Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  “Zhu Wei, You protect Hui Yue. It is likely that someone wants his life,” Wan Qiao said with a stern voice. “Although the lords agreed on waging war, there is a chance that they will change their minds. We cannot allow him to die.”

  One of the shadows nodded their heads and vanished as though he had never been there in the first place. Wan Qiao turned towards another expert and said with a calm voice, “Song Jie, find an Emperor ranked Guard for me.” She said and yet another expert disappeared into the shadows.

  Chapter 42 – Returning Home

  The shadow known as Song Jie instantly left Wan Qiao’s side rushing towards the barracks where the guards were living. After what seemed to be but a few moments, the shadow returned to Wan Qiao side, in his hand was another man who seemed greatly confused.

  Looking around the man soon noticed Wan Qiao and although the guard was still confused he instantly fell to his knees, bowing deeply in front of the woman that looked at him with curious eyes. She nodded her head and finally started to speak. “Guard, I have a very special job for you.” She motioned with a gesture as she offered the man to enter her private chambers. The young man did not hesitate even the slightest amount following behind.

  “I have a human living in the castle as you most likely are aware. I need her to be moved to the borders of the Siban Empire, but I am not able to make this trip anytime soon. I’m going to give this task to you,” Wan Qiao said her words confusing the guard even further. Although he knew that a human was currently living within the castle, he had never expected that the Queen of Shenyuan was interested in assisting this human. However, this young man knew better than to ask questions, and instead he nodded his head, his lips sealed tight.

  “Tomorrow morning is when you leave. Go tell her to be ready by then.” Wan Qiao said with a casual voice as she once more turned towards the stack of papers on her desk; however, just before she submerged herself in working on these papers, she stopped, and her voice became frosty, “I need this woman to safely reach the border of the Siban Empire. If she dies before then, I will personally make sure that you follow her within moments,” Wan Qiao warned before the cold chill vanished, and the guard instantly scrambled to his feet and rushed out from the room.

  Without looking at the guard who was escaping from her, Wan Qiao sat down to once more to finish of the papers that she had to deliver to Hui Yue. Her eyes focused on the papers in front of her as a deep sigh could be heard; nothing else could be sensed from within the room. The three shadows from before seemed to have completely vanished.

  While Wan Qiao focused on finishing her papers, the guard rushed to Li Meilin’s room where he knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” The woman called, but she did not turn around. Having her back facing the door, she kept packing one document after another, and although she heard the door open she did not speed up nor did she become fluttered. Instead, she spent the entire time packing what she had been using during the time she was living in Shenyuan.

  “I am here to help you leave this place,” The beast said with a neutral voice and Li Meilin nodded her head. Her heart was beating in her chest as she once more contemplated whether or not it was worth it to follow this guard. If she was lucky she would end up in Siban again, if she was unlucky she would end somewhere in the forest where her bones would be gnawed upon by small monsters.

  Closing her eyes and steadying her breathing for some time, she nodded her head in approval on hearing what the guard said. Her eyes slowly opened, and they were filled with a bone-chilling cold glare. As she looked out the window, her hands tightened into fists. She was an Emperor; if they wanted her to die then she would make sure that they paid a high price. However, if they were truly helping her return home, then Li Meilin was willing to take that chance.

  “I guess he won’t come back to visit me,” Li Meilin mumbled to herself as she looked at the door. The guard who appeared before decided to stand watch outside her door and Li Meilin felt like a prisoner as she considered whether or not Hui Yue would come back to say goodbye. As soon as she thought about it, she shook her head in a mocking way. She Mocked herself for thinking such a naive thought. It was obvious that Hui Yue did not like her, and according to what he said before, the only reason he was helping her was so she could tell the Taiyang Kingdom about the danger. He never said that he would spend more time on her than that.

  The day went by quickly while Hui Yue was seated in his room constantly cultivating. He had previously reached the peak nine-star Duke rank, and he wished to push through final hurdle. He wanted to become a King before it was time for him to participate in the war. Although he knew that his strength was not what mattered, he could not help but feel as though he needed strength. He needed to be able to protect himself, and he needed strength to do so.

  Having planned for a guard to escort Li Meilin, Hui Yue no longer paid any attention to her, however he was excited to see what would happen with the Siban and Taiyang empires. Whether or not they would truly start to protect themselves, something which he needed to go further with his war.

  Sighing deeply, a glance out his window allowed for him to see the massive horde of guards who were settled outside the city wall, and he wondered if they would listen to him.

  While Hui Yue was busy studying the many people outside, a black shadow slowly made its way inside his room where it disappeared in the ceiling. No aura could be felt just as nothing could be seen. The moment the shadow entered the room, it seemed as though he had flown right through the door itself without opening it and vanished into the ceiling the exact same way.

  As the day drew to a close, the woman, Li Meilin, was seated in her room. Her heart was beating steadily. Her eyes were closed as her head was resting in her palms, and her elbows resting on her knees. This was her last night in the capital of Shenyuan. Whether or not her life would be forfeit, she did not know but she would do anything in her power to return to the Siban Empire.

  *Knock* *Knock*

  Hearing the knocking sound on her door, Li Meilin was dragged from her thoughts, and she instantly stood up. Looking around the room, she was slightly nostalgic. The room was now completely empty of everything, and no one could tell that someone had been living here for as long as Li Meilin had. Although it was slightly nostalgic, the room also felt like a prison cell because it was somewhere she had been forced to stay when she would much rather be somewhere else.

  In the courtyard the guard was waiting for her, however this time, he did not wear a guard’s outfit, nor did he look like a humanoid beast any longer. He was a massive eagle, expanding at least seven meters long with the wings spread out. His height well above two meters.

  His proud eyes were filled with displeasure, and unfortunately, this displeasure was impossible to get rid of. The proud eagle allowed for the woman to climb onto his back, tugging tightly on the feathers around his neck and with a screech of displeasure, the eagle took to the sky as he quickly vanished into the distance. The direction leading towards the Siban Empire.

  The wind in Li Meilin’s face was crisp and fairly cold. Beneath the eagle was the vast jungle. The jungle which had taken over this entire section of the continent, and far, far off in the distance Li Meilin could see the tall mountain ranges which surrounded every single kingdom on the continent.

  Seated on an Emperor beast, Li Meilin was astonished to see how fast it flew. The jungle beneath had turned into a blur of green, and screech after screech sounded out, clearly showing how the eagle felt about the whole situation. Although he felt that it was undignifying, the eagle would in no way go against the will of the Queen of Shenyuan. The fastest way to get it over and done with was to rush to the borders of Siban and drop off the woman then head back home and pretend that this never happened. Acting as a this was nothing more than a stain on his past. As a magical beast with a consciousness being used as a mount was something which seriously put a dent on their dignity.

  The eagle did not rest at night, inst
ead it kept flying and soon two days had passed. Two days where the distant mountain range got closer and closer, and the screeches fewer and fewer as the bird slowly came to understand what was occurring.

  Li Meilin had been on high alert ever since she got onto the back of the eagle. At first, she had been incredibly worried. Every bit of turbulence or wind which was stronger than before made her terrified that the eagle was intentionally going to make her death seem like an accident; however, no matter how much the eagle swung in the incoming winds, never once was she close to falling to the ground.

  Knowing this, Li Meilin felt a little ashamed of herself because she knew that she did not trust the beasts. She was also well aware that these beasts most likely had their own agenda, something which she had no way of knowing.

  Sighing deeply, she paid no more heed to the plans made by the beasts, and instead her eyes shone with happiness as she saw how the cliff wall was right in front of her. She tugged harder on the feathers as the bird shot into the air, flying directly upwards aiming to get over the mountain range. During these two days the two, human and beast, had not spoken at all since the eagle had taken flight, and the woman could not think of anything to talk with the beast about.

  Flying past the mountain range, happiness shone in the eagle’s eyes as he landed on the ground. He didn’t wait a moment as he immediately shook his entire body, making the emperor on his back drop to the ground. With a final screech, the eagle once more took to the skies and vanished in the distance.

  Watching the beast depart, Li Meilin felt that everything was surreal. She expected that the chance of her surviving was less than twenty percent, yet here she was, standing on the edge of the Siban Empire without even the slightest scratch.

  With one last glance at the mountain range, Li Meilin bowed deeply to the jungle behind the forest in respect to the beasts who helped her return home and allowed for her to survive. Standing like this for a few seconds, Li Meilin turned around, and while trusting her own legs, she stomped hard on the ground propelling herself forward. Without another glance behind her, the Emperor rushed as quickly as she could back to the capital. She had a lot of information which she needed to share with the Emperor and the Taiyang Kingdom. Even if this was a trap set by the beasts, Li Meilin was willing to follow their plan as long as it allowed for her to evacuate citizens and prepare the army.

  Chapter 43 – Balance of Energies

  Hui Yue was once more seated within his chambers in the castle belonging to Wan Qiao. He spent all his extra time cultivating. He felt that for every day he spent cultivating, he got closer and closer to the King rank which was his current goal on his long journey of cultivation.

  Unlike his previous experiences, the spiritual energy sea was not close to overflowing, nor were there any sensations of his cultivation pressuring the opening of the upper dantian; instead, The more energy drops he created, the more the sea swelled, but despite this the gate to the upper dantian was still locked. Frowning, Hui Yue understood that it was not enough to just cultivate. Although cultivation was important, insights were equally important, and Hui Yue came to the conclusion that he needed to reach a higher rank was enlightenment. He needed insight on his path of cultivation.

  Sighing, he stood up from the bed and stretched his sore body. He had been cultivating for quite some time already, but just now he came to the conclusion that to breakthrough would require insight. Knowing this, he decided to go to the training grounds and train his physical body.

  The training grounds were now completely empty. All the guards had moved outside of the city, causing Hui Yue to have plenty of space to himself. With a wild howl, Hui Yue felt his body starting to creak as he grew noticeably and fur sprung forth across his body. His face turned into the face of a wolf, and his blue eyes slowly turned red. His hands turned to paws, and his nails turned into razor sharp claws. Looking at the transformation, one could imagine just how much stronger the young man was afterwards.

  Being in his wolf form was something Hui Yue had not done for quite awhile because he had needed to spar with anyone. He Started his training by running. Hui Yue once more started to feel the comfort of making his muscles work. Working his muscles, Hui Yue couldn’t help but smile. Anyone who saw this would be terrified because really instead of saying he was smiling it was more of a merciless and incredibly sinister grin.

  Running for two hours straight, at first slow but slowly picking up his pace, Hui Yue felt ecstatic. This was what he liked having his strength balanced.

  Suddenly, Hui Yue felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and he had to sit down as the world around him turned black. A dizzy spell appeared, and the world seemed to float. The ground was suddenly above him, and Hui Yue was nauseous about to vomit.

  Having sat still for what felt like hours, but in reality was only around a few minutes, everything slowly returned to normal. Hui Yue opened his eyes with a sinister grin on his wolf-face.

  Hui Yue wanted to gain insight into what it was that would allow for him to open the upper dantian, however who would have guessed that he had just been blocking himself this whole time. As soon as he started running and felt comforted from the balance of external and internal strength he understood that it was exactly this. That Wu Wei was a balance. One needed to balance himself with the world, one needed to become one with the world.

  To become a real expert, to become a deity, one needed to turn into nothingness. One needed to become a perfect balance of energies.

  ‘Well done!’ Lan Feng’s excited voice was heard in the mind of Hui Yue, and the young man himself started smiling widely. Although he now knew how to unlock the upper dantian, he still had yet to unlocked it. Looking around, Hui Yue rushed back to his room and sat down on the chair allowing for his consciousness to enter his inner body. He appeared in the lower dantian from where he slowly made his way through the middle dantian towards the upper dantian.

  Standing at the entrance to the upper dantian, there was a massive gate. A gate where nine different orbs of fire were carved into the door. As soon as Hui Yue touched it, the gate seemed to vanish, to turn into golden streaks of light. These golden streaks all entered the room behind the gate.

  With a pounding heart, Hui Yue stepped inside only to feel a gentle warmth surround him. In front of him was a pedestal, a pedestal on top of which a golden sun was rotating. Rays of golden light were constantly being emitted warming anyone inside the dantian cave.

  ‘That is quite a significant amount of Wu Wei you have there,’ Lan Feng said with a satisfied nod, ‘You managed to refine some earlier not to mention the energy you absorbed from the Divine Flower the Deng Family gifted you.’

  ‘This is incredible,’ Hui Yue said. His eyes shining with excitement as he finally broke through the bottleneck into the King rank.

  ‘It is, but you will need to work harder from now on,’ Lan Feng warned. ‘To refine energies, you need the spiritual energy in your dantian; however, you also need one more thing. You need to merge that spiritual energy with both the Yin or Yang energies which can be found in the world around you.’

  ‘Did you ever wonder why you look so much like a girl that even Deng Wu was hitting on you back when you were a kid?’ Lan Feng asked. Hui Yue could feel the excitement within the phoenix, and he saw a happy smile on the lips. This was clearly something the phoenix had wanted to ask for a very long time, however it seemed it wasn’t the time to do so before now. He had held it in for eighteen years.

  ‘Why did I look like a girl?’ Hui Yue asked, startled. He asked partly out of curiosity and partly because he wanted to play along with the bird within him.

  ‘When you and I merged our souls, some of my energy entered your body.’ The phoenix started, his voice was low as he spoke slowly; the grin on his face grew. ‘I was a Saint, so I had plenty of both Yin and Yang energy,’ He continued, ‘Yin energy is easier to cultivate by women. As a man you need to cultivate in a specific way to be capable of refining Yin energy, howeve
r Yang energy is easiest to refine as a man; you can easily refine it.’

  ‘However although it is easier to refine you need to make sure that you always have a balance of yin and yang within you. These energies need to be balanced, and the more balanced they are, the more one can merge with the world. When you become one with the world, your body will be changed. You will no longer have the body of a mortal, but you will have the body of a deity; a body created purely from Ancestral Worldpower.’

  ‘When we merged our souls, some of my power entered you, and the power which entered you was all the Yin energy I had within me. As you might have noticed, although I am a Saint, I am weak compared to many of the others. This is because all my Yin energy is now within you.’

  ‘Giving up this energy caused my own energy to become unbalanced, however you are more important than my strength. While working together like this, you will be able to return me to my original body. At that time, I can start cultivating once more. The most important thing is to defeat An He, I will have no more regrets in life only after he has been defeated.’