Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Just now Lord Lou messaged the old freak Three-Eyed of the Blue Water Mansion and was given a strict order to get hold of Qin Yu and find the 8th jade sword.

  “That Teng Shan fella will probably be fighting over this in secret too.”

  Lord Lou’s pupils turn red completely in an instant, looking very strange and evil.

  ……

  Di Jian, Di Luan, Di Qing and Qin Yu are piercing through the water at the bottom of the ocean, causing turbulence wherever they go.

  “Go a bit faster!”

  Di Luan shouts at Qin Yu.

  “7th majesty, this is my fastest speed already.” Qin Yu replies in a powerless manner.

  When the 3 Di brothers were going to the Blood-red Cave, they used Di Luan’s speed because Di Luan is the slowest among them. However, now they are even returning to the Nine Demons Hall at half of that speed because Qin Yu is only half as fast as Di Luan.

  “Even a late Yuanying fella can keep up with you!” Di Qing’s facial expression is very unpleasant.

  Qin Yu puts on an innocent face: “My speed is slow. What else can I do?”

  “You’re deliberately acting this way. As far as we know, you were very fast when you killed that old turtle Qing Xuan.” Di Luan stares at him and rebukes angrily. But Qin Yu says powerlessly: “That was my body-maneuvering skill, 7th majesty, whereas now I’m going on my flying sword. My body-maneuvering skill is fast but my sword-riding speed is slow.”

  His shamelessness finally angers the 3 majesties.

  “Get on my flying sword. I’ll give you a ride.” Di Qing shouts.

  “Aren’t you afraid of getting killed by me?” Qin Yu looks at Di Qing with a smile. The latter immediately changes color in the face. He knows that Qin Yu is at least about as powerful as he himself is. If Qin Yu takes advantage of the close distance between them while riding on his flying sword with him to launch a sneak attack, then …

  “I’ll give you a ride.”

  Di Jian says in an ice-cold voice.

  Qin Yu immediately jumps on Di Jian’s flying sword in a happy and relaxed manner. As soon as he gets on the flying sword, a thick defensive layer of demonic elemental energy appears around Di Jian’s body. At the same time, Di Jian’s inborn body-protecting purple armor also appears.

  “Looks like you’re also afraid that I’ll use a sneak attack.” Qin Yu says smilingly.

  However he does not take any actions.

  Because he killed Di Tong last time, he already knew how frighteningly strong the defense of this purple armor is. And Di Jian is much stronger than Di Tong so he is unsure whether he can kill Di Jian in one hit. If he attacked and failed to one shot Di Jian, he would have to suffer Di Jian’s terrifying retaliation.

  As soon as Qin Yu gets on Di Jian’s flying sword, the going speed of the 4 of them doubles.

  After going for more than a month, they arrive at the Great Shell Cave.

  …..

  “Ha-ha, my 3 majesties, to be honest, cave master Fu Hao really cares about you. He has even specifically built a Purple Demon Tower to welcome you.” Qin Yu praises highly while looking at the magnificent Purple Demon Tower before him in appreciation.

  With jade-like skin and a plump body, Fu Hao looks very loveable.

  He moves his childlike lively eyes in a circle and hurriedly says with respect: “My 3 majesties, last time you left urgently so you didn’t have time to take a look at this Purple Demon Tower. All of the tower’s ladies-in-waiting are on the outside because I know that you don’t like to be disturbed by them. If you need something, just order them directly.”

  Di Qing, Di Jian and Di Luan look at the small two-story tower in front of them in very obvious satisfaction.

  This small 2-story tower cannot be considered luxurious but it looks unusual and has a very unique structure. Obviously Fu Hao gave it a lot of thought.

  “Majesties, this Purple Demon Tower is intended for the Nine Demons Hall’s majesties like you so I won’t use any of its rooms. I’m going to casually find another place to stay.” Qin Yu turns around with a smile. “Cave master Fu Hao, can you arrange another place for me?”

  Di Luan looks coldly at him, saying: “You can’t go. You’ll stay in my room. My 2nd and 6th brothers will be next door.”

  “Your room? Don’t you fear that I’ll kill you?” Qin Yu looks smilingly at Di Luan.

  Hearing this, Fu Hao slightly changes color in the face. He hurriedly bows and says with a smile: “Majesties, I have no business here so I’ll take my leave. If you need something, please feel free to order those ladies-in-waiting.”

  “6th brother likes quietude. 7th brother, I’ll stay with this fella to keep watch on him,” says Di Qing.

  In fact, experts do not like to stay with someone else, but now is not the time for Di Qing to be a stickler so he can only restrain this dislike. Qin Yu slightly considers in his mind. He can kill an unprepared Di Qing with certainty, but how can Di Qing possibly have no preparations?

  If he fails to kill Di Qing in one move, Di Jian in a room next door will definitely get into action.

  ……

  After getting back to his room, Fu Hao wipes the cold sweat on his head: “Damn it, this time there’ll be a big affair. Lord Teng of the Azure Dragon Palace and Lord Lou of the Blue Water Mansion will definitely get into action tonight to snatch that cave master Qin Yu. There are also those 3 majesties.”

  He thinks for a while then cannot help frowning: “This is a headache, a real headache. Hopefully this won’t involve me or else I’ll surely die. It seems not easy to get something from the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion.”

  In the entire Great Shell Cave, Fu Hao is the only one who knows that tonight is going to be extraordinary.

  Chapter 13: A Drop of Blood

  The Purple Demon Tower’s structure is really unusual. There is a hexagonal hall connecting to the main entrance. Each side of the hexagon has a corridor. Except for the one that connects the hall with the entrance, the other 5 corridors have several rooms each.

  That is the first floor. Standing in the hall of this floor, one can see the endless ocean by looking up because the corresponding part of the hall on the 2nd floor is empty.

  “This tower looks pretty good from the outside and its interior is even more pleasing to the eye and the mind.” Qin Yu stands in the hall and observes the tower’s combination of various colors. He really wants to find out who designed this Purple Demon Tower because not only is its structure new and unique, its interior coloration is also extremely outstanding.

  Even the 3 Di brothers cannot help but give rare smiles.

  “All right, let’s go upstairs through the north corridor.” Di Jian orders directly.

  Di Qing and Di Luan also nod. As for Qin Yu … he simply has no right to disagree. Of course, he cannot be bothered to disagree either. Even though he is being escorted by the 3 majesties, there is an indifferent smile on his face all the time.

  It seems he does not worry about himself at all.

  “Smile? Let’s see if you can still smile after arriving in the Nine Demons Hall.” Di Luan laughs coldly in his mind. He is already imagining Qin Yu getting absorbed by the terror jellyfish guardian.

  After getting on the 2nd floor, they go along the north corridor directly. There are rooms on either side of this corridor. Di Luan observes carefully then says to Di Jian and Di Qing: “2nd brother, 6th brother, I’ll stay in this room on the left. 6th brother will stay in this room on the right. 2nd brother and Qin Yu will stay in the room in the middle.”

  “Good.”

  Di Jian nods then immediately enters that room on the right. By contrast, Di Qing shouts at Qin Yu: “Go inside with me, Qin Yu.”

  “Why so hot-tempered? Relax, relax!” Qin Yu says smilingly then comes into the room in the middle in a relaxed manner at once.

  Di Luan warns from behind: “Be careful, 2nd brother, this Qin Yu fella is no good and he is comparable to a middle Dongxu expert
. You definitely can’t let your guard down.” Hearing Di Luan’s warning, Di Qing can only nod his head. But the look he gives Qin Yu becomes even fiercer.

  He cannot relax his concentration at any time.

  The 3 majesties know well that both the Azure Dragon Palace and the Blue Water Mansion probably do not want to let them return to the Nine Demons Hall safely. Therefore, even though they are currently inside the Great Shell Cave, they do not dare to treat anything lightly.

  After all, the Great Shell Cave is basically defenseless in the eyes of the Azure Dragon Palace’s and the Blue Water Mansion’s experts.

  ……

  In the middle room, Di Qing is sitting with legs crossed and eyes closed, but his holy sense has surrounded Qin Yu completely as he cannot afford to let Qin Yu make any surreptitious moves. Qin Yu, however, has been well-behaved by sitting with legs crossed and eyes closed very quietly all along.

  Suddenly, Qin Yu opens his eyes and looks smilingly at Di Qing.

  “Hey, 2nd majesty,” calls he. Seeing Di Qing have no reactions, he immediately calls a bit louder: “Di Qing!” Even though Qin Yu cannot tell the Nine Demons Hall’s 9 majesties apart by appearances, he knows their names. Thus he knows that he is staying in the same room with Di Qing, the 2nd majesty.

  Di Qing frowns then opens his eyes and casts a glance at Qin Yu: “Shut up!”

  “2nd majesty, you’re a little bored, aren’t you? Let’s have a chat with each other.” Qin Yu stands up and walks towards Di Qing as if he wants to approach Di Qing, whose face changes color instantly. The defensive demonic elemental energy around Di Qing's body becomes stronger. His purple armor, however, already covered his body long ago.

  “Stop.”

  Di Qing shouts at Qin Yu. He is confident that he can defeat Qin Yu, but he thinks that the gap in power between them is not very big and, therefore, if Qin Yu uses a sneak attack when they are very near each other, he will either be killed or be badly injured.

  “Why so jumpy?” Even though Qin Yu says so, he stops upon seeing Di Qing’s careful behavior.

  Di Qing says coldly: “Sit down on your own place, otherwise …”

  Before Di Qing can finish his sentence, Qin Yu hurriedly says: “Alright, don’t worry. I’m going to go back and stop disturbing you.” He is still smiling, seeming not angered at all. He then immediately returns to the place he was sitting on just now.

  “Why so fussy?”

  He talks to himself and sits down with legs crossed and eyes closed to quietly practice.

  Seeing this, Di Qing also shuts his eyes. But he does not dare to relax his holy sense one bit. Watching over Qin Yu is really not an easy job.

  Time flies. In the blink of an eye, 4 to 6 hours has passed.

  Qin Yu opens his eyes and takes a look at the room’s door before shutting them again immediately. But he thinks to himself: “Given the Blue Water Mansion’s and the Azure Dragon Palace’s influences, what I said last time in the main hall must’ve been leaked out. They should come here tonight.”

  Even if the 3 Di brothers had eliminated all the witnesses in the main hall that day, the same secret information would have still been leaked out because before the arrival of the 3 majesties Qin Yu had already made arrangements for it to be spread.

  His expectation is correct. The Azure Dragon Palace’s and the Blue Water Mansion’s forces have both arrived.

  ……

  Thanks to a message from Fu Hao, Lord Lou knows that 3 majesties of the Nine Demons Hall are staying in the Purple Demon Tower with Qin Yu. He is currently hiding in an artificial mountain far from the tower and has suppressed his aura completely. Even if Lord Teng, whose power is comparable to his, were here, perhaps he would still not be detected.

  Lord Lou’s eyes have reverted to their normal green color.

  He strokes his thin moustache with a hint of relaxation on his face.

  “This time even Di Jian has come here. In a real fight, I won’t necessarily be a match for this Purple Demon aquatic dragon. Even if I can snatch that Qin Yu fella, it’ll be very hard to escape. I better hide here and wait for Teng Shan to get into action first. Maybe I’ll be able to take advantage of the muddied waters.”

  Lord Lou stays there watching the Purple Demon Tower alone with his entire attention. He does not dare to relax in the least.

  ……

  While Lord Lou has been in hiding for a long time, Lord Teng of the Azure Dragon Palace is different.

  “Those fellas just entered the Purple Demon Tower so they must be tense. When they have rested for 6 hours and become totally relaxed, I’ll secretly snatch that Qin Yu fella.” Lord Teng is standing on a mountain peak of an underwater mountain range and looking at the Great Shell Cave in the distance.

  There are 5 guardians standing behind him.

  Time passes but his face is always solemn as if it is carved out of rock.

  “It’s about time.”

  Lord Teng’s eyes suddenly brighten. Concurrently with this, he says to the 5 guardians behind him through holy sense communication: “All of you get ready. After I snatch Qin Yu and come back, you’ll have to obstruct that Di Jian fella.”

  “Yes sir!”

  The 5 guardians bow and answer via their holy senses.

  They do not dare to say anything aloud for the moment even though the Great Shell Cave is very far from them because they cannot afford to take any chances. After all, Di Jian is a late Dongxu stage expert so his holy sense is incredibly formidable.

  Lord Teng pulls off his blood-red robe and sucks it into his spatial ring with a grab. He has to do this because a blood-red robe is fairly noticeable at the bottom of the ocean. Dressed completely in black, he then begins to rush towards the Great Shell Cave using only his physical power.

  Horned dragons are also demonic beasts with extremely strong bodies. Lord Teng therefore easily enters the Great Shell Cave then approaches the Purple Demon Tower directly.

  Lord Teng’s body is indistinct so none of the Great Shell Cave’s members sees him. However, Lord Lou, who has been watching the surroundings of the Purple Demon Tower and waiting for him impatiently, has noticed him.

  “Teng Shan has finally appeared. It’s been such a long time.”

  Lord Lou becomes totally excited. He stays still in hiding in the artificial mountain and focuses his entire attention on the Purple Demon Tower, waiting for the situation that will arise after Lord Teng comes into the tower.

  “In a real fight, I’m probably no match for Di Jian, but his holy sense is definitely inferior to mine.” Lord Teng is completely sure about this because his soul has reached the peak of the late Dongxu stage. To be exact, it has touched the doorsill of the early Kongming stage.

  Therefore, it is no nonsense to say that his holy sense is stronger than Di Jian’s.

  Like a ghost, Lord Teng quietly enters the Purple Demon Tower through the secret door that Fu Hao told him about before. He then expands his holy sense until it covers the whole tower. He quickly discovers his target’s location, that is, Qin Yu and Di Qing’s room.

  In the room next to Qin Yu’s room on the right, Di Jian suddenly opens his eyes.

  Just now, a tinge of fear appeared in his heart, but it vanished quickly. Di Jian does not know what is going on, but he becomes even more cautious and does not dare to loosen up anymore.

  Lord Teng goes into the north corridor of the 2nd floor like a gust of wind. His movements do not cause any sounds at all. He does not dare to even use one bit of his elemental energy either.

  Suddenly he stops.

  “It’s this room.” His eyes brighten as he looks at Qin Yu and Di Qing’s room.

  “I must hit in one move and badly injure that Di Qing fella right away. But … I definitely can’t kill him. Otherwise, given the tempers of those Nine Demons Hall’s brothers, they’ll surely cause my Azure Dragon Palace trouble.” Lord Teng has made up his mind. His eyes flash with fierceness.

  Hu!

  The door
opens. Winds blow. A black light beam shoots into the room.

  Di Qing suddenly opens his eyes. Before he can utter a word, the opponent has already thrown a punch at him. He only has enough time to block it with an arm. A deep bang is heard, followed by the sounds of bones getting shattered. Di Qing’s right arm has been smashed and 2 of his breastbones have been broken.

  One was intentional while the other was unprepared.