The girl who didn't understand.

Liang Chen could feel them clear as day, the two pairs of eyes that had locked onto him. They practically pierced into him, ignored everyone else around him and focused solely on him. He felt like sighing, he would have been much happier if he could just enter this place quietly and go about his business, receiving this attention the second he entered the city was just irksome.

"Oh man, I'd thank the gods if they still existed, this is just too good. You drew a real winner, buddy, a top prize I didn't even know existed."

Shen Fei didn't share Liang Chen's annoyed outlook, this was better than any result he could have expected. The enemy that had every reason to fight Liang Chen, as well as the person who would definitely not let a prey like Liang Chen get away, both were already engaged in a battle. And then the third party arrived. Would they cease their battle and focus on him, or would they try to talk to find out a way they could do things properly?

They quickly received an answer to that unspoken question, a thunderous rumble echoing throughout the city. A section of the large cathedral-like building at the centre of the city collapsed, one of its large spires soaring towards Liang Chen's group. The distance between them was great enough that it didn't crash down on them, but it continued to move even after it crashed to the earth again. It dug a trench through the city before finally erupting into small chunks a few hundred metres away from Liang Chen.

Two people stood within the cloud of dust that arose after the spire exploded, a man and a woman. The man had his back towards Liang Chen's group, but his head was turned slightly, allowing his blue eyes to inspect Liang Chen, a few strands of curly black hair hanging over them. The sturdy metal staff he was holding was placed in a defensive position in front of him, blocking the fist of the opposing woman.

As for the woman, he could tell at a glance that she was the one who had trashed Shen Fei and the two previous Wrath sects. Snow white hair that just barely passed her ears and a pair of piercing crimson pupils, they looked like a strange mixture of fire and blood, flickering as they reflected the light.

Both of them looked quite young, barely in the middle of their twenties, but Liang Chen had long since stopped judging people by how old they looked. In truth, looking young could mean that they were that much more dangerous, it could mean that their cultivation had reached a high point while they were still young, stagnating their growth. The Nine Star Demon God he had met was one such example.

"You, who...What are you? You feel pretty damn far from normal."

The one who broke the momentary silence that descended over them was the girl, her brows somewhat furrowed as her gaze roamed across Liang Chen's body. He disregarded her gaze, his own eyes drifting towards the man as he used his thumb to point towards him.

"Just a passer-by. I've got business with him, but that can wait until after you're done so just take your time."

He completely brushed aside her question and apparent interest, but he took note of a fact, or rather, two. The first was that her eyes were different from what he originally imagined. When Shen Fei said that she called him boring, he had expected that she would be a battle maniac, seeking out thrill after thrill to feel a rush. But looking into her eyes now he couldn't see the characteristic joy, there was no exhilaration, only curiosity, as well as a touch of desperation.

As for the second fact, it was one that was far more headache-inducing. The resonating feeling that made him come here, the reward Purgatory wanted to give him, it originated from this girl. Was she the reward or did she hold something that would be useful to him after he beat her? He didn't know, but he wouldn't put it past Purgatory to do something like that, his previous reward had been a big sects treasured garden after all.

As for the annoying sound that had started rushing in his ears earlier, it was still present, it had actually grown a bit louder after he reached the city. But he still couldn't detect any source so it remained as nothing more than a nagging annoyance prodding him from the side.

"Storm Lord, at least that's the name Song Zhao managed to send out before he met his end. But we just call him a scourge. We haven't heard anything from Man or Haunting, I take it they've already fallen?"

The man spoke out, his expression solemn and dark as he glanced at Liang Chen. To this day, the Nine Wraths sect and its subordinates had yet to learn Liang Chen's name, he simply hadn't taken the time to introduce himself to any of them.

"They have."

A simple answer without any embellishment. There was no trace of pride or bragging in his voice, it was nothing more than a simple statement declaring a fact.

"So only us five remain... You are dangerous, Storm Lord, you are a danger to the very existence of our Nine Wraths. So I, Sky's Wrath Tian Shenju, will stop you here, I cannot let you eradicate another wrath."

Tian Shenju's body tensed up as he spoke, the staff he was holding creaking quietly as his grasp tightened. He wasn't quite sure when he last felt this sense of danger, like a mouse being glared at by a cat. If he closed his eyes then he feared that he might see a glimpse of a horrible future, a future where one wrath ended up swallowing all others. And that, that couldn't be allowed.

"It won't just be another wrath. From what I've seen so far, it'll probably end with all five, perhaps even that sixth one that you may or may not have."

Liang Chen had seen how the overlord of this land conducted itself, they were a perfect match for this twisted place. If all of them ended up following that same pattern then there would only be one end, a Purgatory's Cradle devoid of its nine wraths.

"Storm Lord...That's a bit of a cringey name you've chosen for yourself, could you actually be as young as you look? Entered your edgy phase?"

The light voice of the girl cut through the heavy atmosphere that descended after Liang Chen's and Tian Shenju's declarations. Her expression was a bit crooked, as if she was caught between a desire to laugh and a desire to anger Liang Chen.

"You said you killed the two other anger sects, right? The Man and Soul people right? Well, I'm the one who beat them up, trashed them so hard that they should still be bedridden for several weeks. Correct?"

The girl pulled back her outstretched fist as she spoke, Tian Shenju taking the chance to take a few steps back and to the side, the three people now forming a triangle as they faced each other. Liang Chen simply nodded at the girl's question, they had indeed all been stuck to their beds as he arrived.

"Yeah, thought so. That means you owe me one, I made things far easier for you after all. So you'll fight me, one predator against another."

The girl's eyes narrowed somewhat sharply as she spoke, truly resembling a tiger that was stalking its prey. And that was indeed how she saw Liang Chen. The gait and stance were that of a common man, but she could see the truth deep within. Monstrous eyes that overlooked the world, the cold merciless gleam of fangs, the sharp glint of claws. He was a beast, a hunter, a predator, dangerous.

"No thanks, you can just keep fighting him. I don't have a reason to fight you, and I personally don't feel that I mesh too well with battle junkies like you, I just can't understand the fun you find in violent battles."

Liang Chen shot down her request without even giving it any thought. The girl didn't show any apparent signs of exhilaration from what he had seen, but it seemed to be the most obvious answer to what she was doing here so it wound up being the theory he went with. After all, there was no need to pay too much mind to a passing meeting like this, if things went as he wanted then things would end after the first greeting. But the things you wanted and the reality of the situation were often different, especially for Liang Chen.

"Fun? Tell me, Storm Lord, do you think battles are fun?"

The girl's expression had sunk somewhat as she spoke, her lips were still turned up faintly but her expression was generally dark. Liang Chen had technically already answered the question so she really only asked to get a final bit of confirmation.

"No. They are necessary, but I think it would be better if there was no need for them."

Part of the reason Liang Chen's view of battles was like this was probably due to the type of battles he engaged in. He hadn't been raised in a sect or clan, not properly at least, he had next to no experience with sparring battles, fights where you just trained to become stronger. Whenever he fought it was to the death, a single wrong move and everything would be over. He simply couldn't afford to find any joy in it.

"Right? It's just a slugfest, crushing or getting crushed. But father said that battles are a fun thing, an activity akin to drawing a painting or creating an array. Every step is deliberate, every swing of the arm needs to connect perfectly with the next to draw the full picture. Alone they look like random lines, but in the end, they will form the full picture, an exquisite painting that makes it all worth it. I...can't understand that mindset, but it's something that father holds dear so I need to understand it. And you'll help me do that, whether you want to or not is irrelevant."

The air grew heavy as the girl spoke, her left leg sliding back slightly while her right knee bent. She was taking her stance, both hands held open and flat, causing Liang Chen to guess that she possibly specialized in counter-based combat. Tian Shenju tensed up further as the air grew heavy, the ground groaning softly due to the increased gravity.

"I am Li Zhao Xu, come, Storm Lord, Tian Shenju, let me learn what's so fun about battles."