157 Cloud of death. (1/2)

Li Yang and the others made their way through the city at a leisure pace, taking their time and inspecting the various structures and shops around them. There were shops of all kinds scattered throughout the city, but there was one type of shop that clearly dominated the market, relics. Relics were the name the people of this universe gave to ancient items they found in old ruins or hidden realms, most of them were broken but could still be used to gain an understanding of the past.

There were even some items that had yet to decay despite the passage of years. retaining their might and special attributes. Even the broken ones might retain their special attributes, or the attributes of their previous owner, serving as an inspiration for other people's cultivation. Li Yang's own sword could be considered one such relic, though it was called an artifact in his own universe, it had retained its terror-inducing lightning despite the passage of almost countless years.

What's more, it had even gained the poison attribute thanks to the uniqueness of the place where it was kept. Anyone who found it and gained its recognition would have the chance to instantly soar into the skies by focusing on these two attributes. Sadly for others, the blade had returned to the hands of the man who created it, becoming the wings of the dragon.

But these relics were different from any that Li Yang had ever encountered, different from even those he encountered in the most dangerous hidden realms or ruins he had ever entered. The relics in those places might be broken and decayed, the passage of time removing nearly all trace of their attributes and turning them into little more than normal items, but even those relics were better off than these.

All these relics were tainted, not broken or decayed but tainted. All of them carried an aura of death that had seeped deep into them and wiped out any trace of their previous attributes, forcibly turning it into the death attribute. Li Yang and the others asked around a bit and found out that all the relics that came out from the ruins were like this, even the most powerful relic to come out of the ruins, the emerald-jeweled crown used by the previous ruler of the city, had ended up like this.

The previous ruler of the city was the Minor Universe ruler Dong Ren, a man who could control an entire Minor Universe and use it as his weapon. Just what sort of state would the law of death have to be to taint and ruin an item this powerful? Li Yang couldn't help but find himself getting more and more curious about this Bloodwind Emperor, exactly what realm had he reached? Of course, not once did Li Yang's confidence waver, it hadn't wavered when he saw Xiang Hong and the man known as Gluttonera, and it wouldn't waver now. One day he would reach that stage, it was just that he was temporarily beneath them.

Time passed quickly as they made their way through the city, which was mostly devoid of spectacular sights due to its nature of being a defensive line. The most interesting sight they saw was an item enshrined within the centermost building in the city, the corrupted crown of Dong Ren, which they reached after almost a full day of walking. What was once a crown made from gold and platinum and decorated with walnut-sized jewels had now become a strange mixture of black and white, a faint mist carrying both of these colors seeping out of the crown and coiling around it for a bit before sinking back into it.

The crown hadn't just been tainted by the law of death but also by the law of life. Strangely enough, it seemed like the Bloodwind Emperor actually used both his laws in battle, rather than just the offensively-geared law of death. As the group was looking at the crown, which was surrounded on all sides by a thick layer of transparent crystal covered in nearly invisible runes, they noticed that the mist seeping out of it started to pulsate slightly. A shrill and piercing screech echoed across the entire city before anyone had the chance to ask any questions, a loud voice reaching every corner of the city.

”Swarm spotted approaching the city at high velocity, archers and spearmen report to the top of the wall while the fighters head to the gates!”

Loud sounds immediately burst forth from all around the city, some people rushing to the walls while others rushed to get away from them, preparing their own defenses. Li Yang and the others locked eyes, a faint smile playing at the corners of Li Yang's lips.

”Well, seems like they've arrived. More impatient than I expected, I thought they'd at least give us two or three days to settle in.”

Li Yang had underestimated just how much the Deathcloud Warriors hungered for the tremendous lifeforce he and his group carried within them. Had it been just a slight bit greater, they would have been swarmed the moment they got within 1000 kilometers of the ruins, the Deathcloud Warriors wouldn't have given a single thought about the difference in strength.

The three people and one wolf left the building where the corrupted crown was enshrined and entered the sea of people making their way through the streets. They spotted several squadrons of armored guards rapidly marching towards the walls, some carrying bows while others carried short spears that could easily be thrown.

They cut a path straight through the sea of people by moving in the opposite direction, quickly arriving at a spot not far from large walls. A few squadrons of guards armed with various melee weapons rapidly passed by them and left through the small doors that served as the entrances to the city, probably taking up their positions outside. The city itself was a fortress, but that didn't mean that they could just let the enemy enter the city, they had to set up a line of defense in front of the gates.