18 Earth-Furred Tiger. (2/2)
”You're copying me again?”
The way he utilized his law of gravity just now was extremely similar to how she had just used her law of twisting earlier. It reminded her of their earlier battles, where Li Yang had utilized his law of gravity in a manner that was exceedingly similar to the law of twisting she had used on him. Li Yang didn't deny it, flashing a bashful smile while giving his hand a few shakes.
”What can I say, when a Fairy Sister shows off the goods, I can't help but get itchy.”
Mei Kongxu's expression nearly cracked when she heard the suggestive way Li Yang spoke about it, but she had gotten somewhat used to him now so she managed to maintain her cool expression. Li Yang smirked faintly at the sight, his gaze quickly drifting towards the dead tiger in front of him.
He crouched down and drew a dagger from his interspatial ring, slitting open the neck of the tiger and causing its blood to spill forth. He quickly dipped his finger into the warm blood and started to use it like paint, drawing interconnecting lines on the earth. The crimson lines slowly started to surround the corpse of the tiger and Li Yang, forming an intricate net of watermelon-sized runes. It didn't take long for Mei Kongxu to realize what Li Yang was doing, a surprised expression flashing past her face.
”This... You're actually able to use arrays? Now that's a surprise, you certainly don't seem like the kind of guy who has the patience to study something like that.”
He was clearly using the blood of the tiger to draw up a very simple array, one so simple that the only ingredient it needed was the blood of a Demonic beast. But even then, an array was not something that just anyone could draw up, each line used to form the various runes needed to be put in the proper place and had to be basically flawless, it required extensive studying and talent. Li Yang shrugged his shoulders and continued to draw up the array, his face carrying a rare serious expression.
”What can I say, I'm a bag of surprises. Well, even then, I can only use this Blood-Transferring Array, the supportive Wind Dancer Array, and the defensive Gale Shield Array. I'm a far cry from being proficient with them yet, much less other arrays, I still have much to learn.”
The sudden humbleness caught Mei Kongxu completely off guard, she had expected Li Yang to brag to high heaven about his skills. But from the looks of things, it seemed like arrays were actually one of the things he viewed rather seriously. Personally, she found that it made for a nice change of pace compared to his usual personality. Li Yang continued to draw up the array, voluntarily taking the lead in talking.
”I like arrays, they're very similar to my martial arts. I focus on fast-paced close combat, every move I make has to count and achieve something, whether that is luring in the enemy, preparing my defence, or setting up for my next attack. Every un-planned movement is an opening, every wasted movement is one step closer to Naraka.”
When you fought your enemy using just your own body, you couldn't afford to be careless, every move had to be thought through if you wanted to live to make your next move. It was tense and thrilling, a constant race to come up with the perfect plan for the situation. And just as his fighting style was like that, so too were arrays like that.
”And arrays are just the same, each line used to form the various runes has a purpose and achieves something, whether it be controlling the energy, altering its property, connecting it with the creator, or even just smoothening the flow of energy. Every line that is wasted or not perfected is a weakness, a glaring spot that the enemy can take advantage of. So when it comes to arrays or combat, it's like a puzzle, each piece has to slide into place perfectly to create the final, grander picture.”
The bigger or stronger the array, the more lines and runes were required to complete it, the less room there was for error. The same was true for combat, the stronger the opponent, the more moves were needed to bring them down, the more thought needed to be put into every move. Mei Kongxu didn't comment on Li Yang's comparison, nodding her head somewhat appreciatively while making her comment, receiving a swift grin from Li Yang as a response.
”Huh, look at that, even you can actually be serious when you want to.”
”Nothing wrong with being serious, you just can't let it turn you dull and boring like everyone else. My father and mother are serious, but I still respect them, I also respect many of the other elders, even if I make fun of them when I get the chance.”
Li Yang finished the array as he grinned, using up almost all the blood within the tiger's body. He straightened his body again after he finished drawing up the array, using the dagger he had brought out to slice open both of his wrists. His blood immediately spilt forth and stained the array, which started glowing to life as his blood touched it.
As the array activated, both his own blood and the remaining blood within the tiger's corpse started to float upwards like small bubbles. The bubbles formed by his own blood just moved aimlessly through the air, but the bubbles formed by the tiger's blood rose up and sank into the cuts on his wrist, entering his body and causing his veins to writhe violently.
His muscles tensed up as every vein on his body bulged out, a reddish colour surfacing on his face as even the veins in his eyes started to throb. He grit his teeth to endure the soul-wrenching pain that made it feel as if each of his veins were on fire, more and more of the tiger's blood rising up and entering his body.
Slowly, even the blood that was used to draw the array started to rise up and enter his body. The array shrank little by little, Li Yang's veins bulging as he grit his teeth for nearly two hours. The last of the array vanished, Li Yang quickly taking out some medicinal paste from his interspatial ring and smearing it onto his wrists.
The paste immediately solidified and covered up the wounds, preventing him from bleeding out right there and then. He let out a long and drawn out breath once the process was over, just as the records had written, it was a process that was far from pleasant. A cold and wet towel smacked into his face just as he finished exhaling, the voice of Mei Kongxu questioning him somewhat curiously.
”So why did you settle on this one?”
Li Yang used the wet towel to wipe the sweat on his face, removing his shirt and then wiping his chest and back as well. He finished up by wiping away the blood on his wrists and the blood that had splashed on his feet, shrugging his shoulders while giving a casual explanation.
”Usefulness. You should know about the special property of this lineage of Demonic beasts, after all, your mother has the bloodline of an evolved one of these guys. It's perfect for me, and I can just upgrade it in the future, start small but aim for the sky. If you want to, I can transplant a bloodline into you.”
The array he had just used had one single purpose, to transfer a Demonic beast bloodline into a human body, giving that human the ability to use the power of that bloodline. As for the property of the Earth-Furred Tiger, that would be the reinforcement of one's hands and feet, the reinforcement spreading to the rest of the body as you improve the grade of the bloodline.
The Earth-Furred Tiger was a very weak Demonic beast, but by adding its special property onto Li Yang's already strengthened hands and feet he would be able to unleash even greater powers. And since his hands and feet were his main weapons, having them become even stronger would also prevent them from getting injuries should he use them to block an opponent's weapon.
The bloodline would be too weak to be suitable when he was stronger, but that was an issue that was easily fixed by improving the bloodline by adding new bloodlines to it as he cultivated. It was certainly far easier than it was to change one's body cultivation technique, which in some instances would require you to abandon your entire body cultivation base to avoid having conflicting methods interrupting each other.
Mei Kongxu nodded her head understandingly upon hearing Li Yang's explanation, that reinforcement was indeed very suitable to the way he used his hands and feet in battle. But she shook her head in response to his offer, she was keenly aware of just what sort of Demonic beasts her sect reared.
”True, it does seem rather suited to you. And no thanks, I've already checked, the sect has no Demonic beast whose bloodline would be suited to me, we mostly have elemental ones, nothing that can supplement my laws.”
Her laws were a bit specific so there was no Demonic beast in the sect that could supplement them, nor were there any beasts in the sect that could supplement her fighting style should she acquire their blood. Li Yang shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner, leaving it up to Mei Kongxu.
”Alright, you know what you've got better than I do. Anyway, I'm done here so we can move on unless you've got somewhere else to be.”
She shook her head, the two resuming their journey as the first day came to an end. The dawn of the second day had just arrived when Mei Kongxu indicated that they had reached their target, a particularly thick tree that had several one-metre wide holes dug into its trunk.
A one-metre-long dark brown fox peeked out from one of the holes, baring its fangs at Li Yang and Mei Kongxu before it jumped out from the tree, its fur bristling as a warning. Mei Kongxu gestured towards the fox, her expression remaining the same as always as she tilted her head slightly.
”So, what are you planning now?”
Li Yang simply smiled mystifyingly at her, bringing out the burnt wooden box and holding it as if it was an extremely precious weapon. He then started to slowly approach the fox, his Qi surging forth in a threatening and intimidating manner. The fox immediately started to falter somewhat when faced with Li Yang's aura, which now contained a hint of a tiger's ferocity.
Its gaze flickered towards the box, a crafty light flashing through his beady pupils as it dashed forward. The fox was indeed fast, Li Yang guessing that he would need to rely on his law of speed if he wanted to catch up to the beast. The fox bit down on the box as it dashed past him, Li Yang pretending to lose his grip as the beast snatched the box. The fox dashed away, Li Yang drawing in a breath before bellowing out in the loudest voice he could muster.
”OY, DON'T YOU RUN OFF WITH THAT BOX, YOU FUCKING FOX!”
He infused his voice with Qi so that it boomed out like thunder, rustling the leaves of the closest trees and echoing far out into the distance. Faint rushing sounds immediately reached his ears as the people closest to them started to run through the forest, the loud shout from someone who spotted the fox reaching him shortly after. The shout and rushing sounds were like music to his ears, the corners of his mouth starting to curl up as he turned to Mei Kongxu.
”That'll draw a nice bit of attention don't you think? Now we'll have a nice little chase on our hands, culminating in one big scuffle to serve as the grand end. Can you imagine their expressions when they see the reward they get after going through all that work?”