Beast of resentment.

The body of the skeletal monstrosity rose out from the crater, the plaza around Liang Chen trembling as the skeletons that were buried a bit deeper all burrowed upwards and merged into the beast. The abomination quickly reached a stature where it was towering above Liang Chen and the city, its six skeletal hooves crushing the surrounding houses as well as the rusted guillotine.

The beast actually grew at a mind-boggling speed, reaching its full size after just a second. The eight sections that the bull-like head was split into peeled back like a blooming flower, a grating screech sounding out from its hollow throat. The screech sent shockwaves rippling through the air and seemed to cut straight into Liang Chen's soul, bringing with it the faint taste of the law of death.

Yumao soared into the air and Liang Chen jumped back, the shockwaves rupturing the earth where they had just been standing and aiding his jump to launch him several kilometres back. The earth within the entire plaza also exploded forth at the same time, a nearly 7-kilometre stretch of land bursting up as countless chunks of earth and ruined buildings shot into the sky after Liang Chen and Yumao.

Liang Chen landed on one of the ruined buildings that shot into the sky, his knees bending as he crouched and placed his free hand on the building. He used a bit of wind to keep himself stable on the soaring building, his gaze slightly narrowed as he looked at the monstrosity in front of him. This was by far the largest monster he had ever had to fight, its skeletal body was definitely over two kilometres tall and twice as long, it could only be described as gargantuan. This was how large the resentment of the dead was, this was how many corpses and souls failed to find their final rest underneath this city. And now, Liang Chen was going to put it all to rest.

He gathered up his strength and kicked off of the ruined building, the granite material pulverizing beneath his feet as he shot forward like a blur. He shot from ruined building to ruined building, flashing through the air so fast that the naked eye was barely able to keep up with him. But just as his foot landed on a section of earth that had been thrown into the air, something slithered forth and coiled around his leg.

Liang Chen's pupils riveted downwards and allowed him to see that the piece of earth he was standing on had suddenly become completely dry, all the moisture in it turning into a water tentacle that had wrapped around his leg to keep him in place. The area around him turned dark the moment his pupils moved down, the other earthen fragments and ruined buildings in the area having been gathered together into a single massive meteor that was descending upon him and blotting out the sun. Liang Chen looked up at the meteor crashing down towards him, but there wasn't the slightest ripple in his pupils.

"Yumao, rear."

Liang Chen sank into the shadow cast by the meteor the moment he finished his words, the water tentacle dispersing as it had lost its target. An orb of darkness appeared behind the massive abomination, the orb fading away and revealing Liang Chen, who was now standing on a platform of hardened air. The muscles on his legs tensed and he shot forward, running through the air until he was so close that he could touch the rear of the skeletal monstrosity.

And as he was right behind the towering beast, his left leg tensed so much that veins started to bulge and writhe, all of his physical power gathering within his leg. And then he kicked forward, he smashed his leg into the rear of the beast and unleashed every ounce of his tremendous physical power. The skeletal rear of the massive bull caved in under the kick, cracks extending all the way to the middle pair of the bull's three pairs of legs.

The gargantuan body was pushed forward, the beast stumbling several steps before it collapsed to the ground. Liang Chen was a body cultivator, his small frame hid a terrifying physical force, even if he didn't always show it off. He didn't just kick the beast without thought, the direction he kicked it in was the one where the massive meteor was crashing down. So the bull collapsed to the ground due to the rampant force within the kick, and then the meteor fell onto it.

Another dark orb appeared around Liang Chen just as the shockwaves of the descending meteor were about to reach him, his body re-appearing on top of Yumao's head, who was flying safely above the danger-zone. The shockwaves tore through the city and pulverized any buildings in its path, the earth rippling as if it was water thanks to the horrendous might contained within the meteor.

The 7-kilometre large of destruction that the beast originally created instantly quadrupled in size thanks to the meteor, not a single building remaining standing. But Liang Chen's expression didn't relax as he gazed down at the dust cloud that rose up from the destruction, he could still sense the rampant energy and resentment swirling around in the beast.

The massive cloud of dust suddenly shrank as Liang Chen was looking down, a shrill and ear-piercing screech echoing across the entire island as the beast raised its head out from the shrinking cloud of dust. But the beast looked different now, the dust from the cloud and the earth in the meteor was sticking to the skeletons that formed its body, streams of water coursing along the surface and inside of its body. The now much bulkier beast looked at Liang Chen with all eight of its hollow eyes, its gargled and ever-changing voice once again bubbling forth.

"Mother...Protect...Mother..."

Wispy tendrils of black energy rose up from the earth all around the beast and sank into its body as it screeched at Liang Chen, its caved in rear already fully restored as it sucked in all the deathly energy coursing within the island. Liang Chen looked down at the beast, the violent energy wafting off of it rustling his hair and robe.

"So that's how things are going to be. But I'm sorry to say, I don't dance, I howl."

Liang Chen's Qi exploded forth when he finished his words, shooting directly into the sky and quickly forming a cloud. The cloud quickly feasted upon the surrounding moisture and Liang Chen's Qi to grow larger and larger, turning darker and darker as it did. More and more clouds appeared and grew, the entire sky turning dark as pitch-black clouds spread out to cover it. And then the rain fell.

At first, it was just a few drops from each cloud, but the number of droplets quickly grew as the clouds gorged themselves upon more and more Qi. Tens grew into hundreds which then grew into thousands, an endless amount of droplets pouring down from the clouds in such a dense manner that it was as if the clouds were hiding a waterfall. And what followed the rain was a fierce wind and the rumbling of furious thunder, brilliant crimson arcs splitting open the sky and dyeing the entire world beneath the clouds an ominous red.

This was the skill Liang Chen had found within the governor's mansion, the Rain-Caller's Dance. But in his hands it didn't call forth rain like it was supposed to, it didn't feed the crops of despairing farmers. No, in his, in the hands of the man who purposefully overloaded the skill, it brought forth a howling storm to decimate everything. A normal storm would only crackle with golden lightning, but this storm was influenced by Liang Chen's own Qi and thus howled with crimson lightning, if he became able to put in more strength he guessed that he could probably make it roar with his own brown lightning.

Liang Chen raised his grey spear and pointed it at the clouds, several bolts of lightning rumbling downwards as if they were attracted to his spear. The spear sucked in the lightning and channelled it all into Liang Chen's body, restoring the energy he had spent to activate the skill and causing his entire body to crackle with crimson arcs while the surrounding wind and rain also gathered around him. Liang Chen lowered his spear again, pointing it at the split open head of the massive six-legged earthen bull.

"Yumao, let's go."

Liang Chen stepped forward and walked off of Yumao's head, descending towards the bull with arcs of water and lightning trailing off his body. The bull screeched at Liang Chen with its segmented and blooming head, the crushed skeletons that served as its teeth dripping with water as they gleamed slightly. The beast welcomed Liang Chen with its open maw, his body appearing hopelessly small compared to the gargantuan abomination.

But just as the beast was about to close its maw and crush him, the darkness shrouding its body thanks to the black clouds wriggled and moved. The darkness tore itself off of the beast's body and stabbed into it, weaving through the large body as if it was a living snake. Eight portions split away from the seemingly living darkness and shot at the head of the beast, each portion coiling around one of the eight segments of the monster's split-open head, tugging at them so that the bull couldn't immediately close its mouth.

And it was at this moment that Liang Chen attacked. His spear smashed downwards, drawing an arc through the air as it sucked in all the rain, lightning, and wind in the area and concentrated it at the tip. The spear smashed into the open maw of the beast and unleashed all the force contained within it, a thunderous rumbling rocking the city as crimson arcs of lightning rose high into the sky, illuminating the dark world.

The beast was violently smashed into the ground, two of the segments that its head consisted off disintegrating under the force of Liang Chen's attack. Liang Chen landed on top of the beast's head, brown arcs of lightning stretching out from his feet and coursing along the water that ran along the beast's body. The deafening silence following the rumbling thunder, that was the sign that the king of the storm had descended.

The storm raging around him once again gathered around Liang Chen and sank into his body, restoring the energy he expended just now. Nearly every inch of his being was composed of a concentrated storm, there was almost no limit to how much physical energy and Qi he could restore in an environment like this. And with the deathly energy coursing through the earth, he could even slightly restore any Anima Essence he expended, so right here and now, he could unleash as many violent attacks as he wanted.

The massive body beneath him rumbled and trembled, a horrid screeching tearing through the air as the bull tore up the dark tendrils that restrained the remaining six segments of its head. The screeching sound reverberated through the air, the raindrops within the entire area halting for a short second before they changed direction and headed for Liang Chen. Each one carried a bit of the law of death and moved so fast that they turned sharp, they'd probably cut him up pretty badly if they managed to hit him.

The body of the beast trembled once more, the earth that covered its skeleton splitting open to trap Liang Chen's feet so that he couldn't escape the raindrops. But speed wasn't the forte of this beast, so it would need to rely on something else if it wanted to rely on a speed demon like Liang Chen.

Liang Chen shot down from the beast's body just as it split open and dashed underneath the beast, taking advantage of the two segments of its head that had disintegrated to easily reach the bull's stomach. His left knee bent slightly as he gathered all his might once more, drawing in even more energy from the surrounding storm as large cracks started to extend across the earth beneath his foot.

"Fourth Step Pierces The Sparrow."

The soft mutter rang through Liang Chen's heart before his leg flashed upwards, his foot connecting with the abomination's stomach and unleashing all the stored up energy. The entire stomach of the beast caved in as massive cracks spread out to cover the entire earthen body, the gargantuan body actually lifting off the ground and soaring into the sky.

Liang Chen raised his head to look at the massive body that flew into the sky, his body greedily sucking in the surrounding energy to restore what he just expended. He flipped his spear into a throwing position and started to lead all his energy into his right arm, his veins bulging and writhing as the spear started to release a faint thrumming noise thanks to all the energy seething within it.

But Liang Chen didn't launch his attack straight away, he simply looked at the massive body in silence as he gathered more energy. And then, an ear-piercing hissing sound reached Liang Chen's ears, all the darkness and every single shadow in the surrounding area contorting violently. The darkness rose up from the earth like four massive jagged maws, each one biting into the monstrosity and tearing at it.

The four maws tore open the abomination's earthen hide and revealed its skeletal inside, the skeletons shattering and tearing apart under the force of Yumao's attack. And revealed at the very centre of the beast was a 200-metre wide orb of wispy black energy that seemed to be swimming with indistinct faces. This was the thing controlling the beast, the fragmented souls filled with resentment that had been stitched together by the Elemental Lotus. The faces in the orb screeched in the gargling voice of the beast, Liang Chen taking aim at it as he gathered the last of his energy.

"Protect...Mother...Mother...Protect...!"

"Rest now, I'll take over your resentment and show you true wrath. Fourth Step Pierces the Sparrow."

His arm jerked forward and unleashed the spear, a terrifyingly loud tearing sound ripping through the air as the spear left behind a dull grey streak in its wake. The spear pierced through the wispy black orb and continued on into the clouds, the tearing sound vanishing as the spear disappeared into the clouds. But the silence was quickly swallowed by a thunderous rumbling and crackling that seemed to rock the entire city, the dull grey streak propagating and arcing out.

Countless streaks of energy spread out from the grey streak and covered the entire sky, disintegrating, rotting, melting, or tearing apart anything they came in contact with, even the dark clouds were torn up to reveal the blue sky. The massive abomination wasn't spared from this, the wispy black orb releasing one final screech before it dissipated and the gargantuan body disintegrated. A delicate lotus with three different colours appeared where the head of the beast had been, slowly drifting towards the ground in a silent manner.