While the villagers prepared, Li Yang and Liang Zhou retreated to Li Yang's old house, which was located at the eastern edge of the village, somewhat secluded. It was a small house that only contained two rooms, the walls painted with a fresh blue color. As the two of them entered the house, Li Yang glanced at the inside, a faint smile on his face as he muttered.

"It looks nice, you must have spent quite a bit of time on fixing it up."

As he had never really bothered to take care of the house after his parents from this life died, the house had basically been in ruins when he left the village a year ago. But now the walls were rebuilt and repainted, the furniture within the house replaced with new items. Liang Zhou also swept the rooms with his eyes, letting out a slight laugh.

"It was Xinyi's idea, she figured we should keep your house nice and ready for whenever you came back. I bet she never expected you to come back like this."

Liang Zhou glanced at Li Yang as he spoke. Once it was just the two of them, all the sharpness he had felt from Li Yang simply vanished, as if it had been nothing but an illusion. His face carried that same faint smile he had carried before he left, his posture relaxed. To be able to change his entire demeanor so quickly, how did he do it? After hearing Liang Zhou's response, Li Yang could not help but let out a light chuckle.

"I've only been gone a year, but she is already acting as the main wife, huh?"

The house had been fixed up, but everything seemed like it was still in the same place. Li Yang walked over to the corner that served as a kitchen and was surprised to find that the cupboards had actually been stocked with dried and preserved food. He fetched a kettle, melted some ice into water, and then boiled some bitter herb tea. Once the tea was done, he and Liang Zhou sat down at the table located at the center of the room, both quietly sipping the tea for a moment before Liang Zhou let out a deep sigh.

"Brother Yang. How do you feel about taking over the leaders.h.i.+p of the tribe?"

Liang Zhou had pondered it over for a while, but in the end, he decided that he was not worthy of leading the Liang tribe. In that case, it was better to hand over the leaders.h.i.+p to someone strong like Li Yang, someone who could take them to greater heights. But Li Yang did not hesitate for even a moment before he shook his head.

"Not happening."

Liang Zhou could not help but be caught off-guard. He had rejected the notion that quickly, not even thinking about it? He tried to read Li Yang's expression, looking for anything that he could use to read Li Yang's thoughts, but he found nothing, so he could only continue to press on.

"But the villagers need someone like you, someone who can cause their blood to boil!"

Li Yang had only been back for a short moment, but thanks to him, the remaining villagers were all fully motivated to fight, even if their enemies were the great clans and sects. A leader who could motivate his people like that was invaluable. But Li Yang simply continued to gently sip his tea, calmly explaining to Liang Zhou.

"I can motivate them, but I cannot lead them. Someone like you, who cares for them and wants the best for them, is far more suited for that. Do you remember what I said earlier, that you would be the first Demon Warriors since the fall of the Devil's Gate? The Devil's Gate was led by a person like me, and that is what caused their downfall. People like me are not suited to lead others, we are far too selfish. Even now, the only reason I am doing anything for this tribe is because I consider you and Xinyi as friends. Were it not for the two of you, the life of this tribe would mean nothing to me."

Li Yang was selfish, other than his friends, nothing else mattered. He would burn entire countries just to see the flames dance in Fang Ying's eyes. If he tried to lead any clan or tribe, it would only lead that clan to death. Liang Zhou was slightly taken aback after hearing the truth from Li Yang, falling into a short silence with a somewhat lowered head. After he got to organize his thoughts slightly, he raised his head again, speaking out in a low voice.

"You said that all strong people are monsters, but what about you? I can't tell exactly how strong you are, but not even Father or the people of the Shentu tribe were able to do anything to the people from the clans. Yet one such person was easily killed by your beast partners. Brother Yang, over this one year, what has happened to you? What have you forced yourself to become?"

Li Yang's beast companions alone were that powerful, so Liang Zhou could not even guess at how strong Li Yang was. But to become that strong in only a single year, what had Li Yang forced himself to endure, what sort of monster had he turned himself into. Hearing Liang Zhou's question, a gentle smile could not help but appear on Li Yang's face.

"What I have become, huh? Big Brother Zhou, out of all the monsters in the world, I have become the greatest of them all."

Not only was Li Yang the only person to ever have comprehended the law of destruction, but he was also someone that had been reborn after dying once. If that did not make him the greatest monster in existence, he did not want to meet the true greatest monster. Liang Zhou could not help but raise an eyebrow, looking Li Yang up and down.

"You, the greatest monster?"

He had to admit that Li Yang was strong, but was he really strong enough to be called the greatest monster? But Li Yang had no intention of explaining himself, the gentle smile on his face growing even warmer as he let out a slight mutter.

"Well, there is someone else that is very close to me, but she is far more merciful and kind than I am, so she doesn't quite fit the t.i.tle of monster, she is more suited to be called a fairy."

If anyone was close to Li Yang in terms of monstrosity, it would be his own wife, Fang Ying. She had also been reborn, and she was the only person to ever comprehend the law of life. But there was no way he would ever call Fang Ying a monster. Seeing the gentle smile on Li Yang's face, Liang Zhou quickly understood something.

"So she is the one you went out to look for."

When Li Yang left the village a year ago, he said that he had to go look for someone. At that time, Liang Zhou had wondered if Li Yang had just been giving an excuse, but now it seemed that he had not been giving an excuse. Li Yang simply shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Was it that obvious?"

Liang Zhou let out a slight chuckle upon seeing Li Yang act so nonchalantly upon being called out. He gave a slight nod of his head, sipping his tea as he spoke up.

"It was. Despite knowing you for so long, I have never seen you smile like that. Did you manage to find her?"

Someone that could make a mysterious person like Li Yang reveal such emotion was surely a magnificent person. Liang Zhou had to admit that he was quite curious about the ident.i.ty of the girl Li Yang was searching for. Li Yang shook his head, but his eyes glimmered with excitement.

"Not yet. But we have managed to set up a meeting in two years."

Only two more years and they would get to meet up again. But first, Li Yang had to find out how he could join the compet.i.tion where they would meet up. It was supposedly open for the public, but he had no idea where it would even start. Liang Zhou could see the sheer excitement in Li Yang's eyes, so he sipped his tea with a smile.

"You'll have to bring her here once you have managed to meet, I am sure Xinyi would love to meet her."

Li Yang gave a slight nod of his head, the two continuing to drink tea and chat about everything they could think of. Liang Zhou did not even notice that he himself wasn't worried in the slightest about whether or not Li Yang would really be able to bring back everyone who had been taken away.

While they were waiting for the warriors to return, two days pa.s.sed in quiet preparation. The villagers fixed up all the weapons and armors they could get their hands on, while Li Yang sent out Jinwu to check out the surrounding wilderness. On the afternoon of the second days, sounds of excitement came from the villagers as the warriors had returned with two Demonic beasts they considered to be decently strong. Li Yang also left his house, casually walking over to the warriors and inspecting the Demonic beasts.

"As you'd expect from the more experienced warriors, they sure do work fast. There are enough Demonic beasts here for three people, who is going to be first."

One of the beasts was a large brown eagle, while the second was a pitch-black panther with a tail covered in thick barbs. Both Demonic beasts had the strength of someone who had carved one rune, so the warriors did quite a good job to secure both of them within only two days. There was a short moment of silence after Li Yang's question sounded out, but Liang Zhou quickly stepped forward, his expression determined.

"I should be first. I am the leader, so I must show them that it is safe."

Li Yang gave a slight nod of his head. Ever since Li Yang had rejected taking over as the leader of the tribe, Liang Zhou had worked even harder on his own cultivation, probably working towards becoming the type of leader Li Yang thought him to be. The moment he was alone, Li Yang had made Shenlong split into two, Shenlong staying with him and Huanglong sneaking through the village and serving as a guard, so Li Yang knew about everything that went down in the village. Li Yang grabbed the eagle and panther, dragging them closer to Liang Zhou as he gave him one final warning.

"Prepare yourself, it is going to hurt quite a bit."