Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (41 page)

While Xu Piao was feeling guilty about his behavior, Hui Yue was completely absorbed in his training and as the sunrise was coloring the sky purple, he finally opened his eyes.

Looking around, he saw that his friends were still cultivating. With a sigh he allowed for his consciousness to sink down into the dantian cave where he saw Lan Feng for once not cultivating, instead, he was seated still as if he was contemplating something.

‘I knew you’d come.’ He smiled as he saw Hui Yue’s mental projection move towards him, and the white-haired boy smiled back as he sat down next to the phoenix.

‘What do you think I should do with Xu Piao?’ Hui Yue asked with a careless voice. He had already made up his mind, but he still valued the opinion of his lifelong friend.

‘I agree with you.’ The bird said with a sigh, ‘He has no hostile feelings towards you, he even said that he sees you as a friend. Even though he is most likely using you for the sake of progressing up the ranks, or escaping these tunnels no one says he is the only one able to abuse the friendship.’ The bird continued with a wicked smile on his face, ‘To get two King ranked protectors is not a bad deal for the sake of allowing him to give information on you to Zhou Long, or whatever he might be scheming.’

Hearing that, Hui Yue could not help but laugh a little as he nodded his head agreeing with the bird. The two of them stayed seated for a bit in the comfortable quietness while Hui Yue’s eyes scanned the many small caves containing one odd energy form after another.

His eyes came to rest on the golden wings and he furrowed his brows as he suddenly remembered what Lan Feng said earlier.

‘Hey.’ Hui Yue nudged the bird by his side, ‘When I was flying earlier on my Qi fan everyone were deeply shocked. While we were escaping from the illusion of the endless forest earlier, neither Xie Lan nor Xu Piao seemed to be capable of flight.’

‘They are both King ranked experts, shouldn’t they be able to create wings and fly?’ Hui Yue asked curiously.

‘No,’ Lan Feng sighed, ‘When you were flying by using the golden wings the only reason you could fly was because they rely on a steady stream of Wu Wei. Just those wings consumed an amazing amount of Wu Wei.’

‘For a King ranked expert, or even an Emperor ranked expert, to create wings with their Wu Wei and fly with it, they would not be able to fly for more than a few moments before their wings disintegrate and they fall down.’

‘How come?’

‘Flying is the domain for birds and Saints.’ Lan Feng said with a sigh, ‘Unlike you, no one else should be able to fly. You can levitate and you can hang in the air. You can even fly a certain amount with Wu Wei, but long flight such as the one you displayed with both the Qi Fan and later with your Wu Wei wings, none of them should be possible.’

‘The Qi Fan is a skill I had to pay an amazing amount of money to get. It is one of the most peculiar abilities I ever got my hands on. As for those heaven defying Wu Wei wings of yours. I really don’t know and I dare not check them out.’

Hui Yue was quiet for some time as he processed Lan Feng said. To fly was something which belonged to birds and Saints. It was true that he had seen some people levitate; he had also seen short flight, but he had never seen anyone else who was capable of flying the way could.

‘Lan Feng,’ Hui Yue asked once more as he was seated next to him, feeling slightly nostalgic.

‘Yes?’ The phoenix replied. For once the bird was not stressed about training or refining. It was the perfect time for Hui Yue to get answers on what he was wondering about.

‘This is a cave and I understand that we are heading to the middle of it to this so-called Dragon’s Core to leave the dungeons. But is it not possible to fly to the ceiling and start digging our way out?’ Hui Yue asked curiously, as he looked at the ceiling through the window.

‘Digging your way out of the Dungeons of the Divine?’ Lan Feng suddenly started laughing uproariously.

‘It is not possible?’

‘No. It is not possible. Have you never wondered how caves of this size can keep standing without

pillars of support?’ Lan Feng asked while still chuckling about the thought that one could simply dig their way out

‘These dungeons are created from the will of my father and the other divine beasts. They are held up by their everlasting magic, the Ancestral Worldpower. Although Sha Yun was rampaging in the tunnels, and even if she were to remove every single wall the ceiling still would not fall down. Just like the cave ceiling will never fall. There is a safety barrier which ensures that it will never fall, but it also ensures that no one can dig their way through.’

Hearing this, it somewhat made sense to Hui Yue and he nodded his head slightly, ‘So the only exit is at the Dragon’s Core? We need to exit there somehow then?’

‘No.’ Lan Feng once more disagreed, ‘When we reach the Dragon’s Core we are going to enter the part of the dungeons which belongs to the phoenix’s descendants. Our aim is to enter into Shanyuan through these dungeons.’

‘That will take a very long time, right?’ Hui Yue asked, already feeling that the travel they were going on  would take forever.

‘My goal is that by the time we reach Shanyuan you will be a King ranked expert.’ Lan Feng said with a sigh, ‘Only if you travel within these dungeons will it be possible for you to quickly advance.’

The quietness once more sunk in and the two friends were seated in silence once more until  Hui Yue remembered one more of his questions he wanted to ask, ‘The Laws,’ He started, ‘Do you have any idea why the Dragon Corps are capturing the laws?’

‘No,’ Lan Feng replied his eyes glittering with anger, ‘Back in the day Laws were seen as revered members of society within the Dungeons of the Divine. Now they are hunted. I wonder if all four parts of the dungeon are doing this.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Hui Yue said as he felt that the phoenix actually cared a lot about these laws, ‘When I find out what is going on with them I’ll do my best to help them. I guess we can see it as an extra training exercise.’

After that, no one spoke anymore as both Hui Yue and Lan Feng were quiet, just sitting there, side by side, and calmly observing the cultivation technique within the dantian cave working as quickly as it could.

After an hour of resting side by side, Lan Feng once more sighed deeply and closed his eyes as his celestial blue body started to shine with golden light. He withdrew drop after drop of spiritual energy from the middle dantian and once more started to refine Wu Wei.

Seeing that the phoenix once more focusing on refining, Hui Yue sighed too as he returned to his body only to see that now everyone had left left him all alone. Now the sun outside was no longer a beautiful purple color, instead, it was high up in the sky heating up the entire cave beneath.

Leaving the house, Hui Yue noticed that the entire courtyard was empty no one seemed to be around which made him somewhat surprised. It had been a long time since they all went out together without him, but after a short while he shook his shoulders before he walked into the main house to prepare for he himself to go out. He was looking forward to seeing the beautiful city once more.

Getting ready was something which took quite a while as Hui Yue enjoyed how his tired body was being caressed by the warm water he was currently in. He also thought that if he was slow perhaps his friends would return, but after he finished no one had come back yet.

A slight frown was visible on his face as he looked around the empty house. It seemed as if they all had some reason to leave together, yet this was something that had never happened before and it gave the white-haired boy a bad feeling. A feeling as if something dangerous would occur at any time.

Not waiting at the courtyard any longer, Hui Yue moved with steady steps towards the inner city. He paid a boat to bring him to the marketplace where he was at previously with Sha Yun hoping that perhaps they had all gone to do some shopping. But as soon as he arrived at the marketplace none of his friends were visible, something which made him extra worried.

Having searched all over the marketplace, Hui Yue went from one marketplace to another before he started looking in restaurants and inns; however, no matter where he looked he found no trace of his friends.

The sun was now no longer high in the sky, instead, it was setting as Hui Yue moved away from the part of town where he ended up in. He decided to take another boat back to the courtyard hoping that his friends had arrived back before him.

This was, however, not the case. As soon as he returned back he noticed the house was as empty as when he left, no one was there and Hui Yue felt even more worried than he had been before.

Looking through all the rooms once more, nothing was visible, but just as he was looking through the final room voices could be heard from outside the building.

Going outside, he was deeply shocked. He was staring openly as he saw both Xu Piao and Xie Lan enter through the courtyard gate, both of them severely injured as they leaned against each other. Pale green light was visible around Xie Lan’s hands, just enough to keep the two of them standing.

Looking at the two, a cold flash appeared within Hui Yue’s eyes as he wondered where his own friends were and with steady steps he moved towards the two wounded King ranked experts.

“Hui Yue,” Xu Piao called out with a weak voice, “You need to help us,” He continued, his voice almost not possible to be heard as all his energy was used to speak, yet the pain was clearly too much for him “We had a fight with the Dragon Corps.”

“Where are my friends?” Hui Yue asked through gritted teeth.  

“They were taken. You need to get them back. Use the B rank emblem you have been given, I am sure they will let them go.”

“Why did you not use yours?” Hui Yue asked, anger raging inside of him. The words said by Xu Piao made absolutely no sense to the white-haired boy.

Firstly, how could two King ranked experts be beaten? Secondly, if the B ranked emblem was enough, why did he not use his? And thirdly, Hui Yue could not trust him after what he had been told earlier.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Hui Yue glared at the two wounded King ranked experts, wondering how wounded they actually were and what exactly had happened.

His ice-blue eyes were filled with frost as he uttered one word, “Explain.”

Xu Piao and Xie Lan exchanged glances as they came to understand that it would be impossible for them to be vague about what occurred. It was obvious that Hui Yue would require a complete explanation.

Sighing, Xu Piao started explaining what happened, “You were still cultivating as the others emerged from the training house and as they did they were discussing what to do. They decided on going out to eat. They all knew that you would most likely be busy most of the day cultivating.”

“Hearing their decision we decided to tag along. After all, cultivating when you reach our level is not really beneficial, so going out and experiencing the beautiful city with friends was a much better way to spend our time. We also thought that if we were lucky we could even gain enlightenment. A lot of cultivators have gained enlightenment within this beautiful city.”

Hearing his words, Hui Yue’s eyes were turning darker and darker, the ice-blue eyes which previously were as light as the summer sky had turned as dark as the deepest ocean. He was not waiting to hear about their plans, what was of importance was what happened with his friends, their condition and current location.

“Hurry up,” He said sternly, cutting through the long prologue before the actual explanation started.

Glancing at Xie Lan once more, Xu Piao sighed as he moved an inch closer, however, as he did Hui Yue moved backwards keeping the same distance between them. Internally he started calling on Lan Feng. The phoenix was the only hope Hui Yue had to be able to escape from the two King ranked experts in front of him.

‘Sorry kid,’ Lan Feng’s voice sounded out, ‘I cannot help you yet, although I have refined enough Wu Wei for one attack you will seriously need it later on.’

‘I can’t just leave my friends here alone!’ Hui Yue exclaimed.

‘They won’t stay here,’ Lan Feng commented, ‘They are most likely seen as very important prisoners and will be moved to Dragon Core for trial. If I were you I’d rush towards Dragon Core and deal with Scarface, then take over his position of waiting for your friends to be delivered.’

‘Don’t you think it will be easy’ Lan Feng continued with a sigh. ‘Scarface is most likely many times stronger than you, and dealing with him will not be easy. Afterwards dealing with the guards who are looking after my friends will be even harder. I am not sure what we can do against them.’

‘Well firstly let us do as they said,’ Lan Feng said, ‘Let us go to the Dragon Corp’s office and flash our B rank emblem. Hopefully they have not set out yet.’

Hui Yue nodded his head as he glared at Xu Piao and Xie Lan then he rushed out from the courtyard, not bothering to listen to any more words from the two older friends. This dialog though it seems like it took a long time really only took a few moments.

Seeing that Hui Yue started to contemplate, Xu Piao and Xie Lan dared not interrupt him and naturally quieted down, saying nothing more. After thinking for a second Hui Yue did nothing apart from rushing away after glaring at them once more.

Rushing to a boat, Hui Yue once more went towards the middle of town. In the very center square there was a large a pagoda with an Azure Dragon making its way up on the outside of the building. Everyone who laid eyes on the building was certain that it belonged to the Dragon Corps.

While heading towards the Dragon Corps, Hui Yue managed to get his anger under control. Although it was still raging inside him his facial expressions were calm and collected, but his eyes were still ice cold, his fists clenched tightly because he could not suppress his anger entirely.

Quickly, the young white-haired boy moved towards the dragon clad building. As he reached the entrance four sets of guards stood watch, not allowing anyone to walk through.

“No entrance for outsiders.” One of the guards said with a voice full of disdain as he looked at the white-haired young man. Like most within the caves they assumed that Hui Yue was an aberration, a spawn  of a demon beast and a human. The further into the cave system one got the more likely these kind of people would appear.

The further one went into the caves, the higher the cultivation rank the humans who occupied the

caves had. Correspondingly, the tunnels were also inhabited by stronger and stronger magical beasts. In the innermost regions of the tunnels quite a few demon beast existed which could take on human form.

Demon beasts who took human shape were the epitome of demonic power within the tunnels, however, their children were often looked upon as aberrations who belonged to neither human nor beast society. Some of them looked beastly while others looked more human.

Everyone who saw Hui Yue so far was of the impression that he was exactly one of these aberrations, and due to this misconception many looked down on him.

Seeing the reaction of the guards in front of him, the white-haired boy did not get angry at them nor did he truly care why they looked down on him, the only thing within his mind was finding his friends and freeing them as soon as possible.

With a flash of his hand, an emblem appeared in it. On the emblem was a ‘B’ marked, shining brightly on the golden surface.

Seeing the emblem, shock filled the faces of all the guards present and quickly retreating they opening a path for the white-haired young man. They no longer looked at him with disdain, instead, they were filled with veneration. Being able to obtain a B ranked mission made him a B-ranker, something far far above the poor guards. A swish of his hand would instantly get them fired if they were lucky, killed if they were unlucky.

Fortunately for these guards, Hui Yue had no interest in them whatsoever nor did he have any interest in their behavior, the only thing on his mind was saving his friends.

Rushing up the stairs, Hui Yue paid no attention to the now almost cowering guards as he moved into the first room.

The sight which met him was a counter where a person was seated awaiting information or other members of the Dragon Corps to appear.

Seeing the counter, Hui Yue did not think twice before he moved towards it. Once more he flashed the B rank emblem causing a hint of astonishment to appear on the woman at the counter, however, her facial expressions quickly returned to normal.

“What can I do for you sir?” She asked politely, her entire attention focused on hearing what words would be said by the person in front of her.

“Earlier today, or perhaps yesterday, there should have been a group of three youngsters who were  and one of them was a half demon beast. I need all three released and handed over to me.”

Hearing the words, the woman behind the counter paled slightly as she looked at some documents and the memory stones in front of her.

“I’m sorry sir,” The woman said as she placed the documents to her side, “Those three criminals have already been sent on to the next cave. We are capable of sending out a message to the next Dragon Corps office and they can hold  the criminals there, but I am not certain if your clearance is high enough for me to do anything. I think that the criminals are either B or A ranked. You can get more information at the next Dragon Corp’s office.”

Hearing the words, his anger soared, however, he told himself to endure. Endure so that he could get them back as soon as possible.

“Give me all the information you have on the three criminals and make sure to send a message that they are to wait for me in the next cave.” Hui Yue’s voice was steady as he gave the orders, his hand completely still as he accepted the memory stone containing information about the criminals.

Without waiting any longer within the office, Hui Yue spun around and quickly left, his heart burning with anger. Rushing down the stairs, the guards all did their very best to stay away from the angered man. All of them sensing his foul mood and not wanting to turn into the object he released his anger on.

Rushing down the stairs, the guards needed not to worry, as the young man saw nothing infront of him other than the road leading back to the courtyard at which Xu Piao and Xie Lan were supposed to wait for him.

At present, Hui Yue was not at all in doubt about their allegiance with Zhou Long and his eyes turned darker and darker, his lips curled up in anger and indignation.

The boat he hired sailed at top speed. During the entire trip, Hui Yue fiddled with the memory stone which was resting within his hands. He constantly fought against the urge to place it on his forehead and see what happened, however, he was aware that he did not know how long it would take for him to see it all the way through. It was not something which he should do outside.

Finally the boat arrived at the harbor and as fast as lightning three demon cores clattered in the bottom of the ship as Hui Yue rushed towards the courtyard.

Entering the courtyard, he found that both Xie Lan and Xu Piao were still waiting outside in front of the buildings. Waiting in exactly the same place where he left them earlier.

Without so much as glancing their way, Hui Yue rushed into the house and hurried to his own room where he sat down, legs crossed and eyes closed as he placed the memory stone to his forehead. A gentle light flashed out, but Hui Yue noticed nothing as his mind was filled with images.

The images showed the insides of a restaurant where Sha Yun, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, Xie Lan, and Xu Piao were dining. They were all laughing merrily and eating their food, when suddenly a group of Dragon Corps men arrived within the restaurant.

The Dragon Corps requesting something, but unfortunately there were no sound on the recording and what Hui Yue saw was that suddenly the Dragon Corps turned aggressive. As they were about to wound the man behind the counter, Xu Piao stood up for the man and stopped them in their tracks.

Seeing that Xu Piao jumped in all the others backed him up and within moments a fight had broken out.

The Dragon Corps contained a group of fifteen men against the five of Hui Yue’s friends. While Xu Piao’s side had two King ranked experts he quickly found that the other side had four King ranked experts. The battle was fierce and Xu Piao and Xie Lan were at a disadvantage.

At the same time, his three other friends were struggling against the eleven other cultivators and although they fought back it did not take long before they were surrounded.

Finally, Xu Piao took out his B rank emblem, but, unfortunately, the man in front of him was also B ranked.

A few orders were spoken, however once more, Hui Yue was completely unable to hear what was said. Immediately afterwards his brow furrowed as he saw his friends being tied up.

Xu Piao made a last ditch effort to save them, however, he ended up injured by the King ranked experts and while he wished to give chase, Xie Lan held him back as green energy was seen around her hands.

Seeing Xu Piao injured, the three friends followed without making a scene; this gave Hui Yue the impression so the reason they had followed that easily was due to a threat about hurting Xu Piao further.