Against The Heavens 103 Once Again, That Sword.

After stepping through the gates of the tower, Li Yang entered a circular hall where the walls were lined with doors. The hall itself was spa.r.s.ely decorated, with only a few wooden tables and chairs covered in silk placed around for people to sit on. Clearly, the ones who built this tower didn't want people to wait around in this hall for too long. There was an ornate spiral staircase to the right of the entrance, leading the way up to the higher floors of the tower.

Li Yang's gaze landed on the door located at the other end of the room, mainly because it was the only door guarded by two men. The two men had both reached the Immortal Rebirth realm, one the early and one the late stage, and both were clad in the orange robes of the Huo clan. Each carried a long halberd, crossing them in front of the door and preventing anyone from getting close to the door. One of the guards had black hair and blue eyes while the other had brown hair and black eyes, both of them having somewhat slim and toned bodies. There was no one else currently in the hall so Li Yang decided that he might as well ask these two guards.

"Is the array to head up to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden located behind that door?"

It made some sense for there to be guards in front of the spatial array, as there were differences between when people could use the array. Their job was likely to prevent people like Li Yang from using the array before enough people like him had gathered up. The blue-eyed guard swept Li Yang with a quick gaze and then nodded his head.

"Aye, but you'll need to show your token before we let you pa.s.s and use the array."

Li Yang swiped his interspatial ring and took out his token, which was shaped like an orange cloud, showing it to the two guards. They only took a short glance at it before shaking their heads, the blue-eyed one speaking out again.

"With that token, you'll have to wait for more people with a similar token to gather. There are currently 48 people waiting so it should only take another two or three weeks. You can find an empty room in this tower to wait in, we will sound a loud bell when 100 people have gathered. Of course, you can try to charge past us, we'll even let you use the array if you can get past us and activate the array. But in accordance with the rules and our duty, we will try to kill you with everything we have."

Li Yang looked the two guards up and down, gauging them with his eyes. But eventually, he gave a light shrug of his shoulders and headed for the staircase that led to the second floor. Trying to deal with two people at the Immortal Rebirth realm would be far from easy, there was no need to take a risk like that right now.

All the rooms on the first floor were locked and marked as occupied so he ascended to the second floor, which looked practically the exact same as the first floor, and found an empty room he could use. The rooms only contained a bed and a closet, not even a single table or chair. Li Yang walked over to the bed and sat down on it, crossing his legs and closing his eyes in quiet cultivation.

--

A week after Li Yang started quietly cultivating, a group of people arrived at Cloud King city, immediately drawing the attention of the citizens. The group consisted of five people, three men and two women, each of them clad in the light green robes of the Tian clan. Walking at the back of this group was the round-faced and black-haired Tian Gong, the green-haired and blue-eyed Tian Shui, as well as the green-haired and black-eyed Tian Zedong. All three of these people were at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, yet they were walking respectfully behind the pair walking ahead of them.

The two walking at the front were the emerald-haired and brown-eyed Tian Zheng and the white-haired and emerald-eyed Fang Ying, both of them exuding an aura of elegance and dignity. With the silvery-gray wolf Langshen walking at Fang Ying's side, the two painted a beautiful picture that made it seem like they were to not be approached by anyone. One was the future leader of the Tian clan and the other was the woman who was to become one of his wives. With this group walking through the city, how could they not attract the attention of everyone?

Tian Zheng ignored the gazes of the surrounding people, chatting with Fang Ying while they were heading towards the five towers at the center of the city.

"We've almost reached the transportation tower, soon we'll be able to reach the Cloud G.o.d's Garden. Junior Sister Ying, would now perhaps be a good time for you to tell me why you wish to head up there?"

The moment they had entered this hidden realm, Fang Ying had immediately started rushing towards this city, saying that she had to get to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden. She had always kept a respectful distance from him, barely sparing him a second glance, so Tian Zheng saw this as a good chance to get closer to this future wife of his. But sadly, she had yet to even give him the slightest hint about why she wanted to go to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden. Fang Ying smiled slightly but didn't give Tian Zheng a proper answer.

"Why are you always in such a rush to pry into the privacy of a fair maiden? Won't you see why I wish to go there once we reach it? Are you perhaps so impatient that you can't even wait for a bit longer?"

The eyebrows of Tian Gong and the two others in the back couldn't help but twitch slightly when they heard Fang Ying's words, which could be considered somewhat insulting, but Tian Zheng still kept a graceful and charming smile on his face.

"Indeed, forgive me for my hastiness, it seems I am unable to rid myself of that nasty trait. I'll just patiently wait, that way I will be able to be perfectly surprised when I finally see what has riled up Junior Sister Ying like this."

The group quickly reached the center of the city, the citizens and cultivators wandering around it making s.p.a.ce for them. Tian Zheng glanced at the four other towers, his eyes narrowing faintly, a silent warning that the ones within the towers better stay quiet. The group stepped into the center tower and faced the two guards, showing them their tokens while Tian Zheng smiled sweetly at Fang Ying.

"Junior Sister Ying, I have notified the other disciples that we will be heading up to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden, I imagine that more of them should be arriving fairly soon. What do you say we wait for them here and travel up in one group?"

The Cloud G.o.d's Garden was after all one of the better places in this hidden realm to gather resources, having more of his fellow clan disciples arrive would only make things better for them. But clearly, Fang Ying did not share his sentiment.

"You may wait for them if you wish, but I will head up immediately."

Fang Ying did not even give Tian Zheng a chance to prepare a counterargument before she brought Langshen and stepped past the two guards, entering the empty room that laid behind the door they were guarding. Tian Zheng could only let out a breath and follow Fang Ying, the three others swiftly following him into the room, the array that covered the entire room quickly activating after being fed some Spirit Stones.

--

Li Yang opened his eyes and put a temporary halt to his cultivation, standing up from the bed and stretching his body. A week had pa.s.sed since he entered this room, and in that week these breaks were a common occurrence. He didn't take the breaks because he needed them, he took them so that he could check how many people had arrived, he didn't want to be snubbed out of his chance to use the array after all.

He sent out his Qi and Vital Essence, mixing them with his various laws so that he could get a clear view of the floors of this tower as well as the various rooms. As the first floor was already full when he first arrived, he started his counting from the higher floors and made his way down. Now that a week had pa.s.sed, the previous 48 waiting people had grown to 67 people waiting, only 33 left before they could head up.

After counting the new arrivals, he did a cursory sweep of the first floor, just a casual check to see if anyone new was currently arriving. The previous seven times he had checked the first floor revealed nothing new, but as he checked it this time, his breath caught in his throat. The door to the room with the array was slightly open, and thanks to that he was able to just barely catch a glimpse of a tuft of silvery-white hair and an exceedingly familiar aura that struck directly at his heart. But just as he noticed her, the array fully activated and she was sent away, up to the Cloud G.o.d's Garden.

There was no way he would mistake that aura for anyone else, he was completely certain of that. She had been here just a few seconds ago, in the same building as him. Had he done his usual sweep a bit earlier, or just done it a bit faster, he would have noticed her before the array activated, he could have notified her of his presence, they could have instantly met up.

A thunderous sound rang out and the door to Li Yang's room exploded outwards, turning into tiny fragments that dissolved into dust in the process. An indistinguishable blur shot out from his room while the door was exploding outwards, instantly descending the spiral staircase and arriving in front of the two guards. The two guards tightly grasped their halberds, shouting out as their Qi started to billow forth from their bodies.

"Halt! If you try to take another step forward, we will attack with the intent to kill!"

Li Yang stopped in front of the two guards, his eyes firmly locked on the door behind them. He could still chase after her if he used the array behind that door, it was unlikely that she had managed to get far away on such short notice. Li Yang cast a slight glance at the two guards that were currently inspecting him, somewhat curious why he was so agitated.

"I'll only say this once, let me pa.s.s. If you don't, I won't show you any mercy."

He wanted to see her. More than anything else, he wanted to see her again, to hold her. All other thoughts had been tossed to the back of his mind, everything else forgotten. The only thing that remained was an intense desire and an unyielding determination to fulfill his desire. The two guards didn't respond, simply tightening their grasp on the halberds and pointing the tips at Li Yang. Their actions spoke more than words, Li Yang's eyes narrowing as a result.

"So be it."

The moment after he spoke, Li Yang unleashed his full strength, even drawing out what little golden lightning and golden fire he could use.. The right side of his body started to crackle with golden lightning while golden flames started to gather around the left side of his body, the ground beneath his feet freezing and cracking. Tiny droplets of ice started to appear in the air within the room, dropping to the ground and shattering. These droplets weren't frozen water, they were a result of Li Yang's strange ice element freezing even the Qi within the room. Once he grew strong enough, a simple wave of his hand might be enough to freeze all the Qi on an entire planet, rendering most cultivators powerless.

A violet-golden light flashed in his right palm, a simple sword appearing in his grasp. The hilt of the sword was bound in black leather that had thin violet veins running through it, the blade itself was deep golden in color, a violet wavy pattern running along the back of the blade. As the golden lightning his body unleashed sank into it, the blade unleashed a joyous screeching sound, the air around it distorting as the power the sword unleashed grew frenzied. For the second time since he acquired it, Li Yang brought out his actual sword.

He didn't care that they saw his golden flames or golden lightning, he didn't even care that they saw his sword. Right now he just wanted to rush to Fang Ying's side at his fastest speed, everything else could be dealt with afterward.

The previously confident guards faltered slightly when they saw Li Yang's state, their hearts clenching slightly. They were filled with a sense of dread when they looked at him and the elements he unleashed, something that shouldn't be possible given the difference in their cultivation. They further tightened their grasps on the halberds, stepping forward to face Li Yang.

But just as they took their step, Li Yang made his move. Whether it was his golden flames and lightning, or his actual sword, neither were things he could use for too long. If he let this drag out for too long, it would not end well for him. So his plan was to end it all in one attack, he would carve open a path with a single swipe of his sword.

All his laws, his Qi, his Vital Essence, and his Dark Star Essence all gathered in his right arm, sinking into his sword and forming a tiny pitch-black dot at the tip of the blade. His law of fire was about to start fighting with his law of ice and law of lightning when they came into contact, but thanks to his law of destruction he was able to force the other laws to quiet down and obey in silence.

He swung his sword in a sideways slash, the tip of his blade tracing a thin black line in the air. And as he slashed out, all sound within the tower vanished, drowned out by a screeching sound that seemed to pierce into one's mind. The frozen ground in the hall completely shattered and sank down, as if a meteor had crashed into it. Every door on the first floor of the tower disintegrated under the force of the attack, the screeching sound leaking into the city through the now open entrance.

When the screeching sound died down, the two guards had been sent flying into the walls of the hall. The weaker one had both his arms and several of his ribs shattered, a deep gash on his chest bleeding profusely, several smaller cuts on his body drenching him in blood. The wounds were slowly growing, the law of fire and the law of destruction causing them to get worse and worse as time pa.s.sed.

The stronger of the two guards was better off, he was covered in his own blood, but his bones weren't broken and his cuts weren't as deep. But his legs were trembling fiercely, nearly unable to support his body as he looked at the ruined floor and the cultivators who were looking at the room with curiosity and shock.

He turned his head slightly and saw that Li Yang was already standing in the room with the array, using several Spirit Stones to power it up. The array wasn't unscatched after being so close to the attack he launched using all his might. Several cracks were spreading through the room, causing the array to be somewhat unstable. But even if it could no longer send him to the same place as it had sent Fang Ying, it was not so damaged that it would send him too far away from that location.

Li Yang's face was rather pale after putting all his might into that one attack, but he didn't let it stop him from feeding several Spirit Stones to the array, not even casting a glance at the onlooking people as the array activated and sent him away in a flash of white light.

He could feel the array fold s.p.a.ce around him into a coc.o.o.n that shielded him as he was sent through s.p.a.ce. The coc.o.o.n was rather unsteady, the ride far from comfortable as he felt like he was being tossed around in stormy waters. After what felt like several minutes, the unstable coc.o.o.n around Li Yang dissipated, allowing him to see that he was currently standing in the midst of a dense forest. He could see clouds not far above him so he knew that he had reached the Cloud G.o.d's Garden, now he just had to quickly find the place that Fang Ying had been sent.