Against The Heavens 102 Cloud King City.

If he was allowed to dash without being stopped, he calculated that he would reach Cloud King city in about a month, a testament to how large this hidden realm was. Of course, given how many people had entered this hidden realm and were currently taking part in this contest, as well as the myriad of Demonic beasts already living here, it was impossible for Li Yang to run the entire distance without being stopped.

He was forced to stop a total of five times, three times due to human groups and twice due to Demonic beasts. The Demonic beasts managed to stop him by swarming him in a manner that left him with no choice but to stop what he was doing and kill them, allowing him to gather up a few points as well as a few Demonic beasts corpses that would be useful for cultivation or arrays.

As for the humans that stopped him, two of the groups stopped him by chasing after him for so long that he found it easier to just turn around and kill them. The final group managed to ambush him thanks to an array they had set up ahead of time, probably preparing it to trap anyone who might move past their area. The array turned into thick chains that coiled around his body and forced him to stop, nearly sealing up his movements as the ones who set up the array charged at him.

Sadly for them, their array was unable to fully stop Li Yang, so he could dodge their attacks and divert part of his mind to finding the weak point of the array. Finding the weak point was far easier than unraveling an array like this so it didn't take too long for him to find a spot a bit weaker than the rest of the array. A well-aimed bolt of lightning and fire pierced through the spot and caused the array to crumble in that area, giving Li Yang enough room to kill off the a.s.sailants.

Due to these interruptions, as well as the fact that he often stopped running so that he could rest and restore himself to peak condition, it took him almost three months to actually reach Cloud King city. It took quite a bit longer than he first calculated, but he didn't regret stopping to rest. There was no telling what he might encounter in this hidden realm so it was best to always maintain his peak state.

He stood at the top of a tall hill covered in waist-high gra.s.s, looking down at the distant Cloud King city. High in the sky above him floated a ma.s.sive continent, so large that he couldn't even see the end of it from his position. The bottom of the continent was covered in a ma.s.sive array that released a bright light, acting as a type of replacement sun to cast light on everything beneath it.

Cloud King city was a very large city, almost filling up the entire horizon. The entire city was surrounded by a tall wall that seemed to be made from some type of bone, every inch of it covered in runes that gathered together to form a ma.s.sive array that looked like a coiling dragon. The buildings in the city were made using a type of white stone that looked rather porous, the buildings were tightly packed right past the wall, but the distance between them grew longer as you got closer to the center of the city. At the very center of the city stood five golden towers that stretched towards the sky, with the tower at the center almost twice as large as the other four towers.

Li Yang only gave the city a quick sweep from his vantage point before he descended the hill and headed for the city, pa.s.sing through the large metal gates that served as the entrance. Just by looking at the layout of the city, he was able to easily guess that the array needed to head up to the floating continent was likely located in the largest of the five towers.

--

What Li Yang didn't know was that shortly after he entered the city, there was movement in the fifth golden tower. A somewhat burly man clad in the gray robes of the Puppet G.o.d sect was walking through the hallways of the tower, pa.s.sing through a door made from a type of strange crystal and entering a rather large room. The room was rather exquisitely decorated, the couches and chairs in the room draped with the furs of Demonic beasts, a few rather rare flowers lined up against the walls.

There were several more people from the Puppet G.o.d sect seated on a pair of long couches that were separated by a wooden table covered in fresh food and wine. The man gave the people sitting around the table a courteous bow, delivering his report.

"I have received a report that a member of the Yuan clan has entered the city. He came from the opposite direction of the other Yuan clan members so I don't think that he belongs to the group that has been given a spot by the clan, he has likely earned his spot in one of the minor compet.i.tions. I have come to ask how I should deal with him?"

The Yuan clan and the Puppet G.o.d sect didn't have a cordial relations.h.i.+p, especially not amongst the lower ranks of the clan. It was very common for inner and outer disciples of these two organizations to battle and kill each other. One of the disciples that was currently eating, a man with short brown hair and blue eyes that looked to be in his twenties, raised his eyes slightly and gave it a bit of thought before giving a dismissive wave of his hand.

"If he's below the Immortal Rebirth realm, send Sun Ling to deal with him. If he's in the Immortal Rebirth realm then just ignore him for now. It's nice to thin the numbers of the Yuan clan, but it won't be worth it if we risk losing one of our stronger members, nor do we want to alert the other clans and sects that something is going on. We need as many of our people as we can get when we ascend to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden, otherwise, we might not be able to hold back the other sects when the Ocean G.o.d's Graveyard opens."

The Puppet G.o.d sect had brought all their forces to Cloud King city, preparing to ascend to the floating continent with all their members. The reason behind this was that they had learned that the Ocean G.o.d's Graveyard was opening once more. The floating continent, the Cloud G.o.d's Garden, was a very special place in this hidden realm, it was one of the main reasons the Huo clan could become one of the strongest clans. It was also the existence of this continent that forced the Huo clan to allow the other sects and clans to take part in this compet.i.tion time after time.

The Cloud G.o.d's Garden did not come from this planet, in fact, it didn't even come from this universe. It had been discovered countless years ago by someone whose name had already been lost to time, drifting from owner to owner before eventually being bought by the people who would one day found the Huo, Tian, and Duan clans. They had then joined forces to create this hidden realm around the continent, using it as the core of the hidden realm.

Of course, very few people actually knew the truth of the Cloud G.o.d's Garden, only the very top disciples of each sect and clan were ever told the full truth. Most people didn't even know about the existence of this continent, they were simply told that the Huo clan allowed others to enter this hidden realm out of the kindness of their heart.

Of course, this 'kindness' only existed as long as none of the others that entered this hidden realm found any good resources. It was one thing for a member of a large clan or sect to acquire any good resources, but once an unaffiliated cultivator found anything good, he might be thoroughly 'convinced' to sell what he had found.

There were countless strange places that sp.a.w.ned wondrous resources on the continent, but there were some that stood out from among the rest. One of these places was the Ocean G.o.d's graveyard, a part of the continent that was usually locked up by an array that had existed on the continent since it was first found. After being used as the core of this hidden realm, it had only opened once before, and it was using the resources found in this graveyard that the Tian clan had managed to take the top position amongst all the other clans and sects.

Now that the Ocean G.o.d's Graveyard was opening again, and seemingly none of the other sects and clans knew about it, there was no way the Puppet G.o.d sect would miss this chance. They had prepared for this for several years already, there was no way they would let anything go awry now. The burly man gave another courteous bow and then left the room, handing the order over to Sun Ling.

--

Li Yang was currently walking through the streets of Cloud King city, heading for the five towers at the center of the city. He gave his surroundings a few sweeping glances, somewhat surprised to see that there were actually quite a few non-cultivators living in the city. But giving it a bit more thought, it only made sense that the Huo clan would have some non-cultivators living here, someone had to run the various inns and shops in this city after all.

It didn't take Li Yang long to reach the center of the city, which was a circular plaza only containing a few small vendors and the five towers that lined up side by side. Li Yang could see a few people standing guard in front of the four smaller towers, their robes seemingly representing which sect or clan currently controlled which tower. Li Yang's eyes landed on the center tower, the largest one and the only unguarded one, but before he could start walking towards, someone called out to him and stopped him.

"That's as far as you'll go. Sorry, but I have my orders, so you'll have to die for me here. I don't know if it brings you any comfort, but let me at least tell you the name of the one who killed you, I am Sun Ling of the Puppet G.o.d sect."

Li Yang turned his eyes slightly, his gaze landing a man who was currently walking out from the tower to the far right, the fifth tower. The man was rather tall and had a handsome face, a large scar going diagonally over his nose giving him a heroic look. He had white hair that was tied into a neat ponytail that hung down to his hip and green eyes that glimmered with a faint light. He was clad in the same gray robes as the guards standing in front of the tower, robes that Li Yang recognized as those of the Puppet G.o.d sect. Li Yang swept the man, Sun Ling, with a quick glance before pointing at the floating continent above them.

"You wouldn't happen to know how I can head up there, would you? The map I have only says that I have to use a special array in this city but it doesn't mention if there are any requirements."

Li Yang had been too hasty after receiving the map so he had forgotten to ask if there were any other requirements to use the array to head up to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden. He had heard Sun Ling's words, but he wanted to at least get some information out of him before dealing with him. Sun Ling had the same cultivation as the Yuan clan's Xiang Wuying, half a foot into the Immortal Rebirth realm. He might be strong to others, but Li Yang did not consider him a threat.

Sun Ling's eyebrows p.r.i.c.ked up slightly after hearing Li Yang's reply, somewhat caught off guard. He swept Li Yang with a quick glance, seemingly trying to figure out if there were any hidden plans behind the question. Not figuring out any hidden intentions behind the question, Sun Ling decided to answer, it was the least he could do.

"I wouldn't exactly call them special requirements, its more of a difference in privilege. The token you received to enter this compet.i.tion, if it's one of the tokens given out by a sect or clan, you can enter the middle tower and use the array to head directly up. But if the token is one provided by one of the minor tournaments, you have to wait for at least 99 other people with such tokens to gather and head up with them. The reason it's like this is because of the fact that the array requires quite a bit of energy to activate, so if it had to be activated for each and everyone one of the unaffiliated cultivators who came here one by one, it would cost too much in the long run."

Contrary to what Li Yang expected, Sun Ling actually gave a very detailed answer. He couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard that he had to wait for more people to gather, but there was nothing he could do, this was the difference brought about by status. Had he chosen to compete for one of the remaining Yuan clan spots after becoming an inner disciple, he might have been able to just head directly up. After Li Yang clicked his tongue, Sun Ling spoke up once more.

"Now then, please don't hate me for this."

Sun Ling gave a light wave of his hand, four puppets appearing in front of him. The puppets all clearly used humans as a base but had been altered slightly using some Demonic beast parts to increase their strength. Sun Ling was from the Puppet G.o.d sect, and even though not all the members of this sect specialized in puppets, Sun Ling was one of those that did specialize in puppets. His own strength was a bit lower than he would like, but as long as he had his puppets, he was nearly unbeatable beneath the Immortal Rebirth realm.

The four puppets charged at Li Yang, one spewing out flames, one causing the earth beneath him to explode upwards, one turning the air around him into a prison of sharp needles made from air, and the final one causing spears of metal to sp.a.w.n into existence around him, sealing off all his escape routes. The surrounding onlookers backed up to give the two s.p.a.ce to battle, looking on with interest and amus.e.m.e.nt.

Sun Ling's attack could be said to be rather exquisite, sealing off all of Li Yang's escape routes and even hindering his dodging by causing the earth beneath him to explode. But was something like this enough to deal with someone like Li Yang? No, it was far from enough to deal with a freak like Li Yang.

Li Yang activated both his fire and his lightning based strengthening techniques, barely even glancing at the incoming attacks. When dealing with a puppet user like Sun Ling, the best tactic would always be to go directly for the puppet master.

Li Yang took a step forward, an icy gust billowing forth from his body and swallowing up the four puppets and their attacks. He used the special property of his ice element to freeze the thin strings of Qi and law that Sun Ling used to control his puppets, causing them to collapse like marionettes that had their strings cut. Just to make sure that there wouldn't be any unexpected attacks, he also flooded the bodies of the puppets with his fire, mixing in a tiny amount of golden flames to turn the defenseless dolls into ash.

By the time Li Yang finished his first step, the attacks had been neutralized and the puppets turned to ash, Sun Ling unable to even touch Li Yang's robes with his attack. Li Yang was strong enough to even kill people in the Immortal Rebirth realm, very few people below that cultivation realm were even worth a second glance from him now. This was the strength he acquired after cultivating three different cultivation systems and having the body of a humanoid divine beast, a type of strength that could only be called freakish.

He took another step forward, arcs of azure lightning crackling around him as he turned into a faint blur that vanished from Sun Ling's sight. Before Sun Ling even had the time to blink, Li Yang had arrived in front of him and grabbed onto his throat. Sun Ling didn't even have the time to properly process everything that had happened before he heard Li Yang's voice.

"Sorry, but I have no intention of dying here. If I fail to fulfill that promise, she'll keep pestering me until my ears fall off."

Li Yang tightened his grip on Sun Ling's throat, lightning and thunder flooding into his body and gathering up in his chest, forming a highly concentrated ball. He then lifted Sun Ling up from the ground and jerked his arm, violently throwing Sun Ling at the fifth tower. Sun Ling crashed into one of the windows on the tower, the fire and lightning that had gathered up in his chest running rampant and exploding with a bright light and a thunderous sound. Sun Ling's body was blown apart, but the tower remained unharmed, it was clearly built using a very st.u.r.dy material. Li Yang cast a glance at the tower and spoke out.

"Don't bother sending fodder like that. If you want some respect, at least come for me yourself."

Some of the onlookers didn't understand who he was talking to, but some realized that there was someone looking at the plaza from the window that Sun Ling had just hit. Li Yang continued to look at the tower, but there was no movement from the one standing in the window. It seemed like he wasn't interested in making a move against him, so Li Yang turned his gaze away and stepped towards the center tower, entering it and waiting for enough people to gather up so that he could ascend to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden.