by Tinalynge
These formations were not present on the streets, and thus sometimes people died within Skydragon Fortress, but to kill within such a restricted zone was a bold and crazy thing to do. Only those new to these cities or ones crazed by greed would do so.
But were these supreme experts following at a distance new to the city or just simply blinded by greed? Hui Yue did not know. Another option was that they were there to observe Hui Yue and see how he would fare if a battle broke out. There were many possibilities, and Hui Yue could not come up with all of them. So he couldn’t decide what to make of them.
'Focus on the ones close by,' Lan Feng's voice resounded in Hui Yue's mind, 'although they are weaker they are more likely to attack. But if you can make it back to the inn first, then that will be the best.'
Hui Yue agreed with the phoenix, and he reached out and took Huli's hand into his own. Smiling at her, they started running through the streets at a high speed.
At first, Huli was surprised, but then a small smile appeared on her lips as she happily followed behind Hui Yue.
The inn was mediocre and not placed in the middle of the fortress much like Treasure Mountain. To reach the inn they had to move through quite a few districts, and on the way, the sun had long since set in the sky. Now the moon cast its gentle light down upon the streets. As they left one district and entered another, the first person pursuing him finally made his move.
This district they were now in was rather small, and it was rare for guards to come here. It was clear that this person was rather familiar with the city, but even so, he was willing to risk his life to attack Hui Yue and gain his treasures.
Seeing that a man suddenly appeared in front of Hui Yue, the young man stopped in his tracks. Looking at the idiot obstructing him, Hui Yue's eyes turned icy, and he said in a cold voice, "Scram!"
Chapter 516 - Refining a Soul
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Chapter 516: Refining a Soul
Hui Yue's eyes iced over as he stared at the person in front of him. This expert had greed showing all over his face, and with a wanton grin, he looked at Hui Yue as if all he saw were Worldpower Stones en mass in front of him.
While some of the followers were here out of greed, others followed out of curiosity to see Hui Yue's true strength, and knowing this, Hui Yue obviously could not display all his strength. He needed to stay mysterious and unknown to stay alive. As long as they feared him, he was relatively safe.
Thinking of this, he decided that he needed to be ruthless to anyone who blocked his way, and as the greedy expert appeared in front of him, Hui Yue only uttered the word scram. If the expert did not listen, then he was going to prove that he had the strength to instantly get rid of any trouble that appeared in front of him.
"Hehe, you think that you have what it takes to make me scram? If you give me all your Worldpower Stones, I'll consider letting you leave with your little life. If not, do not blame me for being ruthless."
Hearing this, Hui Yue's face turned darker. He sensed the dao around him and activated the Ancestral Worldpower in his body while looking straight at the person in front of him. The dao of devouring was integrated into his body; the Ancestral Worldpower had changed and now was infused with the dao of the devouring.
The moment Hui Yue looked into the eyes of the attacker, he unleashed this dao that he had fully understood and used his consciousness and the dao to directly attack the soul of his opponent.
Attacking the soul of his opponent was the trademark of the red wolf, and having understood and pondered on the many memories gained from the wolf, the witch, and the monk Hui Yue managed to completely comprehend the dao of devouring. Stealing the soul of a weaker opponent was no difficult feat.
The expert that stood in front of Hui Yue made the mistake of looking into Hui Yue's eyes and the moment he did he felt as if time stood still. His body became unresponsive, and a shudder went through his whole body. His vision became blurry and started to spin, and he lost all ability to see what was happening to him before he felt a suction force; a force so great that it ripped his consciousness and, his soul, away from his body and then everything turned black.
For the ones present, no one felt as much as a ripple of energy. They just saw Hui Yue activate his Ancestral Worldpower but never saw him attack. This was because Hui Yue had not actually used the Ancestral Worldpower in his body but fully depended on the dao surrounding him and his strong soul to devour the soul of his opponent.
Less than a second had passed from the time the expert had spoken until his body turned rigid and then collapsed on the ground. No breath could be heard; no heartbeat could be felt.
"We better leave," Hui Yue said, his voice sounding terribly cheerful for someone who had just slaughtered an expert, but Huli said nothing. All she did was giggle and take Hui Yue's hand as they rushed away.
Standing behind him were the two groups of experts, and all of them were deeply shocked. Although they were very strong as well, they knew they could never kill someone as easily as he had done. For that one needed overwhelming strength. Amongst the second group, three of the experts' faces were filled with disbelief and confusion while two of them were filled with a solemn air.
"To think he is so ruthless as to walk the dao of devouring. And from the look of things he has completely comprehended the entire dao!" One of the experts mumbled to himself, his words so low that no one else heard them, but deep in his heart he was shocked.
"The dao of devouring is one of the strongest daos out there. If he has not comprehended other daos, then he is on equal footing with those who has comprehended three daos, but if he has insights into more than this dao, then I fear that he is much stronger than the majority of the people participating in these trials. It’s best not to make an enemy out of him!" The expert decided in his heart while turning to leave.
It was not only him who had reached this conclusion. Other experts also came to the conclusion that Hui Yue had outstanding strength and that it was not wise to agitate him. He truly had the strength to keep the wealth he had displayed at the auction house and with grumbling voices, displeased expressions, and bellies full of anger the group of greedy dispersed.
The last group lingered around for a little while longer before they too vanished. They had quite a bit to think about.
Hui Yue, who had sounded cheerful had done so on purpose to intimidate the people following them, and Huli, who had guessed his intention, had followed his act perfectly. Now that he could feel that they were no longer being followed, Hui Yue stumbled over his feet as Huli caught him.
"I need to refine this soul instantly," he mumbled through gritted teeth as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
This was the first time Hui Yue had used the dao of devouring to forcefully rip someone’s soul from their body and then take it for himself, but now he understood that the soul had its own mind. Hui Yue needed to refine the soul before he could use it to strengthen his own soul. He was actually not sure how to do this now that the soul was so strong that it struggled against him. All he could do for now was to use his strong consciousness to lock up and entangle the rampant soul.
"Return to the inn right away, and I will teach you how to refine the soul," the spirit from the Universe Box spoke in Hui Yue's mind, and the white-haired young man nodded his head. He closed his eyes for a moment to ensure that the soul was tied up and incapable of escaping, like a turtle in a jar, before he sent a tired smile to Huli.
"I'm fine, but this soul is stronger than I expected," he explained, "we need to hurry back to the inn, I need to refine it as soon as possible."
Arm in arm and with help from Huli, the two rushed back to the inn where they instantly went to their rooms. When someone looked at the two, they would assume that Hui Yue had been drinking a little too much and that Huli was just helping him home, but the truth was quite different. The soul within his consciousness was constantly fighting, constantly trying to struggle out of the binds that Hui Yue had to fortif
y at every moment.
Although he had succeeded in ripping out the soul from the cultivator, he finally understood that this expert actually was quite strong. Had it not been for him making eye contact and the sudden attack, then his devouring would have likely failed.
Entering the room, Hui Yue instantly sat down on the bed and entered the Universe Box to meet up with the spirit. He was panicked and uncertain what to do. He knew he could ask Huli but was not certain that she knew. Hearing that the spirit of the Universe Box was willing to teach him, Hui Yue obviously wanted to use his assistance first then if that did not work, he would turn to Huli.
"Take out the Chaos Cauldron," the spirit said, making Hui Yue frown, but hearing the order, he did not hesitate and did as he was told. The small black Chaos Cauldron appeared in front of Hui Yue's body.
"Now place the soul within this Chaos Cauldron and refine it as you would a medicinal herb. There are different ways to refine souls, but this way is the one that allows you to get the most from them. Only a few cauldrons can refine souls, and those that can are often already owned by renowned alchemists."
Hui Yue was stunned, "Was this why you wanted me to buy the Chaos Cauldron?" He asked shocked, but the spirit just snorted, "Although the cauldron is very beneficial to you when you need to refine souls, I did not want you to buy it for your own sake. This cauldron belonged to one of master's apprentice brothers," the spirit said, and a longing was evident in his voice. "It is likely that it has some clues about where Lord Alchemist God has vanished to."
"Although you are here for your own purposes, don't forget our agreement. You are to do your best to find the Alchemist God, and I will assist you from time to time." The spirit said, and Hui Yue nodded his head in agreement.
"I will do what I can to find him when I finish this. I need to resurrect Wang Ju Long before I am able to focus on anything else."
The spirit did not urge Hui Yue to give up on Wang Ju Long it just ensured that Hui Yue did not forget his part of their deal.
"Anyhow, hurry up and refine the soul. It will be beneficial for you to consume such a person's strength. The stronger you are, the more likely it is that you will find my master!"
The spirit said no more after this, and Hui Yue understood that the conversation was over. He hurried to leave the Universe Box and looked at the cauldron in front of him.
The soul within his consciousness was still struggling, and with a great deal of effort, Hui Yue managed to pull it out from within him and place it in the Chaos Cauldron. He instantly lit up the cauldron with his eternal flame and suddenly wailing sounds started to cry out from within the cauldron.
Huli, who was quick to react, instantly sealed the room ensuring that these cries of agony did not leave. If anyone was to enter and see that Hui Yue was currently refining a soul, it was obvious that he would be branded as an evil cultivator and likely be chased out of the inn.
To Huli, however, it did not matter that Hui Yue was refining the soul of an expert, nor did she care about the fact that he was going to consume this soul to become a stronger expert. The expert had tried to take Hui Yue's life. He only had himself to blame for the fact that his soul was being consumed.
The refinement required Hui Yue to be fully focused on the flame. If it was too hot, he would not only be burning away the evil energy within the soul but also some of the potent energy that he wanted to consume, but if it wasn’t hot enough then the impurities and evil energy would not be fully removed.
"Don't worry. You'll perfect it soon," Huli said with a smile on her face. In her eyes, Hui Yue was impeccable. He had no faults, and he would become great at anything he did.
Sweat dripped down Hui Yue's face as his eyes were focused on the cauldron where the soul which had been screaming in pain was now just a small ball of white energy.
When Hui Yue felt no resistance from the energy ball, he finally stopped the refinement and took the white ball of energy out of the cauldron before he looked at it with curiosity.
This small ball of energy was pulsating in his hand, and Hui Yue instantly used devouring again to consume it. He could feel it as it burned through his body causing him to open his eyes wide. He felt an indescribable power surge within his body.
Chapter 517 - The Elder In Space
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Chapter 517: The Elder In Space
As soon as the small ball of energy entered his body, he felt an indescribable feeling of power overwhelm him. His entire body went rigid, and something deep within his soul started resonating with this ball of energy.
With each pulsation, it became smaller, but the ripples of energy entered deep into his core where his consciousness was greedily absorbing everything. One ripple after another was absorbed, and soon there was no more energy left as the small ball of energy had long since been absorbed by Hui Yue.
The soul of Hui Yue had not changed; it had not become translucent or anything of the sort and by looking at his consciousness nothing on the surface seemed to have changed, but Hui Yue could feel a distinct difference.
Just recently he had learned how to use his consciousness to scan the surrounding area to feel other people's movements, hear their words, and get a general feel of their emotions. The range of which he was capable of sensing these things had now increased from a kilometer to ten kilometers from just consuming one soul!
Seeing that Hui Yue's body had turned rigid, Huli was worried. She knew that Hui Yue had consumed souls before, but because of his connection with Lan Feng he had always had a strong soul so consuming the souls of experts that had still not become Gods was in no way a difficult task for him. Consuming souls like that had not even required refinement as they could easily be broken down by his mental energy
As soon as one became a God, one's body and soul transformed. The body and soul were now two different things, and even without a physical body, the soul would be able to continue living for a short while, and being able to remake a body from Ancestral Worldpower or other substances depended on one’s strength. This also meant that if you truly wished to kill a God, you had to shatter their soul. Another option was to enslave their soul or if the soul was incapable of creating a body in due time, allow for it to return to Diyu where it would be reincarnated.
Most Gods had their soul shattered which meant that their soul was sent to the yellow river where He Bo, the Spirit of the River, would guard them. Only the ruler of hell was capable of entering the yellow river to resurrect shattered souls.
Hui Yue's body was no longer rigid. Instead, it had turned back to normal, and a smile spread on his lips. He had benefitted greatly from consuming this soul, but now that the soul had become pure energy, the soul would not enter the circle of reincarnation.
Opening his eyes, Hui Yue saw Huli sitting only an inch away from him. Her eyes were filled with worry as she observed whether or not he would pull through, and when she saw him smiling at her, she heaved a heavy sigh of relief and threw herself into his arms.
"That was scary," she said with a trembling voice. "I can handle getting attacked by bandits. I can deal with people ambushing us after we have been at the auction house, and I can deal with the people who wish to kill you because I can help you fight them," she continued, "but when you consume a soul, it all depends on the strength of your own soul. The stronger the soul you try to consume, the harder it is to fully erase the memories and turn it into pure energy. Even when remnant memories remain, you will have to fight it, and if you lose the soul will take over your body."
"At least you have the Chaos Cauldron to refine the souls with. If you had to refine them with your own soul, you would have to fight the memories and erase them one after another. Although your soul is strong, you just became a God. When you fight Gods who have been at this level for thousands of years or more, who have nurtured their souls for a long time, then you will most definitely lose. The fact you managed to contain the soul within your mind for as long as you did is already an astonishing achie
vement."
Hui Yue, who refused to never again be overconfident, nodded his head solemnly. "I will be careful in the future," he promised as he thought about just how weak he was. The only reason he was able to kill other Gods was because of the memories he had inherited from his previous lives. Without them, he would not have been able to master a complete dao as quickly as he did, without them he would have died many times over already.
Although this strength was considered Hui Yue's own strength, he also understood that he needed to improve his personal strength. He did not have much time left, and even Lan Feng, who was within Hui Yue, had managed to master more of the dao of flame and the dao of ignition than Hui Yue had managed with the dao of inferno.
