Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (20 page)

As soon as Hui Yue made his way back to the courtyard he instantly sat down to cultivate and reflect on just how broken his body had been.

Now that he settled down, Hui Yue remembered how his internal organs had been severely damaged, the only reason why he had not died from that first blow was because he had earlier fortified each organ with Qi.

Knowing that this had saved him, Hui Yue understood that it was important for him to continuously fortify his body. The green pearl within him was a grumpy selfish thing which Hui Yue could not rely on, hence he needed to protect his life at all costs. Something such as fortifying the body was a simple task, however it would slow down his cultivation.

After considering this for some time he noticed that Lan Feng had stayed silent, leaving the decision up to Hui Yue. The white-haired boy finally decided to spend the extra time fortifying his body. What good was a high cultivation base if he died from being tossed around?

The Qi which Hui Yue previously had poured into his blood, organs, and flesh all seeped out, and turned into essence of the heavens and the earth. For Hui Yue to begin fortifying once more it would require a lot of time, but it was worth it if it could save his life.

Without opening his eyes, Hui Yue started cultivating. He left the refinement of the essence into Qi and Qi into spiritual essence to his cultivation technique clones which resided within his two dantians. He then slowly withdrew one strand of Qi after another, leading them through the Chong Mai meridian and into his body where they were being fed to the organs, the blood, the muscles, and the bones creating a much sturdier body than previously.

Last time, when Hui Yue was younger, he had focused on one organ at a time, feeding it Qi until it could no longer accept any more, however now, Hui Yue understood that it was more important to evenly fortify his entire body.

Seated in the courtyard under a large tree, Hui Yue was completely focused on the fortification of his body.

It was not only Hui Yue who had directly entered meditation, Wang Ju Long did the same, rushing to meditate so that she could replenish her spiritual energy for the battle the following day.

Deng Wu was seated in his room writing various inscriptions down, some were fireballs while others were tsunamis. All these relied on small drops of spiritual essence that he gained from Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long with their affinities.

He also created small flowers much akin to the poison field of poppies Wang Ju Long had used before. Even Earthen Spears were created from the spiritual essence from Hui Yue.

This was the power of inscriptions. As long as one had the right materials and resources, one could create anything. The attacks were roughly half the strength of those created by a cultivator with affinity for the used element, however, the variety made up for the lack of strength.

To be an inscriber one relied heavily on preparation before battles. Although he had a few abilities to use during battle, all of them were weaker than his inscriptions and could not save his life for long.

Hui Yue had all his memory stones contained on a belt which he had bought for a hefty price, and he felt as though he was carrying a large amount of storage stones, however this was nothing compared to Deng Wu.

Deng Wu had earrings which were made from polished blue storage stones. He had rings made from storage stones. A necklace made from storage stones. Even his robe and his belts and gloves were adorned with polished stones, all containing more than one memory stone within. To say that Deng Wu had a mountain of storage stones, one would not be lying.

Although Deng Wu had this many storage stones, he was completely certain which items were in which stone and whether or not the stone were stored within another stone.

Hui Yue had long since given up trying to understand how much power Deng Wu possessed, instead he always provided the spiritual energy drops whenever he was asked to.

Deng Wu was a necromancer, but being a necromancer was not the only strength he had. It was a lot like Wang Ju Long having split her cultivation between healing and attacking.

Finishing off the final few inscriptions, Deng Wu stored them within their respective storage stones. After which he picked up another three stones and withdrew beast cores and magical crystals which he then organized by size.

Metal affinity experts were capable of increasing the damage done by their inscriptions by refining the energy within, and using that energy to increase the damage done by the inscribed attack.

The cores and gems also had other usages, but for Deng Wu increasing his inscriptions was the most important purpose, as it could help him save both his life and the lives of his friends.

While Deng Wu was preparing for the battle, Sha Yun was seated in meditation next to Hui Yue. Her lower body had entirely turned into stone while the human part stayed normal. Her brows were furrowed and sweat was dripping down her face as she worked hard to be able to press through to a higher level of merging with Earth.

Xie Lan looked at the group she had ended up in and felt somewhat odd to see everyone instantly submerging themselves in cultivation as soon as they entered the courtyard.

There was no cheering, no celebration. It was as though they had not won the semi-finals of the mercenaries tournament, something every other group would be truly joyful about.

Xie Lan was not only surprised by the behavior, she was also shocked to see how efficiently Wang Ju Long had healed Hui Yue. The longer she spent with the group, the more astonished she was by their strength.

The man whom Hui Yue had been up against at the end was famous within the mercenary world. His close quarters combat abilities were impossible to survive, yet here Hui Yue was, a young man with a somewhat frail looking build and he had survived the most intimidating of all his combos.

To see Hui Yue survive the toss and at the same time win the match, he truly had a tough body something which his exterior did not portray. But a tough body was not enough. It was easy to see that he was severely injured, yet all those injuries vanished within moments after Wang Ju Long released her spiritual energy mixed with the wooden element.

Xu Piao knew where these four came from, however, he did not tell Xie Lan about it, and she could not help but wonder if all four were far stronger than the average Master ranked cultivator? If they were, then Hui Yue had good reason to be trusting of his strength.

Xie Lan gave one last glance at the cultivating youngsters behind her before she slowly exited the courtyard and moved towards Xu Piao’s office to inform him about the events which transpired today, including handing over a storage stone in which she recorded her memories of the entire battle.

….

Hui Yue was seated in meditation for quite some time before he suddenly felt a slight change in his surroundings. He  opened his eyes in shock, only to see that right in front of him only a few centimeters from his face was the host for the Mercenary Tournament.

Hui Yue’s eyes widened as he fell backwards, a sudden feeling of danger and helplessness flooded all his senses as a blue flame appeared within his hand. Hui Yue by instinct called forth some of Lan Feng’s affinity, creating a flame much more dangerous than any other.

Upon seeing the blue flame, surprise was visible within the eyes of the smiling host, however he showed no signs of moving.

“Sorry that I surprised you kid,” The man finally opened his mouth and spoke, laughter was hidden within his voice and Hui Yue narrowed his eyes, not dismissing the blue flame in his hand.

“Hey, I don’t plan on doing anything bad,” The man continued, his face was all smiles even his eyes were squinted together in a friendly expression. “Besides , if I wanted you dead, then you’d have been dead already.”

Knowing that the man was correct, Hui Yue slowly extinguished the blue flame within his hand and gestured for them to move somewhere else so that they would not interrupt Sha Yun’s concentration.

Moving to the side, Hui Yue was curious as to why the host appeared his eyes pausing briefly on the mark from the Dragon Corps which rested on his chest.

The host smiled knowingly as he saw his gaze, but said nothing about it before they were seated.

“I am Zhou Long, the captain of all the Dragon Corps within this Demon Dwelling Cave.” He introduced himself, causing Hui Yue to nod in return, “Hui Yue,” he said.

“Have you ever wondered why this place is called Demon Dwelling Cave?” He asked curiously, a faint smile visible on his lips. Hui Yue furrowed his brows while thinking about the name, but in the end shook his head. The name implied that a strong demon beast was hiding within the cave, but it was not something he had spent time considering before.

“Good, very good,” Zhou Long said with a smile on his face, “A Long time ago, a demon beast was found within this cave and for a long time we dared not build any strongholds as the demon beast could instantly annihilate everything we had created. Unfortunately, we had far too many citizens and within a few years we had to inhabit every cave within the underground.”

Zhou Long gave Hui Yue a long sideways glance before he continued, “All this you obviously know,” he said, “It is standard information for everyone within the caves after all.” Hui Yue smiled silently, neither confirming nor denying it.

“Well either way, it has been hundreds upon hundreds of years since we decided to live within this cave, but the demon beast has never shown himself before now.” A long sigh was heard as Zhou Long looked into the sky, “The beast has been resting for a thousand years now and it is the weakest while it’s awakening.”

“I am looking for strong mercenaries and my own Dragon Corps to participate in slaying the beast. Everyone who participates, and survives will be given some astonishing credits within the Dragon Corps. You can even get a letter of recommendation to use at the Dragon Corp’s Headquarters in case you are interested in joining us.”

Hui Yue sent a fierce glare at the man, wondering how much he knew, however, the fierce glare was answered with nothing but a calm smile and confident eyes.

The man stood up from where he was seated and started walking away before he suddenly stopped and turned back to Hui Yue, “If you manage to survive the final tomorrow, come find me and I’ll give you some more information.”

Having said that, Zhou Long left the courtyard as quietly as he had arrived leaving a baffled Hui Yue behind.

Hui Yue narrowed his eyes as he kept looking at the courtyard gates from where Zhou Long vanished. It was almost too good a situation to end up in. Xu Piao knew that Hui Yue was currently investigating knowledge about the Dragon Corps, and here was a captain of the entire Dragon Corps within Demon Dwelling Cave. Ready to hire Hui Yue and his friends for an important task which would give him all the credits he would need to enter not just the next tunnel, but all tunnels on the way to the middle cave.

Narrowing his eyes, Hui Yue felt that something was not exactly right, but at the same time this was an offer which very rarely appeared. In the end it was only a question about how much they could prepare for in advance.

Hui Yue was unable to enter a calm state of mind after Zhou Long visited. No matter how much he thought about it, something did not add up. It was as if everything was going too well, and that never happened unless something was behind it.

Hui Yue’s ice-blue eyes were shining with doubt as he considered the pros and cons of a battle with the dwelling demon beast. It had been resting for an entire millennia, if not more, and it was obvious that it would be visibly weakened when it woke up, but how did they know it would wake up soon?

Why would the Dragon Corps’ captain personally invite Hui Yue and his group of friends before the final had commenced? Many questions were swirling within his mind as he was thinking about whether or not to take Zhou Long up on his offer.

As Hui Yue was considering his decision he noticed that Xie Lan returned, easily able to tell where she had been and an idea appeared in Hui Yue’s mind. This was, however, very risky so Hui Yue decided to talk with the others about the plan first. He felt as though they should have a say when there was a large possibility of it being a trap.

At the same time, Hui Yue could not help but wonder if he was overthinking things. Although it was quite a coincidence, he could not think of any way for the Dragon Corps to know about their actions earlier in the tunnels and so he slowly calmed himself down.

Standing up, Hui Yue patted Sha Yun on the head waking her up from her training. At first a grumble was visible on her face, but it quickly changed to a smile as she saw that it was Hui Yue who woke her up from her trance-like state.

Seeing that Hui Yue interrupted her during her training, Sha Yun knew that he had something important to talk with them about. She rushed into the house and rounded up Wang Ju Long and Deng Wu, leading them outside where Hui Yue was seated.

None of them invited Xie Lan, this was a decision the four of them needed to make. At first, Hui Yue quickly went over the details of what happened. His recount was quick and precise, pointing out his doubts but also how tempting the endeavor seemed.

Looking at each other, smiles appeared on the faces of his friends as Deng Wu opened his mouth, “You say that it’s dangerous but you’ve already decided have you not?” He laughed, Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long nodding with smiles on their faces.

“I will follow you no matter what dangers we face!” Sha Yun continued, proudly pushing her chest forward seemingly very satisfied with herself. The sight was so reassuring that Hui Yue could not help but laugh out loud.

Wang Ju Long said nothing, but a small smile was playing on her face and her eyes were glistening with excitement. She enjoys a life filled with adventure, how could she bear to say no to such a tempting offer?

Seeing the faces of his friends and their determination mixed with excitement which shone towards him caused Hui Yue to feel great satisfaction deep within. He felt lucky to have friends who were willing to go through thick and thin together with him; real friends who knew that although their lives were on the line, they would always support one another.

Thinking things through, Hui Yue stood up and let out a loud whistle which got the attention of Xie Lan who was meditating at the other end of the courtyard. The sharp sound caused her to wake up and  she saw Hui Yue was looking at her. She also noticed how he made a beckoning gesture, asking her to join them.

Frowning her brows, Xie Lan did as she was told, but she was curious as to why she was suddenly being invited into their group discussion. Because when it came down to it Xie Lan was still an outsider. She worked for Xu Piao, not Hui Yue. In reality she had absolutely no loyalty towards Hui Yue, everything she did was just following orders to assist them in the tournament.

“I need you to fetch Xu Piao,” Hui Yue said as soon as she entered hearing range, and anger flashed within Xie Lan. Was Xu Piao someone who could just be summoned like that? He was the Guild Master of the Mercenary Guild, not some message boy rushing about the  way people wanted him to run.

Hui Yue, looking at Xie Lan, quickly understood her hesitation and heaved a heavy sigh as he was reminded just how much this King ranked expert reminded him of Sha Yun.

“Don’t worry, he’ll feel like this trip is worth his time,” Hui Yue continued, assuring the woman that he was not calling the Guild Master for some small task.

Even though Hui Yue assured her that it was worth his time, Xie Lan still felt as though it was too presumptuous to call him over. Despite this she did not dare go against the request as he knew that Xu Piao valued Hui Yue highly.

Donning her black cloak, Xie Lan made her way out of the courtyard and once more strode towards the Mercenary Guild’s office, grumbling the entire way there.

“You called for me?” Xu Piao said with a playful voice as he appeared in the courtyard entrance, his eyes twinkling with undisguised curiosity and a smile adorning his lips.

Seeing that Xu Piao arrived so quickly, Hui Yue let a small smile appear on his face before he gestured with his hand for Xu Piao to hurry over next to him.

“Zhou Long came visiting,” Hui Yue said said with a casual voice, “He invited us to hunt a big dwelling demon. Perhaps you know something about this?”

Every word Hui Yue said caused great surprise to be evident on Xu Piao’s face, and after a short time the expression turned from surprise to slightly confused to an expression of revelation.

“I see!” Xu Piao exclaimed, a smile once again evident on his face, a brilliant smile even. “So this explains why old man Zhou decided to be the judge in this year’s tournament!”

Looking at Hui Yue, Xu Piao was contemplating for a short while wondering why he was told about the meeting. It was as though Hui Yue was testing him.

Xu Piao was not wrong. Hui Yue had been closely observing every move and expression seen on Xu Piao’s face throughout the final few minutes. If it was a trap then it was obvious that Xu Piao would be a part of it too, however his expressions just now had seemed incredibly genuine. Either he was a perfect liar or he truly knew nothing about it previously.

“Why don’t you join us?” Hui Yue said suddenly. Although he somewhat trusted this Xu Piao, he also felt as though he would prefer keeping him close. If he saw Xu Piao and Zhou Long working closely together, then they would have the opportunity to quickly escape.

Seeing the astonished expression on Xu Piao’s face, Hui Yue almost started laughing, however the expression quickly changed to happiness,

“I’d love to join,” He said while looking as excited as a small child ready to open Christmas presents. The expression was a sharp contrast to Xu Piao’s normal expression and even Xie Lan was taken aback by his eagerness to join.

“You are more than welcome to join my party after the tournament,” Hui Yue said, his attitude showed that he had no doubt about who would win the following day, and the certainty in some ways caused Xu Piao to feel as though they had even bigger secrets waiting to be discovered.

Hui Yue had so far been fighting with the purpose of keeping his opponents alive. Defeating someone without killing them was far more difficult than to use all one's abilities to kill. This was one of the reasons why they had struggled so far, however, Hui Yue felt a very dangerous atmosphere coming from the masked men, and his attitude changed from ‘allow them to survive’ to ‘kill on sight and let their ability tell whether or not they will survive.’

The final battle was nothing like the other two Hui Yue participated in so far this tournament, no instead it was a three group battle where all three groups would have to fight the two others. Only one group was allowed to stay within the stage to become the winner.

Battles like these were the most bloody and the most sought after battles within the arena. It was also the reason why nine groups fought in the tournament, instead of only eight.

The other two groups, the lowest ranked mercenaries and the middle ranked mercenaries were to end their match the same day, however none of their battles drew in even half as much attention as the final of the black cloaked group.

“Well, I would love to join you,” Xu Piao said, with an embarrassed scratch of his head, “But you are cultivators and you are about to enter the final of our yearly tournament.”

“Although you might feel safe and sure of survival you can never forget that you are cultivators. You are martial artists and a martial artist knows that death is always looming. You might die today or you might die tomorrow, but one thing is certain the chances of you dying from old age are very slim.”

“Even if you do have something that can help you survive, it is never certain that it will work. But should you survive tomorrow, even if not all of you, then I would like to join you for the slaying of the Dwelling Demon Beast.”

Hearing Xu Piao’s serious words a wry smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face. He was perfectly aware of the dangers his new lifestyle brought with it, but it was exactly because of this that Hui Yue sought greater challenges to improve himself. If he was not strong enough to protect himself and his friends, how would he ever be able to defeat the expert whom he and Lan Feng were looking for?

“Then we will see you tomorrow,” Hui Yue said with a smile, his face not revealing any expressions at all, and with a polite bow towards Xu Piao Hui Yue once more started meditating.

As soon as they saw Hui Yue meditate, Deng Wu, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long all bowed politely before they followed suit.

Upon seeing this, Xie Lan’s face was twisted in displeasure. Although she knew that Hui Yue was not to be underestimated, Xu Piao was still the Guild Master and he deserved a lot more respect than what these youngsters showed him.

What made her equally frustrated was the fact that Xu Piao showed no signs of displeasure with this casual treatment! He was a revered person, the most important person within this city usually, and now his words were second to Zhou Long. For him to be treating these youngsters with such respect and interest, Xie Lan could not help but feel that there were some hidden aspects which she had not been informed about. She dared not ask any questions, nor comment on any of the behaviors she saw.

In the end, Xie Lan ended up leading Xu Piao back to his office after which she bowed deeply before she returned to the courtyard where she saw how none of the youngsters had moved even the slightest.

Looking at them for some time, Xie Lan let out a harrumph before she entered the house heading for her room. Even if she disliked Hui Yue and his group she has still been given the order of assisting them in the tournament, and she had no intention of not doing her job well. This caused her to also slip into meditation, improving her stressed out condition to a much more balanced one, readying herself for the battle to come.