104 A different appearance, the same look. (1/2)
Li Yang swiped his interspatial ring and took out a few pills and Spirit Stones, swallowing the pills and absorbing the Qi within the Spirit Stones to restore his lost energy. This could be considered an extremely wasteful way of refilling his drained Qi, but right now he didn't care about that in the slightest. After stuffing a few pills into his mouth he jumped up onto the closest tree, quickly jumping from branch to branch until he reached the top of the tree and could get a clearer view of his surroundings.
The forest he was in stretched out for quite a distance in each direction, at least a few tens of kilometers. At the northern end of the forest stood a tall and incredibly wide mountain that stretched into the clouds at about its halfway point, making it impossible to see how tall it truly was. The southern, western, and eastern ends of the forest all ended in separate cities that were very similar to the one Li Yang had just been in, the main difference between them was that these cities only had three towers standing at the center of the city.
Li Yang swept all three cities with narrowed eyes, carefully examining them. Fang Ying was most likely in one of these cities, he only had to figure out which one. He inspected the cities for a few seconds before his gaze locked onto the eastern one, the edges of his mouth curling up.
”Trouble always did have a penchant for following us.”
It was a bit hard to see from his position but he was able to just barely see a small plume of smoke and dust rising up from the center of the eastern city, the air around the plume distorting slightly, a clear sign that someone was battling there. He swallowed some more pills and took out a few more Spirit Stones to further increase the speed at which his Qi refilled, jumping down from the tree and dashing towards the eastern city.
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Fang Ying felt like she sensed a warm sensation sweep over her just before the transportation array activated, but she was unable to ascertain if she truly sensed anything because the array activated the moment she felt it. As such she chose to drop it and focus on the important task she had ahead of her, reaching the meeting point that she had set up. She wanted to see that warm smile again, she wanted those black hole-like eyes to look at her with that loving gaze that warmed her entire body.
The array brought her group of five away from Cloud King city and sent them up to the Cloud God's Garden, to the city known as Wind's Wave. The room they arrived in was an exact copy of the room they had just left, completely empty with nothing but the lines and runes of the array covering the walls and floor.
The five of them stepped out of the room and walked past the two guards, Fang Ying taking the lead as they left the tower and entered a somewhat busy star-shaped plaza. But just as Fang Ying wanted to tell the others that she was going to move faster, a group of people stepped in front of them and stopped them.
”Fairy Ying, Brother Zheng, I did not expect you to choose to come here.”
Standing in front of them was a group of people from the Puppet God sect, all of them neatly lined up behind the one man standing at the front. The leader of the group was very familiar to Fang Ying, he was Xiong Xieren, the future patriarch of the Puppet God sect. Xiong Xieren was a tall man who was a little over two meters tall, he had a stubble of white hair on his chin that produced a nice contrast to his black eyes and shoulder length black hair. Fang Ying didn't wish to chat with him, but due to Xiong Xieren's status and her current relationship with the Tian clan, she had to at least give him the bare minimum politeness.
”I am just as surprised to see you here, Elder Brother Xieren. I hope you'll forgive me, but I have something I must do, so I won't stay here for long.”
Fang Ying smiled politely, but in truth, she did not care much for this Xiong Xieren. He had the same black eyes as her beloved, but the look in them was completely different. Li Yang always looked at her with love and care, even when he died because of her did he look at her with nothing but love and care. He also never pretended, he was straightforward and direct, his pride higher than the heavens.
This Xiong Xieren, on the other hand, pretended to be cordial and humble when in front of others, hiding his scheming personality beneath a layer of fake kindness, a perfect patriarch for a large sect. And his eyes were filled with lust and greed whenever he looked at her, he was like a child who saw a treasure and decided that he had to keep it for himself. Fang Ying stepped forward to walk past him, but Xiong Xieren stretched out his arm, stopping her with an apologetic expression before casting a sideways glance at Tian Zheng.
”I'm sorry Fairy Ying, but I must ask that you return to Cloud King city and go somewhere else. My Puppet God sect has decided that it is time that we are allowed to harvest some resources here. Brother Zheng, I am sure that you don't need me to tell you anything else?”
Xiong Xieren wanted to place his hand on Fang Ying's shoulder, but Langshen bared his teeth and started to growl the moment Xiong Xieren started to move his arm closer. Tian Zheng's expression twisted slightly after hearing Xiong Xieren's words, their meaning very clear, stay here and we will fight you.
The group of people standing behind Xiong Xieren was almost three times as large as their group, and considering that Tian Zheng would have to put all his focus on Xiong Xieren, there was really no way for their group to win if they were to fight. There was also the fact that there wasn't really a need for them to fight with Xiong Xieren's group, the only reason he had chosen to come to this continent was that Fang Ying wanted to come here. With all these facts clear to him, Tian Zheng shrugged his shoulders and shook his head lightly at Fang Ying.
”It's a shame, Junior Sister Ying, but it seems like we will have to return. Why don't you tell me what you wished to acquire by coming here, I will have the clan use all our resources to find it for you once this competition is over.”
If he had the entire clan search for whatever she was looking for, there should be no way that they would be unable to find and acquire it for her. He could show her his charitable side and she would get what she wanted, Tian Zheng saw it as the perfect trade. But Fang Ying proceeded to take an action he had never expected from her, she pulled out her weapon, a pure white Jian sword covered in red veins.
”No, I will not leave. If you are adamant about making me return, then you leave me no choice but to carve a path directly through you.”
As she spoke, the Qi within Fang Ying's body started to seethe and churn, the blood of the weaker cultivators in the area starting to be affected, almost flowing in the opposite direction. Tian Zheng's expression distorted further due to the unexpected actions of Fang Ying, Xiong Xieren's expression, on the other hand, sunk and turned a bit colder.
”Fairy Ying, I like you quite a bit, but that does not mean that I will not use force if you decide to act against us. I advise you with all my heart, just leave, nothing up here is worth fighting against us.”
Even if he somewhat fancied Fang Ying, he would not allow her and the Tian clan to throw a wrench in his sects plans to enter the Ocean God's graveyard, he would kill Fang Ying and Tian Zheng here if he had to. Xiong Xieren was the future patriarch of the Puppet God sect, he had reached this position not by birthright but by fighting for it. Among the various future sect and clan leaders, he was among the stronger ones. He was only at the peak of the Immortal Rebirth realm, but even if he were to fight without using any of his puppets, he could still match someone at the middle stage of the Primordial Rune realm. He would be even stronger if he used his puppets, he was what one would call an extremely rare prodigy.
Fang Ying was only at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, and although she had shown that she could match someone at the early stage of the Primordial Rune realm, she was not Xiong Xieren's match. Tian Zheng wanted to say something, but before he got the chance, Fang Ying raised her sword.
”If I get to meet him again, I won't mind even if I have to end up fighting your entire sect. Move.”
Not only Xiong Xieren was somewhat shocked when he heard her reply, Tian Zheng and the others were also shocked. She had come here not to find a rare resource, but to meet a man? And her statement made it clear that this man was tremendously dear to her, to the point where she would even go against the entire Puppet God sect just to meet him. Whoever this man was, he was clearly more than just a friend or a family member.
Tian Zheng's and Xiong Xieren's expression distorted even further, especially Tian Zheng's. Fang Ying had already been decided as one of his future wives, so he thought that even though she was distant to him now, she would warm up in the future. But now it seemed like she had never actually intended to follow the orders of the sect, she would never marry him. To someone as proud and arrogant as Tian Zheng, this was a tremendous blow to his confidence.
Xiong Xieren narrowed his eyes, his message clear, they would not back down. The atmosphere of the area immediately grew tense, the citizens quickly fleeing from the area so that they didn't get dragged into the ensuing fight. Fang Ying looked at Xiong Xieren for a short second before giving a fractional nod of her head, her right arm turning into a blur as she slashed out with her sword.
A crimson tidal wave followed her sword, the stench of blood spreading through the area as the tidal wave descended onto Xiong Xieren and his group, the blood within two of the weaker cultivators violently ejecting itself from their bodies and becoming part of the tidal wave. Langshen let out a loud howl at the same time, invisible blades made from compressed space appearing amidst Xiong Xieren's group, instantly killing three people by slicing them into tiny pieces. Fang Ying was not as fond of fighting as Li Yang was, but when she truly started fighting, she was just as ferocious as he was.
Xiong Xieren's group of 16 instantly shrunk down to 11, his brows furrowing slightly as he looked at the tidal wave. He waved his right hand, a puppet in the shape of a slim man who had green hair and wore violet armor appearing at his side. He had the puppet deal with the invisible spatial blades while he himself dealt with the tidal wave of blood. He clapped both his hands, causing a shockwave to ripple through the air and tear the tidal wave apart, turning it into a bloody mist.
He then stepped forward, vanishing from sight and instantly appearing directly in front of Fang Ying. He stomped the ground with his right leg and pushed out his right arm, aiming his palm directly at Fang Ying's chest. The palm contained so much force that it even caused space around it to tremble, a faint black mist seeping out of Xiong Xieren's skin.
But before the palm managed to touch Fang Ying, it was intercepted by a different palm that came from behind Fang Ying, twisting around her body and blocking the attack. A circle of fire burst forth as the two palms made contact, the stone ground in the city melting under the heat of the fire. Xiong Xieren looked at the man who had blocked his attack, Tian Zheng, his eyes narrowing faintly.