As Xun Yanshan heard this, he nodded his head and replied, "Good work! Rally the remainder of our men and prepare, for we shall march towards the Central Regions once again."
"Yes, Leader Xun!" The man replied, as he dismissed himself from the tent and headed towards the groups of practitioners.
Nei Sinian who sat around the table looked towards Xun Yanshan and flicked his index finger. Within moments, a chart or rather a map explaining the battlefield zones in detail appear before their eyes.
He then moved his finger towards a part of the map surround by a large red circle and spoke in a calm voice, "If we keep following this route on the chart, we should arrive at the entrance of the Central Regions the 'Center of All Zones' in about six months. The Ancient Dragon Battlefield Wars usually continues for no more than a year. So, we have to make the best of use of the remaining time to gather as much war points as we possibly can."
Xun Yanshan hearing this replied, "Un. Let's hope that we can also find those brats while traveling this route."
Nei Sinian hearing this shook his head silently, he then looked towards an open section of the tent where far in the distance. A silhouette of a floating Fortress could be seen slowly traveling towards the distant parts of the Interior Regions.
Following Nei Sinian's sight, Xun Yanshan also revealed a pensive expression as he spoke once more, "I'm sure those guys already have their plans regarding the disappearances of these kids. It also doesn't look like they are partaking in this Mystic Realm Trial for treasures as they immediately left after destroying these fiends. I wonder, what's their main purpose for coming here?"
Hearing Xun Yanshan's words, Nei Sinian replied, "It is useless to ponder the unknown, let's get moving." As he said this he slowly got up from his chair and walked outside of the tent. Xun Yanshan seeing this shook his head, he waved his hand causing the tent to vanish returning to his Storage Ring and promptly followed along.
∞ ∞ ∞
At the summits of the sky, a Mansion-like Fortress floated in the air. The emblem of the Phoenix hanging high atop walls which used to be a gate, and its courtyards remaining in the same design as it would on land.
It traveled at a slow and steady pace as it made its way towards the Central Regions, moving as if those on the inside did not feel the need to hurry.
Inside of the main building, within a large hall, were a group of the Feng Clan's core officials and elders. They were seated quietly listening to the discussion of the two men sitting at the principal seats.
"Junling, why did you send Elder Chen and Elder Duan to search for Yu'er and his friends? We are already short enough on manpower as it is, not to mention the fact that we had to use most of the energy crystals to power this artifact, so it could even reach zone!" Feng Yunlong asked with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"If we didn't use the energy crystals, we would have never been able to traverse those two zones in a day's time. Now that we have arrived at this Foggy Zone, we can be said to have cleared the most pressing issue of distance. Traveling at this speed is enough for us to arrive at the entrance in 6 or so months. There is no need to rush, we can use this extra time to derive more of our bloodline's potential and hastening the recovery of our strengths. The energies here are of a higher grade than those on the outside, it should make our recovery increase by two-folds." Feng Junling replied in a calm and collected manner, as he played with a small black and white spheroid in his palms.
He then looked towards Feng Yunlong and spoke once again in ambiguous tone, "As for the circumstances regarding Elder Chen, do you really want 'that' Elder Duan alone to go and search for the kids?"
Feng Yunlong hearing him mention 'that' Elder Duan revealed a pensive expression. After some time, he sighed and replied in acceptance, “Sigh, fine then. I suppose sending Elder Chen wasn't a bad idea."
"Good! Now what we should focus on is recovering our strengths to as much as we possibly can while collection points through these zones we pass. That Variant Heiferfiend wasn't too bad, but it was not good either. Its weapon was useless to us practitioners as we use a different kind of energy in our world and its war points were almost negligible since it was shared." Feng Junling said as he smiled and waved his hand causing the small black and white spheroid to disappear.
Feng Yunlong replied, "Un. Indeed, it was..." He then looked towards the core members and officials and spoke once in a solemn tone, "I want you all to do your utmost to gathering points, as we will require many to gather the resources our clan needs. All Crimson-Mask Soldier units will take the frontlines from now on as all core family bloodline members should focus on unravelling more your strengths! Dismissed!"
The clan officials and core elders hearing his words bowed and replied in unison, "Understood!"
They then got up from their seats, and orderly made their way outside of the man hall, leaving behind only Feng Yunlong and Feng Junling.
Seeing that the room was now empty, Feng Yunlong asked, "How is Xingyu feeling now?"
Feng Junling hearing his question answered with a slightly concerned expression on his face, "She is fine, it's only... she's been having these strange dreams since she arrived in this realm."
"Father had always kept the details about her body's true circumstances unclear. Sigh, I wonder, what could be the problem?" Feng Yunlong said in a concerned tone.
"I don't know, but we have to use any means necessary to find out." Feng Junling replied in a firm tone, as a bright gleam shone at the depth’s eyes.
"Un." Feng Yunlong said as they both looked towards the garden of roses in a separate courtyard.
∞ ∞ ∞
Central Regions, Endless Rain Zone, within the Gloomy Forest.
The day was now at its peak, but the gloom of this forest was never-ending. The constant down continued to drench the land, washing away all signs of hope.
A group of dark furred wolfmen with gleaming yellow eyes and sharp fangs were cautiously traversing the forest. Their human-like bodies hunched over as they slowly walked through the wild bushes that grew between the trees, while they moved, they would swiftly and silently break apart the tall grasses in their way.
They occasionally stopped to check the environment for unexpected circumstances. However, today they were doomed no matter how cautiously they scanned the wilds.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
Instantly, a group of Ghoulfiends beamed from out of the underbrushes completely catching the wolfmen off guard. Their sharp claws tore through the chest of the wolfmen causing a fountain of blood to paint a small section of the forest.
"Aroouu!" A few of the wolfmen tried to resist as they called upon their dark powers and charged towards the Ghoulfiends in a frenzied manner. Their form quickly turning into remnant shades with no accurate direction for their assaults, soon, a few of the Ghoulfiends had succumbed to injuries.
However, before they could gain the upper hand, they were swiftly beheaded by the Elite Ghoulfiend Hunting Squad Leader. The forest became filled with the scent of blood.
"Chet! This troublesome Dark Wolfmen Tribe, always sneaking about our territory." The Squad Leader said as he scanned the corpses of the Dark Wolfmen. Behind him, the other Ghoulfiends had started to look around the environment for possible threats due to the previous bloody scene.
However, one odd Ghoulfiend stood to the side silently as if nothing in the world was worth its time. The Squad Leader who had now finished counting the corpses of the wolfmen looked towards his squad members and nodded; he was pleased with their swift and efficient performance.
He then looked towards the form of the lone Ghoulfiend standing in the corner of the field and commanded with a tone of anger, "You there! What are you doing standing around?! Get to work and gather the corpses! You will drag them back to the camp to aid in the on-going ritual!"
As Feng Yu heard his command, he promptly reacted by waving his hands in a sign of compliance. The Squad Leader didn't pay him any further attention and rallied
the remaining squad of Ghoulfiends to head back to the camp.
Feng Yu seeing this scene remained indifferent, he then looked towards the corpses and frowned while thinking to himself, "This isn't going well two days are remaining to complete the mission, and I still haven't found a good plan to sabotage this ritual. What's the best option? There must be a way---"
As Feng Yu was lost in his thoughts, he was soon disturbed by one of the Dark Wolfmen that was barely still alive.
"Cough! Cough! Da...mn, M...a...t...u... k and his... t...r..i..b..e..." The Dark Wolfman said, as coughed out a large amount of blood shortly after passing away.
Feng Yu hearing his words couldn't help but reveal a thoughtful expression for a moment, but soon, his expression changed to that of excitement as a cunning light shone in his eyes. He muttered softly, "Since I lack the power to change the situation myself, why not use the power of others? I will 'fight fire with fire,' using Fiends against Fiends."
As he was excited in his new chain of thought, he promptly began to collect the corpses from the ground. However, as he was about to finish this task, there was a sudden commotion from the direction the Hunting Squad Leader and the Ghoulfiends went.
"The human was last seen over there! Quickly find and capture it!" A powerful sounding voice said as it echoed throughout the area despite the harsh rain.
As Feng Yu heard this, he became shocked and subconsciously replied, "What?!"
His voice drowned out by the downpour that added to the tense atmosphere that was about to unfold.
Chapter 86
__
The Strange White Cocoon? A Spark that Leads the Way!
The Gloomy Forest had become 'lively,' as a fierce pursuit was in progression. Hordes of fiends swiftly traversed the wild forestry, moving between the trees and tall grasses. Some of them even tunneling through the earth at high speeds while others flew high above the forest with their wings, utterly unaffected by the harsh downpour leaving no stones unturned.
Rumble! As they tore through the forest inch by inch to find their target, the environment began to shake as if a magnitude ten earthquake was devastating it. The weaker creatures who lingered in the fields quickly made way, as they took off in all directions causing a stampede that further added to this chaotic scene.
The Squad Leader and the Ghoulfiends who saw this scene up close became stunned, as they quickly made way to avoid the chaos. After they escaped the range of the danger, the Squad Leader then looked towards the location of the pursuit and frowned while he spoke, "Damn! So, they found the human that Tribe Leader is chasing. This beast tide also isn't a good sign, I have to head back to camp and warn the elder."
As he finished his words, he nodded towards the squad members and moved towards the direction of the camp at full speed. The Ghoulfiend squad members swiftly following by his side, not even bothering to waste any time to contact the odd Ghoulfiend outside of the party, as if they had unanimously agreed to leave him behind in the now chaotic scene.
Feng Yu was confused; he didn't know whether it was his identity that had been compromised or it was another trial participant that had entered the Central Regions alone due to their poor luck. So, he wasted no time as he quickly transformed into a streak of lightning that beamed towards a distant place.
Soon, he found a very well-hidden cave in the distance that would usually have not been visible to even the keenest of hawks. However, the Phoenix was said to have eyes unlike no other, and as a plus, he had a substantial amount of cave hideaway experience.
Swoosh! His figure vanished into the darkness behind clusters of thick bushes, he then will for one of his swords from his Storage Ring and slashed randomly towards the ceiling of its exit.
Bang! Following a loud bang, groups of rock soon after collapsed completely closing the entry passage of the cave. If one looked from the outside, however, they would see nothing unusual as stones had perfectly melded with its surroundings.
Phew! A beam of blue light shot from the sky and materialized into the form of a blue creature that hovered silently above this area. It was a small female with blue water-like wings that had cyan scales all overhear body; she wore a set of revealing of clothing made of leaves that covered only the most private of sections on her small form.
An Aqua Nymph, small beautiful creatures that despite their cute nature was actually the most dangerous fiends in this forest. They are a Fiend Race that was of the middle-class harmful to all who cross their path.
The Aqua Nymph looked around the region of the forest with the deep gaze as if she could trace the whereabouts of all who hid within the rains water. Quickly, she swept her eyes across the cluster of bushes that covered rocks leading to Feng Yu's hideaway cave.
Carefully inspecting it for a moment, she then shook her head and flapped her wind fling towards another location of the forestry. The chaos behind her quickly catching up to this region as the pursing fiends lay waste to all things within their path while scoured these lands.
∞ ∞ ∞
Inside of the Feng Yu's new cave hideaway.
As Feng Yu hid in the darkness, he couldn't help but curse to himself as thought about his predicament, "Damn! Will I have to keep on hiding in these caves every time I go on a journey?! If this is the case, why do I even bother? I should just simply give up the mundane and become a caveman [Reclusive Practitioner]!"
He then snapped his fingers causing a flame to appear before his eyes that lit up the cave. The light cleared away a majority of the dark scene, causing Feng Yu's downcast mood to liven up. He looked around the cave to pass his time of boredom, seeing nothing interesting he was about to focus on cultivating with the energies of this world but was soon distracted by a strange sight.
It was a white slick-like cloth that wrapped around a form like a caterpillar. Vaguely, the sound of a heartbeat could be heard as it pulsated at a slightly irregular interval. Feng Yu instantly became cautious as he noticed this strange thing, he sent a wisp of semi-condensed spiritual power towards the slick and instant became shocked.
"This silk is actually hair?! What on this earth is this creature? Why is it that it had to be in my hideaway?" Feng Yu felt conflicted as he did not know what kind of creature slept within this hair cocoon, and he had no way out as both the angry fiends and the force beast tide had arrived at this region.
However, soon his worries became for naught. A strange unknown power began to spread from the cocoon as if it was inviting him to touch its surface, unknown to even Feng Yu himself he already walked towards the cocoon in a dazed manner soon placing his palms against its surface.
Buzz! A strange power soon after started to flow from Feng Yu's hand as it flowed inside of the cocoon, deep inside was a small white-haired female child that had a pale face as if she had lost all her blood. Her thumb held in her mouth and eyes closed to the world outside. As the scarlet-golden colored energy from Feng Yu's body flow between the hairy channels, it was quickly devoured by the small girl inside.
If one looked carefully, they would see that upon absorbing the energy from Feng Yu the body of the small female had started to change. Her body grew by a small percentage as the paleness of her skin began to regain some color, a little wristband that was on her wrist glowed brightly before it disappeared and reappeared around Feng Yu's arm.
Quickly, the strange power faded as Feng Yu returned to normal. However, there was no look of confusion in his eyes. He simply calmly gazed at the cocoon before his eyes as if he could see the figure beneath its surface and spoke in a soft tone, "So it was you... sigh, fine. I will help you out seeing that you have helped me out this time."
Upon saying this, he couldn't help but look at the artefact that was now on his wrist. He smiled as he looked towards the collapsed entrance of the cave as if he could see the scene outside and spoke confidently, "With this, my mission just became a whole lot easier. Matuk I wonder what expression you'll make when you see the destruction of your camp!"
His
eyes gleaming in a sharp murderous light that threatened to cut apart the air itself. Unknown to him, however, was that his Half-Step Sword Intent was now closer to achieving true sword intent….
∞ ∞ ∞
Somewhere far away…
There was a large crack in the earth, one with depths that could not be seen. The sound of rushing water echoed below this massive gorge, but it was too far below the surface to see.
Still, these were not the only peculiarities of this place.
Crackle! Ka-bang! A massive number of snake-like thunderbolts and electrical lights danced about the entirety of this gorge as they randomly bombarded the walls and any lifeform that dared to travel between the channel.
At the bottom of this gorge and the sea of lightning was a massive water channel, with chunks of large rocks scattered about its surface. These rocks grew from under the water channel and acted like landmasses for those who traveled through the place.
A beautiful young female could be seen seated on one of these small landmasses, her hair was parted into two sides with two long braids reaching all the way down to her ankles; she wore a black shenyi with golden sleeves with white wrappings around her arms as well as her feet which were inside a pair of sandals.
Xin Qing looked at the scene before her eyes with a desolate expression, her eyes were misty as she felt helpless and she complained, "No! Why have I been sent here? I want to go back send me back!"
As if the Thunderbolts were disturbed by her manner, they rumbled and released their fury.
BANG! One massive bolt of thunder shot its way towards the small landmass that Xin Qing was on with full momentum, not even giving her the time to scream. She could only look at the bolt of lightning that will soon bring her to her doom. Vaguely, a sense of peace arose with her heart as the bolt of lightning overlapped with a familiar form.
Dual Sword God Box Set Page 60