Blue Phoenix

“Are you certain that this is the way?” Rong Xing asked Deng Wu for the fourth time this hour, and although the man loved her, he was starting to get a headache. “Trust me,” He said with a sighing. “I can sense Yue’s energy from here; he was definitely going this way. The reason we can not find any treasures is obviously because he has already taken them all. I’m sure he’ll share them with us whenever we catch up to him.”

Hearing the words Rong Xing went quiet for a short while before she once more opened her mouth. “You say you can feel where Hui Yue has been. How is that even possible? It has to have been days since he was last here, it’s not like he is some skunk that everyone can smell from his scent. How can you be so sure?”

Looking at Rong Xing, he sighed deeply and then started combing through his blue hair with his hand while looked at the person he loved most in this world. “Have you ever wondered why my appearance changed so much?” He suddenly asked her, causing Rong Xing to be taken aback. She suddenly realized that she had been too busy with her work and with what happened to the Wang and Deng families to really care about the change in Deng Wu’s appearance. Although she had noticed the change, she never asked why he changed it. When they had finally escaped the Dungeon of the Divine and made it back to Rong Xing, she had to tell him the bad news about his family, and she left everything else be. After that, she never thought too much about it and assumed that it was something he had done himself.

“Hui Yue and I have something in common.” He said seriously. “I cannot go into details, but it connects and binds us which is what allows me to chase down Hui Yue. As long as he has been through the area I am at then I can still see his energy ripples faintly and follow them.”

Hearing this, everyone went quiet. It was true that both Hui Yue and Deng Wu looked different from the others; their appearances made others assume they were of mixed blood, but they had never thought there was some sort of connection between them.

“That bast*rd did not even ask me whether or not I wanted this; he just forced it upon me.” Deng Wu continued as he remembered back to the chamber in the Dragon Corp’s main office.

A shiver ran through his body as he remembered the pain he had undergone, but even so, he was very satisfied with the result. Sharing a body with Little Dragon was not at all bad thing. Being together with this divine beast allowed him to feel safe even when they met strong Emperors who wished to bully them. Little Dragon might even be strong enough to deal with one star Saints as he used to be a nine star Saint before he was cheated because of his foolishness causing him to lose his body and the ability to raise his cultivation level. Although his level had dropped drastically over the years, especially after meeting Deng Wu, Little Dragon was still far stronger than the average Emperor. There was almost no Emperor who was his match. It was also due to this knowledge that Deng Wu dared to venture into the grave following behind Hui Yue’s trail.

“It’s a shame that we can’t transform,” Deng Wu mused slowly as he moved forward, the friends following behind him. No one asked more questions, however, Rong Xing did not doubt him any longer either.

“We are not here to gain treasure but to assist Hui Yue. He was a King when he entered the grave, and although he has some strange powers which can raise his cultivation base incredibly high, it is not something he can use all the time. We need to be there to assist him!” Deng Wu was determined in his mission. He and his friends allowed Hui Yue so much that even if they were used as a living shield, it would be worth it. They were willing to give up their lives if it meant prolonging Hui Yue’s. They were friends and although Hui Yue had certain goals in life they all knew that he would drop anything to assist them.

The group was focused as they slowly made their way through the tunnels. They had long since left Heaven’s door and entered the long, winding tunnel system. They were not in front of the experts who were rushing through the tunnels, instead, they were around the middle of the pack, and allowed other groups to trigger the traps and deal with the casualties.

They were in no rush because although they knew that Hui Yue was somewhere in front of them, he was not easily dealt with. There was no way he would die from something as simple as these Saints. If he were that easy to kill, he would have died multiple times already.

Their advance was not difficult. All they saw was casualties from the traps or people killed from skirmishes. “There is no reason for us to rush to the front,” Deng Wu mumbled as he looked at another three corpses that were laying on the ground. As for the reason of their death, he had no idea. Their ranks while being alive was impossible to guess as their internal energy had already dissipated as soon as their life left them.

They had walked for days by the time they reached a particularly bloody area. What had killed these experts they did not know, however, all that was left was a bloody mess of flesh and broken bones. There was simply no way to see how many experts had been reduced to this, nor was it really possible to say if this was from humans or something else. If a trap had done this then it was simply too terrifying!

The moment Rong Xing smelled the sickening metallic scent of blood and saw the messed up flesh and bones she instantly went to the side and puked. Seeing this, Deng Wu instantly found a gourd bottle filled with water which he handed to her while gently combing his hands through her hair. Gratefully the woman took the bottle and placed it to her lips, rinsing her mouth before drinking large gulps.

“Let’s leave,” Deng Wu said quickly as he made sure to walk on Rong Xing’s side so that she could not see the corpses that had been turned into a pulp. Deep within Rong Xing’s heart she felt gratitude for this old friend of hers. Even though she had never accepted his courting, he was never inattentive towards her. He always treated her as though she were his princess and a sudden softness appeared in her heart. A softness that came from seeing his once more gentle treatment of her.

Gao Yan and Rong Ming were also incredibly pale but both were men. Although they felt like puking they forcefully held it in and looking away while continuing forward.

‘The energy ripples around here tell me that this was not a trap but something done by Hui Yue or someone he was with,’ Little Dragon said casually. ‘The energies here are not only his but Lan Feng’s presence is strong as well.’

‘How can you know that Lan Feng was here? I mean he might have been your friend but to be able to feel Hui Yue’s energy ripples just because he has Lan Feng within him, is abnormal right? I can’t even follow the energy ripples of the group in front of us.’

‘That’s easy,’ Little Dragon laughed. ‘Hui Yue and Lan Feng are much closer than you and me. We just share your body, however, Lan Feng and Hui Yue share a soul. No, don’t look like that. I don’t know how they did it, however, somehow their souls managed to merge together. Although they each definitely have a soul, these two souls are connected to one another. If one dies they will both die, if one lives they will both live. See, if you were to die, I would not die with you. As a matter of fact, I would be able to take over your body, but if it is seriously injured, I’ll most likely just die then all the same. If I don’t have a body to enter at that time, then I will dissipate into nothing. Although I would die, it would not be because you had died but because I lacked a host. Lan Feng and Hui Yue are different. This is also the reason that Hui Yue and Lan Feng have much better teamwork than us, and even more, Lan Feng is capable of taking his beastly form whereas I am not. At most, I can transform parts of your body but without a beast core my full shape will never be achieved as your body wouldn’t be able to handle the strain.’

Hearing this Deng Wu had a straight face, and while listening to Little Dragon he had also been gently leading Rong Xing and the two other young men away from the dreadful location they had just left.

His eyes were firm, and although his usually playful smile was present, it did not reach his eyes which were constantly alert and observing his surroundings. Although he had Little Dragon warning him when they got closer to other experts, he still knew that he could not allow himself to become complacent. He had a goal in this grave, and he would do what he could to achieve it.

“Oh, who do we have here?” A voice suddenly sounded out through the tunnel, and Deng Wu instantly turned around. His eyes were alert, and his heart started beating rapidly. He had not heard any warning from Little Dragon, and he, himself, had not managed to notice anyone either. Behind them, a expert walked out from the shadows. Looking at this person Deng Wu felt killing intent surge up from within, but he resolutely forced this killing intent down.

“Your highness!” He called out while bowing deeply. The others bowed and curtseyed to him as well. “It is our honor to meet such an excelled person on our trip. However, pardon me for asking, but should our gifted prince be walking on his own within this grave? There are many greedy experts around, and although our prince is very gifted, it might turn dangerous.” Deng Wu said politely. Although the prince was the only person he truly hated, Deng Wu would never allow his feelings to surface.

Contemplating for some time, the prince looked at the group and slowly nodded his head. “You are correct. I happened to get separated from my group of protectors but knowing that you all are faithful citizens of Taiyang, and knowing that you are good friends of my friend Hui Yue, I think it would be beneficial for both of us if I travel with you.”

Hearing the words, a sour taste filled Deng Wu’s mouth, and the Rong twins alongside Gao Yan all looked at Deng Wu with worry in their eyes. These three friends were far worse at hiding their emotions than Deng Wu was, however, the blue-haired young man smiled at the prince. His emotions were buried so deeply that no one would ever see them. No one apart from Little Dragon who felt bad for his host, but currently he too was completely silent. He was rather worried about the fact that this so called expert had managed to sneak up on them. His strength was definitely nothing like what the common experts believed.

“It would be our honor to have your highness travel with us,” Deng Wu said with another bow. “We are not as strong or useful as your guards, but we will do what we can to keep you safe on our trip. Our aim is to once more meet up with Hui Yue and venture through the grave by his side. We want to support him while he is here.”

The prince nodded his head satisfied before he fell into the group and the five experts silently started moving towards the end of the tunnel. Little Dragon was not the only one who was worried about the actual strength of the prince but Deng Wu did not show anything on his face. ‘I am bringing him right to you, having him following us is beneficial. Our revenge is at hand.’