Against The Heavens 123 Wraith Contract.

The other people in the area could only cast sideways glances at Li Yang's group of three, some still hoping for the cordial atmosphere between them breaking down while others were impatiently waiting for them to decide that it was time to enter the volcano. They were all eager to enter the volcano and try to get their hands on at least a small piece of the treasure, but they did not dare enter the volcano on their own, they were too scared to move before Tian Zheng and the others did.

But sadly for them, the group of three continued to calmly chat with each other even as the days started to pa.s.s, none of them even casting a glance at the volcano. The three of them knew that entering it without more people was idiotic, the three of them might be able to escape with a few wounds, but everyone else here would die. After all, the Demonic beast guarding the treasure was different from the panther they had killed in the palace, this one not only had higher cultivation, but it was also in perfect health, it wasn't weakened as the panther was. Two days after the two of them arrived in the area, Fang Ying turned her head slightly to the side.

"The next one's arrived."

Fang Ying had some experience with the law of s.p.a.ce thanks to Langshen so her senses were quite a bit more honed than most people's, as such she was the first one to detect the arrival of the next future clan leader. Shortly after she announced it, both Li Yang and Tiang Zhen also detected the newcomer that arrived on the island. Recognizing the one that had arrived, Tian Zheng's eyebrows rose slightly as a somewhat amused expression appeared on his face, his eyes glancing at Li Yang, who still remained indifferent.

A few minutes later, a man who was a little over two meters tall arrived by the lake, shoulder-length black hair hanging loosely down from his head, a stubble of white hair visible on his chin and beneath his nose. The future patriarch of the Puppet G.o.d Sect, Xiong Xieren, looked at the gathered people with a slightly sullen look. His gaze lingered on Li Yang and Fang Ying for a short moment before he closed his eyes and took a breath so deep it caused his chest and stomach to bulge out violently. When he exhaled and opened his eyes again, they were completely calm.

Li Yang had plenty of experience with people, he could easily tell if someone was hiding something in their eyes. Which is why he was rather surprised when he looked at Xiong Xieren's eyes, because they weren't hiding anything. All the l.u.s.t and greed he had felt for Fang Ying earlier had been discarded, all that remained was an at best slightly interested light in his eyes.

Xiong Xieren walked over to the table where the three were sitting, Tian Zheng swiping his interspatial ring and preparing another chair and an extra cup for him. Xiong Xieren stopped next to Li Yang for a short moment, removing an interspatial ring from the hem of his robe, placing it in front of Li Yang and giving him a slight nod.

"Don't let it be said that the future patriarch of the Puppet G.o.d Sect does not know when to show grat.i.tude. You don't use any puppets, but the items in the ring can also be used to strengthen your body so they should still be of some use to you. Thank you for showing a modic.u.m of mercy to my fellow disciples in the Cloud Wilderness, and thank you for saving my fellow disciples on that blasted island."

Xiong Xieren sat down on the prepared chair and took a sip of the prepared tea after talking, his expression still perfectly calm. He had received the report from his subordinates so he knew what happened on the island with the Devil's Grasp Vine, he knew of the strength Li Yang had revealed. Strange arrays, strange variations of the elements, and a strength that did not befit his actual cultivation, all these forced Xiong Xieren to admit that Li Yang was someone he had to take very seriously.

And what's worse, he had no idea what Li Yang's bottom line was. Exactly where was the limit to his strength, how many other cards did he have hidden? All the future clan and sect leaders knew practically everything about each other, so people like Li Yang and Fang Ying, those that were on their level but kept their cards hidden, was something they had to treat very carefully.

Li Yang picked up the purple ring with a raised eyebrow, giving the contents a quick inspection. It contained not only quite a few Spirit Stones but also several resources that one could use to strengthen a puppet, or their own body. Some of the items were rather expensive so Li Yang guessed that Xiong Xieren cared a great deal about the disciples that entered this compet.i.tion.

Li Yang made sure that there was no tracing mark on the ring or any of its contents before storing it into his own interspatial ring, giving Xiong Xieren a slight nod. Since he didn't want to antagonize them, there was no need to pointlessly antagonize him. Tian Zheng looked at their interaction with a thin smile, turning his head slightly towards Xiong Xieren.

"And here I was worried you would start trouble for Brother Yang by trying to take Junior Sister Ying for yourself. You were quite fond of her, weren't you? It must feel quite bad to see her with someone else."

Tian Zheng would not give up any chance to poke fun at Xiong Xieren, each of the future clan and sect leaders wanted to tear down the other leaders and have their own clan be the sole ruler of the planet. Xiong Xieren glanced at Tian Zheng, but his expression didn't change much, he simply let out a snort.

"If I recall correctly, wasn't she supposed to be your future wife? I am certain that it feels quite a bit worse for you than it does for me. And don't belittle me, I am Xiong Xieren, the future patriarch of the Puppet G.o.d Sect, I will not stoop so low as to steal someone else's wife away from them. Since she ended up with him and not with me, it simply means that it was never meant to be between us."

Just like Tian Zheng had his pride as the future patriarch of the Tian clan, Xiong Xieren had his pride as the future patriarch of the Puppet G.o.d Sect. And just like Tian Zheng had realized after receiving the report, Xiong Xieren too had realized that it was unwise to make an enemy of Li Yang. The fact that he had not killed everyone from the Puppet G.o.d Sect in the Cloud Wilderness and on the previous island showed that he didn't have a blood grudge against the Puppet G.o.d Sect, meaning that it was still possible for Xiong Xieren to foster a somewhat decent relationship between them.

Tian Zheng's eyebrow twitched slightly when Xiong Xieren dug straight at the heart of the matter, but he didn't make a quick retort, remaining politely quiet. The four of them proceeded to calmly chat, awaiting the arrival of at least one more future clan leader. The next one to arrive stepped onto the island after a further two days of waiting, Fang Ying announcing their arrival.

"Another one has... Scratch that, two more have arrived, one from each end of the island."

The other people in the area perked up when they heard her announcement, they knew that this meant that it was time to enter the volcano. After a few minutes, two people arrived on the sh.o.r.e of the lake, simultaneously looking at the table where Li Yang and the others were sitting. One of them was a somewhat short yet burly and rugged man with a bald head that was neatly polished, the tattoo of a crimson eagle covering the entire left side of his face, his left eye was blue and his right eye was crimson.

The other person to arrive was a tall and slender woman with a buxom figure and a large scar that diagonally across her entire face. She had short brown hair that only hung down to her ears and deep green eyes, compared to the delicate and luxurious robes of Tian Zheng and the others, she was clad in what appeared to be a robe made from the skin of a silver bear, its head resting on her right shoulder. Li Yang looked at the two people but wasn't able to recognize either of them, Fang Ying whispering to him in a low voice.

"The bald one is Yuan Peng, he's the future patriarch of your Yuan clan. That woman over there is Cui Xiuying, the future matriarch of the Myriad Beasts Sect."

Li Yang nodded his head faintly in understanding, examining the two new arrivals as they walked over. The eyes of the two people landed on Li Yang, Cui Xiuying tossing him a brown interspatial ring with a casual smile.

"Take it, the Demonic beast parts inside it ought to help you with your cultivation, consider it my thanks for saving my cute lil' disciples when they were in a pickle. Also, I like your robe, you should come over to my sect, we'll treat ya better than the needlessly prim Yuan clan ever could."

Li Yang caught the interspatial ring, and after making sure that neither it nor its contents carried a tracing mark, stored it into his own interspatial ring. He was currently clad in the violet wolf robes that he had gotten quite fond of in this life, they were far closer to the clothes of the Myriad Beast sect than the neat robes of the other clans and sects. Yuan Peng spoke up with a light chuckle before Li Yang even got the chance to open his mouth.

"Heh, interested in my Junior Brother, are you? But sorry, we've made sure to properly train and guide him, so there's no way he'll go over to a sect filled with your ilk, he'll join me in bringing the Yuan clan to new heights. Junior Brother Yang, it's good that you protected your fellow disciples, I will make sure that the clan rewards you handsomely when we return."

Li Yang slightly raised an eyebrow, casting a sideways glance at Yuan Peng. While the Yuan clan hadn't been bad to him, it most certainly hadn't been as good to him as Yuan Peng was making it seem. Guide and train him? When had they ever done anything of the sort? But as he couldn't be bothered to point it out, he simply cast a sideways glance at Tian Zheng, who nodded his head and stood up.

"Well then, it seems like we now have enough people here to enter the volcano and see if we can't get our hands on that treasure. But before that, I would like everyone here to join me in signing a Wraith Contract, it'll allow all of us to work together far more smoothly."

Tian Zheng took out an ashen scroll that seemed to be made from thinly sliced bones. He also took out a vial filled with thick red blood, dipping his finger in the blood and using it to write down a few paragraphs on the ashen scroll.

A Wraith Contract was one of the stranger types of artifacts one could manufacture, it was almost like a small array contained in a scroll. By signing the contract with some of your own blood, a small wraith would latch onto you and make sure that you followed what the contract stated, eating away your soul should you go against the contract. It was an indispensable item for when one wanted to negotiate or trade between larger clans. People who had trained their souls quite a bit could resist the wraith, but Tian Zheng did not believe that any of the people here had souls that strong.

Li Yang, Fang Ying, and the future clan leaders all gave the scroll a quick read over, making sure that Tian Zheng hadn't added anything strange to it. Once they were certain that the contract was good enough, they extracted some blood from their fingers and signed the contract with their names, an invisible clump of energy latching onto their souls. After the contract was signed, Tian Zheng turned to Li Yang.

"Brother Yang, do you think you could surround the volcano with an array?"

He wanted Li Yang to surround the volcano with an array partly to make the battle easier and partly to see if he had any other arrays that they didn't know about. But Li Yang quickly shook his head, disappointing Tian Zheng.

"Not gonna happen. The beast inside already knows that we're here, do you really think that it'll let us get close enough to draw up an array? And if you want me to draw up an array that is large enough to escape the notice of the beast, you would have to give me the blood of every single cultivator present, as well as every single Spirit Stone and other resources they have in their interspatial rings. Of course, that also includes the lot of you."

Li Yang had just drained the last of his resources to draw up the array needed to carve a path through the Devil's Grasp Vine, he currently only had the three secondary hearts as well as the resources he just received from Cui Xiuying and Xiong Xieren. Tian Zheng and the others let out a light sigh after receiving the response, Cui Xiuying's gaze landing on the volcano.

"Figures, would've been too nice and easy if we could just draw up an array strong enough to deal with that thing. Guess that means the only option left is to charge it before it charges us."

Tian Zheng nodded his head and put away the table and the chairs. With the strength of the beast, it definitely already knew about them gathering here. But since it hadn't attacked them already, it was clearly very reluctant to leave the volcano just yet, it probably wanted to eat the treasure first and then kill them all. But treasures that could cause such a commotion were not simple things, eating them was far from easy, so it likely had to either wait or prepare a few things first. As such, now was the best time for them to charge it if they wanted the treasure to remain intact.

The six people, and one wolf, all looked at each other, nodding their heads in agreement. The hundreds of other people that had also gathered by the lake also knew that it was about to begin, all of them pulling out their weapons as they began to seethe with excitement, wondering just what sort of beast and treasure they would find inside the volcano.