Against The Heavens 87 The Day Of The Agreement.

Over the next three weeks, news of strange occurrences once again started to pop up around the continent, bandits and Demonic beasts slain in droves, their lairs turned to either ash or frozen wastelands. One of these strange occurrences was the death of a bandit guild led by the Shinti twins, a pair of brothers who had both reached the very peak of the Ascending Heaven realm.

Their entire base was twisted and distorted, countless dead bodies crushed beneath the metal pillars that used to support their large base. Looking at the scene, it was as if the pillars themselves had flown away from their previous locations just to destroy the bodies of the bandits. As for the bodies of the two leaders, their headless corpses were found a few kilometers away from the ruined base, causing people to guess that they had tried to flee from whatever had attacked the base.

Nine days after killing the Shinti twins, two days before the promised six-month agreement, Li Yang finally returned to the Yuan clan. He arrived at the hill standing at the edge of the vast forest, the same place he had arrived when he first entered the Yuan clan. He only gave the area a cursory glance before he swiftly made his way through the forest, heading for the dome-shaped building that was the mission control center.

It had only been six months since Li Yang had left the clan, and he could be considered somewhat famous among the outer and provisional disciples, mainly because of the fact that he had beaten Yuan Yijun's third in command and challenged her second in command. Because of this, there were quite a few who noticed him as he made his way to the mission control building.

He caught a few odd stares because of the change in his hair color and eye color, but Li Yang couldn't be bothered with the stares of the surrounding people. His plan now was to spend his contribution points, finish his six-month agreement with Yuan Ruogang, and then focus on increasing his strength so that he could meet up with Fang Ying and find a way to wake up Jinwu and Shenlong.

Li Yang entered the mission control building, walking up to the same middle-aged man with a graying beard that had first processed him accepting the missions. Li Yang swiped his interspatial ring, taking out nine straw sacks and three wooden boxes, placing them in front of the man.

"The missions have been completed, please check them over."

The middle-aged man raised his eyebrow slightly, moving his gaze between the 12 containers and Li Yang. He wasn't too surprised that Li Yang completed the 12 missions in six months, what he was surprised at was the increase in Li Yang's strength. Each new cultivation realm was stronger than the last, so it was no easy task to break through to the next cultivation realm.

Even if it was just going from the Human Rune realm to the Ascending Heaven realm, it could still take people several years to take that final step. This middle-aged man was one of the weaker elders of the sect, but he was still an elder, so he knew that when Li Yang arrived at the Yuan clan a little less than a year ago, he had only been at the middle stage of the Human Rune realm, the Houtian Rune stage. And now he had already reached the Ascending Heaven realm, meaning that he either had some secret on him, or that he had talent that could only be called terrifying.

The middle-aged man didn't say anything about Li Yang's increase in strength, it was best to bring it to the attention of some of the higher ranked elders later on. He opened the nine straw sacks and the three wooden boxes, quickly going over their contents. The straw sacks contained the heads he had taken from the various bounty targets, while the wooden boxes contained the herbs or Demonic beast parts he had to deliver for some of the missions he had taken. After carefully checking the 12 containers, the middle-aged man swept them into his interspatial ring and nodded his head.

"Everything is in order, the 12 missions have been completed and registered. The total reward is 1650 contribution points, would you like a list over everything that can be bought with contribution points?"

Li Yang had originally planned on using these contribution points on various treasures that he could use to push his cultivation up to the Ascending Heaven realm. But since he had already managed to reach that realm thanks to the strange crystal inside the Frozen G.o.d's Tomb, he decided to use the contribution points on something else instead.

"No need, I already have a list. I want to buy two cultivation manuals, one for the soul and one for the body. It doesn't matter how many of my contribution points it'll require, but I want one of each."

Li Yang had only cultivated his Qi in his past life, mainly because back then, only those who specialized in the law of the flesh or the law of the soul could cultivate their body or their soul. But in this age, cultivation manuals that allowed everyone to cultivate their soul or body existed, so there was no way Li Yang would pa.s.s up this opportunity.

The middle-aged man gave another nod of his head, closing his eyes in what seemed to be thought. He opened his eyes again after half a minute, quickly listing everything that Li Yang could afford, pulling out a blank scroll from his interspatial ring and quickly writing down an explanation of the five different techniques.

"Very well. Since you only have 1730 contribution points, there are only five of these manuals that you can afford if you want one of each type, and even then, you can only afford the first parts of the techniques. For the body, we have the Heaven's Lord technique, the Iron Peak technique, and the Myriad Monarch technique. For the soul, we have the Thousand Dragon Seal technique and the b.l.o.o.d.y Shura technique."

Li Yang grabbed the list and gave the five different techniques a quick read, memorizing the description of them. Each of the techniques had their own specialties and effects, each one also had different ways to cultivate them, some easier than others. After reading over all five techniques, Li Yang made his choice, pointing at two of them.

"I'll take the Myriad Monarch and the b.l.o.o.d.y Shura technique."

After reading over all the techniques, Li Yang came to the conclusion that these two were the most suited to him. The Myriad Monarch technique focused on using several different laws, slowly fusing them together and using the resulting energy to cultivate the body.

As for the b.l.o.o.d.y Shura technique, the way to cultivate it was one quite befitting of the name. One had to kill others and extract their blood and soul using the technique, after extracting the blood and soul, one had to use the technique to refine them and turn them into runes that one would sink into their soul, slowly absorbing them to cultivate the soul.

The middle-aged man nodded his head and closed his eyes again. After a short moment, a faint light flashed across his interspatial ring and the man opened his eyes. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out two thin books, handing them to Li Yang. These books were so thin because they were only contained the first parts of the techniques that Li Yang had bought, if he wanted the later parts, he would need to spend more contribution points.

Li Yang had never cultivated his body or soul, so these first parts were all he would need for now, he could focus on getting the other parts at a later date. Li Yang accepted the two books, but he didn't look through them now, storing them into his interspatial ring and then leaving the mission control building.

After leaving the building, he returned directly to his abode, giving his three servants a quick greeting before locking himself up in his room. His battle with Yuan Ruogang was in two days, so he had to make sure he was fully rested and restored himself to his peak conditions. Once the battle was over and he had some more time, then he could check through the cultivation books he had just bought.

None of his three servants dared to interrupt Li Yang while he was resting, afraid that they might provoke his ire. Time pa.s.sed quickly while recuperating, so two days pa.s.sed in a flash, the day of the promised battle arriving.

Li Yang opened his eyes the moment the sun rose, standing up from his seated position and stretching his body. Once he finished his stretches, he gave himself a quick clean by creating and melting some ice, switching into a fresh violet robe once he was done. He then left the building and headed directly for the arena.

When he reached the arena, it was already filled to the brim with people, everyone hoping to see a good show. Li Yang swept the audience with a quick glance, his eyebrow raising in surprise when he saw Yuan Luoyang, the inner disciple that had given him the offer of joining the clan. Sitting next to her were a few other people who had far stronger auras than the people around them, so it seemed like they were also inner disciples.

Li Yang also saw Xiang Wuying, one of the top five outer disciples. Sitting around him were three unfamiliar people, but judging by their strength, Li Yang guessed that they might be the three other outer disciples. Looking at the scene, it seemed like this battle had attracted quite a bit of attention.

After sweeping the audience with a quick glance, Li Yang descended down onto the stage, sitting down with crossed legs as he waited for Yuan Ruogang to arrive.

He didn't have to wait long, a slight commotion arising after only a few minutes pa.s.sed. Li Yang opened his eyes, his gaze landing on a group of people that were now entering the arena. There were three people leading this group, the raven-haired Yuan Ruogang, the tall and gray-haired Kong Lingxin, and one unfamiliar girl.

This girl had a slim yet curvaceous body, skin that seemed as smooth as silk, light-green hair that was tied into a neat ponytail she had slung over her shoulder, soft lips that were cherry red in color, and eyes that shone like sapphires. She carried a soft and charming smile that seemed to light up her surroundings, catching the attention of everyone who looked at her.

Even though Li Yang had Fang Ying, he had to admit that this woman was truly beautiful. Looking at her cultivation, which had reached the late stage of the Ascending Heaven realm, there was only one person this could be, Yuan Yijun. With her arrival, all five outer disciples were gathered, and there were even some inner disciples among the audience.

The gazes of Yuan Ruogang and Yuan Yijun landed on Li Yang, who was calmly looking back at them, his crimson eyes not showing any emotion. Yuan Yijun leaned in and whispered a few words to Yuan Ruogang, who although she seemed irritated at the words, still nodded her head.

Yuan Yijun waved Kong Lingxin and her other followers away, joining up with Xiang Wuying and the other top outer disciples. Yuan Ruogang took a deep breath and entered the stage, her gaze turning steely as she looked at Li Yang and spoke up.

"I'm somewhat surprised you actually showed up, it seems like your strength has increased quite a bit. Jun'er has chosen to grace this place with her presence, and she has also decided to give you a chance. She wonders if you would like to accept a bet."