Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2)

by Tinalynge

  Seeing his master in such a great mood, the steward fidgeted a little before he finally opened his mouth again, “Milord, I am afraid that this was no magical beast,” His voice was low and the City Lord was only capable of hearing it because he was a high ranked expert, higher than the average citizen.

  “Milord, the only thing they will say is do not offend the King of the Forest. Their minds seem to have been lost.” The more he said the lower the voice became and at the end it was merely a whisper which was barely discernable.

  Although this was but a whisper it was enough to thoroughly enrage the City Lord. Who dared calling themselves a king within his Cave’s End?! His eyes were bloodshot with anger and the cup in his hand crumbled to pieces as the grip tightened.

  “Take me to the guards!” His voice boomed out with anger, as he said these words the steward fearing for his life, as he was the messenger of bad news, bowed over and over again before he backed out the room; he slowly led the lord towards the infirmary where those guards were being kept.

  Walking through the door, the City Lord’s frown turned into a furrow of his nose as the smell was simply horrid. Still, his anger was not easily dissipated and he stepped through the door. Entering the room only to see his most trusted and highest ranked experts laying in a pool of tears and mucus.

  Anger flashed within his eyes, as he wondered what could have caused his men to sully themselves, however, even the many wood affinity cultivators who were running around seemed to be completely at a loss for what to do.

  As soon as the City Lord stepped through the door, the previously busy room instantly turned silent, no one moved around to wash the guards or scout their bodies for injuries. The only sounds which could still be heard came from those three guards, which were sobbing in low voices.

  Looking around, the lord found only one man, the captain of the guards who seemed to have just one shred of sanity left. However that shred of sanity was something he held on to for dear life.

  “He’s nothing like you think.” He kept repeating, and upon seeing the City Lord the captain rushed towards him and kowtowed on the floor as words started streaming from his mouth.

  “Milord, we followed the cloaked men and caught up with them. Upon meeting them they had no cultivation base whatsoever.” The man was frantic and the words gushed out from his mouth like a waterfall giving the City Lord no chance to stop him. “A man stepped forward and called himself the King of the Forest. Of course we laughed at him and told him that there were no kings within this cave, only the City Lord and his commands. The man got mad, very mad. He ended up making the world thunder and spin, the ground tremble from his anger. My lord, his cultivation base is definitely no weaker than yours. If I may say so, he was definitely much stronger, not to mention the three followers, who were all like him, clad in black hiding their strength.”

  As soon as the man finished speaking he collapsed on the ground, foam appearing in his mouth as his body was spasming. It took only moments before he was declared dead.

  Seeing his trusted guard driven to such a state, the City Lord felt anger burning within his very core, however he did not act irrationally. Instead he left the stinking room and moved towards his own home to take a bath.

  “You there!” He called to a steward who was standing close by. As soon as the man noticed the City Lord, respectful bows were shown to him. “Summon the elders for a meeting, I will be there shortly.”

  ….

  While the City Lord prepared for a meeting, Hui Yue was walking through the forest where he had walked days before together with Xingye and he quickly recognised the way. The trip took mere minutes as Sun too rushed along, speeding up the entire group as sunshine shone through the black cloak enveloping the surroundings in a soft golden light.

  “Mother!” A voice called in the distance, and within moments everyone gathered up next to the four cloaked people.

  As soon as Hui Yue recognized Xingye, he stopped in his tracks and removed the cloak he was wearing. Seeing Hui Yue doing so, his friends quickly followed suit and soon a reunion was taking place.

  “Where is the miss with the funny tail?” Xingye asked Hui Yue and the white haired boy sent a sad smile to the smaller one. “I couldn’t bring her. She is guarding the tunnels and waiting for us.” A small hint of guilt struck Hui Yue but he quickly shook his head. The decision he made might have been rushed, however he still stood by it.

  If they were recognized it would be impossible for them to continue on their journey safely. It was not only for his sake but also for Sha Yun and the others.

  Determination appeared in his eyes once more as he made one more decision. They would stay within the clearing for one week to see whether or not the City Lord planned on making a move. If he did, Hui Yue would retaliate exactly as he said he would, however, if they did not, then Hui Yue would leave this place and move on, with one thing less to worry about.

  Chapter 23 - One Week Past

  Time within Cave’s End went by slowly as Hui Yue wanted to return to Sha Yun. He still felt bad for having left her alone within the tunnels with only an oversized poppy flower to keep her company. However, even in doing so he felt that he made the right decision considering their safety later on during their trip.

  Nothing happened the first day apart from Hui Yue and the others settling into the cabin belonging to the laws. Hui Yue gave Deng Wu the task of placing inscription patterns all around the edge of the forest to work as a warning system, should the City Lord decide to attack.

  Slowly putting up the inscriptions caused Hui Yue to feel a certain degree of safety. Although they did not cover the entire outskirts of the forest it should still catch the intruders, as the inscriptions were spread randomly and were invisible to the naked eye.

  Although Hui Yue did feel some safety from knowing that the inscriptions were up, he spent a little time every hour to scout the area using his affinity with Earth, yet no matter how much he checked, there was nothing outside the ordinary.

  One day took another and soon the week was almost up. During this time, Deng Wu was assaulted by the laws with questions of why he felt so similar to their father.

  “Stop it, stop it!” Deng Wu finally cried out, as he tried to remove the children who were climbing on him. Though no matter how much he tried to peel them off, nothing changed.

  Pleading for help, Deng Wu felt how his heart sank as neither Wang Ju Long nor Hui Yue paid him any attention. In fact both seemed to be doing their very best to avoid eye contact with the poor young man.

  Hui Yue was looking away because he knew that Deng Wu wished to keep his secrets hidden. The white-haired boy understood why though. Although Deng Wu got some help from Little Dragon, the soul of this Saint ranked beast was not living within the body of the black-haired youth, instead it was sealed within a figurine which could easily be stolen.

  Accepting Deng Wu’s need to keep silent, Hui Yue did everything in his power to ignore him. However, just as he did he suddenly felt a tremor run through the ground and his eyes instantly turned serious as he merged with the Earth, allowing for his lower body to be clad in soil.

  As soon as Hui Yue merged with the earth, power surged through his body, both from himself and his earthen flame but also from external energy as he felt the massive quantities of earth essence he could sense at once.

  Hui Yue was seated in a meditational position and he allowed for his mental projection to break free and enter the earth where it floated to the very edges of his control. The edge where the City Lord and his chosen men were walking.

  The City Lord brought with him over ten guards. All of them were wearing a red uniform and they seemed to be Practitioner ranked.

  Behind the City Lord was the four elders and all five of them were hesitating to enter the forest, worry visible on their faces.

  By having merged with the earth, everything which the earth saw, Hui Yue saw. Everything which the earth felt, Hui Yue felt a fraction of. Hui Yue had truly
become one with the earth and his abilities to control it were rapidly increasing.

  Looking at the men who were wandering about within the forest, a sense of mercilessness could suddenly be felt by the ones closing in on Hui Yue’s original body and he decided to take action. He had already warned the City Lord, for him to not heed his warning was no longer the white-haired man’s problem.

  The men which walked within the forest spread out in the search of anything that could bring them information. Since they were split up, the forest was silent. Not even birds could be heard singing.

  The silence was suddenly broken by a blood curdling scream and all of the men stiffened before they all rushed to the source of the scream.

  Arriving at the location, a gruesome sight was waiting for them as a hole appeared in the ground. The hole was at least four meters deep and the final two meters were filled with sharp Earthen Spears.

  Only three people saw it, however, all three instantly agreed on escaping, fearing that more traps like this could appear at any moment.

  Pale faced the guards started backing away only to be met by a tall wall of earth which crashed down upon them.

  The previously quiet forest suddenly came alive with screams as another three men met their end within the forest.

  Standing outside, the already serious face of the City Lord turned even more grave, as the scent of blood started wafting out from within the forest. Many of the cultivators started running out of the forest as soon as the scent of blood was present in the air.

  Unfortunately, the City Lord was not satisfied with just this action and with a sword in his hand he forced the men back into the sturdy world of trees.

  Looking at how serious the City Lord was, Hui Yue quickly drew out his consciousness from within the soil and returned to his own body. Without telling any of the ones present where he was going, Hui Yue shot out of the clearing, rushing towards the location of the intruders.

  Although Hui Yue said nothing to his friends, they were all fully aware of what Hui Yue was rushing to do, and Deng Wu instantly stood up eyeing the opportunity to escape from the children.

  “I am truly sorry but he will need me,” Deng Wu yelled behind him, as he rushed in the direction which Hui Yue had vanished moments before.

  Seeing that both Hui Yue and Deng Wu were rushing away, Wang Ju Long did nothing but look at them before a sigh escaped her lips, as her eyes once more returned to the seeds she was observing previously. Wang Ju Long focused on plants and on healing. Although her abilities were capable of ensnaring the intruders, she was aware that they were only Practitioner ranked and that the elders, although Master ranked, were only that: Master ranked.

  Hui Yue might be of the same rank as those five, however his battle prowess was far superior. He had always refined the finest quality Qi. His spiritual sea was dense with spiritual energy. His affinity with Earth and Fire was similar to that of a Duke, while his affinity with Metal was certainly equal to that of a Grandmaster.

  Knowing that no cultivation techniques had survived within Cave’s End, Wang Ju Long knew that the elders and the City Lord, although the same level, were at the absolute bottom of what one could expect. It was highly likely that Hui Yu could defeat them even before he, himself, stepped into the Master rank.

  All these thoughts had been swirling around within Wang Ju Long’s head, and the girl quickly shook her head. I only care about him because he is my friend, she thought to herself her eyes glancing towards the path Hui Yue rushed through moments before. She once again sighed deeply before she returned to her previous task of observing the plant seeds in her hands.

  Rushing through the forest, Hui Yue quickly made it to the area where the guards had been forced into by the City Lord.

  Hui Yue stood in the shadow of a tree observing the men as he waited for Deng Wu to catch up with him.

  “Keep my body safe,” Hui Yue said as soon as the friend had caught up, and without waiting for a reply the white-haired boy sat down and meditated, merging with the earth and allowing for his consciousness to once become one with the earth.

  Hui Yue allowed for the entire ground to tremble as he willed the soil to create pitfalls and Earthen Spikes which appeared out of nowhere. Coffins made of soil which buried the men alive, killing them by suffocation.

  One scream after another rang out within the forest and as the final guard had been dealt with, Hui Yue returned to his body after which he stood up.

  “I am the King of the Forest!” His voice was enhanced by the usage of Qi and the sound boomed throughout the entire forest, the ground trembling once again.

  “I warned you not to come here!” Hui Yue continued, as he quickly found the black cape he had been wearing before and wore it once more, as he moved towards the elders and the City Lord, gesturing for Deng Wu to follow.

  Walking through the outskirts of the forest, Hui Yue saw the many corpses. With a gesture of his hand the earth underneath the corpses start to move, bringing all of them next to Hui Yue, as he made his way to the outskirts where the City Lord was waiting.

  Shock was evident within the eyes of the City Lord and his entourage as the black cloaked person made his way out. He was followed by yet another black cloaked person and rolling earth, bringing the corpses of all the guards who had entered the forest.

  Hui Yue was moving forward, however upon closer inspection the City Lord noticed that his feet were not touching the ground, instead he was hovering a few centimeters above the earth. Levitating, yet no ripples from his cultivation could be sensed.

  ‘He is nothing like you think.’ Suddenly the voice of his previous captain sounded within his mind and his heart could not help but beat painfully fast, as adrenaline and Qi were swirling throughout his body. Every inch of the man in front of him scared the City Lord, much like he had the guards. The main difference was that the City Lord knew that everyone would have some sort of cultivation just by living, as the essence of the heavens and the earth was everywhere, yet in front of him was a levitating person with no cultivation base whatsoever.

  Hui Yue was not truly flying something he was incapable of doing, however, he was hovering on top of two small Qi Fans.

  Looking at the City Lord, Hui Yue allowed for all the corpses to be delivered right in front of him. The Lord himself was unable to do anything as he looked at the corpses, his body shivering in fear as he regretted not listening to what he was told by his captain.

  Looking at the way this person used Earth, it was obvious that his cultivation base was far superior to himself and his elders, and this in turn caused his insides to almost burst from the regret he was feeling.

  “I will give you one last warning,” Hui Yue said with his changed voice. “Step into my forest and I will no longer give you face!”

  Having said that, Hui Yue turned around and while relying on the Qi Fans he floated back into the forest, leaving behind the elders and the City Lord who were scared beyond belief.

  Looking at the back of the now disappearing man, the City Lord and his elders heaved a heavy sigh of relief as if their lives had been spared.

  What they did not know was that Hui Yue would have done much to avoid killing the City Lord, himself.

  This was not due to him respecting or liking him even one bit, no, it was due to Hui Yue being aware of the state that Cave’s End City would be in, should they lose their City Lord.

  “Let us return,” The City Lord said with a sigh, his eyes which had been filled with fierce anger and willingness to fight had turned dim. His previously arrogant and haughty appearance had turned into that of an aged man. “From this day forth, we will have to stay away from the forests.”

  Leaving no room for discussion, the City Lord went towards the corpses and placed each and every one of them within a storage stone, after which he returned back to Cave’s End City. The rest of the journey he had a downtrodden expression on his face and was closely followed by the four elders, all with similar expressions.

>   Chapter 24 – Farewell, Oh King of the Forest!

  Within the edge of the forest stood two figures clad in black. Neither moved as both kept a keen eye on the five men who were slowly making their way back to the city holding the storage stones that contained the many corpses.

  Each step was slow as a downtrodden expression was apparent on all five faces and a grim atmosphere surrounded them.

  Hui Yue’s eyes were filled with killing intent as he looked at these five men. They had been behind the matter with Sun, trying to sell her for the sake of keeping their own harvest to themselves, and although Hui Yue somewhat understood their sentiment he refused to accept the choice they had made.