Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Musing for a bit the bird said. ‘Leaving treasures behind is not our forte,’ He commented with a shrug of his shoulders as he groomed his feathers. ‘The rest should still be busy dealing with those stone statues. Let’s quickly disable this inscription,’ He finally decided, and suddenly, his voice turned smug. ‘Do whatever I tell you,’ The Phoenix commanded, and Hui Yue just nodded his head used to Lan Feng telling him what to do.

  ‘Place both your hands on the ground and push your Wu Wei into the ground. There you should be able to sense a web of energy. Most likely it will contain many different energies you have never felt before. One of these energies is the one locking up all the medicinal pills while the others help the traps function. It goes without saying that if we activate a trap we will be done for.’

  Grumbling, Hui Yue swallowed the reply he wanted to give the phoenix, and instead just waited to be given instructions on how to pick the right energy instead of accidentally causing the whole room to explode..

  ‘It’s really quite simple,’ Lan Feng continued to lecture. His voice was filled with such egotism that Hui Yue wanted to smack the bird hard on the head, but right now was not the time to argue. They needed to collect these medicinal pills before the others caught up..

  Gritting his teeth, and once more fighting the urge to hit the self-righteous bird, he finally got what he was waiting for. ‘The room is filled with the aromas of medicinal pills, and only the right type of energy can have access to these medicines. The energy in the inscription which is constantly in contact with the many pills is the type that you need to use in order to unlock them. So what you will do is going for the one energy which has the same characteristics as the energy within the pills. Perhaps even the strength of the energy ripples.’ Hearing this, Hui Yue saw that it was actually quite simple, and he wasted no time as he knelt on the ground and unreservedly poured his Wu Wei into the ground.

  Everything was exactly as Lan Feng had described. As soon as his consciousness followed the Wu Wei into the ground he found a web of thousands upon thousands of energies intertwined together. Some were thick strands of energy emanating power ripples of energy that made the other threads vibrate while others were weak and seemed to barely stay connected to the web.

  Slowing everything down, Hui Yue took time to examine every energy ripple close to him but none of them had any presence of the pills surrounding him. Moving around the web, Hui Yue became more and more frantic as he knew that he did not have long before the other experts caught up with him. Some might even be able to bypass all the stone statues much like he had done. If that happened, he would be in a terrible position.

  Moving faster and faster he finally caught the scent of medicinal herbs which he followed to what looked like a weak, miniscule strand of energy. Though although it seemed small, this little strand had the exact scent he was looking for.

  Holding his breath, Hui Yue stirred his energy towards this small thread and poured it into it. Suddenly a large boom sounded out and the entire web of energy started to collapse. Seeing the collapsing web Hui Yue withdrew his consciousness and without wasting even a moment, he spread out his Wu Wei to fill the entire room and retrieve every single medicinal pill into his storage stones.

  ‘The Saint who went this way obviously felt that this was a waste of time. There is probably something of greater value further up ahead or he would have never given up on something as amazing as these pills. You might even be lucky enough to have obtained some with Yin energy, then hopefully, we can balance your cultivation base once more.’ Lan Feng was as excited as Hui Yue, and the white-haired young man followed behind the destruction left by the Saint. He left behind a room with empty shelves that carried the aroma of medicinal pills.

  The next room caused Hui Yue to stop in his tracks. Unlike the other rooms this one did not have a broken in door on the other side, but one that was perfectly intact. Looking around Hui Yue saw that no one was present which gave him a very eerie feeling.

  The more Hui Yue stood there the more alert he became. It was obvious that all the previous doors had been crushed under a tremendous force, and it wouldn’t make any sense for the Saint to suddenly change his door-crushing habits. It was much more likely that he had been removed from the room by external forces.

  ‘This room has a strange energy to it,’ Lan Feng commented. His voice had no smugness or self righteousness left; he was completely serious as well as obviously slightly worried.

  ‘Although the cultivator who created this place was likely a god, he was incredibly injured when he created it,’ Lan Feng said slowly. ‘All the energy that has been used for traps and inscriptions are at most Saint ranked spells. Some even draw quite close to the Emperor rank. He clearly was greatly injured to have to downgrade his inscriptions and abilities, but by doing so he was capable of making a tomb that might even be as large as the Dungeons of the Divine.’ Lan Feng continued, ‘The only time it seems that he used his true strength was when he sealed the tomb with his blood essence. Most likely he also used this method to seal the inner chambers of the grave as well.’

  ‘This means that there should not be God ranked energy anywhere else, only Saint ranked at most, but still the energy ripples in this room are strange and ever changing. It is as though they move about at random. I can’t find even the smallest pattern to their movements.’

  ‘Without a pattern I don’t dare enter deeper into the room. If we take a wrong step, we are likely to end up wherever that Saint went.’ He continued and Hui Yue nodded his head. He was not in the mood to end up in a room with a fuming Saint who had taken the wrong path.

  ‘We could wait for some of the others to appear,’ Hui Yue commented. ‘So far there has not been a lack of families and cultivators who are willing to just jump headfirst into whatever they find,’ He continued and Lan Feng, although pained, nodded in agreement.

  Deciding to wait and not just randomly charge into the room, Hui Yue spent some time starting to look through the treasures he had obtained. Looking at the herbs and precious plants he was thrilled to see that he had managed to gain thirteen divine flowers. All of which contained Wu Wei energy in their core.

  Even if you didn’t count the thirteen divine flowers there were also many other remarkable plants that Hui Yue was sure were priceless, but he had no idea what they were called nor anything else about them.

  ‘I know the majority of them,’ Lan Feng commented. ‘But thirty seven of those flowers are one that even I have never seen before, nor heard of. They likely originate from the plane where the expert who build this grave comes from. If we are lucky then we might find other things unknown to this world,’ He said excitedly as he looked at the herbs once more.

  Hui Yue was equally excited. All the new things happening around them was exciting, and the more strength he could gain, the sooner he would be capable of defeating An He and the third prince. He needed the strength to protect his friends. He needed strength to gain revenge for the unfairness they experienced in the past.

  His eyes gleamed as he thought about the possibilities in front of him. The road to strength was paved with difficulties but the young man was willing to face all the hardships in the world if it meant that he was able to protect the ones he loved. If it meant that he could help them gain the vengeance they needed to move on with their lives.

  Hui Yue had been submerged in his emotions but as soon as he felt other experts nearing, he instantly buried them within his heart and his eyes turns sharp. Now was not the time to be overcome with emotions; it was time for him to get out of this room on his way towards the main treasures further in the tomb.

  The experts who came closer looked at Hui Yue with curious gazes. These gazes were considering whether or not the young man in front of them was worth robbing.

  The curious gazes lingered for a while, but shortly after they looked away. No matter how they had tried it was impossible for them to see his cultivation base, and the casual way he was standing by the si
de radiated arrogance. They couldn’t help but fear that if they attacked, they would be the ones on the losing side despite their advantage in numbers. Thinking about it more they had after all arrived to this room later than the lone young man..

  What worried them more was the room in front of them. The door had not been opened which meant that the Saint had to be present, yet the only person present was the black cloaked young man, and for some reason he no longer seemed to be in a hurry to break through the door.

  Gritting their teeth, one group after another quickly decided that needed to push forward. Without worrying too much, they rushed into the room.

  However, as soon as they entered a beam of light appeared around each of them. The experts who had been standing still were suddenly locked in place. Neither of them were capable of moving even an inch, and suddenly a drop of red liquid fell from the sky as gravity swiftly pulled it downwards.

  The experts were incapable of moving and were all hit by the red liquid. As soon as it came into contact with their skin, the experts turned into prismatic beams of light and shot off through the open door behind them, the door leading into the chamber they were in. Shocked Hui Yue instantly attached his consciousness to one of these beams, and was even more shocked to dicover that the beams delivered every expert back to the very beginning of the tomb.

  Releasing his consciousness it took a few seconds before he was back to his own body. His mouth was agape and shock could be seen in his eyes. This was without a doubt the most bizarre trap he had ever seen before, but even more so, he was incredibly curious about this red liquid which had the amazing ability of teleportation.

  Chapter 350 - Treasures

  * * *

  Chapter 350: Treasures

  Musing for some time, Hui Yue looked at the experts who continuously entered the room. One group after another made the misconception that Hui Yue was a Saint and due to his stoic pose and constant silence no one dared mess with him.

  Hui Yue, knowing that the Saint had been sent back to the start of the grave said nothing, but every time a group vanished as prismatic beams of light, he checked their destination, and every group of cultivators returned to the entrance of the grave. Therefore he knew it would not be long before the actual Saint returned.

  When the Saint returned, Hui Yue would no longer be as safe as he was now. The many other families would find that he was not as strong as they thought and then they would likely act against him. It was even a possibility that the other Saint would attack him.

  The others he could easily deal with, but the Saint, on the other hand, could prove quite troublesome. Although Hui Yue could deal with a Saint with his current strength that was only to the extent that he could escape. He had no way of actually defeating a Saint with his current strength. On the other hand, if he were to use Lan Feng’s powers he could easily defeat the Saint but that would let others know one of his best attacks.

  Sighing deeply, he decided not to think about it anymore. His life was worth more than keeping his strength hidden, and he definitely did not want to lose his treasures. If anyone tried to steal them, then they would be in for a surprise, no matter if the thief was a King or a Saint.

  Returning his focus to the strange and seemingly random energy patterns within the next room, Hui Yue started to wonder what exactly he should do. ‘Perhaps I should let it teleport me to the start and take another path.’ He contemplated, but the greed in his eyes did not lessen. He wanted that red liquid that could cause teleportation.

  Looking into the room, Hui Yue had plenty of opportunities to see other families being teleported away and he soon came to understand the very first set of energies. The moment one stepped into the room, one would be wrapped in the energy. This energy would then immediately start to fall off the body and the moment it vanished a massive beam would descend and drop the red liquid onto the aggressor.

  The energies had no pattern, but it stuck close to anything which moved through the room. Looking at the next set of energies, Hui Yue found that they worked the same way, only the beam of light descended swifter than it had done in the previous set of energies. This room tested if one could speed through the sets of energy without being teleported out of the room by the array.

  In total, the room was split into seven parts of turbulent energy. One had to cross through all seven parts to be able to exit the room. Waiting for the room to run out of red liquid did not seem like a good idea either as the beam which locked one in place could turn permanent, forever locking the unlucky experts in one place.

  Looking at the energy ripples, Hui Yue slowly started pouring Qi through his meridians causing massive amounts of Qi to move in a specific pattern that slowly activated Velocity Flow and pushed its ability to the limits. This room required one to be swift, and if that was the case, then he had to be at his fastest.

  He had known Velocity Flow for so many years now that he could perfectly execute it, and when he pushed it to the limits it was possible for him to move a large distance in less than a second. In a way it seemed as though he was teleporting himself, launching himself into the distance.

  Standing in front of the energy ripples, Hui Yue felt his heart beat rapidly. He knew that it was now he needed to be the swiftest of his entire life. Pouring more and more Qi into his body, he felt how small wings appeared on his feet; a sign that the ability was being pushed to its very limits.

  It was now or never. If he were to start at the beginning once more, Hui Yue decided to take another tunnel towards the middle, but his greed for this red liquid made him ready to try his best as he shot off into the distance.

  His figure blurred, and he seemingly vanished. The movement had been so sudden that the groups of experts who were observing him felt their minds go numb. His speed was simply too awe inspiring.

  Hui Yue, although moving the fastest he had ever moved, was nervous that his speed would not be sufficient. He charged through the first set of energies with no problems, the second was also done painlessly, and so had the third. As he reached the fourth, he managed to get through without being stalled, but for the first time, he started feeling the energy wrap itself around his body.

  This feeling increased with the fifth set of energies that descended, and in the sixth, he could feel he was strongly constricted by the energy ripples. Still, his eyes were determined as he looked at the door which appeared closer and closer. Reaching out, Wu Wei sprung from his arms and forced open the door while he rushed into the seventh set of energies.

  This time, he felt as though he had run straight into a wall, but as soon as he arrived at the wall, he forced the Qi in his dantian out through his meridians and into the pattern of the Velocity Flow.

  His body suddenly burst with strength as he was propelled forward. His feet never stood still, and never slowing down; instead, it took him to the other side of the room. He felt as the energy ripples had attached themselves to him and vanished one by one. Although he was using the highest speed possible for him, it was a close call for him to be able to reach the door in time.

  Just as he reached it, he heard a commotion behind him, and he turned to look. The Saint had returned, and his eyes were filled with venomous light as he glared at Hui Yue. A glare that the younger man could not understand at first.

  As he entered through the door, he was not too worried. If the Saint had already failed once, he was likely to fail again. Even if he managed to understand the concept, if he did not have a speed increasing martial art attack he would be done for.

  Deciding not to pay any more attention to what happened behind him, Hui Yue looked in front and he was shocked to see that three letters were floating in the air in front of him.

  Reaching out, he picked up one paper, and as soon as his hand came into contact with it a light shone and an ancient voice sounded out. “This is a reward for defeating the teleportation room.”

  As soon as the voice sounded, information poured into his mind. Slowly all three papers grew dim b
efore they slowly crumbled to the ground. In Hui Yue’s mind, there were three recipes.

  Hui Yue was awestruck. What he had gotten was three recipes all titled Celestial Alchemy. The first was a recipe for the red liquid which forced teleportation upon the ones it touched.

  The second was called ‘Dream of Tomorrow,’ and it allowed for one to sever the consciousness from the body. The elixir created a pocket dimension where one’s consciousness could train while the body was in a meditative stance. It lasted for an hour, but time in the micro dimension was different. For the consciousness, one drop of liquid lasted for an entire day within the dimension.

  The final recipe was a medicinal pill which allowed the body to absorb Ancestral Worldpower.

  The two previous items required medicinal herbs which Hui Yue had in his bags. They were the herbs that Hui Yue had picked in the herb room, but these herbs were also some that Lan Feng had never seen before.