Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Although this oldest martial brother was disadvantaged, he did not seem rushed. He had used up almost all his Wu Wei. He was certain that this was enough to deal with Hui Yue. Hui Yue was a simple Emperor after all. An Emperor with various treasures that allowed him to do many things, but in the end, he was still an Emperor. He was someone a whole rank below him. There was no way he could lose.

  “Such a fool,” Hui Yue mumbled as he looked at the expert in front of him and saw the denial in his eyes. Without waiting, the whip in his hands suddenly shot out like a snake. This time it was not heading for the Wu Wei hammers but instead the expert in front of him.

  The black snake-like whip suddenly changed its shape and just as it reached the expert in front of him it turned into an arrowhead which buried itself deep in his arm.

  At first, the expert did not think about it, but soon he felt an uncomfortably cold sensation drown his entire body. His eyes turned blurry, and soon all light vanished in front of him.

  “What have you done?!” He yelled loudly as he staggered forwards. His hands reached out in front of him as he tried to catch the young man. Suddenly, the world turned silent as he realized his hearing was gone, and then everything turned black. The oldest martial brother was overcome by darkness. There was nothing left in his life, no color, no emotions, nothing. Staggering forward a few more steps the Saint could no longer hold on and he collapsed to the floor. He was still breathing, and his body was working perfectly; however, his senses no longer worked. There was nothing to hear, nothing to see or feel. Everything had vanished from his world in that instance. His entire body had been taken over by that small drop of black energy.

  The battle between the other Saints had come to a standstill. They surrendered in the hopes that their oldest martial brother would return to them and save them from these other experts, however, as they looked at their oldest martial brother their hearts filled with fear. He was sitting on the ground with pitch black eyes, and his body was emitting a strange black hue.

  “What have you done to our brother?!” One of the experts yelled out, yet Hui Yue did not answer. He was quite curious about this ability, but to think that it would devour one’s senses was simply unimaginable.

  ‘It is highly likely that you can do more than just this,’ Lan Feng commented from the lower dantian. ‘When you launched your attack your thought was to defeat this man. So now he is defeated. Utterly defeated. Had you thought of something else, then the result would have been different. Still, this merged energy is quite strong. We need to refine more as soon as possible,’ Lan Feng said before he once turned silent.

  Sighing Hui Yue looked at the experts who had been subdued and wondered what to do. Killing them seemed excessive now that they were clearly not his group’s match, but letting them go was not an option either. Contemplating for some time, Hui Yue went to the oldest martial brother and went through his pockets picking up one storage stone after another.

  “I will let you all go.” He finally said with slow words, clearly still thinking while he spoke, “However give us your storage stones before leaving, and afterwards, bring this Saint and leave the grave. As for whether or not he returns to his usual appearance, I really don’t know. Only time can tell.” He said with a shrug. To him, it did really not matter whether or not this Saint would get his senses back, or if they would be gone for the rest of his life.

  The four Saints looked at one another, and their expressions were sour, but no matter how much they thought none of them could come up with any way to get out of their current situation. It had been them who started the battle and had they won then the others would have died. No doubt about it, that was the style of their oldest martial brother. At least they were allowed to leave with their lives, but handing over their hard earned treasures and memory stones was enough to make them vomit blood.

  Ignoring their behavior Hui Yue took all the stones and randomly kept the ones from their oldest martial brother himself while equally sharing the others among his friends. No one complained about this as Hui Yue had personally dealt with the oldest martial brother, therefore, his treasures should naturally belong to the young man.

  Watching Hui Yue and his friends move further into the grave, the four Saints left behind were filled with remorse. Unfortunately, it was now too late to change their fate, and all they could do was to pack up, grab their oldest martial brother, and slowly make their way out of the grave. If they were to meet weaklings on the way, then they would be robbed, but that was about it. Going further into the grave was now impossible.

  ….

  Further back behind Heaven’s door many of the experts had turned tail and ran away when the Saints started robbing them. They left the grave for a period of time before they once more entered, only to follow in the footsteps of the Saints. They all hoped that some treasure had been left behind as although most Saints had been very careful to not leaving anything behind, it was not possible for them to get everything. Due to this, some treasures were still being found by the lower ranked cultivators.

  Amongst these groups were both Deng Wu and his group, Sha Yun and her group, the medicinal team that Wang Ju Long was a part of and finally the merchant group where Ma Kong had been assigned by his family.

  Although these groups often met, none of them truly assisted one another, though neither did they hinder each other. The beast group was somewhat split into two groups, one against Sha Yun due to her relationship with Hui Yue while the other supported her. This group was not currently finding lots of treasure as many of the members were too busy arguing, but they still moved forward ever so slowly.

  Another group which worked well together was Deng Wu’s group with the Rong twins and Gao Yan. The Rong twins were supposed to travel with the Rong family; however, they were allowed to follow Deng Wu in the hopes of tempering their personalities and becoming more mature. Their father hoped that while being in the grave, they would experience dangerous situations and would be able to learn from them. This group had been fairly lucky obtaining treasures and since they all were friends sharing was simple for them.

  Ma Kong was from a family which focused on trading and selling items, and while he was in the grave he was busy conducting business. Although he was not currently trying to find treasures, he managed to trade many items for the secret treasures in the grave. Everyone needed medicinal pills, and those were something that their family had aplenty. Being the only trading group that was actively traveling through the grave, they had a monopoly on the markets and the further in they went, the thicker their wallets became. Although they were clearly wealthy, no one dared go against them. Everyone knew the Ma family had a few hidden experts among them, so robbing from them was very risky.

  Wang Ju Long was still worried as she moved forward. Every step she feared that the corpses she saw at the side of the grave belonged to Hui Yue or one of her friends. This was something she feared more than anything, yet as time went on there were no sight of a dead Hui Yue or her friends. Slowly she calmed down and did her work perfectly. Sighing she started to imagine what Hui Yue was doing. Thinking about him her eyes became stern, and she found a place to cultivate. She swore that from now on she would be by Hui Yue’s side and help him in the dangerous times to come. If she was not strong enough then how could she stand by his side? Thinking about this, the young woman once more focused on her entire body filled with energy and eagerness to improve for the sake of Hui Yue.

  Chapter 371 - Leftovers From the Saints

  * * *

  Chapter 371: Leftovers From the Saints

  “Are you certain that this is the way?” Rong Xing asked Deng Wu for the fourth time this hour, and although the man loved her, he was starting to get a headache. “Trust me,” He said with a sighing. “I can sense Yue’s energy from here; he was definitely going this way. The reason we can not find any treasures is obviously because he has already taken them all. I’m sure he’ll share them with us whenever we catch up to him.”
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  Hearing the words Rong Xing went quiet for a short while before she once more opened her mouth. “You say you can feel where Hui Yue has been. How is that even possible? It has to have been days since he was last here, it’s not like he is some skunk that everyone can smell from his scent. How can you be so sure?”

  Looking at Rong Xing, he sighed deeply and then started combing through his blue hair with his hand while looked at the person he loved most in this world. “Have you ever wondered why my appearance changed so much?” He suddenly asked her, causing Rong Xing to be taken aback. She suddenly realized that she had been too busy with her work and with what happened to the Wang and Deng families to really care about the change in Deng Wu’s appearance. Although she had noticed the change, she never asked why he changed it. When they had finally escaped the Dungeon of the Divine and made it back to Rong Xing, she had to tell him the bad news about his family, and she left everything else be. After that, she never thought too much about it and assumed that it was something he had done himself.

  “Hui Yue and I have something in common.” He said seriously. “I cannot go into details, but it connects and binds us which is what allows me to chase down Hui Yue. As long as he has been through the area I am at then I can still see his energy ripples faintly and follow them.”

  Hearing this, everyone went quiet. It was true that both Hui Yue and Deng Wu looked different from the others; their appearances made others assume they were of mixed blood, but they had never thought there was some sort of connection between them.

  “That bast*rd did not even ask me whether or not I wanted this; he just forced it upon me.” Deng Wu continued as he remembered back to the chamber in the Dragon Corp’s main office.

  A shiver ran through his body as he remembered the pain he had undergone, but even so, he was very satisfied with the result. Sharing a body with Little Dragon was not at all bad thing. Being together with this divine beast allowed him to feel safe even when they met strong Emperors who wished to bully them. Little Dragon might even be strong enough to deal with one star Saints as he used to be a nine star Saint before he was cheated because of his foolishness causing him to lose his body and the ability to raise his cultivation level. Although his level had dropped drastically over the years, especially after meeting Deng Wu, Little Dragon was still far stronger than the average Emperor. There was almost no Emperor who was his match. It was also due to this knowledge that Deng Wu dared to venture into the grave following behind Hui Yue’s trail.

  “It’s a shame that we can’t transform,” Deng Wu mused slowly as he moved forward, the friends following behind him. No one asked more questions, however, Rong Xing did not doubt him any longer either.

  “We are not here to gain treasure but to assist Hui Yue. He was a King when he entered the grave, and although he has some strange powers which can raise his cultivation base incredibly high, it is not something he can use all the time. We need to be there to assist him!” Deng Wu was determined in his mission. He and his friends allowed Hui Yue so much that even if they were used as a living shield, it would be worth it. They were willing to give up their lives if it meant prolonging Hui Yue’s. They were friends and although Hui Yue had certain goals in life they all knew that he would drop anything to assist them.

  The group was focused as they slowly made their way through the tunnels. They had long since left Heaven’s door and entered the long, winding tunnel system. They were not in front of the experts who were rushing through the tunnels, instead, they were around the middle of the pack, and allowed other groups to trigger the traps and deal with the casualties.

  They were in no rush because although they knew that Hui Yue was somewhere in front of them, he was not easily dealt with. There was no way he would die from something as simple as these Saints. If he were that easy to kill, he would have died multiple times already.

  Their advance was not difficult. All they saw was casualties from the traps or people killed from skirmishes. “There is no reason for us to rush to the front,” Deng Wu mumbled as he looked at another three corpses that were laying on the ground. As for the reason of their death, he had no idea. Their ranks while being alive was impossible to guess as their internal energy had already dissipated as soon as their life left them.

  They had walked for days by the time they reached a particularly bloody area. What had killed these experts they did not know, however, all that was left was a bloody mess of flesh and broken bones. There was simply no way to see how many experts had been reduced to this, nor was it really possible to say if this was from humans or something else. If a trap had done this then it was simply too terrifying!

  The moment Rong Xing smelled the sickening metallic scent of blood and saw the messed up flesh and bones she instantly went to the side and puked. Seeing this, Deng Wu instantly found a gourd bottle filled with water which he handed to her while gently combing his hands through her hair. Gratefully the woman took the bottle and placed it to her lips, rinsing her mouth before drinking large gulps.

  “Let’s leave,” Deng Wu said quickly as he made sure to walk on Rong Xing’s side so that she could not see the corpses that had been turned into a pulp. Deep within Rong Xing’s heart she felt gratitude for this old friend of hers. Even though she had never accepted his courting, he was never inattentive towards her. He always treated her as though she were his princess and a sudden softness appeared in her heart. A softness that came from seeing his once more gentle treatment of her.

  Gao Yan and Rong Ming were also incredibly pale but both were men. Although they felt like puking they forcefully held it in and looking away while continuing forward.

  ‘The energy ripples around here tell me that this was not a trap but something done by Hui Yue or someone he was with,’ Little Dragon said casually. ‘The energies here are not only his but Lan Feng’s presence is strong as well.’

  ‘How can you know that Lan Feng was here? I mean he might have been your friend but to be able to feel Hui Yue’s energy ripples just because he has Lan Feng within him, is abnormal right? I can’t even follow the energy ripples of the group in front of us.’

  ‘That’s easy,’ Little Dragon laughed. ‘Hui Yue and Lan Feng are much closer than you and me. We just share your body, however, Lan Feng and Hui Yue share a soul. No, don’t look like that. I don’t know how they did it, however, somehow their souls managed to merge together. Although they each definitely have a soul, these two souls are connected to one another. If one dies they will both die, if one lives they will both live. See, if you were to die, I would not die with you. As a matter of fact, I would be able to take over your body, but if it is seriously injured, I’ll most likely just die then all the same. If I don’t have a body to enter at that time, then I will dissipate into nothing. Although I would die, it would not be because you had died but because I lacked a host. Lan Feng and Hui Yue are different. This is also the reason that Hui Yue and Lan Feng have much better teamwork than us, and even more, Lan Feng is capable of taking his beastly form whereas I am not. At most, I can transform parts of your body but without a beast core my full shape will never be achieved as your body wouldn’t be able to handle the strain.’

  Hearing this Deng Wu had a straight face, and while listening to Little Dragon he had also been gently leading Rong Xing and the two other young men away from the dreadful location they had just left.

  His eyes were firm, and although his usually playful smile was present, it did not reach his eyes which were constantly alert and observing his surroundings. Although he had Little Dragon warning him when they got closer to other experts, he still knew that he could not allow himself to become complacent. He had a goal in this grave, and he would do what he could to achieve it.

  “Oh, who do we have here?” A voice suddenly sounded out through the tunnel, and Deng Wu instantly turned around. His eyes were alert, and his heart started beating rapidly. He had not heard any warning from Little Dragon, and he, himself, had not managed to notice a
nyone either. Behind them, a expert walked out from the shadows. Looking at this person Deng Wu felt killing intent surge up from within, but he resolutely forced this killing intent down.

  “Your highness!” He called out while bowing deeply. The others bowed and curtseyed to him as well. “It is our honor to meet such an excelled person on our trip. However, pardon me for asking, but should our gifted prince be walking on his own within this grave? There are many greedy experts around, and although our prince is very gifted, it might turn dangerous.” Deng Wu said politely. Although the prince was the only person he truly hated, Deng Wu would never allow his feelings to surface.

  Contemplating for some time, the prince looked at the group and slowly nodded his head. “You are correct. I happened to get separated from my group of protectors but knowing that you all are faithful citizens of Taiyang, and knowing that you are good friends of my friend Hui Yue, I think it would be beneficial for both of us if I travel with you.”

  Hearing the words, a sour taste filled Deng Wu’s mouth, and the Rong twins alongside Gao Yan all looked at Deng Wu with worry in their eyes. These three friends were far worse at hiding their emotions than Deng Wu was, however, the blue-haired young man smiled at the prince. His emotions were buried so deeply that no one would ever see them. No one apart from Little Dragon who felt bad for his host, but currently he too was completely silent. He was rather worried about the fact that this so called expert had managed to sneak up on them. His strength was definitely nothing like what the common experts believed.