Against The Heavens 66 Three Ways

Liang Zhou did not waste any time after having the talk with Li Yang, the villagers already prepared to move out the very next day. There were some that were a bit unwilling to leave the place where their ancestors had lived for several hundred years, but they all knew that staying meant that they would likely die, so they could only swallow their unwillingness.

Li Yang took out several interspatial rings, storing the houses and belongings of the villagers before handing the ring over to Liang Zhou. They could likely build better houses now that their strength had increased, but they would still need some lodging that they could use right after arriving at the plot of land Li Yang had chosen.

Li Yang led the villagers, Shenlong and Huanglong kept an eye on both sides, while Jinwu brought up the rear, making sure that nothing could sneak up on them. As they moved, Li Yang spotted a group that seemed to belong to the Shentu tribe heading towards the Demon Plains, but he did not let anyone from the Liang tribe make contact with the group, walking around and avoiding them. The Liang tribe was to completely disappear from the face of the earth as if they had been completely wiped out. The faster they were forgotten, the better.

They quickly reached the spot Li Yang had chosen, one of the many tall mountains that could be found on the Demon Plains. The mountain resembled a thick spiraling pillar that stretched towards the sky, exceedingly steep and hard to climb. This mountain was the new home Li Yang had chosen for the Liang tribe, and the reason was that while the bottom half was completely solid, the top half of the mountain was completely hollow.

There were no paths up the mountain, so only those who could fly or had good strength were able to ascend the mountain. Liang Zhou and the two other Demon Warriors helped the rest of the villagers ascend the mountain, reaching a small cave after spending a bit of time climbing. After following the cave for a short distance, it quickly widened, a ma.s.sive empty cavern spreading out in front of the group. There were several holes in the top of the mountain, allowing the light from the sun to shine down into the cavern, some light greenery growing inside the cavern.

Liang Zhou and Liang Xinyi helped the villagers set up their houses, while the two Demon Warriors surveyed the area, checking for anything dangerous or useful. While they prepared and checked out their new home, Li Yang started setting up a large array around the cavern, covering every single possible entrance.

The array he used this time was a weaker version of the one he had used against the clans, as he did not have enough resources to set up the same array once more. This array only had a single function, and that was to use illusions to confuse anyone who entered it, causing them to walk in circles.

After completing the array, Li Yang handed over control of it to Liang Zhou and his father, allowing them to choose who could freely move around within the array. Li Yang did not stay around after completing the array, bidding Liang Zhou and Liang Xinyi farewell, before quietly leaving the cavern and making his way out of the Demon Plains.

Li Yang quickly left the Demon Plains and made for the road that would lead him to Cloud's End City. He slowed down once he got closer to the road, lest he was spotted by anyone. He wasn't certain if everyone from the clans had been able to leave the Cloud Wilderness already, so he switched into a more ragged robe that made him look like a villager, slowly making his way down the long road.

He kept up his slow pace for over half a day before he heard the sound of carriages coming from behind him. He stealthily took a deep breath, putting on an innocent and curious expression, acting the part of a young child once more. He quickly turned around, spotting a caravan coming towards him.

The carriages at the front of the caravan were rather simple, basically just boxes on wheels. But the carriages at the back of the caravan were much more luxurious, practically moving houses, they even had a small chimney that released a constant stream of smoke. Carved on the side of these carriages was a symbol that Li Yang recognized, the symbol of the Tian clan.

Li Yang resisted the urge to break into a faint smile. Just like he had guessed, the clans and sects had yet to completely leave the Cloud Wilderness. They had likely moved slowly, waiting for orders from their superiors before they decided on what to do. Since the people from the Tian clan were now leaving, it was clear that the higher-ups of the clans were not willing to go against the Demon Race over something unknown.

Li Yang quickly gave the caravan several energetic waves, even jumping around a little. The carriage at the front of the caravan did not come to a stop, but it slowed down enough for Li Yang to jog next to it, giving him the chance to speak to the driver.

"Excuse me, are you leaving the Cloud Wilderness? Can I hitch a ride with you?"

Li Yang's eyes were glimmering with excitement and curiosity as he for a third time took advantage of his young age. He had grown taller over this last year, but thanks to not having access to much nutrition during the earlier years of his life, he was still considered rather short.

The driver of the carriage looked Li Yang up and down, but Li Yang had once again hidden his cultivation, so it looked like he had only recently opened his dantian. After a short while, the man gave a nod of his head and pointed to the back of the carriage, which was filled with dried hay for the horses.

"...Sure, hop on, kiddo. We can only take you to Cloud's End City, but I guess that might be far enough for you. I am Tian Donghu, you can just call me Elder Brother Donghu."

Tian Donghu was a middle-aged man with short, chestnut colored hair. His face was a bit wrinkly, a somewhat gray stubble decorating his chin. His cultivation had only reached the early stage of the Mortal Rune realm, even weaker than some of the Liang tribe members. Li Yang had not seen him when he chased away the rest of the Tian clan people, so he guessed that they had kept him behind, finding him too weak to be useful. But even if the others of the Tian tribe were to see Li Yang, they would be unable to recognize him. Not only were his looks different, but the entire air around him was also different from how it was when he had faced them.

Tian Donghu slowed down the carriage a bit more, giving Li Yang the chance to grab onto it and jump onto the back, sitting down on a bale of hay. He was from the Tian clan, but he was one of the weakest members, so he did not discriminate against tribe members like most others from the clans. After sitting down on the hay, Li Yang glanced at the more luxurious carriages, exclaiming with curiosity and wonder.

"Wow, are you all from one of the larger tribes?"

Tian Donghu sped up the carriage, turning his head to glance at Li Yang. He let out a slight chuckle when he saw the child-like wonder in his eyes, giving a short shake of his head.

"Not from one of the tribes, but we come from a pretty big clan."

Tian Donghu didn't expect Li Yang to know about the Tian clan, so he did not bother giving the name of the clan, keeping it vague. Li Yang continued to inspect the caravan with excitement, Tian Donghu leading the caravan in silence. They pa.s.sed two other caravans as they moved, but they were both merchant caravans, one having just picked up wares from a tribe, while the other was carrying merchandise that was to be delivered to a tribe. After a few hours pa.s.sing in silence, Tian Donghu decided to break the silence.

"So, kiddo, why are you looking to leave the Cloud Wilderness? Tired of working as a farmer, hoping to make it big as a member of the Royal Dragon Pavilion?"

Tian Donghu was weak, but even he could tell that Li Yang was weaker than him. For such a young and weak child to leave the tribe he was born in, Tian Donghu could only guess that he had likely already lost his parents. Li Yang put on a bright and excited smile, nodding his head rapidly as he answered.

"I heard that a place called the Huo clan was going to hold a grand compet.i.tion soon, so I am hoping to join it."

Tian Donghu was quite taken aback by Li Yang's answer, his brows furrowing as he looked Li Yang up and down one more time. In the end, he let out a sigh and shook his head.

"You, join the Huo clan compet.i.tion? You better give up, kiddo. That world is not a nice one, if you try to join, you are more likely to needlessly lose your life. You should focus on quietly cultivating and raising your strength."

Tian Donghu knew what it was like to be weak, he knew what it was like to have large ambitions. But he also knew that it was unlikely for people like them to ever achieve their ambitions. The way he saw it, it was better for Li Yang to completely give up on the compet.i.tion. But contrary to what he expected, Li Yang's face lit up as he leaned forward and pressed on.

"You know about the compet.i.tion?! Do you know how I can join?!"

This was exactly what Li Yang was looking for, information on how he could join the compet.i.tion. He guessed that even if Tian Donghu was one of the lowest ranking members in the Tian clan, he likely knew more about the compet.i.tion than Li Yang did. Tian Donghu gave a short wave of his hand, shaking his head once more.

"Did you not listen, kiddo? You will only lose your life if you try it."

Since Li Yang was somewhat similar to him, both of them being the smallest fish in the pond, Tian Donghu felt a little unwilling to simply let Li Yang walk to his death. But even after warning him twice, he saw that Li Yang was still looking at him with childlike curiosity and excitement, so he could only put on a bitter smile and respond in exasperation.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you, just stop looking at me like that."

Li Yang's face became even brighter after Tian Donghu let out his exasperated answer. He waited quietly while Tian Donghu organized his thoughts, steering the wagon with his right hand and raising his left, stretching out three fingers.

"There are three ways to join the compet.i.tion. The first one requires you to be part of either a clan or sect and have them vouch for your strength. The second way is to partic.i.p.ate in one of the frequent contests that are being held in the various cities owned by the Huo clan, reaching the top 10 in one of those contests will allow you to join the grand compet.i.tion. The last way is to show up a little before the start of the compet.i.tion and show off your strength to a few judges chosen by the Huo clan, if they give the clear signal, you can join the compet.i.tion."

The Huo clan compet.i.tion was supposed to be fairly open, allowing almost anyone above a certain level of strength to join it, which was why they had so many different ways of joining it. Li Yang quickly memorized the different ways of joining the compet.i.tion, mulling over which one was best suited to him. The two last ones were rather suitable, but as the compet.i.tion was still two years away, and he was looking to join one of the great powers anyway, he settled on the first way of joining the compet.i.tion.

"How does one go about joining one of these clans or sects, do you know?!"

Li Yang doubted that joining any of the great powers was as easy as simply walking up to the gates and asking if he could join. Tian Donghu furrowed his brows slightly, but seeing the innocent expression on Li Yang's face, he could only put on another bitter smile.

"kiddo...Haah, fine, fine. The best ways to join a sect or clan is by partic.i.p.ating in one of the yearly entrance exams, or by having someone else recommend you. But if you have no one to recommend you, or are unwilling to wait until the next entrance exam, there is another way. The contests that are held in the cities of the Huo clan are watched by scouts of all the clans and sects, show enough strength or potential and they might reach out to you."

The clans and sects needed fresh blood to continue their growth, so every year they had a set of tests that people could take, the winners getting the privilege to join. But those tests had already taken place for this year, so if Li Yang wanted to join in that way, he would have to wait for a year. After getting such a helpful response, Li Yang gave several rapid nods of his head, a bright smile on his face.

"Thank you very much! Father said that a man must always reward those who help him, so here, take this!"

He put his arm into his robe, pretending to search for something, but in reality, he took out a Spirit Stone from his interspatial ring. The Spirit Stone he took out was of the very lowest quality, even worse than low quality. He presented it to Tian Donghu, acting like it was a great treasure he had saved up. Tian Donghu looked at the Spirit Stone with a somewhat awkward smile, but in the end, he accepted it.

"This...Thanks, kiddo."

Even though he was one of the weakest members of the Tian clan, he was still someone who had the blood of the Tian clan flowing in his veins. The Spirit Stones he had access to were far better than the one Li Yang was presenting to him. The two continued to chat, Li Yang trying to figure out how much strength he had to show during one of the contests to be accepted into one of the great powers.