Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (11 page)

All the air within Hui Yue’s lungs was pushed out of his body as he slammed into the tunnel wall, quickly followed by blood.

Hui Yue felt that his entire body was devoid of spiritual energy, and he knew that if the woman had managed to survive that last attack of his, then he would be unable to stop her from leaving.

Hui Yue was a man and he would never take back his word. Although he would be very unhappy to see her leave, he would not go back on what he had previously stated.

Sliding down the wall, Hui Yue felt how his entire back was one huge wound, not to mention his meridians had all been damaged from the excessive use of spiritual energy.

His legs were weak as he forced his body to stand up. Hui Yue’s blood was flowing from the wounds on his back, and another wound on his head.

Cursing slightly, Hui Yue could not help but feel lightheaded, as he slowly made his way towards the other side of the tunnel where he could see the vague shadow of the woman from before.

Hui Yue felt bad when Sha Yun killed the men within Cave’s End City, and even now he refused to allow Deng Wu to seal the souls of people whom he did not know regardless of if they had done something terrible, however, this was different.

The Dragon Corps was a group of people who had gotten in his way by capturing the person whom he was supposed to save. It would have been better if he did not have to kill them. However if he had allowed even one of them to leave, then it was obvious that the rest of their time within the Dungeons of the Divine would be as outlaws.

Being hunted was far from anything which Hui Yue enjoyed and as a result, he was merciless ordering the members of the Dragon Corps to be killed.

Finally making his way towards the opposite side of the cave, Hui Yue saw that half of her  body was gone. Relief finally appeared on his face, as he felt that they could finally move on in a relatively safe manner.

“We will rest for a bit,” Hui Yue said with clenched teeth as the pain was throbbing badly, threatening to overtake his consciousness and knock him out, “Yun, you take over and make this look like it was done by magical beasts. Ju Long, you deal with Sun and don’t let Wu close to her! Wu, come here and look after me.”

Having given the orders, Hui Yue collapsed to the ground as a green hue finally surrounded him, slowly but surely healing every part of his body.

Seeing that the woman was dead, Deng Wu followed Hui Yue’s orders and first withdrew a blanket from his storage stone. He then placed it on the ground before placing the young white-haired boy upon the blanket while he was healing.

Seated next to Hui Yue, Deng Wu once brought out his inscription tools and re-summoned the soul shadows he had previously used to kill the Dragon Corps and surround the captain. Knowing that Hui Yue frowned upon him taking new souls as soul shadows, he treated the few he had left with great care.

He had previously used a lot of soul shadows in the fight of Riluo City. Back then he had attempted to capture all the dying people’s souls, yet after the battle finished he noticed that the inscription he made was faulty and all the souls dissipated into the Netherworld.

Looking back, this was one mistake which Deng Wu was relieved to have made, as he knew that Hui Yue would have been furious, had he truly made these people his slaves in their second life.

Looking at Hui Yue, who was sleeping calmly on the blanket Deng Wu could not stop a smile from appearing on his face.

From a young age he had always been bored with the life which was available to him in Riluo City, and after getting the figurine, Little Dragon, he felt it even more so.

Although Deng Wu felt adoration for his family, he knew that it was not a place he wished to spend his days at, and he wanted to one day travel away and experience epic adventures.

Then he met Hui Yue and the new boy had been a fresh breath of air. He helped him save his family and now he brought Deng Wu along on his adventures. Gratitude for the kindness and friendship shown to him was welling up within the black-haired boy, and he swore that he would follow any order given by this friend of his, even if it meant meeting certain death.

Upon thinking about death the image of Rong Xing appeared in his mind and a longing blossomed within his heart. A sigh escaped his lips while he was thinking about his childhood friend. he then decided to sneak a peek at Sun, the woman who was much more than just a woman.

Glancing towards the woman, Deng Wu stiffened with horror as he saw Wang Ju Long glaring at him and he quickly shifted his glance towards the working Sha Yun.

The snake-woman was busy moving the corpses around. She picked up Hui Yue’s storage stone and withdrew multiple wolf corpses and jade vials of blood which she spread all over the place together with her own blood. Using her beastly attacks, she marked the area. Everywhere an attack had landed, she made an attack on top ensuring that the marks left behind were done by a magical beast, not a human.

Not a word was said within the tunnel while Sha Yun was working. Deng Wu dared not look at Sun once more, as he feared that Wang Ju Long would tell on him and he did not wish to let Hui Yue down.

Wang Ju Long, on the other hand, had nothing to talk with Sun about so all she did was stand next to the Primal Law as she waited for Hui Yue to wake up. An awkward silence appeared within the tunnel, but none of them knew how to break it.

Sha Yun was busy working, but as soon as she ended her clean-up she went straight to Hui Yue, where she positioned herself at his side not deeming the other’s worthy of her time.

Usually, she would enjoy talking with Deng Wu, however right now only Hui Yue’s injuries were on her mind. She guarded her friend and master with vigilant eyes, constantly on the lookout for magical beasts coming their way.

Sun was standing next to Wang Ju Long, however, she said nothing and just stood there waiting patiently for Hui Yue to wake up.

The awkward silence lasted for almost an entire hour where Deng Wu was constantly struggling with his impulses of looking at Sun. At the same time, Wang Ju Long was glaring daggers at the black-haired man, ensuring that he did not have any plans of closing the distance towards Sun. During the whole time, Sha Yun was seated quietly and alert by the side.

Small mumbling words could be heard as Hui Yue finally opened his eyes, only to feel that the green pearl from within had almost vanished, losing the majority of its powers. As a result, it was now drawing in Qi from the Qi spiral and essence from the heavens and the earth to replenish itself.

Opening his eyes, Hui Yue’s body was comfortable, and the green pearl restored everything on the outside closed all the wounds and healed all the scratches and cuts from being thrown into the tunnel wall.

Hui Yue’s organs had also been healed, but this was where the healing ended. His meridians were still shredded and in a pitiful state. Looking at them, it was obvious that they would need at least a month of rest before he would be capable of circulating spiritual energy through the channels.

Due to Hui Yue using his full power this had not only broken his meridians it also forced open the Du Mai meridian which specialised in protecting the body from outside attacks. It was a meridian which Hui  Yue did not know too much about, however, he was still excited to know that it was almost open.

Although Hui Yue’s meridians were shredded from the overuse of energy, Hui Yue knew that they would heal in due time and, for now, he had to wait patiently before exploring his newly opened meridian.

Sitting up, Hui Yue glanced around and saw the awkward atmosphere everyone was in due to his final orders before falling asleep and a short laugh escaped his lips. He quickly stood up and moved towards Sun, where he respectfully bowed in front of her.

“It is my pleasure to meet you, Law of the Sun,” The white-haired boy said with a genuine smile on his face, causing Sun to nod in reply.

“We wish to reunite you with the other laws within Cave’s End,” Hui Yue continued while looking at Sun as he had the feeling that she did not care at all as to what their plans were.

“Excuse me for asking, but why would you not care about what happens to you?” Hui Yue furrowed his brows, as he truly did not understand this woman’s existence in front of him.

“I am the Law of all the Suns within this world,” Sun finally opened her mouth and a beautiful voice sounded out, a voice filled with warmth. “As long as the suns exist, so shall I. As long as I exist so shall the suns.”

Hui Yue nodded, he had already been told about the laws before, however, that did not seem to answer the question he just asked.

“No matter where I go, I will always be Sun. Unlike you humans who choose your road, mine is predetermined. I can follow these men, but by doing so it will not change anything; I will always be Sun wherever I go. Staying within Cave’s End can have no other ending.” A slight feeling of regret could be seen within her eyes, however, the regret quickly disappeared and was replaced by proudness.

“You are human, this is one thing you will never understand.” She sighed deeply, as she looked at Hui Yue with a complicated expression in her eyes. “Every road you tread will lead you closer to becoming yourself. Every road you take changes you from whom you were before. You improve. You change. But I am a law, and a law is constant. A law is the same from birth to death”

Sun’s expression was as placid as ever while she spoke these words, but Hui Yue felt a slight conflict going on within the law in front of him. A sense of pity also arrived. Living within a limited world such as these dungeons for eternity was something which Hui Yue could never imagine. Especially without any aim to life other than bringing forth the different seasons.

Sun sighed deeply as she looked at the tunnel walls which surrounded her.

“I miss the seasons,” She said after a while. “Once upon a time I wished to become something else and took  a trip through the many tunnels and caves only to realise that life within these dungeons was the same no matter where I am. I would like to return home even still.”

Hearing this, Hui Yue nodded and the friends all stood up, getting ready to escort the woman back to the forest in which she used to live.

Walking through the tunnel, Hui Yue grabbed a cape from his storage stone and asked for Sun to wear it. Donning the cloak, the five made their way back to Cave’s End and the forest in which Sun had lived for eons, and where she would spend the rest of eternity.

Getting ready to walk through the gate back to Cave’s End was something which took longer than expected.

Hui Yue knew that killing members from the Dragon Corps was something which they could not afford to let people know about and instead he ensured that everyone was wearing the capes which could hide their appearance and cultivation base.

“I am really sorry Yun,” Hui Yue said for the third time that day, as he patted the head of his scaled friend. “We cannot let them recognize us, and you are fairly recognizable.”

Hearing this, Sha Yun could do nothing but nod her head depressingly as she stayed behind, waiting patiently by the gate along with the oversized plant. Wang Ju Long knew that the plant was as recognizable as Sha Yun.

As Hui Yue knocked on the door, the new group consisted of four people all covered with black cloaks, not even allowing for a strand of hair to be seen.

The guards were utterly shocked as they opened the gate and saw four humans walking by.

At first, they assumed that this was Hui Yue and his party which had returned, however after thinking things through they knew that this could not be so. They had a snake-woman in their party and none of these individuals seemed to have a tail.

Walking through the gates, Hui Yue did not walk back to Cave’s End City. Instead, he led his party along the cave wall, walking around. This route would take longer but it also increased their chances of not being recognized.

Looking at the backs of the disappearing experts a grunt was heard in the silence before one of the guards instantly put down his spear and shield and then rushed towards the town center. He was running to give a report about the newly arrived cultivators within the cave.

Travelling through the familiar surroundings, Sun’s face was filled with complex emotions as she was in one way was happy to return to her home, yet at the same time felt despair about the prospects of her future.

Hui Yue understood her emotions, however he also understood that the Dragon Corps weren’t likely to have had gentle intentions and while considering that, no guilt was evident on the face of the white-haired boy.

Seeing the determination within Hui Yue’s eyes, Sun smiled slightly before she started to speak.

“Long ago when this was nothing but an abyss, the four divine beasts arrived together hoping to find a place to settle down.” She started her story, her voice melodious and gentle as it swept across the three people who were walking her back home.

“Upon creating this land, the divine beasts used the five elements to create the current plane. The law of the Earth, Metal, Fire, and Water are the oldest of us laws.” She paused a short while before continuing. “Those five are so strong that even now, everything born into this world will be affected by these laws. You call it affinity, however the truth is that as soon as a life is born into this world, that life is born from the law of Life, which in turn is born from the laws of the elements. Each person originates from these elements and by looking at one's affinity one can see which element gave birth to that person.”

Hearing this, Hui Yue stopped in his tracks and looked at Sun with curiosity in his ice-blue eyes. The previous enlightenment had made Hui Yue understand what the laws were, however he was aware that everything he knew was purely the basics.

Now this law was explaining some of the things which swirled around within his mind for a long time. That included the elements.

Although Hui Yue understood that every person had an elemental affinity he was unaware of why they had this affinity. What caused them to gain such strong powers?

The answer had been simple. To be born within this world, one followed the laws of Life and the laws of Death.

These two laws were like the Law Sun,  which had been birthed after the elements, created by the divine beast from the Ancient Laws.

“The laws are split like this,” Sun explained, as she saw an expression of hungering for more knowledge within Hui Yue’s eyes. “You have the Ancient Laws which are the five elements. These five elements are created from the divine beasts themselves. After the Ancient Laws comes the Primal Laws. We were created by the divine beasts, however unlike the Ancient Laws we were not created from their own bodies, instead we were created from the laws themselves.”

“Below us Primal Laws are the Fundamental Laws. There are many of those. The seasons you met before are all Fundamental Laws. These laws are also created by the divine beasts, but this time they were birthed by the Primal Laws rather than the Ancient Ones.

“To be born in this world, means that you originate from our forefathers. The land was crafted from their bodies, and everyone who lives here lives a life given to them from the forefathers.”

Hearing this brought clarity to Hui Yue, however at the same time it also made him perplexed whenever he thought about the five elemental flames within him. Had he been granted life from all five elements? How could that be?

A sudden thought appeared within Hui Yue’s mind. When Lan Feng described the laws he had mentioned the forefathers. This was slightly confusing as Hui Yue knew that the ‘forefathers’ referred to the divine beasts, and Lan Feng would usually refer to them as father or the divine beasts, however when Hui Yue raised the question all he received was a sad smile from Sun and silence from both Lan Feng and Little Dragon.

Little Dragon had in general been incredibly quiet the entire time they had been within the dungeons and so had Lan Feng. This caused Hui Yue to wonder whether or not their real purpose here was to train, or if the two divine beasts had something else planned.

Sighing deeply, Hui Yue pushed the thoughts away as he knew that no matter how much he asked, Lan Feng would never answer and neither would Little Dragon.

Sun had already given them some incredibly important information about the laws, and Hui Yue did not wish to sound greedy.

It did not take long for the group to enter the forest, which ran all the way around the fields, and they quickly made their way back to the clearing where they had left the seasons behind previously.

The rest of the trip was quiet, no one speaking a word, instead they were contemplating what Sun had said. Although this was not enough to gain another enlightenment on the topic, leading to a breakthrough, it still allowed for Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long to gain a fundamental understanding of the laws, while it made Hui Yue’s basic understanding much broader.

The world was vast and filled with many things which Hui Yue knew nothing about. His travels were for the sake of improving his strength, but also tempering his personality and growing his knowledge.

Hui Yue was a person who had was living a second lifetime, however, during his first life he had been a young man who never faced hardships. Having been reborn into a world where strength was all that mattered, Hui Yue fought hard to adjust, yet even so, he had ended up feeling superior due to the help he gained from Lan Feng.

The first time in his lives when he realised that he was truly not the biggest genius around was during his duel against Wang Ju Long, and this sparked a desire in the young man, a desire to become the strongest.

Looking back, Hui Yue was now considered a young man, but in spite of that he was still younger than he had been in his previous life. This made him aware of just how different the current world was, as in his old world he would be considered a mass murderer, but here was a world where strength was coveted.

An absent minded expression was evident on Hui Yue’s face as he spent the time reminiscing about his past. As soon as Hui Yue thought about the many life and death experiences he had gone through, blood was roiling within his body excitement growing deep within. Hui Yue wanted these battles. He wished to test himself. He wished to improve. He wished to stand at the pinnacle, to be an expert which carved his name into the heavens, who engraved his name in the earth.

Sun had said that her path had been decided for her upon birth, however Hui Yue was not a law. He was a human with the right to pick his own road in life. Finally, while listening to Sun Hui Yue understood. He could become what he wished to be. Everything depended on him, and while others might not cut it, he would go the distance.

Determination filled Hui Yue’s face, his icy eyes were burning from within with an undying flame and a smirk appeared on his face. If he wanted to be strong, all he had to do was cultivate. If he wanted to be the strongest he just had to cultivate far more than anyone else.

Feeling the change in Hui Yue’s soul, a small smile appeared on Lan Feng’s face as he was resting inside the dantian cave. The phoenix had long since understood Hui Yue’s personality.

Hui Yue had been enticed by Lan Feng just after his rebirth, enticed to become strong for the sake of reuniting with Li Fen, but as time went on, the phoenix noticed how Hui Yue’s soul would scream in excitement with each life threatening situation; how he would bury himself in cultivation whenever he had a moment of spare time.

This boy was clearly born to become a cultivator and having Sun say a few words to make him understand was what Lan Feng had planned. This caused the phoenix great happiness, as he felt how Hui Yue’s soul was bustling with energy and excitement as Hui Yue finally found the road which he wanted to tread.

While thinking, Hui Yue and the others arrived at the pond that was filled with spiritual energy the first time they were here. Now though it was just a normal pond.

A thought suddenly appeared and Hui Yue went to the cave wall looking everywhere, however, no matter how much he searched it was impossible for him to find the area through which they had arrived.

‘Lan Feng,’ He mentally sent a message to the phoenix, ‘these dungeons. There is a way out right?’

‘Of course!’ The phoenix answered carelessly, ‘As soon as you reach the middle we can exit through one of the other four tunnels. Personally I’d love to go home to see what is happening, but we will decide where to go when we actually manage to reach the middle chamber.’

‘Oh by the way,’ He continued, ‘This is your practice so don’t expect me to help you out. I need to refine my powers for when we reach the end.’

Hearing this, Hui Yue could not help but snort with discontent as the phoenix had done his very best to say absolutely nothing ever since they entered this underground world.

Just as Hui Yue was about to answer, sounds could be heard throughout the forest and the four travellers suddenly found themselves surrounded by a group of guards dressed in red uniforms.

“Stop! In the name of Cave’s End’s City Lord, do not move even a little!” One of the men in front yelled out, his face filled with indignation and annoyance, as he looked at the four cloaked men in front of him.

Frowning Hui Yue turned away from the cave wall and looked at the man who was speaking. Annoyance was evident within his eyes, however they were firmly hidden beneath the sealing cloak, which kept everything hidden.

As soon as his ice-blue eyes locked onto the speaking man, he was unable to hold back his laughter as he remembered the man was the one who had invited them to the City Lord’s mansion in the first place.

A mistake had clearly occurred. These cloaks made it look as though the user had no cultivation base, however these men clearly believed that Hui Yue and his friends were without cultivation bases and just looking down on the four.