Chương 162: The ancient battle of the three monarchs.

Neither Liang Chen nor Yan Ling moved from their spot, Yan Ling placing both hands on her stomach and pressing down on it slightly. Liang Chen could guess at what she was doing right now, as he was experiencing the same thing as her. Yumao, who was hiding within Liang Chen's dantian, sensed the danger they were facing and wanted to burst out to help them, only remaining quiet due to Liang Chen's adamant refusal. Lan Yun was quite a bit younger than Yumao so she probably wasn't as good at listening, forcing Yan Ling to use a more forceful way to prevent her from jumping out.

Sun Cailin didn't seem to mind the fact that they weren't moving, patiently waiting for them to either say something or move, she was even taking the opportunity to make some tea. Liang Chen broke the silence after what felt like an eternity, taking a stealthy step closer to Yan Ling while talking.

"Sorry, but I have no idea why you would want to thank us, and frankly, I don't really trust you or your words. We've already been attacked twice, so for all, I know you're just the next one who has come to attack us."

Sun Cailin was far stronger than them, there was no point in dressing up his words or trying anything, it was best to just be perfectly blunt. Sun Cailin's lips actually curved up slightly after seeing Liang Chen's blunt mannerism, a somewhat amused laugh escaping her mouth.

"Well, I haven't killed you yet, have I?"

For just a split second, Sun Cailin's smile turned ferocious, an overwhelming amount of pressure bearing down on Liang Chen and Yan Ling. The pressure vanished as quickly as it appeared, Sun Cailin's smile returning to normal, she simply wanted to show that if she wanted them dead, they would already be dead. She swiped her earring, which was shaped like a lion's head, a rolled up scroll appearing in her hand. She threw the scroll to Liang Chen, picking up the kettle of tea and pouring out three cups while talking.

"I want to thank you because you made it quite easy for me to find a dissenter, someone that would be detrimental to the future of this planet. That's a blank Soul Oath, you can write whatever you want on it, that ought to make you trust me a bit more."

Liang Chen caught the scroll, unfurling it while keeping an eye on Sun Cailin. Seeing that it was, in fact, a blank Soul Oath, he and Yan Ling quickly exchanged a few whispers to discuss what they should put on the scroll. They swiftly reached an agreement, filling up the scroll with text that they wrote using Demonic beast blood. The entire scroll lit up with light for a short second once they finished writing on it, showing that the Soul Oath was now complete and could be signed, Liang Chen tossing the scroll back to Sun Cailin.

"Here."

She said that they could write whatever they wanted on it, but she was likely to refuse signing it if they actually went overboard in what they wrote. As such, they only wrote in that she could not lie to them and that she could not try to harm them in any manner unless they tried to kill her first, these points would at least allow them to be somewhat at ease. Sun Cailin gave the contents of the scroll a quick, raising her eyes from the scroll for a short second when she saw that neither of the terms had a time limit attached, they would last for as long as both parties, or the oath, still existed. But even so, she still signed the Soul Oath using a bit of her own blood, showing off her signature with a light smile.

"There, do you feel more comfortable now? Feel like sitting down?"

Yan Ling and Liang Chen locked eyes for a short second before walking forward and sitting down on the couch across from Sun Cailin, who pushed two of the teacups closer to them. They glanced at the cups, but neither of them picked one up and drank from it, Yan Ling looking at Sun Cailin with somewhat narrowed eyes.

"Alright, so how exactly did we make it easier for you to find a dissenter, and why are you here to help us? For that matter, exactly how are you planning on helping us, I don't imagine it you're simply planning on giving us the reward resting at the top of the tower."

Yan Ling was just as blunt as Liang Chen, getting directly to the heart of the matter. Sin Cailin picked up the remaining teacup and took a sip from it, a pleased smile faintly visible on the edges of her mouth as she responded.

"Really, I wish everyone would be as direct as the two of you, it always makes things nice and easy. I once had a man I considered to be my left-hand man, Dai Hong was his name. I thought he shared my vision for this planet, that it needed to change, that we had to stop treating humans like cattle if we wanted to survive in the long run. But the arrival of you two made him reveal his true colors, he was unable to lay down his feelings of superiority and disdain against humans, resulting in him defying my direct orders and sending people to kill you, he would have sent more if I hadn't taken care of him."

With Sun Cailin explaining it, the two of them finally understood who it was that had sent people after him, who it was that had supplied them with the strange puppets. And upon knowing who it was, they couldn't help but feel a slight chill run down their spines. What if this Dai Hong had chosen to come directly for them? Just how strong would someone who could be the left-hand man of the planet's ruler be? Sun Cailin raised her left hand and extended one of her fingers, extending a second while she continued to talk.

"This is the first reason why I want to thank you, the second is much simpler, it's just how dang scary the two of you are. Do you have any idea what some of the people outside the tower are calling you? Bloody Emperors, Rulers of Sin, Heroes of the Repressed, Dragons born of Blood, the list of names goes on and on. And that's good. The stronger and scarier the two of you become, the easier it will be to convince the rest of the planet that we have to stop eating humans, before others like you come along and wipe us all out. Even if the two of you are not enough, you will be a start, the seed of fear will already have been planted in the hearts of others who will then decide that I am right, we must change if we wish to live. That belief will spread like a disease, and there will come a time where this entire planet will have changed, and our chances of survival will thus become much greater."

Sun Cailin didn't lie, she honestly told Liang Chen and Yan Ling about her fears and plans for the planet. Liang Chen and Yan Ling quietly listened, absorbing the information while their thoughts moved. Sun Cailin put down her hand after she finished talking, putting down the teacup while laughing lightly.

"The reason I want to help you is because of this second reason, I need you to survive and grow stronger, only like that will you be able to spill more blood and incite greater fear in the hearts of the people on this planet. So don't worry, my reasons for helping you are entirely selfish, I'm not doing it out of the good of my heart."

It was sometimes much easier to trust the actions and words of people who did things out of selfish reasons because then you knew that they were doing it to help themselves, it made it easier to understand and anticipate what they would do next. Sun Cailin moved her head slightly, her gaze landing on Yan Ling, who stealthily pushed down a little harder on her dantian.

"And no, I won't be giving you the cultivation technique that rests at the top of the towers, mainly because it is useless to you. The cultivation technique hidden up there was created by the ancestors of our three races, it is specially designed for us and can thus only be cultivated by us. No, the way I plan to help you is by giving you the item that gave our ancestors the inspiration for the cultivation technique, as well as giving you a warning."

The two of them had come to this tower because they had heard that the reward for reaching the top of the towers was a piece of a cultivation technique that was very similar to the description of the Ocean God Physique, but this was the first they ever heard of the technique only working for someone who belonged to one of the three races on this planet. Sun Cailin once again swiped her ear-ring, a drop-shaped ornament made from ocean-blue jade appearing in her hand.

Liang Chen felt the jade fragment in his interspatial ring tremble fiercely once Sun Cailin pulled out the jade, but Sun Cailin failed to notice anything since Liang Chen had hidden the fragment deep within his interspatial ring. Sun Cailin tossed the drop-shaped jade to Yan Ling, looking at her and Liang Chen with an honest and sincere gaze.

"That piece of jade is one that has been on this planet for countless years, even our earliest records mention not knowing how long it has been on this planet. One was resting at the top of each of the towers and all three contain the same thing, a silent recording of an ancient battle, you might get a bit of inspiration by watching it, just like our ancestors did. I am giving you one of the three jade pieces we have, so I hope you realize how sincere I am being here."

It could be considered a treasure which had belonged to the three races for countless years, but the truth was that it was mostly useless to the people on this planet. The amount of inspiration one could gain from watching a recording of a battle was limited, and because of this, the cultivation technique that was the reward for reaching the top of all three towers hadn't changed or been upgraded for quite a few years already.

Liang Chen wanted to immediately check out this jade, but both he and Yan Ling knew that now was not a good time to check it, Yan Ling quickly storing it into her interspatial ring and allowing Sun Cailin to continue talking, finishing up what she had come here to do.

"And now for my warning, leave this tower. Flee from this tower and change your appearances as you did in the past, enter one of the other towers under new identities, and this time don't reveal yourselves. You killed Shi Tengriu, a close friend of Qian Liao, so now he is coming for the both of you, and as you are now, you will be unable to resist him."

Qian Liao was a Fiendgod who cultivated using the body of a mutated Nethersky Wyrm Emperor, something that allowed him to use the law of death. He stood at the peak of the seventh floor in the God Piercing Fang tower, he might have already entered the eighth floor. If the two of them faced him now there was indeed very little they could do. The expressions of the two turned somewhat gloomy as they exchanged glances, Sun Cailin taking the hint and standing up.

"Now then, you don't seem to be able to rest comfortably with me around so I'll take my leave. But please keep my words and sincerity in mind, Qian Liao is coming for you, you should run, leave this tower within the next three months. I want you to survive, but I cannot make a move against Qian Liao if he doesn't break the rules, doing so would mean that I have broken the rules. And due to something I took up when I became the Tripartite Slayer, I will lose everything if I were to break the rules, so I hope you understand why I won't stop him for you."

Sun Cailin gave the two of them a short nod as a farewell, leaving the house and removing the wall she had put up when they tried to flee at the start, quickly vanishing from the area. Liang Chen and Yan Ling sat in silence for a while after Sun Cailin left, their expressions remaining gloomy as the thought about what to do. They eventually decided that there was no point in worrying about whether or not Qian Liao was coming for them, they simply couldn't risk betting on that Sun Cailin was lying.

They both let out somewhat deep breaths, locking eyes and realizing that both were thinking the same thing, it was best to change the topic before they became too gloomy. Yan Ling took out the drop-shaped jade and handed it to Liang Chen, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"What do you think, is that it?"

The only reason she had stepped into the spatial rift that brought them here was that she wanted Liang Chen to acquire the other parts of the Ocean God Physique. If this was truly it, she could consider her goal on this planet to be complete. Liang Chen gave a somewhat uncertain nod of his head, holding the jade drop in one hand while swiping his interspatial ring.

"The fragment is reacting to it so it should be, but I have no idea what to do with it."

Liang Chen took out his fragment of ocean-blue jade, wanting to compare the two pieces. But his fragment released a low rumbling sound just as he took it out, immediately flying over to the drop-shaped jade and merging into it, a bright blue light erupting from the jade and projecting images directly into Liang Chen's mind.

A vast wasteland suddenly spread out before Liang Chen's eyes, a sky covered in orange stars visible above him. The barren wasteland spread out as far as he could see, merging with the distant horizon and going on for an unknown amount of distance. Corpses of people and beings from other races were littering the entire wasteland, only two people remaining standing.

One of the standing people was a youth with ocean-blue hair and light-blue eyes, a green robe with a wavy pattern draped over his body, a rather large lake spread out behind him, breaking up the monotony of the wasteland. The other youth was clad in a simple gray robe, had hair as black as the night sky and eyes as white as snow, a hardened and somewhat pained expression in his eyes. The blue-haired youth opened his mouth, his voice drifting along with the wind and reaching every corner of the wasteland.

"Must it really be like this, must we really fight? Can we not work together as we did in the past?"

Liang Chen wondered why this recording, which should have been silent, actually had sound now, but he could only chalk it up to his fragment merging with the jade. He proceeded to focus fully on the scene in front of him, he was rather curious just what he would see here. The black-haired youth sneered slightly, contempt and hatred clearly audible in his reply.

"Xiang Hong, you are the one who allied with the Parasites, do you really think you have the right to speak?"

Liang Chen wondered if these 'Parasites' might actually be the Sebettu, it was the image he had gotten of the race after hearing how they did things in the past. He quickly put the thought away before it could distract him, the blue-haired youth, Xiang Hong, shouting out a loud and helpless reply.

"But they are stronger than us! Sure, we can push them back a few times, but there'll come a day where they will be able to fully swarm into this multiverse, and we'll be helpless to stop them! If we ally with them now we'll be able to spare countless lives from ending each time we try to push them back, why can't you see that?!"

With the reply of Xiang Hong, Liang Chen quickly discarded the idea that they were talking about the Sebettu. The Sebettu were rather parasitic, but they at least came from this multiverse. At the same time, he became rather curious just what sort of race was capable of invading an entire multiverse, he also became curious just where they came from. Was there some void beyond the multiverse where other races could live, or were there in fact several multiverses? The black-haired youth's expression twisted slightly in sadness when he heard Xiang Hong's reply, but his expression quickly became steely.

"It pains me to see you like this, your fear has dragged you so far down that you are truly lost to reason and logic. The Parasites bring only death, that is why we call them Parasites. And just like I swore back then, I will do everything in my power to prevent them from getting their filthy claws in our multiverse."

The youth stretched out his right arm, a sword that was a wavy mixture of black and white appearing in his grasp. Xiang Hong's expression changed slightly, turning just as steely as the black-haired youth's as he spoke up.

"Ning Hao, I know that you are strong, but with Brother Ying and Brother Yang defending the eastern universes you have no way of killing me."

The lake behind Xiang Hong started to seethe as he spoke, drops of water rising up and entering his body, a long halberd made from crystallized water quickly appearing in his grasp. The black-haired youth, Ning Hao, let out another sneer and shook his head slightly, his response causing Liang Chen to become somewhat puzzled.

"Don't call them that, you have already lost that right. And you're wrong, I have a way of killing you, even without them. Besides, it would be a shame if the multiverse were to lose its law of water just because we wanted to kill you."

Liang Chen couldn't quite understand what Ning Hao was saying, why would the universe lose its law of water if this Brother Ying or Brother Yang were to kill this Xiang Hong? But as this was just a recording, there was no one here to answer him, so he could only watch on quietly.

Another youth suddenly appeared on the wasteland, only a few meters away from Ning Hao. This youth was clad in a light-yellow robe and had silver hair that somewhat contrasted his pitch-black eyes. Xiang Hong's gaze landed o the newcomer, his brows furrowing slightly as he spoke somewhat uncertainly.

"You brought along a newcomer, was it Yin Long? Listen, kid, I don't know what Ning Hao told you, but the two of us don't have any animosity or grudges, there's no need for you to risk your life in a fight against me."

Ning Hao didn't interrupt Xiang Hong, allowing him to talk to the silver-haired newcomer, Yin Long. Yin Long allowed Xiang Hong to finish talking, giving a slight nod of his head in agreement after he heard everything Xiang Hong said. But as Yin Long started to talk, his voice grew colder and colder, the surrounding air starting to tremble faintly.

"You're right, the two of us don't have any animosity, we don't even know each other, we should have no reason to fight. But I once lived in a small village for a while after suffering a grievous wound, a group of young friends, no more than children, nursed me back to health with the help of their parents. I left the village once I regained my strength, but I engraved their kindness in my heart, I never did forget them. The next time I came back to the village, the Parasites had already been there, all I found was ruins and blood, mangled corpses that were completely drained. I have no grudge with you, but I will never allow the Parasites to step foot in this multiverse, so I will make sure that you die here."

The trembling air suddenly moved, gathering in the palm of Yin Long and forming a very plain sword. Yin Long swung the sword, drawing a beautiful arc through the air as he unleashed an instantaneous attack. Xiang Hong's body suddenly split in two at the chest, a thick black cut appearing in the surrounding space, forming a perfect circle that covered at least several thousand kilometers. The water from the lake behind Xiang Hong rose up and sank into his bisected body, rebuilding it as he spoke up.

"You should know that something like thi...!"

Xiang Hong's voice suddenly came to a halt, his eyes shooting open as his head hurriedly moved from side to side, inspecting the surrounding area. His gaze eventually landed on Ning Hao and Yin Long, shock covering his entire face. Ning Hao's expression remained steely, but Liang Chen was able to spot a slight twinkle in his eyes.

"Did you notice it now? Quite the spectacular thing, no? I was just as shocked as you when I first saw it, a single slash to separate an area from the rest of the multiverse, truly stunning. In here, your physique won't matter in the slightest, you will die just like the rest of the Parasites."

Liang Chen couldn't feel anything so he could only assume that what these people were saying was true, marveling slightly at what he heard. Just how much power did it take to separate an area from the remainder of the multiverse? If he hadn't heard about it now he wouldn't even have guessed that it was possible. While Liang Chen was marveling at it and Xiang Hong was shocked at it, something suddenly broke through the black circle that Yin Long had cut into the surrounding area.

A massive gray dragon with a serpentine body broke through the black circle, which quickly repaired itself once the dragon finished breaking through. The three people present turned towards the dragon, Liang Chen's eyes opening wide. Even if he couldn't feel anything, he instinctively knew what this dragon was, the progenitor of his own bloodline, the Heaven Devouring Dragon. Xiang Hong's expression twisted slightly when he saw the dragon, hurriedly shouting out while waving him away.

"Brother Rahu!? Stop, turn around and flee!"

Since Xiang Hong was telling the dragon, Rahu, to flee, it was clear to Liang Chen that Xiang Hong had realized what his fate was. Yin Long separating this area from the rest of the multiverse seemed to seal Xiang Hong's death in stone. Ning Hao looked at Rahu, surprise clearly apparent on his face.

"So you managed to even break in here, you Origin Beasts truly are amazing beings. But even so, Xiang Hong will die here, and you will too if you choose to aid him."

Ning Hao stretched out his right arm, his palm facing the sky as his fingers were slightly curled. The surrounding corpses started to tremble faintly as Ning Hao opened his mouth, a single word filled with undisputable majesty echoing across the entire wasteland.

"Arise."

The countless corpses suddenly exploded with energy that was a wavy mixture of white and black. The energy burst forth from their bodies before sinking back into them, shadowy hands suddenly bursting forth from the corpses. The hands clutched onto the bodies as whatever was attached to the hands pulled itself out of the bodies, shadowy bodies that were a mixture of black and white rising up from each of the corpses, each one a perfect copy of the corpse they had climbed out from. With a single word and gesture, Ning Hao had gathered an army at his side, completely surrounding Xiang Hong.

Everything suddenly turned blue before Liang Chen got to see what happened next, the wasteland and star-covered sky drowned out by the blue light. A transparent Xiang Hong appeared within the blue light, looking directly through Liang Chen as he spoke.

"Since you hold an awakened fragment, you should be either a descendant of mine or a descendant of Brother Rahu, I'm fairly certain I made it so that only they would be able to awaken the jades I spread throughout the universes, only they would be capable of acquiring my greatest pride, my cultivation technique."

Liang Chen's heart started to speed up slightly as a thought entered his mind. Yan Ling, even the Sealing God Empyrean and his friends, were unable to understand the Ocean God's Physique, could it be because Xiang Hong had created it like that? It would explain why he had been able to learn the first part of the cultivation technique from the jade fragment back then. If that really was the case, could he now acquire the rest and continue to cultivate his body and soul according to the path he had chosen?

The transparent Xiang Hong turned his head slightly, as if he could still see the battle unfolding beyond the blue light. He turned his head back and continued to look directly through Liang Chen after a short while, his face showing not an ounce of regret for the choice he had made as he spoke, information starting to flood Liang Chen's mind.

"What you just saw were the last moments of me, Xiang Hong, and my sworn brother, Rahu. Don't worry, I won't ask you to avenge me or to satisfy some grudge I had, I'm already dead so none of that matters. All I ask is that you use my greatest pride, my Ocean God Physique, and use it to live freely. Follow your heart and decide on your own path, no matter what end it leads to, just as I did."