Against The Heavens 36 A Familiar Face.

The first thing that greeted Li Yang after he left the array was a happy screeching sound. A black blur flew through the air for a short second before landing on his shoulder. Jinwu perched on his shoulder, happily rubbing his face against Li Yang's neck, letting out a few happy caws as it did so, prompting Li Yang to pat it on the head.

"You've grown a bit bigger haven't you, did you get to bathe in some good fire?"

Li Yang looked Jinwu up and down. He had grown to the size of a normal crow, his eyes turning a deep blue in color. Thanks to his connection with him, Li Yang could tell that Jinwu's strength had grown to a point where he would be considered to have two runes. After Li Yang pat Jinwu on the head, the voice of Chen Huo rang out.

"Congratulations on completing the first trial and reaching the peak of the early Mortal Rune realm, I am certain that it is only a matter of time until you complete the last three trials."

Chen Huo walked over to Li Yang, giving him a short bow in greeting. Li Yang turned his head away from Jinwu and faced Chen Huo, nodding his head and pointing at the array behind him as he started talking.

"Thanks, how long was I in there?"

Li Yang had been unable to keep track of time while he was undergoing the trial, so he had no idea how much time had actually pa.s.sed. Chen Huo straightened his back and then gave a short nod as he responded.

"As this was only the first trial, it has only been a little over a month."

Li Yang slightly tilted his head after hearing Chen Huo's words. Since it was only the first trial? Were the other trials longer, or did each trial grow longer after completing the other ones?

"What do you mean? Do the trials get longer the more of them I complete?"

Chen Huo realized that he had said it a bit strange, so he slightly shook his head and started to explain how it worked. To make sure that only someone truly worthy acquired Li Yang's legacy, Zhao Feng and the others had made several preparations.

"They do not get longer, they get harder. The more emblems you acquire, the harder the trials will become."

After hearing the explanation of Chen Huo, Li Yang slightly fondled his chin as he responded. He had felt that this trial was a bit easy, but if they grew more difficult the more trials he completed, he could understand it. Of course, what he forgot to factor in was the fact of his ident.i.ty and current cultivation. Of course, a trial aimed at someone who was only at the early stage of the Mortal Rune realm would be easy for him.

"I see, that is good to know."

While Li Yang was fondling his chin, Chen Huo looked like he was slightly hesitant about something. After hesitating for a short moment, he gave a slight nod of his head as he pointed towards the distance and opened his mouth, informing Li Yang about something he had learned not long ago.

"Thunder Monarch, there is something I must inform you about. Jing Yimu noticed the commotion taking place here when I shattered the volcano and is hurrying over. He should reach this place in a few days."

Chen Huo was already connected to this hidden realm, so the range of his sense was far larger than normal Demonic beasts or cultivators, noticing someone approaching the area was easy for him. After his words rang out, Li Yang's expression froze and he stopped fondling his chin, a low voice leaking out from his voice.

"...Jing Yimu? Are you able to kill him?"

Jing Yimu was one of the names Li Yang would never forget, one of the prime instigators behind his and Fang Ying's death. When Li Yang talked about Jing Yimu, the temperature in the area dropped slightly from the sheer killing intent that he was releasing. Chen Huo shook his head slightly as he responded, an unwilling expression on his face.

"He is currently at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal realm so if he were to face me in a proper battle, I would indeed be able to kill him. But he knows how much we wish to kill him, so he rarely enters any place where I or the other three guardians live. He usually only enters for a few short seconds, to enter the trial locations. Once he enters those, we cannot touch him."

Having regained his memories and knowing that this world was the same world he had lived in earlier, Li Yang obviously knew the different cultivation realms. The first realm was the one he was in now and was known as the Human Rune realm, but more commonly referred to by the three parts it was divided into, the Mortal Rune, the Houtian Rune, and the Xiantian Rune realm.

After that came the Ascending Heaven realm, then the Immortal Rebirth realm, then the Primordial Rune realm, then the Celestial Immortal realm, then the True Deity realm, and finally the Empyrean realm. These were the realms that Li Yang had known about in his past life. When he and Fang Ying were killed, they were both at the late stage of the Celestial Immortal realm, while Jing Yimu had just reached the early stage of the Celestial Immortal Realm.

"I see..."

Li Yang's face was frightfully calm as he responded and started moving towards the direction that Chen Huo had pointed at. Looking at him walking towards Jing Yimu like that, Chen Huo could not help but ask curiously.

"Where are you going?"

Chen Huo was not too worried about Li Yang. Even if his cultivation was currently far lower than Jing Yimu's, he had the advantage of knowing who Jing Yimu was, while Jing Yimu had no idea that Li Yang was even alive. Li Yang gave Chen Huo a slight wave as he continued walking and spoke up.

"To greet him. Since I am currently unable to kill him, I will milk him for every last ounce of worth. See you some other time, Chen Huo."

While walking towards the edge of the area that was the emerald volcanoes, Li Yang was going over the details of the plan he had come up with, perfecting it before Jing Yimu arrived. While walking, Jinwu rubbed his head against Li Yang's neck, cawing happily as he bragged.

"You have learned a new ability? What is it?"

Li Yang looked at Jinwu with a surprised and expectant expression. What Jinwu had just said was that he had learned a powerful new ability that they could use while battling, but that it required both of them to work. In response, Jinwu raised its head with an arrogant expression, cawing pompously.

"You won't show me until we get into a fight? Come on, what's wrong with just telling me?"

Li Yang could not help but let out a wry smile. The only reason Jinwu had told him about the new ability was that he wanted to brag, but he refused to tell Li Yang what the actual ability was, saying that it would lose its flair if he said it too early.

Li Yang reached the edge of the emerald volcanoes and sat down on the ground with crossed legs, waiting for Jing Yimu to arrive. While waiting, he also inflicted a few cuts and burn wounds on himself, tattering the robe that he was wearing and making sure that he looked as pitiful as possible.

Li Yang did not simply wait silently for the few days he spent waiting for Jing Yimu, he took the chance to push himself into the middle stage of the Mortal Rune realm, carving one more rune for each of the four rune types he had. After he finished carving all four runes and spent some time consolidating them, a voice that was all too familiar to Li Yang rang out.

"Who are you?!"

Li Yang rapidly opened his eyes, putting on a panicked and terrified expression as he sprung up and dashed backward. He turned his eyes towards Jing Yimu, who looked only a little bit older than the last time Li Yang had seen him. He was clad in a somewhat tattered, gray robe, his bald head was polished and s.h.i.+ny, and his green eyes were crystal clear. Li Yang hurriedly kneeled down on the ground, acting like he was begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry Senior, I didn't know that you lived here, please don't kill me!"

While his mind was that of the Thunder Monarch, he still only had the body of a 12-year-old child. With his body covered in self-inflicted wounds and his robe tattered, he truly made for a pitiful sight. Jing Yimu's tone quickly softened as he spoke up again.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Who are you, why are you here?"

Li Yang raised his head, looking at Jing Yimu with teary eyes. He made up a fake name for himself, and then put on a grieved expression as he introduced himself, making sure that tears were dropping from his eyes as he spoke.

"I am Luosho Yang, I was forced into this blasted Cursed Realm."

Jing Yimu looked Li Yang up and down, even checking his cultivation while he was at it. Seeing that Li Yang was only at the middle stage of the Mortal Rune realm, his expression softened even further as he continued asking.

"Forced in here, why?"

Li Yang had already prepared a story in advance, even using the name of a sect that he had spotted while traveling towards this Cursed Realm. The story had been prepared with Jing Yimu in mind, with Li Yang mentioning things that he knew Jing Yimu had either experienced or hated in the past. The reason he could do this, was because they had once been as close as brothers, so Li Yang knew plenty about Jing Yimu.

"In the sect that I was part of, Eagle's Roost, I managed to make a great contribution and earn a lot of resources. There was a girl I was sweet on, but she had a rather high status, so I took this chance to also get closer to her. For a while, it seemed like things were going to go well, but in the end, it turned out that she was only after my resources. When I figured out what her plans were, I cut all contact with her and tried to put distance between us."

Li Yang made sure his face was stained with tears as he spoke, a self-deprecating expression on his face. He then turned towards the emerald volcanoes behind him, a wistful expression on his face as he continued to spin a tale to Jing Yimu.

"But how could I know what a sc.u.m she truly was? She falsely accused me of attempting ****, causing me to be chased by the others in the sect. To escape from their attacks, I was forced to flee into this Cursed Realm. My father once told me about volcanoes like these, so I figured that if I was going to die anyway, I might as well get a good look at the volcanoes before I died."

Jing Yimu's expression softened even further after hearing Li Yang's tale. He had paid close attention to Li Yang while he spoke and had not detected the slightest hint of a lie, Li Yang's pulse did not even speed up slightly. Jing Yimu did not for a single second believe that there was such a young child that would be able to lie in front of him and deceive him. He stepped forward and pat Li Yang on the head, turning towards the emerald volcanoes, using one hand to point at the shattered volcano as he asked.

"I see, you must have had it hard. Can you tell me about the explosion that happened here?"

Li Yang tilted his head slightly, Jinwu mimicking his actions while perched on his shoulder. He put on a confused expression for a split second, before quickly putting on an understanding expression. He then shook his head and pointed towards the distance as he spoke.

"An explosion? Ah, do you mean the loud noise that rang out many days ago? I was hiding in a small forest over there when it happened, I had dug a small underground cave where I could hide from the Demonic beasts, so I didn't get to see it."

Jing Yimu looked into the distance, channeling Qi into his eyes and checking the small forests that he could see. He noticed several small forests that had signs of a small cave being dug, so he nodded his head and believed Li Yang's words. He put on a comforting smile, using some of his Qi to set up a protective barrier around Li Yang as he spoke.

"I see. I am Jing Yimu, wait here for me, I will go in for a few seconds and check what has happened. Once I come out, you can follow me around, I will make sure that no one can harm you again."

Li Yang gave Jing Yimu a deep bow, thanking him with a choked up voice. But on the inside, he was sneering at Jing Yimu. Now he had gotten close to Jing Yimu and could rely on him for protection, all he had to do now was see if he could find a chance to kill him. If he could not, he would simply continue to use Jing Yimu for protection.

"Thank you, Senior Yimu."