Against The Heavens 24 Four Monarchs.

After spending another week fully digesting the energy inside the Metal Eater's Demon Crystal, Li Yang opened his eyes and stood up. He took a quick shower and ate some food to refill his energy, before beckoning over Jinwu.

Jinwu hopped onto Li Yang's shoulder and the two of them left the inn. Li Yang was not heading out to accept a mission, he was instead heading over to the branch of the Universe Merchants.

All he had to do to increase his cultivation was to increase the size of his dantian, so if he could get his hands on the flesh, blood, or Demon Crystals of strong Demonic beasts, he could quickly increase his cultivation. The Demon Crystal of the Metal Eater had slightly increased the size of his dantian, but that was only slightly, not even large enough to engrave a single new rune.

Of course, Li Yang did not expect to be able to buy anything just yet. Demonic beast parts cost a large amount of money, especially if it was a strong Demonic beast. With the money he had now, hoping to buy parts from any Strong Demonic beasts was nothing but a foolish dream.

"Greetings. Would you mind telling me how things work inside the Universe Merchants branch?"

Li Yang stood outside the six stories tall blue pyramid that was the branch of the Universe Merchants. He spotted a guard standing at the entrance, so he walked over with a faint smile and asked politely. He did not know how the Universe Merchants worked, so it was best to ask before entering.

"Newcomer eh? It's very simple. Anyone can enter the first floor to buy or sell their wares, but you will have to show some wealth or at least a sell-able item that is worth a bit before you can enter the higher floors. On the first two floors, the currency is money, but on any floor above those two, you will need Spirit Stones."

The guard looked Li Yang up and down, but he did not seem to pay attention to his short stature, quickly explaining how things worked inside. Spirit Stones were crystals that had absorbed a certain amount of Qi, the purer the Qi they contained, the rarer they were and the more they were worth. Most cultivators used them for cultivation, running arrays, as well as currency.

"The higher the floor, the more expensive and rare the sold items become. While everyone can buy or sell items inside, only people that have become members of the guild can do so without a fee on every item. As for members of the guild, as long as they pay the annual fee, they don't have to pay any fees."

The Universe Merchants were a guild, after all, so they would, of course, give their members more favorable circ.u.mstances than nonmembers. Of course, the guild itself would also often buy items from people who were not members.

"Of course, if anyone were to steal or sell bad items inside the branch of the Universe Merchants, then that person would be hunted down by both the Universe Merchants as well as the Royal Dragon Pavilion."

If the Universe Merchants did not offer any type of protection, there was no way there would be people who were willing to sell their items inside the Universe Merchants Branch.

"Thank you very much."

Li Yang thanked the guard and headed into the pyramid. Entering was like moving into a new world, all the noise from the city just suddenly vanishing. There was an array that made sure that the temperature on the inside was constantly cool, a refreshing fragrance drifting through the air.

The floor was made using a type of softwood that had been polished until it shone. A myriad of stands and blankets were located around the inside, with people peddling the wares they had placed on the stands or blankets.

To the left of the entrance that Li Yang had just used was a set of stairs, two guards preventing people from heading up without first showing sufficient wealth. Despite there being a large number of people walking around, it was not as noisy as Li Yang expected it to be.

Li Yang swept the various shops with his eyes, quickly spotting a shop that he was interested in. The shop featured a large variety of robes in all kinds of sizes and shapes. Li Yang only had the single wolf skin robe that he made the first time he entered the Cloud Wilderness, so it was about time to get some new clothes.

"Do you make specialized clothing?"

Li Yang walked up to the stand and looked at the various robes as he asked the seller, a slightly older man who had a long white beard that was braided with a few colorful beads. Behind the old man was a wall as well as a door, so it seemed like the Universe Merchants had given him a room where he could work.

"Aye. As long as it's not too extravagant, if you give me half an hour, I can make most types of clothing."

The man looked Li Yang up and down, trying to see if he was an actual customer or just a child who was curious. He eventually nodded his head and responded. He raised his hand and circulated a bit of his Qi, a thread of fabric appearing in his palm. It was clear that he was proficient in using the laws of either threads or cloth.

"Excellent. I would like to commission you to make some robes for me. It's fine if they look like the ones I am wearing now, but I would like for them to be violet in color. If possible, I would like a small and soft pillow to be sown into the left shoulder."

Li Yang nodded his head with a smile and started explaining what he wanted. He was fine with the robes being in the form of wolf skin robes, as he had grown slightly attached to the wolf skin robes he wore.

After all, they were the first type of clothing he made for himself in his new life. But he also wanted them to be violet in color, as that was the color he wore in his past life, the color of the robes he wore when he first met Fang Ying.

"Very well. I will make them out of flexible material, so they can grow a little to accommodate for your growing period. Each robe will take me about half an hour and cost five gold each."

The man nodded his head and measured Li Yang's size with his eyes. His job was just to make the clothing, so he did not bother about why Li Yang wanted it like he did. After calculating for a bit, he put out a price.

"Then just give me three of them."

Li Yang reached down to his pouch and pulled out 15 gold coins and handed them to the old man, who happily took the coins before turning around and heading into the room located behind him.

The money system of this world was also very similar to the one in Li Yang's previous life. It started with copper, which was worth the least. 100 copper became 1 silver, while 100 silver became 1 gold, 100 gold became 1 platinum. So for the robes to cost five gold each, it seemed like their quality would be excellent.

Li Yang did not move away from the shop, simply sitting down and quietly cultivating while he waited. This was a cultivating world, seeing people sit down in all kinds of places to meditate was completely normal, so no one disturbed Li Yang while he waited.

"Here you go, do come back with more business if you need it."

After waiting for almost two hours, the old man walked out of the room, three robes in his hand. The robes were a deep violet in color and seemed to be made out of wolf skin. Li Yang grabbed the robes, swiftly taking off his normal robe and switching into the new ones.

Few male cultivators were shy, so they often did not mind dressing and undressing in front of others. Most female cultivators preferred privacy however, they also did not let their men undress in front of others, much like how men would not let their women undress in front of others.

Li Yang donned the new robe, and he was more than pleased with it. Despite the wolf skin being deep violet in color, it looked completely natural. The robe fit Li Yang perfectly, wrapping around his body.

On his right shoulder hung the upper part of a wolf's head, like a pauldron. The fabric around his left shoulder was much softer than the rest of the robe, but it was sown in a way that did not make it visible that there was a pillow there. Clad in the violet wolf skin robe, Li Yang regained some of the tyrannical elegance that he had in his past life when he still stood at the top.

"It's wonderful. Thank you."

Li Yang smiled at the old man who had sown the robes and gave him a slight bow, before walking away from the shop and looking around the various other shops in the area. The moment he donned the robe, Jinwu immediately hopped onto his left shoulder and started happily snuggling against the pillow.

"There. Now you can't jump into peoples bosoms and embarra.s.s me."

Li Yang gently pat the head of Jinwu as he spoke. After seeing Jinwu jump into the bosom of the women that he saved in the bandit camp, Li Yang thought that maybe he was a lecher. He even talked with Jinwu about it after the two of them returned to the inn.

But Jinwu had vehemently denied these allegations, stating that it simply hopped into their bosoms because it was softer than Li Yang's shoulder. Jinwu happily a.s.sented, after all, now that it had such a soft pillow to rest on, what need was there to hop into other people's bosom?

Li Yang continued to walk around, checking out the various shops. He could not help but be slightly disappointed when he found that Demonic beast parts could only be bought on the third floor or higher. To get to the third floor, he needed to show that he had sufficient Spirit Stones to shop there.

But Li Yang currently did not have any Spirit Stones. After all, most people who were at the Mortal Rune Realm would use the few Spirit Stones that they got their hands on to cultivate. So even when he went through the storehouse of the bandit group, he had not found a single Spirit Stone.

After wandering around aimlessly for a little while, Li Yang reached the center of the first floor. The center did not hold a single shop, it only held a single obelisk with the same sentence carved onto each side. Even though it was the same sentence, each side was written in a different style, showing that four different people wrote the four sentences.

For your revenge and our redemption, we will scour the universe.

"What is this?"

Standing next to the obelisk was a single sleepy looking guard. After reading the words, Li Yang couldn't help but turn towards the guard and ask. Since this obelisk could take up the entire center of the room, it was obviously very special.

"They are words left behind by the Four Monarchs, the founders of the Royal Dragon Pavilion and the Universe Merchants. As to who the words are talking about, no one knows any longer."

The guard glanced at Li Yang as he responded. The Four Monarchs were the founders of Royal Dragon Pavilion and the Universe Merchants, their legends had spread far and wide on the continent.

"If you want to know more about the Four Monarchs, I suggest that you head to Mourners Refuge. One of the Four Monarchs, Soul King Zhao Feng, has carved a statue of the Four Monarchs there."

Seeing Li Yang look like he still had more questions, the guard quickly recommended him to head to the place that had the most information about the Four Monarchs.

"Soul King Zhao Feng?!"

Li Yang couldn't help but exclaim loudly upon hearing the words of the guard. The guard was slightly caught off guard and jumped slightly, but he quickly regained his cool.

"You have heard of him? Indeed, he is one of the Four Monarchs. The other three are Everlasting Queen Dai Shu, Spear Empress Bai Yawen, and Sword Emperor Ye Ning."

The guard simply thought that Li Yang had heard about the name of the Soul King before, but did not know that he was one of the Four Monarchs. After all, each of the monarchs had their own legends floating around.

"Where is this Mourners Refuge?"

Li Yang's eyes unintentionally narrowed his eyes as he asked the guard, slightly scaring the guard. He could not help but react like this. Had it been just the t.i.tle of Soul King, or just the name Zhao Feng, he would not react.

But when both of those came together, there was only one person he could think of. And when the guard went on to name the last three of the Four Monarchs, the waves in Li Yang's heart only grew more ferocious.

These were names and t.i.tles that were far too familiar to him. He did not have a lot of friends in his past life, nor did he have a family, but besides Fang Ying, he had four other people that he could call true friends.

And now, after getting a second chance at life, he heard the names and t.i.tles of those four friends once more. How could he not be moved? But this also raised questions in his mind. Was this place not a new world? Had he simply been reborn many years into the future? Did that mean that people he considered enemies might still be alive?

"About half a month away from this city. It is a popular tourist spot, so there are many caravans that head there, you can check with one of them."

Right after the guard responded, Li Yang thanked the guard and turned to leave the building. He had to go to Mourners Refuge and see the statue, he had to know if the Four Monarchs were who he thought them to be.