Blue Phoenix

The fight was completely one-sided. Hui Yue and Xiao Ning instantly defeated the group that attempted to rob them. Although their kicks and fists were relentless, they did not continue after they lost consciousness. For Hui Yue there was no reason to beat someone when they were down.

Xiao Ning seemed to have a similar thought, and he stopped attacking as he looked at the bloodied, unconscious people furrowing his brow. “What do we do with them now?” He asked slightly confused, but Hui Yue just shrugged. “They are cultivators,” He pointed out, “Although they are going to be sore they won’t die. Just leave them here,” He said before he squatted down in front of them and with experienced hands started to roam about their clothes until he found a few storage stones. “This is the price you pay,” He said before he tossed some of the storage stones to Xiao Ning, not forgetting to share the spoils of war.

Accepting the stones, the two experts once more continued onwards, but although they had already been caught up to once, they did not increase their speed. Slowly and steadily they continued their thorough examination of the tunnel.

“Sigh, I keep wondering when they will give up,” Hui Yue said as he stepped away from a Saint who was lying unconscious on the ground.

It had been three days since they fought the first group of experts, but since then, they were forced to leave one group after another unconscious in their wake. Three days had passed, and now the experts who arrived quickly rushed further down the tunnel upon seeing Hui Yue and Xiao Ning; none of them apparently wanting to fight these two abnormalities. It was clear that everyone else had fallen to these two opponents and despite one being an Emperor they were not to be taken lightly.

Hui Yue only used his Saint strength once, and that was in the very first battle afterwards he used his own strength and heavily relied on the Earthly Tremor to defeat Saint after Saint. This ability was far more destructive than he imagined as the attack was almost equal to the Saints that he was defeating.

Hui Yue took the opportunity to try out the first three forms of Earthly Tremor: Shaking the Earth, Sharpening the Earth, and Hand of the Earth. Hui Yue had perfected all three of these abilities, and he could use them to defeat low leveled Saints.

“You are quite ferocious even just using an Emperor’s strength,” Xiao Ning commented after they defeated yet another group. “I so effective because I have someone skilled by my side,” The white-haired young man commented with a friendly smile as he tried to make it seem like the big Saint did all the work.

“You are an enigma,” Xiao Ning suddenly said looking at the young man in front of him. “Are you truly a Saint, or are you an Emperor? Are you here for treasure or do you want something else? You have shown an understanding of the grave that I haven’t seen from anyone else. You are without a doubt the most troublesome individual I have ever met.” Contemplating for some time, Xiao Ning shrugged. “Well, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. You and me are a team, and we will go through this grave together. If you’re aiming for something other than treasures, then I am sure that it is as valuable, and therefore I’ll follow you no matter where you go.”

Hearing this Hui Yue was surprised. He was here for the sake of treasures, and he truly knew as little as others about this area. He was just fortunate to have Lan Feng inside his body. Lan Feng was able to easily tell where the treasures were located.

“I’m here for treasure,” Hui Yue said with a low voice as he looked at the ground in front of him. “We have been walking for three days and haven’t seen anything whatsoever while moving around. Could it be that this grave is as massive as the entire Taiyang Kingdom? We should be nearing more treasure. An abnormality has appeared in the energy ahead, but it is still very faint. All we can do is hope that no one else has noticed it.”

Moving further and further into the tunnel the very weak energy ripples started to pick up strength and soon they were almost as strong as the medicinal pills had been. Yet the energy was different. The pills had not released energy ripples as such but medicinal scent while this was actual energy ripples, making Hui Yue understand that this was without a doubt something different. It was highly likely to be armor or weapons.

“Well no matter what it is, it will be ours,” He whispered to himself as he slowly inched closer and closer to the place where all the energy ripples reached their peak.

As soon as they reached the area, they saw all the experts who had rushed past them looking everywhere. Traps had been set off, and some had been injured, but the ones that were left behind were all working incredibly hard to find where this weird energy was coming from.

It was as though the energy ripples appeared from the very center of the tunnel, as if from nowhere. Though, Hui Yue could soon see that something was not as it should be. The energy that exploded outwards filled up the entire tunnel except for the ceiling.

One could expect that this was because the ripples were heavy and sought the floor, yet Hui Yue was completely convinced that whatever treasure was hidden here was placed in a room in the ceiling, much like how the last treasure had been hidden in the floor.

Hui Yue said nothing, and if Xiao Ning had guessed the location, he also kept it to himself. Both of them were standing patiently watching the many experts.

The atmosphere was already tense as all the experts were as busy watching each other as much as the walls, floors, and roof. No one wanted to be the first to find the treasure as they knew that they’d be stabbed in the back, yet they were not willing to let it fall to anyone else either. Because of this, everyone was more or less idling about.

On the ground one could see that someone had already attempted to dig up the floor, except unlike the previous hole, nothing had been revealed here. Everyone was eager to start digging everywhere around them, yet no one did. If someone were to dig out the treasure, their back would be exposed and their death assured. Even though they were Saints, if a group of Saints attacked they did not have the ability to resist.

Seeing the stalemate everyone was in, Hui Yue’s mind was working as fast possible. He was not going to give up the treasure he had waited so many days to see, but he also was not dumb enough to actually jump in there and make himself a target.

He had already used some of Lan Feng’s ability and was not willing to use any more because there was a limited supply. Therefore, he needed to make a plan using Xiao Ning and his own strength.

Lan Feng stayed quiet. He knew this treasure was not as important as the pills, so he decided to let Hui Yue decide how to pass this challenge without losing his life. Looking at Xiao Ning, a smile slowly formed on on his face.

Gesturing for the older male to follow him, Hui Yue withdrew back through the corridor to where they had come from before. After retreating quite a ways, they finally couldn’t be heard by the other experts.

Slightly confused, Xiao Ning followed behind the other man, looking at the group who was left behind. Everyone was on high alert, and the withdrawal of Hui Yue was not going unnoticed. None of the Saints present understood why the two had suddenly left, yet none had the courage to follow them. They had all seen the beaten up experts that littered the tunnels further back.

Another thing was they had confidence in numbers. Seeing Hui Yue withdrawing himself and the massive body of Xiao Ning everyone knew that they would soon do something to take the treasure. However even if they knew this, what could they do?

Many of these experts knew Xiao Ning. A good many of them were from the Taiyang Kingdom, and they prided themselves on being as strong as Xiao Ning. At least they thought so. What they were not aware of was that Hui Yue and the older man had consumed the golden pills allowing for their strength to soar to the heavens making it impossible for them to defeat the duo.

“Do you have a plan?” Xiao Ning asked in a low voice; a voice so low that only Hui Yue could hear it and the question made him nod his head.

“It is simple really,” He said with a grin on his face. “What we need to do is just for me to break the roof. I know where the soft spot is, and one attack will allow me to enter and gather everything.”

“While I attack and store everything, you will guard me. When we have taken everything, we will run away. Although I prefer not to rush through this tunnel both you and I have spent such a long time observing it that we know more or less what the traps are like, where they are located, and how dangerous they are.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ning could only nod his head. While the experts in front of them knew nothing about the traps, Hui Yue and himself had become experts in the short time they had walked through the tunnel. This was because of their slow advance; they had the time to thoroughly understand what the tunnel was like. As soon as they agreed on the plan they went into action.

Hui Yue instantly rushed towards the location where the ripples were the strongest as he pushed his Velocity Flow to its limits while jumping into the air. Golden Wu Wei gathered around his elbow and with a hard strike he shattered the ceiling above them. Moments after a storage stone appeared in his hand and absorbing every item into it.

While Hui Yue was greedily gathering the items, Xiao Ning also went into action. Powerful undulations of Wu Wei gathered around his body and moments after burst outwards. They created a massive barrier around the two experts. No matter how much the others tried to attack this barrier, it did not vanish.

Seeing the sudden movement everyone was at first stunned, but their reactions were swift. Although they were shocked, they were all experts of the Saint rank. They had gone through hell and back during their countless years of training and experienced life and death battles. How could shock make them numb for long? Their attacks rained down upon the barrier, yet the barrier still stood. It shook slightly but nothing managed to break through it.

Seeing this, the faces of all the experts fell drastically. How could the barrier of Xiao Ning be as strong as it was? He was nothing other than a mere three star Saint; the same rank as many of the experts attacking the shield yet is seemed as solid as a rock.

As soon as Hui Yue gathered everything, he fell to the floor. The barrier was still protecting him as he gestured to Xiao Ning and waved his hand. “Time to run!” He said with a grin, and without waiting for the larger friend, he sprinted forward skillfully dodging one trap after another.

Smiling at his back, Xiao Ning and the others gave chase. While Xiao Ning too managed to dodge the traps soon the scent of blood and the cries of experts resounded in their wake.