The city was still silent, almost oppressively so. The streets were so abandoned that the only audible sounds were the footsteps of Yao Jun's group. The air was thick with the stench of fear and resignation, it was a city just waiting for death. It was a disappointing sight, that was all Yao Jun could think about it. Wan Yi had poured her grand ambitions into this city, done everything in her power to spread the name of their sect. She had misused the name of those she considered friends and killed scores of people, but this was all she managed to achieve. It was disappointing, to go so far, to throw away so much, just to achieve this little.
"You should have killed her."
Zhuan Yi's voice reached Yao Jun as they made their way through the city, her tone so casual and indifferent that you'd think she was talking about the most obvious fact in the world. He simply glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, her dark silver eyes were looking at him from underneath her white hair as if she was studying him.
"It'd be a stretch to call you an emotional person, but despite that, you were clearly angry when you spoke to her. Evidently, she touched a reverse scale that she should have left alone when she chose to smear those names. So, you should have killed her. Leaving her alive will serve as an example, it'll make people believe that it's fine to touch your reverse scale once, and that's something you'll come to regret, and fast."
Zhuan Yi hadn't followed Yao Jun for long, but it had been long enough for her to at least glean a few things. He had enemies, a lot of them, and he'd just get more of them as he went on, that was just the type of person he was. And he treasured his family greatly, above anything else even. They were his reverse scale, and now he had shown the world that he was willing to spare someone who touched his reverse scale.
"She only touched their names. That, coupled with the fact that we have somewhat of a prior relationship is why she got to live. And if anyone is stupid enough to take her case as an example then they'll just march towards their death that much faster."
Yes, Wan Yi had touched a reverse scale when she decided to use the names of Guo Luo and Yun Yantian for her little crusade, anything related to those two would be enough to set off Yao Jun. But, in this one instance, luck was on Wan Yi's side. She and Yao Jun weren't entirely unacquainted, they were somewhat friendly in the past, and it was this minor fact that ensured that she only lost her arm today.
And indeed, if any of his enemies really thought that something as small as this meant that they could touch his family and get away with it then they would have to be idiots. Yao Jun didn't even need to tell them, his reputation already preceded him, in this universe more so than anywhere else. But Zhuan Yi didn't know that, she only knew a tiny bit about the reputation Yao Jun had here.
"Suit yourself, I was just telling you so that you wouldn't end up regretting things in the future, I owe you at least that much."
In the end, Zhuan Yi could only shrug her shoulders. At the moment, she was only following Yao Jun out of curiosity, she wanted to see just how high a monster like him could go. But he had after all saved her race when they were approaching extinction so she did owe him at least this one word of advice.
"So, this Yang Long you spoke of, are you going to just lop off one of their arms as well or are you actually going to do it properly this time? And for that matter, why aren't we just teleporting to reach them?"
Since one topic had come to an end, Zhuan Yi moved on to the next, partly to fill the silence and partly to see if Yao Jun was equally soft to all those he was acquainted with. But in the end, she misunderstood what Yao Jun meant when he said he had to have a talk with Yang Long. Out of all the people in this universe, Yang Long was perhaps one of the furthest from his wrath right now.
"Neither. On the contrary, I'm the one who needs to apologize to him. As for why I haven't teleported yet, it's because he isn't on this planet right now. But there's a house here that I need to visit before we leave, that's why I haven't already left to find him."
Yes, Yao Jun owed Yang Long an apology. It was Yao Jun who had caused the death of Yun Yantian, it was because of this that Yang Yuhuan had ran away in anger, her current whereabouts unknown. Yao Jun had taken away Yang Long's best friend and pushed away his sister, to the point that they had no idea what was happening to her. So he needed to lower his head, that was the least he could do.
"Oh, you've got more friends here?"
Zhuan Yi didn't know what sort of relationships Yao Jun actually had here so she could only throw out a guess. But once again her guess was wrong, Yao Jun's answer coming in the form of a single word.
"No."
It was a simple statement, it really couldn't get any simpler. But Zhuan Yi still felt a tingle run down her spine as she heard him. There was something about his voice, something hidden between the boundless indifference. She quickly discovered the source of that tingle, the tone he used was the same one he used while he was helping her. It was this tone he had used when he brought an entire race to extinction, it was a tone that heralded an inescapable end.
He seemed to reach his target before too long, one of the larger houses that were relatively close to the headquarters that Wan Yi had occupied. It was rather extravagant so it probably reflected the status of its owner, four guards lazily hanging around the dark double doors.
"Can we help yo...gnh!"
The guard that called out to Yao Jun's group was quickly silenced, his knees giving out beneath him as he was crushed against the ground, his breath almost locked inside his chest. The three other guards didn't fare any better, barely able to squeeze out the air in their lungs as they were pressed against the ground.
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Zhuan Yi could feel a gaze on her back as she followed Yao Jun up to the doors. The gaze seemed to come from the headquarters so she guessed that it was probably Wan Yi looking at them from the window. Perhaps she wanted to stop them, perhaps the person Yao Jun was going to kill here was useful to her. But in the end, all she could do was watch from the distance, powerless to the very end.
Yao Jun pushed open the doors, the soft cracking sound that came from them indicating that they were probably locked. But something as small as a lock basically didn't exist to Yao Jun so he could freely enter the building, moving through the rooms and hallways as he headed for the second floor, not even glancing at anything else in the house.
He pushed open another set of doors and entered a bright bedroom, a woman who seemed to be in her mid-twenties lounging lazily on the bed, seemingly still half asleep.
"Fueh? Is it already time for lunch?"
The woman rubbed her eyes as she sat up but froze abruptly as Yao Jun's finger landed on her forehead. Her eyes immediately adjusted, throwing off their drowsy shade as she grew vigilant. But she seemed to be completely frozen, her muscles refused to listen to a single thing she said.
"Golden Tomb. How many people have you killed while bearing that name?"
Golden Tomb, that was the title Wan Yi had fabricated for Yang Yuhuan. Those who bore the Dread Dreamer and the Sword Apocalypse title were already dead, they had smeared the names of those closest to Yao Jun so they were the first to die. But those smearing Yang Yuhuan's name were still alive. Well, after this woman died then only one would be left so it wouldn't be for very long.
"Ah...Ab... about six to seven hundred..."
The words came out before the woman even realized it, it was as if the tongue in her mouth no longer belonged to her. Did her instincts hope that answering quickly might save her life, or had he done something? She never got an answer to that question, a flash of heat in her head shutting down her consciousness.
Yao Jun didn't even nod his head as the ashes at his fingertip fluttered away. The only answer that could have preserved her life was zero, that was the only way she would have been able to avoid smearing Yang Yuhuan's name. What a shame it was then, that the answer hadn't been zero.
"Can you hand me one of the ship's communication treasures?"
Yao Jun turned away from the scattering ashes and tilted his head towards Sirius, stretching out his arm. Sirius was the one who currently had the ship that they had taken from Arthurius, Yao Jun had no qualms about leaving it entirely to him so that he could focus on his own things. Sirius swept his interspatial ring and handed the marble-like orb to Yao Jun, who sank his mind into it and locked onto the familiar signature.
"Arthurius, where are the Ghost General, the Dragon's Maw, and the Golden Tomb right now?"
Sword Apocalypse, Dread Dreamer, Ghost General, Dragon's Maw, Golden Tomb, Black-Scaled Queen, and finally, the Nine Heavens Demon God. The seven Fiendlords of Titan's Gate, seven exaggerated titles Wan Yi had created to sow more fear. Lin Ren was the Ghost General and Yang Long was the Dragon's Maw, leaving Wan Yi as the Black-Scaled Queen.
What a shame it was that these titles were collapsing one by one, slipping away from Wan Yi's grasp. Yao Jun had left the sect, Yang Yuhuan and Guo Luo were in a different universe, and Yun Yantian had died. Only three of the titans remained here, and while it may be rude to think so, only the three weakest titans remained.
"Brother Jun. Seeing how we separated last time, I didn't actually expect you to ever contact us again. But that's good, I'll take it as a sign that our relationship can still be mended despite my errors. As for the people you're looking for, they're currently working on taking down Starscale City, it's the capital city of Starshore planet. If you check the map I gave you then you should see it somewhere in the northeastern sector of the Merged Heaven clan's territory."
Arthurius had honestly been worried that this was it, the end of their relationship with Yao Jun. He still hadn't forgotten the prophecy that his little brother had made in the past, Yao Jun was the key to changing their clan's destiny. But the thing about change was that it could be either good or bad. Back then Yao Jun hadn't been large enough to affect the clan too much, but now he was truly someone who could spell salvation or doom for their clan if things went wrong.
"Starshore...Starshore... ah, there. Alright, thank you. And oh, tell Leylan that I'll be dropping by sooner or later."
Yao Jun quickly located the aforementioned planet on the map he had taken from Arthurius, giving a simple goodbye before he pulled his mind out of the orb. He hadn't forgotten Leylan, the World Tree cultivator that saved his life back when Yao Jun first left his home planet. Had it not been for Leylan then Yao Jun would definitely have had a much harder time during his first venture into the wider world, he was a man who deserved Yao Jun's gratitude.
"Alright, I'll be heading over to Yang Long and the others, the two of you are free to do as you please."
Yao Jun gave the choice to the other two. As always, he offered them freedom, and in turn, they offered him loyalty. Well, for Zhuan Yi it was more curiosity than loyalty, but the starting point rarely mattered if they ended up reaching the same end.
"I will follow you, My Lord."
"I'll follow you. From what I've seen, there's little of interest in this place other than you so it makes no sense to split off now."
Quick answers, expected answers perhaps. As such, Yao Jun simply nodded his head and left the building, the guards outside still pressed flat against the earth. Only when Sirius brought out the ship they had taken from Arthurius and the group left the area were the guards able to stand up again.
Unlike the time they headed to this planet, Yao Jun had no need to cultivate this time so they could use the ship's spatial warp function to quickly reach their target. The ship folded space and tore through it, vanishing from his home and hurtling across the universe until it reached Starshore planet.
A silvery-white marble appeared beneath the ship when it left the folded space, white beaches and light silver water covering the planet. There was only a single continent on the planet, but its form was rather strange, a circular landmass with tendril-like peninsulas extending from it, stretching around the entire planet.
Yao Jun stood on the deck of the ship and looked down upon the planet, his senses were so sharp that he could see the battle unfolding beneath him, enveloping the largest city on the planet. Yang Long and the others were down there somewhere, embroiled in war.
But so too was the Merged Heaven clan, and from the looks of it, the other clans they had allied with were also taking part in this battle, at least a little bit.
"Good, it's annoying if you're too spread out."
Sirius could almost feel the air solidifying as Yao Jun spoke. The Merged Heaven clan and their alliance, it was they who had sealed up Godpiercer planet in the past, it was they who had made it so that Yao Jun was too late to protect Little Thunder. Yao Jun had already brought down one of their Godkings, but one life alone was not good enough for this demon, a fact the alliance would have to learn when he carved it into their chests.