Bab 156: Qin Nuan.
Liang Chen carried Yan Ling to the bedroom and dropped her down on the soft bed, quickly crawling under the covers and lying down next to her, the two of them quickly falling asleep in each other's arms. Neither of them really needed a lot of sleep thanks to their cultivation, with Liang Chen not needing sleep at all thanks to his bloodline. But just like it was with eating and drinking, it was nice to do when they had the opportunity.
Of course, neither of them forgot that they had a battle coming up next month so they made sure to not sleep for too long, only a little over two days. The two took a bath together right after they woke up, Yan Ling using her law of water to take care of all the remaining wounds the two still had from the previous battle. Once they were done bathing, Liang Chen prepared a light breakfast, with a heartier portion for Yumao, and the two sat down to eat. Yan Ling spoke up once they were halfway through the meal, wriggling her fingers as if she was trying to cast a spell while making a request.
"You know that...thing you do with your law of time, the one that drastically increases your speed? Think you could use that on me? I feel like my control over the fused law is getting better and better so I'd like to try using it in the same way you use your law of time, but I have no idea how it's supposed to feel, I need me some o' that hands-on-experience."
Liang Chen stopped his hand and raised an eyebrow at her request, not really seeing a reason to reject her, it was certainly better than having to stab and slice her repeatedly. He put down his fork and stretched out his right arm, giving her a quick warning.
"Alright, I'll let you get a feel for it, but you might have some trouble controlling it without experience."
His finger touched her right arm, between her shoulder and elbow, his law of time flooding into her body and entering every nerve and cell in her right arm. He felt like trying to do it to her entire body would be too hard and drain his Qi too fast for her to properly feel it, so he only used it on her right arm. He felt his law of time move far smoother than it ever had in the past, guessing that it had something to do with the fact that his bloodline had finally fully awakened. After touching her arm for half a second, he pulled his arm back and beckoned with his hand.
"Alright, try and see how it feels."
Yan Ling didn't immediately move her right arm, looking at it with a curious expression. Her entire right arm was tingling slightly, it almost felt like her entire arm was made from tiny pebbles that were vibrating and rubbing against each other, it was an exceedingly strange sensation. After prodding at her right arm with her left hand and curiously observing it for half a minute, Yan Ling tried to move her arm.
Her right arm swung to the left so fast that it became nearly invisible to the naked eye. Yan Ling's entire body followed her arm, spinning to the left and falling off the chair, falling face first onto the floor. She tried to quickly lift herself off the floor, but her right arm moved so fast that just the act of trying to lift it slightly off the ground caused it to shoot upwards, once again dragging her entire body along and spinning her around onto her back.
Liang Chen looked at the scene with an amused smile while laughing. He eventually stood up and walked over to Yan Ling, placing his finger on her forehead and flooding her mind with the law of time, allowing it to keep up with the speed of her right arm. This was the main problem with this technique, he had to speed up his mind at the same time as his body, otherwise, he would be unable to control it. Liang Chen sped up himself after helping Yan Ling, chuckling lightly.
"Well, how was it? Quite hard to control, no?"
Yan Ling could understand Liang Chen's words since he had made sure to speed himself up first. She carefully checked her right arm, making sure that it wouldn't fly out of control the moment she tried to move it. The rest of her body felt like it moved at a snail's pace now that her mind was sped up so drastically, but she was now able to properly feel the way the law of time was flooding through her arm and head. She turned her eyes onto Liang Chen after making sure that her arm wouldn't go out of control, sending him a slight glare.
"You ass, you knew this would happen."
As the one who had come up with this technique, how could Liang Chen not know what would happen when it was used without speeding up the mind at the same time. But would he admit that to her now? Of course not, he simply shrugged his shoulders and moved the table away, clearing up some space in the room.
"No idea what you're talking about."
Yan Ling continued to glare at him but didn't pursue it further, she wanted to study this technique as quickly as possible. While she was focusing on studying the technique, Liang Chen checked out his own body, closely examining ever change he noticed after his bloodline awakened. The most noticeable change he felt was the increase in his physical strength, it had grown by quite a bit, at least 30% stronger. His defenses had also grown stronger, his gray scales at least twice as thick now.
He could also bring out the scales whenever and wherever he wanted, he no longer needed to cover his entire body, he could choose to cover just his right hand. The other scales would remain beneath his skin, invisible to the eye but still providing a strong boost to his defense. And the third change he noticed was the one he had detected just earlier, his law of time was moving far smoother and faster than before.
If it was being pulled along by donkeys earlier, it was now being pulled along by vigorous horses, moving through his body like a furious flood. Liang Chen cast a quick glance at Yan Ling, who was already fully immersed in studying the ways to apply her fused law to her own body. He took his eyes away from her after a few minutes and turned his gaze onto Yumao, who was currently stretched out on the couch and wore a lazy expression. Slowly, a content smile crept up on his face.
"Really, peace like this is the best."
They had a battle coming up, but right now they were all peaceful, just happily spending their days doing what they wished. To Liang Chen, this was a form of bliss, the type of bliss that validated all his hard work and pain. He took out some meat from his interspatial ring and tossed it to Yumao, who quickly caught and devoured it in a single gulp before shrinking down and coiling up on Liang Chen's head, rubbing against his hair. Liang Chen gave him a few pats and then closed his eyes, focusing on his own cultivation.
Time held no meaning in cultivation, the month before the battle quickly passing. Liang Chen and Yan Ling only rarely halted their training during this one month, mostly only to share a meal, share a bath, or for Liang Chen to refresh the law of time he had inserted into her body. They both halted their training on the day before the battle, getting a good nights rest and sharing a hearty meal before the battle, making sure that they were in their peak states.
After they finished eating, Yumao jumped into Liang Chen's dantian so that he could be ready just in case an emergency happened and he was needed. The two then left the house and headed for the scheduled arena, which was located a little over an hour away. The audience seating area was already packed when Liang Chen and Yan Ling arrived, a few hushed whispers going over the crowd as the two entered the stage and faced their opponent.
Qin Nuan was standing on the other end of the stage, and just as they expected, she was alone. Her body was taller than Liang Chen first expected, she was actually almost seven meters tall, each of her six arms two meters long, her sharp nails at least 20 centimeters long. Her black carapace-like skin was covered in white veins that gathered on top of her head, becoming one with her waist-length snow-white hair. Her crimson eyes were looking at Liang Chen and Yan Ling with a steely expression, her fingers quietly tapping against her body.
While Yan Ling was marveling at Qin Nuan's gargantuan stature, Liang Chen was looking her up and down. Since they still had a few minutes before the scheduled start of the battle, he decided that he might as well waste the minutes by asking her a few questions.
"I suspect you won't answer me if I ask who it is that sent you and Liao Cui? I also imagine you won't answer me if I ask why you people are so against having us here?"
Qin Nuan stopped the tapping of her fingers, her gaze landing directly on Liang Chen. The two locked eyes for a short moment, and contrary to what he expected, Qin Nuan actually started talking.
"You know, these three towers have been on this planet for as long as anyone can remember, it is their existence that allowed the Fiendgod race, the Undead race, and the White Orchid race to take over this entire planet. And while those who reach a certain cultivation realm always choose to leave this planet, that doesn't change the fact that countless rulers of the three races have risen to prominence in these very towers. Their deeds and history is the pride of our races, the blood and sweat they shed in these towers are what has been used to pave the path to the future for our races."
Qin Nuan swept her gaze around the area as she spoke, as if she could see the battles that took place on this very stage in the past. She was truly proud of the ancestors of the three races, they had fought and grown stronger in an untamed world, carving out a place for their three races. Her gaze slowly drifted back onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling, her fingers starting to anxiously tap against her body again.
"Truth be told, I don't really want to fight the two of you, but that's just my destiny. If the two of you continue to climb the towers and get stronger, there is a good chance that you might tear down everything that our ancestors fought and bled for. You will become a leader to the humans and their sympathizers, and together you will sink your fangs into the throats of the three races, you might even be able to tear down one or two of the races."
She was a Fiendgod, she cultivated by fusing Demonic beast parts into her body. There was no race better than hers to detect just how strong Liang Chen and Yan Ling's bodies and bloodlines weres, the stronger the Fiendgod, the more acutely aware they would be. But even so, she would fight. Liang Chen locked eyes with Yan Ling, who turned her gaze onto Qin Nuan and then raised her hand, pointing to the sky.
"We have no interest in becoming leaders for the humans, we just want to get stronger and get our hands on that which lies at the top of the towers."
Yan Ling had made sure that Liang Chen realized that he didn't need to save people just because they were suffering, no one could save everyone. He only had to save those he could grasp, those in front of him. So while they thought it would be nice to help the humans, which were no more than livestock on this planet, it was not their main goal here. Qin Nuan tilted her head slightly to the side after hearing Yan Ling's statement, stretching out one of her arms and pointing at them.
"You know, quite a bit of information about the two of you has already spread around the planet. Those humans living in hiding, the humans being raised and bred, their sympathizers, all of them already know about you and what you have done. And do you know what they call you? They are calling you their Bloody Emperors, the ones who will let them carve a bloody path to freedom and supremacy, you are their heroes."
This was the first that Liang Chen and Yan Ling had heard about their information spreading across the entire planet, but it made sense when they thought about it. Most humans were being treated as livestock, taken care of before they could get too strong, there were even places where the humans had no idea they were being raised as mere livestock, the humans had no one to look up to, nothing to strive for. So with the appearance of Liang Chen and Yan Ling, two humans able to both ascend and stand proudly in the towers, how could the humans not look up to them and take them as their goal? Qin Nuan pulled back her arm, giving a slight shake of her head and letting out a soft sigh.
"I believe destiny to be a funny thing, it doesn't care about what we want or what we desire. You can't go chasing your destiny nor can you go looking for it. It will come for you no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, no matter what you want. The moment the two of you stepped into this tower and showed your fangs, it became your destiny to become heroes for the humans on the planet, to be their guiding light, to forever change this planet, it doesn't matter whether or not you wanted to. Even if I kill you here, whispers of your actions will continue to blow with the wind, legends of your strength will continue to find their way to human ears, and they will find strength in those rumors, they will use them as fuel to charge forward."
The judge stepped onto the stage as Qin Nuan finished her sentence, signifying that the battle was about to start. Qin Nuan's gaze locked onto Liang Chen and Yan Ling, one of her fingers swiping her interspatial ring and taking out nine puppets, three from each race.
"So right here and now, I will fight you, I will do my best to stop you before its too late, before your legends and light become too blinding. That is the best thing I can do for this planet that I hold so dear."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone