The sounds of battle that echoed up from the gash in the earth still rang throughout the magma-filled cavern where Huang Ying was standing. But at this moment he barely registered them, they vanished from his mind before they vanished from his ears. The grin on his face had spread so far it threatened to split his head in half, twisting his skin into an almost inhuman visage.

His arm stretched out and his palm pointed towards the bubbling mound at his side, the heat emanating from it tingling his palm as it seared the minuscule hairs that covered his hand. The earth rumbled quietly for a second and then rose up, a pillar topped with a bowl rising up beneath the mound. The magma dripped down from the sides of the bowl, leaving molten trails in the earth before it fell to the ground.

"He's coming closer. Looks pretty determined so I'd say it's gone from 'can't be sure' to 'most likely' in regards to him heading here. I reiterate. Follow that girlie down the ravine and go as deep as possible."

Li Jun's warning once again rang in Huang Ying's mind, but it only served to further twist his visage. Hide? Why would he hide now? The thing that was coming would allow him to feel more alive than any other being he had come across up to this point, he could die within the next few minutes but he'd still be exhilarated. He stood, his knees and back didn't bend, and he was alive, so alive that all had to bear witness. What could be better than that?

His head turned slightly and his gaze fell upon the thing left in the bowl after all the magma had dripped out, this was the thing he had come for to begin with. It was in the shape of a drop, jiggling quietly as it laid there. Its surface was a dull dull grey, the colour of scorched metal, but there were a few intermittent flashes of bright red that rose from its core and danced across the surface.

Liquid Ironflame, it was ore that had slowly formed in a place that was hotter than even magma, only the thick reserve of Qi that filled it allowed the metal to retain its shape long enough to fuse with the heat. And the result was this ore, liquid enough to coat any weapon, resistant enough to contain a vast ocean of Qi, and strong enough to resist most levels of heat that this world could produce.

The bowl that surrounded the Ironflame grew slightly and enveloped it, a light flashing from Huang Ying's interspatial ring as the sealed orb was put away. The second ingredient was secured, only a few more were left before he could forge his new weapon. Of course, whether or not he would live to ever pick up those ingredients was now uncertain.

He strode away from what remained of the earthen pillar and walked up to the edge of the gash that Ying Feixu had made, leaning forward slightly as he peered down after her. Gazing down, all he saw was darkness, stretching down into eternity. His eyes were sharper than others at his realm, but Ying Feixu had already fallen so deeply into the darkness that not even he could see her. The only traces that remained of her existence at this moment were the sounds of struggle that echoed out from the darkness, the bestial roars.

A bit of the wind in the cavern whipped up some of the magma and pushed it down the ravine, helping it accelerate as it plummeted into the darkness. Its quiet glow provided some visibility as it fell, eventually shedding a few smatterings of light on the two that were fighting as they fell. He couldn't see them in their entirety, but he saw a few flashes of metallic black wings covered in red veins and dark feathers that flashed with various elements, nearly scorching blood staining the walls.

"Ah, she really doesn't disappoint. I hope she can grow to be more fun than the one above."

The glimpse of wings was all he needed to see. Then again, the battle was already mostly decided by the time Ying Feixu dragged the serpent down into the darkness so it would have been strange if things had changed afterwards.

"...He's landed. And he's looking down."

Li Jun's status update came just as Huang Ying raised his head from the darkness. He spoke with a slight pause, but Huang Ying could hear the expectation that lurked within his voice. But how could he not be excited? If Huang Ying died then Li Jun would finally be freed and could go about reincarnating as he originally intended, that was the whole reason he had steered Huang Ying towards things that were likely to kill him in the past. Were it not for the oath he had been forced to swear then he would be doing the exact same now, it was a much faster solution than hoping for Huang Ying to grow strong enough to help him construct a new body.

"Well then, shouldn't we go and greet him properly?"

Huang Ying's head had risen, his gaze piercing through the thick earth that separated him from the surface. He obviously couldn't see the man above, one of the Six Heavenly Kings, Yao Long Chi, but he could feel him. He felt him in the heavy sensation that filled his stomach, the coldness in his armpits, the thudding of his heart. Was it the excitement of a hunt, or the fear of the prey that was being hunted? He couldn't even tell anymore, those two sensations had become one and the same for him already.

He retraced his steps until he reached the cavern directly beneath the gorge he had made, gleams of sunlight gracing the darkness that he had laid bare. The gorge was quite deep, he had continuously expanded it as they fell after all. But even so, the air felt heavy. The silence that dominated the area was almost oppressive, there wasn't even a single insect to make any sounds.

Huang Ying's arms reached out and his fingers dug into the stiff and cold earth, his feet leaving the ground with a slight exertion. He had wind, but he couldn't use it to freely fly, he also had earth but couldn't make a single pillar large enough to bring him to the surface. So he climbed.

His hands and feet dug into cold dirt, his heart pumped his blood at full speed, and sweat slowly ran down his back as the exertion mixed with the pressure from above. It was tough, the sheer intensity of the aura from above turned what should be a simple climb into an exhausting trial. But Huang Ying smiled. By the gods, he felt alive right now. The warm blood in his body, the cold dirt that surrounded his limbs, the sweat that ran down his body as he grit his teeth against the aura, it all made him feel alive.

You are alive, so resist and climb. You resist and climb, so you are alive. By the gods, being alive was exhilarating.

He was alive, so in the end, he accomplished his goal and reached the surface again, his hands grasping the edge of the ravine he created. The pressure bearing down on him had reached a level where his bones felt like they were creaking, his body was screaming at him about the difference in strength between the two of them.

But he still pulled himself above the edge, his fingers leaving small gashes in the dirt due to how much strength he needed to use to force himself up. His mouth was a bit dry as he raised his head, the silence so oppressive that the thudding of his heart was the loudest thing there.

And there he stood, the first of the Six Heavenly Kings that Huang Ying had encountered, Yao Long Chi. Dim blue eyes whose disinterested expression was only broken by a small gleam of curiosity, dark violet hair that just barely reached past his ears, and drooping eyebrows that just added to his almost detached expression. He was above the common rabble and he obviously knew it, his very being exuded that simple fact.

And as was to be expected, Yao Long Chi hadn't come alone, he brought along his beasts. A crimson lion with a burnt orange mane as well as blood-coloured bat-like wings, the most famous of his companions. And then there was the newest one, a beast with the head and body of a shark but four thick lizard-like limbs that ended in glittering claws. It looked as if it belonged in the ocean, but it hovered in the air around Yao Long Chi so it clearly couldn't be judged by normal standards, no beast with a Demonic Deity bloodline could.

"You came up. I was wondering if I would have to dig you out."

His voice fit his expression, unhurried and dignified yet slightly detached, as if the words themselves held no meaning to him. Then again, why would they? This was a predator speaking to his prey, there was no need to be too invested in the conversation.

"Yo. Come to give me a good taste of life?"

Compared to the cool aura of Yao Long Chi, Huang Ying was practically blazing, an inferno just waiting to burn up and die out. He saw Song Yi out of the corner of his eyes, her knees and hands pressed against the ground as she struggled to prevent herself from getting squeezed flat. The pressure of a Heavenly King wasn't something everyone could bear, some it would just take out of the fight entirely.

"...Life? I only came to sate my curiosity."

There was a slight tilt of Yao Long Chi's head but then he quickly skipped over Huang Ying's question with a light shake. His gaze slid across Huang Ying the same way a farmer would inspect his cabbages, momentarily drifting towards the struggling Song Yi before finally pointing down, piercing into the darkness that lurked beneath them.

"You. That crumbled one. And that one below. That crumbled ones is strong, but it doesn't seem to come from a beast so it's likely just realm-based suppression. You and that one below, however, your bloodlines come from some type of beast, but for some reason, I actually can't tell its type or strength."

Yao Long Chi's gaze only returned to Huang Ying when he finished speaking, his head retaining a slight tilt. His dim blue eyes seemed like whirlpools as they focused on Huang Ying, peering into the depths of his blood to unearth their secrets.

"You come from beasts, yet you stand before the Beast King. You stand before the Beast King, yet the beasts don't falter. Why is that?"

Beast King, that was the moniker Yao Long Chi got alongside his Heavenly King title. And it wasn't one chosen at random, it came entirely from his Beast King bloodline. There was no man better at ruling beasts, there was no man better at subduing them, and there was no man better suited to be their lord. And yet, there were beasts here that he couldn't recognize, beasts who resisted the call of the lord.

"Kneel."

A single word, a simple command. The word hit Huang Ying like a sledgehammer, it knocked the air out of his lungs and made his head buzz. The pressure radiating off of Yao Long Chi intensified by several magnitudes, ending Song Yi's struggle and squeezing her flat against the ground.

As he was the focus of Yao Long Chi's aura, Huang Ying had to bear the worst of the pressure. His body instinctively knew that resisting would only result in injuries so it loosened his muscles so that he would fall down before he could hurt himself. But that end, was that really one that Huang Ying would accept, even if it was one that his body deemed the best one?

He couldn't trust his own body so he turned to the second thing he could trust, the earth beneath him. The dirt rose up as jagged splinters that stabbed into his flesh until they scraped his bones, not so much supporting him as they were forcing his legs to remain straight. Naturally, the bones were unable to take the strain of the pressure so they did just what his body feared, they started to crack and break.

But the splinters of earth simply dug into the cracks and expanded, replacing bone to maintain the structural integrity he needed to stand. When his legs weren't enough, the splinters branched out and rose up to pierce into his waist and stomach, supporting his hips and spine. He became a puppet and the earth became his strings, the blood-stained puppet spitting out his bottom line.

"I don't give a damn about your moniker or what you think it lets you do, I don't kneel. Now, did you come here to let me feel alive or just to waste my time?"

Huang Ying had previously been very clear on this simple fact, he was done kneeling. Song Yi had been there when he resisted their teacher to remain standing, but that time couldn't be compared to now. This was a situation where his life was in immense danger, a single wrong look and Yao Long Chi could end his existence, that was the type of being a Heavenly King was. It really was freakish, just how far he would go to maintain this ideal of his.

"Hmmm, still standing. By my right, I command thee, Kneel."

Yao Long Chi didn't even bother answering Huang Ying's question, his eyes narrowing slightly as a soft light surfaced from their depths. The buzzing in Huang Ying's head instantly worsened dramatically, to the point where he felt like it was hard to keep a single train of thought going for longer than a second. The splinters that kept him together started to falter as his mind buzzed, loosening as if to accommodate his movements.

But this, this was the one thing Huang Ying would not comply with. He had lived on his knees, he would not return to them even if it ended up costing him his life. The splinters extended further, some digging into his body while others stretched out and dug into the ground and the closest trees. The ones that stretched away from him became chains, tying him to the surroundings as they hardened and left his control. Now he looked less like a puppet and more like a torture victim strung up to bleed out. But his legs didn't bend, nor did the blazing inferno in his eyes burn out yet.

"Stop wasting my time."

Yao Long Chi's head couldn't help but tilt further when he heard Huang Ying's voice. When had someone last spoken to him this discourteously? What's more, it was a beast of all things, the very thing he ruled was talking to him like that. It was... curious. Yes, it was a curious sensation, a curious situation.

"You are aware of the situation, correct? I feel like I need to make sure of it so that I know how to proceed. If I say so then you, that fallen one there, and the one eating below, all three of you will die. If I get just the least bit annoyed, then you will all die. You understand that, correct?"

He spoke bluntly, but it strangely enough didn't sound like he was trying to be rude. No, Yao Long Chi was just stating facts, almost uncertain if Huang Ying actually understood what sort of situation he found himself in. But the curve that spread on his lips showed that he fully understood just what was going on, it was just that his mind didn't work like most people.

"Yes, and? We live to be free and die as we please so why should I make a fuss about dying from my own actions? As for those two, why should I take responsibility for their lives? They knew it was dangerous to follow me, yet they tagged along all the same. They're the ones responsible for their life and death, not me."

If you wanted to say it nicely, he was very attached to freedom. If you wanted to sugarcoat it slightly, he was quite detached from life itself. If you wanted to state it bluntly then he was cold, both to himself and those around him, bordering on uncaring. He would help them, he would let them use him, and he would fight for them. But ultimately, their lives were their own responsibility. Him not kneeling would result in their deaths? Well, then that was just how things went, that was just how life was sometimes.

Yao Long Chi looked at the twisted curve of the man in front of him, blood stained his teeth, probably due to the splinters that kept him in place. In that grin, in those eyes, those words, he saw the truth. Yes, that thing in front of him wasn't a man, he was a true blue beast. Forget just having a bloodline coming from a beast, he was one through and through, from his cells to his mind.

For the first time since they met face-to-face, Yao Long Chi's expression showed something other than disinterest or curiosity. The light in his eyes grew and the corners of his lips rose slightly, his legs carrying him forward as he made his way through the mess of earthen branches. His hand reached out and landed on Huang Ying's cheek, slick with blood.

"Yes, you're a beast. Proud and arrogant, regal and cold, a true beast born to lead a great horde. Xue Huo and Hailong were the same, born emperors meant to stand tall."

The two beasts he had brought along perked up ever so slightly as he spoke their names so it seemed like the lion was called Xue Huo and the shark-like beast was Hailong. But there was something in the words Yao Long Chi used, a single word that spoke of what he did.

"Those great and mighty leaders, it is fun to watch them crumble and fall when they realize the difference between us. Xue Huo fell after three encounters, Hailong after just two. What about you... Tumu Ou, that's what I'll call you. How many encounters will it take for you to crumble? I look forward to seeing the answer."

Yao Long Chi's hand slid off of Huang Ying's cheek, some blood clinging to his fingertips as he took a few light steps back. His expression had lit up with a bit of expectation and amusement, he looked like a kid who couldn't wait to play with his new toy. Looking at that expression, Huang Ying also realized the truth about him.

"Ah, you're fucking nuts too."

Huang Ying had a few screws loose, he was well aware of that, death tended to do that to you. But this Yao Long Chi, revered as one of the great Heavenly Kings, he was just the same, a broken and insane man. Maybe not at the same level as Song Yi and Ying Feixu, but the extent of his brokenness would only be clear after Huang Ying interacted a bit more with him.

Yao Long Chi didn't even deny it as he walked back to his winged lion, practically skipping as he walked. The smile on his face was the most natural expression he had shown so far, but the place it came from was as twisted as Huang Ying's own group.

"Of course I am, those who wish to live long lives in a world like ours need to be at least that if they want to stay sane. Run free for a bit, Tumu Ou, I'll come by some time again in the future to see if you'll crumble then. Please entertain me properly."