Against The Heavens 118 Escaping The Island.

Li Yang took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily, the air in front of him trembling from just the energy contained in that single breath. He then raised his head to the sky, the golden clouds of flame filling his vision. He did a small hop, vanis.h.i.+ng from his position and appearing far above the city, just beneath the vines that formed the cage around the area and were trying to blot out the clouds.

Li Yang raised his sword high, the burning clouds immediately gathering together and turning into a single bolt of flaming lightning that shot down with a roar. The bolt easily disintegrated the vines and collided with Li Yang's sword, the energy transferring into both his body and his weapon, causing two wings of golden fire that arced with lightning to appear on his back, a result of him being unable to fully contain the vast energy.

Located on the ground in the city were the people who had entered the palace alongside Li Yang and Fang Ying, all of them unable to move since Li Yang had drained every last drop of their strength. They could only lie there and bear witness to the spectacle that filled them with boundless fear, like an ant facing the incoming stomp of a human.

Of the people still in the city, there was only one who was still able to move, Fang Ying, she was also the only one not filled with fear. On the contrary, watching Li Yang soaring high above them, flaming wings on his back while large chunks of frozen Qi fell to the earth, filled her with happiness. This was the glory he once had, the glory he deserved. Fang Ying sat down on the ground, patting the now tired Langshen on the head and quietly observing the scene above her, making sure to engrave it in her memory.

The Devil's Grasp Vine noticed the moment its vines got disintegrated, countless more sprouting from the ground and shooting towards Li Yang. The Devil's Grasp Vine could feel danger from it, he was a threat that had to be erased. As the vines shot towards him, they started to greedily absorb all the energy around them, even some of the chunks of frozen Qi ending up absorbed by the thorns.

Li Yang looked down upon the thorns that came for him, lowering his sword in a swift downward slash, unleas.h.i.+ng all the energy gathered up in it. A thin golden line shot out from the tip of the blade, disintegrating the vines that came for him while also splitting the entire city, as well as the island it was located on, in half. The edges of the cut blazed with fire and crackled with lightning that caused the scar to quickly grow larger by eating away at everything they came in contact with.

The slash was very well placed, perfectly avoiding the people lying on the ground while also ruining as many of the Devil's Grasp Vines as possible. The thick s.h.i.+eld of vines that defended the primary heart shrunk to almost half its size to defend against the attack, but all the ruined vines almost immediately regrew as the Devil's Grasp Vine drew upon the energy it had stored up for its hibernation.

Li Yang knew that he would not be able to maintain this state for long, it would tear his body apart and kill him if he tried to endure this energy for much longer. As such, he did not give himself or the Devil's Grasp Vine even a moment's respite, launching his next attack the moment he finished swinging his sword.

The atmosphere in the entire city suddenly became so cold that it dropped below freezing temperatures. A large meteor of ice formed above the city, quickly splitting up into tree-sized spikes that hailed down upon the city, each aiming for at least one of the Devil's Grasp Vine's hearts.

At the same time, the chunks of frozen Qi that had already landed on the ground exploded outwards, driving thick spikes deep into the earth and tearing apart any vines that they came in contact with. With just two simple attacks, the entire city had been split in half and then been turned into a pincus.h.i.+on so dense one could just barely see what remained of the city.

But even so, Li Yang could still feel that the beast was alive and well, its vines regrowing almost instantly. This was one of the scariest parts of this beast, its incredible vitality that let it restore itself almost instantly. But Li Yang didn't care too much, casting his gaze down onto the ground and locking eyes with Fang Ying, nodding at her.

Their plan wasn't to defeat this Devil's Grasp Vine, it was to escape this place. Fang Ying returned the nod, once again fusing with the tired and now pouting Langshen, vanis.h.i.+ng into a ripple through s.p.a.ce. Li Yang knew her well, she wouldn't agree to just them escaping now, she would likely pick up the other people first. Li Yang let out another breath, his gaze returning to the dense vines that surrounded the primary heart.

"Oh well, let's mess you up some more."

The purpose of the first two attacks was to destroy the vines that surrounded the city and to draw the full attention of the Devil's Grasp Vine, this next attack was something Li Yang was only going to launch to vent some of his annoyance at having to waste so much blood.

He dropped to the ground as fast as lightning, cras.h.i.+ng through the thick spikes of ice and creating a crater where he landed, dropping into a kneeling position and digging both his hands into the ground, unleas.h.i.+ng almost all of the energy he had left in him.

The earth started to bulge and waver, the spikes of ice evaporating as both the earth and any remaining stones started to melt. The entire island suddenly exploded outwards, thick pillars of golden magma shooting into the sky and turning into a calamitous rain that hailed down over the entire city. Li Yang kept a close eye on every drop of magma, making sure that none of them hit Fang Ying or any of the people she was working on saving.

Thanks to the magma covering the entire city, he was also able to notice the moment she was done saving the last person, transporting everyone to the edge of the city. He pulled both of his hands out from the earth, his lips curling up slightly as he let out a mutter.

"I'll be taking these, I'm sure you won't mind."

Li Yang stood up from his kneeling position, his legs trembling slightly while his vision was starting to turn somewhat blurry. He shook his head to clear up his vision and waved his left hand, causing the earth in three different locations to rise up slightly. A frozen ma.s.s of vines in the shape of a heart shot out from each of these three locations, quickly flying over to Li Yang before being stored into his interspatial rings. These were secondary hearts that he had frozen to keep safe, they only contained a fraction of the energy that the primary heart contained, but at least it was something.

Li Yang then took a step and vanished, immediately appearing at Fang Ying's side. Li Yang turned his gaze onto the water that surrounded the island, his vision locking onto the closest island. He flicked his wrist and unleashed the last of the energy he had in his body, a burst of intense cold causing a bridge to form over the water, connecting the two islands and making it easier to get away from this place.

Li Yang's vision grew blurry when he unleashed the remaining energy, his body roaring at him in pain as his legs started to give out underneath him. He had tried to contain far too much energy in his body, now it was catching up with him. He let himself fall into Fang Ying's arms, muttering quietly before falling unconscious.

"Alright, I did my part, your turn. I'm expecting some d.a.m.n good breakfast when I wake up."