บท 164: Calamity of the Storm Wolf sect.
Yan Ling looked at the triangular spot that Liang Chen was pointing at, tilting her head slightly. Lan Yun saw Yan Ling's actions, and although she didn't understand the meaning behind them how could she possibly not copy something that her mother was doing? Liang Chen looked at the two people tilting their heads, one of his eyebrows rising slightly.
"You don't know about it? Didn't you join me in reading through the books that we've managed to find so far?"
With how many people they'd killed so far it was inevitable that they'd get their hands on quite a few books. They had made sure to read through all the books and scrolls they had found so far, it was how they had found out about Qian Liao's law of death as well as his rank in the God Piercing Fang tower. Yan Ling put on an overly innocent smile and turned her head to the side, whistling obliviously, an act that caused Liang Chen to immediately understand. He raised his arm and rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a light breath.
"Oh for pete's sake... The Thunder Saint's Final Breath is considered a special area on this planet, it is ravaged by strong winds, rain, and lightning at all times of the day. The storm there supposedly started about 29 000 years ago, a few years after a Fiendgod known as the Twin-Soul Thunder Saint went missing there. No one knows what really happened there but the most popular rumor is that the Thunder Saint died there and that the storm is his final breath, or his final curse."
Liang Chen had actually read about quite a few interesting legends and rumors that swirled around the planet, some rather minor but others so large that it caused one to doubt their veracity. Yan Ling's eyes finally lit up with understanding as she gave several rapid nods of her head, the small Lan Yun once again copying her actions.
"I see I see. You want to go there to cultivate your body since the elements align with the laws you use for your body cultivation, correct?"
Yan Ling quickly caught on to Liang Chen's plans, the Thunder Saint's Final Breath was the perfect place for them to cultivate his body. Liang Chen would only have to supply his law of time and fuse it with the lightning, wind, and rain as long as they were there, it would allow them to conserve quite a bit of energy. Liang Chen nodded his head, adding on his original plans.
"That's the plan now, at least. I originally wanted to head there to borrow the pressure produced by the storm, especially the lightning. My emerald lightning isn't able to keep up with the enemies we are facing now, it's about time I made it stronger by fusing it with the crimson lightning. There's also the fact that the place is also well-suited to the current you, and the little one that's just joined us."
Liang Chen picked up Lan Yun as he spoke, rubbing her head and causing her to giggle cutely. Lan Yun was born with innate control over lightning, wind, metal, and earth, likely thanks to the bloodline she had gotten by being nurtured with Yan Ling's blood. The lightning and wind Qi in that area should be rather beneficial to both of them, Yan Ling could even absorb the water Qi thanks to the fact that she was cultivating that law.
Liang Chen sent Yumao a look that caused Yumao's expression to turn a bit exasperated, but he still slithered down Liang Chen's body and onto Lan Yun's, coiling up on top of her head. This was the first time he had gotten close to Lan Yun, so she immediately grew excited and reached up with both her arms, patting Yumao all over. Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the two of them with fond smiles, Yan Ling glancing at Yumao.
"True, heading there might be pretty good for her as well. But what about him, he might start to feel left out if we only focus on her."
Yan Ling did care about Yumao, so she didn't want him to get sad because they didn't pay that much attention to him. Liang Chen put Lan Yun down on the couch next to him, patting both her and Yumao on the head while giving a light shrug of his shoulders.
"He understands our positions, he also knows that it's a bit harder to get our hands on resources with the element of darkness. But I've promised him that he'll get to eat as many Demonic beasts as he wants after we leave the tower, I've also promised him some of the Demonic beast parts that Qian Liao has used to cultivate, they should be at least somewhat useful to him."
Yumao may just look like a feathered serpent, but he was much smarter than he looked, he probably had the intelligence of a normal 17-year old. Were it not for the fact that he didn't have the proper vocal cords nor had the ability to mimic human speech with his Qi, he would already be capable of talking just as well as anyone else.
Just eating Demonic beasts wasn't as good as eating Demonic beasts that shared an element with him, but it would still allow Yumao to increase his strength a little so it was a start. Just like they didn't know what race Lan Yun was, they had no clue what sort of race Yumao was, but considering the fact that Liang Chen had received him after clearing a trial involving a Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, he guessed that the two had some connection.
As Qian Liao cultivated using the body of a mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, the parts should indeed be somewhat useful to Yumao. And even if they ended up being useless, Yumao could still eat them to become a little stronger. Yan Ling nodded her head slowly, springing up from the couch while turning her head onto Liang Chen.
"Alright! Knowing you I guess you'll say that we should leave immediately, no?"
Everything they owned was packed away in their interspatial rings so they didn't even have to pack anything before leaving. Liang Chen picked up Yumao and Lan Yun, standing up from the couch while rolling his eyes at Yan Ling's words, which were a poor lie at best.
"Please, you're just bored with the tower so you want to leave as quickly as you can so that you can run around and cause chaos again, don't think you can fool me."
Yan Ling was the type of person who couldn't stay in one place for long, this was a fact that Liang Chen knew very well. Of course, what he failed to realize that he would more often than not cause just as much chaos as Yan Ling, so the words he directed at her could just as easily be directed at him. Yan Ling didn' deny his words, a cheeky smile spreading on her face as she placed her hands behind her head and let out a light giggle.
"Nihihi."
--
Yan Ying saw violet flames all around him, the crescendo of screams around him quickly turning into a gruesome symphony as the stench of scorched flesh entered his nose. His deep green hair stuck to his forehead as he ran through the burning sect, blood occasionally dripping into his black eyes and forcing him to use a bit of Qi to remove it. He saw dead disciples all around him, flames eating away at their bodies or rubble crushing their bodies.
Just half a minute ago these disciples had been enjoying a peaceful day, he himself had just been in the midst of training his close combat technique. Just what had happened, what had attacked their sect to cause such damage? And what about the sect's defensive formations, why had none of them activated to block the attack? Questions were swirling around in Yan Ying's mind as he ran, doing his best to help any disciples that were still alive, running up to a blonde female disciple in her twenties that had some rubble covering her lower body.
"Junior Sister Xinzi, grab my hand and grit your teeth, I'll drag you out!"
Yan Ying stretched out his arm to grab onto the girl's, Gan Xinzi, right arm so that she could have something to squeeze on while he dragged her out. A strange seal had appeared on his body, preventing him from using any Qi, so he could only drag her out using his physical strength. But Gan Xinzi actually pushed away his arm, quickly shouting at Yan Ying.
"No! Forget about me and keep going, there are others who need your help, others that you can actually save!"
Some blood seeped out from the corners of her mouth as she shouted, her eyes almost completely red as blood started to pool in them. Only now was Yan Ying close enough to see that her body had been crushed against the ground in such a manner that a large piece of rubble underneath her had ended up crushing parts of her spine and several of her organs. Even if he managed to get the rubble away, the crushed organs and internal bleeding would end up pooling in her lungs and choking her. If that didn't kill her, she would either bleed to death in a few minutes or she would die when her body became unable to handle its wounds.
Yan Ying knew this disciple, he was the one who had brought her to the sect after finding her in a small village while out traveling. He found her talent to be good so he convinced her parents to let him take her to the clan and let her take on the tests to enter the sect early. So seeing her like this, his expression couldn't help but twist somewhat, but she quickly pushed him away, continuing to shout at him while her expression distorted from the pain.
"Go! Save those that can be saved! Tell them that they need to flee the sect as fast as possible, we're just sitting ducks without our defensive formations!"
She was dead, Gan Xinzi knew this far clearer than anyone else. But there were disciples that could still be saved, so every second Yan Ying wasted on her might be the second that sealed the fate of a different disciple. Yan Ying's expression continued to twist for two seconds before turning steely, his eyes growing somewhat red as he pulled out the sword hanging at his waist.
"Goodbye, please rest well."
Gan Xinzi sent Yan Ying a wide smile, her eyes turning blank as Yan Ying stabbed his sword into her chest and pierced her heart, granting her the only mercy he could right now, a quick and painless death to spare her from the pain she was feeling. He grit his teeth and stood up, turning around and continuing to run, heading for the center of the sect where he guessed most disciples would gather.
He did his best to save any disciples he encountered along the way, but he only discovered a further six disciples that were still alive, and only two that could still be saved. He continued to run while supporting the two wounded disciples, the three of them quickly reaching the center of the sect, the peak of the split mountain. Yan Ying almost let out a sigh of relief when he saw the large number of disciples gathered there, but his heart clenched when he realized that these disciples might just be all that were left alive, less than 10% of the sect's full number.
The two highest ranked elders, the muscular and bald Guanyu as well as the delicate and rainbow-haired Guiying, were also present in the area, doing their best to calm down the disciples. Both looked rather disheveled but Yan Ying let out a sigh of relief when he saw that neither of them was wounded too badly. Shortly after Yan Ying arrived in the area, another person came running over while limping slightly, Sect Master Yan Wuhan.
A fist-sized portion of his right thigh was torn out, the flesh around the wound black and festering, oozing a yellow puss that reeked horribly, his cyan-hair singed and burned. An arm-sized shard of shattered wood was piercing through his abdomen, just above his navel, blood slowly dripping down along it. But even so, his expression remained steely, his silver eyes flashing with a dignified light, befitting of a sect master. He shouted out the moment he arrived in the area, his gaze landing on Guanyu and Guiying.
"Second Elder, Third Elder, disciples, hear my order! As you all have likely realized already, we seem to have been imprinted by an array that has sealed all our Qi and even the bloodlines that some of you carry! I won't lie, this is a dire situation for our sect, one that threatens our very existence! You will split into two groups, one led by Second Elder and one led by Third Elder, the two groups will then flee in different directions to increase the chance that at least some of our disciples will survive! Flee as fast as you can, seek shelter wherever you can! And I pray that there comes a day where we all get to meet again, having been your Sect Master will always be my greatest pride!"
The disciples straightened their backs and immediately nodded their heads at Yan Wuhan's words, the sea of people splitting down the middle and joining up with either Guanyu or Guiying. Yan Ying, Guanyu, and Guiying met Yan Wuhan's eyes, the four of them sharing a look before Guanyu and Guiying gave Yan Wuhan a salute, leading their groups away to different spatial arrays so that they could flee.
They couldn't use their Qi, but they could still use Spirit Stones to fuel the spatial arrays for fleeing, the only reason they hadn't done so for the defensive formations was due to the fact that doing so would drain all their Spirit Stones within half a year. Yan Ying didn't join up with any of the other groups, his father's eyes had indicated that he had something he needed to tell him.
Yan Ying quickly ran over to Yan Wuhan, whose face turned pale the moment the other disciples left the rea. Yan Wuhan looked at Yan Ying with a soft and loving gaze, stretching out his arm and softly caressing Yan Ying's cheeks.
"Ying'er, I need you to take these. I saved them for Ling'ers wedding, but I don't think I'll get to see that day. Give the green bottle to Ling'er and the blue bottle to Little Chen, I'm sure they'll know what to do with them. Also, please thank Little Chen for me, thanks to him I got to see Ling'er smile the same way she did as a child."
Yan Wuhan took out two bottles from the inside of his robe as he spoke, one made from green crystals and one made from blue jade. The bottle made from green crystals seemed to be filled with an emerald wind but Yan Ying was unable to see what was inside the blue bottle since it wasn't transparent. He quickly accepted the bottles and hid them away in his clothing, his expression distorting even further when he looked at Yan Wuhan and his wounds.
"Please don't talk like that, Father. Your wounds are bad, but they're not completely lethal. Come, let's quickly flee before whoever attacked us launches another attack, we need to hide and figure out a plan before anything else."
Yan Ying tried to grab onto Yan Wuhan's arms but his hands were once again pushed away. Yan Wuhan shook his head and pulled down his robe slightly, revealing a mark in the shape of a triangular eye on his chest.
"No. You will leave, but I cannot. I can feel it, I've already been marked, whoever attacked us will know wherever I go, I will only endanger you if I were to go with you. Thanks to this mark I can also tell that whoever attacked us is coming, they'll likely try to finish us all off now."
Yan Ying's expression paled when he heard his father's words, if that was true then there was almost no way for Yan Wuhan to escape here. Yan Wuhan looked at Yan Ying with serious eyes, his voice grave as he gave Yan Ying orders.
"Ying'er, I'll utilize the final defense mechanism of our sect to distract them, use that chance to flee, but make sure you flee in a different direction from the two other groups. It'll be much easier for you to flee on your own, you'll be even harder to discover like that."
Yan Ying looked at Yan Wuhan with saddened eyes, he knew what the final defense mechanism of the sect was. But at the same time, he was a little confused why his father wanted him to flee on his own, he might be harder to discover, but there was a certain safety in numbers, especially when you couldn't use Qi. Now it was time for Yan Wuhan's expression to change, turning both bitter and self-loathing.
"Ying'er, no matter what, you must survive until Ling'er and Little Chen return here. It might be cruel to say, but I only split the other disciples into two groups so that they would attract all the attention so that you have a greater chance at fleeing. The only way for the Storm Wolf sect to survive into the future and rise again lies within Ling'er and Little Chen. So you must survive, you must hand them those bottles, that is the last aid I can give them, the last salvation I can prepare for the Storm Wolf sect."
For the sake of the sect's future, he was prepared to use most of the remaining sect disciples as bait, what sort of sect master was he? He might be condemned and judged by others, but Yan Wuhan stood by his choice, all so that the Storm Wolf sect could rise again in the future. Yan Wuhan stretched out his arms, cupping both of Yan Ying's cheeks and smiling at him.
"Ying'er, I am so proud of you and your hard work, I have always been thankful that I picked you up that day. Now go."
He removed his hands from Yan Ying's cheeks and gave his chest a weak push, prodding him to quickly run away. Yan Ying's eyes were now completely red, tears flowing down his face in what seemed like a neverending waterfall. He took a few steps back and kneeled down on the ground in front of Yan Wuhan, heavily knocking his forehead against the ground.
"THANK YOU FOR RESCUING ME BACK THEN! THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FATHER!"
Yan Ying stood up after he knocked his head against the ground, turning around and running away with all his might, heading for a spatial array that only he, Yan Wuhan, Yan Ling, Guanyu, and Guiying knew about. Yan Wuhan looked at the running Yan Ying, a warm smile spreading on his face.
"Go, my dear son, please live."
Yan Wuhan walked back a few steps after Yan Ying left his field of vision and he felt the familiar rippling of three different spatial arrays activating, collapsing to a sitting position and throwing up some blood on himself. He didn't even bother to wipe the blood away from his face, he stuck his hand inside his robe and pulled out what appeared to be a finger-sized arrow made from a blood-red crystal, a small drop-shaved indent carved into the tip of the arrow. Yan Wuhan raised his head to the sky, just barely able to see countless figures swarming down towards the sect.
"Ancestor Yan Yi, the plot of land you worked so hard to secure for us might be destroyed, but I assure you that there will be a day where the name of the Storm Wolf will spread further than ever before, they will spread it to the very ends of this universe and beyond."
Yan Wuhan stabbed the arrow into his own chest after he spoke, the tip piercing into his heart. A crystalline drop of blood at the very center of his heart landed in the indent carved into the tip of the arrow, the small arrow suddenly emitting a light so bright it covered the entire mountain, and even the area several hundred kilometers around the mountain. There was no explosion, no earth-shaking trembling or commotion. The entire mountain and everything within several hundred kilometers around it simply vanished when it was swallowed by the light, disintegrating into nothing and marking the start of the gruesome war.
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ShiranuiShukumei
ShiranuiShukumei Holy fuck guys, I finally managed to catch up on the delay that has plagued my stories lately! My release schedule will finally return to the normal version! Also, I've gotten surprisingly fond of doing chapters like this, half focusing on this character and half on a different character, but do let me know what you think about them.
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