The perpetual rain was still pouring down all over the training ground as Yin Long headed for the exit, twirling a crimson feather between his fingers. He had plucked the feather from the wings that sprouted from his back when he activated his bloodline, keeping it aside so that he could study it more closely in the future.
He hadn't noticed it back when he first experimented with the wings, he had been too focused on how to properly move them, but the feather released a faint bloody scent. The yellow veins running along it seemed to thrum with a slightly sinister power, but they didn't react to any prodding so he wasn't able to confirm whether or not he was just imagining things.
There was also a third point that he felt was slightly peculiar, the edges of the feather were sharp, he just had to wave the feather once to sever a branch from a tree. Flying Demonic beasts with sharp wings weren't something that could be considered rare, but they all had either an innate control over metal or the more elusive law of slicing. And for such Demonic beasts, there was no way their wings would have feathers like this, which was as soft and willowy as a normal feather.
"Exactly what sort of changes did you produce, and why?"
Yin Long felt like he had asked that question thousands of times ever since he first woke up again and saw his new bloodline. Exactly what had his soul done to the blood, and why had it done it? His soul had never acted on its own like that before, so why would it suddenly do that as he tried to implant a bloodline?
"Questions upon questions, for once I would like to just get some clear answers..."
How could Yin Long not complain a little as he mulled things over? The more he delved into himself, the more questions he ended up with. Even after meeting someone who could provide him with some answers, Emperor Starblood, he had still been left with more questions than he had arrived with.
His best option for finding out more truths was to find Bai Xiang, but he was already starting to feel that he would just end up with even more questions after meeting him too. As such, he was starting to think that there really was only one person he could rely on to get the answer to all his questions and learn the full truth, himself. But whether or not that was the case, it was a matter for the future, the him right now really didn't have the capabilities of acquiring those answers.
He put away the feather as he reached the edge of the training ground, stepping through the distorted air that marked the end of the array. He felt the same nauseating dissonance caused by experiencing two separate flows of time, but having already felt it once before he was bit better equipped to handle it this time.
He expected the area around the training ground to be as empty as last time, forcing him to ask the closest guardian where he could find Lan Yun and Jin Wang. But to his surprise, the two of them were actually present right outside the training ground, the disciple standing guard keeping them a few tens of metres away from the forest.
Jin Wang was lying there in a lazy manner, but he kept a sharp eye on the guarding disciple, seemingly ready to attack at a moment's notice. Lan Yun was seated next to him, her eyes landing on Yin Long the moment he left the training ground. And seeing her heave a quick sigh of relief, Yin Long realized that his worries had probably been well-founded.
"How long have I really been gone?"
One week of supported training in an organization as grand as the Thousand Blades Hall wasn't something people would be willing to give up on, they would train until the last second usually. So for both Lan Yun and Jin Wang to be here, their training should have already ended, a fact Lan Yun confirmed with her answer.
"Just about a month."
Yin Long's mouth twisted slightly as his nagging unease was confirmed to be correct, he really had been in the training ground for longer than he should have. But why had no one contacted him, and why hadn't the Thousand Blades Hall thrown him out when his allotted time was over? He also had another question, Lan Yun shaking her head slightly in response.
"The clash?"
"In its final stages, it probably won't even last another seven days."
The further into the competition you got, the faster it would end. The battles got harder and harder, with more and more injuries appearing each time, forcing people to drop out left and right. Yin Long frowned faintly, the disciple guarding in front of the training ground walking to the side since there no longer was a need for him to prevent others from entering the training ground. Yin Long glanced at the disciple and then turned his gaze back onto Lan Yun, a thought flickering through his mind.
"Try to contact me."
Lan Yun was confused, but that confusion only lasted for a split second before she realized what Yin Long was thinking. She brought out her communication orb and used it to send a message to Yin Long, but when he brought out his own orb there was no reaction from it. Both of them clicked their tongue in realization, Yin Long stepping away from the forest with a somewhat dark face.
"Someone's interfering, let's go."
Jin Wang rose from the ground as Yin Long walked over, Yin Long and Lan Yun hopping onto his back and allowing Jin Wang to carry them away across the rolling hills that laid in front of the forest. The two knew where the exit of the separate space was since they had spent a bit of time waiting for Yin Long so he just allowed Jin Wang to lead the way. Lan Yun's brows were a bit furrowed as she glanced back, the situation was quite strange.
"Who do you think did it? To block off all communications there, it must be someone high in the Thousand Blades Hall."
Forget about knowing who had the authority to decide such a thing, she didn't even know for what purpose they would do such a thing. Yin Long had never had any interactions with Thousand Blades Hall other than the time he interacted with the man who invited him to join them. But Yin Long knew a bit more than her, clicking his tongue.
"I've got a hunch, but if it was really him then there's little we can do about it."
How many people really had the ability to make the Thousand Blades Hall do something that they normally wouldn't? Since it was tied to him, Yin Long could only think of one person, Emperor Starblood. But if it really was him who made them do it then there really wasn't much that Yin Long or Lan Yun could do about it, they weren't even close to being in the same league as a Province Emperor. Lan Yun could tell that Yin Long either couldn't or wouldn't say more about who the person was so she instead changed the topic.
"What are you planning now? Even if we return to the clash, we've already been replaced in our team so it would just be the two of us, getting a high rank would be next to impossible."
They had been missing for over three weeks so Lan Yun had long since gotten the report that her team had replaced them using some of the contenders from the teams that were forced to split up after losing multiple members. Yin Long gave the question a bit of thought, eventually shrugging his shoulders casually.
"Well, I originally wanted to keep participating because there were a lot of good fights to be had so there was plenty I could learn. Heading to the Province Championship wouldn't have been a bad idea either, there would be even stronger people there that I could learn from, but that seems a bit hard now so I don't really have any plans."
Of course, going to the Province Championship would mean that he could also meet his sister again and probably get his hands on plenty of resources. But all of those things could also be done without going to the Province Championship, it would just take a bit more time. Especially the meeting with his sister, the Province Championship took place in a very special separate space so the Lang clan and the others would have no way of knowing if he met up with Lang Huo.
Lan Yun nodded her head somewhat, not too surprised by Yin Long's answer. She knew his personality better than anyone else so she had already expected his answer to be along the lines of not actually having any plans.
But he trained his gaze on her after he gave his answer, his casual remark causing her shoulders to jolt as a slightly awkward smile surfaced on her face.
"But rather than ask me what I'm planning, shouldn't you be telling me what you want?"
"You could tell, huh?"
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Yin Long simply shrugged his shoulders in the face of Lan Yun's slight awkwardness, she knew his personality better than anyone else but the opposite was also true.
"How long do you think we've worked together?"
She had been at his side since the very first day he started to work as the dark blade of the Lang clan, she had seen everything he had done and he had seen almost everything she had done. They were already past the point of needing to say things to communicate. Lan Yun's smile turned a touch bitter when faced with Yin Long's calm yet insistent gaze, leaving her with no choice but to shake her head slightly.
"I got the chance to think over a few things while in the training ground they provided for me and eventually came to the decision that I want to go to the Province Championship. Well, rather than say I want to take part in it, it's more accurate to say that I want to be able to enter the special city reserved for the entourages of the people who are actually taking part in the competition. Lang Huo is guaranteed to be sent to the championship so Lang Ru will definitely be present in that city, I wanted to meet her and thank her, I never really did get the chance to do that before we left. Well, not like it matters at this point."
This time she spent away from Yin Long was the longest separation the two had been through after leaving the Lang clan. Before this, they had at least stayed in contact just about every day, and they had even been right by each other as they went through their long-winded breakthroughs.
And so she got to think, what if Lang Ru had never told her that Yin Long had been revived? What if she hadn't sent Lan Yun away so that she could travel with Yin Long? What would have become of her then, what would have become of her heart? So she wanted to thank Lang Ru, both for telling her the truth and for making the difficult choice she had been forced to make.
One of Yin Long's eyebrows rose slightly when Lan Yun gave him the truth, it was certainly quite far removed from any guesses he might have had. But no matter how far removed it was from his guesses, there was really only one thing he could do when Lan Yun spoke about her desires.
"You want to go to the Province Championship?"
Lan Yun's smiled only turned bitter when Yin Long asked his question, she knew that he wasn't asking it out of confusion or the like. The look in his eyes was something she was all too familiar with, it was one of the looks that had caused her to fall directly into his grasp, that sheer unmovable confidence and determination. And faced with that piercing gaze, she knew that the truth was the only option left to her.
"...Yes."
Yin Long's lips immediately curved upwards when Lan Yun nodded her head, a bright smile surfacing on his face. Looking at that smile, Lan Yun's heart couldn't help but throb, she had already lost count of how many times she had wished for him to smile like this during the time that they had worked together. Yin Long maintained his smile as he nodded his head, stroking Jin Wang's golden mane and causing Lan Yun to shake her head in slight exasperation.
"Then that's where we'll go. Jin Wang, can you take us to the arena?"
"I was worried that you'd say something like that. It's almost like you don't know exactly what sort of odds we're up against."
For them to head to the Province Championship meant that either of them would become chosen as one of the top 10 people in this province, just how hard would such a thing be? Jin Wang let out a rumbling roar in response to Yin Long's question and dashed forward at full speed, his entire body radiating what could only be described as bloodlust. His master desired to fight, so it was his job to massacre the opponents.
Compared to Jin Wang's dense bloodlust, Yin Long looked far calmer and peaceful. The bright smile on his face turned carefree and casual as he laughed, looking back at Lan Yun out of the corner of his eye.
"As if something as small as odds matter. I've dragged you around selfishly, so now that you've made a request for yourself then I'll definitely accomplish it. And besides, don't you want to test out the results of your training?"
Lan Yun's heart throbbed once more as she saw the smile on his face and the look in his eyes. He had once shown her this exact same visage, back when he had accepted the fact that it was his duty to die in battle against Lang Huo so that she could solidify her position.
That had been the first time she had seen such a smile from him, and she had thought that it was a tremendous shame that it would vanish forever. Yet here it showed up once again and just seeing it was enough to blow away any reservations that she felt, because that was a smile that meant that odds or the like didn't matter.
"...Let's go give it our all and crush them."
Yin Long said that he would accomplish her desire for her by giving it his all so how could she not respond in kind? If he stepped onto the stage for her, then she would dig out every last ounce of strength tucked away in her body and use it to utterly crush anyone that might stand against them. Yin Long laughed once more upon seeing the fierce determination shimmering in Lan Yun's eyes, his own gaze turning towards the exit that was becoming visible in the distance.
"Hahaha, now that's more like it! It's really rare for you to put on a fierce front like that."
He had seen Lan Yun fight many times before, but her fighting style was both similar and different to his. They both shared the same calmness in battle, but Lan Yun didn't show the same excitement as him, she was just calm and nothing more. Even when her attacks were brutal and powerful did she maintain a calm exterior, showing no fierceness. Lan Yun smiled softly at his laughter, whispering quietly into his ear as if to tease him, but the answer she received was the exact opposite of what she expected.
"Oh, do you dislike it?"
"It's quite arousing actually, you should do it more."
Jin Wang rushed through the crack that served as the exact of the separate space, appearing in the city again and quickly rushing through the streets. They weren't far away from the dome where the battle was taking place, the sun already starting to approach the horizon.
Jin Wang charged through the tunnel for the competitors and quickly barged into the seating area, the unexpected event and Jin Wang's imposing aura drawing everyone's attention. Yin Long turned his gaze onto the stage, the corners of his lips turning up slightly when he saw that there was currently a battle taking place.
"Excuse me, but the battles for the day aren't over already, are they?"
He was almost certain of the answer, but it wouldn't hurt to ask just to make doubly sure. He received a nod from the distant Jie Yue, who stood at the side of the stage and was as caught off guard by his sudden appearance as everyone else. Jie Yue nodded her head but wasn't the first one to speak up, a dissatisfied snort coming from the direction of the seating area belonging to the Bloodgrass territory.
"Hoh, you actually still have the guts to show yourself after locking yourself up for so long? You could have at the very least informed us or responded to any of our messages."
Yin Long turned his gaze onto the brown-haired middle-aged man who had snorted in dissatisfaction, he faintly remembered that he should be an elder belonging to the Asura Soul Mountain. He wasn't bothered about the elder's dissatisfaction, ignoring it and instead questioning him.
"I heard we're no longer part of the team?"
Yin Long's gaze drifted slightly sideways and landed on Gui Kong Lie, who was the leader of his team. She was surrounded by the rest of the team and some unfamiliar people, which he guessed were the new team members she had been assigned. The elder also didn't deny this and nodded his head, curious why Yin Long would bother asking about something he had already been informed about.
"Correct. Your absence luckily coincided with the time we would spread out some of the other contenders anyway so we quickly managed to fill the gap that you made."
This was exactly as Lan Yun had told him, he only asked for formalities sake and to make doubly sure. And after making sure that they were indeed no longer part of team 4, he moved on to the more important question.
"But we haven't been kicked out of the competition either, correct? We haven't lost three matches, and just being gone shouldn't be enough of a reason to disqualify is, no?"
If you could get disqualified for being gone for a bit then the three territories would have to disqualify all their wounded members who needed some time to recuperate from their wounds. But they didn't disqualify them, they could still be used after their wounds healed. The elder grew even more confused now, but still nodded his head.
"...Correct, but there is no team with open spots for you."
Their territory had been comparatively lucky, none of their teams had suffered any grievous losses so they still had people they could use to fill up the holes. Yin Long and Lan Yun were certainly better options than some of the people in the various teams, but the sheer disregard Yin Long had shown in not appearing and ignoring their contact left them more than just a bit dissatisfied with him. But that dissatisfaction wasn't something Yin Long cared about, smiling carefreely after receiving the answers he sought.
"That's fine, we'll just do it on our own."
Not having a team with space for them would generally mean that they couldn't compete, they would have to wait for a team to acquire a vacant spot they could fill. But that was only generally, there was one exception they could take advantage of, an exception set in place purely to spice things up. Yin Long hopped down from Jin Wang's back and stepped forward, his gaze firmly locked onto the seating area where the Winged-Blood territory sat.
"I'd like to issue a direct challenge to Winged-Blood Team 4, do you dare accept?"
The underdog rule, one of the least used rules in the competition, added solely to inject some possible spice and to push some teams to their utmost. Never in a million years would the onlookers believe that someone who wasn't even a full team would try to use this rule, he might as well just ask to be expelled and lose all right to ever participate in tournaments like this ever again.
Lan Yun's gaze was fully focused on Yin Long as he stood there, a dazzling smile present on her face. She knew Yin Long, she knew his tendency to remain in the back while letting others enjoy the spotlight, he was content as long as he could just quietly train his sword. But there he stood, in front of countless gaze as he exuded a heaven-piercing sharpness and made his challenge, all to accomplish her desire.
The team he challenged frowned slightly, but it was not because they were angered at him choosing them, it was because Yin Long was too much of an unknown factor. He had shown great skills and technique in his previous fights, his bottom line was exceedingly blurry and hard to pinpoint. And now he had been gone for a while to train, so it was even harder to see exactly where his depths lay.
But before they could come to an agreement, someone from their territory attracted their attention. Xiao Yin Yu, the person ranked 2nd among all the people taking part in the competition, her word carried more weight than the word of the elders that had been brought along. She had gestured towards them and drawn their attention, giving them a simple nod once they turned to look at her. And with Yin Yu nodding her head at them, there really was only one answer they could give to the challenge, the green-eyed team leader training his gaze on Yin Long.
"We accept."