Against The Heavens 157 Cloud Of Death.

Li Yang and the others made their way through the city at a leisure pace, taking their time and inspecting the various structures and shops around them. There were shops of all kinds scattered throughout the city, but there was one type of shop that clearly dominated the market, relics. Relics were the name the people of this universe gave to ancient items they found in old ruins or hidden realms, most of them were broken but could still be used to gain an understanding of the past.

There were even some items that had yet to decay despite the pa.s.sage of years. retaining their might and special attributes. Even the broken ones might retain their special attributes, or the attributes of their previous owner, serving as an inspiration for other people's cultivation. Li Yang's own sword could be considered one such relic, though it was called an artifact in his own universe, it had retained its terror-inducing lightning despite the pa.s.sage of almost countless years.

What's more, it had even gained the poison attribute thanks to the uniqueness of the place where it was kept. Anyone who found it and gained its recognition would have the chance to instantly soar into the skies by focusing on these two attributes. Sadly for others, the blade had returned to the hands of the man who created it, becoming the wings of the dragon.

But these relics were different from any that Li Yang had ever encountered, different from even those he encountered in the most dangerous hidden realms or ruins he had ever entered. The relics in those places might be broken and decayed, the pa.s.sage of time removing nearly all trace of their attributes and turning them into little more than normal items, but even those relics were better off than these.

All these relics were tainted, not broken or decayed but tainted. All of them carried an aura of death that had seeped deep into them and wiped out any trace of their previous attributes, forcibly turning it into the death attribute. Li Yang and the others asked around a bit and found out that all the relics that came out from the ruins were like this, even the most powerful relic to come out of the ruins, the emerald-jeweled crown used by the previous ruler of the city, had ended up like this.

The previous ruler of the city was the Minor Universe ruler Dong Ren, a man who could control an entire Minor Universe and use it as his weapon. Just what sort of state would the law of death have to be to taint and ruin an item this powerful? Li Yang couldn't help but find himself getting more and more curious about this Bloodwind Emperor, exactly what realm had he reached? Of course, not once did Li Yang's confidence waver, it hadn't wavered when he saw Xiang Hong and the man known as Gluttonera, and it wouldn't waver now. One day he would reach that stage, it was just that he was temporarily beneath them.

Time pa.s.sed quickly as they made their way through the city, which was mostly devoid of spectacular sights due to its nature of being a defensive line. The most interesting sight they saw was an item enshrined within the centermost building in the city, the corrupted crown of Dong Ren, which they reached after almost a full day of walking. What was once a crown made from gold and platinum and decorated with walnut-sized jewels had now become a strange mixture of black and white, a faint mist carrying both of these colors seeping out of the crown and coiling around it for a bit before sinking back into it.

The crown hadn't just been tainted by the law of death but also by the law of life. Strangely enough, it seemed like the Bloodwind Emperor actually used both his laws in battle, rather than just the offensively-geared law of death. As the group was looking at the crown, which was surrounded on all sides by a thick layer of transparent crystal covered in nearly invisible runes, they noticed that the mist seeping out of it started to pulsate slightly. A shrill and piercing screech echoed across the entire city before anyone had the chance to ask any questions, a loud voice reaching every corner of the city.

"Swarm spotted approaching the city at high velocity, archers and spearmen report to the top of the wall while the fighters head to the gates!"

Loud sounds immediately burst forth from all around the city, some people rus.h.i.+ng to the walls while others rushed to get away from them, preparing their own defenses. Li Yang and the others locked eyes, a faint smile playing at the corners of Li Yang's lips.

"Well, seems like they've arrived. More impatient than I expected, I thought they'd at least give us two or three days to settle in."

Li Yang had underestimated just how much the Deathcloud Warriors hungered for the tremendous lifeforce he and his group carried within them. Had it been just a slight bit greater, they would have been swarmed the moment they got within 1000 kilometers of the ruins, the Deathcloud Warriors wouldn't have given a single thought about the difference in strength.

The three people and one wolf left the building where the corrupted crown was enshrined and entered the sea of people making their way through the streets. They spotted several squadrons of armored guards rapidly marching towards the walls, some carrying bows while others carried short spears that could easily be thrown.

They cut a path straight through the sea of people by moving in the opposite direction, quickly arriving at a spot not far from large walls. A few squadrons of guards armed with various melee weapons rapidly pa.s.sed by them and left through the small doors that served as the entrances to the city, probably taking up their positions outside. The city itself was a fortress, but that didn't mean that they could just let the enemy enter the city, they had to set up a line of defense in front of the gates.

There was no need for words when they reached their position, Fang Ying simply quietly pat Langshen on the head and had him teleport all of them to the top of the wall. Zhao Feng took action the moment they reached the top of the wall, using his law of the soul to confuse the souls of all the soldiers around them, implanting the notion that Li Yang and the others weren't there.

Li Yang sat down on the wall, his legs dangling over the edge as he surveyed the surroundings. There were armored soldiers, as well as people clad in the robes of the three large organizations, scattered all across the top of the wall as well as outside it. A quick count of just those he could see revealed that there were already about 15 thousand people gathered up and ready to battle. It had only been a bit over half a minute since the alarm was sounded so it was clear that everyone here was exceedingly skilled in their duty. But as Li Yang's gaze moved across the plain outside the city, he couldn't help but let out a soft whistle.

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"He~h, so those are the Deathcloud Warriors, huh? Yeah, I can see how they got their name. They really are just energy given form and consciousness, they should make for excellent cultivation material if you can just erase that consciousness."

Swarming across the barren plain were several tens of thousands of humanoid figures that seemed to be made entirely out of black mist. The ones at the front were just barely humanoid while those who were further back in the swarm slowly became more humanoid, but there wasn't a single one among them that was fully humanoid or had a solid form. As they flooded forward they seemed more like a ma.s.sive black cloud rolling towards the city, the stench of death following wherever the cloud went.

The first arrows were fired less than three seconds after Li Yang whistled, explosions of varying intensity and elements exploding among the Deathcloud Warriors. Short spears quickly followed the arrows, tearing into the dark cloud and decimating the Deathcloud Warriors at the front. But where one fell, another rose to take its place, the cloud not once stopping or slowing down.

The warriors gathered up in front of the wall steeled themselves and charged forward once the cloud got within 50 kilometers of the city. They launched their attacks the moment they crashed into the cloud, dust and energy of various elements shooting into the sky. The archers and spearmen never once relented in their attacks, efficiently and quickly launching new ones that whizzed past the soldiers on the ground.

But as Li Yang observed the situation, he saw that there would occasionally be an archer or a spearman from one of the three organizations who would launch an attack that was intentionally aimed at one of the soldiers that came from one of the two opposing forces. Fang Ying couldn't help but scowl at the scene, shooting a sideways glare at the ones that launched those attacks.

"Really, people can be so disappointing at times. They're all at risk of dying yet they still choose to make things harder for themselves like this, it's sad."

If the Deathcloud Warriors managed to enter the city then it didn't matter how quickly these archers could move, they would be unable to enter the reinforced buildings of the city before they were slaughtered by this cloud of death. Li Yang was much more casual about their actions, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's just how people are, selfish b.a.s.t.a.r.ds every one of them, even we are like that. If you ask not just me, but probably even them, then you are the strange one. But hey, it's always been strange people who've made a difference, so it probably isn't a bad thing to be considered strange."

Li Yang gave Fang Ying a quick wink as he ended his sentence, causing her and Zhao Feng to roll their eyes. Li Yang ignored their rolling eyes, his gaze once again drifting over the cloud that was slowly rolling closer to the city. The corners of his mouth raised up slightly as his hands pushed off of the city wall, pus.h.i.+ng his body out into empty air.

"All right, time to check out how special these Deathcloud Warriors are."