Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  Seeing the broken stones in the entrance, they all have a bad feeling.

  They go along the sloping passage to enter the underground secret floor. But as soon as they enter the secret floor, they all look at the scene in front of them with popping eyes.

  Various secret rooms have been destroyed completely. Their rubble has been swept to the edge, leaving behind a large empty area that is 600 to 700 m in both length and width in the middle of the remaining secret rooms. The fragments of the destroyed rooms’ walls have all been piled up around this area.

  “Look! There’s a bloodstain!” The snake woman Xi Yan points to a place in this empty area and shouts.

  The other 8 guardians also look in the direction she is pointing. There is indeed a huge bloodstain, which was created when the blood-red aquatic python and the Purple Demon aquatic dragon were fighting each other.

  “That deep mark should have been made when a huge python swung its tail and hit the floor.” Teng Bi points to a deep mark on the floor and says coldly.

  The 3 Ba black turtle brothers, the 2 tiger sharks, Wu Tong and Wu Feng, the 2 snake women, Yan Qing and Xi Yan, Zhuang Zhong and Teng Bi, 9 guardians in total, carefully examine the scene. They can certainly conclude that a fierce battle took place here.

  Moreover, one of the main participants was very likely to be Cha Hong, who was doing closed-door training in this place.

  The 9 guardians look at each other. A fierce battle happened here but they knew nothing. Now they do not even know if Cha Hong is dead or alive. This incident coupled with Cha Po’s death some time ago gives them a bad feeling.

  “Go! Let’s see if cave master’s soul jade slip is still intact!”

  The most powerful among them, Teng Bi, shouts an order. The 9 guardians leave the secret floor at once and head for the room in which everyone’s soul jade slip is put. This room is checked once every day by someone and is also guarded on the outside.

  As the 2 guards see the 9 guardians arriving together, they are immediately shocked.

  “Sirs! Madams!” They get down on one knee and say.

  Teng Bi looks at the 2 guards. Yan Qing shouts impatiently in a lovely voice: “You two quickly open the door.” This room’s door is closed with a restrictive spell so she and the others do not dare to force it open. They have no choice but to order those guards to open it.

  “Yes, Madam.”

  A guard stands up and shoots several streams of demonic elemental energy at the door. A blue light flashes and the door slowly opens automatically.

  When it has been opened, from outside, the 9 guardians all look at the old-wood counter in the center of the room on which every soul jade slip is put. And by now, the soul jade slip in the highest position has already shattered into tiny bits. That soul jade slip belongs to Cha Hong!

  The 9 guardians’ faces change color greatly.

  Cha Hong is already dead!

  Chapter 34: New Cave Master

  Seeing that Cha Hong’s soul jade slip has broken into pieces, they all know what this means!

  Cave master Cha Hong is dead!

  The Blood-red Cave has become a group without a leader. For the moment, basically nobody cares who Cha Hong’s killer is. Even if they were to investigate, what would they possibly achieve? How can these guardians deal with someone who was able to kill Cha Hong? Now, the thing that needs to be done is to choose a new cave master!

  The looks on the 9 guardians’ faces begin to change irregularly.

  The 3 black turtle brothers, with Ba Ming being the eldest, look at each other. Wu Feng and his brother Wu Tong, Yan Qing and her sister Xi Yan, Teng Bi, and Zhuang Zhong also have their own ideas.

  “Everybody, now cave master is already dead, and we don’t even have a clue about the killer. But judging from the battlefield on the underground secret floor, it can be concluded that they fought cave master head-on. And both sides even switched to their true forms,” says Ba Ming, the big brother among the 3 black turtles.

  Wu Feng nods: “That’s right. To be able to kill cave master openly, the killer must’ve reached the Dongxu stage at least!”

  “Oh my, Dongxu stage, you put it too simply. There are only a few Dongxu stage experts in the territory of the Nine Demons Hall. Why did someone who has reached this level want to kill our cave master?” Yan Qing says ambiguously. “Even cave master was killed, what can we do as guardians?”

  Teng Bi says coldly: “Retreating without trying, that’s too gutless.”

  Zhuang Zhong, however, says with a smile: “Boss Teng, you’re very powerful and about to reach the Dongxu stage so you can put up a fight against the killer, but we will have absolutely no chance. Now, the most important thing isn’t to seek revenge but to choose a new leader, that is, a new cave master.”

  After he said this, the other guardians’ eyes all brighten.

  What they said just now is just rubbish. Selecting a new leader is the most urgent thing to do.

  “The new cave master must at least have convincing power. I think if boss Teng becomes cave master, the rest of us will definitely endorse him. Given boss Teng’s power, perhaps only cave master Cha Hong could defeat him.” Ba Ming says smilingly.

  The snake woman Xi Yan immediately says with a flirtatious smile: “Boss Teng’s power is beyond doubt. If he becomes cave master, we sisters will definitely be the first to follow his orders.”

  Wu Tong also says: “We’ve got no objection. It’s common practice for whoever is the strongest to become cave master. Boss Teng is more powerful than us brothers so we certainly won’t hinder his becoming cave master.” He has declared his and his brother Wu Feng’s stand on the matter.

  Zhuang Zhong gives a couple of coughs and says smilingly: “Everybody knows the rule that the strongest will become cave master. Boss Teng is stronger than us so we won’t have any objections to his becoming cave master. But this doesn’t mean that the other guardians will have no objection. We shouldn’t forget that 2 guardians haven’t come yet.”

  Teng Bi is not eager to become cave master, but he does not refuse to become cave master either.

  If he becomes the leader, he will be able to order his subordinates as he pleases, which will certainly feel better than being a mere guardian. Teng Bi craves personal power so he will not mind even if he cannot become cave master. However, whoever wants to contend for this position will have to defeat him.

  “That’s right. There are still 2 other guardians. Guardian Hou Fei almost fought cave master in the main hall last time. It’s hard to say how powerful he really is. And his big brother is so mysterious. He definitely isn’t as simple as he looks.” Yan Qing also says.

  At the moment, these guardians are all thinking about who will become cave master, totally ignoring Cha Hong’s death. Cha Hong is already dead. The 3 brothers, Cha Hong, Cha Po and Cha Ge, have become a thing of the past so the guardians no longer care about them and also do not want to avenge them. Most importantly, these guardians do not dare to seek revenge for their deaths.

  Teng Bi says with an ice-cold expression: “It’s pointless to talk too much. Let’s go straight to guardian Liu Xing’s house. Everybody should go together. We’ll decide who will be cave master right there whether by fighting it out or doing something else. Is this okay?”

  “Good idea. Let’s go together, everybody.” Yan Qing says with ringing laughter.

  Immediately, the 9 guardians fly straight to Qin Yu’s courtyard house in the eastern part together. The Blood-red Cave is not very large to them and their speed is fast so it takes them only moments to reach Qin Yu’s courtyard house.

  3 ladies-in-waiting are chatting with each other outside the house. They behave respectfully as soon as they see the 9 guardians land together.

  “Sirs, madams, our lord is still doing closed-door training. He already gave us the order not to let anyone come in.” A green-clad lady-in-waiting hurriedly says. These girls remember Qin Yu’s order very clearly.

  Guardian Teng Bi
frowns. The other guardians seem to feel irritated as well.

  They want to quickly decide who will become the new cave master but guardian Liu Xing is unexpectedly doing closed-door training and does not even let anyone enter.

  “All of you get out of the way. We guardians come here together this time certainly because of an important matter.” Wu Feng shouts at the 3 ladies-in-waiting. Seeing his ferocious expression, they are so frightened that they move aside. As mere ladies-in-waiting, how could they possibly dare to block these guardians?

  One by one, the 9 guardians go through the gate to enter the courtyard house.

  Hou Fei is sitting with legs crossed just outside the door of the hall. Obviously he is blocking the way leading to Qin Yu’s room. Even though the 9 guardians have come into the house, he keeps sitting with legs crossed and eyes closed. He basically does not move at all.

  The 9 guardians stand in a straight line. Seeing what happening before their eyes, they look at each other.

  “Guardian Hou Fei, cave master Cha Hong is already dead. These guardians and I have been discussing who will assume the role of new cave master. Therefore we have come here to find the two of you. After all, one can only officially become cave master if they are approved by every guardian.”

  Zhuang Zhong says in a loud and clear voice.

  Hearing what he said, Hou Fei opens his eyes, from which 2 seemingly solid beams of light shoot out. Those light beams slowly sweep across every guardian. They alone put these guardians under a huge pressure.

  Not even Teng Bi can keep his face from changing color when he feels the oppressiveness of the light beams.

  “Congratulations, guardian Hou Fei,” says Teng Bi. He has a feeling that if he had fought Hou Fei before, he would have had a chance of winning, but now he stands no chance. However … he still wants to have a fight with Hou Fei.

  This is just like how he wanted to fight Cha Hong before.

  “Oh my, guardian Hou Fei has unexpectedly made a breakthrough. Looks like this battle will be even more awesome. With such a big improvement in power, perhaps guardian Hou Fei will become the new cave master.” Yan Qing says laughingly, but Hou Fei only smiles.

  “I won’t become the new cave master.” He finally utters.

  Everyone is startled.

  Ba Ming, the eldest of the 3 black turtle brothers, immediately says: “Guardian Hou Fei, it seems you are being modest. Or perhaps you’re not confident you can defeat boss Teng? This is impossible. At that time you weren’t even afraid of cave master. Now your power has improved greatly, why should you be unconfident?”

  The other guardians also say that Hou Fei is being modest.

  “I’ll be the new vice master!” Hou Fei says another sentence.

  Everyone is startled again.

  After pondering on Hou Fei’s words, the 9 guardians eventually understand his meaning. Who can be vice masters? In general, only a cave master’s brothers can become vice masters. And who is Hou Fei’s brother? Of course, he is that mysterious guardian Liu Xing.

  “Guardian Hou Fei, what you said is wrong. Even if you were stronger, even if you are more powerful than all the other guardians, while you can become cave master, this doesn’t mean that guardian Liu Xing can. The cave master position is to be taken with power and not to be given to someone else!” Yan Qing says with a little dissatisfaction.

  Hou Fei gives a ha-ha laugh but says nothing.

  “Guardian Liu Xing is pretty strong, but if he wants to become cave master, he’ll have to defeat me at least.” Teng Bi says coldly.

  He admires strong individuals. If someone weak only relies on their own brother to become cave master, he definitely will not accept this and will not take orders from them. Not only him, the other guardians also have this opinion.

  In the Xiuzhen world, everything depends on individual power!

  “Oh, looks like you want to fight my big brother?” Hou Fei gives a strange smile. “Don’t worry. My big brother is practicing but he’ll come out in 2 to 4 hours. You can use this period of time to prepare yourself.”

  Teng Bi, however, looks at Hou Fei and says in an ice-cold voice: “Prepare myself? He poses no threat to me. I want to challenge you first!”

  “Challenge me?” Hou Fei is startled.

  The other guardians all burst out laughing. Ba Ming says with incitement: “You should accept the challenge, guardian Hou Fei. Boss Teng is very powerful. The 2 of you are the 2 strongest guardians. It’ll definitely be very awesome if you fight each other.”

  Yan Qing, Xi Yan, Wu Tong, Wu Feng and every other guardian all look at Hou Fei and Teng Bi.

  Hou Fei looks at everybody. Only after thinking for a while does he say unwillingly: “Alright. You attack first.” Holding a black stick, he stands at his place in a totally careless manner and gives Teng Bi an unconcerned look.

  Teng Bi reaches out his 2 fists. Various silvery rays of light radiate from them.

  “Good! Watch out!” At the moment Teng Bi is full of fighting spirit. He can feel Hou Fei’s pressure on him but it only makes him even more excited. His eyes gradually redden. He suddenly opens his fists, forming 2 claws.

  With a movement of his body, Teng Bi turns into a blur and arrives at Hou Fei’s face instantly.

  Hou Fei moves his right arm. The black stick, which originally is not moving, immediately smashes into Teng Bi’s blur head-on at a frighteningly fast speed like a black flash. With a bang, Teng Bi is sent flying.

  Absolutely no resistance!

  The other guardians are dumbfounded because Teng Bi has been an absolutely formidable expert in their eyes for so many years and is even approaching the Dongxu stage. But they simply do not know that late Yuanying stage Hou Fei is actually comparable to ordinary late Dongxu stage Xiuzhenists.

  The gap in power between them is too great!

  Teng Bi’s body stops after flying several tens meters. He then flies back and lands beside the other guardians.

  “Guardian Hou Fei is really powerful. I admit defeat.” Teng Bi has no dismay at all. But he continues: “I have a feeling that you should be even stronger than cave master Cha Hong. If you want to become cave master, I’ll certainly have no objection. But if guardian Liu Xing doesn’t have enough power to convince everybody, I definitely won’t accept him as cave master.”

  Hou Fei gives a kaka laugh: “You fool. If you want to get a taste of my big brother’s power, that’s okay. Just wait for a while. Alright, don’t waste your time. Just now that strike of my stick already caused you some injuries. You should treat them quickly. When you become healthy, my big brother will also come out.”

  Teng Bi nods then immediately sits down with legs crossed and starts to practice.

  The other guardians are secretly shocked by Hou Fei’s power. Seeing him have such confidence in Qin Yu, they also begin to feel curious about Qin Yu’s power. To these guardians, Qin Yu is indeed fairly mysterious.

  Hou Fei, however, laughs inwardly: “Don’t look down on my big brother. Now there is very little time so he’ll only be able to reach the middle Meteor stage in a while. If he had several days, he’d reach the late Meteor stage. At that time, to defeat him, even I would have to use berserk mode to fight. But perhaps big brother can already surpass Cha Hong at the middle Meteor stage!”

  Just now Hou Fei said that he wanted to become vice master because Qin Yu had immediately told him to through his holy sense after hearing what the 9 guardians had said.

  To become cave master, Qin Yu certainly has to personally show his power!

  Inside his room, Qin Yu is sitting with legs crossed and being enfolded in many golden rays of light. That purple yuanying has no longer been refined. At the moment Qin Yu is at a critical juncture -- reaching the middle phase of the Meteor stage from the early phase.

  In his dantian,

  A great number of silvery grains in the seemingly boundless space of the dantian have formed a blurry nebula that is spinning extremely fast. There is a golden
bead about the size of a quail egg in the center of the nebula. Various golden rays of light are shooting out from it nonstop.

  Clack!

  Following a crisp noise, that golden bead unexpectedly splits into 3 parts, which then become 3 golden grains. When the 3 golden grains have become spherical, they begin to revolve and affect each other. The Stellar Flame is at the center of the 3 golden grains.

  As the golden bead broke into 3 pieces, countless silvery grains also split in half. Immediately, the number of silvery grains was doubled.

  After a while, calmness is restored in Qin Yu’s dantian.

  He opens his eyes. With a faint smile on the corners his mouth, he says in a loud and clear voice: “Please get ready, guardian Teng Bi. I’m about to attack.”