by Tinalynge
"How did you know about the Formation of Life?" Hui Yue suddenly asked as he petted the small black fox which was laying in his arms. Although the fox seemed to be enjoying his caresses, her eyes were focused on this Ice Serpent. She didn’t blink, and all her muscles were taut ready to launch into action should anything unusual happen.
Looking at this fox, Zhong Fai felt even more unsettled than when he looked at Hui Yue for some unknown reason, and he dared not hesitate in his reply.
"I was told about it by one of An He's Generals. Back then he brought me information from An He saying that they were willing to let me become the sixth General. At first, I was intrigued, but when I heard that it was likely that I had to leave behind my little life within the realm where the formation was located, I declined."
"They then told me that it was possible to remove the formation and that when they found the right person to do so, they would once more offer me the same thing."
"Back then I wanted to become a General." Zhong Fai continued. "But as I thought about it, I realized that it was not such a good idea to enslave myself to An He. I am a divine beast, a beast which is supposed to roam the world. My parents were from the second generation, and I have been alive for eons, even longer than An He has been alive."
"To enslave myself to him, would it really be worth it? As time went on, I decided that it would not be. I started sending my own experts and my brigade members into this realm but nothing happened, and all of them died."
"Since then I have been on the search for experts. Real experts. You caught my eye very early on. At the very start, I wanted you to become a member of the Frozen Brigade, but you quickly improved so much that you could be considered a second An He. I suddenly started understanding that perhaps you were the one I had been waiting for."
"It was not until later that I understood that this General had been speaking about things he was not allowed to talk about to me. An He never wanted me to know about the Formation of Life, and therefore, the General was punished to five thousand years of imprisonment within this Divine Beast World. Although An He is our master, he is very far away. The one which we look upon as our real master is this General."
"Sadly, I cannot tell you his name or what he looks like." Zhong Fai said quickly as he looked at Hui Yue and shook his head. Having guessed what the white-haired young man wanted to ask about. "We all swore an oath that we would not tell anyone his name or appearance. Only then will we be enlightened about the true owners of this world."
Hui Yue frowned. So one of the Generals was actually present within this Divine Beast World. This was something he was happy to hear. It was clear that this person was going to find Hui Yue for a fight sometime soon. Now that Hui Yue was the Crowned Sovereign and even had access to the Formation of Life, he was nothing more than a sitting duck for An He. He had so many things which An He was going to want.
"So tell me, where is the Formation of Life?" Zhong Fai who was filled with curiosity asked. His eyes were shining with excitement, but Hui Yue just snorted. Zhong Fai was very ambitious, and if he knew the location of the Formation of Life, one bad thing after another would happen.
"Currently someone else is using it." Hui Yue said with a sigh. He had to allow Zhong Fai to enter this formation. He had to repay the kindness he had been shown, even if it was going to cause troubles in the future.
"When the day comes I will come here and pick you up. I have my own method of bringing you to the Formation of Life, and when I do, you will not know where it is located or how to get there. I will, however, allow you to become a God."
Hui Yue was not speaking politely as he was unsure of Zhong Fai's intentions and goals in life. The fact that he had previously considered becoming a General for An He was enough for Hui Yue to label him as an enemy.
It was not only Hui Yue who was like this, but the rest of his friends had tensed up as well. When Zhong Fai spoke these words, he realized that he had said something wrong as the atmosphere had changed, but no matter how he thought about it, he had no idea why this had happened.
He knew many things about Hui Yue, and he had, by now, understood that there definitely was enmity between him and An He but he was not aware of just how deep it ran. He did not know how much hate the two sides felt for each other.
"I already said I was not going to enslave myself." He mumbled surprised. "Can it be that just because I considered it I am being treated like this?"
Zhong Fai finally guessed the reason and contemplated for some time. "I am willing to sacrifice a lot for power." He said after some time, deep in thought as if he was ruminating through old memories. "Back when I was young I was just one of many snakelets. When we had just hatched our mother and father were gone, and many of my brothers and sisters died of starvation."
"As I grew up I was nothing more than an ordinary beast. You see, although I am a divine beast, I am far from being as strong as my parents were as second generation beasts. I had to fight for everything I wanted in life, and I had to start using other people as a means to get what I wanted. I soon found that there was safety in numbers and as my Ice-serpent poison evolved, I started to create my Frozen Brigade."
"When I left the sea I entered the continent and traveled from forest to forest, always trying my best to escape humans. Back in the sea, it had been stronger beasts constantly trying to capture or kill me, and now it was the humans. There was no place that was peaceful and quiet; no place where I could rest. I was always on the run."
"I lost many of my Frozen Brigade members, but even so my army kept expanding. Every time I survived a battle, my army would increase by at least one, and when I finally reached this frozen mountaintop, I finally found a place where no other living being was capable of surviving."
"After fleeing for so many years, I finally found a place where I could relax. A place where I could focus on getting stronger and more powerful without worries. I stayed at this location for a full thousand years and focused solely on my cultivation."
"During this time, I finally became a King ranked beast and only then did I dare leave my icy mountain, but never for a long period of time. Another few thousand years went by where I went down the mountain once every ten years or so. Every time I returned, I had more and more members of my Frozen Brigade."
Zhong Fai paused for a moment to see if Hui Yue was listening, and he was satisfied to see this human paying attention to his life’s story. He had never before spoken about his past, so it was quite a strange, enjoyable feeling, therefore, he continued.
"It took me a total of seven thousand years to reach the Saint rank. Although my talent is poor, I was able to achieve this much, but in the end, I know my limits. This is the very peak of my abilities. Because I realized that my talent was limited, I started to panic. What could I do to improve? I went down the mountain more often to increase the power of my Frozen Brigade; I started to consume human flesh in the hope that I could gain their cultivation base and I ate thousands of high ranked beast cores."
"While humans do not increase their strength by eating beast cores, in fact, they lose strength, but beasts are not the same. A beast's core can absorb the energy of other beast cores which in turn increases their strength. Just look at me, my strength soared to the skies, but now I reached a limit to how much I can improve from consuming external pills, cores, and flesh. I am still a long ways from becoming a God."
"It was at this point when I was feeling the most dejected, that An He's General came to find me. I was in despair, and they promised me a chance at becoming a God. It was almost too good to pass up."
Chapter 497 - The General
* * *
Chapter 497: The General
"At this point in time, An He was still just a Saint much like me, and my pride as a divine beast would not allow me to submit to someone weaker than myself. I was not willing to fight him, and thus I did not know what his real strength was so I just declined his offer."
"An He did not seem to mind
. He would come visit me from time to time and offer me a position as a General but because I kept declining, he said my heart was cold, that I was Frozen and that I would always be the Frozen General."
"Back then I liked the name and took it as my own. I was proud of myself and proud of being in control of my own life. I was the leader of my Frozen Brigade, and thus the name was fitting me well."
"I often left the mountain, and while I did, I started to notice changes in the world around us. The humans started expanding rapidly and the beasts retreated into the forests. As time passed you saw humans and beasts interact less and less until it was something one never saw anymore. Nowadays you hear humans cursing people of mixed blood and treat them as freaks to say nothing of how they treat real beasts. Many of the strongest members of my Frozen Brigade are of mixed blood and the talent of these creatures is often better than humans. Still, it showed the way the world was going."
"Soon An He became a God and as he did the other Generals which followed him also became Gods. They once more offered me the same position as before, but I declined. As time went by I started to understand that these changes were because of An He. As he became a God, he started a manhunt for all second generation beasts and killed any he came across."
"This also included my own parents."
"Although, I previously wanted to be one of An He’s Generals and become a God ranked cultivator much like them, I could not forget everything they had done. Although my parents and I had a causal relationship, they were still my parents. I will not forgive him for what he did!"
"Since then my relationship with An He has been strained. We are not enemies, but we are no longer friends either. I will not submit to anyone; I will wander the world on my own and establish a name for myself. I could not risk my life to obtain the Formation of Life, and truthfully I am not interested in keeping it. All I am interested in is to become a God and leave this godforsaken world as soon as possible. I want to leave behind the life I lived up until now and start it anew as a God."
Zhong Fai was unsure why he wanted Hui Yue to know all of this. He was unsure why he wanted him to know the relationship he had with An He, but deep inside there was a sense of crisis. If Hui Yue saw him as an enemy did this not mean that he was likely to lose his life on this dark night?
Hui Yue felt more relaxed after hearing Zhong Fai's words. He no longer feared that he was someone sent by An He. For some unknown reason, he completely believed what Zhong Fai told him. Looking at the fox in his arms, he noticed that she had closed her eyes and was no longer paying attention to the Frozen General. It was clear that she no longer took him as a threat.
"I see… In that case, we will be leaving." Hui Yue said with a nod to Zhong Fai as he was about to leave. There was no reason to stay at the Frozen Palace while waiting for Cai Jie to become a God.
"We will return as soon as the formation is free. I will bring you there and then you can leave this world if you want." Hui Yue said over his shoulder while leading his friends out of the Frozen Palace.
Zhong Fai did not stop him, he just leaned back against the chair again and closed his eyes. Suddenly image after image appeared in his mind. He was thinking back to the early years of his life. How long had it been since he last thought about his childhood and his early life? He could not remember, but it had definetly been a very long time. Think of it now, he was overwhelmed with emotions.
As he opened his eyes, Hui Yue and his friends had already vanished. The big throne room was empty and the only thing one could hear was a deep sigh that seemed to reach throughout the entire room.
"I will leave it all behind. I will shed my skin and soar through the heavens above; I will travel through the various worlds. I will be a lone wanderer, never joining any faction, not allowing anything to hold me down."
This was Zhong Fai's true desire, his true dream. Now, thanks to Hui Yue, this dream was within reach for him. A manic smile appeared on his lips as his laughter rang throughout the palace. Laughter which accompanyed Hui Yue and his friends as they left the Frozen Palace.
Three months later Hui Yue and his friends were walking on a dusty road moving towards Muchuan City. Everywhere around them were caravans and wagons, parties of friends and martial brothers alongside mercenaries and adventurers.
The last two weeks more and more people had appeared on the road, and now it was packed. Although it was busy, not many of the people on the road had been chatting. Hui Yue, who was eager to return home, was not able learn of any gossip about the capital. This whole time he had a worried feeling deep within his heart. It was clear that the General of An He would be in the capital, and therefore he feared that things would have been changed when he returned home.
"I heard that the princess was supposed to be the next ruler of Taiyang Kingdom, but there was that assassination attempt and she almost died. No one knows exactly who was behind it, but within the capital, they say that her biggest supporter has died. They say that he has been gone for many years so they are most likely right. Many Saints who were unhappy with him have grouped together to push one of the princes into power."
This was the first piece of news that Hui Yue heard and his face instantly paled when he heard it. He was the main support of the princess, and now it seemed as though the Saints in the capital were getting rather brazen because he had been away for a few years. A sinister expression appeared in his eyes and he turned to his friends. "Take the flying swords and enter my mansion right now." He said with a voice as cold as the Frozen Palace they had just left. His face was unsightly, and no one questioned him. "Huli go with them and protect them."
Hui Yue's voice left no room for disagreement and she quickly took the shape of a woman leading his friends away. They turned into streaks of light and vanished in the distance.
No one around them noticed this; they were all too busy with their own things, however, when Hui Yue took to the air and started flying, everyone noticed him.
Hui Yue ignored anyone below him as he sped up and entered Muchuan City. He hovered right above the largest marketplace in town and with a voice filled with Ancestral Worldpower, Hui Yue called out. "Question my authority and die!"
"Any Saint within Muchuan City, show yourself!" He called out and the entire city trembled. The mortals were scared witless and filled with fear as they rushed back to their homes. Some expert appeared out of nowhere and dared to insult all the Saints within the city. Was this war? No one knew what was going on, and although they were curious, no one wished to be killed from the shockwaves that came from Saints fighting. Therefore everyone rushed for safety.
It did not take long before the first Saints appeared. The first to appear was Zhu Jun, and when he saw Hui Yue hovering in the air with no aura, his heart was filled with excitement and trepidation. Hui Yue was his friend and him gaining strength was an amazing thing, but this also meant that the more power Hui Yue gained the harder he had to work to catch up. Thinking back to when they had met in the Grave of the Unknown, the increase in strength that Hui Yue showed was enough to cause Zhu Jun to wonder if he was cultivating a evil art.
It did not take long for the rest of Muchuan City to gather. They were all proud experts and when someone was so brazen as to call out all of them in the way Hui Yue had done, they were not going to hide. But the moment they laid eyes on this arrogant expert many were filled with fear.
Hui Yue had been away for too long. Many disliked him from before because of his strength and his quick advancement but now they feared him even more. To have appeared after so many years meant that he was not dead like they had hoped. They could even tell he had improved more than they had ever imagined.
"Who are you?" Someone called out. The person was a Saint who Hui Yue had never seen before, and when Hui Yue looked at him, he raised an eyebrow. He was a mere one star Saint yet he still dared to speak to Hui Yue in such a manner. A few people present were unsure if this was stupidity or bravery.
"I am Hui Yue." He int
roduced himself. "This is my world, and anyone who goes against me will die. Now I will give you the chance to consider will you behave and listen to my decisions, or will you continue to cause me trouble?"
Hui Yue was domineering and overpowering. He was not hiding his voice in the least and said exactly what he wished to say. He also wished to lure out the General that was working for An He. He knew it was about time for them to battle, and as a result, he chose to say such imposing words.
"Who do you think you are?!" The person who had spoken before spoke out again and took a step forward. "I am a Saint! I lower my head to no one! Your world!? Keep dreaming. Be careful, or I will kill you myself!"
Hearing his outburst, Hui Yue started laughing. A reaction which caused everyone present to become quiet. "You kill me?" Hui Yue chuckled and lifted his hand. A wisp of fire from his Eternal Flame appeared, and with a flick of his fingers, the flame shot forward at a speed so unfathomably fast that it was impossible for them to follow much less react to it.
