chen was merely the wedge that would finally drive them apart.


    Xiao Ping pushed out her hand, an unseen force pushing Ren Shuya back while simultaneously pushing her towards the broken window. She left the premises of the building and stepped onto thin air, the siblings locking eyes before she started to descend.


    "I won¡¯t let you stop me, Shuya. We don¡¯t need him, I won¡¯t let us be dependent on him, just you watch."

 Chapter 384: The grey-clad. (5)

    The city was busy, exceedingly so. Looking down at it through the window from the room he was given Liang Chen could see swarms of people rushing about everywhere. A nigh constant stream of them entered and subsequently left the building he was in so it seemed as if they hadn¡¯t given up on doing something to please him.


    Should he call them admirable for still trying even after he killed one of their elders right in front of them? Or should he just plainly consider them desperate? Well, even if he didn¡¯t end up saying it out loud, their gazes alone were certainly desperate. Each pair of eyes that turned towards him was like a set of claws digging into his calves. They clutched onto him, uttering twisted prayers of a time few of them had ever even seen. And yet they clung and prayed, grasped at his legs until he had no choice but to lift them up.


    "The city won¡¯t change just because you keep scowling at it."


    Yan Ling¡¯s voice came from right behind him, a bit of weight added to his shoulders. Something grasped at his hair once the weight landed on his shoulders so she had probably placed Ao Fentian on his shoulders. With that being the case, he naturally had to raise his arms so that he could grab hold of the infant¡¯s legs, lest he fall after Yan Ling removed her hands.


    "You¡¯ve got the same expression you had when we entered the arenas on Tripartite God."


    Yan Ling took this chance now that he had his arms raised to wrap an arm around his, taking her spot by his side as she leaned against him. At the time, their unexpected visit to Tripartite God was extremely dangerous, they risked death every time they stepped onto the arena. But looking back at those days, she remembered them rather fondly. Just the two of them, moving forward step by step at their own pace.


    "We¡¯re just here to meet your biological parents, that¡¯s it. I, or they for that matter, won¡¯t force you to accept them. We won¡¯t force you to love them, we won¡¯t force you to embrace them as family. We¡¯re just here to meet them, to see if it might be something for you. If it isn¡¯t, well then that¡¯s it. We did our best, and at least we tried, but it just wasn¡¯t meant to be."


    Yan Ling didn¡¯t understand Liang Chen¡¯s reluctance, almost aversion, to accepting his biological family. Sure, he had been raised by someone else for his entire life, but his birth parents had still been willing to sacrifice everything to send him forward in time. Sure, they hadn¡¯t met until he was practically an adult, but they were still family, weren¡¯t they?


    But she didn¡¯t have to understand it to accept it. She would do what she could to have him enjoy the presence of family, but if he couldn¡¯t accept them then that would just be it. She wouldn¡¯t push it further, she wouldn¡¯t force him to try again and again. No, she would simply have to occupy that word, she would have to give him enough joy to fill up the entire concept of Family for him. With that said, she positioned herself in front of him and blocked his view, cradling his cheeks.


    "So. Stop scowling like you¡¯re about to scrub the entire city. They publicly made the excuse that they¡¯ll let you see Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren in less than five day¡¯s time so they won¡¯t be able to go back on it. That¡¯s five days where you don¡¯t have to think about it and can focus entirely on other things. So, how about we do some sightseeing like in the old days?"


    The two weren¡¯t fools. The elder said that his biological parents were occupied with important tasks, but that was clearly just an excuse to have him stay there longer because they could see his reluctance. This part wasn¡¯t one of Yan Ling¡¯s machinations, all she orchestrated was bringing Liang Chen here to actually have the meeting, the rest was prepared by the Sebettu. But that didn¡¯t mean that she was above using it for herself. A new universe, a new race, a new culture, it would be a fun little vacation.


    "From what I recall, none of our past sightseeing trips ended well."


    Liang Chen spoke with a soft breath, the corners of Yan Ling¡¯s lips turning up as he did. That was his way of agreeing, a little trait that he had cutely stolen from her, maybe even without noticing.


    "First off, that¡¯s slander. We¡¯re still alive, thriving even, so clearly they all ended well. Secondly, you just jinxed it, Little Freak."


    Her canines flashed as Yan Ling smiled, practically grinned, and responded. She gave Liang Chen¡¯s lips a quick peck before twirling around him, nimbly wrapping an arm around one of his again so that he spun around with her. Naturally, she was careful so that it didn¡¯t affect Ao Fentian, couldn¡¯t have the infant get uncomfortable and vomit after all.


    "Paparan, I can hold him!"


    Another voice greeted him as Yan Ling spun him around, it was as if she, Lan Yun had been waiting for this moment. Eyes as blue as the sky, snow-white hair tied into a single neat braid that mimicked her mother. She stood tall with a straight back and stretched out arms, the very image of pride and reliability. What a shame it was that she looked as if she had barely turned 10, with the mentality  to match.


    "Got nothing to worry about, Father! I¡¯ll help her lift the twerp, I¡¯ll make sure that they do a few flips before landing back on their feet should they end up tripping."


    When Yumao spoke up to assure Liang Chen, curling up on Lan Yun¡¯s head while doing so, it did everything but assure him. Tainted, both of them really were nothing but tainted by Yan Ling and her mannerisms. How long would it take before Ao Fentian started crying if he left him with the two of them.


    "I¡¯ll be helping them, Father, so please rest assured."


    Thank the gods that Sheng Lian was at least trustworthy. Of their ¡®children¡¯ she was technically the youngest, but she was also the only one that Yan Ling hadn¡¯t sunk her claws into yet so she took more after Liang Chen. It would still get rowdy if he left the three of them to it, but both he and Yan Ling would also be around so it should be fine, right?If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Okay, but you have to be careful with him, Little Lan. He¡¯s a lot weaker than all of you so just being gentle won¡¯t be enough."


    He bent the knee and lowered the infant from his shoulders, handing it to the little girl as he reminded her. Of everyone present, Ao Fentian was just a normal human infant. No special bloodline, no unique affinity, he was just an unfortunate orphan. Even the smallest among them, Lan Yun, could easily kill him even if she was being careful and used a minuscule amount of power.


    "Don¡¯t worry, Paparan! I won¡¯t let a hair on his head get hurt, honest pinky promise! Just watch!"


    She responded as energetically as always. She spoke as if she would offer her pinky, but she was using both hands to hold the infant so she pushed out Ao Fentian¡¯s pinky instead.


    "Alright, then I¡¯ll trust you to be a big sister."


    Liang Chen shook the presented pinky. He¡¯d spent enough time with Yan Ling to know a very simple fact, if you commented on the strange things you saw then you would lose. Accept it, ignore it, gloss over it, only like that could you win.


    "Since she¡¯s called dibs on him then I call dibs on this one."


    The arm that was wrapped around his slid down, thin fingers gently intertwining with his as Yan Ling pulled him closer. Looking at her, he was once again amazed at the sheer ease with which she turned situations and moods around. She was the kind of person who could turn even his dourest of moods into a smile given just a smidgen of time. Thinking about his life up to this point, meeting her was probably the greatest stroke of luck, and salvation, he ever had.


    "Alright, I¡¯ve been called dibs on so I¡¯ll claim this one in return and make it fair. Little Lan, Yumao, Lian, don¡¯t stray out of sight."


    Liang Chen wrapped his fingers around Yan Ling¡¯s as he stood up, not forgetting to give the three handling the infant a stern reminder. Well, depending on how you interpreted his words there were some loopholes they could take advantage of, but they were responsible enough to not abuse that.


    "Aye Aye, Paparan! You can trust this captain!"


    Lan Yun once again used Ao Fentian¡¯s hand to mimic the actions she wanted to take, saluting with a straight back. Yumao used his tail to mimic the same salute, Sheng Lian looking a bit hesitant before she too saluted.


    "You don¡¯t need to copy them. In fact, that¡¯s the last thing you need to do. I¡¯m almost begging you here, don¡¯t let their personalities infect you."


    Liang Chen immediately tried to correct Sheng Lian before it became too late and she ended up straying, but Yan Ling was already tugging on his arm.


    "Yeah yeah, just give up on that, you¡¯re stuck with people like me. Now let¡¯s go, the poor bastard has been waiting outside the door for a good few hours already."


    She pushed open the door, and sure enough, there was someone standing rather uneasily within the hall that stretched out beyond the door. It was just a hall, well, more of a lounge really, but every inch of the floor was covered inn a fluffy red carpet. A fountain served as the centrepiece of the lounge, even though they were on the 12th floor, and the walls were adorned with paintings that were actually made by combining several thousand tiny crystals. Other than the imperial palace, this was supposedly the finest building in the empire.


    The person in question was smart enough to not stand directly in front of their door. No, she was standing at the other end of the hall, in front of the other VIP room that had been vacated so that Liang Chen could have this entire building to himself. She looked to be in her early twenties, with short curly orange hair and dark green eyes, a few freckles dotting her nose. She was fidgeting with her hands, her back straightening tensely when the door was finally opened.


    "Ah! Grea¡­ Greetings, Crown Prince, Imperial Consort! I am Shui Senje, pleaaase¡­ Please allow me to guide you!"


    She fumbled over her words at some points, her spine tingling uncomfortably as Liang Chen¡¯s eyes swept over her. She felt as if they were digging straight into her, unravelling her soul one string at a time. But she had to do this¡­ She had to remain strong.


    "¡­ Alright, lead the way."


    Liang Chen stifled a sigh as he looked at the girl. At least the Sebettu weren¡¯t complete idiots. Once they saw how he acted they chose an appropriate escort, just a naive and sheltered little girl who hadn¡¯t even gotten the chance to leave this little city, much less perform any evil deeds. Well, the person she was currently working for was annoying, and what she was trying to set up was pointless. But Liang Chen wasn¡¯t terribly worried. He was¡­ Different now.


    "Thans¡­ Thank you, Sir! Please, follow me!"


    She quickly moved closer, and then moved ahead to act as a guide, but she was incredibly stiff, her movements almost doll-like as she paid great attention to her every move.


    "She¡¯s adorable, don¡¯t you think? Terrified enough to piss her pants, but still trying to do her job."


    Yan Ling lowered her voice, whispering to Liang Chen while looking at the girl in front of her. As a cultivator, Yan Ling had the status of being a disciple to the Nine Star Demon God so she was used to being met with envious or awe-struck stares wherever she went. This level of fear was something fresh for her.


    Well, it was only fresh for her. Liang Chen was used to it already, it was the kind of gaze he saw most places he went. Not that that was something bad, in the end that gaze was something he was trying to achieve, it was how he wanted the world to look at him when everything was over.


    The girl quickly guided them out of the building, which was already in the process of being decorated and renovated so that Liang Chen could stay here long-term. Walls were being torn out, rooms re-decorated and furnished, there was nary a place where there wasn¡¯t work done. But naturally, when Liang Chen and the others walked by, everything quieted down, be it out of respect for them or out of fear that they would be his next targets.


    They moved into the streets, which were slightly narrower than usual for a city of this size. Normally it wouldn¡¯t be strange for three or four carriages to fit side by side on the streets, but here you could only fit a single one. Then again, he barely saw any carriages as they walked so that might be why, people simply seemed to walk everywhere.


    "Ah! I¡¯m territ¡­ terribly sorry! You¡¯ve spent several hours in your room already but I haven¡¯t even offered you any food yet! Pleaaa¡­ Please, we just walked by the best restaurant in the district, allow us to treat you to some hospitality!"


    She stumbled over her words again, she really was a painfully poor actress. Then again, that may have been exactly why she was chosen, a bit of consideration to both Liang Chen and herself.


    "That sounds wonderful! Please, lead the way, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have their best table prepared, right?"


    Yan Ling was quick to play along. She didn¡¯t have Liang Chen¡¯s eyes, but how could she not catch on to something when the girl was this poor of an actress?


    "¡­Ah¡­ Ah, of course!"


    As expected, she faltered when Yan Ling subtly revealed their plan, quickly doing her best to catch herself as she hurriedly brought them to the restaurant. To no one¡¯s surprise, the ¡®best restaurant in the district¡¯ was completely empty when they arrived. A waitress greeted them in the door and quickly brought them all to the VIP room, hurriedly vacating the premises afterwards.


    "So, what¡¯s the point of this farce?"


    Liang Chen¡¯s question wasn¡¯t directed at the guide, who quivered quietly once the door was closed behind them. No, his question was directed towards the young girl sitting at the table, which didn¡¯t even hold a jug of water for the esteemed guests. Silver hair that hung down to just past her ears and dark grey eyes that bordered on black. Xiao Ping was looking straight at him while resting her chin on her clasped hands, the biological siblings observing each other.

 Chapter 385: The Grey-clad. (6)

    The air within the VIP-lounge was heavy with tension, at least for the poor guide that was standing by the door. Liang Chen and Xiao Ping simply looked at each other in silence, golden pupils meeting dark grey as they observed each other. This may only be their third meeting, but they were still technically siblings so one would expect a meeting like this to be filled with at least a glimmer of joy. But there were hardly any emotions within the gazes they used to look at each other. On the contrary, Xiao Ping¡¯s gaze bore something that was far closer to hostility than familial love.


    ¡°I would love to get an answer to that very same question, but so far I have yet to receive anything. Take a seat.¡±


    Xiao Ping ended up retracting her gaze first, gesturing towards the two seats that had been prepared for the couple. A farce he called it, well she quite agreed with that description, this was all just a terrible farce that she couldn¡¯t bear to watch.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze strayed to the seats for a moment before Yan Ling tugged on his arm, pulling him along as she sat down. As if planned in advance, Sheng Lian and Lan Yun hopped into place behind them, Sheng Lian holding the infant Ao Fentian while Yumao was curled up on Lan Yun¡¯s head. Among the group of four, only Sheng Lian looked anywhere close to solemn. Lan Yun was filled with nothing but childish curiosity while Yumao was simply looking forward to a show.


    Once the couple had taken a seat, Xiao Ping¡¯s gaze returned to Liang Chen. Her pupils meandered about quietly while here eyes narrowed slightly, observing him like a snake that was about to strike. Was she choosing her words? Deciding what type of persona to put on? Whatever the case was, she ended up deciding to skip any sorts of formalities and jump straight to the reason she had been waiting here.


    ¡°The others seem intent, almost desperately so, to inter you as a Crown Prince. Hah, granting a title to someone who so casually killed one of our already dwindling elders, and who even did it in front of all the citizens? Hells, Shuya is even willing to let you kill more of our elders, he specifically sent out Elder Shouru Mang so that you would kill him, considering it a peace offering. Do you not think something like that is mad? I don¡¯t believe that you are necessary for the Sebettu, Liang Chen. No matter what everyone else here is trying to convince you of, we don¡¯t need you.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t understand them. The elders, the citizens, her brother. Why were they all so desperate to bring Liang Chen into their fold, why were they all willing to just turn the other way in favor of linking him with them? She could have understood if it was their parents, he was the firstborn son that they had lost so long ago so it only made sense that they would want to bring him close so that they could finally get to know him.


    But even they weren¡¯t trying to have him join their race. They had met, he had said his piece about not being able to consider them his family, and they had accepted it. He had drawn a clear line, and they respected it because they recognized that he had grown up and become his own person. Just being friendly and seeing him from time to time would be enough.


    So why couldn¡¯t the others just do the same? Why were they so desperate to prostrate themselves just to have him take a second look at them? The race she was proud of had not fallen so far that they would need to do something like that, nor would she ever allow them to fall that far now that she had reunited with them.


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t even need to think about a response to her strong statement, his stance regarding the Sebettu had never changed since the time he found out that he belonged to them. Yan Ling opened her mouth for a moment to speak up, to somewhat ease out the tension, but Liang Chen was a step faster than her.


    ¡°What a pointless statement. I¡¯ve already made it very clear that I have no desire to become a part of the Sebettu, you were even there when I made that declaration.¡±


    Liang Chen may have been born by the Sebettu, but he wasn¡¯t raised by them. Hell, he didn¡¯t even know about them until he was already forced to grow up and pave his own path. His true family had already been set in stone at that time so he couldn¡¯t feel any sort of bond with this origin of his.


    Thus, when it came to his relationship with the Sebettu, he and Xiao Ping were actually in agreement, meaning that things should progress smoothly.


    ¡°Exactly. We don¡¯t need you, and you don¡¯t want us. Very simple, makes everything easy. I won¡¯t ask you to pay reparations for the elder you killed, but I want you to leave. Stop feeding the inane schemes of those who can¡¯t see the truth.¡±


    The elders who viewed him as their only hope, the brother that kept insisting that they needed him, there was no need to feed their mad schemes and idiotic dreams. All he had to do was leave and they could all keep going about their own lives. But what a shame it was that it wasn¡¯t that easy.


    ¡°I plan on, but not yet. I told Ren Shuya that I would come and at least allow Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu to see my future wife. I am a man of my word, so I will not leave until I have done so.¡±


    Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu, he couldn¡¯t even call them his birth parents or something similar, referring to them by name instead. He¡¯d given his word that they would be allowed to meet Yan Ling, and he intended to honor that promise. Following through on his promises was something that could be considered one of his few good qualities. But naturally, in this situation, it created some issues.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Xiao Ping was silent for a moment, her gaze narrowing further after Liang Chen refused. Well, his refusal was part of the reason her eyes grew sharper. She knew their¡­ her parents well. They had accepted and respected his decision, but having their firstborn son speak of them that distantly would hurt them nonetheless. But after a moment, she decided to put that thought aside and focus on what they were actually here for.


    ¡°Then I want your word that you won¡¯t kill any more of our citizens. Our numbers have already dwindled too much, I will not allow more of my people to die.¡±


    The Sebettu once ruled several universes, they even ruled a Major one when they were at their peak. But after they lost the great war, and all the wars after, their territory and numbers had done nothing but dwindle. They were now reduced to this one minor universe, with plenty of enemies still out there just waiting for a chance to tear into them. She could not allow her people to keep losing. But Liang Chen¡­


    ¡°I will make no such promise.¡±


    He could make a lot of promises, he could give his word on any number of topics. But this one, this was a request he could not comply with. He simply couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    Naturally, Xiao Ping¡¯s gaze only sharpened further after Liang Chen refused her peace offering. It was such a simple request, such a simple thing to do, just don¡¯t kill more people. But in the end, Liang Chen was a frighteningly simple person.


    ¡°Because if they deserve to die, then I will kill them.¡±


    That was all there was to it, the stupidly simple reason that he couldn¡¯t give his word. If they deserved to die, then he would kill them. It didn¡¯t matter who they were, it didn¡¯t matter where they were, he would simply kill them. Naturally, such an answer was hardly pleasing for Xiao Ping to hear.


    ¡°And what makes you think you have the right to simply judge and kill them as you please?¡±


    Her eyes were sharp as she spoke, the finger that was resting on the table pushing down on it as her Qi leaked out. The air groaned quietly as the tension grew, the poor guide by the door faltering as she struggled to stand. But to Liang Chen it was nothing, his gaze clear and confident as he uttered the simple truth.


    ¡°Strength.¡±


    Liang Chen was strong. He was stronger than those he killed so he could judge them as wrong and kill them. As for those that were stronger than him, he had already judged them, it was just that he had to wait with killing them. And he would keep using his strength like that.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Once again, there was a slight pause in Xiao Ping. Her sharp gaze pierced into Liang Chen, seemingly trying to dig out his everything. The air only grew heavier and heavier, Sheng Lian making sure that Ao Fentian wasn¡¯t affected by the suffocating pressure. In the end, Xiao Ping flipped her hand, a dark red jade cube slipping out from her interspatial ring and landing beneath her palm.


    ¡°This here isn¡¯t your average communication jade. If I put in the smallest amount of Qi to activate it, I can use it to mark you as a mortal enemy of the Sebettu, it will be an order given by their second highest authority. Every last person will know you as a heinous sinner that must be killed at all costs, there will be no end to the attackers that will swarm you before you even leave this building. I admit, you may be able to escape for a bit before I manage to kill you, but with so many attackers bogging you down it won¡¯t be long before you reach the end of your rope. Is that what it¡¯ll take?¡±


    Xiao Ping was still a Crown Princess of the Sebettu, the only people with higher authority were her parents. But they ¡®weren¡¯t here¡¯ at the moment so she was the highest authority, whatever she said went. And if she designated someone as their mortal enemy then the guards and soldiers would naturally move on her orders before listening to anything else. It would take less than three breaths for this place to become hell as Liang Chen was besieged on all sides. But still he sat there, looking straight at Xiao Ping with a calm and confident gaze.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to activate that.¡±


    There was no doubt in his voice, no hesitation. He barely even spared the jade cube a glance. That thing would never be activated, she would never try to use that thing against him. Internally, Xiao Ping paused for a moment, but she still managed to put on a timely and confident smile. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°And what makes you so certain of that?¡±


    Her fingers played with the cube, tracing its edges as Qi danced at her fingertips. The slightest movement, it wouldn¡¯t even take half a second and all the gears would click into place. But Liang Chen¡¯s golden eyes¡­ They felt like they were digging into her soul, dredging up the very threads that formed the person known as Ren Xia Ping.


    ¡°Because I can see it, Xiao Ping. You¡¯re angry. You¡¯re furious at me. But your fear is deeper than your fury.¡±


    If there was one thing Liang Chen knew in this world then it was fury, unbound wrath that knew no end. He was weary, tired and worn from the life he had chosen. But he still burned with the same fire that swallowed his soul when he was just a child, and he¡¯d keep burning until the end of time, until he was the only monster left.


    That¡¯s why he could tell. The fury Xiao Ping felt ran deep, deeper than many things she¡¯d felt before. But there was something that ran deeper still, and he knew very well where it came from.


    ¡°From here to the closest spatial array, how many kilometers are there? How many buildings, how many homes? You may think yourself confident that you¡¯ll be able to stop me, but how many citizens do you think will die in that time?¡±


    Xiao Ping was confident in stopping him, but not confident enough to stop him instantly, especially not with Yan Ling at his side. Once they slipped out of this building, how many people would die before they were actually stopped? Liang Chen gave her that answer, or at least the lack of an answer that she had reached.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know for sure, do you? But you know that it won¡¯t be in the tens, it won¡¯t be in the hundreds, it won¡¯t even end in just a few thousand. If I really tried to, how many people in this city do you think will be left alive when the dust settles?¡±


    She didn¡¯t know his full strength, was there anyone alive who knew how strong Liang Chen was currently? Probably not. And this lack of information was the only dent in her confidence. But still, while she lacked concrete information on his current strength, only having his cultivation to go on, there was something Xiao Ping knew about him.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do that. You see, I¡¯ve already heard a bit about you, hard not to when so many people are trying to paint you as our savior. From what I¡¯ve heard, you never kill those you consider innocent, you even hold back your strength if you can so that no innocents will get hurt.¡±


    Liang Chen was someone who didn¡¯t shy away from massacring, he had more than just a few tens of thousands under his belt at this point in just confirmed kills. But he always drew a clear line when he murdered, those left behind after he passed through city, those he spoke to, they always agreed on the same thing, that moral of his.


    But once again, Liang Chen didn¡¯t falter, his calm look betraying none of his thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. But Xiao Ping, I currently have my family with me. A wife and four children, the only family I have left. Tell me, what do you think wins when they clash, my family or my morals?¡±


    Yan Ling, Ao Fentian, Lan Yun, Yumao, Sheng Lian. His wife to be and the four people he had picked up and come to consider as his own children. His family. Would Liang Chen kill innocents if his family was threatened? It was hard to tell, he had never been in such a situation before. But if he had to give an answer off the top of his head then he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was yes. He was already a hypocrite, murdering others for doing similar things to what he did, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was even more of a hypocrite than it first appeared.


    Faced with such a clear gaze and simple statement, Xiao Ping naturally paused for a moment, the two looking at each other in silence for a few breaths before she clenched the cube somewhat indignantly.


    ¡°¡­Why must you be so insistent on this? Have we not suffered enough to at least deserve a moment of rest in our own house?¡±


    The Sebettu had already been reduced to such a pitiful state, forced to rely on the Nine Star Demon God just to hide them in their own universe. Their pride, their homes, their people, it had all been trampled into the ground and spat on time and time again, they had been denied all semblance of peace. Did they not deserve to at least be safe in their own homes?


    Liang Chen looked at Xiao Ping, angrily clenching the cube that she could not bring herself to activate. For a moment his head couldn¡¯t help but tilt, was she really asking him something like that?


    ¡°Elder Shouru Mang, to get revenge for his son, laid waste to a city housing over a million people, just because the perpetrator and their family lived there. Every last person died in the attack, crushed within their own homes. Three thousand years ago, he brought about the ruin of a somewhat prosperous clan, over six thousand people were sold into slavery that day, while a further three thousand were reduced to alchemical ingredients. Living people, used as nothing more than herbs. Living people, reduced to cattle. If we go back another eight thousand years, back to when the Sebettu lost control of the planet that was then called Soundscape, we¡¯ll see that he, while fleeing and raging, incinerated a village that just so happened to be in his path. He could have turned and flown around it, but he did not because he was too angry to care. As a result, 792 people were reduced to ash.¡±


    The first thing Liang Chen did after he came to the Sebettu was to kill one of the elders they had sent to greet him. He used the fires of Purgatory to reduce him to less than ash, he made sure that his death was painful as he burned for his every sin. And it really was every one of them. Liang Chen had seen them all as he unraveled the elder¡¯s soul, dug through his entire life to judge him.


    ¡°Did any of those people get a moment of rest while in their own homes? Did anyone speak up for the ones who died those days? No, no one did. Of course not, the one who did it was an elder of the Sebettu, the ruling race within those areas.¡±


    Even in their decline, the Sebettu were not a race that could be disregarded. The people living within territories occupied by them certainly couldn¡¯t do so, they had to bend their heads and knees, ignoring what they did just so that they could live. So the dead died quietly, not even a whisper on the wind. But no more.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m speaking up for them, Xiao Ping. And as long as I¡¯m alive, I¡¯ll keep massacring all who decide to engage in such acts. I¡¯ll kill and kill until I¡¯m the only one left standing.¡±


    Liang Chen was the crack of thunder, the roaring wind. The people should have cried for the dead, but they couldn¡¯t. The heavens should have raged for the dead, but they didn¡¯t. So he did. So he would.


    ¡°People like that should never have been allowed to live to begin with, that¡¯s why I must be so insistent on this.¡±


    There was no heavens, there was no heavenly punishment, there was no justice. But now there was him. He would be the heavens, he would be the punishment that never came, he would be that cruel justice. And one distant day, he would be the last who deserved to suffer justice.


    Xiao Ping drew in a long breath. Liang Chen spoke arrogantly, but the confidence, the cold calmness reflected in those golden pupils made it hard to rebuke him. He looked like someone who truly believed that they could achieve what they set out to do. And yet, she couldn¡¯t allow that very thing.


    ¡°And yet, I must make you stop, at least while you¡¯re here. Puts us a bit at odds, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    She naturally knew that the Sebettu weren¡¯t spotless. There were people like that elder, there were people who had been twisted by years of grief and war. But she could not let him kill them. They were her citizens, they were her people, and she was sworn to protect them and their happiness. She would make sure that they got to live long enough to put their grief and pain behind them.


    Thus, it was inevitable that the two stood on opposing sides. The silence grew deeper again as they looked at each other, the air growing heavy as they did nothing but observe. They were like beasts just waiting for the chance to strike. But that chance never came.


    ¡°Alright, alright, that¡¯s enough now. Deep breaths, both of you. Come on, one after the other, deep and good breaths.¡±


    Yan Ling cut through the tension, ignoring it as if she couldn¡¯t even feel it as she gestured for them to breathe deeply. Her long cyan braid swayed slightly as she did so, sapphire blue eyes moving between the two people just waiting to make a move.


    ¡°Clearly, it¡¯s not going to be easy for the two of you to come to an understanding. Xiao Ping, as a leader, you naturally want what¡¯s best for your race. Little Freak, you want to do what you feel is right, which occasionally means going against what Xiao Ping wants.¡±


    Yan Ling had to do her best to broker at least a measure of peace between them. She was the reason Liang Chen had agreed to coming here to begin with. He saw no reason to reunite with this lost family of his, but Yan Ling knew how painful it was to lose family, and she knew how much Liang Chen had suffered thanks to how he chose to live his life. She wanted him to have a bit more family he could lean on, she wanted him to have what they both had already lost once. Thus, she kept talking.


    ¡°But rather than tear at each others throats here, in the middle of the city, leading to gods know what, how about we do it a little differently?¡±


    She made a clear statement on their current position, she knew that neither of them wanted to fight here. Xiao Ping didn¡¯t want the citizens to get drawn into the fight, and Liang Chen didn¡¯t want innocents to die while they fought. Thus, this location was horrible for both of them.


    ¡°Xiao Ping, the Sebettu have a tradition known as Rahu¡¯s Judgment, no? How about we have the two of you engage in one such duel, wherein the loser has to abide by the winner¡¯s condition?¡±


    Rahu¡¯s judgment, it was a fancy name the Sebettu gave to what was essentially a duel. But, as it had been named after the progenitor of their race, it naturally wasn¡¯t a normal duel. It was generally only reserved for the high-ranking members of the race, for when they disagreed on a matter. And as it involved the higher ranking members, the first rule of the duel was naturally that neither party could kill the other. They got a total of five moves, and if no winner had been decided in that time-frame, then a panel of judges would decide who the winner was. It was extremely simple, exactly what most people needed when arguing on an issue.


    Naturally, in this situation it was evident what both parties would ask of the other so Yan Ling kept talking before either sides could even open their mouths.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even say it, Little Freak, I know. Neither of you can really agree to the condition of the other. So, how about we do it like this? Xiao Ping, if you win, I¡¯ll make sure that Little Freak and I don¡¯t leave our room while we stay here waiting for the meeting. He won¡¯t get to see anyone so there¡¯ll be no one that he can kill. And if Little Freak wins then you¡¯ll have to immediately call back his parents so that they can have the meeting, with us naturally leaving right after. Should be slightly more peaceful, no?¡±


    The terms weren¡¯t strictly unfavorable for either party. Even if Liang Chen lost, she only promised that he wouldn¡¯t do anything while they waited for the meeting. After that, he would be free to do as he pleased, something he would certainly do. Well, not like her Little Freak would lose to an upstart like this.


    As for Xiao Ping, all she would have to do if she lost was bring over Liang Chen¡¯s parents and speed up the meeting immensely, definitely something she wanted since Liang Chen was only here for it. Naturally, she could probably get his parents to come here right now, it was the logical thing to do to end this peacefully.


    But it was just like her Little Freak said, she was angry. He had killed one of their elders in front of the citizens, she was furious with him. Thus, she naturally wanted to tear into him, she wanted him to feel the same pain as the elder. She knew that she couldn¡¯t kill him if she agreed to the duel, but she was still exceedingly confident in her victory so she didn¡¯t mind killing two birds with one stone.


    ¡°¡­I can accept those terms. But I will not allow the citizens to be present within the confines of the arena, the judges will also be hand-picked by me.¡±


    Still, no matter how confident she was in her victory, she would not let the citizens enter the arena and risk their lives. She would also have to pick the judges herself, lest her brother send another one or two of the elders that Liang Chen would want to kill once he saw them. Naturally, having one of the contestants pick the judges was highly irregular so she expected Liang Chen to raise a complaint, but he simply cast a glance at Yan Ling before nodding his head.


    ¡°Very well. When?¡±


    He didn¡¯t mind the scenario. It would be best to avoid a fight in a place like this, especially since he was out with his family. And despite her fiery personality and demeanor, he had seen nothing in Xiao Ping¡¯s soul that condemned her to death so if he could get through this without killing her then that would be optimal.


    With him agreeing so easily, it naturally became much simpler for Xiao Ping, who stood up from her seat. She wanted to get it done fast to cut down on the time Liang Chen could have to kill someone.


    ¡°Right now, and you must follow me to the arena. I don¡¯t want you wandering around massacring just because you got a bit of freedom.¡±

 Update on stories

    Well, its certainly been a while hasnt it? Gods, it feels like years since I last touched my writing program properly, feels like ive been dead and just havent noticed it.


    But, no ones here to hear me moan and whine, we''re here to learn what''s been going on, and what I''m going to do from here on out, so let''s not waste time.


    Quite frankly, a fair bit has been going on, both personal and professional, it''s all really boring even to me who was involved. In essence, I''ve decided to leave a job I started about a year and a half ago, which you might realise was shortly before I stopped writing.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    I''ve given myself time to let it sink in and get over that chapter of my life, and that inevitably brought me here, to my writings, and to you.


    Luckily, I get to not be the bearer of bad news. I do not promise to go back to my schedule from when I first started writing, but my mind is fresh, my will is reignited, and my fingers are itching, so I will return and start releasing chapters again.


    I will be starting with Monarch, putting out the next chapter on Monday the 27th of May.


    Thank you for your patience, and I hope you will keep bring patient with me forward as I get back into the swing of life

 Chapter 386: The grey-clad. (7)

    There was no time to waste once both parties had come to an agreement so they set out immediately. Ren Xiao Ping naturally took the lead, quickly contacting some people through different jade slips. Liang Chen and his entourage followed behind her, momentarily gazing upon her silver hair from behind. He couldn¡¯t tell who she was contacting or what she was telling them, but he could feel her nerves in her subtle movements. She was definitely confident, assured of her own victory even. Yet her nerves would not leave her, that creeping anxiety that slid up her spine.


    Liang Chen moved his gaze slightly, golden pupils sweeping the city around them. He could see them, the citizens that were moving about. People clad in armor, probably soldiers, were also moving around, guiding the citizens away. It wasn¡¯t to the point of evacuating the city, but Xiao Ping was definitely working on getting the citizens as far as possible away from them, she was probably worried that the aftershocks of the duel would reach them, or that someone would accidentally stray too close.


    Well, she could also be worried that he would go back on his words after losing and start attacking as he pleased. She was the Crown Princess of the Sebettu, these were her people, citizens that relied on her. She had no choice but to think about every possible outcome, and had no choice but to always believe that one of the three worst ones would come to pass, only like that would she be able to keep them safe.


    ¡°Everything has been prepared, it¡¯s not far now.¡±


    Xiao Ping gave a short comment not too long after they left the restaurant, she seemed to have finished contacting all those who had to be notified. A rather spectacular building unfolded a bit in front of them, it was similar to the coliseums he had occasionally seen back on his home planet, complete with large stands for people to watch the duels. If he had to point out a difference then it would be the totems he could see scattered about around the lone large stage. Large grey pillars carved with reliefs of Rahu, the great serpent that they hailed from. Some of the totems were topped with statues or images of other beasts or people, but Liang Chen didn¡¯t know whether or not they represented enemies Rahu had vanquished or allies he had made while still alive.


    ¡°¡¯The Great Arena¡¯.¡±


    Xiao Ping stood in the air, gazing down upon the stadium as she spoke. There was a slight downtrodden tone to her voice, an almost mocking nuance as the corners of her lips twisted somewhat.


    ¡°I¡¯m different from you, Liang Chen.¡±


    She opened her mouth again, her gaze not on Liang Chen but on the arena beneath them as well as the area around it. She seemed a bit melancholic, that was probably why she was suddenly this chatty. Or perhaps she just wanted to talk about it with someone, Liang Chen was the only one in a similar situation to her so he might be the only one who could listen to her, the only one who might be able to somewhat understand her.


    ¡°You were sent through time almost directly after your birth, too young to even form any memories. I was young when I was sent away to protect me, but not so young that I can¡¯t remember anything. I had seen glimpses of it, flashes of the brilliance that used to be the Sebettu.¡±


    Liang Chen was but an infant, but Xiao Ping had been almost 11 when she was sent through time by her parents. She had lived with them, she had ran with them, she had been loved by both them and the Sebettu around them.


    ¡°Back then, our Great Arena was different. We had multiple of them, scattered across different planets, each one with varying sizes based on the importance of those who fought on them. The smallest one, for lower-ranked administrators and entertainment matches, was a little bit bigger than this one, at least 50 or so kilometers across. And that was only the smallest one. Some covered half a planet, while others still covered entire planets so that the elders could fight properly. It was grand, Liang Chen, it was brilliant.¡±


    Her dark grey eyes shimmered as her head moved, taking in a sight that was no longer there. This would be the first duel she ever took part in, the first Rahu¡¯s judgment she would take part in. But she had seen it before in the past, when she was just a child and the various administrators were arguing about how to handle the ongoing wars.


    ¡°And then, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. I opened my eyes to a changed world, a world that didn¡¯t welcome me. The people I knew as a child, dead. The homes I knew, reduced to rubble or taken over by others. The glory I knew, renounced as sin. The blink of an eye, Liang Chen. Only then did I realize how much something can change in such a short amount of time, and yet how little something can change as well.¡±


    From the highest peak to the lowest low, Xiao Ping had made that plunge in an instant as she was sent through time. The wars were over, they had lost every last one of them and been reduced to ¡®monsters¡¯. Whatever the truth was didn¡¯t matter, all that mattered was that they had lost the war. When she opened her eyes, the war had ended long ago, it had been over for so long that it felt ridiculous to think about. But the brutality remained the same, the hatred remained the same. The war was over and everything had changed, yet nothing had changed at the same time.


    ¡°This is the home we managed to protect despite the hatred of the world, this is the safe haven we just barely manged to maintain by bowing our heads. I will not let you turn it upside down and send my people fleeing again.¡±


    She got to the crux of her intentions, locking eyes with Liang Chen for a moment before she started her descent towards the arena. Yan Ling, standing next to Liang Chen, allowed her gaze to follow Xiao Ping as she leaned closer to Liang Chen.


    ¡°She¡¯s quite brash, but she has a very strong sense of responsibility. Kind of similar to you, don¡¯t you think so, Little Freak?¡±


    Her sapphire blue eyes narrowed slightly as the corners of her lips curled up with an almost amused purr. A few strands of her cyan hair had slipped out from her braid and were hanging in front of her face, but she wasn¡¯t in a rush to fix them as she smirked at Liang Chen.


    There was no one she knew who was more brash than Liang Chen, no one who could be more reckless. And at the same time, she knew no one who had a stronger sense of responsibility than him. The fire that consumed him as a child, he still allowed it to burn him despite how weary he had become over the years.


    ¡°So, lets get down and knock her around a bit so that you can have a talk with your parents. But she¡¯s still your sister, so at least try to go a smidge easy on her, okay?¡±


    Yan Ling did not doubt Liang Chen for even a moment. If they just looked at his cultivation then he would be just about barely within the Transcended Immortal realm, a fair bit below herself who had reached the Sovereign God realm thanks to the help of the Nine Star Demon God. And sure, based on what she knew, Xiao Ping had already killed three Sovereign Gods so she was clearly very powerful.


    And yet, she could not find an ounce of doubt within her, there wasn¡¯t a single cell of her body that believed for even a second that Liang Chen could lose. He was different from them, he was different from the rest of the world, he was someone who you could not use any semblance of logic or sense to understand. Truly, he was a freak, her Little Freak.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    Liang Chen spoke simply and calmly, this trip to the Sebettu had been exhausting. Those wanting to drag him into the Sebettu, those wanting to chase him away, those wanting to have him open his arms to long lost family he felt nothing for. It was all just so¡­ Tiresome.


    The group descended after Xiao Ping and landed within the arena, passing through something that felt like a thin screen of water when they passed by the totems. Probably a defensive curtain meant to keep the audience safe, it would explain a few things.


    But just as Xiao Ping had said, there were no spectators here this time. The stands were completely empty, their only audience would be the judges and the quiet whispering of the wind that blew through the arena.


    Five people stood at the side of the arena, some old and some young. Well, at least they looked young, but Liang Chen could tell at a glance that they weren¡¯t actually young.


    As for the five people, elders of varying ranks, they couldn¡¯t help but flinch when Liang Chen¡¯s eyes reached them. They could feel his gaze in their souls, it felt as if they had turned into quilt, his eyes slowly but surely undoing them thread by thread to see what they were made from.


    ¡°Good.¡±


    It was a simple word, but when it fell from Liang Chen¡¯s lips the five elders felt as if a weight had been lifted from their chests, allowing them to breathe again. Xiao Ping had been smart and not brought over any elders that had committed any great sins, these were all people he could allow to live. Xiao Ping also let out a stealthy breath thanks to Liang Chen¡¯s comment, but her eyes were more focused on the uninvited person standing on the arena.


    ¡°You have great ears.¡±


    Short dark silver hair and grey eyes that bordered on black, Ren Shuya had also arrived at the arena along with the five elders. With him here, the three siblings had all gathered. Thinking about it, this might just be the first time all three of them were in the same place and facing each other. Normally, it would probably be a rather joyous occasion. But the heavy air made it hard for anyone to think of it as anything but tense.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°That¡¯s how the Sebettu survived the decline, Xiao, we sharpened the senses we had previously neglected. You know that this is a foolish endeavor, don¡¯t you? No one will be satisfied with this outcome.¡±


    Xiao Ping had seen the Sebettu at their peak and then at their bottom, but Ren Shuya had seen them go from that peak to the bottom, he had been with them every step of the way. He had personally seen their suffering, and he had seen how they had survived. Information had been the first step. No matter where it was or what they did, it had always been information that was the most important. Spies here, spies there, informants spread out as far as possible. The more they knew, the easier it would be for them to escape and survive. He still lived by those ideals.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play with words, Shuya. You won¡¯t be satisfied with this outcome, don¡¯t turn an ¡®I¡¯ into an ¡®Us¡¯.¡±


    Xiao Ping and Ren Shuya were evidently in somewhat opposite camps when it came to Liang Chen, arguing rather openly as they stood there.


    ¡°Mother and Father will also be sad to see you fighting like this. Do you really think they want to see their children come to blows?¡±


    Ren Shuya¡¯s gaze momentarily slid towards Liang Chen, as well as Yan Ling who stood next to him. Was he perhaps hoping that Yan Ling was going to help him call a stop to this? Whatever it was he hoped for, neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling answered, leaving it to Xiao Ping.


    ¡°Father and Mother have both fought against their own siblings in the past when it came to their ideals, do you think they stopped because of something their parents said? Do you think so little of our ideals?¡±


    You did not become an Apex species without some friction, and once you spread across multiple universes it was inevitable that this friction would grow. It was before the war, before the downfall, but their parents had both brought some of their own family to the arena just like this to settle their differences. Ren Shuya clearly had a rebuttal, but Xiao Ping did not allow him to voice it, cutting him off before he even got to open his mouth.


    ¡°This will not stop, Ren Shuya. We have agreed to the duel for the sake of bringing a peaceful end to this. Stand down unless you mean that it is fine for our citizens to die.¡±


    With Xiao Ping dragging in the citizens, there was no room left for Ren Shuya to say anything. He was naturally fine with Liang Chen killing a few more of their elders, it was why he had sent out the first one to serve as a peace offering. But that didn¡¯t mean that he could say it openly in front of others, no one would follow him if he did that.


    With Ren Shuya left with no recourse but silence, Xiao Ping turned her gaze towards one of the judges, who quickly cleared their throat.


    ¡°Ahem, yes, then please allow this one to go over the rules once more for both parties.¡±


    The judge swiped her interspatial ring as she started to talk, bringing out a scroll that Liang Chen recognized as a Soul Oath. Should someone who signed it break the pact then they would find  their soul destroyed by the heavens. Naturally, there were actually a few ways to get around an oath like this, but it was generally considered safe.


    ¡°Once Rahu¡¯s Judgment has started, both parties will be expressively forbidden from killing the other participants, this is merely meant to serve as a duel where two parties can work out their differences, it is not a killing ground. Both parties will have a total of five moves each, if neither party can defeat or establish a clear superiority after said five moves are over then it falls to the judges to declare a winner. Should both parties agree to these rules then they will have to swear an oath that they will abide by the pre-established demands of the opposing party.¡±


    The scroll was unfurled and its contents revealed to Liang Chen and Xiao Ping, who both took a moment to read over its contents, just to be sure.


    ¡°Do you both agree?¡±


    There was nothing wrong with the contents of the oath, it was exactly as they had discussed in the restaurant. If Xiao Ping won then Yan Ling and Liang Chen would stay in their room until his biological parents back for the meeting. But if he won, then Xiao Ping would end this farce and immediately call back his biological parents so that they could start the meeting straight away.


    ¡°I agree.¡±


    Liang Chen naturally agreed and signed the contract, a sliver of energy leaving the paper as he put his signature on it. But once it entered his body and tried to merge into his soul, it simply vanished. No, perhaps saying it was erased was more apt, reduced to nothing. Liang Chen¡¯s soul was special, his very existence had become special. A contract like this was no longer capable of even affecting him.


    Xiao Ping also signed the contract, the elder rolling it up once she confirmed that both portions of energy had left the scroll.


    ¡°Then with this, I declare that Rahu¡¯s Judgment has been sanctioned and wish both the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince luck.¡±


    The elders stepped back once the start was declared, moving beyond the boundary of the totems. Liang Chen gave Yan Ling and the others a glance, and they left the stage under Yan Ling¡¯s guidance. Sheng Liang was carrying the infant Ao Fentian while Yan Ling held onto little Lan Yun¡¯s hand, Yumao curled up on the small child¡¯s head. There wasn¡¯t a trace of worry on any of their faces as they left the boundary of the totems.


    ¡°And thus, it was just us.¡±


    Xiao Ping spoke again as the two slowly made their way over to their positions. There was a few hundred meters between them when they were done, but to people like them a distance like this was hardly anything, they could still hear each other even if they whispered.


    Xiao Ping opened her hand, a gleaming black light flashing in her palm as a long halberd formed in her grasp. Liang Chen could feel it from here, this was a weapon formed through a Bloodwind Code. He himself had used one such weapon in the past so he knew just how sturdy and sharp they were. And since Xiao Ping was pretty talented she had probably received a rank on the Bloodwind Multiverse List, meaning that she had opened at least one of the weapon¡¯s special abilities.


    ¡°Your spear, take it out.¡±


    She brandished the weapon as she bent her knees slightly, taking on her stance. She could technically attack right now, the duel only stipulated that you were allowed five attacks, not when you had to make them. But she did not want to just launch attacks straight away before Liang Chen was even ready. But when it came to his weapon¡­


    ¡°It broke. You¡¯ll have to settle for this.¡±


    Liang Chen grasped at the air as he spoke, the air hardening before it formed a spear in his grasp, blood-red lightning crackling within it. Well, just saying that the air hardened wasn¡¯t quite right, time itself had frozen under Liang Chen¡¯s grasp, forming a weapon that should be unbreakable as long as it didn¡¯t encounter a stronger power.


    Once upon a time, Liang Chen too had a Bloodwind Code that could form a weapon for him, but after his recent metamorphosis it had been erased from existence. So far it hadn¡¯t been a problem, but that was mainly because Liang Chen hadn¡¯t done much fighting since then. Once he started fighting strong people again, especially people on his own level, a weapon like this one wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    ¡°¡­ Very well. Then I will make the first move.¡±


    Xiao Ping did not say much, she certainly wouldn¡¯t spout anything about feeling offended that he didn¡¯t use a proper weapon. She could feel the pure laws in that spear, the strength of the law of time that suffused it. And that blood-red lightning¡­ It filled her with a certain sense of dread.


    ¡°I have inherited the bloodline of my parents, thus I have been privileged enough to be allowed to learn the Dragon King¡¯s Three Steps. Each step will double the power of the attack, stacking multiplicatively as you go up, I¡¯m sure you have memories of the same technique.¡±


    Rather than attack, Xiao Ping chose to talk, explaining things that he already knew to Liang Chen. He indeed knew of that technique, it was one of his trump cards, and he had even improved on it whenever he got the chance, he was aiming for a total of ten steps. But could only he improve on it?


    ¡°Using the knowledge we have gained over the years, and my own unyielding training, I have taken the technique even further. Progress is slow, but undeniable. I have moved past the normal three steps and have thus taken to calling it the Dragon Empress¡¯ Fangs. For these five moves, I will go through them one by one, so each following attack will be many magnitudes stronger than the first. Prepare yourself Liang Chen, and defend properly. I do not wish to kill you.¡±


    She was a good kid. She was indeed brash, but Liang Chen could not bring himself to hate her. She was very angry, but her love for her citizens burned brighter, her fear that anything might happen to them overshadowed her anger. She was very proud, but she hadn¡¯t done anything worthy of death, she just used her pride to serve as an example. She was proud, so she had to be better.


    Brash, fairly annoying and tiresome, but not a bad kid.


    ¡°Here I come.¡±


    She properly announced the start and kicked off of the ground, shooting forward like a blur. Liang Chen could feel her Qi swell as she activated her technique, it was indeed in line with the Dragon King¡¯s First Step. She used her Qi, but not her law, probably unwilling to accidentally harm Liang Chen greatly in case he wasn¡¯t taking things seriously.


    And at a glance, it truly felt as if he wasn¡¯t taking it seriously. He wasn¡¯t brandishing his spear, he wasn¡¯t unleashing any Qi, he was just standing there, looking at her.


    Yes, he was just looking at the blur that she had become.


    When was the last time Liang Chen had fought properly? He fought with his life on the line to acquire Purgatory, pouring out everything he had. But then he had absorbed that ancient authority and digested it for several years, all the while also getting accustomed to his own new existence.


    He hadn¡¯t fought properly since that day he acquired Purgatory. The man he fought at that time, Lao Ye, was at the late stage of the Transcended Immortal rank and deemed an Emperor by the Bloodwind Code, he was someone who could contend with Sovereign Gods, certainly even killing some of the weaker ones. And that very Lao Ye had been killed by Liang Chen, who had only grown stronger since then.


    That was why Liang Chen was just looking at the approaching Xiao Ping. He didn¡¯t know exactly how strong he had become, but he didn¡¯t feel an ounce of anxiety when he faced her, not a shred of fear.


    And he could see her.


    As she shot forward, empowered by her technique, barely a blur to the world, he could see her. As clear as day, as slow as a breeze, he could see her. Liang Chen was fast. He had many strengths in combat, but his speed was easily one of his greatest. And that terrifying strength of his only grew greater and greater. All until it reached this point.


    When her halberd shot forward, the sharp tip at the end trying to impale him, he only had to barely twist his torso to let the weapon pass right by him. His hand reached out at the same time, feeling as slow as when you went for a handshake.


    But it reached Xiao Ping¡¯s face before she could even blink, before she could even think to pull out the Qi within her to block. His palm touched her nose and his fingers curled around her face, clutching it as he put strength into his arm.


    Xiao Ping¡¯s head was pushed back until her feet got ahead of her, practically leaving her horizontal in the air. And then Liang Chen pushed down, slamming her skull into the stone stage and kicking up a cloud of dust.


    It took less than a handful of seconds, appearing almost instantaneous. But Xiao Ping¡¯s attack had been dodged and her head had been slammed into the stone stage, which surprisingly remained intact despite the impact.


    Thus, begun the duel between estranged siblings, both of them left with four moves.

 Chapter 387: The grey-clad (8)

    Liang Chen¡¯s grip was like a vice, the veins on the back of his hand protruding slightly. It felt as if it would only take a smidgen more force to completely crush Xiao Ping¡¯s skull. For a moment, he and Xiao Ping locked eyes between his fingers. There was a trace of shock in her eyes, but it was trumped by the calm expectation that her gaze also held. Evidently, she had not considered Liang Chen to be so weak that he¡¯d falter at the first attack. But perhaps she had not been ready for him to handle it quite so easily.


    But, even if she was caught off-guard, she was no slouch and quickly reacted. A short instant after the back of her head smashed into the stage, practically at the same time as she made eye contact with Liang Chen, she sprung into action. Her Qi moved, space around her head momentarily warping so that Liang Chen found her strangely slip out of his grasp.


    It wasn¡¯t the law of space. Yan Ling used that law so he knew the general feel it gave when you applied it to the surrounding space. Of course, he didn¡¯t know everything about all the laws in the world so he couldn¡¯t entirely rule it out, but for now he came to the conclusion that she had enough strength to let her laws interact with the space around her.


    Xiao Ping placed her hands on the ground and raised herself up while rolling back, doing a quick handstand to retreat back to her starting distance, her Qi surging around her in preparation. But contrary to her expectations, Liang Chen did not chase her.


    He simply stood there, looking at her with those golden eyes that seemed to dredge through her soul. They had an eerie calmness to them, an emotion she wasn¡¯t sure if she should call indifference or weariness. They weren¡¯t sizing her up, they weren¡¯t appraising her, they weren¡¯t judging her. They were simply looking at her. Watching her.


    She too watched him, but there was nothing. It was an odd fact, an unsettling sensation. She couldn¡¯t feel any of his Qi, couldn¡¯t detect a trace of any bloodline, couldn¡¯t smell a single element on him. Only in the moment that he unleashed a bit of power could she get a small glimpse at his cultivation, other than that he was basically completely blank.


    But she was the future leader of the Sebettu, their future return to glory and prosperity rested on her shoulders. Even if it was unsettling, she had no choice but to act.


    Her Qi surged and roiled, seeping out of her body and gathering around her. She had to admit, Liang Chen was fast. She had barely been able to catch his hand moving during that previous attack so it was clear that just relying on her eyes and natural instincts wouldn¡¯t cut it, they were too restricted by her body.


    But her Qi had no such restrictions.


    The air around her started to shimmer faintly, a dark grey color etching itself into the sky, reminiscent of a haze. Her Qi extended outward in the blink of an eye as she set up her Domain, locking up the entire stone stage so that Liang Chen could not escape her notice.


    Her domain was a dark grey color, reminiscent of her eyes. It didn¡¯t manifest any elements or objects, but Liang Chen couldn¡¯t tell whether or not that was by choice or if that was just how it always was.


    But what he could tell was the pressure that came with it. It felt as if he had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, a swirling pressure constantly pushing against him. There was also something beyond the pressure. If he had to describe it then it would be a deep dark abyss, a black hole waiting to swallow him the second he escaped the clutches of the swirling pressure.


    ¡°The First Step is known as the one that shatters the body. Rahu came up with it shortly before he turned 12, but only perfected it when he was 56. He named it so because the way to perfect it came to him during a moment of enlightenment while he fought against a cultivator that was trying to harvest his organs, and the resulting attack shattered said cultivator as if he was glass.¡±


    Xiao Ping¡¯s voice reached him, echoing from every part of the domain as she brandished her halberd, her energy surging. Liang Chen also knew the Dragon King¡¯s Three steps, he acquired it alongside the memories his birth parents had sealed within him. But he didn¡¯t know the history behind them, how Rahu, the Origin Beast that spawned the Sebettu, had come up with them.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t as if he particularly cared much either.


    ¡°The second step is known as the one that splits the waterfall. Rahu came up with the idea for it shortly after he turned 150, but did not perfect it until he was close to 2000 years old. He named it as he perfected it and unleashed it for the first time, when he split the Heaven¡¯s Waterfall Galaxy of the Tortugara Universe in half.¡±


    The end of her sentence served as the signal of Xiao Ping¡¯s second attack. The swirling pressure within the domain intensified and gathered around her halberd, bright blue droplets scattering through the air. Water, it seemed as if the law of water was one of her laws. It could be the source of this pressure, but looking at the sharp swirling current that gathered around her halberd as she brought it down, it was equally possible that she had focused more on a sharper aspect of that particular law.


    As they were currently within her domain, Xiao Ping¡¯s attack was naturally amplified, both in strength and in number. The main attack, amplified four times by the Second Step, came from the front, but several other similar attacks, albeit un-amplified by the technique, also came from around him.


    It looked like a small whirlpool smashing down on him, but he could hear the faint sounds of it cutting through the air. He could also see small scratches and cuts appear on the sturdy arena as the attack came down, so it was clear that if you thought just stepping to the side to dodge was enough then you would end up entirely shredded.


    But well, if just dodging wasn¡¯t enough then you just had to make it so that you didn¡¯t need to dodge at all.


    ¡°Second Step splits the waterfall.¡±


    Liang Chen matched her step, but his attack didn¡¯t unleash any great explosions or bursts of energy. It was quiet and eerie, akin to the dead silence of a city devoid of life. And then it all stopped.


    The cutting sounds, the swirling whirlpools, the halberd that Xiao Ping brought down. It all became as silent as the dead city.


    The Dragon King¡¯s Three Steps was a technique that amplified the strength of your attack, at least that was what it was described as. But it was a lot more flexible than that, as it actually amplified the strength of your next move, it was just a wild surge of Qi after all. It just so happened that when you wanted a trump card, it was generally so that you could quickly eviscerate your enemies.


    Hells, Liang Chen himself generally only used the technique for his attacks. But in this instance, he simply used it for a wild surge of Qi to halt the flow of time. And thus, everything came to a halt as time froze.


    Xiao Ping was strong, and they were inside her domain, so trying to permanently halt her time, or even doing so for a prolonged period of time, would require a lot more than just the Second Step. But who was Liang Chen? With the Second Step, he could freeze Xiao Ping and her attack, even if amplified by her own second step, for at least three seconds. He hadn¡¯t tried halting the time of a Sovereign God yet, but he was 90% confident that he could stop them too if he just put his mind to it.


    And three seconds? That was practically a death sentence against him.


    He took a step forward and disappeared from sight, arriving in front of Xiao Ping. Her Qi was also frozen in this silent world so it couldn¡¯t react as he reached out with his hand. His fingers curled around her face again as time resumed, the back of her head once again slamming into the stage, with more force this time, cracking the sturdy stone.


    ¡°That¡¯s the second move.¡±


    This time, it was Liang Chen¡¯s time to talk. A calm voice, a quiet and subdued voice. There was no joy of suppressing a strong opponent, no exultation at beating down someone in a higher position. It was simply quiet and calm, like an old listing off the things he had written on his grocery list.


    Xiao Ping¡¯s Qi surged again, but this time Liang Chen let go of her face before she got to slip out. He straightened his back and simply walked back to his starting point, which had been completely shredded by the attack that had landed after time resumed.


    ¡°Just go ahead with your third step. Or skip ahead to your fourth or fifth one, let us finish this already.¡±


    Calm. Quiet. Subdued. Once again, Xiao Ping was unsettled. But this time she could at least place a finger on why. He was too empty. Cultivators became strong because of desire, because there were things they wanted to achieve or do. Every time they bested a strong opponent it meant that they were a step closer, they had moved forward slightly. It inevitably became something akin to pride for most of them.


    But Liang Chen had none of that. Besting her attacks like this, beating her down while proving his superiority, it meant nothing to him. It didn¡¯t add to his pride, it didn¡¯t add anything to his path. It was just¡­ Nothing. Hollow drops of water that tried to fill a bottomless vessel.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Xiao Ping was¡­ Curious. Not as a sibling mind you, she held no such emotions. No, she was simply curious as a strong person, as someone who had gone far in their cultivation path. How had he ended up like this, and how did he keep going? She had her reasons for going on no matter how tired she got, so what were his?


    But right now was not the time for those questions.


    ¡°The third step is known as the one that shatters mortality, it is something Rahu came up with when he was somewhere between 10-30 000, he did not remember precisely. But he did not perfect it until he passed his first 100 000 years, and only did so when he ate and merged with his first Major universe. It embodies the peak of his path.¡±


    Xiao Ping did not skip to her advanced versions of the steps and instead continued on with the third step. Was it stubbornness, pride, or perhaps a need to show Liang Chen their history? Whatever the case was, Liang Chen had no idea. He simply watched as she gathered her strength.


    Space around Xiao Ping warped and cracked as her energy surged, small black spots appearing within the cracks, tugging at space around them. Her first attack was just her own strength, her second attack was her law of water, and now it seemed like she was going to use her second law. The deep abyss beyond the pressure, the crushing force that swallowed even the depths of the deep sea.


    ¡°I have had the fortune of once seeing a recording of the Void King engaging in combat, and from it I managed to glean parts of the Law of Destruction, eventually forming my own comprehension. Watch yourself, Liang Chen.¡±


    Xiao Ping was not crowned as the future empress of the Sebettu purely based on her bloodline. She was someone who in her own right could be called a genius, capable of comprehending the law of Destruction while also improving on the technique of an Origin Beast. She was someone people would unanimously agree was worthy of becoming a future empress.


    Her attack was launched as she spoke, the small black spots, miniature black holes that were being properly contained, shooting forward. Liang Chen could hear the domain around him groan as the space around the black holes was twisted and swallowed, disappearing without a sound.


    They didn¡¯t fly in a straight line, several of them arched so that they could catch him if he tried to flee or dodge. And this time, Xiao Ping kept an inordinate amount of Qi within her, she had probably used the Third Step a second time. But this time defensively, keeping the Qi within her so that Liang Chen hopefully couldn¡¯t freeze her time as he previously did.


    As the attack shot towards him, Liang Chen could see Xiao Ping¡¯s eyes move for a moment. He understood why, he could sense them as they had gotten close. Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren, their biological parents. They were supposedly ¡®not available because of important business¡¯, but look how quickly they were able to come over. Well, two of their children were currently fighting so it only made sense that they would stop going along with the scheme of the elders. Still, Liang Chen did not stop.


    ¡°Third Step Shatters mortality.¡±


    Once again, Liang Chen matched her step, but this time the surge of energy that came from him was far more vicious. It started in his feet and rose up, the sturdy stone around his feet melting softly as  thin crimson arcs danced around him. From his feet to his knees, from his knees to his waist, from his waist to his shoulders, and from his shoulders to his hands.


    The make-shift spear he had created was stabbed forward, dyed an eye-piercing red as it crackled with lightning. It was unable to properly contain the Qi so it ruptured, scattering red sparks throughout Xiao Ping¡¯s domain.


    With them came a deafening roar as a single thick bolt of lightning cut through the air. It couldn¡¯t be seen, but trace amounts of the Void were moving across the bolt so even the small black holes couldn¡¯t swallow it. In fact, it was the black holes that were swallowed by the lightning. Destruction was strong, but beyond Destruction was the Void, the great oblivion of nothingness.


    Xiao Ping swiftly reacted, and since it was just a single bolt she was able to quite easily dodge it. But following the tail of the lightning was Liang Chen.


    ¡°No one is allowed to interfere!¡±


    Xiao Ping shouted out as Liang Chen¡¯s hand stretched out, her eyes alight with flames. He had sensed Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren rapidly approaching the stage when Xiao Ping dodged the lightning, clearly intent on halting the duel. But with Xiao Ping¡¯s shout, their steps halted and allowed Liang Chen¡¯s hand to reach her face again.


    His fingers curled and she was once again smashed into the stage.


    ¡°Two attacks left.¡±


    His voice once again unsettled her as he let go of her face and returned to his starting point. He just strode through her domain like it was nothing, he didn¡¯t even bother trying to raise his own to combat hers. It was¡­ painful. Different from the pain she felt from a wound, it was a sharp pain deep inside, a deep and unsettling hopelessness. But still, she got up.


    She glared beyond the stage for a moment, clearly locking eyes with her parents before she spat out some sharp words, alongside a bit of blood.


    ¡°No one. And I mean no one, gets to interfere in a sacred duel.¡±


    Her voice was low and calm, but contained an inviolable tone, a certain dignity that she would not allow ignored. There was no response from beyond the stage so it seemed as if the couple had no choice but to accept the fierce decision of their daughter.


    ¡°The fourth step.¡±


    Xiao Ping¡¯s gaze returned to Liang Chen as she opened her mouth again. Her head had been smashed into the stage three times so her teeth had been stained red by blood, a mess of dust and small pebbles sticking to both her face and hair.


    ¡°Are you not tired of this already?¡±


    Liang Chen asked in a very simple manner, preventing her from speaking further. She had launched three attacks, and he had crushed her three times. Was this not enough for this nonsensical duel, was it not enough to finally end this tiresome affair? Did she not get tired of being pummeled so blatantly? But Xiao Ping simply chuckled for a moment, spitting out a bit more blood as if to emphasize her point.


    ¡°I am the future ruler of the Sebettu, the one who will bring them back to their past glory and prosperity. The future happiness and safety of the entire race rests on my shoulders. I have chosen to bear that burden, Liang Chen. I want to bear it. So it doesn¡¯t matter if I get tired, I will keep moving forward. That¡¯s what it means to make a choice.¡±


    Of course it was tiresome. It was humiliating to get beaten down like this in front of her brother, in front of her parents, in front of her elders. It was humiliating to lose to a guy who didn¡¯t give a damn about their race and just wanted to leave. But even so, she had to keep on going. Because she had made that choice, and she would live with it.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    For a moment, Liang Chen couldn¡¯t help but look at her. It wasn¡¯t the seemingly empty and weary gaze Xiao Ping had almost gotten used to, it was a proper gaze. A gaze shared between two people, man to man.


    ¡°Yeah, we made the choice so we have no choice but to keep going forward. You finally said something I can fully agree with, Xiao Ping.¡±


    Liang Chen nodded, and for some reason that simple action felt like a world of recognition to Xiao Ping. And Liang Chen truly agreed. He was tired, he was weary of this constant fighting he was going through. This constant cycle of moving about and seeing nothing but misery before he killed hundreds if not thousands of more people. It was all just death and misery wherever he went.


    But still, he kept on seeking out that misery. He kept on moving to the next scene of tragedy. Why? Because he had chosen to put an end to it all, because he had chosen that he would not accept it. He had chosen it, so he kept moving, even as others failed to understand it. He just kept moving forward, staining his path with more and more blood and tragedy. Because he had chosen it.


    ¡°There will be no fifth attack.¡±


    Liang Chen made a prediction, no a statement, an inviolable fact. Xiao Ping could see it from his eyes, he wasn¡¯t joking. Finally, he was treating the duel seriously.


    ¡°The fourth step I have come up with is mine and mine alone, the Fourth Step Shatters the Past. The past of the Sebettu¡¯s decline, the years of misery and pursuit, with this step I will start to shatter them all. Watch yourself, Liang Chen, this one will come with the intent to kill.¡±


    Xiao Ping matched Liang Chen¡¯s tone, surging with violent energy that made the space around her disintegrate. Her domain groaned and creaked as a single black hole formed behind her, a bright orange center within as it spun around without a sound. In the end, the domain was unable to contain her energy and crumbled, something Liang Chen had yet to see happen.


    He could feel the strength of the black hole, which was a bit over a meter wide and continuously swallowing the surrounding space. He could feel that even the flow of time around the black hole was being warped, momentarily cracking and falling apart in some places.


    Xiao Ping had not been lying, this was a proper attack, one carrying a proper killing intent. But it was not enough to stop Liang Chen.


    Whoosh.


    Xiao Ping felt it, a bit of wind moving across the stage, just out of the range of the black hole. And then parts of the stage cracked, exploding violently. She couldn¡¯t see all of them, but she could feel them, pillars of wind bursting with energy, each one tied to Liang Chen.


    They were circulating the energy within them, moving it between Liang Chen and the various pillars, a constant flow of energy moving between them. And worst of all, it kept growing.


    It reached the level of the Third Step. Then it reached the level of her Fourth Step. And then it moved beyond even that. She couldn¡¯t tell how high it rose, but it kept rising without end, the aura alone almost enough to suffocate her.


    The Fourth Step, the peak she had reached at the moment, the start of her path to saving the Sebettu. Liang Chen, who came from the same race but had no interest in it, had seen that step, that path. And then he had ruthlessly stepped on it and surpassed it.


    ¡°Sixth Step Crushed Purgatory.¡±


    She heard his voice. He probably didn¡¯t need to say it out loud, did he do it out of respect for her? To show her the difference? Or was it just habit? She didn¡¯t know.


    But then she saw it. A tear in the world clasped in his hand, a tear that drew a line through the air. A line that stretched beyond the range of the stadium, a line that stretched beyond the gargantuan city they were in. A line that stretched across the planet. A dull grey line, a lifeless line. A line that signified the end.


    The line stretched across her too, drawing a mark across her chest. And for only a split second, just as Liang Chen took a step, the line opened. It was like a gate opening, a door to oblivion.


    Through the gate, she could see it. Pale white earth, grey grass, black worms wriggling across the land, light brown trees with bright red leaves. And beyond that, bone-like white sand that stretched out as far as they eye could see, craggy mountains made of porous black stone, and a colorless sky. Beyond that gate, the Void stretched out without end, part of it Liang Chen¡¯s own. In the blink of an eye, existence around that line would cease.


    But just as quickly as it opened, the gate closed, a bit of blood rising in Liang Chen¡¯s throat. He had halted the attack, but how could Xiao Ping and the others around the stage not feel it, know it? For a brief moment there, they all danced on the edge of oblivion. For a brief moment there, they faced the end of all existence.


    And while they were focused on that, Liang Chen¡¯s voice reached them again.


    ¡°Can we finally get through with this chat now?¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s eyes had finally turned onto Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren. Calm. Quiet. Subdued. Simply watching.

 Chapter 388: The Grey-clad. (9)

    Silence suffocated the area, bearing down on those present like a mountain. The scent of oblivion lingered in the air, the cold touch of the Void still brushing against the throat of all who had the misfortune of bearing witness to Liang Chen¡¯s attack. Ren Xiao Ping was the one who bore the worst of it, having gazed directly into the nothingness as the gate manifested on top of her body. All it would have taken to erase her would have been a quiet thought from Liang Chen. A silent and unceremonious end without the slightest bit of fanfare, with nothing left of her to be buried. But he had held it back. He had shown mercy.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s my defeat. I surrender my will to Rahu¡¯s Judgment.¡±


    She didn¡¯t need to say it, not even a fool could look at the current situation and think that this duel was anything but over already. Liang Chen was even already looking at Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren, as if the mere idea that she might launch the fifth and final attack was ludicrous. But she needed to say it. Not for the sake of the duel, not for the sake of Liang Chen, but for herself. To admit it, to accept it. The effort she had put in wasn¡¯t enough. The immense strain and work she had endured to reach her current stage, the work that had reached a level she considered inhumane, wasn¡¯t enough. He had crushed it.


    ¡°Th¡­ Then with this, I declare this bout of Rahu¡¯s Judgment over in favor of Crown Prince Liang Chen!¡±


    One of the elders at the side of the arena swallowed a mouthful of saliva, stumbling over her words for a brief moment before she managed to declare the end of the duel. Truly, a gesture as pointless as Xiao Ping¡¯s declaration of defeat. But such were their traditions, and thus so was their duty.


    ¡°Temporarily occupied with important tasks?¡±


    Liang Chen quite naturally ignored the elder, an eyebrow rising as he somewhat sarcastically posed the question to the couple in front of him. This would be the seco¡­ No, would it be the third time if he considered their first coincidental meeting? Whatever number meeting this was, his heart was calm. A steady beat, only slightly disordered thanks to the previous attack. No fluctuations, no sporadic jumps, no acceleration.


    Ah, he truly felt next to nothing right now.


    ¡®


    Ren Yazhu. Ren Shuren. His biological parents, the people who had birthed him in the distant past and then shunted him through space because they feared that he would die if he stayed with them. He was¡­ Thankful to them. He lived because of them, he got to meet the people he loved because of them. He got to meet his family because of them.


    But¡­ That was it. There was nothing beyond that gratitude. There was nothing deeper, there was nothing warmer.


    The love of a son, nonexistent. The warmth of family, nonexistent. The desire to be with them, nonexistent. The desire to get closer to them, nonexistent. There was nothing in him that wanted to take their relationship further than this. The line had been drawn in the sand by the two who once loved him, the two who gave him his name. The two who died so that he may live.


    Those deaths¡­ May very well have been the first curse to be cast on him.


    ¡°Let us start off by saying that it was not our idea. The elders wished to at least be given a chance to convince you, even after we told them that we neither wished for it nor thought it to be possible. But whatever the case may be, it is undeniable that it has caused you discomfort, so I hope you¡¯ll be able to forgive us.¡±


    Ren Shuren was the one who responded to Liang Chen¡¯s question, meeting his sarcasm with sincerity. He bowed quite deeply for a few brief moments, his short brown hair rustling slightly as he straightened his back again. Ren Yazhu fluidly followed his actions, her long silver hair neatly tied up into a bun so that it wouldn¡¯t fly about. They were looking at him, just as he was looking at them.


    He hadn¡¯t been able to see anything when they first met, the only thing he could sense from them back then was a slight resonance from his bloodline. But time had passed since then, life had gone on. Now, now he could see them, sense them. The middle-stage of the Sovereign God realm, both of them. Twice they had sent people through time, the first was him and the second was Xiao Ping. Both times had supposedly placed an immense strain on them, enough to theoretically kill them if it hadn¡¯t been for the Nine Star Demon God saving them. But even so, they were still this strong. They were probably the geniuses of the Sebettu race once upon a time.


    ¡°Good day to you, Sir Ren Shuren and Madam Ren Yazhu. I am Yan Ling, it is a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    A voice cut through the air as Liang Chen and the couple looked at each other in-between sentences, Yan Ling piping up with her bright tone. As one would expect, the couples¡¯ eyes were drawn to the young woman, who they naturally had heard quite a bit about from Ren Shuya.


    She flashed the couple a smile, holding the hand of the little Lan Yun. Yumao was still curled up on top of Lan Yun¡¯s head, his black scales and feathers standing out rather distinctly as he was nestled in her white hair. Standing next to them was the girl, Liang Sheng Lian, who looked like she was in her late teens, having short black hair that barely reached her ears, and striking violet pupils. And finally nestled securely in her arms was the infant Ao Fentian, who was just curiously looking at his surroundings.


    The corners of Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren¡¯s lips couldn¡¯t help but turn up as they looked at the scene.


    Liang Chen, their first child, which they had been forced to send away so long ago. They couldn¡¯t control where or when they sent him due to the circumstances at the time, he could have ended up in the middle of an ocean and drowned just like that for all they knew. When they first realized that he was still alive, and that they got to meet him, they cried. Years of worry and guilt got to burst out as they cried for their oldest child.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    But that son of theirs had grown up. He had been picked up by good people, he had been loved, and he had been hurt. The world had already shaped him by the time they met him. And as a result, the love they felt for him was not returned. But¡­ That was fine. Their son had grown up healthily, he had grown up loved. If he decided that he did not need them as part of his family, then they would respect his choice, they loved him enough to put aside their own desires.


    And because of that love, they could not help but smile as they looked at him. A splendid fiancee and four adopted children, a strong mind and unbreakable determination. He had grown up so splendidly and formed his own family, stretching out his hand to others time and time again no matter how weary he was or how hurt he got. Even if he did not wish to join their family, how could they not be proud of a son like that?


    ¡°No no, Miss Yan Ling, the pleasure is all ours. We¡¯ve heard so much about you from Jun and have been eagerly awaiting the day we finally get to meet you.¡±


    Ren Yazhu¡¯s voice was bright, her black eyes brimming with the same joy as her upturned lips. Her steps as she strode forward were so sprightly that she was practically skipping, clutching Yan Ling¡¯s one free hand in her own.


    ¡°Thank you. More than you could possibly believe, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you.¡±


    Yan Ling¡¯s hand was raised and Ren Yazhu¡¯s head was lowered so that she could rest the clutched hand on her forehead. Ren Yazhu spoke lightly, as if a massive weight had left her shoulders. In this world, when it came to their oldest child, there were three people that the Ren couple were beyond grateful for. The first two were naturally the people who had picked up Liang Chen as a child and raised him as their own. And the third was Yan Ling.


    Yao Jun had told them a fair bit about Liang Chen¡¯s life, the ups and downs he had experienced, his joys and his suffering. Thus they knew that Yan Ling had been at his side for most of them, joining him wherever she could. Had it not been for her love and care¡­ They did not want to think about how Liang Chen may have ended up without it. It was easy to fall, far easier than it was to keep rising. And because they knew that, Ren Shuren also took the chance to offer Yan Ling a deep bow.


    ¡°Please, allow me to offer my deepest gratitude as well. I do not believe that Liang Chen could have found himself a better wife to build his family with, please continue sticking to him as you have.¡±


    Neither Ren Yazhu nor Ren Shuren mentioned the duel that had just taken place, probably a subtle attempt to gloss over it. They were also showing adequate respect by not referring to Liang Chen with the name they had given him before they sent him forward in time, quietly affirming that they would respect his choice.


    Yan Ling was naturally anything but shy about accepting their gratitude, flashing her teeth with a wide grin as she vigorously shook Ren Yazhu¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to ask me something like that, he and I are going to be stuck together for quite some time. How long were we going to be stuck together again, Little Freak? I seem to recall you mentioning something about exactly that quite a while ago.¡±


    As she neared the end of her sentence, she cocked her head slightly and turned her gaze onto Liang Chen, a slightly mischievous glint flickering in her sapphire eyes. Faced with her gaze, Liang Chen only barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes, the air around him markedly different from how it was during the battle. The eerie calm and quiet, the heavy weariness that seemed to bog him down, it was replaced by a comfortable relaxation, an unmistakable warmth.


    ¡°I am your Little Freak, and I am stuck with you until the end of time. And you are my mischievous fox, so you are stuck with me until the end of time.¡±


    Liang Chen remembered the words well. He¡¯d last spoken them many years ago, back on Tripartite Planet, after he first got into contact with the Sebettu for the first time. It was a rather small thing, just another minute of banter in the sea of time he had spent with Yan Ling. But it was engraved in his mind, a memory that refused to leave him. And it clearly wasn¡¯t just he who remembered their little moments.


    ¡°That¡¯s what it was, until the end of time. But still, it sounds just as terrible as it did back then, you¡¯re a terrible romantic.¡±


    Yan Ling snickered, her gaze momentarily drifting as she thought back to those days where they were trying to make their way up the ranks in the arena on Tripartite God. It was a difficult time, an extremely dangerous time filled with battles and pain. But¡­ She looked back on them fondly.


    ¡°Still managed to bag you, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    This time it was Liang Chen¡¯s turn to snicker somewhat, stepping down from the arena so that he could get closer to Yan Ling, a finger flicking her forehead. She didn¡¯t dodge his finger, simply sticking out her tongue in response.


    ¡°That just says more about my tastes than it does your skills in romance.¡±


    Liang Chen could only snort in response, holding his head high without shame as he gave his own response.


    ¡°Yes, impeccable taste, I agree.¡±


    It was a short moment, a brief instant where they could both look back on the past they shared, back where it all began, before the world started to twist and turn, before the weight of life started to bear down on them. And at the same time, it was an affirmation for both of them. Thusly we had begun, thusly we shall end. Together, until the end of time.


    ¡°Alright. This hardly seems like a proper place to talk. Shall we relocate?¡±


    Liang Chen could only hold back a sigh as he spoke. The lack of emotions he had contemplated earlier, the nothingness he felt as he looked at his biological parents, the weariness he felt as he fought Xiao Ping. Yan Ling had evaporated all of it just like that. And as if her words weren¡¯t enough, she flashed him a smile and let go of Ren Yazhu¡¯s hand, interlocking her fingers with his as she tightly grasped his hand.


    ¡°I for one think that sounds like a good idea. I also seem to recall Shuya talking quite highly about a possible wedding gift, you simply have to sate my curiosity regarding that.¡±


    Yan Ling smoothly moved the topic onward, giving the Ren couple an excuse to talk about something that was unrelated to the Sebettu¡¯s attempts to keep them here. Naturally, the couple were not ones to let a chance like this slip, smiling as they let out a breath.


    ¡°Well if Shuya has spoken it up that much then we really can¡¯t disappoint, now can we? Please, follow us to someplace more comfortable.¡±


    The Ren couple took the lead, checking up on Xiao Ping the moment she got closer. Once they saw that she didn¡¯t have any wounds or the like, they heaved another deep sigh of relief. As she had lost the duel, Xiao Ping naturally had no room to protest here so she followed her parents and the elders as they guided Liang Chen and his family away from the arena.


    As the group were heading away, space a bit aways from the planet was twisting and warping quietly. It was happening just barely outside of the range of their senses so they were unable to detect it as thin cracks started to spread out across the darkness.

 Chapter 389: The Grey-clad. (10)

    Space warped violently, cracks spreading out from the center of the warping. At first it looked like a spider web, but it swiftly shrank down to something more akin to an unnaturally wide grin. It erupted into a bright and dazzling display of multicolored lights, dyeing the darkness of space for a brief instant before it vanished. Left behind in the wake of the warped space was the 23rd Division belonging to Eagle Corps of the Heaven-Covering Army.


    If you looked at the entire army that the Existential Lord brought along to invade this Sphere of Existence, then the 23rd Division would be ranked just about the middle. Nothing too spectacular, nothing too embarrassing. But still, they were included in the invasion force that the Existential Lord Tian Shen had formed to bring this Sphere of Existence under his control, so even a group considered not too spectacular was still a dreadful force that could bring some of the unclaimed minor universes to heel. Division Commander Wei Juan Xin knew this, but her eyebrows were still scrunched up as she surveyed her surroundings.


    ¡°¡­Lok Kong, this does not look like the correct destination. Report.¡±


    Pale blue pupils surveyed the planet a bit away from them, her eyes narrowing slightly to take in the sight. According to her briefing, they should be launching an attack on Greater Eaveswood, a planet housing the one closest in line to taking over the Eastbound Minor Universe. But that planet was supposed to be covered by a gargantuan jungle. This planet, while having some forests and the like, was mostly cities and civilizations. Thus¡­ It was evidently the wrong place. But why? And where?


    ¡°Scans indicate that something interfered with our spatial array, forcibly twisting us away from our original path. The flow of space around us determines that we have arrived in the Rahu Minor Universe, and the location ahead of us should be Grey-Heart Planet, capital of the Sebettu.¡±


    Lok Kong, the Division¡¯s navigator reported the situation after checking his equipment, surveying the space around them and comparing it to the reports they had gotten from their allies. They had prepared for this war for many years already so there were very few universes in this Sphere that they didn¡¯t have at least a good grasp on. If you wanted to win a war, information like this was the most basic of steps.


    ¡°¡­Damn.¡±


    And because they had this information, that short little curse was all she could utter for a moment. Her hand rose to her face, a few drops of sweat having already appeared on her forehead. She wiped the drops away by sweeping her hand through her short and curly brown hair, slicking it all back before she addressed her men.


    ¡°Right then. Due to the unforeseen circumstances of our spatial array being interfered with, I¡¯m afraid the lot of us have found ourselves in the middle of Azatoth¡¯s territory. Most likely, he has already been notified about our trespassing, few can enter his territory without him knowing. I pray to be wrong about this, but I believe luck has left us in that regard.¡±


    Azatoth, The Nine Star Demon God. He had risen to power after the Second Sphere War so it was inevitable that they would have less information on him than they did the three rulers who fought in the second war. But the information they had was plenty horrifying, what with the sea of demonic beasts that had eradicated their men. To enter his territory like this only meant one thing.


    ¡°Soldiers, it would appear that we are all going to have to lay down our avatars here today. For some of you, this will be your first death. It will be beyond painful, but consider it a good experience to have for the future. Depending on how long this war goes on, you are likely to be called back to service, likely even with your real bodies.¡±


    There was no use in sugarcoating it or giving them false hopes. They entered the territory of a demon, so they would all die here. Luckily, they had only come here using the avatars that the Existential Lord had made for them so it wouldn¡¯t be a true death. But it was still a waste of an entire Division, so they would likely get called back to war before long. Many of their companions would likely lay down their lives for good in this war. But until then¡­


    ¡°Well, we might as well make ourselves useful if we¡¯re already doomed to die. Prepare the Core-Breaker, we¡¯ll do what damage we can before we get taken out.¡±


    Wei Xin¡¯s Division sprang into action on her orders, one part preparing their own weapons while the other prepared the siege weapon of the division. Core-Breaker, it was a weapon that was designed to do just that, break the core of a planet. It would break into the core of the planet and wipe it out, the remaining energy mixing with what was left of the core to burst out in a violent eruption that tore the planet apart.


    It had been designed by Tian Shen specifically for this war, he declared it to be one of their secret trump cards that would permanently lower the power held by Azatoth and the others. How it achieved that by destroying a planet, Wei Xin had no idea. But she didn¡¯t need to know how it worked. She was a soldier, and she had received an order. All she had to do was accomplish that order.


    Her division quickly got the weapon set up, the planet in the distance being graciously quiet. From the looks of it, they had luckily arrived somewhere outside the senses of whoever was on the planet, affording them these precious few minutes to set up their weapon. And once it was all set up, there was only one order she could give.


    ¡°Fire, and then prepare to descend if anyone escapes in time.¡±


    The Core-Breaker, a ten-meter tall cube composed of smaller cubes, whirred to life once the order was given and the power supplied. Each cube lit up with a dull light, gathering into a single glaring grey light that shot forward as a beam as wide as a grown-man¡¯s arm. There was no warping or twisting in the space around the beam, no deafening sound or crackling of energy. It flew forward in an eerie silence, the world around it simply fading away in response to its power. It would pierce into the world ahead of it, and the planet would break along with those residing on it.


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    But then something Wei Xin had not expected occurred, the beam bent. It curved away from its straight line, its target seemingly changing from the planet and instead to the largest building she could see on the planet. If it followed along with its current path, it would graze the planet rather than cut into the core, leaving them with only one option.


    ¡°It seems we are left with no choice, as one would expect from our luck. Descend, For the sake of our Lord.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    The room that the Ren couple brought them to was just about as large as Liang Chen had expected from what was likely the palace of the Sebettu. The room alone was larger than many of the buildings he had seen in his life, filled with monuments, a throne far too large for a human to sit on, a small glade of trees surrounding a lake. Comparing the rest of the room to the table and chairs that they sat on only made the furniture look laughable, there were synthetic clouds above them that were larger.


    The table and chairs looked a bit out of place with the rest of the room, placed close to the glade, so it was probably something they had brought over intentionally. When everything else was this big and they were seemingly ¡®pressed together¡¯ at a table like this, people would inevitably feel somewhat closer to those sharing the room with them.


    ¡°¡­So that¡¯s how you got acquainted with Shuya.¡±


    Liang Chen and his family, as well as the Ren family were seated around the table, chatting. Well, Yan Ling and Yumao stood for most of the chatter on Liang Chen¡¯s side. The Ren couple weren¡¯t pushing Liang Chen to talk, allowing Yan Ling to take the lead so that Liang Chen could organically join in without feeling pressured, it was their way of being considerate to him.


    As for what the conversation had been so far¡­ Well Liang Chen would be hard-pressed to call it anything but idle chatter. How Yan Ling first met Ren Shuya, how they ended up getting along, how Liang Chen and Yan Ling met, how they ended up together, where they picked up Yumao, where they picked up Lan Yun, where they picked up Ao Fentian, where they picked up Liang Sheng Lian. It was idle chatter that never delved too deeply, drawing a thin line between the two families.


    Of course, Yan Ling danced around that line as she pleased, hopping and skipping over it in a heartbeat when it came to some of her stories. It was a stark contrast to how Liang Chen and Xiao Ping had just been in their duel. But neither of the two estranged siblings protested to the light-hearted moment. Xiao Ping was content because their parents were happy, and Liang Chen was content because Yan Ling was clearly having a good time chatting with them.


    He could¡­ Understand why Yan Ling acted the way she did when it came to his biological parents. Her mother had betrayed the family early on, resulting in the death of her younger twin siblings, saddling her adopted older brother with immense guilt, and permanently wounding her father¡¯s heart. Her father then died when the people of the Sealing God Empyrean attacked their planet. Her older brother was still alive, but the rest of her family had passed long before her. She¡­ Needed a family. She needed parents, whether she wanted to admit it or not.


    Thus, even if Liang Chen was not willing to accept these people as his parents, he could not betray the people who raised him and gave their lives for him, he was still willing to engage them like this for the sake of Yan Ling. And it was¡­ Comforting, to simply idle the time away with chatter like this. Yan Ling spoke as she pleased, but whenever the Ren couple spoke with him they made sure to respect his bottom line, speaking to him as friends rather than parents. It was¡­ Pleasant, in a way.


    ¡°Right!? And then you should have seen the way Little Freak tried to get my attention! I¡¯ve never seen someone who att¡­¡±


    Yan Ling kept on chattering excitedly. But at some point, her voice started to fade away slightly to Liang Chen. He felt something, a soft pulse from within. He was resonating with something, a powerful source closely attuned to one of his laws. It was calling to him, or perhaps it was better to say that he was calling to something. And then Xiao Ping reacted.


    ¡°It¡¯s an attack!¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Her hands slammed down on the table, the thick marble disintegrating under her palms. In less than a second, lines that glowed with a sea blue light stretched across her body. The same lines appeared on the floor and walls of the room they were in, and probably throughout the rest of the palace as well. Judging by the thick surge of Qi that welled up from beneath the palace, pouring into Xiao Ping through the lines that connected her with the land, it was probably some defensive array etched into the planet. She was the future empress of the Sebettu, the one they wanted to keep alive the most, so it only made sense that she would be the one connected to the array. She could draw its power as she pleased, and it would keep her safe if something unforeseen happened.


    Her connection with the array, which likely covered the entire planet, was probably also what allowed her to sense the threat before anyone else. And as the first one to sense the threat, she was the first one to act, a quick hop bringing her away from the table and in front of the others. No, to be more specific, she was in front of Liang Chen.


    Shortly after she sprung into action, the threat became apparent to the rest. Or perhaps it was just Liang Chen who saw it. A dull grey line that pierced through the palace walls and headed straight for them, straight for him. The line was a jumbled mess of laws and elements, a complex puzzle that couldn¡¯t be neutralized with just one or two different laws. But there, beneath that jumbled mess, serving as the core that kept it all together, Liang Chen felt that resonating pulse.


    There was oblivion in that line, a small piece of the Void that resonated with him. That¡¯s why the attack flew straight towards him rather than into the planet. It was a small piece of the greater whole, it just wanted to return to him now that it sensed him. But well, even if that piece of Void wanted to return to him, the violent laws around it would shred him if they got to him so he wasn¡¯t keen on accepting it.


    Nor did he have to, because between him and that line was Xiao Ping, her form shrouded by Qi so dense it had become mist.


    ¡°Not in my home!¡±


    Her voice was barely more than a gravely roar, her body probably wasn¡¯t actually capable of bearing the full might of the planet¡¯s defensive array, especially not when she took it into herself like this. Accompanying her roar was an attack that Liang Chen had seen before.


    The world around them creaked as a black hole appeared above Xiao Ping, a bright orange center adorning it, spinning without a sound. Well, rather than saying that it did so without a sound was a bit wrong, it swallowed all sound. With the support of the array, the attack was many magnitudes greater than it had been when she launched it against Liang Chen, its pull so great that even the approaching line was somewhat diverted towards it. And then they collided.


    It felt like half an eternity, but the truth was that it all happened in such a short instant that even Liang Chen was barely left with the time to barely react. Had it not been for the array supporting Xiao Ping then Liang Chen would have been the first to notice the attack, and by then it would be too late to do anything about it.


    The black hole and the line erupted with violent energy as they collided, the palace around them crumbling practically instantly from the shockwaves. The city around them was laid bare, a large hole present in the buildings between them and the source of the attack. Luckily, the line was so fiercely condensed that there was little more damage to the buildings other than that hole. Of course, if anyone had been near the line when it passed by¡­ Well their end would at least have been a fast one.


    Even with the black hole blocking it, the line kept trying to push forward, kept trying to reach Liang Chen. Xiao Ping, being the one currently blocking it, was the one who knew its power best. She¡­ was struggling. It hurt to admit, but she knew that she could not fully block it. In half a second or so at best, it would pierce through even the black hole she conjured using the full power of the planet¡¯s defensive array. This was not an attack she could truly block. So what could she do?


    Well, she could detonate it.


    She had the law of destruction, it was in her nature to destroy things. The ¡®balance¡¯ between the laws in this attack? If she applied enough force, even if she couldn¡¯t neutralize it, she could destabilize the balance enough to where the entire line would erupt.


    But the city was all around them, so where was she to put all this energy? Forward? It would tear through the city. Down? it would tear through the planet. Backwards? It would tear through her family and then the city. Upward was an idea, but she could not guarantee that it would just fly into the air harmlessly, it was far more likely to spread out after a few moments, raining down on the city.


    There was not a single direction she could send the attack in where it wouldn¡¯t ravage something she held dear.


    Thus, the choice was clear. She was the future empress of the Sebettu, the one who would help them return to their former glory. All she did, she did for her home.


    ¡°Get back!¡±


    She collapsed the black hole on the grey line with another guttural growl, blood filling her throat as the wild surge of Qi was tearing through her body. She didn¡¯t have the peace of mind to do any accurate targeting so she just had to do it roughly, assaulting the various laws in the attack with the remnants of her black hole. It didn¡¯t take long before she felt it, the rampant surge of energy as the incoming attack scattered.


    Breaking it apart was the ¡®easy¡¯ part, containing it was much harder.


    Luckily, she did not have to face the attack entirely alone. The race she was trying so hard to save, they too were on her side thanks to the years of effort they had put into the planet¡¯s defensive array.


    She dredged up every last piece of power from the array, veins rupturing as the sea-blue lines etched themselves deeper and deeper into her skin and flesh. The remnants of the black hole that had detonated the line grew larger and larger, forming miniature black holes that pushed at the rampant energy. Using her control over them, she pushed the black holes closer to each other, her nails flying off and the skin on her hands getting shorn away as stray strands of the slowly compressing energy blew past her.


    The rampant energy was trapped between the black holes, their every exit blocked by either a black hole or Xiao Ping¡¯s own body. Naturally, even with the defensive array supporting her, Xiao Ping¡¯s body was a lot less durable than the black holes so it was inevitable that chunks of flesh would get torn away by the rampaging energy. But she persisted, for a moments hesitation here would lead to untold damage to the Sebettu.


    As it stood, she still lacked a bit of power to properly contain the rampaging energy. But she still had one last card to play, one last little boost. The defensive array that supported her, the years of hard work that her people put into building it, she sacrificed some of it. She broke it away from the rest of the array, converting it into raw energy that she molded with her hands, now practically only bones left.


    And then she clapped those hands, a clacking sound breaking through the rampaging energy. The black holes that pushed at the violent energy collided with each other, trapping the remains of the attack between them as they merged back into a single black hole. The energy was swirling in the midst of that black hole, so Xiao Ping collapsed that black hole again, hoping to forever bury the remaining energy within that event horizon.


    But it wasn¡¯t enough.


    Xiao Ping had used up several tens of thousands of years of energy that had been stored in the planet¡¯s defensive array, even sacrificing a part of it, amplified it with her Fourth Step, and sacrificed a good chunk of her own body. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Out from the scattering remains of her collapsed black hole, she could feel the violent energy seep back out. It was a lot weaker than before, but if left unchecked like this then it would blow a massive hole into her city. The number of people that would die in the blast was something she didn¡¯t even want to count.


    And then she saw a line draw itself through the air.


    The line split apart, tore a gash in reality itself. And beyond that gash, she saw it. Pale white earth, grey grass, black worms that wriggled across the land, light brown trees adorned with bright reed leaves, a small running stream. And beyond that oasis, bone-like white sand that stretched as far as the eye could see, porous black mountains and a colorless sky. Beyond the line, a land off nothing stretched out into infinity.


    The energy that seeped out from the remains of her black hole fell into the gash, which snapped shut like a jaw behind it. As quickly as it had appeared, it had disappeared, leaving behind nothing but silence. Were it not for Xiao Ping¡¯s ruined body and the destroyed palace, one might accidentally think that it had all been nothing but a dream.


    But as Xiao Ping had come to know, most dreams were really nothing more than nightmares in disguise. And there, in the distance, she saw the continuation of this dream.


    A horde of people swarming onto the planet, at least a couple of thousand. All clad in similar armor, all wielding similar weapons. Clearly an organized group that had gathered together to attack the planet.


    ¡°H¡­ Haah¡­ They really do still view us highly.¡±


    She felt like cursing, but rasping out those words was all she could manage. Within that horde of people, she could detect at least 8 Sovereign Gods.


    She herself, when in top form, could take on some weaker Sovereign Gods. Her parents and elder brother Shuya were Sovereign Gods, and they had one reclusive elder that was still a Sovereign God, leaving them with only half what their opponents had. Even if she were in top form it would be a battle she couldn¡¯t confidently say they could win, their best choice would be to run away. But if they did that here, then what would happen to their people?


    ¡°Liang Chen. This is Sebettu business, so take your people and leave.¡±


    The words dripped out from between her lips alongside several helpings of blood, her eyes practically entirely red from burst blood-vessels as she looked at Liang Chen. He had made his stance clear on his relationship with the Sebettu, he wanted nothing to do with them. She too had made it abundantly clear that she did not think that the Sebettu needed him. Thus, this was a matter that had nothing to do with him, he was only an unlucky bystander.


    ¡°That attack was coming for me.¡±


    Liang Chen gave a rather dismissive answer, studying the people in the distance, who were quickly approaching the planet. The core of that attack had resonated with him, that was why it had come straight for him. If Xiao Ping had let it be, then it would likely have tried to run Liang Chen through and then continued on unabated until it met a force great enough to rupture it.


    ¡°I challenged you to a duel¡­ But the Sebettu will not allow an official guest to perish while they are here.¡±


    Xiao Ping spat out an excuse, or perhaps it wasn¡¯t and those were truly her thoughts. She dreamed of the glory days of the Sebettu, the pride and honor they had back then. They would never had let someone harm a hair on the head of their guests. Of course, there was another reason that she acted, one far more simple. For a brief moment, her gaze landed on her parents, who were already frantically handing out orders to the the elders of their race.


    ¡°Mother and father would be sad if you were to perish.¡±


    Yes. Liang Chen may not have accepted them as his parents, but they still considered him their son. Xiao Ping could see how happy her parents were when they were chatting with Liang Chen and Yan Ling, they had finally reclaimed that piece of themselves that they had given up all those long years ago, their oldest regret. If he were to die¡­ They would cry. She did not want them to cry. That was her filial piety as their daughter. And as the future empress of the Sebettu¡­


    ¡°These are our enemies, not yours, so leave. But if you can, I¡¯d implore you to bring along as many people as you can. You may have no interest in us, but surely you¡¯d at least offer that level of aid to the innocent, right?¡±


    Xiao Ping¡¯s hands were nothing more than bone at this point, but she still clenched her fists, controlling the individual joints with Qi while she waited for her innate regeneration to slowly kick in. Her halberd appeared in her grasp, the tip resting against the floor as she seemed slightly too weak to lift it properly. She was wounded beyond measure, drained of every last drop she had to give. But she could not stop, she could not rest. She had to keep moving forward, even when there was nothing left of her.


    It was just as she and Liang Chen had said earlier.


    It doesn¡¯t matter if she gets tired, she will keep moving forward. That is what it means to make a choice. She had made her choice for the Sebettu, so she would move forward without end.


    And Liang Chen? What about him?


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that at least, these aren¡¯t my enemies.¡±


    His voice was calm, a bit low, his gaze still on the horde of soldiers in the distance. There was a slight smile on Yan Ling¡¯s face when she heard Liang Chen speak, Ao Fentian and Lan Yun already tucked away to safety. She knew him best out of everyone here, she knew his choice better than anyone here. In a moment like this, there was only one thing he would do. Thus, naturally, there was only one thing she would do, following his steps as he moved forward.


    ¡°They¡¯re just more sinners.¡±

 Chapter 390: The Scourge of war. (1)

    The air was cold at Liang Chen¡¯s utterance, the lack of emotions in his voice producing an eerie chill. No anger from the attack. No fear from their numbers or strength. No anxiety about their unknown origins. It was as if the horde descending on the planet was just¡­ nothing.


    But Yan Ling knew. Liang Chen was many things, emotionless was not one of them. It was just lurking deep down, fire so fierce that it swallowed up everything else. But he pushed it down, and then pushed it down again, until it was hidden so deep that the only thing that reached the surface was the eerie chill. Fire was dangerous after all, if not controlled properly then it would swallow not just Liang Chen, but all around him as well.


    ¡°How many among them are there?¡±


    The one who asked the question was Yan Ling, tilting her head up slightly to lock eyes with Liang Chen as he turned his head. She wasn¡¯t asking about how many soldiers there were in the horde, numbers rarely meant much in a battle that she or Little Freak took part in. No, she was asking about the one thing only Liang Chen could see, his finger pointing out in response.


    ¡°That one. That one. That one. That one. That one. And¡­ Yeah, that one over there too.¡±


    Six times his finger moved, six people it landed on. Of the six he indicated, not one of them was one of the Sovereign Gods. No, the people he pointed out seemed to be the weakest in the horde. Even at this distance, Yan Ling was easily able to determine their expressions, she could see the anxiety and nerves visible on their faces. She gave a short nod of her head, gesturing to the Ren family that was with them.


    ¡°Alright. Those six people are off-limits until further notice then. So you guys too, please don¡¯t kill those guys.¡±


    For a moment, as she spoke, the Ren family was left almost unable to wrap their head around the situation. A horde of enemies were advancing in the distance, a surprise attack had caught them entirely off-guard and incapacitated one of their fighters, and the enemies had double their number of Sovereign Gods. But even so, Yan Ling was looking at them with a sweet smile while wrapping her arm around Liang Chen¡¯s elbow, politely asking them not to kill some of the invaders.


    ¡°Th¡­ They are attackers! We mus¡­ We must kill them to defend ourselves. How can you ask something like that of us?¡±


    Even with the Ren family caught off-guard, Ren Xiao Ping was quick to respond, gurgling up some blood as she glared. She was the future empress of the Sebettu, and yet they would ask her to spare some of the enemies endangering her home and race? What was that if not preposterous?


    ¡°Those six have yet to do anything worthy of death. Four of them just left their monastery for the first time a year ago, while the two others are nothing more than wanderers who got recruited with the promise of being able to save the world. They are innocent.¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s response was calm, he didn¡¯t let Xiao Ping¡¯s glare get to him and simply stated the truth he knew about the people he indicated. Even from this distance, their souls were his to unravel, their lives laid bare in front of his eyes. Their first kill, their first hatred, their first crime, their every act of violence reflected in his pupils. Of course, Xiao Ping could not see that truth, she only knew of another truth.


    ¡°They have come to kill us!¡±


    She wasn¡¯t like Liang Chen, she couldn¡¯t scour the memories of the people in the distance, she couldn¡¯t possibly know how they ended up here. All she knew was that they had attacked and were coming to the planet to kill all of her people. She staggered forward as she spoke, clutching onto Liang Chen¡¯s back. But he remain unperturbed.


    ¡°They have done nothing, they were never even meant to come here and just ended up here by accident. They don¡¯t even have any intentions of doing anything, they¡¯re just being swept along.¡±


    Swept along, that was the perfect description of the people there. Told grandiose lies about a distant war, filled with honorable ideas about something they knew nothing about. Even their descent to the planet, there was a decent portion of the people in the horde who had no idea why they were doing it, the leader¡¯s words had failed to reach all of them.


    ¡°Are they not swarming down with the rest?!¡±


    But what did it matter to Xiao Ping whether or not they were being swept along or not? They came to kill her people, the people she had sworn upon her very existence to protect. She was not in the wrong for wanting to kill them, it would be right to do so.


    ¡°I do not kill people for things they haven¡¯t done.¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s response was simple. He had killed¡­ many people in his life. He probably had the highest number of kills out of everyone here. But he always did his best to not kill those who didn¡¯t deserve it. And those who had yet to commit a crime did not deserve to die. Of course, once intent was involved then it was a lot less black and white than people wanted it to be. But for once, Liang Chen was given a situation where it was fairly black or white. Xiao Ping naturally still tried to argue, but Liang Chen cut her off at once, turning his head and torso to lock eyes with her.


    ¡°I mu¡­!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to spare them. I am telling you that they are innocent, they do not deserve death. How you act with that information is up to you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She had nothing to say, her words trapped with the gurgling blood in her throat. His eyes, she could see it in his eyes, the deep darkness. The fire that had sunk so deep it had almost turned to ice over the years. He didn¡¯t say it, but he didn¡¯t need to. She was free to act as she pleased. But the consequences would be hers to bear. For a moment, even with all the blood pooled in it, her throat felt dry.


    And then the sound of a loud clap broke through the tense silence.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s break up that atmosphere, shall we?¡±


    Yan Ling was the one who had clapped, her smile unfazed by Liang Chen¡¯s attitude. The eerie chill in the air dissipated with her clap, allowing everyone a moment to catch the breath they hadn¡¯t realized was caught in their chest. Yan Ling¡¯s gaze fell on the Ren family for a moment, her outstretched finger slowly sliding across each of them.


    ¡°So, we have the in-l¡­ The Ren couple, and Shuya, I¡¯m gonna ascribe you one each, for a total of three. I can handle two, so we¡¯re up to five. That elder in hiding should be able to handle another, so that¡¯s a total of six.¡±


    The Ren couple were Sovereign Gods so they should be able to take one each, Ren Shuya was a Sovereign God so he should be able to handle one, and the ancient elder hiding within the planet, while old and decrepit, should still be able to handle one. She was quite confident in her strength so she knew she could take on two of the Sovereign Gods, leaving only two left to be handled. Of course, that plan was quickly shut down by Liang Chen.


    ¡°The old one shouldn¡¯t fight. He¡¯s too close to the end of his life, if he fights now then he¡¯ll probably die within the next few weeks. He should stay here and keep an eye on Xiao Ping, she¡¯ll need someone to keep her safe after taking on that attack.¡±


    Liang Chen was able to scour the souls of the soldiers in the distance, so how could he not be able to detect the Sovereign God hiding within the planet? But he was hiding there for good reason, he was as close to death a Sovereign God could be without actually being dead. Be it due to an old wound or something else, he was already chatting with death. If he fought, he would die before long. And looking at his soul¡­ He was a good man, he should not die here. Not now. And Xiao Ping, despite her brashness, was good at heart. It would be unfortunate if she died here while they were out fighting. So no, the old man had to be left out.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Hm¡­ That¡¯s a bit¡­¡±


    Yan Ling¡¯s smile finally faltered slightly, her lips chewing on the unspoken words as she looked at Liang Chen. With the elder, six Sovereign Gods had been accounted for, but who was to handle the last two? She hadn¡¯t said it out loud, but they would obviously be left to Liang Chen. If the elder was not counted, then that left three Sovereign Gods. That made the math a fair bit harder, but if she pushed herself then pro¡­


    ¡°It will be fine. Trust me.¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s hand reached her cheek, his voice her ears, before she got to finish her thought. His gaze had turned away from Xiao Ping and back onto Yan Ling, locking eyes with her. Reflected in those golden pupils was her figure, only her. She could not break his gaze, rendering her unable to do anything but sigh deeply at this lovable fool of hers.


    ¡°Haah, I can¡¯t win against you so I guess that¡¯s just how it will be. But I¡¯ll trust you to come back as unharmed as possible. Which ones?¡±


    She wouldn¡¯t be able to change his mind. He was confident, he was certain. When he was like that, there was next to nothing she could do to stop him. She knew that well, she considered it one of his charm points, that infinite stubbornness of his. In that case, she could only quickly finish on her end and rush over to him to make sure that he didn¡¯t go overboard.


    ¡°I promise, so don¡¯t worry. That one with curly brown hair and blue eyes, that one with long black hair and green eyes, and that one with black eyes and a shaved head.¡±


    As Liang Chen pointed out the Sovereign Gods he marked as his targets, Yan Ling couldn¡¯t help but momentarily raise an eyebrow. She expected him to point out the three strongest so that he could deal with them on his own, but he actually only pointed out the strongest among them and two others who were on the weaker end. And in his eyes, in that endless trust they gleamed with as he looked at her, she understood why, a smirk making its way up her face.


    ¡°Alright. And the minor numbers?¡±


    ¡°About half should be good, I¡¯m more suited towards it than you.¡±


    She wanted to instantly take back the thought she had just had. Had he only scaled down the strength of the Sovereign Gods he picked so that he could take on more of the remaining horde as well? But well¡­ He wasn¡¯t wrong when he said that he was better suited to handling swathes of enemies, leaving her with only a single possible response.


    ¡°Freak.¡±


    Liang Chen merely smirked at her response, pinching her cheek for a moment before he removed his hand.


    ¡°Your Little Freak, yeah.¡±


    It was a conversation that was¡­ out of place, when one considered their current circumstances. But then again, that was just how calm Yan Ling and Liang Chen were, that they would even take the chance to enjoy each other¡¯s presence in a time like this. Well, if you asked her, there were a few too many eyes on them right now for Yan Ling¡¯s liking, so she quickly tapped Liang Chen¡¯s waist as he pulled back his hand.


    ¡°Cute. Let¡¯s get some alone time when its all over.¡±


    Her smirk had only grown wider after she got the chance to banter with Liang Chen, so she was as bright as sunshine as she turned to Ren Yazhu, clapping her hands once more.


    ¡°Right then. Miss Yazhu, could I ask for your assistance? I¡¯d like to move Little Freak, about half the horde, and those three people somewhere away from here. Any abandoned cities or large empty tracks of land we can dump them on?¡±


    It was such a sudden shift of topic and tone that it would inevitably leave other people gaping, grasping at straws to understand the situation. Ren Yazhu was precisely one such person.


    ¡°Eh? Huh? What, why?¡±


    From the sudden attack, to the chilly atmosphere, to the flirty banter, everything had happened so fast that she was still trying to process it all, it hadn¡¯t even been half a minute for gods sake. Even with her wealth of experience she would be left agape for a moment. Yan Ling didn¡¯t mind and laid it out quite clear for them.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be frank with you. If the battle starts here, or anywhere close to here, then the biggest danger to your people will be Little Freak over here. He knows that, so he¡¯ll have to hold back while fighting, so it¡¯ll be hard for him to fight properly, something I¡¯d much rather avoid in this situation. So, would you mind lending your assistance?¡±


    Liang Chen trying to fight in a city? Yeah, no, that would lead to some disastrous results one way or the other. Thus, their best option was to get Liang Chen and his targets as far away as possible. That way everyone involved would be able to exert their full strength.


    She was prepared to explain it again if the Ren couple were still trying to grasp the situation, but luckily it seemed like that would be unneeded, Ren Yazhu finally understanding what to do and how to act.


    ¡°¡­On the other side of the planet, there¡¯s a deep and wide ravine left from a very old battle. It¡¯s the place on this planet furthest away from any type of civilization. Wait a moment¡­ These are the coordinates.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t find any paper so she carved the coordinates into the air in front of Yan Ling. Ren Yazhu felt the same from her that Yan Ling had sensed from her, the unmistakable flow of the law of space. As such, it was obvious what she wanted to do, in which case she would need coordinates rather than just a simple explanation.


    ¡°Perfect, let¡¯s get to it then.¡±


    Yan Ling was happy that Ren Yazhu was quick on the uptake once she grasped the situation, her Qi swiftly flowing out as she got to work. The theory behind it was quite easy, create a bend in space that would swallow up all their targets, drawing them in on one end of the bend while spitting them out on the other. But she still needed Ren Yazhu¡¯s help, she didn¡¯t have the Qi to force such a number of people, especially several Sovereign Gods, away on her own.


    As the two women quickly worked together to twist space to their desires, Ren Shuren threw Liang Chen an interspatial ring, heaving a heavy sigh.


    ¡°Liang Chen, take this. It was meant to serve as a present for your wedding, but I don¡¯t believe the situation will allow us to leave it until then. We have not managed to procure a shaft that can withstand it for long, but there are some makeshift ones you can temporarily use.¡±


    Liang Chen¡­ was not receptable to them being his parents, but how could they not prepare something when their first son was going to get married? In fact, they had thought about what to get him ever since they first learned that he was their son. His wedding was just the best excuse to give it to him, they would have given him a grand gift no matter what the first occasion would have ended up being.


    ¡°¡­ Thank you. I will use it well.¡±


    Liang Chen faltered for a moment after he scoured the contents of the interspatial ring. It was¡­ a grand gift to be sure, a heavy one that was rather hard to accept. But he was about to fight three Sovereign Gods, and he had promised Yan Ling that he would come back as unharmed as possible. So he had no choice but to accept it.


    Yan Ling and Ren Yazhu had quickly gotten to it, Ren Shuren and Ren Shuya had quickly gotten ready for combat after Liang Chen received his gift, and Liang Chen was naturally ready to fight as well. Everyone understood what was going to happen, and everyone accepted it. But there wwas still one person who felt the need to say something in this situation.


    ¡°I¡­ I still hav¡­¡±


    ¡°If you have something you want to say, you should just say it properly. Don¡¯t wait with it until the only thing you¡¯re left with is regret.¡±


    Liang Chen cut off Xiao Ping¡¯s words before she even got to finish half a sentence, his gaze once again turning onto her. She could hide nothing from his eyes, strand after strand of her soul unfurling in front of him.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She was¡­ Afraid. She was afraid that the Sebettu would be harmed in the attack, she was afraid that Liang Chen and the others would be unable to handle the Sovereign Gods and lose their lives, with the citizens quickly following. She was afraid that the citizens would be caught in the crossfire of the fight. In her eyes, the safest option was for Liang Chen to help the citizens flee while she and the others distracted the Sovereign Gods. Of course, the plan she didn¡¯t tell anyone else was that she was hoping to send away her family the moment Liang Chen finished rescuing the citizens.


    She was the future empress of the Sebettu. If there was anyone who had to lie down their life to protect them then it was her. It¡­ it had to be the one who couldn¡¯t be there for them as they went through their downfall. She had not told anyone, but she could not hide it from Liang Chen¡¯s eyes.


    He was just looking at her after saying his piece. He didn¡¯t urge her, he didn¡¯t comfort her, he didn¡¯t push her to say anything. He just said his piece and then looked on quietly. What she really wanted to say? The thing she wanted above all else? It was something her pride as a person would not let her say, a weakness she could not admit as a cultivator aiming for the peak.


    But Liang Chen just looked at her quietly, a calm gaze as steady as a mountain. He had seen it in her, as her very essence was unraveled strand by strand. Yeah, her pride as a person wouldn¡¯t allow her to say it. As a cultivator, it was a weakness she could not admit. But before she was a person, before she was a cultivator, she was the future empress of the Sebettu.


    ¡°Liang¡­ Liang Chen. Please protect my people, I can¡¯t bear to see them lose more.¡±


    The words came out easier than she had expected, the plea for help she did not want to make to a person who she had tried to chase away, a person who had no interest in his own race. But there was no choice left for her as a ruler, her head lowering as she gave it her all to bow. With the state of her body, it only resulted in more blood pouring out. As for the request that she had to make after abandoning her own pride¡­ It was met with a stunningly simple response.


    ¡°Sit down and focus on recuperating, wounds like that won¡¯t heal in a short amount of time.¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s hand landed on her shoulder and forced her down to the ground. He didn¡¯t even have to use a lot of force, she was just that weak after having blocked that attack. Standing there, he looked down at her. No arrogance, no pride, no conceit. Just¡­ calmness, with a hint of weariness.


    Space a bit behind Liang Chen started to warp violently, Yan Ling and Ren Yazhu¡¯s twisting of space complete. Liang Chen gave Xiao Ping one last look before he turned. He never gave an answer to her plea, even as he left her with a few words, striding into the warped space and vanishing.


    ¡°You have a good heart, Xiao Ping. Make sure the weight of the crown doesn¡¯t grind it down.¡±

 Chapter 391: The Scourge of war. (2)

    Wei Juan Xin brought her Division down to the surface of the planet beneath them, if her calculations were correct then they would have a minute, at best at that, before Azatoth came for them. Well, at least she tried to bring her division down to the planet. It happened a brief moment before they reached the planet, an almost imperceptible shift of the surroundings. The rest of the division didn¡¯t notice it and kept descending, but Wei Xin felt it again, that nigh-on invisible shift. She checked the distance, she did the math.


    Yeah, there it was. When they were about a kilometer away from the planet¡¯s surface, there was a subtle warp of the space around them, shifting them back about a meter or so. They wouldn¡¯t notice, and thus kept descending, running into the warp again. Essentially, they were running in circles without even really noticing it.


    She stopped for a moment and unleashed her Qi, a swift surge shooting down. She feared her suspicions would prove correct, but held onto a thin strand of hope But alas, the warp twisted even the Qi back through its loop. Trapped like guinea pigs in a wheel, running until they collapsed.


    ¡°Hal¡­!¡±


    She was just about to tell her men to stop when the warp vanished, as if taunting her for trying to warn them. Whatever the case was, the warp had evidently already accomplished what it was trying to achieve. The moment it vanished, she could feel a great wave of Qi wash over the division, tinged with the scent of space. It was different from the previous subtle warp, this was a violent and forceful folding, a brutish approach that forewent all semblance of technique in favor of power. If this was meant to shift away the entire division then the one responsible for it would have to be an idiot. But clearly, the entire division was never the target.


    The fold clamped down on Wei Xin, Lok Kong, and Deshi Li Tsun, as well as about half of the division, passing harmlessly over the division. It only latched onto three of their Sovereign Gods, meaning that they would need about two seconds if they wanted to break free from the shackles. But when you dealt with space and the like, you rarely had two seconds to spare. Especially when space was already done folding by the time it reached you. As such, Wei Xin and her men noticed the clutches of space reach them, and then they were instantly gone.


    A large canyon surrounded them, jagged and steep edges that resembled teeth lining the walls. The canyon was wide, this half of the division could fit here snuggly, hells, they could probably fit in the whole division without any issue. The air was a bit acrid, a sour taste and scent that lingered heavily on both nose and tongue. The law of corrosion, it clung to the land here like a plague, eating away at anything that dared to enter its grasp. This place was a wasteland, long dead and abandoned.


    And there, a bit in the distance, he stood. Loose and somewhat unruly silvery-grey hair that hung down to his ears, piercing golden eyes with faint bags starting to deepen beneath them. Delicate and smooth features that made it seem as if he had never had to work a day in his life, yet a straight and sharp posture that made it impossible to ignore him. The division was looking at him, some of them observing their surroundings while others were formulating plans on how to proceed in this unknown situation. He too was looking at them, but his eyes held no trace of machinations, no schemes or plots. He was just¡­ Weary.


    ¡°Wei Juan Xin, do you mind if I ask you a question?¡±


    Liang Chen did not attack Wei Xin and her division the moment they appeared, his voice echoing throughout the wide ravine. In the past he would have attacked them immediately, it was the best way to ensure a swift victory, an immediate justice. But with each passing battle, he found himself talking more and more. To the strong he fought, to the weak he killed, to those he saved, to those he executed. He just¡­ talked. He questioned. Was he trying to understand them?


    He¡­ Wasn¡¯t sure. What did it mean to understand them? If he understood the morality and position of those he judged, would he spare them? ¡­No. He had killed people he was capable of understanding in the past. Even if he sympathized with their circumstances and desires, he killed them all the same. Even if he understood, he couldn¡¯t accept. But even so¡­ He kept talking to them, time and time again.


    ¡°Liang Chen, correct?¡±


    The one with curly brown hair and blue eyes, Wei Juan Xin, raised a hand to quiet her men as she addressed the man in the distance, Liang Chen. She understood now. Azatoth¡­ Would not come here for them. All that awaited them here was this man, who seemed to have even left behind the winged snake he was said to travel with.


    ¡°Correct. May I proceed?¡±


    Liang Chen was not surprised that Wei Juan Xin knew his name. She and her division belonged to Tian Shen¡¯s army, the force of the Existential Lord. Ignoring the fact that they were invading this sphere and thus probably studied all potential enemies they might encounter, just the fact that Liang Chen had the law of the Void meant that they would have to study him no matter how weak he was in the grand scheme of things.


    ¡°Please, state your query. I will answer to the best of my abilities.¡±


    The atmosphere was cordial but tense. Wei Xin tried to lock eyes with Liang Chen, but his gaze wandered too much for her gaze to be returned, his pupils constantly sweeping across her division. They stood at the ready, primed to burst at a moment¡¯s notice. But no one made a move, not even a twitch of their fingers. It was¡­ somewhat rare for Liang Chen to not get underestimated by his enemies, especially when they had such a numerical advantage over him.


    These people¡­ They were strong. They were organized. They were determined. He had dredged up their souls, unraveled their lives. He knew the names of each and every one of them, their first heartbreak, their first kill, their first sorrow, he knew all of their misery and every last ounce of hatred they had once felt. So he already knew. Even before he opened his mouth, even before he arrived here. He knew. But still he asked.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    It was a simple question. A vague question. A loaded question that could have a thousand different answers. But at this moment, between these parties, there would only ever be one answer.


    ¡°Because this is war, Liang Chen.¡±


    Yeah, that was the simple answer. Why did they decide to attack the planet? Because they were at war. Why did they develop a weapon like the Core-Breaker? Because they were at war. Why were they willing to lay down their lives to take down as many people as possible? Because they were at war. They were at war, and the only outcome they could accept was to win. No matter what.


    ¡°Our Lord is merciful and kind, Liang Chen. He wishes not for bloodshed and death, he wishes for everyone to live happy lives until they reach the natural end of their lifespan, no matter how long that may be. We have not had a war in our Sphere ever since he rose to power.¡±


    Liang Chen had seen similar things too in the souls of the people he scoured here. Their misery, their sorrow, their hatred¡­ It was all extremely¡­ Personal? If a word like that was applicable here. They did not lose people due to war, they did not lose people due to murder, there were no great famines that ravaged their homes. It was all just pain between people, between one and another. Their home was¡­ peaceful, so the only thing they could hate and blame was each other. But in such a peaceful world, especially with how long cultivators could live, a simple problem would inevitably rear its head.


    ¡°But we are running out, Liang Chen. Too many people, not enough space for them all. We have done the math. Within the next millennia, we will run out of proper living space for everyone. In the millennia after that, we will be forced to kill each other for resources just to scrape by. An overcrowded paradise forced to tear into itself. We will become hell, Liang Chen. We will become our own hell.¡±


    In the end, all life would devolve into hell. There were no eternal paradises, no safe havens that lasted until the end of time. Eventually, life would catch up with everyone one way or another. And in this paradise of theirs, the hell that was coming was themselves, their own hands clawing at each other in a desperate bid to survive. They had lived beautiful lives, gotten used to their beautiful wealth of resources and peace. And when they descended into hell, they would fight that much more savagely to reclaim even a fragment of it.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Not even someone wielding the law of Existence can create enough resources to sustain an entire Sphere that is constantly popping out new people. And forget about creating more land, even the Existential Lord can¡¯t create new universes to add onto the natural Sphere of Existence that we live in, and creating a new sphere would kill him. Don¡¯t get me wrong, he can probably stave it off for a few millennia, but there will inevitably come a day where we will turn on each other and become rabid animals.¡±


    Wei Xin spoke of the truth before Liang Chen could even think about asking for it. Tian Shen, the Existential Lord, capable of creating even Spheres of Existence if he gave his life, how could land and resources become a problem for a lord like that? And the answer was just that simple, inevitably they would become too many. Even if he turned himself into a ceaseless factory with an endless supply of Qi, he would one day not be enough. Then, hell would become their home.


    Thus, they were faced with a choice. Wei Xin¡¯s hand rose, a finger extending as she pointed at herself.


    ¡°So we were faced with a choice. We could become our own hell, or¡­¡±


    The raised hand stretched out, the extended finger pointing at Liang Chen, at his world.


    ¡°¡­We could become someone else¡¯s hell.¡±


    They could suffer. Yes, they could suffer in their hell. It was created by their own hands, by their own paradise, so they could suffer in it. Or they could force that suffering onto someone else, someone they knew nothing about, someone unrelated to them. In a situation like that, with a choice like that unfolding for you, what answer would you reach? For Wei Xin, it was simple.


    ¡°I have a family, Liang Chen. A mother, a father. A husband fighting in a different division, fo¡­¡±


    Her voice was cut off by Liang Chen, the two finally making proper eye contact.


    ¡°Four adorable kids waiting for you at home, and two brothers who were too weak to join the army. I know.¡±


    He had seen them in her misery, whenever she felt sorrow for one of them. Their names too were recorded in Liang Chen¡¯s golden gaze, their existence burned into his eyes. Wei Juan Xin had family that was beyond dear to her, and she wanted to ensure that they could keep living in peace.


    For a moment, Wei Xin winced at Liang Chen¡¯s plain utterance, her gaze landing on his eyes for a moment before she let out a breath, something akin to a soft smile spreading on her face.


    ¡°You must have seen them with those unnerving eyes of yours, correct? I¡¯m sure you also have family, Liang Chen. A wife or two perhaps? A couple of kids already? How many friends, siblings? How many have you killed for them?¡±


    His eyes were¡­ Unsettling to look at, so she guessed they were what he used to peer into her life. For him to be able to peer into even a Sovereign God like her, it spoke of his strength, beyond just the law of the Void. And the stronger one was, the larger their family tended to be as people naturally gravitated towards them.


    Liang Chen didn¡¯t need to answer. She could see the truth in his eyes, in the out-of-place gentleness that briefly fluttered through the air around him. She willingly went to spread hell here for her family, and he willingly delivered them to hell for his own family. That¡­ Was all there was to it.


    ¡°That¡¯s all there is to it, Liang Chen. We kill you because we need our families to survive and live in peace, and you kill us because you need your families to survive and live in peace.¡±


    For peace, they spread hell. For peace, they descended into hell. That was their current situation. That was¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ War.¡±


    For peace, unto hell. Such was war. That was why they now stood here, on opposite sides. Why they were willing to kill. It was just¡­


    ¡°Yeah¡­ It¡¯s just war.¡±


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze momentarily lowered with a sigh as he repeated Wei Xin¡¯s statement. Yeah, it was just war. Perfectly understandable, perfectly unreasonable. It was just¡­ War. Liang Chen knew about the invasion of Tian Shen, he had met he Existential Lord¡¯s avatar already after all. But to see it firsthand like this, to encounter their armies and see their determination, their grim resolution¡­ He could not stay out of this war. It was beyond just joining the war, he needed to seek it out. This¡­ Was something he had to put an end to, for both sides.


    But before any of that could come to pass, he would first have to deal with this present hell. He knew it, and Wei Xin and her division knew it.


    ¡°Come, Scourge King. Let us be hell to each other.¡±


    Wei Xin was the first to draw the line, her Qi seeping out as she spoke. The time for names was over, the cordiality and politeness they had shared had to end here. Liang Chen and Wei Juan Xin were no longer here, now it was the Scourge King and the Division Commander.


    Liang Chen¡¯s gaze rose again, all trace of emotion erased, replaced by that piercing gold.


    Wei Xin was the first to sense it, the trembling of the air, the dreadful heaviness that permeated every inch of the valley.


    ¡°Release!¡±


    She shouted the order and her men immediately acted, their Qi erupting. The Qi gathered around their bodies, following the predetermined paths of their cultivation techniques as they formed the foundational orbs. The Qi then spread out from those orbs and took form around their bodies, most of them forming human figures or silhouettes with varying features, while others took on the forms of animals or demonic beasts. Spectral Reflections was the name used for them back home.


    They came from the sphere of the Existential Lord, their way of cultivation was different from the people of this world. Instead of gathering all their Qi within themselves and risking their lives due to a backlash or deviation, their Qi was gathered in orbs around them that formed the foundation of these figures, which acted almost like suits. It was a safer method, a more sophisticated one that had taken the Existential Lord and his men many a year to create and spread out.


    Plip.


    It was a soft sound, one most people would miss in this roaring eruption of Qi. But Wei Xin was not most people.


    Plip.


    Another one, shortly after the first one.


    Plip.


    Plip.


    Plip.


    Faster and faster they came, soft sounds that quietly grew in volume.


    Plip.


    Plip!


    PLIP.


    PLIP!


    From soft sounds to a deafening crescendo, it felt as if it happened so quickly that she barely had time to blink.


    Rain. A torrential downpour that threatened to drown out all other sounds.


    But what fell wasn¡¯t clear and beautiful drops that reflected the world around them.


    A stark crimson, a beautiful red like blood. Each drop had an otherworldly sheen to it, a reflective coating in which Wei Xin could see herself and her men reflected a thousand times over. But what she saw wasn¡¯t them standing as tall and proud as they were right now, what she saw was decaying corpses, rotting and fading away with each drop that hit the ground. And then came a scream.


    ¡°GraaRgh!¡±


    ¡°AARrrhhh!¡±


    ¡°GrrRRRGGg!¡±


    Distorted. Gargled. Spat out between lungfuls of blood. The rain pierced through the spectral figures that her men had summoned and splashed onto their bodies, erupting into violent sparks that tore away at them. Each spark struck at their bodies and soul, burned away a part of them. The heavens were crying for them, spilling tears of blood for their fate. And those tears in turn became their fate.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Wei Xin and her two adjutants were able to resist the rain with their Spectral Reflections, and some of her stronger subordinates were also able to put up something of a resistance by drastically increasing their Qi expenditure. As for the rest¡­ Decimated where they stood. Wei Xin served as a Division Commander, she had naturally seen a lot in her long life. Thus¡­ She knew what sort of power this was.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen a power like this before, the Empyrean of Judgment wields a power just like this. Heavenly Judgment, the wrath of the heavens brought down upon sinners. I heard that this multiverse¡¯s consciousness died due to Hades long ago, but it seems like you¡¯ve picked up the pieces again.¡±


    The power of judgment, the right to judge another as a sinner and execute them, the right to have them burn for their sins. One of their nine generals held the very same power, having wrested it from the multiverse he came from. She had seen him use that awe-inspiring power before, as a demonstration of sorts. But there was a very clear difference between that demonstration and the current situation.


    ¡°But unlike Lord Empyrean Judgment, you don¡¯t seem all that immune to your own power, no? Are you not virtuous, Scourge King?¡±


    The drops also landed on Liang Chen, and Wei Xin saw them erupt into sparks that tore away at him. Empyrean Judgment was able to stand in the crimson flames he summoned without any issue, but Liang Chen clearly did not have the same luxury. That could only mean one thing, Liang Chen had committed the very crimes he burned others for.


    ¡°Do you think I received a title like Scourge King because I was virtuous?¡±


    Liang Chen did not pay much attention to the pain that shot through his body with each drop. Each time he used the power of purgatory, it burned him just as much as it burned his enemies. He judged them for their crimes, he told the world of their sins with each burning drop. And in turn, each drop judged him and sang of his crimes.


    ¡°And yet you picked up a power like that to punish others. Why?¡±


    Was it because he was power-hungry? No, those greedy for power would not pick up something that would kill them as quickly as it killed their enemies. Was it just because he could? No, to reclaim the lost power of a dead multiverse would be no simple task, he must have suffered immensely to acquire it. Did he hope that he would be exempt from the judgment of the heavens?


    ¡°I¡¯m just a hypocrite, that¡¯s all.¡±


    The answer that came back was simpler than she expected, calmer than she expected. He¡­ Knew he would be burned by the very power he wielded, he knew that his life would be at a constant risk. And yet he picked it up all the same, suffered for it all the same. That was his determination, masked by indifference.


    ¡°¡­Yeah. I shouldn¡¯t have said all that. This is war, we¡¯re all just hypocrites right now. Forgive me for that lapse, I will not allow there to be another.¡±


    Wei Xin exhaled a long breath, her eyes narrowing as she focused to her utmost. As the rain hammered down, bolts of lightning splitting the sky, she focused fully on the man in front of her.


    The jagged edges of the raven¡­ They were like teeth, trapping them in the maw of the beast. Azatoth would not come for them, because the beast was already in front of them.