Liang Chen's hand stopped just as he was about to reach for the cup of lukewarm tea, his pupils shrinking drastically as he looked at Guan Ping, who kept her head lowered. He expression sank slightly as he pulled back his arm, he wasn't expecting to have been discovered already.
"How did you figure me out?"
Liang Chen had followed Zhong San's memories perfectly, even mimicking his minor ticks and the like perfectly. But while he was somewhat confused as to why he was discovered so quickly, he was also slightly relieved, at least now he wouldn't have to keep pretending, keep fooling these people. Guan Ping raised her head, her expression already having paled somewhat as she flashed a weak smile.
"I don't know how you managed to copy him so perfectly, but I knew San'er for 94 years and we've been married for 71 years, there's no way I wouldn't notice. I beg of you, please don't harm my daughters, and would you mind telling me about San'er's final moments? Please."
Guan Ping and Zhong San had spent most of their lives together, something that Liang Chen obviously knew, but he hoped that having all of Zhong San's memories would make his imitation good enough. But now it seemed like he had been wrong all along, he didn't even last one day before he was found out, it seemed like he would have to change his methods once more.
"He didn't have any final moments, he still lives. And you should know that I won't do anything to you, otherwise, I would have done so already. But I will need you to remain quiet, so please sleep for a bit."
Liang Chen unleashed his poison before Guan Ping could feel relieved about Zhong San being alive. His mind-controlling poison flooded her mind and soul, her eyes turning blurry for a bit before regaining their clarity as she lost control of her mind. Liang Chen couldn't kill her or her daughters, doing so would make him just as bad as those he despised, it would lead him down a path he could never return from.
But letting them run free was out of the question, he had to deal with them one way or another. After taking control of Guan Ping, Liang Chen stood up and walked through the door that Zhong Xue and the two other daughters had left through, repeating the same process on them. They were younger and weaker, so he made sure to adjust the doses of poison he used on them, taking care to not leave behind any wounds or residue.
Once all four women fell under Liang Chen's control, he had them pack up a few things and change their clothes to something that could handle a journey. They then left the house and headed for the spatial array that brought people back and forth between this hovering island and the island below them. The guards hadn't changed yet, so the friendly guard called out to Liang Chen with a smile, Liang Chen quickly making up an excuse.
"Ohh, back already, Junior Brother San? And you've even brought the entire family this time, heading out for a bit?"
"Yeah, Little Tang and Little Qing were relieved to see me when I first arrived, but now they're crying for their granny and grampy, so I'm gonna bring em all over there. Might spend a day or two there myself before I return, still gotta prepare for the competition after all."
The five quickly stepped onto the spatial array after Liang Chen gave the excuse, teleporting away from the Duskshield Hall. Liang Chen could easily have them remain here now that Guan Ping and the others were under his control, but looking at them in that state sickened him somewhat so he decided to bring them away.
The five arrived on the island that housed the weaker disciples of the Nightshield sect and quickly made their way to the spatial array that would bring them back to the continent, fully teleporting away from the sect. They arrived in the city but didn't waste any time there, quickly leaving it and finding a spot that was out of sight.
Once they were out of sight, Liang Chen used his wind to lift up the four people and then started to run, heading directly for Green Rivers city. Their walking speed would be too slow, especially considering that they were bringing along two children, so Liang Chen decided on this course of action. It previously took him four days to walk from Green Rivers to the city they were leaving now, but now that he was running at full speed he managed to reach Green Rivers city after a single day.
The city was still empty and abandoned, only a few wild animals daring to cautiously walk around in it. Liang Chen made his way to the mansion at the center of the city, walking through the ruined doors and making his way down to the dungeons of the basement. He quickly reached a somewhat isolated and well-fortified cell containing the person he was looking for, the unconscious Zhong San.
Liang Chen placed Guan Ting and the others in the cell and woke up Zhong San, using his mind-controlling poison on him to immediately take control over him. He then put down all the food and the other items he made the women pack before they left, leaving the door to the cell open as he left, securely locking the dungeon behind him. Leaving them in one cell would be too tight, so he decided that it would just be better to lock up the entire dungeon.
And even then it could be considered overboard, as they were currently controlled by his poison and would follow his orders to the dot. The last order he gave them was to quietly live here for two months so they wouldn't even think about setting foot outside of the dungeon before then. But it was better to be safe than to be sorry, so he still locked up the dungeon.
Liang Chen didn't leave the city after he locked up Guan Ting and the rest, he found a room in the mansion and sat down with crossed legs. It would be suspicious if he came back too fast so he decided to stay here for about a week or so to start merging his law of the void with his body and soul.
Liang Chen closed his eyes and sank his vision inwards after he sat down, drawing upon a little bit of the energy gathered within the pulsating Dragon Lotus that was a result of all his other Dragon Lotuses merging together with the law of the void. He slowly led the small trace of energy down his right arm and to his finger, carefully introducing it into his bone marrow.
The fusing process actually went so smoothly that it surprised Liang Chen but he quickly came up with a reasoning that sounded reasonable. The bloodline that gave him the law of the void willingly merged with his own bloodline so the law of the void was likely doing the same right now, not resisting but even aiding the fusion process. But even so, the fusion was still a slow process that required Liang Chen's full concentration, only his right hand done with the fusion when he was forced to stop five days later. As for why he was forced to stop, it was because the Bloodwind Code in his chest released a soft buzz, a familiar voice echoing out in his head.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Yo, Ye Zhong here again! We've given you enough time to rest up and heal from any wounds, so it's time for what you've been waiting for! You're quite impressive kiddo, you've already snagged a title for yourself and even killed someone that was quite a few spots above you on the ranking list. You've jumped up 21 056 spots thanks to your previous kill, so you're now sitting comfortably at rank 84 671 in your universe. I told you the rules earlier, each 10 000 ranks equals one question and getting a ruler rank equals one question. You've got three questions to ask, so let's hear em."
Liang Chen opened his eyes when the voice of Ye Zhong rang out in his head again, he had been waiting for them to contact him so that he could finally ask his promised questions. He had already planned out his questions, so he didn't waste any time with stating them.
"I want to know as much as possible about the Sealing God Empyrean, the Void Born race, and the law of the Void."
The Sealing God Empyrean was the driving force behind everything that had happened on this planet while Liang Chen was gone. The death of Yan Ling's father, the destruction of the Storm Wolf sect, the destruction of Eternal Stream city and thus the death of Lei Qiang and his family, even the death of Liang Chen's sister, it was all because of the Sealing God Empyrean. Liang Chen didn't care about his motivations or reasoning, all that mattered was that Liang Chen had lost so much because of him, he would kill him no matter what. A short awkward silence followed Liang Chen's questions, Ye Zhong responding somewhat hesitantly, even trying somewhat to change the subject, after almost a minute.
"Right... Those things...Oh right, now that you've received a Lord rank, your Bloodwind Code will allow you to see the battle records of those lower ranked than you and even let you contact the others that have received a Lord rank. As for your questions, information on the Sealing God Empyrean is easy enough to find, you can just head to your nearest Heaven's Secrets Company and we'll have them hand over a file once they've verified your identity. As for your other two questions, I'll first have to talk with Master, it's a bit of a sensitive subject you see. Give me a few minutes."
Liang Chen sat in silence after the voice of Ye Zhong vanished, patiently waiting for him to talk to his master. It seemed like he somewhat underestimated the weight that the Law of the void and the name Void Born carried. The Bloodwind Code buzzed again after a few minutes, but the voice that rang out within his mind nearly caused Liang Chen's blood to freeze.
"Oh, the Void Born and the law of the void, huh? Little Child, you certainly ask some interesting questions."
The voice didn't belong to Ye Zhong, it belonged to one of the youths that Liang Chen had seen when he received the full Ocean God's Physique. He recognized the voice so he knew that he was currently talking to Ning Hao, the Bloodwind Emperor and the Arbiter of Death, the man who created the Bloodwind Codes.
--
Yan Ling was currently crouching at the top of a large hill, using a few short trees as cover as she looked down at the distant city. The city in front of her was called Dawn's End, and it was the last obstacle between her and reaching her own continent. Stretching out behind Dawn's End was an ocean that went on for as far as the eye could see, the water such a dark shade of blue that it almost resembled black in some places. That was the Sun Swallowing Ocean, the ocean separating this continent from the two continents she was used to.
The problem was that Dawn's End stretched out along almost the entire coastline, moving around it would take at least two or three months if she was on foot. Yan Ling had squeezed Jin Chang for all the information he had, only allowing him to die once she felt that he didn't have anything else to tell him. Thanks to this, she knew about the state of her sect and family, she couldn't afford to waste two or three months walking around the city. But if possible, she didn't want to bring out the interspatial cruiser here, it would most likely lead to the Dawn's Blade Alliance chasing her as she made her way across the ocean.
She had already used her Heaven Altering Mask to change her appearance, she didn't want a repeat of what happened with Jin Chang. But her brows were furrowed as she looked at the distant city, there were currently several figures running around in front of the city, everyone seemingly in a state of panic and confusion.
Yan Ling quietly watched the confusion for a few minutes before deciding on her plan. Her appearance and aura slowly warped until it was identical to the now-deceased Jin Chang, she then stood up and made her way down the large hill with a calm and confident stride. She quickly approached the city and the people running about in front of it, a few people recognizing her and shouting out.
"It's Senior Brother Chang, he's come to help us!"
"Brother Chang, someone not marked by the array has entered the city but we're unable to find him, please help us!"
"Senior Brother Chang has come to deal with the problem!"
Yan Ling couldn't help but raise her eyebrows when she heard the commotion. The array they were talking about covered the entire planet and marked every person, only those with an Origin Beast bloodline or sufficient strength were able to avoid it. She knew that Liang Chen shouldn't be on this continent so there was little chance of it being him, then just who had entered the city. But she didn't even get the chance to ponder the question for very long, a voice sounding out from the midst of all the people rushing about.
"There you are, I've been waiting for a few minutes already."
Not just Yan Ling, but even the people rushing around were completely caught off guard by this voice, temporarily freezing up as there was no one present in the area where the voice came from. Under their wary and shocked gazes, the empty spot where the voice came from started to ripple slightly, a youth stepping out from the ripple and slowly making his way towards Yan Ling.
The youth had gleaming violet hair and ghastly gray eyes, a black robe covered in a fine scaly pattern draped around his body. The youth didn't emit the least bit of aura or energy, seemingly no more than a mortal, but no one was able to move even an inch as he headed for Yan Ling. The youth stopped in front of Yan Ling, rubbing his chin while sweeping his gaze over her body.
"Huh, he really wasn't kidding with me, you've actually managed to not just awaken it, but even improve his bloodline. You should be proud of yourself, only three other people have managed to awaken his bloodline, but you're the first one to actually improve it."
Yan Ling was barely able to breathe as the youth stood in front of her, every inch of her body felt like it was being suppressed just from being in his presence, her blood barely managed to flow through her veins. Seeing her remain quiet, the youth seemed to remember something.
"Right, you've probably got no clue who I am. But you should at least know who this guy is, no?"
As he was talking, a simple black gate the size of a man's head appeared at the man's side, floating in the air. The gate looked small but there were actually nine small universes orbiting around the gate, like stars orbiting their sun. The gate opened slightly, a tall man with azure eyes and flowing silver hair appearing at the youth's side, quickly taking a respectful step back.
Yan Ling's eyes trembled fiercely when she saw this man, her bloodline practically boiling in resonance as she realized who was standing in front of her. She had read the records and seen the paintings left behind by the clan founder, and there was no mistaking the resonating coming from her bloodline, the silver-haired man could only be the one known as Star God Sirius, the one whose bloodline was flowing in her body.
Realizing who the silver-haired man was, Yan Ling's gaze couldn't help but flicker and land on the casual youth standing in front of her. Thanks to what the records stated, and what Liang Chen told her in the past, she could easily guess the identity of the youth. Star God Sirius would only follow one person, the Nine Star Demon God, a man who controls at least nine of the major universes in this multiverse. While Yan Ling was reeling from her shock, Star God Sirius turned towards the Nine Star Demon God, causing him to wave his hand.
"Yeah yeah, I haven't forgotten it, you impatient bugger. I will give you this offer only once. Become my disciple and follow me, I will show you exactly how strong the bloodline you carry is."