Liang Chen sat on Yumao's head as he flew away from the ruins of the Golden Dawn sect, he could already hear the sounds of chaos spread out beneath him as more and more people rushed to find out what had happened to the Golden Dawn sect. He didn't pay attention to what was going on beneath him, his right hand raised in front of his face so that he could quietly inspect it. He eventually lowered it again, stroking the smooth feathers on Yumao's head.

"I really should have kept that tree, shouldn't I? Can you take us back to the Heaven's Secrets Company, I've gotta pick up some more information."

Yumao let out a loud hiss and flapped his wings, shooting through the air like a black blur at full speed and reaching the gothic church that was the Heaven's Secrets Company in only a few minutes. The people in front of the open double-doors automatically stepped aside when Yumao descended to the ground in front of the church. Some of the people looked at Liang Chen with traces of fear while others sent him faint glares, he didn't even have to ask them to know that news had likely already started to spread.

Liang Chen hopped down from Yumao's head, who then quickly shrunk down and parked himself on top of Liang Chen's head. Liang Chen ignored the surrounding looks and entered the building, Yumao licking his lips in anticipation of all the corpses he could indulge in after their recent raid. Liang Chen headed down the hallway marked with 'Information' and arrived within the circular hall, heading over to the same counter he had used earlier.

"I need to buy more information. I need information about the location of resources that contain a dense amount of water-element energy and items that contain a dense amount of darkness or death-type energy."

Liang Chen had easily dealt with the people from the Golden Dawn sect, but the truth was that he was starting to feel that his strength wasn't up to snuff anymore. His battle against the governor of Sand's Journey city, Bao Shan, had been a hard-fought victory, not to mention his victory against the avatar of the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. But his enemies were only going to grow stronger and stronger, their numbers increasing without end, he had to increase his strength if he wanted to survive.

And after giving it some thought, he settled on two paths to start with right now, his own body and Yumao. Yumao went without saying, he was one of Liang Chen's closest companions and Liang Chen had raised him from no more than an egg. As a Demonic beast with a dual death and darkness attribute, he would need resources of those elements to quickly raise his strength. And looking at how strong Yumao was for his age, it was clear that not just any such resources would do the trick.

Liang Chen's body was a bit harder to do as he had merged the law of water into his body cultivation technique, a law he did not actually have. He relied on Yan Ling to supply the law of water, but as she wasn't present there was no way he could rely on her. He did have quite a few resources containing the water-element, but he wanted at least one that was extremely strong as he wanted to give his body a thorough strengthening right now.

If he had the strange tree they acquired from the Flood Dragon in the Myriad Convergence then he would be set, but that tree was taken by Yan Ling as Liang Chene had no need for it at the time, leaving him no choice but to buy more information. The man with light orange skin behind the counter flashed Liang Chen the same smile as last time, speaking somewhat hesitantly.

"I've got something, we always do, but while this one is located fairly close I'm not sure if I should recommend it as the location is a bit... troublesome. What do you think?"

The man placed a finger against his chin and cocked his head questioningly as he spoke. His attitude made it clear that he didn't want to just send Liang Chen to a place where he might die without at least telling Liang Chen that he might die there. After all, if he didn't say anything and Liang Chen died he would feel somewhat bad, but if Liang Chen himself pressed on then he would only have himself to blame. Of course, he didn't expect Liang Chen to reject, and his guess proved correct, Liang Chen gesturing with his hand for the man to continue.

"Quite direct, wonderful. This is public information you could find in any tavern or by just asking around a bit so there's no need to pay anything. The southern hemisphere of this planet is covered in a vast ocean dotted with islands, and one of these islands was once used as both an execution site and a body dumping site for the dynasty that once governed this planet, Final Curse Island. The dynasty exiled all their criminals there in the last years before their downfall in a desperate attempt to maintain the peace and it still stands as a completely lawless area filled with less than savoury types."

Liang Chen thought back to the map he acquired from the governor's mansion, he had indeed seen that a little less than half of the planet was covered in water. But he hadn't bothered to actually check the names of all the islands that dotted the ocean so he didn't know if there was an island with that name there. But since it was news from the Heaven's Secrets Company, he felt that it was unlikely to be false, the man getting to the main point.

"But at the centre of the island, where the executions took place and a mass grave so deep it nearly penetrated the island was dug, the item you are looking for exists. A small Elemental Lotus has budded there, one carrying three petals, one water, one earth, and one death. But I should warn you, quite a few people have tried to acquire the lotus, but the inhabitants of the island have stopped everyone, all of them patiently waiting for the Elemental Lotus to grow more petals before they start their own little war over who gets to acquire it."

Liang Chen's expression sank slightly when he heard about just what type of resource the man was pointing him towards. Liang Chen had encountered an Elemental Lotus once, a two-petaled one, but it wasn't an encounter he remembered fondly. But there was no denying that this resource was just what he needed, and he wasn't one to refuse a resource just because his previous encounter with it was less than favourable.

He got the man behind the counter to tell him how to get to Final Curse Island, checking the information by inspecting his map just to make sure. He bought some information about the known inhabitants of Final Curse Island, that way he at least wouldn't go in completely unprepared. He then left the Heaven's Secrets Company and made his way towards the spatial array that would take him to the island that was closest to Final Curse Island. From there he would have to fly the rest of the way as there was no proper spatial array on Final Curse Island, but that wouldn't be a problem for Yumao.

Most of the other citizens gave Liang Chen wide berth as he moved through the streets, a few muttering quietly under their breath while wondering why the guards weren't moving against Liang Chen despite the fact that he wrecked the Golden Dawn sect. They might not know, but Liang Chen was certain that the guards didn't move against him because they had read the metal scrolls he had tossed out, they knew what the sect had really done. And since they had actually attacked him first, there was nothing the guards could do to Liang Chen even if they wanted to, he had simply defended himself.

Liang Chen reached a flower-shaped plaza after a bit over two hours of walking, choosing to walk rather than fly so that he could check if there were any members of the Tranquil Lake or the Golden Branch sect left in the city that might plan to attack him. But no one had launched any attacks against him so he reached the plaza without incident, heading for the spatial array when a somewhat childish voice called out from behind him.

"Stop, you monster, you'll pay!"

Liang Chen stopped in his tracks and turned his head, his gaze landing on a young girl who didn't look older than 9. The young girl was running straight at him, her black hair fluttering behind her while her tear-stained brown eyes glared death at him. She carried a small dagger that she held high, preparing to stab him in the stomach with it.

He could see a man rushing after the girl from behind, his description matching that of the husband of one of the women he killed in the Golden Dawn sect. The man's eyes were filled with boundless terror as he chased after the girl, his daughter, it was clear that he knew very well what Liang Chen was capable of.

The little girl reached Liang Chen and stabbed at him with the dagger, but the blade couldn't even pierce his skin and simply bounced off, the girl falling on her butt as a result. The girl quickly sprung up again, her eyes bloodshot as tears poured forth without pause, her knife trying to stab into Liang Chen's abdomen again and again.

"GIVER HER BACK! GIVE MAMA BACK! Mama was good, Mama didn't deserve it! Give Mama back, you monster!"

The only sound in the entire plaza was the girl's screams and sobs as well as the sound of her father's rapidly approaching footsteps. But before the man could reach her, Liang Chen crouched down in front of the girl, her father's heart nearly stopping in his chest. Liang Chen grabbed the girl's wrist and led the dagger she was holding to his own chest, infusing it with a bit of his Qi so that it could become sharp enough to pierce his skin. He stabbed the dagger into his chest so that a few drops of blood spilt out, lowering his head slightly while the surrounding people looked on in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I truly am sorry that you lost someone close to you. I didn't wish for more people like me to come about, it's one of the things I wished to avoid. But you are wrong, your mother did deserve it, and while I will apologize for you losing a parent, I will not apologize for killing her. If I were given the choice now, I would still do it again without hesitation."

Liang Chen pulled out the knife, the small wound closing immediately as he stood up. He wanted to avoid creating more people like him, the world didn't need more broken children running around. But as long as there were death and loss, there would be broken people running around, and more than a few of those would be children. The best Liang Chen could do was try to keep the number as low as possible, to save all his hands could reach.

Liang Chen stepped into the array and activated it, the runes starting to emit a dull light as power started to course through them. The girl's father finally reached her and picked her up, his own eyes bloodshot and teary from the loss of his wife. Liang Chen's gaze lingered on the girl as the array activated, she was grinding her teeth and staring at him with eyes so bloodshot and teary that they had turned nearly completely crimson, uttering a few curses through grit teeth.

"You're a monster, Mama didn't deserve it. I hate you, hate hate hate you, I promise you that my anger will one day burn you."

Liang Chen was more than just familiar with the look in the girl's eyes, it was practically a perfect replica of the look in his own eyes. Liang Chen's gaze remained steadfast in the face of the girl's curses, leaving behind a few words of his own just as the array fully activated.

"You're angry, huh? So am I, always have been and always will be. Feel free to come after me, let's see if your anger towards me burns brighter than my wrath towards the heavens."