Chapter 853: Forced Invitation!
Initially, the volume of Yun Yang's roar was not all that high. It transmitted outwards gently but slowly rose towards the skies. Moments later, it started to rumble in mid-air, like a series of imploding thunderbolts.
The rumbles grew louder, instantly becoming deafening to the ears.
After a while, it sounded as if the mountains themselves were roaring as the sea howled. The very sky seemed to collapse as the ground cracked open, and a good thousand-mile radius of the area was plagued by the rumbling of golden thunder — any soul would find it a problem to remain calm with these events taking place.
This persisted for a quarter of an hour. The roaring did not lessen, but grew even louder, becoming more violent by the second.
At the top of these seven peaks, howling winds basked the lofty turrets as flashes of sudden lightning crackled across the skies.
On the seven peaks, the large trees branching towards the skies were bent wherever the howling winds grazed as if they were kneeling!
A roar like this was filled with a ferocity that could shift the ground itself and send the clouds rolling!
There was a loud noise that emanated seemingly from nowhere. The waters of the Seven Star Lake, which was ringed by seven peaks, coiled back and shot upwards over a hundred feet high towards the sky!
The grandiose force of the water surge upwards, reaching a sky-high altitude before finally losing momentum. It momentarily paused in mid-air before plummeting downwards.
Boom!
A few thousand tonnes of water came crashing onto the surface of the Seven Star Lake, causing the water in the lake to splash outwards in every direction!
However, the scene remained deserted. The practitioners of the area remained at rest, holding their breaths!
Yun Yang did not give up. Instead, he increased the magnitude of his roars, making it sound even more magnificent than before!
Like a demonic voice that seeps all the way to the brain, the sonic force of his roar inflated further, its omnipresent ferocity gushing towards the Seven Star Mountain in an overwhelming manner.
Every flower and plant upon the seven peaks were uprooted by the sonic force, spiraling upward in protest.
Countless rocks and stones at the peak had also started to tremble, rolling downwards like a pair of barrel drums.
Finally, faint cries could be heard.
Ten or so silhouettes emerged in the midst of the flying stones, soaring towards this direction with pained expressions on their faces.
"Stop your roaring already..." Someone shouted with a twisted expression on his face.
However, before the voice could transmit across the distance, it was completely shredded into pieces by the strong winds and the force of that horrible howling, rendering it completely inaudible.
Since somebody had finally appeared, Yun Yang had achieved his goal. He eventually piped down and flashed a winsome smile.
As soon as he put a stop to it, the sound waves flickered and died out across the land, returning everything to silence once more!
However, the Seven Star Mountain was still suffering the aftershocks of the soundwaves. The peak still shuddered and the waters still rippled across the lake — the clouds in the skies were still very much scuttling about.
In the midst of chaos, incoming silhouettes could be seen soaring towards him.
A few of them were in a very sorry-looking state, their eyes reflecting traces of terror.
The force of Yun Yang's roar had shifted the land and the skies, its magnitude sufficient to rile up a massive storm in the area. Although their cultivation base was rather high, they still couldn't withstand the widespread, invincible, head-splitting demonic sound. The only way around it was to show themselves and beg for mercy.
At this precise moment, their hearts were beating anxiously.
What kind of person was this, and why was he so tyrannical?
This was exceptionally true regarding the level of his cultivation base — it was unlikely that he could be counted among the practitioners of this world.
Their guesses were not wrong.
Yun Yang's existing cultivation base had already surpassed even those who were at the peak of this realm.
"Pray tell, who is your good self? Why... why are you... here..."
The twelve practitioners that trained here in seclusion stood before Yun Yang, staring at them both with shocked expressions.
This couple here seemed a little too young to be true; they looked nothing like those elders in the legends...
In a world governed by the strength of the fist like Tianxuan, when one is challenged by an even stronger opponent, despite being a high-leveled practitioner himself, his gentlemanly demeanor would surely diminish. Those with a lesser state of mind would appear to be exactly like these bunch of people here, forgetting their own stance, but it was not because they were not capable. It was simply because... Yun Yang was far too strong!
With his palm above his fist, Yun Yang greeted them in an unusually amicable manner. "As an outsider, this is my first visit. I do not know the secret behind the Seven Star Mountain, so I have no other choice but to conduct this reckless act as an invitation for everybody to step out for a moment. Without a doubt, my actions have surely interrupted your peaceful practice, so please forgive me for that."
Pale-faced, the people quickly insisted that it was 'not a problem at all', but their hearts spoke differently; with that overbearing invitation of yours, how dare we say otherwise? If we don't, we'll probably be shaken to our deaths!
With such strength and power, you'll get your way as long as your fists pack a bigger punch. This has always been how it is — we totally understand this!
You... don't have to put up such a feigned apology.
No matter how good your performance is or how you sincere you seem, we will not believe you; still, this will not stop us from acting as we do!
"What kind of secrets does the Seven Star Lake bear? I've tried to search for it a hundred times over, yet, why have I turned up with nothing?"
Yun Yang questioned them sweetly.
Their faces instantly turned dark upon hearing his words — all twelve of them!
The secrets of the Seven Star Lake are obviously the fundamental reason why we chose to practice here — how can we reveal this to you? The first question from you deliberately intended to get to the root of this matter.
Although your cultivation base is really impressive, however, there is a known saying that goes, 'to inhibit someone's road to wealth is as serious as murdering one's parents'. Cutting someone off from their path of practice is an absolutely intolerable act — don't you know that?
"Ah, this..." Everyone was hesitant. Although they were fearfully mindful of Yun Yang's high cultivation base, Yun Yang's question had already involved the fundamentals behind their practice — it was hard to make a decision at the moment.
Yun Yang squinted his eyes. "You are free to live in seclusion at the Seven Star Lake and disregard any worldly affairs — no one has the right to judge. However, the Seven Star Lake is located within the Empire of Yutang, so naturally, it is part of Yutang's territory — and that makes you a citizen of Yutang by default. In the past, chaos had descended upon this land and Yutang had lapsed into dire straits, facing the fate of being eliminated as a nation. You lot drew many benefits from Yutang, yet you watched the nation go up in flames as if nothing was out of the ordinary — you paid no heed as you watched the people of Yutang plunge into misery and suffering; isn't this considered a serious crime?"
A few amongst the crowd felt guilt creeping up their necks after hearing Yun Yang's statement; many of them, however, still had traces of objection in their gazes.
After all, to high-level practitioners, worldly conflicts had never been an important matter. Yun Yang's statement was undoubtedly logical — but it was nothing more than a reason to incriminate them simply because they were strong!
"This reputed one has overall authority over matters of the world. However, it's hardly justifiable if I behead you lot just like that." Yun Yang stated calmly.
Finally, somebody sniggered. "An overall authority over worldly matters? Who do you think you are?"
Yun Yang's eyes flashed with a chilling look as he stared intently at the person who spoke. "Who am I, you ask? This reputed one has fought the world, going through hell and back, always being on the frontlines and experienced a thousand battles only to attain the image of Yutang you see now. This reputed one is Supreme Cloud of the Nine Supremes from Yutang!"
Supreme Cloud of the Nine Supremes from Yutang!
The color of their faces changed abruptly.
They might be living in seclusion, but they were certainly aware of the unrivaled reputation of Supreme Cloud, who was also known as Supreme Wit amongst the Nine Supremes of the Yutang Empire!
If it was anybody else, they could possibly just ignore him.
They certainly had something to say regarding this. They could simply argue about how high-level practitioners should not be involved with worldly conflicts.
However, the twelve of them were lost for words as they faced Supreme Cloud himself and his countless contributions to Yutang's cause.
With Supreme Cloud's contribution in mind, nobody would object if he decided to kill those who did not contribute their effort to the wars that had transpired!
Inevitably, some of them might even feel maligned; although we did not lend a hand, we are fully devoted to our practice — we have no time to be concerned over such matters!
However, no one in Yutang would accept such logic. When the nation was falling apart, you chose to hide yourselves in the mountains despite being blessed with strength and abilities, enabling your nation to burn to the ground. From the perspective of the people of Yutang, this was a crime!
A crime that should not be forgiven!
"This reputed one isn't here today to condemn all of you. I am only here to scout for some information, yet you refuse to reveal anything due to your selfish interests, furthermore thinking that I've imposed upon your benefits?"
"If you put the nation and the people aside, and spoke frankly regarding the terms of the martial world... this reputed one would've eliminated all of you. So what if it is truly the secret of the Seven Star Mountain; are you telling me that I can't have it? Hmm?" Yun Yang's artful question was asked in an imposing manner.