Novel The Godless One

Chapter 51: Frost Depths.




Huang Ying awoke to the sensation of water hitting the top of his head. He had the taste of blood in his mouth and his eyes felt like they had been glued together. He could feel that he was standing straight up, but he couldn't feel his arms or legs. The surrounding was pervaded by a debilitating chill that seemed to seep into the bones themselves.




After a short struggle, Huang Ying finally managed to pry open his eyes. His surroundings were lit up by a dim light blue light that seemed to be emitted from the ground itself.




He was trapped in a massive room, so massive that he could not even see the ceiling or the walls. The ground was covered in a layer of ice, small spikes of ice sticking out, a result of water from the ceiling falling down and freezing.




Huang Ying couldn't see anything around him, there was only an endless expanse of ice. Huang Ying had the bloodline of the White Tiger so he obviously would not fear the ice in here.




Headmaster Deng Rong and the vice-headmaster would obviously know that he did not fear any type of ice or cold, so Huang Ying deduced that the reason he had been locked in here was because they had no other prison that would be sure to hold him.




Huang Ying turned his eyes away from the expanse of ice and focused on his own body instead. There was still a seal placed on his dantian, preventing him from absorbing or discharging any Qi. The seal had been expanded, coiling around inside his body, preventing him from moving even a finger.




His body was strapped to a large X-shaped metal construct that was made out of a strange type of azure metal. His arms and legs were strapped to the metal using a type of pale white leather. The leather looked smooth on the outside, but the inside was filled with countless small spikes that stabbed into Huang Ying's body, continually injecting a numbing agent into his body.




“Li Jun, where is this?”




Huang Ying had to once more rely on Li Jun to find out more about his situation. Huang Ying didn't like relying too much on others, as it would quickly make him dependent on them. But in this situation, he had no choice but to admit that he indeed needed the help of others, lest he be trapped here.




“This is a place they called the Frost Depths. It is located directly beneath the academy itself. The walls are made out of a special type of material that prevents any perception from passing through. So no one can see inside from the outside, nor outside from inside.”




Li Jun recounted the road Deng Rong had taken to bring Huang Ying down here, helping Huang Ying memorize an escape path should the opportunity arrive. The walls were made out of a special metal that was called Isolation Steel. Isolation Steel prevented any and all perception from passing through, not even Li Jun was capable of penetrating it with his perception. Any sect or academy would have a place constructed from Isolation Steel, as it would allow them to easier hide the things that they wanted to hide.




“I see, so things turned for the worse, always great news. How long was I out this time.”




Huang Ying spoke with a tone that dripped of sarcasm. He had hoped that he would be able to just escape immediately after leaving the first prison, he truly didn't expect them to have a prison that was even more secure. Since the walls were made out of Isolation Steel, he couldn't even use Li Jun's perception to track Deng Rong and the vice-headmaster. He was essentially blind, trying to come up with a proper escape plan like that would be much harder than it was the first time.




“Just under 12 hours, not for too long.”




Huang Ying's mind started spinning, when he escaped the first time, it was during the night, ff he was only out for just under twelve hours, it was probably in the middle of the day now. This meant that Deng Rong or the vice-headmaster would probably arrive within the next few hours. Unless they had already come by earlier of course.




A few hours to try and come up with a plausible escape plan when he was essentially blind? Far too difficult. The seal on his body and dantian would take him at least an hour or two to completely remove, and even if he did, there was no telling where Deng Rong or the vice-headmaster were located. They might even be waiting just outside. His best option right now was to wait and bide for time, finding out what they want while slowly restoring his power.




Huang Ying started to slowly circulate his Devouring Qi inside his Qi crystal, slowly nibbling away at the seal placed on his dantian. All he could do now was weaken it. If he completely removed it, they would probably know immediately, so he would weaken it until it reached a point where he could break it whenever he wanted.




Huang Ying waited with a lowered head in silence for around two hours before he heard the sound of someone approaching. Raising his head, he saw that despite his footsteps sounding from faw away, the vice-headmaster had already arrived in front of him.




This was the first time Huang Ying properly saw the vice-headmaster, and it was only now that he understood why the previous guard had said that the vice-headmaster was scary.




The vice-headmaster was clad in an old and patched gray robe that hung loosely from his body. His body was so skinny that it looked sickly, like someone had just draped skin over a skeleton. His eyes were lifeless and dull, sinking into his skull. He only had a few patches of gray hair that dotted his head. His lips were thin and pale, while his skin was almost as white as snow. If it weren't for the fact that Huang Ying could see the light blue energy fluctuations around him, he would believe that he was looking at a corpse.




“Ah, you are finally awake. I was starting to get worried that I would have to wait even longer. Ah, where are my manners, I never even introduced myself, my name is Cui Xima, i'm the vice-headmaster here.”




The vice-headmaster, Cui Xima. spoke with a dry and raspy as his thin lips stretched into a polite smile. He seemed to want to give a comforting smile, but when he smiled, it only served to stretch the skin on his head even more.




“But since you are finally awake, that means that we can finally begin, you have no idea how long I have been waiting to examine someone like you.”




While Cui Xima spoke, he waved his hand and made a small steel table appear next to him. He covered the small table with a cloth before taking out a large cylindrical container from his interspatial ring. He waved his hand once more and a ball of water appeared before him, falling into and filling up the container. After the container was full of water, Cui Xima started bringing out an assortment of tools from his interspatial ring, tools he slowly and neatly lined up on the small table.




He lined up an assortment of different knives and needles, each one neatly polished and sharpened. After placing down all the tools, he conjured two more balls of water in front of him. He moved one to the side and kept it floating there, while he used the other one to slowly wash his hands, carefully cleaning finger after finger.




After washing his hands, he once more waved them, causing the clothing on Huang Ying's upper body to disintegrate and vanish. He made the floating ball of water separate into several smaller balls, before beckoning one of them over to him. He took the small ball of water and used it to gently clean Huang Ying's left arm.




“I must say, your body looks exactly like I thought it would. Smooth and supple skin draped over chiseled muscles. Just looking at it makes me realize the explosive power hidden in your body, no wonder that normal prison couldn't hold you.”




Cui Xima spoke with a smile as he washed Huang Ying's arm, before beckoning with his hand, causing a needle the length of a palm to fly into his hands. Huang Ying had already realized what Cui Xima wanted to do once he started bringing out the tools, but he never thought that he would be so neat and methodical about it.




“Now then, I heard that when you got cut during the Academy Battle, you didn't make a sound. Please keep that up, it is always so dreadful when they scream, it gives me shivers and prevents me from sleeping.”




With those words, he took the needle and slowly inserted it Huang Ying's wrist, making it follow the veins as he inserted it deeper and deeper. Huang Ying grit his teeth and stared viciously at Cui Xima. He was no stranger to pain, but he was more used to explosive pain that threatened to instantly destroy him. This slow and relentless pain that seeped into his body was a completely new experience.




Cui Xima only kept the needle in Huang Ying's body for around a minute before slowly pulling it out and holding it up against his face. Another pair of pupils slowly appeared in his eyes as he studied the blood on the needle. He stared at it in silence for a little while before heaving a sigh and dropping the needle into the container with water.




“Strange, strange. Deng Rong clearly said that you had an ice type bloodline, but why is it that your blood is completely human?”




Cui Xima tilted his head as he looked at Huang Ying with a questioning gaze. What he didn't know was that the blood of Baku devoured all bloodlines, including itself, before leaving Huang Ying's body. This was a self defense mechanism that it had to prevent itself from spreading.




“Strange, strange. Maybe it's in the bone marrow?”




Cui Xima muttered to himself for a short while before an idea popped into his head. He quickly used some water to wash Huang Ying's chest, before washing his own hands once more, he seemed to be a neat freak. He beckoned with his hand once more, causing a small blade that looked like a scalpel to fly up from the table and into his hands.




He moved the blade to Huang Ying's chest and made an incision that outlined one of his rib bones. After he finished making the incision, he moved to clean the small blade. Once he finished cleaning the small blade, he was shocked to see that the cut was already healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.




“Remarkable. Such strong regenerative powers. You are just making me more and more interested in you. I'm not allowed to kill you, he wanted to alive, but i'm sure he won't mind if it's just a few scars.”




Cui Xima gave an ecstatic smile as he grabbed the small blade and made the same incision once more, only faster this time. He didn't wash the knife this time, instead using it to peel away the flesh that covered Huang Ying's right ribs. After a slow and methodical peeling process, the skin and muscles on Huang Ying's right ribs were completely stripped away, revealing his rib bones.




Despite this massive loss of flesh, Cui Xima could still see that the flesh and muscles were slowly rebuilding themselves. He was also shocked to see that there were small black and white particles that were floating around in the blood that was flowing from Huang Ying's wound. He hurriedly tried to collect this blood, but he noticed that the moment the blood left his body, the black and white particles completely disappeared.




Since the particles disappeared and Cui Xima had no way of locating them once they left his body, he could only heave a dejected sigh and turn back to focusing on Huang Ying's rib bones.




“Maybe i'll find something in here.”




Cui Xima muttered to himself as he reached out with his right hand and grabbed onto one of Huang Ying's ribs. Huang Ying's vision was already blurry, his head throbbing and ringing with the sound of bells. The sensation of having his chest slowly peeled away was one he would never forget in his life. Seeing the actions of Cui Xima, he could only grit his teeth and endure.




Cui Xima tightened his grip and pulled his arm back, but the rib didn't break off immediately like he expected, it only cracked slightly. Seeing this, he once more gave a surprised exclamation, it seemed like Huang Ying's bones were much tougher than the rest of his body. He strengthened his grip and put more power into his arm before pulling it back once more, this time breaking off the rib bone and pulling it out.




Cui Xima studied the bone for a little bit, especially the bone marrow, before storing it away. He took out some medicine from his interspatial ring and smeared it on Huang Ying's chest. The speed at which Huang Ying's flesh regrew suddenly doubled, even the torn out rib bone started growing back. Cui Xima washed his hands before storing away all his tools and the table.




“Now then, I believe that should be enough for today. You just rest well and recuperate, I will come back tomorrow to examine you a bit more.”




Cui Xima gave Huang Ying what appeared to be a comforting smile, before turning around and leaving.

 

Chapter 52: Blood Contract.



Huang Ying continued to endure. Originally, Cui Xima would only appear once every day. But as time passed and he found out that Huang Ying's regeneration was even stronger than he originally thought, he started showing up twice a day, before finally showing up three times a day.




Cui Xima would always start by inserting a needle into one of Huang Ying's veins, attempting to see if he could determine Huang Ying's bloodline. Once that failed, he would start examining other parts of Huang Ying's body. Slicing open a leg or an arm, plucking out some bones, checking the tendons and organs. He even found that it wasn't just Huang Ying's flesh and bones that could regrow, even some of Huang Ying's organs could.




He first found this out when he inserted a needle into Huang Ying's left eye, extracting some liquid from it. After he returned, he found that the eye had completely regenerated. He was so ecstatic when he learned this, this discovery would open even more possibilities for him.




After this, he started checking which of Huang Ying's organs could regenerate, and if there was a difference in how fast they regenerated. After extensive testing, he found that the more important the organ, the slower it would regenerate. Huang Ying's lungs took almost twice the time it took his spleen to regenerate.




There was even one time where he accidentally made a mistake and inflicted a wound that was a bit too heavy to Huang Ying's heart. Had he not reacted quickly and used some very expensive medicine, Huang Ying would have died. And if Huang Ying died, their Empyrean Phoenix Academy would have to face the wrath of the one who ordered them to catch him alive.




They knew that the one who ordered them to catch him would come pick him up some day, but he had never given them a set date. Instead telling them to take care of him for a bit before he could find the time to come pick him up. Cui Xima obviously took this as a sign that they were free to 'examine' him to their hearts content.




Huang Ying had long gotten used to the pain, but the continuous onslaught of pain still threatened to turn him completely mad. The only reason he managed to hold on to his sanity was the fact that he could converse with Li Jun. Li Jun kept Huang Ying distracted, telling him stories about his life and cultivation advice.




Huang Ying had already been in Cui Xima's care for close to half a year when a change finally happened in this hellish life.




“You.... do you want to escape from here...?”




A voice resounded in his head. A dignified voice that carried a tone of power and nobility, yet the voice was also tired and carried a feebleness. The voice resounded right after Cui Xima had just finished one of his sessions, so Huang Ying almost thought that it was just a trick his mind was playing on him. When the voice resounded once more, Huang Ying was finally certain that he was indeed hearing a voice.




“Who are you?”




Huang Ying didn't immediately answer the voice, it was best to know exactly who he was dealing with before he decided on anything. For all he knew, this was just another trick that Cui Xima devised to examine his mental strength.




“Ah.... finally there is someone here that can take me away.....”




The voice spoke slowly, sounding relieved and at peace. After a short while, Huang Ying heard the sound of movement coming from his side. He couldn't move his body, but tilting his head to the side was no problem. Huang Ying was slightly shocked when he saw the owner of the voice.




At his right side, slowly coming out from the darkness, was a large bird. The bird had a wingspan of at least ten meters. It's feathers were a dull scarlet color that was contaminated by hints of grey. It's eyes shone like two fires in the night, a row of golden feathers on it's head looking like a majestic crown.




For a second, Huang Ying thought he had encountered the Phoenix. But once he looked a bit closer, he saw some differences between the Phoenix and this bird. This bird was clearly only a Vermilion Bird, a descendant of the Phoenix. Seeing this Vermilion Bird, Huang Ying finally found out just where the Empyrean Phoenix Academy managed to procure the Vermilion Bird blood they implanted into their students.




“You want me to save you and take you away? What a joke. I can't even save myself.”




Huang Ying spoke in a self deprecating tone. He wasn't even able to get out, so how could he help the Vermilion Bird get out? Huang Ying could indeed break the seal that was on his body, quickly returning to his full power. He could even escape from this icy prison, he knew exactly which path to take to reach the exit. But so what? This prison was located directly under the academy, the moment he left, he would be beset by all the people from Empyrean Phoenix.




“Indeed. I am incapable of escaping on my own, just as you are incapable of escaping on your own. But together, we stand a much better chance.”




The Vermilion Bird looked at Huang Ying with a burning gaze. It had already been trapped in this icy prison for so long, it's life was even reaching it's end. The only way it would be able to go on living was if it underwent it's rebirth, turning itself to ash and restarting it's life. But if it did that in this icy prison, it's torment would only last longer.




“Oh? How so?”




Huang Ying didn't know what made the Vermilion Bird so certain that they stood a much better chance together. The way Huang Ying saw it, the Vermilion Bird was almost at death's door, it had next to no power left in it.




“A blood contract. You have the blood of the White Tiger and a body stronger than any normal human at your level. You will be able to withstand the power of my blood, using it to grow stronger, while I will use your White Tiger blood to replenish my strength. Like this, we will be able to escape together, neither Deng Rong nor Cui Xima are faster than me.”




Huang Ying had heard about a blood contract before. A blood contract was the act of two different species sharing their blood with one another, nourishing each other. The blood contract would bind the two people together, never allowing them to make a second contract with anyone else. Unless one of the two people died.




A blood contract would mix two bloodlines, polluting them. Due to this, many high ranked Demonic beasts refused to sign a blood contract with humans, as it would only weaken their bloodlines, their greatest source of pride. That this Vermilion Bird was willing to sign a blood contract with Huang Ying was not just because it wanted to escape, his White Tiger bloodline would be a massive boost to it, especially after it underwent it's rebirth.




“Fine, I agree.”




Huang Ying did not waste any time, he was desperate, and Cui Xima had just left, so he had about eight hours before he would return. Accepting the blood contract would enhance Huang Ying's strength, probably pushing him directly towards the peak of the 9th heaven. This meant that he would have to endure both the baptizing of the Vermilion Bird blood, as well as the minor heavenly tribulation that his Qi crystal would experience. But Huang Ying had the bloodline of Baku, a minor heavenly tribulation would not be able to escape from Baku's maw.




The heavenly tribulation came in several tiers. The lowest tier was a minor tribulation, consisting of only a single lightning bolt. An intermediate tribulation consisted of three bolts. After the intermediate tribulation came the immortal tribulation, consisting of six bolts. The last one was known as the empyrean tribulation, raining down nine bolts of heavens wrath.




The Vermilion Bird did not waste any time either, using one of it's wings to poke a hole in it's chest and extracting a drop of blood from it's heart. It brought the wing and blood towards Huang Ying, stabbing it into his heart. After mixing it's blood into his heart, it also extracted a drop of blood from his heart.




Huang Ying used a bit of his perception to force the blood of Baku to calm down, not allowing it to start devouring the bloodlines after it left his body. The Vermilion Bird then inserted this blood into it's own heart, completing the blood contract. What came next would be the baptizing of the blood.




Huang Ying's body felt like he had been thrown into a fiery inferno, liquid fire rushing through his veins. The Vermilion Bird on the other hand felt like it's body had been completely frozen, some thin patches of black ice even started spreading on it's back.




The Vermilion Bird knew about Huang Ying having the White Tiger bloodline since it was a Demonic beast that had already evolved before, turning into a Desolate beast. It was very sensitive towards higher level bloodlines, but it was completely unable to sense the bloodline of Baku in Huang Ying. The bloodline of Baku was even a tier higher than the bloodline of the White Tiger, it was also Huang Ying's main bloodline, after his human blood. So it was also the blood that was the main leader in this blood contract, directing the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird bloodline in their fusion with it.




While Huang Ying felt the fire rushing through his veins and into his dantian, a small black cloud crackling with lightning also appeared above Huang Ying's Qi crystal, this was the minor tribulation cloud. Only tribulation clouds that reached the intermediate level would cause a phenomena to appear in the outside world, so Huang Ying wasn't worried about Deng Rong or Cui Xima noticing it.




The light blue lightning bolt struck the Qi crystal, but it only sank into it, disappearing into the depths. A minor tribulation simply did not have enough power to inconvenience Huang Ying. The lightning bolt vanished and the cloud dissipated, but the liquid fire was still coursing towards the Qi crystal, sinking into it.




Huang Ying turned his vision inwards, observing the Qi crystal. After the fire rushed into it, the Qi crystal started condensing once more, quickly shrinking in size. Huang Ying knew that this was a sign that he was approaching the Xiantian Builder stage. The 9th heaven was after the 8th heaven and before the Xiantian Builder stage, but it only consisted of having the cultivator condense his Qi Crystal, turning it into a tiny world.




While the Qi crystal shrank, Huang Ying also noticed something changing within it. Before this, the Qi crystal was a swirl of black and white, signifying Huang Ying's Ice and Devouring Qi. These were his main elements, the other elements he had absorbed got put aside, unreachable to Huang Ying.




Yet now, Huang Ying saw many smaller dots of scarlet and orange light gathering together around the fire that had rushed into his Qi crystal, congregating together. The many lights sank into the fire, turning it a brilliant scarlet that slowly started swirling around, standing side by side with the black and white colors in his Qi crystal.




Huang Ying had an idea what this meant, so he sent a bit of his perception into his Qi crystal, extracting a small part of the scarlet Qi. The minor tribulation had already completely destroyed the already weakened seal, so there was no longer anything restricting him. The scarlet Qi flowed through his body, bringing with it a hot feeling as it rushed towards his hand. When it reached his palm, it left his body and turned into a small scarlet flame, burning brightly above his palm.




Seeing the flame, Huang Ying couldn't help but grin. He had reached the peak of the 9th heaven and could even use Fire Qi now. With the help of the Vermilion Bird he was now much more confident in escaping. The seal in his body was broken, so there was no doubt that Deng Rong or Cui Xima would show up to check on him soon.




Huang Ying tilted his head to look at the Vermilion Bird. The patches of black ice had disappeared from it's body, the only sign that anything had changed was a hint of black light shining in it's eyes. The Vermilion Bird understood what Huang Ying meant. It's body quickly shrank and turned ethereal, before long it had shrunk so much that it was only the size of Huang Ying's palm. It flapped it's wings and flew at Huang Ying, quickly merging into his body.




This was a benefit brought about from the blood contract, since Huang Ying was the one who was given the blood first, he was considered the master in the relationship, so he could absorb the Vermilion Bird, allowing it to sleep within his blood. This way he could call upon it whenever he required it's assistance. Once he absorbed the Vermilion Bird he returned to waiting in silence, waiting for Deng Rong or Cui Xima to arrive as a plan slowly formed in his mind.

 

Chapter 53: I Will have your head!



Huang Ying didn't have to wait for very long before the sound of rushed footsteps came from the darkness, Cui Xima quickly strode out from the darkness and arrived before Huang Ying. Cui Xima looked all over Huang Ying, giving him a thorough look over.



“It seems like you broke through to the 9th heaven, congratulations it seems like your luck is pretty good, you actually managed to survive it.”



Cui Xima spoke with a smile. He had found nothing on Huang Ying that was capable of breaking the seal he had placed. Seeing that Huang Ying had broken through to the 9th heaven, he found it reasonable to believe that the minor tribulation broke the seal when it hit his dantian.



“Thank you, I too find my luck to be rather excellent.”



Huang Ying gave Cui Xima a smile as he responded, shocking Cui Xima. Cui Xima had spent the last half year thoroughly torturing and examining every corner of Huang Ying's body, yet this was the first time Huang Ying had ever actually said a word.



Huang Ying obviously knew that Cui Xima was just being sarcastic when he congratulated him. Even if he failed to withstand the tribulation, it would not kill him, it would only shatter the Qi crystal in his dantian, turning him into a normal person. But thinking that he would finally get to escape from here put Huang Ying in such a good mood that he did not mind responding to Cui Xima's taunts.



“Anyway, it would be for the best if we put that seal right back, wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.”



Cui Xima slowly approached Huang Ying, raising his right hand and drawing a few winding seals in the air in front of him. Cui Xima was not worried about Huang Ying attacking him. Cui Xima was so much stronger than Huang Ying, even if Huang Ying managed to get an attack in, it would deal no damage to him.



Huang Ying's entire body was relaxed, his mind calmer than it had ever been. He knew that he would only have a single chance for the perfect escape, if he wasted it, there was no telling how much harder his escape would be. Cui Xima finally got within range of Huang Ying, placing his right arm on Huang Ying's stomach. The seals that were floating around Cui Xima's hand moved forward, sinking into Huang Ying's dantian one by one.



As half of the seals had sunk into Huang Ying's dantian, his eyes suddenly lit up. He put all his power into his right arm, furiously channeling all the Qi in his body. The spikes on the leather straps that were holding him dug into his arm, sending his blood spurting outwards. The leather strap only managed to hold him back for half a second before it completely broke, freeing his right arm.



The skin on his wrist was completely ruined, deep punctures that went all the way to the bone covering his entire wrist. Huang Ying ignored the pain as he swung his arm at Cui Xima. If there was one thing that Cui Xima had taught him, it was that Huang Ying had no need to fear pain. His rapid regeneration surprised even Huang Ying when he first saw it. If it was like this, he could just ignore most injuries he got and fight with no regards.



His arm rapidly approached Cui Xima's shoulder, but Cui Xima only shook his head with a sigh when he saw it. Did this kid really expect to hurt him with something like that?



Seeing Cui Xima's reaction, Huang Ying's mouth curved into a cold smile, this was just the reaction he wanted to see. If he had attempted to attack Cui Xima's head, he would probably block, no matter how weak he thought Huang Ying was. But the shoulder was different, it seemed so inconspicuous and useless, but it was more useful than people thought.



Cui Xima noticed Huang Ying's smile and felt a cold chill creep up his spine. He wanted to raise his hand to block, but by then it was already far too late. Huang Ying sent his Qi into the interspatial ring on his finger, and with a nudge of his mind, a round ore with a large crack appeared in his hand. Inside the crack, one could see strange purplish-white crystals. This was the Lightning Ore that Huang Ying had found in The Wilderness.



Huang Ying's right hand flared up with scarlet flames, engulfing the entire ore as he slammed it into Cui Xima's shoulder. Cui Xima felt no pain when the ore or flames hit his shoulder, but the entire ore cracked and broke, the crystals coming into contact with the flames.



When the crystals came into contact with the flames, it was like a purple sun suddenly appeared in the room. The fire melted the crystal and agitated the lightning stored in the crystal. Lightning and fire were natural enemies, much like fire and water. Upon contact, they would immediately start fighting, leading to a large explosion.



Cui Xima only felt his entire shoulder burning with pain, lightning coursing through his entire body, flinging him to the side. His body was filled with Water Qi, which was naturally restrained by lightning. Coupled with the fact that he had no defense set up, his entire shoulder was charred and burned, large lumps of flesh directly falling off.



Huang Ying's hand was no better, but thanks to the fact that he had an abnormally strong body, it only ended with his entire right arm being charred completely black, next to useless. Huang Ying's eyes shone with a mad glint as he put all his energy into his left arm, breaking it free from the leather straps.



Both his arms were bloody and damaged, but he simply ignored it, breaking free his legs the same way he did his arms. His blood dyed the ice beneath him a crystalline crimson, looking like rubies. The Vermilion Bird flew out from his dantian and quickly enlarged, flying towards the exit with Huang Ying's directions.



Cui Xima wanted to stop him, but he had to first focus on pushing all the lightning out of his body, lest he end up permanently damaged. He looked towards Huang Ying with a murderous gaze. He did not expect Huang Ying to simply ignore his own injuries, staking everything just to wound him, he had even stolen their Vermilion Bird!



“Hahaha. Cui Xima, i'll come back to get my revenge for my arm in the future, so just wash your neck and wait.”



Huang Ying roared with laughter as he cast his mad gaze towards Cui Xima. These six months were not something he would ever be able to forget. Huang Ying was not a saint, since Cui Xima had hurt him like that, he would return at some point in the future and make sure Cui Xima died a most horrible death.



“You bastard! Don't think you can escape just like that!”



Cui Xima roared after Huang Ying. He wasn't too worried about him escaping, there was still Deng Rong in the academy. Deng Rong was not faster than the Vermilion Bird, but he didn't need to be faster, he only needed to stop them for a short while.



Deng Rong had no way to see what was happening in the Frost Depths, but when Huang Ying and te Vermilion Bird broke through the exit of the Frost Depths, there was no way he could not see them. A massive Vermilion Bird with a wingspan of ten meters suddenly broke through a small and inconspicuous shack, flying high above their academy, how could the students not be shocked?



“You?! Huang Ying, how dare you steal our Vermilion Bird?”



Deng Rong's furious voice resounded out from the largest building, a majestic scarlet castle decorated with golden phoenixes. Seeing Huang Ying fly out with the Vermilion Bird, he knew that he could not allow the students to know that they had kidnapped Huang Ying.



While some students did indeed know that they had kidnapped Huang Ying due to orders from a certain someone, only the most elite of the elite were brought in on this secret, the normal students had no idea. If they knew, it was very possible that they would elect to leave the academy.



“Hahaha. Old Deng Rong, what's the matter? Scared that I managed to escape from your torture chamber?”



Huang Ying shouted out loud in response to Deng Rong's accusations. He knew that even though some students obviously knew about him being kidnapped, they were probably in the minority. The other students were innocent, so there was no harm in letting them know just how Empyrean Phoenix did things.



Huang Ying and the Vermilion Bird did not stop after breaking out, quickly flying away from Empyrean Phoenix and Cloud's End City. Deng Rong quickly came after them, looking like a blazing ball of fire as he soared through the sky. As he flew, he conjured a large ball of fire in front of him, slowly condensing it until it was only the size of his palm. He knew that he would not be able to catch up to them, so his bet course of action was to force them to temporarily stop.



Deng Rong sent the small ball of fire forwards, causing it to shoot towards Huang Ying and the Vermilion Bird. His movement speed could not catch up to them, but his attack certainly could. The small ball quickly arrived behind Huang Ying and the Vermilion Bird. Huang Ying wasn't too shocked by this, instead he calmly turned around and looked at Deng Rong, lifting his left arm while doing so.



“Deng Rong! My right arm I gave to Cui Xima, so his head i'll come back for in the future. Now i'll give you my left arm, so you better wash your neck and await my revenge!”



Huang Ying spoke calmly, his voice resounding above all of Empyrean Phoenix, shocking all the students. He would take the head of vice-headmaster Cui Xima? And now he even proclaimed that headmaster Deng Rong should wash his neck and wait for his revenge? What was arrogance? This was arrogance.



The ball of fire quickly approached Huang Ying, but he only calmly looked at it, his blood seething and surging. His left arm suddenly changed, black scales growing out from his flesh and covering his entire arm. In just a short moment, his entire arm looked like the arm of a dragon.



Huang Ying punched out with his left arm, colliding head on against that ball of fire. The expected explosion did not happen. The only thing the students saw was the ball of fire bouncing off of the scales, shooting back towards Deng Rong. But as it shot back, large chunks of flesh suddenly fell off of Huang Ying's left arm, dying the back of the Vermilion Bird with blood.



The black scales were the result of Huang Ying burning the blood of Baku in his body. He could burn the blood of Baku much like he did the blood of the White Tiger. The only difference was that the blood of Baku was much stronger, producing a much stronger strain on his body.



Huang Ying's body contained four bloodlines right now. His human blood, the blood of Baku, the blood of the White Tiger, and some blood from the Vermilion Bird. He could burn all the blood of the Vermilion bird, he only had one drop of it, so it would not cause a large strain.



But the rest of his blood was divided into three parts, each taking up an equal amount of space. When he burned the blood of the White Tiger, he would at most burn around 10% of it, but even that almost doubled his power. This power obviously took it's toll on Huang Ying's body, quickly draining his energy.



If he tried to burn more than 10% of the White Tiger blood, it would quickly result in his body getting injured, much like what just happened. Due to this, he only dared burn around 10% at any given time. Just now he tried to burn just 5% of the blood of Baku, but the strain it brought to his body immediately destroyed his arm. Even with his regenerative powers, he would need some time for it to fully heal.



“Just you wait Deng Rong, I will have your head!”



Huang Ying roared at Deng Rong before he disappeared over the horizon, but there was nothing Deng Rong could do. He had to stop the small fireball that Huang Ying had sent back to him, otherwise it would hit the school and cause untold damage.

 

Chapter 54: Billowing Flames.



Huang Ying and the Vermilion Bird didn't slow down as they escaped, not even bothering to check if any of the students listened to his words. To Deng Rong and the others, it looked like they had made a clean and simple escape, but Huang Ying knew their situation better than anyone.



His own situation was still manageable, his right arm would finish healing within three hours. His left arm would require around two days to return to it's former strength. He could of course shorten the time needed if he found some Demonic beasts to devour.



The one that worried Huang Ying more was the Vermilion Bird. When they signed the blood contract, it was already approaching the end of it's life. It had spent a large portion of it's life trapped within the Frost Depths, the icy air down there had already seeped into it's very bones.



Due to this, the Vermilion Bird was exceedingly weak before the escape even began. The Vermilion Bird hoped to use Huang Ying's powerful blood to strengthen it's own, allowing it to push the icy air out from it's bones. But it would never have imagined that Huang Ying not only had the White Tiger bloodline, but also the bloodline of Baku.



When it absorbed his blood, Huang Ying had ensured that the bloodline of Baku didn't devour the White Tiger bloodline and itself after it left his body. This was the only way to ensure that the Vermilion Bird got the blood it needed to strengthen itself, but it also meant that it would simultaneously absorb his Baku bloodline.



At the start, the effects of this weren't obvious. But after that, Huang Ying pulled the Vermilion Bird into his body, allowing it to rest within his blood stream and dantian, slowly absorbing more of the blood. Once they started their escape, the Vermilion Bird was constantly tensed, it's blood rapidly flowing through it's body.



This sent the blood of Baku to every corner of it's body, and the blood started doing what it did best, devouring. Ever since they left the Frost Depths, the blood of Baku was constantly devouring the Vermilion Bird's blood, slowly reshaping it into a form more suitable for it's master.



This was very similar to what happened whenever a Vermilion Bird or Phoenix underwent Nirvana, it's rebirth. The only difference was that this was a much higher class of evolution, completely changing the Vermilion Bird. This could be considered a blessing for the Vermilion Bird, it was simply bad timing.



This process would drain the Vermilion Bird of all it's strength, before completely destroying it and allowing it to be reborn. If Deng Rong decided to be persistent and chase after them, it was possible that he would find them while the Vermilion Bird was undergoing Nirvana, and that would be disastrous for them.



Because of this, Huang Ying had kept up a strong front, even taunting Deng Rong, all to make Deng Rong believe that Huang Ying had the upper hand. If Deng Rong had just spent a little time thinking, he would have easily figured out that the Vermilion Bird was weakened. It had after all spent a large majority of it's life trapped underground in the Frost Depths. Too bad for Deng Rong that he had fallen for Huang Ying's taunts, believing that the Vermilion Bird was completely fine. Due to this, he had lost his one chance to chase them down.



Huang Ying and the Vermilion Bird kept flying for half a day, looking for a spot that could be considered safe to rest. The continent of Cloud's Reach that Huang Ying was currently on, bordered The Wilderness, much like Green Willows. Cloud's End was located north of The Wilderness, while Empyrean Phoenix was located at the east side of Cloud's End.



Because of this, Huang Ying could not flee to the west or south, as that would only take him back to Cloud's End or back into The Wilderness. Huang Ying had devoured enough memories to become rather knowledgeable about Cloud's End. But when it came to most of the areas outside of the capital, Huang Ying knew next to nothing.



He only knew some minor information about the outside, to the north of Cloud's Reach was the center of the continent, where the larger clans made their homes. To the east of Cloud's Reach was a small mountainous region, followed by a vast plain. This area was considered more of a rural area, housing many small villages and spread bandit groups.



Huang Ying didn't spend a lot of time thinking. He couldn't even walk freely in Cloud's Reach, so there was no way that he was strong enough to wander around in the center area of the continent. His only choice was to flee to the east, towards that vast plain.



After flying for half a day at full speed, they had already reached the mountainous region that separated Cloud's Reach from the vast plain. The mountainous region was several hundred kilometers away from Cloud's Reach, but a fully grown Vermilion Bird could easily reach speeds that broke the sound barrier. Even if his Vermilion Bird was wounded, flying several hundred kilometers in half a day was not a problem for it.



They quickly descended into the mountainous region and found a cave that was large enough to house both of them. The memories Huang Ying had devoured always referred to this mountainous region as a “small mountainous region” but when Huang Ying descended into it, he was shocked. The mountains stretched onward for as far as the eye could see, easily reaching several hundred kilometers. This was a small mountainous region? It seemed more like a natural border, sealing all of Cloud's Reach away, than anything else.



Huang Ying threw this thought out of his mind after they landed. The Vermilion Bird was already running on fumes, it would probably not even take the rest of the day before it completed it's Nirvana. The cave they settled for was just a large hole in the mountain side, so while the Vermilion Bird laid down at the very back of the cave, Huang Ying dug out some large rocks that he could use to seal the entrance.



The Vermilion Bird needed peace to finish it's Nirvana, but Huang Ying also needed to stabilize his own cultivation, otherwise it could easily become weak and full of weaknesses in the future. The Vermilion Bird laid down at the very end of the cave, it's feathers had already lost all their scarlet luster, turning a deep red.



Huang Ying sat down cross-legged in front of the Vermilion Bird, before turning his vision inwards, looking at his own dantian. The inside of his dantian was a massive void. Within this void was a tiny crystal, no larger than an infant's fist. The crystal was a a mixture of black, white, and red, each color swirling around each other. There were several small cracks on the crystal, there were even parts that had broken off.



If it were earlier, Huang Ying would have been worried about having his Qi crystal cracking and shattering, but to break into the Xiantian Builder realm, this was just what he needed to do. He would crack the outer parts of the crystal, laying bare it's innermost core, the World Seed. He would then take all the broken pieces and fuse them together once more, forming a sun that would light up the World Seed, allowing it to grow into an independent world.



Huang Ying was in no hurry to shatter the outer layer of his Qi crystal, instead gathering up the pieces that had already broken and guiding them to merge into the Qi crystal again, reforming it. He could shatter his Qi crystal right now, breaking through to the Xiantian Builder realm, but if he did so, his World Seed would not be as strong as it could be.



He would rather spend some more time condensing his Qi crystal and strengthening the World Seed within. If he did it like that, it would make the world he built even stronger, allowing him to store larger amounts of Qi and control larger amounts of Natural Energy.



Huang Ying opened his eyes and released a breath of turbid air. He calculated that he had spent about four hours just merging the few shattered pieces back into his Qi crystal. Noticing this, he could not help but exclaim, cultivation was indeed timeless. He felt like he had only spent a few minutes, but four hours had passed in the blink of an eye.



He cast his gaze towards the Vermilion Bird, since four hours had passed, it should be approaching the end of it's Nirvana. The Vermilion Bird had already changed completely, shrinking until it was only as tall as two palms. It's once straight beak had slightly bent, becoming sharp and grim, looking like an eagles beak. It's claws had grown sharper as well. It no longer looked like an awe inspiring and peaceful saint, it looked more like a tyrant, an overlord of beasts.



It's once lustrous scarlet feathers had turned an abyssal black. The golden feathers on it's head had changed into a deep crimson, becoming a fiery crown. The tip of it's wings shone with a pale white, giving off a cold air that seemed to eat away at ones vitality.



The blood of Baku had completely changed the body of the Vermilion Bird, merging the bloodlines of the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and Baku, turning the Vermilion Bird into a completely new type of Demonic beast. A Demonic beast created just for Huang Ying.



Huang Ying silently looked at the Vermilion Bird, all the while talking with Li Jun, checking if he had ever heard of any Demonic beast like it. Even with Li Jun's extensive knowledge, he had to admit that he had never seen anything like this. He had seen Demonic beasts evolve and change before. But changing to this degree? He had never even heard about anything like that.



After a short while, the Vermilion Bird opened it's eyes. It's eyes had become pitch black as well, looking like two black holes that devoured all light. It stretched it's wings and let loose a loud screech. The Vermilion Bird was only two palms tall, but it's screech resounded for several kilometers. Black flames billowed out from it's small body, surging past Huang Ying and out off the cave.



As the flames broke through the makeshift blockade that Huang Ying had set up, the sky itself seemed to darken, black flames covering the sky, heralding the birth of the king of beasts.

 

Chapter 55: Black flame.



The flames continued to billow forth for almost five entire minutes before the started receding, charging back into the cave. The cave was quickly filled with black flames that gathered onto the Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird seemed to melt into the flames, it's body flickering like a candle before it suddenly completely vanished.



Huang Ying knew that this was the final step of it's Nirvana, completely turning it's body into flame before rebuilding it. Not long after the Vermilion Bird dissipated into the flames, the flames suddenly started gathering together in front of Huang Ying.



The flames gathered together, quickly forming what seemed to be the skeleton of a bird. The only difference between this and a normal skeleton was that the bones were pitch black, like they had been charred by flames.



After the skeleton was completely formed, the flames turned into veins and then into flesh that covered the veins. Organs were quickly formed after the flesh, a loud thumping sound quickly resounding throughout the cave as the heart was being formed.



After the fleshy body was completed, skin and feathers quickly formed, completing the rebuilding of the Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird looked just like it did before it's body disintegrated, black feathers, a crimson crown, and wing tips that shone with a white light.



The Vermilion Bird looked exactly the same, but Huang Ying could feel that the Vermilion Bird was now full of life, it's life force burning brilliantly. The Vermilion Bird's body suddenly flickered as it charged at Huang Ying.



The Vermilion Bird hit his body, but instead of merging or crashing into him, it seemed to melt into him, a layer of black liquid slowly seeping into his body. Huang Ying quickly turned his vision inward in shock. The black liquid entered his bloodstream, quickly flowing throughout his entire body.



As it flowed throughout his body, it swallowed that single drop of Vermilion Bird blood and a bit of the White Tiger and Baku bloodlines. Huang Ying quickly realized what was happening. Since this Vermilion Bird had become a Demonic beast created just for him, just having a single drop of normal Vermilion Bird blood was obviously no longer good enough.



The blood of the new Vermilion Bird quickly took up it's own position within his body. With the new bloodline entering his body, the hierarchy of bloodlines quickly became apparent. The Baku bloodline was on top, with the White Tiger a bit below it, while the Vermilion Bird blood was at the bottom, above only his human blood.



The reason the hierarchy was set up like this was simply because the quality of the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird blood was too low. If Huang Ying could devour different Demonic beasts that had certain Bird and Tiger type bloodlines, he would be able to slowly strengthen his Vermilion Bird and White Tiger bloodlines, maybe even making them as strong as his Baku bloodline.



Huang Ying stood up and stretched his body, his joints releasing thundering cracking noises. He could feel that his body had become stronger after merging with the new Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird had just completed it's Nirvana, draining it of all it's energy. It would require a few days before it would be able to wake up.



“Congratulations, you have acquired a completely new Demonic beast. What are you going to call it?”



Li Jun's voice resounded within Huang Ying's head as he was checking out his body, slightly catching Huang Ying off guard. Right, the Vermilion Bird was now his contract beast, it would be with him until either one died, always calling it Vermilion Bird would not work.



Huang Ying wondered whether or not the Vermilion Bird already had a name, but since it had just completed it's Nirvana, it was obviously impossible to ask it. Even if he waited for it to wake up before asking, the Vermilion Bird would be just like a newborn. It would be incapable of talking, nor would it have it's old memories, it would have to become an adult before it would regain those.



“I'll just call it Little Flame, if it complains, we can just change it then.”



Huang Ying was terrible at naming things, so he just decided on the first thing that came to mind. The Vermilion Bird was only around two palms tall and used fire to attack, so calling it Little Flame would do.



“Your naming sense really is bad huh?”



Li Jun's slightly amused voice rang out, but Huang Ying decided to just ignore it. He was much more interested in checking out the strength of the Vermilion Bird blood.



Huang Ying left the cave and carefully made his way down the mountain side, reaching the foot of the mountain after a few minutes of climbing. The area around the foot of the mountain was completely barren, consisting only of dirty yellow stone.



Huang Ying circulated the blood of the Vermilion Bird around his body, burning around 15% of it. He figured that if he could burn 10% of the White Tiger blood, which was a higher rank than the Vermilion Bird blood, he should be able to burn 15% of the Vermilion Bird blood.



The blood burned, and as it did, black flames spread from Huang Ying's body. When the people from Empyrean Phoenix burned their Vermilion Bird blood, it manifested as feathers on their face, while Shi Na's manifested as feathers and wings.



The flames around Huang Ying quickly gathered around him, some of the flames stuck to his arms, forming two pitch black pieces of armor. Some flames gathered at his back, forming pitch black wings of flames. The remainder of the flames gathered above his head and returned to their original crimson color, forming a crimson crown above him.



Black flames burned the air all around him, his pitch black wings and crimson crown made him look like a god of fire walking the earth. The heat from the flames distorted the air around him and even started slowly softening the stone beneath his feet.



After Huang Ying broke through to the 9th heaven and stabilized his cultivation, he could control the Natural Energy in a 150 meter circle around him, but after burning the Vermilion Bird blood, the range of his control increased to 300 meters around him, once more giving him double the range.



Huang Ying gripped his hand, a black spear quickly forming in his hands. This spear was made out of compressed fire, but it looked no different from a real spear, it even had the same weight as a real spear. Huang Ying held the spear with both hands as he slowly moved around, constantly changing stances.



After moving around for a few minutes, he suddenly threw the spear with all his might, aiming at the mountain ahead of him. The spear flew out, flying so fast that it looked like a black line in space. When it hit the mountain, it exploded into an inferno of flames, the stone quickly melting and turning to lava as a five meter large hole formed in the mountain. Seeing the power behind the spear, Huang Ying couldn't help but smile.



He had chosen the spear as his weapon not just because he had the most memories about how to fight with a spear, but also because of his bodily strength. A sword focused on speed and flexibility, so while Huang Ying did indeed have enough speed and flexibility to use a sword, he wouldn't be able to bring out his full power with it.



A spear required speed and strength, if he used a flexible spear, it would also require some flexibility. With Huang Ying's abnormally strong body, he could make more use of a spear than he could a sword. Even if he met someone that was heavily armored, he could use his raw strength to simply clobber them to death, using the spear as a staff.



Huang Ying stopped burning the Vermilion Bird blood and took a few minutes to catch his breath. After spending a few minutes in silence, he started walking away from the mountain, heading towards the vast plain that he knew was located past these mountains. He had spent around half a year being tortured by Cui Xima, so he only had three and a half years before the Dragon Meeting would begin. He would also have to figure out who ordered Deng Rong to capture him, having an enemy he knew nothing about was not something Huang Ying enjoyed.

 

Chapter 56: Vast Plains Ruin.



several days later, Huang Ying was sitting in a tavern gathering information about the area. Li Jun's level was simply too high, he didn't even put the central area of Clouds Reach into his eyes, much less this desolate plain.



Huang Ying was in one of the larger cities of the plains. The city was called Eastern Sun City and was located a four days walk away from the mountain range that Huang Ying had rested in. The city could be considered very large, being on par with Willow's Heart in size and number of citizens, but when it was compared to Clouds End, it fell short by a large margin.



Huang Ying had used a technique to slightly alter his appearance, his skin becoming more tanned and coarse, a large scar on his face. He had also retracted the icy aura that lingered around him when he used his Ice element, instead circulating his Devouring Qi to devour most of his aura. While he circulated his Devouring Qi, he seemed just like a cultivator at the 7th heaven, unless one broke through past the Xiantian Realm, it would be impossible to tell his cultivation level, or so Li Jun told him at least.



He had spent a few days going from tavern to tavern, gathering any piece of information that he could find. He knew nothing about this vast plain, so his first priority was gathering information, his second priority was to get stronger. There was an unknown person who wanted to capture him, this threat hung over him like a knife. If he did not grow stronger, he would not be able to defend himself when he was found by that person.



After these few days of information gathering, Huang Ying had already come up with a plan for the near future. A few days march away from this city laid an old ruin that was uncovered around 100 years ago. Rumor had it that once you entered the ruin, you would simply disappear, transported to an unknown location.



Ever since it had been discovered 100 years ago, only four people had ever managed to return. Three of the people were heavily wounded and completely mad, but the last person had found a miraculous herb in there that had allowed his cultivation speed to nearly triple.



Huang Ying knew that entering these ruins would be very dangerous, but he also knew of the concept that it was foolish to eat just because of the danger of choking. Risk came with reward, if he managed to survive and explore the ruins, there was no telling how strong he would become.



Huang Ying left city the next morning, starting the trek towards the ruins. Huang Ying had no intention of entering on his own. There were many others that still entered the ruins. People from all over the continent traveled to these ruins to explore them, often grouping together with other people.



After marching for four days, Huang Ying arrived outside the ruins, slightly surprised at what he found. The place had been called a ruin by everyone who mentioned it, but when Huang Ying arrived, he found that it was in fact just a large hole in the ground.



The area around the hole was completely barren, not a single tree or blade of grass in sight. There were a few people spread around the hole, some resting, some checking out the hole. From what Huang Ying could see, the hole seemed to be almost 30 meters across.



The hole was so deep that not even Li Jun was capable of seeing what was at the bottom, but he also mentioned that it might be blocked by an array, preventing others from seeing anything. Hearing this, Huang Ying couldn't help but be even more shocked.



Ever since he had gotten to know Li Jun, he found that there were very few things that Li Jun couldn't do. But now there might be an array that was capable of blocking out even his sight? What sort of level had the person who placed that array reached?



“Greetings this brother, are you perhaps planning on entering the ruins?”



While Huang Ying was looking down the hole, a voice rang out from behind him. Turning around, Huang Ying saw a group of three people standing not far from him. The group consisted of a male youth in a black robe with tanned rough skin and short black hair. A male youth clad in a light yellow robe, the youth had hair that was a deep golden color and wore a bright smile on his face. The last person in the group was a tall girl with a slim figure. She was clad in a loose gray robe, long brown hair flowing down from her head.



“I am indeed planning on entering the ruins, but I am afraid I don't even know how to enter the ruins.”



Huang Ying put on a helpless smile and shook his head while he spoke. He was looking for a group to travel with as he entered the ruins, so he had to at least act with a certain amount of sincerity and kindness.



“That is no problem, I can see that this brother has already reached the 7th heaven, so why don't you join us?”



The one that spoke was the youth wearing the black robe. The two other people in the group didn't react to his words, they had obviously already talked about finding another member.



“In that case, I will be in your care. I am Li Ying.”



Huang Ying cupped his fists and introduced himself with a random name he had made up. He did not know where the unknown person that was looking for him was, nor how much he knew about Huang Ying, so it was best to err on the side of caution.



“Excellent! I am He Cheng, this is Sister Mo Yating, and this is Brother Xin Yang. We are all around the 8th heaven, so if we act with caution and watch each others back, we should manage just fine.”



The youth with the black robe, He Cheng, introduced himself and the others in the group. The reason he said that they should be fine was because the four people that managed to leave the ruins were all at the 9th heaven.



He Cheng brought Huang Ying and the others to a small stone circle that was located not far from the hole. The stone circle was almost three meters across, and consisted of rocks that were a pure white, looking almost like bones.



“This is the Spatial Array that will bring us into the ruins. When we find treasures, we will split them evenly if there are enough, but if there aren't enough, it will be up to your own ability.”



He Cheng spoke with a bright smile as he activated the spatial array, but Huang Ying sneered inwardly at his words. When he said it like that, it sounded fair and righteous, but He Cheng was at the peak of the 8th heaven, while Xin Yang and Mo Yating seemed to have only entered the 8th heaven recently. He Cheng thought he was the strongest one in the group, that was the only reason he was willing to say those words.



Of course, Huang Ying would not show any of this on his face, keeping an indifferent expression. He moved his eyes slightly and saw that the youth with the golden hair, Xin Yang had a slight smile on his face as he looked at He Cheng. The smile was well hidden, but how could Huang Ying not see the mocking intent in that smile?



Huang Ying had already talked with Li Jun about these people. He Cheng and Mo Yating were indeed at the cultivation level that they showed, but Xin Yang was already in the 9th heaven. Huang Ying did not know why Xin Yang would hide his cultivation level, but he did not ask, nor did he care. It would only make it more interesting if he kept it a secret.

 

Chapter 57: Inside The Ruins.





After they traveled through the spatial array, the group found themselves on a small island surrounded by a vast ocean. The island was less than two kilometers across, completely barren, and seemed like it was just a large rock that someone had thrown into the water.





The group stood still and inspected their surroundings with grim faces. The only person who had managed to leave the ruins with his mind intact had thoroughly explained the path he took. But as they inspected the area around them, they realized that the area they were in had not been explained by the cultivator who managed to leave.





This could either mean that he had either forgotten or not bothered to mention this specific area, or it could mean that whenever a group entered the ruins, they would get transported to a random area of the ruins. They quickly threw out the first possibility, the cultivator who escaped had been pressured by every faction in the surrounding area, not explaining everything would just be suicidal.




That only left the second option, that where they would end up was random, or at least followed a different pattern than it did when the surviving cultivator explored it. Huang Ying suddenly felt the urge to curse at whoever left behind these ruins.




The concept that luck was a part of someones strength was a concept that Huang Ying wholeheartedly believed in. After all, if he hadn't been lucky enough to have the blood of Baku, there was no telling if he would ever have been able to become anything great. But if the path they took truly was random, wouldn't that also mean that whenever they left one part of the ruin through a spatial array, that they faced the risk of being sent back to a part that they had already explored?




“I believe that you should all have realized that the path we are going to take is going to differ from the path we expected. I suggest we take extra care, moving slower than we usually would and thoroughly examining everything.”




He Cheng's solemn voice rang out as Huang Ying was cursing at whoever implemented such a stupid system into these ruins. He Cheng swept his gaze across the other people of the group, seeing that there was no one disagreeing, he nodded his head in satisfaction. He enjoyed the sensation of being a leader, it made him feel strong.




“How about we tell each other a little about ourselves? It'll help ease the tension and also allow us to become more familiar with each others capabilities. I'll start. My name is He Cheng, I come from the He Clan in the central area and use Water Qi.”




“Li Ying. Just a traveling cultivator with no background. I use Fire Qi, but focus mostly on body strengthening.”




“Xin Yang. I come from the Eastern Wind Academy and use Wind Qi.”




“Mo Yating. I come from the First Dawn Academy and use Light Qi.”




The group took turns explaining their capabilities. The He Clan, Eastern Wind Academy, and First Dawn Academy were all second rate powers in the central region of Clouds Reach.




They weren't on the level of the Jing Clan, but they were able to stand stably on their own piece of land. They were even given a few spots for the Dragon Meeting. Empyrean Phoenix and Willows Hope could not even hope to compare to any of these factions.




Huang Ying was also rather surprised that Mo Yating had Light Element Qi. Light Element Qi was a very rare type of Qi that could give the cultivator unsurpassed speed. The Light Element also had close ties to the Fire Element, moving at such speeds that the friction with the air alone was enough to cause flames and heat to appear.




Huang Ying had devoured close to 1400 people at this point already, but he had yet to devour a single person that had the Light Element. It's rarity could easily bee seen from this. Of course, the Light Element was not without weakness. It was nearly unusable in places without light, no matter how hard you tried to command the surrounding Natural Energy. It also lacked flexibility, being more focused on straight line movements.




After they finished introducing themselves, they started closely examining every corner of the island and the waters around it. The island seemed like it was just one large black rock. Besides it's extraordinary toughness, Huang Ying found nothing unusual about the rock, neither did the others in the group.




After about 15 minutes, they all gathered together at one corner of the island. This corner of the island had a small raft tied to it. The raft was made out of a strange type of gray logs held together by what seemed to be vines. The raft could just barely fit six people, so even if all four of them got on the boat, there would still be space to spare. There was no sail on the boat, just two oars that they would have to use to row.




“Li Jun, what do you think? Is it safe to use this raft?”




The water around the raft was a murky green color, looking like a tainted emerald. Huang Ying had never even heard about water like this, but just looking at it gave Huang Ying a bad feeling, so he decided to ask Li Jun, who had experienced far more than Huang Ying.




Huang Ying waited for Li Jun's response for almost an entire minute before he realized that something was wrong. He tried to communicated with Li Jun several more times, but after not getting any response, he turned his vision inwards, checking out his Spiritual Sea. Upon entering his Spiritual Sea, Huang Ying was shocked, he could not find any traces of Li Jun.




Realizing that something had either removed or blocked his connection with Li Jun, Huang Ying's face mouth couldn't help but twitch. Li Jun's soul was trapped inside his Spiritual Sea, Huang Ying had never even heard Li Jun mention that it was possible to remove him without building him a new body. To be strong enough to either remove or block their connection? Huang Ying had no idea what sort of level that was.




“It seems like this raft is our only way off this island. Since there are four of us, we can take turns rowing, switching every four hours. Be wary of the surroundings, not even my Water Qi can interact with the water around the raft, so it might not even be water.”




While Huang Ying's mouth was twitching, He Cheng took the lead, directly jumping onto the raft and grabbing one of the oars. Huang Ying and the others swiftly followed, Mo Yating grabbing the other oar, starting their long trek through the water.

 

Chapter 58: Strange Water.


Mo Yating and He Cheng rowed in silence for four hours before switching with Huang Ying and Xin Yang. They continued rowing for another four hours before switching again. This pattern repeated itself for a total of 12 times before He Cheng and Mo Yating ended up too tired to continue rowing, taking a short break.



Even though they switched every four hours, after spending so long on the water, rowing with no end in sight, everyone ended up slightly exhausted, both mentally and physically.



They had rowed for a total of 96 hours already, yet they had not spotted any land ahead of them. Were it not for the fact that they could use the Natural Energy around them to constantly replenish their energy, even slowing down the frequency at which they needed to eat and drink, it would be hard to tell for how much longer they could go on.



The fact that nothing had happened over these 96 hours did nothing to calm down the group, it even had the opposite effect. If nothing had changed in the 96 hours they had spent rowing, how much longer would they have to go before anything changed? The water around them was completely still, without even a single ripple. There was no wind or sound, only the steady droning of the oars hitting the water.



Mo Yating and He Cheng took a small break, bringing out some water from their interspatial rings and starting up a conversation with Huang Ying and Xin Yang. Rowing in silence for 96 hours slowly took it's toll on their mental state, so just stopping and chatting was a nice and refreshing feeling.



As they were chatting, Xin Yang suddenly turned his head, staring at the water just behind them. He narrowed his eyes and was just about to say something when the entire raft suddenly shot skywards. The raft shot skywards and the four people were collectively thrown into the air with it. The sudden turn of events caught them all off guard, but they were still quick to react, stabilizing their bodies in mid-air.



Looking down, they could see a massive emerald tentacle slowly sinking back into the water, this tentacle was obviously what had thrown the raft into the sky. Just looking at the tip of the tentacle gave them all shivers, they did not doubt that whatever creature owned that tentacle was easily capable of slaying them.



They all quickly utilized whatever means they had to return to the currently falling raft, quickly landing safely on it. As the raft landed in the water, Huang Ying and Xin Yang did not waste time on words, quickly grabbing the oars and rowing with all their might.



Huang Ying felt a sizzling pain on his right arm as he was rowing and lowered his head to look at his arm. He was completely aghast when he saw that a drop of the green water had landed on his arm, quickly melting through his clothing and corroding his arm. In the time it took Huang Ying to notice the pain and react, the drop of water had already melted a one inch deep hole into his arm.



Huang Ying quickly circulated his Qi, pushing the drop of water out off his arm, before quickly covering the wound with some cloth and checking on the others. He noticed that he was not the only one who noticed the horror that was the water around them. The others had also been hit by some water, quickly realizing just how corrosive this liquid was.



Xin Yang and Mo Yating were still fine, they had been hit in places where they could quickly react and push out the water. But He Cheng had gotten some water on his right hand, losing his index, middle, and ring finger before he managed to even react. He grit his teeth and wrapped his hand with a strange blue leaf, the bleeding quickly receding.



“Is it still following us?”



Mo Yating was the first one to open her mouth, her voice still trembling due to the shock.



“I can't tell, the waters too murky, I can't even see past four meters deep.”



Xin Yang cast his eyes towards the water, trying to peer into the depths, but the water was simply too murky to see anything. The group continued rowing in silence, the threat of that massive beast now looming above their heads.



They continued rowing for over two days, but the monster never made any more appearances. They returned to their normal routine of rowing, changing ever four hours. He Cheng had lost three fingers, but he was after all a cultivator at the peak of the 8th heaven, so just a bit of rowing was no problem for them.



After they spent two days rowing, Xin Yang called for them to take a short break to catch their breaths and calm their minds. The break lasted for around 5 minutes before Huang Ying and Xin Yang both quickly turned their heads and stared at the water.



“Row!”



“Row!”



They both shouted at the same time, throwing themselves at the oars and rowing with all their might. Right after they started moving, a massive tentacle broke through the water behind them, flinging large amounts of water into the air, but just barely missing the raft.



Seeing the water falling down at them, Xin Yang quickly reacted, throwing his oar to Mo Yating, who quickly took over his rowing. Xin Yang circulated all his Qi and sent it into his surroundings, taking over all the Natural Energy in a 200 meter range. As his Qi took over, wind started to blow all around the boat, quickly growing in strength, pushing the corrosive water aside before it could hit the raft.



After the water was blocked, Xin Yang sat down and popped a pill into his mouth, quickly shutting his eyes to meditate and absorb the energy within the pill. He had spent all his Qi to push the corrosive water aside, he would require a short period of time before he could return to his peak state.



The group continued to row in silence for half a day before Xin Yang had returned to his peak state. As Xin Yang returned to his peak state, Huang Ying called for a break. The group looked at him in shock for a short while, before quickly catching on to what he meant.



After waiting for another five minutes, He Cheng and Mo Yating threw themselves at the oars and started rowing, quickly bringing the raft forward. As the raft moved forward, a massive tentacle once more broke through the water surface, bringing with it a shower of corrosive water.



Xin Yang once more expended all his Qi to push the water aside, not allowing any of it to hit the raft. After the water was pushed aside, he popped another pil into his mouth, but he didn't stop to meditate this time, a grim look on his face.



“It seems like this is an endurance trial.”



Xin Yang was the first one to break the silence, his words causing the others to nod with solemn expression. The tentacles had attacked three times, and all three times were when they stopped rowing to rest. If it had happened once or twice, they could write it off as coincidence. But when it happened three times in a row, and there were no other signs of the monster at any other times?



This meant that they would have to continuously row without pause, until they managed to reach the end of this vast expanse of water. But the question was for how long they would have to do that. They had already rowed for six and a half days without seeing any signs of the end. Just how far would they have to row before the found the end?

 

Chapter 59: Madness on the raft.



Time ended up proving Xin Yang right. The group continued to row without pause, days turning into weeks and weeks turning into months. The scenery around them never changed, the murky green water being the only thing they could see.



“Isn't this just fucking insane?!”



He Cheng couldn't help but scream out as they were rowing. They had already rowed for several months without break. He had brought many pills to restore energy, allowing them to keep rowing without break, but the unchanging scenery and monotony of the work was close to driving him insane.



He Cheng wasn't the only one. Mo Yating was completely pale, her eyes bloodshot. They thought that the people who entered before them and ended up mad when they left had ended up like that because they were weak, it was only now that they realized how horrible these ruins really were.



Xin Yang was also pale, but Huang Ying was rather surprised by his mental fortitude. Despite the monotony and exhaustion of the work, Xin Yang kept a perpetual smile, even cracking jokes several times a day.



Huang Ying was undoubtedly the one who was best of. He had long grown used to monotony and exhaustion. Just before he entered these ruins he had been tortured for half a year, surrounded by a world of ice.



“Ey, Little Ying. Tell me honestly, how much longer do you think we have to spend rowing this fucking raft?”



Xin Yang turned to Huang Ying and spoke as they were rowing. Over these few months, Xin Yang would often talk to Huang Ying when they were rowing. Huang Ying didn't enjoyed having someone to talk to while rowing, so he didn't mind chatting with Xin Yang.



“I have no clue, but i'm afraid that if it keeps going like this, He Cheng or Mo Yating might actually end up completely insane.”



Huang Ying glanced at He Cheng and Mo Yating as he spoke. He Cheng had started talking less and less these past months, often mumbling to himself. Mo Yating was still better off, she simply curled up at the corner of the boat and gazed into the murky water.



“Have you noticed something strange these past few months?”



Xin Yang turned his head a bit, scanning the surroundings as he spoke, lowering his voice to a silent whisper.



“You mean how our cultivation isn't increasing right?”



Huang Ying also lowered his voice to a whisper. They had been rowing for a few months, cultivating whenever they weren't rowing. But Huang Ying noticed that no matter how much he cultivated, his cultivation level was still only at the 9th heaven.



This could of course mean that he had encountered a bottleneck and had to find a way to break through. But Huang Ying had already been capable of reaching the Xiantian Builder stage before he even entered these ruins, so how could he possibly encounter a bottleneck now?



If it wasn't just his cultivation level that had stagnated, that could only mean that there was either no Natural Energy in their surroundings, or something was preventing them from absorbing Natural Energy.



But Huang Ying could both feel and see the Natural Energy around them, it was even more abundant than it was in the outside world. He had also absorbed the Natural Energy around him, so there was no way that there was anything preventing them from absorbing the energy.



This question had not only stumped Huang Ying, but also Xin Yang. There was an abundant amount of energy around them and they could absorb as much as they wanted, yet their cultivation level did not increase.



“Should we tell the others?”



Huang Ying glanced at Mo Yating and He Cheng as he asked. Over these past few months, he had gotten a pretty good grip on Xin Yang's character. He was carefree and fun-loving, but he also had sharp vision and a quick mind, allowing him to easily grasp the most minute of details.



“No, we probably shouldn't. Right now, all they have left is cultivating to pass the time. If they lose even that, there is no telling what they'll do.”



Xin Yang played with the thought in silence for a few minutes, but eventually shook his head. Mo Yating and He Cheng were already dangerously close to going insane, any more bad new and they might completely snap.



Huang Ying nodded his head. What Xin Yang said did indeed sound reasonable, nor did he have any better ideas, so just maintaining the status quo would be for the best. Yet neither Huang Ying or Xin Yang expected that He Cheng would discover it after but four more days.



“My cultivation isn't increasing!”



He Cheng suddenly stood up and screamed out, his voice hoarse. When he entered the ruins, he was at the peak of the 8th heaven. He had been planning on breaking through right after they left the ruins. But since they ended up spending several months on this raft, he thought that he might as well break through now.



“What?!”



Mo Yating was pale as she stood up. She was already struggling with the thought that they might be stuck on this raft for several more months, hearing that they might not even be able to cultivate on furthered her despair.



“It's true, I am at the peak of the 8th heaven, I should have already broken through, yet im stuck at the peak of the 8th heaven!”



He Cheng grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he spoke. He couldn't even cultivate in this damned place. Wouldn't that mean that they were stuck on this raft until they ran out of food and die?



“It can't be....”



Mo Yating quickly checked her cultivation after hearing He Cheng confirm it. She spent most of her time just vacantly staring into the water, but she had spent a bit of time cultivating. If things were like normal, she would have closed in on the 9th heaven. But she was shocked to see that her cultivation had completely stagnated, not moving an inch.



“Fucking dammit! This shitty place is driving me insane! We can't reach the end, we can't cultivate, we can't even touch the fucking water! Fuck this.”



He Cheng screamed out, grasping at his own head, his eyes completely bloodshot. He suddenly turned his head, looking at Mo Yating with crimson eyes, his face twisting into a repulsive grin.



“What...What are you doing?”



Mo Yating felt a cold shiver go up her spine as she saw He Cheng's repulsive grin. She knew that the cultivation world was a lot more cruel to women than it was to men, but she had yet to experience it for herself.



“I've had it with this dull and monotonous prison, if we are just going to die here after running out of food, I might as well do what I want to do!”



He Cheng spoke with a grin as he straightened out his body and started walking towards Mo Yating, his hands already reaching out for her.



“?! Get away from me!”



Mo Yating paled even more upon seeing his actions, her face was now completely devoid of color. She scramble backwards, hoping to seek shelter behind Huang Ying and Xin Yang.



“Fuck...”



Huang Ying couldn't help but sigh and shake his head when he saw the events unfold. Xin Yang was also shaking his head. This was exactly what he was worried would happen, He Cheng completely losing control.



Huang Ying stood up as He Cheng closed in. He Cheng didn't even look at Huang Ying, just swinging his arm sideways to push him away. Little did he expect Huang Ying to easily back-step and dodge his swing. Huang Ying kicked out, planting his foot firmly into He Cheng's stomach.



He Cheng bent forward like a shrimp, blood dripping out from the corners of his mouth. How strong was Huang Ying's body at this point? Not even some Xiantian Builder cultivators could compare with his bodily strength. He Cheng quickly tumbled backwards, falling into the water.



Since he had already turned completely mad, Huang Ying did not see a point in sparing his life. If he lived, it would only bring trouble to the rest of the group. Huang Ying also wasn't too comfortable with what He Cheng wanted to do. Huang Ying had no problem with killing people, he had killed plenty of people. But he had a strong revulsion towards the act of rape.



“?! Could it be....?”



As He Cheng landed in the water, he started quickly dissolving due to the corrosive property of the water. Huang Ying was just about to turn away when he spotted something strange.



He had gotten used to keeping his energy vision active almost constantly, so he noticed that while He Cheng was dissolving, his entire body turned into dots of energy that seemed to tunnel through space before vanishing, almost like it was traveling through a spatial array.



“You saw it as well?”



Xin Yang sprang up from where he was sitting, quickly moving up next to Huang Ying. He didn't question why Huang Ying could send He Cheng flying with one kick. Ever since they had entered, he had been chatting with Huang Ying.



The main reason he was chatting with Huang Ying was because he felt a strong sense of danger from Huang Ying. He found it interesting that a cultivator at the 7th heaven could give him such a strong sense of danger.



“Yeah. Do you really think it would be that easy?”



Huang Ying was rather surprised that Xin Yang had noticed the scene as well. Since he could see it, it meant that he either had a special affinity towards energy, or had eaten a Heavens Eye Mushroom like Huang Ying.



“There's really only one way to find out. Besides, it's better than just wasting away on this fucking raft. Might as well bet it all on a crazy idea once in a while.”



Xin Yang spoke with a grin. They had noticed that He Cheng turned into energy and tunneled through space. This could either mean that the water dissolved them into energy to fuel an array, or that they would be sent away by an array instead of dying.



Xin Yang hadn't mentioned it, but spending several months rowing had still taken a toll on him mentally. Since he saw a chance to possibly escape from here, there was no way he wouldn't grasp it, even if it sounded completely insane.



“Very well. Let's bet on something crazy then.”



Huang Ying nodded his head. The idea was crazy, but it was indeed better than spending more time on the raft, rowing through waters without end in sight. Huang Ying wasn't an indecisive man. Since they had already agreed on the idea, he immediately acted.



He grabbed Mo Yating and ignored her screaming as he threw her into the water. She dissolved into energy almost immediately, disappearing through space. Huang Ying and Xin Yang looked at each other, gave each other a quick nod, and then jumped into the water.

 

Chapter 60: Abandoned City.



Contrary to what Huang Ying expected, there was no pain after he jumped into the water. Since a simple drop of the water had etched itself an inch deep into his skin, he assumed that there would be an excruciating pain after he jumped into the water, but all he felt was a pleasant warmth.



He could no longer feel his body, the world swiftly darkening in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes and waited. If their idea was correct, they would be transported somewhere else. If it ended up being wrong? Then they would just die here.



When Huang Ying regained his senses and opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a small room. There was a glowing orb floating above them, lighting up the room. There was a door a few steps in front of him and Xin Yang and the others were standing around him, confused looks on their faces.



Huang Ying looked down at the ground. The ground beneath them was covered in dark blue squiggly lines. The lines covered the floor of the entire room, crisscrossing around each other like a mass of snakes.



“You bastards!”



Huang Ying's concentration was broken by Mo Yating's scream. Looking up, he could see Mo Yating pointing at them, her face red from fury.



“You tried to rape me! And you just killed me!”



She first pointed at He Cheng, screaming so loud that spit flew everywhere. She then pointed at Huang Ying and Xin Yang. Huang Ying only gave her a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the lines beneath them. He had no patience to deal with someone who hadn't even realized the situation yet.



“Calm down. The only reason we threw you into the water was to bring you out of the locked space.”



Xin Yang raised his arms and tried to explain to her, gesturing towards the floor.



“Locked space?”



Mo Yating seemed to catch onto something, quickly turning her head to the ground, looking at the lines beneath them. The dark blue lines seemed to be random squiggles, but she could still feel some traces of Qi from them, they were obviously a type of array.



“How much time has passed?”



Huang Ying traced the lines with his fingers for a bit before turning his head to Xin Yang. They had spent a few months on that raft, but seeing these lines, Huang Ying couldn't help but be a bit suspicious about how much time had really passed.



“Time....?! It's only been half a day...?”



Xin Yang was slightly confused at first, but quickly caught onto Huang Ying's meaning. He fished out a pale blue jade from his interspatial ring and inspected it. The jade shone with a blue light, but there was a small part at the top of the jade that was completely dark.



This type of jade was often used when people went out adventuring. One could infuse it with a certain amount of Qi, and it would then glow for a certain amount of time, slowly dimming as time passed.



Xin Yang had filled this piece of jade with Qi just before they entered. Since only a small part at the tip had dimmed, that meant that it had only been half a day since they entered the ruins.



“Seems like it's not a spatial array, but an illusion array. We were probably trapped in the illusion the moment we entered the ruins.”



Huang Ying finished tracing the lines and stood up, dusting off his hands. He had some memories about this type of array, but the ones he knew off were all on a much smaller scale. They were also much weaker than this one.



“Where do you think you are going?!”



While Huang Ying and Xin Yang were shocked at the strength of the illusion array, Mo Yating's voice shouted out from the side. Turning their head, they could see her glaring at He Cheng, who was slowly edging towards the door in an attempt to escape.



If it had been before they entered the ruins, he would have just left immediately, not caring about the others. But ever since he had been kicked by Huang Ying inside the illusion array, he realized that he was probably not the strongest person in the group. If Huang Ying decided to kill him for what he tried to do, there was nothing he could do to fight back.



“I'm obviously not welcome here, so why should I humiliate myself and stay here?”



He Cheng cast a glance at Huang Ying before making a mad dash towards the door. He was relieved when he noticed that Huang Ying wasn't chasing him, but Mo Yating would obviously not just let him off, she immediately chased after him.



Xin Yang only heaved a deep sigh and shook his head. The three of them all came from second rate factions from the central area, so they had some relationship with each other. He was just about to go after them when Huang Ying's hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him.



“There is no point. If we bring them with us, there is no telling when they are going to break down again. Besides, do you really think words will calm her down?”



Huang Ying only shook his head. They were already unstable after spending a few months in the illusion array. There was no telling what they would face when they ventured deeper into the ruins. If they brought Mo Yating and He Cheng with them, they could easily endanger both Xin Yang and Huang Ying if they started fighting each other during a dangerous trial.



“Haah, I never thought that them spending too much time with their teachers would make them so mentally weak.”



Xin Yang knew that what Huang Ying said was correct, so he could only shake his head and sigh once more. Mo Yating and He Cheng had spent most of their lives following behind their teachers, protected by them. They had never traveled the world and experienced how tough and cruel it really was. Due to this, their mentality would always be one of their weak points.



“Who knows, maybe they'll both survive and learn something.”



Huang Ying shrugged his shoulders and left for the door. He knew that Xin Yang had a slight relationship with the two others since they all came from the central area. But Huang Ying only had a good impression of Xin Yang, not the two others, so whatever happened to them, he did not care too much. He did not mind saving someone when he saw their plight right in front of him. But if they were not his friends, he would not bother going out of his way to save them.



Leaving the small room brought Huang Ying and Xin Yang into a large plaza. There was a clear blue sky above them, blazing sunlight bearing down upon them. The ground beneath them was dusty and yellow, it seemed like the area was slowly turning into a desert.



Huang Ying could see several small buildings in the area around them. The buildings were made out of a type of pale, yellow rock, their roofs made out out wood and straw. Each house was square shaped, each side being five meters long. The houses were only a little under three meters in height.



Huang Ying followed the houses with his eyes, but each house seemed completely uniform in size. The only house that wasn't the same size as the others was a large mansion in the distance. Huang Ying didn't know how far away the mansion was, but from where they were standing, the mansion almost looked like no more than a dot.



Huang Ying glanced at the area around them, but there were no signs of Mo Yating or He Cheng, so they had probably already left the area. Huang Ying didn't see any other signs off people, so it seemed like the entire city was abandoned. He tried to once more make contact with Li Jun, but there was still no reply. At first he thought that he could not contact Li Jun since they were trapped in an illusion array, but now it seemed like there was something within these ruins blocking him from contacting Li Jun.



“We should probably check out that mansion. If there isn't any signs of the entrance to the next area within the mansion, we can only check all these houses one by one.”



Xin Yang had also scanned the area. The only thing they could see that wasn't the same as the small houses was the large mansion. Since it was the only thing that stood out, it would also be the most likely location for the entrance to the next area. Huang Ying had thought of the same idea, so he simply nodded his head and started walking.

 

Chapter 61: Pale Human.



Huang Ying and Xin Yang started making their way towards the mansion, their footsteps the only sound in this abandoned city. Neither Huang Ying or Xin Yang spoke much, the atmosphere in the city pressed down on them like a mountain, they did not dare let down their guard for even a single second, lest they be trapped or attacked while they were unaware.



They were walking in a straight line, the only indicator that they were heading in the right direction being the mansion in the distance. After walking for almost 15 minutes, both Huang Ying and Xin Yang noticed the smell of blood hanging in the air. They also noticed that the ground ahead of them, just before a corner, was covered in footprints.



These were the first signs of other people they had seen since entering this abandoned city. But the smell of blood clearly told them that whoever was ahead of them probably wasn't going to be a peaceful type of person.



Huang Ying and Xin Yang exchanged glances with another before simultaneously nodding their heads and slowly making their way forward. They made their way up to the corner, only carefully peering around it with their heads.



Contrary to what they expected, there was no other person around the corner. The walls and ground were covered in blood. There were body parts strewn around on the ground, their ends still slightly moist with blood.



Huang Ying and Xin Yang both scrunched up their eyebrows, quickly scanning the rest of the surroundings. When they didn't find any signs of other people, they made their way up the the body parts on the ground.



The boy parts were slightly moist, so it was clear that it had not been too long since these people had been killed. The ends of the body parts were also horribly torn, so it was clear that they weren't cut off, but simply torn off.



“I know who they are.”



While Huang Ying was checking out the body parts, Xin Yang spoke up behind him. As he turned around, he saw Xin yang point to a corner that they hadn't seen from where they were standing earlier. Upon inspecting the corner, Huang Ying found the torsos and heads of Mo Yating and He Cheng, carelessly stuffed away into this corner.



Their faces were contorted into terrified expressions, so they had clearly seen something horrible before they died. Seeing their corpses, Huang Ying scrunched his eyebrows even tighter. It was one thing to tear someone limb from limb, but doing it to a cultivator at the 8th heaven was a completely different thing, it was much harder.



“To be able to tear them limb from limb, the murderer is clearly no normal person.”



Xin Yang fondled his chin as he spoke. He seemed to suddenly think of something as he went to the mass of footprints that they had seen earlier, crouching down next to them and inspecting them. After looking at them for a short while, he came back to Huang Ying's side.



“There are at least seven different pairs of footprints back there, so there must be more than one killer.”



Xin Yang had inspected the footprints closely. If someone were to tell him that it was a single person that had torn Mo Yating and He Cheng limb from limb, there was no way he would believe them. But if there were multiple people, it became much more likely.



“Have you noticed that they don't have any other wounds?”



Huang Ying pointed to the two torsos and heads on the ground as he spoke. Huang Ying had inspected them closely, but they didn't have any other wounds on their bodies, just the wounds produced when their body parts were torn off.



“You don't mean?”



Xin Yang started when he understood what Huang Ying meant. He quickly cast his eyes to the body parts and gave them a thorough look over. And sure enough, not a single wound was to be found.



“Indeed. They weren't killed and torn apart, it was getting torn apart that killed them.”



Huang Ying nodded his head. Since there were no other wounds on their bodies, the only cause of death he could think of was that they had been torn apart while they were still alive.



Thinking about this way of dying, even Huang Ying felt a chill crawl up his spine. To watch as someone tore off your limbs one by one was unmistakably a horrible way of dying. It also explained why their faces were contorted into terrified expressions.



Xin Yang had an ugly expression as he heard Huang Ying affirm his thoughts. He was stronger than He Cheng and Mo Yating, but it wasn't by too much. If there was someone or something here that was able to kill them by tearing them apart, it could most likely also do it to him.



Huang Ying stood up and dusted off his hands, he wasn't too worried about whatever killed Mo Yating and He Cheng, his body was far stronger than theirs. Since something had killed Mo Yating and He Cheng, it also meant that this city was not as abandoned as they first thought.



As Huang Ying turned around to face Xin Yang, his expression quickly changed. He grabbed Xin Yang's shoulders and pulled him forward, almost throwing him to the ground.



Xin Yang was just about to yell at him when he noticed that the place where he had just stood was suddenly occupied by someone else.



The person that stood there was completely pale, his skin devoid of any color. One could see his dried up veins through his skin, covering his entire body with black lines. His eyes were unfocused and empty, lacking even the slightest trace of life. His clothes were completely ragged, only a few strips left to cover his body.



The thing that scared Huang Ying and Xin Yang the most was that they hadn't noticed the slightest thing. They hadn't even noticed this thing's existence until they saw it. It hadn't made any sound, nor had their perceptions noticed it.



The white person raised it's arms and tried to grab at Huang Ying. Seeing the thing attempt to grab him, Huang Ying felt a strong unease, quickly dodging backwards. Xin Yang also moved backwards, standing next to Huang Ying, his finger tracing his interspatial ring.



“What?!”



Huang Ying almost jumped when he heard Xin Yang's scream. He quickly turned his head, but Xin Yang hadn't been attacked, he only looked at his interspatial ring with a look of shock.



“What is the matter?”



Huang Ying didn't think that Xin Yang would just scream for nothing, so he hurriedly asked, all the while sweeping the area around them with his eyes, looking out for any other of those things.



“I can't use any Qi!”



Xin Yang had an ugly expression as he spoke. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't extract any Qi from his Qi crystal. Not only did this mean that he couldn't attack properly, he couldn't even take out anything from his interspatial ring, as it required he inject a small amount of Qi.



“What?!”



Huang Ying was shocked at his words and quickly tried circulating his Qi. Sure enough, all his Qi was locked in his Qi crystal, even his Devouring Qi was trapped. With his Qi being trapped, Huang Ying finally understood how both Mo Yating and He Cheng could be torn apart while they were alive. Without their Qi, they were no better than some normal strong person.



Huang Ying was also getting more and more interested in whoever made these ruins. Not only could they cut his connection with Li Jun, they could also trap his Devouring Qi. It had to be known that his Devouring Qi was Qi of the highest type. It was on the same level as Life and Death Qi. To be able to trap it meant that someone had to reach the same level as Baku was.



Huang Ying quickly put the thoughts out of his mind and focused on the monster ahead of them. The monster was slowly stumbling towards them. It looked just like a normal human, but it's eyes were devoid of any life and intelligence, so it was no better than a beast.



While Mo Yating and He Cheng could do anything to these things, Huang Ying was different. His body had been strengthened several times, even surpassing some weaker Demonic beasts at this point. He did not fear this thing, as long as he only faced one that is.

 

Chapter 62: Strange Body.



The first thing Huang Ying did was open his energy vision to inspect the pale person. Using his energy vision, he could clearly see why they had never noticed this person sneak up on them.



The pale person in front of them did not have any energy within it's body. Even normal mortals and animals had trace amounts of energy inside them that could be traced. This energy was what cultivators called a persons fire of life, the sign that they were alive.



Since the pale person in front of them did not have any of this energy, the only explanation Huang Ying could think of was that the person in front of them was either created through a weak illusion array, or that he was already dead.



Since Mo Yating and He Cheng had most likely been killed by a small swarm of these pale people, Huang Ying quickly discarded the first option. This could only mean that the person in front of them was already dead, and looking at the state of his veins and skin, he had probably been dead for quite a while.



Huang Ying turned his eyes away from the pale human and onto Xin Yang. Since their Qi had been locked down inside their Qi crystals, Xin Yang could be considered next to useless right now, he couldn't even pull any weapons out of his interspatial ring.



This meant that Huang Ying would have to be responsible for all the fighting they would be doing while they were in the abandoned city. Since that was the case, learning more about what he would have to face was Huang Ying's current main priority. Luckily, a willing test subject had already showed itself.



“Keep an eye on the surroundings.”



Huang Ying gave Xin Yang a simple order. Since they could not sense if there were any more pale people in the surroundings, they could only use their eyes to constantly scour the area around them.



Xin Yang nodded his head and kept a vigilant eye on the surroundings. He understood that he was useless, and even though he did not know just how strong Huang Ying was without his Qi, his only option right now was to trust Huang Ying.



Huang Ying strode towards the pale person that was slowly shambling towards him. From what he could see, the speed of this pale person was completely atrocious, but he still did not lower his guard. If this pale person's speed was really that bad, there was no way that He Cheng and Mo Yating would die to them after just entering this abandoned city.



A low moan was emitted from the pale person as it reached out with his arms to grab at Huang Ying. Huang Ying raised his arms and grabbed onto the wrists of the pale person, clamping down on them.



As he grabbed the pale person's wrists, he couldn't help but be slightly shocked. The pale person looked thin and emancipated, but when Huang Ying grabbed onto it's wrists, he could feel the crushing strength that it's body possessed.



Just holding onto this pale person's wrists and restraining it required Huang Ying to use almost 70% of his physical strength. Huang Ying's bodily strength was approaching the peak stages of the Xiantian Builder stages, so 70% of his physical strength could almost be considered tyrannical.



Huang Ying also noticed that while the skin seemed pale and weak, it was incredibly coarse to the touch and seemed to possess a tenacity resembling thick leather.



Huang Ying raised his right leg and placed it on the pale person's chest, he then clamped down with his fingers and twisted his arms, pulling them backwards with all his strength. After exerting all his strength, the arms of the pale person twisted slightly before ripping apart at the elbow.



Huang Ying kicked the chest of the pale person, sending it stumbling backwards and onto the ground and it's chest caving inwards. Huang Ying pulled back slightly and started inspecting the arms he had just pulled off of the pale person.



There was no blood dripping down from the ends of the arms. The flesh around the bones was a powdery white and had the texture of soft wood. Huang Ying also looked at the pale person that was slowly trying to stand up. It showed no signs of pain after having it's arms torn off or having it's chest caved inwards.



It's chest had caved in enough to puncture it's lungs, but this didn't even seem to phase it. Huang Ying looked at the caved in chest and couldn't help but feel a cold sweat on his back. When he kicked ii's chest, he had used his full power, but it had only caved in enough to puncture it's lungs. It also felt like he had kicked a boulder, so he didn't doubt the hardness of it's bones.



Huang Ying turned his eyes onto the arms he held in his hands. There were some small bone spikes sticking out at the torn off end. The small spikes seemed unnaturally sharp, almost gleaming in the light. Looking at the spikes, Huang Ying got an idea and walked towards the pale person again.



He kicked the legs of the pale person, sending it tumbling onto the ground once more, before grabbing onto it's head with his left arm. In his right hand he held one of the torn off arms, the bone spikes pointing towards the pale person. He stabbed forward with the torn off arm, the bone spikes easily cutting through the skin and flesh of the pale person.



The bone spikes were only around two inches long, not even long enough to stab into the skull of the pale person. Yet when the bone spikes dug into the flesh of the pale person, a strange scene played out.



The flesh that was cut by the bone spikes quickly turned black, swiftly turning into a thick black liquid that smelled of rotting flesh. The black liquid oozed out of the pale person's head, a low and drawn out moan escaping from the mouth of the pale person. As the black liquid dropped to the ground, the pale person also stopped moving, it's entire body quickly turning black.



The rancid smell almost made Huang Ying throw up, so he quickly moved backwards, returning to Xin Yang's side. He looked at the torn of arm in his hand, especially at the bone spikes at the end. The bone spikes were still as white as they were before he stabbed them into the pale person, seemingly untouched by the black liquid.



“Take this one, seems like we aren't completely unarmed at least.”



Huang Ying threw the other arm to Xin Yang as he spoke. He didn't know why the pale person seemed to quickly rot away after being stabbed by it's own bones, but this meant that they at least had a weapon they could use. Huang Ying initially thought that he would be fine with just using his body, but now it was clear that depending on just his fleshy body would be exceedingly hard.



Xin Yang grabbed the torn of arm, feeling the coarse texture of the skin and the wood like feeling of the flesh. He couldn't help but grimace. Was this really the corpse of a human? Why did it feel more like it was a puppet?



Huang Ying cast his eyes towards the place where the pale human was earlier. It had been completely reduced to black liquid that slowly seeped into the ground. He nodded his head in satisfaction, at least it seemed like they could get permanently rid of them like this.

 

Chapter 63: Resounding Roar.





Huang Ying nodded at Xin Yang and started walking once more. Even though they couldn't sense their enemies, they still had to get to that large mansion in the distance. That mansion was the only thing they could see that was different from the rest of the surroundings, so it was also the most likely place for the entrance to the next area.



Huang Ying walked in the front while Xin Yang followed slightly behind him. Their speed had slowed down slightly as they now needed to keep a constant watch on their surroundings, lest they get ambushed by a swarm of thos pale people.



They didn't have to walk for long before they had to stop once more. They stood at a spot that was located in the middle of three of those small buildings. As they entered the area between the three houses, the doors suddenly swung open, three more pale people lumbering out from within the buildings.



“Do you think that every house contains one of these pale people?”



As Xin Yang looked at the three pale people lumbering towards them, he couldn't help but think of a horrifying conclusion. Huang Ying gave it some thought as he heard his idea and he found that it was not completely illogical.



When they stumbled upon the corpses of Mo Yating and He Cheng, it was at a crossroads between a few of the buildings. That was also where they were attacked by the first pale person. Now they were once again attacked by pale people as they entered a point located between several buildings.



“We can think about it after this is done with. You can take that one over there, don't let it grab you.”



Huang Ying brought his thoughts back on track, focusing on the situation in front of him. The reason he made Xin Yang take care of only one of the pale people was because he was certain that Xin Yang's body wasn't stronger than his. Since his physical strength was slightly weaker, it would also be harder for him to pierce the pale peoples flesh.



Xin Yang nodded his head and moved to intercept the pale person that Huang Ying had pointed out. Huang Ying was more leisurely, slowly making his way towards the two pale people that were stumbling towards him.



He had killed the last pale person a bit too quickly, so he still had some questions about them, these two pale people would be perfect for a bit of experimentation. With their slow speeds, he also wasn't too worried about them doing anything to him.



He grabbed the torn of arm in his right hand and moved towards the pale person that was to his right. When the pale person tried to grab him, Huang Ying slightly twisted his body, allowing the arm to pass right by his chest. He grabbed the torn of arm and gently sliced it across the pale person's arm.



The place that was cut quickly turned black, the black liquid oozing out from the pale person's arm. Unlike the time Huang Ying stabbed it into the pale person's head, only the arm turned black, quickly turning into liquid and disappearing into the ground.



“Interesting.”



Huang Ying couldn't help but smile a bit. Since only the arm turned to black liquid this time, it most likely meant that the heads were still counted as the pale people's control center. This also meant that they had a fatal weakness that was easily exploited due to their slow speed.



Still, Huang Ying wanted to experiment a bit more. He cast his eyes towards Xin Yang's side. Xin Yang wasn't in any trouble, since he was used to using Wind Qi, he excelled in speed and flexibility, allowing him to easily dodge the pale person's arms. He seemed to have trouble slicing deep enough to make any major wounds, but he was well on his way to dispatching the pale person.



Huang Ying faintly nodded his head and returned his attention to the pale person in front of him. He stabbed the arm in his hands forward, the bone spikes digging into it's chest where a normal person's heart would be located.



As Huang Ying pulled out the bone spike, instead of the chest of the pale person turning black, the black color seemed to course throughout it's entire body. The black color followed the veins of the pale person, quickly spreading around it's entire body, turning the entire pale person into a rancid black liquid.



“Hoh?”



Huang Ying was rather surprised that this worked. He had already concluded that these pale people were dead, so he didn't have any extravagant hope that their hearts would be weak points. But from the scene in front of him, it seemed that stabbing the hearts with their bones gave the same result as spreading poison into someones heart, a quick spread around the entire body.



Huang Ying turned his attention to the second pale person that was approaching him. He lowered his right arm and reached out with his left instead, grabbing onto the pale person's scalp. As he grabbed onto the pale person's scalp, a black flame lit up in his palm.



The black flame touched the pale person's scalp and the pale person seemed to lose all it's defenses, a hole quickly forming at the top of it's head. The black flame entered it's body and started wreaking havoc, melting everything but the skin of the pale person.



Huang Ying pulled back his hand and gently sliced the remaining skin, turning it into black liquid and covering all traces of the black fire. The black fire was the power he gained after the Vermilion Bird, Little Flame, fused with his various bloodlines. He couldn't use his Qi to summon the black flame, but if he used his bond with Little Flame to make it summon a bit of black flame, he had no problem controlling it.



The result of his experiments brought a faint smile to Huang Ying's lips. With the black flame being this effective, he now had another card in his hands. He turned around and looked at Xin Yang's situation. Xin Yang was still fighting with the pale person, but the pale person had already lost most of it's body parts, only leaving it's legs, so it wouldn't take long before Xin Yang would finish.



After spending a few more minutes working on stabbing it's head, Xin Yang finally managed to kill the pale person. Turning his head and looking at the nonchalant Huang Ying, he couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.



He didn't think anything about it earlier. But after having some firsthand experience with the bodily strength and defenses of these pale people, he couldn't help but remember how Huang Ying had not just caved in it's chest with a kick, but also torn of it's arms. How much strength was hidden in that seemingly delicate body?



“Done? Then we can move on.”



Huang Ying nodded at Xin Yang and cast his gaze towards the large mansion in the distance. They had only walked for around half an hour, but had already been attacked twice, Huang Ying couldn't help but worry about what they would face as they kept traveling.



Just as Xin Yang was about to respond to Huang Ying, a loud roar sounded out from the abandoned city. The roar seemed to come from every inch of the city at the same time, reverberating within Huang Ying and Xin Yang's ears. The roar continued for almost half a minute before it stopped.



What followed after the roar was the sound of doors being flung open. Huang Ying felt an unprecedented sense of dread and didn't bother thinking too much. The sound of doors being flung open could only mean one thing.



“RUN!”



Huang Ying twisted his body and started sprinting towards the mansion in the distance at full speed, Xin Yang hot on his tail. As they ran, they could see doors being flung open all around them, a horde of pale people swarming towards them. What caused their hearts to almost freeze was that these pale people weren't slow like they used to be, but were sprinting at them at full speed.

 

Chapter 64: Turn the world to ash.



The sound of doors being flung open and rushed footsteps echoed all across the abandoned city. Huang Ying and Xin Yang were running with all their might, heading towards the large mansion in the distance.



If they used the speed they had used earlier, where they were being cautious and checking every corner, it would have taken them a bit over a day of walking to reach the mansion. But now that they were running with all their might, Huang Ying calculated that it would only take them around three hours to reach the mansion.



While they were running, Huang Ying constantly gazed at the surroundings. Hordes of pale people were rushing at them from nearly all sides. Sprinting with their mouths wide open, moaning a dreadful symphony.



“Where do you think the leader is?”



While they were running, Xin Yang examined the surroundings for a little while before asking Huang Ying. The pale people were much faster than they were earlier, but Huang Ying and Xin Yang were still faster than them, so talking while running was no problem.



“I'm not sure. The leader might look just like the normal ones, hiding within one of the hordes.”



Huang Ying shook his head and sighed. Since all the pale people had suddenly sprung into action after hearing that one roar, it was only logical that the roar was produced by something akin to a leader. The problem was that they had no idea what the leader looked like, or if they even had a leader, it might just all be coincidental.



“We should get to higher grounds. If we just keep running like this, we are more likely to be surrounded than we are to find a way out.”



After Xin Yang spoke, he pointed to one of the buildings not far ahead of them and ran in front of Huang Ying. He stopped in front of the building and slightly bent his knees, cupping his hands and preparing to springboard Huang Ying.



Huang Ying didn't hesitate, placing his foot onto Xin Yang's hands and allowing him to throw him upwards. The houses were slightly under three meters in height, so it didn't take too much force to throw Huang Ying onto the roof.



After landing on the roof, Huang Ying laid down and reached out with his hand. Xin Yang moved back slightly, giving himself some room to accelerate, before running at the building and jumping, grabbing Huang Ying's hand and getting pulled up onto the roof.



Standing on the roof of one of the buildings, while they were only slightly lower than three meters in height, it still allowed them to get a better grasp of the surroundings. Seeing the area around them, they couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.



All the buildings but the mansion were completely uniform in size, so standing on the roof of one allowed them to see above and between all the other houses. The city was much larger than Huang Ying first assumed, it would not be wrong to call it humongous. The city continued onward in every direction, disappearing into the horizon.



The space between all the buildings around them was completely packed, pale people covering almost every inch of free space. The pale people around the building that they were standing on had slowed down, only circling the building that Huang Ying and Xin Yang were standing on. But they could also see more pale people in the distance, sprinting to catch up with the main horde.



“Fucking packed isn't it? Seems like they either want us to head to the mansion, or are afraid of something within the mansion.”



Xin Yang couldn't help but curse as he saw the massive horde nearly surrounding the building they were on. While talking, he looked toward the mansion. The road around and towards the mansion was the only place that wasn't swarmed by pale people, only having a few pale people stumbling around.



“It really does seem like that is the place we are meant to go. It's nice and simple isn't it? No convoluted puzzles to solve before we get to move onward, just a straight line.”



Huang Ying copied Xin Yang and looked towards the mansion. He much preferred this type of thing over the illusion array that they were stuck in earlier. His Qi was locked away, but it was still easier since he at least knew what he needed to do here.



“Now then, how to get from here to there without being torn apart...”



Xin Yang cast a few glances from the road to the mansion to the horde around them. They were docile now, but there was no telling how they would react once Huang Ying and Xin Yang came down from the roof. If they started swarming them, the odds of them dying would increase dramatically.



“Follow behind me, we are going at full speed.”



Huang Ying tapped Xin Yang on the shoulder and stood at the edge of the roof, facing the mansion in the distance. He had also been thinking about how to get to the mansion when Little Flame, who was resting within his blood, chimed in with an idea. Huang Ying didn't have any better idea, and even though he didn't want Xin Yang to know all his secrets, there was no problem showing him a few of them, he seemed trustworthy enough.



“Come now Little Flame. Turn the world to ash.”



Huang Ying spoke in a low voice and placed his palm on his chest. A small flame flew out from his chest, quickly turning into a pitch black bird no taller than two palms. Seeing the bird, Xin Yang couldn't help but be surprised.



The little bird's feathers were pitch black, but the tip of it's wings shone with a white light, a scarlet crown of feathers adorning it's head. He considered himself to be well-read, but he had never seen a Demonic beast like this.



The pitch black bird, Little Flame, spread it's wings and gave a short screech, black flames spreading from within it's body. It's body quickly submerged in the black flames, seemingly melting and merging with the flames, turning into a ball of fire the size of a head.



Huang Ying pushed out his hand, gently sending the ball of fire flying forward, towards the ground below them. When the ball of fire touched the ground, it suddenly exploded, sending a line of fire shooting forward towards the mansion.



The line of fire shot forward unabated. Any building that was in it's way was reduced to ash, every pale person that touched the flame was turned to ash. After the fire reached the space in front of the mansion, it stopped moving forward, leaving behind a road of fire, connecting the building Huang Ying was on and the mansion.



This was the idea Little Flame had come up with, it was also an ability Little Flame had regained after undergoing it's nirvana. As Little Flame grew, it would slowly regain the memories of it's former lives, including the techniques and abilities it once used.



This ability fused the user of the technique with the fire, sending it forward in a straight line, turning everything in it's path to ash and leaving behind a trail of fire that was said to burn in perpetuity.



Xin Yang didn't even have time to be shocked before Huang Ying grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him down from the roof. He started running on the road of fire, heading towards the mansion at full speed.



While it was said that the trail of fire would burn in perpetuity, that was only for fully grown Vermilion Birds. Little Flame was still young, so this trail of fire would only be able to last a few hours at best.



But a few hours was also exactly what Huang Ying and Xin Yang needed. After running for almost four hours, the finally caught up with Little Flame. Little Flame's feathers had lost most of their luster, it's entire body just barely hanging in the air, clearly exhausted.



“You did good Little Flame, now get some rest.”



Huang Ying gave a smile and reached out and stroked Little Flame's head. Using it's abilities drained a large amount of it's energy, so it would need to rest and recuperate within Huang Ying for the foreseeable future. But it still had the desired effect, it got them to the mansion.



Standing in front of the mansion, they truly realized just how large it really was. Huang Ying couldn't tell just how tall it was, but it couldn't be smaller than almost five kilometers. And that was just it's height. It still continued onwards to the sides, filling up their entire vision.



“It really is extravagant huh?”



Xin Yang couldn't hep but mutter as he looked at the massive mansion. The mansion was colored a mixture of red and gold, he could also see several valuable metals and gems used as decorations. How much would it cost to create a mansion like this?



“Let's go inside. Let's hope we are lucky and won't have to do much more after entering it.”



Huang Ying pat Xin Yang on the shoulder and strode forward. He really hoped that the mansion was the exit to this part of the ruins. He did not want to have to run around checking out all the other buildings, dodging the massive horde of pale people wherever they went.

 

Chapter 65: The King.



Huang Ying and Xin Yang entered the mansion through a massive golden gate. Huang Ying was slightly worried about how to open the massive gate, but once he moved closer to it, it opened automatically.



It was impossible to see past the gate, the inside was covered in darkness that seemed to swallow everything. Even when Huang Ying used his Energy vision, he couldn't see what laid past the darkness.



“Won't even show us what is inside, now that's just mean.”



Xin Yang couldn't help but curse and shrug his shoulders when he saw how dark the area past the gate was. Even though he cursed, he still went forward and entered the gate, setting foot into the mansion.



Huang Ying followed shortly after him, passing through the gate and entering the mansion. After passing through the gate, it felt like Huang Ying had entered a completely new world.



The sound from the abandoned city completely vanished. The air was no longer as arid and still as it was outside, replaced by a cool and refreshing breeze that brought with it the calming smell of grass and flowers.



After entering the mansion, the darkness had completely dissipated. Huang Ying turned his head to take in the surroundings, but contrary to what he expected, he wasn't standing in a forest or a small meadow.



The area around him was a large hall. The mansion looked completely massive from the outside, so Huang Ying expected the inside to be full of rooms and designed like a maze. But as he stood inside, it looked like this hall alone took up almost 90% of the mansion, no matter where he looked, the hall just continued onward.



Xin Yang who was standing next to him was also looking at their surroundings with a confused look. The hall was basically completely empty, a few pillars reaching towards the ceiling placed at various locations in the hall.



“Finally, I was wondering how long I would have to wait before I would get new visitors.”



While Huang Ying and Xin Yang were looking around, a powerful and vigorous voice rang out from in front of them. Quickly looking forward, they saw a simple golden throne standing ahead of them.



There was a tall man, standing at nearly four meters in height, clad in fur rags sitting on the throne, looking at them with a faint smile. The man's skin was pale as snow, black lines slithering around beneath his skin. His body was so pale that he seemed sickly, but his entire body was covered in bulging muscles. He had short and spiky brown hair, with eyes that seemed completely dead and unfocused.



“Who are you?”



Xin Yang couldn't help but ask when he saw the man. The man looked much like the pale people that had chased them when they were in the abandoned city, but the ones that were chasing them didn't seem like they were capable of speech. He was also almost four meters tall, taller than any normal human, Xin Yang had never seen a human grow this large.



“I am the king. You can consider me the final challenge on this floor. Get through me and you can move on to the next floor.”



The large man slowly stood up as he spoke, grabbing a large sword from beside the throne. The sword was made out of a strange gray material, looking exceedingly crude and simple. The sword was as wide as Huang Ying's thighs, and almost three meters long, reaching the same length as a spear.



“Now then, it has been so long since I have had any intruders come so far, so please don't die too fast.”



The large man grabbed the massive sword with two hands and grinned at Huang Ying and Xin Yang, his entire body brimming with a nearly mad fighting intent. The large man stepped forward, charging at Huang Ying and Xin Yang.



Huang Ying expected that the large man would be rather slow because of his large build, but he shot towards Huang Ying and Xin Yang like an arrow leaving the bow. He arrived in front of Xin Yang almost within the blink of an eye, swinging his sword downwards.



Xin Yang pushed Huang Ying to the side and used the resulting force to propel himself to the side, dodging the descending sword. When the sword hit the floor, the tiles exploded into a rain of dust and shrapnel.



“Fucking hell, that enough force for you? Got any plan Ying?”



Xin Yang couldn't help but shout out. If that sword hit either of them, no point in talking about bones, not even any hair would be left of them. The large man not only had a massive amount of strength, he also had insane speed. Fighting him without a plan would be stupid. While talking, he kept on dodging the attacks of the large man, who seemed adamant about killing him first.



“I have an idea that might work, just follow my lead and attack him.”



Huang Ying sized up the large man for a short second, considering all the cards he had available before quickly nodding his head. If he was given enough time, it should indeed be possible.



“Good!”



Xin Yang didn't ask about the plan, the large man could hear them, so having Huang Ying explain the plan would be worse than pointless. He dodged one of the large man's attacks by hopping to the side. When his foot hit the ground, he quickly charged forward, attacking the right arm of the large man.



Xin Yang had noticed that while the large man had a fast movement speed when he charged forward, he was not very agile and flexible. His movement speed and attack speed was severely limited when he was forced to make many turns and twists.



Xin Yang didn't have any Qi available, but once he focused all his attacks on one spot, damage could quickly accumulate. Xin Yang decided to focus all his attacks on the large man's right elbow. Once he managed to wound his elbow, the large man would no longer be able to attack with all his force.



Huang Ying paid close attention while Xin Yang was fighting the large man, especially when Xin Yang attacked him. Seeing the large man have no reaction to Xin Yang's attacks, a smirk spread on Huang Ying's face. If things were like this, this fight would end up being easier than he thought.



Huang Ying wasted no more time, charging directly towards the large man. Xin Yang saw Huang Ying charge forward and knew that Huang Ying was about to implement whatever plan he had. Xin Yang increased the speed of his attack, almost completely disregarding defending, doing his utmost to create an opening for Huang Ying.



The large man knew that Huang Ying and Xin Yang had something planned, but he had always been confident about his strength. When he was alive, he barely had any enemies that could fight with him, and after dying, his strength only increased.



Huang Ying clenched his fists quickly before stretching out his fingers, a drop of dark red liquid present on each finger tip. He charged into the bosom of the large man, using the opening Xin Yang gave him, and stabbed out with his fingers in quick succession.



He stabbed out ten times, each finger landing on a different place on the large man's body. Huang Ying put all his physical strength into the stabs, causing them to be so fast that you could only see a blur. His fingers didn't manage to leave behind a wound on the large man, on the contrary it was Huang Ying's fingers who felt like they were breaking.



But Huang Ying never expected his finger stabs to produce any damage. He quickly glanced at the places he had stabbed and saw a dark red liquid seep into the skin of the large man. Huang Ying had purposely chosen places that were vital, like the throat and chest, around both eyes and ears, and elbows and knees.



Seeing the liquid seep into the large man's body, Huang Ying nodded at Xin Yang and they both pulled back at the same time. The large man looked at Huang Ying with suspicion in his eyes. He knew that Huang Ying had done something, but he was not certain what Huang Ying had done.



“What did you do?!”



The large man looked at Huang Ying and shouted. Seeing the smirk on Huang Ying's face he felt an unease brew in his chest. Even when he was alive, he rarely ever felt an unease like this, like he was being stared at by a demon that was judging his life and death.



“You shouldn't have given away your sense of touch and pain, it can be surprisingly helpful when detecting foreign substances.”



Huang Ying smirked and gave a vague answer. He didn't bother to explain more, only clapping his hands with a smile. The clap seemed almost like a sort of signal. When the clap sounded out, black flames suddenly engulfed the body of the large man.



The black flames spewed out from the ten places Huang Ying had stabbed with his fingers, quickly spreading to cover the large man's entire body. The large man looked at the flames covering his body, but he didn't react. Just like Huang Ying had said, he had already given up his sense of touch and pain when he got this body.



“I see, so this is what you meant. You infused the blood of that little bird into my body and ignited it using the birds Bloodline Limit?”



The large man calmly looked at Huang Ying while his skin and flesh were melting. He had lived for a long time, and spent an even longer time as the king of this place, he had seen many things. Huang Ying gave a simple nod to the man's words, but he was also slightly shocked that he had seen through it so quickly.



Little Flame was a Vermilion Bird that mutated due to Huang Ying's blood. Vermilion Birds had the blood of the phoenix, so they could be considered creatures that are born of flames. Every part of their body could be lit aflame, even their blood.



If the large man hadn't lost his sense of pain and touch, he would be able to feel the foreign blood coursing through his body. If he had reacted in time, he could have used his strength to push the blood out of his body, diverting all the danger.



“I see. It is rather clever. Since you managed to get past me, it can be considered as you passing. Just touch the throne and you can leave. ”



The large man seemed to shrug his shoulders as he spoke, but since he was covered in fire, it was hard to tell. He pointed to the throne as he spoke. Once he finished speaking, his entire body was surrounded by a corona of light, his entire body suddenly vanishing.



As his body vanished, ten drops of dark red liquid flew away from where he once stood, quickly merging back into Huang Ying's chest. Burning the blood of Little Flame allowed him to quickly end the fight, but the Vermilion Bird was no phoenix.



A Phoenix was eternal, once it became weak it could just rebirth itself in fire. While the Vermilion Bird could also do this, it could not do it an infinite number of times. If Huang Ying kept burning the blood of Little Flame, it would reach a point where it would have to rebirth itself in fire, and there was no telling how many more times it could do that.



“Let's go, i'm fed up with this place.”



Xin Yang patted Huang Ying on the shoulder and headed for the golden throne. The golden throne emitted a strange suction force, once Xin Yang and Huang Ying laid their hands in the throne, their bodies were immediately sucked into it, vanishing from the large hall.

 

Chapter 66: The lives once lost.



Yuan Shi felt like the world around him was tumbling down. He had followed his patriarch and his senior sisters and brothers to kill the person who had killed their young patriarch. They were even going to collaborate with the people from the Tao, Mo, Shen, and Zhong clan.



It was supposed to be just a quick fight. Yuan Shi and the other disciples were only brought along because it was a good opportunity for them to see the power of their patriarch. That was all it was, a quick fight and a triumphant return.



So how did it end up like this? The Zhong matriarch was killed right after the fight began, turning into a frozen corpse. The Shen patriarch had his leg completely broken and his head cut of.



The boy in front of them seemed more like a monster than a human. His white hair danced in the wind, a glistening red halberd in his hand. He charged at the Mo Patriarch with a mad grin. He even mentioned that he hadn't even turned 15 yet. How could a monster like him be that young?



Yuan Shi didn't get much more time to think about it. The disciples around him started shouting at the boy after he insulted their patriarch, and then they started charging forward. Yuan Shi wanted to leave, he didn't want to charge forward. But he was pushed by the disciples behind him, forced to charge forward.



They didn't manage to get very far. The massive black serpent only looked at them with it's amber eyes, devoid of all emotion. It charged at them, it's massive body crushing their bones, it's gaping maw swallowing them whole. Even the disciples that got crushed by it turned into black smoke that was sucked up by the black serpent.



Yuan Shi had never been this scared before. His pants had already been dirtied, his body devoid of all strength. He felt a nauseating feeling well up from his stomach. He just wanted to cry and vomit, to escape. The black serpent didn't even look at him, it's tail just smashed down on him, and then everything went black.



He opened his eyes again. He was still trapped on that battlefield, still trapped in that hell. His white fur was stained with blood, his claws broken and his body drained of energy. The world around him was burning with fire so strong that not even his ice could stop it. His eyes drifted around the battlefield.



In the distance he could see a massive scarlet bird, seven large feathers trailing behind it. He knew that this was Phoenix. Phoenix was fighting a green robed cultivator, storm winds howling all around him.



Turning his head a bit more he could see a large black turtle with a snake for a tail, yellow light glowing around him, the earth itself trembling beneath him. Yet that black turtle was being held back by a single cultivator, purple lightning covering the skies around the two of them.



Not far from him was a massive azure dragon crackling with lightning. Yet that dragon was also held back by a single cultivator, a pitch black light radiating from him.



Phoenix, Blue Lizard, and Black Turtle were all being held down, unable to aid each other. He himself was already devoid of energy, his once pristine white fur discolored by blood and burns. Since it was like this, he could only put his hopes on that Black snake.



He turned his head once more, hoping to see how the situation was for that Black Snake. He could see in the distance, that Black Snake surrounded by cultivators, a myriad of lights raining down upon him.



The Black Snake tried to fight, black smoke seeping out of his body, covering the entire world around him in a dreadfull might. The earth itself was disappearing under that black smoke. But it was not enough in the end. They lost the war, but since they couldn't be killed, they were locked away.



He himself was locked away in an underground prison, sealed below a layer of ice that was never supposed to melt. Even after all the fighting was over and they had been locked away, he never got to know why they had been attacked. They had raised them like children, guarded them all their lives, yet they still came and attacked them.



He lamented how cruel the world they had created was, but no matter how much he cursed, the past would never change. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. He was too scared to do what that little Black Snake had done. Too scared to reincarnate as a human. So he could only wait, wait for the day that little Black Snake would come for him.



When he opened his eyes again, he was on a vast and desolate plain. The earth beneath him was completely black, cracked and dry. The sky above him was gray and dreary, filling his chest with sadness.



He looked down at his own body, inspecting every inch of it. Once he finished inspecting his body, he couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. He was finally in his own body, he was finally Huang Ying again.



“Isn't this a bit too fucked up?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but curse out as he looked at the desolate plain around him. He had already lost count of how long he had been here. All he knew was that whenever he closed his eyes, he would find himself in the body of someone else, reliving their most vivid nightmares.



He had already seen several hundred nightmares. He had experience the fear of the people he once lived with meeting their end in the maw of a massive black serpent, a black serpent he summoned. He had lived as a young bandit getting used as a guinea pig, used to find out exactly how Huang Ying's powers worked.



Huang Ying knew what was going on, he even had a theory about how these ruins worked. When they first entered, they had landed in an illusion array. The illusion array tested their endurance and ability to examine and understand their surroundings.



After that, they ended up in an abandoned city, devoid of their ability to use their Qi. In the city, they were chased by pale people that seemed more like dolls than humans. The pale people were physically strengthened, and it ended with them fighting the king of the pale people.



Had it not been for Huang Ying using the powers of Little Flame, they too would have had to fight the king using just their physical bodies. So it could be assumed that the second area tested their physical strength.



In this area, Huang Ying kept reliving the most painful memories of everyone he had killed. The theory Huang Ying had was that this area tested a persons mental strength, pitting them against their worst nightmares, their heart demons. But because Huang Ying devoured the memories of nearly every person he had killed so far, he was also forced to relive their heart demons.

 

Chapter 67: The Lake and the Pavilion.



Huang Ying shook his head to clear his mind and continued walking. He felt like he had already walked on this plain for several months, but he knew that it only felt like this because he kept reliving other peoples worst nightmares.



The desolate plain around him was unchanging. No matter how much he walked, the area around him stayed the same, seemingly trapped in time. The only exception was a small hut he could see in the distance.



The small hut was made out of a few logs of wood, with a thatched roof. It seemed to only be big enough to hold a single room. But this small hut was the only thing in this desolate plain that was slowly getting closer as Huang Ying walked, so he had set getting to this hut as his goal.



Huang Ying kept walking through the plain, adjusting his path every ten steps. He tried to blink as little as he could, but he still ended up blinking once every step, dragging his consciousness into someone else's nightmare.



After walking what seemed to be half the way towards the hut, he had already gone through all the nightmares of the people whose memories he had devoured. Instead of the nightmares stopping, they started repeating and merging, the nightmares of one person fusing with the nightmares of the white tiger and others.



As Huang Ying kept walking, he started spending more and more time with each step. Stopping to guess at which nightmare he would see next and what nightmare it had fused with. He did this mostly to clear his head and keep himself sane. Seeing the most horrible memories and nightmares of other people in a continuous cycle was slowly tearing at his sanity.



Huang Ying didn't know how long he had walked when he found himself by the hut. Looking behind him, there weren't even any tracks left behind in the dust on the ground, like the entire walk had just been another hallucination.



Looking around, the area around the small hut looked the same as every other place on this desolate plain, only the hut was different. There was a small door on the hut, just big enough for Huang Ying to enter.



Huang Ying didn't stop and think for too long before opening the door and entering the hut. He didn't want to keep walking, seeing those nightmares and memories with each step.



After entering the hut, instead of finding himself in a small room, Huang Ying found himself standing in front of a small lake filled with murky gray water. The sky was a deep gray, no cloud or sun in sight, but the area was still light enough for Huang Ying to see his surroundings. A small walk to his left, next to the water, stood a white pavilion.





The pavilion was made out a type of white wood that almost looked like bones. The pavilion was square in shape, with a pointed roof and a clear view of the lake. The wood that the pagoda was made of was carved with exquisite and lifelike carvings of humans and Demonic beasts alike.



There was a table in the middle of the pavilion, two chairs propped up at the table, one on each end. There was a silhouette sitting at the table inside the pavilion, the fragrant scent of tea drifting out from a tea kettle in front of it.



Huang Ying walked up to the pavilion and took a seat at the table. There was nothing else on the table except for a porcelain tea kettle and two cups. Huang Ying grabbed the tea kettle and poured himself a cup of tea. The tea was a transparent red, looking almost like a liquid ruby. Huang Ying sipped the tea slowly, enjoying the heat and the fruity taste of apple for a little while.



While he was drinking, the silhouette across from him also drank some tea slowly, the two of them spending a peaceful moment in silence. After Huang Ying finished his cup of tea and had calmed his mind, he raised his head and studied the person in front of him.



The person in front of him didn't seem much older than Huang Ying, perhaps only being two or three years older. He had long white hair and clear amber eyes and was clad in a loose black robe. Instead of skin, the person's body was covered in black scale, his fingers pointed and sharp, almost like claws.



“It is nice that you are calm, it is much easier to hold a conversation when both parties are calm.”



The first one to break the silence was the black-scaled youth. His voice was surprisingly soothing, almost like a whisper that pulled at your consciousness. As he spoke, he didn't even look at Huang Ying, his eyes constantly on the lake next to the pavilion.



“I have already seen the worst nightmares and memories of everyone whose memories I have devoured, the only one that is left is my own nightmare. You should be that nightmare, correct?”



Huang Ying asked the question that was at the front of his mind. He already had his suspicions when he saw the hut, but it was still best to get a clear confirmation before anything else.



“This form can be called your worst nightmare. You fear that you will stop being human and give in to the gnawing hunger that the blood of Baku brings with it. Because of that, I was given this shape.”



The black-scaled youth shrugged his shoulders at Huang Ying's question and affirmed his suspicious. While shrugging his shoulders, he also casually threw out Huang Ying's deepest fear.



“You are quite casual, considering that you are a monster.”



Huang Ying couldn't help but comment. If the monster in front of him really was what he would become if he gave in to the gnawing hunger, he was quite far away from Huang Ying's expectations. Huang Ying expected him to be more savage and cruel.



“Of course, after all, I am still you, albeit not the current you.”



The black-scaled youth gave a faint smile and turned his eyes away from the lake, looking directly at Huang Ying for the first time since Huang Ying came to the pavilion. When the black-scaled youth looked at him, Huang Ying felt like he was being stared at by a poisonous serpent.

 

Chapter 68: A Talk about the future.



“Do you see that lake? Do you know what that lake is?”



Before Huang Ying had the time to say anything, the black-scaled youth turned his eyes back to the lake and asked a question of his own. Huang Ying followed his eyes and looked to the center of the lake. At the center of the lake was a head peering out from the water, looking directly at Huang Ying and the black-scaled youth.



The skin on the head was a dull gray, it's eyes completely white and unfocused. Dry and unorganized gray hair was cascading down from the head and into the water. The head only looked at them with lifeless eyes, not even blinking as it stared at them.



“It is one of a few possible futures. I am the first and most likely, that lake is the second one. And you are the third one.”



Not waiting for Huang Ying to state his guess, the black-scaled youth spoke out again. While he spoke, he looked at the head staring at them. His eyes were filled with an indescribable sadness as he looked at the lake.



“First? Second? Third? What do you mean?”



When the black-scaled youth spoke about possible futures, he completely lost Huang Ying. Huang Ying thought that he would just have to come and face his worst nightmare once he entered the small hut, he didn't expect to start talking about possible futures.



“When you were talking to that White Tiger, did you never wonder why the previous people who had the blood of Baku never managed to release the Four Guardian Beasts or complete their duty and become the new Baku?”



As the black-scaled youth spoke, he tilted his head to the side and looked at Huang Ying with a slightly bemused expression. As Huang Ying thought over his words, he did indeed find that it didn't make much sense.



According to the White Tiger, that war took place countless eons ago. How many different people with the blood of Baku had been born since then? Why had none of them ever managed to release any of the Four Guardian Beasts, or even become the new Baku?



“The blood of Baku is not a blessing nor is it a gift, not to humans at least, it is more like a curse. A curse that ends with either me, or the one in the lake.”



The black-scaled youth pointed to himself and the head in the center of the lake as he spoke.



“It is quite simple really. When Baku sent his blood and element into the reincarnation cycle, to be reborn into a humans body, he didn't think about how weak humans are. The human body simply cannot contain the blood and concept of Baku.”



“And since it can't contain it, it always ends up turning into either me or the one in the lake, trapped in this vicious cycle.”



As the black-scaled youth spoke, his eyes became slightly unfocused, like he was reminiscing about the past. Or maybe he was reminiscing about a future that would never come to pass?



“But what exactly are you?”



Since the black-scaled youth said that it was the result of the blood of Baku mixing with humans, it was clear that it was more than just Huang Ying's worst nightmare. He couldn't help but wonder if this black-scaled youth wasn't the blood of Baku talking to him, telling him about what had happened to it's past holders.



“The lake is a mixture of memories and souls. Each memory and soul you devour ends up in that lake, slowly growing as you devour more. Even the souls and memories of Demonic beasts end up in there. Once the lake grows too large for your mind to contain, it will overflow and break you, turning you into a mindless monster that lives to devour souls.”



The Black-scaled youth pointed to the head in the lake once more. Huang Ying couldn't help but turn and look at the lake once more. Once he looked closer at the lake, he noticed that the area around the head was filled with transparent eyes, each staring at Huang Ying and the black-scaled youth.



“This form is much the same. If there should ever come a time that your body is too weak to fully contain the hunger, or you should give in to the hunger, you will become this form. A monster that lives only to destroy and devour everything. Of course, in both cases, you will just end up being killed by someone sooner or later, so there is not much of a future to talk about.“



After talking about the lake, the black-scaled youth pointed at himself. He had a faint smile on his face as he spoke in a self deprecating way, like he was mocking what he and the head in the lake had become.



“And the third future? What future do I embody?”



Huang Ying sat in silence for a short while before asking a question. Since the black-scaled youth said that he was the third future, it clearly meant that there were more options ahead of him.



“You are neither of us. You are someone who wasn't broken by the hunger or the overflow of souls. You are someone who broke the curse of Baku and became a completely new existence. This future has been a possibility for everyone who came before you, but none has managed to grasp it.”



“Since you have the blood of the White Tiger, slightly repressing the blood of Baku, and even some Vermilion Bird blood in you, the odds of you grasping this future are much higher than any of your predecessors.”



The black-scaled youth's eyes were blazing as he spoke. He and the one in the lake had repeated this cycle countless times already, but now they finally met someone that had the chance to break this vicious cycle, how could he not be excited.



“And what future did Baku hope for when he sent himself into the reincarnation cycle?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but ask. According to what the White Tiger had said, Baku sent himself into the reincarnation cycle so that someone could free the Four Guardian Beasts. But if every human who inherited the blood of Baku ended up as a monster, how could anyone ever free the Four Guardian Beasts? What did Baku truly hope for when he sent his blood into the reincarnation cycle?



“What makes you think that Baku ever hoped for anything?”



In response to Huang Ying's question, the black-scaled youth only gave a smile and asked a question back.

 

Chapter 69: As your heart desires, so it shall be.



“But he has to have hoped for something right? If not, why would he send his blood and element into the reincarnation cycle to be reborn in a human body?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but be perplexed. Of course Baku must have hoped for something, if he didn't he would not have sent his own blood and element into the reincarnation cycle.



“Did you hope for something when you killed those people in Yellow Winds Town? You didn't did you? You just did what your heart desired. You wanted to kill them, so you killed them.”



The black-scaled youth tilted his head and spoke about what Huang Ying did in the past. His words reminded Huang Ying that he was indeed not hoping for anything when he started a massacre in Yellow Winds Town. He wanted to kill the patriarchs, so he did.



“Baku was just like that, doing whatever his heart desired and avoiding whatever he didn't want. What point is there in worrying about the future or the past? Just do what you want to do.”



“Baku was tired of partaking in that charade, so he found a good excuse to remove himself from their game, pushing the responsibility onto someone else.”



The black-scaled youth spoke more cryptic words and chuckled. He looked towards the head in the lake once more. Seeing the head in the lake nod at him, he gave it a short nod and stood up and left the pavilion.



“Now it is time for you to leave, we have already talked enough. Once you defeat me and the one in the lake, you can leave this mental dimension and continue on with exploring the ruins. Don't forget, whatever your heart desires, so it shall be.”



“Oh right, one more thing. Once you learn the truth at the end of these ruins, it is up to you how you want to proceed. Baku himself never had much interest in partaking or ending the charade, but maybe you will.”



Not waiting for Huang Ying to ask any more question, the black-scaled youth spoke up and told him it was time to leave. Once the black-scaled youth finished his words, the pavilion vanished and Huang Ying found himself standing on that desolate plain once more.



The small hut was gone, but the lake was still left behind. The black-scaled youth stood next to the lake, looking at Huang Ying indifferent eyes. Before Huang Ying had the time to ask any more questions, the water in the lake started surging.



As the water surged, more and more phantom forms started appearing from inside the lake, slowly climbing up onto land next to the black-scaled youth. Huang Ying didn't have to look too closely to see that each phantom was someone or something he had killed and devoured. Even all the Blood Ant he had slain after entering The Wilderness were there.



“All you have to do is kill all of us and you can leave this test.”



The black-scaled youth spoke again, his vision sweeping across all the phantom forms that were taking shape and solidifying next to him. Huang Ying couldn't help but be slightly shocked as he looked at the small army that was forming next to the black-scaled youth. Without him noticing it, he had already slain so many people?



“Before I do this, just what are you really? Since you are able to tell me all this, you are clearly more than just my worst nightmare.”



Huang Ying turned his eyes to the black-scaled youth as he spoke. The black-scaled youth knew so much about the previous incarnations of Baku, he even talked about things Huang Ying didn't know yet.



“Within the blood of Baku lies the memories of every previous incarnation of Baku. I am the collection of those memories. I just took the chance that this mental test presented to hijack this form and tell you a few things you needed to know about yourself.”



The black-scaled youth shrugged his shoulders and pointed to Huang Ying. Every previous incarnation of Baku would have this conversation about their future sooner or later, it was only a question of when.



Since it was the collection of memories from the previous incarnations of Baku, it did not want another one to walk down the path that they had walked. It wanted someone to break the cycle, to stop the continuous reincarnating and allow their memories to vanish like their bodies had so long ago.



“I see, then I guess I should thank you for telling me so much.”



Huang Ying gave a short bow as thanks to the black-scaled youth. His mind was now clearer than it had ever been. He didn't care too much about what the black-scaled youth said about the possible futures. But when the black-scaled youth talked about how Baku lived, the words stuck with him.



What point is there in worrying about the past or the future? Just do what you want to do. If your heart tells you to kill someone, kill them. It tells you to save someone? Save them. As your heart desires it, so it shall be.



“No need to thank us, we only told you in the hopes that you can break this vicious cycle.”



The black-scaled youth shook his head as he spoke. He swept the surroundings with his eyes, looking at all the phantoms that had taken shape around him. He gave a quick nod of his head before waving his hand, signaling all the phantoms to charge forward.



Seeing the phantoms charge at him, Huang Ying didn't have any reaction. He turned his eyes towards the gray sky and did just as the black-scaled youth told him. As your heart desires it, so it shall be.



When Huang Ying turned his head towards the sky, black clouds started appearing above them, covering the entire sky and shrouding the land in darkness. The clouds were surging, large swathes of flames billowing out from within the clouds.



While flames were surging in the sky, frost started covering the ground. Ice grew out from the ground and shackled all the phantoms down, freezing their bodies to the ground.



The black-scaled youth said that this was a mental test, so it was most likely taking place within Huang Ying's own mind. And since this place was most likely Huang Ying's own mind, it was only reasonable that he had complete control over it. Summoning flames that covered the entire sky and ice that covered the entire earth was done by just the slightest movement of Huang Ying's mind. It was also his first real taste of power, and he had to admit that it was very enjoyable.



As the fires surged in the sky, a massive black body revealed itself from the clouds. A massive serpentine body covered in black scales, sharp spikes traversing down it's entire back, feathery black wings that seemed to cover the entire earth, and two massive amber eyes that seemed to oversee all life.



Looking at the massive body in the sky, the black-scaled youth couldn't help but smile. The Baku that Huang Ying could summon was the best measurement of how far Huang Ying had strayed from the path of the normal Baku.



Normally, the Baku he would summon would look just like the normal Baku, a large black serpent. Every previous incarnation of Baku would summon a large black serpent.



But since he had devoured the blood of the White Tiger and the newly mutated Little Flame, his own Baku had grown spikes and wings. If one day, the Baku Huang Ying summoned no longer had the characteristics of Baku, it would mean that he had stepped onto a completely new path.



The wings that had grown on his own Baku were a result of him absorbing the newly mutated blood of Little flame, but it's size was only the result of Huang Ying's wishes. If he attempted to summon it in the real world, while it would look the same, it would be much smaller than it was now.



Huang Ying moved his eyes to the horde of phantoms ahead of him, his eyes landing on the black-scaled youth and the lake located behind the horde. He gave a faint smile before directing the Baku in the sky.



The massive black serpent opened it's maw and released a loud roar that reverberated across the entire desolate plain. The ice covering the earth started cracking from the sound waves alone.



After roaring, the black serpent turned it's head downward and dived down with it's maw open. It's maw was large enough to cover the entire desolate plain. With a single bite of it's maw, the entire plain vanished and the world descended into darkness.

 

Chapter 70: Descendant of the Azure Dragon.



When Huang Ying opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on the ground in a slightly damp cave. The surrounding walls and ceiling were a dark yellow and looked almost like sand. Upon closer inspection, Huang Ying found that while the dark yellow earth looked like sand, it was surprisingly dense and sturdy, allowing the cave to stand steady.



The smell of cooked meat and smoke filled the air around him. Turning his head to the side, he could see Xin Yang sitting next to a small fire, cooking some meat. The meat was a deep red and Huang Ying could see that it was filled with Qi, so it clearly came from a Demonic beast.



“How long was I out?”



Huang Ying sat up and stretched his body before walking over and sitting down next to the fire. He did not know how long he had been inside that mental test, but he was certain that this mental test shared the same characteristics as the first test, time moving faster inside the test than it did outside.



“Around five days time. When I woke up, we were both lying in the center of an illusion array, but since you refused to wake up, I could only carry you away and find a place to rest temporarily.”



Xin Yang pulled out some meat from the fire and tossed some to Huang Ying, slowly eating some himself as well. When Huang Ying bit into the meat, he found that it was incredibly bitter, even after being cooked, so it was probably from a poisonous type Demonic beast.



“Where is this?”



Despite the unpleasant taste of the meat, Huang Ying continued eating as he asked more questions. He currently did not know where they were, but he was sure that they would have to fight something at some point, so keeping his energy up was a necessity.



“Not far from where we first entered this floor, I didn't want to risk traveling too far while you were out.”



Xin Yang took out a water pouch from his storage and threw it to Huang Ying. Even though he wanted to know why Huang Ying was out for five days, he knew that they had been confronted by their mental demons, their worst nightmares, so it would be improper to ask.



“Do you know anything about this place?”



Huang Ying slowly drank from the water pouch as he once more scanned the surroundings. Except for the fact the the Natural Energy in the air here was more abundant than it was in the outside world, it didn't seem too different.



Huang Ying was also pleasantly surprised to discover that his Qi crystal was no longer sealed, neither were his bloodlines. This meant that while they were on this floor, he would have access to his full strength should he need it.



He was slightly disappointed when he found that he could still not contact Li Jun, but he quickly returned his mental state to normal. He could not change the situation, so there was no point in worrying about it.



“A little bit, exactly how valid the information is I don't quite know, but it should be at least 90% true.”



Xin Yang rubbed the ring on his finger, and the head of a large snake appeared next to him. The head was covered in vibrant green scales, it's mouth filled with razor sharp teeth that were as long as Huang Ying's fingers.



“I found this one not far from this cave, I had him give me all the information he knew about this place before I killed him. After killing him, I used a memory searching technique to verify the information.”



“This entire floor is shaped like a large forest, with small plains spread all around. There are no humans on this floor, instead, Demonic beasts are the rulers of this floor, even building a city of their own.”



“This one didn't know too much about the rulers of the city, only that the king of the city can take human form, but most of the Demonic beasts within the city are either at the early stages of the Xiantian Builder stage, or the late stages of the 9 Heavens of Houtian.”



For a Demonic beast to take human shape, and when it could do so, depended on two factors, it's strength and it's potential. The higher the potential of a Demonic beast, in most cases it's bloodline, the stronger it had to become before it could take human form.



Taking human form allowed the Demonic beast to integrate into human society, even going as far as having children with humans. Once a Demonic beast took human form, if it chooses to completely change it's form, it would be incredibly hard to tell it apart from a normal human, so they were well suited for infiltration.



“There is a mountain where the 'God' of these Demonic beasts lives. Their 'God' is a Demonic beast with the blood of the Azure Dragon. The mountain where he lives supposedly gives of some faint spatial fluctuations at times, so my guess is that there is a Spatial Array on that mountain, probably leading to the next floor.”



After he finished speaking, Xin Yang stored away the head of the snake once more. The stronger a Demonic beast, the more worth it's body was. This snake was only at the 9th heaven, but it's scales could be used to make armor, while it's teeth could be used to make weapons. Once he dug out it's Demon Crystal, he could even use it to create a weapon with the poison attribute.



Every Demonic beast had a Demon Crystal, it was what made them Demonic beasts. Whether or not the Demon crystal was something they were born with, or something that they acquired when they were just humans or normal beasts didn't matter. Once one had a Demon Crystal, they became a Demonic beast.



To grow stronger, Demonic beasts would slowly strengthen their Demon Crystal, using rare herbs or the blood of stronger Demonic beasts to slowly strengthen it. This Demon Crystal contained the entire strength and element of the Demonic beast, it could be used for a myriad of things, alchemy and forging being the main points.



“So our best course of action is to enter that city and find out more information about their god?”



Huang Ying knew that entering the city would be slightly risky, but he also knew that simply entering the mountain without proper information would be riskier. Any Demonic beast that could be revered as a god by Demonic beasts at the early stages of the Xiantian realm was clearly not simple.



The fact that this 'god' also held the blood of the Azure Dragon was also a cause for concern. The bloodline of the Azure Dragon was the bloodline of one of the Four Guardian Beasts. Depending on how much of the Azure Dragon bloodline this Demonic beast had, the fight would be much harder. Just one drop of the Azure Dragon bloodline was not too much of a threat, but Huang Ying was not optimistic enough to believe that it would only have one drop of Azure Dragon bloodline.



At the same time, Huang Ying got more and more interested in the creator of these ruins. The creator of these ruins managed to not only seal off Huang Ying's contact with a soul that was residing within his own body, but also the blood of Baku and the White Tiger in his body. There was also a descendant of the Azure Dragon living in the ruins. If someone told Huang Ying that the creator of these ruins had nothing to do with the Four Guardian Beasts, there was no way he would believe them.



“Indeed, entering the city is a must, but I suggest we gather some more information first. Hunt down a few Demonic beasts that live in the outskirts of the city and search their memories, the like.”



Xin Yang had the same opinion as Huang Ying, they had to enter the city and gather more information about this 'god'. But before entering the city, gathering a bit of information about the city was also necessary. With their plans laid down, Huang Ying and Xin Yang decided to wait a few more hours before setting their plan into motion.