"It would appear that your demoness has already reached this place."
Liang Chen's gaze swept across the city in front of him as he commented, the signs of battle apparent wherever he looked. There had been nothing more for him to do in the Wrath of Man sect after he took what he could so he had moved on to his next target, the Haunting Soul's Wrath sect. Shen Fei tagged along with him since that was part of his original goal anyway, the clown following the circus.
"Yeah, but it seems like she's taking her sweet time. Look, the ice hasn't even melted in some of the places yet, prolly hasn't been too terribly long since she was here. You may actually be able to follow her tracks, sounds fun, no?"
Shen Fei's state was a bit better now than it was when Liang Chen first met up with him. Now he could at least walk around without relying on his Authority of Dreams to trick his body. And indeed, there were chunks of ice scattered about in the city, they were especially prevalent in places where large chunks had been taken out of either the ground or nearest building. The damage was a bit more extensive than in the previous city so the girl in question probably had to use more of her power this time around.
"Track and track, just gotta head to the next sect and we'll eventually meet her, I don't think something like that requires extensive knowledge."
Liang Chen spoke nonchalantly as he walked forward, he had next to no interest in the girl that beat up Shen Fei and the people of these cities. What he had heard about her so far did not warrant placing her on his list so he really couldn't be bothered to search her out, he wouldn't bat an eye even if he never ended up meeting her.
"Ah, spoken like a true ignoramus who doesn't actually know how this place is set up. Let me guess, when you scour the memories of your enemies you focus on just the particular things you're looking for?"
Shen Fei shook his head in an exaggerated manner as he followed Liang Chen, Yumao was in his small form but didn't allow him to walk on Liang Chen's right side and Sheng Lian occupied his left side so Shen Fei was forced to stay a couple of steps away as they traversed the streets. Liang Chen's steps didn't halt, but his head tilted slightly as his gaze slid towards Shen Fei, a quiet confession that told him everything he needed to know.
"Tut tut, you're gonna lose out on a lot of things if you're that single-minded in your search, gotta broaden your horizons. But yeah, if you think that all the wrath-aligned sects are lined up properly then you're wrong, this is the last one in fact. Abandoned, Land's, Ocean's, Sky's, and Nine Wraths, the remaining five Wraths are situated in such a way that they form a tilted star. There's a theory that the roads connecting the five of them are used to form the outline of an array that nourishes Purgatory, but I've never found anything to confirm this so I doubt it. As such, once we leave this city through the other exit, the closest sects will be Sky's, Abandoned, and Land's, they make up the entire left side of the tilted star. Hence, tracking will indeed be needed if you want to hunt down the demoness for a good show."
Shen Fei was different from Liang Chen, he was not only officially recognized and acknowledged by his own Universe but also someone who had acquired great fame thanks to his position on the Multiverse Bloodwind list. He revelled in that fame and the chances it bought, he used it far more efficiently than Liang Chen, who never even took the time to let any sort of fame properly spread. And as a result, Shen Fei had access to knowledge that Liang Chen did not have, knowledge he had disregarded so far since he considered it irrelevant.
"If those three sects make up the left side then it seems like one of my rewards is hidden within either the Nine Wraths sect or the Ocean's Wrath sect. The other two should then be within two of the other sects, I guess that's to be expected. That is good information, I may have wandered a bit aimlessly if you hadn't told me, thank you."
Liang Chen lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his target was the wrath sects so wandering around aimlessly wasn't exactly what he wanted. As for the rewards, he couldn't be certain that they were actually within the wrath-aligned sects, but tracing the resonating sensation and picturing a somewhat tilted star allowed him to approximate a few things. Granted, he had no idea which direction this star was supposed to face, but it should be lying sideways since he said that the three closest sects made up the left side of the star.
"If you want to thank me then go find that friggin demoness, I wanna see what happens when one monster faces another. Well, looking at her strength she's probably the same as you, the universe needed a weapon so it birthed her. Wouldn't it be fun to see which weapon is stronger, which universe managed to create the strongest spear?"
The corners of Shen Fei's lips curved up faintly as he spoke, a quiet and somewhat curious cackle escaping him. Liang Chen didn't bother responding, he wasn't among those who subscribed to the same philosophy as Shen Fei. People weren't tools birthed by the universe to fulfil its own needs. Chosen by it, maybe. But not born by it, and never for it.
Thanks to the girl's assault, there was no one to stop Liang Chen's group as they moved through the city, a silent death spreading out from Liang Chen with each step. He didn't even have to break through any array to enter the sect of the Haunted Soul's Wrath, the land around it, as well as the buildings themselves, had been torn up so badly that no array could possibly hope to maintain itself.
"Do you have any last words?"
Liang Chen's steps only came to a halt when he stood in front of the bed where the previous sect leader rested. Unlike the leader of the Wrath of Man sect, this woman had battled the demoness so recently that she hadn't gotten the slightest time to recuperate. She couldn't even muster the smallest defence, no resistance towards the death that now stood at her bedside and softly beckoned for her life.
"Heh, I'll save them for when you join me by the river Styx, I'll haunt you until then, coward."
A weak chuckle and a humourless smirk, the smidgen of Qi she managed to release couldn't even rustle Liang Chen's clothes. What pisspoor luck she had that she was found by such an opportunist, Purgatory really was making her into a fool. Liang Chen simply nodded and stretched out his arm, placing his hand on her forehead.
"All right, wait as long as you want."
Lightning crackled from his palm, resonating with the electricity in the woman's head and frying her brain, her organs shutting down all at once. He slid off her interspatial ring and took it for himself, a sideways glance giving Sheng Lian the go-ahead. A bit of her crimson robe stretched out, resembling a gnarled root as it dug into the woman's body, quickly leaving her as little more than a dried husk.
A few stitches resembling a minuscule human form started to appear on Sheng Lian's robe. She hadn't absorbed a lot of human blood yet, it had really only been the previous Huo Laizen and now this sect leader, but the quality of it had been quite high so she could gain a good bit from it. As for the rest of the corpses he had left in his wake, they were tossed into his interspatial ring at a secure place, at least those who hadn't been completely ruined thanks to his poison.
He still had the Chaos King technique, which the Void King had upgraded with the Chaos Sovereign Chapter. Each corpse could be used to cultivate through that technique, he could also just store the energy aside for some of the abilities in the technique. Things had gone a bit awry in the first few cities, but he had made sure to properly handle things in the last two sects so that he had the corpses as a backup tool for when he needed them.
"Man, this one just makes me feel worse than the previous one. At least Laizen could fight a bit to protect himself, but she couldn't even raise an arm. Even pigs are slaughtered with more dignity than that. I'd ask if you don't feel any remorse or guilt from executing them like this, but that's a bit of a pointless question."
Shen Fei shook his head at the sight of the execution, he had seen chickens that were allowed to put up more of a fight than this. And indeed, his final question would be a pointless one, because the only answer that could be given to it was another question.
"If they don't feel remorse or guilt, why should I?"
Liang Chen's question lingered in the air, but that didn't mean that he did. He used what he saw in the woman's memories to find the treasury of the sect, the soul-based resources and treasures that had been used to found their sect all those years ago. All of it was taken for himself, another one of the wraths fading into oblivion in his passing as he left the city.
"Alright, which one are we heading to first? Going to the left will take us to the tip of the star, Abandoned Heart's Wrath, going all the way to the right takes us to the bottom of the star, the Sky's Wrath, going only slightly to the right brings us to the side of the star, the Land's Wrath."
Shen Fei's hands swept through the air as he gestured towards the verdant plain ahead of them, green grass tinged with dark crimson rising up to their heels. Liang Chen didn't immediately respond, his gaze slowly moving sideways as he traced the resonating sensations brought about by the droplets Purgatory's Cradle produced for the rewards.
One pointed further ahead, quite a bit further away than the other two, so that one likely pointed to the other side of the star. The last two felt quite a bit closer, but they went in opposite directions so he guessed that one was in the Abandoned Heart's Wrath while the other was in the Sky's Wrath. As for which of them he would choose first, he had already come to a decision.
"I'll head to Sky's Wrath. It shouldn't matter which one I head to first, but something about that direction irks me."
He wouldn't go so far as to say that it really altered his decision, but there was something about the direction that annoyed him. It almost felt like a soft rushing sound in his ears, a gurgling river coursing freely in the distance. But he could see into the distance so he knew that there was no river, there was no source for that soft, almost indistinct sound.
He wanted to know where it came from, wanted to know why it felt so annoying, so grating on the ears. So he raised his foot and stepped forward, the group of four crossing the plain as they headed for the Sky's Wrath, one of them quietly praying to the universe that had given him his Authority.
And in the end, be it due to the prayers or just poor luck, the outcome desired by the clown was achieved. The first thing that greeted Liang Chen's group as they approached the towering city ahead of them was the sounds of battle, notifying both of them about what was going on.
"Really... What a joke..."
Liang Chen couldn't help but mutter quietly, but he didn't stop walking. He was already here so he was going to achieve what he set out to do. That was simply who he was, stubbornly pushing forward no matter what blocked his path. So he moved forward and entered the city, two different gazes landing on him the second he set foot into the city.
"It would appear that your demoness has already reached this place."
Liang Chen's gaze swept across the city in front of him as he commented, the signs of battle apparent wherever he looked. There had been nothing more for him to do in the Wrath of Man sect after he took what he could so he had moved on to his next target, the Haunting Soul's Wrath sect. Shen Fei tagged along with him since that was part of his original goal anyway, the clown following the circus.
"Yeah, but it seems like she's taking her sweet time. Look, the ice hasn't even melted in some of the places yet, prolly hasn't been too terribly long since she was here. You may actually be able to follow her tracks, sounds fun, no?"
Shen Fei's state was a bit better now than it was when Liang Chen first met up with him. Now he could at least walk around without relying on his Authority of Dreams to trick his body. And indeed, there were chunks of ice scattered about in the city, they were especially prevalent in places where large chunks had been taken out of either the ground or nearest building. The damage was a bit more extensive than in the previous city so the girl in question probably had to use more of her power this time around.
"Track and track, just gotta head to the next sect and we'll eventually meet her, I don't think something like that requires extensive knowledge."
Liang Chen spoke nonchalantly as he walked forward, he had next to no interest in the girl that beat up Shen Fei and the people of these cities. What he had heard about her so far did not warrant placing her on his list so he really couldn't be bothered to search her out, he wouldn't bat an eye even if he never ended up meeting her.
"Ah, spoken like a true ignoramus who doesn't actually know how this place is set up. Let me guess, when you scour the memories of your enemies you focus on just the particular things you're looking for?"
Shen Fei shook his head in an exaggerated manner as he followed Liang Chen, Yumao was in his small form but didn't allow him to walk on Liang Chen's right side and Sheng Lian occupied his left side so Shen Fei was forced to stay a couple of steps away as they traversed the streets. Liang Chen's steps didn't halt, but his head tilted slightly as his gaze slid towards Shen Fei, a quiet confession that told him everything he needed to know.
"Tut tut, you're gonna lose out on a lot of things if you're that single-minded in your search, gotta broaden your horizons. But yeah, if you think that all the wrath-aligned sects are lined up properly then you're wrong, this is the last one in fact. Abandoned, Land's, Ocean's, Sky's, and Nine Wraths, the remaining five Wraths are situated in such a way that they form a tilted star. There's a theory that the roads connecting the five of them are used to form the outline of an array that nourishes Purgatory, but I've never found anything to confirm this so I doubt it. As such, once we leave this city through the other exit, the closest sects will be Sky's, Abandoned, and Land's, they make up the entire left side of the tilted star. Hence, tracking will indeed be needed if you want to hunt down the demoness for a good show."
Shen Fei was different from Liang Chen, he was not only officially recognized and acknowledged by his own Universe but also someone who had acquired great fame thanks to his position on the Multiverse Bloodwind list. He revelled in that fame and the chances it bought, he used it far more efficiently than Liang Chen, who never even took the time to let any sort of fame properly spread. And as a result, Shen Fei had access to knowledge that Liang Chen did not have, knowledge he had disregarded so far since he considered it irrelevant.
"If those three sects make up the left side then it seems like one of my rewards is hidden within either the Nine Wraths sect or the Ocean's Wrath sect. The other two should then be within two of the other sects, I guess that's to be expected. That is good information, I may have wandered a bit aimlessly if you hadn't told me, thank you."
Liang Chen lowered his head slightly as he spoke, his target was the wrath sects so wandering around aimlessly wasn't exactly what he wanted. As for the rewards, he couldn't be certain that they were actually within the wrath-aligned sects, but tracing the resonating sensation and picturing a somewhat tilted star allowed him to approximate a few things. Granted, he had no idea which direction this star was supposed to face, but it should be lying sideways since he said that the three closest sects made up the left side of the star.
"If you want to thank me then go find that friggin demoness, I wanna see what happens when one monster faces another. Well, looking at her strength she's probably the same as you, the universe needed a weapon so it birthed her. Wouldn't it be fun to see which weapon is stronger, which universe managed to create the strongest spear?"
The corners of Shen Fei's lips curved up faintly as he spoke, a quiet and somewhat curious cackle escaping him. Liang Chen didn't bother responding, he wasn't among those who subscribed to the same philosophy as Shen Fei. People weren't tools birthed by the universe to fulfil its own needs. Chosen by it, maybe. But not born by it, and never for it.
Thanks to the girl's assault, there was no one to stop Liang Chen's group as they moved through the city, a silent death spreading out from Liang Chen with each step. He didn't even have to break through any array to enter the sect of the Haunted Soul's Wrath, the land around it, as well as the buildings themselves, had been torn up so badly that no array could possibly hope to maintain itself.
"Do you have any last words?"
Liang Chen's steps only came to a halt when he stood in front of the bed where the previous sect leader rested. Unlike the leader of the Wrath of Man sect, this woman had battled the demoness so recently that she hadn't gotten the slightest time to recuperate. She couldn't even muster the smallest defence, no resistance towards the death that now stood at her bedside and softly beckoned for her life.
"Heh, I'll save them for when you join me by the river Styx, I'll haunt you until then, coward."
A weak chuckle and a humourless smirk, the smidgen of Qi she managed to release couldn't even rustle Liang Chen's clothes. What pisspoor luck she had that she was found by such an opportunist, Purgatory really was making her into a fool. Liang Chen simply nodded and stretched out his arm, placing his hand on her forehead.
"All right, wait as long as you want."
Lightning crackled from his palm, resonating with the electricity in the woman's head and frying her brain, her organs shutting down all at once. He slid off her interspatial ring and took it for himself, a sideways glance giving Sheng Lian the go-ahead. A bit of her crimson robe stretched out, resembling a gnarled root as it dug into the woman's body, quickly leaving her as little more than a dried husk.
A few stitches resembling a minuscule human form started to appear on Sheng Lian's robe. She hadn't absorbed a lot of human blood yet, it had really only been the previous Huo Laizen and now this sect leader, but the quality of it had been quite high so she could gain a good bit from it. As for the rest of the corpses he had left in his wake, they were tossed into his interspatial ring at a secure place, at least those who hadn't been completely ruined thanks to his poison.
He still had the Chaos King technique, which the Void King had upgraded with the Chaos Sovereign Chapter. Each corpse could be used to cultivate through that technique, he could also just store the energy aside for some of the abilities in the technique. Things had gone a bit awry in the first few cities, but he had made sure to properly handle things in the last two sects so that he had the corpses as a backup tool for when he needed them.
"Man, this one just makes me feel worse than the previous one. At least Laizen could fight a bit to protect himself, but she couldn't even raise an arm. Even pigs are slaughtered with more dignity than that. I'd ask if you don't feel any remorse or guilt from executing them like this, but that's a bit of a pointless question."
Shen Fei shook his head at the sight of the execution, he had seen chickens that were allowed to put up more of a fight than this. And indeed, his final question would be a pointless one, because the only answer that could be given to it was another question.
"If they don't feel remorse or guilt, why should I?"
Liang Chen's question lingered in the air, but that didn't mean that he did. He used what he saw in the woman's memories to find the treasury of the sect, the soul-based resources and treasures that had been used to found their sect all those years ago. All of it was taken for himself, another one of the wraths fading into oblivion in his passing as he left the city.
"Alright, which one are we heading to first? Going to the left will take us to the tip of the star, Abandoned Heart's Wrath, going all the way to the right takes us to the bottom of the star, the Sky's Wrath, going only slightly to the right brings us to the side of the star, the Land's Wrath."
Shen Fei's hands swept through the air as he gestured towards the verdant plain ahead of them, green grass tinged with dark crimson rising up to their heels. Liang Chen didn't immediately respond, his gaze slowly moving sideways as he traced the resonating sensations brought about by the droplets Purgatory's Cradle produced for the rewards.
One pointed further ahead, quite a bit further away than the other two, so that one likely pointed to the other side of the star. The last two felt quite a bit closer, but they went in opposite directions so he guessed that one was in the Abandoned Heart's Wrath while the other was in the Sky's Wrath. As for which of them he would choose first, he had already come to a decision.
"I'll head to Sky's Wrath. It shouldn't matter which one I head to first, but something about that direction irks me."
He wouldn't go so far as to say that it really altered his decision, but there was something about the direction that annoyed him. It almost felt like a soft rushing sound in his ears, a gurgling river coursing freely in the distance. But he could see into the distance so he knew that there was no river, there was no source for that soft, almost indistinct sound.
He wanted to know where it came from, wanted to know why it felt so annoying, so grating on the ears. So he raised his foot and stepped forward, the group of four crossing the plain as they headed for the Sky's Wrath, one of them quietly praying to the universe that had given him his Authority.
And in the end, be it due to the prayers or just poor luck, the outcome desired by the clown was achieved. The first thing that greeted Liang Chen's group as they approached the towering city ahead of them was the sounds of battle, notifying both of them about what was going on.
"Really... What a joke..."
Liang Chen couldn't help but mutter quietly, but he didn't stop walking. He was already here so he was going to achieve what he set out to do. That was simply who he was, stubbornly pushing forward no matter what blocked his path. So he moved forward and entered the city, two different gazes landing on him the second he set foot into the city.
