44 Second attempt. (1/2)
Li Yang dashed forward like a golden bolt of lightning, the earth behind him freezing and scorching as he passed. He was currently inside an array that mixed reality and illusion, so he could do whatever he wanted without it having any impact on the real world.
His gaze was cold as he charged into the group of people, tearing them apart as he made his way towards Xue Senzhou. Despite only being illusions, they felt completely lifelike as he tore them apart as if they were real bodies. While tearing a path through the group, Li Yang also marveled at the might of Jinwu's two elements. He had expected the might of the golden flames, not even leaving behind ash as they scorched everything. But Jinwu's ice moved around like a light blue smoke, everything that touched it immediately freezing solid.
Li Yang was like a tiger set loose upon a flock of sheep, none of the people in the group able to stop him. Everyone inside the illusion had the strength that they had from back then, so for a few short moments inside the illusion, Li Yang had returned to his past prime, to the days of the Thunder Monarch. But this Thunder Monarch had his strength increased by a child Divine Beast, turning into a monarch of fire and ice.
With no one able to stop or stand against him, it didn't even take half a minute for the entire group to be torn apart. All that remained, in the end, was Li Yang, surrounded by frozen corpses and scorched earth, his golden robe still clean and pristine. Yet despite slaughtering the entire group, Li Yang's expression did not improve.
With a slight turn of his head, his eyes fell on two bodies lying on the ground in the distance. He had killed everyone, but Fang Ying and Fang Xue'er had both died. This was an illusion and a trial, no matter what he did, the end would not change. Despite expecting the result, his heart still ached at seeing the bloody corpses.
Li Yang did not walk over to the corpses, because he could feel the world around him shift and distort. After only a short moment, the world around him had once again turned into the scenery at the bottom of the valley. Li Yang gave the surroundings a quick sweep with his eyes, before shaking his head and undoing the fusion ability.
”As expected, I failed the trial. Thank you for putting up with my selfishness, Jinwu.”
Jinwu landed on Li Yang's left shoulder, looking a bit weaker and rather exhausted, but he still snuggled close to Li Yang's neck. Li Yang gave Jinwu a few pats on the head, before speaking out in a loud voice.
”Sorry, Zizai, but could you send me back into the trial?”
To Li Yang, the entire bottom of the valley looked identical, he also didn't know where he would be sent after failing the trial, so he had no idea where the entrance of the trial currently was. But he knew that Zizai would be able to hear him from anywhere inside the valley, so he could simply ask Zizai to send him back to the trial.
Not long after Li Yang's voice rang out, the wind around him once more turned ferocious, lifting him up and sending him deeper into the valley. After flying through the air like this for a short while, the world around Li Yang started to twist and distort with the wind, letting him know that he had once again entered the trial.
The moment the wind around Li Yang vanished and he saw the contents of the illusion, his eyes could not help but tremble slightly. He stood atop a small hill, black clouds covered the sky and released a torrent of rain. The earth beneath the hill was drenched in blood, a large group of people surrounding the hill, in his hand was a familiar golden sword. But there was one big difference between this scene and the one he had experienced in the past, now there were four additional corpses on the ground not far from them, the corpses of four dear friends.
Li Yang closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, he then turned his head to the side, ignoring the people that surrounded him and shouted at him. Just as he expected, a graceful woman clad in an azure robe was standing next to him, her face pale and carrying a somewhat worried expression. Fang Ying was covered in blood and wounds, but they only added a valiant charm to her. Looking at that familiar visage in such a familiar scene, Li Yang could not help but be somewhat spellbound. Noticing that Li Yang was looking at her with a spellbound expression, Fang Ying could not help but turn towards him.
”Do you really think now is the time to be looking at me like that?”
Her voice was a bit weak, but it traveled directly to Li Yang's heart. In his life, Li Yang only ever had two regrets. Not being able to save Fang Xue'er was one, and this fateful day was the second. As he responded, Li Yang could not help but wear a brilliant smile.
”I couldn't help it, you are just too beautiful.”
Hearing such an unexpected answer, Fang Ying could not help but be caught slightly off guard, but she quickly puffed out her cheeks slightly, responding in a tone of voice that could only be considered cheeky.
”So this is what it takes for you to praise me, the both of us being chased down and surrounded?”