Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "How far into this mountain range do we need to travel before reaching the Central Palace?" Hui Yue asked curiously on the fifth day of their travels. He could feel that they constantly went further and further up the mountain, but he had never been here before. Although he led the group, the one who truly decided their path was Deng Wu. He was most familiar within Sunset Mountains, and he had been to the Central Palace before.

  "We are about halfway up the mountain. When we reach the top, we will have to walk west and then we should reach the Central Palace. Unfortunately, I think it will take about a week of walking until we arrive. Also, I fear that the closer to the Central Palace we get, the more dangerous it will become. Remember that the Dragon Corps has a road that leads to the Central Palace. They are likely to exit their underground world from time to time to gather materials, for training, or to carry out missions. If we run into the Dragon Corps, we cannot allow for them to know that we are going to the Central Palace. Although the palace is probably abandoned now, it is the home of An He, and the Dragon Corps is incredibly loyal to that a**hole." Deng Wu continued, and Hui Yue nodded his head.

  The Dragon Corps had been following An He's orders before while harvesting Ancestral Worldpower from the various Laws of this world. It was clear that they were willing to do anything for the sake of their lord, and this could indeed cause them some problems.

  Being quiet, the group continued their trip through the dense forest, and suddenly a light shone in front of them. A sense of danger descended upon the group, and they all gathered in formation behind Hui Yue.

  Hui Yue stood up front with Cai Jie and Deng Wu on his sides. Behind him was Jo, Lao, Wang Ju Long and Sha Yun in a diamond-like formation with Lao at the far back.

  A surge of power descended on them. A shockwave filled with pure energy, energy so pure that Hui Yue had never encountered it anything like it before.

  Gripping his Sword of the Icy Tempest in one hand and one of the blood draining swords he had gotten from Cou Ling in the other, these two swords formed a cross in front of Hui Yue's head. With a shout, his own Wu Wei shot upwards meeting the descending energy head on.

  His Wu Wei alone was not enough to block the incoming energy waves, but they were enough to slow it some and also cause it to lose some power. This, in turn, caused Hui Yue to be able to block the remainder of the power with his two swords.

  "Stay in formation and slowly advance!" Hui Yue called out as he took a step forward. Another shockwave was heading for him and was once again blocked in the same manner.

  From his Sword of the Icy Tempest, a snowstorm slowly appeared out of nowhere. Snow descended upon the tranquil forest while the blood draining sword in his other hand released a humming sound as its killing intent rose from within.

  Stepping forward one step at a time, the snowstorm prison blocked the view of whoever was that was attacking them and protected them from the incoming attacks. Although more shockwaves started raining down on them, none of these shockwaves managed to land on either Hui Yue or his companions. The Snowstorm Prison had once more proved to be worthy of being an attack hidden from within the sword of the icy tempest.

  Moving forward, the sound of their steps was concealed by the heavy atmosphere that the Snowstorm Prison brought with it, and they soon reached the person who had attacked them. The closer they came, the more attacks landed on their group, though every single attack was blocked by Hui Yue. He was using increasingly more Wu Wei as they got closer, but he still successfully managing to ensure that no one was hurt.

  By his side, Deng Wu and Cai Jie were doing the exact same thing blocking the many ripples coming their way.

  "Stop attacking!" Deng Wu suddenly called out. His voice filled with surprise but also excitement. His words caused Hui Yue to be confused, but listening to his words, he withdrew the Snowstorm Prison and now stood face to face with their attackers.

  The moment he stopped his attack, his face was dumbstruck. Soon a smile appeared on his face as he understood why Deng Wu had called for him to stop his attack.

  "Please stop attacking! We were the ones who rescued you!" Deng Wu called out, and his words caused the figures in front of them to be stunned before they too ceased attacking.

  Although these people were shocked, they were not any less hostile. They glared at Hui Yue and his party, but although they were hostile none of them attacked.

  Turmoil could be heard from the back as someone came closer and closer, and soon a small girl appeared. This small girl was someone they all remembered from the dungeons. She was incredibly beautiful; her skin was like porcelain and her large eyes were completely black. She was the Law of the clouds, and she had been subject to constant torment at the hands of the Dragon Corps. It was clear that she was one of the higher ranked laws in this group, and what she said was clearly the orders the others followed.

  The moment that they saw Hui Yue and Deng Wu, the little girl's eyes widened a lot. Although they had not seen Hui Yue for more than a short moment, they had all seen Deng Wu. Due to his unusual appearance, it was quite hard to forget him. After all, there were not many blue-haired men.

  "It's true!" She said with a shaking voice and a smile on her beautiful, petite face. "It is them, the ones who saved us!"

  Hearing her words, the others who had also recognized Deng Wu, nodded their heads. Their faces were no longer hostile but filled with excitement.

  Although many of the Laws were excited, the little girl seemed troubled.

  "Although we are grateful for your help, we are living on our own here in the Sunset Mountains. We are quite far away so that humans never enter our area. For what reason have you all come here? If you need help, we will assist if we can as we owe you our lives." The little girl's words were filled with sincerity, but it was clear to both Hui Yue and his friends that although she was sincere, she clearly had no idea why they were here. If not for seeking their help, why would anyone enter the Sunset Mountains so deeply?

  "We are not here to ask for your assistance..." Hui Yue said with a clear voice. "We came across your territory by coincidence. Our goal is to reach the Central Palace where we have some tasks to fulfill. We just happened to trespass. We apologize and hope that you Laws are capable of living peaceful lives now compared to before." Hui Yue sighed as he bowed slightly to the little girl.

  Seeing his behavior, the girl was quite shocked, but she quickly pulled herself together and nodded her head. "In that case, we will not disturb you any further." She said as she turned around and made a few gestures with her hands. In front of Hui Yue and the others, all the Laws slowly vanished from sight, moving back into the protection of the Sunset Mountains.

  Chapter 446 - Central Palace

  * * *

  Chapter 446: Central Palace

  Seeing the Laws vanish, Hui Yue could not help but think back on the many days when he had traveled through the Dungeons of the Divine. Watching the Laws, Hui Yue felt a strange energy around them. He could not help but think back to how they had been lying one after another waiting to be killed time and time again.

  Seeing them again today, it was clear that they had changed. Previously, the Laws Hui Yue met had been gentle and friendly; however, the ones he saw today were alert and hostile towards humans. Thinking of this Hui Yue could not fault them. Having gone through what they did, it was only natural that they found their own sanctuary within the vast Sunset Mountains.

  "We have another two or three days of travel before we reach the Central Palace." Deng Wu said as he looked around and then continued moving. Although they had met the Laws, they did not have any time to spend with them. They could not afford to delay at all, and their excitement was obvious for all to see as they closed in on the Central Palace.

  The next couple of days passed in a blur, and finally, they reached the top of the mountain range. After reaching the top, they kept moving towards the east heading closer and closer to the Central Palace, and on the third day, they finally saw the palac
e’s two towers in the distance.

  Unfortunately, they also found that this part of the Sunset Mountains was filled with experts who were guarding the area.

  At first, they only ran into smaller groups of Duke ranked experts who were easily dealt with, however, the closer they came, they encountered more experts of higher ranks.

  "All of these experts are from the Dragon Corps. I think that the other four corners of the Central Palace will be protected by the other four corps as well. Our best option is to walk through the place where the dragon corps and the flame corps share a border."

  "They have two options as I see it. Either they have even more experts at the borders to ensure that the other party does not enter their territory, or they are spread thinly on guards and because it is the border, they will not guard it as tightly. I would say they will focus their manpower on the central areas."

  The others nodded their heads, and together they retreated a bit before they started walking north. Their speed was swift, and although they ran into a few people here and there, they were quickly dealt with before they continued on their way. In their tracks, only death was left.

  Hui Yue was in a great mood as they moved closer towards the border between the two different factions and fewer guards were seen. It seemed that he had been correct when he guessed that no one bothered protecting this area and they could easily sneak through.

  Shortly after arriving at the border they found that there truly were very limited guards around and without wasting any time did they set out. Moving under the cover of the trees, they rushed towards the Central Palace right in front of them.

  As they advanced, they saw more and more guards on both sides of the small tree border they were hiding within. Luckily for them, no one was paying attention to these trees as they were looking everywhere else, and they reached the Central Palace with no issues

  In front of them rose the largest building Hui Yue had ever seen before. Everything was designed to fit its large size. The windows and the doors seemed as though they were made for giants rather than humans.

  'It is because of our ancestors' size.' Lan Feng explained. 'Although father and the others took human form from time to time, they had to be able to be in their original form, albeit a shrunk version of their original shape, anywhere within the palace. Therefore, it was made to fit the size of a massive divine beast.

  Nodding his head, Hui Yue understood what was said. Looking around it was as though his small group had found themselves inside a small globe, separating them from the world outside. Everything was silent, and no guards were present. Snow was on the ground which helped muffle their movements; the world was still and seemed untouched.

  No one spoke as all of them kept in formation and inched closer and closer to the gate leading into the Central Palace. As they arrived in front of it, Hui Yue sucked in a breath of cool air.

  In front of him was a thirty-meter tall gate. It was a gate so large that Hui Yue had to bend his neck all the way back to see the top.

  'We should not open and enter through the main gate.' Lan Feng advised. 'Although it would be our easiest option, the gate is too large. It will, without a doubt, make a lot of noise. Opening the gate would be no different than just telling them that we are here.'

  'Let’s head to the side. There is a door used by the servants. All the servants in the mansion were humans so that door is much better for us. At most, it will be two meters tall so we can enter through there without causing much noise.'

  Hui Yue felt relief when he heard Lan Feng's words. Nodding his head, he gestured for his friends to follow him. Together they moved away from the front gate and went to the east side of the palace where Lan Feng led them to a small door.

  The door would otherwise have been impossible to find were it not for Lan Feng's help. This door had obviously been forgotten because Hui Yue had to remove a large portion of snow that was blocking the door.

  The door was situated in between two of the massive towers, and it could easily be overlooked if one didn't know where to search. Though thanks to Lan Feng, Hui Yue easily found it, and when he had removed all the snow, the small two-meter door was revealed.

  Feeling his heart beating rapidly, Hui Yue gently tried opening the door, but it was shut tightly. No matter how much he pulled, it did not move in the slightest.

  Gritting his teeth, Hui Yue summoned his Wu Wei and with a sword in his hand he managed to slash the door into two. This made it possible for everyone to enter into the silent palace.

  They entered into a kitchen. Looking around at the massive kitchen, one could tell just how busy it was back when the divine beasts had lived here, however, now it was eerily quiet. Some things such as plates, wine cups and cutlery were standing on the tables while other stuff was scattered on the floor. All the food had long since vanished completely over the past thousands of years. All that was left was a layer of dust everywhere.

  Walking through the room, they found a door leading into a large dining hall which had tables and benches inside. On top of the hall was a raised platform where another table with four seats was placed. Each of these seats was carved with a mythical animal. There was a Vermilion Bird, an Azure Dragon, a Black Turtle, and a White Tiger carved on them.

  It was clear that these seats belonged to the divine beasts, and once upon a time, these beasts had sat in them, eating their fill every day. Now, sadly, they saw empty. It had been an eternity since these chairs had last been used and dust had long since erased any traces of use.

  Moving through the hall, they entered the core regions of the palace. At first, they reached the front hall, and looking inside, saw a massive door being blocked from the inside by a large beam of wood. Had they tried to enter through this place, then they would truly have been in trouble. The door itself was at least a meter and a half thick.

  Moving away from the massive front gate, they saw a large staircase leading upwards to the many different levels of the mansion. Hui Yue could not help but feel slightly amazed at the sheer size of the entire mansion. Moving through this place would take them quite a bit of time.

  "Let’s start from the top and move downwards." Hui Yue said in a low voice, but even though he tried to keep his voice down, it still rang throughout the large, empty hall.

  The others had nothing against Hui Yue's suggestion, and together everyone slowly climbed the massive staircase.

  "Don’t get separated. We don't know what we will encounter here, so be alert. I highly doubt it will be a simple walk in the park to find the Formation of Life." Hui Yue, although astonished by the large palace, was still very alert. His time within the Grave of the Unknown had truly made him always wary of his surroundings, especially now that he had his family by his side.

  But no matter how alert he was or how much he paid attention to his surrounds nothing happened. The entire palace was empty, no sounds could be heard, and no one apart from their group was seen within.

  Together, all of them reached the highest tower and slowly moved down through the palace exploring what they came across. So far they had not found anything, not even any sign of An He ever having been there recently. As they moved through the palace, they entered every single room, every single corridor, and every single tower.

  Many of the rooms were luxuriously decorated. Some had gold covering the walls, while others were made entirely from heavywood. Some had soft silken fabrics in the room which had been destroyed by insects throughout the years. And although they were once luxurious, now they were nothing more than rags.

  Moving through the palace, Hui Yue had decided to start at the top of the towers because he wanted to look through the entire Central Palace. Though he was already quite certain that if there was truly anything within the palace, it would be in the cellars beneath them.

  Although they were traveling through the Central Palace, it took them more than three days to go through the entire aboveground palace. They did not waste their time, and although it sounde
d like a lot, spending three days going through every room was actually quite quick.

  "There is nothing in this palace, do you think An He has removed the Formation of Life?" Deng Wu asked dejected as they all stood in the front hall. They had finally made it back to where they started after having just gone through every single room in the palace, but Hui Yue just shook his head slightly at Deng Wu’s question.

  "Lan Feng told me about a part of the palace which he was never was allowed to enter. This room was located underground, and I cannot help but think that this is where we will find the formation."

  The group of friends had all been dejected and were close to giving up because of not having found anything yet, but when they heard Hui Yue's words, their eyes once more filled with excitement.