by Tinalynge
The blue cloud and the snowstorm worked together to suppress anyone inside it. Thanks to this combination Hui Yue was capable of dealing with the weaker Saints. To deal with the stronger ones, though, he would need to use something more.
Roaming through the snowstorm, Hui Yue skillfully managed to avoid the powerful Saints while he killed one lower leveled Saint after another. Unfortunately, he soon ran out of easy targets.
Having absorbed the lifeforce from seven Saints, Hui Yue could feel how he had gotten stronger. The lifeforce had another effect on his abilities as well as boosting his attacks. It was as though his Qi, spiritual energy, and Wu Wei had grown stronger. Every attack was more potent than it had been before and it seemed that the more lifeforce he absorbed, the stronger his attacks became. However, he was not dumb. He could guess that when he started using this lifeforce, his attacks would become weaker once more.
Seeing that he had killed seven Saints, Hui Yue withdrew from the snowstorm. He stopped pouring Wu Wei into his Sword of the Icy Tempest and slowly it ice storm calmed.
Although Hui Yue had killed seven Saints, there was still a large group remaining. But as the snow cleared the faces of the remaining Saints were all deadly pale as they saw how many corpses were lying silently in the red snow. All of them had their hearts pierced, and all of them seemed to have died without being able to put up a fight.
Many of the Saints could not help but shiver as they looked at the Emperor who had made so many Saints appear to be nothing more than stepping stones. Looking at him, they all felt terrified. A strange energy was being emitted from him, an energy they had never experienced before, but it was so filled with vitality and vigor that they innately feared it.
“What is he?” One of the Saints asked. “Could he be a genius from another plane?” Another asked. Hearing the question Hui Yue could not help but raise an eyebrow. He did not expect that these Saints would know about the existence of other planes. It was clear that he needed to ask Xiao Ning about some details later.
Hui Yue did not answer the Saints, but all of them felt their hearts stop as they suddenly looked at Hui Yue with new expressions. They were all aware that Hui Yue was the Grand Marshall of the Shenyuan Beast Army, and for someone to have such a high rank when only an Emperor was enough to make them believe that he truly was from somewhere else. Even Xiao Ning and the three other Saints looked at Hui Yue with a strange expression. While the others were looking at him with fear, they were beaming with admiration.
Hui Yue sighed but said nothing. It would be of great benefit to him if everyone believed that he was from another plane because it would give him a break from the battle. Therefore, while everyone was stunned, he went over to his friends.
When he was going, he had his mind reeling as he went through how to use the witch powers. It was quite simple; as long as he wished to use the skills, he would be able to use them. The only limit that was in his way was whether or not he had enough lifeforce. Often when one used lifeforce, they forgot about their limit and many witches would perish from using up their own life to fight or heal others and then would drop dead.
This knowledge was something that Hui Yue made a big deal to focus on. He was not interested in suddenly dying because he used all his lifeforce, but he was still very interested in lifeforce as an energy.
Placing his hand on his friend’s shoulders, he closed his eyes and willed his lifeforce to start healing. The lifeforce flowed through his body and the wounds that they had sustained while protecting him vanished within seconds.
Everyone was shocked by the almost instantaneous healing. There was no green light, no signs of the Wood affinity being used, nor did the healing take long. The healer, Hui Yue, did not seem fatigued in the least. Having healed his friends, Hui Yue looked around.
They was nowhere else in this inner tomb to go, and there were no more treasures to be had. Staying here would not prove beneficial anymore and so, gesturing to his friends, he started to walk towards the entrance they had come in through.
Staying back in the grave chamber and not daring to move were the survivors of the Snowstorm Prison. All of them felt their legs turn to mush, and their minds grow numb. Although they wished to get the treasures Hui Yue and his friends had gathered, none of them truly wanted to fight someone from another plane. He had abilities and powers that no one knew about. Fighting him would be the same as fighting blind.
Just as they left the chamber, Xiao Ning stopped for a moment and looked at Hui Yue with reverence. It was clear that he too was confident that Hui Yue was from another plane, and that this was the reason for his strange, enigmatic strength.
“Tell us about the other planes,” He asked curiously. “We know that we can leave this plane if we reach the rank of a God, but you have already traveled across space. How did you get here?”
“How do you even know about the different planes?” Hui Yue asked curiously while he avoided answering the question he was asked.
Thankfully no one minded his lack of response, and Xiao Ning instantly responded to the question. “When someone becomes a Saint they are told to go to the center palace and meet with the true ruler of the world.”
“He is the strongest expert of our plane, and the five great generals support him. Although he leaves the world to the world leaders, he has the power to suppress everyone, and although we officially heed the orders of our Kings, we are doing exactly that because the Lord tells us to.”
Hui Yue’s heart started to race, and his eyes widened at the news. The true ruler of the world? It could only be one person.
“The five generals are the Frozen General and other Saints?” Hui Yue asked curiously. Seeing that the other four Saints looked at him strangely, Hui Yue had no other option than to laugh. “I am new to this place; therefore, I don’t know everything.”
“The Frozen General is not one of the five generals. The five generals are all Gods; existences who stand on top of this world by the true ruler’s side. They carry out his tasks and ensure that everything he wants is done to his liking. When a Saint becomes a God, we are all allowed to join the five generals. To become one of the true ruler’s generals is our biggest dream.”
Hearing this, Hui Yue decided not to tell anyone about his relationship with An He. Instead, he nodded the head. He finally understood that he was against every Saint and God that existed on this plane.
‘Don’t worry too much about it just yet,’ Lan Feng mumbled. ‘Keep on building your relationship with these four Saints and when time comes I am certain that they’ll choose you over him.’
Thinking like this, Hui Yue nodded his head. He might need to make his own group of generals, but that was something for the future. What troubled him was the fact that he was just one against six Gods. It was quite a disadvantage.
Shaking his head, he decided not to think about it for now. Right now he had a lot of things he needed to deal with before he was ready to kill An He.
He had to make sure that the green pearl’s dream was accomplished. He needed to get revenge for Wang Ju Long and Deng Wu, and he needed to look after his two small kids who were relying on him. Fighting An He had to wait until he was strong enough. Until then he would do what he could to increase both his individual strength and the strength of those around him. There was one thing he had learned from Lan Feng through the many years they had been together and that was that being a team was far better than being alone. Building a group of friends would without a doubt become a source of strength for him in the long run.
“Well, either way, let us get out of here so we can share the treasures we have managed to get our hands on,” He said with great laughter. The four others nodded their heads, and their eyes turned slightly red as they thought of all the treasures they gained. After teaming up with Hui Yue, they had gained more than they ever had imagined.
Chapter 379 - Gathering
* * *
Chapter 379: Gathering
Hui Yue was about to leav
e the room when he suddenly heard a voice call out to him, “Little Yue!”
The voice was very familiar. It reminded him of his younger days, and with a great smile he turned around and looked at Rong Xing who was running towards him. Behind her was Deng Wu, Rong Ming, Gao Yan, and shockingly enough also the third prince of Taiyang Kingdom.
Opening his arms, he gave Rong Xing a warm hug only to hear a loudly complaining Deng Wu followed by laughter from the rest of his friends. This seemed natural, but while Hui Yue was filled with happiness, he was not complacent in the least. His spiritual energy was spread throughout the room, and he was able to sense any movements happening within this innermost chamber.
While Hui Yue was busy greeting his old friends, Xiao Ning and the three others suddenly became alert and shifted their positions so that they surrounded Hui Yue. They did not allow anyone to even come close to Hui Yue. They would not want anybody to interrupt their reunion.
“I am glad to see that you are all safe and well.” Hui Yue said from the heart while observing all his friends, and he gave an approving nod to Deng Wu. For them to have reached this far, it was clear that Deng Wu had to have used Little Dragon’s strength.
“We need to get out of here now; there is nothing more for us to find here.” Hui Yue sighed as he had let go of Rong Xing. He then gestured for the Saints to come closer which they instantly did. None of them asked even a single question. They just waited for Hui Yue to introduce them.
“These are my new friends. All of them are Saints of the Taiyang Kingdom,” Hui Yue started, but he was interrupted by all the Saints bowing to the third prince. Although Xiao Ning did not seem to be too respectful, he still bowed to the prince. The other three Saints were incredibly respectful, but even so, after bowing they went back to stand behind Hui Yue.
“Your highness, I did not expect to see you here,” Hui Yue said with a nod to the third prince. Although he was currently living in Muchuan City, he was not a genuine citizen of the Taiyang Kingdom. If anything he belonged to Shenyuan, and due to this, Hui Yue did not need to show the same respect to the prince.
“For now, we need to leave,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face, but his spiritual energy was observing the many Saints that were starting to move. Although Hui Yue was strong, he did not believe that he had the capability to protect his friends and at the same time defeat these Saints.
Xiao Ning was not slow and looking at Hui Yue he understood that something was wrong, therefore, Wu Wei poured out from his body. It created a dome-like barrier around them, and it was not before his Radiant Aegis was complete that he could relax.
The barrier was large since it needed to cover an astonishing ten cultivators. The quantity of Wu Wei that this barrier consumed was unimaginable, and from time to time he would pop a red medicinal pill into his mouth. This was followed by a fluctuation in the energy surrounding them.
Leaving the chamber was no hard task. Although the Saints were starting to tail them none of them wished to be the first to move. Instead, they all insisted on waiting for Xiao Ning to run out of energy, yet after a full day of walking the energy shield was still active.
They had left the innermost chambers of the Grave and had taken the same tunnel they went through on the way in. This place was familiar, and they could move far swifter than they had been able to if they took one of the other tunnels.
Even though it was like this, they were still followed by the Saints. On the way, they came across many lower ranked experts that were heading for the inner core; some were there to look for treasure and others just to see the actual grave and to say they reached the core.
Amongst the many experts, Xu Min could not recognize any of them. “I had hoped to run into Wang Ju Long or Sha Yun. Even Ma Kong would be good to run into,” Hui Yue mumbled, but Lan Feng quickly answered him. ‘No. It is not a good idea to increase the number of people you need to watch. Let us rush out of the grave, and split up the treasures. Make sure that the Saints are aware that they owe us one and then get rid of the third prince.’
Understanding what Lan Feng said was correct, Hui Yue could only sigh. He nodded his head before he gestured for them to stop. It was time for them to rest during the night before moving further through the tunnel. There was no reason to travel during the night.
As soon as Hui Yue’s group stopped a large group of people around a kilometer away also stopped in their tracks waiting to see what would happen.
“The Saints will be on guard duty during the night. Two Saints together and we will switch three times. Since we don’t have enough Saints, Deng Wu will guard together with me,” Hui Yue said.
No one questioned his orders. Instead, they quickly gathered up and got ready to rest. The lowest ranked person in their group was the King ranked experts, but all of them were experts of the upper dantian. Although they now went to relax for the night it was not because their bodies were exhausted, nor was it because they needed food as after reaching such a level their bodies were sustained by the essence of the heavens and the earth.
The reason Hui Yue decided they needed a break was because he felt uncomfortable traveling through the tunnel at night. The light stones were already dim, and they would dim further making it possible to accidentally release the traps they had previously managed to avoid.
The night went by without many issues; the worst part was that the following group of Saints slowly inched closer and closer during the night. By the time it was morning the group of Saints were now only half a kilometer away.
Ignoring them, Hui Yue broke up camp and started moving in the early morning. Although he ignored these experts, his other friends had a hard time being as carefree. This caused a tense atmosphere to descend upon the group.
Xiao Ning was about to keep the radiant aegis up all day, but before he summoned his Wu Wei, he saw Hui Yue shake his head. “Go to the front and make sure no one succeeds in attacking up there as if that were to happen then we would truly be in a terrible position.” Hui Yue mumbled low enough so that only Xiao Ning could hear what was said.
Hearing the words, the Shield of the Taiyang Kingdom nodded his head solemnly before he marched to the front. Hui Yue, on the other hand, stayed at the back, ready to welcome the Saints should they feel the need to throw their lives away.
The three remaining Saints mingled with Hui Yue’s friends. They started talking with them about what they had experienced in the tunnels and compared their trips. When they reached the point where Hui Yue had used them as bait to trigger the traps, the mood instantly changed from being somber to becoming cheerful. Seeing how well the three Saints managed to make his friends forget about all their worries was enough for Hui Yue to feel grateful to them.
During the day, none of the experts tried to get closer to Hui Yue and his friends. Instead, they ensured to keep the same distance between them, something that did not surprise Hui Yue in the slightest. Although these experts were strong, and had the advantage of numbers, none of them truly trusted the others. They were all from different families, and all of them had the terrifying Snowstorm Prison etched in their mind. This, coupled with the fact that so many Saints had been killed within a very short time was enough to cause them to hesitate greatly. It must be known that normally Saints would have an almost unlimited lifespan, and it was truly a rare day when a Saint died. When one Saint passed away the whole kingdom would mourn their passing, but earlier a whole group of Saints had been killed almost instantly; they were slain as easily as a knife cuts tofu. This was truly enough to shake any cultivator.
Even if they did not feel like admitting it, this Emperor in front of them scared them witless. They had no idea where his strength came from, what his true strength was, and whether or not he even originated from their plane. Everything about him was a mystery, and no one wished to risk their lives to get the answers to their questions.
As long as Hui Yue was at the back, no one tried to inch closer, in fact, they increased the distance between t
he two groups. This continued for the following days. At first, they had seen a lot of experts passing by them, aiming for the innermost chamber, but soon all the experts going further and further into the grave understood that since the Saints had returned, then there was likely no treasure left behind. Soon what started to be just two groups of experts turned into a train of people, pushing their way forward trying to exit the massive tomb. No treasure meant that none of them had a reason to stay any longer. If anything it would just cause them to lose more cultivation time.
While Hui Yue was dismayed at the sudden increase in people, the Saints were very much pleased with it. Forcefully suppressing their cultivation base, they were able to slip closer and closer to the group belonging to Hui Yue, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Unfortunately, they were noticed every single time, and as soon as Hui Yue made eye contact, they lowered their heads before they dejectedly returned to the larger group of Saints. What their current aim was, no one truly knew. Even the Saints hunting down Hui Yue would have been incapable of answering. Yes, they wanted his treasures, but none of them wanted to fight him. Yes, they could kidnap his friends, but then they would have to fight him. With a sigh, they all decided to be satisfied with what they had gained and slowly leave this godforsaken place filled with dangers, traps, and monsters.
