Against The Heavens

"Seems like they really are natural emerald volcanoes. It"s shameful that I can"t say whether or not I want them to be the same volcanoes that I and Ying"er once toured."

Li Yang swept the surroundings with his eyes. It was easy to know that these emerald volcanoes were created naturally, as artificially created ones would have a much stronger taste of sulfur. The emerald streams of lava only released a faint and gentle light so it was easy to see the surroundings.

A slight distance away, possibly only around one day"s march, stood the three volcanoes that released all the emerald lava. They were cone shaped and tall, their peaks almost touching the clouds. Instead of the normal earthen color, the surface of these volcanoes was tinged with a faint red hue.

The emerald lava that slowly poured out of the various openings in the volcanoes contrasted nicely with the red hue. After flowing down the volcanoes, the emerald lava slowly made its way through the surroundings. It looked like it used to be a place that was filled with large and small hills, with barely any even ground to be seen.

But thanks to the emerald lava that meandered through the area like small rivers, all the gra.s.s had died, grooves decorating the area and showing that there used to be lava there. The emerald lava did not release much heat, even when Li Yang stood right next to it, but that did not mean that it wasn"t hot. The emerald lava was much worse than normal lava because it also contained corrosive properties.

Jinwu, after sensing that there was no more poisonous rain around them, climbed out off Li Yang"s robe and perched himself on Li Yang"s left shoulder again, looking at the area around them in excitement. Li Yang could guess why Jinwu was so excited, so he quickly warned him.

"You can"t bathe in the lava here. I know that you can use fire to strengthen yourself, but this lava is mixed with strong acid. If you were to bathe in it, you would dissolve."

Jinwu looked a little sad upon hearing Li Yang"s words. It was after all a type of Golden Crow, bathing in fire and lava were things they loved to do by instincts. It cast one last longing glance at the streams of emerald lava around them, but then it no longer bothered looking at them.

Li Yang once more swept the area with his eyes, making sure to take in every little detail. He could not see any Demonic beasts, nor signs after Demonic beasts, but that did not mean that there were none here, so he could not let down his guard. Li Yang"s eyes turned towards the three volcanoes in the distance, his thoughts leaking out of his mouth.

"I guess the guardian should reside within one of those volcanoes? Or maybe it is hiding within the area?"

Li Yang maintained his stealth technique and started slowly making his way towards the emerald volcanoes. As he walked, he made sure to keep a good distance from the streams of lava, as powerful Demonic beasts that had adapted to it could be hiding within.

Despite walking for nearly half a day, they still did not spot a single Demonic beast. They could see the golden lightning and the purple rain in the sky above them, but there seemed to be an array surrounding the volcanoes that kept both of them out. Li Yang could not help but wonder if the same array was also keeping out other Demonic beasts.

After walking for half a day and getting much closer to the three volcanoes, Li Yang and Jinwu came upon a small cottage. The cottage was made using wooden logs, had no decorations, and was only large enough for two rooms. There were two small windows on each side of the cottage that allowed the outside light to flow in.

The door to the cottage was painted a lovely sky blue and was firmly shut, preventing others from entering. Upon seeing this cottage, while Jinwu looked slightly confused, Li Yang"s face twisted slightly, a complicated mutter escaping from his lips.

"So it really was the same volcanoes."

Li Yang stood still for a few moments, taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes again, there was a gentle yet sad light within them. With slow steps, he made his way towards the cottage. He did not enter the cottage, it was just an empty home after all.

He walked past the cottage, to the area behind the cottage. The area behind the cottage was completely different from the other places around these emerald volcanoes. There was a small garden located behind the cottage, hidden perfectly by the front of the cottage.

The garden was completely untouched by the emerald lava and its corrosive properties. The lava could not even get close to the garden, an array set up to keep it out. Other than the green gra.s.s, there were only two other things in the small garden. A single apple tree, and a small grave.

The grave was marked with a beautiful blue jade rod, the tip carved in the shape of a soaring bird. If anyone else were to see this jade rod, they would be completely shocked. The jade rod was made entirely out of Ocean Jade, a type of jade that could only be found at the very depths of the ocean.

If one were to sell a strip that was the size of a person"s finger, the most powerful cultivators of the world would gladly battle for it. To create a grave marker that was over one meter long using such jade, one could only imagine who was buried there.

Li Yang took another deep breath before he slowly walked over and sat down in front of the grave marker. Jinwu could tell that Li Yang"s mood was fluctuating heavily, so it looked at the grave marker in silence. The grave marker was only engraved with two words, Fang Xue"er. Li Yang gently brushed the name as he spoke out.

"Sorry, Xue"er. Papa hasn"t been able to visit you for a while. Once I find Mama, I will make sure that we come and visit you a lot."

The girl buried here was the only child born between Li Yang and Fang Ying, their only daughter, Fang Xue"er. She had been conceived and born in the cottage right behind Li Yang, and the three of them spent almost ten years living in that cottage, enjoying every day.

But their happiness was not meant to last. Not long after Fang Xue"er turned ten, their enemies managed to find them and launched an attack. Li Yang and Fang Ying managed to kill all the attackers, sustaining grievous injuries while doing so. But they did not manage to protect Fang Xue"er, she had died shortly after the first barrage of attacks.

It was at that moment that the difference between Fang Ying and Li Yang became apparent. The first time Li Yang lost people he held dear was when his town was destroyed. That was also when he first came into contact with the laws of destruction, his rage towering towards and against the heavens.

He learned that as long as something has to follow the laws of heaven, it exists only to eventually vanish. So he wanted to destroy it, to smash those laws that dictated that everything existed only to vanish eventually. The death of Fang Xue"er only further solidified those thoughts.

But Fang Ying was different from Li Yang. Despite her sadness at the death of Fang Xue"er, she did not let sadness overtake her. Rather than feel sad that it had pa.s.sed, she found happiness in the time they had gotten to spend together, solace in the memories of those ten peaceful years. Her thought process was that since they had made it possible once, they could create it again as many times as they wanted. That was when Fang Ying first came in contact with the laws of creation.

While Li Yang was lost in his memories, the entire area suddenly started shaking. The middle one of the three volcanoes burst open, sending rocks and lava flying throughout the entire area. A furious voice rang out from the broken volcano.

"Who dares touch the sanctuary?!"