Against The Heavens

"What have you done?!"

She had not noticed any Qi gathering in the surroundings, so just what had Li Yang done to the other groups? Li Yang pointed at the surroundings, the cover he had placed over the runes slowly vanishing as he gave a very simple explanation.

"Just a small array I set up as I waited for you. Mu cultivation is too weak to set up a proper killing array, but this trapping array is more than enough to deal with the likes of you."

Creating an array that had any actual killing power required not only specific ingredients but also a certain level of cultivation. An array like the one he had set up here, one focused on trapping, confusing, and weakening groups of people, was far simpler to set up, as it required less energy to function. The moment the groups entered the dugout part of the mountain, they had stepped right into the array.

While Li Yang had been talking to Zhu Caishi, he had also shown the remaining groups the array they had been trapped in. Just from seeing the array, the leaders of the groups could clearly tell that they were no match for Li Yang, which was the reason they so simply agreed to leave.

After telling Zhu Caishi about the array, Li Yang"s figure turned blurry as he vanished into the array. The ones trapped within the array would find themselves only moving around in place, but as the one who had set it up, Li Yang could move around freely within it. He quickly made his way to the group that came from the Roaring Soul Sect, appearing in front of them. The leader of the group, Ren Jiaodai, quickly pulled out an axe, grasping it tightly as he looked at Li Yang.

"What are you going to do?!"

They had seen how the other groups had been allowed to leave, so why were they still trapped here? Li Yang looked at Ren Jiaodai, a male youth with shoulder-length brown hair that had a somewhat lanky body, his black eyes carrying a determined expression. Li Yang did not even glance at the large axe he was holding, shrugging his shoulders.

"No need to look so tense, I just want to tell you to deliver a message for me. Take your men, all of them, and leave the Cloud Wilderness. Once you get back, tell Fang Yazhu that I still remember that crybaby who was scared of the colored leaves. If you refuse to listen, then I can only kill you and apologize to Little Ya in the future."

He had only kept the Roaring Soul Sect from leaving because he wanted to deliver a message to Fang Yazhu. After all, because of their connection to her, it was a bit hard for Li Yang to just kill them. Ren Jiaodai looked a bit shocked at Li Yang"s statement, but he quickly nodded his head, rapidly agreeing.

"We"ll leave, we"ll leave! I swear that I will do my best to deliver the message."

After Ren Jiaodai swore, Li Yang allowed them to leave the array, watching them as they vanished into the distance. The other groups had already left, fleeing at full speed. Some of the weaker members had suggested staying in the surroundings and ambushing Li Yang once he left the array, but the leaders of the groups had quickly scolded the members for coming up with such a foolish idea.

Li Yang had managed to set up an array that not only created illusions by distorting the light within it, but the array also created chains of Qi that entwined the prisoners, slowly draining their Qi. Since he could set up such an elaborate array, it was clear that he had a strength that was at least equal to theirs. Even if they faced him outside the array, they had no confidence in winning, much less inside the array.

Once Ren Jiaodai and his group vanished into the distance, Li Yang started to walk through the array again, quickly reaching the groups that belonged to the Huo and Tian clan. He had not split up the two groups, so they had gathered together and were discussing what to do next. Once Li Yang appeared in front of them, the two leaders of the groups stepped forward, standing guard in front of the weaker disciples.

"It seems you prepared quite a bit for our arrival."

The leaders of the two groups were Tian Zhenya, an elegant man with short black hair, and Huo Yazhu, a seductive woman with a curvaceous figure and long crimson hair. The two of them wore bitter smiles as they looked at Li Yang, who responded with a faint smile.

"I knew you all would come to right to me, so why wouldn"t I?"

Li Yang was not someone who was above sneak attacks or setting up ambushes, as long as he won the battle, he was fine with using almost any tactic. Tian Zhenya was about to open his mouth and say something, but Li Yang stopped him before he even managed to say a word.

"There is no need for all of you to die here. As long as you have done nothing to the people of the Liang tribe, I am fine with letting all of you leave here alive."

Whether these people lived or died meant nothing to Li Yang, but if he did not have to spend the effort to kill them, he would prefer that. As long as they agreed to leave, and had not done anything to the Liang tribe, Li Yang did not mind letting them leave alive. The two leaders locked eyes, swiftly and silently communicating with each other. In the end, they both nodded at Li Yang.

"Go right ahead, we have nothing to fear."

Li Yang did not even wait for the two leaders to finish their words, lightning surging out from his body and surrounding everyone that was part of the two groups in front of him. Tian Zhenya and Huo Yazhu could just barely feel the might hidden within the golden lightning, terror filling their hearts. Li Yang scanned the bodies of the Liang tribe members, checking for even the smallest injuries. He also stepped forward and questioned them in silence, but the end result was that he had found nothing. He separated the members of the Liang tribe from the two groups, waving his hand at the two leaders.

"Truly members of the great clans, you didn"t lower yourself and lay a hand on those weaker. All right, you can leave but you have to leave the Liang tribe people behind. But if you don"t leave the Cloud Wilderness, don"t blame me for hunting you down and murdering you all."

None of the Liang tribe members had any wounds, nor had anything been done to them. One of the Liang tribe members that Li Yang checked was given a bit more care than the others, and that was Liang Xinyi. She looked at Li Yang with a suspicious gaze, so he guessed that she had some idea about his ident.i.ty. But she didn"t speak her suspicions out loud, so Li Yang didn"t say anything either.

The Huo clan and Tian clan groups promised to leave the Cloud Wilderness and deliver Li Yang"s message to their higher-ups, quickly leaving the array and fleeing. The golden lightning Li Yang had showcased filled the two leaders with terror, so they did not even try to entertain the idea of sticking around.

Li Yang left behind the members of the Liang tribe, once again wandering through the array, quickly arriving in front of the last group, the Puppet G.o.d Sect group. When he appeared in front of them, Zhu Caishi calmly looked at him, slightly tilting her head.

"I was wondering when you would come for us. I take it the other groups have already been dealt with?"

She swept the surroundings with her eyes but was still not able to make out anything, so she had no idea what state the other groups were in. Li Yang did not bother giving her a response, as her death was already set in stone. He took a step forward and started to raise his arm, but before he could take another step forward and fully raise his arm, Zhu Caishi spoke out once again.

"I wouldn"t move any closer. Take one step closer, and I will kill not only this woman but also the entire Liang tribe."

Zhu Caishi raised her arm, placing the side of her palm against Liang Hengwei"s throat. At the same time, a few other members of the Puppet G.o.d Sect grabbed onto the other people they had from the Liang tribe. Seeing Li Yang raise an eyebrow in slight surprise, Zhu Caishi spoke out, a hint of pride in her voice.

"You are not the only one who can prepare ahead of time. Seeing how you reacted to this woman being turned into a puppet, it is easy to guess that you have some ties with the Liang tribe. I have already sent an order to the squad that was too far away to join us here, they should have already reached the Liang tribe."

Zhu Caishi"s lips curved into a smile as she looked at Li Yang. She could guess at why the other groups had agreed to leave, but she was not willing to simply give in that easily. But contrary to what she expected, Li Yang"s lips formed a smile as he gave a nod of his head.

"Is that so? Well, send them the order then."

Zhu Caishi"s expression sank slightly, had she been wrong in her a.s.sessment? She took out a blue crystal from her interspatial ring, barking a quick order into it. But even after waiting for a short while, there was no response from the crystal. All that came out from the crystal was a hoa.r.s.e groaning sound that was occasionally interrupted by a slight bubbling sound. Zhu Caishi"s expression quickly turned ugly, her eyes glaring daggers at Li Yang, who was still smiling at her.

"What have you done to them?! What has happened to my men!?"

The group that entered the Liang tribe was one of the weaker groups under her command, but it was still one of her groups. It was filled with her junior disciples, people she was supposed to protect and teach. Li Yang did not give her a proper answer, slowly walking closer.

"Didn"t you want them to kill the people of the Liang tribe? If you are prepared to kill, you must also be prepared to die."

It was exactly in case of something like this happening that Li Yang had left Huanglong in the Liang tribe. Among the Puppet G.o.d Sect group, only Zhu Caishi was strong enough to somewhat resist the poison of Huanglong, the other disciples could only dissolve and die upon coming in contact with the poison.

Zhu Caishi wanted to use Liang Hengwei as a hostage, but the array released several chains that tied up her arms and prevented her from moving, tying up the rest of the Puppet G.o.d Sect at the same time. Li Yang stopped in front of Zhu Caishi, pointing at Liang Hengwei as he spoke calmly.

"You harming her is going to sadden someone that I call a friend, so I will use your blood to send her off and ease his sadness."

After he finished his words, Li Yang delivered a quick punch to Zhu Caishi"s elbow, shattering it and twisting her arm into an unnatural shape. He then delivered a kick to her chest, kicking her down to the ground, onto her back. He placed his foot on her throat, starting to slowly apply more pressure, Zhu Caishi gasping for breath as she struggled to get out any words.

"You...What are you?! What is your name?! At least tell me that much!"

If she could at least get his name, she could send the information to her sect. That way, it would be far easier for them to avenge her in the future. But Li Yang quickly dashed her hopes, tilting his head.

"Why would I bother telling any of that to a dead person?"

Zhu Caishi"s eyes opened wide. He refused to even give his own name as he was killing her? She wanted to say more, but Li Yang cut her words short by increasing the force in his foot, swiftly crushing her foot and causing her to vomit up blood as she died.

After killing Zhu Caishi, Li Yang checked the other people of the Liang tribe that served as guides for the Puppet G.o.d Sect, scanning for any wounds. A few of them had some wounds, so Li Yang had them quickly point out the ones that had inflicted the wounds. The fingers of the Liang tribe people turned into the beckon of the death G.o.d, anyone they pointed at ending up dead.

In the end, only three people from the Puppet G.o.d Sect were left alive. They shivered as they looked at Li Yang, but since they had done nothing, he could not be bothered to kill them. He could also see the fear in their eyes, how they shivered and wet their pants. Even if he let them live, they would be too terrified of him to ever try anything against him. He merely waved them away, letting them flee as fast as they could.

With the last of the people from the sects and clans leaving, Li Yang undid the array, the surroundings returning to normal. The members of the Liang tribe quickly gathered together, gazing at Li Yang with curiosity as they waited for him to decide what to do next.

"Alright, all the troublemakers have been dealt with, so you can follow me back to the Liang tribe. Liang Zhou will fill you in on the things that have changed while you were gone."

Li Yang had to prepare for the contest that the Huo clan would host in about two years time, so his plan was to leave the Cloud Wilderness not long after he delivered these people to Liang Zhou. While Li Yang was preparing to head towards the Liang tribe, the somewhat uncertain voice of Liang Xinyi rang out.

"...Brother Yang, it"s you, isn"t it?"

Li Yang stopped his steps, turning towards Liang Xinyi. He had guessed that she might have figured out his ident.i.ty, but now it seemed that she had not been completely certain. He undid his fusion with Jinwu and Shenlong, returning to his normal looks as he gave a nod of his head.

"Hoh, so you really did manage to recognize me?"

The Liang tribe members that had not managed to figure out his ident.i.ty could not help but be shocked when they saw that the one that had saved them was Li Yang, the boy who had left their tribe a year ago. Liang Xinyi"s face broke into a bright smile as she dashed forward, burying her face into Li Yang"s chest.

"Brother Yang!"

Liang Xinyi tightly hugged Li Yang, quietly sobbing, her tears wetting his robes. The entire time she had served as a guide, she had feared for not only her own life but also the lives of the other Liang tribe members. Now that they were safe, she could no longer hold back her tears. Li Yang allowed her to cry for a bit before he pat her head and comforted her.

"If you hug me any longer, Big Brother Zhou will end up jealous once he learns of it, so it is about time you let go."

Liang Xinyi ignored his words, hugging him and crying for a bit longer. Only after a few more minutes pa.s.sed did she separate from Li Yang and take a few steps backward, gathering up with the other Liang Tribe members again. Li Yang used a bit of fire to dry his robe, glancing at the Liang tribe members and making sure that they were ready.

"Alright, let"s return to the Liang tribe."