The demon in the rain.

Egong Pangli nodded his head, his sunken in eyes turning solemn as he put away his teacup. He pushed aside his own teacup and the porcelain kettle, cupping both his hands above the empty space on the table, nodding at Yao Jun.

"Senior Jun, I will need a drop of your blood."

Yao Jun already knew about this so he stretched out his left arm and held his index finger above Egong Pangli's cupped hands. A cut appeared on his finger, a single drop of blood seeping out and dripping down before the wound closed up again. The drop of blood landed in Egong Pangli's cupped hands and a strange scene took place, both his arms suddenly dropped down as the veins on them started to bulge.

Yao Jun had reached the Earthly Deity realm in body cultivation, and the technique he used to do this was the Blood Ocean's Hunger, it focused largely on his blood. Coupled with the strong body he got thanks to his Demon God's Gate, even a mere drop of Yao Jun's blood now weighed at least the same as a boulder. Egong Pangli hadn't used any Qi to prepare himself so he was caught a bit off guard and thus created the current scene where his arms both crashed into the table.

But he quickly collected himself and raised his arms, his veins bulging as a faint layer of nearly transparent Qi coated both of his arms. He raised both hands to his head as if he was holding the drop of blood against his forehead, closing his eyes as the Qi within his body started to surge and seethe.

The veins on Egong Pangli's body started to bulge and writhe, his mouth opening and closing as he seemed to be quietly reciting some chants. Yao Jun and Guo Luo passed the time by quietly chatting and playing with Yao Xuelian, doing their utmost to not disturb Egong Pangli.

The process continued for a little over two hours before there was a sudden change. The veins bulging on Egong Pangli's body suddenly writhed violently, several of them even bursting as both of his eyes shot open and his face turned deathly pale. The veins within his eyes also burst, dyeing them completely red as both his arms powerlessly fell onto the table. The crimson drop of blood slid across the table, Yao Jun flicking his finger and causing the drop of blood to jump up and land in his palm again, sinking back into his body.

At the same time, he also made sure to check up on Egong Pangli. He channeled some Qi into his eyes to drastically increase his vision, Egong Pangli's body turning transparent and allowing Yao Jun to see the various veins and organs in his body, he could even see how his Qi moved. He saw that at least 19 of Egong Pangli's veins had burst open inside him and were spilling blood, there were also five places in his body where his Qi was about to run rampant.

Yao Jun stretched out his arm and placed his finger against Egong Pangli's chest, moving his own Qi and causing it to enter Egong Pangli's body. He first used a bit of weak poison to numb his sense of pain and then closed up the burst veins using a bit of ice, he even created a small leaf that absorbed all the spilled blood and then deposited it back into the veins. The leaf was the power he gained after the birth of Yama, his Devil Vine, it allowed him to absorb lifeforce and energy to fuel his own growth.

But he couldn't really absorb the lifeforce of someone who was helping him so no matter how unwilling the leaf was, it had to spit all the blood right back out. Once the burst veins were dealt with, Yao Jun quelled the Qi that was about to rampage, overpowering it with an unearthly chill that forced it to slow and cool down. Once the procedures were done, Yao Jun pulled back his arm, Egong Pangli's complexion starting to return to normal.

Yao Jun had very little experience when it came to treatment like this, all he did was take advantage of his myriad of laws and his excellent vision to stem the problems at the root, it would still be for the best if Egong Pangli went to an actual doctor. Egong Pangli also seemed to know his own state, cupping his hands in gratitude.

"Thank you, Senior Jun. Thanks to your aid the wounds have been calmed for long enough that I can go see a doctor without having lasting damages appear. But I must say, it's far harder to see anything connected to you through karma or destiny than I had expected, I thought I would die there for a second. But I luckily didn't disappoint you, I have found the items that you are looking for."

Not only had Yao Jun's strength increased, making it harder to detect his destiny and karma, but he had also acquired two new God Gates and three Supreme Law fragments, seeing his destiny and karma was no longer something that just anyone could do.

Egong Pangli walked over to his wooden cupboard and opened it, revealing that it was filled with several hand-sized green jades carved to look like diamonds. He took one out and held it up to his forehead for half a minute before walking over and respectfully placing the jade diamond in front of Yao Jun.

"This jade contains the map to the items I have discovered. I hope you'll forgive me, but I fear that it is for the best that I visit my doctor as quickly as possible, please forgive my rudeness."

Yao Jun and Guo Luo quickly waved their hands, telling Egong Pangli to not worry about it. Yao Jun even handed him a few good medicinal herbs that he had started to grow within his God Gate, it was his fault that Egong Pangli ended up like this after all. The four left the room and passed through the hallway, entering the room where Marilius and the others were still waiting, somewhat nervously eating a few small cakes.

They hurriedly rose to their feet when Yao Jun and the others entered the room but Egong Pangli simply waved dismissively at them, hurrying out of the house. Wounds to the veins were some of the most dangerous wounds a cultivator could have, it was important that he got it fixed properly as fast as possible. Yao Jun and Guo Luo also didn't linger after getting their hands on what they had come for, leaving the building and disappearing from sight.

--

Two days later, Yao Jun and Guo Luo were walking along a flowing river surrounded by a few man-sized rocks that were completely round in shape, the noon sun shining down brightly. Yao Xuelian was walking in the middle of both of them, both of them holding onto one hand and swinging her around as they were walking. Other than this river and the large rocks, there were only a few sparse trees spread around the area, all of them somewhat small and bent, a sign that they didn't have enough nutrients to grow properly here.

This was the fifth planet within the Lost God Galaxy that they had visited, the planet that was their goal was only about 15 000 kilometers away, a distance Yao Jun could cover with a single teleportation. They, of course, hadn't stopped here just for a bit of sightseeing, this planet was too empty and nearly barren for that. No, Yao Jun was waiting for something. After they had followed along the river for almost half an hour, Yao Jun slightly raised his head and muttered to himself quietly.

"A bit faster than I thought, must have been due to that spatial array."

Guo Luo could just barely catch his mutter and knew what it meant, her eyes growing a bit more serious. Yao Jun stopped walking and picked up Yao Xuelian, flashing her a smile.

"Aunty Xiao is calling for you so you'll have to go to her for a bit."

Suddenly being picked up and hearing that she was being called for, Yao Xuelian actually crossed her arms in front of her chest and puffed out her cheeks.

"No she's not. You're going to beat up some baddies and just don't want me to see it."

Yao Jun's smile didn't change despite the fact that his lie had been seen through instantly. A soft gust of wind embraced Yao Xuelian and kept her in the air, giving Yao Jun the chance to tap her on the nose.

"Yup, but you shouldn't say it out loud like that, at least pretend to play along with it."

Yao Xuelian uncrossed her arms and quickly tried to grab a hold of Yao Jun's hand as he tapped her nose, but it was all to no avail. She quickly puffed out her cheeks even harder upon failing, pointing at Guo Luo while pointing.

"It's not fair! Why can Mama stay here but I have to leave?"

Guo Luo only smiled warmly upon being dragged into it, softly stroking Yao Xuelian's hair. Yao Jun glanced at Guo Luo and then leaned closer to Yao Xuelian, beckoning her closer with his finger while whispering.

"You see, Mama has already been ruined by me, otherwise she wouldn't make a choice as bad as sticking with me. So it doesn't matter what I show her, she can't get any worse. You, however, I dread to imagine what sort of cheeky brat you'll become if I show you too much."

Yao Jun's hand changed the moment Yao Xuelian leaned in closer, clasping onto her cheeks and giving them a few soft pinches while pulling on them. She vigorously protested but was unable to escape Yao Jun's grasp, she could only accept her fate and let him pull on her cheeks for a few seconds.

By the time he let go of her cheeks, the three of them had already gotten surrounded by 120 people that were split up into four groups of 30. Each group was led by one person at the early stage of the Earthly Deity realm and the rest of the people in the group were all only a single step away from the Earthly Deity realm. The groups contained a mixture of humans and people with the piscine traits of the Primordial Sea clan, showing which clan had sent them.

Looking at how closely the people in the groups stuck, they were definitely capable of gathering together into a formation to share their power, that was the trump card they had prepared for today. Yao Xuelian rubbed her cheeks once Yao Jun let go of them, her eyes momentarily sweeping over the people surrounding them before she stuck out her tongue.

"Bleh, all you meanies are going to get your butts kicked."

These were the last words she got to say before Yao Jun sent her into his God Gate, casually stretching his body once she was gone. He then turned his head and let his now somewhat narrowed gaze sweep over the surrounding people.

"Really, this is what they sent? I get that you can gather together into a formation, but is this really the best that Fifth Elder Mingju could muster up? Could it be that you pissed him off and he sent you guys here to die?"

The expressions of the people surrounding them shook when Yao Jun spoke, accurately determining just who it was that had sent them. Yao Jun didn't say anything to their shock, smiling faintly. 61 of the 120 shadows cast by the people suddenly started to wriggle, a pea-sized emerald green spider crawling out from the darkness and scuttering over to Yao Jun. The spiders crawled up his body and vanished into the shadows cast by his hair, returning to Du Xiao.

Yao Jun hadn't been idle over these two years, Ba-Shei had been very active in his travels, using his ability to move unseen through the darkness to plant Du Xiao's spiders on thousands of people. By this point, Yao Jun had spiders planted in all of the large sects and clans and could use them to see and learn about the situation within those places, this was one of the reasons he was so confident.

The people surrounding them got even tenser when they saw the spiders crawling up from their shadows and realized that they had been discovered before they even left the clan. Now they also knew why Yao Jun had been taking his time traveling, he had likely been waiting for them from the very start. But they had already reached the point of no return, even if they managed to flee and return to the clan, all that awaited them was death, executed as traitors to maintain the image of the clan. Yao Jun swept his gaze over the surrounding people, somewhat able to guess at their situation thanks to their steadfast gazes.

"I see. But don't expect me to show mercy because of that, I don't show mercy to anyone who threatens those close to me."

Just as the surrounding people thought that he was going to attack them, Yao Jun made a grasping motion towards a nearby tree. The tree was torn up from the ground and flew over, falling to the ground behind Yao Jun and allowing him to sit on it. He then waved his hand once, his black gate appearing at his side and opening, Yun Yantian and another youth walking out from it.

The second youth was almost two meters tall and looked to have reached his late twenties and had skin that was nearly as black as charcoal, yet his eyes were a shimmering blue and his hair a neat golden color. The youth had reached the same cultivation level as Yun Yantian and Guo Luo, the peak of the Immortal Rebirth realm.

Yun Yantian grinned at the surrounding people, but the second youth looked somewhat confused, and then uneasy as his gaze landed on Yao Jun. Yao Jun simply waved his hand dismissively at the people around them.

"Yantian, you wanted to test your strength, no? This is a good chance for that. Luo'er, Yantian, Tang Long, each of you take on one of those at the Earthly Deity realm, show me how many channels you've carved."

The youth, Tang Long, was a disciple of the Demon's Gate who had rather good talent, he also cultivated in the law of demons and had proven himself to be rather loyal. He was an orphan who lost his family at a young age and had been wandering the universe ever since he got strong enough to leave his planet, he was one of the first people who joined the Demon's Gate.

As such, Yao Jun had taught him the same technique that he taught Guo Luo, Yun Yantian, as well as all of his Demonic beasts and his parents, Crumbling the Nine Heavens. Tang Long also wasn't the only one, there were three other people in the Demon's Gate who had received the technique, which Yao Jun was told was now considered the supreme technique of the sect. Yun Yantian wouldn't say no to a challenge like this, even Guo Luo prepared for it, but Tang Long couldn't help but falter slightly.

"We are each to take on one at the Earthly Deity realm? But Milord... what about the rest? What if they interfere?"

Tang Long was very careful in how he spoke, he had rarely ever interacted with the king of the Demon's Gate and was thus not quite certain how to act. He also hadn't ever seen Yao Jun show any strength, but he had heard all the rumors and information about him, so he knew how terrifying he really was.

But just as he was waiting for an answer from Yao Jun, the world around them started to turn dark. Dark clouds gathered in the sky above them, the temperature decreasing slightly as drops of chilly rain started to fall from the clouds. The people from the Primordial Sea clan quickly gathered together to deal with anything that might arise, the leaders of the four groups keeping a vigilant eye on Yao Jun.

But just as they were keeping a close eye on Yao Jun, terrified screams came from around them. They quickly turned their heads and saw that some of the rain had actually turned into sticky silky threads once it landed on the gathered people. The strings connected to the clouds and pulled up everyone hooked by them, ignoring their screams and resistance as they dragged them all into the clouds.

In less than five seconds, everyone but three of the group leaders had been dragged into the clouds and had their screams silenced. Even the fourth group leader, someone at the early stage of the Earthly Deity realm, had been unable to resist and was dragged into the clouds. And then, as the last three group leaders were breathing heavily from fear and nerves, the liquid falling from the clouds changed.

No longer did crystal clear drops of water fall from the clouds, what fell now was instead a warm rain of dark red blood, a clear sign of just what fate those pulled into the clouds suffered. Guo Luo and the others frowned slightly, waving their hands and creating a shield of Qi above them to block out the bloody rain.

But Yao Jun remained sitting on the overturned tree, blood raining down around him as he looked at the last three group leaders, his faint smile burning itself into their minds. His appearance was rather handsome and delicate, but sitting and smiling in this rain of blood they couldn't see him as anything other than the greatest demon. They knew that it was just as he said, they had only come here to die.

"Now then. One each."