Against The Heavens 53 Death Breeds Life.

Li Yang slowly made his way up the hill, heading towards the mausoleum. The hill released a faint foul smell, an oppressive feeling radiating from the hill and causing the blood within Li Yang's body to feel like it was freezing. This was not caused by an array, but rather because of what had happened on the hill all those years ago.

Both Li Yang and Fang Ying had died on this hill, their blood and Qi seeping into the hill, forever tainting it. That alone would be enough to turn the hill into a place that could kill weaker cultivators, but now the corpses of two dragons had also been placed on the hill, the residual energy within their bones also seeping into the hill. Li Yang was confident that if there wasn't some type of array present within the hill, anyone beneath the Immortal Rebirth Realm would die if they got too close.

Li Yang quickly got closer to the azure mausoleum, studying it slightly as he approached it. The building was in the shape of a triangle, the tip facing away from Li Yang, and was a little over 10 meters tall, and almost three times as wide. The corners of the building were as sharp as swords, glimmering whenever they were hit by light. The gate into the mausoleum was violet in color and engraved with the same two dragons that were engraved on the emblem Li Yang had acquired when he completed all four trials. Li Yang brushed the engravings with his fingers, chuckling to himself.

"You guys really liked this image, didn't you?"

Li Yang could easily guess why Zhao Feng and the others had chosen this image to represent him and Fang Ying, even going as far as killing two dragons to mark their tomb. One part of the reason was that he and Fang Ying were often called dragons among people, their might causing countless people to stare at them in awe.

The other part of the reason was that of their entire group, Li Yang and Fang Ying had been the only ones who never had any beast companions. This prompted people to joke about them being too picky, that they would never settle for anything less than a dragon. After reminiscing for a short moment, Li Yang pushed open to the doors to the mausoleum and entered it.

Because the entire building was made out of a Demon crystal, the light from outside shone in through the building, casting an azure light over everything inside the building. The inside of the mausoleum was far less extravagant than the outside, consisting of only a single room that only contained two items, the rest of the room was completely empty.

The first item was a large statue that stood at the center of the room, so tall that it touched the ceiling. The statue was carved out of a light green crystal, most likely the Demon crystal belonging to the second of the two dragons that marked the mausoleum. The statue featured Li Yang and Fang Ying, both sharing a loving gaze as they smiled at each other.

Li Yang stood in silence for a few minutes, simply looking at the statue with a calm gaze, Jinwu quietly nustling against his neck. Looking at the way the statue was carved, Li Yang could tell that it was Ye Ning himself who had carved. He was always the more artistic one among them, so the statue was truly lifelike. After looking at the statue for a few minutes, Li Yang took a deep breath and looked behind the statue, to the last item within the mausoleum.

Pierced into the ground a short distance behind the statue was a single Jian sword. The sword was very simple, without any decorations. The hilt was bound in black leather, thin violet veins running through the leather. The blade of the sword was a dark golden color, but there was a violet pattern in the shape of waves running along the back of the blade, giving the blade an eye-catching glow. Li Yang looked at the sword with a gaze that was a mixture of joy and reminiscing.

"So you have managed to survive all these years on your own, it must have been hard."

Li Yang slowly stepped past the statue and walked towards the sword. As he walked closer, he could see that not only were there faint arcs of golden lightning coiling around the blade, there was also a fine purple mist oozing out from the place where the sword was stabbed into the ground. Upon closer inspection, he could also see the faint image of a dragon coiling around the hilt of the sword. Looking at what had become of his former weapon, he could not help but mutter out, reaching out with his hand.

"The years have changed you, did the power of Ying'er seep into you while you waited for me to return?"

There was no way Li Yang would mistake the sword in front of him, it was the weapon he had used in his previous life, a weapon he had nurtured with great care. But back then it did not have these violet marks, it had been completely golden, the power of lightning completely filling it. From the purple mist that was oozing out from where it stabbed into the ground, he could detect the familiar scent of Fang Ying's poison. Coupled with the purple markings, it was clear that Fang Ying's poison had seeped into the blade over time, becoming a part of it.

As Li Yang's hand approached the blade, he did not notice the faint dragon that was coiling around the blade opening its eyes. Li Yang did not notice it because he was still somewhat stuck in his reminiscing, but Jinwu managed to clearly see it. The faint dragon turned lifelike and shot towards Li Yang's hand, but before it managed to reach him, Jinwu let out a loud cry and shot towards the dragon, his body wreathed in golden flames.

Li Yang quickly snapped out of his memories when he heard Jinwu's cry, immediately entering a vigilant state as he jumped backward. Jinwu clashed with the dragon, golden lightning arcing out from the dragon and cras.h.i.+ng into the golden flames. When the two elements clashed, Li Yang spotted a glimmer of violet within the flames, a familiar scent tickling his nose. A thought struck him, and he quickly called out.

"Jinwu, stop! Come back here!"

Jinwu didn't quite understand why Li Yang would call it back, but it would not go against Li Yang's orders. It was Li Yang's blood that allowed him to be born, so to him, Li Yang was practically a father. Jinwu quickly disengaged, flying back to Li Yang's shoulder, but he still kept a vigilant eye on the dragon. Once the golden flames and golden lightning vanished, Li Yang was able to see the dragon properly.

The dragon was rather small, only around half a meter in length. It had a long, serpentine body that was covered in deep golden scales, three purple streaks going down both sides of its body. Its back had a long row of small violet spines, four short legs that ended in four claws growing out from its body. It had a small dragon head that was staring at Li Yang with a mixture of confusion and rage. After seeing the dragon, Li Yang was now certain that his theory was correct, calling out to it in a gentle voice.

"You are an elemental that was born from the power that remained after I and Ying'er died, aren't you? Were you using that sword as a host because it felt familiar?"

While speaking, Li Yang raised his arm and unleashed the power of his lightning rune, azure bolts of lightning dancing around his entire body. While the lightning was not golden as it had been in his previous life, it still carried his energy, his mark. The rage in the dragon's eyes vanished when it smelled the familiar scent in the lightning, its eyes lighting up with a joyful light. With the faint sound of thunder ringing out, the dragon shot forward, turning into a blur.

The dragon quickly reached Li Yang, pus.h.i.+ng aside a disgruntled Jinwu and coiling itself around his neck at it let out several low, happy sounding roars. Seeing the dragon like this, Li Yang knew that he was indeed right. The remains of his and Fang Ying's powers had soaked into the hill after their death, and then the power from the dragon skeletons had been added onto that later on. With the pa.s.sage of time, the energy had gathered together and gained sentience, becoming an elemental.

But it was just born and had no idea where to go, so when it felt the familiar energy from the sword, it settled down inside it and used it as a host. Li Yang raised his hand and stroked the scales of the dragon, which was still roaring happily, pondering about what he was going to do with this little dragon.