Against The Heavens 35 Reborn In Fire.

But Li Yang knew that this was only temporary, the terrifying heat that the green mist contained would sooner or later tear him apart, all he had to do was wait for it. After only a short moment of waiting, he felt a p.r.i.c.kling pain in his arms, as if a small needle had been inserted into his hand.

Li Yang glanced down at his arms and paid close attention. A tiny green dot had appeared on his hands, right above one of his veins. The p.r.i.c.kling pain slowly grew stronger, more and more green dots appearing on his hands. When the green dots on his hand grew to cover a little less than half of his hands, they started spreading up his arms.

The p.r.i.c.kling pain turned into a searing pain as if Li Yang's arms were held in boiling water. The green dots continued to slowly spread up his arms, only reaching his elbows after half an hour. After they reached his elbows, Li Yang also felt a searing pain slowly spread up his legs.

By the time the green dots had reached his elbows and started on his legs, two of Li Yang's fingers were completely covered in green dots, slowly dissolving under the heat and turning into a green mist that joined the rest of the mist around Li Yang. Despite the pain in his arms, and the spectacle of his fingers slowly dissolving, Li Yang continued to watch on with a calm gaze, his teeth slightly grit as he muttered to himself.

"I once rebuilt my body using the lightning of the heavens themselves, this fire is nothing in comparison."

The lightning Li Yang spoke of was the lightning that cultivators would have to face when they experienced a heavenly tribulation. Compared to the pain he was feeling now, the pain of rebuilding his body using that lightning was far greater, nearly breaking his mind and driving him into madness.

The pain continued to spread, slowly reaching the rest of Li Yang's body. Whenever a part of his body became completely covered with green dots, it would start to dissolve under the heat. The first body parts to completely dissolve were Li Yang's arms, then his legs followed an hour later, his lower body was dissolved after three more hours, his torso after another six hours, and his head was completely dissolved after another 12 hours.

Yet despite his entire body dissolving, Li Yang's consciousness was still present, kept alive by the array that forced his soul to stay in place. With his soul still alive, Li Yang was still able to feel the scorching pain that had dissolved his entire body. The pain even started to invade his soul, turning into a pain that was on a completely different scale, pain that would drive people into sniveling children.

Focusing on keeping his mind intact and resisting the pain, Li Yang completely lost track of how much time pa.s.sed. He only faintly realized that his body was slowly being rebuilt by the green mist, slightly stronger than it had been before it first was dissolved. Once his body was rebuilt, as naked as the day he had been born, it was once more invaded by the green mist.

But the pain that came this time was different. Now it felt like there were worms of molten fire crawling beneath his skin, eating his flesh and tearing at his organs. His body vanished in chunks as if it was truly being eaten by a myriad of tiny creatures slithering beneath his skin. Once more his body was dissolved, the green mist invading his soul once again, forcing him to focus on preserving his mind.

His body continued to be dissolved and then reborn out of the flame, his soul invaded by flames time and time again. Li Yang had to admit that Zhao Feng had truly outdone himself with this test. The number of times Li Yang had been forced to endure pain like this could be counted on one hand, and he also truly believed that there was no one other than Zhao Feng who could make someone's soul experience such pain.

It was not only his body that grew stronger each time it was dissolved, his soul and runes also received a similar baptism. His soul was scorched and scarred every time his body was dissolved, and then slowly healed after his body was rebuilt, growing slightly stronger after healing.

His runes only grew slightly stronger, his fire rune growing hotter and more resplendent. His lightning rune also grew slightly hotter thanks to the heat of the flames, the lightning rune he had now was only a normal lightning rune after all. The fire that was dissolving his body was colder than the lightning of the heavens, but it was far hotter than normal lightning. The last rune that grew slightly stronger thanks to the heat was his ice rune, growing denser and colder to deal with the encroaching heat.

Because Li Yang was mostly focusing on keeping his mind intact and resisting the pain, he had no way of telling how much time pa.s.sed, how many days he endured through the soul-scorching heat, or how many times his body had been dissolved and then reborn. But when his body was reborn once more, the scorching heat stopping, a very familiar voice ringing in his mind.

"You have completed my trial, earning the right to hold one of the four emblems needed to enter the Thunder Flower Memorial. Only by gathering all four emblems will you earn the right to learn the skills of the greatest cultivator I have ever known."

The voice ringing out in his mind was very dear to Li Yang, it was the voice of Zhao Feng. But Li Yang knew that the words he was hearing right now were only a recording set to sound out whenever someone completed the trial, even if he tried to say anything, there would be no response.

The green mist gathered in front of Li Yang's face, gathering together and forming a palm-sized emblem that was square in shape and engraved with a silver moon floating above a tranquil lake, the reflection of the moon in the lake dyed a deep golden color, the mark of Zhao Feng.

The emblem floated towards Li Yang's chest and sank into it, turning into a part of him. After the emblem sank into his chest, the green mist gathered around his body, turning into a loose green robe that he could wear. Li Yang looked at the robe and let out a slight breath of relief, he had stupidly brought all his other items with him into the array, so they had completely dissolved under the heat. Had it not been for the green mist forming clothing, he would have to walk around naked until he could acquire something else to wear.

Li Yang let his gaze roam around the green mist one last time, before turning around and walking out of the array through the same path that he had used to enter. He had completed one of the trials, but he still had to complete three more if he wanted access to his own tomb.