by Tinalynge
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Chapter 367: Playing Catch Up
Hearing the words from their older martial brother the other experts instantly felt better. They did not believe that if all of them fought seriously, then they would not defeat the team in front of them. After all, they had an Emperor in their midst, and although this Emperor clearly had some skilled attacks, he was still not a Saint. Killing him and stealing his storage stones would be easy.
Further down the hallway, a faint smile was visible on Hui Yue’s lips as his eyes hardened when the words of the oldest martial brother were said behind him. His ears, which seemed human, had the same senses as though he was in his wolf shape and hearing their low words was in no way a difficult task for him. If they truly were to try something they would be greatly surprised to see how Hui Yue and his group took care of them.
Although Hui Yue was indeed an Emperor, no one in his group believed that this was his actual level of strength. They were all certain that he used a cultivation technique which made it seem as though it was lower than his actual level. But even taking this into account they did not fully understand him nor his strength. Even without raising his cultivation level to the Saint rank, he was still able to get rid of those stone beasts as though they were made from porcelain and not marble. They shattered as soon as he so much as looked at them. This was something they could not do even with their Saint strength.
“I assume that we are in the actual inner-part of the grave now,” Hui Yue said with a low voice alongside his light steps. He was not willing to fight against any more traps unless it was absolutely necessary, and he was constantly observing what was happening in front and behind them.
Hearing his words, none of the Saints replied, but all of them nodded their heads. They were too cautious to even speak. “We cannot be the first ones to arrive here,” He continued as he looked around them. “We need to catch up to the ones in front of us, or we will not be getting any treasures,” He stated as a matter of fact while looking around. “Let us move as swiftly as we can without making any sounds. We need to catch up if we want to obtain anything worthwhile. They have already grabbed anything of value so far. Also when we encounter them, don’t insult them or steal their treasures. For them to have managed to come this far as swiftly as they did shows that they are not to be taken lightly. Although we might be able to win if we truly go against them, it is likely that we can do so only with a few casualties. For us, living is more important than unknown treasures.”
Hearing his words the experts around him were all taken aback, even Xiao Ning did not expect that Hui Yue would pass on treasures that others had taken for the sake of not risking their lives. The experts with them were some whom Hui Yue had previously considered disposable, yet now he was worried about well-being. It was clear that he had changed his opinion of these experts.
Now that Hui Yue had made these three experts a part of his group he would ensure that they lived through the tomb. At least he would do his best to ensure everyone survived. Once they entered his care, they could not just leave.
“What should we do if someone attacks us?” Xiao Ning suddenly asked while looking curiously at Hui Yue. It was sudden, but Hui Yue had suddenly become the focal point of their group; the one who determined what they did, how they did it, and when they did it. Although he seemed the weakest of them all, he had saved them time and again, and the display of power he had shown, not only against Wu Wei Warriors but also against the stone beasts, it was clear that he was the strongest in their group. Therefore, he was suddenly made into their leader.
Hui Yue did not mind the new responsibility, and he grinned as he heard the question. “If anyone is going to test our strength then we will let them know that we are no pushovers either,” He answered. “We will fight for our position and ensure that do not lose anything we have obtained so far. If they try to test us, then they have to be ready to give up their lives,” Hui Yue said calmly, but his words shook the other Saints.
Nodding Xiao Ning was not disappointed by the answer. The three other experts were shocked to their core. Although they had been used by Hui Yue previously, that had been made up for by how he had taken care of all the Wu Wei warriors for them. By how he ensured that they could safely make their way through the tunnels without requesting them to give up their treasures or anything they would obtain.
“Thank you,” One of the three said from his heart as he bowed to Hui Yue. “My name is Ye Ling. I am the patriarch of the Ye family within the Taiyang Kingdom. I will follow you through this grave, and when we leave, I will owe you one,” The expert said solemnly as he looked into Hui Yue’s eyes. Although Hui Yue was far younger than Ye Ling, he had this mysterious strength that allowed him to be Ye Ling’s superior.
It was not only Ye Ling who was touched by Hui Yue’s answer, but the others had red eyes and their hearts were elated from his gratitude. To have Hui Yue and Xiao Ning by their side, they would definitely not be robbed or in any way made into easy targets as they would have been if they were alone.
“I am Zhu Jun. The patriarch of the Zhu family from the Taiyang Kingdom. I will never forget the kindness you have shown me today.”
“I am Luo Qiang. Patriarch of the Luo family from Muchuan City, and I too will always keep this favor in my heart. Should you need someone in the future, I will go to the netherworld and back for you. May the heavens strike me down should I not follow you!”
Seeing the three passionate experts, Hui Yue was taken aback. He had not expected that they would react the way they did, but his heart warmed. He could not help but feel better. With four experts backing him, he had reached the requirements to become quite an important person back in Muchuan City.
Even Xiao Ning was grateful. He just kept it to himself, between him and Hui Yue there was no longer need to express gratitude; they had long since become martial brothers, but even so, Xiao Ning was relieved. He remembered how Hui Yue had warned him that he would attack the Taiyang Kingdom experts if he had to, yet now he had taken them under his wing. It was clear that for their new friendship, Hui Yue was giving the Shield of Taiyang Kingdom much face.
“Good, good, I am very grateful,” Hui Yue said with a low voice. “But we need to keep our voices down. Although we can deal with the creatures this grave has tossed our way so far, we don’t know if there will suddenly appear something we cannot deal with. Let us keep quiet and move forward.”
Agreeing, they kept quiet and continued forward. The hallway ended, and a massive door had been opened leading into a chamber of enormous proportions. The chamber was circular with pillars holding up the ceiling, and a strong aromatic of medicinal pills could be smelled. In this chamber, another group of experts was currently looking at one of the pillars with a confused expression in their eyes.
‘This room is about greed,’ Lan Feng said shocked. ‘There are medicinal pills stored inside each and every pillar, but if you take all the pillars you will never again move from the room; you will be buried with the treasure you get. Should one take half of the pills and leave the other half? Who knows if taking away half of the pillars is the limit to hold up the ceiling before it would collapse? It does not look like the other group has started to take any pills yet so do as I say. Take the pills from the first and second, but leave the third pillar. Repeat this, and take the next two, then leave the sixth pillar. Always leave the third pillar be to support the ceiling. And hurry! The other group will soon notice what you are doing and will do the same.’
Nodding his head, Hui Yue quickly told the experts his plan. “We will split up, but if any of you are in trouble call out, and we will run to that person in an instant. Staying alive is more important than a few medicinal pills.” He concluded before he broke one pillar and saw a flood of golden pills vanish into his storage stone.
Seeing the pills, the other experts gulped and instantly copied his actions, making sure to always leave the third pillar alone.
The experts who had been in t
he chamber were at first were shocked when they saw the decisiveness of Hui Yue and his group, yet they quickly grasped the pattern they were using and without going to confront Hui Yue or any of his friends, they started to take two thirds of the pillars themselves.
Everyone worked incredibly efficient, and they had taken many of the pills in the room before a third group arrived within the chamber. Seeing Hui Yue and his friends taking the pills and leaving every third pillar and seeing just how many pills spilled out, their eyes filled with greed. They subdued their greed when they noticed another group was present.
“We are not going to cause trouble just yet. Let them pick up the pills since we will just steal them anyways. Let’s go and steal the pills from the pillars where the other group is. They are not likely to start fighting us since they haven’t started fighting the other group present, but if they mess with us wipe them out!.” Said the oldest martial brother and with grins and snickers on their faces, they rushed to the end of the room where the other group was.
This resulted in Hui Yue and his friends clearing half of room while the two other groups shared the other half. Even though they had many more pills, no one made any moves towards them, something which caused Hui Yue to be alert. He knew that they were tempted to take their medicinal pills, yet if they did not attack now, it could only mean that they would attack later.
“We will stay here for a few days,” Hui Yue suddenly said with a low voice. “Consume a few golden pills and see if you can breakthrough,” He said to the three weaker Saints. “Don’t worry about being attacked, Xiao Ning and I will protect you.”
Hearing these words gratitude was seen in the eyes of the three experts. They clearly wished to increase their strength, but they also knew that it was not something they could do in a short amount of time. Even two days was quite rushed, but hearing that the two would watch over them while they breakthrough was enough to make them filled with gratitude. They instantly found a quiet corner in the room and sat down where they took out a handful of golden pills.
The first pill was popped in their mouths, and the energy within the chamber suddenly became filled with turmoil as it rushed into their bodies. It filled their meridians, and they felt an immense amount of energy unlike any they had felt before. They were shocked to the core as they felt how rapidly their energy rose.
Chapter 368 - Consecutive Breakthroughs
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Chapter 368: Consecutive Breakthroughs
While Hui Yue and Xiao Ning were standing still watching over the three older but lower ranked Saints, the martial brother of the third group was excited. After finally getting out of sight of they were ready to set up their ambush for Hui Yue and his friends. The only question was how long they needed to wait, yet every time they considered the vast amount of medicinal pills they picked up and all the cores the Emperor ranked cultivator had in his possession, all of them were filled with greed and excitement. It was clear they would soon get the items that belonged to them. Although three of them were currently raising their strength, they would still be far from as strong as his martial brothers, and with the element of surprise, they were going to get rid of that annoying group quickly.
Hui Yue looked at the doorway leading further into the inner part of the grave, and although he knew how important speed was, he also knew that the strength of his team was too low. He was just one person so protecting a whole group of Saints was not something he could do. They needed strength to survive.
Time slowly passed as minutes became hours and hours became days. Even after sitting still for four days, Hui Yue did not rush the three experts. Instead, he waited patiently for them to breakthrough. As time went on the energy undulations from the three experts became stronger and stronger; it was as though a massive whirlpool had appeared within them absorbing the energy in this medicinal treasure hall.
Once in awhile, these experts would place a white medicinal pill in their mouths to ensure that the energy they absorbed continued to be balanced. If all they absorbed was Yang energy, then they would be shooting themselves in the foot, making it impossible to advance later in their cultivation.
In the four days, they waited for the three Saints to breakthrough no one had shown up in the room; no one had managed to traverse the tunnels just yet, something which caused Hui Yue to feel relieved. If half the Saints had already passed them, then he would have felt downcast, but considering he was pretty sure only two groups had passed them, he did not feel too remorseful.
While Hui Yue was in his own thought, he suddenly heard a loud popping sound and his eyes were drawn to the three experts. One of them had a golden hue radiating outwards from his body. The golden hue was Wu Wei which draped itself over his entire being before it all slowly slipped into his skin and body. Though despite being absorbed the Wu Wei continued to shine making his entire body seem like a golden statue. Slowly the light dimmed, and he returned to his normal color.
As soon as the last ray of Wu Wei vanished, the expert, Zhu Jun, opened his eyes, and a slight golden gleam shone within. He was no longer a mere one star Saint but had advanced. The amount of strength he gained was significant. Although he could not be considered the cream of the crop, he was in no way a weak Saint anymore. His strength had been more than doubled thanks to the golden pills, and with the help of the white pills, he had also managed to balance his cultivation base much better than he had ever been able to before. He had become stronger in every aspect.
After another half day, Ye Ling managed to break through and a few hours after Luo Qiang had also broken through. Looking at the three men and feeling the energy undulations coming from their bodies, Hui Yue nodded satisfied.
“We don’t have time to waste,” He said, with a firm voice, but he was not in anyway complaining about the time they spent on cultivating their strength. “We are lagging behind the leaders and because of this, I am sure they have gathered quite a few treasures. Again, only attack if attacked first, but be on high alert. Anyone in the grave is our enemy, even if they are from our kingdom. This is survival of the fittest; the strong Saints prevail and the weak will either die or be trampled upon. I don’t want any of us to become a stepping stone for others so be vigilant.”
“I’m pretty sure that second group of idiots, the loud one, is planning to ambush us. That is the only explanation for why they chose to steal from the other group’s portion of pills and allowed us to take pillar after pillar. Since they dare go against us, we need to show no hesitation when we meet them. Kill first, ask questions later. If not we will be the ones dying,” He said. His voice stern and his eyes were ice-cold.
Hearing the words the hearts of Ye Ling, Luo Qiang, and Zhu Jun all turned slightly nervous, but the feeling quickly subsided. They were no longer the simple and weak like they had been just a few days before. They had stepped into the ranks of the average Saints, and they were not as easy to deal with as they had been before. Their confidence had soared to the heavens. They, more than anyone else, could feel the depths of the newfound strength in their bodies.
“That’s right,” Hui Yue grinned when he saw the confidence in their eyes. “That group has a four star expert, but we’ll leave him to Xiao Ning, and as the others were all two or three stars you all are not far behind them. Just fight to your heart’s content. Go for the kill and we will be fine,” Hui Yue said, and the moment he had mentioned Xiao Ning the older man almost snorted. It was clear that he was going to do the most amount of work.
“Don’t worry; I’ll be their target. They are all most likely going to get rid of the weakest person first. Not because I am going to be the easiest target but because they think I have the most treasures on me. Seems like we will see the reason why everyone says to covet another’s treasures is to not value your own life.” Hui Yue grinned, and the others nodded.
‘When you attack them there is something I want you to try,’ Lan Feng suddenly said from the lower dantian. His voice was hesitant but hopeful. Hearing this v
oice, Hui Yue was curious about what was happening, and he waited for the bird to continue.
‘You are an Emperor now, and you have full control over both the blue cloud and the red mist, the monk and the wolf.’ Lan Feng continued, his voice still slightly hesitant but he still continued speaking. ‘You should be able to merge these two types of energy and come up with a third type. What this energy will be able to do, I have no idea. It might be too volatile for your body and make you explode from the inside out, but it might just be something which can save your life. Try merging very small amounts at a time and see what happens. If it works, then use it in the attack on the other group and see what happens. The two energies are the complete opposite. One is tranquil and calm while the other is ferocious and dominating. Imagine if you could combine them. I can’t even begin to fathom the strength such an attack could possess.’ Lan Feng stopped, and his words had caused Hui Yue to be genuinely shocked. Mixing energies? He had never thought about that before.
Seeing that Hui Yue was in deep thought no one interrupted him. All his new friends just patiently waiting for him, knowing that he was likely to be pondering something incredibly important. Their assumption proved correct when they suddenly felt a strange sense of danger come from him. There was no energy ripples, no signs of him increasing his rank, the only thing they sensed was that the air around him became turbulent. It was as though some invisible force was compressing all the air around him, making it twist and turn, though oddly no energy to cause the effect was seen.
