Novel The Godless One

Chapter 132: Choosing a mission.



After leaving the arena, Zhouyun took the girl from the Jing clan, Jing Qiu, with him for a walk around the academy. He grabbed onto her hand and the two of them walked all around the academy, chatting pleasantly with each other.



None of the wandering students that saw the two of them like this were surprised, it was clear that Zhouyun having a relationship with his girl from the Jing clan was common knowledge. Of course, even though he was already in a relationship, it did not stop him from pursuing other women, nor did it stop other women from pursuing him.



Cultivation extended a person's life, Sovereigns for example could live for several million years and look like they hadn't aged a day. Having more than one wife in this world was very common, even many mortals would marry more than one spouse, creating large families. For certain families that considered their bloodlines holy, they would even encourage marrying inside the family, hoping for their offspring to have an even purer bloodline.



After the two of them walked around for over two hours, they headed back to Zhouyun's private cabin. Jing Qiu did not waste any time after entering the cabin, pouncing on Zhouyun and kissing him all over, slowly removing his robe.



After the two of them enjoyed a few hours of pleasure together, Jing Qiu nuzzled up against Zhouyun's bare chest, a satisfied smile on her face. While she nuzzled her face against his chest, Zhouyun suddenly placed one of his fingers against Jing Qiu's temples.



As his finger touched her temple, a stream of purple Qi entered Jing Qiu's body, flowing directly into her head. After twitching and spasming for a short moment, Jing Qiu's eyes glazed over with a dull and unfocused look.



“What are the other six overlords planning?”



Seeing her eyes glaze over, Zhouyun's face cracked into a smile. He stood up and wandered around the room for a short moment, before he turned to the dazed Jing Qiu and started talking. It was clear that the other six overlords were now working together, maybe in an attempt to suppress Eastern Wind Academy, he wanted to know why.



“I don't know.”



Jing Qiu sat up on the bed, her voice was completely monotone, like she had turned into a puppet. Her words caused Zhouyun to slightly frown. He did not doubt her words, the way she was now, it was impossible for her to lie to him.



“Then what do you know about what you were doing here?”



Zhouyun spoke up again, changing the question. She could not lie to him, but it was up to him to ask the right questions.



“We were told to team up and head to Eastern Wind Academy and do our best to suppress the new students. We were warned that there was one person amongst the new students that we had to be wary of. If possible, we were to cripple or kill this person.”



Jing Qiu's eyes were devoid of any light, she simply sat there and stared straight ahead as she spoke.



“Who is this person?”



Zhouyun's eyes lit up as he heard her words. It was clear that the other six overlords had decided to team up against the Eastern Wind Academy because of this one person. But no matter how much he thought, he could not think of any of the new students that warranted such attention.



“I wasn't told, only the leaders of each group were told.”



“So you know fucking nothing! Forget it. You can lie down again.”



Hearing Jing Qiu's words, Zhouyun couldn't help but curse out. It was clear that the six other overlords were worried about word of their plans getting out, so they hadn't told everyone about the actual plans. Since she knew nothing, there was no point in continuing this questioning.



After Zhouyun spoke out, Jing Qiu stiffly laid down in bed again. Zhouyun also walked over to the bed and laid down next to Jing Qiu, covering the two of them with the blanket. He placed a finger on her temple, a stream of purple Qi leaving her body and entering his finger.



After the purple Qi left her body, her eyes regained their light again. She shook her head and looked around the room in confusion.



“What is it Little Qiu? Did you have a nightmare?”



Seeing her like this, Zhouyun's mouth curled up into a faint smile as he pulled Jing Qiu into an embrace, whispering softly into her ears.



“It's nothing Big Brother Zhouyun, I just didn't notice that I fell asleep.”



Jing Qiu nuzzled up against Zhouyun and spoke up in a sweet voice, causing the smile on Zhouyun's face to grow even larger as he couldn't help but think to himself. Of course you didn't notice, if you did, it would mean that my technique had failed and I would have to kill you.



–

When the third day of the newcomer competition rolled around, the mood inside the arena was much gloomier than it had been the previous two days. With the visit from the other six overlords yesterday, they had been completely humiliated, unable to win even a single fight.



Of course, none of this mattered to Huang Ying or Fang Shan, who had not even bothered showing up at the arena. The last day of the newcomer competition was the day where the newcomers could challenge the older students, it was completely voluntary.



“Any idea what type of mission you are going to undertake?”



Fang Shan and Huang Ying were both currently entering the Mission House, making small talk. Fang Shan was the one who asked the question. The two of them were entering the Mission House to see what type of missions they had to choose between.



“Not really. As long as the mission let's me leave the academy, i'm not too picky about the rest.”



Huang Ying shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, placing his hand on the large crystal pillar that showed all the missions they could choose from. One could put their perception into the crystal pillar to see all the information that it held within it. Of course, Huang Ying and Fang Shan only looked at the missions that had the Man difficulty, as the others were too risky for the current them.



Eastern Wind Academy offered missions of all types. Some missions required people to subdue bandits, catching escaping criminals, finding certain plants or herbs, taming Demonic beasts, Huang Ying even found a mission that only required them to clean a mansion belonging to a fellow student.



Huang Ying and Fang Shan did not bother looking at these types of missions, favoring missions that involved battles and traveling away from the academy. They were planning on finding missions that not only let them leave the academy to accumulate contribution points, but also gave them the chance to grow stronger.



Huang Ying was scanning through a few missions when he suddenly found a mission that made him stop searching. The mission was very simple, exterminate a bandit group that was hiding out around the Eastern Sun City, the leader of the bandits was someone at the peak of the Xiantian realm.



The reason this mission caught Huang Ying's interest was it's location. Before he entered Vast Plains Ruin, he had spent a short time in Eastern Sun City, gathering information. Reading the name Eastern Sun City reminded him of how he had escaped from Empyrean Phoenix Academy.



“Did you find something?”



Fang Shan saw Huang Ying's lips curl up into a sinister smile, so she couldn't help but ask.



“I just remembered that there are two heads I have yet to collect. What do you say Little Shan, want to join me and kill some pigeons?”



Huang Ying tilted his head, looking at Fang Shan next to him as he spoke. He had once promised Cui Xima and Deng Rong that he would return and take their heads. The two of them were around the late stage of the Xiantian realm, with Huang Ying's current strength, reaping their heads would not be a problem.



“Hunting pigeons? Count me in.”



Hearing his words, Fang Shan's mouth also curled up into a smile. She had of course heard about the time Huang Ying had spent inside the dungeon of Empyrean Phoenix Academy. Since they dared torture someone she cared about, they could forget about living a peaceful life.

 

Chapter 133: Leaving the academy.



While Huang Ying and Fang Shan were registering the missions that they had accepted, as well as preparing some dried food that they could bring along, Zhouyun was watching the last day of the newcomer competition.



Zhouyun sat in the arena, but he did not pay much attention to the battles taking place, most of his concentration was focused on trying to find out which person the six other overlords wanted to cripple.



While he was deep in thought, a younger male student walked up to Zhouyun and whispered into his ear, snapping Zhouyun back to reality. Zhouyun lazily swept the surroundings with a glance, before turning to the youth.



“They are both preparing to leave the academy?”



The youth had just delivered the news that both Fang Shan and Huang Ying were preparing to leave the academy and take on several missions. Zhouyun had ordered several people to keep a close eye on both Fang Shan and Huang Ying.



He wanted to keep a close eye on Fang Shan because he enjoyed conquering and taming such arrogant and wild women. The reason he kept an eye on Huang Ying was slightly different. He wanted to keep an eye on Huang Ying because of two reasons.



The first reason was because he wanted to find out what Huang Ying's relationship with Xiao Mei was. He refused to believe that Xiao Mei was so close to Huang Ying because she fell in love with him. The second reason he wanted to keep an eye on Huang Ying was because Huang Ying made him feel uneasy.



He could not understand Huang Ying. Whenever he looked at Huang Ying and interacted with him, he looked and acted just like a normal student would when facing Zhouyun. But Zhouyun's senses told him that something was wrong, a feeling that made him uneasy.



“Tell Bai Jing to bring a few people and come here.”



After a short moment of thinking, Bai Jing sent his words into the youth's ear. The youth nodded and left Zhouyun, heading towards Bai Jing. Zhouyun originally considered not doing anything, but when he mixed his sense of unease with how that girl from Eternal Flame Academy had called out to Huang Ying yesterday, he decided that it would be safer to take action.



–



Huang Ying and Fang Shan accepted several missions that required them to hunt down either Demonic beasts or bandit groups, before leaving the Mission House and picking up a few things that they felt they would need for a prolonged stay outside the academy.



After picking up everything they thought necessary, they left the academy and headed towards the exit of the city. The academy had a Spatial Array that they could use to travel directly to Cloud's End City, but they both chose not to do this, preferring to walk the entire way.



“Ahhh, You finally left that blasted place, so I can finally stop hiding.”



Not long after they left the city, Li Jun's relieved voice rang out inside Huang Ying's mind. Ever since they entered Eastern Wind Academy and found out that one of Li Jun's old friends was still living there, Li Jun had decided to hide away. Lest he be discovered and news of him surviving spread around.



“You sound weaker than before. The same happened after we left the Vast Plains Ruin. Why is that?”



It was hard to notice the slight weakness in Li Jun's voice, but Huang Ying still managed to notice it, prompting him to ask. After they left the Vast Plains Ruin, Li Jun had sounded much weaker for a period of time, but he had refused to tell Huang Ying why.



“Hiding away from people like old ghost Huo Fei Tang or that freak inside the Vast Plains Ruin requires a large amount of energy. I will naturally sound a bit weaker after exerting so much energy.”



Contrary to what Huang Ying expected, Li Jun actually answered him, speaking in a very nonchalant manner. As he heard Li Jun's explanation, Huang Ying remembered that Li Jun once told him that a soul had a finite amount of energy after leaving it's body, so it needed constant replenishment.



“But is it really me we should be talking about now? It's only been a month, but that Zhouyun is already working on screwing you over. He is even trying to cuckold you!”



Before Huang Ying got the chance to respond, Li Jun's angry voice resounded inside Huang Ying's mind, causing the corner of Huang Ying's mouth to twitch. Cuckold him? It was true that Huang Ying and Fang Shan both had some feelings for each other, they had just never chosen to voice them or act on them.



“As you have just left the academy and have free reins, it is the perfect chance to dramatically increase your strength. Before you return to the academy, I will help you do three things. Forge your weapon, increase your cultivation, and unleash your own domain.”



Li Jun had made several plans while Huang Ying was inside the academy. If he stayed like he was now, he might end up getting killed by Zhouyun or one of his goons sooner or later. All three things that Li Jun mentioned could quickly increase Huang Ying's strength.



“Increasing my cultivation and unleashing my own domain are things that can be done rather easily, but how do you plan on helping me forge my weapon, I already broke the orb that was going to be the core of the entire thing. Finding another one of those is not going to be easy.”



While inside the academy, Huang Ying had completely consolidated his cultivation, so using his devouring Qi to reach the late stage of the Xiantian realm would not cause any problems. He also did not doubt that Li Jun had some special way that could let Huang Ying unleash his domain before reaching the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



The problem was that the core he wanted to use for his weapon had shattered while he was trying to cancel the forging process. Without that core, his weapon would be much weaker.



“We will not work on finding another one of those orbs, hoping to find a second one like it is almost impossible. We will take another approach, we will forge a new core, a better one.”



Li Jun's voice carried a slightly sinister tone as it rang out. He knew even more so than Huang Ying that finding a second one of those orbs was nearly impossible, because he truly knew how special that orb really had been.



“Forge one? How so?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but ask, intrigued by Li Jun's words. After he finished his words, a large amount of information flooded into his mind, describing a forging technique that Huang Ying had never even heard of.



“This technique I just transmitted to you was one that I used in the past to forge cores for several of my own weapons and arrays. I imagine that it shouldn't be hard for you to forge at least one of these?”



“Not a problem.”



Huang Ying's mouth couldn't help but curl up into a slight smile as he answered Li Jun. The technique he had been transmitted was not a technique to forge weapons, but a technique to forge special materials.



In theory, it was a surprisingly simple technique. It did not require any rare or expensive resources, but it still let you forge wonderful materials that could be used as cores for arrays and weapons.



The technique only required a single type of resource, either a Demon Crystal or a World Core. The more World Cores and Demon Crystals he gathered and fused, the stronger the material he would create. Since he was now going to hunt Demonic beasts and various bandit groups, was this not the perfect technique?

 

Chapter 134: Mocking smiles.



In Eternal Flame Academy, there was a small hall that was lit up by several braziers, each one blazing with a different type of flames. The only other item in this hall was a small prayer mat located at the center of the room.



There was currently a graceful and elegant middle aged woman sitting with her legs crossed on this prayer mat. She was clad in a scarlet robe that featured the insignia of the Eternal Flame Academy. Her scarlet hair was so long that it would reach the floor even if she were to stand up. In front of this graceful woman stood two female youths, Chen Chun and Shi Na, standing patiently and waiting for the graceful woman to speak.



“Little Chun, Little Na, I have a mission for the both of you. We have gotten reports that a Demonic beast with the bloodline of the Golden Crow has been spotted at the outskirts of the Divine Wilderness. It's strength is only around the peak of the Xiantian realm, so I want the both of you to kill it and bring it's blood back. You must go immediately.”



The graceful woman's voice was calm and soothing, like a cool breeze that eased the mind. Shi Na and Chen Chun both quickly nodded their heads and accepted the mission, quickly turning around and leaving the hall to prepare for the mission. This was not the first time the two of them had been sent out to kill a Demonic beast and collect it's blood, so they did not find anything strange about this mission.



After Shi Na and Chen Chun left the hall, the graceful woman continued to sit on the prayer mat, her eyes slightly unfocused as a purple stream of energy moved around underneath her skin.



–



“They are getting closer. They should reach us within a few hours.”



Fang Shan and Huang Ying sat next to a small camp fire, roasting some meat. It had been a few days since they had left Eastern Wind Academy, and they had returned to a familiar spot that was a few days away from Golden Auction City. This was the spot where they took a rest after leaving the city and then got attacked by Waning Moon assassins.



The one who spoke out was Fang Shan, her words causing the corners of Huang Ying's mouth to pull up into a faint smile. The people she was talking about was the reason the two of them decided to stop here and wait. Ever since they left Eastern Wind Academy, Fang Shan had sensed that someone was following them.



Of course, she only knew that someone was following them, she had only learned this when Huang Ying told her.. She was not like Huang Ying, who had Li Jun to keep constant watch. Huang Ying knew that it was Bai Jing as well as four other people that were following them.



He guessed that they would be too cautious to try and attack Huang Ying while he was close to Heaven's Crossroads City. So he had chosen this forest that was a few days away from Heaven's Crossroads City, hoping that they would take the bait and attack them.



“Good, let's hope that they are stupid enough to attack us.”



Huang Ying couldn't help but chuckle as he took a bite of the meat. Before they even left Heaven's Crossroads City, Huang Ying had made Li Jun completely hide him and Fang Shan, allowing them to slip out of the city undetected.



He of course did not do this in the hopes that people from the academy would not follow him, he had done it so that the people who were spying on him would not notice him leaving.



He knew that there were people from Heaven's Secrets Company that were constantly following him, keeping an eye on him while also preventing others from spying on him. With Li Jun hiding the two of them, they resembled completely normal people, so no one had noticed when they slipped out of the city.



This meant that Huang Ying would not have to worry about anyone spying on him while he was outside of the academy, allowing him to use all of his power. Of course, while the people spying on him could not find him, he made sure that Bai Jing could. Li Jun had warned him that Bai Jing left the city not long after they did, so he made Li Jun keep an eye on Bai Jing, as well as lead Bai Jing to them if the opportunity arose.



A few hours later, Bai Jing had indeed managed to catch up to them. But he did not take action immediately, instead choosing to wait nearby and observe them. Noticing this, both Fang Shan and Huang Ying almost burst out laughing. It seemed like Bai Jing was so arrogant that he never even considered the possibility that they would discover him, even though he had already lost to Fang Shan.



“Come on now. You are going to hide now? We have waited so long for you to catch up to us, why bother hiding now?”



Fang Shan shouted out towards the forest, picking a bone out from the fire and throwing it in the direction of Bai Jing and the others. Not long after the bone had been thrown, Bai Jing as well as four other male youths walked out from the forest, ugly expressions on their face.



“Oh, fully healed? It seems like someone fed you some good medicine.”



Fang Shan couldn't help but mock Bai Jing when she saw him. The injuries she had inflicted on him only a few days ago were not something that would heal this quickly. This could only mean that someone had given Bai Jing some good medicine to quickly heal his wounds.



“Senior Brother Zhouyun would like to invite you to join him in his cabin for a discussion about cultivation. It is very rare for people to get to enjoy such a good chance, so I suggest you accept the invitation Junior Sister Shan.”



Despite her mockery, Bai Jing managed to maintain his calm. He cupped his hands towards Fang Shan and politely inviting her, completely ignoring Huang Ying. Of course, no one present believed that it would not just be a discussion about cultivation.



“A discussion? That does sound very interesting. Tell you what, if you manage to beat my Ying'er, I will follow you.”



Fang Shan put on an interested expression before sending a coquettish look at Huang Ying, her voice soft and teasing. Bai Jing and the others had ugly expressions on their faces when they heard her words, but Huang Ying did not show much of a reaction, slightly disappointing Fang Shan.



Of course, while she was slightly disappointed, she was also slightly happy. This was the first time she had tried calling him Ying'er, and since he did not show any reaction, it was clear that he was fine with her calling him this. They both knew about the others feelings, they had just never said anything about them openly, as they both saw no need to do so.



“Are you joking with us? I must warn you once more. While Senior Brother Zhouyun wants to invite you back to his cabin, he has also told us that if we are unable to convince you to join him, it is fine if we simply bring back your body and your virgin Yin.”



Bai Jing's expression sank as he coldly spat out the words. After he spoke, one of the youths behind him raised his hand, a faint black Qi rising up from his palm. Huang Ying couldn't help but raise his eyebrow when he saw this black Qi.



It was one of the rarer types of Qi, even rarer than light and darkness type Qi. It was death Qi. Death Qi had many different uses, but the most known way of using it was to create puppets. Of course, these puppets would not be made out of wood or stone, but out of people.



The death Qi could be used to reanimate a body that had recently died, turning it into a slave that would be forced to follow your orders. The virgin Yin that Bai Jing spoke of was something that only women had, men had virgin Yang.



When a person first lost their virginity, this virgin Yin or Yang would enter the body of their partner, nourishing them. If a person was stronger or had a very special bloodline, their virgin Yin or Yang would also be more powerful, in some cases even being able to grant the person who takes it new elements or abilities.



Bai Jing was hoping to see Fang Shan and Huang Ying's panicked expression, but all that greeted him were two mocking smiles. Just as he was about to flare up again, he saw Huang Ying stand up and speak out.



“I'll take care of Bai Jing, you can take care of the four others. Once I have cleaned up Bai Jing, i'll come and help you.”



“Help me? I'll bet you I can kill the four before you even finish with Bai Jing.”



Fang Shan's clear laughter rang out as she stood up, looking at the four people with indifference. Of the four of them, only two were at the late stage of the Xiantian realm, the two others were at the middle stage, they were not even a challenge to her. It was clear that the four of them were supposed to kill Huang Ying while Bai Jing would block Fang Shan.

 

Chapter 135: Completely disregarded.



“You'll bet? Alright, what do you wanna bet Little Shan?”



Huang Ying's mouth couldn't help but curl up into a slightly sinister smile as he spoke. He had placed a strand of devouring Qi into Bai Jing's World Core, so he could completely cripple him with just a single thought.



“How about the loser has to do one thing that the winner orders them to? Or are you too scared i'll make you do something embarrassing Xiao Ying?”



Seeing Huang Ying agree to her bet, Fang Shan's lips curled into a smile. She had confidence in that she could easily kill these four people before he managed to finish of Bai Jing.



“Why would I be scared Little Shan? I'm going to win.”



Huang Ying's eyebrows twitched slightly at the way Fang Shan called him, but he chose to simply ignore it, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as he responded.



“We'll have to see about that Little Ying.”



Fang Shan let out a cute snort when she heard Huang Ying's response and saw how nonchalant he was. Bai Jing might not be that strong, but she still felt confident that he would manage to fight Huang Ying for a short while.



“Alright, what is up with all those nicknames you keep calling me? It's just one after another.”



Huang Ying's eyebrow twitched once more when he heard Fang Shan's response. This time he couldn't help but ask her about the nicknames. First she called him brother Ying, then Ying'er, then Xiao Ying, and then Little Ying.



He didn't mind the first two that much, but the last two were a bit hard to listen to. Fang Shan only reached up to his chest, so hearing her call him Little Ying felt far too bizarre.



“What, you can call me Little Shan but I can't give you a bunch of nicknames? You belong to me, so what is wrong with me giving you a bunch of nicknames?”



Fang Shan let out another cute snort, loudly proclaiming Huang Ying as her's. At the same time she also looked at him with a slight glare, a glare that wasn't threatening in the slightest, on the contrary, it was rather cute.



“Alright, alright, I get it. I won't call you Little Shan anymore. What do you want me to call you then?”



Huang Ying raised his hands in defeat. He had only called her Little Shan because he felt that calling her Sister Shan would feel weird, but now it seemed like he had offended this little vixen.



“Call me Shan'er. And don't forget to do it really affectionately.”



Fang Shan's lips curled into a smirk when she saw Huang Ying's response. She found it exceptionally funny when she saw how his eyebrows twitched when she told him to say it affectionately.



Of course, she only said that to tease him, how could she not know that he barely had a single romantic bone in his body? But then again, that was one of the parts about him that she liked, how straightforward he was about it.



“Are you two lovebirds done?! Do you think that we are air!?”



Bai Jing could not resist it any longer, giving a loud shout when he saw how the two of them completely ignored him and his group. This complete disregard was one of the greatest insults and humiliation he could imagine.



He managed to calm himself down when he thought about how he could kill Huang Ying and send Fang Shan to serve Zhouyun in bed, but he still felt furious at being ignored.



“You are about as threatening as air at least.”



Contrary to what Bai Jing expected, Fang Shan quickly nodded her head and spoke with a serious expression, causing Bai Jing's expression to sink even further.



“They do have a point though. Let's finish this and keep moving, we have a bunch of missions to finish.”



Huang Ying spoke up after Fang Shan, it was indeed time for them to finish this. He was just about to step towards Bai Jing when he saw Fang Shan send another glare his way.



“Fine, fine. Let's finish this quickly, Shan'er.”



Huang Ying once more raised his arms in defeat, quickly correcting himself. A smile quickly bloomed on Fang Shan's face when she heard how Huang Ying called her. After making sure that he understood how he should call her, she moved towards the four people that Bai Jing brought with him.



“Don't kill him immediately. Let him activate his domain, this is a good chance to activate yours.”



While Huang Ying stepped towards Bai Jing, Li Jun's voice rang out in his mind. Huang Ying gave a quick mental nod before stepping in front of Bai Jing. Seeing how nonchalant Huang Ying was, Bai Jing's mouth curled into a sneer as he activated his domain, instantly covering Huang Ying.



With Bai Jing's domain covering Huang Ying, the temperature immediately dropped, snowflakes appearing in the air around Huang Ying. Each snowflake drifted along with the wind, but Huang Ying knew that each snowflake could turn into a deadly weapon with the slightest thought from Bai Jing.



“Alright, how are we going to activate it?”



Bai Jing's mouth was moving, but Huang Ying completely ignored him, not even paying attention to what he was saying. He instead started talking with Li Jun while keeping half an eye on Fang Shan's fight. Of the four people she was fighting, one used the fire element, one used the death element, one used the water element, while the last person used the ice element.



“Use your energy vision to see how Bai Jing moves his Qi around to create the domain, feel the pressure it puts on you. Once you have memorized this, imagine the pressure you think your elements would create, and then force that pressure upon the surrounding world. If that does not work, I will force the domain to activate. The domain will be harder to control and slightly weaker if I force it out, so I hope it won't come to that,”



Every person had their own type of domain, as the type of domain you had depended not just on what type of element you had, but also how you yourself saw your own element.



After hearing Li Jun's explanation, Huang Ying activated his energy vision to closely examine the way Bai Jing used his Qi. At the same time, he also made sure to closely feel how the domain put pressure on him.



When it came to seeing how people used their Qi, Huang Ying was confident that there were very few people who could beat him. After all, he had not only eaten a Heaven's Eye Mushroom, but he had also devoured Yang Xinyi's special eyes while he took part in the Academy Battle.



Seeing Huang Ying simply stand there, even after he activated his domain, Bai Jing almost felt like throwing up some blood from anger. But when he saw that Huang Ying was not even looking at him, but instead half closing his eyes half paying attention to Fang Shan, he almost felt the world go black in front of his eyes.

 

Chapter 136: Multitude of domains.



“How dare you disregard me like that?!”



Bai Jing gave a loud shout and charged directly at Huang Ying. While he was charging at Huang Ying, he also made sure that the snowflakes that were just drifting around sped up.



Each snowflake could turn into a weapon for Bai Jing, so Huang Ying would have to dodge every single one of them if he did not want to get hurt. When Bai Jing charged towards him, Huang Ying also started moving, dodging most of the snowflakes as well as all the punches Bai Jing sent at him.



He was not in a rush to fight back. Fang Shan had only managed to wound one of the four people, so she would still require some time to finish her fight. This meant that he still had plenty of time to sense the pressure of Bai Jing's domain.



The pressure Bai Jing's domain gave off was a mixture of soft and hard. As the snowflakes drifted around, they were so soft that they could be destroyed by just blowing some air at them. This was the soft part of the domain.



But when Huang Ying stretched out his hand and touched one of the snowflakes, Bai Jing made the snowflake turn into a thick spike of ice that cleanly pierced through Huang Ying's hand. Even if Huang Ying were to smash this spike of ice into a rock with all his strength, the ice would not receive a single scratch. This was the hard part of the domain.



As the fight went on for a bit, Bai Jing felt more and more uneasy. The way Huang Ying managed to dodge all of his attacks and even most of his snowflakes made him feel uneasy. Even when he thought that Huang Ying got wounded by the occasional snowflake that hit him, he would just pull out the ice and his wound would rapidly heal. When he saw the speed at which Huang Ying's wounds were healing, he couldn't help but wonder, was this even human anymore?



“Let's try this out then.”



After spending a bit more time dodging and occasionally grabbing a snowflake, Huang Ying muttered to himself, his eyes lighting up. He had completely memorized how Bai Jing used his Qi while activating the domain, he had also felt every aspect of the pressure that Bai Jing's domain put on him. The only step left was to see if he could activate his own domain.



Huang Ying started circulating the Qi within his body, visualizing the pressure that he imagined his elements to have on the outside world as he did so. At first there was no change to the surroundings, but after a short while, Huang Ying could suddenly feel his Qi slowly drain from his body.



As his Qi started slowly draining, the temperature of the surroundings started swiftly dropping. As the temperature started dropping, ice started appearing everywhere. Not just the ground started freezing, even the snowflakes that Bai Jing had summoned started freezing.



“What?!”



Bai Jing couldn't help but shout out when he felt himself lose connection with his own domain. The only way this could happen was if his domain was being suppressed by someone else's domain. This was quickly proved correct when the ground started freezing over, even his own snowflakes turned to ice and became weapons to harm him.



“What type of monster are you?!”



He quickly realized why Huang Ying had not dodged all of his snowflakes. He had used the pressure from Bai Jing's domain to awaken his own domain. Upon realizing this, Bai Jing couldn't help but slightly pale and shout out. He was only at the early stage of the Xiantian realm, but he had already awakened his own domain, what type of concept was this?



Huang Ying didn't respond to Bai Jing, simply sending a smile his way. While Bai Jing's domain focused on the softness of snow and the hardness of ice, Huang Ying's domain was based on something much simpler. Extreme cold. Cold that would turn the entire world to ice if it were to be left unchecked.



Bai Jing was shocked when Huang Ying first awakened his domain, but he only became more shocked at what followed. The extreme cold domain that Huang Ying had brought forth suddenly changed, the ice that was floating around in the air turning into bolts of azure lightning that tore up the ground.



Since Huang Ying had several elements, he would of course have several domains. This was his lightning domain, a domain based on the extreme force that a lightning bolt struck with. Each bolt of lightning would tear up the ground, sending scorched earth flying.



Bai Jing thought that would be the end of it, but then he suddenly felt the domain change once more. He couldn't help but feel like screaming. He had more elements?!



The bolts of lightning vanished, and what replaced them was a frightening heat. The earth started burning with crimson flames as the temperature started rising at a furious pace. Since his ice domain was based on extreme cold, his flame domain would obviously be based on extreme heat, heat strong enough to melt even the strongest material.



Of course, all these domains were just the start for Huang Ying, he still had his two main domains that he wanted to try out, devouring and destruction. He sent a quick glance at Bai Jing. Bai Jing's face was completely pale, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, his attacks not even having half the force they used to have. It was clear that he had completely given up on this fight and was trying to figure out a way to escape.



Of the two main domains, Huang Ying decided to try out his destruction domain first. He channeled his Qi and imagined the destructive pressure, but despite his Qi swiftly vanishing, the surroundings only turned slightly darker. He tried it a few more times, but there was still no real result.



In the end, he could do nothing but abandon the plan of activating his destruction domain now, it seemed like he did not have enough Qi to properly activate it just yet. He did not dwell on it any longer, moving directly onto his devouring domain.



Activating his devouring domain went much smoother than activating his destruction domain. His Qi still vanished swiftly, but at least there was a reaction in the world around him.



When he activated his devouring domain, the air quickly turned darker, as if the sun had been covered by clouds. As the air turned darker, a devouring force spread into the world around Huang Ying.



The plants inside the domain started withering at a rapid pace, all the bugs inside the domain instantly died as their life force was sucked dry, even Bai Jing was heavily affected by the devouring force, his life force and Qi swiftly leaving his body.

 

Chapter 137: End of Bai Jing.



“It's you!”



Feeling the devouring force sucking out his Qi and life force, Bai Jing quickly turned even paler as he realized exactly who Huang Ying was. He couldn't help but scream out and stop his attacks, quickly backing up.



Of course, Huang Ying would not give him the chance to flee. In the time it took Huang Ying to test out his domains, Fang Shan had already managed to kill one of the four people, and heavily injuring a second one.



Huang Ying moved the strand of devouring Qi located in Bai Jing's World Core, causing it to surround the World Core and completely cutting Bai Jing off from his Qi. Without access to his Qi, Bai Jing was barely any different from a normal person, he only had a stronger body.



“Please don't do this! I can be your servant! I can help you against Zhouyun, I can work as a spy!”



When he felt the Qi within his body seemingly vanish, Bai Jing quickly fell to his knees and started begging, his entire face devoid of blood and covered in tears. Huang Ying removed the devouring domain and started walking towards Bai Jing.



“It really feels rather strange, seeing someone who I only used to have a small chance of beating groveling in front of me and begging to be my servant.”



Huang Ying couldn't help but mutter to himself as he saw the way Bai Jing was acting. Of course, even though he felt like that, there was no way he would spare him.



“That was the you of back then. If it were the you of this morning, before you awakened your domain, you would still be able to easily kill Bai Jing. Even someone at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation Realm could be killed by you if you gave it your all. The you now has the strength to fight toe to toe with a weaker person at the middle stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm.”



Li Jun's voice rang out in Huang Ying's mind after he finished muttering to himself, his words causing Huang Ying to stop his steps.



“Even before I awakened my domain? But my cultivation has not increased since the last time I face Bai Jing, how is it that I would be able to easily kill him?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but ask after hearing Li Jun's words. He had not increased his cultivation since they took the entrance test to Eastern Wind Academy, so his strength should not have increased any.



“You haven't noticed it yet? Check your World Core and your destruction element.”



Li Jun's voice rang out once more, sounding slightly disbelieving. His words caused Huang Ying to quickly sink his mind into his own body, closely examining his own World Core as well as checking out his destruction Qi.



“What is this?”



Upon checking his own destruction Qi, he noticed that it's strength had increased since he last checked it in Golden Auction City. Whereas it needed a few seconds to disintegrate Jing Yimu's arm back then, Huang Ying was now confident that it would require less than one second now.



But what he found the most surprising was his World Core. It was still in the shape of a pitch black waning moon, looking almost exactly like it did earlier. But once he took a closer look, he noticed a tiny white spot at one of the tips. The white spot was almost unnoticeable, but he was certain that it had not been there before.



“This is what turned your hair white. That orb you acquired in Golden Auction City was more special than you imagined. I didn't notice it at first, but when you tried to forcefully absorb your Qi and blood from within the orb, it brought back something that had hidden deep within the orb. A sliver of creation Qi.”



Li Jun had not noticed the creation Qi within the orb when they first saw it, he simply noticed that the chill it brought with it was unnaturally strong. But when Huang Ying was attempting to absorb his own blood and Qi from within the orb, he had felt the small sliver of creation Qi follow Huang Ying's blood and enter his body.



“Creation Qi? What would it do within the orb?”



Li Jun's words caused several questions to appear in Huang Ying's mind. Why would there be creation Qi in the orb? Who put the creation Qi there? Was it put there by the person who had the creation element?



“I don't know, but it is clear that the orb was once in the hands of the person who holds the creation element. This could also mean that he is on this very planet.”



“Would he be able to sense me?”



Huang Ying's expression sank when he heard Li Jun's words. The person who held the creation element would obviously not become Huang Ying's ally, but rather his enemy. This was because for the creation element to achieve it's goal, it would need the destruction element to no longer exist.



“Doubtful. Since you could not sense the creation Qi within the orb, he should not be able to sense your destruction Qi. You should take it one step at a time, focus on getting stronger first.”



Li Jun's words caused Huang Ying to let out a slight sigh of relief. It did indeed make sense, Huang Ying had not sensed anything from the creation element, even after it entered his body. This meant that the person who held the creation element would most likely be unable to sense him, especially if Huang Ying did not use the destruction element too much.



Huang Ying took a deep breath and calmed his mind, his eyes focusing on Bai Jing. Seeing his eyes focus on him, Bai Jing was just about to plead for mercy once more. Before Bai Jing had the chance to plead for mercy, Huang Ying sent out a punch.



Huang Ying's fist hit Bai Jing's dantian and turned from a punch into a spear hand. Huang Ying's body was originally around the same level of strength as Bai Jing's, but Huang Ying's attack was reinforce by Qi, while Bai Jing's body was not. His hand pierced into Bai Jing's body and grabbed onto his World Core.



Huang Ying pulled out his hand, bringing with it Bai Jing's World Core. Bai Jing's World Core was completely round and pure white in color. The surface of his World Core seemed to be squirming, as if there was something beneath the surface trying to burst out.



This was the sign of someone at the half step to Yin-Yang Formation realm. Once the thing squirming beneath the surface burst out and settled down on the planet, becoming the first life form to exist on the planet, he would officially enter the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



Bai Jing turned white as a sheet of paper upon seeing that Huang Ying had dug out his World Core, this meant that he could never cultivate again. Huang Ying glanced over at the white Bai Jing, his lips curling up into a sinister smile.



He sent out a kick with all his might, hitting Bai Jing's knee. With a loud crack, Bai Jing's knee completely shattered and he fell to the ground with a loud scream. Huang Ying stepped forward and raised his foot, sending it hurtling down at Bai Jing's face in a mighty stomp.



Huang Ying continued to stomp on Bai Jing's face until his skull cracked and was completely shattered. A cultivator at the half step to the Yin-Yang Formation realm had died just like that, stomped to death.



After killing Bai Jing, Huang Ying took his interspatial ring and then stopped paying attention to him. The sliver of devouring Qi that surrounded Bai Jing's World Core also returned to Huang Ying's body, bringing with it all the Qi it had leeched from Bai Jing in the time it had been inside his World Core.



“That little? What a shame.”



Huang Ying couldn't help but click his tongue when he saw how little his cultivation increased upon absorbing that sliver of devouring Qi. It had spent a little over a month inside Bai Jing's World Core, constantly leeching his Qi, but it had barely increased his cultivation.



“What do you expect? That your cultivation will increase as fast as the cultivation of your little girlfriends? You are the sole holder of the destruction and devouring element. The sheer amount of Qi it will take you to increase your cultivation from here on out can only be called obscene. Of course, the more it takes you to increase your cultivation level, the higher the increase in strength whenever you do increase your cultivation level.”



Li Jun's voice rang out in Huang Ying's mind after he clicked his tongue. The world was fair like that, it would require Huang Ying a massive amount of energy to increase his cultivation, much more than it took others. But his strength would also increase much more whenever he reached another cultivation level, making him far stronger than others at his level.

 

Chapter 138: Taste of victory.




After storing away Bai Jing's World core, Huang Ying no longer bothered paying attention to Bai Jing's body. Since he had taken Bai Jing's World Core, he could no longer devour any Qi from Bai Jing. And since Bai Jing's body was even slightly weaker than his own, there was no point in devouring his flesh and blood, as it would not strengthen his own by too much.



Huang Ying seemed to suddenly remember something, as he turned back to Bai Jing's body, his lips curling up into a smile. He waved his hand, causing a one meter long black phoenix to appear in front of him. Ever since Huang Ying fused all his bloodlines, he had rarely brought out Little Flame, as he would attract too much attention if here were seen.



“Eat up Little Flame, can't let such a good meal go to waste.”



Huang Ying pointed at Bai Jing's body as he spoke, prompting Little Flame to change into a one meter long black dragon and fly over to Bai Jing's body, slowly tearing off pieces of flesh. Bai Jing's body would not allow Huang Ying's body to strengthen by much, but it still contained enough energy to let Little Flame grow a little stronger.



While Little Flame was eating Bai Jing's body, Huang Ying turned back towards Fang Shan and her battlefield. The group of four had shrunk to become a group of two, as Fang Shan had already killed two of the people in the group. Of the last two, one was slightly injured, while the last one's injuries were more severe.



They had not seen how Huang Ying had killed Bai Jing, but they had heard him beg for mercy, as well as how he screamed when Huang Ying dug out his World Core. They had already lost all will to fight, they had even tried to flee and beg for mercy. But much to their dismay, the monster of a girl in front of them allowed them to do neither, relentlessly attacking them.



“Oy, Shan'er. Bai Jing is already dead, you've lost!”



Huang Ying's lips curled up into a teasing smile as he called out loudly towards Fang Shan, causing her twitch slightly. She couldn't help but silently curse Bai Jing, cursing him for not being able to hold out for at least a minute longer.



“Don't destroy their World Cores, I have a need for them.”



Huang Ying called out towards Fang Shan once more, his words causing the remaining two men to turn completely pale. Not only were they going to be killed, these monsters were even going to take and use their World Cores?



After reminding Fang Shan, Huang Ying walked over to the two people that Fang Shan had already killed. He dug ut their World Cores and stored them away into his interspatial ring, took their interspatial rings, and then threw their corpses over to Little Flame, who happily started gorging himself.



Since the both of them were already wounded, the two remaining people only managed to last for another minute in Fang Shan's hands. Their faces still held an unwilling expression as they died, regretting that they had agreed to follow Bai Jing on this mission.



Huang Ying once more dug out their World Cores and interspatial rings, and threw the corpses to Little Flame. Huang Ying did not mind giving these corpses to Little Flame, he would probably end up giving Little flame many more strong corpses in the future. Little Flame was completely tied to Huang Ying because of their bloodlines, so whenever one of them got stronger, the other one would also get slightly stronger.



After throwing the last corpse to Little Flame, Huang Ying turned to a slightly sour-faced Fang Shan, a teasing smile on his face. Seeing this smile, Fang Shan couldn't help but feel like delivering a punch right to his face.



“Now then, what should I have the loser of the bet do?”



Huang Ying fondled his chin slightly as he thought out loud, his every word causing the desire to punch him to grow within Fang Shan.



“A bet is a bet. Since I lost I will follow one order that you give, but only the one.”



Fang Shan straightened out her back as she spoke. She was a straightforward person. She had brought up the idea of a bet, so she would obviously honor it, even when she was the one who lost.



“Tch, sucked the fun right out of it.”



Hearing her response, Huang Ying's teasing smile vanished, replaced by his normal faint one instead, he shrugged his shoulders and slightly shook his head, no longer dragging it out.



“Alright, I have a very simple order. Just a short while ago, you loudly proclaimed that I belonged to you, did you not? I want you to do the same now, but instead of proclaiming that I belong to you, I want you to proclaim that you belong to me.”



Hearing his words, Fang Shan couldn't help but falter slightly. That was it? He looked like he had prepared to give her a completely insane order, but it ended up being something so mundane and normal?



Fang Shan's eyes suddenly lit up as she was struck by an idea, her lips curling to the same teasing smile Huang Ying had earlier. She reached out with her hands and grabbed onto the collar of his robe. She forcibly bent his body forward, bringing his head down low enough so that they were face to face.



“Alright, since you want it like that. Huang Ying, you are mine, and I will not let anyone steal you from me. And in just the same way, I am yours, and you will not let anyone take me from you.”



Fang Shan brought her face right up to Huang Ying's as she spoke, a surprisingly sweet smile on her face. She did not give him a chance to react, quickly covering his lips with her own, giving him a forceful kiss.



“That's what you get for trying to tease me.”



After about half a minute, Fang Shan cut the kiss short, pushing Huang Ying away as she spoke with a triumphant smile. Since he was trying to tease her, it was only fair that she get to tease him.



Just as Fang Shan was about to turn around and step away from Huang Ying, she found that his hand had already grabbed onto her waist. Before she got the chance to say anything, she was pulled towards him and he bent down and planted a kiss of his own on her lips.



“I heard some people say that the first kiss supposedly tastes like lemon, but it seems that they were mistaken. Tastes more like victory.”



After finishing the kiss, Huang Ying gave his lips a quick lick, sending a wide grin at Fang Shan. He was not one to let anyone else have the last laugh. Of course, the two of them were only able to act like this because they were currently alone, as they were not shameless enough to act like this in front of others.

Of course, the both of them also knew that at least half of the attraction they felt towards each other came from their bloodlines matching. But neither of them cared about this, after all, attraction was attraction.

 

Chapter 139: A day in Golden Auction City.



“So why exactly are we stopping by here?”



A few days after killing Bai Jing, Fang Shan forced Huang Ying to stop by Golden Auction City. Huang Ying was currently standing outside an extravagant restaurant in Golden Auction City, looking at the menu that they had posted outside. He glanced at Fang Shan next to him, who was reading the menu with great interest, as he asked.



“Come on, you got a bunch of money from Bai Jing's interspatial ring didn't you? What's wrong with taking a break and treating me to some good food?”



Fang Shan's lips curled up into a smile as she answered. She moved away from the menu and pushed Huang Ying into the restaurant, not giving him the option of leaving. Before they even got close to the city, Huang Ying had made Li Jun stealthily disguise them. This way there was no risk of them getting recognized by anyone.



The inside of the restaurant was just as extravagant as the outside. Just on the first floor, there were various types of bamboo and flowers planted between the tables, a small stream even coursed throughout the entire restaurant. There also seemed to be an array located in the restaurant that produced a few puffy clouds that floated around above the heads of the customers.



“Greetings. Would you like me to take you to a table?”



After the two of them entered, a blonde woman clad in tight and revealing clothes walked over. She gave a polite bow as she looked the two of them up and down. While she spoke, she indicated towards one of the tables on the first floor that was empty.



Huang Ying gave off the sensation that he was a normal person, but Fang Shan gave off the same pressure as someone at the late stage of the Xiantian realm. She could tell from their looks and Fang Shan's cultivation that she was probably some traveling noble who had come with her butler to eat, this was the only reason that she had walked over and greeted them.



“Show us to your best table and bring us the best food on the menu, plenty of it.”



Fang Shan didn't even look at the table that the waitress indicated. While speaking she also took out a large amount of money from her interspatial ring and showed it to the waitress.



The fact that she indicated a table on the first floor meant that she did not think that they could afford sitting at any of their finer tables. Fang Shan had come here to enjoy herself, so how could she be satisfied with sitting at the first floor?



“Very well. Follow me please madam.”



The waitress gave another polite bow before leading Fang Shan and Huang Ying up the stairs. She took them directly to the third and final floor of the restaurant. The third floor was slightly different from the rest of the restaurant, as it only contained several closed booths.



The waitress took them over to a booth marked with the word 'Clouds' and opened the door for them, allowing them to enter the booth. Entering the booth lead them to what seemed like a completely different world. There was a blue sky above them, a fresh breeze bringing with it a faint scent of flowers blowing against their face, and instead of ground beneath them, they were standing on soft clouds.



“Please take a seat, I will have the food delivered shortly.”



The waitress gave one last polite bow before turning around and leaving the booth, closing the door behind her. When she closed the door, the clouds beneath Huang Ying and Fang Shan rose up to form a table and two chairs, allowing them to take a seat.



“So why did we really stop by here?”



After the two of them took a seat, Huang Ying once more questioned Fang Shan. Was it really just to take a break and eat good food?



“I spent my entire life inside those ruins, do you have any idea how terrible the food inside there was? And once I finally got the chance to leave, most of the time was spent traveling or at an academy where all the best food cost a ridiculous amount of contribution points.”



Fang Shan shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. Most Demonic beasts would not bother with cooking, as they would just eat the meat raw. Of course, some Demonic beasts who integrated with humans would slowly learn to enjoy cooking.



“Now that we have the chance to eat excellent food, there is no way that I am letting it go. Besides, you should be happy. You get to not just eat an excellent meal, but also spend time with a beautiful woman, there is no downside.”



Fang Shan finished her words with a laugh, causing Huang Ying to be slightly surprised. It was really just to eat some good food? After giving it a bit of thought, he found that it made sense. Ever since they left the ruins, they had not eaten a single excellent meal. The free food in the academy was good, but it could not be called excellent. If it were excellent, it would not be free.



With that thought in mind, Huang Ying decided to shrug his shoulders and enjoy himself. Ever since he left Azure Springs Town, he had barely had a single day of proper rest. It had always been traveling around or focusing on getting stronger. Taking a day of rest did not sound like a bad idea.



The food arrived after a few short minutes, brought directly into the booth by several waiters. The food consisted of meat from various Demonic beasts, wine and vegetables that had absorbed massive amounts of Qi, as well as soup that had been made from the bones and blood of strong Demonic beasts.



Cultivators required large amounts of energy, much more than normal people, so Huang Ying and Fang Shan ordered more food several times. At the end of the day, they had eaten enough food for at least 100 people. The food they had eaten would quickly be digested and turned into energy for them, so they did not need to worry about the food taking up too much space inside their stomach.



After spending half a day eating, they paid the bill, which almost emptied all the money from Bai Jing's interspatial ring. They then wandered a bit more around town, checking out the various shops and if there was anything worth buying. After buying a few more spare robes, they found an inn and rented a room. Tomorrow morning they would continue to head towards Eastern Sun City, so they decided to rest early.

 

Chapter 140: Dead Bone Ganoderma.



After leaving Golden Auction City, it took Huang Ying and Fang Shan almost half a month to finally reach Eastern Sun city. Of course, one of the reasons that it took them so long was because they would occasionally make some detours to complete one of the missions they had accepted.

All the missions they had accepted were missions that were placed in such a way that they could go from one mission to the next without having to make too many detours, allowing them to quickly clear as many as possible.

On the third day after leaving Golden Auction City, they took a detour and cleared out three bandit groups, as well as hunted down five Demonic beasts that they had missions for. After that, they traveled to a small town and took another day of rest where they simply traveled around the town and ate all kinds of food.

This type of traveling continued all the way up until they reached Eastern Sun City. The bandit group that they were going to clear out now was the last mission they had accepted, after clearing it, it was time to hunt two pigeons.


After entering Eastern Sun City, they both decided that they would take another rest day, a day where they just wandered around the city and ate some good food. Huang Ying had already decided that he would spend as much time as possible outside of the academy. If possible, he did not want to return until it was time for the competition to decide who would enter the Immortal Garden took place.



“So where exactly is this bandit group located?”



While sitting in a restaurant and eating a meal on their third day in Eastern Sun City, Fang Shan started talking about their mission. The mission they had in this area was to kill a bandit group that had been causing a lot of trouble. The leader of the bandit group was only at the peak of the Xiantian realm, so the mission held no risk to them.



“About half a day away from the city. No one in the city is stronger than the bandit leader, so they have been unable to remove the bandit group. But the bandit group does not dare wipe out the village, as that may enrage the Zhao clan.”



Huang Ying quickly brought up the information about the mission again, relaying it to Fang Shan. The part of the continent they were in now was controlled by the Zhao clan, which meant that every city belonged to the Zhao clan. Because of this, most bandit groups would not be willing to cause a large amount of damage to cities, mostly just kidnap a few people or attack travelers.



“Half a day? Then I guess we better leave right after eating, that way we can be back just in time to eat dinner.”



Fang Shan muttered slightly after thinking. It was evening right now, so if they left immediately, they would arrive at the bandit hideout around the time the sun rose. Taking into account the time it took to finish the job and return, it would be around dinner time when they returned.



Over this half a month of traveling, Huang Ying had already gotten used to how much Fang Shan loved good food, so he simply nodded his head in agreement. The two of them quickly finished eating their meal, paid the bill, and then stood up and left the city.



They traveled through the night, reaching the bandit hideout just before the sun started rising. The bandit hideout was just a single large mansion that the bandits had built themselves using a mixture of wood and stone from the surroundings. The hideout needed to house the around 50 bandits as well as the people they had kidnapped, so it was at least three kilometers in length.



“It's quite large isn't it? How do you want to go about cleaning it out?”



Huang Ying inspected the mansion from the outside and couldn't help but click his tongue. He had seen larger and more extravagant mansions before, but none that had been built by bandits.



“Shan'er?”



Upon not receiving an answer from Fang Shan he turned his head towards her, only to see that she was currently wearing a very gloomy, almost furious expression as she looked at the mansion.



“Did you see something?”



Since she was this angry, it was clear that she had spotted something in the mansion that infuriated her. Fang Shan had an ability that Huang Ying did not have, the ability to use her lightning Qi to scan a large area. This scan allowed her to see any living being within a certain area, as well as what they are doing.



“I want to be the one who clears out this mansion. They have kidnapped mostly young women.”



Fang Shan grit her teeth as she spoke. There was no need for her to say anything else, as Huang Ying knew exactly what the bandits would do to kidnapped women.



“Alright, you can do with them as you wish. Just make sure that you don't crush too many of the World Cores.”



Huang Ying nodded his head as he responded, the two of them starting to walk towards the mansion. Huang Ying had no mercy for people who engaged in rape, as he saw it as a fate worse than death. And it was clear that Fang Shan hated people like this even more, as it was often women who suffered this fate.



There were two bandits standing guard outside the mansion, but with Fang Shan's speed, the two of them died before they even managed to make a single sound in warning. Fang Shan dug out their World Cores and threw them to Huang Ying, who stored them away.



Huang Ying had told her to be careful and not break too many World Cores, as he imagined that she might have some trouble holding back all of her attacks. But despite her rage, Fang Shan still had perfect control. Since Huang Ying needed a lot of World Cores and Demon Crystals for something, she would obviously not go around and break the things that he needed.



Before entering the mansion, Fang Shan spent a short amount of time setting up a few arrays around the mansion. Like this, no one could leave the mansion without triggering the arrays and suffering their attacks. Besides the leader of the bandits, Fang Shan was confident that no one in the mansion would survive an attack by the arrays.



After entering the mansion, the two of them split up. Fang Shan started rampaging through the mansion, killing any bandit she came upon and freeing anyone who wasn't a bandit. Huang Ying on the other hand headed deeper into the mansion.



He had opened his devouring domain immediately upon entering, and using the domain, he had found a small and hidden hatch that lead downwards. The hatch lead into a small underground cavern, a large metal door located at the other end.



Huang Ying walked over to the metal door with an interested look on his face. He placed his hand on the metal door, channeling a large amount of fire Qi into his hand. The door quickly heated up, melting after only a short while.



Behind the metal door was a treasury, a large amount of various items and gold placed all around. But the item that caught Huang Ying's attention was a simple wooden box located in a corner of the treasury. Huang Ying quickly walked over to the box and placed his hand on it, feeling the coarse texture.



The reason this box had caught his interest was because he could not sense it. He couldn't sense it using his domain, nor could he sense it using his perception. When he asked Li Jun, he was shocked because he noticed that not even Li Jun could sense the box.



A box that not even Li Jun could sense would obviously be something extremely special. Huang Ying did not hesitate to open the box and check what was stored inside it. The item inside the box was a completely white ganoderma, it had the same texture as bones and gave off a cold air that held the scent of death.



“Dead bone ganoderma! Why is this thing here?! It should only exist on the Gu continent.”



Right after opening the box, Li Jun's shocked and excited voice rang out in Huang Ying's mind, catching him completely off guard. He had never heard Li Jun be this shocked or excited, especially at the same time. It was clear that this ganoderma was much more special than he first thought.

 

Chapter 141: Gu continent, Past Truths.



“Dead bone ganoderma? Gu continent?”



Huang Ying couldn't help but question Li Jun after hearing his excited exclamation. He had never heard about either of these two terms, even in the memories of all the people he had devoured had he ever come across these two terms.



“Quickly, store away this ganoderma! Dead bone ganoderma is one of the four materials required to re-create a human body!”



Li Jun's voice hastily rang out inside Huang Ying's mind again, his words thoroughly shocking Huang Ying. Li Jun had told him that it was possible to re-create a human body, but he had also said that the materials required to do this were more than just rare, they were almost impossible to find.



Huang Ying didn't dare hesitate, closing the box that the Dead bone ganoderma was stored in. he then quickly stored the box in his interspatial ring. Since not even Li Jun could use his perception to find the box, Huang Ying was not worried about anyone finding the box inside his interspatial ring.



“So what is the Gu continent?”



Now he knew what a Dead bone ganoderma was, but he did not know what the Gu continent was. Dead bone ganoderma was a material that was nearly impossible to find, and since it could only be found on the Gu continent, it was clear that the Gu continent was exceedingly special.



“The Gu continent... If this Cloud's Reach continent were to be called large, then the Gu continent can only be called humongous. It is at least three to four times as large as this Cloud's Reach continent, and the amount of powerful people there is just as large. On this continent, a Sovereign is someone at the peak of power, but on the Gu continent, a Sovereign can only be called someone at the middle stage of power.”



Li Jun's voice rang out with a wistful sigh, but his words once more cause a massive shock to Huang Ying. Huang Ying had traveled around a lot ever since he left Azure Springs Town, but he had only explored a small part of the Cloud's Reach continent. The only time he had ever left the area controlled by the Zhao clan was when he entered Eastern Wind Academy.



He hadn't even visited the three parts of the continent that were owned by the three other clans. Nor had he ever entered the depths of the Divine Wilderness, a wilderness that was just as large as the Zhao clan territory. And the Gu continent was supposed to be at least four to five times larger? Sovereigns could only be called middle level powers? Huang Ying could not even begin to imagine just how large and magnificent such a continent would be.



“There is an ancient practice where one would place a large amount of poisonous creatures inside a jar and seal it up, forcing the creatures to kill and eat each other. This would continue until only a single creature was left alive, a single creature that contained all the poison and strength of the other creatures. This practice is called Gu.”



“The Gu continent takes it's name from this practice. It is a continent where murder, rape, pillaging, every foul deed imaginable, takes place at all times. Only a few select cities have a modicum of law. On the Gu continent, only the strong have a right to speak. And the strongest person on the continent is crowned their king and ruler, the Jar King.”



As Li Jun spoke about the Jar King, his voice was filled with a mixture of fear and reverence.



“What level of strength would one require to be deemed the Jar King?”



For someone to instill such fear and reverence in even Li Jun, Huang Ying couldn't help but be slightly curious. What level of power would such a person have, to force an entire continent to follow his orders?



“Even if I were to regain my peak strength right now, I would still not have the right to contest for the title of Jar King. If it were your parents, they might have the right to obtain that title.”



Li Jun's voice rang out with a sigh, as if he was lamenting his own weakness. After letting out a sigh, he brought up a topic that Huang Ying had never expected him to bring up.



“My parents? I thought they were just normal travelers?”



Li Jun had long ago told Huang Ying that his parents were normal travelers who could not handle the thought that their child was a powerless person. This what was he had believed ever since his parents left him when he was two years old. One of his main reasons for cultivating was to one day find his parents and prove that he did not need them, that he could manage just fine on his own.



“You's parents are far more powerful than you could possibly imagine. While they were around, I was almost too scared to even move. They might have abandoned you while you were a child, but it was not by their choice. I'm not saying you should forgive them, but you should at least stop hating them.”



Li Jun's voice rang out with another sigh. He had been with him ever since Huang Ying was born, if anyone knew what was going on in' Huang Ying's head, it was Li Jun. He knew that Huang Ying held some resentment towards his own parents because of what Li Jun told him back then, but Li Jun himself had no choice but to tell him that lie.



“How do you know this? And why would you tell me this now, not back then?”



Huang Ying's eyes narrowed as he spoke, his voice growing slightly sharper. If there was one thing he did not like, it was when people deceived him, especially if it was people he trusted.



“I was once in the same position as them, forced to flee all over the place, that is how I could tell that they did not leave you behind because they wanted to. As for why I did not tell you earlier, what do you think that would make you do? Would you have sworn an oath to find the person who caused your parents to flee? Would you have done everything in your power to find them and reunite with them?”



“For someone to force even your parents to flee, the strength of this person can easily be imagined. Had you tried to chase after them or tried to find this person, you would simply have walked to an early grave. You would even have implicated me, as not even my soul would be able to remain hidden from such people.”



Li Jun's voice responded with a slight sneer and a snort, causing Huang Ying to be slightly stunned. After giving it some thought, he had to admit that what Li Jun said made sense. When he was younger, he was much more naive and easily influenced than he was now. Had he been told the truth back then, it would be very likely that he would do exactly that, rush to an early grave.



“I won't meet either of them for a long while, so there is no point in thinking about it now. When I manage to meet either of them, that is when I can start thinking about how to deal with this.”



Huang Ying closed his eyes and spent a few moments in silence, silently thinking about how to handle things. Eventually, Huang Ying shook his head and spoke out. There was no point in thinking about how to deal with his parents or their alleged enemy right now, he was far too weak. If he ever managed to meet his parents or their enemy, then he would think about how to handle the situation.



The screams that used to ring out from the mansion above him had also died down, so it was clear that Fang Shan had finished clearing it out. Huang Ying stored away the rest of the items in the treasury and started returning to the mansion.



Rather than wasting time thinking about something that would not happen before far off in the future, it was much better to spend time upgrading his strength in the present. After all, if he did not even have enough strength, he would not even have the right to choose how he would handle things.

 

Chapter 142: Next step, Pigeon hunting.



When Huang Ying stepped into the mansion once more, the smell of blood and burnt flesh pervaded the entire mansion. Finding Fang Shan was easy, all he had to do was follow the path of corpses and blood that she had left in her wake. Huang Ying was pleasantly surprised when he noticed that every corpse had a hole in their dantian, their World Core torn out.



Huang Ying found Fang Shan on the third floor of the mansion, inside a large hall decorated with ornate pillars as well as a single stone throne. At the center of the hall, the corpse of a tall and burly man laid sprawled on the floor. Fang Shan was crouched in front of a group of young and middle-aged women who were sitting in one corner of the room, crying tears of relief.



Upon seeing Huang Ying enter the room and look around, the women immediately put on panicked faces and huddled up behind Fang Shan, pointing at him and calling for him to be killed. Huang Ying didn't mind their gazes or shouts, getting locked up and tortured could easily warp your mind in some ways, Huang Ying himself had experienced it.



“Everything is finished?”



Huang Ying glanced at the women behind Fang Shan, as well as some of the corpses on the ground, as he spoke. Fang Shan had some blood at the edge of her mouth, but Huang Ying could tell that she had no actual injuries.



“Yup, everyone is dead. I stored away all the World Cores and interspatial rings, they had a rather sizable fortune.”



Fang Shan stood up and nodded her head. She took out an interspatial ring filled with World Cores and tossed it to Huang Ying. With these 50 World Cores, Huang Ying now had a total of 76 World Cores and 13 Demon Crystals, only a few more and he could use them to forge his weapon.



“I found their treasury in a secret cave beneath the mansion, I really have no idea where they managed to accumulate so much wealth.”



Huang Ying put away the interspatial ring and tossed the interspatial ring that contained all the items from the treasury to Fang Shan. There was no need to hide any of the items he had found in the treasury from Fang Shan, so he was not worried about handing her the interspatial ring.



“It seems like we can eat as much excellent food as we want once we return.”



Seeing the wealth inside the interspatial ring, Fang Shan's lips curled into a smile as she spoke and tossed back the interspatial ring. Compared to the other bandits that they had killed, this bandit group was obviously much wealthier.



“Come. You are free now, it is all over.”



Fang Shan turned towards the group of women behind her and spoke to them gently, her words causing them all to burst into tears once more. Fang Shan and Huang Ying walked at the front, leading the group of women out of the mansion.



Since it would take at least half a day to reach the closest city, they decided that they might as well just escort the group all the way to Eastern Sun City. The group continuously thanked the two of them as they walked towards Eastern Sun City, making Huang Ying wish that they could be quiet for just a few minutes.



After reaching the city, Fang Shan handed the group of women over to the city lord. The city lord was someone who worked for the Zhao clan, so he would not dare do anything towards these women. Bandits were not controlled by the Zhao clan, so they could do as they wished, but people who worked for the Zhao clan had to follow strict rules.



After making sure that the women were going to get taken care of, Fang Shan brought Huang Ying to a restaurant. Because they decided to escort the women back, it was a bit too late to eat dinner, but they managed to find a restaurant that was still open.



“So what are we going to do now?”



After they sat down at the table and ordered their food, Fang Shan turned to Huang Ying and asked. All the missions they had chosen were for people at the Xiantian realm, so they had cleared them all extremely quickly. The bandits they just cleared out were the last mission that they had accepted.



But they had only been gone from the academy for around one month, so they still had half a year before the competition to enter the Immortal's Garden took place. She knew that they were going to kill two people from Empyrean Phoenix Academy, but they still did not have any plans for what to do after that.



“Next stop is Cloud's End City, pigeon hunting. After that, I would like to make a quick trip back home. It's been a while since I was last there. After that, I don't really have any plans. Maybe check out the Divine Wilderness?”



After a short moment of silence, Huang Ying spoke out. Killing Deng Rong and Cui Xima was the next step of their journey, but they had yet to come up with anything to do after that. As he thought about it, he suddenly felt like going to Azure Springs Town, or at least the place where it used to stand.



He would of course not go there because he was feeling sentimental, it was simply to remind himself what would happen if he was weak. While he lived in Azure Springs Town, he found a herb that the city lord wanted. Since the city lord was stronger than Huang Ying, the herb was taken from him and Huang Ying ended up imprisoned and tortured for six years. Those six years were years that he would never forget, it was also the first time he ever truly hungered for power.



He was also interested in entering the Divine Wilderness once more. Last time he entered it because he was forced by the rulers of Yellow Winds Town. At that time, he thought that he had entered fairly deeply into it. But after leaving the Green Willows continent, he realized just how vast the Divine Wilderness truly was.



“Alright. I don't have any better plans, so we might as well just do that.”



Fang Shan silently chewed on some meat for a short moment. Not coming up with any better ideas, she nodded her head and agreed to Huang Ying's ideas. She didn't care too much where they went, she simply wanted to spend some more time with Huang Ying and have fun.

 

Chapter 143: I have come to collect your heads.



Deng Rong and Cui Xima were both currently sitting inside the most extravagant room that the Empyrean Phoenix Academy had to offer. The walls were covered with paintings of golden phoenixes. Wine fine and expensive food was placed on the table at the center of the room. Several hundred year old herbs and flowers were placed in crystal pots around the entire room, filling it with a pleasant scent.



Deng Rong was slightly paler than he used to be, looking much older than he did last time Huang Ying saw him. His sharp eyebrows had started drooping slightly, losing their edge. His once brown hair had turned slightly gray.



Cui Xima still looked like a walking corpse, his skin pale and dry. The few tufts of gray hair that he used to have on his head had all fallen off, revealing a completely bald head covered in liver spots. His eyes had sunk further into their sockets, almost all trace of light gone from them.



There were eight people sitting on the opposite side of the table, facing Deng Rong and Cui Xima. Even the weakest of the people in the group had an aura that was stronger than Deng Rong's or Cui Xima, reaching the half step to the Yin-Yang Formation realm. There were even two among them that had reached the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



The group of eight people were clad in the same deep red robes, with the image of a lone flame surrounded by darkness embroidered onto the chest of the robes. These robes could only be worn by people from Eternal Flame Academy, so it was clear that they were students from that academy.



When Huang Ying was first captured by them, he had seen Deng Rong and Cui Xima use their own Qi to fly through the air. Because of this, he had assumed that they were at the Immortal Ascension realm. But after escaping from their grasp and fleeing far away, Li Jun had explained to him that they were only at the middle stage of the Xiantian realm.



The only reason they were able to fly was because they were using a treasure to propel their bodies through the air. This treasure was given to them by Eternal Flame Academy, which was also the academy that ruled over Empyrean Phoenix Academy.



Of course, the reason Deng Rong and Cui Xima looked much older and worse for wear was not because of these eight people. These eight people had already been at their academy for almost a month, simply meditating silently inside this luxurious room.



The reason they looked much older was because they had been constantly worrying. Ever since the day Huang Ying managed to escape from their grasp, Eternal Flame Academy had cut down on the resources that they sent to their Empyrean Phoenix Academy. They could handle receiving less resources, they were much more worried about Huang Ying ever returning, appearing before them to take their heads.



“Are you sirs sure that he will come here?”



Deng Rong couldn't help but ask in a slightly stuttering voice. He had asked this question countless times ever since these eight men arrived at his academy. The eight people had arrived here with a note from Eternal Flame Academy. The note said that there was a good chance someone that Eternal Flame Academy wanted dead would soon arrive at Empyrean Phoenix Academy. Because of this, Eternal Flame Academy had sent over some people to kill this person, so they wanted Empyrean Phoenix Academy to prepare lodging for them.



“We do not know if the person we are here for is the same person that you are worried about. But it does not matter, with Senior Brother Fang Mu here, there will be no chance for that person to cause any trouble.”



A young girl among the group of eight spoke out with a slight laugh. She had a cute face and crimson hair that reached all the way down to her hips. She could be called a stunning beauty, but she also released a fiery aura that revealed that she was at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



As she spoke, she looked at the man who was sitting at the center of the group. The man had straight and sharp eyebrows that almost resembled swords, a faint flame mark was visible between his eyebrows. He had dark skin and long brown hair. His crimson eyes held an indifferent expression, not affected by the young girls flattery in the slightest.



They had been ordered by their master to head to Empyrean Phoenix Academy, as there was a good chance that someone they needed to kill would arrive there. They had not been told who they were to kill, only that it was imperative that this person died as quickly as possible. They did not dare neglect an order given by their master, so they rushed to Empyrean Phoenix Academy at their fastest speed.



But after waiting for almost an entire month, not a single person had entered Empyrean Phoenix Academy. The others in the group had gotten impatient with just waiting in silence, but since Fang Mu had not said anything, they could do nothing but stay silent.



“Indeed. Indeed. With Senior Fang Mu here, I am certain that nothing will happen.”



Cui Xima and Deng Rong both nodded their heads like chickens, flattering smiles on their faces. Fang Mu was much younger than them, but this was a society where strength determined everything. Since he was stronger than them, it was clear that they would call him senior.



Deng Rong turned towards Fang Mu and was just about to flatter him some more, when his words suddenly caught in his throat. He noticed that Fang Mu's expression was exceptionally solemn, bordering on grim. Ever since Fang Mu had arrived here, he had kept his indifferent expression, looking like nothing was capable of bothering him.



“What is it Senior Brother Fang Mu?”



The other people also quickly noticed Fang Mu's grim expression. The young girl placed her hand on the sword hanging at her waist, scanning the room as she asked. Since Fang Mu had revealed such an expression, it was clear that something big was happening.



“No wonder they sent all of us to kill a single person. Seems like they want us to kill a true monster.”



Fang Mu's voice was stern and grim. Just a short moment ago, he had felt a horribly overbearing and tyrannical perception sweep over the room. It only felt like the perception of someone at the early stage of the Xiantian realm, but just the short moment he had felt it was enough to cause Fang Mu to break out into cold sweat.



“Deng Rong, Cui Xima. I have come to collect your heads.”

 

Chapter 144: Dual bloodlines.



In the air above Empyrean Phoenix Academy flew a large black bird. After eating so many cultivators, Little flame had managed to grow a little bit stronger. It's current strength was around the middle of the Xiantian realm, but thanks to it sharing the same blood and elements as Huang Ying, it could fight someone at the peak of the Xiantian realm.



Another ability it got as it grew stronger was the ability to alter it's size. There were some limitations to how large or how small it could grow. It could only grow large enough for two people to ride on it's back, and it could only shrink as small as a normal crow. But just this was enough for Huang Ying.



It would make traveling easier, as he could ride on it's back if he did not feel like walking. He could also have it shrink to the size of a crow and let it perch on his shoulder, allowing him to bring it into cities. Thanks to it sharing the destruction element with Huang Ying, if it willed it, it would not give off any aura, looking like a normal crow.



Huang Ying and Fang Shan were standing on the back of Little Flame, overlooking Empyrean Phoenix Academy with serious expressions. Huang Ying had discovered the group of people from Eternal Flame Academy when he scanned the academy with his perception.



But he did not choose to retreat, despite knowing their strength. If it was just him, he would choose to retreat and find a different way to kill them, or retreat and wait for the group of people to leave. But with Fang Shan fighting alongside him, he was confident that the two of them would be able to kill not just Deng Rong and Cui Xima, but also the group of people from Eternal Flame Academy.



“Deng Rong, Cui Xima. I have come to collect your heads.”



Huang Ying sent his voice directly into the room where Deng Rong and Cui Xima were, his voice as sharp as the edge of a blade. He had never forgotten the six months he had spent inside their dungeon, suffering their constant torture. He had engraved those six months firmly into his mind, swearing that he would return and take their heads.



Not long after he called out, Deng Rong and Cui Xima flew out from the academy. The group of people from Eternal Flame Academy also flew out. Seeing all of them fly out, it was clear that they all used the same treasure that allowed them to fly.



“Huang Ying! You managed to escape from us back then, killing several students as you did so. We will not let you escape another time!”



Deng Rong stepped forward and called out loudly, his voice strong and clear. There was no way he could admit that they had kidnapped Huang Ying back then, so he instead chose to mention how Huang Ying had killed some of the people guarding his dungeon as he made his first escape attempt.



“I will be the front fighter, you support me and use your advantage in speed to attack.”



Huang Ying did not waste any words on arguing with Deng Rong. He slightly tilted his head and spoke to Fang Shan, his eyes firmly locked on the two people at the early stage of the Yin-Yang formation realm.



“Junior Sister Qiu, Junior Brother Yang, Junior Brother Bai, Junior sister Liang, along with me, we will focus all our efforts on him, leave the girl to the others.”



Fang Mu also turned towards his group, his voice solemn and grim. His words greatly shocked the rest of the group. They could not sense an ounce of Qi from the body of the male youth in front of them, but Fang Mu had appointed the strongest five of the group to fight him?



“Go.”



Huang Ying softly spoke that one word, bursting forth with all his strength immediately afterwards. They had two people at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm, as well as six people at the half step Yin-Yang Formation realm, they would have to give it their all.



As he burst forth with all his strength, he also activated as much of his bloodline as he could. This was the first time Huang Ying had tried activating his new bloodline, so he was looking forward to seeing it's strength.



As soon as he activated his bloodline, scales started growing atop his skin, covering him like armor. But they were not the same abyssal black that they used to be. The scales were a silvery white in color, gleaming with a terrifying light.



The scales were not the only thing that were different from his earlier bloodline activation's. He could feel two wings sprout from his back, as well as a tail that he had not had earlier. The wings were the same as in the past, except that they physically grew from his body this time, pitch black feathers that burned with black flames.



The tail resembled a whip, it was thin and long, covered in silvery white scales and ending in a sharp tip. A crimson crown appeared at the top of his head, standing out majestically against his white hair. His eyes turned a dark golden in color, his pupils into slits, a merciless gleam visible in them



White scales, pitch black wings, a sharp tail like a whip, and a crimson crown adorning his head. With his new bloodline activated, Huang Ying looked more like a demon emperor than he did human. At the same time, an aura of tyrannical power started radiating from his body, almost causing the knees of the people from Eternal Flame Academy to grow weak.



Fang Shan also knew that now was not the time to hold back, so she too activated her bloodline. Deep blue scales started growing atop her skin, covering her much like how Huang Ying was covered in scales. Her fingers grew sharper, resembling claws more than they did fingers.



A pair of deep blue dragon wings sprouted from her back, her feet lifting off from Little Flame's back. Her eyes had turned deep amber, her pupils growing into slits. Floating shoulder to shoulder, Huang Ying and Fang Shan looked like two royal demons that had descended.



As the two of them activated their bloodlines, the world around them also responded. Arcs of lightning started crackling around Fang Shan, dark clouds gathering in the sky above her. The clouds rumbled with the sound of thunder, bolts of lightning flashing inside the clouds and lighting up the world.



Huang Ying's surroundings were quickly engulfed by darkness, his devouring domain activating automatically. As the devouring domain activated and the world around him turned dark, his silvery white scales gleamed with a dangerous light, making him seem like a sun that had dawned in the void.



The group of people from Eternal Flame Academy all wore solemn expression when they felt the tyrannical power that Huang Ying and Fang Shan radiated, they finally understood why Fang Mu was so serious about this fight. Deng Rong and Cui Xima had already started retreating slightly, they could feel that they were completely useless in this battle.

 

Chapter 145: Extreme speed



When Huang Ying and Fang Shan activated their domains, the people from Eternal Flame Academy quickly activated their own domains in an attempt to push back Huang Ying and Fang Shan's domains. Fang Mu as well as the girl who was at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm managed to use their higher cultivation level to temporarily push back Huang Ying and Fang Shan's domains, but the others did not have it as easy.



“Clear them out.”



Huang Ying took a step forward as he spoke out, directly shooting towards Fang Mu as well as the girl. He did not worry that Fang Shan would not understand what he meant, the two of them had enough of a tacit understanding to know what the other meant.



Huang Ying was the first one to shoot out, but he was not the first one to arrive at the enemies. Almost immediately after Huang Ying's words sounded, Fang Shan's entire body blurred as she shot out like a bolt of lightning. Little Flame followed after her like a black blur, but he was clearly slower than her.



Not only were the people from Eternal Flame Academy shocked, even Huang Ying was rather shocked. It was only now that he realized that the lightning bolts that Fang Shan's domain conjured were only auxiliary. What her domain truly focused on was speed, boosting her own speed to a truly terrifying extreme.



Looking at the speed that she shot out at, Huang Ying had to admit that not even he was capable of reaching such speeds, despite having the same lightning element as Fang Shan. Of course, Huang Ying also knew why it was like this.



A person who had acquired an element by any other means than being born with it, would never be able to use it as efficiently as someone who had been born with that element. Huang Ying acquired the lightning element after devouring the blood of the Azure Dragon, so he would never be as efficient with it as Fang Shan, who had been born with it.



Huang Ying took his eyes away from Fang Shan and focused on the two people at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm. He would never be able to use the lightning element as efficiently as Fang Shan, but was the same not true for his own elements?



Huang Ying was the only person who held the devouring as well as the destruction element, they were the two elements that belonged to only him. He had been born with the devouring element, and eventually managed to upgrade it to the destruction element. Even if someone else managed to somehow acquire these elements, they would never be able to use it as efficiently as him.



Huang Ying's devouring domain encompassed the entire battlefield, slowly draining strength from the six people who had not yet reached the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm. Had they not been in the air, but on the ground, his domain would even drain the strength of any nearby plants or animals, using it to restore his own strength.



Seeing Fang Shan shoot towards his junior disciples, Fang Mu felt a sour feeling in his heart, but he could not afford to deal with her now. Huang Ying was rapidly approaching them, and Fang Mu knew that a single moment of negligence could cost him his life.



“Junior sister Qiu, assist me.”



Fang Mu quickly spoke towards the girl at his side, Qiu Wen, taking a step forward and standing in front of her as he spoke. Qiu Wen knew that now was not the time to talk, so she quickly did as he said.



She focused all of her domain on the body of Fang Mu, causing her domain to almost vanish, but causing his to rapidly increase in strength. They were both from Eternal Flame Academy, their flame element even shared the same purity. Because of this, Qiu Wen could use her own domain to temporarily strengthen Fang Mu, at the expense of her own strength.



When Huang Ying reached his front, Fang Mu pulled out a large bone hammer that was dyed a deep red. He grasped the hammer with all his might and swung it at Huang Ying's side. This hammer was one that his master had forged for him, it's materials came from a powerful fire type Demonic beast, allowing him to unleash a greater strength than he normally would.



Seeing the hammer swing at his side, the black wings on Huang Ying's back suddenly flapped, his speed suddenly increasing. With the increase in speed, the head of the hammer missed his body, resulting in only the handle of the hammer hitting his side.



When the handle hit Huang Ying's side and he felt the sheer amount of force that was placed behind the swing, he realized that he could not block the hammer with his own body. If he blocked the hammer with his body, it was likely that whichever part he used to block the hammer would almost turn to mincemeat under the force.



Since he managed to dodge the head of the hammer, Huang Ying was now close enough to send a punch at Fang Mu. His body coated in scales, his fingers sharpened into claws, Huang Ying's strength had reached a completely new level.



His fist shot out like a white blur, heading straight towards Fang Mu's chest. Fang Mu hurriedly pulled back his hammer, putting it close to his chest and using it to block Huang Ying's attack. He had not put on his armor this morning, so it was still in Empyrean Phoenix Academy. Without his armor, he did not even dare to think about blocking the attack with his own body.



But despite managing to block the punch with his hammer, his body was still pushed back by the sheer force behind Huang Ying's punch. Since he was relying on a treasure to fly, Fang Mu's way of flying was much stiffer than Huang Ying's, who was relying on his wings. Because of this, when Fang Mu's body shot backwards, he needed to spend a bit of time to find his bearings.



“Junior Sister Qiu!”



Fang Mu hurriedly raised his head and called out. Since he had been pushed back, Qiu Wen was obviously completely open to Huang Ying's attacks. Huang Ying's dark golden eyes contained not a shred of warmth as they looked at Qiu Wen, they only contained a merciless decree, death.



Qiu Wen was not just talented, she was also a beautiful female. Wherever she went, people would flatter her and try their best to get on her good side, she had never seen anyone look at her with eyes like this.



But she was still someone at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm. When she saw Huang Ying charge at her, she hurriedly used her Qi to form a flaming shield in front of her. The shield looked incredibly real, as if it was actually made out of metal, not Qi. It was also moving slightly, constantly changing it's shape to suit the situation.



This was another ability that someone at the Yin-Yang Formation realm had. Since their World Core had bred life, cultivators at the Yin-Yang Formation realm were capable of using their Qi to create constructs that were incredibly lifelike, as if they had a life of their own.



Huang Ying's fist, covered in black Qi, crashed into the flaming shield, shattering it shortly after his fist made contact with it. His fist continued on unabated, landing on Qiu Wen's chest and causing her to spit out blood as she shot backwards.



Seeing her shoot backwards, Huang Ying's eyebrows slightly furrowed. He had planned on using that attack to completely finish of Qiu Wen, but her body was covered by a strange armor that had absorbed most of the force behind his attack. Instead of completely crushing her chest, she was only forced to spit up a small amount of blood.



Huang Ying slightly shook his head, no longer bothering about it. Such armors were rather rare, as they cost a lot to make and purchase, he had not expected a mere student at Eternal Flame Academy to have one.



But he was not too worried about it, as his attack had still landed on her body. The armor could absorb the force behind the attack, but it could not stop his devouring Qi from invading her body. If she did not retreat from the battle to focus on forcing out the devouring Qi, it would rampage through her body and drain her strength.



Huang Ying cast a quick glance at Fang Shan, who was keeping the other six people preoccupied. Of the six people, one had died, one had been gravely injured, and one was slightly injured. He had only had the time to deliver two attacks, but Fang Shan had already killed one and injured two others.



Huang Ying's lips couldn't help but curl into a faint smile when he saw how Fang Shan gathered the blood of the people she had injured. She would not collect this blood for nothing, so it was clear that she was working on using the blood and the energy inside it to set up an array, just like she had done when she fought with Bai Jing.



Huang Ying took his eyes away from Fang Shan and turned towards Fang Mu and Qiu Wen again. Since Fang Shan and Little Flame were keeping the others occupied, he did not have to worry about getting ambushed. Since it was like that, he could put all his focus on Fang Mu and Qiu Wen, doing his best to kill them as fast as possible.

 

Chapter 146: Everyone must die.



Fang Mu placed his hand on Qiu Wen's back, inspecting if she had any wounds. Upon noticing a strange Qi invading her body, completely devouring her flesh and Qi, a grim expression appeared on his face.



“Take a rest and focus on pushing out that Qi. I will keep him occupied.”



Fang Mu pushed Qiu Wen backwards, away from Huang Ying. He stored away his bone hammer and pulled out two swords instead. With Qiu Wen forced to focusing on pushing out that Qi, there was no way she could enforce him, meaning he had to rely on something else.



After taking out the two swords, he took out a fiery red pill and swallowed it down. Huang Ying noticed that the moment Fang Mu swallowed that pill, his strength suddenly rose greatly. But he also noticed that the energy that the pill gave him was rampant, causing harm to his own body. It was clear that this pill had rather severe draw backs.



Huang Ying no longer looked at Fang Sham, his eyes focusing fully on Fang Mu. A loud explosion rang out, Fang Mu's body shooting forward. He reached Huang Ying's front within the blink of an eye, slashing out with both swords. Huang Ying couldn't help but be slightly shocked at the sheer speed Fang Mu managed to reach after swallowing that pill.



He hurriedly twisted his body, dodging the two swords. But before he managed to unleash his own attack, Fang Mu struck out with the two swords again. Thanks to the speed that the pill gave him, he managed to attack fast enough for Huang Ying to be unable to get in any attacks of his own, forcing him onto the defensive.



Without a weapon of his own, Huang Ying did not dare attempt to block Fang Mu's swords. After all, while he had a strong body, it was only at the peak of the Xiantian realm. If he managed to devour Fang Mu and Qiu Wen, then he could maybe upgrade his body to the Yin-Yang Formation realm. But first he would have to kill them.



As he kept dodging, Huang Ying also kept looking for openings to take advantage of. While he was looking for one such opening, he failed to completely dodge one of Fang Mu's attacks, resulting in Fang Mu's sword slicing a gash in his shoulder. Huang Ying completely ignored the wound, waiting for it to heal on it's own thanks to his strong body and blood.



But he was shocked when he realized that the wound was not healing on it's own. There seemed to be a fiery Qi that covered the wound, preventing it from healing normally. He quickly realized that the wound would not heal on his own until he pushed Fang Mu's Qi out of his body.



Fang Mu was after all someone at the Yin-Yang Formation stage. The strength of his Qi was above Huang Ying's, so unless he used destruction or devouring Qi, Fang Mu's Qi would stay in his body.



Just as Fang Mu's mouth curled into a sneer, the sound of thunder rumbled out from a place not far from them. Slightly tilting their heads, Huang Ying and Fang Mu could see that Fang Shan had managed to set up an array using the blood of the people from Eternal Flame Academy.



The array turned into a massive bolt of lightning, tearing into the remaining people from Eternal Flame Academy, shredding their bodies and killing them instantly. After killing the remaining people from Eternal Flame Academy, only Qiu Wen and Fang Mu remained.



While Fang Mu's expression turned grim, he took out another fiery red pill and swallowed it. There was no way for them to retreat now, he could only give it his all. Qiu Wen also saw that things were not looking good, so she too popped two fiery red pills, her aura quickly rising in strength as she rejoined the fight.



Fang Shan moved towards Huang Ying and helped him handle Fang Mu's relentless assault. After Fang Mu ate a second pill, it became much harder for Huang Ying to keep up with his speed. But he also found that when Fang Mu and Qiu Wen ate the pills, they were no longer capable of resisting his devouring domain, allowing him to slowly drain their strength.



With Fang Shan using her speed to assist him, it became much easier for Huang Ying to resist Fang Mu's attacks. Even when Qiu Wen joined in, they still managed to hold their ground, slowly whittling down Fang Mu and Qiu Wen.



Both parties suffered injuries as they exchanged attacks, but they always managed to dodge in a way that made the injuries non fatal. Fang Shan took the lead as the main attacker, using her speed to quickly move in and out. Huang Ying supported her, moving in to force Fang Mu and Qiu Wen to abort their attacks whenever they wanted to attack Fang Shan.



“Fuck! Dodge!”



After working on whittling down Fang Mu and Qiu Wen for a while, both Fang Shan and Li Jun suddenly called out to Huang Ying. Before Huang Ying had the chance to react, he felt a horrifying energy brew beneath him, coming from Empyrean Phoenix Academy.



Huang Ying could see an array cover the entire academy, every student at the academy feeding their Qi into the array to power it. Even Deng Rong and Cui Xima were fueling the array with their Qi. This was obviously the array that Empyrean Phoenix used to defend the academy.



The energy gathered in one place and turned into a crimson beam that shot at Huang Ying faster than lightning. The beam was simply far too fast, moving much faster than Huang Ying would be able to dodge.



Just as the beam was about to hit Huang Ying, he felt someone hit him in the back pushing him away. The beam flashed by, piercing through the place where he had been earlier. Huang Ying quickly turned his head, but his expression froze upon seeing Fang Shan standing where he had stood.



There was a large hole in her abdomen, almost tearing her body completely in half. Her face was completely white, streams of blood pouring out from the corners of her mouth.



“NOOO!”



Huang Ying screamed out, his voice sounding like a roar that shook the heavens. He flashed forward, grabbing Fang Shan's body. Her body was searing hot as the remaining energy from the beam was rampaging through her body. She opened her mouth, but it only resulted in more blood spurting out.



“Don't say anything, it's going to be fine.”



Huang Ying spoke, his voice gentler than it had ever been. Fang Shan had spent some time with him, but even she had never heard his voice be this gentle, this soothing. She knew that a wound like this would normally kill her, but upon hearing him say those words, she couldn't help but believe him.



Huang Ying's body quickly descended, landing in the midst of Empyrean Phoenix Academy with a loud crash. He swept the surroundings with his eyes, his gaze cold and merciless. He locked on to Deng Rong and Cui Xima, who couldn't help but shiver when they saw the look in his eyes.



“When I came here, I had no intention of starting a massacre. I simply wanted to kill the two of you. But now, all of Empyrean Phoenix must die.”



Huang Ying's voice rang out, clearly audible to every single person inside the academy. Hearing this cold and merciless voice, everyone felt a chill go down their spine.

 

Chapter 147: The void sun blooms.



“Little Flame.”



Huang Ying held Fang Shan's body in his arms, calling out to Little Flame who was flying not far from him. Fang Shan was not dead yet, but life was draining from her body at an incredible pace, so he had to act quickly, otherwise he might truly lose her.



“Screech!”



Little Flame could feel Huang Ying's anger, so it let out a loud cry that resounded over all of Empyrean Phoenix Academy. It flew at Huang Ying at full speed, turning into a ball of black flames that sank into his body, causing his aura to surge and rise.



Qiu Wen could strengthen Fang Mu because they had the same element as well as very similar purity of that element. Little Flame shared all of Huang Ying's elements, so the two of them could of course temporarily strengthen the other, adding their own strength onto the others.



With Little Flame's strength added onto his own, Huang Ying's body felt like it was filled with boundless strength. Even Fang Mu and Qiu Wen couldn't help but shiver when they felt the strength that Huang Ying's body was exuding.



Huang Ying took all of that boundless energy and poured it directly into his devouring domain, not leaving behind a single drop of Qi for himself. With all the Qi poured into the devouring domain, it's size rapidly grew.



Within but a short moment, all of Empyrean Phoenix Academy was covered by Huang Ying's devouring domain, a dark shroud covering the entire academy. Even the people in Cloud's End City were able to see the dark shroud covering Empyrean Phoenix Academy.



And amidst this dark shroud, Huang Ying's silvery white scales shone with a horrifying light. Standing there amidst the darkness, he was like a sun rising in the void. But no one who looked at that sun felt that it brought salvation, it only brought death.



“Please, not the students!”



Seeing the domain cover the entire academy, Deng Rong couldn't help but reach out and scream at Huang Ying. He and Cui Xima were the strongest people in Empyrean Phoenix Academy, everyone else was only at the Nine Heavens or early Xiantian realm. None of them would be able to survive inside the domain.



“If they are prepared to kill, they must be prepared to die.”



Huang Ying's voice was colder than the winds of hell, proclaiming nothing but death. Since they had chosen to charge the array in an attempt to kill him, they needed to be prepared to die in return. If they dared to attack, he dared to kill.



With his devouring domain strengthened, no one in Empyrean Phoenix Academy was able to resist. Every plant, every Demonic beast, every student, all died beneath his devouring domain. As tendrils of black energy left their bodies, their bodies completely vanished, leaving behind only their clothing.



Even Deng Rong and Cui Xima were no exception, the only difference was that it took them longer to be devoured. Qiu Wen and Fang Mu had swallowed pills with harmful side effects, so they were no longer capable of pushing back Huang Ying's devouring domain. All they could do was wait to die.



Their blood, their life-force, their muscles, their Qi, even the Vermilion Bird blood that they had implanted. All of it was devoured, heading directly for Huang Ying, nourishing his own bloodline as well as his World Core. The feeling of having their everything forcefully devoured while they were still alive was a horrifying feeling.



As the tendrils of black Qi entered his body, Huang Ying cut a large wound in one of his arms, black blood bubbling forth. He placed his bleeding arm above Fang Shan's body, allowing the black blood to drip onto her and enter her body.



He made it so that his destruction bloodline would not destroy itself, so Fang Shan's body was quickly filled with his own bloodline. One of the strongest and most destructive bloodline in the entire universe, rivaled only by the creation bloodline, soon filled her entire body.



Fang Shan's body started convulsing, large beads of sweat appearing on her skin, as the large wound in her abdomen started slowly healing itself. The process of acquiring the destruction bloodline was a painful one, so Huang Ying was not surprised upon seeing her convulse in pain.



Her body and bloodline were too weak to heal the wound that had appeared in her abdomen, so Huang Ying did the only thing he could think of, giving her his bloodline. There was only supposed to be one person in the entire universe who had the destruction bloodline, any more and it might be considered breaking the laws of heaven. But Huang Ying did not care, if the heavens wanted to one day punish him for sharing the destruction bloodline, he would devour the heavens.



Even before he acquired the destruction bloodline, his Baku bloodline had allowed him to heal a severed arm. With the destruction bloodline entering her body, devouring her Azure Dragon bloodline and replacing it with Huang Ying's destruction bloodline, her body's healing capability quickly rose.



With this, there would now be two people in the universe who had the destruction bloodline. Of course, just because she acquired the destruction bloodline, this did not mean that she would acquire the destruction element. At most it would just strengthen her lightning element, maybe infuse it with a slight destructive aura.



With her bloodline changing, the appearance she had when she activated her bloodline had changed. Her once blue scales had turned a much darker shade of blue, like the depths of the ocean. Her leathery wings had turned the same pitch black as Huang Ying's. Arcs of black lightning coiled around her body, bringing with them a slight destructive aura, just like Huang Ying had thought.



By the time her wound had completely healed, only Fang Mu and Qiu Wen were still alive, everyone else from Empyrean Phoenix Academy had died. Fang Shan's body stopped convulsing and she slowly opened her eyes, looking at the surroundings with a confused expression.



The beam of energy had nearly torn her body in two, leaving a massive hole in her abdomen. She felt reassured upon hearing Huang Ying say that everything would be fine, but she had still assumed that she would die. When everything turned black around her, she had truly felt that she was dead. How was it that she was now alive?



Her eyes locked onto Huang Ying, who was carrying her in his arms. There was a large gash on his left arm and his entire body looked like it had turned incredibly weak. But he still stood tall, his back completely straight, like a mountain that would never bend.



“Just half a month ago, you said that you are mine, so there is no way I am letting you get away from me that easily. You rest over there. Your bloodline has just changed, so your body is still very weak and needs to get accustomed to the new bloodline. I will take care of the rest here.”



Seeing Fang Shan open her eyes, a rare bright smile appeared on Huang Ying's face. He placed her body down, leaning against a building, as he spoke in a gentle voice. After speaking, he turned around, his eyes turning cold as they locked onto Qiu Wen and Fang Mu.



He was weak after losing so much blood and using so much Qi, but they were weaker, they could not even continue using their treasure to fly, forced to land on the ground.



As Huang Ying stepped towards Fang Mu and Qiu Wen, Fang Shan quickly inspected her body. Just like Huang Ying said, she noticed that there was no longer any Azure Dragon blood flowing in her veins. Her blood was now completely pitch black, the purest of destruction blood.



Seeing this blood, Fang Shan's mouth also curled into a sweet smile. How could she not know what this blood was? She had pushed Huang Ying out of the way of that energy beam because she did not want him to die, and in return, he had given her his own blood so that she would not die. Even if the two of them did not want it, they were now doomed to be forever connected.

 

Chapter 148: A storm is coming.



As Huang Ying stepped towards Fang Mu and Qiu Wen, he pulled back the devouring domain, as there was no longer a need for it. Pulling back the devouring domain brought with it all the Qi that the domain had yet to deliver to Huang Ying. While he had spent a large amount of energy on creating the devouring domain, the sheer amount of energy that it had devoured from Empyrean Phoenix Academy was still much larger than the amount of Qi he spent on creating it.



With all that Qi rushing into his World Core, Huang Ying heard a small crack coming from inside his body. His crescent moon shaped World core grew slightly in size, symbolizing that he had now reached the middle stage of the Xiantian realm.



Once his World Core grew in size, it started releasing large amounts of Qi, flooding throughout all of Huang Ying's body, revitalizing all of his cells. Every breakthrough in cultivation would lead to a change in strength, especially for Huang Ying, whose strength would only grow more terrifying with every breakthrough. At the early stage of the Xiantian realm, he could already fight and kill people who were at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



“We might die here, but I can die with a smile knowing that no matter how bad our deaths will be, yours will be a thousand times more gruesome.”



While Huang Ying was suddenly breaking through, Fang Mu's voice rang out from in front of him. Fang Mu's face was pale, but his lips had curled into a sinister smile. It was obvious that Eternal Flame Academy had sent him and his fellow disciples here in hopes that they could kill Huang Ying.



They might have failed, but Eternal Flame Academy would not give up on killing Huang Ying. They would just send more and more powerful people after him, until he was exhausted and killed, his name never to be spoken again. Knowing this, Fang Mu could die with a smile.



“Maybe, but it won't be in your hands.”



Huang Ying could not be bothered to argue with Fang Mu. It was clear that there was someone in Eternal Flame Academy that was hunting for Huang Ying. It seemed that they had been hunting him since before he even reached Heaven's Crossroads city, as it was likely they who ordered Deng Rong to capture him after the Academy Battle.



Huang Ying did not waste any more time with Fang Mu and Qiu Wen, the commotion they had caused here already was simply too large, they had to leave quickly. He grabbed the two of them by the throat and used his devouring Qi to completely devour them, leaving behind only their World Cores and their clothing.



He was disappointed upon finding that their memories mentioned nothing about how their master knew that Huang Ying would make his way to Empyrean Phoenix Academy. He quickly gathered up their World Cores and turned around, picking up the still weak Fang Shan.



“Li Jun. Hide our bodies while we are traveling.”



Huang Ying quickly sent a message to Li Jun, before escaping from Empyrean Phoenix Academy at full speed. He did not travel towards the city, but in the opposite direction, away from the city. He ran in the same direction that he had fled with Little Flame when they escaped from captivity last time.



With the commotion they had caused, Huang Ying was not confident that he would be able to hide his and Fang Shan's bodies from the perception of the people who came to investigate what had happened. In that case, it was better to rely on Li Jun, who was much better at hiding them.



Li Jun knew that now was not the time for words, so he simply covered Huang Ying and Fang Shan with his own perception, hiding them from both other people's perception as well as sight.



–

As Huang Ying grabbed Fang Shan and fled from Empyrean Phoenix Academy, several organizations on the continent were quickly moving into action. The moment the academy was covered by a black shroud, they had gotten news about it, immediately springing into action.



Inside a tower built out of pure white stones, the headquarters of Heaven's Secrets Company, a meeting was taking place at the top floor. In one of the two rooms at the top floor stood a single table surrounded by 18 chairs. Seven of these chairs were currently filled.



“Empyrean Phoenix Academy has been completely eradicated. There is no doubt about it, it's Huang Ying. No one but him has the devouring element.”



One of the seven people opened his mouth, breaking the silence that had shrouded the room. They had people in almost every city on the continent. The moment the academy was covered by a black shroud, they had sent people to investigate and see what it was.



By the time they reached the academy however, Huang Ying and Fang Shan had already fled. All that was left in the academy were some traces of battle as well as clothing that was strewn all over the place. They managed to detect that the entire academy held traces of the devouring element, so it was clear what had happened.



“Do we know why he did it?”



Another one of the men spoke out, sounding as if he furrowed his eyebrows. They did not care about a weak academy like Empyrean Phoenix getting eradicated, but what if Huang Ying kept on doing it? What if Empyrean Phoenix was only a start, and he kept devouring more and more academies, even cities?



“It does not matter why he did it. The only thing that matters is that the founder wishes to protect him. I will summon the founder and ask for her opinion.”



While the other six people around the table were discussing why Huang Ying had done it and how they should react, the man sitting at the very end of the table opened his mouth. His voice was weak and old, but the moment his voice rang out, the entire table turned silent.



That's right, they had forgotten the words that their founder spoke last time they summoned her and talked about Huang Ying. Anyone who touches him, she will kill their entire family. Upon remembering this, the backs of the people who were just discussing started dripping with cold sweat. No one knew about how fearsome their founder was better than them.



–



In Heaven's Crossroads City stood a tall and majestic fortress. The fortress was not built using wood and stone, but rather bones and scales. The entire fortress was built using a single massive skeleton. The bones of the skeleton were slightly rearranged and then covered in a scaly hide covered in deep green scales.



This fortress was the headquarter of the Zhao clan, the clan responsible for preventing the inhabitants of the Divine Wilderness from overrunning their continent. Platoons of people covered in either bone or scale armor were constantly patrolling around the fortress, preventing anyone from sneaking in.



At the very top of the fortress was a large and majestic hall. The floor was covered by a single massive pelt, the fur of the pelt was completely white and released a faint cold, cooling the room. There were several statues of men and women clad in full armor that lined the walls of the hall, each statue representing a Zhao clan ruler. The walls of the hall were covered in large murals, depicting the glorious and bloodstained history of the Zhao clan.



At the very center of the hall stood it's only piece of furniture, a throne made out of rugged and coarse bones. Sitting on the throne was a tall and muscular man clad in a full set of bone and scale armor. The bones and scales used to make this armor came from only the strongest of Demonic beasts.



Sitting on the throne was not pleasant, as the bones were shaped in a way that they would always sink into the skin of the person sitting on it. It was purposefully made like this, to remind the ruler of the Zhao clan that they were not meant to sit on a throne, they were meant to be on the front lines and fight.



“The person holding the devouring element has wiped out Empyrean Phoenix Academy? You found clothing belonging to people from Eternal Flame Academy inside the academy, as well as obvious signs of battle?”



The man sitting in the throne had long golden hair as well as a face covered in scars. He had eyes that were a deep green in color and a short stubble on his chin. He only had one arm, but there was no one who dared doubt his fighting strength. If he was weak, he would not be able to steadily hold onto the 5th rank on the Divine Dragon List.



“Yes my lord.”



There was a man kneeling on the ground in front of the throne, holding a report in his hands. He had just read up everything their people had found in Empyrean Phoenix Academy, as well as what they assumed had happened there.



“And why have you brought this to me?”



The muscular man raised his golden eyebrows as he looked at the kneeling man. His voice was casual, but it contained an unquestionable power and majesty, causing the kneeling man to shiver slightly.



“I would like to know how to proceed.”



Empyrean Phoenix Academy was located at the edge of their territory, so when something this big happened there, the man had no idea how to proceed.



“Ignore it. We do not have the manpower to worry about this. The denizens of the Divine Wilderness have grown more and more restless, I fear that they might have crowned a new king to rule them. We are the Zhao clan, we are the shield that protects the continent from the Divine Wilderness, that is all we need to worry about.”



The golden haired man shook his head, standing up from the throne and walking over to the statues that lined the walls. All these people had died fighting against the Divine Wilderness, died protecting this continent.



“Yes my lord!”



The kneeling man gave a loud shout, pride swelling in his chest. He stood up from his kneeling position and turned around, leaving only the golden haired man in the majestic hall, his eyes gazing at the statues of his predecessors.



–



Inside a small room at the Jing clan, Jing He was currently sitting in front of a small cauldron, slivers of icey Qi entering the cauldron and breaking down the herbs inside it. This was a different type of alchemy that Huang Ying had never heard about before, using ice to break down the herbs and then fusing them together.



All of Jing He's attention was placed on the cauldron in front of her, on the pill that was slowly taking form inside it. Her concentration was suddenly broken when a maidservant hurriedly entered the small room, not even knocking before she entered.



“Aunty Xiang! The pill is ruined now.”



Jing He couldn't help but slightly scold the maidservant. Because she had barged in so suddenly, Jing He ended up making a mistake and ruining the pill that was being formed inside the cauldron, wasting many hours of progress.



“I'm sorry Young Mistress, but the patriarch has sent me here with a message.”



The maidservant had short brown hair that only reached down to her shoulders. Her skin was slightly pale and her body very short. She looked no older than nine years old, but those that had lived inside the Jing headquarters knew that she had already been a maidservant for several decades.



“A message from the patriarch?”



Hearing her words, Jing He couldn't help but be slightly shocked. The patriarch would send out messages to people within the clan. Whenever he sent a message to someone in the clan, it meant that something big had happened.



“The patriarch has ordered all disciples in the Jing clan act with extreme caution in the future, especially when leaving the clan and interacting with other people. Empyrean Phoenix Academy has been eradicated by the person holding the devouring element, so the patriarch says that a terrible storm is approaching the continent.”



The maidservant hurriedly spoke, explaining what had happened. For even the patriarch of the Jing clan to call it a terrible storm, she could imagine just how bad the situation could become.



“I see, so it's just that. Alright, I will be careful. You can leave now, there is no need to worry about me.”



After hearing her explanation, Jing He nodded her head, an indifferent expression on her face. She waved her hand and dismissed the maidservant, returning to her cauldron.



“As you wish Young Mistress.”



The maidservant gave a bow and backed out off the room. She had worked for the Jing clan for several decades, but not even she could afford to offend this Young Mistress.



After the maidservant left the room, Jing He's lips curled into a charming smile. Since Empyrean Phoenix Academy had been destroyed by the person holding the devouring element, there was only one person who it could have been.



“A storm is coming? He is the storm.”

 

Chapter 149: Returning to Green Willow's.



Huang Ying continued to flee with Fang Shan for several days, all the way until they reached the same cave that Huang Ying had used the first time he fled from Empyrean Phoenix Academy. This cave was a few hundred kilometers away from Empyrean Phoenix Academy, but thanks to Huang Ying's improved speed after breaking through, it only took him around five days to reach the cave.



While they were fleeing, their bloodline activation naturally dissipated. After her Azure Dragon bloodline changed to Huang Ying's destruction bloodline, he had expected her appearance to change slightly.



But when she returned to her normal appearance, the only thing about her body that changed were her eyes, which turned into a deep golden rather than her usual blue. Her now deep golden eyes seemed to carry an almost penetrative power, as if they could see right through a person.



Fang Shan had already regained most of her strength during these five days, but Huang Ying still did not put her down, carrying her all the way until they reached the cave. After Only upon entering the cave and sealing up the entrance did he put her down and heave a sigh of relief.



While Fang Shan was sitting, leaning against the cave wall, Huang Ying sat down with a thud, leaning against the cave wall and breathing heavily. He had given over half of his destruction bloodline to Fang Shan, losing so much of his bloodline left him very weak. Had he not broken through to the middle stage of the Xiantian realm, he would have been even weaker.



To him, regaining his lost Qi and energy was easy. But regaining lost destruction blood was much harder. Only by devouring Demonic beasts with strong bloodlines could he quickly regain his lost destruction blood, otherwise he would just have to wait for it to regenerate naturally.



“You didn't have to do it. I pushed you away from that attack fully expecting to die.”



Seeing Huang Ying this weak, Fang Shan couldn't help but speak out, her voice almost as weak as a whisper. She didn't want to say those words, as she was truly happy that he had chosen to save her, but seeing him this weak, she did not know what else to say.



After Fang Shan's words rang out, Huang Ying turned his head and looked at her, his eyes completely calm. He slowly stood up, using the cave wall to support his body. After he stood up, he slowly walked over to Fang Shan, his eyes completely focused on her.



When he stood in front of her, Fang Shan did not dodge his eyes, looking directly at them. Huang Ying crouched down on the ground in front of her and grabbed her chin. He pulled her closer to him and planted a kiss on her lips, a forceful and deep kiss, leaving Fang Shan slightly shocked.



After he finished the kiss, he sat down next to her leaning against the cave wall, a still slightly shocked Fang Shan next to him. They had shared two kisses not long after leaving Eastern Wind Academy, but they had not engaged in any more intimate actions since then, so this could be considered their third kiss, and the most intimate they had been in quite a while.



“You are mine, so there is no way I will let you die before me.”



Huang Ying's words were strong and forceful, once more proclaiming that Fang Shan belonged to him. Hearing his words, a sweet smile couldn't help but appear on Fang Shan's face. This was just how Huang Ying was, she was his, so nothing was allowed to happen to her. Such a simple, yet strong saying.



The two of them did not say anything more, closing their eyes and focusing on returning to peak condition. With Li Jun hiding them and keeping watch over their surroundings, Huang Ying was not worried about getting found or ambushed, allowing him to recuperate in peace.



Whenever Huang Ying closed his eyes to cultivate or recuperate, time would quickly lose all meaning. He could easily spend several days, even weeks, simply sitting in one spot and silently cultivate. Once a person reached a high enough cultivation level, even spending several hundreds of years in silent cultivation was not uncommon.



After spending a little over a week cultivating in silence, Fang Shan and Huang Ying opened their eyes again. Fang Shan had returned to peak condition, even growing slightly stronger thanks to her new bloodline. Huang Ying had not returned to peak condition, as his bloodline has not completely regenerated. But he had recuperated enough to be confident that he could fight someone at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm.



“How is it?”



Seeing Huang Ying open his eyes, Fang Shan quickly asked. What she was talking about was obviously the recuperation of his bloodline.



“Manageable. Fighting someone at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm should not be a problem. I can still activate my bloodline, but keeping it active for more than half a minute is impossible.”



Huang Ying nodded his head as he spoke. He had not managed to regenerate a lot of his bloodline, but it was enough for now. He had recuperated enough to allow himself to activate his bloodline again, but if he kept it active for longer than half a minute, he would risk losing even more of his bloodline.



“Are we going to continue moving?”



Since Huang Ying had chosen to open his eyes, it was clear that he was preparing to move out again. Fang Shan simply asked because she wanted to make sure that she had understood his actions correctly.



“Yes. Cloud's End has a plaza where there is a spatial array that leads to the Green Willow's continent. I plan on using that array to return.”



If they wanted to head to the Green Willow's continent, there were two different ways. One was by traversing the Divine Wilderness, while the other was using the spatial array located in Cloud's End. Traversing the Divine Wilderness at their current cultivation level was nothing short of suicide, so they could only use the spatial array.



Since the had already decided, neither of them bothered wasting any time, immediately leaving the cave. Huang Ying had Li Jun cover up their features, making them look completely normal and forgettable, and they both headed back to Cloud's End. The reason he had Li Jun disguise them rather than completely hide them was because it would attract too much attention if the spatial array suddenly activated without anyone inside of it.



The journey back to Cloud's End was much more relaxed than the journey away from it. Since there was no longer a need to rush, Huang Ying and Fang Shan took it much slower. Fang Shan even started acting more intimate with Huang Ying, holding his hand at times, even sneaking in a few kisses when no one was looking.



When they entered Cloud's End once more, they looked just like a normal couple. Walking through the streets hand in hand and chatting normally. They were already connected by their bloodline now, they were forever inseparable, it was already impossible to deny their relationship.



Although it looked like they were just wandering through the streets at random, they were in fact heading directly towards the place where the spatial array that the were looking for was located.



Cloud's End did not forbid people from using the spatial array that lead to Green Willow's. After all, Green Willow's could only be considered a tiny and weak continent, what harm was there in letting people travel there? Because of this, Huang Ying and Fang Shan could easily enter the spatial array, they did not even have to present any proof of identity.



They entered the crystal pyramid that surrounded the spatial node that was the spatial array. Space quickly started distorting, a dizzying sense of nausea assaulting Huang Ying and Fang Shan, a multitude of colors flashing past their vision.



When the colors vanished from their vision, Huang Ying and Fang Shan were no longer on the Cloud's Reach continent, but on the Green Willow's continent. They still stood inside a crystal pyramid, but it was slightly different from the one in Cloud's End.



Around the crystal pyramid was an open garden. A small lake stood in the distance, surrounded by weeping willows and pristine white pavilions. A few roads lead through the garden, passing by several small patches of flowers that released a pleasant scent.



“Halt! State your identities!”



The moment Fang Shan and Huang Ying left the crystal pyramid, they were immediately surrounded by soldiers carrying spears. The spatial array was located at the center of the Green Willow's imperial palace, so they were obviously noticed the moment they arrived.



Huang Ying glanced at the guards surrounding them. Out of all these guards, not a single one of them had reached the Xiantian realm, and there was only a single person who was at the 9th heaven. They were not capable of threatening them.



Huang Ying spread out his perception, examining the area beyond the garden around them. Besides the guards around them, he noticed several more people clad in armor and carrying weapons that were rushing towards them. It was clear that their sudden arrival had shocked the imperial palace.



“Huang Ying!”



One of the people that rushed over suddenly called out when he spotted Huang Ying and Fang Shan. Because they had gone through the spatial array, the disguise that they wore had dissipated, showing their original features. On the Green Willow's continent, Huang Ying had not worried about anyone recognizing him, as there were not really any people here that could threaten him. All those that could threaten him were located on the Cloud's Reach continent.



“Yang Ning.”



Huang Ying glanced at the person that called out. The person who called out was a youth called Yang Ning, they had entered Willow's Hope Academy at the same time. But with the passage of time, they both entered two different worlds.



At his full strength, Huang Ying could now fight and kill people at the middle stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm. Yang Ning on the other hand, had yet to even reach the Xiantian realm, their realms were simply far too far apart.



“Uncle Xiang! That's him, he is the one who caused the death of uncle Yang Xinyi!”



Yang Ning immediately turned towards a slightly fat middle aged man that stood next to him, pointing at Huang Ying as he did so. When Yang Xinyi had not returned after the Academy Battle, the imperial palace had started a massive investigation, which lead to them determining that Huang Ying was the one most likely to have caused the death of Yang Xinyi.



The middle aged man standing next to Yang Ning, Yang Xiang, had an ugly expression on his face as he looked at Huang Ying and Fang Shan. He was at the early stage of the Xiantian realm, but he could not sense the cultivation level of the two youths in front of him. This meant that they were either far stronger than him, or did not cultivate at all.



“I will have to ask you two excellencies to follow me so that we can learn the truth about this matter.”



Yang Xiang decided to bite the bullet, placing his hand on his sword as he spoke. This was their imperial palace after all, he could not appear weak here.



“No need. Yang Xinyi tried to kill me, so I killed him. Now get out of my way.”



Huang Ying shook his head, speaking bluntly. His words caused the expression of the people surrounding him to turn grim. He had frankly admitted to killing one of theirs, and then demanded that they get out of his way? Did he think nothing of them.



The atmosphere quickly turned hostile, with the people surrounding him pulling out their weapons. But Huang Ying and Fang Shan did not care, looking at the people around them with indifferent eyes. Li Jun had already scanned the entire palace, there was no one here who could threaten them. If they dared to attack, Huang Ying dared kill.

 

Chapter 150: Yang palace massacre.



“Calm down everyone, let us handle this calmly.”



While the guards around them were preparing to attack Huang Ying and Fang Shan, a calming voice suddenly sounded from the garden around them. An old man with deep green hair and clad in a green robe rose from the small lake in the distance.



Upon seeing this old man, the guards surrounding Huang Ying and Fang Shan quickly dropped to their knees in reverence. Even Yang Ning and the people that he had brought over dropped to their knees, bowing their heads in the direction of the old man.



“I was wondering if you were just planning on watching them all die.”



Huang Ying's eyes were still indifferent as he looked at the old man and spoke. He had already noticed this old man the moment he arrived in the palace. He also knew who this old man was, the guardian beast of the Yang palace, a Forest Qilin left behind by the first Yang emperor.



“Is there a need to be this aggressive. We simply want to ask a few questions to learn the full truth behind Yang Xinyi's death.”



The old man's voice was soft and calming, like the sound of the breeze. His face held a calm and peaceful smile as he approached Huang Ying and Fang Shan.



“I just told you the truth. He wanted to attack me, so I killed him. Now have them move out of the way.”



Huang Ying shook his head in exasperation as he spoke. He had just told them why he killed Yang Xinyi, so the old man's words were obviously a lie, he had other intentions.Huang Ying did not care however, the old man was only at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm, he was no threat.



“But we would like to know why. I imagine that he did not suddenly choose to kill you because he did not like you.”



The old man was not perturbed by Huang Ying's blunt answer. As a Demonic beast, he could sense that Huang Ying and Fang Shan's blood contained great power. If he managed to acquire a bit of their blood, he could greatly increase his own strength.



“You don't need to know why he wanted to kill me. All that matters is that he wanted to kill me.”



Seeing that the old man was continuing to approach them, Huang Ying narrowed his eyes, glaring at the old man. The moment the old man tried to do something suspicious, Huang Ying would strike to kill him.



“I would still like...”



The smile of the old man was still calm and peaceful, and he still continued to approach Huang Ying and Fang Shan. As he started talking, he had already managed to get within 100 meters of them, just a few more meters and he would be able to launch his attacks.



“Are you not listening? We aren't going to answer your questions. Have them step out of the way, or prepare to face the consequences.”



Before the old man got to finish his sentence and get close enough, he was cut off by Fang Shan, who looked at the old man with a glare. She already held her two daggers in her hands, ready to attack if the old man took as much as a single step closer.



“I am trying to be polite because I respect your strength, but it does not mean that I fear you. Now let me repeat myself, I would like to ask you a few questions, will you agree or not?”



The old man's face finally sank, his expression twisting in anger. He was already at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm, when had he ever taken this much abuse from someone who was only at the Xiantian realm?



“We refuse, so fuck off.”



Fang Shan's mouth curled into a sneer as she spoke. Since this old man was clearly planning something against them, there was no need for them to be polite. The simply fact that they had not already attacked and killed them was already enough mercy.



“Then we can only capture you by force.”



The old man's voice was no longer calming, instead containing nothing but anger. Upon his words sounding out he also activated his domain, the ground around Huang Ying and Fang Shan started cracking open, thick roots shooting up at them.



The guards surrounding them also moved into action, standing up and charging at them. Since their guardian had moved into action, they too would have to attack. Yang Ning and his uncle also moved into action, unleashing all their Qi as they followed behind the guards.



Huang Ying and Fang Shan locked eyes for a short second, Fang Shan nodding her head. Seeing her nod her head, Huang Ying also nodded his, sitting down on the ground right after. That nod from Fang Shan was her telling him that she would deal with it, so he could just sit down and wait.



With Huang Ying sitting down, Fang Shan sprung into action, her domain quickly spreading out. The moment Fang Shan activated her domain, arcs of black lightning started appearing out of thin air, striking down at everything around her. The old man's domain was immediately torn to shreds, even the roots that shot at Huang Ying and Fang Shan were torn to shreds by the black lightning.



The guards and other people that had charged at Huang Ying and Fang Shan were the first to suffer and fall under the might of Fang Shan's domain. Whenever one of them was touched by an arc of black lightning, it immediately dug into their bodies and tore them to shreds from the inside.



Some of the people with stronger bodies, like Yang Ning and his uncle, managed to survive slightly longer inside her domain, but their deaths were far more gruesome than the guards. Their bodies were stronger, so they managed to contain the black lightning much better, leading to them exploding into a bloody mist once the amount of black lightning in their bodies reached a certain amount.



In less than a minute, everyone around them except for the old man had died. In less than a minute, the main fighting force of the Yang palace had completely vanished, turned into a bloody mist that stained Fang Shan's body.



“I told you that you will suffer the consequences. You should be happy however, had it been Ying'er taking action, their deaths would have been even worse.”



Fang Shan turned towards the old man, whose face was now completely pale, and spoke. Her words were not wrong, had Huang Ying been the one to attack, everyone who surrounded them would have been devoured alive inside his devouring domain, not even leaving behind a soul to be reborn.



“Now just calm down a little, this is all just a horrible misunderstanding. I am sure we can work this out peacefully, this palace is stuffed full of treasure.”



The old man hurriedly took a few steps backwards and raised his hands, stuttering out the words. The moment Fang Shan activated her domain, the old man immediately felt completely powerless. He now realized that the two people in front of him were more than capable of killing him.



“Too late. Since you wanted to harm us, there is no need for you to be alive any longer.”



Fang Shan's mouth curved into a sweet smile as she spoke, but since she was stained with blood, the old man simply saw it as the smile of the grim reaper. After she spoke, Fang Shan waved her hand, black lightning appearing around the old man and striking down at him.



The old man quickly moved to dodge the lightning, putting all his energy into moving as fast as possible. Fang Shan did not show any mercy, black lightning gathering in her palm and slowly forming into a long spear created from condensed lightning.



After all, this old man had planned on harming her and Huang Ying, so there was no need to show him any mercy. In fact, Fang Shan felt that he should die a slow death for even thinking about harming Huang Ying.



But with Huang Ying watching, she could not just capture the old man and take her time with torturing him, so she decided to kill him quickly. The spear formed from lightning left her hand as a black blur, shooting through the air with the sound of booming thunder.



As the spear left her hand, Fang Shan also moved. After all, the old man was someone at the early stage of the Yin-Yang Formation realm, hoping for the spear she created to be enough to kill him was simply foolish.



When the old man heard the spear approach him, he bent his body and raised his arms. When he raised his arms, thick roots shot out from the ground in front of him, forming a protective wall in front of him. The lightning that shot at him from all around him could not be blocked by his roots, as it struck from all directions, but if he knew where the attack would come from, dodging it would be easy.



When the spear of lightning hit the wall of roots, it exploded into a sparks of lightning, raining down on the surrounding area and tearing up the ground. The wall of roots caught on fire thanks to the high heat, but since the roots were also torn to shreds by the sheer force behind the spear, the fire quickly started spreading around the garden.



As the wall of roots was torn to shreds by her spear, Fang Shan arrived in front of the old man. Since that wall of roots had been his only defense at the time, he had no way of stopping Fang Shan from approaching him.



With Fang Shan's speed, if one was not able to match her in speed, letting her get close was simply a death sentence. With dual daggers in hand, Fang Shan's hands moved at the speed of lightning, carving up the old man and not giving him a chance to defend himself.



Of course, since Huang Ying was watching and there was fire quickly spreading in their surroundings, Fang Shan quickly finished off the old man, a single dagger piercing through his throat. After killing the old man, Fang Shan also cut out his Demon Crystal. He was after all a Demonic beast at the Yin-Yang Formation realm, his Demon Crystal would be useful for Huang Ying.



“All done.”



Fang Shan walked over to Huang Ying, throwing him the green gem that was the old man's Demon Crystal, and spoke with a sweet smile. They were surrounded by a burning fire, and she was covered in blood and surrounded by torn up corpses, but neither of them cared. Huang Ying stood up and grabbed the Demon Crystal placing it into his interspatial ring.



After placing the Demon Crystal in his interspatial ring, he took out a clean piece of cloth as well as some water and stretched out his hand, using the cloth to clean away the blood on Fang Shan's face and hair.



“Alright, let's go.”



After wiping away the blood, Huang Ying grabbed Fang Shan's hand and moved towards the exit of the palace. They passed several more people and guards, but no one dared to stop them. Their guardian Demonic beast as well as many of their guards and cultivators had already died in their hands, so where would they find the courage to stop the two of them from leaving?

 

Chapter 151: Retracing steps.



Huang Ying lead Fang Shan out of the palace, using the same path that he had used to enter the palace back when he first left Green Willows. Outside the palace there was already a large group of people that had gathered, looking at the palace with interest.



They had heard loud screams coming from the palace, and not long after, flames started spreading inside the palace. It had already reached a point where a large part of the palace was engulfed in flames, making it impossible for the Yang clan to put them out. How could the people of the city not be interested?



When Huang Ying and Fang Shan walked out from the entrance of the palace, the people standing in front of the palace could not help but take a step back. The two of them walked out nonchalantly, as if they hadn't done anything. But the bloodstains on Fang Shan's clothing showed that the two of them had most likely been the ones responsible for what had happened inside the palace.



“Huang Ying.”



Upon seeing the two of them exiting the palace, an old man standing at the front could not help but mutter in shock. Next to this old man stood several people from Willow's Hope, all of them looking at Huang Ying and Fang Shan with shock.



“Xu Yin.”



Huang Ying recognized these people. The old man was the current headmaster of Willow's Hope, Xu Yin. Xu Yin had once placed a tracking mark on Huang Ying after allowing him to partake in the Academy Battle, allowing him to keep a constant watch on his movements. Yet now Huang Ying had reached a height where Xu Yin never even dared hope that he could set foot.



“Why have you returned?”



Xu Yin spoke out after a slight hesitation, not coming up with anything better to ask. After leaving Cloud's End, Xu Yin had helped the Yang palace search for Huang Ying, as he was angry at Huang Ying for killing a teacher that worked for him. Facing Huang Ying now, Xu Yin had no idea how he should act.



“I have not come for you, I have simply come to make a quick visit to my old home.”



Huang Ying could guess that Xu Yin was worried about being killed by him, but the truth was that Huang Ying simply did not care about Xu Yin. Xu Yin was even weaker than Deng Rong, so how could he ever enter the eyes of Huang Ying? Of course, if Xu Yin made any moves against him, Huang Ying did not mind killing him.



“Xu Yin, lend me a bath. If anyone tries to come after us, I won't mind letting more people die.”



After Huang Ying spoke, he took a step forward, bringing Fang Shan with him as he headed towards the Willow's Hope academy. There was still a large amount of blood on her, so it was best to let her clean herself before they continued on their journey.



How could Xu Yin dare neglect any of Huang Ying's words? He gave a few quick orders to the people next to him, ordering them to prevent anyone from following them to the academy, before he himself followed Huang Ying and Fang Shan.



Despite the Yang palace burning and a large crowd of people seeing Huang Ying and Fang Shan enter the Willow's Hope academy, almost no one dared enter the Willow's Hope academy and look for them. There were a few who entered not long after Huang Ying and Fang Shan entered, looking to capture them and bring them to the Yang clan.



But none of them ever got to leave the academy again, their horrified screams being the last thing people ever heard of them. After that, no one else dared think that Huang Ying had been joking when he said that he did not mind letting more people die.



Huang Ying did not care about the commotion taking place in the city, only quietly guarding the room where Fang Shan was showering. Anyone who tried to enter the surrounding area would be killed by him, devoured by his devouring domain. He had dared kill everyone belonging to the Empyrean Phoenix academy, so how could he not dare kill everyone who tried to enter the surrounding area?



It was only after Fang Shan finished cleaning herself and changed into a fresh blue robe and she and Huang Ying left the city that the rest of the inhabitants managed to let out a sigh of relief. They had only killed anyone who tried to get too close, but the entire city still felt fear just at the thought that they were resting in the same city as them.



After leaving Willow's Heart City, Huang Ying and Fang Shan retraced Huang Ying's past footsteps. Fang Shan wanted to travel down the same road that Huang Ying had traveled in the past, so they followed the road to Yellow Winds Town.



“This is where I was forced to flee into the outskirts of the Divine Wilderness, we only called it The Wilderness back then however.”



While walking through the streets of Yellow Winds Town, Huang Ying pointed at a few spots that he felt were slightly memorable. He pointed at the spot where he first fled into the Divine Wilderness, at the store where he and Jing He first bought his blue robes, as well as at the restaurant where his feud with the rulers of this city first started.



“We definitely have to eat there.”



After hearing how his feud with the rulers of the city started, Fang Shan became adamant on the two of them eating in the same restaurant. She practically dragged him into the restaurant, ignoring the snickering gazes of the people around them. Upon entering the restaurant and finding a seat, she once more proceeded to order an almost ludicrous amount of food. Huang Ying could at least breathe a sigh of relief that the food here was cheaper than it was on the Cloud's Reach continent.



“So why exactly did we 'definitely have to eat here'?”



After the food arrived and the two started eating, Huang Ying could resist it no longer and asked the question he had been wondering about. He refused to believe that Fang Shan only wanted to eat here because she was hungry.



“Isn't it obvious? You ate here with Jing He before, so if I don't do the same with you, she will have a leg up on me once she joins your harem?”



Fang Shan slightly tilted her head as she looked at Huang Ying, acting like what she said made perfect sense. Once Jing He joined his harem, the act of the two of them eating here would be something she could hold over Fang Shan, so it was obvious that Fang Shan had to eat here with Huang Ying as well.



“Join my harem? What the fuck are you on about?”



Despite Fang Shan saying it like it was the most normal thing, Huang Ying was still completely dumbfounded. Jing He joining his harem? Since when did he have a harem that she could join?



“You don't want to add her to your harem? I am fine with you having multiple lovers, it is normal for powerful people after all. Father even told me that his ancestor had over 10 lovers. I simply demand that I be the first wife.”



Fang Shan was slightly confused at Huang Ying's reaction. Was his intention not to add Jing He to his harem? Most people at a certain level of power would often have many wives and concubines. Huang Ying was bound to reach that level eventually, so she had expected him to have a few wives of his own. She did not like sharing him, but she had accepted that it was likely to happen, so she had settled for making sure that she was the first wife and that he never abandoned her.



“I have no interest in a harem, I have you after all. Besides, I can barely handle one lover, how could I possibly manage any more?”



Huang Ying raised his eyebrow as he responded. Just Fang Shan alone was almost more than enough of what he could handle in the romance department, so how could he possibly think about getting together with any more people?



He was also perfectly content with having just Fang Shan, as she suited him perfectly. Since he had someone who fit him perfectly right next to him, why would he be interested in other people?



“You are not interested in a harem? What about Jing He then, I thought you loved her?”



Now it was Fang Shan's turn to be surprised. She had thought that Huang Ying was in love with Jing He, so when she saw Jing He arrive at Eastern Wind academy, she had felt rather pressured, forcing her to speed up her getting intimate with Huang Ying.



“What could possibly make you think that? She was only 12 or so when I first met her, so how could I possibly have any thoughts about her? I see her as the little sister I never got, nothing more.”



Huang Ying responded with an exasperated sigh and shook his head. The feelings he held for Jing He had never gone past what he would feel towards a little sister that he had to protect, how did that turn into him loving her?



“That's it?”



Fang Shan couldn't help but ask. She did not want to share Huang Ying, so if she could have him for herself, that would be for the best. At the same time, she also felt very happy at how Huang Ying had said that he had no interest in a harem since he had her.



“That's it.”



Huang Ying responded with another exasperated sigh, grabbing Fang Shan's chin and planting a kiss on her lips to make sure that he got the point across. Was that how people thought of him? That he was that dissolute in love?



Fang Shan's face lit up with a bright smile after Huang Ying separated his lips from hers. No one wanted to share the person that they liked, so she would obviously prefer this, having him all to herself.



“Excuse me. My name is Tao Dong Ling, and I was wondering if you were willing to follow me to a better table and share stories about your travels.”



After the two of them continued eating, a voice suddenly rang out from not far away. Turning their heads, they saw a group of five male youths heading towards them. The elegant male youth who lead the group gave the two of them a short bow and introduced himself when he was speaking.



He was talking politely, but he could not fool Huang Ying or Fang Shan's eyes. The male youth as well as the four youths behind him were constantly sneaking glances at Fang Shan, a slight lust concealed within their eyes.



Upon seeing this scene, Huang Ying couldn't help but burst out laughing, his loud laughter confusing Fang Shan and the group of male youths. The male youths couldn't help but wonder if he had some problems with his brain.



“Sorry, sorry, don't mind me. It's just that this scene is incredibly reminiscent of the first time I came here. Back then there was someone who tried to lay their hand on Jing He, so I acted incredibly rashly and killed the entire group. Now that I think about it, you kinda look like the people from back then. Are you from the five clans that rule this city?”



Seeing them look at him with confused expressions, Huang Ying stifled his laughter and explained it to Fang Shan. He then turned towards the group of five youths and raised his eyebrow as he asked. The one youth had already introduced himself as someone from the Tao clan, so Huang Ying guessed that the four others were from the other four clans that ruled this city.



“Acted rashly you say? Does that mean you won't kill them if they try to touch me?”



Fang Shan put on a faint smile as she looked at Huang Ying. It might have been a bit rash, but what girl didn't like it when someone acted rashly to defend her?



“Oh no, i'll still kill them all. It just won't be rash anymore.”



Huang Ying responded with a chuckle. It could no longer be considered acting rashly, as there was no one in the city who could threaten him.



“Could it be... Huang Ying?!”



The words of Huang Ying seemed to have caused a few lights to go off in the head of Tao Dong Ling, as his eyes suddenly widened, his face turning deathly pale. He hurriedly took a few steps backwards, almost falling down in fear.



It had been a year since Huang Ying had left Yellow Winds Town, but the story of how he massacred the five patriarchs was still fresh on the lips of the people. Every person belonging to any of the five clans had been given an image of Huang Ying and strict orders that they were to avoid this demon if they ever met him.



Because of him slightly changing in appearance since he left, none of the people in the group of male youths managed to recognize him straight away. Tao Dong Ling could not help but curse his bad luck. It had been a year since Huang Ying left Yellow Winds Town, and he just so happened to run into him on the day he returned?



“You should fuck off. I have no interest in any of you, just leave my sight. I will only stay here for a day or two.”



Huang Ying waved his hand at the male youths, not even bothering to look at them anymore. He only planned to stay here for a few days with Fang Shan, allowing them to get some rest. Unless they provoked him, he could not be bothered to kill these people.



“Thank you!”



The five youths quickly gave him a deep bow, before turning around and running out of the restaurant at full speed. Despite the five of them leaving, besides the voices of Huang Ying and Fang Shan, the restaurant was completely still. Everyone in town knew the name of the demon Huang Ying, so how could they not be both shocked and terrified upon finding out that he was currently sitting in the same restaurant as them?