Against The Heavens 83 Frozen God's Tomb.

But this strange occurrence was quickly revealed to only be the start of several more strange events. A few days after the mountain vanished, Teng Hanying, a wandering killer who had terrorized countless cities over the last two years, was suddenly found dead. She was found hiding in a cave a few kilometers from a small village, her body tattered and nearly ruined, her head missing. Had it not been for the distinct tattoo on her left thigh, as well as someone identifying her through her Qi, it would be hard to guess that this was the same infamous killer.

Two weeks after that, people were shocked to find that a large lake that had been guarded by a ma.s.sive Emerald-Spined Carp had suddenly vanished. Not just the Demonic beast guardian, the entire lake had vanished, only leaving behind a deep basin and a large number of confused people.

The next strange event happened a week later, and it was the sudden destruction of a somewhat small village that was run by a sect known as Eagle King Dojo. All it took was a single night, and several thousand people had lost their lives. When a courier was doing his usual rounds and arrived at the village, the earth was covered by a thick layer of ashes, people frozen solid in standing position.

But if the sudden destruction of the city wasn't shocking enough, people also found evidence that every single villager had been a member of the Eagle King Dojo, and that the dojo itself had been regularly kidnapping people and razed weaker villages. All the people that were kidnapped or taken from the razed cities were then used for live experiments, testing out various poisons.

Before people even got the chance to move past the shock of this strange event, another one took place. A somewhat famous forest, one home to a strange breed of Demonic beasts known as Souleater Ants, was burned completely to the ground. Several tens of kilometers of forest, and several thousand Souleater Ants, all turned to ash over the course of a single night. The flames burned so bright and strong that it seemed like they would stretch to the moon and drag it down.

While the people living in the smaller villages and cities were waiting for the news of a new event taking place, wondering just what would happen this time, Li Yang stepped into a branch of the Royal Dragon Pavilion that was located in Wind's Caress city. This city was located close to the eastern reaches of the continent, it was a long distance away from Li Yang's starting point.

Each branch of the Royal Dragon Pavilion looked the same, with a bar on the right side of the room, a counter to accept missions on the left side of the room, and a set of stairs that led to the second floor on the opposite end of the room. The only thing that differed between the branches were the small details, such as what type of alcohol they sold, and what sort of decorations they used. This particular branch seemed to like decorations made from white jade, as statues made from it that were depicting various Demonic beasts or cultivators were littered around the room.

Li Yang calmly walked up to the counter on the left, his robe, which was made from violet wolf skin, making him stand out a little when compared to the more common brown or black armors. Li Yang didn't bother wasting any time when he reached the counter, showing the old man who was standing behind it the silver talisman he got from the Yuan clan.

"I'm going to Ice King's Howl."

The eyebrows of the old man ticked up slightly, roaming Li Yang's body with his gaze. Thanks to the pa.s.sage of time and Li Yang's training, he had grown a bit and no longer looked as childish as he used to, but it was still clear that he was rather young. But the old man didn't say anything, nodding his head and leading Li Yang over to the stairs that led to the second floor.

There was a door hidden behind the stairs, leading down into the ground. Li Yang and the old man entered the door and walked down a flight of stairs, entering a square room that was completely empty. A large spatial array was drawn into the room, the lines covering not only the floor but also the walls and ceiling. The old man placed his wrinkly palm on a certain portion of the array, inserting some Qi and changing the lines. Once the lines had entered their new position, he nodded his head at Li Yang and then left the room.

When the old man left, Li Yang placed the silver talisman on the ground and channeled his Qi into it, causing the runes to light up as the array activated. s.p.a.ce around him turned thick and sticky, surrounding him in a coc.o.o.n as a bright light blinded him and he was teleported through s.p.a.ce.

Once the bright light vanished, Li Yang found himself standing in a room that was almost the exact same as the one he had just left. But the walls of this room were a light blue in color, releasing a faint cold wind. Li Yang left the room and walked up a flight of stairs, pus.h.i.+ng open the door at the end and walking through this Royal Dragon Pavilion branch.

Someone walked up to him, but Li Yang simply flashed the silver talisman and was then quickly left alone. Li Yang liked this talisman quite a bit, it made business far easier. He had no business in this branch, or this city for that matter, so he quickly left the building to continue with his current hunt.

The moment he opened the door of the building and stepped out, he was greeted by a biting cold wind that tried to dig itself into his bones and organs. A strong wind carried with it large amounts of snow, covering not only Li Yang's vision but even the entire world in front of him in a thick layer of white.

This city, Ice King's Howl, was located in a vast frozen tundra that spanned at least a few million kilometers and was known as Frozen G.o.d's Tomb. This Tundra was one of the five most dangerous places on the planet, alongside the Cloud Wilderness, the First Flame's Cradle, the Blood Swallowing Graveyard, and the Undersea King's Whirlpool. These five dangerous areas were ancient, so old that they were considered ancient even during Li Yang's previous life. Of course, just like the Cloud Wilderness, the outskirts of this tundra were far safer than the deeper parts.

Li Yang swept the city around him with a quick gaze, the snow unable to hinder his vision. The city was built in a very strange manner, being almost completely cone-shaped, and all the buildings except this Royal Dragon Pavilion and the Universe Merchant building were made from murky ice. Another strange part about the city was that the ground beneath the city rose up at certain places, and then sunk at others, creating some elevated buildings and some lowered buildings.

The reason for the city being built like this was the same as for why the city had the name it did, Ice King's Howl. The area the city was built on was supposedly created by a single howl unleashed by the Demonic beast that ruled this frozen land, the howl it unleashed after killing the previous ruler and taking over the t.i.tle.

Whether or not a Demonic beast like this actually existed was unknown, as the number of people who claimed to have actually seen this beast could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the beast had never shown itself in the vicinity of any cities. But this fact didn't stop some wandering tribes of people from wors.h.i.+pping the beast, praying to it for protection. To Li Yang, this entire notion seemed incredibly silly. Mainly because if such a Demonic beast truly existed, it would not care about the prayers of mortals, just like most strong cultivators didn't care about mortals.

Li Yang took a deep breath of the icy air, the glacial runes inside his dantian quivering from joy. Shenlong wasn't too fond of this cold, curling up even more than usual, but Jinwu enjoyed it quite a bit, flapping his wings and stretching his body. Jinwu was a strange Demonic beast that was either a mutated Golden Crow or a mixture of a Golden Crow and a different Divine beast. He could not only use fire, but also ice, so this was a good chance for Li Yang to help Jinwu grow a bit more.

Li Yang quickly followed the winding streets and left the city, starting to traverse the frozen wasteland that surrounded the city. There was a single long road that stretched out from the city gates and vanished into the distance, other than this road, the surroundings of the city were a vast wasteland covered in snow several meters thick, a st.u.r.dy layer of ice hiding beneath the snow.

Standing in the far distance were five mountains that stood close to each other, stretching into the sky like sharp claws, the tops of the mountain slightly bent. These mountains were part of the reason that this tundra got its name, as they resembled a hand trying to break through the ice and grasp the sun.

Li Yang walked with light steps, the snow beneath him so compact that his feet didn't even sink into it. He channeled some of his Qi to his neck, heating up the cold Shenlong. This tundra was so cold that unless he used the golden flames of Jinwu, there was no way for him to bring his flames outside of his body, so this was the best he could do for Shenlong right now.

Jinwu was flying through the air a bit above Li Yang, enjoying the cold snow and air. He even dove into the snow that covered the ground at times, acting like a fish in water, using golden flames to dig through the hardest parts of the snow.

Li Yang swiped his interspatial ring and took out a strange stone that was a grayish-black in color. It looked like it was once part of a circle, but it was cracked down the middle, split in half. When he pulled it out, the stone started to radiate a faint light that pointed at the rightmost of the five mountains. After looking at the light, Li Yang put the stone back into his interspatial ring, muttering slightly.

"Come on now, Teng s.h.i.+nsu, did you really have to run so far?"

This was the mission Li Yang had come here to complete, to kill the sister of Teng Hanying, the wandering killer. Teng s.h.i.+nsu was a bit more lowkey than her younger sister, but she was more insidious and harder to catch, starting to flee from place to place the moment she got news of her sister's death.