Against The Heavens

Li Yang followed the road for half a day until he heard the faint sound of horse hooves. .h.i.tting the ground coming from behind him. When he turned around, he spotted a small caravan, only two carts, heading his way. Both carts were covered by an arched tarp, shielding the inside from the sun.

Both carts were pulled by two strong horses, and the person sitting at the front of the first caravan was clad in fine clothing, so it was clear that this was a caravan either coming from a large tribe, or a caravan that had been sent by a merchant company to pick up some items from one of the tribes.

"Greetings. Would you happen to have s.p.a.ce for one more person on your journey?"

As the caravan got closer, Li Yang greeted the man at the front with a bright smile. The man was slightly fat, small beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. He had short brown hair and a thick mustache that he seemed to care for greatly, as it was trimmed and greased. On each side of him sat a person clad in thick leather armor that even covered most of their heads, they were clearly his bodyguards.

When he spoke up, the bodyguards and the fat man looked at him with suspicious eyes. While Li Yang was slightly small and thin, he had three large scars on his face and was clad in the skin of a wolf, making him look rather ferocious. Only upon noticing that Li Yang had not even started cultivating, did the fat man put on a smile.

Of course, it only looked like Li Yang had not even started cultivating. If he was someone from a very powerful and famous family, it would not be suspicious if he had his current cultivation at his age. But he was just a small child from a backwaters place, it would look suspicious if people could see his actual cultivation, so he had hidden it using a special technique.

"Of course we have room for this little brother. You can hop onto the wagon behind us, we are heading to Cloud"s End to deliver some wares that I just picked up."

The fat man pointed at the wagon behind them, telling Li Yang that he could sit in that one. The way he saw it, Li Yang was probably some orphaned kid who probably had been kicked out of his tribe. He did not mind picking up and helping a child like that.

"Then it seems like I must thank you, as that is where I too am heading."

Li Yang cupped his hands across his chest and thanked the fat man, before pa.s.sing by his wagon and hopping onto the wagon in the back. In the second wagon, squeezed in amongst a few boxes, sat two people.

One of the two people was a youth who looked around 16, he was clad in a clean light blue robe. He had a muscular muscle and bronze skin. His hair was short shaven and he had strong and p.r.o.nounced features. The youth sat with his eyes closed and his legs crossed, silently cultivating.

The other person was an old man with a pair of gentle blue eyes and whose face was slightly wrinkled. There was no hair on the old man"s head, but it seemed like he had cut it off, rather than had it fall out naturally. The old man was clad in the same fine clothes as the fat man driving the caravan.

"Sit down child, it will still take a few more days before we reach Cloud"s End. I am Xun Zhi."

When the old man, Xun Zhi, spotted Li Yang, he put on a kind smile and moved around some boxes, opening a s.p.a.ce for Li Yang to sit.

"Thank you, senior. I am Li Yang."

Li Yang responded with a smile of his own, sitting down in the place that Xun Zhi had cleared for him. All the boxes in the wagon were completely nailed shut, so it was clear that the boxes were not supposed to be opened during the trip. Thanks to the cloth covering the wagon, it was nice and cool.

"Who is he?"

Li Yang couldn"t help but point at the cultivating youth as he asked Xun Zhi. Li Yang could tell that the youth had recently opened his dantian, so he wondered why he would be following this caravan.

"He is the young master from the Shentu tribe. You do not need to mind him too much. He recently managed to open up his dantian, so he is spending all his time meditating. Once he closes his eyes, it"s not strange for him to meditate silently for many days."

Xun Zhi shook his head as he spoke. Li Yang had heard about the Shentu tribe before, it was the tribe that owned the land that the Liang tribe lived on. Every year, the Liang tribe would pay a small number of resources to the Shentu tribe, allowing them to continue living on the land.

"Why would he be following this caravan?"

Being the young master of the Shentu tribe could be considered very lucrative and glorious for people who lived in the outskirts of the Cloud Wilderness, so Li Yang was slightly interested in why he would leave the Shentu tribe.

"He has heard stories about the Wolf Queen and has set out to meet her and make her his woman."

Xun Zhi spoke with a chuckle. Li Yang did not have much of a reaction, but if anyone else had heard him, they would surely have laughed out loud.

"Who is the Wolf Queen?"

Since she had been given such a t.i.tle, and there were stories about her even in a place like this, it was clear that this Wolf Queen was not a simple character. Li Yang knew next to nothing about this world, so gathering as much information as possible was a must.

"She is a cultivator who was adopted by the great Tian clan. When she was young, she was lucky and managed to tame a baby Void Wolf, a true divine beast. As she grew older, she started blooming in splendor, showing that she had a great talent for cultivation and quickly possessed great strength. She is only 17 now, but there are many people who greatly respect and fear her."

Xun Zhi spoke with great respect. Anyone who had the luck and skills to manage and tame a divine beast, even if it was a baby, was worthy of respect. Not to mention that the Wolf Queen was also strong in her own right.

"What is the Tian clan?"

Since the Tian clan was described as a great clan, it was clear that it was an extremely powerful clan. Knowing about such a clan was always good.

"The Tian clan is one of the three great clans that rule over this continent, protecting it from the horrors that lurk on and around the continent. The other two clans are the Duan and the Huo clans. With each clan having their own fields of expertise."

Xun Zhi had already guessed that Li Yang knew very little about the world outside the Cloud Wilderness, so he explained everything very patiently and clearly. Even repeating himself if he felt that Li Yang needed to hear it again.

"What are their fields of expertise?"

If he knew what the clans specialized in, it would be easier for Li Yang to eventually fight against people who belonged to these clans. Of course, he could never tell Xun Zhi this, so he just pretended to look very curious.

"The Tian clan specializes in using the laws of wind, the Huo clan specializes in using the laws of fire, while the Duan clan specializes in using the laws of water. The Huo clan guards against the Cloud Wilderness. The Duan clan guards against the great ocean. And the Tian clan guards against the sky-born beasts."

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Seeing Li Yang like this, the smile on Xun Zhi"s face grew wider as he explained with a slight chuckle. Each great clan defended against one type of threat, the Huo against land-based threats, the Duan against sebased threats, and the Tian against airborne threats.

"I see. But why would he think that he could meet her and make her his woman?"

Li Yang nodded his head a few times, now having a clearer understanding of what the three great clans specialized in. What he did not know, however, was why this youth felt like he could chase after the Wolf Queen.

"In three years, the Huo clan will host a compet.i.tion for all the powerful youths of the continent. Rumor has it that they will open one of their hidden realms, a s.p.a.ce created by a powerful cultivator, for this compet.i.tion. The Wolf Queen will partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion."

Xun Zhi did not mind explaining, he was always fond of talking. This was also information that Li Yang could easily find if he just asked around once he reached the city, it was not like Xun Zhi was telling him any secrets.

"I see. Thank you for telling me all this."

Li Yang put on a bright smile as he thanked Xun Zhi. He was very interested in this compet.i.tion that would take place in three years. No matter what he wanted to do, he would require the strength to protect himself and Fang Ying. Hidden realms would often contain rare herbs and other items, they were great ways of growing stronger.

"No problem, pa.s.sing on information to the next generation is what we old fogeys should do."

Xun Zhi responded with another chuckle. He found that Li Yang was very reactive when they chatted, often nodding his head or moving his body as he responded, such a person was very fun to talk to. As the caravan kept moving towards Cloud"s End, Xun Zhi and Li Yang continued chatting about the state of the continent as well as some things that Li Yang needed to be aware of.