The voice coming from the pin on Juye Gong's chest made it abundantly clear to Liang Chen that he had walked into a trap set by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. But he wasn't able to tell how large the trap was, was this Sword Dancer's sect actually evil or had the Tranquil Lake done something to the people of this city? And could it be that they even had a hand in the maintenance of the spatial arrays in Cloud's Song city to lead him here?
Liang Chen didn't know, and that uncertainty only made things worse in the current situation, making it so that he didn't know if there was a single person around that he could trust. And if that uncertainty wasn't bad enough, his left arm suddenly lost all strength and hung limply at his side, a sensation of pain assaulting Liang Chen despite the fact that he had already disabled his sense of pain.
As he sensed the pain flooding his body, a change also occurred to Juye Gong in front of him. Li Yang had torn open his abdomen and practically scooped out his organs, even his spine laid bare. He wasn't a body cultivator, so a wound like this was fatal, his vision turning blank as he succumbed to his injuries.
But the pin he wore on his chest unleashed a bright light just as he died, his collapsing body stopping itself with a twitch before it straightened itself, the faint blue aura carrying the scent of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow now surrounding the entire body. The look in his eyes had changed completely, turning arrogant and disdainful as he ran a finger along the light-green three-bladed sword that had cut up Liang Chen.
"It's painful, isn't it? This weapon was forged using a small piece of a fang that came from an Origin Beast, and not just one from a minor universe but one that was born alongside a major universe. Even the Origin Hearts of minor universes and some weaker major universes can collapse under such weapons, so I imagine that you aren't feeling too well right now. Ignore it for too long and you'll even end up as a cripple. Then again, I'm not planning on letting you live for long enough for that to become a possibility."
The voice that leaked out of Juye Gong's corpse belonged to the Sky-Piercing Sparrow so Liang Chen didn't have to think for long to realize that he had likely taken over the body to use as a make-shift avatar. Liang Chen didn't question the strength of the weapon after hearing what was used to forge it, there was no way something that was tied to an Origin Beast was simple.
Even to day's date, Liang Chen had only heard about a single beast that he knew was an Origin Beast, so just calling them rare would be an understatement, they were practically mythical. He gave his limp left arm a swift glance before shifting his gaze onto the slightly distant Yumao as well as the incoming disciples, his gaze sliding back onto the Sky-Piercing Sparrow.
"A weapon made using an Origin Beast huh, you've really taken out the capital this time to hunt me down."
With how rare Origin Beasts were, there was no way it would be cheap to acquire a weapon forged using a piece coming from such a beast. Clearly, the Tranquil Lake, or just the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, had a tremendous amount of wealth and connections, quite likely at least a little more than just the amount Liang Chen had read about in the reports he bought. The lips of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow curved up somewhat mockingly when he heard Liang Chen's words, his voice remaining calm as he shot forward.
"Taken out the capital? You have no idea, I've sacrificed several tens of thousands of soul cultivators just to set up this entire city for your arrival, just to pull you into this situation. But I don't regret it in the slightest, I would sacrifice many thousands more if it gave me the chance to kill you."
The body he was using was unable to keep up with the energy he unleashed, its feet falling apart as he moved forward. His words also cleared up something for Liang Chen, it seemed like he had worked highly specialized soul cultivators to the death to alter the memories of the people in this city.
This wasn't an endeavour that could be done in a day so it also confirmed to Liang Chen that the Tranquil Lake knew that he would come here, meaning that they definitely had a hand in the maintenance of the spatial arrays in Cloud's Song city.
Liang Chen quickly kicked off the ground and shot to the side, dodging both the incoming Sky-Piercing Sparrow and the Sword Dancer's sect disciples that were attacking him from behind. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow swiftly shifted his body and slashed out with the weapon, three thin lines cutting through space and slicing up the attacking disciples while continuing on to chase after Liang Chen.
Liang Chen raised his spear and slammed it down on the three lines, the law of the void gushing forth and surrounding them. The process was several seconds slower than usual, but the attack was still fully erased, telling Liang Chen that the law of void would still be very useful against this Origin Beast weapon. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow caught up while Liang Chen was dealing with the previous attack, forcing him to change his direction and dodge once more.
"And? Should I be flattered that you find me so scary that you're willing to sacrifice so many of your people just to get a hold of me?"
He didn't like the way the Sky-Piercing Sparrow spoke about the sacrifices he made to set up this trap, he spoke far too casually about sacrificing his own men. But the Sky-Piercing Sparrow wasn't bothered by Liang Chen's slight sneer, space around Liang Chen suddenly starting to twist like a maelstrom where he was trapped in the centre.
"I wouldn't really call them my people, more like pawns, or stepping stones if you will. Tell me, how many lives do you have to sift through to find one that is worthwhile, a life worth nurturing? The answer is in the thousands of trillions, sometimes there are just one or two people per minor universe. Only lives like that can actually be considered my people, the rest are just pawns to be thrown away once they've outlived their usefulness. As for that snarky remark of yours, you should, there are very few people who scare me. I didn't think too much of you last time we met, but each step you've taken afterwards has shown me that I should fear you, for you are the same as me. And such a person needs to be feared."
The Sky-Piercing Sparrow showed nothing but disregard bordering in disdain as he spoke, causing one of Li Yang's eyebrows to tick up. These people were more than willing to throw away their reputation, their dignity, even their lives for him. And yet all he showed for them was this disregard, making it even harder for Liang Chen to understand why there would be a single person willing to follow him.
Liang Chen swept out with his spear, a thick arc of brown lightning erupting from the tip of his weapon as he unleashed the third step of the Dragon King's Six Steps to break out of the maelstrom. He slammed his spear down and blocked the incoming sweep of the three-bladed sword, taking advantage of the force from the collision to push himself backwards.
He was blasted through several more disciples from the Sword Dancer's sect, the residual energy from the Sky-Piercing Sparrow's attack tearing through them as if they were paper. Liang Chen didn't even have time to stabilize his body, he was forced to kick off of the ground and jump away as the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had caught up to him almost immediately. but Liang Chen still sneered at him as he jumped away, ignoring the aching pain coursing through his body.
"That's a spiel I didn't expect to hear today. Sorry, but you and I are nothing alike."
The Sky-Piercing Sparrow he faced today was far stronger than the avatar he had faced last time, especially with the weapon he was wielding. He seemed to be able to draw out more strength from his laws now that he had an actual body to use as a medium, and Liang Chen didn't feel like he could afford to take another hit from the sword.
He was already starting to feel the effects of the previous ambush, it felt as if his veins were falling apart within his body, the sensation slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He jumped away once again as space around him started to show signs of twisting, a bit of the law of twisting hitting his right foot and causing the bones within it to break themselves. But just this was far from the result that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow wanted, so he continued to relentlessly chase Liang Chen, a slight crease unknowingly starting to appear between his brows
"Oh, are we not? We both move towards our goal and will gladly kill countless people to achieve it. We deem some people worthy of living and others unworthy of living, handing out our judgment with abandon and without care. The only differences between the two of us are our understanding of the universe and the criteria we use for judging others, you use deeds and I use their usefulness."
This was an undeniable fact, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had clear reports showing how Liang Chen had practically mercilessly slain the people working in the divisions of the Golden Branch sect. He had deemed them not fit for life and then taken it from them without regard for anyone else, he was undeniably cruel.
But his words were only met with another sneer from Liang Chen, who blocked the three-bladed sword once more, one of the blades slipping past his spear and slicing open his left thigh.
"And that's exactly why we are nothing alike. You use that pretty excuse of how the universe is to excuse your actions, as if that makes them any less vile and you more understanding. I am not content with how things are, and I will change them, and countless people will deem me evil beyond measure for it. And I understand that, I have accepted that fact, I don't make excuses for why I walk on this path that will make others brand me as evil."
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Liang Chen knew that he was hypocritical, he was wantonly murdering people despite judging others for doing the exact same thing. He was evil despite judging and killing others for being evil, that was a fact he had come to terms with. It was just as Yan Ling had told him, he wasn't a god, he could only save those he could reach. And so he did just that, he saved those that he could reach and forsook those that he couldn't or those he deemed evil.
Some of Liang Chen's blood splashed onto the face of the body that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was using, the arcs of lightning crackling in it roasting the body's eyes until they almost melted. But it didn't seem to really affect the Sky-Piercing Sparrow, he simply sent Liang Chen a grimacing smile and pushed out his empty left hand.
"As I thought, you really sicken me."
A fierce force assaulted Liang Chen's body as the Sky-Piercing Sparrow pushed out his hand, Liang Chen's chest caving in somewhat as he was launched back uncontrollably. He tore through the buildings of the Sword Dancer's sect, the continuous force that the Sky-Piercing Sparrow applied to him tearing through any disciple that got close to him.
He practically turned Liang Chen into a weapon as he sent him across and beyond the territory of the Sword Dancer's sect. His body drew a clear line into the city, crashing through houses and people alike and leaving torn up bodies in his wake. Liang Chen managed to crush the continuous force after a short moment, slamming down with the third step of the Dragon King's Six Steps once more. But the damage was already done, his chest had caved in until his ribs were practically poking his lungs and thousands of more people had died.
But Liang Chen was still alive, so the Sky-Piercing Sparrow continued to pursue him, the crease between his brows having grown even larger as Liang Chen continued to survive his attacks. The body he was using was also falling apart rapidly, unable to withstand the power he was putting out. At this point, almost the entire lower body and parts of the torso had fallen apart, the body only remaining upright thanks to the Sky-Piercing Sparrow's Qi.
Liang Chen didn't dodge back this time, his gaze narrowing as he shot forward the moment the Sky-Piercing Sparrow was about to reach him. He just barely dashed past the incoming enemy, the Sky-Piercing Sparrow immediately turning around and slashing at Liang Chen, who blocked the attack with his spear and used the resulting force to launch himself back to the Sword Dancer's sect. He let out a long breath once he reached the territory of the sect again, spitting out some blood while looking at the pursuing enemy.
"I really have no idea how you've managed to survive for so long. With how willing you are to throw away a countless number of lives, I'm amazed that no Universal Heart is willing to strike you down."
The number of people the Sky-Piercing Sparrow had killed to get his hands on Liang Chen was far from low, and he felt that it probably wasn't the first time he had done something like this. As such, he wasn't quite sure what to feel about the high and mighty Universal Hearts, who allowed a person like this to stick around. But the Sky-Piercing Sparrow merely smiled proudly, almost arrogantly, at Liang Chen.
"Heh, it has nothing to do with whether or not they are willing to strike me down, it simply comes down to the fact that they aren't able to. That is the greatest advantage of connections and positioning, perfect safety."
He slashed up at Liang Chen while bragging, Liang Chen's gaze narrowing somewhat. Exactly what sort of connections and positioning were enough to keep him safe from Universal Hearts? He found it unlikely for there to be such a place in this multiverse, so could it be that he was hiding in a different multiverse to stay safe?
The attack reached him and prevented him from thinking too long about it, Liang Chen blocking the ascending attack with the handle of his spear. He knew where he was right now, so he called out the moment the force of the collision sent him flying into the sky.
"Yumao!"
Right now he was almost directly beneath the place where Yumao was still stuck in combat with the remaining leaders of the Sword Dancer's sect, and the attack he had just blocked was sending him straight towards him. Yumao let out a rumbling roar the moment Liang Chen called out, a dome of darkness appearing out of nowhere and stealing away the energy of everyone but Liang Chen and Yumao, the Nether God's Grasp transferring that energy to the two of them.
The sudden change caused the Sky-Piercing Sparrow's expression to sink somewhat, but he also wasn't quite sure what Liang Chen was hoping to accomplish with this. But he quickly learned exactly what Liang Chen's plan was.
Yumao used the Nether God's Grasp to separate himself from the people he was fighting, flapping his wings and immediately reaching Liang Chen. He shrunk and wrapped himself around Liang Chen's arm, his body tensing as he braced himself. And once Yumao had returned to him, Liang Chen drew upon all the remaining devoured energy he had been storing inside his body.
He used the energy to launch one of the skills he learned in the third part of the Chaos King technique, Chaos King's step. But that wasn't enough for him, he also utilized all the energy to fuel his law of the void, locking onto the spatial array that was his target and erasing the distance between separated him and the spatial array, vanishing without a trace and leaving behind a bewildered Sky-Piercing Sparrow.
"Wh...!"
The bewildered expression of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow immediately morphed violently when he detected Liang Chen again, his gaze riveting towards the spatial array that was located in a plaza a short distance away from the sect. Liang Chen had a map that showed him all the spatial arrays in quite a large area, which was how he knew that he could come to this city to find a long-distance spatial array he could take to the Heaven and Hell Dominion.
And it was exactly this spatial array that he reached now, it was the one he was planning on using to leave after he finished the business that came up while he was in this city. He instantly arrived directly in front of the array, hurriedly stepping forward and inserting Spirit Stones into the correct slots while vomiting up some blood. Using the law of the void to erase something like distance like he had done just now drained an immense amount of energy, to the point where it was a technique he had only used twice now, saving it for the perfect moment both times.
The array started to glow and come to life as Liang Chen insert the Spirit Stones, space around him starting to distort. The Sky-Piercing Sparrow's expression turned so grim that he was practically spewing flames, everything but the shoulders, arms, and head of the body he was using falling apart as he rushed straight at the spatial array.
"Not again!"
Abandoning this make-shift avatar to unleash enough force allowed him to reach the spatial array before it fully awoke, giving him the chance to slash out with his three-bladed sword. The blades tore through the spatial array but were unable to prevent it from activating, the pale Liang Chen sending the Sky-Piercing Sparrow one last determined and fierce look.
"Perfect safety, you say? I'll put that to the test, just you wait for me."
Liang Chen vanished while his words still hung in the air, a few cracks spreading through the surrounding space thanks to the disruption caused in the spatial array by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow's attack.