Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (29 page)

Running down the stairs, Hui Yue slipped through the back doors without being noticed by anyone and slowly made his way through the back alleys before he managed to take a turn which led him to the main roads.

Hui Yue’s plan was simple, he wished to explore the city and see if he could come across any treasures Finding his way back to the Mercenary Guild should not prove too hard, and the young man strode with confident steps into the busy road.

His apparently was attracting a lot of attention. Small children were pointing at his hair, their mouths agape as they asked their mothers about the beautiful angel walking amongst them. This caused their parents to blush with embarrassment and quickly apologize to the different man.

Most of the citizens assumed that Hui Yue was part demon beast which would explain his handsome, but very different features. Hui Yue, not bothering with the many glances thrown his way, was smiling happily as he made his way towards the first marketplace he would come across.

All marketplaces were fenced in, making it impossible to enter unless one went through the gate where the guards were posted. Some of these marketplaces required a fee to enter while others were free everything depended on which items were put out on display.

At first, Hui Yue believed that the marketplaces were owned by families much like the ones in Riluo City because they were heavily guarded, however, he quickly saw that it was not families who owned the marketplaces, but instead guilds.

One marketplace specialized in medicinal herbs and medicines and was owned by the Medicinal Guild, or the Pharmacy another name is was know by.

Another marketplace sold valuable ores and metals, obviously it was owned by the Mining Association, while just across the street another marketplace had tools on display, weapons, armours, and other items which were created by blacksmiths.

There were marketplaces which sold meat of all varieties and marketplaces which sold fabrics and clothes. Everything Hui Yue could think of was available in front of him, and he felt like a little child filled with excitement as he walked through one marketplace after another.

His excitement, however, quickly dimmed as all the things he saw were mediocre treasures. The herbs were all of great quality, but flowers were not something he needed right now. The metals were also interesting, but they could be found anywhere and none seemed to be very special.

Sighing, Hui Yue left one marketplace after another until he finally arrived at a small market, much smaller than any of the others. Unlike the other marketplaces this one had no guards, the fence was in bad shape and the stalls were not made from wood, but citizens just sitting on the ground their wares laid out in front of them on small pieces of cloth for all to see.

His interest was piqued instantly, as he saw the various old heirlooms laying around alongside broken demon cores and old memory stones. Entering the marketplace, Hui Yue suddenly felt as if he entered a completely different world.

This place was in no way as well looked after as the markets where the guilds were in charge, instead, it was filled with poor citizens, some selling items, others begging for coins or food. Any kind of scraps which could help them survive their daily life within the city.

Walking past one stall after another, Hui Yue stopped here and there looking at random things such as jewelry, a few memory stones containing martial art skills, and other memory stones containing items of unknown origins.

Having walked through half of the shabby marketplace, Hui Yue saw various items he knew nothing about, but none struck him as being exceptional. That was until he saw a larger stall.

Stopping here, his eyes were drawn towards a stack of scrolls and old books. His interest piqued every time he found old documents which might in some way help his search concerning the Dark Age and the Great Sin.

Picking up the books, dust was released from them and a stale scent filled the air as soon he open one of them It appeared that some of the pages were damaged from years of use.

“These books,” Hui Yue said while looking at the man, “These books and those scrolls, how much do you want for them?”

Seeing that the young man was dressed in fine clothing the seller squinted his eyes slightly, wondering how greedy he dared to be, while he was contemplating Hui Yue did nothing but patiently wait by the side.

Eventually the older man made a decision and lifted his wrinkled hand, gesturing for five demon coins. He himself felt as though he had asked for a tremendous amount of money as the books were all worn down from years of use, the scrolls almost impossible to read.

Looking further into the stall, his eyes stopped momentarily on a large black stone which seemed to have been mined long ago, but after looking at it for some time he decided against purchasing it.

‘You idiot!’ Lan Feng’s voice suddenly boomed within the young white-haired man’s head, catching him completely off guard as he had not heard anything from the phoenix for weeks by now.

‘Why am I an idiot?’ The retort was quite indignant and the young man felt like he had been treated wrongly. All he did was ignore a big stone.

‘This stone is the purest memory stone I have ever seen, you have to buy it!’ The phoenix’s voice was determined and pushy, leaving almost no space for disagreement.

‘What use do I have for a memory stone?’ Although the phoenix left no room for disagreement, Hui Yue had known him for a long time already and was used to the overbearing personality of the bird. This request was both too sudden and too greedy for him to approve.

Lan Feng left Hui Yue alone when they were stuck within the illusion. He had not shown up when they were in danger against the Horned Snake, nor had he said anything at all about Zhou Long.

Instead he was busy cultivating Wu Wei, yet here he was suddenly conscious when the young white-haired man was about to make purchases. What made him think that Hui Yue would listen to him now?

‘You can refine it into whichever kind of stone you need!’ Lan Feng argued, unaware of the grudge which was growing within Hui Yue’s heart.

‘Oh look!’ The bird continued completely ignoring the emotions he felt being emitted from Hui Yue, ‘That over there is a treasure when it comes to training, it’ll help your cultivation improve drastically,’ The bird continued while pointing at a stone which was in the same stall.

‘Oh and that one, that ought to be a treasure as well,’ Lan Feng continued, the bird on a roll while pointing out things completely ignoring Hui Yue.

‘That ought to be a treasure?’ Hui Yue mocked while looking at the items. The seller was greatly confused about the many odd facial expressions appearing on Hui Yue’s face, yet he dared not chase away this costumer as he had the impression that the well-dressed youth, although slightly insane, was rich and willing to spend money.

Completely unaware of the expressions on his face he continued the internal conversation with Lan Feng.  

‘I have never seen anything like it before,’ Lan Feng explained, ‘That alone is enough to make it into a treasure.’

‘How stupid,’ Hui Yue replied, while looking at the item and inserting his spiritual energy, only to see that nothing happened. The item, a small round metal sphere, was nothing but a piece of metal. ‘Since when can you sense treasures?’ Hui Yue mocked. ‘You think you are a chicken laying golden eggs? Dream on you’re just  a phoenix, all you can do is burn things and complain.’

‘I’m serious here!’ Lan Feng continued, ‘But if you want to let go of a peerless treasure then that is your own problem.’

Sighing deeply, Hui Yue knew that Lan Feng was right. Even if there was just the slightest possibility of the sphere being a treasure, it would be worth buying because the price had to be low.

Eventually the scrolls and books were no longer the only thing purchased by the white haired boy; he also purchased the stone and the metal sphere, paying another five demon cores.

Having purchased the items their discussion was far from over, instead, it was just starting and the young man found himself a nice dark alleyway where he sat down and finally allowed for his feelings to be let free, his annoyance with Lan Feng blossoming to the heavens.

‘Why did you suddenly appear after all this time?’ He asked the indignation evident within his voice, as he felt slightly betrayed.

‘I told you that I can’t help you within these dungeons,’ Lan Feng reminded him, his face smiling as if he was flattered that Hui Yue missed him.

‘Well you don’t have to help, but don’t just pop up when I am buying items! I am not your purse!’ Hui Yue still felt that it was not right that the phoenix only appeared whenever he wanted to gain something, but he knew that discussing with the bird was the same as speaking to a door. He would never see things from any side other his own, he was very stubborn.

‘Well never mind that, quickly tell me how to use this stone,’ Giving in, the white-haired boy changed the subject and pulled out the stone he bought at the market place. Had Lan Feng not told him to purchase it, he would never have imagined that it would help his cultivation in any way, but he did not doubt Lan Feng when the bird said it would.

‘I’ll tell you this before I go back to cultivate,’ Lan Feng said with a self-righteous smile on his face, ‘When you cultivate have it in your hands and see what happens.’

Having said that, the bird did exactly what he had said he would and sat down within the dantian cave, once more fully absorbed in his cultivation and refinement of spiritual energy into Wu Wei.

Seeing that the bird went back to sleep, Hui Yue sighed and looked around. He had already purchased a few things and he had no idea where the library was so instead of looking around on his own he quickly decided to head back to the Mercenary Guild and spend his time looking through the haul he acquired.

….

Walking through the entrance, the guards instantly remembered the white-haired young man as the person who arrived earlier together with Xu Piao and instantly bowed to him, allowing him access to the Mercenary Guild.

Walking past the guild’s main building and towards the back, a low sound could be heard from within the building where Sha Yun and the others were currently residing. Hearing the sound a sigh escaped his pale lips, as the young man was well aware of what was occurring and he rushed towards the building, ready to apologize for the problems and pay for the repairs.

Hui Yue vanished on his own, and did not inform anyone about his trip causing Sha Yun, who always preferred to have Hui Yue in eyesight, to panic.

As Hui Yue reached the upper floor, what he expected to happen happened and he could only swear at himself for being so forgetful as to not inform his friends of his small trip to the marketplaces.

The entire first floor was no longer as pretty as it had been before, in fact all the doors were shattered. All his friends were gathered in one room, serious expressions on their faces as they were conversing in low voices, so low that Hui Yue could not hear them.

Walking through the door, Sha Yun was the first to see him and she threw herself into his arms, tears of joy falling from her eyes. An apologetic nod was all that Hui Yue gave them before they all surrounded him, curious to hear what happened.

”I’m sorry, alright?” Hui Yue said as his arm was around Sha Yun’s shoulders, his face truly apologetic. “I ended my bath early and decided to check out the marketplaces, I’m sorry I didn’t leave behind a note.”

That was all there was to say about the problem. It was obvious that everyone was on edge and they knew that Zhou Long was scheming. That coupled with the fact that the white-haired boy had vanished was enough to cause all his friends to panic and the young man knew this, causing him to show a sheepish smile not sure how to make up to everyone.

Just as he was about to offer to pay for the damage, Xie Lan stood up and activated her wood element, using her spiritual energy to return everything to the way it had been before. This was an ability that only certain people could cultivate, and it was something which Hui Yue used once before when he thoroughly smashed his courtyard back at the academy.

To think that Xie Lan specialized in this sort of restoring of items caught the entire group off guard, as they previously assumed her specialty lay in healing.

“Don’t gape like that,” Xu Piao said with a laugh as he looked at the group of people with widened eyes and confused expressions. “Xie Lan is not great at fighting,” He continued, “But she is the best specialist when it comes to restoring or healing.”

“Restoring and healing are almost the same,” Xie Lan’s melodious voice flooded through the air as her eyes were on Wang Ju Long clearly ready to start explaining some profound secrets of her craft to the younger girl. The relationship between the two had definitely improved greatly since they first met.

Seeing that Xie Lan was ready to teach her, Wang Ju Long quickly bowed respectfully to Xu Piao and nodded to her friends before she followed behind her departing teacher.

Seeing Wang Ju Long following eagerly, Hui Yue could not help but smile as he recognized the eagerness to learn from himself, the girl showing utmost attention to improve herself something which he could perfectly understand. This was also the feature that had made him acknowledge her those many years back when they dueled at the academy.

Even now, Hui Yue felt strangely attracted to the girl in front of him. The girl who constantly did her very best to improve.

Without noticing, a smile adorned the young man’s lips as he looked at the woman who just vanished, his thoughts swirling around her and the memories they shared together.

Having someone invading his thoughts in this way was something which Hui Yue had not tried before. Whether he wished to think about her or not, Wang Ju Long was a part of his life and she had already turned into a part of his everyday thoughts. In a way different to that of Deng Wu and Sha Yun.

Even Li Fen had never appeared in his thoughts the way that Wang Ju Long kept reappearing. Her every move caught his attention, her facial expressions always bringing great entertainment to the young man. The entire situation caused Hui Yue to feel rather perplexed and confused.  

Seeing Hui Yue watching Wang Ju Long depart was something which did not escape Sha Yuh’s eyes and she had a sad expression on her face as she nestled in the warm embrace of her first human friend. Her eyes were filled with confusion which slowly changed to determination.

“Oh right!” Bustling around and finding the right storage stone, Hui Yue took out the items he bought at the marketplace, and the everyone either furrowed their brows or wrinkled their noses as all items looked old and useless.

“This one here, I don’t know what it does,” Hui Yue said as he tossed the round metal item on the bed, leaving it for later.

“I think these books might have some information about the Great Sin or the Dark Age,” Hui Yue explained, as he gently laid down the items on a table next to him, and finally the stone within his hand was the only item left.

“This one should increase cultivation,” He said with a smile as he turned and twisted it in his hands, confused about how or why the item would help him, yet never did he question Lan Feng’s words. He might have been slightly annoyed with the bird, but this treasure was something which Hui Yue would not let go of.

Seeing that the young man was staring at the stone in his hands, everyone was curious about what exactly was so astonishing about it, but nothing was said and no one dared to ask. The smile his handsome face gradually increased and the white-haired man was completely focused on studying this stone, no longer noticing the many people who were standing around him.

Seeing the focus he exerted everyone sighed heavily in unison. They knew him very well and he was the kind of person who would not pay attention to his friends until he had finished understanding what was in his hands.

This caused Deng Wu and Xu Piao to shake their heads as they both made their way out of the room closing the door behind them as they too decided to sit down and cultivate for a bit.

Sha Yun had not followed the two men, instead, she sat down next Hui Yue and started meditating. Now that her master was back, there was no chance that she would leave his side when he had just vanished for a long period of time; she was seated still like a statue, working her best to improve her own cultivation base.

Although she was sitting in the room her presence was in no way an annoyance as the young man was used to having her around. Not noticing what was happening around him, he was standing still his eyes never once leaving the stone in his hands.

A small silvery light shone on his hands as a drop of spiritual energy entered the stone, but no matter how much he searched the spiritual energy felt as though it had just touched an ordinary stone.

Twisting and turning the stone over no inscription patterns were visible either, and no matter how much he searched nothing was visible. Nothing showed up, nothing stood out.

Mumbling to himself with furrowed brows, Hui Yue felt at a loss as he stood with the item alone, staring at the stone moment after moment. The sun went from high in the sky to almost setting before he made a move.

Lan Feng told him that the way to activate the stone was to keep it within his hands when he was cultivating so he sat down on the bed without even a look towards Sha Yun, his eyes only looking at the stone.

Entering meditation, Hui Yue was seated on the bed with his legs crossed and in his hands was the stone, calmly lying between his fingers.

He did not have to wait for long before it felt as though a wind sprung to life within the small room, and after a short while the wind was drawn to Hui Yue and rich air filled with the essence of the heavens and the earth surrounded the young man on the bed. The shock from this caused him to stop meditating.

As soon as he stopped the wind which was brewing in the room instantly died and the dense essence vanished within moments.

It was not only Hui Yue who stopped cultivating, Sha Yun also stopped and that all the essence within the room had vanished, making her cultivation impossible to continue, only to suddenly feel it return after a short moment.

Looking at the young man on the bed she noticed that his eyebrows had a deep frown as he once more inspected the stone with his spiritual energy and Qi, but no matter what he did nothing happened and the stone was the same as before.

Pausing for a moment Hui Yue once more entered meditation. This time, Sha Yun managed to see what was occurring and her eyes widened in surprise. She too felt how the room now contained a gentle breeze which quickly evolved into a strong wind then turned into a hurricane, surrounding the bed and the boy on top of it.

The hurricane did not grow in size, nor did it lessen, instead, it simply surrounded Hui Yue as he was seated in meditation. Upon closer inspection Sha Yun found that the hurricane was not created from the wind at all, instead the wind was a byproduct of the essence of the heavens and the earth rushing towards Hui Yue and the stone, surrounding him and providing him with all the essence he was able to refine.

Though this was the only effect visible on the outside, the stone was truly worthy of being called a treasure because it also affected one’s cultivation technique; as soon as the essence of the heavens and the earth entered the body the essence would latch onto a Qi thread. Latching onto the Qi thread, the essence would start refining itself as it rushed through the body until it had the same size and purity as the qi thread it first encountered within the body. After being refined, the Qi would rush through the meridians having fully merged with the rest of the Qi.

Creating so much Qi was beneficial, not only for one’s Qi swirl but also for the spiritual energy and the spiritual energy sea where the Qi was sucked in and further refined into spiritual energy. These silvery drops of sheer power were being refined very rapidly, at a speed much quicker than Hui Yue had ever seen before.

Hui Yue’s cultivation technique created a copy of him within each of his dantians, and this copy was constantly seated in meditation never once stopping its refinement of Qi and spiritual energy, however, it did have times where it would slow down and speed up.

No matter how quick the technique had been before, it had never been as quickly as it was now. He was shocked by the speed, but at the same time very alert. His strength was increasing so rapidly that it was something which could be considered dangerous if his cultivation base became unstable. After having absorbed enough essence, he once more exited meditation, and just like last time the wind instantly died releasing the essence of the heavens and the earth back across the room.

Hui Yue was now at the peak nine star of the Master rank. During their travels, he was not the only one who improved his strength. Wang Ju Long and Sha Yun were both seven star Master ranked cultivators while Deng Wu broke into the Grandmaster rank, a first star Grandmaster. He also happened to merge with his element at the same time.

Opening his eyes, Hui Yue noticed that Sha Yun had fallen asleep next to him and a gentle smile appeared on his face as the snake-woman was one of his very best friends. She was the one who would follow him anywhere, asking no questions and always be on his side. This was something which made the young white-haired boy feel a great amount of gratitude though the feelings he had for her were very different from the ones he had for Wang Ju Long. A blush crept onto his face as he was unable to stop thoughts of how he would feel had she been sleeping next to him.

Shaking his head, the young man sighed deeply before he quietly left the bed and slipped out of the door walking towards Deng Wu’s room. Although Sha Yun was his first follower there was one person who Hui Yue always felt an odd friendship with, and right now the young white-haired boy felt as though he needed to speak with this particular friend.

He did not need to talk about anything important, but he just wanted to speak with him about their everyday life. He was perfectly well aware that those friends that were following him were doing so out of their own will, and while they were traveling with him they followed all of Hui Yue’s orders and ideas, something which he felt much gratitude for.