18 Earth-Furred Tiger. (1/2)
The alliance between Li Yang and Mei Kongxu was sealed with nothing more than a handshake, it didn't even have any verbal confirmation or the like. But there was no need for something like that, their curiosity and desire for the truth pushed them together and it would be what kept them beside each other as they searched for any clues. Of course, the fact that neither actually disliked the other made the alliance all the more bearable.
The handshake didn't last for too long before both parties pulled their arms back, Li Yang clasping his hands and raising them above his head to stretch them. They had formed an alliance to learn of the origin behind the things they heard and saw, so Li Yang felt that it was only natural that they started working the moment they left this forest.
”Guess we'll have to head to the archives of the Deepsea King sect when we return, there's nothing in your sect's archives but who knows, maybe our sect has something that ties into what we've seen and heard.”
He spoke casually while lowering his arms again, already moving on to a different train of thought as he started to ponder over what to do next. But that train of thought was halted as he caught a glimpse of Mei Kongxu's still calm and cold expression. There was a sliver of something else in her eyes now, an emotion that resembled awkward embarrassment. He nearly tilted his head, but then a thought struck him and he couldn't help but question her with an incredulous voice.
”You... You have checked the archives of your sect, right?”
He didn't think it possible that the seemingly rational and logical Mei Kongxu wouldn't have scoured the archives of her sect seeing as she had acquired far more tangible clues than him. But his question caused the awkward emotion flitting through her pupils to fluctuate slightly, Li Yang realizing that he had hit the nail on the head and bursting out laughing.
”HAHAHA, no fucking way?! You haven't checked?! You got clue words and everything, even the appearances of several people, but you never checked?! HAHAHA, oh, you put on that cool and composed expression, but you're a fucking dunce, aren't you? That's just rich.”
Mei Kongxu's cool expression started to falter under Li Yang's thunderous laughter, a very faint shade of red starting to spread on her cheeks. Thinking back, she couldn't even remember the last time someone had just laughed at her straight to her face. But nonetheless, she quickly regained herself and fixed her expression with a dignified snort.
”With how many people to question in the sect, as well as my own cultivation to care for, how could I possibly find the time to search throughout the entirety of my sect's archives? Do you think that I've got as much free time to waste as you?”
Mei Kongxu tried to maintain a dignified image while smoothly firing off an excuse and even tossing out a jab at Li Yang to defend her pride. But sadly for her, none of that would work on Li Yang, mainly because there was one glaring flaw in the excuse and jab she used.
”Our cultivations are the exact same, so yeah, I do think that you've got that much time on your hands. Hence, you're a dunce and just plain forgot to check the archives. So that dignified expression you're trying to pull off? Yeah, might as well just ditch that.”
Both of them had the same cultivation, having carved 4 runes of two laws. In fact, if she hadn't carved any runes for a third law as Li Yang had, then her cultivation would be considered somewhat lower than his. Mei Kongxu's expression twitched momentarily before she regained her cool, gesturing towards the surrounding forest by sweeping out her arm.
”Do you have a place you plan on going or can I just take the lead?”
The conversation wasn't exactly going her way so she decided to go for the best option available to her, change the topic and pretend as if nothing had happened. Li Yang snapped his fingers and formed finger-guns with both hands as he pointed at Mei Kongxu, nodding his head in an overly exaggerated manner.
”Nice, real smooth transition, you nailed it. But yeah, if you can take me to the fastest Demonic beast around then I think we can really start the fun here.”
Since she wanted to change the topic then it was only fair that Li Yang acted like a gentleman and went along with it. Mei Kongxu had seen exactly what was inside the box that Li Yang was using to draw in everyone else so she knew exactly what this 'fun' would be. And since she knew the truth, she couldn't help but look at Li Yang while one of her eyebrows involuntarily rose.
”You're pretty messed up, you know that? Going through all that trouble just to piss off people by having them fight over that base thing. Do you have any idea what they'll do to you once the truth comes out?”
When the others found out what was really inside the box, while they would indeed look like utter fools, they would also be furious. And the target of their wrath would be right there in front of them, there was no telling how many of them would swarm Li Yang right there and then. But that was something Li Yang had been prepared for from the start, showing a bland smile that held the unmistakable flavour of arrogance.
”They're welcome to try, they wouldn't be the first ones who end up on their asses, and they certainly won't be the last. Besides, if they can't even see the humour in something like that, then they're too boring and dull for me to bother with what they think.”
A dragon would not concern itself with the opinion of a snake, it wouldn't even care about the gratitude or anger of the snake, the snake simply wouldn't register in its mind. Li Yang was no dragon, that was a fact that was extremely clear to him, but that didn't stop part of a dragon's mindset from surfacing within him.
Mei Kongxu's eyebrow rose a fraction higher as she looked at Li Yang's bland smile, but she refrained from making any further comments and stood up, finally giving the people beneath her the chance to breathe easier. But she waved her hand just as they got to breathe properly, all four of the men getting swept up and flung away like sacks of potatoes.
The act looked simple, but it actually caught Li Yang's interest. She hadn't just used a forceful gust of Qi to blow them away, she had designated a distant spot as the centre and then covered the entire area with her law of twisting and practically formed a small tornado by twisting the air. But the power was perfectly controlled and contained, only the four men getting caught up in it dragged along towards the centre of the law that she had designated earlier.
She then drew back the law as they were dragged away, resulting in them getting flung away rather than getting twisted around the area she had designated. It was a utilization that Li Yang found rather clever, a few thoughts and ideas starting to pile up in his mind. But he didn't start to play around with the ideas straight away since Mei Kongxu dusted off her hands and turned around, heading deeper into the forest without uttering another word.
Her steps were quick and sure so Li Yang felt confident that she knew where to find the fastest Demonic beast around. She had probably spent a fair bit of time in this forest while training, it seemed like something that a person with her personality could do. They encountered the occasional Demonic beast as the hours passed, but none that could really halt their advance. That was, until Li Yang noticed something on the side of a tree and stopped, pointing towards a smaller mountain that was practically no more than an overgrown hill.
”Wait, I'm gonna go make a detour over there quickly.”
Mei Kongxu followed Li Yang's pointing finger, her eyes rolling for a second as she went through what she knew of the area. And Li Yang was right, she was in fact very knowledgeable about this forest due to having spent a fair bit of time here, so she didn't even need to see the marks on the trees to know what he was gunning for.
”You've got an interest in the Earth-Furred Tiger's nest? Didn't expect a weak Demonic beast like that to actually draw your attention. It doesn't seem like it would be able to help with your...fun.”
The Earth-Furred Tiger was a fairly low ranked species of Demonic beast, they could never transcend the Human Rune realm unless they evolved to the next step. Of course, if it was an Earth-Furred Tiger at the peak of the Human Rune realm then it would still be able to endanger them greatly, but she knew that the one living over by that hill was among the weakest they had here, barely at the Mortal Rune stage of the Human Rune realm. Li Yang shrugged his shoulders at her statement, a mystifying smile emerging on his face.
”It can't, but this isn't something that I'm trying to do for fun.”
Li Yang started to head towards the small mountain without saying anything else, Mei Kongxu's somewhat curious gaze resting on him for a second before she followed along. They quickly made their way through the trees and reached the small mountain, which looked almost like a bloated dome covered in patches of earth and stone outcroppings.
They made their way around the mountain and reached the nest of the Earth-Furred Tiger, a cave dug into the base of the mountain. The occupant was evidently home and had noticed their arrival, a low and warning growling coming from within the cave while the beast moved forward and revealed itself.
The Earth-Furred Tiger was just that, a tiger with brown fur whose stripes were just a darker shade of brown. But what was special about this beast was its paws, which were covered in fur so thick that it looked as if it was sculpted from earth. This was the unique feature of the Earth-Furred Tiger, reinforced paws that it could use to either crush or cut up its enemies.
And as it evolved, this reinforced fur would strengthen and spread over the rest of its body. When it had evolved three times and become an Iron Tiger, the fur would have turned silvery-grey and cover its entire body, providing it with a tremendously powerful defensive ability.
But the two-metre-long Earth-Furred Tiger in front of him was far from that level, if it was to be compared with a human then it would only be equal to a person who had carved 3 runes. It wasn't even worthy of being considered a threat to Mei Kongxu and Li Yang, the latter of which was muttering to himself while stretching out his right arm.
”Was it something like...this?”
His Qi surged and gathered around his outstretched fist, forming an invisible dome that covered the area around him and the tiger. Gravity within the area suddenly changed, his fist becoming the new centre of gravity. The pull of gravity wasn't so strong that it tore up the earth or the trees that were deeply rooted into it, but as for the grass, loose rocks, various bugs, and Earth-Furred Tiger, they were all involuntarily dragged towards the new centre of gravity.
The sudden pull caught the Earth-Furred Tiger completely off guard so it wasn't able to dig its claws into the earth before it was yanked towards Li Yang. As for Li Yang, he drew back his arm and then smashed it forward again, his fist crashing into the skull of the approaching tiger. A soft cracking sound rang out, followed by a pained howl from the tiger, but Li Yang didn't intend to give it the time to form any sort of resistance.
He undid the changed gravity so that it returned to normal, after which he promptly increased its strength so that the beast was forced down into a lying position. He raised his foot and then brought it down in a heavy manner, taking advantage of the increased gravity to fully shatter the beast's neck and reaping its life.
The beast was weaker than him so the process was quick and easy, not even spilling a single drop of blood. But Mei Kongxu, who was standing and watching from the side, raised an eyebrow after having noticed something peculiar with Li Yang's actions.