Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (17 page)

Standing still, Hui Yue waited until the leader was almost upon them before he activated Velocity Flow. Velocity Flow was a high ranked martial art attack skill, but anyone who had the cultivation base of the lower dantian was able to use it.

The moment Hui Yue activated Velocity Flow, a small aura appeared from his body, no longer hidden by the cloak, but the aura which he exposed would at most belong to a Practitioner ranked expert.

Activating Velocity Flow, Hui Yue had enough experience to move around with movements which only the best trained eyes in the arena could see, as Hui Yue ended up behind the opposing team leader’s back. Black Blood was pressed slightly against his throat and a drop of blood was drawn, making the middle-aged man stop in his tracks not daring to move in the slightest.

“Forfeit,” Hui Yue said with an ice-cold voice. Hui Yue was struggling. His body was screaming for Hui Yue to cut through the soft flesh the knife was rested upon, while his mind was urging him to stop. Killing intent rolled out from Hui Yue.

Although the white-haired young man managed to keep his killing desire in check, he could not help but allow the red mist to be emitted from him, surround the entire stage after which it crept up on the audience.

Every mercenary present knew that this killing intent was unlike anything they had ever sensed before. Even the host was greatly taken aback. The killing intent was so strong that it could only be gained after a whole life’s worth of killing, however no matter how he thought about it, the voice which called out a target earlier was fairly young. There should be no way such a young man could produce such killing intent.

The audience were shaking with fear and excitement, none of them noticing how they held their breath. The mercenaries were all smiling. Some of the smiles were maddened, driven to the brink of sanity, while others were excited clearly eager to face such killing intent themselves.

The group whom Hui Yue was facing all paused their attacks. None of them wished to see their leader dead and one after another they stepped down from the stage, not wishing to continue the fight.

Having taken the leader hostage, Hui Yue felt how his body was slowly being taken over by the killing intent, but with the last shreds of his sanity, he released the tranquil cloud, circulating it through his body and slowly recapturing the red mist, forcing it back into the Qi cave.

Seeing that the killing intent was being reeled into his body once again, everyone in the audience suddenly felt as though the air got much lighter, their breathing no longer labored.

A few felt that they were slightly dizzy while others had various degrees of nausea. The mercenaries within the arena instantly began to discuss with one another quietly, arguing about whether or not they would be capable of dealing with such a strong opponent.

On the stage, Hui Yue stood alone with his knife on the throat of the opposing team’s leader as images flashed across his eyes. It was a scene of a world dyed red, with dead beasts and humans slain by a beast standing on top of a huge  mountain of corpses.

The beast was nothing more than a shadow, its entire body reeked of blood and its eyes were red as the mist itself.

These images only appeared in Hui Yue’s eyes for a few moments, yet it held such temptation that Hui Yue unconsciously cut slightly deeper into his hostage’s throat.

Coming to himself, Hui Yue was thoroughly shaken, but he refused to let it show. With a swiping motion he stored Black Blood back into the storage stone and threw the hostage off the stage, resulting in the entire team leaving the stage leaving behind only Hui Yue and his friends, no one said a word.

Although lots of information had been gained from this fight, only three of the members had actually participated and from these three only one had been possible to understand somewhat.

Wang Ju Long’s flower did all the work for her, and although the vine attack through the stage was an attack she could not use more than once, it still ensured that no one knew anything concerning her real strength. One could guess that she had an affinity with Wood because she had such a tenacious flower, but did she have other affinities as well?

Deng Wu was just preparing his inscriptions and none of them had been  activated, causing everyone to learn nothing more about the cloaked man.

Xie Lan had done absolutely nothing at all but stand at the back, as she was wondering how to deal with her opponent.

Sha Yun, on the other hand, had shown off her prowess. Everyone already understood that she was either a mixture between a demon beast and a human, or just an actual demon beast.

Although Sha Yun did not use any form of spiritual energy, her movements alone were enough to overwhelm any Master ranked cultivator showing that she was, at least, a Master. Very likely she was even stronger.

Then came Hui Yue. The young man who was the leader of this mysterious group. His killing intent stunned everyone present, making them wonder just who could be underneath that cloak.

This young man had, as a matter of fact, only used his internal energy and this energy was used for a martial art attack. Not even a spiritual art making it impossible to tell which rank he truly was. Although some had been revealed from this mysterious group of people, even more, was still unknown; this just caused many more questions to spring into existence.

Hui Yue, completely ignoring everyone else, lifted his cloaked head and glanced at the referee who quickly pulled himself together, a cheeky smile on his aged face. “The winner is the mysterious group number one hundred and seventeen!” He said with a normal voice as he walked up onto the stage.

“We will now commence the second fight. Group one hundred and seventeen will not be fighting anymore today, if you wish to see them fight more be sure to buy tickets for tomorrow!”

Hearing that they had no more fighting to do, they instantly left the stage and went out of the arena, not staying behind to check out the rest of the competition. He already had an average estimation of which groups they would have trouble dealing with. Right now, the only thing which mattered to Hui Yue was to have a talk with Lan Feng about a way to keep the killing intent in check and to understand what that image in front of his eyes had been.

“Well done!” As soon as Hui Yue had led everyone back to their courtyard, he heard a voice he instantly recognized as Xu Piao. The Guild Master of the Mercenary Guild was standing within the courtyard waiting patiently for Hui Yue and his entourage to arrive.

Although he did not personally witness the fights, he was always kept up to date about every win and loss and as soon as news of Hui Yue’s win was announced, the young man instantly rushed to their courtyard to congratulate them.

Hui Yue nodded politely towards Xu Piao, however he did not stop instead he mumbled, “My apologies Guild Master, I gained enlightenment so I will need to undergo closed door training until our next battle.”

Having said that, Hui Yue paid no heed to any of the people around him as he strode inside their house with steady feet and sat down in the room which he had taken as his own.

Seated on the ground, Hui Yue closed his eyes and allowed for his consciousness to enter the dantian cave where Lan Feng resided.

It had been a long time since Hui Yue last paid the phoenix a visit like this, and the young man was instantly stunned when he saw that Lan Feng no longer had the body of a ten year old child, but instead a mature young man. His eyes were closed and his soul seated in a meditation position, golden energy surrounding him, making the celestial blue feathers shine with a golden hue.

Sitting down next to Lan Feng, Hui Yue too started to cultivate allowing for the tranquil cloud which was inside the dantian cave to expand and envelop Hui Yue’s entire being, causing his thoughts to clear up and a comfortable feeling to spread throughout his body. The remnants of the killing intent quickly vanished, completely destroyed by the calmness which flooded Hui Yue’s senses.

Sitting within the dantian cave and allowing for the tranquil cloud to wash over his body, Hui Yue sunk deeper into meditation. His body slowly merged with Earth and Metal at the same time. It was a natural occurrence  which happened because Hui Yue’s body wished to become one with the energies surrounding it, but, sadly, he did not have the qualifications to do so yet.

Small specs of golden light appeared in the air around Hui Yue, and every time he took a deep breath these specks of golden light entered his system and flowed towards the Qi cave as Lan Feng absorbed every single spec of light.

Hui Yue was seated in meditation and he had no way of realizing what was happening to those small golden lights. This was different from the phoenix and as soon as he absorbed the specks of light, he opened his eyes and observed Hui Yue with great shock and slight admiration. A smile appeared on his face as he moved towards Hui Yue and hit the meditating boy atop his head.

‘What do you need my help with?’ Lan Feng asked with a cocky voice, seemingly enjoying the fact that Hui Yue needed his help, and the white-haired boy could do nothing but sigh as he gave a  wry smile.

‘The killing intent,’ Hui Yue said quickly, not wishing for the phoenix to suddenly change his opinion. ‘When I was fighting at the arena today there was a flash of another world. There was a flash of a beast. Did you see it?’

The question alone could be considered dumb since the two of them shared everything, things they felt, the food they tasted, and the world they saw. But even so, Hui Yue had a feeling that this particular sight was one which Lan Feng had not seen, and the serious face of the phoenix told Hui Yue that he was right. He was the only one who had noticed that shocking scene.

‘I believe it was something from one of your previous lives,’ Lan Feng said hesitantly, ‘The stronger the mist grows the more you will remember and the more it will affect your current life.’

Hui Yue nodded slowly, Lan Feng previously stated his theory that the caves all had something to do with his previous lives, and while pondering this Hui Yue agreed that it was the most likely option.

‘Will I become as bloodthirsty and frenzied as the red beast I saw before?’ Hui Yue felt how he shuddered as he said the words. Although he enjoyed the perks of his killing intent, it also included some side effects which he was much less keen on. One of these was how he wanted to cut his friends to shreds, how he could not control the unstoppable thirst for blood which appeared within his body.

‘Well, you have more than one previous life stored within this cave,” Lan Feng said with a smile as he gestured with his hands, making Hui Yue look toward the many caves, some open while others were closed. ‘If I were you I would focus on the tranquil cloud. Perhaps it can help you to keep the killing intent in check.’

Thinking about what Lan Feng said, Hui Yue nodded his head slightly before he completely allowed himself to be enveloped by the tranquil blue cloud, slowly sinking deep into meditation. His body once more focused on nothing but absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth.

Cultivation helped assist the tranquil cloud in his dantian cave and allowed it to increase in size, and cultivation was also what Hui Yue felt like he needed the most right now. A way to slowly gain strength while clearing his mind and cleansing his senses.

Outside in the courtyard Sha Yun quickly left and made her way towards Hui Yue’s room, sitting down outside the door and guarding it so that no one could enter or interrupt her master while he was doing important training.

Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long both gave polite nods towards Xu Piao before vanishing into the house, getting ready to cultivate while they had the chance. They both looked forward to improving  their strength so that they would never drag down Hui Yue in battle.

Just as Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long entered the house, a tranquil atmosphere floated out from somewhere within; Xu Piao was deeply shocked as he felt it, however not as shocked as Xie Lan was.

Xu Piao had been together with Xie Lan for a very long time and he could instantly tell that something was wrong, causing him to grab her hand only to feel her trembling slightly.

“Let’s go back to the office,” Xu Piao sighed, “you need to explain to me everything you saw today.”

The trip back to the office was done in silence, as both Xie Lan and Xu Piao noticed early on that they were being followed by others. Mercenaries who wanted to sell any information they could possibly get their hands on about the cloaked group.

Seated within the Guild Master’s office, Xie Lan finally felt at ease. A prolonged sigh escaped her lips as she fell into the chair, her hand pinched the top of her nose as she closed her eyes and counted to ten.

“I hear you didn’t have to participate in the fight at all,” Xu Piao asked curiously, as he sat down on the top of his desk looking at Xie Lan with the same curiosity that one would find on a little child waiting for a surprise.

Seeing her master looking like this, Xie Lan could not help but laugh silently before she straightened her back. Her face once more took on the appearance of an official, about to relay the information she had gotten.

“This group is much more dangerous than we first thought,” Xie Lan stated her first assessment. “The woman who dresses like a man was capable of using a plant of some sort to completely neutralize the opposing team’s healer, however, that attack will not work twice. Still it worked this time and allowed her to keep all her information  concealed. No one knows anything about her; not her rank, nor her true abilities. Even I am unsure about them.”

“Secondly, the black-haired man,” Xie Lan continued, this time referring to Deng Wu, “He was standing still the entire fight as though he knew that he did not have to do anything as if he knew how it would end before it had started. He never revealed even a sliver of what kind of cultivator he is making it even harder for their opponents, and us, to understand him. The only thing I have seen as a member of the team is that he uses inscriptions. As for which kind of inscriptions, I do not know.”

“The beast is almost exposed.” Switching to Sha Yun, Xie Lan tried to get through the team’s performances as quickly as possible, but with the least amount of mistakes. “She released some of her power, but she did not use any spiritual energy, nor did she use her elemental affinity just raw strength. Her strength and speed were enough to hold her own against a Master ranked cultivator making it easy for everyone to know that she is, at least, Master ranked.”

“Finally, we have the white-haired boy.” Xie Lan paused a bit before she continued, her body filled with goosebumps and her heart  started beating erratically as she remembered the scene. “He used the cultivation base of the lower dantian to position himself behind the leader of the opposing team.”

Xie Lan paused again, a slight amount of fear creeping up on her. Was it really okay for her to tell on him? Was this something that he might get mad about and then come after her for?

Although Xie Lan was stronger than Hui Yue by a large margin, something about the young boy scared Xie Lan to a degree she never thought possible. Even now she was worried about talking about him, in case he would get mad and return for vengeance.

“He possesses powers that no one else does,” Xie Lan continued after a fairly long break, “He had a dangerous air about him and he managed to release a killing intent so thick that even the audience at the seats furthest away had difficulties breathing. To have such a killing intent, he is not someone we can afford to offend.”

Xie Lan’s eyes narrowed as she said that, but at the same time she was reminded of the beautiful young man who looked as kind as an innocent child, not to mention the atmosphere of tranquility which was released as the two of them were about to leave.

“Mmhm,” Neither an agreement nor a disagreement could be heard as Xu Piao hummed, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he heard about the fight.

Seeing the expression on her boss’s face, a sigh once more escaped Xie Lan’s beautiful lips. From within her cloak, she located a small memory stone which she handed to him. This was a recording of the entire battle, however, it was only a recording and it could in no way do justice in showing the ice-cold, bone-chilling killing intent which Hui Yue had shown earlier, nor was it possible to hear the sentences which the white-haired boy said to his opponent as he had the knife pressed against his throat.

But even so, even without the feel of the killing intent and without the sound Xu Piao was still

incredibly excited as he received the stone, instantly placing it on his forehead as he closed his eyes and was immersed in the scenes which were playing out within his head.

The fight did not take too long, only a few moments, but it was nevertheless these few moments which Xu Piao replayed multiple times, his smile growing each time he repeated the film.

There were certain things which Xie Lan had not managed to see when she recorded the fight, but Xu Piao was used to looking at every single detail and only after rewatching the recording multiple times the smile on his face could not grow any further, as his eyes focused on the head clad in a black cloak.

Just as Hui Yue was releasing the speed skill Velocity Flow, he moved quickly behind his target allowing  his cloak to reveal a slight bit of his lower face.

His face alone was not the interesting part, what was interesting and what caught Xu Piao’s attention was the long fangs were growing from Hui Yue’s teeth.

Xu Piao was smirking, as he finally removed the memory stone from his forehead. Giving it back to Xie Lan he dismissed her, but instead of going back to his seated position at the desk he went towards his bookshelves behind the chair.

Taking out one book after another, Xu Piao shook his head in annoyance until he finally found what he was looking for. Looking at the pages, he flipped through the book before he found the paragraph he was searching for.

With one finger placed under the words, he mumbled with a low voice, “Demon beasts are able to transform into human form upon truly understanding the cosmos, which allows them to transcend into divine beasts. To become a divine beast, one is usually a Saint ranked expert.”

Looking up from the book for a moment, a flash of excitement grew on the face of Xu Piao as he felt immense gratitude towards himself for having the foresight to realize just how important these four friends were. Who knew? Perhaps more of them were Saint ranked experts.

Having looked through the book, Xu Piao ripped out the paragraph from its original place and placed it in a pocket of his clothes, smiling happily as he returned to clean up the many books he dumped upon deeming them wrong.

….

Xie Lan was confused as to why her master acted the way he had. She could not understand why he had such an urge to rewatch the match multiple times, but even if he did wish to do so, why on earth would he smile the way he had?

Using deduction, Xie Lan quickly reached the conclusion that Xu Piao had noticed something which she had not, but no matter how much she searched it was utterly impossible for her to see whatever it was that Xu Piao saw.

Grumbling slightly, the woman made her way back to the courtyard which was currently in use as the residence for Hui Yue and his group. Since Xie Lan had become one of the group members she too had been given a room in the house, but she was greatly shocked as she got closer and closer.

The first thing she felt was a gentle breeze, a feeling like a fleeting touch caressing her cheek. The closer she got the more the feeling changed into that of a hug from a loving mother, the tenderness one could only feel towards their own kin.

It was obvious that the aura which Hui Yue exposed at the start had undergone certain degrees of refinement, changing from pure tranquility into memories of long forgotten lives.

This immense change in such a short time was enough to alert Xie Lan and she rushed towards his room only to see Sha Yun was standing guard. Although it would be easy for Xie Lan to remove the snake-woman she decided to leave it be. Hui Yue had long since outshone her expectations time after time and even her master trusted him. Who was she to question whomever her master trusted?

Comforting herself with such thoughts, Xie Lan went to her room where she sat down and got ready to cultivate only to notice that the tranquil atmosphere had heavily increased the amount of essence of the heavens and the earth; it seemed as if the atmosphere created by the young man was actually working like a magnet.

It was not only Xie Lan who noticed this particular trait of Hui Yue’s abilities, no, outside on the streets multiple lights could be seen as one cultivator after another moved into the range of the blue cloud. Allowing for it to swallow them whole, to make them one with the tranquil essence which was emitted from Hui Yue, and the young man enjoyed the sudden boost in his strength.

One student after another sat down, greedily absorbing the abundant essence which was floating towards the sky. All their energy was focused on becoming one with the energy, so focused in fact that none of them noticed how their cultivation base suddenly started rotating at a speed they had

not requested.

It was obvious that they had not requested the sudden movement within their cultivation base as they were all deep in meditation, and as Hui Ye sat in the middle of everything a very satisfied smirk was apparent on his face as he felt how he could control anyone of the cultivators who were currently trying to abuse his tranquil cloud to increase their own cultivation base.