The silence that follows the storm.
Jin Chang's expression grew somewhat serious as he looked at Yan Ling and the tempest that was starting to form around her, it seemed like he had miscalculated slightly when it came to how Yan Ling would react. The wind in the area quickly grew in strength, deep gashes appearing in the trees in the area as a light drizzle started to fall from the sky.
Rage came in many shapes and forms, and it was in this department that Yan Ling and Liang Chen had their greatest difference. Liang Chen's rage was like a strike of his spear, fierce and violent, yet calculated and deliberate, his rage focused his mind and made it sharper than the edge of a blade. Yan Ling's rage, on the other hand, was like a terrible storm, violent and ever-expanding, lashing out at everything around her in a wild and unfocused manner. Her rage focused her mind somewhat, but it was more tunnel vision than anything else.
Jin Chang's pupils suddenly shrank violently and he quickly took three steps to the side, the earth beneath his feet sliding in a strange manner that aided his movement. The place where he had just been standing suddenly sank inwards as he moved to the side, as if a massive hammer had slammed down on it.
Yan Ling charged forward at the same time as Jin Chang moved to the side, the wind making her steps so light that not even the grass was pushed down as she dashed. Jin Chang's eyes narrow faintly but he didn't choose to dodge, stepping forward and facing Yan Ling head-on, his skin tensing as his veins started to bulge out. The cloth covering his right arm tore as he exerted all his strength and punched out, the air around his fist vibrating as his arm moved.
Yan Ling's eyes were blazing, but her pupils darted around as if she wasn't even looking at Jin Chang. She suddenly lowered her body just as the fist was about to hit her, dodging beneath the fist and stepping into Jin Chang's bosom. But despite the fact that she dodged the fist, the cloth on her left shoulder still tore apart as Jin Chang's fist passed over it, small cracks appearing in her skin as the bones in her shoulder started trembling in resonance with the vibrations in the air.
Seeing as he hadn't redirected his attack or moved away after missing, she guessed that speed and flexibility wasn't his forte, something she made sure to make a mental note of for later. Yan Ling ignored the trembling in her shoulder and pushed out her own right arm, her palm making contact with Jin Chang's abdomen.
She felt like her hand clashed with a thick rock, some of the bones in her fingers trembling fiercely, her little finger even breaking from the short moment of contact. But the short moment of contact was all she needed, it had been her goal from the start. The law of crushing, piercing, slicing, and wind all gushed forth in a fierce torrent that tore apart the robe covering his stomach, hair-thin cuts spreading on his abdomen as a few of the muscles in it were crushed.
Yan Ling angled her palm slightly upward, the forceful gust of wind that followed her attack lifting Jin Chang off the ground and throwing him high into the air in a spiraling manner. Jin Chang curled up while in the air, his body suddenly growing tremendously heavy and causing him to descend down to the ground like a falling boulder, crashing into the ground with a heavy stomp that cracked the earth. He could have stabilized himself by using his thick Qi to fly in the air, but doing so was slower than the method he just used.
But as Jin Chang straightened up his body again, he realized that something was wrong, his left hand was empty. He quickly located Yan Ling, and just like he guessed, she was holding the metal plate that contained the illusion of Liang Chen losing a fight. Her eyes stared intently at the images for a bit before she suddenly clicked her tongue and clenched her fist, shattering the metal plate while looking at Jin Chang.
"Clever. It was a pretty good production, but you got his eyes and mannerism wrong, you've never actually seen what he looks like or how he fights, have you?"
At first, she had only seen the images from a bit of a distance, so she was unable to notice the finer details. But now that she had managed to snag the plate from Jin Chang and see it properly, she noticed all the small details that didn't fit with the Liang Chen that she knew. It didn't require a genius to figure out the truth, he had been trying to trick her all along, they hadn't gotten their hands on Liang Chen. The pieces of the plate fell to the ground as Yan Ling opened her hand, her knuckles producing slight cracking sounds.
"Really, being played like that makes me pretty fucking angry, so I hope you're ready for a pummeling before I make you spit out every little thing you know."
--
Liang Chen raised his head after the last echo of Yu Jiang's dying laughter vanished, his calm gaze staring down the remains of the heavenly tribulation that still raged above and around him. He could see a massive spear of ice forming beneath the blue clouds, draining the last of their energy to grow almost 100 meters long, freezing even the smallest traces of moisture within the surrounding kilometer.
The last trace of the blue clouds vanished into the frozen spear, causing the entire thing to light up with a brilliant light and then shoot down like a meteor, drawing a frozen trail behind it. Liang Chen's eyes remained calm as he raised his own spear, the tip pointing directly at the incoming attack, directly at the heavens themselves.
The tips of the two spears touched and Liang Chen immediately slashed his spear downward, the entire frozen spear splitting down the middle. One half of the spear slowed down so much that it ended up frozen in the air just above Liang Chen's head while the other half of the spear suddenly seemed to experience several years in the span of a single second, gray splotches appearing on the ice as small holes filled with air opened in it, the ice itself rotting away and turning into nothing more than a puddle of foul-smelling water that drenched the ground beside Liang Chen. Liang Chen glanced at his spear, his gaze drifting towards the body of Yu Jiang, a sneer suffusing his lips.
"Some might say that I should be thanking you for this. After all, it's battles like this that always help me grow stronger and come up with or perfect new techniques, just like now. But I'll despise you. For the rest of time, until the multiverse itself rots and dies, I will despise you for robbing her from me."
Liang Chen raised his left arm and placed his palm on the half of the frozen spear that hung above his head. He clenched his fist and shattered the tip of the spear, the rest of the spear disintegrating as a thigh-thick bolt of brown lightning surrounded by a spiraling tempest of wind flew out from his fist and shot into the sky. The lightning resembled an ascending dragon as it roared towards the sky, piercing through the black clouds and blowing them away, dispersing them and ending the gray and white rain, once again revealing the blue sky.
Liang Chen swept his surroundings with a quick gaze, the entire center of the city had been completely ruined. The remains of the scaffolding, the ruined buildings, even the streets themselves had taken on a bone-like appearance after being eaten by the gray and white rain, by Liang Chen's new law and bloodline.
Liang Chen took his eyes off of the destruction and looked to the east, his gaze landing on the castle-like mansion that served as the home of the Qing clan branch located in this city. He didn't put away his spear, he simply started to walk towards the mansion with calm steps, a gust of wind picking up the interspatial rings of Yu Jiang and his juniors, bringing them to Liang Chen. To his surprise, a blood-colored bead was dragged out of Yu Jiang's chest and flew over to him, another Bloodwind Code. Liang Chen didn't have a need for another one, but it could be given to Yan Ling or someone else, so he stored it away with the rest.
The city was completely silent as Liang Chen walked, not even the cats or dogs daring to make a sound, it was as if the entire city was holding its breath and waiting for Liang Chen to pass. Liang Chen wasn't the calm before the storm that usually alarmed people, he was the dreadful silence that descended when the storm passed and left nothing but ruin in its wake.
Nothing stood in Liang Chen's way, allowing him to quickly reach the wrought iron fence that surrounded the entire mansion, the ten-meter tall gate blocking anyone from entering. Liang Chen looked at the gate with a somewhat nostalgic expression, as a child he sometimes dreamed of what might be behind it and what he could do to get in there, how proud his parents would be if that were to happen. But now those dreams were dead, scattered to the winds with the ashes of his family and his past.
Liang Chen's right leg moved forward and gave the gate a seemingly soft kick that actually caused the two metal doors to bend and fly backward, completely torn off the hinges. Liang Chen only gave the magnificent fruit orchard placed behind the gate a cursory glance, calmly stepping onto the path and heading for the entrance of the mansion. Five people clad in armor stood by the door, but they trembled just from looking at Liang Chen, they didn't even dare move their weapons an inch closer to stop him.
While heading for the entrance, Liang Chen was somewhat curious when he would be contacted by Ye Zhong again. He had acquired a rank, corresponding title, and killed someone else holding a Bloodwind Code, there was a good chance his rank had gone up by a bit. Even if his rank didn't go up enough, just acquiring a title was enough for him to earn the reward that he could ask another question. But he had no way of contacting them, so he could only wait for them to contact him so that he could ask his question.
Liang Chen walked past the shivering guards, glancing at them out of the corner of his eye as he walked past them. This single glance was enough to turn their knees into jelly, three of the guards collapsing to the ground and quickly crawling away from Liang Chen. There was probably no one in the city who didn't know what he had just done, how terrifying this reaper was.
But Liang Chen simply stepped past them and pushed open the door to the mansion, stepping into a large rectangular hall filled with marble statues of previous Qing clan members who had made great contributions to the clan. A green silk carpet covered the floor, leading straight ahead to a large wooden door decorated with golden carvings featuring the history of the Qing clan founding. Liang Chen ignored the six other doors that lined the walls of the hall, walking straight up to the decadent door and giving it a push, the locks, and array, that were trying to keep it closed shattering as the door flew open.
Liang Chen stepped into a much larger hall that was circular in form, plants and flowers that were somewhat rare placed in jade and crystal pots throughout the entire room. A few more statues decorated the room, but these statues featured Demonic beasts and other figures famous from heroic legends and tales spread throughout the continent.
Placed at the very center of the room was a round table made from expensive wood, ornately carved chairs surrounding it. There were currently 15 people sitting around the table, 12 elders from the Qing clan and 3 people clad in the robes of the Nightshield sect, these were the people that Liang Chen had come here for, the ones he discovered after he finished killing Yu Jiang.
The 15 people quickly rose to their feet when Liang Chen threw open the door, clearly shocked by how quickly he had found them. There was an array surrounding the mansion that should have blocked Liang Chen's senses, so they figured he wouldn't discover them and move on to find a place to rest after the battle with Yu Jiang.
One of the men from the Qing clan looked at Liang Chen with a pale gaze, his lips trembling and his eyes red. The man stepped away from the table and walked towards Liang Chen with unsteady steps, reaching for him with trembling arms as he spoke with a somewhat choked voice.
"Little Chen... Please forgive me... I was useless... I tried my..."
Liang Chen recognized the man that was approaching him, he was the best friend of Liang Chen's father, Qing Xiang. Liang Chen cut off Qing Xiang's words by walking past him, his words stinging Qing Xiang's heart.
"I know, you tried your best to save her. I too tried my best, but sometimes our best just isn't good enough."
Liang Chen walked straight up to the round table after walking past Qiang Xing, his gaze landing on the 3 people of the Nightshield sect. The three stood close together, but the strongest among them had only reached the middle stage of the Heaven's Gate realm, they were far from being a threat to him. The one who seemed to be the leader took a step forward, raising both arms as he tried to speak in a calming tone.
"Alright, alright, let's talk about this like civili...!"
Liang Chen gave the round table a kick before the man could finish his words, the table crashing into the three men and causing them to fly backward along with the table, all of them crashing into the wall. Liang Chen walked past the Qing clan elders, who didn't dare move when they smelled a faintly sweet scent in the air, stopping in front of the three people who had slid to the ground along with the rubble of the table.
"You don't get to decide how we talk or what we talk about. Since you're here at this time, you must have had a hand in her execution as well as the presence of those people. I have only ever loved four people in my life, and you have already robbed me of three of them. I'll have you spill everything you know, and depending on your answers, I might just drag your entire Nightshield sect down to the ground."