The Conqueror of Zones

by Shadows Finger

  “Little Yu, aunt doesn’t need those techniques anymore… make sure to use this chance to get what you need… also, take good care of yourself, from now on…”

  Feng Yu hearing her words was a bit stunned at first, but before he could ponder the full meaning his figure was completely shrouded by the white lights. Quickly, he along with Feng Yunlong, Feng Junling and the clan members had vanished behind the palace door.

  As Jing Mingyun saw him vanished behind the doors, her eyes flashed with a strange light as she gripped her fists tightly and muttered, “Yu’er, I really did enjoy these few months with you… while I do wish to travel with you on your journey…”

  Upon speaking to here, her eyes became colder as she gazed towards the sky with a profound look in her star-like eyes. Her eyes seeming to be gazing at a faraway location beyond the depths of the vast universe as she once more uttered in a soft tone, “I am bound by my birthright to fulfill my duty, the Duty of a Dragonborn…”

  As she said this, she couldn’t help but move her eyes away from door before gazing at the nearby Jin Wuya, she quickly walked over before hesitating as she started to speak, “Aunt Wuya, I…”

  “I know…” Jin Wuya said as she waved her hands cutting off her next words, her phoenix-like eyes inspecting her body before she sighed and spoke, “It truly is hard to be your kind… you can have it, but I doubt it will be able to be properly used by you as you are now.”

  As she said this, she tossed a piece of gem towards Jing Mingyun which was quickly grabbed and placed away as she slightly bowed and replied, “Thanks…”

  Jin Wuya seeing her manner sighed as her eyes showed a trace of pity before she replied, “At first I didn’t believe, but upon seeing you return to this realm I can already understand why he chose to leave you in this world… before it broke to pieces even in the time of the distant primordial era, that creature was kept at bay only by the power from the star… now that its light is fading, even if you were to replace it there are no guarantees that you will be capable of preventing the true disaster…”

  Jing Mingyun remained silent for a while as she listened to Jin Wuya’s words, the smiling figure of Feng Yu briefly appearing before her eyes causing her to clench her two fists tightly as a firm look came into her eyes before she looked at Jin Wuya and replied, “I know… but it is at least worth a try…”

  As Jin Wuya heard this, she couldn’t help but gaze into her firm-looking eyes and asking, “While it’s true that you are duty bound, you are not completely bound to offering yourself for these goals, could it be that you are doing this to protect that boy?”

  “………” Jing Mingyun chose to remain silent as she looked at Jin Wuya with a calm look on her face, as Jing Wuya saw this, the corner of her lips rose into that of a smile before she spoke, “Haha! He would certainly become insane if he were to find out such a thing… hmm, fine then, it’s not like I don’t understand what you are feeling since I am here and have nothing to do for the next few thousands of years… I will help you if you wish to use the power of that shard you will need to fully draw upon the powers of your Dragonform…”

  Jing Mingyun hearing this revealed a look of surprise on her face as she didn’t expect for her of all people in the universe to aid her in her role, as she knew full well what kind of person this ‘aunt’ of hers was, she bowed again and replied, “Thank you Aunt Wuya…”

  As she saw this, Jin Wuya’s thoughts couldn’t help but falter once she recalled the scar on Feng Junling’s face; she lifted her head and spoke in a soft voice, “It appears that no matter the race, we women will always be forced to into accepting our greatest weaknesses…”

  Snap! The sound of Jin Wuya’s fingers snapping could be heard as a new doorway appeared at the side of the Dragon Palace, it was similar to the main entrance used by the Feng Clan and other influences but gave off a different kind of aura as if only beings at a certain standard could enter through its gate.

  She then looked towards Jing Mingyun with a gentle expression before turning around and walking towards the different section of the Dragon Palace and gesturing, “Come! I will take you to ‘that’ room…”

  “Um.” Jing Mingyun replied as she quickly followed Jin Wuya, as they were about to enter the doorway, she glanced at Jin Wuya and spoke, “Can you pass him a message for me?” Jin Wuya stopped as she heard this; she looked at Jing Mingyun with an even gentler expression and replied, “Sigh, fine…”

  She glanced at the figure of Feng Xingyu who stood gazing at the door in a daze with a soft expression on her face before she carried Jing Mingyun towards the new doorway.

  Soon, they both entered the doorway which immediately vanished afterwards leaving behind only a mysterious dragon palace at the center of an empty desolate field, wrapped in destruction from its previous wars…

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  The scene within the Dragon Palace was a rather strange one, as Feng Yu passed through a broad passageway behind the glowing white lights a world soon came into his view. It was a place that was made up of nothing but pure stars, as there was no path on which one could walk or choose to find a destination, he floated in the air gliding towards a distant unknown location as if propelled by an unknown force.

  “Where did everyone go? Where is this light taking me?” Feng Yu muttered in a soft voice as he saw that no one was around, and a strange white light was currently guiding him towards an unknown location within the palace. He continued to bypass many unusual looking bright balls of light leaving an area with dim stars towards a deeper area with more brighter glowing stars.

  Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity Feng Yu arrived at what seemed like the central most star within the Dragon Palace. A massive glowing ball of light which gave of a unique kind of aura, the very mysterious force Feng Yu had once before met, one known as, star force…

  The moment he arrived before the gigantic star a voice which seemed to have traveled from the edge of time itself resounded inside of his mind, “Human, because you have succeeded in the ancient mission, you are granted permission to enter the core treasury of the Dragon Palace! You will hereby be given two options, two times to choose one equipment, cultivation art, battle art or secret technique, your time is still the same as the others in each treasury star as you will be given no more than a single day of time to find what soothes you the most! Now then, you may enter!”

  As Feng Yu heard this, he didn’t dare to waste any more time as he quickly plunged into the treasure star vanishing behind its bright light that illuminated this section of the world. Soon, he arrived in a large hallway that seemed to have stretched towards no end.

  If one looked towards the sides, they would see a series of neatly arranged shelves that were stacked with different cultivation resources that were separated by rank, class, purpose. Feng Yu opened his eyes wide as he saw this scene before him the large amounts of cultivation manuals, battle arts and rare artifacts where enough to let him drool but sadly he couldn’t take them all away.

  “I need to hurry!” Feng Yu thought to himself, but soon found himself in a dilemma, “Aunt said she doesn’t need anything… so I guess I can only use these points to get what I need. But, what do I really need?”

  He paused for a minute to consider his weaknesses recalling his previous battles, “I need a defense sword art, or rather a set of authentic sword arts as my current sword techniques were only created after mastering the Sword Foundation Tactics. I already have a special armor which Zyne has retrofitted for my bloodline, as well as two unique swords though I have yet to figure how to deal with the dangers hidden behind Crimson Ember…”

  As Feng Yu thought to himself, he couldn’t help but recall the ominous scene with Crimson Ember during the battle at the Fairyland. He shook his head removing that line of distracting thought before pondering once again, “Should I also take another sword technique? I lack a very effective broad range sword skill which is useful for group biased combat, but should I really was
te my second choice on another sword technique? I still have my second shot at the Dual Sword Pagoda as I am only a little way off due to my cultivation before I can once again enter its domain. Since I don’t know what special kinds of artifacts are hidden inside of here, I should first explore the treasury in fullness…”

  As Feng Yu thought to himself, he quickly started making his way through the halls scanning the various treasures on display within the hallway. Quickly, his figure soon vanished towards the hallways opposing end as his hunt for treasures had officially began…

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  On the outside of the Dragon Palace, the beautiful red-haired figure of Feng Xingyu could be seen standing at the top of a distant mountain. She gazed at the glorious looking palace in the distance with a hint of reluctance in her eyes as she spoke in a soft voice, “Brothers, Little Yu… don’t blame me, in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to face you all and say goodbye…” Her eyes growing misty as her tears fell down her cheeks, she used her palms to wipe her eyes before turning around and gazing towards the broad sky with a firm look in her eyes as she floated forwards.

  “I must grow stronger, stronger than anyone else, for only then will I no longer be a hindrance to you all… wait for me my brothers, my kinsmen… for one day, I shall return…” Feng Xingyu said as her voice trailed off in the wind as figure vanished across the broad horizon.

  As her figure vanished, there were four silhouettes who suddenly appeared in the horizon. One of these figures branched off from the group and headed towards the Dragon Palace with a smile that could vaguely be noticed at the corners of his lips. Soon, his figure vanished behind the door leaving behind the trio that stood a distance…

  Chapter 179

  Feng Yu’s Choices, Leaving the Dragon Palace!

  The halls of the largest treasury inside of the Dragon Palace was a broad one indeed, as after traveling for what almost seemed like an eternity Feng Yu could still not see its end, he gazed at the infinite path before him and couldn’t help but recall the Path of Swords in the Dual Sword Pagoda.

  “Darn! Just how long is this hallway?!” Feng Yu cursed as while wiping the sweat from his forehead, he then gazed at the scene behind him which was now mostly covered in darkness as he could no longer see the entrance to these halls.

  “I’ve been searching for more than ten hours now, and I have yet to choose a decent technique… maybe I should choose whatever I can find instead of being so picky…” He said while recalling the many kinds of secret techniques shown to him, as he thought to himself, he shook his head and once more continued to move forward.

  After a few more hours of tiring effort, he finally arrived at a region that was slightly different as inside of one direct path he had now found himself at a section with four different pathways, it was arranged in a manner much like that of a cross as there was a path before him, behind him, to the left and to the right.

  Still, this wasn’t the thing that caught Feng Yu’s attention as his eyes were currently locked on a strange object positioned at the center of these pathways.

  “Strange, could this be the controlling mechanism for this treasury?” He questioned as he slowly made his way towards, after a short while he finally arrived before this unusual pillar and began to inspect it with his spiritual sense, however, regardless of how he inspected he could not tell what was so unique about this strange object.

  “I sense nothing unique about it, can it possibly only be here for decoration? Maybe I should try channeling my energies within it…” As Feng Yu thought to himself, he lifted his palm and placed it on top of the pillar before sending stands of his aura inside of it. The moment this happened, the pillar began to change as it started to glow in a bright blue light.

  Phew! The light quickly beamed towards the ceiling of this treasury hitting an unusual compartment at its summits which soon spread out a broad net around the entire treasury, as this happened, the ground below Feng Yu’s feet started to change as many different streaks of blue lines appeared arranged in a pattern much like that of a checkerboard.

  “What is going on?!” Feng Yu exclaimed as he saw this sudden change, but before he could do anything else the pillar had once more made another change.

  Buzz! Suddenly, a large screen appeared before him with a massive list of all of the items gathered within the treasury, they were laid out in a familiar tabular format that Feng Yu was now quite used to as it categorized items as follows:

  Dragon Treasury –Core Star

  Heaven Rank - Cultivation Techniques:

  Star Divine Essence Technique, Yin Yang Cultivation Technique, True Mind Heart Technique, Star Divine Body Cultivation Technique, Baleful Blade Qi Cultivation Technique, Beastlord Sutra…

  Heaven Rank - Battle Arts:

  Devouring Thunder Sword Arts, Heavenly Void Spear Arts, Thunder Lance Arts, Meteor Sword Arts, Void Locking Plams, Sky Breaking Fist Arts, Gia Explosion Magic Spell…

  Heaven Rank - Secret Arts:

  Flaming Devil Qi Arts, Divine Jade Body Arts, Mind Armor Arts, Thunder God Eye Arts

  Heaven Rank - Artifacts:

  Divine Crow Wings, Void Walking Amulet, Sacred Phoenix Feather, Mana Band…

  Heaven Rank - Weapons:

  Demon Axe, Baleful Sin Blades, Heavenly Arc Bow, Gale Tome, Maile’s Sword….

  As Feng Yu glossed over the items, he couldn’t help but become shocked as all of the techniques shown before him are of the heaven-ranked. He pondered, “To think that there were actually so many heaven rank techniques hidden within here, I wonder, are their higher tiers available?”

  Upon thinking to himself, the screen before him changed as a few texts appeared, “Cultivation is too low, cannot access higher tier technique listings…”

  Feng Yu seeing this scratched his head in embarrassment as he spoke out, “Haha! Well, I guess one can’t be too greedy, after all, mystical rank techniques and above can only be used by beings who’ve advanced to the realm beyond the True Soul realm, while heaven rank techniques are typically used by those in the True Soul realm. As I am still far away from such levels, any one of these techniques should be able to last me for quite some time…”

  Upon thinking to himself, he focused on the lists once more and started to choose, “Hmm, let’s see… these cultivation techniques are good, but I already have my new bloodline cultivation art, Devouring Thunder Sword Arts… this sounds pretty interesting, it is a defensive based sword technique which used thunder energies to ward of the opponent's attacks… while Meteor Sword Arts is an airborne destruction based sword technique that uses the force of all of one’s energies to create a single point large scale destruction effect for one against one or one against many… it’s a powerful sword art but requires too much energies as such it can only be used in all or nothing circumstances and not protracted battles.”

  “Which do I choose…” Feng Yu said as he scratched his chin with his fingers, after thinking for a short while he eventually made up his mind as he pointed at the screen and spoke, “For my first choice I will choose the Devouring Thunder Sword Arts!”

  As he said this, the screen glowed in a bright light before a mechanical voice replied, “Your request has been made! 4 million War Points have been deducted!”

  Quickly, Feng Yu’s 10 million War Points had decreased leaving only 6 million points, as he saw this, Feng Yu couldn’t help but sigh at how easy it is to lose while recalling how hard it was to earn. Not long after, a bright light shot from the corners of the Dragon Palace bringing with it the manual for the Devouring Thunder Sword Art, Feng Yu promptly reached out his hand grabbing the manual before giving it a once over and placing it inside of his Storage Ring.

  He then glanced at the screen once more and started to ponder on what should be his next choice, “There are quite a few interesting secret arts here, but I don’t need them for I still have quite a few useful ones that Old Master taught me. Hmm, maybe an artifact would be more beneficial, I currently lack a
lifesaving treasure which is extremely crucial for any practitioners… let’s see which one of these would suit me best…”

  Upon thinking to himself, Feng Yu browsed the artifacts section carefully as he muttered, “The Divine Crow Wings are good but I don’t really need them, as for the Void Walking Amulet this is very useful, allowing one to escape into empty space for an extremely short period of time… hmm, I think this one is ok, but that Sacred Phoenix Feather is more suited to my bloodline, or rather, a part of it… this feather is capable of creating a firestorm that can not only destroy weaker heaven rank equipment’s but also wound a 1st Cycle True Soul realm practitioners. If I were to augment it with my own bloodline it should become capable of doubling in terms of prestige causing even more damage.”

  As he thought this, Feng Yu smiled and spoke to the voice once more, “I will choose the Sacred Phoenix Feather for my second choice!”

  “Request Received! 6 million War Points!” The mechanical voice said, quickly, a ray of blue light shot from the corners of the treasury which brings with it finally the Sacred Phoenix Feathers that glowed with a flaming light around it. He grasped it gently with his hands as he admired its beauty for a short while before storing it in his ring.

  After doing this, he looked at his now empty war points before glancing around at the hallways in silence as a deep look into his eyes, “It seems that my time here is now at its end…” As if the world could hear him, the ground soon started to shake as a voice soon after sounded across all of the different regions of the Dragon Palace’s treasuries. “Your 24-Hour time limit is now at its end! All individuals will now be dismissed from the palace!”

  As they heard this voice, a few practitioners who didn’t manage to find what they wanted started to curse in loud voices, “Damn! I haven’t selected anything yet!”

  “How could it be finished already?!”

  The curses continued to grow but sadly for them, the entity behind the voice had no such thing as pity or concern for humans. Quickly, the bodies of each practitioners that were within a starry cosmos began to glow in a bright blue light which soon beamed outside of the treasury towards the entrance of the Dragon Palace, Feng Yu who was also swept up by one of the beams couldn’t help but gaze around at the various individuals being expelled from the palace.