Chapter 174: Back into the fray.

There was no battle currently taking place, so Yao Jun was able to slowly and silently make his way back to the camp. While moving, he was also experimenting with a few different ways to apply the laws, testing out whatever came to mind, slowly increasing the variety of his attacks. As he had no proper knowledge about the various laws, he could only test out whatever came to mind and see if it would work.

While not all of his experiments bore fruit, there were some of his experiments that ended up proving far more effective than he had first imagined them to be. One such experiment was one he did with the laws of darkness, he did not know the actual name given to such a utilization of the laws of darkness, so he simply called it disintegration.

The idea for the experiment had come to him when he thought about the suction force that the spatial cracks released when he used them earlier. The thought he had was, what would happen if he tried to combine that suction force with the laws of darkness? Could he create spots with a powerful devouring force during combat, forcing his enemies to constantly use energy to avoid the spots?

But when he actually tried it out, the result was far more devastating than he had first expected, utterly shocking him. It was surprisingly easy to have the darkness release a suction force, it was a bit weaker than the devouring force of the spatial cracks, but it was still quite powerful. Yao Jun's shock came when he tried to follow the suction force into the darkness, curious if anything within the darkness was different thanks to the suction force.

Whenever Yao Jun moved into the darkness, it was like he entered a wide open and completely empty space, the only other items within the area being the things he brought in with him. But this darkness was completely different, far more vicious. Instead of an empty area, the darkness had gathered together to form giant spiky pillars that pressed up against each other and continuously spun around. Everything that entered the darkness was caught by the pillars and ground up until nothing remained, which is why Yao Jun simply gave it the name disintegration.

After he left the darkness and continued towards the camp, his lips couldn't help but curl into a faint smile. If he managed to catch his enemies off guard and have them be absorbed by those shadows, only people that were equal to or greater than him in strength would be able to escape. And what if he managed to fuse more laws together? What would he get if he fused the laws of fire and ice? Or wind and lightning? The endless amount of possibilities and room for growth excited him quite a bit.

Once Yao Jun reached the camp, he could feel that there was a heavy atmosphere lingering over it, barely a sound to be heard from the thousands of soldiers within the camp. Even without asking anyone, Yao Jun could tell that things had not gone terribly well in the two months he had been cultivating. Yao Jun made his way towards he quarters his squad had been given, glancing at the other soldiers he saw as he walked.

The few soldiers he saw walking around all had grim expressions, their eyebrows furrowed and heads somewhat lowered. As he walked past some of the other quarters, he could spot some soldiers that were lying on their beds, their faces pale as paper and covered with violet or green spots, their bodies clearly poisoned. Some soldiers had pustules growing out of their bodies, a thick pus leaking out and releasing a foul smell.

Yao Jun quickly noticed that only the soldiers that had a strength that was at the 7th Xiantian Heaven and below seemed to be poisoned, those that had a higher cultivation were still fine. He could not help but wonder if the poison of the Spider Hive was too weak to infect anyone stronger, or if it wasn't brought out in the battles against those of a higher cultivation.

It did not take long for Yao Jun to reach the quarters of his squad, sweeping the area with a calm gaze. There were some soldiers that were poisoned, and he could also tell that there were some that had died while he was gone. But when he compared the numbers to what he had seen in the other squads, his squad was clearly a bit better off. Yao Jun quickly spotted Reyner and the others, who were currently sitting around a small fire, their expressions somewhat grim. He started walking towards them, calling out as he did.

“It seems that things haven't been going to well while I was gone, what happened here?”

Yao Jun acted as if he had no idea what had happened while he was gone, after all, he was supposed to have no way of knowing what had taken place. Upon hearing his voice, Hamlyn and the others quickly turned towards him, Reyner's eyes opening wide as he couldn't help but speak out in a surprised voice.

“Lil' Jun? Hadn't heard anything from ya in two months, almost thought ya had kicked the bucket while we weren't lookin'.”

Reyner quickly checked Yao Jun's cultivation level, releasing a silent sigh when he saw that Yao Jun had only reached the late stage of the 3rd Mortal Earth. He had spent two entire months cultivating, but only increased his cultivation by that little? But as he did not want to hurt Yao Jun's feelings, he chose not to voice his thoughts. Edelina, the only woman in the group, gave a slight shake of her head as she answered Yao Jun's question.

“Things have indeed not been well. Those Fucking Final Fire people have broken the unwritten rules, buying helpers from the Merged Heaven clan. The other squads were ambushed by the helpers during one of the battles, several thousand dying due to the poison that the Chimera Beast used.”

Even if two clans went to war, they would always follow some unwritten rules, the two main ones being that one could not send out the old monsters to massacre the youths, nor would they enlist help from other clans. These two rules were very rarely broken by anyone. Yao Jun raised one of his eyebrows slightly, accepting a bowl of soup from Hamlyn as he questioned.

“They brought in helpers? I thought the clans only saw these kinds of battle as a training exercise for the younger generation.”

Yao Jun already knew that the Final Fire clan had bought a few Chimera Beasts from the Merged Heaven clan, but he was still clueless as to why they had chosen to do so, even going as far as sending one of the Chimera Beasts to this low-level battlefield. Hamlyn stirred the pot of soup in front of him for a bit, speaking out in a low voice.

“That's how it's supposed to be, but it seems the Final Fire clan has stopped caring. If you ask me, it seems like they are truly trying to wipe out the World Tree clan this time around.”

Since the Final Fire clan had broken one of the unwritten rules, their goal was clear, the complete eradication of the World Tree clan. Several other soldiers had come to the same conclusion, which caused them to become rather nervous. When would the Final Fire clan break another unwritten rule, when would the old monsters of their clan come to lay waste to the battlefield? After Hamlyn let out the low voice, Reyner also spoke up, lowering his voice slightly.

“What ah' can't understand is why the Merged Heaven clan decided ta poke its head into this here war. They got no beef with the World Tree clan, and while they often sell their creations to other clans, they make sure ta stay away from the larger clans, not willing to offend them by selling weapons to their enemies.”

The Merged Heaven clan was not friendly with the World Tree clan, but neither were they hostile. For the Merged Heaven clan to sell weapons to the enemies of the World Tree clan, it was clear that they were positioning themselves against the World Tree clan. Since the previously neutral Merged Heaven clan had positioned itself against the World Tree clan, it was clear that they were gaining something from it, but exactly what that something was, none of them knew.

The group continued to chat for a bit, but after only a few minutes, a soldier clad in ashen gray armor walked into their quarters, heading directly towards them. Yao Jun had seen soldiers like this several times, so he already knew the soldier was coming for him. He stood up from his seated position, sending Reyner and the others a short wave before he turned around and headed towards the soldier.

“It seems the General is looking for me, I will be back soon.”

Yao Jun quickly reached the soldier, who sent him a short nod and then turned on his heels, heading towards Diana's tent. Yao Jun quietly followed the soldier, already used to the silent nature of these soldiers. The two quickly reached Diana's tent, the soldier nodding at Yao Jun and then taking up position in front of the entrance of the tent.

Yao Jun walked in, spotting Diana sitting at the sole table inside the room. But she wasn't looking over any maps or reading any reports this time, she was calmly drinking a cup of emerald green tea. Diana slightly raised her head, pointing at the chair across the table, a faint smile on her face as she spoke.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough.”

Yao Jun's eyes narrowed faintly as he sat down. Diana wore a faint smile and her voice was calm, but Yao Jun could tell that she was suppressing something within her, holding her rage back. It seemed like the actions of the Final Fire clan and the Merged Heaven clan had angered her quite a bit. Diana swiped her interspatial ring and took out a cup made out of white porcelain, pouring some tea into it and handing it to Yao Jun. Yao Jun slowly sipped the tea, not bothering to waste any time as he spoke up.

“I take it you called me here because of what happened while I was gone?”

Yao Jun refused to believe that the stern Diana had called him here just to congratulate him on his little breakthrough. Had she wanted to do that, a soldier would not have come to find him right after he returned to the camp. Diana's smile grew a bit wider when she heard Yao Jun's words, similarly not bothering to waste any time.

“Yes. As you have heard from the Starborn clan people, the Final Fire clan has bought in a Spider Hive beast from the Merged Heaven clan. Had they used it freely, there would be no problem, but they are only bringing it out in battles where they are confident that it will not sustain lethal damage, making it hard for us to get rid of it.”

Just as Yao Jun had guessed, Diana called him here because of the Spider Hive beast. Diana studied Yao Jun's expression as she spoke, but was rather surprised when she found that Yao Jun's expression hadn't changed the slightest when she talked about the people from the Starborn clan. Instead, Yao Jun simply responded with a slight smile.

“Spying on people while they are cultivating is rather rude.”

Yao Jun had not noticed anyone spying on him while he was keeping an eye on the battle or while he was cultivating, but he had guessed that there might be someone keeping an eye on him from the distance. After all, how could someone like Diana allow someone unknown to run around freely? He also wasn't surprised that he hadn't spotted anyone, despite being able to spot the man known as Old Shade. After all, the only reason he could spot Old Shade was that he had been using darkness to hide himself, an element Yao Jun was quite accustomed to. Diana did not bother responding to Yao Jun's quip, stating what she had planned.

“Since the Final Fire clan is no longer bothering to play nice, neither will I. The next battle will take place in three days, I want you to join the battle and kill as many people as you can, as well as kill any part of the Spider Hive you can spot. With your skills, isolating a few parts should not be too hard. For this battle, I will reward you for each kill you make, not just for killing ranked heads.”

It would take time for Diana to receive any reinforcements from the clan that she could use against the Spider Hive beast, so in the meantime, she decided to use the unknown factor that was Yao Jun. Before his breakthrough, he was able to fight someone like Watkin, someone who was almost two entire sub-realms stronger than him. She did not know how much stronger he had gotten after his breakthrough, but she could clearly feel that the Yao Jun in front of her was different from the Yao Jun she had seen before he broke through.

Yao Jun did not immediately respond, fondling his chin in silence, his brows furrowed. He already knew that people from the Starborn clan were keeping an eye on the battle, but there might be others that he did not know about. The way he saw it, the less people knew about his strength the better, at least for now, while he was still very weak. Diana seemed to guess at his thoughts, as she spoke up while he was thinking.

“If you are worried about being recognized, I can give you an item that will completely alter your features, making it impossible to recognize you. I will also make sure that the people of the Starborn clan and the other clans that are keeping an eye on the battle won't be able to notice you.”

Diana was willing to give such an item and advantageous deal to Yao Jun because she knew what he had done to the people of the Starborn clan. Three people who could control the laws of space, one of them which was at the early stage of the 5th Houtian Sky, were completely unable to do anything against Yao Jun's laws of space. In front of him, they had been like lambs facing a tiger, and that was just the strength he had shown, there was no telling how much more he kept hidden. Yao Jun's brows furrowed a bit more, but he gave a slight nod of his head.

“So there really were others...I accept the deal.”

Even if Diana had not offered to give Yao Jun such an item, he would still have agreed to the deal. After all, Yao Jun was in dire need of money right now, he was not in a position to refuse. But since she was willing to give him an item to hide his features, it meant that he could be far more open in his attacks, not bothering as much with keeping himself hidden. Diana swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a thin mask that looked like it was made out of transparent blue cloth.

“This mask is called an Icesilk Mask, putting it on will let you change your face and body as you wish. Put it on once the battle starts and no one will be able to recognize you.”

The mask was cool to the touch, weighing almost nothing. Yao Jun stored away the mask and finished the rest of his tea, before standing up and giving Diana a slight nod, leaving the tent. As he moved towards his quarters, a faint smile appeared on his lips. Soon he would return to battle, soon he would be able to get his hands on more money and resources.