Against The Heavens 42 Killing Someone With Their Own Blade.

After Jing Yimu told Li Yang the story, he seemed to have set his own mind at ease, returning to a mostly normal state. The two spent another two days in their small camp, resting until they were both in peak condition again, before setting out and heading towards Soaring Sword, the location of the third of the four trials.

After attempting the trial in Soaring Sword, they would cut across the Cursed Realm, attempting the trial in Soul's Rest once again and then attempting the trial in Spear's Advance. Of course, Jing Yimu had no idea that Li Yang had already completed the trial in Soul's Rest and here in Time's March.

Jing Yimu had mostly returned to normal, but he seemed to be extremely worried about Li Yang, even refusing to capture Demonic beasts and letting Li Yang battle against them as training. Seeing Jing Yimu like this, Li Yang once again found himself wondering exactly what kind of illusion Mengxiang had shown him.

After a few days of traveling, the two found a small valley surrounded by an array, protecting it from the poison rain and golden lightning. Jing Yimu brought Li Yang down into the valley, which was filled with vibrant yellow flowers and a fresh scent. Once the two reached the bottom of the valley and Jing Yimu made sure that there were no Demonic beasts in the valley, he stepped in front of Li Yang and spoke up in a regal voice.

"Little Yang. Your cultivation speed is rather slow, not yet having broken through to the late stage of the Mortal Rune realm, but I am still fully confident that you can one day reach the same height as me. But for the moment, you are still far too weak. And because of that, I have decided to teach you my special technique. This technique was created by mixing my own specialty as well as taking inspiration from a technique once used by the Thunder Monarch. In this whole world, you will be the second person besides me to ever learn it. You must swear an oath that you will never spread this technique without my permission. If I were to perish because of the pa.s.sing of time, I allow you to teach it to people you find worthy of inheriting it."

To swear an oath was to make a promise to the heavens. As long as one had not transcended the heavens, if one were to break the oath, they would have to face the wrath of the heavens and be destroyed. Upon hearing that the special technique he was about to teach him was based on the one Li Yang had created in the past, Li Yang's interest was piqued. In his previous life, he had never seen Jing Yimu use a special technique, so Li Yang was wondering if it had been created after his death. Since he had no intention of teaching anyone the technique, Li Yang quickly swore the oath with a solemn expression.

"I swear on my own soul that unless I am given permission or find someone worthy after your pa.s.sing, I will never spread your special technique."

A small smile appeared on Jing Yimu's face when he saw that Li Yang did not even hesitate to swear an oath. He started talking about the technique he was going to teach Li Yang, patting him lightly on the head as he did so.

"Good. The Thunder Monarch once had a technique where he let lightning dwell in his own body, drastically increasing his speed. My special technique is very similar, it let's flame dwell in your body, drastically increasing your strength for a short moment. But letting fire dwell in your body is very painful, and if you keep the technique going for too long, you might burn yourself to ash, so be careful."

After he explained what the technique would do and what the drawbacks were, Jing Yimu took a few steps backward and then sat down on the gra.s.s with crossed legs. After he sat down, he pointed at the gra.s.s in front of him and spoke up.

"Sit down in front of me, I will help you train in the technique."

To learn a special technique would often be difficult, as it required very specific movements of a person's Qi, having someone show you how you should move your Qi was a great help. Li Yang stepped forward and sat down on the gra.s.s in front of Jing Yimu, facing him with an earnest and excited gaze. Jing Yimu stretched out his arms and placed his hands on Li Yang's chest. His face grew serious as he looked into Li Yang's eyes and spoke out.

"I have given this technique the name Burning Hope, remember this feeling well."

Jing Yimu activated his Qi, inserting a tiny sliver of it into Li Yang's body. The moment Jing Yimu's Qi entered his body, Li Yang entered a fully alert state, only calming down when he noticed that Jing Yimu did not do anything dangerous with his Qi.

Jing Yimu's Qi turned into a tiny blue flame that quickly started spreading through Li Yang's body, scorching his veins and flesh as it settled in the various pressure points in his body. The pain was worse than when he took the trial in Soul's Rest, but Li Yang still pretended like he was in great pain, gritting his teeth until his face turned pale and he was covered in sweat. Upon seeing him like this, Jing Yimu spoke out in a slightly pained but determined voice.

"Endure it! You must endure the pain and memorize where and how the flame is moving! If you have this technique, you can use it to quickly turn the tide of battle, so you must endure the pain for now!"

Li Yang continued to grit his teeth, counting the minutes and hours that pa.s.sed as he memorized the location and movement of the flame. Even though he had a special technique of his own from his past life, he had never specialized in the flame element. Now that Jing Yimu was willing to give him a powerful flame based special technique, he was not going to simply reject it. Depending on how much it increased his strength, he might even be able to use it against Jing Yimu when he moved to kill him.

Only after a little over half a day had pa.s.sed did Jing Yimu remove his hands from Li Yang's chest, pulling the blue flame out of his body. Once the flame left his body, Li Yang allowed all strength to leave his body, causing him to collapse forward and into Jing Yimu's arms. Jing Yimu caught Li Yang's sweaty body and spoke comforting words with a bright smile.

"You did good, Little Yang. You did well. I am sorry that you had to suffer such pain."

Li Yang put a weak smile on his face, slowly raising his head to look at Jing Yimu as he let out an almost inaudible laugh and spoke with a quivering voice.

"Hehe, there is no need to worry about that, Master Yimu. I am no stranger to pain."

After he spoke out, Li Yang pretended to lose consciousness. He continued to pretend that he was unconscious for a few hours, with Jing Yimu gently holding him and not moving for the entire duration. Once Li Yang pretended like he woke up, Jing Yimu helped him sit down with crossed legs. He then placed his palms on Li Yang's chest again, speaking in a gentle voice.

"Show me that you have memorized it."

Li Yang let his own crimson flame course through his body, settling in the pressure points that Jing Yimu had marked earlier with his own flames. Once his flame settled in the pressure points, he felt both his Qi and strength rapidly surge, a burning pain coming from his body. Seeing him activate the technique so quickly, a bright smile appeared on Jing Yimu's face as he praised.

"Magnificent, you truly have excellent perception. If only your affinity was higher. After we leave this Cursed Realm, I will help you look for special flames that you can absorb to increase your affinity. The stronger your flame, the stronger Burning Hope will be."

Jing Yimu could not help but let out a slight sigh. From what he could see, if Li Yang's affinity was not so weak, there would be no shortage of powerful people willing to take him in as a disciple if they were to learn about him. Because of this, he also somewhat thanked his own luck that allowed him to discover Li Yang before anyone else did. Hearing that the special technique's power could be increased through using a better flame, an ability that Li Yang's own special technique did not have, Li Yang's interest was once more piqued as he spoke in an excited and curious voice.

"It becomes stronger if I have stronger flames? What flames are best to use?"

Hearing Li Yang's question, Jing Yimu's eyes lit up with desire as he started to talk pa.s.sionately. Jing Yimu was confident that there were very few people on this planet, that knew more about flames than he did.

"Which flames are best to use, the strongest ones of course! If you can ever find one of the six mythical flames and use it to fuel that technique, even I have no idea how mighty it will be."

Li Yang could not help but raise an eyebrow when he heard Jing Yimu's pa.s.sionate declaration. He had never heard about these so-called 'six mythical flames' even in his past life. He knew about several mythical types of lightning, but nothing about mythical flames.

"Six mythical flames? What are those?"

Jing Yimu seemed to have been expecting Li Yang's question, as he immediately started talking about the six flames, clear longing visible in his eyes.

"The six mythical flames are the six strongest flames on this planet. I don't know if there are stronger flames spread throughout this vast universe, or even if there are any stronger ones hidden away on this planet, but I do know that these six flames contain immeasurable might."

Jing Yimu was powerful, but even he had only rarely left this planet and visited other ones, so the amount of information he had about the vast universe was limited. Jing Yimu quickly listed all six of the mythical flames.

"The six flames are the Void Flame, the Cleansing Flame, the Revealing Flame, the Ice Flame, the Destroying Flame, and the Heavenly Flame. The Void Flame can only be found in the void between planets and dimensions, it has incredibly strong corrosive power, corroding even time and s.p.a.ce itself. The Cleansing Flame is the flame of the holy Phoenix, able to cleanse all that is wicked, turning even evil G.o.ds to ash. The Revealing Flame is the flame of the Torch Dragon, able to burn away all illusions and falsehood, laying bare even the secrets of the universe. The Ice Flame is a terrifying mixture if ice and fire, able to freeze and burn anything it comes into contact with, leaving only dust in its wake. The Heavenly Flame is the flame of the heavens and comes in several different varieties. Descending upon sinners and people who strive for the heavens, everything beneath the heavens will turn to ash upon contact with this flame. The Destroying Flame is the flame of the Golden Crow, the flame with the greatest destructive property. It has no other special properties, but beneath the heat of those golden flames, even the heavens themselves can be burned, not even leaving behind ash."

Li Yang felt the urge to let out a wide grin after hearing Jing Yimu's explanation. Of the six mythical flames, he had already seen two of them in this lifetime, the flames of the Golden Crow and the flames of the Torch Dragon. And did he not have a little Golden Crow resting on his shoulder right now, lazily listening to their conversation? But Li Yang would of course never let Jing Yimu know this, so he played the part of the excited student.

"Wow! Have you ever found one such flame, Master Yimu!?"

Seeing Li Yang's excited expression, Jing Yimu shook his head and let out a slight laugh. Finding one of these six mythical flames was far easier said than done, especially for the ones controlled by powerful Divine beasts.

"I have once come into contact with one of the Heavenly Flames, the purple variety. It is of the same rank as the golden lightning that the Thunder Monarch once used, but I was too weak to absorb it, almost dying as I came into contact with it."

Just like Heavenly Lightning had different ranks, so too had Heavenly Flame. The difference between them was that Heavenly Lightning was used to test people, while Heavenly Flame was used to punish people who had sinned or gone against the heavens. Jing Yimu stood up from the ground and gave his body a slight stretch, no longer talking about the six mythical flames. He looked towards the east, the direction of Soaring Sword, and spoke up, reminding Li Yang.

"Only use Burning Hope when you fear for your life, the pain that comes with using the technique is no joke, it might even drive you mad if you use it for too long. Come, we must continue."

Li Yang hurriedly stood up and moved closer to Jing Yimu, giving an earnest nod of his head.

"Yes, Master Yimu."