Against The Heavens 34 The First Test.

Li Yang did not move from his spot, his calmness calming down the slightly nervous Jinwu. Li Yang looked towards the middle volcano as a ma.s.sive shadow flew out of the volcano, its body so large that it covered the sky and caused the land beneath it to descend into darkness.

The figure swooped down from the sky, landing on the ground in front of the garden. The earth trembled and shook, large cracks spreading in the area as the figure of the beast was revealed. A ma.s.sive body covered in deep green scales, two leathery wings that could cover the skies, four thick limbs that ended in claws that could tear through everything, a long and thick tail that ended in a two-p.r.o.nged spike, and a draconic head with three large horns, two pointing backward and one pointing forward. A t.i.tanic dragon had landed in front of the garden and was looking at Li Yang with a furious gaze.

Before the green dragon could say anything, Li Yang opened his mouth and spoke, a pleasant and calming smile on his lips. Li Yang knew the dragon in front of him, it was one of Zhao Feng's closest companions back in the days. Back then, however, it had not been as strong and imposing as it was now.

"Chen Huo, you have grown much bigger since the last time I saw you. I wonder, do you have any information about where brother Feng is buried?"

The dragon was slightly confused at first, especially when it heard its own name spoken. It narrowed its eyes for a short moment, inspecting every inch of Li Yang, even going as far as using its Qi to inspect his insides. When it came to its conclusion, it could not help but let out a shocked exclamation.

"... Thunder Monarch Li Yang?! You survived?!"

Seeing the green dragon so shocked, Li Yang shook his head as he responded. He had indeed truly died back then, it was only through a stroke of luck that he had been given the chance to be reborn. Li Yang did not bother mentioning who gave them the chance to be reborn, as he did not see a reason to.

"No, I truly died back then, so did Fang Ying. But we were both given a second chance and got reborn. Of course, I was only reborn 12 years ago, so I don't know about what has happened in the meanwhile."

After hearing the words of Li Yang, Chen Huo lowered his head to Li Yang, its nose touching the ground as it spoke out. The Li Yang in front of him was far weaker than him, but he would never be able to forget the radiance of the Thunder Monarch and the Poison Empress.

"Lord Feng would surely be ecstatic if he knew that you were still alive. As for information about where he is buried, I do not know. The last time I saw him was shortly after they created this hidden realm to serve as a burial place for you and Poison Empress Fang Ying. Their lifespans were coming to an end, so they said that they would try to send themselves into reincarnation. That was the last time I saw them."

Li Yang could not help but tilt his head slightly after hearing the words of Chen Huo, a faint smile appearing on his face as he spoke out. If it was Zhao Feng, he might truly be able to send a few souls into reincarnation. As to whether or not they would be able to regain their memories, that was harder to know.

"Send themselves into reincarnation? Then maybe I will be lucky enough to meet them once more, I do have excellent luck after all. I heard that I need to obtain four emblems to enter the Thunder Flower Memorial?"

Hearing Li Yang talk about the four emblems, a slightly awkward expression appeared on Chen Huo's face as he responded. Even if he wanted to simply give out the emblem, he could not do so.

"Indeed. Even if I wanted to simply give it to you, as it was the last order of Lord Feng that I test everyone who wants to acquire the emblem, I have to test you. I hope you can forgive me."

Li Yang simply shrugged his shoulders to Chen Huo. He had never expected to simply be given the four emblems. He glanced slightly at the three volcanoes as he tilted his head and asked about the details of the test he had to undergo.

"Don't worry about it, since it was brother Feng's last order, there is nothing you can do about it. So what is the test?"

Chen Huo quickly responded. With the pain of having ones body destroyed and then restored constantly a.s.saulting one's mind, most people would lose consciousness or be driven mad. But those that managed to withstand the pain would find themselves with a body stronger than ever before.

"It is a test to determine the strength of your will and soul. You will be baptized by fire and forced to be destroyed and reborn. Losing consciousness means death, but staying conscious and surviving means that your body will become stronger."

Li Yang nodded his head and glanced at the grave-marker not far from him as he asked. If possible, he would have preferred for the test to be done in this location, but that was not necessarily possible.

"That does sound like brother Feng alright. Does it need to be done in a special location? Or can we do it here?"

Chen Huo shook his head with an apologetic expression. The test had to be done at the center of the main volcano, otherwise, there was a chance that the test would not be done properly. The main volcano had burst open when Chen Huo charged out, but the center of it was still fine.

"It needs to be done at the center of the main volcano."

Li Yang nodded his head and then let his eyes rest on the grave-marker for a few more minutes in silence. Once a few minutes had pa.s.sed, he stood up and started walking towards the middle of the three volcanoes, Chen Huo following closely.

"Alright. Let's go then."

They walked in silence towards the middle volcano, with Chen Huo turning from a dragon into a middle-aged man with deep green hair, a slight stubble, and piercing amber eyes. They entered a small tunnel at the bottom of the volcano and headed directly to the center of the volcano.

The center of the volcano was surrounded by a special array that prevented the heat within from spilling out. While one would expect the center of the volcano to be filled with magma, the center of this emerald volcano was in fact filled with a fine green mist. It looked like mist, but it was so hot that simply getting close to it would cause one to turn to ash.

There was another array located within the green mist that would regulate the heat of the mist, drawing out the time it required to destroy the body of those who wanted to challenge the test. Before Li Yang entered the array, Chen Huo glanced at Jinwu on Li Yang's shoulder and spoke up.

"Would you like me to aid this crow at the same time?"

Chen Huo did not know exactly what type of Demonic beast Jinwu was, but he could sense a terrifying flame Qi gathered within him, so it was clearly not a normal Demonic beast. Li Yang glanced at Jinwu, who nodded his head, and then handed him to Chen Huo as he spoke.

"If you could let him bathe in some fire while I undergo the test, I would appreciate it."

Chen Huo placed Jinwu on his own shoulder and then gave Li Yang a bow. Chen Huo always referred to Li Yang and Fang Ying by their full t.i.tle, it was how he showed his respect for the two of them.

"Very well. Good luck, Thunder Monarch Li Yang."

Li Yang returned a smile to the bowing Chen Huo and then stepped forward, into the array that would destroy and restore his body a countless number of times.