Liang Chen stood up and brushed away the dirt on his robe, turning his head and sweeping his surroundings with a quick gaze. There were no signs that Yan Ling had arrived in the area, nor were there any other traces of life that he could sense. He stretched out his right arm, Yumao slithering out of the shadow cast by Liang Chen's hair, sniffing the somewhat familiar air. Liang Chen pat Yumao on top the head with his finger a few times, pointing at the sky above them.
"Sorry, but can I trouble you to head up there and check if you can see Ling'er anywhere nearby? There's no telling what sort of trouble she'll cause if I'm not there to keep an eye on her."
Yumao nodded his head a few times and then flapped his wings, shooting past the trees and high into the sky. Liang Chen leaned against a tree and watched Yumao vanish into the distance, calmly waiting for him to return. A black blur landed on Liang Chen's shoulder after about 10 minutes, Yumao curling up and using the tips of his wings to write a few things on Liang Chen's neck. Liang Chen's mouth curled slightly when he read Yumao's message, cursing quietly.
"Nothing at all within the surrounding 100 kilometers? A few kilometers my ass, Ye Zhong, you really explained it in a shitty way."
Of course, what Liang Chen forgot to account for was the difference in strength between him and Ye Zhong. What was only a few kilometers for Ye Zhong would likely be quite a vast distance for people like Liang Chen. Liang Chen rubbed his temples in silence for a bit, digesting the information and trying to figure out what to do next. He opened his eyes again after half a minute, looking somewhat apologetically at Yumao.
"Sorry, but would you mind flying around and looking for her? I'm really worried about what might happen to her and it should be faster to find her if we both head in different directions."
Yumao could move through the air far easier than Liang Chen, if he flew one way and Liang Chen walked the other, he figured that it shouldn't take too long for them to find Yan Ling. Yumao rapidly nodded his head, doing his best to hide the glint of worry that was present within his own eyes as well. He swept his head around a few times, eventually pointing it in the opposite direction of Eternal Stream city and letting out a hiss.
After signaling which direction he was intending to head in, Yumao once again flapped his wings and shot to the sky, rapidly vanishing into the distance. With Yumao vanishing, Liang Chen turned towards the distant Eternal Stream city, muttering quietly.
"Alright, let's see if we can't find the source of all that smoke and blood. Lei Qiang, you better be okay."
Liang Chen didn't have a lot of friends, he couldn't really be said to have any more than two actually, so he made sure to treat the few that he had very dearly. He stepped away from the tree and started heading for Eternal Stream city, using the tall mountain peak as his guiding beacon.
It didn't take him long to leave the forest and step onto the large plain that surrounded most of the area around Eternal Stream city. A short distance ahead of him he could see the winding road he had once taken to first get to Eternal Stream city, back then he had been hitching a ride with a carriage for safety from any bandits, but now things were completely different.
Liang Chen's eyes narrowed dangerously the moment he stepped out of the forest, not only had the scent of blood gotten even thicker, but he could also see several corpses spread around the area. Some had marks that they were killed using weapons, while others had clearly been torn apart and ruined by attacks using a large amount of Qi. Liang Chen spread out his senses and quickly locked onto a small sliver of lifeforce, dashing over to what he at first thought was a face-down corpse, turning it around and supporting its head.
The person was a middle-aged man clad in the black robes of the Ghost Soul sect, he currently had an axe embedded in his back, likely crushing his spine and flooding his lungs with blood. Liang Chen placed his hand on the man's forehead and shot some lightning into him to shock him fully awake, quickly questioning him.
"Tell me, what happened here? Did the sects start a battle?"
The middle-aged man's eyes opened somewhat slowly, one of his eyelids hanging limply after only opening halfway. The man's strangely white eyes roamed over Liang Chen's face, clarity slowly appearing in them as he struggled to stretch out his arm and grab onto Liang Chen's collar.
"...Liang Chen...? The Scourge King?! It's you... They came for you... Why did we have to... Die for you...? Tell me...please... My husband... Our son...why?"
The exertion proved too much for the man, and his wounds seemed to be worse than Liang Chen first expected, he spat out some brown and clotted blood, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as all signs of life vanished from his body.
Liang Chen's expression was far from pleasant as he looked at the dead man, gently letting him down to the ground again. It seemed like whoever had killed all these people had done so because of him for some reason. For a split second, Liang Chen thought that it might be Huang Dong, but he quickly discarded that idea, there was no way Huang Dong had enough worth that the sect would be willing to go to war like this for him.
Liang Chen turned his gaze onto Eternal Stream city, which he could now see had flames blazing within it, the grand entrance gate shattered into tiny pieces. He stomped off from the ground and shot toward the city at full speed, his heart thumping with worry as the smell of blood and smoke got so thick and nauseous that it felt like it would choke him.
He quickly passed through the shattered gate and entered the city, a scene pulled straight from hell greeting him. The heat of the fire crashed against his body, corpse of young and old scattered around amongst the ruins of the houses. What was once a lovely city filled with pride in their nation and army had been reduced to rubble and ash decorated by fire and blood.
Liang Chen quickly traced his memories and followed the path he had once taken in the past, swiftly passing by the military academy and then following the path that Lei Qiang had shown him. It didn't take him long to reach the location of Lei Qiang's house, but it was just as he feared, all he found was ruin and blood. The pleasant two-story house had been fully torn down, large chunks of debris covering the garden where he had once sat and drunk wine with his friend.
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A faint sliver of lifeforce seeped out from the rubble, Liang Chen quickly clinging on to this strand of hope and rushing over to it. He picked up the large chunks of debris and flung them away, digging out the still-living person beneath the rubble. But when he saw the person, his pupils couldn't help but quake.
Buried beneath the rubble wasn't just Lei Qiang and his wife, Xue Wen, but even their daughter Lei Qiuxun, who had yet to even turn five. Lei Qiang's head was completely crushed, his face a mangled mess that was practically impossible to recognize. He had shielded Lei Qiuxun and Xue Wen with his own body, but it wasn't enough, a jagged stone had pierced directly through their chests, nailing them together. Lei Qiuxun likely died immediately, but Xue Wen was still alive, despite the fact that a piece of debris had also completely crushed her lower body.
Liang Chen took several deep breaths, the scent of blood and death invading every inch of his body. He placed his hand on Xue Wen's forehead, a bit of poison and lightning flooding into her body, the poison numbing any pain while the lightning shocked her awake as he pulled back his arm. Xue Wen's eyes slowly opened, revealing that all the veins in them had exploded from pressure, rendering her blind. But even so, she was still able to guess who was above her.
"Ah... Liang Chen, is that you...? Qiang'er did mention that... You used your poison...Like this before... You must flee... They are looking for...You... And they'll stop at... Nothing to find you... Some of them are... Still here in the city... Wreaking havoc on any... Survivors... Run before they find...You..."
Liang Chen's heart thumped so loudly that it felt like thunder rumbling in his head. Even now, as she was at death's door and had lost everything because of him, this Xue Wen still wanted him to escape and save himself. Liang Chen closed his eyes for a short moment, he had been lucky to meet someone like Lei Qiang and his family, they were perfect role models for people. And now they were dead, ruined and lost, all because of him. Liang Chen opened his eyes again, his voice was soft but so filled with determination that it seemed to even push away the surrounding flames.
"Xue Wen, I know that I'm the cause of this, and I know that I can't undo what has happened. But tell me, do you want revenge, vengeance against those who did this? The people of this city, would they want revenge?"
Xue Wen did her best to stretch out her arm, but her strength failed her, the arm remaining lying on the ground. Unable to move her arm, she could only rest her head against Lei Qiuxun's and her back against Lei Qiang, her voice choked up as she talked.
"They would, all of them... Those who did this to... Qiang'er and Little Qiu... Can I ask you to... Please Kill them... Please...."
Liang Chen's eyes were steadfast and bloodshot and nodded his head, a gesture Xue Wen was unable to see but could guess that he was doing. He once again placed his hand on her forehead, his soft voice lulling her to sleep as poison and death seeped into her body.
"I will, I swear. I will let you acquire your vengeance with your own body, so you just rest, I promise you that the journey to reincarnation won't be a lonely one."
Xue Wen flashed a weak smile, her eyes closing as the poison and law of death shut down her remaining organs and gave her a painless death. Liang Chen stood up, his expression steely as he swept his gaze across the ruined city and the countless corpses. He closed his eyes and sent out his senses, scanning everything around him to look for any trace of the ones that did this.
He swiftly spotted a group of 11 people about 27 kilometers away who were different from the rest of the people in the city, they were clad in golden robes and were currently sifting through the rubble, making sure that anyone they found was truly dead. They even stabbed the skulls of the corpses to make sure that they weren't just faking it. Some of the people in the group didn't look too comfortable with the job, but they still performed their duties.
Liang Chen locked onto the group, stretching out his right arm and holding out his palm. He started walking towards the group, channeling his energy into the Bloodwind Code that had merged with his chest after he killed Qian Liao. The blood of Lei Qiang and the others, as well as the blood from the countless corpses around him all started to rise up, flowing over to him and gathering above his palm.
A cut appeared in his palm, some of his blood flowing out and merging with the blood that was gathering above his palm. The gathered blood started to seethe and boil once Liang Chen's blood was introduced to it, the blood twisting and turning as it started to condense. More and more blood flew over and merged with the rest of the blood, condensing along with it as it slowly formed the shape of a spear. The Bloodwind Code only need about 20 000 people's worth of blood, it never said anything about Liang Chen having to be the one who killed them.
After draining the blood of every corpse within the surrounding 20 kilometers, the spear seemed to have reached a saturation point, no longer drawing in any more blood. But it didn't seem to be quite complete yet, so Liang Chen made another cut in his palm and had more of his blood flow into the spear, a change quickly taking place.
A thunderous draconic roar rang out as his blood flowed into the spear, the crimson color quickly fading and being replaced by a faded gray, five lightning-like bolts running down the shaft of the spear, one golden, one cyan, one white, one black, and one purple. As the five lines appeared, the simple head of the spear also morphed slightly, a line running down halfway through the speartip and splitting it apart, jagged spikes resembling teeth growing out from the split apart speartip. The speartip now resembled the open maw of a dragon, the spear fully hardening and landing in Liang Chen's grasp, thrumming in excitement.
The moment the spear landed in his grasp, Liang Chen shot forward at full speed, shattering the streets of the city beneath his feet. He arrived in front of the group of 11 with a thunderous rumble, the stone beneath him shattering from the momentum that remained as he stopped. The 11 people quickly raised their weapons in a defensive stance, the red-haired and brown-eyed girl who seemed to be the leader opening her eyes wide when she saw Liang Chen.
"That's him! He's the target!"
Liang Chen's eyes roamed over the 11 people, his bloodshot and intent gaze causing shivers to run down their spines. They had all reached the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal, but faced with that gaze they almost felt their legs turn to jelly. Liang Chen tightly grasped his new spear, it fit so well that it felt like an extension of his body. The speartip thrummed slightly in tune with Liang Chen's rage as he raised it, pointing it at the 11 people.
"I heard you've been looking for me? Now weep, for you've found me."