79 Such annoying people. (2/2)

He instantly lost track of time as he walked, his mind becoming part of the fire that scorched this forest. And it was because his mind was part of the fire that he started to discover some of the finer parts of it.

Fire wasn't just destructive, it had other properties than just extreme heat. When controlled, it brought peace and warmth to people, pushing away the cold and the beasts that lurked in the dark. When it was unleashed on a forest, it would destroy everything, but the energy in the fire, as well as the nutrients in the resulting ash, would allow the forest to grow back incredibly fast, healthier than ever before. Fire could also sterilize, the high heat burning away harmful entities that were too small to be seen. Fire was far more than just destruction and heat.

Li Yang continued to immerse himself in the burning flames, not even noticing when the fire spread to his own body, scorching away his robes and starting to melt his body. Li Yang's body had been rebuilt using fire during one of the trials he undertook in Zhao Feng's hidden realm, so the fire didn't hurt him, it instead melted and rebuilt his body again, tempering it a bit further and increasing his affinity to fire.

Of course, had it not been for Li Yang's body having been rebuilt by fire, something that was only possible thanks to the tremendously strong array Zhao Feng had set down as well as the control of Chen Huo, the green dragon that controlled the array, Li Yang would die if his body was to be subjected to treatment like this.

After his body melted and was rebuilt using fire several times, Li Yang suddenly left his cultivation state, clarity returning to his eyes. He took out a fresh robe from his interspatial ring, one of the violet wolf skin robes, putting it on and using his Qi to push away the fire around him. He swept the surroundings with his gaze, a sigh escaping his lips.

”Haah, this truly is a wonderful training ground. With the array slowly strengthening and changing as you head deeper, you can always just turn back if you wish to focus on one specific aspect of the law, or head deeper when you feel that your understanding has deepened. It even tests your understanding to see if you are ready to head deeper. I truly wonder just how an array like this was set up.”

Despite being in a deep cultivation state, thanks to his mind being connected to the surrounding fires, he was still able to keep an eye on his surroundings. It was thanks to this that he noticed that the entire training ground was split up into several different areas, each area focusing on a different part of the law of fire. The surrounding array would even prevent others from going deeper if they didn't prove that they had a sufficiently deep understanding of the law of fire. For such a training ground to exist, it was clear that whoever set it up had not only a terrifyingly deep understanding of the law of fire, but was also highly proficient in arrays.

Li Yang checked the piece of jade that had fused with his chest, checking on his contribution points. And once he saw his current balance, he couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

”It feels like its only been a few minutes, but two months have already passed. I've only stayed in the outskirts of the array, so each day only cost me 2 contribution points, so I'm down to only 80. Should be about time for me to gather up some more.”

It felt like he had just barely sunk his mind into the surrounding flames, but it turned out that two months had passed by without him noticing it. Over these two months, his cultivation hadn't increased, but his fire runes had grown even purer and more profound, increasing the strength of his flames, and his body had grown somewhat stronger.

Li Yang let loose a loud whistle that echoed through the area, patiently waiting after the sound vanished. The sound of flapping wings quickly approached Li Yang, Jinwu and Shenlong coming at full speed, landing in their usual spots on Li Yang's body.

The shine of Shenlong's scales had grown a bit more resplendent, and Jinwu's eyes now contained a trace amount of golden color, it was clear that both had gained a bit after these two months. Li Yang gave a satisfied nod of his head and then returned to the clearing where he had first appeared, returning to the Yuan clan.

Li Yang quickly descended the Ascending Carp Staircase and made his way back to his own home. He had been gone for two months, so he was a bit curious about what might have happened in his absence. But when he reached his own house, his eyebrow couldn't help but rise.

The three houses that Blackstone and the two other servants lived in had been completely ruined, the three servants sitting on the ground outside Li Yang's house. Their faces were bandaged and their bodies bruised, so it was clear that they had suffered a beating. Seeing Li Yang approaching, the three quickly stood up and put on forced smiles, cupping their hands.

”Senior Brother Ya-”

Before the three even got to finish their greetings, Li Yang waved his hand and cut them off, his voice completely calm.

”What happened here?”

His own house was perfectly fine, it didn't even have a scratch or a stain. But the three houses he had gifted his servants had been destroyed so badly that one might as well just rebuild the houses from scratch. The three servants gave each other a quick glance, Blackstone shrugging his shoulders.

”It's nothi-”

Li Yang once again cut them off before they got to finish their sentence, stepping forward and instantly arriving in front of Blackstone, the sound of muffled thunder ringing out.

”Just tell me what happened here.”

He wasn't interested in hearing their excuses, he just wanted to figure out what had happened here. Blackstone's expression turned into a grimace for a short second, before he let out a sigh and told the truth.

”It was Kong Lingxin, Senior Sister Yujin's third in command. He came to seek reparations for what happened to Long Jucai and Yuan Lanxia.”

He came to seek reparations, but since Li Yang was training somewhere, he couldn't get a hold of him. Li Yang gave a slight nod of his head, giving the surroundings a slight sweep with his gaze.

”Hoh? Seems like he got a bit impatient while he waited. So I guess this is supposed to be something of a message? Where can I find this Kong Lingxin?”

Blackstone, Rivergrass, and Ji Shun, these three people were Li Yang's servants, people working for him. He had told Long Jucai and Yuan Lanxia that he would not stand for anyone laying a hand on the people assigned to him, as it was something that Fang Ying hated. But now they had gone and done just that, even destroying the things that Li Yang had gifted the three of them.

Blackstone wanted to give another excuse, but seeing the calm expression on Li Yang's eyes, he felt a slight shiver run down his spine, so he quickly told him the truth.

”There is no nee... He enjoys battling others, so he often frequents the arena, both as a spectator and as a contestant.”

Li Yang gave another nod of his head, turning around and calmly making his way towards the horizontally split mountain that was the arena. Blackstone and the others didn't dare follow, as provisional disciples weren't allowed to enter the arena, but they still heard Li Yang's faint mutter as he left.

”This is why people like Yijun and such are so annoying, they get a tiny amount of power and control, and suddenly they think that everyone has to follow them.”