Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (31 page)

The entire area was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, no one dared say anything.

Having been kicked far back, the guards instantly rushed to their master’s side trying to assist him in standing up which in turn caused the already mad young man to explode, unleashing his rage onto the men who came close to him pummeling them.

“Well done. Haha, very well done!” The young master said with a voice trembling in anger as he looked at the indifferent young man in front of him. “So you have the guts to go against the Demon Dancing family.”

“I hope you do not regret your decision, I won’t let anyone, not even the Dragon Corps, stop me from getting my revenge just you wait that snake-woman will become mine and you will suffer!”

Having said that, the young master was about to walk away when he realized that could no longer move. It felt as if someone took over his body, giving him orders which he himself did not give, but at the same time a tranquil and gentle atmosphere emanated from the young man who was standing in front of him, his face anything but tranquil.

Hui Yue was unaware that he could use the tranquil cloud to take over another person’s body, nor would he have been able to do so had he consciously attempted it, however, deep within his disire turned into a roar. A roar which turned into an order. Hui Yue ordered his body to stop the young master, to not allow him to speak his last words.

The tranquil cloud helped him accomplish this goal. The only one who felt the restrained was the young master who no longer could move, whereas everyone within the marketplace only felt the tranquility; they felt a calmness which in no way belonged to the scene in front of them.

This tranquility was many times more frightening than the killing intent would have been understandable, but the gentle air was almost oppressing causing the young master to fear for his life as Hui Yue slowly took one step at a time closing in on the young master and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Listen up,” He said with a low voice, almost growling, “I don’t mind if you insult me. Call me a half-breed or whatever, but don’t you ever mention anything about my friends. Don’t think that just because scum like you exists everyone is like that.”

Hearing his soft voice, the silence within the marketplace was such that almost no one dared breathing; his low voice reached every single corner at the square where they were standing.

Behind them, Sha Yun was standing and her eyes glistened in pride as she heard the words Hui Yue said, her heart beating erratically as he was protecting her. Hui Yue was getting mad because of her. A smile was on her face because she was grateful about how he was protecting her and cared for her. Even though she was aware that he did not return her feelings, he still valued her greatly as a good friend, something which warmed her heart.

As soon as the words left the pale lips of the white-haired boy, the restraints on the young master vanished and he stumbled forward, diving straight into the ground before he scrambled to his legs and ran as though there was a demon behind him.

A moment later, the tranquil air which kept everyone standing still, afraid to make even the slightest move, vanished without a trace. Hui Yue returning to the friends by his side as he smiled a gentle smile reminding them why they were there in the first place.

“Time to eat!” He said, as he took Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long’s hands and dragged the two girls with him towards a food stand with delicious smelling food, leaving Deng Wu to catch up.

“Oi wait for me!” He called out as he rushed after them. Sha Yun’s face filled with laughter and even Wang Ju Long was smiling at the young man trying to catch up.

As soon as they started walking away everyone who had been at the food marketplace, apart from those who owned stalls, all vanished into thin air. They all feared that someone would be back for revenge.

Hui Yue seemed to not have any fear of the family returning and as soon as they found a stall with a seating area, they instantly sat down. They ordered a wide array of dishes which everyone enjoyed together while freely chatting about everything and nothing.

Time went by quickly as the group ordered more and more delicacies, wishing to try them all now that they had the time to do so.

While they were eating, the sun slowly moved across the sky. When the sun was almost getting ready to set, the group of four finally stood up paid their bill and got ready to head back to the Mercenary Guild when they saw that the entrance to the marketplace was now heavily guarded, guarded in a way it had not been earlier.

The guards were at least Master rank, with some of them being Grandmaster ranked and even a few Duke ranked experts. All of them were standing at the entrance clearly under the command of the young master who had been there earlier. The Young Master was now quite far away from the others in a safe location as his eyes shone with mixed emotions.

Hate could be seen within his eyes, along with apprehension and even fear. As soon as the young master returned to the Demon Dancing family he told his father about the situation and the father ordered him to take some guards to wipe out the ones who caused trouble.

His father was not interested in taking in Sha Yun, nor was he interested in what his useless son was doing, no what he was worried about was how commoners and cultivators would view his Demon Dancing family if he allowed for such low ranked experts to make fun of his family.

“Here they are!” Someone suddenly yelled and all the guards who were harassing citizens or challenging the original guards at the marketplace finally stopped their actions and gathered up, looking at Hui Yue and his entourage.

The entourage was only four cultivators and only one of them was a Grandmaster, while the others were Master ranked. The four people were enough to make the group of guards laugh out loud because they all believed that they had what it took to beat them senseless within moments.

“Don’t underestimate them!” The young master said from his hiding spot outside the marketplace, while guarded by four Duke ranked experts. He looked uncomfortably at the fifteen cultivators who were all standing between him and the other group.

Laughter rung out from the marketplace as the fifteen cultivators heard the serious voice saying that they needed to take them seriously. All of them were aware that they had much more manpower and more men with higher ranks than the four in front of them.

“Keep the snake-woman alive,” The young master suddenly called out once more, “Keep her alive for me and I will pay you a hefty sum of money.”

Hearing those words, a cold gleam appeared in Hui Yue’s eyes once more. He slowly lifted his hand, gathering the attention from his friends all of them waiting to hear what his orders were.

“Kill them all.” Hui Yue said in a low voice which swept across the entire area, and for some reason a shiver ran through the many men who were getting ready to attack.

“You sure talk big,” One of the guards said, his face twisted in malice and indignation from hearing the words of the young white-haired man. Who did he think he was to order their deaths?

Deng Wu picked up his scrolls. The majority of them were Fire Orbs, but three contained beastly soul shadows and these were the first thing he summoned. Pointing them towards the men in front of him and planting a sliver of will within them, ordering them to kill their enemies.

Seeing the large shadows the eyes of everyone present widened in surprise. Necromancers were not that common underground either and coming across one was something which could be considered very bad luck. The Demon Dancing family even went so far as to insult and start a battle against a necromancer, this was shocking to the extreme.

Before Deng Wu released his soul shadows, everyone expected that Hui Yue was the strongest in the team because he was the leader, yet after seeing those soul shadows their thoughts instantly changed and everyone looked at the black-haired handsome young man with renewed respect and dread.

Seeing Deng Wu was a necromancer, dread was visible on the face of the young master, but in a life-threatening situation such as this his mind was reeling at a speed unlike anything else and he quickly stood up,

“Wait!” The young master yelled loudly into the air his hands waving manically. Seeing this, Hui Yue lifted his arm and made Deng Wu pause his attack. Standing by white-haired’s side was the three beastly soul shadows in front of the two, keeping the guards at bay.

“Killing everyone here will not be beneficial for either of us,” The young master said, his mind reeling in fear and worried how he would get out of this. Even if he did manage to deal with the man here, he still had to return home and inform his father about the outcome of the fight.

“I’m listening,” Hui Yue said with a slightly hesitant voice. Although he knew that he could get rid of all the men present, he also knew it would be troublesome if they suddenly ended up fighting against the entire family. It was not something he could take lightly. Still, as long as they had any ideas about his friends, Hui Yue would fight to the bitter end.

“We will do a one on one fight in the arena next week,” The young master said with a serious expression on his face.

“Battles in the arena are to the death and no one is allowed to go against the verdict. Should you lose then you have to hand over the beast to us, should we lose then we will never touch you nor your friends again.” The plan of the young master was to have a one on one battle. Although the necromancer had soul shadows, it was possible for him to be beaten if it was a one versus one.

“No deal,” Hui Yue’s voice cut through the audience, chopping down the hope which the young master started to harbor.

“The fight in the arena will be to your advantage,” The white-haired boy continued, his voice devoid of all emotion only facts were being said.

“If we lose we have to hand over Sha Yun? Well in case you lose you have to hand over ten thousand demon coins or demon cores.” He said with a steady voice.

Ten thousand demon cores was not a small amount of money for any family. Had the Demon Dancing family not been as famous as they were, then likely they would not have that much liquid assets, but the young master contemplated their options.

The first choice was for them to all die now. The second was to have a battle against them, which they were likely to win. It was obvious which of the two options the young master preferred and a smile appeared on his face as he nodded his head.

“Four days from now, when the sun is high in the sky let our two groups fight against each other then.” He said before he fled the location, hurrying back towards his home to inform his father about the event.

Walking back to the Mercenary Guild the entire group had a heavy pressure pressing down on them, none of them were able to truly enjoy the walk nor think back on their meal with pleasure. Instead, they were all very annoyed with the fact that they had to fight in the arena.

Walking into the Mercenary Guild, Xu Piao was standing in front waiting for them with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes condemning them as they stepped inside the courtyard.

“Seriously, I leave you alone for one day. One day! And you go and annoy the Demon Dancing family! Why not just go and insult the City Lord?!”

Hearing Xu Piao speaking in such a manner caused a smile to appear on Hui Yue’s face. The more he got scolded the more he smiled. It was nice to be cared about by an older person.

“It’ll be fine,” Hui Yue laughed. “I will do my best to ensure that we don’t have to let go of Sha Yun,” He continued his voice light and careless. Not even once did he consider having Deng Wu fighting although he was rank-wise the strongest of them all.

“It’s not fine!” Xu Piao said with a grim expression on his face, “They will likely use their strongest man and although the family head and the elders won't step forward, the family still controls quite a few King ranked experts. You will have to fight against a King while you yourself are only a Master. How on earth do you think you can win a battle like this?!”

“Don’t worry,” Hui Yue said once more, his face showing a knowing smile. “I have means to protect my life and deal with a King ranked expert. Although I can not use it often, I will be able to use it during the next battle. For the sake of Sha Yun I’ll use my full strength.”

Xu Piao and Xie Lan were taken aback hearing that. Both of them had been sure that they saw the limits of his abilities when he was fighting against the Horned Snake, and also later on when he was assisting them all to escape the illusion of the Endless Forest, yet here he was insisting that he had yet to still go all out. The shock was not small.

“Let’s say that I believe you,” There was still a great amount of doubt within his voice as he hesitantly spoke, “As soon as you have managed to defeat one of their men it is likely that they will then use their elders and eventually the family leader might step out. Do you think you have enough strength to deal with all of them at the same time?”

Hearing this Hui Yue contemplated for a short while and after thinking it through he nodded his head. “I will at the very least be able to stay alive, but as long as I win the first battle they have sworn to leave me alone for the remaining time I am within the Demon Dwelling Cave.”

The certainty in the young man’s voice was enough to cause a great deal of uncertainty in Xu Piao’s mind. The white-haired man surely seemed certain of himself and his own skills and so far he had been spot on with everything he had said causing the older man to somewhat believe what Hui Yue said as true; however, at the same time a certain amount of reason remained and was still casting doubt.

A Master ranked cultivator was infinitely weaker than a King ranked expert. They were realms apart, even dantians apart and it was not something which could be solved with high ranked spiritual art skills.

Still, it seemed as though the young man was certain in his abilities and eventually Xu Piao heaved a heavy sigh as he nodded his head. “If you are able to defeat the one whom they send, then we will stand by your side and make sure that they don’t dare doing anything else. But should they win, then I am afraid we won’t be able to help you. The rules of the arena are ironclad.”

Hui Yue nodded his head. He already guessed that much, but he was not too worried about the battle. His determination was steeled and he was getting ready to use the fusion of his soul with Lan Feng for the first time. Whether the bird liked it or not, it was time for Hui Yue to use the energy which the phoenix had been refining. To save a friend he would go all out.

‘You planning on asking permission first?’ Lan Feng asked with a deep sigh. Even if he was against it, it was impossible for him to stop Hui Yue. Their souls were merged, and it was due to this merger that the bird was capable of refining much more Wu Wei at a time, but it was also due to this merge that Hui Yue could take the energy without asking for permission. Everything which belonged to Lan Feng also belong to Hui Yue.

‘Nothing will change even if you decline,’ Hui Yue said with a sigh, ‘Will it make you feel better if I ask for permission?’

‘No,’ Lan Feng laughed with hollow laughter. ‘Although I wish to say no, I am aware that this is a very important situation.’

‘I will not take over your body and deal with them for you,’ The phoenix continued, ‘Instead, you can knock yourself out with my Wu Wei, just don’t get killed.’

Hearing that Lan Feng approved Hui Yue’s plan, he felt as though a giant stone had been lifted from his shoulders and gratitude filled his entire soul, causing the phoenix within his dantian to ruffle his feathers proudly.

‘In this world death is always looming around the corner,’ He warned Hui Yue, ‘We should not fear death as long as it is something we meet on our road to revenge. There are things much more important that staying alive, and one of these things is friendship. Sha Yun is an important friend. Had you not stood up for her, then I would have lost all respect for you.’

Hearing this a wry smile appeared on the white-haired man’s face. This was the most he had heard from the phoenix ever since they entered the dungeons, but there was no better time than now to speak. This was the most dangerous situation they had been in after arriving within these caves.

‘You know, you can always request something from her as a thank you for saving her,” Lan Feng continued, yet before he managed to state what he should ask for Hui Yue interrupted, “I refuse to have snake-babies. Enough already, go refine some more Wu Wei, we’ll need it all.”

….

Having finished his talk with Lan Feng, Hui Yue moved straight to his room just as the others had gone to theirs. Seated on the bed, Hui Yue entered meditation and ever so slowly allowed for the blue cloud of tranquility to surround him.

Unlike last time, Hui Yue held everything under control ensuring that the cloud did not exit the room he was seated within. e could feel how the area was full of electricity due to how much essence of the heavens and the earth was pouring into the little room. It entered his body and was refined into Qi and spiritual energy.

The blue cloud worked in many ways exactly like the stone he just acquired, only the two could be combined and the speed with which Hui Yue refined Qi would be so outstanding that no genius in the world would be able to catch up.

Practicing this way though had its drawbacks, and Hui Yue could not continue for long before he had to stop and stabilize his energies. He used the small room to its limits as he practiced one skill after another.

Although these skills were not enough to defeat a King ranked expert they were enough to stabilize his Qi and spiritual energy and help it steadily increase. Even if he had to rely on Lan Feng’s Wu Wei, it was obvious that he would also be using his own spiritual energy to their limits, the same went for his Qi and everything else which Hui Yue had at his disposal.

Training into the night, he never noticed that outside the window the sun was setting, nor did he notice that the moon started shining and Sha Yun had entered the room with two light stones and some food. The only thing which the young man noticed was his energy, how strand after strand, drop after drop, the energies within his body slowly stabilized themselves. His goal was to have completely stabilized all his energy by the time he was supposed to fight.

One day took another and without paying too much attention the day finally arrived, the day Hui Yue was to fight in the arena.

*knock* *knock*

The sound of knocking could be heard as Xu Piao slowly opened the door, his insides churning like never before and his face filled with worry. The Guild Master had been observing Hui Yue these past few days and everything he saw was simple and standard skills which the white-haired man had used before. No new and astonishing attacks were shown, nothing which proved that he was capable of defeating a King ranked expert.

However, even though Xu Piao was feeling apprehensive it was now far too late to do anything about the fight and with a deep sigh he looked at the young man who had become a dear friend.

“Are you ready?” Was all he could ask, worried sick that this would be the final time he would talking with his friend.

Seeing the worry in Xu Piao’s face, Hui Yue could not help but show a gentle smile and his pale hand gently patted the older man’s shoulder. The smile on his face did not show any signs of anguish nor defeat. Within the ice-blue eyes was a certainty for victory, a certainty which Xu Piao had no idea where it came from.

As they left the room, Sha Yun, Deng Wu, and Wang Ju Long all came out none of them saying anything, all of them slowly patting Hui Yue’s shoulder before they moved behind him and together all departed from the Mercenary Guild.

Walking through town, the streets were bustling with activity and the closer they came to the arena the more crowded the roads became.

Unlike at Mercenary City, this arena was not used for competitions once a year, instead, it was used to deal with arguments that had no other ways of being dealt with than fighting. In the end this was a world where the strongest were correct and the weak had to make way.

Although one might think that the arena was a crowded place, but it was not somewhere battles occurred as often as one would expect. This caused the few battles which did happen to become that much more popular. It was very rare when both men survived the battle. If anything both would die from the severity of the wounds they had.

Arriving at the arena, Xu Piao led the entourage through a side door which took them underground where they stayed within a chilled room.

“We can follow you until you stand on the stage,” The Guild Master explained, “Yet as soon as you are on the stage itself, we will be unable to assist you in any way. The moment you stand on that stage you are only allowed to come down if after you  have defeating your opponent.”

“It will be fine,” Hui Yue assured the worried Guild Master once more. The battle which he was about to participate in was not a fight for fun, nor was it a fight he picked because he wished to improve his cultivation and breakthrough.

This was a battle which Hui Yue took for the sake of protecting a friend of his, a friend who had shown him unquestionable loyalty and someone who was always the first to be there for him. If Hui Yue did not participate in this battle and win it, he had no right to call himself Sha Yun’s friend.