The dark clouds only grew heavier with each passing step, a dark akin to the deep night overtaking the city. This was one of the wraths belonging to the Nine Wraths sect, they would have more than just one Primordial Immortal cultivator, it wouldn't be strange if they had one that was at the late stage. So he had used the Rain-Caller's Dance right away, the brewing storm swallowing the entire stretch of land.
Small drops of rain quickly started to fall, hammering the city with such ferocity that they threatened to drown out everything else. But with that rain came the lightning, flashes of light that cut through the dark and tore apart the hammering of the rain with furious roars. The storm had arrived, and it was intense enough to swallow every little light of life that dotted this land.
Liang Chen's eyes slowly moved about as he walked, not even the heavy rain was able to shroud the gloomy light in those golden pupils. His poison was already scattered all around him, latched onto the souls of almost all the people not inside the main building of the sect. But he didn't activate it all immediately, he allowed them to attack the disciples before he acted.
Death was something they would have to get used to, something they would have to hold close to their chests. And that went for both the death of their enemies and their own death, if the sensation of death made them freeze up then they would end up walking into an early grave. But not activating the main part of his poison didn't mean that he wasn't using it, no, he was employing it quite handily even as he walked.
Everywhere he looked, lives were unfolding themselves. Sorrows, joys, atrocities, tiny gleams of hope, all of them bared themselves to Liang Chen. The very souls of the citizens were unravelling themselves due to his poison, every second of their lives imprinting themselves in his mind.
He had taken the poison of the rafflesia and modified it slightly, he wasn't trying to create an energy-based copy of his target, he just wanted the function to unravel their souls to understand them. But life was both the shortest and longest thing you would ever experience, the number of events you could cram into it was mind-numbing.
So he had mixed in a bit of his law of time with the poison, drastically increasing the speed at which it unravelled the soul and bared the memories. Each glance encompassed an ocean of memories, each blink made tens of lifetimes flash past his eyes.
Was this way of doing it better than temporarily turning them into puppets and having them spill everything? If he only looked at the efficiency and speed then the answer would undoubtedly be yes, he could judge tens if not hundreds of more people in the same timeframe if he did it like this.
But on the heart and mind? It was far heavier, far sadder. To hear about a sin was one thing, to witness it was something else entirely. The terrified expressions, their final pleas for mercy, their snivelling, the gurgling of blood as the last traces of life left them, the dim light of despair in their eyes as their worlds collapsed. He saw it all as the memories revealed themselves, took them all in. The silent fire in the pit of his stomach took them all in as fuel, every tear, every weak cry, it used them all as fuel to burn brighter, to stretch its fiery tendrils towards the sky.
"Have you gotten used to it now? Have you gotten a taste of death? Then try to move. The next time they attack, aim for their throats, raise your weapons to resist. Accept that you may die, but raise your weapons so that you may live for tomorrow."
Liang Chen didn't allow the unravelling souls to draw all his attention, turning his head slightly to glance at the disciples behind him. Several of the citizens had already died after attempting to attack the disciples, turning into stiff statues covered by white fuzz and elongated mushrooms bursting with spores.
But even so, none of the people around them had given up on attacking, Liang Chen had made sure of that by having his poison eat away at their soul, and thus their minds. Not enough for them to really notice it, but enough for it to have an effect on their actions. After all, a mindless puppet would never be able to give off the same killing intent as these highly experienced killers.
"Understood, Storm Lord...But the difference between them and us is a bit too great, so please forgive us if we fail to move in the end."
The disciples quickly assented to Liang Chen's command, but one of them made sure to speak up somewhat awkwardly. He didn't think that Liang Chen would get angry or the like for something so minor, but he felt that it would be a bit sad if he got disappointed by their failure. And indeed, Liang Chen wouldn't be angered by something so minor, his gaze turning towards the front again.
"Determination isn't built in a day. Fail as you please, but make sure you build on it to keep moving forward. Today it is they who are too far above you, the next day it will be the next enemy, and then the next. But move forward, climb higher. One day, not even the heavens will be higher than you, and that is what we're... Well, at least I, am aiming for."
The disciples nodded their heads strongly, hardening their hearts. In truth, very few of them looked as far ahead as Liang Chen did, they either just wanted to vent their anger or help others as Liang Chen had helped them. But not seeing the same end of the path as him didn't mean that they didn't find it inspiring. One man stood alone as he tried to reach the heavens, tried to surpass them so that they would finally fulfil their duty.
If he could have that determination, who was to say that they couldn't be determined enough to resist their attackers despite the difference in strength? And above all, their Storm Sovereign was behind them, he watched them and urged them onward, supported them. Even if they failed, he would catch them so that they could rise again. And as long as he did that, then some of them felt like they could face the world itself.
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Hui Xin was the first one to raise her weapon, or rather her fists, as another man launched a quiet sneak attack. She couldn't see the man due to her ruined eyes, but she could faintly feel his presence due to the way he pushed aside the air as he moved, not even the hammering rain was able to obscure those tiny movements.
She used the law of wind to find him, but it was her secondary law that she wanted to use to attack, the law of strength. It was a concept very foreign to her, she had always been on the side of the weak, the notion of having strength was never something that existed in her mind. So it was a law that was very hard for her to grasp, but she did her best, because she wanted to wield strength like no other. She wanted to have the strength to act like Liang Chen, to break into a sealed dungeon and calmly stride into a cell to stretch his hand out for others to grasp.
She used the only form of strength she had some experience with, the brute strength to inflict great violence on weaker people. She stomped the wet stone with her thin legs, like a head smashing into the ground after it was knocked aside by a furious fist.
Pain, that was the first thing she felt from it, painful memories and a slight aching of her bones. But she drew her strength from that very pain, those dark memories and the force that acted upon her leg. She drew it up her legs and into her waist, twisting her body slightly so that she could channel that strength into her swinging arm with greater ease. Her fist was clenched tightly, even more tightly than her teeth.
She recalled the movements from before her eyes were ruined, the twist of the waist and the swinging of the fist. Cracked temples that led to a quick death, broken skulls, shattered noses, lungs ruptured by fractured ribs. She recalled them all as she had seen them, as she had experienced some of them. She herself did not know how to properly punch, but she had been punched enough to know how to mimic it, she had suffered enough pain that she knew how to inflict it on others.
The wind whispered to her through the hammering rain and thundering lightning. The incoming man's outstretched arm, the sword grasped in the hand, the sharp tip aiming for her throat. She knew the pain that sword would inflict, that searing pain as its edge cut through her flesh, removed her skin from her body. Oh, how familiar she was with it and its horror, how many scars she had on her body thanks to that very same pain, how many tears she had cried due to it.
But she didn't stop, she didn't allow that fear to swallow her mind, to seize up her joints. She was still among the weak, she was no stronger than the little girl trapped in the cell, her limbs and body ruined. But the doors of that cell had already been opened, the bars melted under the bright fury of the storm and its lightning. She had to take that first step, wanted to step past the bars and escape that prison. Her body had gone, now it was time for her mind, and if she froze up here then she would never be able to leave that cell, she would forever remain in that dark room beneath the earth.
So she welcomed the sword. She raised her empty arm so that she could grasp the sharp edge of the blade and push it aside. She would hurt, she would feel that searing pain. But she would move forward, she would step past those bars, and she would be the one who came up on top, she would be the one who would step into the ranks of the strong.
But alas, the difference in strength was not something she could bridge with just determination alone. Her empty hand reached the blade, but it wouldn't even budge as she grasped it, it continued forward without pause, spilling her blood as it rent her flesh. Her swinging fist reached the man at the same time, colliding with his shoulder as she unleashed every ounce of strength she could muster, but it had as little effect as her attempt at blocking, the man didn't even budge.
But just as the tip of the blade was about to pierce her throat, it came to an abrupt halt. It seemed as if it had just suddenly frozen in time, even the sleeves of the man's robes had completely halted, unaffected by the pouring rain. And then the man simply perished, his skin turning grey and heavy as his flesh turned to stone, a new statue appearing in the city.
"You did well, far better than I expected. Keep going, the world is yours for the taking."
The voice of Liang Chen reached her ears as she looked at the petrified man, even in this icy rain it still sounded as warm as the light of the sun. She had failed, she hadn't been able to achieve a single thing, but he still praised her and urged her on.
She turned her head slightly, but Liang Chen hadn't turned back to look at her, his gaze firmly locked on the building ahead of them. Shaped like three curved horns interlocking at the centre, seven grand spires surrounding it, the headquarters of the Wyvern's Wrath sect. And standing in front of it, five men whom even Hui Xin could tell eclipsed the rest of the men she had seen so far in this city.
Their gazes were locked on Liang Chen, steely and cold, with slight hints of dread. They didn't even glance at Hui Xin's group, only Liang Chen was worth their attention. But even as these five men looked at him like that, Liang Chen's expression didn't falter. Even with all the pressure they exuded, he had taken the time to help her, to encourage her through her failure. That was Liang Chen, the man who had stretched his hand towards them, the god of their storm.