Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

As soon as Han Xuhan's shout was finished, another burst of crimson light spread out from the walls and enveloped the entire stadium.

Everyone could only look on with stunned expression on their faces as one by one, their bodies vanished into thin air under the influence of the familiar red light.

The first to vanish were Han Xuhan and his skeleton, accompanied by the cyan robed man.

Following that, the whole stadium was emptied soon. Behind them, some pieces of torn up paper fell on the ground slowly.

The gleaming light of the walls dimmed immediately after the red light had disappeared with the cultivators. All of its lustre and shining light was nearly snuffed out.

The burly cultivator who had had an 'exchange of threats' with Han Xuhan found himself standing outside the foggy area, just in front of the portal he had entered through to come to this world fragment.

He wasn't alone. There were others, dazed and stunned, looking around in disbelief. In fact, everyone except that masked scum Shen Kai and his companions were there.

Upon contemplating Shen Kai's last words, all of them came to a realization regarding what had happened just then.

That masked scum had found out a way to decipher the texts and understood how to advance into the next stage of the inheritance test. But that hateful bastard didn't want other competitors to catch up with him.

And so, he had used his knowledge to tweak something before he left, which resulted into the mass teleportation to outside that the rest of them had been put through.

Such shamelessness! Such audacity!

They wanted to return back into the foggy area to catch that asshole, if nothing else. But once they remembered that he had already reached deeper into the fog while the rest of them had no idea how to decipher the texts, their fire of passion was snuffed out. They had experienced the poison of the fog and seen how many dead bodies littered the ground in there. Without a decent clue, charging in again was no different from throwing away their lives.

Moreover, that red orb in the fog had been the closest beacon inside the foggy area. But now, they could see it no longer. Perhaps that masked scum had destroyed the orb too before he left. It dealt a severe blow to their psyche.

"Brothers and sisters, why don't we wait for that bastard Shen Kai to return? After all, the only portal that leads to the world outside is here. He should return this way again, right?"

Somebody suggested this while everyone was feeling down. The suggestion made them all perk up. They all wanted revenge, naturally.

So they sat down at the edge of the cliff and waited for scum Kai to return.

...... .........

Han Xuhan wasn't particularly surprised by the following twists and turns that took place after their teleportation.

They had been ejected into the fog gently. Upon landing on their feet, Han Xuhan realized that there were a few tiny orbs containing law fragments hovering around their bodies like satellites. The fog that was supposed to enter their bodies immediately could not get past the small spherical area created by the circling orbs.

They were standing in front of a small signboard, barely visible in the fog. It read:

"You have completed the task required for the entrance into the Holy Land of Laws successfully. From this moment forth, you are an outer court disciple of this Holy Land of Laws. Your soul and dao base have been imprinted upon with the law fragments you have learned so far. In case you betray or oppose the Holy Land, your dao foundation shall be destroyed and your soul shall be obliterated. Have a good day."

"What the fuck-"

"I fucking knew something like this was gonna happen."

Qian Yun and Han Xuhan spoke out in unison after they got a good look at the writing on the signboard. There was an evil looking smiley face at the end of the paragraph. It made their blood boil.

This new twist of events again answered a crucial question Han Xuhan had been pondering. If any super powerful cultivator created a low level avatar or used a lackey to try and exploit this place, they would be actually screwing themselves.

Whoever managed to get past the first level of tests would have been turned into a disciple of the so called Holy Land of Laws, which in turn would make them unable to betray the Holy Land in their lifetime.

What a simple solution! Han Xuhan had actually been foolish enough to believe that he had managed to reap a fortune in a crisis like those xianxia protagonists by learning the language of laws.

Turns out that shit was a scam to infiltrate his dao base in the form of a technique!

There was no medicine for regret. So Han Xuhan didn't brood over it much and turned to look at his friend. The technique of using laws was honestly pretty cool from his point of view. At least he wouldn't need to physically brawl with murderhobos while using the technique.

"Check your dao base. See anything weird?"

Qian Yun had already gotten a gist of what to expect. He immediately went still and entered a state of deep meditation before returning a few seconds later with a gasp.

"There are hundreds of alphabets inside my dao foundation. The entire book has been filled up! Heavens!"

"Hehe- wait, book?"

Han Xuhan instantly noticed the oddity. Why would there be a book in his dao tower?

Qian Yun snorted.

"My dao foundation was constructed in the shape of a book. The different techniques I practice get converted into different chapters of the book."

"....." Han Xuhan lost his voice for a moment, thoughts chaotic from trying to imagine the scene.

It sounded kind of awesome! If he had known this was an option too, he'd have tried it! Elder Kong had been too effective in his speech about dao foundations resembling buildings....tsk.

"Lucky bastard," Han Xuhan grumbled as he turned toward Zhanxian.

Zhanxian paid no attention to its boss's exclamation and examined its body throughly.

"Master, how did we get here?" the minion enquired with genuine curiosity.

Han Xuhan felt like a movie villain who was about to waste everyone's time by explaining his detailed schemes. But it felt good to flex. It wasn't everyday that he managed to use all of his intelligence and do something cool...stupid, but cool.

"Little Zhanxian, remember the law fragments I wrote on the paper and the wall?"

Zhanxian nodded in a confused manner. It wasn't able to comprehend the texts on the walls like its summoner. The so called law fragments made no sense to it. But it did see its boss writing three separate law fragments.

"Well, the first one said, upon activating, that particular law fragment would punish the current occupants of the orb by ejecting them as far as possible from the circle of laws.

Since the orb can suppress the poisonous properties of the fog, as well as having a powerful source that constantly keeps the circle of laws active, it shouldn't be too difficult to teleport all of them outside the fog, safe and sound."

"Who are you trying to fool? You were just scared of competition and wanted to use them as meat shields. Moreover, what did this Shen Kai guy do to you? And don't try to convince me that that's your real name. You've been trying to screw him over ever since we've met." Qian Yun interjected.

"...Ignore such small details, my friend. Newly made friendships often are broken due to scrutiny," Han Xuhan rebutted and continued his explanation.

"The second law fragment on the paper was the source behind this," Han Xuhan said, pointing at the spinning orbs around them that kept the fog at bay.

"It stated that whoever helps the circle of laws vanquish its invaders shall be awarded with protection from the poison in their bodies.

It not only suppressed the poison inside us, it's also helping us suppress the poison outside."

"That was a really, really, wise idea," Qian Yun said as he ran his eyes over their surroundings.

Han Xuhan beamed like a magician appreciating an energetic applause and continued.

"Of course, without a proper source, these law fragments are just random scribbling on the paper. The walls contain the source required to activate law fragments. Yet we cannot write law fragments that would directly let us pass through due to all the old restrictive laws.

But that's where the third law fragment comes into play, stating that all newly made law fragments will be activated using the same source that's running the circle of laws, the source inside the walls. Since this law fragment was carved on the walls, this also activates Mu Ran's law fragment without needing a new source. That's how we got teleported out here while the rest of our competitors got pushed out of the fog, back to the starting point." Han Xuhan finished his explanation with a swish of his sleeves. He felt really stylish right now.

"How do I fit in the equation? I didn't do anything."

Zhanxian sounded confused.

Han Xuhan scratched his head with an odd expression.

"I'm pretty sure the circle of laws treated you and I as one being, since you live in my dao tower as a part of it. According to Mu Ran's law fragment, I was eligible to be transported into the next stage of this obstacle course.

This also means that if we were punished instead, I could have used you as a stand-in for me..."

Zhanxian fixed a gazeless stare on him for so long that Han Xuhan began to regret explaining it down to such controversial details.

"So, we're already disciples of this Holy Land of Laws, whether we like it or not. Which orb should we target next now that the poison in the fog doesn't bother us anymore? Or-"

Qian Yun broke the quiet and posed a good question. But his sudden drift into silence made Han Xuhan consider the implications.

"Theoretically, whoever we meet from this point forth, is a disciple of the Holy Land."

His tone was laced with a strange hint of glee, as if he were a child who had discovered a new game.

Han Xuhan caught onto what he was talking about and lurched to a stop too.

"Ahh... now this, this is where the test gets interesting." Han Xuhan chuckled gloomily.