Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  At some point, Hui Yue entered a trance where his legs kept moving and he kept urging them forward, but he had forgotten everything else. The only thing he was focused on was his body and running. He no longer felt heavy, instead, he was light. Light and filled with an unexplainable energy.

  As for how long this trance went on, Hui Yue did not know but suddenly he found himself in one of the fields that was filled with guards. He was uncertain as to how he had ended there. As soon as he came back to reality his legs were so sore that he could almost not keep himself walking as he made his way back towards Wan Qiao who was smiling happily.

  “You did a great job!” She said smilingly. Hui Yue was in a trance for far longer than he expected. Truthfully, he had run with these weights on his body for a little more than three hours, something only possible because he had entered a perfect training trance.

  “Follow me,” was all Wan Qiao said, and then she started walking towards her office. Hui Yue was trying his best to follow on his extremely sore legs, making him fall slightly behind.

  Falling behind was bad as Wan Qiao showed no signs of waiting for him she just kept walking. He was at a loss for where she was going and eventually was forced him to run once more.

  The road back felt many times longer than when he first walked to the grounds, but he had no choice than to follow behind the eagle-woman in front of him. As they finally arrived at her private rooms, Hui Yue wondered if he was in for another slap.

  Fortunately, that was not the case Wan Qiao just smiled at him. Her smile seemed a tad sadistic, her face showing schadenfreude as she looked at him.

  “Yesterday you said that this beast inside of you increases your strength. I would very much like to see you unleash this beast. Don’t worry I’ll keep you in check. Of course, it will be hard for me to not kill you if you become too wild, but I will do my best.”

  Hearing this, a wry smile appeared on Hui Yue’s lips and he could not help but feel rather helpless. Still he removed the extra weights which made it impossible for Hui Yue to activate his inner energies. Moments after the red mist billowed through his body, his eyes turning red and his body transforming into that of a massive wolf-man. His hind legs were now ten times stronger than before, his hands had sharp claws and were now more deadly than ever before. His eyesight improved drastically and so had his sense of smell and taste.

  But while Hui Yue allowed for this transformation to happen, he himself was pushed away, the red mist taking over full control of his body.

  Chapter 11 – A Secret Within

  Wan Qiao was astonished as she watched the transformation of the young man in front of her. Previously he had the scent and aura of a divine beast, of Lan Feng. Looking closely at the young man, Wan Qiao could conclude that he was in fact human because his human aura was present below the aura of Lan Feng, although it was very hard to sense.

  Now, Hui Yue was no longer releasing the aura of Lan Feng nor was there any aura of a human at all. The only aura which Wan Qiao could feel was an overwhelming one, an aura which even overpowered the one she gave off.

  Although the woman was a peak Saint, she too felt pressure from this baleful aura which assaulted her. The wolf-like creature in front of her sneered and swift claws swept out, ready to shred the woman to pieces.

  Seeing this, Wan Qiao heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Feeling this aura, Wan Qiao instantly knew that this beast, whatever kind of beast it was, used to be a king amongst kings, a sovereign of beasts. But although he was such a revered beast he was currently bound by the host body, the body of Hui Yue.

  The red mist increased Hui Yue’s strength tremendously, but Hui Yue just broke into the Duke rank, and he was far from Wan Qiao’s strength. Even if his strength was raised, it was not raised enough to pose any threat to this woman.

  Even so, this red mist bowed to no one it would rather perish than become subject to someone. It refused to allow for someone else to determine what happened with its life, and although the opponent was overwhelming when it came to strength, the beastly energies within the red mist refused to give up. Although this was suicide to attack, the wolf-like creature sneered as it set off at lightning speed. The red mist condensed into a blade made from the red energy and the attack shot forwards. The blade chopped down towards Wan Qiao, who only lifted her hand and met the attack straight on using nothing but her physical strength.

  *Bang!*

  A loud bang sounded out as the blade collided with her hand. The collision was so severe that a tremor ran through the entire palace as though an earthquake had occurred. All the lamps were shaking, bookshelves were falling to the ground, chairs and tables all collided while the residents fell to the floor as well.

  In this private room of Wan Qiao the entire room was completely trashed. The energy which had been within the attack was far stronger than what Wan Qiao expected. The attack used all the mist energy the beast had stored within.

  Now in the dantian cave which contained the demon core it only had a very transparent and very small bit of red mist swirling around inside.

  Hui Yue had done absolutely nothing, and neither had Lan Feng. Both of them were inside the dantan cave the whole time the body was taken over by the red mist; however, as the last of the red mist returned to the small cave within his lower dantian, Hui Yue suddenly felt an overwhelming loss of energy. His consciousness returned to control the body only to experience that the entire world around him grew black, and he collapsed on the ground.

  Wan Qiao looked at the unconscious young man in front of her. The feeling of standing in front of a sovereign of beasts vanished and now the aura of Lan Feng and a human had returned.

  Seeing this, a smile appeared on Wan Qiao’s face as she went towards the young man and lifted him up. She carried him in her arms and went through the castle towards the room which had been lent to him. On the way, the entire castle which was already filled with chaos suddenly started to be filled with rumors as well.

  Wan Qiao was an ice queen. She had never shown any interest in the opposite sex, nor had she paid any interest in producing offspring, yet here she was, in the middle of the day, carrying a young man in her arms with a gentle smile on her face.

  As to what she thought no one apart from herself knew. She walked with steady steps until she reached the room belonging to Hui Yue. She placed him on the stone bed before she took the letter on the desk then wrote a message for the young man to come to her rooms when he woke up.

  Wan Qiao was filled with astonishment. For someone to turn into a magical beast like this was something she had never heard of before. It was as though this young man was filled with secrets, secrets which Hui Yue kept hidden deep within.

  Remembering the way he healed when she slapped him, and how he managed to cultivate to the Duke rank before the age of twenty Wan Qiao deduced that he had quite a few secrets.

  Secrets she wanted to know about as he might be able to play a central role in her plans for the future.

  Sighing, Wan Qiao looked out the windows as she moved back to her room. She only saw the city which stretched to the horizon, beautiful buildings and temples, shops and homes. This was what she wished to protect. This was the world which she was the last pillar of support. She was the last Sovereign of Beasts still standing.

  Thinking this, Wan Qiao was depressed; however, her eyes soon hardened as though she had no time for melancholy. Instead, what she did have was hope. Having experienced the power of Hui Yue’s inner beast and seeing the ability he displayed while he ran earlier, she felt that there finally was someone whom she could make into her second pillar of support.

  She needed to personally insure that he grew as quick as possible. She needed him, for every time she looked into the distance what she saw was chaos and fighting. She knew that war was coming; a war where only the strongest would survive. The drums of war sounded out loudly, reverberating throughout Shenyuan and every Lord of the Forest was readying their armies preparing to go to war.

/>   Hui Yue was asleep for a long period of time; his body was completely exhausted, and his consciousness was floating within a black space.

  Within this dark space, Lan Feng suddenly appeared. His consciousness floating towards Hui Yue and the two of them grabbed hold of one another until suddenly another creature appeared within this vast void.

  This creature was not unknown to Hui Yue nor Lan Feng. No, this creature was the wolf whom Hui Yue turned into whenever he released the red mist within his dantian.

  As soon as the wolf saw Hui Yue and Lan Feng it quickly changed from a wolf to a wolf-like man. He slowly made his way through the void catching up with Hui Yue and Lan Feng. The three of them gathered together in a triangle in this deep black void; a place devoid of anything, a place of infinite nothingness.

  The wolf which made his way through the void ended up right in front of Hui Yue and Lan Feng his blood red eyes looking at Hui Yue with curiosity.

  “Who are you?” Hui Yue asked curiously as he looked at the wolf in front of him. The usual baleful aura was nowhere to be seen. The red eyes not alight with killing intent, instead, they shone with intellect. His tail kept wagging from side to side as though he was impatient and his arms were crossed over his chest.

  “Who am I?” He repeated the comment with a mocking sound, but he was quiet for some time before he finally sighed deeply. “I am Hui Yue,” He continued. “I used to be you.”

  “Used to be me?” Hui Yue asked curiously. Lan Feng previously said that these phenomena were his previous lives, but that was just a guess, it was another thing entirely to hear that he truly was this baleful, murderous wolf.

  “I lived in another plane,” The wolf began, “A plane controlled by beasts. Humans did not exist, and I was the strongest of them all. I was sovereign amongst all; every beast would bow to me. But to get there, I had to kill numerous beasts. I killed anyone who stood in my way.” The killing intent of the wolf started to appear.

  “That was until a God from another plane came to our home. The battle lasted for forty-seven years, but eventually, I had no more power and had the choice between subjugating myself to this human or dying with dignity.”

  “It was not even a hard choice. I had lived a countless number of years already and to end it like this was how I wished for it to happen. Our fight destroyed the whole continent; we made valleys deep below the sea, canyons through the deserts, and dug holes all the way through the ground. The battle was splendid! And how I enjoyed to once more experience the thrill of a life and death battle. It was worth trading my life for.”

  Looking at the wolf a gleam of longing could be seen, and his killing intent rose as he spoke. Even Hui Yue felt a shiver run through his body as he understood what the beast was saying.

  He too felt that life was the most exciting, the most intense, when he was fighting against beasts or human cultivators far superior to himself. He too had a longing for the fights where he was forced to go all out, the fights which made his blood boil and his adrenalin flow.

  Seeing that Hui Yue understood the feelings he truly felt, a small smile appeared on the face of the wolf.

  As Hui Yue was about to ask the wolf another question the void suddenly vanished. He found himself in another kind of darkness, a darkness which was familiar from when he used to close his eyes.

  Opening his eyes he found himself within the small chamber which belonged to himself, and he sat up on the stone bed confused as to how he had gotten there.

  Sitting still, Hui Yue looked at his surroundings, and his eyes caught sight of a letter written by Wan Qiao, but before he went towards her chambers, Hui Yue sat down on the bed, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes before he went to his dantian cave.

  Arriving at his dantian, Hui Yue was profoundly shocked to see that Lan Feng was no longer alone. Together with him was a red wolf-like man seated still next to the bird. The two of them chatting with one another.

  Seeing that Hui Yue arrived both of them greeted him. And the dumbstruck young white-haired man moved towards the two beasts who had taken up residence within his dantian cave.

  “Because I used all my energy I am really quite weak right now,” The wolf Hui Yue said with a sigh. “But releasing all that energy also released my soul from the beast core within your dantian cave.”

  Hui Yue sat down next to the two seated souls, and he felt a headache coming. The two beasts seemed to be doing well together as they spoke together about various things.

  “Hey Hui Yue,” Lan Feng said as he saw the white-haired young man, “Did you know the blue cloud is actually a monk!”

  Chapter 12 – Previous Lives

  Hui Yue had multiple questions he wanted to ask, but at that moment, he noticed that another soul was currently residing within his body. His mind went blank as he heard the words spoken by the phoenix.

  Shaking his head confused he could not help but ask “a monk?” Why on earth was it important what the blue cloud was? To Hui Yue what confused him was the extra soul who appeared within his dantian cave. It was one thing was to have the mist energy swirling around, but now they had condensed into a living creature, a soul of a beast.

  The soul had a long line which was connected to the black beast core which was placed in the cave, but apart from that, it looked exactly like Lan Feng. Another spirit to share his body and emotions with.

  “The guy over there,” The red wolf-man pointed towards the cave containing the blue mist, “He keeps on saying incantations to stop me from killing people. I can’t wait for him to become a soul like me. Then I’ll personally deal with him.”

  “No!” Hui Yue instantly screamed out, “It’s already crowded, I do not have the space to have more souls hiding within me! And I will definitely not have a sane mind if it happens.”

  Having guessed that the more he used the energies, the more the phenomena condensed where it eventually became a soul, much like what happened with the wolf-man.

  Guessing this, Hui Yue came to the conclusion that he would no longer rely on the phenomena within his body. He simply did not have the mind to accept having that many creatures within him. Also, he knew that although it was uncomfortable, it was still able to protect him. Since he had the wolf-man Hui Yue within his body, he could now fully control the red mist.

  Suddenly a thought appeared in his mind, “I am not going to make a soul contract with you,” He said with a firm decision. He remembered how Lan Feng said that if they had no soul contract then it was a master servant relationship. Although this red wolf was Hui Yue from a previous life, he was filled with cold-blooded killing intent, something which Hui Yue could not trust. Thus, he came to the conclusion that a master servant relationship would benefit him more.

  Hearing his words, the wolf was slightly taken aback, but he quickly nodded his head. The wolf never expected to have a soul contract with the younger man, but he still felt somewhat disappointed. Although he was disappointed he completely understood why.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes for a moment before he forced them open and stood up. Within him, Lan Feng and the red wolf were conversing about the other eight lives. Although Hui Yue was curious and listened in, he remembered the letter that had been left by Wan Qiao. Wan Qiao was not someone who enjoyed waiting, and Hui Yue did not enjoy the slaps he would be given should he anger her. With determined steps, he stood up and slowly made his way towards the chambers belonging to Wan Qiao.

  Walking through the hallways, Hui Yue was entertained to see that the sun was setting in the sky, and the palace was bustling with guards and cultivators. Some were making their way towards their rooms while others made their way towards the mess hall to get food.

  “Halt!” Suddenly as Hui Yue turned and was making his way towards Wan Qiao’s chambers a voice from behind yelled out causing the young man to stop in his tracks and turn around. He looked at the guard who had called out. Hui Yue was quite taken aback as to what he should do.


  “You have no right to pass through here! This is the heavenly location of our lady Wan Qiao.” He said his eyes filled with rage, “You have no right to enter here move back this instance!”

  “Ehm, I’m sorry, but I was told to come here,” Hui Yue said while scratching the back of his head looking at the guard thoroughly confused as to how to deal with this situation.

  Fighting with the guard was one option but if he were to break anything in Wan Qiao’s castle it was likely that he would get beaten up.

  To follow the orders of the guard and leave meant that he left her hanging, and he would definitely be beaten up.

  Thinking like this, Hui Yue was at a loss for what to do. He wished just to enter the rooms, but he knew that it would not be as easy as that.

  Thinking it through, he ended up letting Lan Feng’s aura billow outwards. The sudden arrival of a Saint aura caused the guard to step back which allowed for Hui Yue, who had activated Velocity Flow, to rush past him and enter into Wan Qiao’s rooms.